Coalition member # 85: “Guys…? Guys, hello? can you all hear me? I repeat; can anyone hear me? If you can hear me, my name is Seth from Team 7, my recognition number in the Mercenary Coalition is eighty – five! I am using my power to speak through the cold wind blowing and reach everybody’s brain through their ear canals. This can be our temporary method of communication until we escape from here. However this is the first time I managed to test it out on such a massive group, that I can’t really tell if it worked for everybody or if there’s anyone I might’ve left out! If you can understand me, then please respond so I know that my power actually worked on everyone from Team 7! Oh… right – you can respond by breathing in the cold wind, thinking up a message, then exhaling the wind back out. It’ll be carried along to everybody connected.”

Coalition member # 86: “…Hello? Is this how it works? I think I did it properly, but I’m not sure. Anyways, if it works, then here’s my report! I’m alive and running! I just managed to cover the floor all around me in a mud that holds some of the properties found in ‘tar’ from tar pits! It’s my power! Furthermore, my energy can sense when something or someone makes contact with it! If they’re targeting us by physically moving in while we’re vulnerable, I’ll know! If I’m being stalked or followed at any point in time, then I’ll first update everybody using this cold wind – speaking method.”

Coalition member # 87: “It worked… IT worked! I heard you! My recognition number is eighty – seven and I also released my power just now! The cold air is from my chilling fog that instantly freezes water vapor in the air to spread itself out faster from my body! It’s my energy that creates and manifests itself in a physical form! I was hoping our members could use it as coverage to escape from here, but it seems this will be a lot more difficult then I imagined. There’s some weird bad-like creatures monitoring the skies! They’re probably looking for us all right now! Dammit, how irritating! Now my fog has virtually been already been rendered as useless!”

Coalition member # 88: “Ah, No. It hasn’t actually. That army of bat golems happens to be the power I released. I can change vast quantities of water vapor into vast quantities of solidified ice golems, but it’s unfortunate that my power will not, regardless of circumstances, activate without an excess level of moisture in the air around me. It’s really fortunate on my part that you released your fog powers just now!”

Coalition member # 87: “...Wait, then that means…”

Coalition member # 88: “...Ah! Wait, that’s right! Y-Yeah, we three… the three of us just combined or powers together...right? We didn’t even… even realize we happened to be boosting each other’s powers…! Well I’ll say it now, my bat – like golems have been patrolling the forest so far, and even with a thousand of them, I can’t seem to find a single trace of the enemy! We’ve already combed through one fifth of the whole forest and not even a hair of our suspect can be found!”

Captain Taluya: “I hear you, good work! With this, we can keep in contact for awh-”

Coalition member # 89: “I – I HAVE A REPORT! One hundred and forty – seven coalition mercenaries from team seven have already vanished from the forest! I can no longer sense them with my power to keep track of everybody that I count! Ah, wait--! It seems like two more have just vanished from my senses again! The count is now one hundred and forty – nine missing team seven members! The rate of disappearance between each of them seems to be about fifteen seconds as a very rough estimation!”

*CRRAACCKK! SHATTER!*

Coalition member # 90: “Ah! A whole bunch of bats were just destroyed somehow! They suddenly froze in place and began cracking on the spot! At least… At least forty – nine of them!”

Captain Taluya: “Golem maker. Golem maker respond with this method if you’re still here! Answer me!! Tar girl, fog girl and cold-wind communication guy each of you answer me if you’re still around!”

Coalition member # 85: “I’m… still here! I mean, obviously – or else my power would disappear. Heheh.”

Captain Taluya: “…”

Coalition member # 87: “I am also present, at the moment. But I just witnessed some bat golems shattering. Also my fog suddenly-”

*VWISH!*

Coalition member # 90: “Wait, wait, wait! If you weren’t here...your power would disappear...two people disappeared…”

*BOOM!*

Captain Taluya: “Status report! What was that explosion?!”

