Outbreak! (Open to all!)

[kingcobra]

The pipe slammed down onto the thing's head, splitting it like a pinata, spilling red candy onto the ground. He hefted the pipe up, resting it against his shoulder as he looked around the street. A body, throat freshly torn out lay next to the thing, it's victim. A few cars were abandoned, one having crashed through a building's wall, and was now burning, the only light there was on the street. Past the flames, he could make out a few of the shambling figures. He grinned, before starting to sprint forward toward them, grabbing the pipe with his other hand and shifting it to a swinging position as he sprinted towards the zombies. This was just what he wanted.

-----

Two days prior...

“Stop!” The cop shouted as he tried to keep up with Asakura. He was finding it a bit hard to, since Asakura had taken an escape route through an alley, twisting around garbage and ducking under fire escapes like it was second nature. Normally he wouldn't run, but the cop had a shotgun, and Asakura was not in the mood for that. He was already tired from an excursion into the Mirror World to feed his monsters, as his Contract Monsters had been so quick to inform him he needed to do so, with a quick near-impalement on Metalgelas' horn. Luckily, he had seen it coming (it WAS a giant humanoid rhino after all), and managed to move enough so it ONLY went through his side. Nothing he hadn't enjoyed before. All it took was he had to rip some cloth up, push it in, and tape it there, stopping the bleeding. He didn't go to hospitals.

Of course, the owner of that convenience store with the big mirror on one wall (why a convenience store needed a mirror wasn't something Asakura bothered to ponder on) had been less then happy with what Asakura wanted to do. Perhaps it had something to do with the man in a snakeskin shirt with a heavy blood stain running down the side kicking the front door open when it clearly said closed. Well, he had to have only been in his 40s, but went down easily for that age. Even better, there had been three Mirror Monsters, looking like Deer, grouped together. It only took 20 minutes of glorious fighting to destroy all three (their antlers turned out to not only be detachable, but also like boomerangs, which led to some fun dodging) and allow his monsters to eat their energy.

It really was just chance that the second after he exited the Mirror, was when a police officer stepped in investigating a report of someone hearing a door being kicked open. In a neighborhood with a rapidly rising violent and gang-related crime rate. For which the rookie cop, being so afraid of encountering one hopped up gangbanger with a gun, brought a shotgun, which he immediately aimed at Asakura and screamed to stop where he was. Asakura just turned on his heel and ran out the back door, the rookie following him.

The chase continued for another two or three minutes before the alley opened up to a small sidestreet, overlooking the water, a railing running across it to keep people from falling. The rookie slowed, probably thinking that Asakura would stop now due to having limited places to go. But he wasn't going back to jail, even if breaking out WAS fun. He kept running, vaulting right over the railing, and falling down to the water below. The rookie ran over, leaning against the railing and trying to see it he could spot Asakura. All he saw was the water, and a ship a small bit away, likely a tourist ship going to the Island. Oh well, he did all he could, he'd just report back that the suspect had lept into the water. Good day's work for him.

Asakura waited until the cop stopped looking down at the water to swim back up to the surface, gulping down air as he looked around. He could either try and find a way to get back up to land, or he could swim to the ship and see where it'd take him, which could be fun, and anything that could give him something to do was a good choice. His decision made, he swam over to the ship, grabbing hold of a convenient rope dangling from the deck, and climbed on.

And that was how he ended up on the Island. It was boring at first, nothing to do except walk around, get into a few fights with punks who thought they could take him, and finding out that restaurants here would throw whole meals out if there was one little problem with them. Of course, that only lasted two days. Two days later, the explosions went off. He had been sleeping in an alley when it happened, the sound, both of the explosions themselves, and the people screaming. People were running around, yelling for help, the typical response to explosions. Asakura though, found himself looking at the one in the distance in front of him, the bridge, and a smile crept up onto his face. Suddenly things were so much more fun.

