Barton's shoulder's were square as she took aim at her ball.

She swung, sending the golf ball in a straight shot for her head bust of Teddy Roosevelt. After bouncing off the head bust, the ball soared towards and ricocheted off the newly framed The Pope Snorts Adderall Out of Joe Biden's Belly Button before landing into an empty tub of napalm.

They hadn't had anything new come up on the pain radar. The first day of lounging around on Barton's property came as a blessing, as it allowed Tex's brain to catch up with the unbelievably busy week he'd had.

The fourth day had grown a little tedious.

"That was a birdie." said Barton. "Did you write it down?"

Tex sighed and pulled the score sheet he'd been keeping from under his lemonade and the Congressional Medal of Honor medallions Barton had been using as part of her coaster set.

"Yeah, I wrote it down." Tex replied. "Tala, what's the next question?"

While Tala lounged back further in her chair and glanced at her laptop screen, Tex put his pen in his mouth and returned to the task of cleaning his gun.

"Are the rich too highly taxed?" Tala read. "I'm going to go with 'strongly disagree'."

"Strongly agree." Barton answered immediately.

Tex chewed on his lower lip in thought. He personally believed that the wealth divide was too great, but he didn't consider mandatory taxation to be an appropriate solution.

"Agree, I guess." he replied as he dripped a drop of lubricant down the slide rails of his pistol.

"This question is too vague." Junji stated.

Tala clicked several times on her laptop's trackpad. Tex knew she had four tabs open, as the boredom had led them to compare political compass test results.

"Last question." Tala said. "Which is scarier to you, government, or corporations?"

"This question is too vague." Junji stated.

"Government." answered Barton.

"Really? I'd say corporations." Tala replied.

Tex squinted in confusion.

"Hell's the difference?" he asked.

Tala scoffed but recorded their answers. There were four loud clicks when she pressed the enter key on each tab.

"How'd we do?" Barton wondered.

"The only issue the four of us all agree on is Euthanasia." Tala answered.

Tex let out a tiny 'huh' and put a magazine loaded with a single bullet in his gun. He cocked the slide back, bringing the bullet into the chamber before taking the magazine back out.

Barton squared her shoulders and swung at a new golf ball.

The ball lobbed upwards at an awkward angle. Swiftly, Barton brought her club forward and straightened the ball out before it touched the ground.

"You better not have just double tapped that ball." said Tex.

"Just like you said in San Francisco, huh." Barton replied.

It took Tex a moment to realize he had no idea what Barton was talking about.

"...What?" he asked.

"We double tapped a costume ball in San Francisco." Barton explained. "You were going nuts when you found out so I had to--"

Barton cut herself off with a sudden look of realization.

"Oh, that's why you don't remember." she finished.

"Hell's a double tap?" Tex pushed.

Barton pursed her lips.

"Double tap can mean a couple things." Tala started. "But she's using it to refer to the military practice of bombing a populated establishment, like a ball, and then bombing it again when doctors and stuff run in to help."

Tex touched the plate on the back of his neck while he did his best to stop the red from creeping up on his vision.

"We did that in San Francisco?" he asked, as slowly as he could manage.

"We did that in a couple places." answered Barton.

"...How could you justify doing that?"

"I wanted to win the war."

"We lost the war."

"How was I supposed to know that we would lose?"

Tex exhaled loudly in disgust.

"Doing something like that ain't never right." he stated. "Said and done."

Barton put another golf ball on the floor and scoffed.

Arguing with Barton was always annoying. The only thing Tex could say for it was at the very least, she had the decency to never get personal.

"At least I'm not ghosting my girlfriend because I don't know how to tell her I want to break up." Barton replied.

Tex sucked in a breath so quickly he nearly choked on the pen he'd been chewing on.

"I told her I needed time to think." he said.

"Did you tell her over text?" asked Tala.

"I left a voicemail."

Tala gave a tiny shrug and returned to her laptop. Tex felt a wave of relief, although it was quickly taken over by guilt.

"Then I--blocked her number." he followed.

Tex's response was met with an immediate chorus of boos.

"How am I the bad guy?" Tex managed. "After all that shit she did to me?"

"Nobody's saying you're the bad guy." Tala replied as she shifted her chair away from the light of the mid-afternoon sun. "You just shouldn't drag things--"

Tala cut herself off with a start. Tex looked over to see she was staring out the window.

"What?" Tex wondered.

"Where did that car come from?" Tala replied with a point of her finger.

Tex got up from the couch and followed Tala's gaze to see a silver Zipcar parked on the grass about halfway between the inside of the gate and the house.

"Is that anybody's car?" asked Barton.

"Ain't mine." Tex offered.

There was a knock at the door.

Tex exchanged a glance with Barton. The front door was a level below them, and Tex couldn't manage to see who was knocking through the upstairs window.

"Should we answer it?" Tala whispered.

Before Barton could reply, the unmistakable sound of the door opening and closing was heard. A moment later, Tex's ears were filled with the thump of someone making their way up the stairs.

Barton pulled a pistol out of her belt loop and fitted it with a silencer from the coffee table. While the four of them spread out, Tex shoved his hand into the pocket his own gun was in.

A woman's head came into view.

"Hello." Charlotte greeted once she'd gotten to the top of the stairs.

Nothing about Charlotte's demeanor was threatening, from her posture to her content expression. She didn't walk any further forward, and Barton's living room was big enough that there was a good forty feet of space between her and the rest of them.

Still, it did little to deescalate the situation.

"Yeah, let yourself in." Barton muttered.

"Don't worry, I come in--peace." Charlotte replied, faltering for just a moment when her eyes passed over the spot on the wall where The Pope Snorts Adderall Out of Joe Biden's Belly Button was hung.

"How did you even find us?"

Charlotte let out a scoff of amusement.

"What, you think I can't track a burner phone?" she answered, gesturing to Tex and Junji. "I got into your Bluetooth the second these two walked in and traced you all the way back to Seattle."

"You can do that?" asked Barton.

"Yeah, it's really easy." Tala replied.

"From there," Charlotte continued with excitement, "I figured out your names by accessing the speaker in Tala's headphones."

"...Aww."

"And then I used the NSA's collection of audio and video to find out what you looked like, and every smartphone whose owner you've been in the same room with. After that, I had a visit with Feng Xiulan, and found out about your--weird mercenary hobby. I learned about all the cameras you've turned off."