Coalition member # 85: “The fog...most… most of it suddenly disappeared. Then it reappeared, only to explode just now in a massive chain burst. Some trees are frozen solid…”

Coalition member # 90: “Guys… I think the Tar girl member and our bat – like golem maker were the two that went missing just no-”

Coalition member # 89: “I – I HAVE ANOTHER REPORT! Three others just vanished right after that fog explosion! The fog is disappeari-- 5- no, SEVEN MORE DISAPPEAR- ...11… TOO MANY ARE VANISHING ONE BY ONE!”

Coalition member # 91: “I can sense the energy around me, so long as plants are nearby. The ‘energy’ surrounding many are disappearing – those three friends we spoke to just moments ago have all gone somewhere far away and outside of the forest, along with their energies. At least, I can no longer sense them.”

Coalition member # 89: “I as well, can no longer sense them within the ‘count’ of our remaining members…”

*VWISH!*

Coalition member # 92: “H… HELP! THE COUNTING GUY WAS IN FRONT OF ME WHEN HE SUDDENLY VAN-”

*VWISH!*

Captain Taluya: “Hello – subordinate? Random subordinate whose name I don’t know speak up! What happened to the counter man with you?”

Vice Captain Brad Davidson: “…Most likely, the same exact thing that happened to him, along with the others we lost contact with. Maybe spreading out wasn’t such a good idea…”

Coalition member # 85: “NO, it’s actually working! Sure, we lost a few hundred or so, but we have TWO THOUSAND members!! There’s no way some of us can’t make it to the edge of the forest at this rate!”

However just then, like a trigger being pulled due to his own carelessness, something terrible happened. It was almost as if his sharp – tongued words of encouragement had instead, lay a terribly fast - acting curse on everybody from Team 7.

The rate of disappearing Coalition members picked up tremendously. Many from the two thousand or so tried to leave a message, but got cut off and instead, could only manage to form an incoherent sequence of thoughts.

Over a thousand – five hundred screams were heard, including Captain Taluya’s Vice Captain, Brad. Short screams as if they had all seen a ghost. His was the last of such screams that anyone heard through the wind channel, and it was the most chilling of them all.

Vice Captain Brad Davidson: “Uw… UWAAAAAHH! Run faster! Don’t bother trying to fight this monster! I recognize that appearance anywhere! He’s … He’s the Monitor M--”

*VWISH!*

…

Almost like a prowling beast that systematically picked off members one by one, thousands fell victim to his cane.

That’s right, for this last company, he felt it more noteworthy to handle them all personally. He easily bypassed the tar pit trap and sent he flying into it. Although it didn’t trap her, it stunned her long enough to give him a large opening. The fog girl tried her best to detonate her fog around the figure closing in on her, feeling increasingly nervous this was NOT an ally, as they’d all been ordered to escape, not approach each other in a slow – walking manner. Too bad the explosion didn’t freez or even faze him. She dropped to the forest floor in seconds. The man with bats suffered from an ambush, and as he was rendered unconscious by a good *THWACK!* his bats all lost function and broke. Etc, etc. Right now, a rope controlling man tried desperately to stop Mr. Abrams’s movements while their vice captain controlled poison fog to disable and immobilize him long enough for both party members to escape. However, even though they both escaped in the same direction, now they were both suffering the exact same fate.

Slowly, but surely, everyone from team seven fell by his masterful cane - wielding skills. The forest quickly went from rowdy to silent.

After about five more minutes of hunting, he finally reached Coalition member # 85.

Captain Taluya: “Respond… Everyone? Anybody from Team 7, please respond! This is a direct order from your captain!”

…

Mr. Abrams: “Let’s see… I believe this is how you work this power… Ah, hello? Ms. Captain of the Seventh team deployed by the Coalition of Mercenary Companies: Bright-Burn, For-Hire’s Killing division: Killer-For-Hire, Ghastly Seal – Breakers, Living Devils, Silver Shackles and Dark Mercenaries? I believe your subordinates referred to you as… Captain Taluya? Well, I just thought I’d inform you that you’re currently now… hehe… the last one.”

*Crack!*

*VWISH!*

---