While walking in the direction of the explosion, he saw a man shambling towards him, bleeding. Asakura wasn't like others, he didn't care if someone needed help. He walked right past the man, suddenly more interested in what hurt him. The man reached out and grabbed his arm, and that was when Asakura noticed his eyes, milky, and how his flesh was ripped open in places. There was no fear, that one was foreign to him. He just reached back and hit the man with a right hook, sending him down. He laughed and started kicking the thing in the sides. It was one of the weak, who couldn't fight, and thus had no place in the world. A pair of hands touched his back with force, shoving him away. “Get away from him you brute!” the man who seemed to fancy himself to be someone's saviour. He probably thought the man was bleeding from the beating, or maybe he had been near the explosion. He bent down to ask how he was, only to have teeth sink into his throat and rip it out. Asakura looked down at the thing as it chewed on the meat it had ripped out. Suddenly, something dawned on him. Perhaps he was wrong about what he thought. He looked up the street and saw a few more things biting into people. Some ran, some were too scared to move, and those were picked apart as well.

And that's when he realized it. Whatever had happened to cause the explosions, and these things, had changed the island. Changed it into a fight for survival, between the weak, the ones unable to contribute to the fight, and the ones who could fight the things, and anything else placed between them and their survival. Fight until they were the only ones left. He picked up a pipe that someone had left near a doorway, and walked back to the thing he first encountered. It was now chewing on the body of the man who tried to stop the fight, one of the weak.

As he raised up the pipe above his head, Asakura realized he had never felt more at home.

[cheryl]

Four days ago, Cheryl had been in Gotham City. She'd brought a camera with her in the vain hopes of snapping a picture of the infamous Batman. However, the only noteworthy events to transpire were her eating binged, meeting up with a very intriguing tall woman with crazy hair and being promoted to an E-5, a Sergeant. Aside from the bigger paycheck, there was more responsibility and more authority. It also meant that Cheryl now qualified to do something that very few others hand done before.

Giant robots, or mechs as they were otherwise known, were all too popularized by the Japanese. With their Gundam, Macross and Evangelion animes, they became synonymous with Japanese culture and managed to become global cultural icons. Real life militaries had also conducted experiments with such robots. Some were failures. Others simply couldn't get the funding. But there was one name that stood out among all the others. One name that brought both awe and dread, once it came out of the realm of top secret black ops and into the public eye.

Metal Gear.

At first, Metal Gear was nothing but a one time, one of a kind prototype built by third world powers. What set them apart though was that they were designed as more than just a main battle tank. The legendary mercenary code named Big Boss was the first to use a Metal Gear, specifically for the purpose of carrying and firing nuclear weapons.

Then the United States got their hands on this technology. Using their superior funding and resources, the U.S. took Metal Gear to its extremes. As usual, the Army spearheaded the project and thus the first American Metal Gear, and the archetype for all future Metal Gears, was born.

Metal Gear REX.

It was the Shadow Moses incident involving REX that brought Metal Gear into the public forum. Later, blueprints and detailed schematics for REX were sold online, allowing other countries to create their own Metal Gear variants. To counter them, the U.S. went back to the drawing board. They once again too Metal Gear to its extremes, creating a variant that was designed to wipe the floor with the others. And this time, the Marine Corps spearheaded the project.

Metal Gear RAY.

Although RAY was perhaps the first true Metal Gear that wasn't designed with nuclear weapons in mind, everything else about it was extreme. Superior technology, superior agility, superior armor and superior firepower. Sadly though, the first RAY prototype was stolen and the Navy eventually began building their own RAY variants there were controlled by A.I.s, in effect making them true robots.

The USMC variant was still manned though, and quite a bit superior to the Navy version, which was arguably inferior to the Army's REX. It was these Marine Corps variants that Cheryl had signed up to pilot, and upon her promotion to Sergeant, it was these RAYs that she was now qualified to use.

Assuming she passed training first.

She enrolled in a course that would teach her how to be a RAY pilot, and thus she could say goodbye to her Abrams tank. Not that she didn't adore being a tank driver. But this, this was "Leet," as she put it. Being the pilot of a giant robot, like in the animes.

Although she was a Sergeant, Cheryl was actually the lowest ranking member of her training squadron. Not that that mattered right now. No one had more authority than the instructor himself and right now he was teaching them underwater maneuvers.

