January 4th, 797
11:00 AM
In the "Yama Jime" cinema located in the heart of Fort city, the movie "The Prophecy Girl" is being screened. The plot is nice: a girl demonstrates to have some paranormal powers, thanks to which she experiences fun adventures with her friends.
The theater is packed with children and teenagers, eager to live great adventures in hopes of becoming Heroes and fighting demons for the good of humanity.
During the screening, while everyone is sitting watching the movie, something moves at the back of the room.
Curled up in a corner for several hours, covered by a cloth left by a cinema staff member, mistaking it for scenery material, an unexpected presence awakens: the Zombie demon.
Its appearance is that of a skeleton, covered in purplish and bloody skin. Every little movement echoes in the room with the sound of bones and joints.
The spectators in the last row begin to turn towards the source of those noises, but the darkness of the room does not allow them to notice the demon.
"Hey Eddy... Do you also hear a noise behind us?"
"Shh... Don't talk during the movie! It must be someone who just arrived!"
The demon, removing the cloth covering it, starts walking towards that row.
Finding the last available seat, it sits down and starts watching the movie, even though it no longer has eyeballs to do so.
"Ah... It was that man making those noises... There's always some latecomer who has to make noise!"
"I told you to be quiet, Bill!"
The demon reaches out towards the seat next to it. There sits a six-year-old girl, watching the movie with her sister.
Afraid that the 'man' will steal her popcorn, the older sister moves them towards her. Despite this, the strange 'man' does not retract his hand; instead, he slowly continues to move it towards the little sister.
'Ah... he's a pedophile!' She thinks, so she gets up and switches places with her. Being over a dozen years older, she feels safer taking her place.
Ah... Foolish.
The Zombie demon grabs her thigh, and before the girl can scream, it bites her neck, tearing her flesh and splattering blood on all adjacent seats.
The girl doesn't make a single sound; this is an ability of the Zombie demon, allowing it to instantly control all people whose blood it has touched.
The girl slowly begins to transform. She becomes thinner, revealing her bones more and more, then her skin also becomes more purplish, with blood starting to ooze from every cavity.
Meanwhile, Eddy and Bill touch their cheeks, having felt something wet hit them, then look at their hands.
'What is this colored liquid?' They wonder mentally, then look at each other.
Thoughtfully, they turn their gaze to their side: the older sister is eating the younger sister's arm; despite the blood splattering everywhere, the girl remains impassive.
"Oh my god, Bill! What's happening? She's eating her! She's eating her!" Eddy says, standing up and watching the scene with frightened eyes.
"And stop yelling, Eddy! I can see it too! We have to get out of here! It's definitely the power of some demon!" Bill replies, shouting.
Only after shouting the word 'demon' do other spectators start looking in their direction, then notice the terrifying scene.
Within ten seconds, the last 5 rows of the cinema empty out. People, mostly teenagers, panic and despite not being sure if it was a demon attack, they start moving away from the theater; some, braver ones, approach to check.
The girl who turned into a zombie emits a pungent smell of rotten flesh, mixed with the iron of the abundant flowing blood from the wounds; her mouth is covered in blood as she greedily nibbles on her sister's arm.
The Zombie demon is next to her, but just watches the movie, ignoring the situation he created himself.
"Waaawaaawaaawwwaaa"
The girl has now devoured the entire arm of her sister, who also awakens in the form of a zombie and suddenly jumps a few meters, landing on the face of a boy who had approached.
"Hey help! What's wrong with this girl!" He screams in panic, catching the attention of the entire room.
"Ren! Wait! I'll help you!" A girl shouts, grabbing the little girl with both hands and trying to pull her towards herself.
Despite pulling with force, the girl seems glued to Ren's face, who screams in pain: "Aaaahhhh! Yui hurry! My face feels like it's on fire!"
Yui puts even more force and finally manages to free Ren.
Due to the recoil, Yui falls to the ground with the little girl, who begins to vigorously bite her face.
Meanwhile, Ren has also fallen to the ground and after complaining for a moment, falls silent. Among the dismay and screams of those around him, he gets up without a face, which remained in the hand of the girl: he too has turned into a zombie.
