The 13th Hierarchical City of Kagutsuchi- A Fight... Concluded?
Relius simply watched in amusement as the man decided to try and toss Ignis into the air, an action which he himself was unable interrupt on his own solely based on how
stupid it would've been to try and intercept a bulky man flying in midair to smash something into the ground. To be fair, it wasn't the
first time he had dealt with someone who used this sort of battle tactic, but that person was considerably more... Sizable.
Backstepping to dodge the crash of Ignis into the ground, Relius watched as the doll shook for a moment before beginning to slowly push itself (and the enemy on her back) off the ground, a small shockwave released from her body to blow the man back before the somewhat-damaged puppet disappeared as it usually did.
Arakune, flaring up its body as Miku grabbed onto Hibiki's shoulders, shuddered once before engulfing both in a single action. The mass of seithr shuddered for a moment as the two girls were dropped somewhere into... Wherever the heck all those insects were stored inside the thing. There was not a trace left of the two girls as Arakune leaped into the ground, sliding over to Relius' side as a portal formed behind the two.
"Well, this has been... Interesting. Sadly, I believe my time here is up; this has been a slightly insightful experience, but I have a more intriguing matter to deal with. I bid you all... Adieu."
With a slight adjustment to his mask, Relius and Arakune moved through the portal, which closed almost instantly after the two of them left.
With the combat there over, Relius turned to look at Arakune, a glimmer of curiosity in his otherwise cold and calculating eyes. The mass had done
something right, at least; two Murakumo units that he had not been aware of? This had potential to be of great use to him.
"Deposit the two units into the nearest storage tanks. I'll be examining them soon enough; for now, I must repair Ignis in case of any further altercations," the man said, walking off into another room in the lab.
The room itself was fairly chaotic in terms of appearance; there was no place without any sort of apparatus or covered by a piece on some sort of research paper. The room seemed to lead into a three other hallways, with the back wall lined with containment units to hold any interesting specimens that Relius had come across. Arakune, heeding the man's orders, moved to one of the empty units and, moving to the top of one, attempted to drop one of the girls inside.
Unknown City, Somewhere in the U.S.- Slowly Moving Along
"Huh. I... Well, 'animate dead' is certainly a weird way to describe those things. They're not really... Actually, I guess you could call them dead, in a sense. Most of the guys have just taken to calling them infected or just straight zombies, though, so I guess that ain't far from the truth," Aaron said, the truck slowly moving along the road as he turned back to face the doll. "But hey, I won't complain if we're getting some help with these things. Really rather not leave my kid to deal with this crap alone... Or leave him orphaned after it's all over."
Chris, after listening to the giant man and the doll still at their side (damn, this was surreal), nodded his head warily.
"Well, I guess I won't complain about help. Hope we can count on your help from here on out."
The ride had, for the most part, gone without incident, and the van and those traveling along with it had made it safely to the furthest outskirts of the city. Here, a large barbed-wire fence was set up, with a few infected corpses hanging off the side. Chris glanced over the state of the place and shook his head.
"I thought we made it clear to try and keep those walls clear. They're biohazards for a reason..." he grumbled as Aaron pulled the van up to the gates up front. A speaker at the front crackled for a moment before a voice came through.
"Chris, you okay?" a voice asked on the other side, which, from the sounds of things, seemed to be female.
"Yeah, we're good. Guess we're dropping protocol here?"
"It's a closed line and, let's be real here: the people responsible probably know who we are anyways, so unless they're intercepting a closed line, we're probably going to stay safe for a while."
"Point taken."
"Those the people who helped you out?"
"Yeah. You mind helping fill them in on the situation? The circumstances behind everything right now..."
"Understood. Gates opening now."
With that quick exchange of dialogue out of the way, the gates to the compound slid open, revealing the interior of the base to those inside the van as it moved forward. Slowly drawing to a stop, Aaron stretched as he turned to the back and motioned his head to the two riding within.
"We're here. Mission control will probably want to meet you... Or something. We're under high alert, but you got clearance from some major players so you should be okay... For now. Hell, I don't think we'd be able to take you on anyways, but whatever. See you later."
With that, the driver exited the van and began to walk off to the barracks to get a new change of clothes and... Maybe a shower, all things considered.