Ambush

It was mid afternoon. Asuka's and Yuki's phones buzzed with a message from Haruki. Yuki was sleeping in, but Asuka had been awake for hours and was curled up on the floor surfing the internet on her phone. She switched over to read the message and a burst of horror exploded in her mind.

The message read, "Several places attacked by statues. So far, thirty dead. Check on everyone."

Asuka, still sleepy, threw her blanket off and stumbled to her feet.

"Wake up!" She nearly screamed which jolted the others awake.

"What?" Konomi mumbled as she tried to understand the world around her, eyes still closed she laid back down.

Yuki sat up suddenly and saw the grievous look on Asuka's face. She realized something was terribly wrong. Asuka was holding her phone in her hand which gave Yuki reason enough to reach for her own. After reading the message, Yuki threw her cover off and jumped up.

"Asuka, check on the guys!" Yuki called out in dread. "Konomi, we have problems. It's time to get up."

Asuka didn't bother messaging but rather called Shingo directly.

Konomi sat back up, and with fresh terror having snapped awake so suddenly, asked, "What's happening? Are they guys okay?"

"I don't know yet, but we'll have to go. Start getting ready." Yuki's exasperation bubbled up as she sprang over Konomi and began changing her clothes.

Shingo's phone rang and rang without answer. Asuka hung up and tried calling Takamasa as Konomi climbed to her feet.

"What's happening?" Konomi asked again groggily.

Yuki tried her best to explain in her daze, "Some statues attacked a museum and some other places. I don't know much more than that."

"Oh no!" Konomi, realizing some of the situation, exclaimed.

"They're not answering!" Asuka called out to the group.

"Keep trying!" Yuki shrieked as she continued to change her clothes.

Konomi too jumped into action trying to change her clothes from her sleep wear to her normal clothing. Asuka began tapping on her phone scanning through the city's cameras until she found one close enough to Ichiro's apartment and, to her dismay, saw the terrifying scene of Ichiro's apartment building on fire.

"We have to go!" Asuka called out as she turned her phone toward Yuki to share what she just learned.

Yuki saw the building burning on the screen and her eyes grew wide.

"I didn't think things would happen so fast." Yuki mumbled as the shock truly hit her.

Konomi looked over and saw the building burning on the phone as well, and then called out, "They're fine! Yuki, look at me! They're fine! They're smart and strong and they got out!"

Yuki could feel Konomi trying to console her and replied, "You're right! We don't know anything yet. We have to get out there and find them."

"Breaking down right now isn't going to help anyone." Yuki thought, but kept to herself. "We just need to do what we know to do."

Yuki grabbed her phone and replied to her brother, "Guys missing. Building on Fire. Going to search."

"What do we do, Yuki?" Konomi questioned as the normally gyaru styled girl looked rather plain but ferociously motivated.

"Asuka, check the cameras and see if you can figure out what happened." Yuki started, while properly falling into her role as a leader. "Konomi, the three of us need to get over there and try to find them, but we're probably walking into a trap."

"It wouldn't be the first time we've risked our lives!" Konomi tried to remain upbeat about the situation. "Let's go!"

Together, the three burst from Konomi's apartment and began their trek to Ichiro's apartment.

Yuki's phone buzzed with another message from Haruki saying, "No! Stay inside and stay safe. I'll send some officers to look while I try to figure out more."

"Sorry brother, but I can't just sit and wait." Yuki said out loud and the three continued on.

Asuka, having rolled back the video recording, began to see what unfolded at the apartment building. Twenty people approached the building from the parking lot. Several of them wound their way up the stairs and, having reached Ichiro's door, smashed in the door with a single punch. One of the guys immediately charged and shoved the man over the balcony who fell the four floors to the pavement below. The guys and the assailants fought along the balcony as another two assailants were thrown over the edge.

