The two had made it back to the van. Since there was nothing else to do at the property, it was sane to say that all their options were exhausted to the point that what they could do was decide to head back. To which they did.

  Close to the van, Ben's phone suddenly rang.

  "Hello?" he answered.

  His face suddenly lit up. "What?!" He exclaimed with a sense of urgency and uncertainty.

  The call went on. He listened, absorbing all the necessary information until the caller turned off the phone.

  "What was that?" Asked Alice who was concerned.

  "HQ."

  "What did they say?"

  "Aggem Town is being overwhelmed by four-legged monsters!"

  "What do you mean 'overwhelmed' by monsters?"

  "The town is being attacked. I'm not sure how and why, but HQ says it's happening as we currently speak...."

  "........."

  "................What do we do now?" Asked Alice after a stillness of silence.

  Ben held his breath. He spoke, "We help them," and right then, it was Alice who reacted at lightning speed.

  "Come one! Let's go!" She said as she was already in the driver's seat and was telling Ben to hop on.

  Ben was stunned, yet he reacted and got on.

  "Here we go!" Alice said right after Ben had clicked the seat belt.

  ____________________________________

  The caller placed the phone back on the device handle.

  "Do you think they'll be alright?" asked the lady. "Reinforcements are on standby."

  "Our men are stretched thin. We can't have them multi-tasking; instead, alert the next province. Have their military be on guard and secure the area," the director confirmed.

  "Will do," Lady said.

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  The staff knew exactly what to do and nodded towards Lady, to which they left to make some calls.

  Lady stood by the director. "Do you think this whole disaster will ever calm down?" She asked him.

  "Not a clue," he said as he stared at the multiple monitors flashing red dots on maps and news channels warning of various types of situations happening around the country. Other provinces were seeing a surge of uncanny appearances of monsters. The Aggem state was one of those. There was no chance that ARCC could spare their own militaristic soldiers, and even if they did, they would be too late. The province that bordered the Aggem state was the only chance they had of ever getting real help. That's if they can be as responsive and clear with their word.

  What does that mean exactly?

  It means that these two provinces have some trouble getting together. They quail at the sight that they have to share territories. But in times like this, it sure will be tough to get their help since they are experiencing the same scenario but on a much lower level. A lower-level crisis involving insects, monster-sized.

  "I have faith that the Aggem state won't fall that easy," the director said.

  "You think they still exist?"

  "I know so," the director said. Referring to the mysterious man.

  The mysterious man. Armored man. Blackie. Whatever his made-up name was or anything, he was the best bet for the Aggem state as well as the mission that the four-in-one group he had entrusted it to.

  _________________________________________

  The streets of Aggem Town had been devastated, looking like a deserted and abandoned park. Light and signposts bent. Metal rails twisted and deformed. The road, shattered into tiny parts, and the vehicles once inhabiting the side parking lot were crushed. Splintered glass and airless tires. The people of Aggem Town were nowhere to be seen.

  The trees of the forest close to the street distilled rustling sounds, the sound of wind, and the sound of footsteps.

  Then it came with a jump scare of a fully humanoid body thrown into the street road. It skidded on the road—Skkkrrrr!—after which the humanoid body stood after coming to a halt.

  "Hope I'm not late," Blackie said.

  But he was too late. Niti street had been wiped off the map. He could barely tell if this was a street or not. The street signpost was thankfully half-bent but not entirely desecrated into a pulp.

  Blackie ran across next to the street to the right. He wasn't about to fight yet. He needed a weapon, and that weapon was concealed in a, let's say, very sacred and specific area. Getting the weapon out of its intended holder is like, to him, committing a crime, a very serious one. And the ones to mourn this serious crime are the people of Aggem.

  But to do that, do it in style. By style, it means with shoes.

  "Damn. Gotta get something to wear," Blackie said. "Feels like I'm grinding my own flash to death."

  There was a shoe shop next where he was walking along Milesway Street.

  Inside the shoe shop, the place was sacked. Was there even a single pair that could fit properly? Apparently not. All of them were different sizes and colors.

  "Okay, Phass, choose the right one," he said.

  Phass chose what was left.

  One sports shoe was black.

  The second sports shoe was grey.

  "Well, that works...." He looked at the prospects of his choice.

  Now was payment. What was he going to pay with? He didn't have a single dime on him. No paper cash on him either. But there was something much more worthwhile than the average paper cash.

  On his shoulder armor piece, he stripped a layered piece of iron coated with dust and placed it on the counter. That was his payment. It was the best he could come up with, and it was way better than a thousand bucks. He ran forwards, finally able to have a pair of excellent footwear.