(Ostermonath 21, 48 / 10:43PM)
(???) Hahaha, that’s just a joke, right?
(???) A joke?
(???) pfft, I don’t think Boris is joking!
Three men sat at a bar in a wooden tavern, sitting on high wooden stills as their arms y on the smooth marinated wooden cocktail table. In each of their hands, they gulped down their drinks one at a time.
But two of them had their hands to their stomachs, spping their knees as the man to the right of them, a short chubby, haired 28-year-old man, had his fists clenched and his breathing rigid.
(???) Hey Boris, for a man with a PhD in political science you sure are funny!
(Boris) Quiet you prick!
The man to the left of them wore squared-lensed gsses and had dark brown wavy hair and many freckles.
(Boris) Just because it made you ugh didn’t mean it’s not a joke!
(???) But still, what made you come up with that? If it’s your way of getting rid of world hunger then not many people will like it.
The man in the middle, tall with messy blonde hair, looked towards Boris. Boris looked straight at his friend’s eyes, which caused him to drip a bead of sweat from the right corner of his eye. Clearing his throat, he turned the high chair towards the blonde man’s direction, putting his hands on his knees.
(Boris) After our lecture, I overheard William Reed talking to our professor about kids and such, and how kids should be good fighters so that they could defend themselves from sexual predators and whatnot.
(???) Hmm … in a way, I could see why. But what types of traps can they allow for kids and teens? It would be pretty funny if some kid gets caught in cotton candy or falls in some hole and calls it a trap.
(Boris) But wait Arthur, William told our professor that he has a newborn baby and that he wants to make sure that he is trained at an early age for self-defense.
(Arthur) Can’t he just protect his own kid?
Arthur then looked into Boris’s oval-shaped eyes. As Arthur remained in eye contact, Boris leaned onto the cocktail table and made sure his head was turned.
(Boris) In a way, children need to be tough.
(???) Are you going through with that joke?
The man in the middle then caused both Arthur and Boris to lose eye contact, with both of their eyes staring at the blond-haired man. Looking into Boris’s eyes yet again, Boris then looked towards the many whiskey and beer bottles that reflected Boris’s figure to him.
(Boris) Would I have blood on my hands?
(???) Unless you work with someone that already has.
(Boris) Can I do it alone?
(???) No, it can’t be done with you alone.
The blonde-haired man’s fists who were on the cocktail table started to shake gently, looking at Boris’s chubby face as his eyes hardened. Putting his right hand over Boris’s shoulder, he whispered in Boris’s ear.
(??? whispering) Whatever you do, don’t ever do it alone.
(Boris whispering) Why? You don’t think I can work it out by myself—
(??? whispering) It’s for your safety…
Boris, who still faced the gss bottles of whiskey and beer as he was being whispered to, tilted his head to the right as he remained dumbfounded by this weird reason.
(Boris whispering) So, what type of funding or help would I need?
(??? whispering) Let’s just say I know a man about Arthur’s age who knows how to shoot…
(Boris whispering) So I just need bodyguards?
(??? whispering) You also need money, that’s the important issue…
(Boris whispering) Don’t tell me I have to go to the government like a pdog, you know I hate the government with a passion.
(Arthur) That’s why you have a PhD in political science.
Arthur then scoots up with his barstool, trying to hear the whispering conversation that’s taking pce between their blonde-haired friend and Boris. The blonde-haired man put his left arm around Arthur’s shoulder, bringing them close as to discuss the experiment.
(Arthur whispering) Why are we still going on about Boris’s joke?
(??? whispering) Arthur, what do you wanna do after graduating from The Political Institute of Lagefor?
(Arthur whispering) I pn on being a wyer why?
Arthur looked into the blonde-haired man’s eyes, the man’s blue eyes contorting to a serious look as he cleared his throat.
(??? whispering) Pn on being a politician.
(Arthur whispering) Yeah, I rather give hopes and dreams than sell hopes and dreams…
(??? whispering) Promise me you’ll be a politician!
(Arthur whispering) sighs … why? Why do I have to follow someone else's goals more than my own?
