The sky became a beautiful mix of pinks and purples as the sun rose on the new day. A destroyed city was silhouetted by the new light. There was the sound of crunching broken glass as a figure made his way over the rubble. His right hand hovered over his weapon as he warily searched over the destroyed building, seeming to be looking for something. After a few moments he looked back from where he had come and frowned, "come on, Rin! Why do you have to be so slow..." He groaned.

She stumbled a little, feet crunching over the glass and rubble with care. Rin narrowed her eyes as she panted and stepped close to him. "I'm not slow," the blond haired girl said glancing back. "I'm just being cautious," she said studying the landscape. Nothing but destroyed buildings and bones from people or animals, it was hard to tell. "We should head back," she said turning to him. Her shadow casting an eerie shape on the ground as she gripped her twin shot guns and held them close. "I hate being out here without the others."

The blonde boy sighed, crossing his arms across his chest, "since when did you become a chicken... We're not the weak little kids we used to be, you know... I'm sure we'll be able to handle anything that comes our way out here. Even a Hunter or two." The boy laughed.

"I'm not a chicken," she huffed, offended at the thought. "I just would rather not have anything happen out here." She said flipping her hair back and walking on ahead of her brother. "Come on then. Let's just finish scouting so we can get back to the base." She said building up her courage. No, he was right, she wasn't one to be scared. Something about the way the attacks had been patterned lately... They were becoming more fierce. Branching out. Searching. If a Hunter did come out, there was no way the two would be able to take it down. Not easily.

"Alright, alright..." he rolled his eyes, resting his gun on his shoulder. He knew there wasn't much to find out here, not anymore. Everything had either been destroyed with the city, or had already been taken back home. The small group of survivors were running low on supplies. It was only a matter of time before they had to move. This fact caused the older members of their little family much stress and anxiety. The boy had even heard the leader of the group say that he was afraid for the twins, because they were the 'weakest'... That's what this whole adventure was about. The blond boy felt that he needed to prove the older man wrong... Had to prove that he and his sister could defend themselves in the case of an attack.

"Now who's the slow one Len?" Rin called back to her brother, a good couple yards away by now. "Stop day dreaming and get over here. This was your idea," she pointed out as she turned and kept going, kicking empty cans and scorched cardboard out of her way. At least these new boots were more helpful than her originals. She frowned, spacing out as she kicked on piece of blackened paper. Watching the pieces shatter and blow into a breeze that had picked-up. She tilted her head as she stopped by one little spot and knelt down. Some kind of red object was half buried in the dirt. It was shiny and new looking compared to the rest of the trash that littered the area. She carefully reached out and rubbed a finger over it. "Hm?"

"What'd you find?" The boy asked as he nimbly climbed over the mountains of destruction and rubble to join his sister. "Anything of use?" He looked down and what she was looking at.

"Looks like a ball or something," she said stroking it some more. "Or...a button...?" She suggested pressing down on it. Sure enough, the red circular object clicked into the ground. There was a loud pop-noise as a tremor worked it's way around them. She gasped and jumped back not quite sure what to expect, but soon, everything was deadly still like before.

The boy looked around, "wh-what was that?" He gasped, looking to his sister, his eyes frightened and shocked. His grasp tightened on his weapon as he glanced around, the stillness around them making him nervous.

"Not sure," she said looking around also, though she wasn't as freaked out as he was. Or was she? Her knuckles were white where she tightened her hands on the guns. "Probably an old... Trap or something. It doesn't work anymore," she said turning every which way. "See?" She wasn't so sure herself, but she couldn't let down her baby brother.

Len glanced back down at the button. Why would there be a random trap like that in the middle of this place? What would it be protecting and why wasn't it working now? Then a more important question crossed his mind... What if that noise had alerted the Hunters to their position? The boy turned to his sister, "I...think it's about time for us to head back."

Rin opened her mouth to say something when a terrifying sound roared through the air. Like hundreds of machines scraping against one another. Her eyes went wide as she felt the ground shake. She nodded, "y...yeah! Good idea," she said quickly turning and making a run back for the base. The boy turned and ran after her, hoping they got to the base before the machines found them. The confidence he had before was totally gone. He knew now they wouldn't be able to defend themselves if they got attacked by the Hunters.

