THE WETLANDS

— You’re unluckier than getting a box of socks that are too small to wear for a Christmas present! Y’know what I mean?

Said Evangelist while she looked at her partner. The woman was slightly above average height and had a naturally fit body. Her long wavy hair went past her shoulders, purple for the first few inches off her scalp and a faded blonde for the rest of it. The pair walked through a small, enclosed corridor, dragging their feet on the snow.

— I can’t tell if you’re underplaying it or just not paying any attention.

Said Franchise, the unluckiest man in the world. He had orange hair and wore a light blue tiara to push it all backwards. He was about the size of his friend and just as muscular. They were both dressed in tight pants and tight sweaters, all black.

— You think I’m underplaying it? Imagine getting a box of socks you can’t wear! That is every woman’s nightmare… and during the winter too? Oh no…

She says, having shivers go down her spine. Only the Gods may forgive her for thinking such accursed thoughts. Masha Maleviento is now referred to as, Franchise. Born on Friday the 13th. His parents, somehow, failed to witness his birth and he never knew happiness. He, also, constantly stubs his toe on nearby furniture. Whenever he made friends, they would start suffering from all kinds of troubles and illnesses. Eventually, they would all distance themselves from him and Franchise was hated by everyone. He was considered the embodiment of bad omens and led a life of frustration.

But for some reason, there was someone always next to him, unaffected by his curse.

His lifelong friend, Evangelist, also known as, Evangelist. She was born exactly 1 second after him and has lived an amazing life so far. The fact that everything goes wrong for him, and him alone, made her think that on that very second, the Universe had unleashed a wave of bad luck. But he was the only one born at that very second, so it all went to him. However, as Searchers of the Wetlands, it was their job to hunt down monsters and uncover lost relics, with or without luck.

The two of them finally arrive at the Lapse. A place where they receive their orders and permission to hunt. Franchise stepped forward. He’d be the one to talk to the attendant, as per custom. His girl friend had a deep seeded hatred for the creature after she lost 709 matches of ping-pong to it and with that, her love of sports.

— Hyuga! — He called out.

In a well-lighted, pitch-black room, a large creature stood behind a small desk, three times smaller than its user. Hyuga was a thin monster made out of a soft and reflective white stone. He had six long arms, all quadruple jointed, coming from his back. In the place where the mouth should be, an iron plate nailed to his face, with the engravings “Out of Spite”. Scattered around the monster’s bald head, seven pink mouths moved on their own accord.

— Out of Spite today huh? — He comments.

— Maleviento, Masha. — The thing utters, looking down at him. — Donovan, Ir—

— TO HELL WITH YOU HYUGA!! — She says, tearing up. — HOW DARE YOU SAY MY NAME AFTER WHAT YOU DID TO ME! I LOVED PING-PONG —

— Enough. — Franchise shuts his friend. — Highest rarity, what do you got for us?

— Golden Calling. — Hyuga says with his thunder-powered voice.

A golden notification appears on their devices. Their certificate for searching; their specific orders and the description of the item desired. The two of them have their interest skyrocket. Golden callings into action were immensely rare. Only 1 in every trillion searches, do they appear (not true).

It was their lucky day too. A claim on a Highest Rarity Relic had been put out, meaning they had an excuse to search for it. An immensely powerful artifact known as the Shattered Essence. Capable of rewriting the very rules of the universe. Evangelist didn’t care much for it, even though it could mean a world of trouble if it were used with evil intentions. She was simply excited to help Franchise get it so that he could remove his bad luck. They didn’t even need to share a look to know why they wanted to get it. Hyuga continues:

— Rating of 16 in the following categories. Power. Rarity. Influence. Utility. And Fragrance.

— A 16 on Fragrance? Wow, that’s a first. — She said, shocked.

— It has a 16 on everything. — He thinks out loud, all the more intrigued. — All the more reason to get it…

— Now off with you two. — Hyuga picks up a small bell from his tiny desk and rings it.

Franchise and Evangelist slowly fade away. While doing so, Franchise casually checks his smartphone and Evangelist flips off Hyuga. Which the monster answered by flipping her off too, with all his hands. Once they finally disappear, Hyuga places his hands over his iron plate and slowly wipes it. When he finished, he returned to his normal duties. But the words imprinted on the plate changed to: “Wired Fate.”

Franchise and Evangelist reappear on a path between fields of flowers. The flowers were blue and white, and their petals kept being blown away with the wind, coloring the landscape around them. Walking on the fields, were tall slender creatures. They were bipedal but had no hands or feet. They were like giant thin branches that fell from an even more giant tree and had a singular bottomless hole for faces.

— Party People? Are we on Depth 5? — Evangelist, comments, looking around.

— Seems like it. An item of that rarity had to show up here. And I already called them up.

— Good. I don’t like being down here without our friends nearby.

The Wetlands were divided into Depths. And even though it wasn’t a height thing, since they all existed at the same plane, the deeper the Depth of a region, the more dangerous they were. On the other hand, regions of higher Depth were home to greater treasures. It was the duty of the Searchers to transfer these regions and recover these treasures. But Depth 5 was a living hell. Because they were home to the creatures known as the Party People.

These slender sticks of hell were unkillable and the longer they engaged in combat, the stronger they became. They were highly aggressive and could chase their prey until the end times. They feed on the soul of the fallen and it’s suggested that they do it for fun, since they don’t need anything to live. Only highly skilled Searchers could face them.

The pair doesn’t get a chance to move. As soon as they stopped talking, the 14 creatures that were walking by, turned their attention to them. The creatures start to surround them, and the duo prepares for combat.

— Oh, they noticed us so fast! — Evangelist weeps, genuinely frustrated. — It’s that damn luck of yours again!

