Ruin spread across the landscape. The walk through the gate revealed the desolate city to the seven souls. Once magnificent buildings crumbled on the horizon. Complex roadways and bridges, old engineering feats, led to unusable paths and cliffs. Roadways lay bare, littered with husks of vehicles. s, rotting on the sides of buildings, were the only reminder of an old hopeful future. The sun illuminated the desolation, accompanied by a soft breeze. Standing in the ruins, one could feel alone in the neglected district.

  In silent respect, the group stood morbidly enamored by the decay before them. They all took in the landscape, but Ceri did not. She caught glimpses of the sight above, before returning to the ground as if comfort could be found there.

  Baba looked to see Ceri’s state and put her hand on Ceri’s shoulder. “This was your home,” Baba said gently, “If you can’t bare being here, then you can leave. Give us directions to the laptop, and we can find our way there ourselves. Don’t hurt yourself for us.”

  Ceri kept her usual neutral expression, holding back all emotion. She replied, “I appreciate the sentiment, but I promised to take you all there, and I will.” Her feet began the march towards the district, speaking to the group on the way. “The apartment is on the west side of town. It’ll take us the entire day to get there by foot. Don’t waste time looking at a tragedy.” Her command brought everyone back to the mission at hand, and they moved onward.

  Ceri led them onto a highway bridge which gave them an aerial view of the district. More of the decaying state of the district opened itself to their eyes. A large dark blot within the district drew attention to itself. The dark area was nearly flat with no buildings standing around. Through the darkness, there were litters of gray and green spots which were as wide as the buildings nearby. The focal point was a dark pit. The bottom could not be seen and acted as a portal to the infinite dark abyss.

  With one look, Miracle concluded what it might be and dared to ask Ceri. “Is that Cerebral Corp?” they asked quite bluntly. The group all gawked at the large spot, but Ceri could only face the other way. Not turning her head to Miracle, she solemnly replied, “Yes. The epicenter of the explosion. The main lab and building nearby were incinerated into ash.” She began to pick up her movements away from the sight. “Leave it be. It’s nothing but a gravesite now.” Satisfied with the view, the group continued onward.

  The bridge they were traversing began to slope down back to the streets into a fourway stop. The fading pavement marked the ground next to the crooked road signs. The center of this stop had a deep pit which emanated a faint green smoke. Ceri leaned forward and immediately gestured for the group to stop. “Hold your breath and cover your nose,” she commanded before doing so herself. Sensing her urgency, the group copied without question. Without nose or mouth, Miracle casually watched the group commit to the same gesture. The group all followed Ceri in a hurry to get away from the area, as Miracle strolled from behind.

  Ceri led them a decent distance away from the pit before releasing her breath. Following suit, the group wheezed as they made up for lost breath. Miracle plainly asked, “Why did we evacuate the area so suddenly? Did it have something to do with the green smoke?”

  Ceri, still taking deep breaths, answered, “Those were- Mutating Cells. They’re residue from the explosion.” Delighted, Miracle replied, “Oh good. We have been in need of Cells. I shall go gather them for our supplies.” They turned to start walking back, but Ceri grabbed their hand shouting, “Don’t!” Miracle stopped with minimal resistance and in a confused tone asked, “Why? Are those Cells unusable??”

  Ceri calmed herself down, preparing an answer. “Those Cells are an unstable type of Exhausted Cells. If those Cells touch or you breathe in too much, you risk turning into a mutant. I suppose you would be an exception though.”

  Medoe hurriedly began to scratch all over afraid residue somehow managed to get on him. He frantically asked, “What? How? Since when do Cells turn you into those bloodthirsty mutants?”

  Ceri replied in a harsh tone, “Mutants are not bloodthirsty monsters. They are just like everyone else except their bodies have been forcibly morphed.” Medoe stopped his scratching and coiled back in shame. Ceri resumed back in her lecture tone, “We are all made up of magical Cells, not to be confused with our normal cells. When Cells leave residue, the magical energy is mostly gone and the physical substance is dormant. That would be Exhausted Cells. However, when certain experimentation is done on Cells, they can retain a sort of chaotic energy, creating the residue of Mutating Cells.”

