The living room emptied out in a quiet shuffle of footsteps and murmured conversations.
Tysone stayed seated for a moment longer, elbows on his knees, staring at the empty foam cutout where the Rank 2 core had been. Saeko was still sleeping soundly, and Shizuka was keeping a close eye on her vital signs.
Saya stood next to the couch, clutching a folder against her chest and staring out the window.
"That was an inspired choice." She remarked quietly, glancing at Saeko's sleeping form. "From an emotional standpoint, anyway. Not necessarily from a military strategy point of view."
She was talking about Mai, who had left with a glowing smile and a bounce in her step, cradling her new power.
"Love motivates the greatest changes." Tysone chuckled. "Look around you, Saya. Do you really think things will improve without emotions like that?"
Saya's glasses gleamed slightly. "Of course they will. We've grown enough to know that our chances at survival are increased exponentially when everyone has their own goals and drive. But you want to reach beyond that. You want to raise this band of survivors beyond the level of a common rag-tag militia."
Tysone laughed heartily. "Yeah... something like that."
"And haven't you considered that you've already quite achieved that? By now, we should probably think of ourselves as a paramilitary organization. Or some form of a tribe."
"Huh? Well, we can't really be an army." Tysone replied. "That implies we have regular funding and such, and also a massive, ever-replenishing supply of fresh recruits. And well, let me remind you again, this is still a zombie apocalypse."
She rolled her eyes. "Did I say an army? I said organization."
"Sorry, sorry." He gave her a smile. "Continue."
"That's more like an organization, anyway. A corporation, with all those levels and hierarchies and specialization and..." She drifted off with a little snort.
"That's right. We have a corporation." He held his hands to the heavens as he made an exaggeration that no one else was present to enjoy except him, this hard-nosed, tsundere scientist, a distracted Shizuka and sleeping Saeko.
He figured he should come up with a name for their organization or tribe or whatever the heck they should be called...
"The Rage Room Corporation."
She shook her head, stifling a giggle that would've been so unlike her.
Tysone smiled again, relaxing his shoulders as he stared at Saeko.
Her expression remained calm, placid. If not for the faint rise and fall of her chest, it'd be hard to tell if she was sleeping or dead.
But Shizuka knew what to look out for, her regular, steady vitals indicated as much.
He couldn't help but think of the worst possible situation. What if Saeko's body rejected the core? There was no garantee that the cores would universally accept anyone. What if the cores weren't gifts but slow-acting curses? He'd felt his own bones creak and his blood boil more than once. Still breathing, though. Still swinging.
Saeko was a tough cookie, though, that much he was certain about. Besides, there was nothing else they could use beyond the cores to have any substantial difference against their evolved foes. The likelihood of a cure ever coming to exist was miniscule at best.
He looked up, gazing out the window. Outside, Haruto and Kenji were walking across the courtyard, shotguns at the ready. Beyond the towering mansion walls, the trees swayed gently.
"Brooding already?" Saya's voice cut through his thoughts.
"Not brooding, just...thinking." He explained, turning away from the window and its peaceful scene.
"Really?"
"Yes." He nodded. "This will be our first ever, well, attack on a bunch of enemies who are not zombies. It's different, and dangerous. All of the previous groups we encountered were just small pockets of survivors like us, and none were a threat of this caliber. I don't know how it'll affect the mental state of our core team. They looked pumped right now, but we'll see how they are later."
Saya pondered over it. "You should give them more credit than that. They've been through a lot with you. None of them are stupid enough to misinterpret your objective and act based on emotions."
"You might be right." Tysone tilted his head to crack the bones in his neck, getting himself mentally and physically prepared to rest for the remainder of the afternoon. He was feeling just a bit weary. It had been a busy morning for all, to be fair, and a tired man would only put his allies in jeopardy during the incoming combat.
"I always am right, doofus."
She jabbed his forehead with a tiny, slender finger, doing as much damage as if Tysone had gotten jabbed by a baby. He allowed himself to let a grin blossom.
