The forestry ended. The trees had been replaced by houses. They were back to the dirt covered streets they snuck through when they first entered the base. James stopped in the middle of the street, white houses flanking both sides. He looked up at the sky and yelled, causing Warren and Akane to stop in their tracks, unsure of what this action would bring. Ruffling was heard from the houses. Doors began to open.

“Warren.” Akane said.

“End Mason before they come out!” Warren ordered.

They ran to James who had his back turned to them. He turned around, smiled. Akane got to Mason first, wound up a large sword swing but stopped halfway. A young girl of about 12 years of age got between them, dressed in the HDF uniform. She had short brown hair, and bright green eyes.

“I won’t let you!” the young girl bellowed, arms spread wide.

“Mason you coward!” Akane yelled.

James laughed maniacally.

“What’s wrong Otani? I’m right here. I thought assassins did whatever was necessary to complete their mission? You lack resolve.”

Warren flanked on the left side, ready to swing his sword but an elderly woman got in the way, her arms spread out to protect James just like the girl. James turned to him, laughed.

“I thought you wanted us all dead? You two seem afraid to kill these people. Yet you don’t seem to understand that if you do kill me, that’s exactly what you’re doing. These people are protected by me. If I’m gone, no one will protect them.”

People started to crowd the street, surrounding them, about a 100 in all. It was like the whole base descended on them. James began to slowly fade into the crowd. The people started to close in on Warren and Akane, arms spread out in a show of passive resistance. If they didn’t do something soon, James would get away. Warren thought about killing them but he noticed something. They were all women and children. All the able bodied men had left to attack Redrock. He didn’t know what to do. Kill them? Could he do it? These people were guilty too, right? They had the same views as the men didn’t they? Did that make them just as guilty as James and his council members? He raised his sword but put it back down. The thought of killing women and children made his stomach churn. He was at an impasse. There was nothing he could do. James was going to escape.

“Warren!” he heard Akane yell, breaking his line of thought.

He glanced, and saw that Akane was also slowly getting surrounded.

“Give me a knife!” she ordered.

Warren reached for one of his knives, threw it to Akane, narrowly missing the heads of some people. She caught it, stuck it into her palm. The blood from the wound shot up into the air, and after a brief moment, went after James. It zig zagged after him, dodging the heads of the crowd. It was about to impale James but a woman jumped in the way, taking the blow for him, the blood going through her head. While it was hard for her to see ahead of her, Akane saw that she killed the wrong person. The deed made her feel a combination of anger and disgust. Anger at James, disgusted with herself.

“Akane keep going!” Warren yelled, pushing his way past the crowd.

Akane shook her head to focus, and drew more blood out of her hand. Multiple streams of blood now went through the crowd, zig zagging like the one before. Meanwhile, Warren was shoving his way past people, trying to close in on James who was near the edge of the crowd now. As he got closer, he noticed people putting up more resistance. It was getting harder to push, slowing him down. A stream of blood flew past Warren, about to hit James only for another woman to sacrifice herself. But another stream immediately followed that one, this one hitting its mark. It went through James’ left shoulder, forcing him to stumble. Warren finally caught up, only a few feet away. Because he didn’t have room to swing his sword, he instead charged up a punch. James sensed the killer intent, tried to turn around to block but was too late. Warren socked him in his right cheek so hard he flew out of the crowd. The blow made the part of the crowd near Warren disperse, afraid after seeing what just happened. James got up, spat out some more teeth then sprinted towards the front of the base, knowing that he wasn’t safe.

“Mason!” Warren yelled, chasing after him.

Akane was catching up by hopping on peoples’ heads in a scene reminiscent of a girl playing hopscotch. She landed out of the crowd, and began to sprint as well. James went past the base’s front gate into the desert. His only hope now was to run to Redrock where he could regroup with either Roper or Don. It was a long distance to Redrock but with aura enhanced legs, he’d make it in no time. Regardless, he felt like a bunny running away from two wolves, a shameful display. He wondered if he was better off fighting with his legs and elbows given he did well in hand to hand combat. But then he remembered the last exchange with Warren. If Akane and Warren fought like that, he'd eventually get worn down. No, it was better to run. He was creating distance between himself and his pursuers that was steadily growing. Warren and Akane noticed this as well.

“Warren, launch me!” Akane yelled.

“Yeah!”