  The more Ceri accounted for, the more she started to become distant. “The chaotic energy of Mutating Cells mixes with our bodie’s magical Cells creating an unknowable amount of affects. Your arm may get its own arm, your skin could become stone, your tongue may have conversations of its own, and you might get-” She could not bring herself to say anymore. Her head drooped to the ground, looking away from everyone. She barely muttered out, “It can be identified by its dark green liquid, constant bubbling, and green vapor.” With barely any energy left, she plopped onto a nearby, miraculously surviving, bench.

  Baba approached Ceri and with a concerned tone asked, “Are you feeling well? You don’t look and sound so well.” Ceri crouched on the seat, putting her hand to her head. She muttered, “It’s just been a lot to take in, seeing my home like this. I just can’t stand the sight of it. I thought being away for so long would dull this moment, but it did nothing.”

  Like a corpse she arose. Baba wanted to comfort her, but felt as if no words could truly help. Ceri staggered ahead of the group, saying, “I don’t want to go anymore, but I’ll keep my promise to you. Once that laptop is gone, the sooner I can leave.” She resumed her leading with only the sense of obligation keeping her upright.

  The road they wandered upon used to be a bustling city street. Shells of former restaurants and shops all aligned the base of the buildings. The apartment windows above clinged like mysterious pictures of a forgotten past. The pavement was littered with rubble small and large from the structures nearby and from elsewhere in the district.

  Billy recounted to the group, “I remember walkin down a road like this in the district. It really was lively.” Medoe in wonder asked, “I never got a chance to visit here. What was it like?”

  Baba cut in saying, “The people were a bit cold and distant. Always focused on their work, they never seemed to regard strangers unless it was their job too. They always seemed to be in the future, never the present.”

  Billy, a tad annoyed, answered, “Their hard work was what made them great. That’s why they were great. They put it in the hours and got the results. When I visited as a child, their inspiration gave me the guidance needed in my life.”

  Ceri in slow tone spoke, “It was easy to get lonely here. We had such a culture of work that most would forget having friends is a necessity not a luxury. Baba’s right. We were too busy looking ahead and not around.”

  She stumbled more cliently, and Mimi asked in a rare genuine tone, “Did you have friends Ceri? Or were you also lonely?” Keeping her defeated tone, Ceri answered, “I did have friends. But after that day, I wish I never did. I’m now far more alone than before.”

  The group kept their pace through the streets. Most of the group were either lost in thought or focused straight ahead, not Voltaire. His eyes kept a lookout for anything suspicious to which they happened upon. To their left and right, large pieces of debris coincidentally blocked the view of the alleys behind. Up ahead the head of a defaced statue about ten feet in height perfectly sat in the middle of the street. The lighting falsely pretended to be an ally. The setting sun ment the street was only halfway filled with light, making it difficult for an unfamiliar eye to spot threats. However, if one were familiar with the surroundings, it would be no problem to see movements in the middle of the road.

  Voltaire briskly caught up to Ceri and whispered, “ My gut instinct is telling me there’s an ambush around us. We need to act before they get the jump on us.” Ceri and the group stopped sensing something amiss. Ceri froze in contemplation. The group was not ready for a fight. Only Mimi and Voltaire could take on multiple foes, and maybe Baba and Billy could help. Without Cells however, she and Medoe would be useless with Miracle only being decent without Cells.

  She gestured to Billy who promptly came over, and she whispered for him to lure out the ambushers. Billy doubted the decision, but without knowing the enemy's numbers, it was the best option available. Clearing his throat, he vocally spoke aloud, “Hello there friends! It’s rude to be hiding around. Why don’t y'all come out and have a chat.”

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  From the shadows emerged, the cackling of many voices, coming from behind the debris blocking the alley, and the one ahead. Their silhouettes mirrored that of a person but their bodies revealed themselves to be twisted and morphed. One had multiple mouths spread throughout the body and another had bone-like spikes piercing through the skin. All of them wearing rudimentary armor made from scrap. On the chest plate of each armor was a poorly painted emblem of white wings which caught the eye of Ceri.

  Standing in the center, an eight foot tall stood above everyone. The armor only covered the chest and thighs exposing their hairy, scarred, muscular arms and legs. Hair thick enough to be called fur popped from behind the armor. The mutant’s head was not of a man, but of a bear already in low growl. The mutant spoke in a deep, howling tone mixing between the sounds of both man and animal. “Your instincts are sharp to have noticed our ambush,” he growled, “But that will be the end of your luck.”