While Tex grew bored, Charlotte pointed at Junji.

"Then I traced him back to the Yakuza," said Charlotte, "and I pulled up every file I had on--"

Barton grabbed her pistol and shot Charlotte in the head.

"Thank you." Charlotte followed after a few of her spider bots had emerged and rebuilt her mouth. "But I'm not here to hurt anyone. I don't want to fight."

"Then why'd you track us down?" Tex asked.

"You tried to kill me." Charlotte answered. "Isn't that enough?"

While Tex shot a nervous glance at Junji, Charlotte's eyes settled on Tala.

"What are you doing on that laptop?" Charlotte wondered.

Tala turned her laptop screen around so everyone could see. Tex was quick to notice she was in paint.

"My lord." Charlotte muttered.

"You asked." Tala replied, giving her eyes a roll.

"I'm just going to--move on from that. My point is, I would prefer not to die."

"And why would that be?" asked Barton.

"I believe it's very important that I'm not interrupted."

"What do you want?"

"I want Tagawa. I'm not going to hurt him, I just want to--contain him, for the time being."

Without words, Tex worked with Junji and Barton to form a little circle around Charlotte. Tex ended up behind Charlotte, with her about twenty feet in front of him.

"...And what if we say no?" Tex replied.

"Then I will be forced to hurt all of you." she answered.

Tex grabbed his pistol and shot Charlotte in the head.

He hadn't noticed before, but he could see from his position facing Charlotte's back that her bots were pouring out of a flat but wide container that was fused to her spine. Tex could only see the top of it poking above her shirt, but it seemed to be made of a metal that he could guess was more than bullet proof.

"Please stop doing that." Charlotte said, her bots rushing back out to rebuild her disapproving face.

Barton grabbed her pistol and shot Charlotte in the head.

The bullet hit a single bot, which curled up and fell to the ground with an empty rattle.

"Alright, you know what? That's not okay." followed Charlotte. "I was going to be nice, but you've forced me to take action."

As she spoke, Charlotte grabbed her dagger from a holster under her pants. Tex felt his face twist with disgust when she stabbed herself in the left forearm.

"Secundum leges omnibus nota aviation." Charlotte chanted. "Sic autem non est apis ut possit fugere."

"Ugh, look at this idiot." Barton said with a jab of her thumb.

"Maybe we should stop her." Tala suggested.

"Nah, don't give her the satisfaction."

"Flavo, nigrum. Flavo, nigrum. Flavo, nigrum. Flavo, nigrum." Charlotte continued as she dripped her blood to the floor in a pentagram pattern. "Hui, et nigrum flavo! Sit scriptor excutite eum paulo."

Tex wasn't sure if it was his imagination, but he felt like the air began to thicken with humidity and a strange new salty scent.

"We should probably stop her." Tala pushed.

Tex was debating whether or not giving up his position to definitely get stabbed was worth it when he remembered he had a gun. But after lining up the front sight over Charlotte's kneecap, he pulled the trigger to realize he'd never finished loading the magazine.

"I'm out of bullets." said Tex. "Barton, you shoot her."

"It's not gonna do anything." Barton replied.

"Might disrupt her."

"There's nothing to disrupt."

"Moloch! Prandium paratus est!" Charlotte yelled.

Flames began to erupt from the blood Charlotte had dripped on the ground, lighting up the pentagram shape.

"Barton, please!" Tex begged.

"She's just fakin'." Barton replied.

The air only thickened when the ground began to rumble.

From̧ C̴h̀arlo̢tte͏'s ̴fe̕e̵t̴,͢ se͟veral͘ cra͠cks f͘ormed in the ͝fl͜o̧or ́and́ beg̕a̸n͘ ̢t̷ò shoot ͏ơu̧ţ i̛n fo̕ur̡ ͏dir̶ec̴tįo̢ns.

T̶e̷x̢ ẃatc͟h͜ed̴ in ̵t̴h̷ick ̢aw͠e as wi͞th a͘ b̡u͢ŕst̶ ͢of ̶s͠m͜ok͜e,̶ Charl̵o͠tte ̡s̛p͏l͝it ińt̀ó ̵t̴ẃo h̡a̛l҉f͟-̕si̡zed ͡ver͏si̴ons̕ o̡f͠ ̷herşelf̢, ̢e͠ach͠ o͞ne w҉ith a͟ll͜ h͘er features ͠bút̢ sem͝i-̨t͜ran͢şp̢ar͞ent. ̡E͜a̡ch̨ ̡of the ̡Cha͜rlo͡ttes͟ the͏n ͏spli͜t i͢n h͘alf ag̨a͟iń,̡ ̡l͢eav͏iņǵ an̶ ̸enḑ ͝re̢su͟l̵t o͢f̧ fơur̕ tíńy ͠tra͡ņs͘lucen͟t Cha̵rlotte͏s.

"̸̞̖̼̩̣̖̩͙̝̼̬̬͡Ṷ̴̷̡̱͇̖̳̩h̴ ̴̧̥͉̪̳̼̭̮̜͢o̠̞̘̯͚̫̭̹̣h̭̤̘̞̮̫̳̼̙͉̞̟̦̦.̠"̢̰͈͉̜̗̖ ̥̪͉͎̣w͝as͚͇̩̜͚ ̫͇̬̥̣͙̭̀͝͡t͙̦h̶̰̗͕͍̭͓͈̤͉̻̮̮̠͡ͅe̳͕̙̬͉̮ l̜ą̡̙͖̳͙͇̞́s̸t̢͘ ̙t̴h̶̨̯̬̱̰̦̬̲̬͞ḭ͎̪̮̝̗̗̠̱͚̥̝̤͍n̸̶̗̦̹͕͈̤͢g͓̘̞̦͓̘̺̜͕̥͈͇͙ͅ ̢̧̧Ṱ̡͔͈͓̹̻̳̲̱̤̱͙͇̖͡͝e̞͇̠͕̗̖͙̯̱̳͇x ̳̺͔͉̖̹̺͖̲͇̖̀͝m̢͕̣̞̫̳̕à͠͞n͚̪͈̩̹̘̪a̶͉̼͔̞̭͠g̷̗̬̦̥̜͍̬̰͍̞͞ͅe̪͎̦̩̰͚͙̬̰d̀ ̱͍̠̦̫̹̠ṱ͉͓ͅo̡ s̼̟͈̙͎̳̼̳̫͖̰a̫̻̝̭̠̱y̮̹̩͎͚̩̺̪͈̱̬̜͕͠ ̥̻͍̼̠̥̣̳̗̗̜͈͉͔b̷̛͇̟̘̲͈͇̲̹̭̭̠͉̟e͙͙̖f̶͈̲̣̞͔̱̤̱̘̺̗͚̪͘͜or͇̩̩e̟͕̜͉̦̥̲͚̺̙̖͓͚ ̙͇̞͎̭̘t̨̮͈̟̣̗͓̪ͅͅh̢҉͈̭̹͎̭̖̰e̷̡̝͢ ̼̲̣̥̺̖̥̩̲̟̭fl̳̖͎̩͔͎̟̮̖̭͈̱oo̕͞͡ŕ̬̤͉͉̠̙ ̺̱̘c̟̗̤̫͔̤̙̳̟̖̩̭̜̩a͖̬̻̻̤͉v̸̷̡e̴̻͟d͘͠͏͔̭̠̥̙̘̮ in͈̞̟̮̞ ̷͉̥̝̣̪̗͉̻̱̼̪͞o̷̰̱̞͚̲͍͓̘̲͚̮̹̣̖̠͞n h̶̫̠̯͖͈̩͚̲̮i̙̙͚͔̺͇͖̻̝̘̙̗̣͠͡m̘̠̺̜̪̹̬̤͕̬̹.͎̙̝

