The Hunt

A few minutes before:

"Alan…" Alice spoke to Alan with a serious tone, "Don't act suspicious, but look behind you." Alan carefully panned his head and noticed Marshal standing in a daze.

"What of it?" He said as if it were normal, "He zones out from time to time."

"Not him directly…" She sighed, "Look to the right, at Evangela." Alan looked at Evangela from the corner of his eye and noticed a strange green glow being emitted from her. "It seems like she's become a wielder, but not a normal one."

"How so?" Alan turned back to the mountain of silver corpses in front of him.

"I'm not too certain but if my guess is true, then she may either be your biggest ally or your deadliest adversary." Black markings had begun to burn through Alan's pants. "I'm getting us out of here.

Almost immediately after saying that, Alan's legs no longer belonged to him and he bolted into the air. "Whoaa!!!" He was taken by surprise as he landed on the rooftop of a nearby building. Alan noticed Evangela looking at him in surprise from the ground below. Then without warning, his legs leaped into the air once more and onto a large self-driving, eighteen-wheeler that was passing by on the road behind the building.

"What the hell Alice!?" He cried out. "At least warn me. That fucking hurts like hell!!!"

"Sorry…." Alice sounded genuine this time around. "But I'm not trusting that girl."

"Jealous~," Alan said with a smug look.

"You can love who you want, just know that I'll continue to follow you no matter what."

"Boo…." Alan gripped the sides of the truck to prevent any chances of him falling off. "Anyways, where are we going and why don't you trust Evangela?"

Black markings receded from Alan's body, only by a little, and Alice spoke in a somewhat bothered tone, "To answer your first question: to where you had asked of me earlier. To your second question: while I have no proof, I believe that Evangela had bad contact with a very troublesome princess. I will not elaborate any further unless I see proof of her artifact."

Alan found her reasoning to be annoying but he understood. Given his track record, his relationship with Evangela was already rocky, despite how it may look to others from an outside perspective. But he wasn't entirely heartless towards her, he was fully aware that she had moved on from the past and had forgiven him for all the needless bullying for the past few years. This threw Alan in for a loop as he still saw her as a bratty, spoiled, rich girl who lacked manners.

"Hey…" Alan spoke to Alice with a serious tone, "I'm sorr-'' He was then suddenly interrupted by a loud explosion that left his ears ringing. Disoriented, he accidentally let go of the top of the truck and fell onto the road. Black markings appeared and a fireball was shot from under him that helped decrease that speed that he was moving at as he fell. However, he still landed with enough force to bruise his arms as Alice used them to cushion the fall.

"Owww…." Alan was unable to hear his own voice. He stood up on the side of the road with automated cars passing him by. He stumbled to the guard rail on the side and spotted a large silver doll fighting the edge of a river. Alan looked over the guard rail and noticed he was roughly 30 feet above the ground over a rushing river that spanned roughly 250 feet in width. "When did we…!?" Due to being unable to hear things in his surroundings, a small cleaning robot pushed him over the guard rail. "Damn machiiiiineeees!!!" He yelled out as he ungracefully plunged into the river below.

After he fell in, Alan quickly swam to the top and allowed himself to float on his back as he let the river current take him. After a few moments, he regained his ability to hear and Alice shouted at him.

"STOP IGNORING ME YOU SHIT HEAD!!!"

"Look who's talking," Alan flashed an annoyed smile, "but seriously, I couldn't hear anything, not even my own thoughts." Alan said in a relaxed manner while floating.

Alice made an angry grunt as she changed the subject, "So why aren't you leaving the water? It's not that wide."

Alan awkwardly looked away, as if he was talking to an actual person, "Heh...about that…."

Alice sighed in disappointment, "How the hell can't you swim? Also, why is this river so deep?"

Alan said nothing as he did not know the answer to either question. Alan stared up at the sky and then suddenly felt something wrap around his leg. Knowing his position, he resisted the urge to panic as he assumed that a jellyfish had just touched him.

"Ummm...Alan?" Alice voiced her concerns after hearing his thoughts, "Why would a jellyfish be in a river?"

Just before Alan could speak, the strange thing on his leg tightened and rapidly dragged him under the water, towards the concrete sides of the river. However, unfortunately for Alan, he forgot to hold his breath so he passed out after a few seconds.

"Pathetic…" A single line echoed deep in his mind.

After a few moments, Alan found himself on the lap of a very familiar girl whose beautiful face was ruined by smeared blood stains that didn't appear to belong to her. Alan tried to move but realized he couldn't. So he casually looked down and saw that he was bound in a thick fire blanket that was tied with a long, two-inch thick rope.

"..." Alan stared at Lucianna and she stared back. A sweet innocent smile was plastered on her face as she stared at the boy in her lap. Alice was strangely quiet about the situation, which made Alan think that there was a reason for Lucianna's sweet smile that hid her true emotions.

"So…" he broke that silence, "why am I bound?"

"Ask the demon inside." A familiar voice called out, a voice Alan vaguely remembers. He approached Alan with a large sniper on his back with a small girl by his side. "Oh, and the name is Jason, I'm a part of the EDPD."

