Chapter 1: Shingeki no Zombies ~ Attack on Undead

The sky was an immaculate blue. Not a cloud in sight; just pure, bright sun. Would've been perfect if the world didn't head straight to hell, but oh well, what could you do about that? Both the sky and the land would be dyed red, anyway.

A boy stepped from the barren remains of Supermarché de la Smashville and into the perfect weather, imperfect atmosphere of the now-unwanted world before him. A gun in his left hand and a bag of canned goods in the other, his attention was immediately caught by the glistening of an interesting object.

A zombie separated from his body from the waist down. Someone must have ran the poor bastard over trying to escape. Guts were splayed between the upper and lower half of the poor man's body. The upper half still moved, still lusting after the taste of delicious living flesh.

It was quite the disgusting sight. A rancid smell, limbs falling apart, blood caked around the mouth. Yep, typical, nasty zombie symptoms.

"No need for you to be here anymore, now is there?" The boy raised his gun and pulled the trigger, ending the infected's misery. He placed the gun back in its holster and began to walk in the direction of the next town over. The sun shone down upon the lone survivor surrounded by the dead. He walked with both confidence and caution as he stated his goal aloud to the undivided world of silence.

"Don't worry, sister: I'll find you."

Tires burned rubber as the GLA sped down the freshly paved road, the Birthday Girl and Ice and Snow's motorcycles (affectionately dubbed "Twincycles") following closely behind. It was a damn shame: newly replaced asphalt stained and ruined by blood and body parts. Thankfully, no one that was from the city would be cleaning it up, seeing as how they were most likely mauled to death.

Once again, such a shame.

Large skyscrapers and various buildings with their lights still on surrounded them, casting shadows so dark that it reminded the survivors of ten of the dark night full of the shining stars. Everyone was awed by the mystical beauty this city produced, moved by how everything looked so futuristic despite the situation they were currently in. Dark Pit and Pit weren't all too fascinated, seeing as how they have been to Fourside many times in their younger years.

Fourside, the somewhat-large city that separates Smashville from Onett. Fancier than the previous two towns, Fourside was seen as a place beyond the times to most people. Now, it was seen as a dangerous place to travel in, and for good reason: the city held perfect places to hide the zombies and shady little characters. A great location to get screwed over, and Dark Pit wasn't going to allow that to happen. This is why the angel broke every speeding law known to man, much to Peach's chagrin, whom wanted to keep the law intact. No zombie apocalypse will cause this girl to be a lawbreaker!

…Though she has technically killed many people already. But the living dead doesn't count, now does it?

"It's quiet," Dark Pit said, reclining in the driver's seat as he kept one hand on the wheel, driving at 80 MPH. "And surprisingly not a lot of the flesh-eaters around."

"You're right," Lucina agreed. "It should be easy to dispatch any of the stragglers. We should still be careful, however, so we won't lure out a horde."

"Talkin' like a true strategist there, aren't ya?" Dark Pit smirked, decidedly glad that Lucina chose to ride in He liked the way this Lucina character talked and looked. Not a lot of girls captures Dark Pit's fancy like that. Cute, smart, and an overall badass: the perfect combination.

"My uncle Reflet and my mother, Robin, always liked to play chess," Lucina remarked. "Formulating a strategy always came easy to them, and they would teach Marth and I some of their tricks." Lucina closed her eyes for a moment, sighing heavily. "I can only pray that they're safe."

Marth held Lucina's hand, squeezing it gently. "It'll be alright, Lucina; we'll find everyone. We'll make sure they're safe."

"I hope so, Marth," the bluenette replied, a solemn tone in her voice, "I really do."

Dark Pit sighed. Hope wasn't a concept he really believed in, and usually looked down upon others who wished for unrealistic miracles and ideals. But now, this one unrealistic wish became an exception.

"Pittoo, we should pull over," Palutena said, staring absentmindedly out of the window. "Survey our surroundings."

"Don't call me Pittoo," the dark angel responded, following Palutena's suggestion. He rolled down the window and stuck his arm out, making a flicking gesture with his left hand to the pink kart and motorized bikes behind him.

"Sorry, Pittoo." Though he couldn't see her face, he knew that green-haired oversized brat was smirking at him, knowing full damn well he hated being called "Pittoo." And she would say it in front of Lucina and Marth. What the hell does Pit see in her? Is there an option to throw her out of the car?

Snake was the last one to step out the vehicle, seeing as he had fell asleep on Link's shoulder. It had taken all of the Hylian's energy to awaken him from his deep slumber, eventually opening his eyes to see the dirty road in front of him. He didn't know how he ended up on the ground, but he was pretty sure a certain vulpine was the cause.

"Oh dear Goddesses," Link said, "he is awake." He kneeled and extended a hand. "Sorry for having to put you on the cold, disgusting ground."

Snake blinked twice, his eyes heavy and the sweet sounds of sleep beckoning to him. "You…put me on the ground?" he asked groggily.

Link gulped. "Yes."