There wasn't a moment when Tex lost consciousness, but the amount of time he spent with his eyes closed and his brain in the gutter left him feeling like he might as well have.

The first thing he noticed was the smell. The scent of splintered wood had mixed with the salty air to create an atmosphere thick enough to eat. After prying his eyes open, Tex sat up to see he'd fallen through the ceiling onto a sitting position on top of Barton's fridge.

Tex hopped down from the fridge after he'd kicked out a few loose beams.

Half of the ceiling above the kitchen had fallen in on itself. There was no sign of anyone, neither Charlotte nor his coworkers. Tex's first instinct was to turn on his phone and send a message to the group chat, although he quickly found he wasn't the first.

From Gamer Gril

can't believe satan is real

From Supreme Jackass

it doesn't mean satan's real. it was just some kind of science we haven't heard of

From Spoodge King

She never even said it was Satan! How could you be such an idiot?

From Supreme Jackass

she was doing a bunch of latin shit, and the blood and stuff

From Spoodge King

How did a ritual composed of controlled variables with a cause and effect that we personally don't understand not qualify as 'science we haven't heard of' to you?

From Supreme Jackass

tldr

Tex breathed out a sigh of relief to see that everyone was accounted for.

To Garbage Band

where is everybody?

From Spoodge King

I landed in the panic room.

From Supreme Jackass

you have to be more specific

From Gamer Gril

should we be giving our locations? she might be able to live read.

From Supreme Jackass

let's just meet up in the front yard. If she tries to trap us, that's fine. let her come to us.

From Gamer Gril

do we have a plan?

To Garbage Band

aint saying we should but we could call the police

From Gamer Gril

it's our word against a multi-billionaire's and also possibly satan's

From Spoodge King

I have a few ideas, but I would need my backpack.

From Supreme Jackass

what ideas?

From Spoodge King

I'll explain in person.

From Supreme Jackass

i got some ideas too it's called bring my rocket launcher

From Supreme Jackass

i can also explain in person

From Spoodge King

There’s a rocket launcher in the panic room. Can anyone see my backpack?

Tex took a glance around the most intact half of the room to see several pots and pans, a broken shelf of medals, something that Tex hoped wasn't a bomb, half a couch, and Junji's backpack hanging off a broken lightbulb.

To Garbage Band

gotcha covered

From Supreme Jackass

alright. dallas can bring that and junji can bring the rocket launcher

To Garbage Band

anybody seen...any of her?

From Gamer Gril

no

From Spoodge King

No.

From Supreme Jackass

me neither. though I guess any of us could be her

To Garbage Band

we'll worry about that when it comes up. i'll see yall in the yard.

From Supreme Jackass

let's make it quick. the air smells like adrenaline and i'm not sure how much of that I wanna huff

Tex left his phone on vibrate before putting it back in his pocket. After dusting off his pants, he made his way to the lightbulb that Junji's bag was attached to.

Both of Tex's feet left the ground when a tiny Charlotte popped into reality upon the bulb.

"Do you ever wonder where Junji came from?" she asked.

The words didn't fully register in Tex's brain, as he was still stuck on where she'd come from and the fact that she was still transparent.

"Where are you?" Tex replied.

"I'm currently operating with an additional dimension." she answered. "It's difficult to explain with words."

"A--spatial dimension?"

"There are many types of dimensions. For instance, depending who's drawing the graph, did you know that love can be considered a dimension?"

Tex scoffed and grabbed the backpack. As frightened as he was, Charlotte hadn't proven she could do anything to him but waste his time.

"Isn't it weird that Junji just showed up?" Charlotte repeated as Tex put on Junji's backpack.

"I know what you're doing. It ain't gonna work."

Tex almost jumped again when Charlotte lept from the light bulb and landed on his shoulder. His first reaction was to try and push her off, but he found his hand phased right through her.

"You don't know what I'm doing." she continued, right in his ear. "You don't know anything about what I'm doing."

"You throw pedo parties for Hollywood perverts. That's all I need to know."

"Which you know from what, two snippets of information from Tagawa? I could've been working to stop my brain-dead husband, for all you know."

Although Charlotte was the first quarter-sized ghost person Tex had ever witnessed let alone spoken to, he found himself more aggravated than afraid. He lifted his hand in front of his face to see that it was trembling, as if he'd had one too many cups of coffee.

"I want to help you." said Charlotte. "I want to warn you about the dangers of what you're doing."

Tex mentally kicked himself for even replying to Charlotte in the first place. With a vow of silence, he bit his tongue and took off towards where he knew the front door was.

"Junji's never been trying to take down the ring." Charlotte pushed. "I'm the one taking down the ring, and he's trying to take me down."

Tex kept his mouth shut. Amusement flashed over Charlotte's tiny face for a moment before she shrugged and simply brought her head forward towards Tex's in a strange headbutting motion.

Her head phased right though his ear and disappeared into the side of his face. Tex couldn't feel anything, but it did nothing to make the situation less frightening.

