It was time to begin moving. Everyone was ready. Don was taking point as he normally did, and April was at his side as she always had been. However, as they started leaving, everyone wondered why Don wasn't wearing any of his gear. He didn't have his guns strapped to his body like usual, but he wore his combat vest. "Hey, Don, where are your guns?" Noah asked since no one else was going to.
"Oh... yeah. I almost forgot to mention." Don would raise his hand up, and a Desert Eagle appeared in his hands from seemingly nowhere. There was a short distortion around his hand, and then suddenly it was gone; in place was the Desert Eagle. Don would wave the gun around to show it to them. "I can store things in a separate space; however, I can't just store anything and everything. So, I just store my weapons in it." With Don's explanation, the distortion came again, and his Desert Eagle seemed to warp and twist until it was no more. The distortion also vanished as well.
"Neat," Noah remarked. No one else could say a word. At this point, they just assumed Don had other tricks and abnormalities about him, so they just took everything in stride. "But couldn't you put out rucksacks in your storage thing?" Noah asked. Don's lips curved into a smirk, "Then you would all become lazy. Just think of it as training." Don explained. No one made a rebuttal. They didn't want to, not after seeing that smirk across his face.
Don did put their bikes in the store space, among other things he brought that he had yet to tell them about. During his free time before their journey, Don went out to collect building materials and blueprints. So they could enhance their new base when they got there. It would take time, even with Noah's creation, Seed Power, but it would be a start.
The group passed through a city, one of many they would need to move through to reach their destination. As they did, they could hear screaming coming from a nearby building. Don brought his hand up to tell everyone to stop. Everyone did so, and instantly everyone began taking in their surroundings. They were in battle mode within a split of a second. Seeing this, Don felt proud. His group took his sessions to heart and knew what needed to be done.
"April, expand your senses. Tell me what you see." Don asked April, but April was already on it. The flare in her eyes which was normally yellow with a hint of green, was now a mixture of the two colors. "Ferals are roaming around, and some mosquitos flying about. Off in the distance is some kind of mutated bug. It looks like a Spider with wings, but..." April paused for a moment because she didn't quite understand what she was looking at.
"But?" Don asked.
"It's like its skin is rock and its body looks like fire," April explained as best she could.
"Molten Spiders. Earlier than I anticipated, if they are around, then that means the Berserkers should be showing up as well." Don muttered. "Molten Spider?" April heard Don's comment and asked out of curiosity.
"A what now?" Ion asked when he heard the term.
"A Molten Spider is a mutated Spider. Unlike normal spiders, it has wings, and its flesh is like that of molten lava. It can spew fire from its mouth as well. Normally, running away from them is the best option. So, for now, we'll eye away from it, as for the Ferals and mosquitos. Kill on sight. I am sure that scream attracted attention. We should probably get a--" Before Don could even finish explaining and follow-up remark, people ran out of the nearby building.
A man and two women. The man looked like some kind of chubby fellow, but in his hands was a greatsword. The sword was covered in blood; the man himself looked exhausted. He had bruises and scratch marks all over his body. He brushed the bangs of his long black hair from his face while moving away from the door. The two women looked unrelated to each other. One looked like she was trying to be the most popular girl in a school contest, and the other looked like she belonged in a library.
"Get back!" The man called out while guarding the girls. A large beef undead came busting through the building. All it did was walk through the building. The undead looked like it was on steroids with all of its bulging muscles and veins. Even its large hands looked the same. "A Berserker..." Don muttered when he saw it, then shook his head.
"Don, what are we going to do?" April asked while looking up at him. Don knew the three before them. April should have also known them. They were her classmates. Don only knew them because he would often see them while picking April up, but perhaps because of how dirty and messy they looked, it was hard to tell. Don knew these people weren't bad. They never betrayed him in any of his runs, and they always tried to help out.
"I'll handle it. All of you stay in formation. The Ferals and bugs are sure to come." Don ordered, and everyone said, "Sir!" Aloud. Don wasn't used to this. Before the day of departure, they called a meeting to discuss where they would be going. They all brought to Don's attention that he should be known as their Commander. He was already their Leader, but even then, being their Commander was another thing. Anyone else could have been the Commander, even Josh, but they felt it should be Don since he had the most combat experience. So they started calling him "Sir" as a means to tease him since they knew he didn't like such formalities.
The Berserker swung its mighty arm deftly, and the man brought his sword up to block the attack. However, the force behind the attack caused the man to slide back. He was already weak and tired; anyone could see he had been fighting for a while. The man fell onto his knee and used the sword to keep himself from collpasing. "Run! Get away! You two need to live!" The man shouted to the girls, but they shook their heads. "No!" One said. "We can't just leave you!" The second girl said.
"You've done well, Tim. Rest up." Don spoke as he placed a hand on the man's shoulder, calling him Tim. Both the girls and the man looked towards Don. "Wait, it can't be..." One of the girls muttered. "Isn't that..." Another was about to begin. "Don!?" The man exclaimed. Don's lips curved into a smirk, and he cracked his knuckles.
