Dust Ball

Iort looked around at what was once considered the “Big Apple”. Now it was just a city of shambles. New York was always a target for attacks, but no one thought that day would actually come. He couldn’t remember it for it happened before he was born. Sometimes he wondered how it was back then. Was it this bad?

Iort thoughts were cut off when his bus arrived. He got on and paid with his I.D. Everyone’s I.D. has their bank account on it so hardly anyone pay with real money these day. Whatever you earned went straight to your account. It made things easier, especially for robbers. Yuiiop it was bad at one point! He never thought it was possible to get robbed four times in one day.

The police didn’t help matters. In fact some of them were doing the robbing! Pay cuts have forced many of them to do “other” things in order to make a decent living. Guns for hire and willing to do anything for the right price. Having one on the bus didn’t help. The blue haired cop gave him a look as he took a seat in the front.

The bus made its next stop and someone else got on. The Asian male quickly looked him over. Iort took out his Tuwer Pendant and showed it to him. He was no fool; he knew what he wanted. The Vampire went to the next person who was the cop and unfortunately for him didn’t have one.

“YUPPERS!” Yelled a green haired girl sitting in the back. The Vampire looked up from his meal and glare at the girl. She produced a Tuwer Pendant and clutched it for dear life. “Noppers, I'm sorry.”

No one knew why, but for some strange reason the Tuwer Pendant was able to keep Vampires at bay. That was good since there were so many living in the city. There were so many different species living here. He was no exception. He was the son of a fallen angle and human. He tore out his wings when he shamed his family and had come here to get away from everything.

Iort was trying to figure out what the girl was when it hit him. She was a human! He thought most of them were wiped out in the nuclear holocaust. Those who survived were mutated into Vampires, Shadow Fuets and other exotic species. It was weird to see a human and a real human at that.

The bus sped along missing the next stop. He looked up to see the Vampire snacking on the bus driver.

“Don’t he’s driving the bus!” Iort screamed. The Vampire kept on sucking the life out of the bus driver while they were heading toward a building. “OH YUIIO…”

Smoke drifted lazily over what was left of the bus. Iort sat up and quickly regretted it. Pain shot throughout his body as he got up. It looked like he was in an apartment building. Behind him lay the bus, which had flipped sideways and was now on fire. Iort was about to see if anyone was inside when he was grabbed from behind.

“Missing something?” The Vampire asked mockingly as he threw Iort into a wall. Irot went through the wall into the room behind it. Irot managed to get up and said:

Iort looked frantically for his Pendant but didn’t see it anywhere. He groaned to himself. He didn’t have a choice but to fight. This wasn’t a simple robbery; this was life and death. He pulled a simple jade cross, attached to a rope, off his neck and let in hang in his hand.

Slowly he concentrated and the cross took on the form of a sword and grew in size. The sword gave off a light green glow. Iort looked the Vampire in the eyes as he hefted the sword behind his back. The Vampire didn’t look impressed in the slightest.

“I’d like to see that sword stop bullets.” The Vampire said casually as he pulled a pistol out and fired. Iort dodged to the left and shot a green blast from his sword. It caught the Vampire square in the chest and sent him crashing into the bus.

Inside the bus the green haired girl, whose name was Asd, laid inside the bus dying. Slowly blackness crept into her vision. She was unaware of the Vampire who laid just inches from her. She was also unaware of all the Shadow Fuets that swarm around her.

Shadow Fuets were actual dead people shadows. Even without a living body their will to live caused their shadow to remain. Shadow Fuets can take over people’s bodies when they near death. One of the Shadow Fuets was already in the process of doing so.

Asd awoke with a pain in her legs. It felt like her legs were on fire and soon the burning sensation reached her waist. She looked at her legs and saw a shadow making it’s way up her body. A Shadow Fuet! There was no way she was letting it have her body. She fought it with everything she had, but it was no use. It still crept up her body.

She took her Tuwer Pendant off and broke it open. The contents sprinkle across her and the Shadow Fuet, casting a blinding white light everywhere and then there was nothing.

Iort walked out of the hospital slightly dazed. The last thing he remembered was a blinding white light and then nothing. The doctor said they were found by police and that all survivors of the crash were brought in. Lucky break for him they thought it was an accident.

He was still a little woozy and he wasn’t sure what he was seeing. The green haired girl was having a fight with one of her shadows. Why did she have two shadows? The first one belonged to her, but the second looked like it belonged to a male. He didn’t see anyone else around her, so how could there be two?

The green haired girl was clearly upset and gave the finger to her extra shadow. The Shadow returned the gesture and Iort swore that the shadow actually laughed. This only enraged the girl further and she made an effort to stomp on it. The Shadow made an effort to get away, but its right arm got hit. The Shadow jumped three feet in the air in pain.

The girl looked at him like he was stupid and pointed at the shadow. “Geez, I don’t know maybe I a tab freak out having a second shadow and all! By the way the name Asd and you stop pointing at me!”

