(Reverence 6, 59 / 7:01PM)

  (Spartan Gabriel)

  Inside a tavern in a busy bar.

  Everyone sved away the beer from their chugs, gulping down the putrid liquid that turned them into kids. Men, young and old, all drank as if there may not be a tomorrow.

  All the while the waitresses sved away, filling up beer bottle after beer bottle, cleaning the mess the drunkards left in their wake. Wearing long skirts and heels, they were like sheep in wolf territory, the smell intoxicating enough to put down a pet grizzly bear.

  As the scene unfolds, one man drank alone. Only wielding a simple bck beer bottle in his right hand, he bnkly stared at the line of whiskey and wine, seeing his reflection along every gss.

  His hair was tied up in a man-bun, and wore a bck tuxedo and church shoes, he was none other than…

  (Spartan Gabriel’s thoughts) They’re here…

  Without turning back, he heard two pairs of footsteps from behind. To his right, both a man and a woman settled themselves without uttering a noise, the legs of the wooden barstools squealing as they rubbed the floor.

  Both of them, along with Gabriel, stared bnkly at the bottles of alcohol in front of them. To the very right of him, there sat a man wearing a brown cowboy hat, along with a bandanna nestled under his colr.

  And to the right of the cowboy looking man, was a woman with dark purple hair, her face wrinkled and pale.

  (Spartan Gabriel) What brings you guys into the city?

  (David) I have a few questions.

  (Spartan Gabriel) And I already told you, I’m following my path. I’ve talked about this many times in the past…

  A female bartender gave both David and Iris bottles of whiskey, the little gss shots just in front of their fingers. David, who immediately curled the little gss with his fingers, tilted his head down to the drink with pushed down eyes.

  Iris did the same, as many men, mostly young, gazed and gawked at the middle-aged woman. Like a piece of elegant steak, they were too poor to buy, they admired the woman with lustful stares from afar.

  Ignoring their youthful lust, Iris gulped down the shot of whiskey.

  (David) And this is what you chose to follow? Being a yes man to a fake God?

  (Spartan Gabriel) I’ve been brainwashed, have I?

  (David) No, you’ve been an idiot. Pin and simple.

  (Spartan Gabriel) Going by that logic, you’re also an idiot.

  David put a tiny amount of pressure on the little gss shot, but it was enough for a simple crack to dispy. With no alcohol pouring out, it wasn’t a deep crack, but rather a warning.

  Turning his head to the middle aged man a couple of years younger than him, David muzzled a hum from his throat. His eyes narrowed, they stared deep into the darkened eyes of his ex brother in arms.

  (Spartan Gabriel) You follow a man who’s on the brink of death. Combined with the simple fact he has ties with the government, you have no right to judge me on who I follow.

  (David) For the st time, the group I take care of aren’t dogs to them, nor is he.

  (Spartan Gabriel) Then who do you follow? Yourselves? Your morals? Give me a break.

  Gabriel pced the top of the beer bottle to his lips, pursuing them so the pungent liquid burst through his mouth like a failed dam. Letting the beer coarse his mouth and throat, he swallowed again the liquid which soothed his soul.

  And hoarse his mouth.

  Pulling out the bottle, a gasp of air sprang out, his breath already mingled with the pungent booze that began soaking his gums.

  (Spartan Gabriel) You judge others but don’t judge yourself. It’s like talking to a jury who lies and kills under oath.

  (David) Enough of this talk … tell me why you’re here …

  (Spartan Gabriel) No, I’m going to keep talking. I also have a lot of questions of my own.

  He didn’t sm the butt of the bottle on the bar table, nor did he pce it softly. Sending a little thump to scatter the wood, Gabriel squinted his eyes into the gring cowboy, seeing David already pent up with frustration.

  In return, a little smirk brushed his right lip. As if he was getting into his skin, David didn’t show it, plunging it deep into his heart like he was stuffing it inside a busted closet.

  (Spartan Gabriel) You’ve been awfully bad these past several days—no, your group mostly. Care to expin why they would go to such lengths?

  (David) Do you honestly believe the verdict Reed gave them?

  (Spartan Gabriel) I don’t.

  David crushed the little gss bottle, using just his wrinkled fingers.

  Everyone from within the bar stopped to look toward the cowboy, furrowing their brows upon the cracked gss. Pinching against his skin and palm, all the waitresses widened and gasped aloud at the sight, leading them to run to the counter to help clean up.

  But they were stopped. Getting up from her barstool, Iris barricaded herself from the waitresses, spreading her arms while narrowing her eyes.

  (Iris) This is a private matter. Carry on.