Arthur then looked towards Boris, who went back to looking at the bottles of whiskey and beer. Seeing his friend enveloped in the world of beer, Arthur looked back toward his blonde-haired friend.
(Arthur whispering) It’s just …What if I can’t become a politician…
(??? whispering) Then be president.
Arthur then stood back to the same position he was in when they first went into the bar. Taking a little drink from his small bottle of whiskey, he looked down at his hand that held the cold drink in his hand.
The blonde-haired man let go of both Arthur and Boris, having his eyes focused on only Arthur who remained lost in thought. Looking up toward where the blonde-haired man was, Arthur’s eyes scrunched as his nostrils fred for a bit before he rubbed the cold gss with his thumb.
(Arthur) Joseph.
(Joseph) Yeah?
(Arthur) You’re full of shit.
(Joseph) I get that a lot.
______________________________________________________________________________
(Prominis 21, 58 / 6:22AM)
In a room near the control room, was a mini theater that had a small stage with dozens of seats.
Upon the rows of seats, seven candidates reached the end of the line. Sweat drenched every inch of their bodies, the body odor making the room humid and foul, followed by the dark gray eye bags that showed the ck of sleep that they endured.
Yawning hard, Luke’s head felt heavy as he tried to keep them open, his body sore and spent since he couldn’t even budge them one bit. Looking at Hope who was staring into the abyss, he tugged her shoulder gently with his right hand.
(Luke) Here.
Barely awake, Luke pulled out from his pocket a small razor bde, pcing it ft on his right hand as he showed it to Hope. Despite almost snoozing out, Hope’s eyes sparkled as she noticed the familiar-style razor bde.
(Hope) Is that Gemmas?
(Luke) Fred gave it to me before we all went through the third stage. He said he wanted me to keep it but … I wasn’t that close with Gemma compared to you, and Fred and Loraine had many other razor bdes that Gemma kept, so … I want to give this to you …
Hope had her hand in pce, struggling to pick up the bde. Luke noticed a gulp coming from Hope as her breathing was a little raspier, her body trying to hold her back.
Noticing this hesitation, Luke used his left hand to help out Hope by bringing down her right hand to the razor. With both their right hands cupping, Luke slowly withdrew his right hand so that Hope had the razor bde since Hope’s hands were sticky and sweaty.
But then Luke flustered bright red.
(Luke’s thoughts) I held hands…
Noticing Luke burning red, Hope’s eyes widened, and csped her hands together, also turning a bright red too. Looking away, her eyes wandered somewhere as sweat started forming across her face.
(Gwen) I’m sorry…
Coming out of the stage was Gwen, who slowly walked in as she didn't carry the usual megaphone that she normally used. She looked at all seven of the candidates who were barely awake, noticing that Luke, her disciple, was one of the lucky seven.
(Gwen) You guys have been through a lot.
David came out to the stage too, carrying a medium-sized box. The box was coated in bck paint, the smell causing him to gag a bit as he fought through the smell.
Putting the box down on a table behind Gwen, three other figures came out of the stage too, waiting for Gwen to finish up her speech. All three of the adult figures' faces were looking downward and fatigued as their faces softened at the dirtied candidates' faces.
(Gwen) But behind me, are those blessings you all worked hard for. I’ll call out the names in terms of who came in first.
Benn walked over to Gwen and gave her a paper list of names. Going back to his station, he waited for the new candidates that he’d have to work with.
(Gwen) First on the list is Loraine, who will be … benchwarmer.
(Loraine) What’s a benchwarmer?
(Gwen) A person who is usually called in when a person from the team is out of commission.
(Loraine) But I want to fight!
(Gwen) Well, that person says otherwise.
Loraine stood up and walked over to the stage, getting up onto the stage by lifting herself instead of taking the stairs. Quickly walking over, David opened the bck-coated paint box, holding his nose.
For Loraine, she didn’t think the paint smelled that bad. Looking at David with a tilt to her face, she put a finger to her chin.
(Loraine) You don’t like paint?
(David) I hate paint.
(Loraine) Why?
