Extending his arm outward, he bared his fangs or rather bared his luck for him to grabble the cliff. Feeling his hands hold nothing but air, dry wind that stung down his scars and cuts, he knew deep in his heart—

  (Luke’s thoughts) ah…

  (???) What a doofus…

  Something grabbed onto him.

  Slowly, he opened his eyes, and his right wrist felt like a mouse trap dug inside of him. Seeing a hand, encased in porcein skin, jabbing its fingernails deep into his bones, he let them trail up to see a man.

  A man with ginger hair, with elf ears. Amid the early night, below the shining stars, both men looked at one another.

  Then came the explosion. A Poseidon fireball whistled the leaves and trees, once the train crashed down to the canyon below. Cracking rocks, brushing away tigs, the heat the bst spewed out fluttered and parched their pale skins evermore.

  Sean, who had dug his fingers into Luke’s wrist, ignored the eruption of fme in front of him.

  (Sean) Lucky bastard…

  (Luke) I thought you hated me.

  (Sean) I ain’t a vilin. Besides … I’m just repaying a debt …

  Luke noticed Sean was dangling from the edge of the cliff as well, with one of his feet hidden from view. His right eyebrow furrowed, how can one man hold himself up?

  Both men were tugged up, as something had cmped down onto Sean’s boot.

  With the fireball plummeting to smoke, its ash soon scoured the rest of the canyon’s ravines and sharply rocked edges, leaving no stone to be unturned. As if it was snowing on them, they held their breath, all the while Sean y safely on the ft surface of the cliff.

  Luke, who was right below him, also sought soce on the parched rigid rock.

  His vision was slightly reddened, and Luke’s eyes widened at an animal covered in green fur. The creature, which had its teeth biting firm on the tips of Sean’s boots, released it from its grasp. Drool covering his bck boot, Sean pushed down his cheeks and wrinkled his lips, his eyes on the verge of coated with water.

  (Sean’s thoughts) Wow…

  Ignoring the elf, the green donkey walked toward the exhausted Luke.

  Its nuzzle inches from his face, and it blew a chunk of air from its nostrils, which swept away sweat from his cheeks. Followed by it sticking out its tongue, it licked his chin up to his forehead, cleaning off chunks of dirt and sand from the depths of his pores.

  Luke couldn’t waver it away, considering he finally felt his face moisten. Pushing up a quivering smile, he tried to pet it, but his entire body was just … done.

  (Luke) You rescued me yet again.

  The only thing left to move was his head, as his upper and lower body were sucked dry from energy. With the donkey sitting right by Luke’s side, it watched as the rge group of soldiers ran toward them. Sean, who soon got up from the pavement, spped both of his knees to release botches of dust and sand from his pants.

  Pcing his hands in his pockets, he scratched the back of his head.

  (Sean) You went through all that trouble for a bag of gold?

  (Luke) Hey. You were willing to raid a train by yourself…

  (Sean) That was when I was … more of an idiot.

  The group finally reached Luke, with two extra members joining. The Dark Angels, along with Pacifica and Christian, all surrounded him and the green donkey with narrowed eyes. Luna grit her teeth, trying to crush her mors with her sharpened enamels.

  (Luna) What the hell is with you!?

  (Luke) I uh…

  (Miles) Again with this daredevil shit! Stopping the train, the Khazuan Roulette, and now this!?

  Luke couldn’t rub the back of his head like he always did. Considering there was no strength within his arms or even his hands, he had no choice but to lie on the pavement with open ears. His knuckles felt the harsh stone, and as some of his dried blood sprayed on the concrete like red paint, he lowered his head.

  So that he had his right cheek pressed firmly on the hot stone.

  (Luke’s thoughts) I should probably not mention how I got on board. They would never let me hear the end of it.

  (Jack’s thoughts) I heard that.

  Luckily for Luke, Jack wasn’t a snitch, so he kept his lips sealed and his mind open. Their cheeks soon loosened their wrinkled stance, and swayed their heads and lowered their hands to their waist.

  Being near him, Luna tried to pull him up from the ground. Her fingers, which barely touched him, were almost nibbled by none other than the green donkey.

  Pulling back, she fumed her nostrils at the creature, making the donkey ugh and wheeze. Hearing it mock her, she raised her right hand, having it balled into a fist that creaked every knuckle.

  (Luna) Damn, burro…

  (Gary) What the hell is a burro? It doesn't look like no burrito to me.

