Pride and Greed drop the unconscious figure in the street beside Gluttony and Sloth. Greed bends over, taking in heaving breaths, while Pride places his hands on his head and continues walking away from everyone else. EV lands just after the others do and he looks at the prone figure with so many questions that they converge, creating a traffic jam before leaving his mouth, and none of them end up coming out. Gluttony and Sloth are asking about the stranger but Greed lays down and rolls onto his back as he continues panting.

EV turns away to look back out at the destruction. Raggedly torn asphalt at his feet marks the edge of the massive crater. Buildings are opened up like like doll-houses, exposing their interior layouts. He looks but doesn’t see any indication of what might have been causing the electrical arcs on the wall. We’re saving the world, he thinks. If this is what it looks like to be saving it—what will the saved world look like?—Is this what we really want?

“Hey.”

EV turns to see Gluttony standing behind him. “Hey,” EV replies absently. “You guys got out—how did you make it back?”

Gluttony chuckles. “Well, what had happened was—not long after you went in, the ground started shaking and the water started draining away. It didn’t take long before the water was low enough for use to run back across. I could see the bottom starting to fall from under us so Sloth and I ran as soon as we were able to. What the heck happened down there?”

“I don’t know. I got hit by some of the falling stuff so I’m lucky that I got out of there at all.” He reaches for his shoulder and rolls it as he thinks about it. It is still sore but most of the pain has eased.

“Glad you made it back,” Gluttony says, walking over to the ledge with him. He tries to peer into it but shakes his head. “That’s got to be deep. I can’t imagine how far down they had to go.”

EV nods. “Yeah, it’s a good thing that I didn’t go down very far. That river is just a huge crater now and it looks like the water was flowing into that underground channel that you mentioned so it must be emptying out somewhere else.”

“Look alive,” Pride calls out from behind. “We’re losing daylight so we need to find a place to take cover soon.”

EV and Gluttony walk back over as everyone starts to gather, the stranger laying off to the side. “Where did he come from,” EV asks.

“You all need to be careful around him,” Pride says. “We found him locked away and there is not telling how long he’s been down there.”

“Locked away? How? By who? Wh—”

“We don’t know,” Pride interrupts. “And that means that there probably isn’t a way to know any of that. What I can tell you is that he is dangerous. He attacked us when we first set him free.”

“He attacked you,” Sloth echoes. “Then why in the world did you bring him here? Are we not already dealing with enough?”

“He’s confused. Like I said, there’s no telling how long he’s been down there so he behaved like a wild animal. Fortunately, he got knocked out during the collapse so maybe if we allow him to get a little sunshine and some fresh air, he can return to his senses and then help us out.”

“So we’re planning on bringing a loose cannon with us now? Where does that fit into this plan I keep hearing about? And how does baby-sitting fit into saving the world?” Sloth opens the flat of his hand and gestures to the crater. “Is this what that is supposed to look like? I’m just a little confused on our group’s definition of -saving- because I had something else in mind. This seems like more of a problem than the what’s-it-called, that are so-so dangerous.”

EV looks at Sloth as he speaks and is somewhat awed by the fact Sloth is having similar thoughts. He is also a feels a bit embarrassed about not being able to voice the same concerns.

Pride looks over at the crater as Sloth gestures. “I’m seeing the same destruction that you are but what you’re not seeing or seeming to understand is the unanswered question of how long the Yoi had been in this city. We destroyed the Yoi and all of its influence was destroyed with it. Try to imagine us not coming here now but much later. One year—or maybe two. Let’s say we destroyed it then—how much more of this city do you think would have become like that crater?—There’s no way to know for sure but I can tell you for certain, that it would have been far more destructive.”

Greed looks concerned and uneasy as he looks down at the stranger. “Aren’t you going to tel—” Greed begins.

“Nothing else matters,” Pride interrupts. “We destroyed the Yoi and we saved him from whatever prison he was in so he owes us some gratitude—but that will have to be sorted out later. Sloth, I need you and Lust to—” Pride trails of as he begins looking around.

Sloth’s ears perk up. “Sloth? You know that’s me right? Wouldn’t it be better to need someone else?”