"This was your worst idea yet!" Rin screamed at her brother as she ran some more, trying to get hair out of her eyes. There was a loud angry noise somewhere behind them but she was too afraid to actually look back. "You couldn't have just let Kaito say what he wanted to? You had to try and prove him wro-!" She yelped before falling over.

Len stopped and ran back to his sister, "why are you so clumsy?" He yelled as he attempted to pull her back to her feet so the two could get out of there.

"I'm not clumsy!" She snapped right away getting up a second before kneeling back down. "I think I stepped on something." She whined as the ground shook some more. Another ear piercing sound roared through the air as the creature finally appeared.

It was human-shaped, though over elongated. It's limbs were stretched making it at least seven feet tall, if not taller. It gazed down at the two them, opened its jaws and let out another roar, claws extended and ready to rip them to shreds. Len's blue eyes narrowed as he jumped between the monster and his sister. He aimed is weapon at the beast's head, "can you get out of here?" He called back, keeping his eyes on the beast

"Not without you I can't!" She shouted taking her weapons and aiming it at the beast as it clanked it's way over.

Len watched the creature as it stalked toward the twins. Dark black hair hung down from it's head, in low pigtails, it's eyes the typical red. Robo-Loids were failed creations, made originally to entertain, now all of the remaining beasts were malfunctioning, their only purpose now was to destroy anything that moved, including themselves. At least it wasn't a Hunter.

"Len, you idiot, go back to the base," Rin shouted back to her brother when the creature was getting closer.

"Ladies first!" He growled back to his sister, "you get out of here, I'll follow!"

"I'm the older one here, you're suppose to listen to me!" She pointed out, eyes getting wide when the creature towered above them. She let out a single shot from one of her guns and it hit the creature square on the shoulder. It flinched but the shot seemed to just bounce off. A lot of the Robo-Loids were tough to take down nowadays. Evolution, Kaito had called it.

"You think I care?" Len glared at her before unloading his own automatic weapon on the monster. "I told you to get out of here!" The creature made a grinding noise, a laugh, as it looked down at the two. None of the shots seemed to do anything as it reached out and let a clawed hand go around Len as through it was going to grab him. It didn't make it that far.

"How about you both get the hell out of here!" Another voice shouted as a loud blast bounced off the creature, it's arm falling off. Not too far away was a blue haired man with a fairly large blaster gun, smoking from the attack. The Robo-Loid screeched angrily as it looked over at him, forgetting the twins altogether.

Len blinked a few times, "K...Kaito…?" He muttered.

"Rin, Len! Let's go!" A higher pitched voice rang out, a light blue haired girl stood a few yards from them, cautiously watching the beast, but glancing toward the twins, urging them to hurry to her.

"R…right!" Rin said looking over at the blue haired girl, forcing herself up. "Len, come on," she said putting one of her guns back in it's holster so she could grab her brother's hand and run over to the other, flinching now and again.

"Miku, get them out of here!" Kaito called as he begun powering up his blaster once more. The beast took a few angry steps toward him but he seemed ready.

Len ran with his twin to the girls side. Once they were there, she took their hands and began running from the scene, glancing back every few steps to be sure that the Robo-Loid hadn't turned and decided to chase after the fleeing group.

There were a few more blasts to be heard along with more grinding gear noises. Then everything was silent. "Is Kaito okay?" Rin asked looking over at where they had been before. A cloud of smoke had lifted making it impossible to see what was going on. She winced turning back to look up ahead where their base was. "Almost there," she told herself.

Miku stopped once they reached the entrance of the base, "You two go inside, don't leave." She commanded, before turning and running back to where they had left the blue haired man, loading her large shotgun type weapon as she ran. Len was pale, his eyes wide in fear. It was true that everyday was scary... but times like this where one of their family was in danger... these times were the worst.

"Len?" Rin urged, tugging him for the entrance. She was pale too, terrified at the thought of losing one of their own, but she had to be strong for him. She went for the door that dipped down to their underground shelter, a large dome that would break off into six separate rooms. Home sweet home.