"He's their pawn." she said. "You must have at least figured out by now that he's a deviant."

'He ain't a...' Tex couldn't help but think. 'He just reckons it would be better if we--'

"If we what, had less self-control?"

Cold fear rushed under Tex's skin. He knew she was in his head, and he could only pray that her influences in his mind were limited.

'It ain't that simple.' he thought.

"But maybe it is. Have you considered that he doesn't care about what's right, and only opportunistically built his arguments to justify himself after choosing to live a perverted life?"

'I trust him.'

"You do? What makes you think he wouldn't fuck your wife?"

The trembling in Tex's hands reached up to his forearms.

'You don't know him.'

"I know plenty about him."

Tex ducked under a broken piece of drywall. He considered texting the others about what he was seeing, although he assumed they were either seeing the same or it would be too hard to explain himself.

"You've heard him talk, you know the hatred he holds for humans." said Charlotte. "My life is full of people like him, tyrants and totalitarians..."

'He thinks it's the only option.'

"That's not true. He would know that too, if his reasoning wasn't so self-serving."

"You know," Tex said aloud, "it ain't good for your case that you're poking around in my mind right now."

"That's a good point." Charlotte replied as she reached back towards his head. "Thankfully, I can scrabble a few minutes of your working memory."

Tex jerked away from Charlotte's hand, but there wasn't much he could do.

Charlotte smiled and shook her hand like she was ruffling his brain. A second later, her form blipped out of existence.

Tex blinked his eyes in confusion at his decimated surrounds. He remembered the ceiling collapsing, and he remembered Junji asking for his backpack, but he had no memory of walking out to the exact space he was standing in. The only thing he could compare the feeling to was how he felt after Barton had wiped his memory. But considering the fall he'd experienced, it seemed most likely that his brain was lagging from shock.

He was in a horrible mood.

A weight on Tex's shoulders told him he'd already grabbed the backpack. But as Junji's face filled his mind, Tex found himself hit with a sudden wave of curiosity.

His hands were still shaking as he pulled the backpack off his shoulders and unzipped the main pocket. Inside he found three energy bars, some platinum coins, three daggers, a small blue vibrator, and a dime bag of cocaine.

One of the daggers was stained with dried blood.

The contents were that of a violent pervert's. Tex had never considered it before, although he wondered if maybe he should have.

Tex slung the bag back over his shoulders and resumed his trek to the yard.

It wasn't far, but fallen pieces of debris forced Tex to take several detours and do his fair share of climbing. The air was still thick with salt. With every breath he took, he felt like he was inhaling more and more irritation.

The main door to the front yard was split in half. Tex could see Junji and Tala, but Barton didn't seem to have shown up yet.

Tex maneuvered himself through a workable hole in the wood and made his way over. Junji noticed him immediately and turned so they could face each other.

"Hello." Junji greeted.

Junji had a rocket launcher strapped to his back. Tex had seen it before, but something about it on Junji sent a shock through Tex's blood.

Tala was sitting in the grass on her laptop.

"Hey." Tex replied.

"Are you harmed?"

"No, I'm alright."

"Good. May I have my backpack?"

Junji's expression was one of ease. Tex's eyes darted back to the rocket launcher on Junji's back before he gave a response.

"How bout you tell me what your plan is," Tex said slowly, "then I'll hand it over."

Tex felt a wave of satisfaction as the mild expression on Junji's face slowly fell to something between suspicion and irritation.

"Are you alright?" asked Junji.

"I said I was fine."

"Will you give me my bag?"

"I dunno, are you gonna tell me your plan?"

While Junji's eyes narrowed into slits, Tala cleared her throat.

"Have you guys considered not doing this?" she asked.

"I've no problem sharing my plans with you, but I don't understand why you're acting like this." Junji said with his eyes straight on Tex's face.

Tex chewed on his lower lip with dead eyes.

"Dallas?" Junji pushed.

"Did you fuck my ex-wife?" Tex replied.

Junji's eyes widened so quickly that his posture straightened.

"No!" he answered.

"But you would've, right? If she'd offered?"

Junji's brows lowered, giving him an expression that was the closest to anger Tex had ever seen him get.

"Is this truly what you wish to discuss right now?" asked Junji.

"Answer it."

"Had she offered, I would've only done it if I did not think it would affect you."

"What's that supposed to mean, as long as I didn't find out?"

Junji's eyes narrowed into slits.

"You are not giving me my bag." he stated. "Are you going to force me to take it from you?"

Tex gave Junji a little up and down before responding. He was still pretty sure Junji could kill him, although his heart was pounding too hard for him to care.

"Like to see you try." Tex replied.

He braced himself when Junji took a step forward. His attention was broken, however, when a new voice cleared her throat.

Tex looked over to see that Barton had made it to the front yard.

"Settle this later, you fucking idiots." she said as she slotted herself between them. "You're not fighting."

Although Junji's forearms continued to shake, his attention turned off of Tex and onto Barton.

"You're going to take the high ground?" Junji asked her. "It's your fault Charlotte got the upper hand on us."

"You think I wanted this?" Barton replied. "She destroyed my house, dumbass."

"Maybe you did want this. I don't know. I know nothing about you."

Tex felt his eyebrows draw together.

"How could you say that to her?" he spat. "Where'd you even get an idea like that?"

"I did some thinking on the way over here." answered Junji, his eyes still on Barton. "I started to wonder, why do you even work with us? What is your motivation?"

"Why do I work with us?" Barton echoed in disbelief. "Why does Tala work with us?"

For just a moment, Tex's confusion overpowered his anger. Tala closed her laptop and pulled the adapter from her bag.

"Wait, you're turning on Tala?" Tex wondered.

"Oh, you harp on me for being a sociopath, but it's alright that Tala is?" Barton replied.

"That's fair, actually." Tala said as she walked over to join them.

"Laissez-fairian jinushi!" Junji shouted with a lunge towards Barton.

Junji’s attack was sloppy enough that Barton was easily able to dodge it, although she didn't look like she was ready to end things. But before she could cock her own fist back, Tala wove under the both of them and stuck the green adapter cable to Barton's forehead.

Barton and Junji both stopped moving with dual looks of confusion. Tex couldn't see himself, but he knew his expression matched.

"Here, put this on." Tala ordered as she handed Tex a blue cord.

"...What're we doing?" asked Tex.