“Where is Lust,” Pride finally asks. Gluttony points to where Lust is sitting inside one of the open doll-houses. He is sitting on a table, kicking has dangling legs, and scratching at one of his bracers as he looks out at the crater.

“I’m not sure how I feel about that,” Greed remarks. “He almost seems giddy.”

“Lust,” Pride calls out. Lust stops scratching and kicking as he turns to look back. “What are you doing? Get back down here.” Lust drops down from the table, then form his second floor vantage, and joins the others. “You and Sloth go check out the nearby buildings. See if you can find a decent place for us to stay indoors for the night.”

Lust starts to walk away but Sloth looks questioningly between Pride and Lust. “Don’t I get a say in this,” Sloth asks.

“Well, we’re about to try and wake this rage monster so if—”

“Nope! Hard pass. I’ll take the silent monster over the raging one.” He walks away he grumbling to himself.

Pride folds his arms as he looks down at the stranger. “Gluttony, EV—you two stay on your guard. I don’t know how he’s going to react when he wakes but he was extremely aggressive on our first encounter.”

“Are you sure about this,” Greed asks.

“I’m sure he’s more use to us alive than he is dead. Let’s get him rolled over on his back so we can get a better look at him.” Pride grabs one of the enormous wings and walks towards the figure’s feet, stretching it downward. Greed gets on the opposite side and prepares to roll him that direction as EV and Gluttony look on from behind Greed. The figure rolls, his other wing and arm plopping in a sequence as his arm outstretches to a clink, clink sound.

Greed and Pride both hear the sound and look towards his arm.

The stranger’s eyes start to flutter open as Greed sees a pendant is lying on the asphalt. Pride sees his eyes opening, looking back and forth between Greed and the stranger as Greed starts to move towards the pendant.

The stranger’s eyes flick open and fixate on Greed.

Pride lunges towards Greed, ramming his shoulder into his arm and shoving him away.

The stranger rolls to his feet, a parked car rocks as a wing collides with it, windows bursting from every frame.

EV and Gluttony had shuffled backwards as the stranger rose.

A weapon materializes in his hands as the stranger draws it back, like a trap waiting to be sprung.

He looks at Pride struggling with Greed and briefly at EV and Gluttony standing nearby.

Pride looks back at the stranger as he divides his attention between restraining Greed and seeing how the stranger is going to behave.

He sees the stranger assuming a defensive posture and turns his full attention back to Greed.

He drops his shoulder and steps into Greed.

He bear hugs Greed’s arm and pulls it downward as his thrusts his hip back into Greed.

Greed rolls over Pride’s back and slams into the ground, almost landing on his head before rolling onto his back. “That’s enough,” Pride barks.

Greed starts to sit back up.

Pride thrusts his knee into his chest, forcing him back to the pavement.

Greed’s head is still straining forward as he tries to rise against the knee, his pupils wide with a manic determination.

“I said enough!”

Pride draws his sword, spins it downward, and rams it into the pavement next to Greed’s head.

The blade bites into his cheek and slices his ear.

Pride leans down and pushes Greed’s head back with is thumb as he tries to get Greed to meet his eyes. The eyes are stuttering as if trying to lock onto some distant target that is either out of range or not distinguishable from its surroundings. Pride doesn’t look away and keeps his own gaze trained on Greed. The eyes calm and the dilatation retreats, finally focusing on Pride’s glare. Greed’s lip quivers into something of a scowl as he looks at Pride, a single tear trailing away to meet the blood from his wound. “But you promised,” Greed accuses.

Pride shakes his head. “I know what was said and the only thing not aligning with that conversation is you agreeing to follow my lead. It’s going to be a problem if I have to keep putting you on your ass just to get your attention.”

Both of their postures are still tense and Pride continues to glare. Greed finally goes limp and still, looking away from Pride’s glare. Pride nods and pushes down with his knee as he stands back up. He pulls the sword free and Greed turns his face away as it retracts. He looks back up and Pride extends a hand to help him up. After a moment, Greed takes the offer and pulls himself to his feet. Pride takes the tail of Greed’s shirt and wipes the blood off of his sword before sheathing it.

“Are we good,” Pride asks.

“We’re good,” Greed replies with a nod.