Snake stared at the Hylian for approximately five seconds, though it seemed like a life-threatening eternity to Link. It was rather frightening and completely surprising when Snake began to chuckle heartily. He stood up quickly, slightly wobbling as he body got used to be awake, and patted Link on the back. The confused Hylian's peculiar green hat nearly fell off.

"It's alright, Linky!" the bounty hunter said. Link blinked. Linky? Damn, not even Zelda had ever called him that. "I just thought that vulpine bastard put me on the ground. Would've been some serious problems, I'll tell you that much!"

Link shakily chuckled as Fox said, "We should've left him on the ground to die."

"What did you say, furball?!" Snake demanded.

"You heard me, bastard!"

Lucina observed the ensuring argument between the two friends. One would think their voices should be lowered, seeing as how they're in a zombie apocalypse and all, but nope: here they were, screaming to high heavens numerous profanities as Peach attempted to calm them down. The bluenette thought it was a pretty futile action, and was so absorbed in the argument like a group of kids watching a rowdy fight that she didn't even notice the dark angel call her name.

"Screwed Earth to Lucina!" he mocked. "Can you hear me?"

Lucina slightly jumped and turned around, eliciting a small chuckle from Dark Pit. The embarrassment caused a slight red tint on her face. Thank Gods Marth was currently talking to Link; he would've been teasing her in the typical older cousin fashion.

"A-ah, sorry Dark Pit. I was just in my own little world."

"That's obvious, Little Blueberry."

"I believe it – " Lucina paused momentarily. Did her ears just deceive her? Surely she wasn't just called a "blueberry", and a little one at that? Lucina crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes, asking, "What did you just call me?"

Dark Pit gulped. The signs of a woman pissed were very obvious to him; he saw it in Palutena quite often. The angel moved his dark bangs from in front of his eyes, chuckling.

"Little Blueberry. It's some lame joke I'd just thought about. You and Marth both have blue hair. Marth's older than you, so he's Big Blueberry, and you're younger than him, so…" Dark Pit stopped and sighed. "I'm just gonna shut the fuck up now."

Lucina shook her head. "No, no, it's just – I wasn't expecting to be adorned with such a nickname." She smiled, trying to convince Dark Pit that she wasn't hostile. "Honestly!"

Dark Pit analyzed Lucina, then laughed. Her not-so futile attempts to placate whatever supposed offended anger he had was amusing. Lucina eyed him strangely, confirming her beliefs that Dark Pit has already gone off the deep end.

"I know, I know, Lucina. You're just one funny girl, that's all." Dark Pit's reassurance brought a smile and a blush to Lucina's face.

"Why, thank you. I'm not that great with humor, so it's a bit surprising to see that you find me amusing. I actually find you amusing as well."

Dark Pit nodded, hoping he wasn't blushing too deeply. He did not expect her to say that. Maybe she was just saying that to be polite; she did seem like that kind of person. The dark angel did not expect Lucina to like the kind of humor he has; the crude, shitty humor that will get a kick out of people like Snake and make the most innocent of innocents blush.

"Uh, t-thanks," he stuttered. He silently cursed himself for stumbling through a simple acknowledgement of gratitude like an idiot. It was a simple compliment; what was his problem? "You, know, you're strong, too."

Lucina's smile faded away. She looked at the dirty ground, shaking her head. "No, I'm not strong as you think…"

"No!" Lucina cried, dropping to her knees. Her pants became stained with fresh blood from the zombie corpse that laid besides her, but that mattered to her not. "No, no, no, NO!"

Her loud wails matched the tears that flowed from her now red eyes. Marth watched the scene before him with a heavy heart. The place they once called home complemented the world outside: bloodied and ruined. There were no signs of Chrom or Robin. Reflet's jacket was left behind, various blood stains on the sleeves and hood. Morgan wasn't there either. Their loved ones were gone, and for all they knew, they'd managed to narrowly escape.

However, neither cousin believed that to be the case.

"Lucy," Marth said, his voice sounding tired and weary, "I'm going to go upstairs, alright? See if I can salvage anything."

His statement was met with the reply of heartbreaking sobbing. Marth sighed, gingerly stepping over the bodies of the undead to reach the staircase. His steps created a loud echo, and the stairs creaked, being nothing more than sound effects to Lucina's meaningless pleas for normality. The bluenette, looking down at the oak floor with a new red finish, rocked back and forth, refusing to take another look at the messy living room. Refusing to look at the broken picture frames. Refusing to look at the possessions that now brought back painful memories.

Refusing to look at and accept the destruction of her life.

Alas, she knew she must do so, no matter how much she didn't wish to. The world wasn't giving her nor Marth any choice, any favorable options. After all, it is the zombie apocalypse: the only option provided was to be lucky enough to survive, and even that was a shitty option.

Lucina slowly raised her head, staring blankly at the room that used to be full of family fun. It was so messy; Lucina could remember the days when she and Marth would have water gun fights in this very room and Robin would demand that they clean the mess they've made. They would spend hours trying to make everything spick-and-span, only to make a bigger mess than before and Robin would have Chrom clean it. The memories were enough to almost make the broken girl laugh. Almost.