(David) Horrible memories.
Sharpening his eyes, David folded his arms as Loraine leaned over the box, grabbing the white sparkling banana.
The banana was a foot long, with a yellow neck and flower tip on the edges of the fruit. As Loraine peeled the banana, her fingers had an extra time trying to peel the fruit all the way, since it was twice as hard to peel it than a normal banana.
Instead of peeling it halfway and eating it, Loraine peeled the entire thing off and threw it somewhere backstage.
(Jenny) Hey, you better pick that up after you eat it!
Ignoring Jenny, Loraine then started eating the banana, not taking any time whatsoever to gulp down the fruit in one session. Patting her chest so that the banana could go down faster, Loraine then goofily looked around the other adults to see their reaction.
(Jerry’s thoughts) Is she trolling with us?
(Jenny) Remember to pick up your peel.
Loraine being Loraine, walked over to the banana peel that she threw randomly and grabbed it nonchantly. Seeing Jenny gring at her, Loraine’s face smiled devilishly, which caused Jenny to have a little vein on her forehead.
(Jenny) Make sure you put the peel into the trash bin—
Loraine then threw the peel at Jenny’s face.
Running off the stage, she ran towards the other candidates and found her seat still spotless. Jumping over a couple of candidates, she nded safely onto her spot, put up the recliner, and smugly fell asleep.
(Jenny) Loraine!
Clutching her fists in pure anger, Jenny bent down with anger as her forehead was bristled with veins bulging out of her. Jerry, who was beside her, pulled out a small container of mint chocote chip ice cream.
(Jerry) Here Jenny.
Angrily snatching the ice cream container, she pried the lid open and noticed that there was no spoon or fork to eat it with. Jerry checked his pockets and to no avail, he didn’t pack a spoon or fork for Jenny. Already furious, Jenny started eating it with her own hands, scooping big chunks into her small hands and putting her entire hand into her mouth.
(Jerry’s thoughts) She’s cute when she’s mad.
(Gwen) Alrighty, the second person is Sean, who is going to be the recon of the group. There are going to be two recons in the group.
Sean stood up grudgingly, walking towards the stage and taking the stairs. Towering over the box, he peeled the banana all the way simir to Loraine, and pced the banana peel on top of the table.
Jenny noticed this and looked up towards Sean, her face still having a bit of ice cream.
(Jenny) You … munch … better pick … munch … that up!
Smugly looking at Jenny, he put his hands together to form a heart shape, showcasing it to Jenny who was still eating ice cream with her bare hands. As Jenny noticed this, she only gred in anger since her veins were still bulging from what she had gone through with Loraine.
(Sean’s thoughts) Huh … I guess I’ll try it when she calms down.
Walking off the stage, Sean looked back to see that Jerry was gring at him, his eyes unwavering as Sean took his seat next to Jack.
(Sean’s thoughts) He’s going to die for love at this point…
(Gwen) In third pce is Jack. He’ll be the sniper.
Jack, the only candidate who wasn’t sleepy, casually walked towards the stage, taking the stairs as he approached the box. Jerry, who was the driver of Miles, Sean, Jack, Cameron, Ryan, Gemma, and Loraine on the road to Fort Damns, stopped gring at Sean.
Putting a finger up to his chin, his eyes focused on Jack.
(Jerry’s thoughts) Jack didn’t sleep at all during the trip here, so why is he the one who looked like he got a good night’s sleep?
Peeling the banana midway, Jack ate it normally as he finished it in three to four bites. Having the peel left, he went over to the trash bin and threw it in.
Leaving the stage with his hands behind his pockets, he took a seat next to Sean who was slowly falling asleep.
(Gwen) In fourth pce is Miles Brown, who will be the shield of the group.
Miles slowly got up as he made his way to the stage, lifting himself simir to Loraine. Grabbing the banana, he ate it simir to Jack, peeling the banana midway and then throwing it to the bin with no problem.
But Miles noticed that Jenny was still furiously eating ice cream. Grabbing from out of his pants pocket, he pulled out a leftover soda with his left hand.
