"Huh, they've actually made something for themselves..." Saya mutter as she surveys things.
"Ooooh, this looks like the levels in Streetfighter!" Megumin says while looking between the buildings as if she were in a theme park.
Tiffania nods, "It's amazing that people can build these things without magic."
"Eh, I think I preferred it when it was covered in zombies." Michael adds with folded arms.
Saya sniffs, "Only because you 'Powerup' every time you kill one. For the rest of us it's a living nightmare."
"I don't know, I feel like a zombie apocalypse might've been a good thing for this world. No corrupt politicians, no armies strong-arming innocent people, no idiots with no basic survival skills or self-preservation... The world has returned to that dangerous part of history where you'd have to fight off a big ass bear with nothing but a bow and a knife."
"I don't completely disagree, but evil people are still around... Unless you don't think the rich, famous, and influential haven't holed themselves up in a bunker somewhere? Once the zombies rot away they'll be back, and back for good this time... Everyone else will become Serfs that live only to serve them."
Michael shrugs, "Probably, but we'll just have to return every decade or so to personally deal with it... Having a private world to do as I like sounds pretty good to me."
"Yes, very selfless of you." Saya drawls before shaking her head, "Shall we go find the others then? See if they're still alive?"
Michael smirks, "You're worried about your cuck-friend, aren't you?"
"No! I'm worried that they'd have gotten Kohta killed with their antics!"
"Right."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The peculiarly dressed group make their way around the business district and eventually stumble into some people wielding spears, machetes, and axes. Each was fully covered in thick makeshift-leather clothing and had gas masks concealing their faces.
"Hold! Who are you!? And why are you in our territory!?"
"Huh, you'd think they'd remember us... It's only been like, a year or something right?..." Michael wonders aloud.
Saya shrugs, "They probably have more important things to worry about, like zombies maybe?"
"Hey! I'm talking to you! Listen or you'll end up with your brain spilling out on the road!"
"That's a good one actually... Brains, zombies eat brains, very thematic." Michael nods in satisfaction at them, only angering them further.
"Stop annoying them already... We're here to meet Takashi, Rei, Kohta, and Shizuka." Saya says before addressing the scavengers who pause upon hearing that.
"Er, like, all at once or one at a time? Takashi Komuro and Kohta Hirano lead different survivor groups... I don't know who the others are except Rei, who's Takashi's woman..."
"Different groups? What're those idiots doing now..." Saya mutters while pressing a hand to her forehead.
"Who owns all this shit?" Michael asks, gesturing to the business district.
"That's Takashi territory."
"Could you take us to him?"
"Er, we're kinda in the middle of scoutin-"
"Beans." Michael interrupts, tossing a couple tins of beans he'd retrieved from his inventory.
"DEAL!"
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Michael and the others walk into a finely furnished room that looks distinctly different from the harsh mangled exterior that everything else in the apocalyptic world had. Expensive carpets, beautiful hardwood furniture, working electronics, and ever a jukebox on the corner playing a chipper tune...
Over on one of the fancy couches sat a bearded more muscled Takashi with a more mature-looking Rei resting her head on his lap.
"Hmph, I'm surprised you don't have a harem of girls at your feet like Jabba the Hutt." Saya snarks.
"S-Saya!?" Takashi happily exclaims, accidentally knocking Rei's head away as he stands. Worse, she scowls as he goes to wrap the pinkette in a hug, only for him to be denied as Saya holds up a hand.
"Stop right there Cuckashi. I'm not interested in getting between whatever you and Rei have got going on..." she states.
He lets out a huff despite still smiling, "Can you get past the 'Cuck' thing already? I already got enough of it from Kohta... How about we talk about what you've been up to since you left? Those robes look... Magical..." he awkwardly comments.
"I thought you and Kohta weren't friendly anymore?" Saya inquires, ignoring his blatant attempt at flirting... Rei had also noticed it and was glaring daggers into Takashi's back.
Takashi's smile fades as he slumps slightly, "Kohta has... Changed..."
"Changed how?"
...
Takashi reaches over to a drawer and pulls out a photo, showing it to the group.
There, they see the 'changes'... Instead of the fat otaku-looking Kohta they all remember, they see a large shirtless teen with big muscles, an evil grin, and many straps of ammo covering him. That combined with the red bandana he wore made him look like Asian Rambo...
"Wow, Fatty lost weight..." Saya says, shocked at the radical changes the guntaku had gone through.
"Fatty got stacked." Michael adds, sincerely surprised that he'd changed so much... He shouldn't really be though, in a zombie apocalypse there were some benefits to losing weight and becoming the embodiment of 'Alpha as fuck'.
"Yeah, that's what every else thought, then he got it in his head that he could tell everyone what to do and think... Really, he's gone crazy!"
"Uh huh... What's he done that's 'crazy'?" Michael asks, not trusting Takashi's version of things in the slightest.
"He's joined up with the Takagi estate and started working as a commander of sorts... They go around the area killing both people and zombies. Seriously, if you run into him-... Er, well, do what you want I guess?" he says, realising who he was talking to.... "Just don't trust his word, he's not sane anymore..."
