Nen Feaster; Part 2: The Cat's Journey

Chapter 8: Endless War

The three Chimera were beginning to close in on the war zone. Cheetu was still wearing a smile. "What are you smiling about?" Misha asked him.

"I've never been praised by an entire civilization like that before. It was pretty awesome!" Cheetu hooted.

"Great, now his ego is swelled up even more than usual." Nef said.

"Hey!" Cheetu complained. He then realized something. "Wait, did you just make a joke?" Cheetu asked.

"I can be funny!" Nef shouted.

"If you say so." Cheetu said.

"Say, Nef, what was your personality like before?" Misha asked.

"I was just as playful and mischievous, but I was also... you know, evil." Nef said.

"Oh, I... I see."

Before the conversation could continue, the three made it to the war zone. "Alright, so... how do we get in there without dying?" Cheetu asked.

"There should be other gas masks around here left behind by the soldiers. I already have one, so we just need two others for you guys." Misha said.

"Okay... where do we find them?" Cheetu asked.

"We should be able to find some in those tanks over there." Misha said as she pointed in the distance. There were several tanks gathered in a tight cluster.

They approached the tanks to investigate. Nef hopped up to the top of one. She grabbed the hatch, and with one strong pull, ripped it off of its hinges. She hopped down and took a look at everything. Misha and Cheetu were searching other tanks, so Nef was alone. The tank was quiet, blocking out all other noises from the outside world. Nef took the moment to sit down. She took off Eli's hat and looked at it. She let out a sigh and said, "Hey, Eli. I, uh... I'm not sure if you can hear me... wherever you are but... I wanted you to know that your people are free now. The Shades are gone, all of them. I hope that... you can rest a little easier knowing that. I... I hope you're okay..." She put Eli's hat back on then continued her search.

She found a dark green, metal box. She opened it up, finding a gas mask and spare filters. She grabbed them then got out of the tank. "I found one." She called to the others.

"I haven't yet. Cheetu! Any luck?" Misha called.

"I've got some luck!" Cheetu said. He hopped out of one of the tanks wearing a military helmet and wielding an assault rifle. "Move in! I'll lay down covering fire!" Cheetu shouted as he made several explosion noises and pretended to fire the gun.

"You're looking for a gas mask, Cheetu, stop playing around." Nef ordered.

"Calm down, I found one! Can't a guy have some fun?" Cheetu complained.

"Not when we're about to head into a toxic environment that's infested with reanimated corpses that want to poison us and turn us into one of them." Nef said.

"Oh, well... when you put it that way..." Cheetu said. He dropped the gun and took off the helmet before jumping off of the tank.

The three of them gathered at the edge of the war zone. Nef eyed all of the bodies, knowing that any of them, at any moment, could spring to life and grab them. "All of these bodies could reanimate?" Nef asked Misha.

"Yeah..." Misha said.

"Any idea what we're looking for?" Cheetu asked.

"Hold on." Nef said. She activated her en, engulfing the entire area. At the thickest part of the fog, Nef could feel something powerful. "Whatever we're after, it's deeper in the fog." Nef said.