Walking towards Jenny who was sitting on the ground eating, Miles showcased the soda that he had, putting his hand down to the floor as he looked down at Jenny.
(Miles) Wanna soda?
Shuffling her eyebrows, she stared into the soda for a long bit, her forehead and face still having bulging veins. Without warning, Jenny took the soda and opened up the can, drinking halfway through the can as she tilted it upward. Putting the soda down, the can now be filled with ice cream handprints, she gave out a loud burp, which shocked even Jerry to some extent.
Walking out of the stage, Miles found his seat near Jack and Sean, with his eyes slowly closing as each second passed.
(Gwen) For our bde of the group, Luna Guerra—oh, she’s asleep…
Gwen made a little giggle as Luna managed to fall asleep during the presentation. Looking at both David in the back of her and Luke near her, he motioned either one to wake her up.
(Luke) sighs … Here goes nothing.
Luke tugged Luna’s left shoulder, her body slumped in the chair as she calmly put her head deep into the seat. Calmly tugging her shoulder again, Luke stood up as he remained focused on Luna’s face.
(Luke’s thoughts) Please don’t be like four years ago.
Luna managed to wake up.
She instantly used her left hand to have an immense grip on Luke’s right hand. Standing up, she had her right fist barely containing the rage and anger as she was about to punch the person who dared to wake her up—
(Luke) Luna, it's me!
Barely stopping to hit the person’s liver, Luna had her fist still as she eyed the figure even more. Almost as if her blind rage was unveiling her eyesight more and more, she took notice of a boy who had his hands covering his stomach.
Seeing that it was Luke, she put her fists down, her fists still shaking from anger and frustration. Looking around rapidly to see that she was still in the little theater room, she was still panting and breathing heavily as her anger didn’t subside.
(Gwen) Come on Luna! I know you want to kiss him but after you eat your banana!
(Luna) SHUT UP!!
As she pushed her vocals to the limits, Luna charged forth onto the stage, pulling up her sleeves and pushing the wooden floorboards for her sprint. Passing along many rows of seats in five seconds, Luna barreled her eyes toward Gwen’s nose. Readying her fist, she tucked it in just as she was about to deliver the punch—
A rope, made out of light, was wrapped around Luna’s waist.
Falling, Luna’s face was yet still full of rage, her fists clenching violently as she continued to death gre at Gwen. Seeing that the light rope was coming from Gwen, she stood up Luna so that she would be able to stand.
(Gwen) Awwww, is your little naptime ruined~?
(Luna) FUCK YOU!!
(Gwen) If you want to fight me fairly in the future, then you could just eat that banana over there.
Luna hopped over to the box furiously, with each hop making a creaking sound as the stage couldn’t handle the force pressure. With her teeth, she lowered her head so that her mouth could pick up the banana. Because her arms were wrapped around her wrist, she had no choice but to…
Eat the white banana whole, while spitting out the banana peel.
(David’s thoughts) At least Gwen is finally using her power to constrain Luna. Sometimes I wondered if she wanted to get hit by Luna, or if she was just stupid.
Managing to consume the entire banana, Gwen looked at Luna with a serious look, her eyes focusing on Luna as she was still constrained in the rope of light.
(Gwen) If you behave I’ll get rid of the rope.
Luna then slowly started to control her breathing, her anger managing to slowly be a burden down to her heart. Her hands soon stopped clenching one another as she continued to slow down her heart rate with each passing second. Once Luke and David saw this, they gave out little smiles as Luna managed to take control of her anger bit by bit.
Gwen saw this and drew back the rope that was binding Luna. With the light rope in Gwen’s hands, she made the rope vanish as it started to particle out.
Feeling her waist breathe, Luna then was about to walk off…
(Jenny) Hey, pick up your banana peel and put it in the trash—
Luna then picked up the banana peel, looked at Jenny’s recovering angry face, and threw the banana peel hard at her face. Stomping towards the trash bin, she kicked it down the flight of stairs. Her breathing was irregur and her fists clenched hard, she took a seat right next to Luke, her face showcasing veins upon veins pstered on her face.