Kaito was covering his mouth and nose with a cloth as he waited to see what the creature was doing. The smoke made it impossible to see anything. "Kaito! Are you alright?" Miku called as she hit the wreckage, coughing slightly as she looked around in the darkness, aware of all sounds and movement in the smoke and dust.

"I'm fine," he coughed looking over at Miku just long enough before looking back where the creature had been. As the darkness cleared, he relaxed and stood back up straight. "It's finished," he said looking at the Robo-Loid laying on the ground in several large pieces.

Miku sighed a breath of relief, relaxing. "Oh, thank goodness..." She muttered as she looked down at the remnants of the monster. It didn't look much like a monster anymore. Miku's eyes narrowed in pity as she looked down at the creatures head. It looked like a little girl, black pigtails tied with big, torn bows.

"Miku," Kaito said softly, a somewhat sad look on his face, "don't look at it." He said mumbled. It was hard enough looking at them when they were alive. When they were dead like this... It made him think of what they would look like if they were... He shook his head at the thought. "Let's go back to the base."

Miku nodded, resting her weapon on her shoulder. She gave the body one last look before following after Kaito, back to their home. "What the hell were you two thinking?" A scream was heard from the underground base as the two approached.

Miku laughed weakly as she heard it, "Meiko must be at them..."

"She beat me to it," Kaito muttered shaking his head as he pushed open the door and went in. Rin had her eyes narrowed as she looked away, staring down at the floor trying not to cry or anything. She hated when they screamed, especially at her. "Meiko," Kaito said looking at the twins, "inside voice."

Meiko glared at the two who entered, "these two morons don't deserve 'inside-voices'," she sneered before glaring back at Rin, and Len who was looking away from her face, taking his punishment. "They could have gotten themselves, or you two, killed!" The brunette growled at them. Miku placed her gun down and hummed a tune as she made her way to the food pantry. Just another day.

"I know that," Kaito said glowering at the older woman, "and they're going to be punished by doing all the chores for the next week. But if you're any louder, the Robo-Loids might hear you and the last thing we need is them finding our hide out."

Meiko glared at Kaito but stopped, seating herself next to the fire in the middle of the main room. Miku smiled slightly at the twins as she came back into the room with some cans of food, "don't worry too much. She's mostly annoyed with the fact that we woke her up early when we went out to find you." The blue haired girl giggled as she began opening the first can.

"She is right though," Kaito said turning his attention back at the twins, "you could have gotten yourselves killed. Rin, you're suppose to be the older one, you're suppose to watch over your brother. And Len, I know you know better than to go out on your own. The Robo-Loids don't go down without a blaster and neither of you can use one yet."

"I just wanted to prove to you that we were strong enough to defend ourselves when we moved..." Len muttered. "I'm tired of being a weakling that everyone else has to protect."

"You're still a kid," Kaito said shaking his head, "you'll get stronger one day, but for now you just need to do as your told."

"I'm going to my room," Rin said quickly, half limping over to her room. The six rooms were each labeled with the names of the group. There was Miku, Meiko, Kaito, Len and Rin, along with the pantry. The twins use to share a room and the pantry had been a bedroom also in the past. Things changed a few months back...

"Well with Gakupo and Luka gone we're short handed! You've noticed that it's been getting harder to defeat those things." Len stated. "The last thing this group needs is two defenseless kids!"

"You're right, the last thing this group needs is two defenseless kids," Kaito said shaking his head, somewhat annoyed by Len's attitude. First they sneak off, they almost get themselves killed, now he was trying to start something? "Len, just go to your room."

Len glared up at Kaito but didn't say a word. He stood and stormed off to his room. Miku silently opened another can as the boy left. Meiko grumbled something about how teenage boys were more trouble then they were worth.

Kaito sighed as he walked over to their 'weapons' wall, setting the blaster on it's prop. "We have to do something about those two," he said to no one in particular. "They've got it in their head that they're useless and need to go out and do stupid stuff like this."

"They're just teenagers, Kaito," Miku laughed as she poured the contents into a small charred pan. "They'll grow out of this little funk they're going through."