At that moment the voice of a young child is heard, screaming: "But those are zombies!! Help! MOMMY!!!"
...
'Zombies.'
The so-called living dead, whose evil actions are narrated in the movies of these years.
And it was precisely these movies that sparked fear in people, mostly minors, towards them.
...
Within ten minutes, the cinema is filled with zombies. This happened easily, in fact when there are large groups of humans, every time one zombie is born, others appear like mushrooms; a chain reaction is triggered that easily creates hordes of zombies, just like in this case.
However, not all spectators died, in fact those who remained try to hide behind the seats. And they cannot escape from the room because the doors are blocked by these beings that are ready to devour them.
Some managed to escape, just before the actual outbreak of the zombie epidemic. So a group of survivors were able to report the demon attack to the Heroes association, which promptly sent a team of Heroes. The team designated for this suppression and rescue mission is the 'Fuck demons' Team.
....
This Team consists of five members, including their team leader Hajimoto.
After receiving the order from President Yu Yato, they immediately headed to the 'Yama Jime' cinema.
The roar of their car echoes in the air until they reach their destination, stimulating the hope and joy of the survivors and passersby who witnessed the ongoing tragedy.
From the car, the Hero Mei, the Hero Zeff, the Hero Kaito, the Hero Yui, followed by their leader Hajimoto, get out.
Hero Kaito is the only one using a lance, while the other Heroes use a sword.
"Team leader Hajimoto... Do you really believe they are zombies? I also saw the trilogy about them released in recent years... It's absurd to think that even fictional things can generate demons..." Mei asks, with apparent perplexity.
Nothing to blame them for, of course, the Zombie demon is the first to be born under these circumstances.
"We will verify it immediately; if so, we should take serious measures." Hajimoto replies, continuing his march towards the cinema entrance, followed by the other.
"Yui... If they are really zombies they will attack us at close range. Don't leave me!" Kaito orders, gripping his spear with a combative gaze.
"Alright! We'll watch each other's backs as always!" Yui responds with a smile, showing great synergy with him after past battles.
Zeff stays behind his companions, looking at them disgustedly.
"What's wrong, Zeff? Are you jealous of those two, huh?" Mei turns to him and teases.
Zeff just looks at her with an even more disgusted expression.
Mei turns back around, then smiles mischievously, proud of her provocation.
Once they reach the entrance, they start hearing the growls of zombies. Hajimoto stops and signals the others to enter cautiously with a hand.
There are no zombies there, so they proceed towards the source of those sounds.
After entering the hall, they immediately notice the figures of some zombies chasing the few survivors in the darkness.
The hall is dimly lit by emergency lights, but the Heroes all wear glasses that allow them to see in the dark.
"Guys... Get to work. Kill them all and save those still alive!" Yajimoto solemnly orders.
'The Zombie demon'... Yajimoto's thoughts are focused on him.
'Based on the testimony of those who made the report, there was a zombie girl eating a child, who then transformed. They didn't mention a demon appearing... Did it leave? What does it look like?'
As his team start killing zombies with their special weapons, he walks among the corpses searching for the demon.
"Ahhh, they've come to save us! The Heroes are here!" A boy yells, suddenly getting up from under the seats.
Kaito notices him immediately and with an annoyed look says:"What are you doing, idiot! Get down! You're not safe yet!"
The boy doesn't listen and starts maneuvering through the seats to reach him.
"Damn it, Yui! Go save that fool! I'll manage on my own for now!" Kaito tells her as he impales a zombie with the tip of his spear.
"Waaahwaaah"
The not yet dead zombie keeps advancing towards Kaito, despite the spear piercing through its body.
"Waaa-"
Yui quickly ducks and delivers a blow to its head, decapitating it.
"Now I'll go... Don't die, Kaito... We're a team, right?" She replies to him with a tone of sadness and concern before running towards the madman.
Kaito approaches the zombie's corpse and puts a foot on its chest, then pulls out the remaining spear stuck there.