Jenny then started to grab her hair, about to pull it out of her head as her face was on the verge of exploding. Scared, Jerry took a couple of steps back and patted his pockets, and upon noticing that he didn’t have the source of Jenny’s cure.
(Jerry) Shit! I’ll get more ice cream!
Jerry ran backstage, hoping to find any leftover ice cream…
(Gwen) Okay… uhm … next on our list is Hope, who will be our little medic of the group.
Hope quietly stood up and made her way towards the stage, taking the steps with ease and care. Grabbing the banana in the box, she peeled it halfway, ate it, and threw it away inside the bin.
Before she was about to leave, she looked at Jenny who was fuming with rage, her crazy eyes and hair pulling extremely noticeable. Putting her face down, Hope walked up towards Jenny, and from within her pocket, she brought out a white leftover napkin with her left hand.
(Hope) Here, you could use this to wipe off the ice cream.
Smiling at Jenny who was about to explode, Jenny started to let go of her hair. Despite not exploding, Jenny still had her hands clenched and her body shriveling with rage as she didn’t have another cure for her rage.
But Jenny did snatch away Hope’s napkin, using it to clean her hands as much as she could, but it was only one napkin.
Walking towards where Luke was, she sat down quietly, closing her eyes to get some sleep.
(Gwen) Last but not least, Luke Fenix. Who will be … giggles … the second recon of our group.
(Luke) Oh, come on!
As the st person to walk onto the stage, Luke’s body felt as if an anvil was on top of him. Slowly walking on the steps, he saw from the distance his six future comrades he’d be working with from now on.
Seeing the st banana, he peeled the banana with some struggle and put the peel not on the table or floor, but inside of his pocket. Readying his lips, Luke slowly opened his mouth, feeling the contents of the banana inside his mouth as he closed his mouth shut.
(Luke’s thoughts) I’ve achieved my goal yet I don’t know what to do.
Finishing the banana, he then looked at his hands which were covered in grime and dirt.
(Luke’s thoughts) I guess my next goal is to be a great soldier, a soldier my mom would be proud of… I mean … I’m not the main character…
Looking up, he quickly went over to the bin that was kicked by Luna, and he adjusted it so that it was back to its original position. As well as the leftover banana peels and trash that was scattered, Luke picked it up by hand so that Jenny wouldn’t have to clean it up by herself.
For a good solid minute, he cleaned up the area, before pulling out from his pocket a leftover banana peel and putting it in the bin. Checking the floors a second time, he did a simple nod for himself that the wooden stage was spotless.
Looking over at Jenny who was looking at him with wide eyes, he slowly walked over to her, his eyes sleepy yet his mouth curled into a little smile.
(Luke) Are you finished with your ice cream?
Jenny looked down at the ice cream that was already decimated by her. Grabbing the container, Jenny clenched hard on the container, bulging veins still on her forehead.
Luke noticed this and put his hands onto Jenny’s constraining hands, her eyes started to form a bit of water as Luke’s smooth yet rough hands touched them.
(Luke) I’ll put the ice cream in the bin for you … is that ok?
Instantly, Luke felt Jenny’s grip on the ice cream decrease, her hands letting Luke handle the container. Carrying the container, Luke walked over to the bin and dumped it in, cpping his hands back and forth before he turned his attention to Jenny, her hands shaking softly.
(Luke) Sorry if I’m not the best at handling Luna, so please forgive me.
Luke then walked shyly to his seat in between Luna and Hope, who had had their eyes closed for a while.
All the adult figures looked at Jenny, who had a warm smile dawning upon her face as she saw Luke walk away.
(Gwen) I think everyone is pretty tired, so wanna just take a nap for a little bit?
(David) Yeah, we’ve all been running on fumes.
And like that, everyone in the little theater went to sleep … for the entire day.
______________________________________________________________________________
(Prominis 20, 56 / 11:57PM)
The 14 candidates continued to look at the firepit in prospering silence.
Seeing the embers of the smoke mixing with the air, they all continued to see the beauty of peace and comfort that most of them longed for.