"It's been a while since I fought one of you. Come..." Don gave the Berserker a come at me signal with his hands, and the Berserker charged him. It would swing deftly once again. "Dodge!" The man shouted to Don, but Don did not such a thing. Instead, he brought his arm up to block the attack. The attack halted, but the force behind it kicked up the dust and caused a shockwave to expunge outward.
"That it? I guess you are still at the first stage. I won't need my Seed Power for this." Don would push aside the Berserker's arm and step forward to deliver a punch of his own. It was powerful and sent the Berserker into the building, creating another hole in the wall. Don waved his hand since he could feel the pain. He wasn't sure why, but he could feel a surge of power flowing through him. It was as if all limitations on his body were removed, and his cells had been changed completely. He could only assume that it was the drawback of his wish. He was no longer human.
The hand healed quickly thanks to his Mutated Seed, but it seemed like the Berserker wasn't down for the count. Then, a god-awful roar came from the building. Everyone was covering their ears to try and block out the nose; meanwhile, Don just smirked. "Oh? Evolution? I guess you were at the peak then.
The Berserker came blazing out of the building. Its flesh was searing red compared to the gray color it had before. Its eyes that were once dull and dead, were now burning bright red. "Stage two. That means everything is advancing faster than I initially thought. I wonder if the Molten Spider is about to hit stage three..." Don would mutter to himself in his own thoughts. Even as the Berserker swung wildly with rage at Don, it missed each time, even though Don wasn't paying attention to it.
"The hell?" Tim muttered. "Is that Don?" The promiscuous girl called out. "Wow..." The reserved girl murmured. "Hello, Tim, Katelyn, Lilly. I didn't expect to see all of you here." April's voice came up as she approached them.
"April!?" Tim called out, surprised when he saw April.
"Wow, since when have you been so bold." Katelyn, the promiscuous-looking girl, remarked when she saw her referring to her choice of attire.
"You are here too?" Lilly, the reserved girl, asked.
"Mhm. I was brought here with Don. I didn't expect to see you three here, though." April answered with a smile.
"Nevermind that! We have to help him!" Tim exclaimed.
April's battered her eyes with confusion. "Help who?" April asked innocently. "Don!" Tim shouted, then turned back towards Don to see he was promptly dealing with the Stage Two Berserker. First, breaking its kneecaps to bring it down with a powerful kick, then destroying its arm joints before kicking it to the ground. Next, Don would walk around to its head and lift his boot before stomping upon the Berserker's head, causing it to splatter.
April made her way over to Don with a skip in her step, "Good job, Darling~" April exclaimed and took his hand. "How are the others?" Don asked, looking towards his group. The Ferals and bugs came out of the hiding and started attacking them sometime when Don was dealing with the Berserker.
Ion, Jen, Boss, and Rose were dealing with most of the Ferals; meanwhile, the others were dealing with the bugs. No one needed to use their Seed Powers. They were capable of dispatching the bugs and Ferals without the need. Unlike months ago, where they barely hung in there, now it was a cakewalk. They cleaned up shortly after Don finished off the Beserker.
"Good." Don nodded with a proud expression on his face. Tim, Katelyn, and Lilly approached Don and April.
"April!" Katelyn shouted, quickly hugged her. "Thanks for the help, Don," Tim commented, and Don nodded. "It's good to see you two again," Lilly spoke up. Don stole a glance at their hands and noticed they had only been here for nearly a month. "Yeah, but standing around here isn't safe. So come with us. I doubt you have any place to go to anyway." Don stated to them. He figured they hadn't found a place to stay. With the way they looked, he assumed they had been drifting around. They looked up at Don then turned towards the group. A fair amount of people were there, and they all looked rather strong.
Don made his way towards his group, and April followed happily. The others followed after them since they didn't feel like staying around any longer. Besides, Don and April were people they knew and could trust. So they decided to just accept Don's offer.
"Who are they?" Rebecca asked, looking at Tim, Katelyn, and Lilly. "Friends. They'll be coming with us. I'll explain more when we make camp later. For now, you can all introduce yourselves." Don answered, and everyone introduced themselves as they started moving. Don had asked April where the Molten Spider was and asked her to keep an eye on it. Don was leading them around the Spider since the Spider was actually in their way. Thankfully, Spider's attention was not attracted; otherwise, there would be problems.
It wasn't that Don couldn't kill the Molten Spider; it was just that it was a hassle to do so. Only certain Seed Powers worked on it, and a brute force approach wasn't something one should even dare attempt. Even with Don's Mutated Seed Power, he had trouble dealing with the creature, and that was when he was alone. He had an entire group with him, and he knew they were not ready to deal with a Molten Spider. Not yet anyway.