  Counting the heads of the mutants, Ceri noticed a pair of mutants each to their left and right. The mutants lied ahead with two soldiers and the boss. An even number of bodies but because of Medoe and Ceri, it became an uneven fight. To give a clue about their situation, she whispered into Billy’s ear about the numbers.

  Billy confirmed with a nod and continued the negotiation. Speaking with a clear, potent voice, one could be fooled into thinking he had always prepared his speech. “Why, I must agree with you sir. You see, my compatriots and I are on a simple journey through the district and rather not put up a fight. However, I know when folks set an ambush up, it’s not to surprise your enemy with mercy. We don’t got much to offer, but my pack here is filled with a few items. Let’s make a deal. I give y'all the pack and nobody gets hurt today.”

  Noticing the weapon on the group and their robot, he calculated the worth of the fight. He in no way doubted, his men and he could ever lose a fight, but suffering injuries is still a dull task. No bags could be found among them except for the one Billy mentioned. The boss readied to agree, but Ceri caught his eye.

  “That woman with you,” he snarled while pointing to Ceri, “She fits the description of the one our master wants. We will take her instead.” The group looked to see Ceri’s confused yet terrified look. She uttered to the group, “I’m not sure what they’re talking about. They must be confusing me for someone else.”

  Billy took the answer and echoed back, “You must be confused because she hasn’t been here in ten years. Besides, even if she was, we’d never give her up.” Billy subtly put his hand on his gun.

  The boss roared to his soldiers, “Come on team. Take the woman and kill the rest. Our lives will be set once she is taken!” With the command given, the mutants began to rush down the group. “Run!” Ceri shouted, making her way backwards. Most of the group followed, but Mimi stayed behind. “You all go ahead. I can hold them off!” she cried with complete confidence.

  Ceri turned around to get Mimi back, but Voltaire put his hand on her shoulder saying, “She’s a lost cause. She’ll be like this in any fight we’re in. Let’s just go.” Ceri only returned a terrified look, and without thought, she returned into the fray. Voltaire rolled his eyes and drew his rapier joining in the charge. Billy released the bag from his back with gun in hand joining the fray. Baba and Miracle followed from behind, but Medoe, who was furthest away, froze in the sight of his team leaving him. Frantically looking for somewhere to hide, he disappeared into a nearby shop.

  Ceri commanded Voltaire to hold off the boss while Baba and Miracle each took on one mutant nearby. She and Billy would help Mimi take on the four mutants. In the heat of battle, they took to her plan without question.

  Mimi did her best in holding off four mutants but was slowly being overtaken. Billy shot at one, failing to make a killing blow. This aggravated mutant, which took its focus towards Billy and charged him. With Ceri approaching, two of the mutants left their focus on Mimi to attack Ceri. Mimi left with one mutant and easily dispatched them in a few swings of her hammer. Ceri ran away from the two mutants chasing her and found a glass shard from a close by broken window. Holding it up to her neck, she commanded, “Any step closer, and you fail to bring me to your master.” The mutants stopped for a brief moment before snickering. One of them laughed through their multiple mouths, “You won’t do it. Those eyes of yours match that of a coward.” Ceri looked at the razor edge shard in her hands, and while facing the reality of the threat, she quickly dropped it from her hand.

  With a smile, she smugly stated,“I didn’t need to kill myself. Just slow you down.” Before the two mutants could react, Mimi and Billy attacked from behind making quick work of the mutants. With quick thanks given, they moved to help the others.

  Baba faced a mutant on her own. No expression of emotion emerged as she danced around the enemy’s attack. Her movements perfectly flowed into rhythmic strikes. Any attack that seemed to get near was quickly redirected back towards the sender. After a few minutes, Baba wore down the mutant and knocked them unconscious. With her enemy on the ground, she stared blankly upon her work. She looked at her now bloodied hands and simply could not feel.

  Miracle when dealing with their mutant, held back their strikes. Killing a corpse never bothered Miracle but hurting a sentient being caused hesitation. The mutant took the opportunity to land attacks on the hesitating machine. Every strike into Miracle created a dent into their bronze shell.

  The opponent bashed the side of Miracle’s head causing their system to become discoordinated. Falling to the ground, Miracle felt the code begin to overwrite itself. The Error flashed in their mind on repeat. It again was attempting to emerge. An audible, “No!” could be heard from the machine. Using its Cells, Miracle jumped to their feet and with a quick strike knocked out their enemy to the ground barely alive.

