(Reverence 3, 59 / 12:27AM)

  (Luna’s Group)

  The flames from the east soon began to sprout up again.

  Earlier, the bleach from Vivy’s explosion could only hold the first wave of flames. The second flame now barreling towards them, Benn, Christian, and Chris all watch to the east, their faces blistering like boiled shrimp.

  Wiping his forehead with his black leather sleeve, Benn's pants began to be brushed by the swaying of rumbling garlic crops.

  Seeing a small fog cloud to the east, all three of them began to wave their hands in the air, their fingernails grazing the wind. Noticing that a large group of creatures were behind two riders, a fresh breath of air sowed out from them.

  (Christian) That’s Luke and Sean.

  (Chris) That’s a lot of donkeys.

  (Christian) It’s for the others to get on, including us.

  The flames ever increasing toward them, the group of donkeys reached them three. Luke, who was leading the pack, glanced at the group before swaying his head left to right, as a bit of sweat rolled down from the top of his nose.

  (Luke) Where’s Luna?

  Christian pointed his finger toward the center of the ranch.

  Noticing a large barn near the ranch house, the reins that Luke held soon began to tighten under his grasp. Squinting his eyes, three black dots were seen many meters away, moving like ants etched on the edge of a table.

  Loosening his grip on the reins, a small huff escaped from his lips, with 50% of his mouth being cracked and dried.

  (Luke) She’s not making our job easier for us…

  (Christian) Me and Chris would meet you up at the hill where Jack is. I hope that everything goes well trying to get your girlfriend and my sister.

  (Luke) W-What! Me and Luna aren’t dating!

  (Christian) Really? I thought you guys were ... Anyway, catch you later.

  Christian and Chris walked past the laughing Sean and flustered Luke, as Christian rubbed the back of his head with his unmastered palm. As he and his younger brother reached their respective donkeys, both hopped on with ease, letting the donkeys gallop toward the very south of the property that held a large Joshua tree.

  Leaves and stems swaying from the hooves of the creatures they rode, Luke turned his attention back to the barn ahead. Swaying his head left and right, his nostrils flared while clicking his tongue.

  Since wheezes and gasps continued to be the norm right next to him.

  As Benn barely managed to stabilize himself on the donkey he acquired, the donkey already began to wheeze. Sweat drenching every part of his literal being, a dry cough escaped from his mummified throat.

  (Benn) We have to get them now. No time for laughing.

  (Luke) A-Agreed! Come on Sean, let’s just get them…

  (Sean) Don’t sweat it, man. There’s always the western exit.

  (Benn) And that exit has the most guards.

  Instead of a slight tap on the donkey’s hind legs, Luke firmly jabbed his boot heel onto the donkey, sending it sprinting toward the barn. Followed by Benn and Sean, two extra donkeys rode with them, as they both held onto not only their reins but the other donkey’s reins.

  And since Hope and Miles were out of commission, they were taken back by both Chris and Christian.

  Through the flames, the garlic stems.

  To the dirt and fertilizer that sufficed their bountiful harvest.

  To the gravel road that rumbled with pebbles and rock, lay a large red barn.

  The tallest, a tanned beauty, had her swords blotched in orange dust along its metal. A small stream of blood escaped out of her nostrils, she wiped it away with her right sleeve, her jacket already ruined from the bleach that she soaked in.

  And to the right of her, a woman with a much dark complexion tilted her head upward, strands of her hair swaying in the wind. Wielding nothing, the barely adult woman raised both of her hands yet again, with a batch of liquid coming out from her palms.

  While the turquoise-colored hair woman had burnt scars latched across her face, strands of it began to wither away into crusted nothingness.

  (Vivy) Why can’t … coughs … you guys just die …

  (Pacifica) We’re not … dying just yet …

  Pacifica raised both of her hands toward her shoulders, her knuckles wanting to burrow out of her skin while Vivy gritted her lower and upper yellow teeth. Her lungs stabbing her ribs, Pacifica clenched just her left eye while having her right open.