Alan looked towards the little girl by his side. She was missing an arm and wore blood-stained silver clothing. Jason noticed his glaze.

"She was rescued before this ordeal started, as of any knowledge regarding her existence...I've got nothing. She's an emotionless mute to the boot." He patted her head with a bit of force, however, she showed no emotion.

"Why did you just tell me all this information? Aren't we enemies?" Alan stared blankly at Jason.

"I'm not one for this occultic shit, but there is an abundance of information that suggests that you have the ability to transverse time." Jason walked over to Alan with a small military pocket knife in hand. "And you seem a tad bit too calm for someone being the main event in this death game." He undid the binding and Alan stood up to stretch.

"Is being calm really valid proof though?" Alan asked in a confused way. He then walked towards the small girl. The girl tilted her head a little as if she knew what Alan was looking for. He paused for a brief moment as Jason continued to speak.

"Not strong proof, no. But my main reasoning resides in the fact that Linda is your guardian." Alan twitched a little. Jason noticed this and quickly tried to change his approach on the manner. "I mean no harm by that. I'm just saying that she didn't save you just out of the kindness of her heart. Knowing her, it was a form of repenting for her sins."

Alan stood quietly as he peered at the little girl's neck. "Hey," Alice called out with a worried tone, "worry about Linda later." Alan nodded and focused his attention back on the girl in front of him.

"Jason…" Alan said in a serious tone. I suppose working for the EDPD is your way of repenting?"

"In a way… yes, you could see it as that." Alan turned towards him with a smile that masked his true feelings.

"Thank you then."

"For what?"

"Saving this girl." Alan then motioned both Jason and Lucianna to him and showed them a strange silver marking on the girl's neck that resembled a quarter moon. "She was supposed to be an adversary in our lovely Masquerade, but it seems you saved her before the witching hour." The girl then nodded in affirmation.

Jason scratched his head, "Umm...no clue on what that symbol means, or how it relates to this ordeal, but you're welcome.

"Did he just not listen to a word I said?" Alan blankly stared at Jason.

"Heh...apparently he does that a lot." Lucianna walked to Alan with a pistol in one hand with three magazines in the other. "Here, take these." Alan blankly stared at her.

"Um...why?"

"Because you can take them with you, right?" She tilted her head a little.

"Pff!" Alan could help but laugh, "Still an airhead. But no, I cannot take them with me."

"O-oh, s-sorry." She quickly put away the firearm and its ammo walked towards the river. Alan smiled as she walked away.

"Oh boy…" Jason called out, "Teenagers need some decency nowadays." Alan rolled his eyes and turned back towards the small girl and she looked back at him with a curious stare.

"Emotionless maybe isn't the right word." The girl tilted her head. "Heh, don't worry about it. I'll heal you in a different world line." Time around Alan stopped. He then waited for it to resume before moving again. He walked towards the river bank and sat down and stared deeply at the river current. "So...Alice, what was that about?" He spoke directly to Alice.

Alice sighed, "I tried to escape after you were pulled out of the water, but that bounty hunter was more resourceful than I had expected."

"So in other words, your pride was damaged after being captured so easily." Alan was met with silence. He smiled softly at this and changed the topic, "So...it looks like we have a direction now." Small fish jumped from the river and splashed Alan in the face. "Huh? Things live in this river?"

"Apparently," Alice giggled, "I saw quite a few things under there. But back to the main topic, I suppose you have a point. Each group is being pursued by a 'commander' and when that 'commander' dies, their dolls and mind-controlled pawns stop functioning. To be honest, I didn't expect this, her powers must have weakened severely."

"Meaning?"

"Before, she was able to command a large group of people using similar masks. But now it seems she is only capable of controlling a small group as well as them controlling their own subgroups. We might be able to fight her head-on, but before that, we need to kill all of the 'commanders'. Their strength alone is already quite fearsome, So imagining them in a group fight sounds like a nightmare."

"Looks like someone is finally seeing the light over the mountain." Alan chucked.

"...Look, I still stand by the thought of you giving up, not just for your sake but also for my sake. But you're too stubborn, so I might as well help you see this through. I want to see you get crushed by your dreams of saving everyone. I want you to realize that you are only one person."

"I get it." Alan interrupted, "You want me to understand that I should stop tackling my problems alone like I've been doing. I understand that, but I do not wish to repeat the same mistakes as before. I want to ensure that I can do everything in my power to save others. I will not stand idly as I watch those around me die. If there is a 0.0001% chance to save someone, I will take that route."

"..." Alan was met with silence as he waited for Alice to speak. "Damn it...stop reminding me of him already. I want to love you, not him!" Alice spoke in an annoyed tone.

"..."

"...please respond Alan." Alice was now slightly embarrassed by her outburst.

"I'll keep it on the back burner," Alan said with a smile. He then stood up and took a single step towards Lucianna before Alice suddenly yelled,

"DASH TOWARDS HER AND THROW A FIREBALL TO HER RIGHT!!!"