The first couple of days of class taught the troops how to maneuver around on land, as well as how to work most of the firepower. The next thing was to give them their water legs. As chance would have it, training was held at Mockingbird Island. And they were unable to be contacted from the shore to alert them of what was going on.

RAY pilots took to wearing special suits that functions both as flight suits for when they piloted the Metal Gear under normal circumstances and as scuba gear, in case the pilots had to bail out while underwater. Cheryl wore this, a black body suit that was skin tight and hugged her features a little more than she'd like them to. The footwear and gloves were also unique. It felt almost like they weren't there at all. Especially the footwear. They looked like boots and they certainly protected the feet, but they hugged her features too well. Footwear was the only thing she could think to call them.

Her instructor had called it a skull suit. A name that didn't make sense to her, until she saw the helmet that went with it. It looked, well, like a skull. A skull with big, red eyes and a medicine tablet between its teeth. A skull which was tucked neatly away in Cheryl's cockpit. Since her face was uncovered, she consequently had to blow the front of her mohawk out of her face from time to time. A small price to pay though.

Training was hard, but a big, toothed, giddy grin never left her face while she was inside the cockpit. She wanted so badly to snap. To let herself go. To flail her arms and stomp her feet like a giddy schoolgirl. To shout out "Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" But she must maintain her discipline, especially since the com channels were open and the instructor could hear every word the trainees were saying. As well, it wouldn't have been wise to interrupt the instructor as he broadcasted instructions to them.

Right now though, there was a silence. They'd finished today's underwater training, which meant the instructor would radio back to the mainland and alert them they were returning to base, as well as give them their ETA. But something was wrong. The base wouldn't respond. It wasn't a problem on their end. Each RAY had tried to broadcast a signal back to base with no response. They also conducted tests with nearby civilian ships, with transmissions coming in just fine. And the very fact they could communicate with one another meant there was nothing wrong with their RAYs.

So they headed back, immediately. Especially after contacting the mainland to find out that contact with all of Mockingbird Island had been lost.

So Cheryl sat in her RAY's cockpit, waiting. The thought of being underwater at these depths would normally terrify anyone, especially her. But during the underwater portion of her training, she found she found perfectly safe and at home, at least while in her RAY. Strange, bizarre and sometimes frightening creatures would swim past and be picked up on her cockpit's screen.

But not now. Now they all rushed back to land, going over fifth knots. They were going far to fast for Cheryl to pick up any sea creatures on her view screens. Nothing to see, nothing worthwhile remembering. What waited for her back on Mockingbird Island, however, would probably give her a lifetime's worth of memories.

[Lisa]

Scent failed. Too much to smell, cloying vapors from smoke, from death, from blood. It blocked out and squelched whatever else could have lingered in the air.... Not completely, not for Lisa Trevor at least, but it would take time, more time and concentration that she had to spare, or would spare at any rate. The shamblers still did not hurry even when their final rest was brought to them by the powerful arms of the monster that only wished to pass unopposed. There were many of them... and it was reminding her of far less happy days.

A big house, so lovely. Huge yard, perhaps Mom will let me have a dog? Can't believe Dad helped build this place, it's beautiful! ...Mother... Father...

Those days were supposed to be gone, she was supposed to have been taken away from that nightmare by her parents, but they never came. She had escaped before they did... of course.

Lisa halted as she heard voices, quite unlike the moaning and groaning of the undead that shambled about toward their next meal. She had never thought to use the undead to locate the living, but now the idea had it's merits. Unneeded at the moment, however. Sound did not fail, even with the screams and groins, she could hear talking. Lisa did not care what was being said, as it was not a voice she recognized, but the very sound drew her attention.

They might know where Mother and Father are.... or maybe they're out to get me... to hurt me again. No! NoNoNoNonoNo!

[/color]

Unreasoning anger was stoked within the monster, memories of pains past fed the fire as the mere act of speaking had triggered rage reserved for those that had hurt her, that had kept her from her parents. The blond girl that had been the one she heard, since she seemed to talk so much more, had made it easy to locate the pair. A male had spoken, if not briefly. Both were targets, both might wish to harm her. She wouldn't chance it, instinct would not allow it. What started off as a steady shuffle turned into a jog, powerful legs working as she bee-lined toward Terra and Dylan.