Lucina listened to the rummaging from upstairs. She wasn't sure of what Marth was looking for, but she was sure that it would be pointless. Continuing to be here was quite pointless as well. The place now held bad memories for her, and she knew it held bad memories for Marth, too. She could tell he was trying to hide his sorrow for her sake, but Lucina could see through the transparent smiles. Around others, Marth would always keep his true feelings bottled, never letting the world know what was going on it that mysterious brain of his.

Lucina was the only exception. She was always the only exception.

She could see the cracks, but like the appearance of the room, she didn't wish to see it. The bluenette was aware of how much Marth needed her, but she needed him more. She needed him to come downstairs and carry her out of this hellhole.

"Marth," she shakily called, "hurry, please…" There was no response. Lucina stood up, her hands clasped and close to her heart. "Marth, please answer. Marth!"

She took a few small steps, though as if she was a nervous child, continuing to call for her cousin. Why wouldn't he answer her? Oh Gods, could something have happened to him? Lucina stopped in her tracks, the sheer thought of Marth being hurt paralyzing her. Why is she losing everything she ever loved? No, she couldn't lose Marth; he wouldn't allow himself to be taken away from his younger cousin, right? Right? A loud noise caused her to jump and scream, followed by seeing Marth tumble down the stairs. She quickly ran to him, her crying beginning once again as she checked for any bruises. Cuts. Bite marks. Her search was slightly derailed as she noticed what fell next to Marth: two swords that their family have had for years, both bearing the name Falchion. Lucina's eyes widened; she hadn't seen these swords since she was ten and Marth was fifteen, when they both practiced sword fighting, an art Robin deemed "dangerous as hell". These were what he was looking: precious family heirlooms to keep them remotely safe. It was surprising to see that Marth even knew where they were hidden.

Marth groaned in pain, which snapped Lucina back to his attention. She didn't even get a chance to ask if he was okay before he broke into a screaming fit. Lucina jumped back, a look of fear in her eyes as Marth's eyes began to water. A multitude of thoughts ran through Lucina's mind, and she found it quite difficult to focus and act upon one. Which was quite understandable, seeing as how her older cousin looked pale as a ghost and has already seemed to succumb to the pressure. He yelled and thrashed like a crazed man, screaming, "Why did I see that?" over and over.

"See what?" Lucina asked frantically, scared for Marth's welfare. "Marth, what did you see?" The younger bluenette tried to grab her older cousin's hand, only to have it swatted away.

"No! Don't touch me!" Marth screamed, causing his cousin to jump yet again. He stared at her before realizing what he'd done, shaking his head. "Oh Gods…I – I…Lucina, don't give me that look. Please. I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. Please…"

Marth inhaled and exhaled deeply, pulling himself up. He grabbed Lucina's hand and pulled her into a hug, nuzzling against her shoulder and stroking her hair. "I, uh…Lissa's upstairs, Lucy," he said in-between sobs, his voice muffled. "I saw Lissa on the bed. I was looking for the swords and I saw her body and I panicked."

"You…you sure it was Aunt Lissa?" Lucina asked delicately.

"I know it was her."

Lucina held her cousin, letting him continue to cry into her shoulder. This was only the second time in a long while that she has seen Marth's tears. She gave out soft reassurances, knowing completely well that Marth wouldn't believe him. Hell, she didn't believe the words that left her mouth. They were hollow, those words. Hollow like her soul and her heart.

Marth pushed himself away from Lucina. He used his sleeve to wipe the tears from his face and looked at Lucina. "Grab the other Falchion," he demanded, grabbing the one that had a red jewel encrusted in its hilt. His voice was hoarse, and he looked and felt utterly tired. He stood up, placing Falchion in its sheath as Lucina followed his order. She stood up as well, observing Marth. His sparkly blue eyes looked shallow, and the midnight blue bangs that covered his eyes gave him a disheveled, almost feral look. Of course, Lucina knew that she looked no better herself. They both looked like absolute shit, and since looking good wasn't a trend in this world anymore, they could continue to look like shit.

Though she wouldn't mind washing the blood from her hair.

Lucina extended a hand and Marth firmly grabbed it. She asked if he would be fine.

"I'll be fine," he replied. Lucina wasn't able to tell whether or not he was sincere. Most likely not. "We'll both be fine. Understood?"

Lucina nodded. "Understood."

The cousins had taken one last look around the living room, quick flashes of memories in their mind. They then exited the house, with Marth closing the front door and Lucina cursing the sun's audacity to still shine brightly. Marth wrapped an arm around Lucina's shoulder, beginning to talk about where they should go when a distant "Hey! You scrubs over there!" caught their attention. They turned around, a confused expression on their face, and said in perfect unison:

"Why the hell is a boy with black wings standing on the hood of a pink go kart?"

Lucina sighed heavily, the memories hitting her hard. She didn't expect Dark Pit to suddenly invade her personal space: the dark angel placed his hands on her shoulders, staring intently into her eyes.