The firepit crackling the wood, the smoke being released into the Lagefor night air.
(Jack) This is kind of rexing…
(Miles) Yeah, compared to a couple of hours ago.
Miles drank his Mr. Pepper with his right hand, looking around at the candidates who were much younger than him. Seeing the rexation and comfort of the fire, Stan looked over to where Miles was, his eyes looking downwards as his face was more droopy.
(Stan) Same … hey sorry if I was being a bit hot-headed. Back there, I didn't think too straight.
(Miles) It’s ok … I think I’m more in the wrong. I could’ve handled the situation differently …
(Stan) Hey, tomorrow if you want I could owe you a soda or something.
(Miles) You don’t have to man, I already have a mini fridge stacked with them.
Both Stan and Miles gave each other a nod, their eyes warm and rexed compared to the incident a couple of hours ago.
Luke and Sean kept gncing at each other, their eyes trying to get one another's attention. Jack, who was noticing the two of them, hunched his back and put his hands on his knees.
(Jack) My dudes, you guys are giving off tsundere vibes…
(Sean) Wait, what's a tsundere?
(Jack) Right … you guys don’t know that … Do you guys hate each other or are both of you secretly in love?
Luke was drinking water as soon as Jack said that, because Luke spat out his drink hard, the water narrowly avoided the firepit. As the water got into the wrong hole, Luke kept on pushing his lungs to get the water out, slowly letting air back into his lungs once more.
Meanwhile, Sean flustered his cheeks.
(Sean) I ain’t gay! I’m into girls!
(Jack) Be honest Sean, you thought Fred was cute looking.
(Sean) That’s because I thought Fred looked like a girl!
Fred moved a couple of inches closer to Gemma, away from Sean.
(Jack) Or how you thought Hope was a boy and you said ‘Game is game’ and you went over there yesterday and you were thrilled that Hope was a girl…
Hope looked at Sean as if she was seeing trash.
(Gary) So … you’re bi?
(Sean) I’m straight!
(Diego) Yeah he’s bi.
(Loraine) Closet!
(Sean) S-Screw you guys!
Sean stood up and walked away from the pit, gncing at everyone and even Luke. As he id eyes on Luke, he turned away, looking towards the door that led him to the dorms.
As there were 13 candidates left, everyone started to giggle and ugh as they made Sean the ughingstock of the night. Luke, who was enjoying the moment, noticed that Hope and even Luna were having a good time.
Everyone’s eyes watched as Luna was snorting cutely, covering her face with her right hand and her left hand clutching her stomach. All the boy’s cheeks flustered bright red as Luna had one of the cutest ughs they had ever seen, their eyes gazing upon Luna’s closed eyes and rexed face.
Eventually, the silence was loud enough for Luna to hear her ugh, and she stopped to see that everyone was gazing at her.
(Luna) What is it?
Luna switched from her cute status to that of her normal angry self, making most of the boys avert their eyes. Scoffing as the boys nervously looked away, Luna folded her arms and straightened her back to appear more tough and dominant.
(Luna) Yeah, that’s what I thought.
Then she looked towards Luke, his face looking in the opposite direction to where Luna was. Clearing her throat, she sharpened her eyes towards Luke as she put her right leg on her left knee.
(Luna) Oi, what are you looking at?
Luke still had her sharp gaze at Luke, raising her voice more as she wanted his undivided attention. Still having his head turned, she quickly stood up and walked towards Luke.
(Luna) Hey! Look over here when I’m talking to you—
She saw Luke’s face flustered beet red, his face having the cutest nervous face that she had ever seen.
(Luna) …
Luna then went back to her seat, her cheeks red as her fists clenched tightly. Seeing that everyone was starting to look into her, she straightened her back even more and had a bulging vein or two from her neck.
(Luna) Y-You guys wanna fight or something?!
(Stan) Hey Miles, you were right when you called it a gamble of hidden love.
(Miles) When it comes to love, believe me, I’ve been in many retionships to count.
(Luna) You guys better shut up!
