“That’s really him?” you asked a skeletal bird with whom you were sharing its perch atop a neon green sign for what you thought was a noodle shop. You were pretty sure you were the only one that could see it, so you kept your voice low.

The boney bird gestured insistently, pointing with its beak at a rapidly moving dot in the distance. You pulled your dubious gaze away from the bird and narrowed your eyes at the relatively small figure.

“Have faith, child.” Mercy admonished.

“It never hurts to look at things subjectively, you know.” you retorted, patting the bird on the head and slinging a bolt of a cloth at a nearby building.

“Are your so-called ‘teachers’ the ones putting such heretical thoughts in your head, girl?”

You pushed off from the sign, swung down, and flung yourself into the air in an upward arc.

“Believe it or not, independent thinking is pretty encouraged these days.” you said, bounding off the top of a water tower, and zipping from rooftop to rooftop by…

Were you…running on all fours? When had that happened?

You caught yourself, went back to swinging, and reserved a bit of your attention to making note of any other “unusual behaviors”.

“Your world must be a chaotic one.” Mercy decided. “It is no wonder that our lord summoned me.”

“No arguments here.” you admitted, keeping a close eye on the figure that you were rapidly approaching.

By the time you were close enough to recognize him, he had already spotted you, and was headed right for you!

“Cindy!” Ben shouted, before snatching you out of the air and pulling you into a loving embrace.

“Hey, Ben. I’m glad you’re okay.” you whispered, hugging him tightly as he swung the two of you to safety.

“That’s my line.” he said, sounding more than a little exasperated. “I leave for five minutes, and the entire city gets attacked by zombies!”

You laughed and pulled back so that you could get a better look at him. His suit had sustained more damage, but he didn’t look too worse for wear.

“Are you hurt? Is that a second tail?” he asked, frantically looking you up and down.

Feeling a little embarrassed, you pushed off of him and took a step back.

“I’m fine. And forget the second tail for a second.” you insisted, scanning the area for the presence of Ana, James, or the other two Kaiju that went with him. “Where are the others?”

"They'll catch up. Annie and Edward Scissorhands stayed behind to help Mekara and Aegis clear out some of those zombies." he quickly explained.

You nodded.

"Got it. We'll have to link back up with them after we find the others."

You just hoped that you could find them in time...

—---------

(Cont.)