"Do this, and you guys can fight all you want. I'll even throw peanut shells at you."

Tex put the cord on his forehead and entered the train car with uncertainty. When Tala popped into view a moment later, Tex touched his finger to the window alongside her.

It lit up.

Most of the screen just showed a live first person perspective of what Barton was looking at. There was a menu icon, but there was something more pressing on Tex's mind.

"Why're you staring at my ass?" Tex muttered.

"I'm not." Barton replied as she continued to stare.

Tala clicked the menu icon with her free hand, which brought up something that looked shockingly similar to a Windows system tray. Tex examined the contents of the system tray to see options for Circulatory System, Digestive System, Endocrine System, Exocrine System, Immune System, Muscular System, Nervous System, Reproductive System, Respiratory System, and Skeletal System.

Tala clicked on the nervous system option.

"What do I look like?" Barton asked.

"Windows 95." answered Tala.

"That's good."

Several new options popped onto the screen, far too many for Tex to read. Tala used a navigation bar at the top of the system tray to search for 'short term memories'.

A new folder opened. Tex examined the options to see Eating Toast, Golf, Charlotte is Here, Fake Satanic Ritual, Group Text, [redacted], Reunite, Fighting Junji, and Staring at Dallas' Ass.

Tex kept his hand on the train car window as Tala selected Fake Satanic Ritual.

A video began to play on the screen.

"Alright, you know what? That's not okay." said past Charlotte. "I was going to be nice, but you've forced me to take action."

Tala frowned and tapped the screen, pausing the video. She then navigated back to the system tray and searched for options. Once she'd found them and scrolled down the list, she turned on a slider that read toggle Executive Function Road Map.

An image popped up in the rightmost corner of the screen.

"Hell am I looking at?" Tex asked.

"It'll hopefully make more sense when the memory starts up." Tala replied as she pulled the suction cup off her forehead. "Here, Junji, take my cord."

Tala disappeared and Junji popped into the train car a moment later.

"Do I gotta do anything?" Barton wondered.

"No." answered Tex.

"Tex, play the memory." Tala ordered.

Tex tapped the screen, and the video started up again.

"Secundum leges omnibus nota aviation." Charlotte chanted. "Sic autem non est apis ut possit fugere."

"Ugh, look at this idiot." Barton said with a jab of her thumb.

"Maybe we should stop her." Tala replied.

"Nah, don't give her the satisfaction."

"Flavo, nigrum. Flavo, nigrum. Flavo, nigrum. Flavo, nigrum." Charlotte continued as her blood dripped to the floor. "Hui, et nigrum flavo! Sit scriptor excutite eum paulo."

"We should probably stop her." Tala pushed.

"I'm out of bullets." said Tex. "Barton, you shoot her."

"It's not gonna do anything." Barton replied.

"Might disrupt her."

Tex's attention turned back to the Executive Function Road Map in the corner when a small patch of triangles near the right middle lit up. On its own, the graphic zoomed in on itself until Tex could see there were words between the triangles.

"There's nothing to disrupt." said past Barton.

The memory ended. The screen returned to Barton's perspective on their current surroundings, and Tex let out a tiny sigh to see she was still staring at his butt.

"That's disgusting." Tex scolded as he turned around. "Thought you were like a father to me."

Barton let out a grunt in response. Tex looked back over at Junji to see he'd furrowed his brow in consideration.

"I suppose this proves you're simply an idiot," Junji said slowly, "rather than morally depraved."

"I could've told you that." Barton replied.

"Have you considered that perhaps you think too much in absolutes?"

Tex watched in interest as the Executive Function Road Map turned into a blank slate before painting itself with new words and triangles.

"Nah." said Barton.

Junji seemed uneasy but satisfied enough, and both he and Barton took off their cords. Tex kept his own on without really thinking about it.

"I suppose it's only fair that I go next." Junji muttered.

Junji sounded almost reluctant about the idea.

He couldn't see Junji, but Tex could tell that he'd stuck the green cord to his forehead. Before Tex could consider if he thought looking at Junji was even necessary, his attention was halted when Barton appeared in the train car and put her hand on the window.

Tex placed his hand besides hers.

The first thing Tex did was navigate to the options menu, as it was the most recent thing he'd seen Tala do. A new panel of triangles popped into the upper-right hand corner when Tex turned on the Executive Function Road Map.

Immediately, Tex's eyes were drawn to the flimsy bridge of triangles in the top center of Junji's map that connected the two halves. When he tapped on the map, it grew to fill up the entire screen.

Tex put two fingers on the screen to see if he could zoom. When he verified that he could, he homed in on the top center of the map until he could see words.

(larger version)

"Oof." Tex muttered.

"Is something wrong?" asked Junji.

"No."

Tex scrolled down a little more of the map. He found that both sides continued with their themes, with the left side sticking to agnosticism and the right to political theory.

With a frown, Tex began to feel like he was overstepping his boundaries.

"I've seen enough." he said as he took his hand off the window.

Junji pulled the green suction cup from his forehead once Tex had taken his own off. It took a lot out of Tex to meet Junji's eyes.

"You wanna look at mine?" Tex offered. "Seems fair."

"There is no need." Junji replied.

Junji's tone was content, and his eyes held no resentment. Tex winced at the pang of guilt that sparked in his chest.

"You still upset with Tala?" he asked Barton.

"When was I upset with Tala?" she wondered.

The tension continued to dissolve as Tala put the adapter back in her bag and Barton was given her rocket launcher. Tex couldn't believe he'd gotten so angry.

"So, uh, what do we do now?" asked Tex.

"I dunno." Barton answered. "Where did Charlotte go?"

Tex took a look back at the house. He could see a little of the living room through the upstairs window, but there was no sign of Charlotte. Her rental car was still present, and Tex was relieved to spot no one inside it.

"We're already outside." Tala said. "What if we just left?"

Tala took a step forward, and then Barton and Junji a moment later. Tex took one more look at the house before following.

They only got about ten feet before a woman cleared her throat.

"Alright, I'm back." Charlotte greeted as she ducked under the broken front door and made her way into the yard. "Sorry, I ended up reforming on the roof."

"I don't forgive you." Tala replied as she sighed and pulled her laptop back out.

Tex turned to face Charlotte alongside everyone else. Her eyes brushed over the four of them, faltering for a moment on Junji.

"So." she stated. "Have you given my request any consideration?"