  Spitting out a bit of blood, a small front tooth also joined in on the escape route, leading her to move her tongue around the inside of her mouth. Tasting all the iron and metal that confined itself with her blood, she knelt and picked up her tooth, putting it inside of her pocket.

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  (Pacifica) A beatdown … is a beatdown…

  Spreading both of her feet apart, she placed her right foot in the back of her while letting her heel dig the inside of the dirt. Twisting and digging itself to stay in place, droplets of her liquid soon began to hiss and steam the dirt ground.

  On the third droplet, Pacifica pushed herself off of the ground, lunging herself to the right as she saw Vivy pulling back her right arm.

  Throwing her bleach-formed javelin, the tip of the spear narrowly managed to stab her, her right brown outdoor jacket being scraped off from its fabric. Letting the air soak in on her face, she stopped her entire motion with one foot as she arched her back.

  Another javelin flew through the air, barely grazing the top of her nose.

  (Pacifica’s thoughts) Now here goes nothing.

  The distance between Vivy and her was soon closed.

  Having her right hand pull back, her pink-shaded brown jacket rippled through the air. Vivy, who still had her back arched, already formed another bleach javelin, her hand gripping the center of the bleach weapon.

  And thrusting it forward, the tip of the javelin made contact with Pacifica’s palm.

  (Vivy’s thoughts) Do you think you could just block—

  The javelin bleach spear soon began to melt.

  Being sucked up into her skin, it absorbed like a sponge, or rather it was just bested by the strength of the liquid that soon made up her hand.

  Widening her eyes, Vivy watched as her creation was just eaten by Pacifica’s hand, causing her to stumble down. Letting her bottom graze the dirt and pebbles underneath, her own feet started to go numb.

  (Vivy) What are you …?

  (Pacifica) Oh me?! I’m something that eats other things like nothing! Metal, food, and fabric can be eaten by my liquid except for plastic.

  (Vivy) So it’s the opposite of my bleach…

  Her lungs were on the verge of exploding, she looked up toward the night sky that was sealed off from the heavens. Spreading both of her arms and hands out wide, not even a smirk or a frown was plastered onto her face, her lips forming a simple flat line.

  Luna, who dragged her right foot through the ground, barely held onto her sword, pointing it downward at the exhausted Vivy. The tip of the blade barely poked at Vivy’s chin, her hand and arm wobbled uncontrollably, causing her left foot to lose itself on balancing her body.

  (Luna) Now … we’re still not fully finished with your beatdown …

  (Vivy) Just … gasps … let me use this time to relax …

  Pulling back her sword, Luna raised it high as she set her sights on Vivy's right hand. A small trail of bleach liquidized on her knuckles, and both of Luna’s jaws ground against one another to the level of some of her molars chirping.

  Her legs on the verge of letting herself be pulled down to gravity, an abundance of guns reloaded in back of her. Barely glancing from in back, a large number of guards holding Thompson guns and carbines managed to break a drop of sweat from her right temple.

  Letting whatever saliva that she had inside of her mouth be swallowed up, her throat felt more parched than before.

  (Luna) I guess I have to make short work of these losers.

  Hunching her back, she pulled back both of her arms and hands, gripping them tightly while tilting her head to the ground. Her breathing heavy, a long dry cough escaped from her dried-up lips. Not taking any chances, the group of guards burst fire to the exhausted woman, the hot lead whistling in the air as it soon landed on…

  Two guards from in back of the group fell head-first onto the gravel road.

  Turning their heads, their weapons already aimed down onto the woman that teleported from in back. Still having half of their ammunition inside of the chamber, the rest of the guards pulled their triggers as the light from the barrels encapsulated itself onto the woman’s eyes.

  All the while she teleported to her original position from before.

  (Luna) Catch me.

  Four guards remained, they jumped back as Luna thrust her blades onto them, one of the guards having his chest slightly peeled from the rusted blade. Being in the front, the guard held the Thompson onto his hip, blind firing in front of him to get the tanned beauty.