— Calling my lack of luck, luck, defeats the purpose of the word unlucky. — Franchise says, licking the tips of the fingers of his right hand.

— It’s that damn unlucky of yours again? — She tried correcting herself while taking out a pair of red scissors from her waistline.

One of the Party People makes their move, diving towards the duo, ready to suck them into his face-hole. The two dodges, going in separate directions. Franchise uses the speed of his dash to slice the legs of the creature that attacked them. His right hand, or rather the tip of his fingers, cut through their durable bodies like butter.

The creatures scream and cheer as if they were celebrating something. They turn their attention to Franchise who kept moving between their legs and cutting them down with his right hand. The Party People fall but soon get back up after using their arms for legs and regenerating new legs for arms.

Franchise climbs on the back of one and slices off its head. The creature falls and Franchise jumps off of it, unto another, guiding his hand through its body until it crumbled into bits. On the ground, a Party Person comes from behind, ready to absorb into its face. But Franchise turns around and pierces its head with his hand. Cutting through the hole and the magic void it had. Franchise removes his hand from its motionless body and looks around him.

The other 13 creatures were fighting with one another.

— Finally. — Franchise sighs.

— It takes time to find the right strand, you know that I don’t know why you get so angry when I take my time with it.

— You practice with the whole purpose of finding them faster. That means you’re not trying hard enough.

— Oh, Franchise, you’re assuming I practice. Cute. Come here so I can cut you too.

— Please, let’s get this going.

Franchise and Evangelist stand close, inches from one another. Evangelist’s pupils glow, a piercing red. With her eyes, she sees the Threads that make up the ground, the air, and all of reality. With her fingers, she searches through Franchise’s Threads. Until she found the Thread that stated: “A target to the Party People”. And with her scissors, cut them.

With that Thread destroyed, that concept no longer applied to their world. Meaning that Franchise would no longer be targeted by the Party People. She had already cut hers after dodging the first attack and went on to cut the Thread: “Party People don’t attack each other”. The Threads eventually return to normal, but they take many hours to do so.

That was Evangelist’s VSS. Franchise had his own VSS, admittedly much more boring but quite useful. Upon licking his fingers, they could cut through anything he wanted.

The duo walks away, unharmed through the flower field, in search of a legendary artifact. The Shattered Essence, is capable of rewriting all of reality. Evangelist’s powers only tapped into this idea; momentarily blocking a concept from the world. She couldn’t stop Franchise from being the target of so much karma, so this was their chance. But the journey ahead of them would be a tough one. Who knew how many days and nights they would spend on it? How many challenges… only time could tell.

Not even a minute after the battle, they encounter a stranger. A short tubby man. A real gremlin. He was bald and walked quickly with his stubby legs. He was carrying a pot, almost his size, and appeared to be in a rush. He stumbles on the road and drops the mysterious pot. Thankfully Franchise grabs it before it hits the ground.

— You okay sir? — Evangelist asks with her hands behind her back.

— Oh jeez… I eh… — He mutters, in a gremlin voice, while getting back up. — Oh, wait a ding dang dong minute! Are you two… Searchers?!

— That we are. Here’s your pot. — Franchise offers the pot back to the gremlin-man.

— Dear oh goodness! My prayers had been answered! — He takes the pot. — I’ve been searching for you Searchers; I have found something only the likes of you could handle! This pot you see! ’Tis a relic named the Shattered Essence!

— The pot that you were about to drop? — Franchise asks, doubtful and wholeheartedly confused.

— THAT’S THE RELIC?! — Evangelist asks.

— Well… yes, but the relic is an energy, a mist that imbues objects with its Shot. I put it in this pot to contain it. Please take this with you!

As the 100cm man offered the pot to them, the duo traded a look of confusion. But they had no reason not to take the man’s offer and accept the relic. They say at the same time that Evangelist would be the one to carry it and take the relic along with them.

— So… — Evangelist wonders out loud.

— I guess we’re done here. — Franchise prepares to call Hyuga.

— Do you want to meet up with everyone? We can hang out for a while and then we take it back to Hyuga. — She asks.

— Sure… Hey, goblin man. How does the relic work—

— Don’t be rude! Mr. Goblin man sir, how does the relic work?

— Eh, you have to use the item that the Essence is in. You have to open the pot to use it!

— Thanks! — She yells, walking away.

Evangelist and Franchise part ways with the little man and exit the fields of Depth 5. They were after a group of friends, Searchers like them.

— What I’m wondering is that if it`s such an offensive word, then why do they say it over and over again? — The sly and attractive Juice asks.

— It’s part of the plot! They need to show that it’s a bad word by saying it! — Little Imperium answers.

— That doesn’t make sense… — Ragnarok wonders.

— Why are you asking me, I didn’t write the books!! — Imperium struggles.

— You’d think the wizards would know some good stuff too, like… the cure for cancer or something, so why are they ostracized? — A cute, green-haired girl comments, with her soft voice.

— Don’t give them ideas! — The boy uttered.

— WHAT’S UP WITH THAT?! — Ragnarok wondered harder.

— EXACTLY! IT’S FILLED WITH PLOTHOLES IMPERIUM!! IT’S UNBELIEVABLE HOW MUCH PEOPLE LIKE IT!! — Juice despaired.

— AND WHAT DO I HAVE TO DO WITH IT?! I DON’T LIKE IT EITHER!! — The boy continued to argue.

The Ballada, as they were known, were a group of 7 talented Searchers. Franchise and Evangelist were part of that team. And these were the other four. Walking towards a fountain to meet with their boss, from right to left, they were Killerkill, Imperium, Juice, and Ragnarok.

Juice was a tall, slender but extremely handsome and seductive man, close to his forties. He wore the black uniform like all other Searchers, but had a purple coat tied to his waist. On his torso was a leather strap and gun holster, with a real flare gun on it. He also wore a purple fedora hat.