"So if we wanted to talk to him we'd have to go to the Takagi estate then...?"
"Yeah..."
"Alright."
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The group soon learns from Takashi and Rei that the government had essentially splintered into many smaller factions led by their respective leaders. These factions owned military installations and everything that involved that, meaning they had access to an arsenal of guns, vehicles, and other useful things.
A few of these groups were actually fighting with Takashi's group to try and reclaim the city, since Takashi's territory was almost directly in the center and had long been cleared of zombies, it was now the perfect place to set up for future operations.
The high buildings, tough structures, and relatively good condition streets made it essentially an urban fortress. Anyone invading the area would have to fight against 'Urban Guerrilla Warfare', something Takashi's group had gotten quite good at apparently.
There were makeshift bridges, ladders, and stairs that led from one rooftop to the next, allowing Takashi's group to always have the high ground advantage. They'd also barricaded the first floor of most buildings, making it difficult to reach the rooftop unless you knew the secret entrances and paths.
There was also the ability to hide and ambush to take into account... When you're surrounded by buildings and windows, you'd have no idea where suppressed gunshots were coming from, especially if there was no muzzle flash.
To make things even more difficult for invaders, Takashi's group had actually trapped zombies randomly in the first floors of buildings while collapsing the stairs leading upwards. This meant that any unprepared force attempting to reach the rooftops much just run straight into a horde... These preparations were the main reason why Takashi's group had thrived and lasted this long despite their rather minimal supplies.
For the information, Michael shared some fresh meat and vegetables with the duo, having Tiffania cook it up with all the spices that you couldn't get in the apocalypse. Saya then eagerly recalled her adventures to them, taking great satisfaction in Rei's jealous and angry reactions.
She showed them some spells, some artifacts, some books, and even some photos she'd taken with Tiffania, causing the survivors to gape at the alternate world that was denied to them. This wasn't really a factor anymore since the Daedric Princes were forced from Tamriel, Michael could take them with him if he wanted... But he was pretty against it anyway...
Michael also introduced Megumin and Tiffania to them properly this time. And both were surprised to learn that Megumin was summoned from a different world entirely. The explosion girl told them a couple stories of her home world, and barely managed to keep her chuunibyu side from showing, though, from her outfit it was kind of self-explanatory.
They both seemed to like Tiffania, comparing her to the kind, big-boobed, air-headed nurse Marikawa, who apparently served as a doctor over in the Takagi estate with her girlfriend Rika Minami.
During the time he and the others spent there, it was obvious that Rei wasn't happy with her situation... Sure, she loved Takashi, but love only went so far when you lacked toilet paper... While they did have access to electricity, it wasn't enough that they could waste it on nonessential things, especially when some members of their group were denied that luxury entirely.
Michael felt kinda awkward the way Rei kept eying him up, Takashi's uncomfortable shuffling made it apparent he felt it too. Whether or not she saw him romantically, or just a free ticket out of the hellhole she found herself in, he wasn't interested.
"Has anyone told you that you're ageing nicely?" Rei asks Michael, causing the atmosphere to still...
"So, what happened to Busujima?" Takashi asks, attempting to change the subject.
"Her? Well, she's like something from a Shounen Anime... As soon as she learned this language she left and joined a mercenary group called the Companions... Then she left them to wander the desert in search of 'Ancient Martial Arts'... Then she ACTUALLY finds them! Comes back, cuts a dragon's arm off, and is now trying to bang Michael here!" Saya quickly explains events.
"I see.... Why isn't she here then? Did she not want to visit?" he asks, sounding sad at the lost opportunity.
Michael shrugs, "Probably, there isn't much left in this world for her. No family, no enemies..."
"No enemies? Zombies still exist you know, plus the other survivors that're actually worse most of the time!" Rei states, quietly stewing in indignant anger.
Michael shakes his head, "No enemies, meaning, no one worth her attention... I don't think you understand just how strong she's gotten. She CUT the wing off of a dragon. A creature bigger than a tank, can fly, can use incredibly powerful magic, and has scales stronger than most metals you can think of... She did this with a sword, no magic involved."
"But, it hasn't been that long... How has she gotten that strong?" Takashi asks as his own improvement in comparison made him feel like jumping off of the roof.
"Plot armour." Saya mutters, knowing that she couldn't fight Saeko at her current level... She was a researcher, not a fighter, even with magic involved.
"Well, it's partly because the world is bathed in magic, passively enhancing the physiques of everyone in it. She also fought in large-scale warfare against some angry elves that think themselves superior to everyone else." Michael shakes his head, "Anyway, unless there's something else, I think we should head to the Takagi Estate, I'm kind of interested in what Kohta's gotten up to."
"I'll see if my parents are alright... Papa is stupid enough to think standing on the frontlines is a good idea, even when people are shooting at you..." Saya says.
"A-are you sure? D-don't you want to stick around and relax for a bit? You said that this was your vacation right?" Takashi stumbles over his words.
"Yeah, it's better here than that concentration camp they call a 'base'." Rei adds, locking eyes with Michael.
Michael stands, "We're good. Plus, this place can hardly be called 'Vacation worthy', if Saya didn't have family here I don't think we would've come back at all.
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