  (Spartan Gabriel) It’s their choice, not yours. Besides, it's their job, no?

  (Iris) You shut up.

  (Spartan Gabriel) Always hot-tempered—actually, both of you are when I think about it.

  Gabriel also pushed onto her barstool, screeching the wooden floor as he stood tall with his back and neck straightened out. Pulling his hands into his tuxedo suit, he had them nestled like a bear sleeping in a cave.

  Watching David still seated, his eyes focused on the whiskey flowing off from the bar table, Gabriel huffed out air from his parched throat. Swaying his head right and left, he just stared at David with darkening eyes.

  (Spartan Gabriel) You never told anyone, not even the Boss about it, but you have demons of your own.

  (David) Not now…

  (Spartan Gabriel) What was that term? When you bottle all your pent-up frustrations inside of a piggy bank? It’s the complete opposite of what Iris has.

  Without blinking, a hand grabbed his colr.

  Everyone took a step back as the bar shook once, sending bottles of whiskey and wine to tremble from the mini earthquake. Chandeliers swaying softly, tables quivering lightly, all the men, sober or drunk, gulped whatever booze-filled saliva that stuck in between their teeth.

  Even Iris, her eyes usually cold and stale as ice, grabbed the edge of the wooden bar table.

  Gabriel still kept his hands firm in his pockets, despite the tension between him and David boiling evermore. Having a frowning gre on his face, David had eyes as sharp as razors, leading the long-haired man to tilt his head back.

  (Spartan Gabriel) And there you have it folks.

  (David) Tell me … just why do you make me do this?

  (Spartan Gabriel) Because that’s who you are, a man haunted by fears of things he’s done. You remember right? During those skirmishes?

  His hands slightly tore the ends of Gabriel’s colr, leading to a slight rip on the center of his suit. As his nails dug and scraped the fabric, a soft yet wrinkled hand pressed gently on his shoulder, a soothing touch to his stiff body.

  Iris narrowed her eyes at Gabriel, piercing through him like shrilling ice. Turning his eyes to her, he took note of her hands already balled in fists, blood drawing out from her palms.

  (Spartan Gabriel) Your demons, your nightmares, and your hypocrisy … all are what brought you here …

  He slowly pulled his hands from his pockets, his knuckles grazing the ends of the bck fabric which smoothened his skin. In a snail’s pace, he had them brought and dropped to his waist, his fingers wrapping around his palms as if he had something in his grasp.

  David couldn’t see it, since his eyes were beginning to strain stretches of red. Iris, who gnced down at his hands, widened her eyes once she caught a glimpse of metal between his fingers.

  (Spartan Gabriel) All at your own volition.

  Gabriel pulled away from David’s grasp, making the cowboy lunge forward from his body weight.

  In the snap of a finger, Gabriel raised both of his hands high and thrusted them down to the ground. Throwing something on the old oak wooden floor, it pierced through it, but it didn’t mean that the object would—

  A huge cloud of smoke swallowed the entirety of the building.

  Their visibility dropped to near zero, and everyone, including civilians, coughed and gagged from the suffocating air they indulged. One man and woman, swaying their hands up and down near the mouths, scanned the fog of smoke for any sign of Gabriel.

  (David’s thoughts) Damn it…

  (David) Gabriel!

  Two ex-brothers in arms, on different paths, merged once again.

  ______________________________________________________________________________

  (Reverence 6, 59 / 8:01PM)

  (Luna and Jenny)

  An unlikely pair.

  Two women scaled the outside walls of the train, clinging onto the windows as if their life depended on it. No, their life did depend on it, as even one slip would be enough for them to tumble into the dirt like a rolling pin.

  The metal felt too frictionless and slippery, the tips of their boots and heels felt like stepping on ice. Their fingers unable to trench into the window edges, they could only stain it with their own sweat.

  Feeling the hot wind ripple their clothes, Luna looked far beyond the horizon, gazing at the ndscape of just dunes and cacti.

  (Jenny) We have to keep moving!

  (Luna) What does it look like I’m doing?!

  (Jenny) Sightseeing?! Come on!

  Nudging her to move forward, they continued scaling the exterior walls like spiders, up until they noticed a train cart which was fully outdoors. Luna, who memorized the yout, noticed it was none other than the first train cart.

  Tilting her head back, the back of it barely hit Jenny’s face, causing her to also lean her head back as well.

  (Luna) We’re almost there!

  (Jenny) Alright!

  Once they reached the end of the second train cart, Luna pced her right foot onto the railing, exerting all of her body weight onto it. While gripping the exterior wall as much as she could, she then pushed off with her left foot, making her body arch and tilt onto the first train cart.

