Tohokari-Steel

Chapter 21: Bad Romance Sakuzy, meanwhile, struggled as the Rollers continued their assault. Despite his best efforts, he couldn’t break free. He could tell what this was: a plan to get him alone. If his experience in KuzKingdom was any indication, these Crystalli people wanted him. Why, he had no idea. But he could tell it was a trap. They forced him to the Warden’s house. With a one-two slam, the Rollers rammed into him. He yelled as he was sent careening through the door, hitting the floor in a heap. “Nice of you to drop in. I’d have invited you, myself, but there’s just a charm in using drones,” greeted a preppy voice. Sakuzy regained himself, rolling to his knees and seeing a hooded figure, wearing a crimson cloak, though it was exposed on part of the hip to show a blood red crystal attached. Sakuzy could tell that it was a woman underneath...and she was just sipping from a steaming mug. “Coffee? It’ll help pep you up. Lou’s got some good blends. That’s the warden, by the

Chapter 20: One More Hole When day broke on God's Thumb, the team was meandering around. It was nice to be somewhere cool and where water was readily available after spending TOO LONG out in the dry, hot desert. "Mmmm this is living..." Lucy sighed peacefully as she reclined back and bit into an onion "Best place I've been to..." Sakuzy nodded. "You've been to FOUR places so far," Joyex stated. "Yeah, four," Sakuzy said. The fifth place he had been to...would probably be better to keep on the down-low. "Point still stands, though." "Hey, Joyex? How many more Gummis do we need?" Becca said "Lemme see," Joyex murmured as he did a quick inventory. "I think...we need just one more." "Oh, hey, one, that's not too bad," Yozora said with relief, looking up from his lounging position. "Just, uh... the only problem is, with the trajectory of that crash landing, that one piece iiiiiis...?" "The rockets. Can't get very far without those," Joyex said. "Yeah...means we gotta go back,"

Chapter 19: Run for the Thumb In almost the blink of any eye, Ryan ran back to the digging fields, finding the others, who had almost finished with their holes, “GUYS! GUYS!” "He moves around quick," Joyex murmured. "Okay, so, Warden Lady? Was talking with these folks in cloaks and said they can help her find what she's looking for, which I'm not sure what that is but it doesn't sound good at all," ADHD rambled on and on. "Whoa, whoa, li'l mate, deep breath," Croccer said. ADHD obliged, breathing in then out. "Now, what was it?" "THESE CREEPY FOLKS WANT SAKUZY AND I DON'T WANNA KNOW WHAT THEY'RE GONNA DO WITH US!" ADHD shouted, frantically. “Wait, what’s this ‘bout creeps and Koo-“ Yozora suddenly froze. A thought had occurred to him… and he already dreaded confirming it. “Were they… wearing colorful hoods? "YEAH! Red and pink. Kinda clashes, but don't think they’re supposed to be color coordinated," ADHD said. "Oh no..." Joyex said, looking fearful. "And we're out here in

Chapter 18: The White Witch As the Warden led the trio to her cabin, Lucy tried her best to relax. Unfortunately, the anxiety kept eating at her. "Just keep calm, Lucy," Sakuzy said. "It'll all be fine." "We're dead. We're so very dead..." Stanley murmured, "Yelnats curse is gonna kill us all..." "Stanley, we don't know we're dead. YET," Sakuzy said. "Just stay calm, like me." The Warden led them back to camp and to a house...in sharp contrast, it was nice, green, and well-tended. She opened the door and looked at them. "Inside," she said. "I DIDN'T DO IT, I SWEAR!" Sakuzy shouted, tears in his eyes. "I'M INNOCENT!" “Smooth,” Lucy said with a flat expression "Guilty conscience? Not surprisin'," the warden said. The three were pushed in. "So, what do ya think of my camp?" "I've...been in better," Sakuzy said. Given his frame of reference, it wasn't an inaccurate statement. "It's..." Stanley paused. "Dry. Rugged?" Lucy looked up at the Warden’s bright red haired head and felt

Chapter 17: Dig Them Holes The next day... After being woken up by the bugle, they resumed their digging of holes. "So, you just TOLD them everything?" Joyex asked, flatly. "Well, from what they say, they’re not from this world, either. So, I figured we scratch their back, they scratch ours," Becca shrugged, pointing at ADHD. "Besides you see how fast that kid is." she pointed to ADHD already digging ADHD was currently more or less a mini-sandstorm, chanting "DIG A HOLE! DIG A HOLE! DIG A HOLE!" "And it never occurred to you that it MIGHT be a bad idea?!" Joyex hissed. "I can hear ya, y'know that?" Croccer asked. "I swear, every decision you make objectively makes our lot WORSE..." Joyex muttered. "Right, I'm digging OVER HERE," Sakuzy said, stepping between Joyex and Becca before digging. "Don't bother," Becca said, walking off far from the others and started to shovel. "I'm about FIVE seconds..." Sakuzy muttered as he dug. "Hey, how's about somethin' else?" Croccer asked as he