"Listen, you are not weak. I can tell you aren't some scared, dumbass damsel-in-distress. Uh…I'm not great at motivational speeches, so take my word for it, alright?"

Lucina looked at Dark Pit before smiling. "Thank you, Pittoo."

The bluenette quickly covered her mouth with both hands. Oh Naga, did she really just call him the nickname he despises so much? Her face turned completely red. "I'm terribly sorry!" she exclaimed. "I hope you don't mind!"

Dark Pit stared at Lucina. If it were Palutena, he would've been screaming at her to fuck off, reenacting the battle Snake and Fox were currently having. But instead, it was Lucina, and for some unfathomable reason, he didn't mind if that pointless nickname came from her mouth. So he nodded his approval, and Lucina showed her gratitude with a warm smile.

"Asshole!" Fox exclaimed, causing Dark Pit and Lucina to turn around and bare witness to a very Dragon Ball Z-like fight. It was surprising that no zombies ambushed them yet, what with Fox and Snake being loud as possible. As the two watched the battle, Link was standing next to Marth. The Hylian had snuck away from the bloodshed the moment it began. For the love of the Goddesses, Link could not decide whether or not he was lucky to end up with this rowdy group. To him, a fox and a human duking it out while everyone else had a calm conversation was quite an amusing, yet uneasy, sight to watch. If everyone can remain so calm about, Link guessed he could as well.

"They are so weird," Marth remarked, snapping Link out of the security of his thoughts. "It's all a bit surreal, actually, isn't it, Link?"

"Y-yeah…" Link replied, his voice squeaking a bit. Well, that was unexpected. He wasn't sure why his words were getting jumbled while talking to the bluenette beside him, but he was pretty sure it made him look like a total scaredy-cat or some crap like that.

"You alright?" Marth asked.

"Yeah, yeah. Totally fine," Link lied. Even in the safe, unstable environment like had happened to be in, his thoughts always trailed back to Zelda and Toon Link. Where were they? Oh Goddesses, are they safe? The prospect of finding his wife and son dead and bloodied on some dirty ground somewhere scared him. Gave him cold shivers and equally cold thoughts. Damn near fractured his state of mind. Being in the unknown was a frightening place, a taunting place. A place where Link wished to escape.

His eyes averted to the ground, a heavy feeling grasping onto him. Link didn't expect Marth's hand to gently touch his shoulder. The Hylian removed his gaze from the plain sidewalk to the care-filled and unusually exhilarating eyes of his newfound Altean friend.

"You'll be fine," Marth reassured. "You know you can talk to me whenever, right? I don't bite."

Link nodded. "Uh, yeah. O-of course!"

Marth smiled. "Good. Trust me, you'll get through this: we all will."

Link could detect the sincerity in his voice, and that made his heart skip a beat. Why it skipped a beat, Link didn't know. His heart hadn't done something like that in a long time. Maybe it was because of the situation he was in – hell, being in the middle of a zombie apocalypse has probably caused some people a few heart palpitations already.

But of course, maybe it was because of a completely different situation that Link just didn't think deeply about yet.

Not that he would have time to think about anyway, seeing as how high-pitched screams in the distance caused everyone to quiet down.

Everyone looked to Dark Pit in the manner of the younger wolves looking up to their alpha. Dark Pit rolled his eyes and sighed, readying his Dark Pit Staff.

"Don't give me that look, ya bastards. Let's try and save some lives, seeing as how they aren't doing it themselves."

On the way to find the source of the screaming, Dark Pit brought up the interesting and completely irrelevant point of creating a group name.

"We should give a name to ourselves," he said, running around the corner as Palutena and the others followed suit.

"The hell kind of random statement is that?" Palutena asked. "That is so not appropriate right now."

"I don't give a flying shit," Dark Pit retorted. "It's either we do this now, or never."

"Let's hear Dark Pit out," Pit protested.

Dark Pit smiled. "Thanks, Big Bro. Now, everyone shut the hell up and think about this: the Dark Angel Crew."

"No," Palutena said. "To add more emphasis: hell no."

"Yes!" Pit exclaimed, causing Palutena to sigh in annoyance as her statement of disagreement was completely ignored. "What a wonderful idea, Little Bro!"

"Anyone else really going along with this?!" The others nodded their heads, much to Palutena's shock. They were on the way to save someone's damn life, and yet they were having such a casual conversation. The zombie apocalypse really does create two things: a seemingly nonchalant attitude and lots of assholes.

"The Dark Angel Crew sounds pretty nice," Marth commented.

"Yeah," Lucina agreed. "Dark Pit is the de facto leader."

"Damn straight I am," the dark angel remarked. "Good. Sounds like we're on a general consensus. From now on, we're officially the Dark Angel Crew."

Palutena rolled her eyes. She had already regretted not taking Pit and travel somewhere else on their own. "Egocentric much?"

"Pal!" Pit cried in protest. "Little Bro's not egocentric! He's the leader of this group; he can choose a name for us. Brings about a sense of unity, doesn't it?"

"It does!" Nana exclaimed. "We're like one close-knit community!"