  Letting her body colpse on the floor, she spread her arms and legs out wide, huffing and puffing air from her lungs.

  Doing the same thing as Luna did, Jenny pced her right foot on the metal railing, and used her body weight and strength to send her on the same area as Luna. Both of them breathing heavily, they finally let the metal floor welcome their bodies.

  (Jenny) I love ground…

  (Luna) No doubt.

  But they had a mission to do.

  Both of them standing up, they quickly gnced at the wooden crates scattered all around them, their positions the same as before. Scratching her cheek, Luna slowly let her eyes traverse the many carts, analyzing the different colors and coatings.

  Because the color of the boxes seemed to change.

  (Jenny) What is it, Luna?

  (Luna) I’ve never seen those types of boxes before. Some of them have logos I can’t decipher.

  (???) That’s because they’re kept secret.

  Like hearing the bells of a final boss, both women felt their skin sprout out goosebumps.

  Their faces drawing out a hideous pale, along with their eyes widening the most it can, even their breath froze and stayed solid in ice form. Stopping the flow of their lungs, both of them turned toward the far end of the train cart, seeing a man standing on top of a cart of coal.

  The man had dual wielding, chainsawed swords, followed by having ginger hair. His all bck clothes rippling with the wind, the man let his daggered stares soar deep at both Luna and Jenny.

  Unwilling to let their eyes gaze away, both kept their breaths frozen solid inside their lungs.

  (Kenichi) Welcome to the st stage.

  He jumped off from the cart of coal, nding him harshly on the metallic floor below. Being on the same cart as Jenny and Luna, his chainsawed swords weren’t turned on, all the while he began walking toward them.

  Both their feet numbed, allowing their frozen breath to shrivel and wrinkle their lungs from the cold temp. Despite breathing in hot air, they felt their mouths grow cold the more they saw Kenichi walk.

  (Kenichi) Did you come here to stop the train? Unfortunately for you, I can’t let you do that.

  He stopped at the halfway point, his thumbs moving to the buttons of the chainsawed swords. Rubbing his skin with the red metal mechanisms, his eyes were coated in dark eye bags, making him look like he ran on no sleep. Muzzling out a low ‘hmm’ noise from his throat, he tilted his head up, allowing his all-bck fedora to let his face pale from the ck of sunlight.

  (Kenichi) I made a promise I would stick by his side, no matter what.

  His chainsawed swords were soon brought back to life. By clicking the red button on the side of the bdes, the metallic bck chains connected to the machine spun infinitely, leading embers to vomit out from the cshing metal.

  Luna and Jenny brought their hands to their chests, their breathing fastening the more they witnessed the final boss of their mission. With no help, no guide or back up whatsoever, they had no choice but to rely on themselves and each other.

  But it was easier said than done when both suffered at the hands of that same man.

  (Kenichi) But I’m going to give you a choice.

  He bent down on the floor with one knee, making him pce his swords on the cold metallic ground. His fluctuating chained bdes spinning frantically without dey, he brought his hands to the back of his jacket, his knuckles feeling the flexible fabric of his outfit.

  Scurrying around his back, he soon found what he was looking for, but he didn’t emit a single drop of emotion.

  Pulling out two metal objects, he gripped them with his wrinkled and frail fingers, creaking the metal while letting his eyes trail the tanned woman. Luna, widening her eyes, wiggled her fingers as her hands were low on her waist.

  (Kenichi) If you pn on fighting me, you’re going to need both of these.

  Throwing them underhanded, it bristled the desert air until it nded just in front of Luna’s feet. Rolling on the floor, the tip of the metal baton nudged itself right in front of her boots, making Luna—

  Those were her twin-bded double-edged swords.

  She finally had a long-awaited reunion with her swords. Cttering her teeth, she gulped down a load of saliva and took a step back as if she tried to avoid it.

  (Kenichi) But if you don’t pn on fighting, then I have no choice but to tie you up by force.

  To fight or not to fight, that is the question…

  To take upon her hidden trauma, all cultivated and farmed for her heart to seal. Or to shallow away, leaving the crops to overgrow and burden her broken soul.

  Her hands clenched firm, her nails trenched and scorned into her palms, along with her eyes pushing down at her metal batons. While Jenny shook, her hands trembling and quivering, she couldn’t reach down to get her spiked frying pan from her waist.

  Both unable to wield their weapons, how could they fight—

  (Past Luna’s thoughts) Please God … let me grant me this one wish…

  (Past Jenny) Give me flowers!

  Both remembered their past.