Jack then pulled out a wooden guitar. Having a pick, he strummed the guitar once as the strings were already tuned. Seeing Luna eyed the guitar with her veins bulging out of her forehead, Jack let out a smug grin.
(Jack) Do you all wanna hear a song?
(Luna) If you’re going to make fun of me, I’ll punch your nuts!
(Jack) Rex, it’s a song about Luke. Here, take a listen.
(Jack singing) I See Luuuuuukkkkeeee~
On A Treeeeeeeeeeeeee~
With a girllllllllllllllllllll~
With anger isssuuuuuess~
They were kissssiiinnng~
Mountain mamaaaaaaaa~
I see Luuuuuuukkkkeeee~
On a—
(Luna) I’M GOING TO RIP YOUR FUCKING NUTS OFF!!!
To the point of spitting saliva, Luna used her entire strength to try to get Jack. As their way to safely defend Jack from having his private parts detached from his body, all the boys and girls held Luna back, ughing and giggling as if they had never had this much fun in a while.
Except for Jack… whose bloodline could’ve ended if Luke didn’t step in.
______________________________________________________________________________
(Prominis 21, 58 / 7:47AM)
(Stan) We’re almost there, the rendezvous should be close.
(Fred) I never expected to walk this much for losing.
(Diego) Hey Gary, do you think they’ll even have another test like this?
(Gary) Depends. If it’s kept under the rug, maybe. If they decre it to the public, also a maybe.
All five boys who didn’t reach the gate, or rather they gave up their spot, were walking towards where they would be picked up. Their legs were sore and longing for a chance for rest, all of them were dragging their feet as their boots' soles were showing little holes.
(Stan’s thoughts) For now, all we need to do is get stronger. And that means to work behind the scenes of The Dark Angels.
Walking ever more, another boy, Cameron, noticed the street that they were walking through, his eyes letting a tear or two run down his cheek as this was the terrible street of the second stage.
Falling, the four other boys noticed Cameron, helping him up as they looked at him with their eyes down gazing at him.
(Stan) Hey, are you alright?
(Fred) Hey, Cameron. What’s going on, why are you sobbing all of a sudden—oh…
Cameron gave a teary nod, which caused all four boys to look down. Stan, who was in front, put his hands on Cameron’s shoulders.
(Stan) What do you wanna do … we could either look for Ryan’s corpse or not … whatever’s your call…
(???) Are you guys talking about him?
A tall red-haired woman with gsses appeared to the side of them, carrying the corpse of a bunny-human. Appearing in her mid-20s, the tall short-haired woman looked at the boys with a gentle smile, which made the boys take a couple of steps back.
Seeing that the woman had his best friend in her arms, Cameron clenched his fists, his eyes wide as his vocals struggled to utter a noise. Seeing that Cameron was in a major state, she gently put down the corpse and sat down with her knees on the ground.
(???) Are you connected to this boy by any chance?
Tilting her head, she csped her hands together as she looked at Cameron with her eyes having bits of water in them. Patting the ground to signal him, Cameron slowly walked toward the red-haired woman, his jaw clenching inside of his mouth.
The rest of the boys all look at the woman with their eyes purely focusing on her, checking out her hand gestures or body movements for anything suspicious.
(???) It’s ok, you guys can carry on to the rendezvous meetup. I’ll be taking Cameron to some pce for questioning.
(Stan) Some pce?
(???) It’s for the cause of Ryan’s death … as well as Gemma’s…
(Stan’s thoughts) Should I let her? I mean she does know our names and what happened so I take it she’s an agent that works for the government?
(Stan) Alright, we’ll be going then Cameron.
Saying their goodbyes to Cameron, the horse-human was then left with the tall red-haired girl, both of them alone. His jaw still clenched tight, and his eyes widened as he continued to gre at the red-haired woman.
Seeing that the boys were walking away, the woman stood up and walked towards Cameron.
(???) It’s just you and me.
(Cameron) … how long is the questioning going to take?
The tall woman smiled with her face pushed up, causing Cameron to sweat a bit for the unusualness of the woman.
(???) As long as it takes.
Cameron was never seen again.
Nor did anybody ever remember him.