Chapter 16: Camp Green Lake’s Philosophy Later, the group was in line at the mess hall. No word had gotten to them YET about Pendanski. But Sakuzy was still a bit apprehensive. Over the PA was their menu. "Today's menu is green beans, baked beans, refried beans, string beans, garbanzo beans, and banana jello." "Oh goodie..." Joyex murmured as the lunchroom worker dropped a serving of beans on his tray. "What, are they running a bean farm on the side?" Sakuzy asked, just behind him. "If ya don't like the beans, you can have some beans. But if that doesn't strike your fancy, we got beans. And, personally, I recommend the beans." Croccer said. "Musical ceremony after!" ADHD grinned, right behind Croccer. Becca looked at the beans with disdain as it was slapped onto her platter. "I'm... more surprised there's even banana," Stanley remarked quietly. "Guess 'bean jello' was too much, even for this place," Yozora murmured, a bead of sweat running down his brow. "Oh boy, yum city..."

Chapter 15: Off to Camp Out in space, Joyex was humming to himself, patting the control stick as they continued on their way to Traverse Town. "Hey, can I try flying this?" Sakuzy asked. "Haha-ha, NO." Joyex flatly replied. "I'm the only one who can fly this thing. Just...instinctual, y'know." "I could have instincts, too," Sakuzy pointed out. "No, you don't. Trust me on this one." Joyex replied. "Gotta say this is definitely a far comfier ride than... well, my ride over there," Yozora remarked, hands in his pockets. Becca was in the kitchen cooking something. Lucy was off to the side, sitting on the floor and doing stretching exercises. She sniffed the air and turned her head to the kitchen. "Hey Becca, whatcha cooking? I'm starved!" she said. "You'll see," Becca replied. "What was up with those Crystal guys back there, anyway?" Sakuzy asked, "The green one seemed nice enough, but the orange girl...why'd she just go off the deep end 'cuz I didn't know her?" "Just nutty

Helvath is what you want, Helvath is what you dread. Helvath is all around you, But also in your head. Helvath brings the light, Though it only lives in dark. It brings about the night, The stars point to its mark. Its image is everywhere, Though none have seen its face. It's all mankind's benefactor And a plague upon the race. Some say it's a star, Some say it's a name, Whatever Helvath's nature is, You are just to blame. For calling upon it, You guarantee its return. Whether you run or scream or jump, In the end, you'll only burn.

It was a long, long, LONG drive from the middle of the American plains to Central America. But the Graham-Iscariots gave them enough supplies for the long journey. Bella could have survived on animals now and then, but the rest appreciated the food and water that they provided. It had to be a long drive, going through the long, winding road of the devastated North America. Katniss and Bella stayed in the front seats while Ikki and Senku remained in the trailer. “Don’t realize how lush Panem is until you see how everything else is,” Katniss remarked as she saw a road of children, chanting ‘Ice Cream’ as their leader led them on. “Yeah, I’ve been over long enough. Zombies, robots, weird diseases, think some apes took over for a hot minute,” Bella replied, adjusting the rear-view mirror to get a look at those children, who stopped to see the truck drive by. She blasted the horn a few times. “Please...don’t do that,” Optimus advised. “Yeah. Region I grew up in talked about this

Armand approached the four, stepping over Jonnie’s corpse. All the while, he hummed a simple tune to himself. Bella vaguely recognized it as a hymn. Vampires would often balk at such a thing...but they were either very young vampires or very weak ones. Armand was clearly a strong one. Quickly, Katniss fired her arrow. Armand snatched the arrow out of the air and hurled it back. The archer ducked out of the way and began shooting as Senku and Bella went to either side. Ikki ducked around the arrows Katniss fired, but remained in place as he faced down Armand. “What, boy?” Armand asked as he approached the otherworldly youth. “Do you not fear me?” “Not on the path I walk,” Ikki replied as he held out his hand. Black mist began to form in his fist as he said, “Come to me, Intetsu!” The mist solidified into a solid black sword, which Ikki swung at Armand with lightning speed. The vampire seemed just as shocked at this sudden development as Bella had been. She had never seen Ikki