Imperium, the prodigy child, was only eleven but had a fearsome and unique talent. His black uniform had little blue and pink ice cream designs all over. His short curly hair was also blue and pink, as were both his eyes.

Killerkill was a college student, smart and kind. Not that those things are directly related. She had bright green hair and eyes. On the right side of her uniform, were many blue bandages she kept wrapping on herself. There were three on her right arm, four on her right leg, and two on her waist. The VSS was doing wonders for her body too.

Ragnarok was the brawler maniac of the group. She had dark skin, which contrasted nicely with her short-sleeved uniform and her wild orange hair. She had a black mouthpiece that she wore sometimes to prevent her from biting others, and she always carried her one-handed mace. She had the most muscular body in the whole team, but there was something strangely pleasant about her small yet defined figure.

Arriving at the fountain, they see a man in a white uniform.

— Enough. — He signed with his hands.

The group stops arguing. They also communicate with him using sign language, out of sheer respect. That was the leader of the Ballada—of their group. Luscious Liver.

Luscious Liver was their squad captain. He was mute and communicated via sign language. Since he was a Captain Searcher, he had a white uniform. And for extra style points, he wore a little blue scarf. He had drawn-back white hair and always wore a serious expression. When it came to his reputation, no one knew whether he was actually mute or just extremely quiet. But no one really cared either.

— How is it going, chief? — Juice signed, casually.

— You look good as always, captain! — Killerkill signed, with admiration.

— What’s the mission today? — Ragnarok signed, hungry for action.

— Will Franchise and Evangelist join us? — Imperium signed with care; he was new to this.

— They are on their way, but first, we have to take care of something ourselves. — He informs. — Someone is threatening to destroy the Wetlands. Let’s not waste our time here.

They walk after him.

— Destroy the Wetlands? A damn idiot then?! Let me at ’em! — Ragnarok says.

— I’ll shoot the rat bastard before you get the chance. — Juice says, taking out his flare gun.

— I can get them first! I’m way faster than you guys!! — Imperium says, trying to measure up to their height.

Ragnarok and Juice share a look before laughing out loud.

While the three argue, Killerkill shyly approaches Liver.

— Boss, should we be worried? Destroying the Wetlands doesn’t sound like an everyday task…

— We’ll act carefully as always, and with Franchise and Evangelist coming to us, we will be at our best.

— Okay! I trust your call! — Killerkill signs, with a cute smile.

Meanwhile, Evangelist sniffed the artifact. It smelled like lavender, strawberries, and cute puppies. She thinks to herself that Hyuga was right on the money; it smelled amazing… But then she tripped over a pebble and dropped the legendary item. It was smashed to bits.

— FRANCHISE WHY!? — She cries over the broken pot.

— WHAT DO YOU MEAN WHY?! YOU WERE THE ONE CARRYING IT!! — He confronts her, shocked and furious by that mistake.

— YOU JINXED IT BY GIVING IT TO ME!! IT’S ALL YOUR FAULT!!

They watched as the Shattered Essence exited the remains of the pot.

— WHAT DO WE DO?!

— IT WAS IN THE POT! DON’T YOU HAVE ANYTHING ELSE?

— UH… UH…. UH…. HERE!

Searching franticly in her bag, Evangelist takes out some lipstick and throws it to Franchise. He takes it and pushes it against the blue energy. With little time, it comes surging into the lipstick and the relic was contained again. The pair sigh with relief and take notice of the new artifact.

— The Shattered Lipstick… — Evangelist awes in admiration.

— Hyuga won’t like this. — Franchise guards the Shattered Lipstick with its little cap.

— Oh, he won’t mind, we’ve broken relics before. And this time it’s not even broken, in a way. Sort of. — She says, smiley while admiring him.

— That’s the… whatever. Keep it in your purse. Safe and sound.

— This time for sure! — She says.

And places it, neatly in her bag. Nice and tidy.

Not long after, they enter the Black Light District. The only city in Depth 5 in which people inhabit. It wasn’t a nice place. At all. Many who lived there were killed by the Party People and the remains of the city are used by skilled Searchers as little meet-up points and places to rest within Depth 5. It was in that dark blue-sky city that The Ballada would meet up.

However, one block into it and they saw a most unusual sight. There were a few dozen corpses lined up, making a hallway in between. They were kneeling and had their hands together as if in prayer. But their heads were down, pierced by those praying hands and forearms, that came out the other side.

— What in the fuck is that… — Franchise takes notice.

— Are those Party People… dead? — Evangelist uttered.

The man that was there, got his hat back on. Light rain began to fall unto them, as the man sang to himself. They were in hushed tones, and as he sang to himself, he danced to his own tune.

“You’ve got the blue blood on your hands,

I know it’s my own...

You came at me in the middle night,

to show me, my soul…”

He notices the two and with a kindred smile says:

— You seem like intelligent and polite people…

— Evangelist… — Franchise mutters, in high-alert.

— I don’t like this either. — She agrees, reaching for her scissors.

Green walked over to them, through the small corridor made by the giant corpses. He wore a suit and tie, green and black. His hat is green and black. His eyes were green and black. His soul… putrid, as you guessed.

— Searchers, right? Sorry for the mess.

— You killed these things? — Evangelist asks.

— No. — He smiles.

— You can stop walking now. — Franchise demands, ready to lick his fingers.

The strange man stops himself, eleven meters from the two.

— I’m Evangelist, he’s Franchise.

— Who are you supposed to be?

— Depth 6 Enthusiast. You can call me Green.

The duo felt a shiver go down their spine. Something about that slender figure in the rain, surrounded by the corpses of allegedly immortal beings was extremely off-putting. Evangelist and Franchise have had plenty of experience, but their sharpened sense screamed danger. They wondered particularly hard about the Depth 6 part, as there was no such thing.