"I was wondering where you went. You just suddenly stopped showing up at school. We all got worried and went to your place, but no one answered." Katelynn started speaking towards April. April chuckled. "Yeah, it's a crazy story, so I'll tell you later. But in short, I was brought here. I am sure you already know about the test and whatnot." April answered.
"Yeah. That boy said it was a test." Lilly agreed.
"Still, Don's still as strong as ever I see," Tim stated, which caused them to look at Don.
"I wonder, how many hands have you broken so far?" Tim asked, which caused everyone to look confused. "Oh? No one tried touching April?" Tim added since it seemed no one spoke up. They didn't need to put two and two together. It was quite obvious. "I don't know if you are smart or just scared, but it was a wise choice. April is a beautiful girl, but she also has a demon at her side." Tim stated nonchalantly.
April giggled at that remark. "Not just any demon, my husband~" April would cling to Don's side happily. Tim's eyes went wide. "Wait, what!? When!?" Tim exclaimed with surprise. Everyone in Don's group could understand his surprised expression. Even they were surprised when Don married April. Sure they don't have a ring or any kind of symbolic item, but they all knew that Don was April's. Even Jen was shocked when she heard it, but then she commented about being a Mistress since all she wanted to do was just have fun with Don. Of course, April gave her scary looks with her innocent smile, but that didn't scare Jen away.
"Wow, you tamed the beast, huh?" Katelyn nudged April with a smile.
"I see." Lily stated with a hint of sadness in her voice, then spoke up again, "Good for you two." She added.
"Same. Congratulations." Tim added in the end.
When they first met, Tim was always trying to hit on April. Finally, one day he tried to be a bit of an old-fashioned gentleman and took her hand to kiss it. It was when Don came to pick April up. He figured that Don was her brother, which was his mistake at the time. Don had taken his hand and broke it. Don told Tim to never try that again, or he would break his arm. Tim didn't get it at the time, he was wondering why Don was going so far, but the pain was too much for him to ask at the time.
Katelynn later explained that April had a crush on Don and that no one would be able to change her mind. Tim brought up the fact that Don was April's brother in the form of a question which caused Katelynn to burst into laughter at the time. She told him that they weren't related and that Don was someone April grew up with. At that moment, Tim decided to give up on his pursuit of April. He wasn't going to be some stalker person or anything. If someone was taken, he would respect it and move on. It was just the mature thing to do.
Aside from various small conversations between the two groups, nothing much else happened. A pesky bugs and typical undead, but it was like a walk in the park. They were dealt with without a problem. Tim, Katelyn, and Lilly were in awe of how strong everyone was. They were having problems with the bugs and even the undead, but Don's group brushed it aside as if they were dusting off their clothes. Don never once lifted his hand or did anything either. The group was the only one taking care of it. Even April didn't move.
Eventually, nightfall came. They decided to camp out in a building. Don set up his Spatial Barriers to keep invaders from entering. They cleaned out the building and began setting up a temporary campsite. Tim and the girls were in awe. These people seemed so coordinated and capable. It was like this world didn't faze them one bit. Almost as if they had been here since the day they were born. This was mostly thanks to Don's training and teachings. He had given people roles.
Alice and Sarah were in charge of cooking.
John, Boss, and Jake were in charge of clearing debris and making a space for the camp.
Catalina and Juan were in charge of preparing everyone's sleeping bags and whatnot.
Josh was in charge of resource management and distribution.
Jen, Sussan, and Jessica were in charge of going through the building to ensure everything was in order. If there bugs or undead, they were to take care of the undead and bugs.
Dillian, Ryan, Noah, and Tyrone were in charge of lookout duty. Even if Don had put up a barrier, they still needed a lookout if The World Government was to show up or other Contenders.
Ion, Don, Rebecca, and April were on guard duty. They were the first to be alerted if anything did show up, so they could prepare. Although, Don usually let everyone else sleep first when the camp was set up and rotate with either Rebecca or Ion since April always stayed by Don's side.
As for Sofia, well, Don gave her the important task of making sure everyone was happy and smiling. She was told to give them a warm smile and a big hug if they looked down or tired. This was because Don knew what her Seed Power was, and it had no drawbacks. The Purple Seed Power was special. As long as the person was happy and having fun, their Seed Power was always active. Since Sofia's Seed Power was Warmth, it would always keep the sense of ease in the air. This was why morale was always high.
Once camp was set up and everyone was finished with their normal tasks, they all sat in the middle of a makeshift campfire. Don made sure to let the smoke not build up in the room, so he had little holes in his barrier, but of course, no one would be able to see them since the Space Barrier was invisible. Food was handed around in the form of bowls and everyone was given something to eat, even Tim, Katelyn, and Lilly. They were grateful for the food and even felt like crying since it had been so long since they anything like it. Eventually, Don told them what happened from start to finish. It was a long talk, but he didn't mind since he knew he could trust these three. They had their various questions here and there and even teased him about certain things, but in the end, they just accepted him for who he was, Donathan Douglas.