Palutena rolled her eyes yet again. Hearing Pit's defense for her brother made her want to jump in a crowd of starved zombies. "Yeah, sure. Whatever," she muttered. If it were her choice, the group would be named "Leave Dark Pit to Die Somewhere Crew".

However, it wasn't her choice, and frankly, the green-haired goddess didn't really give a damn. What she did give a damn about was handling the situation at hand.

When she did arrive at the situation at hand, she didn't expect it to be so shitty.

The crew had made it to an abandoned part of the city. Cars cluttered the street as the zombie horde attempted to maneuver around them, trying to make their way to two anthropomorphic rabbits. Dark Pit noticed that the smaller one was separated from the other bunny, too scared to move as she called for her mother.

"Cream!" the taller, equally frightened rabbit called. "Cream, hold on! I'm coming for you! Mommy will be there!" She was armed with a measly knife, a weapon Dark Pit noted would do nothing for her. He looked to the crowd of zombies that were making their way to Cream and raised his weapon. Aiming carefully, Dark Pit began to shoot, picking off the undead one by one.

"Snake, Palutena! Help out!" he commanded. The two nodded and ran over to Dark Pit's side. The mother rabbit jumped at the sound of gunshots looked behind her, noticing the Dark Angel Crew's miraculous presence.

"H-help us, please!" she pleaded, her knees buckling in fear. "Please help my daughter – help Cream!" Her pleas for help caused her to ignore the zombie appearing behind her, and she screamed in surprise as one of her floppy ears was grabbed. Her eyes widened and she began to flail and scream, pleading for someone to help her.

"Shit," Ice mumbled. He ran to the mother's direction, beckoning Snow to come on. He took his aim carefully, he pulled the trigger and winced as the zombie's head was blown off, his brain matter splattering onto the mother. Ice ran to her and Snow provided cover.

The mother jumped into his arms, hugging him tightly and sobbing. "Th-thank you so much! Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"No problem," Ice replied, smiling and slightly blushing. "What's your name?"

"Vanilla," she choked out. "Please, save my daughter! Save Cream!"

"Don't worry, Vanilla – we'll protect both you and your daughter." Ice looked over his shoulder at his sister. "How's it's goin', sis?"

"Just dandy," she called back. "Shooting zombies is the greatest hobby ever!"

"Glad you're having fun!"

"Piss off!"

Palutena noted that Dark Pit Lumière Kuroi was having way too much fun with mowing down zombies. He walked nonchalantly, pulling the trigger and letting bullets fly as if he was some badass video game character. To the green-haired deity, he looked like a complete dumbass, but he was a complete dumbass getting the job done. And hey, it was effective.

The dark angel attempted to make his way to the young, frightened rabbit, noticing Snake and Palutena was headed in the same direction. Zombies were closing in quickly on the young rabbit, far too quickly for Dark Pit's liking. Damn, couldn't they walk a bit more slowly? That would be nice. He called out to his fellow teammates, ordering them to start letting the bullets fly loose.

"Too dangerous!" Palutena shouted back, meleeing some zombies that dared enter her personal space bubble. "There's a chance we could hit the child! Can't take the risk!"

"Well, why don't you aim carefully and minimize the risk?"

"It's not that easy, asshole!"

"It is, you - "

"Damnit!" Dark Pit's insult was interrupted by a cry from Snake, who had inadvertently tripped and was now having a lovely meeting with some infected. Dark Pit growled. Damnit, what the hell was this, some cliché horror movie? Apparently it was, as Snake's mistake forced him and Palutena into a tough corner: either let Cream die horribly and save Snake, or let Snake die horribly and save Cream. Two shitty options that required a quick decision.

It's your typical zombie apocalypse dilemma!

"Palutena! You tend to Cream, while I get Señor Dumbass!"

"Hey!" Snake exclaimed, pulling the trigger and blowing a zombie's brains out. "No need for name-calling, ya hear?!" He attempted to pull the trigger again, only to realize that he used his last bit of ammo. Just great. The infected loomed over him, the rancid smell of rotten flesh filling his nostrils and activating his gag reflex. Pleasant.

Dark Pit reached Snake, using the butt of his staff to bash one zombie's head in, knocking the poor fellow into his fellow undead. The zombies were momentarily dazed, allowing the angel to pick them off one by one, brain matter and cardinal blood spraying into the air. He extended a hand and helped Snake up, insulting him in the process for wasting time, and looked over to see how Palutena was doing.

He wished he didn't.

The goddess herself was struggling with a zombie that grabbed her hair. Damn, why didn't she cut it short, she'll never know. Preoccupied with not dying, she failed to see a zombie approach little ol' Cream from behind, immediately sinking yellowed and blooded teeth into her neck. The Dark Angel Crew and Cream's mother could only look in horror as flesh and fur was torn from the small rabbit, revealing bright pink muscle perfect as a zombie's meal. Her screams of agony were continuously interrupted by her choking on the blood that pooled from her mouth, and eventually they were drowned out by zombies that approached her, eager to taste rabbit for the first time.