Once the guys had reached the stairs they had to fight their way down. Once they reached the bottom the three ran outside of camera view pursued by all of the remaining assailants that were standing in the parking lot except for one. The one remaining turned slowly toward the camera Asuka was watching. The woman in the strawberry patterned sun dress approached the camera as static racked the video. In-between cracks in the video, Asuka could make out the woman point at the door Ichiro and the others had just burst out of which instant exploded in flames. Shocked at what she was seeing, Asuka began pulling on Yuki's shirt to slow her down.

"We have to keep moving!" Yuki exclaimed which only made Asuka pull harder. "What is it, Asuka?"

The young computer genius flipped her phone around and showed Yuki what had transpired. Fear filled the young leader.

"What was that?" Yuki said in disbelief.

"This might be bigger than we can handle." Asuka said.

"No!" Yuki exclaimed. "We've dealt with just as bad if not worse before."

"Yea, in our worlds. Not this one!" Asuka exasperatedly chastised. "We aren't who we used to be. We don't have the powers we'll need to deal with this. We're all just normal!"

"Maybe Asuka's right Yuki." Konomi contributed. "If we go in there and make things worse for us or them then it won't be good."

"Now isn't the time to second guess ourselves!" Yuki rasped. "They need help and, right now, we're the only ones who CAN help. I won't lose another of you."

"Okay Yuki," Asuka agreed. "What do we do?"

Letting out a huff of breath, Yuki started formulating a plan in her head before asking, "Asuka, can you use the timestamps from the videos and swap through the cameras to figure out where they went?"

"I can definitely try." Asuka responded.

"Yuki!" Konomi chimed in, trying to get her attention.

"Then, I need to know where they went and where it seems like they're going." Yuki continued completely missing Konomi trying to talk to her. "Hopefully we can get ahead of..."

"Yuki!" Konomi thundered.

Yuki looked back at Konomi with a, "What?" and noticed Konomi pointing at a group of five statues behind them.

Snapping her head around to check on the rest of her surroundings found more in every direction.

"It was a trap." Yuki realized.

"What do we do?" Asuka asked.

Dejected, Yuki replied, "I don't know. Maybe we fight."

All of the statues began to walk faster and faster toward the group until they were full sprinting.

"Get ready!" Yuki called out to her group.

Moments before the statues reached them, a familiar voice reached Konomi's ears as Takamasa jumped over a fence with a baseball bat and cracked one of the statues across the head. Shingo landed just after Takamasa and as he landed he rolled, grabbed some rocks from the road, and threw them with all of his might in one swift motion. The rocks connected with force taking one of the statues off his feet. Ichiro climbed the wall shortly after and landed among the group.

"TAKA!" Konomi cheered.

"Protect Ichiro!" Takamasa called back. "He's hurt!"

Yuki looked down at Ichiro who was crouched on the ground next to them. Blood ran down his arm and face from injuries.

"I'll be okay, focus on them!" Ichiro called out.

Takamasa waylaid another statue that was charging in.

"We have to get out of here!" Shingo barked to the group.

Konomi helped Ichiro to his feet, half picking him up.

"Let's move!" Yuki called out as Shingo ran up to meet her.

Exasperated, Shingo asked, "Where are we going?"

Yuki moved over to help Konomi half drag Ichiro and said, "You know where we're going. Asuka, message Haruki and tell him we need help."

"I already did." Asuka responded as she bent down and broke a piece of metal off of a fence to use as a club if need be.

Fighting their way through the streets was a struggle but, Takamasa cleared the path for them while Asuka and Shingo covered their rear. Luckily, they didn't have far to travel and they all knew the route. After a few of the statues failed to attack the support group on their trek, the black eyed assailants seemed content with simply following the group at a slight distance.

After a short and stressful march through the streets of the group reached their destination. Jingumae Community Center was posted on a small sign next to the door they used to enter the building.

As the group struggled down the hallway, Yuki declared, "If it's going to end then it should end here where it started."

The group progressed together down the hallway to the second door on the right.