— Say, you two know your ways around here… I’m looking for an artifact. — He takes a picture from his suit. — Oh, I guess you can’t see it from here.

— Wait… — Evangelist breathes heavily. She felt something appear in her hand. — Is this…

There was a polaroid picture in her hand, with a clear image of the Shattered Lipstick.

— Oh, so you have a picture too. — Green comments.

Evangelist looks over to Franchise, wide-eyed and confused.

— Would you mind telling me if you have seen it?

— Yeah, we have.

Franchise feels surprised for uttering the truth.

— Lucky me! Can you tell me where to find it?

— In our—

Evangelist snaps her scissor and Franchise stops talking.

— In our visit to the fields outside the city. We didn’t have a mission to retrieve it, so we left it there. Sorry. — Evangelist answers hastily.

— Not a problem, sugar. I`ll be on my way then. — He tips his hat. — Searchers.

— Have a good one mate… — Evangelist says.

Green takes his leave, and the world seems all the softer.

Evangelist places her hand on Franchise`s shoulder.

— Sorry I cut the Thread that allowed you to speak. — Evangelist says, using her power to reattach the thread.

— Don’t apologize, you did the right thing. For some reason, I was forced to say the truth to that guy.

— Well, he’s gone for now… But I don’t understand what happened. The Party People, and the picture…

— Let’s get to the others. And fast.

— Yeah…

Three blocks away from them, in the thick of the concrete jungle, there were cheers being heard amidst some ruckus. The Ballada fought against a caravan of Party People. Liver and Killerkill watched over the others, in a safer part of an abandoned skyscraper. In the streets, one of the slender immortal creatures was seen being twisted like a wet rug.

The young Imperium stood in front of it, with his left arm extended, ready to snap his fingers. His right arm was tightly held against his left, to keep it steady.

— Kaboom!

Imperium snaps his fingers and all the atoms that made up the creature began to spin around on their own axis. The creature was twisted so incredibly hard, that it undid itself and its molecules flew off in the wind.

— That’s three!

Another monster comes from behind, ready to kill the boy but a bullet goes through its head. The smoke that came off the flare, attracted the other creatures that surrounded Juice towards the one that was shoot. As soon as they were all together, the bullet explodes, freezing all 5 of them in place. Juice gets another cartridge and reloads his gun.

— Three? I’m at eleven with that!

Ragnarok explodes out of a building, creating a crater in the street where she landed. There were 4 of those giants beneath her feet and she was sweating as much as she was bleeding. Her flaming mace comes flying back to her and a small shockwave is felt when she grips it.

— THIRTY-FOUR BOYS!! LET’S GO!!! — She screamed with excitement.

— That’s all forty-eight then. Good job team! — Killerkill shouted coming towards the three of them now that it was safe.

Liver was just behind her and walked towards Ragnarok.

— She is the only one that got hurt… as usual. — Juice comments, hiding his gun.

— It’s more fun that way! — She laughs.

Liver, using a special pen, began drawing in the air. In his vision, he drew over Ragnarok’s bruises and injuries. Eventually, when he was done, he signed the drawing, and Ragnarok was healed back to normal. That was his VSS.

Imperium’s VSS manifested the lethal capacity of spinning things in their own axis. Ragnarok’s allowed her to alter the gravity of a target or space, through an object. So, she decided to use a mace. Two birds, one mace. Killerkill was capable of seeing and learning unknowable truths. And Juice had his troublesome and varied flares.

As the group got together, Killerkill`s phone started vibrating. She checks the messages and sees that Evangelist had been trying to reach her. The text consisted of the many nicknames that Evangelist had for the student, followed by “turn around!!1!”.

As the girl does so, she is trapped by Evangelist, in a loving hug.

— KIKIIIIIII!! I MISSED YOU!! — Evangelist said, clinging on the girl that was shorter than her.

— Hi, Evangelist. — The girl greeted shyly, but with great joy.

Franchise approaches from behind his friend, greeting the others. Imperium and Ragnarok went to greet Evangelist, while Juice and Liver walked toward Franchise.

— Evangelist said that you guys already got the Relic. — Juice asked. — That true? We can dip now then, right Boss? How about some drinks with the lads huh?

— Is that true Franchise? — Liver asked.

— Yes. We had a little trouble with it, so now it’s Lipstick inside Evangelist’s purse. But we do have it. — Franchise signed when refereeing directly to his superior.

— Lipstick? — Juice wondered.

— That is good enough. Join us for a while then, we are in a manhunt…

— Fill me in. — Franchise signed.

The group of 7 walked in that penumbra of a city. Liver, Franchise, Juice, and Ragnarok were in the front, while Evangelist, Killerkill, and Imperium were behind. The little boy walked hand-in-hand with Evangelist, as she was like an older sister to him.

— So how is college? — Evangelist wondered.

— It’s going well. I’m close to finishing my thesis on the Wetlands.

— On the Wetlands? What do you gotta say about this dump? — Imperium asked.

— A lot! There’s so much we don’t know about this place still.

— Hmm… now that you say that I don’t really know anything about this place.

— I CAN TELL YOU ABOUT IT THEN!! — Killerkill said, eyes shining with nerdy excitement. Imperium instantly regrets his words.

In 2034, the Earth was stricken by a meteor. The impact wasn’t so severe as to exterminate humanity, but it did invoke many natural disasters in the years that came. As humanity struggled to survive, we noticed that a new continent had surged in our planet. It was situated south of the Pacific Ocean, and it engulfed the south pole with it. On its beaches, was a strange purple water, caused by the new elements that the meteor brought with it, that gave the sensation of always being wet, even after you dried yourself. So, the popular name became Wetlands. The 8th continent was named Vespucca.