  (Christian, Pacifica, Elizabeth, and Luna) It means donkey!

  (Gary) Then say that then!

  The four of them had different st names, in contrast to the rest of the group. They were a group that could speak more than one nguage, a nguage taught from generation to generation.

  Everyone in the world spoke English, a universal nguage that everyone understood. But only a handful of people spoke more than one, with only Spanish, Mandarin, Japanese, Nigerian, Arabic, French, and German being the sole survivors.

  Yet still, no one in this world knows or thinks where these names come from. Were these cities? Cultures?

  (Fred’s thoughts) I always wonder why English is the only dominant nguage. Where did we even name it English? Was it a past pce or something?

  (Luna) Burro…

  (Gary) Don’t call me a donkey.

  (Luna) Ah, you do learn.

  Luna folded her arms underneath her chest. Still wearing her bra, which completely covered her chest, she edged closer toward Luke, but the green donkey wasn’t making things better for her. Nor did Gary.

  (Gary) Ass…

  (Luna) What did you say?!

  (Miles) Enough. Both of you. Let’s just get out of here before more agents show up.

  But before they headed off, Miles walked where Luke was, his eyes trailing the green donkey beside him. Extending his arm toward Luke, the donkey moved itself close to Miles, but unlike Luna, she didn’t try to nibble or bite his hand.

  Despite the donkey not being hostile to him, Miles didn’t take any chances and pulled his hand back to his pocket. Furrowing his brow, he stared at the green donkey’s smiling face.

  (Miles’s thoughts) How protective can one donkey be? Wait…

  (Miles) Let me check something.

  He took a couple of steps to the donkey and bent down to check underneath its body. Everyone else giggled or wrinkled their faces at Miles’s sudden action. Pulling back his head, his lips ftlined, and he nodded his head back and forth.

  (Miles) Ah … that expins it.

  (Luna) Care to expin why you peeked down at a donkey? You perv?

  (Miles) You and Hope have a competition.

  When he checked down, Miles confirmed the sex of the donkey, once he saw no trace of a “fifth leg” given to the creature. Meaning it had no “meatballs” to speak of, that meant…

  (Luke) Wait … the donkey’s a female?

  (Luna) Great…

  Luke couldn’t pet its muzzle or snout, as his arms were exhausted from his fight prior. Instead, he nudged his body close to the donkey, having his left shoulder graze the coarse green fur.

  The donkey shivered, radiating and vibrating its fur as it y down next to him. Luke, who had his eyes on everyone who stared at him and the donkey, began to think and softly nod; as if he was—

  No, he was thinking of names.

  Lighting up his eyes, he looked at the newest member of The Dark Angels, their new mascot.

  (Luke) Since it’s a girl, how about I call her … Maxine.

  Dubbed Maxine, she continued to smile as a rge husk of air huffed out from her nostrils. With the desert wind maintaining its howling wind, the rest of the Dark Angels gave a thumbs up, as they all thought the name was decent.

  ___________________________________________________

  The group walked over to the enemy’s sleeping bodies.

  Rimy, Eren, Ada, and Betty all slept carelessly under the setting sun, their bodies too exhausted to signal the danger in front of them. Maxine, the newly acquired mascot of the group, carried the exhausted Luke on her back.

  His eyes cleared up, he looked over to Jack.

  (Luke) What do you think Jack?

  (Jack) It’s up to you. Leave them or kill them, I don’t mind either.

  (Luke) We’re not going to kill them. Besides …

  Maxine took him directly in front of Eren and Ada, seeing the corners of their mouths withdrawing drool and saliva. Running down to their jawlines, Luke pushed down his eyes, his fingers, and hands loosening while keeping his chest and stomach tightened.

  Keeping his body stable on Maxine, he lifted his head an inch from her coarse fur, letting the peaceful sight of their soulful snores graze the desert air.

  (Luke) They were just doing their jobs. They had no choice.

  (Miles) Luke’s right. They were cool with us one month prior, so what happened?

  (Benn) Probably brainwashed.

  (Sean) Even so, it doesn’t mean that we’re just going to let them go punishment free…

  Sean walked over to the sleeping group, seeing them all free and loose. Having a rope in his right hand, he began to tie them up together, as he moved and dragged their bodies so that they all clumped up.

  Knotting the rge hay rope, he didn’t tighten it that harshly, but he didn’t have it that loose either. Making it so they could breathe normally, it was tight enough for their arms and chests to stain their bodies with marks. Finalizing his knitting, he took a step back and pced his hands onto his waist, before pushing up a smug smirk.