"For Junji?" Barton asked.

"Yes."

No one said a word, leaving Tex with the task of breaking the news.

"No." he replied. "Why would we do that?"

Charlotte's eyebrows flicked up at Tex's response, although she didn't seem put off for long.

"That's very kind of you." Charlotte said as she reached into her pocket. "Good for me, you four were busy long enough for me to find this."

Charlotte held up a square, grey remote with a single button. Tex squinted at the text on the side to see it read EMERGENCY PROPERTY DESTRUCT in big red letters.

Quietly, Tex cleared his throat.

"How much will that destroy?" he muttered to Barton.

"Everything from the back of the house to the gate." she replied.

Tex looked down the yard. The open gate was about four hundred feet out, and past it were another thirty feet of grass until the road.

"And you just left it lying around?" asked Tex.

"No!" Barton hissed. "I kept it perfectly secured in the fork drawer."

"Won't that kill you too?" Tala asked Charlotte.

"I would prefer not to crawl out of a crater, but I will have the ability." Charlotte answered.

Tex did his best not to kick Barton in the foot when he realized Charlotte had a point.

"So." followed Charlotte. "What'll it be?"

Junji rubbed the back of his head.

"If I have to choose between one of us or four of us," he said slowly, "I will choose one. I will comply with your demands."

Tex felt his heart jump into his throat as Junji made his way over to Charlotte.

Upon his arrival, Charlotte instructed him to put his hands in the air and walk backwards with her away from the house. She had him stay a foot in front of her, presumably so she could keep her eyes both on him and everyone else.

They were about thirty feet away when Tala raised her hand.

"Did--did you have a question?" Charlotte asked, keeping her pace and focus steady.

"Could you at least, like, tell us your motivation?" Tala replied.

Charlotte squinted.

"My motivations for what?" she wondered.

"Just in general. Are you evil, or...?"

"No, I don't think so."

"Then how do you justify running a pedo ring and stuff?"

Charlotte's attention stayed on Junji, although Tex could tell from her face that she was thinking.

"It's complicated." Charlotte answered.

"You don't feel bad at all, just treating people like cows?"

Charlotte let out a scoff of disgust.

"Humans buy Supreme jackets, drink eight dollar StarBucks, watch the Big Bang Theory reboot, and have children just to replace themselves in an endless cycle of stupidity." she replied. "I'll stop treating them like cows when they stop acting like it."

Tala sucked in a breath.

"Yikes." said Tala.

"What?"

"It's really cringy that you said that out loud."

Tex's heart pounded as Charlotte's face twisted with irritation. It was hard to see with the growing distance between them, but it was clear.

"That's not my problem." Charlotte stated.

"Okay." Tala replied as she began to drum her fingers against her laptop. "So let's say that if I was a professional hacker, and if I used your Bluetooth to get into your private Instagram, I wouldn't find any memes you posted that used the term 'sheeple'?"

"No."

"Your private Instagram at charlottescumweb that also contains pictures of you peeing on a fourteen year old? That I'm about to click on right now and save to the folder that gets publicly released to r/deadmanswitch if my laptop is ever destroyed?"

Although Charlotte's face stayed calm through most of Tala's comment, her eyes widened into saucers at the word 'destroyed'.

Charlotte reached into her pocket and snagged her phone.

It took every ounce of will Tex had not to stare at Junji as Charlotte began to frantically type something into her phone. She did her best to keep her focus forward, but her eyes began to drift downward.

Junji slammed the side of his right hand down on Charlotte's wrist and successfully snatched the remote from her.

"Ahhh!" Charlotte yelped.

She turned her attention back to Junji with haste, but not before he'd thrown the remote as hard as he could back at the house.

It landed about ten feet away from Barton.

"Well." Charlotte said as she grabbed her dagger from her thigh holster. "I was hoping for plan C anyway."

Barton took off for the remote. Tex also broke into a run, although he was more interested in closing the ground between himself and Charlotte.

Jogging to work every day had paid off. He never could have run so fast the year before.

Although Tex was still a good fifty feet away, he could see the focus that passed over Junji's face as Charlotte advanced on him. Tex's interest peaked as he wondered what kind of fighting technique Junji used to deal with knives.

Junji turned and ran.

Charlotte took off in a sprint after Junji. Even though she accelerated quicker, the distance between the two of them began to grow until Charlotte grabbed her dagger by the blade and threw it.

It struck Junji in the back, blade first.

Tex gasped and willed his feet to hit the ground faster as Charlotte caught up to Junji. Although his face was coated in sweat, Junji's expression was almost polite as he returned to his feet and grabbed the dagger from his back.

He'd brandished the dagger and steadied his stance by the time Charlotte got to him. Both their bodies were turned sideways to Tex, with Charlotte on the left. It gave Tex a good view of the fight, but left him unable to assess how bad Junji's back wound was.

Junji slashed once horizontally across Charlotte's torso before jabbing her in the chest.

Both blows landed. Charlotte yelped in pain loud enough that Junji looked caught off guard when she grabbed his right wrist, locked his elbow under her own, whirled a hundred and eighty degrees clockwise, and used her momentum to slam him on his ass all before she was done yelling.

The dagger flew off a few dozen yards into the grass.

Charlotte lept towards Junji and mounted his stomach as her spiders began to fix her wounds. Junji bent his legs against the ground in an attempt for leverage, but Charlotte quickly threaded her own knees around his and locked her ankles.

Her hand was on Junji's throat by the time Tex had caught up to them. From behind, Tex tossed the backpack at Junji's head before wrapping his arms around Charlotte's neck and pulling until they were both on their backs.

"Take it!" Tex yelled to Junji.

Charlotte reached behind her head with her right arm, straight for the hand Tex had behind her neck. She grasped it and started to pull it over her head, but Tex squared his jaw and kept his arm steady with brute strength.

She continued to pull. Tex could tell he was stronger than her, but she was clearly using less energy than him and he wasn't sure how long it would be until his strength ran out.

At the very least, he was buying Junji enough time to roll over and unzip his bag.

After working the zipper down, Junji shoved his hand into his bag with a thick layer of determination over his face. Tex couldn't see what exactly he was reaching for, but he knew that it would be the secret to how they'd get the upper-hand.

Junji pulled out the dime bag of cocaine.

Tex cried out in defeat when his arm gave out. Charlotte pulled and tucked it under her armpit. He did his best to keep his other arm around her neck, but she managed to yank it off with both of her hands and spin out of his grab.