The Wetlands could be divided into 5 regions, the more south you go, the greater the “Depth”. Exploration of this continent proved impossible. The environments were lethal, the creatures and animals hostile and fearsome. That was until some genius decided to work with the elements found there and after 7 years, humanity demonstrated its limitless potential for evolution. The Vespucca Searcher Shot was created.

Multiple Chemical doses that only a selected few could intake. If their bodies proved efficient in intaking the viruses that came with the meteor, they would develop techniques and abilities that were thought to dwell only in the realm of fiction. It wasn’t long after that, and humanity had already explored all of Vespucca, with only the Depth 5 Region being a “treacherous zone”. Searchers were given nicknames and plenty of recognition for their work. Their job was to search, explore, secure, and understand the Wetlands first-hand.

We’ve managed to befriend certain species, exterminated others, and conquered the relics that were found in those places. After an almost apocalyptic end, humanity lived the greatest of times. Hyuga himself, was one of the first Searchers when the Shots were a little too clunky with their effects. But they’ve been refined with time and a deeper understanding of the Relics. The Relics were simply things, imbued with the cosmic energy and elements brought by the comet. The more of that energy it had, the stronger it probably was. And the greater the relic, the more Humanity could learn about how it worked.

— Cool… — Imperium muttered.

— KIKI! You’re so smart and talented!! — Evangelist fawned.

— Aww, thanks! — Killerkill blushed.

— Your classmates don’t know that you’re a Searcher, right?

— They might once I get it done.

Light rain started to fall on them. They stop walking, noticing that the other 4 ahead of them had also stopped. Killerkill and Imperium share looks of confusion. While Evangelist’s eyes widen. Franchise mutters to Liver.

— Boss, I think we have a problem. — Franchise says.

— Evening folks…

Mr. Green stood before them, grinning under his hat. Evangelist let go of Imperium’s hand and the child knew there was something wrong taking place. Juice and Ragnarok prepare their weapons in discretion.

— Green. We’re just passing by.

— Hello again Masha. I wouldn’t think we’d be meeting so soon.

— You seem to be quite the problem huh? Mind leaving? — Juice asks.

— Don’t prove me wrong just by speaking. — He says, some fourteen meters away.

— Did you find your Relic? — Evangelist asks, holding tighter to her purse.

— I did. It just pains me to know that you hid it from me.

Green began walking towards them. Liver looked back to Evangelist and saw her despairing. Then he looked unto Green and saw malice. Then, finally, he saw Franchise and his eyes told the whole story. “Green is a threat”, Liver understood everything.

With his right hand, he took his pen, and he snapped his finger with his left. That was the sign used within their group. Liver had swiftly commanded all of them to Attack.

Killerkill, Juice, and Imperium stayed back with Liver, while Ragnarok, Franchise, and Evangelist surrounded Green in an instant. The purse had been left with Killerkill. The mace-wielder was about to smash it against the mysterious man but suddenly, all three of the vanguard were blasted away. Franchise broke through a window and landed inside a rotten coffee shop, towards the right. Evangelist fell off the highway, to the left. Ragnarok who was coming from above got launched to the top of a nearby building, destroying the whole floor on which she landed.

Juice grits his teeth and takes aim at Green.

— It’d be a shame for all of you to go out like this. — Green said.

Juice fires and the flare gun`s blast seemed stronger than ever. However Green simply grabbed the flare before it could hurt him. The smoke and light it produced, immediately impaired. There must have been something wrong with his eyes, as Juice could not believe what he saw. Green opened his hand and the flare had turned into another flare gun.

— Draw.

Green fires. Multiple times. And the flares he fired, thrice the potency of Juice’s own weapon. However, they all turned in the air and faced Green. With the same momentum as they were fired, they return to the sender. That was because Imperium had the bullets turn 180º degrees. The five flares land and explode, generating large and colorful smoke clouds.

— Nice catch Imperium! — Juice says reloading his gun with haste.

— Y-yeah… — Imperium said, anxious but ready to attack again.

Within the blue, pink, orange, red, and yellow smoke clouds, Ragnarok meets Green once more. The bestial lady was not letting up her assault anytime soon. As her mace made it’s way back to her. With every swift attack, Green simply dodged and countered with a powerful two-finger poke. A few seconds go by and Ragnarok is seen being launched into the top of a building.

Out of the smoke clouds, walks Green, completely unharmed.

— Give me the Lipstick…

Liver finished drawing chains around Green and subdues him. Ragnarok throws her mace from the top of the building and is quick to follow. She readied herself to pummel Green with her own fists. Juice fired another shoot, this time at his feet, hoping to make use of the smoke. But before they could all connect, Green acted.

— NOW!!!

And before God could tell Juice had been shot in the stomach. Ragnarok had been smacked with her own mace. And Liver had his heart ripped out. Imperium and Killerkill watched in horror as their boss fell to his knees, with unsightly quantities of blood dripping from his chest. Liver himself was expressionless, he couldn’t understand what had happened. Green was free from his chains and his smile had disappeared. He too was expressionless.

Imperium looked to the side and saw Juice struggle with his wound. The gunfire went through his liver and Juice knew how bad it really was. Ragnarok struggled to get back up, battered and bloodied all over. Taken over by rage, Imperium snapped his fingers.

Fuelled by the hurting image of his dear friends, his power had been elevated. But to his despair, he had messed with the landscape behind Green and not the enemy himself. All the buildings.

— Wrong target boyo. — He tells the frightened child.

Green kicks Imperium in the mouth. The boy falls and Green continues to kick him. He is struck on his stomach, his head, his waist, and his neck. While being pummeled under the man’s boot, the little boy thought about using his power but with every strike, his mind focused on the pain and that shattered his intent. His stomps were so violent that his hat came off and landed near the boy’s trembling legs. Only after he was stained with blood is when Imperium began to whimper and cry.