He leaped forward, landed on his back and lifted his legs. Akane jumped on, balancing herself on his feet. He and Akane bent their legs, quickly straightened them, shooting the latter into the air. She flew across the night sky, looking like a meteorite. The distance between James and one of his pursuers was quickly closed. As Akane got closer, she summoned the blood from her wounds to the tip of her katana, forming a mallet. The katana had transformed into a hammer.

“BLOODY HAMMER!” she screamed, slamming it onto James’ head.

The two crashed into the sand, causing it to erupt into the air like a volcanic eruption. A brief quiet followed, all was still. Akane was the first to emerge, her head popping out of a pile of sand. She spat out some sand, fully emerging. She scanned the environment, trying to find James but he was nowhere to be seen. He must’ve been under a pile of sand as well. Warren joined up with her, out of breath.

“Did you get him?” he asked.

“Yes?”

“Where is he?”

“Don’t know. Probably under the sand.”

Warren looked around, having no idea where James could be buried.

“We’re not digging him up. If he doesn’t pop up soon then he’s dead.”

“Good. So this means victory. Huzzah.”

“....”

“Huzzah with me Warren.”

“I’m not doing that.”

“But we’re friends.”

“That doesn’t mean I have to do whatever you say. And before you say it: no I’m not posing.”

“Why not?”

“Because...because it’s weird.”

“But it’s cool. Like my hat. That you casted aside. Remember Warren? The token of our friendship? The token of our friendship you threw to the ground?”

“Akane if Mason saw it he would’ve known you were nearby.”

“He already assumed that. Stop making excuses.”

“Look I’m-”

Warren was cut off. Both he and Akane felt something grab their ankles. They looked down, seeing a grey transparent hand had grabbed Warren’s left ankle, another holding Akane’s right.

They tried to move but were pulled down into the sand. For a brief moment, nobody stood in the desert. Suddenly Akane and Warren flew out the ground, plopping onto the sand in pain. A third figure burst out of the sand. It was James looking quite damaged. Blood dripped down the back of his head, out of the sides of his mouth from the broken teeth and had multiple wounds on his torso. His hands were back, looking quite different than before. Instead of his natural hands, they were now constructs made out of pure transparent grey aura. He stomped his way towards Akane and Warren, who were getting up, confused by what happened.

“You two are truly something else. I’ve never been pushed like this before. Not even during the war.” James said, staring at his new hands.

“But I have to thank you two. If it weren’t for our fight, I never would’ve used this demon blood to its fullest potential. I never would’ve known I could use aura like this. To replace limbs! A power I discovered out of desperation. I hope you two still have energy. I have to test these hands out. Too bad I dropped my pencil at some point. I wanted to test my new grip strength some more. You’ll have to settle for getting beaten to death.”

Warren and Akane looked at each other, nodded. They slowly began to encircle James, eventually standing on each side of him. The three combatants stood silently, hearing nothing but the wind as the full moon shone down on them. James cracked his neck, smiled.

“Come on!”

Warren and Akane vs. James Mason Finale

They bolted towards him, Warren performing a diagonal slash, Akane a horizontal one. James dodged both, uppercutted Akane in the gut, and threw a jab at Warren’s face. Next he grabbed Akane’s head, slammed it into Warren’s face, causing the two of them to crash into a sand dune. They immediately jumped back into the fray, launching a deluge of synchronous attacks. James repeatedly stepped back to avoid it all, countering each of their strikes with punches. Using their teamwork against each other, James grabbed Akane and quickly switched places with her, causing Warren to cut her across the back. Warren slowed down upon realizing his mistake, allowing James to slug Warren into another sand dune. He switched his attention to Akane, attempting to throw a punch when suddenly the blood from her latest wound sprouted out of her back, forming a shield. The punch bounced off the blood shield. Afterwards spikes came out of the shield. James raised his arms, protecting his face as dozens of spikes punctured his body. He twisted his body once again, freeing himself before the blood could do anything else. Warren reappeared on James’ left side cutting his left forearm but not deeply enough to sever. James kicked Warren in the stomach, causing him to skid back. Akane stepped in, kicked James in the face, driving her heel into his face. Before she could pull it back he grabbed it and threw Akane about thirty yards away. When she landed, sand bursted into the air. Giving James no time to breathe, Warren rushed in again.