"NO! No, no, no, no! Cream!" Vanilla tried to run to save what was left of Cream, but found herself held back by Ice's strong grip. She struggled frantically, begging to be let go.

"My daughter! She needs my help! Stop it, stop it!"

Vanilla was reduced to nothing more than hysterical tears as she watched Dark Pit and the others picked off the zombies one by one, the curtain of flesh-eaters slowly revealing Cream's listless and mangled body. Her daughter, dead...dead as a result of their incompetence. She slid from Ice's grip, completely disillusioned from the world. She looked to Palutena, who was in the midst of smashing her staff through the hostile zombie's cranium.

Her.

This was all her fault.

Why didn't she save her daughter? She was so close to Cream, so close, and yet she's dead. Gone, never to be in her mama's comforting arms again.

Why didn't she save her?

Why did she let Cream die?

She stood up, knees wobbly, eyes glassy. She ignored Ice's suggestions to stay put, weakly pushing him away, her knife held tightly in her hand. She approached Palutena, who struck the zombie one last time before looking up at Vanilla, her eyes full of regret and sadness.

That false regret and fake sadness.

"You let her die," she growled, glaring viciously at Palutena. "You let my baby die, you bitch!"

"W-what?" Tears spilling from her eyes, Vanilla took a swipe at the goddess, nearly slicing her throat. Reckless slices and swipes were dodged as Palutena tried to convince Vanilla to calm down.

"Vanilla, stop!" Ice called. "This isn't what Cream would have wanted!"

"Don't tell me what my daughter would have wanted!" she snapped back, trying to lunge at Palutena but instead falling to the ground. "My baby would want me to make sure the woman that hurt her will never hurt her again!" She scrambled to her feet and lunged again, this time grabbing Palutena's hair. Long hair screwing her over yet again.

"Vanilla!"

"Die! Just die!"

Palutena heard Pit's screams as she closed her eyes. The sound of a gunshot interrupted his cries, and Palutena's verdant eyes shot open, revealing a shocked Cream gazing at her profusely bleeding shoulder. She let go of Palutena, letting the goddess fall to the ground, and held shoulder, screaming as she tried to stop the bleeding.

Another bullet entered her back, causing the rabbit to fall to the ground. Her body shook slightly next to Palutena, her vision of the suddenly twisted world fading away. She reached for the woman she attempted to kill, believing her to be Cream in her state of illusion.

"C-Cream...Mommy is...always here for...you."

Her arm went limp, her last breath escaping her, sadly following her daughter's footsteps. Dark Pit looked at Snake, who stood there holding the gun in a state of shock, and then made his way to Vanilla's body. Taking the Dark Pit Staff, he placed the barrel of the staff against her head and whispered an apology, pulling the trigger. The dark angel then looked at Cream, noticing her body was already starting to convulse.

"Pal, you want to handle this one?" he asked, offering his staff to the goddess. She shook her head, her eyes focused upon the dead rabbit that lied besides her.

"N-no. I can't, I-I can't right now."

Dark Pit nodded. "I know." He walked over to Cream's body, the sobs of a goddess accompanying his every footstep.

Snake placed his hands on his head. He shouldn't be affected by this - Goddamnit, he was a mercenary. He has killed people plenty of times; it was his job until it wasn't anymore. Why the hell was this bothering him?

Could it be because this one was nothing more than an innocent woman that lost everything?

"Snake, are you alright?"

Snake glanced at Fox, seeing the concern in the vulpine's eyes. Fox McCloud has seen some things himself, too. Seen things that no man should ever wish to see.

"Yeah," he replied, taking out a cigarette that he planned on smoking once he left the car. "I had to do it, ya know? Nana's life was in danger. I had to do what I had to do." Snake sighed. That's right: he had to do what needed be the done. The inevitable just approached him a bit earlier than expected. It just further proves the reality of a zombie apocalypse. Her death was a necessity.

It was all a necessity.

"I know, Snake. I know."

After their conversation, the inhabitants of the Birthday Girl remained quiet. Link occasionally mumbled something reassuring to Nana. Peach kept her eyes on the road, following the red GLA. She didn't have much to say about today's events - besides the fact that a young girl died in front of her eyes and Snake had to kill the broken-down mother. She could tell those were topics that she did not wish to touch upon. They happened, it existed, but that doesn't mean she has to acknowledge it verbally.

Dark Pit felt that way, too. It was an unfortunate happening, but it was better than having Palutena die. Perhaps a bit selfishly, he thought of what effect Palutena's death would have on his brother, and he didn't like those thoughts. He drove on, occasionally looking out of the side-view mirror to make sure the rest of the Dark Angel Crew were still following him. For once, he actually wanted to speak to someone, cut down on the tension that had inevitably formed between them all. Marth and Lucina stayed quiet, both staring out the window. Pit kept himself busy by playing with a sleeping Palutena's hair, his fingers intertwined in her viridian hair.

"Brother," he said quietly, as to not to wake up the goddess, "what do you think will happen?"

"To what?"

"To us."

"I don't know. There's some many bullshit variables that it is impossible to tell."

"Hmm."