Alan obeyed and used his mist to dash towards Lucianna and threw a fireball towards the opened field on her right. The fireball collided with something and it made a hissing sound as a figure began to materialize from out of nowhere. The figure appeared to be an android modeled after a woman with their body made out of carbon fiber with silver, metallic parts visible at the joints. The android had long silver hair and stared at Alan with crimson red eyes as her right arm transformed into an electrified blade. In response, Alan pushed Lucianna to Jason, who caught her, and pulled out the Crimson Princess, and faced the android. However, before he attacked it, a silver mist appeared beside him. He slightly turned his head, while keeping an eye on his opponent, and spotted the small girl standing next to him with a silver revolving hand cannon. Then, without warning, the android dashed towards the two and slashed at them. Alan shielded the girl with his blade and was pushed back by the recoil.

"Careful boy!" Jason called out, "That machine is an A. A. C. U., or advanced autonomous combat unit."

The machine then launched itself into the air and crashed down with an overhead strike that forced Alan to block upwards, leaving his body open. The android's back then revealed a small number of mini rocket chambers that launched out and targeted Alan's vulnerable state. Just before Alan had a chance to freeze time, a painfully loud series of gunshots were heard, followed by the sound of something exploding. Alan used his fire to push the android off and backed up. The machine then launched more rockets from its back, aimed towards Alan, and proceeded to launch itself into the air once more.

"Don't tell me its damn name!!!" Alan cried out as the android performed another mid-air overhead strike, "Tell me how to beat it-" A small rocket exploded and launched Alan towards the river. As Alan stood up, a swarm of mini rockets were just feet away from hitting him. But just as he tried to open his mouth to speak, another wave of painfully loud shots was heard, and all the rockets exploded instantaneously. The android backed off and analyzed the situation. Alan turned to face the source of the noise and found the small girl with her hand cannon's barrel smoking. The two made eye contact and nodded as Alan rushed the machine.

"If you want to beat it you need to end the battle as quickly as possible," Jason said as Alan used his flames to blast himself into the air. "This android is based on a prototype Linda had made during her work before the quake." Alan attempted to mirror the attack that the machine did to him, but missed. His blade was stuck in the ground and the machine used this as a golden opportunity to strike. The machine used its blade to strike his back, however, Alice took control and parried the strike, and punched the machine, causing minor damage to its left arm. Alan made a sour face in response to punching it as Jason continued, "It's a self-learning AI that can adapt to any combat style as long as it's seen it once. So the same move will not work twice."

"What the hell!?" Alan called out as he removed his sword from the ground.

"We may not be ready for this fight." Alice said, "It appears to be well versed in close quarters combat. And while you may also be skilled in that, it is made of metal."

"I'M AWARE!!!" Alan cried out as his fist remembered the feeling of punching the android, "But what do we do?" The android stood at a distance, waiting for Alan to make a move.

"Run." Alice said with no remorse. Alan turned towards the others and as if they read his mind, they all nodded. "See, they understand."

"Alice...no never mind. We share the same body, if I die you die. So I'll listen." Alan reluctantly called his mist and placed his weapon inside of it.

As he did that, the android attempted to rush him but was stopped by a sniper round that ricocheted off its torso. The bullet caused little damage to the frame but a few more would prove fatal. The android then changed targets and rushed Jason as Alan fled the scene.

After a few minutes of running, a calming chime echoed throughout the air as the morning sunset revealed the damaged city. In response, Alan fell to his knees and a drone descended from the sky and opened an air console displaying the results from the night.

Event Results:

Alan Macemon/ Alice Crimemila - Wounded/Alive

Isabelle Visage - Dead

Renne Norn - Alive

Sigmore Sawyer - Alive

Evangela Seamon - Alive

Marshal Hook - Alive

Audrey Rosa - Wounded/Alive

Mary Newton - Dead

Jason Lancaster - Dead

Lucianna Penton - Dead

Experiment #7690 - Dead

Total: 6 Alive, 5 Dead

"..."

"..."

Alan and Alice blankly stared at the information given. Without words, Alan pulled out his sword and destroyed the drone with an empty expression.

"Why…, how did we do worse than last time!?" Alan cried out. He fell back down to his knees in defeat.

"It seems like you have to go a certain way. That drone was watching us the whole time, so maybe they have multiple scenarios prepared for you, depending on where you go first. Choosing Isabelle will have you encounter three foes."

"Three?" Alan tilted his head. "I only remember that silver chain dude."

"Those 'messengers' we met, they seem very suspicious. But to continue, if you chose Audrey, you might be able to save her, but you'll never make it in time to save Mary. If you repeat what you did today...no never mind. I don't have enough proof for that."

"?" Alan was confused by Alice's sudden self-restraint as she thought about the outcome of the current night. Then, a crimson glow emitted from Alan's neck, indicating the end of the run.

"Another round of suffering, eh?" Alice said with no emotion. "Just remember Alan, I won't hold it against you if you give up."

"You won't need to, because I'm not giving up. We will suffer together."

"Heh, you overestimate your willpower." Then the world faded to black as the cycle began anew.