Zombies may have blocked her way, but only for mere moments. Knocked aside by her wild swings, she approached the two with murderous intention, leaving a straight trail of bodies, dead or not in her wake.

The final telltale sign of her approach came in a wild shriek, wordless and simplistic. It was an altogether different sound than what the zombies made, that much was obvious. It reflected anger quite clearly, unlike the groans and moans that only expressed their undying hunger. Unlike them, Lisa could indeed feel, that was something the unfortunate pair was going to find out very soon.[/blockquote][/size]

[codychambers]

The photokinetic took a step backwards, and froze. His mind went blank, living daylights scared out of him. The blood was just too much; Cody couldn't take it. The zombies started closing in around him. The world was about to obtain a light generating zombie.

A couple of zombies fell to the ground, startling a little motion out of Cody. Some guy grabbed onto Cody's wrist, telling him they had to move. Cody looked at him, wild eyes from adrenaline. "Ri- Right," he blinked, and nodded once. His feet started moving, and he followed the other boy.

[dylan]

Dylan felt the self-proclaimed hero, Terra, grab hold of his arm. "I have an idea!" She said. He could feel her excitement mounting but he shook his head and nodded to the bridge as she tried to explain her plan. He saw the surprise and fear in her eyes and felt it roll off her in waves, he could sense the panic streaming off of her like thick cloying smoke.

Which, he realized with a start, made him wonder why he wasn't panicking more. The blond had always been calm and collected, but one would think that a zombie invasion would be anyones limit. Was it because of his mental powers, giving him a confidence boost, or was it just because he was slipping away from being human? Just a moment ago he had felt very much alive and happy, kissing Bob had been great and he would have loved to do it again if he weren't zombie food at the moment. He began to hyperventilate at the thought. 'Stop it.' He commanded himself, realizing that most of the panic taking him over was coming from other people.

He was pulled out of his mental meanderings by a sudden mental shock, sort of like an alarm going off in his head. He looked up and had just about enough time to suck in a quick breath before a zombie clown landed nearly on top of him. The beast snapped its teeth at Dylan. The boy yelped and staggered back as the zombie clown fell on top of him. Pushed to the floor by the living dead, Dylan freaked. This thing was going kill him, just like its kind had killed Bob and hundreds of other people. As Yoda said, fear became anger. He screamed with his mind. 'No. No more!'

And with that, his astral form burst from his mortal shell. With a force of will he brought the form into a physical frequency. His astral form had no blood to be infected, no flesh to eat. The zombie tried to move around him. He shoved his astral fist into the zombies mouth to keep it from getting to his defenseless body. He shoved the zombie away and grabbed the mallet from his unconcsious body. He slammed it into the zombies head, splattering its brains on to the floor and putting it down for good.

He floated about a foot into the air, the stars and universes swirling in his astral form glowing with his rage. If he had a physical body he would be panting. The nebulas on his body began to dim. Before he could even look at Terra, a pure mindless rage roared into his mind moments before a howl expressing the same emotion sounded from behind. He turned, still floating, to see a zombie plowing through others of its kind in a mad dash towards Terra and himself.

(Note: More info on Dylans astral form can be found in his profile.)

[metahumans]

Mr. Burke stood against the mob of undead, the burning building at his back. With the pipe clenchd tight in his teeth, Mr. Burke focused his powers, nleashing an inferno with every jab of his fists. Zombies burst into flames, staggering back and knocking down their companions. He surmised that he could probaly hold them off for a while longer without resorting to more destructive means.

A loud crash drew both his and the zombies attention to a coffee shop across the street. Mr. Lane, or Krawn as he preferred to be called on missions, stepped out and asked if he needed any help.

Mr. Burke smilled. "Thank you Krawn, however I worry that both of us together just wouldn't be a fair fight." As if to prove his point a female zombie foolishly lurched forward, only to be thrown back by a burst of heat and flame from Mr Burke.