  Seeing the vulnerable enemy on the ground, the code for the Error grew stronger. Miracle fell to their knees as the creaking sounds of metal began to emanate from their body. Miracle slowly struggled to open their chest with their own body fighting back and in a quick motion, ripped out the vial of Cells inside. Relief set in as they returned back to motionless metal.

  Facing the boss alone, Voltaire chuckled, “I need to give some thanks to you. I’ve been having a few bad days lately, and I needed to let off some steam. Unfortunately, you decided to attack first, and I have no remorse in killing someone if it’s self defense.” Only a menacing grin was returned in response.

  Voltaire shot his bolts of magic towards the boss who charged through with no resistance. Quickly Voltaire’s blade stabbed into the skin of his opponent, but it stopped short. Like stabbing into a thick hide, the skin was almost impenetrable. Voltaire retracted the blade intending another, but the bare fist of the enemy crashed into his side. The cracking of ribs could be heard, followed by the spewing of blood. Falling to his knees, Voltaire could not grasp the sheer force of the blow. Was this mutant truly ever human? His consciousness faded to the wicked grin of a true beast.

  The boss raised his foot ready to crush Voltaire beneath, but the scratch of a bullet drew his attention to the other four still standing. The man below him was no threat, so he focused his effort on getting the target. Dropping to all fours, he charged forward.

  Mimi stepped up first and stopped the boss in his tracks. Locking her hands with his, she held the boss in place giving an opportunity for the others to attack, but seeing his vulnerable position, he tore into the neck of Mimi using his bear jaws. The pain sent Mimi into shock allowing the boss to push her aside. Baba intended to escape the situation, but before she could begin her dance, he was upon her instantly knocking her out with a blow to the head. Billy shouted to Ceri, “Get out of here-” yet he could not finish for the boss tore into Billy’s side.

  Ceri stood petrified. In less than a minute, the group fell apart. She could not run. She could not dare to. The boss slowly approached her and grabbed her by the neck. He growled into her ear, “I was told that once you’re taken in. Justice will be served. I don’t know what that means, but I do know, I’ll finally get everything I lost back.”

  Darting her eyes, she looked desperately for anything that could help the situation. Her eyes fell upon Medoe who peeked their head around the corner. She could only mouth the words, “Help Me” with her pleading eyes, but Medoe hid back around the corner. He curled himself into a ball and awaited for the nightmare to be over.

  Before consciousness could fade away from a Ceri, a large figure fell behind the boss. Standing about the same size, this figure was covered in bloated with saggy skin and muscle. Its back carried a large clump of skin causing them to hunch forward. Their right arm was normal sized but comparatively small to the rest of the body. The other arm bloated with muscle mass being larger than the figure itself, extending towards the ground and the shoulder reaching above the head. Black oily hair curtained the face of a stoic mutant. Without a word, the figure put their oversized hand over the head of the boss and crushed the skull.

  Ceri dropped to the ground, gasping for breath. The figure extended their large hand to her. She gently grasped the finger and stood up. “Thank you," she gasped, “May I ask who has helped us?” The figure in a deep voice calmly replied, “I’m Los. I heard the fighting nearby and came to help. Sorry, you had to deal with them. I promise not all us mutants are like them.”

  The mesmerizing sight of the battle laid before her as she asked, “Who were they?” Los answered plainly, “They call themselves the Emissary’s of Justice. They serve some sort of master claiming to bring justice to the district, but all they do is rob and kill. Delusional, but I can’t blame them. We’re all desperate for purpose now.”

  She remained silent, neglecting to mention the fact that they wanted to capture her. Instead, she quickly asked, “We need help. That mutant left us gravely injured, and they won’t survive unless we get some Cells. Do you have some to spare?”

  Los looked around the corpses of the mutants, the ones who were spared have since fled, and he answered, “If you use the Cells to help my friends, you may use them for yours as well.” Ceri agreed to the conditions.

  With great ease, Los gathered all the bodies of both the dead mutants, barely living people, and lifeless machines, putting them over his large shoulder. As they began to walk, Ceri called for Medoe to follow. Keeping his head low, he approached the two only giving a small wave of hello, and they followed Los further into the neglected district.