  (Sean) And for the final dose.

  From the inside of his leather jacket, he took out a bck and golden pen, unclipping the lid as he bent down.

  Everyone held in their breaths, with some of them puffing out their cheeks as air tried to burst free from them. One by one, Sean went through the four sleeping individuals, his childish nature soaring up to the surface.

  Which reminded them of a certain someone…

  Finalizing the st person, he put the pen back into his pocket and covered his mouth with his left palm.

  (Sean) How’s this for punishment?

  Sean drew a vast amount of profanity on the enemy’s faces, their cheeks and foreheads littered with vulgar insults and “body parts.”

  In that single moment, everyone pushed out their air from their mouths, all of them ughing and wheezing air despite still being injured from their fights. Spping their knees, and clutching their stomachs, a few of them had tears rolling down the corners of their eyes. Even Luke giggled, his stomach pushing out patches of air even though his body quaked with pain.

  (Luke) Hehe … I guess that works.

  (Sean) Now all we need to do is to let Elizabeth heal Hope, and from there we head out.

  (Luke) True, but Miles said agents could be—

  A bck van began to take form from the South.

  Busting out a storm of sand, it prowled through the endless grains, with the engine loud enough to be heard by everyone who stared at it. Not letting their eyes off the automobile, all of them hovered their hands over their holsters, their fingers twitching as they focused on the bck van.

  The van stopped a hundred meters in front of them. Its engine turning off, the roaring of gasoline infused into the machinery soon slowed to a crawl, and then fell asleep. Dust and sand blowing off from its tires, along with the exhaust pipe, silence filled their souls as they kept their feet glued to the ground.

  Until the driver’s door swayed open. And out of the van, was a middle-aged man wearing a cowboy hat.

  (Luke) David!

  All of their hands let loose, as a huge exhale of air pushed out from their wrinkled lungs. Their chests felt like balloons, they sunk low enough for their rib cages to graze their beating hearts.

  As the cowboy walked toward the group, he raised his right hand to the front of his hat, and gave a subtle tip to Luke.

  (David) You did good, son. Proud of you.

  (Luke) T-Thanks…

  Jenny hid behind everyone, keeping herself invisible to avoid David’s eyes.

  David looked up to the rest of the group, seeing all of them sustaining injuries from all of their fights. But his eyes caught the attention of Luna, who wore nothing but a rge bck bra that luckily covered her chest. Because of this, Jenny was fortunate, leaving her to be shadowed by this comedic scene.

  David folded his arms underneath his chest, his eyes darkening dramatically.

  (David) You better put some clothes on right now missy.

  (Luna) Pipe down, old man. I had no choice.

  (David) Now what did I tell you by calling me old man…

  Luna rolled her eyes, as a loud scoff broke through her dried lips. Too tired to deal with her, as he had a couple of injuries of his own, he looked over to Miles, Jack, Sean, and Luke. His cheeks wrinkled, he released his arms from his chest and cracked his knuckles while lifting his head.

  Feeling like they were being threatened—no, they were, and they soon let their hearts drop down to the bottom of their stomachs.

  (David) I hope you boys didn’t take a peep…

  (Jack) Hey hold on now, we know better than that!

  (Sean) First of all, she’s showing her ‘tatas’ out to the world! So how is this our fault!?

  (Miles) You’re making things worse for us man.

  (David) You all are lucky that I’m too tired … and besides, there’s something more important.

  He let his quivered knuckles sink into his jacket’s pockets while turning around to walk toward the bck van. Nudging the group to walk forward, everyone followed, as they stepped through the sand that tried to invade their boots and shoes.

  On their walk to the bck van, David gnced back at the unconscious members, as he saw Hope sleeping in Miles’s arms. Taking note of Sean carrying two bags of gold, with Jack carrying a single bag, Jack’s back was occupied with piggybacking Jumbo. Stan was carried by Benn, Fred, and Diego, while Loraine was piggybacked by Gary, and most importantly…

  David let his eyes scan two corpses, seeing a cat-girl pce a dead man’s forehead near her chest. And—

  He saw Kenichi, being bridal carried by Jenny, his chest looking to be pierced by a spiked frying pan. Even when she tried, no one could avoid David’s eagle eyes.

  Without uttering a voice, he bit his upper lip, but not hard enough for blood to be drawn. Reaching the handle of the passenger side door, he gripped the metal hard, leaving it to shiver as he pried it open.