Dark Pit sighed. "Why did you ask? What do you think will happen to us?"

Pit shrugged. "I'm...not sure either, I guess."

"Do you think we're going to die?"

"What? No, Pittoo! I hope we won't die. Why would you ask me that?"

"I don't know. I...I just - hey, look."

Dark Pit pulled the car over in front of a run-down ice cream shop. Pit gasped, a wave of fresh memories overwhelming him. This is where they went every summer to eat the greatest-tasting ice cream. It was like a tradition of sorts, a tradition that faded from existence as they'd gotten older.

"C'mon, let's go check it out."

Dark Pit stepped out of the car, with Pit waking up Palutena and following suit. She complained about her beauty sleep being interrupted, in which Dark Pit responded with the childish insult of "That's right, Pit: sleep for the ugly should never be interrupted."

"Asshole," Palutena mumbled. "Why are we here? It's such a ramshackle building."

"What is this place?" Marth asked. The others pulled up behind him, stepping out their vehicles and inquiring the same thing.

"It's an ice cream place Pit and I used to go to when we were younger," Dark Pit explained. "Damn fine ice cream."

"He used to scarf it down like a pig!" Pit exclaimed, laughing.

"I will admit that, and I have no shame admitting that."

Pit laughed and motioned for everyone to follow him inside. Ice and Snow volunteered to stay behind and keep lookout for any zombies or hostile survivors. The angel bounced around like an excited child while his brother and Palutena scoped out the inside. Determining that nothing was there except cracked walls and knocked-over chairs, Dark Pit allowed his brother to enter the establishment.

The angel yelped in joy and ran in, grabbing his brother by the arm. He chatted about the very spot they got into an ice cream fight with the owner while Marth and Link examined the place.

"This is a very nice place," Marth commented. "Or, well, it used to be."

"Yeah," Link agreed, tracing a finger along one of the cracks. "Toon Link would have loved it. I thought about taking him here."

"Toon Link? Is that name of your son?"

"Yeah. Sorry, I guess I never told you guys his name."

"It's a very interesting name."

Link chuckled, smiling. "Well, he's actually Link Jr., but he looks like an animated version of me, so we call him Toon Link. It was all Zelda's - my wife - idea. She was always so imaginative."

Marth frowned. "Not was, is."

Link cocked his head. "What?"

"You said she was imaginative, as if she's not here anymore. She is imaginative, Link, because she still is here somewhere, taking good care of Toon Link until you all reunite."

"Marth..."

Marth wrapped a comforting arm around Link's shoulder, inadvertently causing the Hylian to slightly blush. "She's out there, Link."

Link smiled sweetly, a light flush still on his face. Damnit, why does he keep blushing like some lovestruck schoolgirl? Zelda would laugh and tease the poor, flustered boy. He nuzzled against Marth's shoulder, relaxing comfortably as he thanked the slightly-surprised Altean.

"N-no problem, Link," he replied, stuttering. He didn't expect this action, but he didn't mind it. After all, he considered Link a dear friend, spending just as much time with him as he did with Lucina. The Hylian was easily likeable to Marth's surprise, and he couldn't help but feel this sort of gravitation to him. It was...pleasant, being able to spend time with others, temporarily forgetting that your life is in danger. Link made him feel that way - everyone did, but it was magnified with him.

Besides, moments like these were rare. He might as well enjoy it all while he can.

"Lovebirds," a certain female bluenette cooed. Marth and Link nearly jumped out of their skin, twisting around to see a smirking Lucina.

"Really now, Marth? You wait to the end of the Gods damn world to find yourself a boyfriend?"

"He's not my boyfriend!" he and Link cried in unison, only to cause themselves to blush even harder. Lucina laughed heartily, pretending to cringe in fear at the glares she now received. Near the tables, Pit and Dark Pit watched the whole debalcle and promptly laughed.

"They so are in love with each other," Dark Pit remarked. "I mean, just look at the way they interact! They are most definitely OTP."

"You're the one to talk, Pittoo! I've seen you get a bit flustered yourself around a certain someone."

"The hell do you mean by that?!" Pit found himself the unfortunate victim of a noogie courtesy of Dark Pit Lumière Kuroi. The angels engaged in a play fight, much to Palutena's dismay, ("Guys, stop screwing around! Dark Pit, you ass, don't hit Pit like that! Feathers are getting everywhere - look, you're making Fox sneeze!") and eventually Pit broke away, running to one of the tables and threatening to hit his brother with a chair.

Which he'll never do, of course, unless he wished to be one dead, featherless angel.

"Put the chair down before you hurt yourself," Dark Pit mockingly scolded, causing Pit to frown (though he did place the chair down). He moved some of his black hair from his eyes, looking down upon the designs the tables sported and grinned widely.

"Hey, the tabletops still have the little cow drawings on them!" Dark Pit remarked, touching a surprisingly clean spot of the pure marble counter. "Well, the spots are now red instead of black."