— Your mother should have swallowed you kid, that way you would have been a pain in her stomach instead of a pain in my ass!

Green stopped. Or rather he was forced to stop as he was pulled back by his hair. Luscious Liver was on his feet, towering over Green. His uniform was stained with his own blood. Green looks back and sees the man’s bloodshot eyes.

— Hands off my subordinates. — Liver orders.

In all the days of Green’s short life, the man had never worried about being bested by anyone. The entire world listened to him. However, it seemed that the image of Liver, standing over him, coated in rage and with his heart hanging out his chest, made him forget how strong he was for a second. But just for a second.

— You may blur the mirror when you breathe on it… but I refuse to believe that you’re alive. — Green speaks, eyeing Liver with the same intensity.

Liver stabs Green’s collar with his pen. While the other slams his fist through Liver’s gut, killing him on the spot.

— BOSS! — Killerkill cried out.

— Boss… — Imperium muttered weakly.

The limp body falls and stains the ground. Green looks around and sees the purse. Killerkill didn’t notice it at first, but her captain had actually drawn her and the purse in separate locations before he got up to face Green. That was his attempt in keeping them safe. The villain walked up to it and searched with patience. Among the many things he didn’t care for, was the relic. The Shattered Lipstick was now in Green’s hands.

— To Depth 6 with you, little thing.

Green walks away, with the relic in hand. On the other end of the highway, Evangelist dragged herself and Franchise towards the group. They were attacked once by Green but that alone made them go out of combat. Franchise, leaning on the girl`s shoulder, sees despair right before his eyes. His allies were either beaten or killed. Green looks back and sees the fear in his eyes. He couldn’t help but mutter to himself before disappearing into the mist.

— Nothing’s more honest than to stand hopeless against destiny.

Evangelist leaves Franchise to stand on his own and rushes to aid the others since she was the least injured of the two.

— Imperium! You`ll be fine! — She kneels next to the boy.

— Juice… — Franchise stumbles towards him.

— That'll be fine that… If a gunslinger can’t take a bullet, he is a damn hypocrite. — He struggles to say.

— We have to get them out of here. — Killerkill says, carrying Ragnarok on her shoulder. — They need treatment.

Imperium recovered some of his senses and saw before him Evangelist's beautiful but roughed expression. And behind her was the stained corpse of his captain. Although hurt, he pushes Evangelist out of the way and drags himself to his former leader.

— Boss! Please get up!

— Imperium… — Evangelist frowned.

— I’m sorry for letting you down boss!! — He wailed, covered in tears and blood.

— IMPERIUM! — Evangelist grabs him from behind and pulls him into a hug. — You listen to me. This not your fault, you hear me? We did what we could.

The boy turns to her, tear and blood stained, and accepts her hug, crying loudly into her chest. Franchise, and the others for that matter, knew very well that a tragedy had taken place. They had lost someone dear to them, and Franchise himself didn’t know for how much longer he could look at that body without tearing up. But Imperium was still a kid. A prodigy searcher, carrying a mountain-load of expectations. Of course, he’d blame it all on himself.

But that was, in a way, the life on the Wetlands. Your fate could shatter even on a sunny day. Imperium takes a look around and sees the sad smiles on the faces of his allies. Juice, aided by Killerkill, takes his hat and places it on the boy’s head.

— It’s how the song goes, little man. — He says before walking away.

Evangelist tells imperium that they should go now. But, under the hat, the boy’s lips begin to quiver again. With great difficulty and with a wavering voice, he utters:

— Are we just going to leave him here…?

Franchise took Liver’s thick scarf before walking away with Ragnarok. He drips it over his shoulders to hide his gritting teeth and answers:

— What are you talking about? Liver stays with us. Like always.

The injured are taken back to the Lapse. Franchise and Evangelist were ready to act against Green but while they recovered, Killerkill advised them about something. Something she saw with her ability during the fight.

— You know when you were young, in the back of your parent’s car, coming back home from a nightly event and you wonder to yourself about how good it would be if they stopped at a place that you really liked, so that could eat your favorite food?

— And then they do? — Franchise understands.

Evangelist thought about it.

— That’s what he does?! — She figured it out.

— Seems like it. The world just listens to him. — Killerkill says.

— Something’s off then… why need the relic? — Franchise wonders.

— I saw that there are things he can’t do.

— Like my scissors?

— That would explain Liver’s jump on him…If he’s so invincible why was his guard down for that moment?

— Liver told me what you guys were up to. Someone was threatening the Wetlands. He said that there was no explicit profile on the guy other than the term Depth 6.

— So Green is our target.

— Now he definitely is…

While they are treated with the best medicine The Lapse can offer. Killerkill takes notice of their darkening expressions.

— I know you guys are angry... but we need to do this right.

— We couldn’t be more focused on killing him.

— And it’s not like we have time to waste. Green has the Artifact. If he wasn’t invincible before…

— I know… but here’s something else you might want to know.

They pay attention to her.

— I learned about it when I was seeing through him. From what I managed to see Green is not human. He was born in the Wetlands. The cosmic essence that we tasted is what makes up his body.

— We are doses, while he is an ocean?

— Essentially.

Evangelist slaps Franchise's thigh.

— Is that damn luck of yours again!

As she smiles, the man cracks and chuckles at her optimism.

— My luck huh? We’ll see. Get your scissors out, let's make a trap for him.

Minutes later, Evangelist and Franchise were ready to set out. Despite their light injuries. After cutting a Thread on themselves. But before they are teleported back to Depth 5, Killerkill wishes them good luck. Franchise turns to her and says something before vanishing.