  Teleporting again, they immediately jumped in front to avoid the—

  (Luna) Too easy.

  The guard in the front turned to the left.

  In a display of manipulation, he was then slashed, his chest being opened up to allow the contents of blood and bone to pour out. Instead of jumping back like usual, the three guards let their jaws drop as their fingers couldn’t pull down their triggers any longer. Like seeing a devil in the making, only a step back was needed for the three of them, as their breathing intensified.

  While Luna dangled her arms, her blades swishing the air while having her back hunched.

  (Luna) Come … here …

  All three of them stumbling backward, their hands letting go of their guns as a loud metallic clunk sounded off from below their feet. Gripping the gravel, their lower body soon failed to push their feet, followed by their elbows locked in holding them up.

  Their hands trembling, their fingers twitching, and a couple of tears streamed out from the corners of their eyes. Swaying their heads left and right, she stood in front of them, her eyes darkened in a coat of charcoal.

  (Luna) Now what should I do with you …

  (Zirardge Guard #1) P-P-Please let us g-g-g-g-go! W-W-W-W-W-e’ll promise you t-t-t-t-t-that we’ll—

  Her right blade hovered over the guard’s foot, the tip of it barely poking at the tip of his boots.

  Letting out a high-pitched shriek, he raised both of his hands to his face, pulling back his legs and feet to tuck in. Shutting his eyes, every hair in his body spiked out like a technician that got zapped by an electrical cord. Not only his hair, but his fingers began to shake erratically, his bones cracking with every jolt.

  Seeing the man tuck himself in like a turtle, a sly smirk released from her, despite sweat traversing every corner of her body.

  (Luna) I thought you guys were tough. Hehe … you look cowardly in that pose…

  (Zirardge Guard #1) Oh god … just let me go … please … let me go …

  The guard sniffling right in front of her, only made her push the corners of her lips evermore, as she leaned down to take a good look at his sniffling face. Her eyes lowered, her throat mummified with dryness, she pushed her upper lip so that she could softly bite onto it as the man slowly opened his right eye.

  And seeing her face, a small liquid soon released from within him, staining his pants with a yellowish color.

  (Luna) Hmm…

  Right next to her, Pacifica placed her left hand on Luna’s shoulder, eyeing the three guards with the same look that Luna gave them. Having pushed-down eyes, a devilish grin, and her face perplexed with a layer of sweat, she also hunched down her back while letting her nostrils sniff the air.

  And smelling the foul odor of one of the guard’s accidents, she arched her head back, her hair swaying to the right with the wind.

  (Pacifica) Now you know what happens to bedwetters, don’t ya boy!?

  (Zirardge Guard #1) H-H-Ha…

  The barn door soon let itself creak.

  Immediately, the two of them turned around to notice a gust of wind blowing past them, a wind that caused both girls to freeze up. As if the frozen air of liquid nitrogen brushed against them, not even their arms or legs were enough to jolt them out of their state.

  Then the entire barn began to go up in flames.

  Like the snap of a snapping turtle, the wooden barn from its roof and walls soon were enveloped by the fiery flames that glistened both their eyes. Burnt hay going up toward the night cloudy sky, Luna in particular noticed a black leather boot poking out of the door.

  (Luna’s thoughts) What is … going on?

  The doors to the barn swayed wide open.

  In slow motion, the colossally tall flames reached the height of the heavens, its tip trying to touch and caress the clouds that blocked its path. Out the door, a man clad in all black tilted his head down to the ground, while having his hands inside of his black jacket.

  Wearing a black fedora, his hair was still noticeable as Luna dropped both of her blades.

  (Luna) Ha…

  She took a step back.

  Her breath was caught in her throat.

  Her knees were buckled.

  Blood flow was nonexistent through her hands and feet.

  Her elbows were locked.

  Her eyes widened.

  Eyebrows raised.

  Her face went pale.

  While the man began to pull out both of his weapons, those weapons being none other than two chainsaw-bladed swords.