"We used to eat the greatest ice cream here, didn't we, Pittoo?" Pit's voice wavered significantly, and it had taken no more than a second for the angel to drop to his knees and sob, invoking the concern of his friends. "I've–I've always w-wanted to come back here with you, and have some more of that ice cream with you. N-n-now we can't, and…and…"

Dark Pit kneeled and held his older brother, stroking his dirty brown hair. "It's alright, Pitty-Pat," he comforted, using the nickname that not even Palutena has heard before. "We'll make our own ice cream, 'kay? You still like pistachio and mint?"

Pit nodded. Pistachio and mint was the only type of ice cream he enjoyed. He remembered the time he dropped on the floor and, not wishing to waste a deliciously frozen treat, picked it up and ate. Dark Pit teased him for weeks after that, but to his six-year-old self, it was worth it.

"Good. We'll make that, and my black cherry, and we're gonna eat it on a day where it's blazin' like hell. Just you, me, and the others. No bastardized zombies, no threats, no nothing."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Do you promise, Dark Pit?"

Dark Pit paused for a moment before speaking again. "I promise, Pit."

Pit grasped his younger brother tighter, occasionally sniffing. Dark Pit sighed. His brother was so innocent, so naïve, that he should have expected this to happen sooner or later. Honestly, he was hoping it would be later. He should have been occasionally checking up on him, making sure they he was okay mentally and physically. It was his job to protect the cinnamon roll too pure for this world, for he would be damned to lose Pit Lumière Kuroi.

No, Dark Pit, don't entertain that thought. Don't think about that; it'll never happen, it'll never happen, it'll never -

"Dark Pit?" Pit mumbled, his voice muffled by the dark angel's shoulder.

"Yes?"

"If...If I don't get my ice cream, I'm kicking your butt."

Dark Pit smiled. There was the unrealistic hope again, the hope he desperately wanted to make come true.

Heading to their vehicles, Dark Pit abruptly yelled for everyone to stop, scaring the hell out of Palutena. The others looked around for danger, their faces shifting into confusion once they realized the coast was clear.

"Don't scare a goddess like that, you bastard! We can still have heart attacks, ya know!"

"By the way, our name is now the Dark Angel Crew," he announced, ignoring Palutena's insults. His announcement was directed to Peach, Fox, Snake, and the twins.

"Nice!" Peach, Fox, and Snake exclaimed in unison. Ice and Snow gave a thumbs-up, grinning.

"Badass name," Ice complimented.

"Makes sense, since our leader himself is a badass," Snow added. Dark Pit pretended to be modest, twisting his hair around his finger and giggling, causing everyone (except Palutena) to laugh.

"Aw shucks!" he exclaimed. "Stop it with the compliments! I know I'm a badass; I've been like that ever since I was born. But, I digress."

Palutena sighed, wanting to use her staff to smack Dark Pit upside his ego-enlarged head. Why could she just take Pit and solo everything?

Hey, 'tis be Mika with Chapter 1! One chapter down, uh…*looks at outline* possibly ninety-nine chapters to go! As you can see by the title of the chapter, a personal goal of mine is to try to make the chapter titles references to, ya know, stuff. Obviously, the title here is a reference to one of my favorite anime, Attack on Titan. *insert obligatory singing of Guren no Yumiya*

Anyway, I hoped you enjoyed this chapter. A lot of things happened, of course. I assure you, next chapter will be nothing more than smooth sailing for them…(lies) Also, I placed a lot of hints with our two main pairings, mainly with Link and Marth, because their relationship has to be this kind of slow-burner. I set this one scene up where I would go to this flashback that detailed their first meeting, but I decided to move that to Chapter 2.

(I wonder if "Supermarché de la Smashville" is correct French…it'll be weird to ask my French teacher to translate something for a zombie fanfiction, wouldn't it? XD)

And, to have long Author's Notes, I'm doing the semi-trend of review responses and chapter questions!

~•~Chapter Questions~•~ What do you think of the characters so far, and what do you think of Snake having to kill the first non-infected?

~•~LunaticFromTheSun~•~ Thank you very much!

~•~PrincessKatniss02~•~ Yes, it's back! *Dances with you like a drunken Charizard* The Wii Fit Trainers weren't supposed to be in the original. They weren't included at all. I added them in here because I wanted to include them. That, and I portray the M!WFT as this sarcastic jokester type of guy, so he'll add sufficient comic relief when I don't feeling like having Dark Pit or Snake supply it. And props for noticing dat dere reference~

~•~bladewielder05~•~ Ayyyy, another person happy to see this story's revival! That legit makes me happy. I actually wanted to include Lucas, but I couldn't quite decide where he should appear and what his purpose should be. I still wanted him in the story somehow, so I just decided that killing him off was the perfect thing to do! Lol, that came off more harsh than intended. And active Wii Fit Trainers...I feel like that's a pun...

~•~Paradigm of Writing~•~ I'll gladly take your money; I'm in desperate need of some, anyway. *Spends it on anime merchandise* So this may be in your Top 3, eh? You know I must ask: what are your three favorites of mine, haha? I'm just a curious ol' cat~

See ya in Chapter 2: Let the Motherfucker Burn.