  Luna’s was only a month prior, Jenny’s was decades past. In that single moment, their eyes welled up in tears as both of them…

  Remembered the memories of the men they loved.

  ______________________________________________________________________________

  (Reverence 6, 59 / 7:55PM)

  (Luke)

  Leaving behind Miles and Hope, and Jack and Sean, Luke began his one man assault to the front train cart. Wielding both of his uzis, his fingers were ced on the side, his palms pressuring the grip of the guns.

  Being on top of the second train cart roof, Luke let his feet slow down, as the motion of the train soon wobbled and churned. Leaving him with less stability with his boots, Luke spread his legs apart, while extending his hands out and watching his step.

  (Luke’s thoughts) It’s almost there, don’t mess it up, Luke!

  Once he reached the halfway point of the train cart, he stopped in his tracks.

  Without a sound, a single quarter flew out from the other end of the cart, soaring in the air toward where Luke was. Not moving his body, Luke raised his hands to catch the quarter, letting his palm enact like a spider web to the coin.

  Gazing at the quarter, he let himself be invested within it, seeing the grizzled edges and chrome skin. Using his thumb, he rubbed the metal which was ced with lint and dust, making his nails succumb to the clump of dead skin cells—

  Every hair from his body trickled up.

  Like a monk crashing the gong with his hands, Luke’s body froze, his boots glued to the top of the roof. His hearing was stolen, his sense of touch gone, his vision narrowed once he began to turn to the original location of where the quarter was thrown.

  Without turning his body, his eyes snted inward evermore, as he id his restless eyes on…

  (Agent Briggs) You can keep the quarter.

  A man with blonde hair stood on the edge of the cart, the soles of his heels on the border between the air and the metal. His hands inside of his pockets, he had a side bang covering his left eye, making him seem mysterious and cold.

  Luke regained his senses again, making him turn around fully to face the cold-hearted agent.

  Briggs didn’t let the hot wind ripple and blow against his clothes. Without grinding against his jaws, the blonde-haired agent took a single step forward, leading Luke to back away in return.

  But he didn’t dare run.

  (Luke) I know you want to capture me…

  (Agent Briggs) Capture or kill you. The man says it would be better to take you in alive.

  (Luke) But why? We were once fighting side by side…

  Briggs scoffed out a dry batch of air from his lungs, once he began pulling out his hands from his pockets. Having nothing within his grasp, he had them lowered on his waist, his nails millimeters from scratching and twitching from his pants.

  Remembering the events from one month prior, the counterattack and defense of Lagefor, he knew who took down the beast. Everyone knew.

  But he also knew there was a much crueler beast, right in front of him.

  (Agent Briggs) That’s up until I knew your past…

  (Luke) What past? Why are you so hell-bent on trying to get me?

  (Agent Briggs) You forgot, did you…

  Briggs started to walk toward the tightened Luke, his church shoes pressuring themselves on the metal roof of the train. The front of his fedora blocking his eyes, the shade of them let his forehead pale and simmer under the early night sky.

  Unable to see the stars, he kept his eyes glued to Luke. In return, Luke took another step back, while pcing the quarter into his jacket.

  (Agent Briggs) The sins you did, the atrocities you committed.

  (Luke) What sins!? I’m 18, barely turning 19! How can a teen barely be called the leader of a cartel!?

  (Agent Briggs) I want to know that as well.

  Being two meters away from each other, Briggs wiggled his fingers more and more, leading to his nails dancing along his pants. Tilting his head down, his cold eyes stared at the tips of Luke’s boots, making the young man feel as if his toes were being bitten by ice.

  Luke raised his uzis to his waist, the barrels of both of them pinned to Brigg’s shoes.

  (Luke) You know the government is lying. The Zirardges most likely paid the President because of our reckless actions. Yet we’re the ones who saved the city!

  (Agent Briggs) I heard enough.

  The air around them froze.

  As if Luke was obeying his command, his fingers stained the metal of his guns with his sweat. Unable to breathe in or out, all of the air within his body ballooned his chest, without puffing his body.

  (Agent Briggs) I’m tired…

  Every hair from within his body quivered, as the silence suddenly boomed into his whistling ears. Too slow to widen his ears, he was fast enough to lunge back, his body doing it without his brain.

  His muscles took command for a split second, those same muscles saved him.

  Without blinking, a blurred hand and arm blew past his face, noticing that it tried to uppercut his chin. Dodging it by the skin of his teeth, time resumed back to the present, leading Luke to plunge out a hard breath of air from his nostrils.

  While Briggs slid his right foot back, his voice meek as an old frail mouse.

  (Agent Briggs) I’m tired.