— No one ever points it out, but Liver did a good job in preparing you to be the next.

— The next? — Killer wonders.

— See you later Captain! — Evangelist says.

Back on Depth 5, the duo found themselves on a grey beach, with the Black Light District landscape behind them, some 20 minutes away. The waters were purple and the sky was a haunting, dark green. The Man of the Hour was standing by the edge of the beach. But as the purple waves came and went, the water didn’t dare to touch his feet. He had his hands behind his back, holding tightly to the Lipstick. There was no rain this time around.

— How did you find me?

— A smart friend of ours saw the frequency the Lipstick gave off when we had it. And she told us where to go.

— Very good. You see, that is what preparation and experience will give you.

— Green. What are you planning to do with the place you were born in?

— That’s quite the utterance. I assume that same friend also had that figured out…

They stay silent for a moment, just hearing the wind and the waves.

— Well?

Green turns to them.

— What would you do if you were born with soft teeth?

They share a look of uneasiness.

— You wouldn’t be able to eat food with those squishy things. Certainly, you could try drinking it down, but they are so sensitive… when that water comes gushing in, swashing your teeth around, you feel like your brain staggers with self-animosity! So, what do you do Soft-Teeth? Will you live your life like that? Dumbfounded and crushed under fate? Will you rip out what makes up your existence and try to settle in? Or will you do something about it?!

— Like what?

— Watch it.

Franchise and Evangelist drop, as their legs, give out. They hear his secret. A creature grown from the silence. A culmination within this place. With hatred so deep and incomprehensible that all he could do was act on it. But his ego demanded that he see, what exactly was it that he desired to crush under his heel. Like the others, he was more than capable to take it all for himself. So why not do exactly that?

— Green…

— It’s not personal, I hate you all equally. That part is true. On your feet now.

Franchise and Evangelist are allowed to get back up.

— It’s time you know your place.

The ensuing fight didn’t last long. And the action wasn’t very compelling either. Green was putting little effort into his thoughts and for the most part, was toying with the humans. Of course, his playfulness was the equivalent of extreme violence for the two mortals. Something inside of him, his heart, told him that there was something good happening there. It’s like he was preceding the birth of a new civilization and the emergence of a completely new history. Or maybe he was thinking too hard about it.

Eventually, Green snapped out of his trance and took a look at the situation. Franchise was bruised all over, just like Evangelist, and there were plenty of craters on the beach. He had lost his left arm and his right foot had been squashed like strawberries in a fox’s mouth. While the woman had been crucified to a stone cross Green created. Her hands and feet were bleeding and her face had been deconstructed, hidden under her swaying hair. Somehow, she was alive still.

— Do you think…

Green looks towards the ocean.

— That there is a greater tragedy than the eternal cycle of luck? If you take the napkin on the right, then will everyone on the table have to do the same?

— Well… usually when infinity is on the table things don’t make sense. What do you think?

— I don’t know, that’s why I asked.

— Fair… My turn then.

Green turns to face Franchise.

— I never liked the idea of luck. I was denied most of the things in life. I couldn’t have friends or family. As a kid, I didn’t get what I needed. And I’m sure that got me scrambled up inside in ways that are hard to express. I had a pretty fucked up life, not that you have to know about it.

— And…?

— Even so, I never thought of myself as an unlucky guy. It’s been a few years now and I’ve got a roof under my head. I eat buttered toast in the mornings, and I make good money working as a government dog.

— You can’t tell me that there isn’t weltschmerz within you. Maybe it is what fate had in store for you. A mixed existence just to leave you dreaming a little longer.

— Oh, I dream alright. For some reason, Green, Evangelist has always been by my side. She kept saying that my childhood stories were sad and filled with regret. So much so that I could make a book franchise and sell them. That girl is dumb as a brick, and she puts the blame on me for almost everything we do.

— How sad for you.

— To have a friend like that, means I’m blessed with good luck.

Green’s carefree expression instantly shifts to anger. Evangelist coughs loudly in the back and Franchise laughs at his opponent’s reaction.

— What’s up Green!? I thought you were all about “no excuses”, you selfless prick!

Franchise swipes the air with his only arm, and the triangle formed by the three of them became a point. His ability was to cut through anything with the tips of his fingers. So, he cut the space that existed between them. The surprised Green was now face to face with Franchise and with the formerly crucified woman. Evangelist reaches out with her bloody hand and pulls a Thread from Green’s body.

“The scissors!” — Green thought in that micro-instance but failed to see it in Evangelist’s possession. Truth was that she had given him the scissors at some point during the fight. Filled with fear, Green’s eyes dart to the man on his left. Franchise was ready to cut the Thread and Green decided to stop him. Franchise failed to cut the Thread and Green stopped thinking.

That was because the woman, with a furious and stressful scream, ripped Green’s thread with her bare hands. The Thread stated: “Green has consciousness”. But before arriving, Evangelist had cut a thread of her own. The Thread stated: “Only Evangelist’s scissors can cut Threads”.

All three of them fall down because of their own reasons. Franchise and Evangelist breathe heavily, feeling an awful itch caused by the sand on their wounds. Moments later, Evangelist yells, on the verge of tears.

— Masha! You really meant all that stuff you said about me?!

— I was buying time for you to find the Thread you twat! We were lucky that Green didn’t decide to kill us like he did Liver.

— I WAS FEELING ALL WARM AND FUZZY INSIDE! But the nails actually hurt a lot, so I wasn’t that emotional…

— …What?

— I thought I was going to die! If there’s ever a time to be honest with yourself is always!

— That’s… true. Hm…

Franchise rises slowly, coping with the pain of his lost arm. He looks at Evangelist who kept blabbering on about all sorts of things. He takes out his smartphone and calls Killerkill. While doing so, Evangelist`s unforgettable voice began to annoy him. He smiled at that thought. Hours later, they were brought into the Lapse.