People on the street were puzzle why Asd was yelling at her shadow. Asd notice their stares and snap:

Iort cover her mouth before she could said anything. Mouthing off was a bad thing to start off with. Mouthing off while you’re on the bottom of the food chain was just asking for death. Sure enough two Zerts headed their direction.

Zerts are human like creatures save for the fact that they merge with metal due to the attack. Random chunks of metal decorated their skin. Their skin was whatever their skin color was before mixed with the color of the metal they merge with. The results weren’t always pretty.

What made a Zert dangerous wasn’t their metal body. They are very unstable and once in feud with someone they won’t stop until the person dead or started a new one. The copper tinted Zert stopped mere meters from them and stare Asd down.

The cyan tinted Zert smiled and reveal mostly metal teeth. “What were saying little girl?”

“I think she was mouthing off.” Copper chipped in. “There’s a reason why there so few of you “humans” left.

“You mouth off to the wrong people and get killed. Cyan continue. Unknow to all Asd’s Shadow Fuet was reaching out for Copper feet. One of the Shadow Fuet’s hand turned into a knife and stabbed Copper feet. Copper screamed out in pain and knocked his hand into Cyan by accident.

“She somehow stabbed me in the foot. Oh she’ll be begging for death when I done with her!”

Needing no second bidding Iort and Asd took off. The only bad thing about being a Zert is your speed. Due to their weight, a average Zert weights four tons, they were incredibly slow. Unfortunately for them the two Zerts were children and didn’t weigh as much, hence being able to move just as quick as them.

“YOU JUST HAD TO OPEN YOUR MOUTH!” Iort yelled as they turned a corner. It led them to a dead end. It was times like these that Iort miss his wings. He did see a glimmer of hope in a parking lot. If they could get over the gate on the other side they could lose them. He ran toward it with all that he had.

Asd hurried to catch up with Iort when she tripped. Seconds later a car flew overhead and nearly smashed into Iort. She turned to see that it was het Shadow Fuet that had saved her. “Thanks for the save Shady! Now to get out of here.”

The two Zerts had caught up to them and were throwing cars at them. Asd rolled beind a car so she wouldn’t be hit. The slavo ended and she found herself looking up at Cyan. She felt Shady go up her body and into her hand. Shady took on the shape of a spear and she thrust it upwards. Lucky for Cyan he moved back and the spear only glazed his cheek.

Cyan went to throw a punch on her, but she dodge it and stabbed him in arm. “I’ll be begging for what when I done with you? What now!” Asd said as she struck out again. This time the spear lodged itself deep in Cyan side. Cyan next punch caught her in the chest and sent her stumbling back.

The Shadow Spear stay stuck in Cyan side and remain attached to Asd’s hand by a chain. Cyan used the chain to fling her back to him and knocked her back.

“I said you be be begging for death once I done with you! Oh, I’m going to enjoy this.”

Pure hatred radiated from Asd as she got up. Little did the Zert know those were his last words.

“Shady expand in this loser until he no more!” Asd command. Cyan reached for the Spear inside him, but it was too late. Parts flew everywhere as his body tore apart. The sight was overwhelming for her and found herself throwing up. Next time she would try something a little less disgusting.

Asd looked up to see Iort fighting Copper.Asd was about to go help when a bullet flew by and hit the Zert in the back. There standing in the entrance of the parking lot was the Asian Vampire from before and five others Vampires.

Smoke slowly rosed from the barrow of the Asain Vampire pistol. One of the other Vampire spoke:

“Yup those two did. He didn’t, but since he here might as well killed him too. Leave none alive!”

The Vampires with gun blazing rain death upon them. Copper silence two of them by smashing them with a car. Iort did battle with both Deuif and Copper soon after that. The remaining two Vampires went after Asd. They battle it out for a few minutes before the cops came and all hell broke loose.

Iort made it over the gate and soon found Asd and Deuif behind him. The Vampire gave him a wink as he fired a final shot at the cops. “That Zert giving them hell. Now they going to be looking for us. There’s going to be nowhere we can hide in the city.”

“What’re you talking about? There no way outta the city! We surrounded by deadly water on one side and mountains higher than the clouds.”

“I got in here didn’t I? I can get us out. We just have to use the old subway system to get to Penn Station. There we follow the old Metro North tracks and we home free.”

“You’re mad! The Gernet is down there plus who knows what! No one comes back alive once they goes there.”

“Who are you?” Asd asked. Iort suddenly seemed different. Like a great burden had been given to him.

“Don’t worry about that. Just worry about keeping yourself alive.” Iort said as he broke the boards to a subway station entrance. Since the attack a number of hostile creatures made the subway their home. The city had since forbid anyone from going down there. Last time he went through those tunnels he almost lost his life. Now he had two people to watch out for. Darkness consumed them as they entered the station.