He nodded, turning around so he could look back at the others. It took him a minute but he laughed shortly after, "did you just say funk?" He asked with a weak smile, anything to lighten the mood.

Miku blinked a few times as she noticed what she had said. She pouted at her friend, "don't judge me and my terminology." She stuck out her tongue and then laughed. Meiko rolled her eyes as she poked at the fire with a stick.

"I guess you're right though," he said going over and sitting down by the fire. "They are still kids... It can't be easy growing up in a place like this but it's not like we have a choice. All we can do is keep surviving." He slowly let any remain of a smile fade as he watched the flames dance. "Luka and Gakupo... We still don't know where they are."

Miku frowned as she placed a pot on top of the fire, adding a bunch of cans to it and stirring slowly, "I'm sure they're out there. Somewhere. They were both so strong, I'm sure they aren't..." She trailed off as she continued to stir.

"Yeah," Kaito said right away, trying hard not to think of it. The images of the broken Robo-Loids flashed through his mind. He had to change the subject, "what...are you making for breakfast?"

Miku looked thoughtful for a moment, "I'm not entirely sure. I just mixed a few cans of soup we had left. I threw in some vegetables we had too, and a can of Chili. I know I added that in for the meat." She nodded as she stirred her concoction.

"Sounds good," he said with a scoff. Miku had become quiet the cook in the last couple months. They were running low on supplies, so anything they could mix into a bowl and eat was good enough. Not that anyone ever complained. It was usually tasty. "There aren't any canned oranges left are there?"

Miku glanced up at the twins' rooms. She then shot Kaito a look before putting a finger to her lips, hissing a "Shhh..." She glanced back at the entrances of the rooms before whispering, "we have one left, that I've hidden away for their birthday." She smiled then began stirring again.

"Oh," he said nodding, "I was going to suggest using it to cheer them up, but they can wait." He said with another smile, "thank you Miku. You really are their big sister aren't you?"

Miku grinned at Kaito, then went back to her work, "it feels like this whole ordeal ripped away their childhood and their happiness. I want to at least try to make things a little easier for them. They are just kids after all, and they deserve to smile every once in a while."

Kaito nodded, letting out a dragged sigh as he rubbed his temples, watching the fire once more. "Yes, but so should you. I know it can't be any easier on you. Forcing you to learn these things," he shook his head, "it's not fair."

Miku laughed, "it may be hard, but I'm still happy, and it's fun to learn new things you know." She giggled again as she gently lifted the pot away from the fire, still stirring away. Meiko had fallen back asleep next to the warm fire by then, she really wasn't much of a morning person.

"New things or not, it's not right for us to push things on you like this." He shook his head again then stood, "should I go get the twins?"

"You're not forcing anything on me, I chose to do everything I've done. And I'm glad I did, I mean... who would cook for everyone if I didn't? Meiko?" She laughed at the thought imagining Meiko getting frustrated while trying to open one of the cans that held the group's food.

"I guess that's a good point," he said as he went for the bedrooms, imagining what it'd be like if Meiko, or even he, tried to cook their meals. "Len," he said knocking on the boys door, then over to his sister, "Rin," he knocked, "come on. Breakfast is ready."

There was silence behind Len's door, but after a few moments he slowly opened it and came out of his room. It was clear on his face he was still upset, but he knew that just because he was angry didn't mean he should miss a meal. Food was becoming scarce, and he probably would regret not eating later if he didn't. "Thank you," Kaito said, obviously still annoyed as well. He walked back to the fire, kneeling and gently shaking Meiko. "Meiko, breakfast time." He said softly. Rin stumbled out of her room shortly after, changed into a new set of clothes. They only had a few pairs so she tried to wash what she could whenever she got the chance.

Meiko grumbled something as she woke up. She glared at Kaito for a moment but sighed and shrugged, "I'll have to catch up on my lost sleep tonight then..." She mumbled.

Miku filled a make shift bowl with the mixture and handed it to Meiko, "dig in," she smiled, then began filling another bowl for the next person.

"You? Sleep? During the night time?" Kaito smirked teasingly as he looked over at the twins. "You two okay?" He asked as Rin sat down, trying not to make any eye contact with her 'siblings'. "No injuries from this mornings idiocy?"