"Ouch, I've been struck by the great god, Yama." Tysone's grin became more and more difficult to suppress. "To heal myself of the wound inflicted by your great godly finger, I demand your great godly-"
Her face erupted into flames, the embarrassment all-consuming and thorough, and she looked everywhere except for his amused expression before she gathered her things and stormed off like the little pink hurricane she was. Shizuka, from the side, even as she continued monitoring Saeko, let out a fond smile.
"Pfft-"
He watched her go, then let out a long breath.
"You're a good leader, Ty-kyuun~"
"Right...?"
He chortled.
Leadership was ninety percent making everyone else feel like the plan was bulletproof, and ten percent hoping you weren't lying through your teeth. He really hoped he'd never have to lie.
…
Three and a half hours later the courtyard had transformed into a makeshift armory.
Kohta and Kenji had the Apocalypse Mule idling smoothly, the fresh turbo growling with menace. Spotlights rigged to the roof cast harsh pools of light over the soldiers standing at the ready. Everyone had changed their outfit into the leather jacket, pants, helmets and gloves they had stolen from that group of bikers back in the city.
It made them all look quite uniform and threatening. Of course, it was a cool look, but Tysone hoped they'd upgrade into something cooler, especially if they could use mutants as resources. The hide of a beast had quite an appeal to it.
Tysone came out of the mansion, next to him was a very much awake and sharp Saeko, alongside Saya and Shizuka, the latter of whom was still fussing over her earlier transformation, unable to hide her enthusiasm regarding her increased attractiveness and potential energy output.
"How do you feel?" Tysone turned around to ask.
Saeko's appearance had undergone a subtle transformation, like Tysone's did. Not outright obvious, but her hair looked shinier and sleeker than ever. She was as beautiful as an unsheathed, pristine and sharp katana. Her eyes were alight in eagerness, and Tysone didn't wish to know what that slight bloodthirsty glint meant.
"Good as ever." The girl with the gleaming, sword-sharp eyes replied, flashing the epitome of a perfect smile his way. The effect was so enchanting, he thought the devil herself was in front of him. Better than ever. Like I could cut the moon in half if it looked at me wrong."
"I'm sure one day you'll be able to, maybe."
She looked eager at the thought, and Tysone wondered what had happened to the collected beauty. Now it looked like Saeko's dark past self had started bubbling up to the surface again, this time, instead of focusing her cravings and murderous intent on every enemy present around her, the buxom young woman merely channeled it into a righteous purpose, at least Tysone hoped so.
'Goddamn, woman...'
Her eyes met his, and he couldn't help but wonder how strong she was right now. She likely thought the same.
He also couldn't help but wonder what it'd feel like if this young woman channeled all of that killing intent, along with her newly acquired Rank 2 powers, into bed with him.
"Please focus, you two. It's a time-sensitive situation, remember." Saya jabbed Tysone in the shoulder.
Tysone was jolted awake from his less than gentleman-like, perhaps degenerate, thoughts.
He then tried to ignore the amused gleam that crossed Saeko's expression, because no, that wasn't his imagination going crazy and his mind and mouth-linking up. Saeko knew and was enjoying every moment of this.
Tysone straightened the lapels of his leather jacket. Everyone was standing in front of him. The whole mansion had woken up and was declaring war.
A united front, as it was meant to be. The survivors of the apocalypse would become more, or end up as another name in an unmarked grave, the story of the Rage Room corporation ended before it ever began.
But none were keen on such a bleak, awful tale.
"Alright." Tysone cupped his hands around his lips, amplifying the sound of his voice as it reverberated in the enclosed space. Then remembered that ever since his evolution, he didn't need to. With a smirk, he dropped his hands, looked at his mates all geared up and fired up. "Needless to say, we'll have a surprise for our guests. While I don't condone mindless bloodshed, if they turn out to be the scum that Yuki says they are, then it is acceptable. In fact, their destruction is a mercy, and a much-needed favor, as far as the world is concerned, at this point. You know your ranks; you know what to expect from yourselves, and each other, after months of training and hard work." He nodded once. "I have full confidence."
Author's Note:
If you're enjoying the story and want to read ahead or support my work, you can check out my P@treon at [email protected]/LordCampione. But don't worry—all chapters will eventually be public. Just being here and reading means the world to me. Thank you for your time and support.