"As if I'm the type to die in a place like this..." Kaito says quietly.
Yui quickly reaches the survivor, expertly decapitating three zombies along the way.
"T-Thank you for saving me! Y-You're beautiful! My name is George Phillips, I'm Yamato Jimehara's son, the owner of this cinema! W-What do you say we go out tomor-?" Yui knocks him unconscious with the hilt of her sword and casually tosses him behind the seats.
She turns to go back to Kaito and, seeing that he's about to be surrounded by a dozen zombies, runs towards him.
At that moment, a zombie lying on the seats suddenly lunges towards her.
Yui is focused on Kaito and doesn't notice the attack; however, just before it strikes her, the zombie freezes and falls to the ground without apparent explanation.
Only then does Yui notice it, but seeing it not getting up, she ignores it and continues.
Twenty meters away, Zeff watches the scene. Surrounded by dozens and dozens of zombie corpses, he continues lethargically stabbing them with his sword, while he keeps an eye on his team members to ensure they don't die.
After saving Yui, he turns his attention to Mei.
She's also easily fighting against the zombies attacking her; cutting off their limbs, decapitating them, stabbing them through the heart.
One zombie trips over its counterpart and falls with its head a few inches from Mei's legs; she's fighting off three other zombies and seems not to notice.
Zeff focuses his gaze on that zombie, which suddenly faints.
'Ah... If it wasn't for me.' Zeff thinks, suppressing yawns.
Team Leader Hajimoto continues to survey the hall, ignoring both the hidden civilians and the zombies around him, leaving the others to kill them. His task is neither suppressing the zombies nor rescuing the remaining civilians... His task is to understand why the demon appeared there, figure out where it is at that moment, and once located, imprison it.
After ten minutes of investigation and reflection, he comes to an obvious conclusion...
"The Zombie demon is no longer here."
Kaito pierces the head of a zombie a few steps away from his Team Leader, then tells him: "It's not here? Maybe it's similar to one of these and we've already killed it."
"If it were dead, then everyone would have returned to normal... It must have escaped after transforming the first person." Zeff adds, visibly annoyed, after joining them.
"If it's escaped, then it must be causing panic somewhere around here; you finish cleaning up this cinema and then get the civilians out." Hajimoto exclaims, then looks in Mei's direction.
"Mei, come with me!" He says, already walking towards the exit.
Mei nods and quickly follows him.
...
Once outside the cinema, they start walking along the deserted street.
"Where are we going?" Mei asks confused. The Zombie demon could have taken any route, yet Hajimoto is walking confidently towards a certain street.
"But of course, to the nearby aquarium! Despite living in this city, I've never been because of my commitments, but now I can go!" He replies smiling.
"Seriously? At a time like this? Are you insane?" She replies incredulously.
"Why do you think I chose you and not Zeff or Kaito?"
"... Are you serious?"
Hajimoto turns to her and taps her head with his hand.
"We're going to the aquarium because that's probably where the zombie went." Hajimoto reveals with a playful tone.
Mei shows him a disappointed look, then asks: "Shouldn't we hurry then? The aquarium is nearby, he's probably already there and creating a new epidemic... But then, why would he be there?"
"It's just a hunch... I believe the Zombie demon went to the cinema to watch the movie. Once chaos erupted, they turned off the screens, so it left. The nearest entertainment venue to this is the aquarium, so it went to see the fish. Then... There's no rush. We were at the cinema for ten minutes, if it went to the aquarium by now it would have already turned all the civilians there into zombies; there have been no reports, so this time no one managed to escape."
Seeing Mei's confused look, he continues:"In any case, the demon is no longer at the cinema, so we need to start looking for it somewhere... Stop looking at me like I'm saying nonsense!"
...
Within 5 minutes, they reach the 'Doro Hedo' aquarium. Along the way, they haven't encountered anyone, because news of the demon's attack at the cinema spread quickly.
Observing the interior of the aquarium through binoculars, they notice the presence of zombies, confirming Hajimoto's hypothesis.
"He really went there... What do you plan to do? Shall we go in and kill them all?" Mei asks, gripping her sword tightly.
