Zombie Land Arc (Knight)(1)

 

In Heroes’ Pavilion, Hangar Bay,

          “So… tell me again, why we’re going to Zombieland?” Dani asked as she, Talia, JiaLi, and Drew prepped their weapons and armors.

          “Because we don’t want another dimensional rift like months ago.” Talia said.

“Not to mention, we can’t afford those death gods to get too powerful. Especially with Rana out of the universe.” JiaLi said.

“I understand that. But why us? You know how I feel about zombies.”

“The incarnation of Destruction is afraid of zombies.” Drew said.

“Not afraid. Grossed out. Zombies smell horrible.”

“Well, we’re the only ones that are equipped enough for this mission. Not to mention, your secondary mission.”

“That’s another thing. Do you really believe a few bricks of gold and jewels could compare to the fortune we have. I mean a section of the Lucrada family treasury is filled with gold and rare ore from other dimensions.”

“Oh course, but it doesn’t hurt to add some to that fortune. Besides, the cursed jewels. We can’t leave those jewels get into the wrong hands.” Talia said.

“Right, those jewels are extremely dangerous. One can not only destroy a planet, but they also can change reality itself. Dumb Gods.”

“You don’t think the reason why…

“No, zombies’ don’t work like that. They’re parasitical beings formed by a corrupted aura from one of Reo’s and Anko’s previous enemies. Hence the reason why there’s a whole division of Nexus’ scientists devoted to curing zombies of all kinds.” JiaLi said as she finished her preparations.

Loading into an armored vehicle, Talia and the others made sure they were ready. Minutes later, Talia started the car and drove off into a portal. Appearing in a ruin of Chicago, the armored vehicle raced down a street. Talia pressed a button beside the throttle, activating the stealth mode.

“Wow, this car is amazing. I wouldn’t have never thought of something like this.” Drew said.

“Well, you have Reiji to thank for these. He gave us these vehicles. I think he called them Tanks. They’re more versatile than my father’s cars.” Talia said.

“T, do you think the Cave is here?” Dani asked.

“Probably, if this dimension had superheroes. Oh, I get it. Good idea.” Talia said before speeding toward Black Manor.

Black Manor,

Talia broke through the gate. Headed to the back of the Manor, Talia looks for a tool shed. That’s usually how her father hid the outside entrance to the Cave in almost every dimension.

“No outside entrance, but there is signs of a Cave and Sentry tech underneath here.” Talia thought, looking at the sensors.

Suddenly, the center fountain turned and rose, revealing a hidden tunnel. “Woah, that’s impressive. Can’t believe this dad made something like this.” Talia thought. “It doesn’t look like it’ll fit. We’ll need to go in by foot.” She said.

“Right,” Dani, JiaLi, and Drew said.

Opening, Talia, Dani, JiaLi, and Drew climbed out of the tank. Walking towards the tunnel, Talia and Dani felt a presence coming from the tunnel and immediately got ready for a fight.

“Careful! Something is coming.” Dani said to Drew and JiaLi.

Immediately, Drew and JiaLi summoned the right gauntlets of their armors and pointed at the tunnel’s entrance.

“I don’t know who you are, but you chose the wrong place for looting. An old man said carrying a shotgun.

“Uh, we come in peace.” Talia said.

The old man looked at Talia shocked. “Lady Talia,” he said, trying to hold back his tears.

“Uh… yeah,” Talia said. The old man, suddenly, rushed and hugged her.

“Uh, do you know him?” JiaLi whispered to Dani.

“No, I think it’s one of dimensional differences. This dimension’s Talia probably had this butler to raise her instead of Mary.” Dani answered back.

“Oh, Lady Talia. I’m so happy you’re okay. After you left, I only thought the worse. Your father and brother will be so ecstatic to see your return. And with…friends.” The old man said, confused looking at Drew and JiaLi. Quickly, Drew and JiaLi hid their arms and smiled. “Well, you’re all welcome here. Let’s get inside. They get more active around this time.” The old man said, leading the way. Cautiously, the four of them followed them. The tunnel was lined with lights.