Charlotte kept her attention on Tex, but he only got a quick glimpse of her before she spat into his face.

Tex's eyes closed out of instinct, even though his glasses protected his sight. He grew to resent his instinct a second later when he felt a fist slam against his solar plexus and another against his neck.

"Hah..." Tex managed as the air left his lungs.

The pain was less intense and more stunning as Tex fell to the ground and curled up into a ball with his hands over his head. He still knew that Junji needed help, but all he could focus on was trying to get oxygen back into his system.

There was an audible flurry of motion, and then Tex felt the sensation of someone pulling him away from the pile he was in.

He managed to pry open his eyes just enough to see that the hands around him were Barton's. She managed to retrieve him successfully, as Charlotte seemed more interested in returning to her fight with Junji.

"Huh?" Tex coughed.

"Come on." Barton replied as she tossed him over her shoulder and broke into a jog towards the gate.

Tex's vision began to fade under his lack of oxygen. Although he knew he should be spending all his will into getting his lungs working again, he exerted a good amount of energy twisting his neck and torso around so he could study the fight in as much detail as possible.

Charlotte pounced at Junji, but Junji managed to swing his leg up and kick her in the head. While she touched her face and regained her balance, Junji poured the dime bag over his nostrils and took a deep sniff.

Time slowed down for Tex as the pain on Junji's face started to melt away. After a moment, Junji's brows came together in what Tex could only describe as new understanding.

"You fool! My power has now increased to untraceable levels!" Junji yelled, white powder falling from his face. "All of reality has been unlocked before my eyes! Physically, we occupy the same dimensions, but spiritually--"

Charlotte lunged at Junji again, targeting the hand that was still in his backpack. Junji dropped the bag to the side before her hand could reach him.

She ended up back on top.

"You're gonna--go back for him, right?" Tex managed.

"I'm getting you to safety." Barton replied. "I got a plan, but Junji needs to keep her down."

"Where's Tala?"

"She's bringing the rocket launcher so I could carry you."

"Rocket launcher--ain't gonna do shit."

"Shut up. It'll make sense when it makes sense."

Tex turned his focus back to the fight. Although he was farther than he was before, he could see that Junji was trying and failing to throw off Charlotte's balance by rocking side to side.

"You think I don't have--five lines of coke coursing through my blood right now?" Charlotte managed as she reached for Junji's neck. "You don't have--anything I don't."

Junji trapped Charlotte's right hand against his chest and popped his hips out, forcing her back to arch like a scared cat.

He locked his knees under her thighs.

"That's where you're wrong." Junji replied as he rolled them over. "I had parents that weren't cousins."

The moment he'd gotten on top, Junji aimed a punch at Charlotte's head that looked like it could kill.

Charlotte's spiders began to rush upwards. Tex couldn't tell if she was conscious, considering the amount of distance between them.

Barton continued to jog until she'd reached the gate. Tala was waiting for them, although Tex's vision was clouded with so much grey that he almost didn't notice.

"Did you want this?" Tala asked Barton as she held out the rocket launcher.

"Here, I'll trade you." Barton replied.

Tex was handed to Tala, who dropped him immediately.

"Oof." Tex coughed.

"Are you alright?" Tala wondered.

"Having a hard time--breathing."

Tala pulled out her phone and made a quick search.

"This says you need to breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth." said Tala.

Tex sucked in a slow breath.

"...And purse your lips when you're breathing out." she added.

Tex followed the advice and got what felt like his first good breath since he'd been hit.

"Ok, now just don't die or whatever." Tala finished.

As breathing got easier, Tex's attention shifted to Barton. He saw she'd stationed herself about forty feet to the left of Tala and gotten in position to launch a rocket.

Barton touched her ear.

'Junji, you need to find something to keep her in place.' she sent.

'I am keeping her in place.' Junji replied.

'You can do that if you really want to, but I'm sending a rocket her way the minute she stands up whether you're there or not.'

'I read you.'

Tex's vision began to return to him. His ears were quickly filled with the sounds of Junji panting, as Junji was apparently too busy to turn off his ear piece.

Stress bubbled in Tex's chest. He turned his full attention back to Junji, deciding that no matter how gruesome it was, there was nothing he'd rather look at than the sight that would let him assess his best friend's safety.

Junji was still on top of Charlotte. She seemed to have regained consciousness from the way she was struggling, but he'd managed to keep her at bay by slowly and forcefully hammering the daggers from his backpack through her hands and chest and into the ground.

Tex turned back to Barton, having decided he'd rather look at anything else.

'Dallas, he's pinned her. You need to wave him over.'

Tex touched his ear.

"How's a rocket gonna stop her?" he asked into his comm.

'Don't have time to explain. You'll understand when it happens.'

"Hope you're right, cause lord knows I don't got a plan."

Tala helped Tex to his feet. Tex forced himself to turn back to Junji before tapping his ear again.

"Junji, get out of there." he sent.

After giving the knife in Charlotte's left hand a final push, Junji jumped to his feet and turned his eyes in the direction of the gate. His gaze passed over to Barton for a moment before narrowing in on Tex.

'You should have gone after me in court.' he said to Charlotte's body.

Junji broke into a sprint for the gate.

He ran fast enough that Tex was amazed at the amount of energy he'd managed to save. Still, Junji only got about a hundred feet away from Charlotte before she managed to yank one of her hands from the ground.

She got her other arm out even quicker, and managed to stand back up a moment later. Tex jumped at the sudden band and looked over to see that Barton had fired.

Thanks to Barton's positioning, the rocket soared past Junji to Charlotte, who eyed it with indifference before it struck the ground right before her toes.

Both of Junji's feet left the ground when the rocket impacted, presumably in surprise, but he managed to smooth out his stride.

Charlotte's body fell to the ground in several pieces after an explosion of smoke and grassy dirt. A doctor would have called her dead, but Tex wouldn't put it past the spiders to fix her up anyway. He could see hundreds of them scurrying over her body, already working to drag the parts back together, although he only had a second to look before he realized Barton was yelling his ear off through the comm.

'Get over here, dumbass!'

Tex took a quick look around him to realize he was the only one besides Junji who wasn’t on the other side of the gate. From the other side of it, he saw Barton grab a handful of the ground and pull up a large square panel of grass. After a moment of confusion, Tex realized she'd uncovered a trench hole.