"No... Only I will enter. You'll stay hidden near the entrance, so when the Zombie demon escapes, you'll imprison it with the Prison Sphere" Hajimoto says, materializing the sphere from his bracelet and handing it to Mei.
Then he continues: "When I initiate the attack, the Zombie demon will feel irritated and try to escape again; we can't waste another opportunity, so you must not fail."
Mei nods, clutching the Prison Sphere in her hands.
"Okay! I won't fail, Team Leader! But don't make me worry..." She tells him anxiously.
Hajimoto, smiling, says: "If I don't come out after 10 minutes, you can declare me dead. At that point, call the president, don't enter on your own."
Then he dashes towards the entrance of the aquarium, wielding the sword in his right hand.
His goal is just to cause chaos, to push the Zombie demon to leave the aquarium and fall into Mei's trap.
With extreme agility, he reaches the first corridor, where he encounters dozens of zombies.
"Alright... Let's begin."
He dashes along the corridor with extreme speed, swinging the sword left and right, decapitating all the zombies he encounters.
One corridor, two corridors, three corridors...
He easily and swiftly decapitates all the zombies, not giving them time to react.
All the zombies are connected to the Zombie demon, so they are all on alert and ready to attack Hajimoto.
But he is simply too fast to allow any counterattacks.
"Heheheheh"
Hajimoto just laughs seeing the piles of zombies forming behind him.
Once he has slaughtered all the zombies within five minutes, his attention is caught by the fish, staring at him from inside the tanks in front of him.
"Oh come on... He's turned them into zombies too!"
Their appearance, just like that of the transformed humans, is more withered with a grotesque purplish aspect.
...
"Crack"
The noise of glass about to break is heard behind his back.
Hajimoto turns and finds himself face to face with a hammerhead shark, also zombified.
Noises can also be heard coming from the corridors... Hajimoto only now notices that the corpses of decapitated zombies are slowly rising; and after finding their heads, they put them back on and march towards him.
Hundreds and hundreds of zombies are about to surround him all together, occupying all the corridors and leaving him no way out.
"You don't even give me a moment of rest, huh... Mei!" He exclaims, pressing his earpiece and activating the connection with Mei.
"Tell me, Team leader! Is there a problem?"
"Is the Zombie demon... still not out?" He asks with perplexity.
"Not yet. No one has come out yet!"
The aquarium has no other exit, so the Zombie demon should still be there.
"Alright. Keep watching the entrance."
Having said that, he closes the connection and looks at the tanks with the zombified fish.
"If I say it was the zombie, there won't be any repercussions... Right?" He says to himself, starting to smash all the tanks with slashes of his sword and at the same time massacring all the zombies coming at him again.
Hajimoto's goal is to goad the Zombie demon into leaving the building. And to do that, he had to destroy the form of entertainment that resides there, namely the aquariums with the fish.
...
Within ten minutes, Hajimoto has broken all the tanks, resulting in him not only being chased by zombies but also by all the zombified fish, that crawl towards him.
"Tsk... Mei! So, anything yet?" He asks impatiently through the earpiece.
Meanwhile, Mei has been joined by the other Heroes of the Team and sits with them on a bench outside the aquarium.
Putting a hand on her earpiece, she tells him: "Not yet, Team leader... At this point, either he's hiding in the building, or he's already escaped before our arrival!"
"Understood..." Hajimoto concludes, with a somewhat annoyed tone.
At this moment, he is heading to the center of the building, where all the corridors converge.
"I have no idea how I'll have to explain all this. No... Actually, yes! I'll blame it on the Zombie demon!"
Once there, he brandishes his sword with even more determination, then spins it in a lightning-fast circular motion.
The air around him begins to distort, creating a vortex that grows larger and larger, trapping the zombies and zombified fish.
The vortex created by his movement grows larger and larger until it crashes against the walls of that wing of the building and clears the area of all the zombies sucked inside.
But it doesn't stop there; the vortex continues to grow until it destroys the walls and rises to destroy the entire building.
....