Green himself was executed under the Searcher’s rules. Killerkill visited the other three and gave them the good news. Juice felt relieved for putting an end to such a problem and Ragnarok was furious because she wasn’t the one to do him in. Either way, she was happy that Liver was avenged. Imperium… didn’t have much of a reaction.

Meanwhile, Evangelist and Franchise were hospitalized. The two battered idiots couldn’t move at all and stared at the ceiling dumbfoundedly. They were staggered by the pain but just being back in the Lapse and knowing that Green was dead was extremely calming.

— Hey… Franchise. — The girl said, with a scar where her right eye used to be.

— Give me silence or give me death.

— What happened to my lipstick?

— Killerkill gave it to Hyuga, and the higher-ups will decide what happens next.

— Aw dammit… I lost Liver… my lipstick… my eye… Your arm…

— You can get one of those things back.

Evangelist closes her eye and sighs.

— This was an awful day.

Franchise struggled to get up from his bed.

— Hey… Irina.

The girl shoots up, surprised to hear her name. She sees Masha smiling, extending his only arm, with a closed fist. Searcher Rules were very strict with the usage of their nicknames. So, there was something quite special about hearing your real name uttered by another.

— Good save back there.

— Always.

She smiles and answers his fist bump. But they fist-bumped too hard and complained about the state of their wasted bodies. They lay down again in relief and Franchise continues talking to his friend.

— Your birthday is coming up, right? I’ll treat you to some dinner.

— Dinner? You think a girl like me wants dinner?!

— It’s that or a box of socks.

— Knowing you, you’d probably get the wrong size.

— Fine, I’ll get you neither.

— Hmm… I don’t mind going out with you. Not with new socks at least.

Green had been executed in his unconscious state. They were not going to wait until Evangelist’s Threads reattached themselves, and Killerkill had already learned everything about him with her all-learning eyes after a long, good glance. He could have been interrogated but Liver’s death angered many others outside of his squad. Green’s death was felt by someone, moments after it happened.

In the nasty and filthy depths of a garbage dump in Prague, Czechoslovakia, a man came up to two other individuals. He who entered the disgusting place was about 1,80 meters tall and had immense black hair which was carelessly tied together into thick ponytails. There was black rectangular tape over his nose and two other strands, horizontally placed on his forehead, like an equal sign. He also had exhausted eyes, to the point which it seemed like they hurt. He wore some roughed-up type of a 1700s suit or vest, not pompous at all. Slippering its way around the man`s waist and shoulders was a thick snake-worm, made out of flesh, with a human face. It kept clacking its teeth, trying to please its master. The man was named Ejo, the embodiment of Sadness.

— …it’s a sad day for us… the embodiment of selfishness was murdered…

The girl who answered sat upon a pile of garbage. She was a small, malnourished, and grey-skinned child. She seemed frail but bared the withering skull of a large goat demon as a hat or mask, which made her seem more monstrous. She had vicious yellow and pink eyes and many metallic stakes piercing her chest and shoulders. She only wore bracelets and a stained white robe to cover her legs. She also had strange, accursed markings tattooed around her womb and belly button. Her name was Vitrolica, the embodiment of Illness and she always wore a sharp shark-like smile.

— It’s always a sad, sad day for you Ejo. Wait--Green bit the dust? Really, really Ejo? Ain’t that something? — She pondered.

The monstrosity next to her was a man maybe? His mouth permanently frowned, and his teeth were exposed in some sort of sad smile. Inhumanly large and with crimson red skin, he had his fat torso out, but his arms and legs were surprisingly muscular. His brain was completely exposed, and his hollow eyes were carved into that pink mush. He sounded like a stereotypical senile grandfather who had also swallowed a broken megaphone. This thing was called Kruger, the embodiment of Madness.

— DID NOT EVEN WIN 1ST PLACE IN HIS DADDY’S JOB!!! THAT GUMMY WORM!!! I WILL MAKE LOVE TO HIS BRAIN JUICE IF I EVER VIEW CUTE PUPPIES!!!

— Y’know, Ejo, maybe talking out of his ass finally got, got to him. I didn’t like, like his stories anyway. It’s not like anyone would care about where we, we came from if we got our Depth 6 going. How unspeakably gruesome do you think, think his death was, Ejo?

— WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU ON ABOUT?? — He said scratching his brain.

— Really? That’s what your censorship captioned? How much, much angrier than usual is he? Huh, Ejo? Ejo? — She said coming down the pile of garbage.

— MAMA’S SWEET COOKING!!! — Kruger raged.

Ejo politely signaled silence and the two freaks respect their brother’s wishes. Even his snake-worm stop clanking its teeth and simply smiled.

— …that means two things for us… the first is that there are people who can surpass us.

— Those are some real nasty Searchers if so, Ejo!!

— ...it’s not a matter of power… i believe that green lost because he was alone… and the searchers overwhelmed them with their wits and experience…

— I WILL EXTRACT AND TRADING CARDS THEIR BACK BONES!! I WILL DO JUST THAT, FRIEND!!

— ...the second is that we will have to get a move on… our 6th depth awaits…

— Damn it Green, I thought you was going to pull it off!! Welp, let’s get, get going Ejo!

— TIME TO EXPUNGE THOSE ANIMALS OFF THE GLOBAL SURFACE.

— ...to the wetlands, brother, and sister. we have a crisis to instill.

Kruger began to sink into himself until there was nothing left. Vitrolica whistled and a poll of sludge came from her feet. Black and white hands emerged from the sludge and dragged her down into it. Until she also disappeared. And Ejo…

— ...as a family this time.

Well, Ejo walked away of course. And it was going to be a long walk to the Wetlands too.