“Talia, are you sure it’s okay to lie to the man like that?” Drew asked.

 “Don’t worry, I’ll tell them the truth once we get to the cave. We just need to find out information about what we’re dealing with.” Talia responded.

“Should I try to hack the Cave’s system?” JiaLi said.

“No, not yet. Let’s give them the benefi… Woah,” Talia said as they walked in the Cave. The Cave was filled with civilians.

“Sentry must’ve used his cave as a crisis bunker for the entire population of Chicago.”

“Joseph, who are these people?” A teenage boy said as he looked down at them off a platform.

“It’s Lady Talia, young master.” The old man said.

“Impossible, Talia hasn’t been seen for years. Even before all of this. Whoever she is she’s not Talia.” The boy said.

“You’re right.” Talia said as she aimed and shot her grapple cable. Quickly, zipping up to the platform where the boy was standing. “I’m better.” Talia said as she looked into the boy’s eyes.

“Show off.” Dani said landing beside her. “Drew, you and Jia look for the SentryComputer. Nine times out of ten, with all these civilians here, it would be on one of the lower levels. I’ll stay with Talia, and we’ll ask questions up here.”

“What? No, you’re not going anywhere.”

“I would like to see you try to stop them.” Talia said, summoning a katana. Suddenly, a shield lodges in the floor between them.

“Now is not the time to be fighting amongst ourselves. If you haven’t notice, the world is burning outside.” A woman said, wearing Sentry’s hero outfit.

“Oh, lady Rachel,” Joseph said.

“Joseph, who are these people?” Rachel asked as she walked up.

Talia sighed. “My name is Talia Black. This is my sister Dani Carter. These are my friends JiaLi and Drew Saturday. We came to this dimension to investigate and help exterminate the zombies.”

“You really expect us to believe that. It sounds like something written in a bad manga.” The boy said, arrogantly.

“Please tell me this isn’t my little brother in this Dimension.” Talia said to Rachel.

“Don’t know? Who’s your father?” Rachel said.

“My biological father was Malcolm Black.” Talia answered, without hesitation.

“Was?” the boy said.

“He died fighting demons when they invaded.” Talia said.

“Strange, she’s talking about it so easily. Either it’s been a while since he died, or she’s lying.” Rachel thought. “Well, you seem to know about our grandfather. And that’s enough for me. I’m Rachel Jones and this is my brother, Devonte Jones. We’re Malcolm Black’s grandkids. I guess that makes us your niece and nephew.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, who’s your parents?” Dani said.

“Uh, we’re the kids of Mason and Julia Jones. Julia is Malcolm’s first daughter.”

“And this Talia… let me guess… she’s your moody…

“She’s, our auntie. She disappeared some time ago without a trace.”

“Oh,” Talia said. “She’s probably, either, a zombie by now.” She thought.

Hours later, In the Mansion,

Talia and the others gathered around Malcolm’s desk in his office, looking at the data that Drew got from the SentryComputer.

“Huh, so the Zombie infestation wasn’t caused by the Dimensional Break, but an alien bioweapon.” Talia said.

“Yeah, cross-referencing the time of the Dimensional Break and the beginning of this crisis, I found that they started at two different times.” Drew said.

“Okay. Do you have a location on the Cursed Jewels?” Dani asked.

“No… they’re not anywhere on Earth, but somewhere in this dimension. And unfortunately, we don’t have a strong enough satellite to scan this dimension like we have in ours.”

Talia sighed. “Well, looks like we’ll be work here for a while. Drew, can you Geo-Scan the Earth?”

“Look for any DERAD Supply Caches.” Drew said.

Talia nodded and said, “We can’t just leave these people suffering and struggling to survive.” Drew, JiaLi, and Dani smiled. “Alright, let’s get some sleep.” She said.