Warren began swinging, forcing James to step back to avoid it all. He abruptly stepped back in, headbutting Warren. While Warren was dazed, James put his hand out attempting to close it when Akane arrived and tackled Warren to get him out the way. From the ground Akane shot more blood spikes out of her wounds, forcing James to jump back to avoid them. Now that James was away, she erected a blood wall, giving her and Warren safety from James’ ability.

“Warren, be more careful” Akane scolded

“Yeah yeah I know. Didn’t think he could use his ability without those hands.”

“We can’t cut them off again can we?”

“Probably not. But I want to try something. If he’s concentrating a lot of aura to form his hands, that must mean the aura distributed to the rest of his body has been lessened. His aura defense has to be low enough for us to attack the rest of his body.”

“Sounds good. Let’s turn him to paste.”

Akane reached out for a fist bump, but as she did so James punched through the blood wall, shattering it. Warren and Akane jumped back , the latter using the destroyed wall’s blood to form more blood spikes that shot out the ground at James. However James dodged them, having grown accustomed to the attack. But for Warren it distracted him which was all that was needed. He dashed in and, running past James, sliced him across the gut.

James felt a stinging pain across his stomach, looked down and saw blood pour down to the ground. Warren, Akane, and James paused as the realization of James’ vulnerability sunk in.

“Well look at that. Let’s end this excitingly shall we?’ he said

James was the first to move, backpedaling, then jumping back repeatedly to create distance. He put his arms out, opening both hands. Warren and Akane chased, zig zagging from sand dune to sand dune, trying to avoid James’ arms. To obscure his vision they kicked up sand. But when they did, James would just jump to the side, then back again. He aimed an arm at Akane, closing his palm. Once again she felt a sharp pain in her stomach. If she had to guess, she just lost one of her kidneys. James then closed the palm aimed at Warren. He too felt a sharp pain. He had no idea what he lost but it was his cecum. Despite the excruciating pain, they continued towards James, going much faster now. It was a race against time. Either James was about to get cut down, or Warren and Akane were about to collapse from internal pain. They were less than 4 feet away, but it still gave James enough time to close his hands again. Akane felt her liver explode,

Warren his gallbladder. They screamed in agony but had finally flanked James from both sides and were within perfect striking distance.

“Let’s end this! My BESTO FRIENDOOO” Akane screamed, preparing a large horizontal swing at Jame’s torso.

Warren was on the other side, doing the same thing. They screamed as they launched their attacks, their auras shooting up into the air. James put his arms out, infusing them with aura to block but it was no use, he simply ran out of strength. The blades cut through his arms, into his stomach. They worked their way across his body, James feeling every inch of it, filling him with agony. Their blades connected, having met in the middle. Everything stopped. Warren and Akane panted, slowly looking up. James was looking out into the desert, his eyes blank.

“Change..is gonna come” he whispered.

The upper half of his body slowly fell back, like a tree falling to the earth. It hit the sand with a thump. Warren and Akane slowly stepped back, sheathed their swords.

“Huzzah.” Akane whimpered, falling onto her back.

Warren didn’t reply, he just fell onto his back as well. Together they looked up at the night sky as dozens of stars twinkled.

“It’s over,” Akane said.

“It better be. I have no strength left.” Warren replied

“Can you move?”

“No.”

“Me neither. What now?”

“We wait until we can move again.”

“Can’t you use your ability to move?”

“Can’t. My aura is being used to keep me alive. Have to wait until my strength returns.”

“I see. If only you let me be the distraction. And didn’t get rid of my hat.”

“Pretty sure we’d be like this regardless. Wait, you're still upset about that?”

“Yes.”

“Well...sorry I guess.”

“Good. You’ll make it up to me later. I’m having you read so many comics when we get back. I won’t let my friend remain so uncultured.”

“...Whatever. By the way, did you call me your best friend?”

“Don’t get ahead of yourself. That was a comic reference. You’d know that if you were cultured. You are in the race for best friend though. You’d win if you posed with me.”

“Not happening.”

“You’ll come around.”

“Uh huh.”

Warren’s eyes widened, realizing something he forgot to do.

“I didn’t ask Mason where-”

“Where Andrew is?” a new voice cut in.

A head appeared over Warren’s. The figure stood behind Warren, making the head look upside down as it blocked out the night sky. It was a man in a rat mask.

“Hey buddy!” it said.

Intense anger filled Warren’s body. His eyes bulged, his muscles tensed as his body tried to get up but couldn’t. Andrew was here but he couldn’t do anything.