"I stepped on a piece of glass," Rin said simply, wrapping her arms around herself trying to warm up by the fire.

Miku handed Len a bowl then looked to Rin, her eyes full of concern, "are you alright? Do you want me to take a look?" She asked.

"It's fine," Rin said shaking her head, "I know how to wrap my own wounds." By now, they all should be use to it.

Kaito sighed and shook his own head, "you two..." He trailed off leaving it at that trying not to start another argument. "This smells good Miku."

Miku blinked and smiled at Kaito, "I hope it tastes good too, I've never mixed this many of different things together." Len silently sipped his soup, watching the fire.

"I'm sure it's fine," he said as he leaned back and waiting. "We should probably do some scouting later today. Find out where that Robo-Loid was hiding."

"It set a trap," Rin said sternly, frowning at the flames. "Robo-Loids aren't that smart though, right? Maybe a Hunter?" At this point she was mostly mumbling to herself.

Meiko looked to Rin as Miku poured Kaito a bowl. "A trap?" She said raising an eyebrow, "what did it look like?"

Rin made a circle shape with her hands, "it was little and circle and red. Like a button. When I pushed it, though, it made like...an earthquake. A small one. Then the Robo-Loid came."

Kaito looked over at them somewhat surprised, "what do you mean?"

Miku hesitated before she poured herself a serving, "A button that causes tremors? I've never seen or heard of anything like that..."

Meiko thought for a moment, "I don't think either of them, the Robo-Loids or the Hunters would be able to set anything like that up..."

"I didn't think so either," Rin said putting her hands back down, "but what else could it be?" She asked before sipping at her soup also. It wasn't half bad. An odd texture maybe, but not bad.

"Robo-Loids and Hunters are mindless creatures," Kaito muttered, "they wouldn't be able to come up with something like this. There aren't any other Vocaloids either... Unless it's Gakupo and Luka, which I doubt."

Miku frowned, "You think there might be someone else alive out there?" She asked.

Meiko's eyes narrowed, "Possibly... we can't be the only ones who survived... But why would they set up a trap like that? What was it meant for?"

"Not sure," Kaito said standing up and making his way over to the weapons. "Something like this shouldn't be ignored though. I'm going to go investigating. I'll try and do some shopping while I'm out."

"We'll go too," Rin said, setting her bowl aside before standing.

"No," Kaito said right away. "You're both grounded remember?"

"No way! That's not fair!" Rin screeched glaring over at the older man. "Len and I found it, we should be the ones to check it out! You don't even know where it was," she said crossing her arms stubbornly.

Miku stood, "She's right Kaito. You don't have any idea where this trap is. And there's no way you're going out there alone."

Meiko ate the rest of her meal and glanced at Kaito, "they're not going to let you go alone. Give me a minute, and I'll go with you ." She stood up, setting her bowl aside for the twins' to clean later. Kaito nodded and went back over to their weapon wall, looking over all the choices. Something big and powerful would be best, but much harder to carry. Plus, he had to leave the others with something.

Len hesitated before setting his bowl down also, crossed his arms watching Kaito carefully. Miku smiled, "We'll be alright. You look out for each other while you're out there okay?"

Len then spoke up, "Yeah... We want both of you back in one piece."

"Oh, now we're getting scolded by the boy who ran off and almost got himself killed?" Meiko commented as she vanished into her room to gather her things.

"You'll get both of us back," Kaito assured going for the door, stopping a moment before looking back at Len. "You have to be the man until I get back though, I'm counting on you," he said smirking, "but don't think you're off the hook. Miku is still in charge and you two are still grounded."

"Not fair," Rin muttered annoyed as she ate more of her soup-stuff.

"When you're older, things still won't be fair," Meiko said coming out of the room and grabbing her gun. She looked over at Kaito, nodded and pushed passed him to go outside. Still not a morning person, but killing a few Hunters or Robo-Loids would make her feel a little better.

"We'll be back," Kaito nodded, already dreading it all. "Behave yourselves." He really just wanted to relax. After a busy and hectic morning like this one, all he wanted to do was sit back and relax. Instead, it was off to work to check out some new threat. Just another day…