Tala hopped into the hole first. Barton gestured to Tex to hurry up, and Tex saw she was holding the detonation remote in her hand.

Tex skidded to a halt and whirled back around upon reaching Barton. Even though he'd already seen confirmation that the rocket hadn't harmed Junji, it was a relief to see he was still running across the yard.

Specifically, Junji was about thirty feet from the gate and running faster than Tex had ever seen him run. Tex made a 'come on' motion with his arms, although he wasn't sure what he was trying to accomplish.

"Her bots are out, right?" asked Barton.

Tex looked back at Charlotte's body to remember the hundreds of spiders crawling across her various parts. He could even still see them moving, if he squinted.

"Yeah." he answered.

"Then get in the hole, cause it's time to double tap."

Tex looked into the hole to see it was about ten feet deep, with a four foot by four foot floor. Three of the walls were made of some sort of smooth black metal, while the fourth was built completely of ammo boxes.

Tala waved.

Tex was careful not to squish Tala as he jumped down. When Junji, however, entered a few seconds later, he landed on top of both of them.

Barton hopped in last. From his cramped position on the floor, Tex watched as she slammed the button down on the remote a second after she'd swung the ceiling panel back in place to cover them.

The inside was pitch black without the light from above. Tex barely had time to cover his ears before the explosion.

The boom was long and multifaceted, but it was muffled by the walls. Tex found himself more concerned with a liquid dripping on his chest before he realized it was blood from Junji's back.

Silence fell.

"You guys smell really bad." Tala said.

Tex had to open and close his mouth a few times before he felt able to talk.

"How the fuck are we supposed to get out?" he asked once he'd caught his breath.

"Here, stand up." Barton replied.

"I can't till Junji gets off."

Junji took a stand, and then Tala. Tex had barely managed to situate himself upright before Barton climbed on his shoulders.

Light filled the hole when she pushed the grass panel up.

"You see her?" Tex asked as Barton climbed out.

Upon getting herself situated outside, Barton kneeled over the edge of the hole and reached down so she could pull Tala up. Once Tala had reached the top successfully, the two of them helped Tex climb out, and then Junji.

"I see--what might be a few parts." answered Barton.

Tex took a look for himself to see that Barton's house had completely caved in on itself, and the yard was filled with a pattern of neat craters. There were a few twisted pieces of metal lying in the chunks of grass, which Tex assumed were what was left of Charlotte's zipcar.

"We should book it." he said. "Police will prolly be here any minute."

"Nah, they won't come down here anymore when I do this." Barton replied.

"Junji, are you bleeding?" asked Tala.

"Yes, I am in need of serious medical attention." Junji answered happily.

Considering the fact that Junji was an undocumented immigrant, serious medical attention ended up taking the form of a sewing kit they got from Barton's car and a bottle of jack they also got from Barton's car.

Tex was given the task of helping Junji, as Barton had accused him of being the best sewer.

Junji had lied down flat on the grass while Tex sat above him. Junji's shirt had kept most of the dirt out of his wound, but Tex still poured a generous amount of alcohol over the spot Charlotte's dagger had entered.

"Sorry." Tex muttered.

"Don't be." Junji replied. "I feel alive."

There was something different about Junji's voice and the way he was breathing. He sounded happy, nearly elated. It was a little off putting, but Tex knew it was probably just adrenaline.

"I'm glad you--I'm glad you're alright." Tex managed.

"I would certainly hope so."

Tex winced as he pulled another stitch in Junji's back tight, although Junji only gave a lazy hum.

"How you feeling?" Tex pushed.

"I am regretful she had to die." answered Junji.

"...What?"

"I would've liked the chance to look at her brain."

"Barton might still find a few chunks."

"Hah."

Tex dumped the rest of the alcohol over Junji's back once he'd finished sewing. The two of them returned to Barton and Tala, who’d seated themselves in Barton’s car.

Barton rolled the window down.

"Where we going?" Tex asked.

"I can take you home now, I guess." Barton replied.

Tex was granted into Barton's car once he'd paid his five dollar fee. He just hoped she didn't notice he'd taken it all from her coin jar.

The ride back was silent, but comfortably so. Tex spent every minute of it, as well as every step up the stairs to his apartment thinking about the nap he was going to take.

His room was dark and cold when he got back. But the shower was warm, and Tex had a nice time celebrating his return to living alone by jerking off hard enough to lose consciousness for a few seconds and just narrowly avoid slamming his head against the shower head with enough force to die.

A day passed without incident.

Tala had made Junji message the group chat once an hour to clarify that his injuries hadn't reopened and that he was conscious, but Tex still found himself worried. Which was why after buying a strip of sushi grade salmon, Tex situated himself outside Junji’s front door.

Junji answered his door before Tex had even gotten his third knock in.

"...Howdy." Tex greeted.

Junji's eyes were bright enough to make Tex exhausted.

"Dallas!" Junji replied. "I was just about to leave."

"Do you got a minute?"

"I do. Two and a half of them, to be exact."

"Well, I gotcha this."

Tex handed Junji the box of salmon he'd brought. Junji's eyes widened into perfect circles before he accepted it, which he did with a tiny bow.

Junji took the fish straight to his kitchenette and unwrapped it on the cutting board. Tex followed after him with one eyebrow raised.

"I wish I had more time." Junji said as he began to cut the fish into strips with frightening speed.

"You don't guess you've earned a bre--"

"A break? No. I've been slacking, don't you think?"

As he spoke, Junji lifted a strip of fish to his mouth. His expression quickly turned to one of ecstasy.

"You got hurt." Tex pushed. "I really think you--"

"Try this."

A piece of fish was all but pushed into Tex's face. Tex opened his mouth and bit off a piece, although he quickly grew to regret his actions.

"Do you like it?" followed Junji.

"It--"

"Good. I must go."

"...You gonna be back?"

Junji placed the remainder of the fish in a quart-sized bag and placed it in the fridge.

"You will see me again soon." Junji replied. "Now, if you'll excuse me--"

Junji made his way over to the door as he trailed off. Once he'd put on his coat, he reached into the pocket and pulled out a tiny plastic bag of white powder.

He all but threw the powder at the center of his face before inhaling deep.

"--I must be off." Junji finished.

Junji shut the door behind him, leaving Tex with wide eyes and the feeling that things were about to get a lot more complicated.