[Terra]

OH......CRAP!

It was just one of those moments as the girl who called the world her home cringed at the sight of the clown zombie trying to have its way with the boy. Something something something...she had to help! Frantically looking around as though she was going to be next, she was a little worried about using her powers too much especially with her panicked state. Sure she was a self-proclaimed super hero...but it wasn't too heroic if an island-wide earthquake would take place! Instead of standing there, gawking at the clown with rotting flesh which reminded her of teriyaki, she looked around for something to smack the zombie off that wouldn't be like a game of tug and war. Feeling her eyes widen as she noticed something big and fluffy laying on the ground...it was PERFECT! One of those HUGE stuffed animals that were oh so very soft to the touch but the stuffing itself was just hard and could hurt like crazy if smacked with it.

Sprinting off to grab the over-sized doggy doll that gave her a strange sense of fondness...which was really weird considering there were distant screams and the smell of blood lacing the air. Where ever that feeling came from she shrugged it off and grit her teeth. This doll was just gonna have to be a martyr! By the time she turned back around to see her acquaintance buddy, her jaw just dropped as a look of shock made itself painstakingly obvious within her composure as though her eye was going to start twitching too. Did that guy just have a freaky ghost planetarium thing pop out out him?! Well he looked human...just...translucent and shiny...and....floaty....yeah ok a little strange. Closing her mouth to get rid of her somewhat dumbfounded look and make it look more like a `what the...-bleep-` with a bit of surprise still locked within her eyes.

Just as she was about to rush back over and swing her adorable weapon of choice, it seemed like he beat her to the punch and was already handling everything. Covering her mouth with the big doll while skidding to a stop, the blond mover of earth wanted to hurl, it looked like he turned the zombie's head into a mess of nasty. Nasty in terms of it looking like fat, bloody, gooey worms spilling out of its skull and scattering around like candy out of a pinata after little kids had their way with it! It was like someone put her on a roller coaster all day in that moment but she shook it off, almost like the sight before her was normal since she was soon distracted by a scream that caused her skin to crawl. What in the world was that?! It was a little weird that there was a limp body on the ground PLUS a screaming something running in their direction. Ok...she may not be Sherlock Holmes but this all HAD TO do something with why the bridge was no longer there! Shakily, she looked in the same direction as the sparkly, galaxy ghost guy thing and gulped with a large frown across her lips.

Sure she dealt with bigger things, monsters even...but that figure getting closer and closer just gave her the heebeejeebees! Oh no...it was one of those things but...different looking...it could actually RUN...plus its wrists were shackled together. Part of her felt a little bad for it...but it kinda sorta sounded like it wanted to kill them and looked the part too with the way it shrieked and ran toward them. Acquiring a look of determination as she adjusted her stance, the scrawny girl held the stuffed animal as though she was going to lay a serious smack down with something adorable. Oh...crap...with the way the...zombie...big headed...thing...was swinging it's seemingly scrawny arms, the corner of her mouth twitched a couple of times. Those walking undead in its way seemed so much like rag dolls...was it on their side?! Maybe...but she couldn't chance it, that shriek sounded like some kinda battle cry from those arcade games she liked playing!

Wait a second...that's when she remembered the boy's limp body....they were surrounded by zombies and it's not like she was super strong! Ok ok...so she had to defend the body just laying there and on top of that defend herself! GREAT! They were gonna be sitting ducks! Right now, she'd see how the stuffed animal defense would go before risking it even a little with her powers...so close...that thing with the shackles...it was so close and she couldn't help but feel nervous. "Hey, uh...before we get clobbered, I just wanted to say I'm REALLY sorry about smacking that evil clown zombie thing into you earlier...my bad, won't happen again if we get out of this..." With a touch of sincerity in her tone, there was also that whole `yeeeaaah sorry 'bout thaaat....my bad` kinda vibe, her words trailing off a bit while still trying to seem at least a bit mellow. There was no time to run and with how fast that thing was going PLUS having someone else to defend...the best she could do was stand her ground!

Yup, this insane situation definitely made her forget her hunger pains a bit!