“Calm down man. I know you’re excited to see me. I just came to save ‘Bravo!’. That performance was something else. I really thought you were going to die there! Yet you didn’t! I was on the edge of my seat.”

“Andrew!” Warren growled.

“Yeah it’s little ole me. You seem surprised. You think I wouldn’t check out how you’d wreck my home town? I don’t hold it against you. Unlike you, I know how to move on, you see. No hard feelings. Does this make us even?”

Warren spat on his mask. Andrew nonchalantly wiped the spit off.

“I guess not. But you know, this was very enlightening. Clearly Owl’s serum isn’t as powerful as it should be. Or maybe my uncle was weaker than I thought. Who knows? I just have to report on what happened.”

Warren looked to his right, and saw that another masked figure was looking over Akane. This was someone he’d never seen before. A raven mask covered their face.

“So ughhh….I heard some asshole was rude to you back at James’ mansion. Fuck that guy am I right?” the raven asked, trying to talk to Akane.

She didn’t respond, only stared at him with a deadpan expression.

“Are you….ugh single? You’re not dating Warren or anything right? Also how do you feel about younger guys? You into that?”

Unbeknownst to the raven masked man, blood from the previous battle was slithering up behind him. It stopped 4 feet away, then jutted out, going through his right shoulder.

“Ah fuck! Andrew-I mean Rat-I mean fuck! Ah this hurts!” he complained, backing away from Akane.

Andrew looked, laughed at his ally in pain.

“Josiah you dumbass.”

“Hey use t-the fucking codenames!” Josiah shot back.

“Eh it’s fine, Warren’s my best friend and all. He wouldn’t tell anybody. Right Warren?”

Warren continued to look at Andrew with an angry expression, not in the mood to play along.

“Ok look I gotta get going. But I have good news, we’ll see each other again. You can bet on that. You’re a lot stronger than I thought you were. I think you can actually live through what’s about to come. Look forward to it Warren; we’re about to go through the gates of Armageddon together.” Andrew said, backing away.

He motioned for Josiah to group up with him, who did so while clutching his wound, cursing to himself. A portal opened, Josiah being the first to go through. Warren tilted his head back, seeing Andrew stand before the portal.

“Don’t worry about coming to me. I’ll come to you when the time’s right. See you, my besto friendo” Andrew said, laughing as he went through the portal.

Akane and Warren were alone once again, still laying on their backs.

“God damn it” Warren cursed.

“It’s ok. His days are numbered. He was already a marked man but now he’s made fun of my comic reference. It’s personal now. He’ll die painfully. ”

“Agreed.”

They continued to lay in the sand for the next hour, slowly recovering their strength. Their rest was interrupted as they felt the ground vibrate. It felt like a great rumbling.

“What’s happening?” Akane questioned.

“I have no idea. Be prepared for anything.”

In their peripherals, they could see a military caravan. Hundreds of soldiers were marching together. At the head was a recognizable face, or lack thereof. The veil gave away that it was Lord Alderman. Warren remembered it personally when questioned by the lords. The lord rode on a great white steed and had stopped, making the whole caravan do the same. He looked down at them.

“Hey who’re you two?” a soldier asked, riding up to them.

Lord Alderman scanned the area, noticed James’ cleaved body. He looked back at Warren and Akane, gave a thumbs up.

“You’re welcome.” Akane responded.

The soldier had no idea what was happening but took note that Akane and Warren looked like corpses.

“Hey get us some healing potions and send a healing mage up here!” the soldier barked at the caravan.

They did as told, administering healing potions to them and had a mage cast a high level healing magic spell, allowing them to move. Meanwhile, Lord Alderman continued traveling, heading in the direction of the HDF base. Akane and Warren were placed into a wagon with a few soldiers which was ordered to head back to Redrock where they could receive further medical attention. Warren mentioned his car but was assured the soldiers would bring it back to town. Presently, they were halfway back to Redrock.

“What’re soldiers doing here?” Warren asked, chugging down another healing potion.

“Here to save the town of Redrock.” a soldier answered.

“Took you long enough” Akane spat.

“What do you mean?” another soldier inquired.

“The sheriff of Redrock sent Alderman requests for assistance for years.” Warren recalled. “Yet now the government decides to do something about it.”

“Well I’m sure the lord has his reasons.”

Akand and Warren exchanged glances, both sensing something was off.