  To unveil a familiar face.

  (Everyone) What!?

  A man, wearing a tuxedo and fedora, sat on the passenger seat. Having a man-bun and a goatee, he looked pale and shivering, looking like he was enclosed in a freezer for a long time.

  (Christian) Why is Spartan Gabriel here?

  (David) Tell them, Gabriel.

  Gabriel had both of his hands cuffed, with the metal digging deep into his wrists. Stepping off the van, he let the soles of his office shoes prickle the sand and looked around the sinners who won the fortunate.

  Jenny hid from his sight, but he could smell a corpse from a mile away …

  Pushing down his eyes, he lowered his head and cleared his throat.

  (Spartan Gabriel) Me and David made an agreement.

  (Luke) An agreement?

  (Spartan Gabriel) Me and my fellow agents won’t hunt you down, meaning you could enjoy the liberties of life like normal citizens.

  Everyone lit up their faces, pushing up their cheeks at the heavenly sentence their ears were blessed with. Like drinking a warm mug of hot cocoa on a winter night, they all nodded repeatedly, as they felt the weight of their sins be cleansed in the snap of a finger.

  But Gabriel wasn’t finished. As soon as they were about to cheer louder, he cleared his throat loudly, causing everyone to turn around again.

  (Spartan Gabriel) But, if any of you commit any crime or sin within the confines of this world, then I’ll come back with a hundred men.

  (Luke) You mean agents?

  (Spartan Gabriel) I’m talking Spartans. All of them.

  They nodded slowly, leaving them no choice but to seal their parched lips.

  Gabriel turned around to see the sleeping bodies of Eren and Ada, along with Rimy and Betty. Seeing no signs of Doug or Briggs anywhere, he exhaled slowly from his mouth and began his walk toward them. In the back of him, David had his hand entrenched onto his neck, his fingertips millimeters from digging into his skin.

  (Spartan Gabriel) I sure hope they comply.

  (David) That depends on how your government pys.

  (Spartan Gabriel) I’ll give them the word … How's Jenny holding up?

  Once they reached the four sleeping bodies, Gabriel had his eyes staring at Ada and Eren, their mouths compacted with drool. Seeing them sleep, Gabriel sunk his eyes and his cheeks, along with his eyelids turning a dark patch of bck.

  David let go of his neck, as he tugged Gabriel to move his hands to his back. Bringing out a key from his pants pocket, the cuffs that Gabriel had on began to shuffle and shingle.

  (David) Doing much better than I expected.

  (Spartan Gabriel) She grew huh …

  (David) Yeah … growth …

  (Spartan Gabriel) And from the looks of it, you haven’t grown much yourself David.

  The handcuffs to Gabriel cmped off, leaving the sand to swallow it whole.

  David stuck both of his hands into his pockets, as he kicked a pile of sand with his bck boot. Spreading the grains into the other piles of sand, some of it got inside his boot, leaving him to scrunch his face at the uncomfortable feeling.

  But the face he was making, could’ve been made either way. Hearing those words, along with sand accompanying his feet, he grilled his throat and his vocals.

  (David) You haven’t either. No, you did change. You betrayed the Pacithiests for some forbidden fruit.

  (Spartan Gabriel) And to be honest, the apple was worth it…

  (David) Just shut up. I’m done talking.

  Gabriel sat himself near his sleeping agents, being in the middle between Ada and Eren. In the flick of a switch, the hot air that sprang up from the ground soon exhausted, leaving the desert to be overridden with stale freezing air.

  Feeling the change of temperature, David shivered once, before he began his track up toward the rest of his kids. But he stopped, gncing at Gabriel for the st time.

  (Spartan Gabriel) We’ll meet again David. And when that day comes …

  The two agents nudged their heads to Gabriel’s shoulders, letting their drool slobber onto his tuxedo suit. Instead of pushing them away, he wrapped his arms around their necks, all the while he pushed up a grin that shivered David’s knuckles.

  (Spartan Gabriel) One of us we’ll meet Kenichi again.

  He didn’t say a word.

  Keeping his hardened knuckles inside his jacket, he resumed his walk, leaving the spartan to father his agents. His feet sank in the sand, leaving his boots to fill up with sand, it was as if he pressured his heels deep into the ground below.

  (David’s thoughts) Not every battle has to end with death…

  Lowering his head, he didn’t look up at the shining stars above him, as he looked down to the sand that trapped the st of its warmth.