"This is Mary and I'm with two guys here to confirm our position, is everything good over there, Sir Choir and Miss MC?"
"Yeah," MC replied and sipped her coffee on the other side of the call.
"Good, remember the guy that we talked about on your pep talk? We have a fat chance of things going south but trust me, just follow the plan we've laid out and just remember the motivational clam man if you're feeling scared," Jeremy added, still in the same meeting room as he leaned forward to face a microphone in the middle of three wide monitors.
"Yes, sir… and…" Mary, from the roof of a three-story building that she was standing on, paused as soon as she saw a figure, almost mangled, dawning in the middle of the road cutting through the sea of concrete houses and establishments in the far distance. It was walking on a dark path paved by the lines of cars and a couple of trees that stood tall among the lamp posts that cast its light on the empty street. "I got a visual on our target."
"Nice," he replied before letting out a long, excited but anxious breath. "Please zoom in it and share with us what you see."
Mary, following his commands, touched the side of her mask and with it came the shape of the monster in the distance that soon appeared as if it was now just a few meters away from her. It had the body of a girl, it looked to be, carrying the face of a woman with dark hair and a deadpan glare plastered on its pale complexion that was accentuated by the two little horns sticking out of its head.
It seemed to be wearing a crown of rotten roses, with three almost transparent veils that had the bumps and shabbiness of human skin. They were flattened and looked as if they were made to flutter ever so slowly in the air as though it was light as a feather despite its unusual and unsettling thickness. It's heavy and murky domineering aura was complimented by the darkened decomposing flesh that made up the bottom half of its face, starting from its lower jaw down to its bare exposed chest as if something ripped its body apart. It left some of its broken yellowish ribs sticking out like jaws as though it were fangs inviting someone to dive in its hollowed body that was devoid of its innards except for its spine. It made Mary swallow her saliva and choke at the moment she comprehended what she was looking at.
She never found the strength to turn her head away as she watched that creature rattle its meat cleaver while it dragged it across the concrete road. Mary couldn't help but overthink how it could easily cut her in half. It pulled its weapon with its long but thin arms, making her wonder because it was attached to a seemingly feeble frame, especially with its thin waist. She could only imagine how similar its legs were to its arms as it showed its shape bulging at its long skirt that appeared to the bottom half of an old bloody bridal gown.
"Holy shit, I imagined a horse because of what you told me, sir, but this…" Mary held her breath by drawing a broken smile on her face and with her trembling lips, she muttered, "When are the Reds gonna come?"
"About…" MC's voice came, sounding as if it was moving away from the mic and with an impatient sigh, she continued, "About eighteen minutes and twenty-nine seconds... and counting."
"I don't want to die, sir," Mary replied, rubbing her hands together before letting out another soft anxious chuckle that seemed to be on the boundary of breaking into a cry.
"Same," Jeremy replied while stretching his shoulders.
"Yeah, feels cheap coming from you…" MC added.
"Hey, it's the thought that matters!" Jeremy let out a laugh that faded as soon as it came at the moment his eyes passed by the location of their target. He pushed a few buttons on the keyboard and with a stern look, with his voice, now sounding a bit more commanding, he followed, "Target is about to get into range, snipers, confirm your positions."
"Yessir, we're locked and loaded…" Another voice that resembled his own rang on the computer's speakers. "Ready to shoot some bitch-holy fuck, what is that?"
"Yeah, we had the same reactions," another one added. "This is from the shield gang, ready to tango at point B to C, two of us are with Mary…"
"Great, great, how about the towers?" Jeremy replied, pushing another button with a wide smile.
"...We're ready to shoot, awaiting your commands, sir."
"Nice, and last but not the least, my buddies, the flags… how are you doing?"
"We would like to submit a formal protest," one replied with his voice shaking. "We don't want to die, please."
Jeremy broke out into a laugh that lasted for about half a minute before his voice shifted in a completely serious tone. "Denied, thanks for letting me know you're okay though…" He squinted his eyes and let out another breath through his teeth that were covered by his shaking lips. "Mary, you good?"
"Yessir," Mary said, holding her breath once again and calming her heart over the monstrosity waltzing into their territory with its feeble steps in the distance. "It's now only a few steps away from getting in range, sir."
"Okay, you guys have any names for this?" Jeremy blabbered, leaning back to his chair and putting his feet over the table.
"What?" MC asked, taking the seat next to him while raising her brow.
"A name for the target, Miss MC, I don't want to call it "it" for the rest of the mission," Jeremy replied to MC, which Mary heard over the call. "Just kidding, I really need something to lighten the mood, I'm sweating through my ass-crack here, you know?"
"Just, let's just call it a "her," and we'll refer to it as Muse, that good for you? Would that work?" She replied.
"I-I... the ta-target is in range and it's about halfway from reaching the midpoint of point A... plea—"
"Alright snipers…" He moved on almost immediately, leaning forward and cupping his chin and with a sharp long breath through his nose. "Wait for it and the moment she steps in, let those blanks out like fireworks and make sure that you fire in intervals, we'll see if it's smart enough to know about bullets. Follow the sequence that I gave you."
"Got it, bossman."
"For the shield heroes, keep yourselves frosty and get ready to follow up in case everything goes to shit," Jeremy continued, giving MC a wink and a smile at his side before speaking through the phone. "Towers, wait for my words, I'll be giving the direct orders when to fire and who would fire, blame Miss MC for our limited ammo, she threw everything out of the boat."
"Oh, shut the fuck up," MC shouted before she punched Jeremy's shoulder, making him giggle as he looked at her.
"Sure, sir…" One from the other line replied.
"Flags… hold your positions and say your prayers… we're fighting a demon already." He let out a chuckle before adding, "Mary, move out and keep yourself out of its eyes, we don't even know how far it could see but let's assume the worst. Keep hopping through the roofs from point E to D and keep yourself low until you get to keep your ground at point C."
"Yessir, I'm moving out…"
"It's surprising how you could go from zero to commander real quick," MC looked at him and smiled.
"Tis' what I do best, dear. After all, I am an asshole first, an actor second, and a leader third."
She rubbed her tired eyes and yawned. "Yeah, too bad… too bad, want some coffee?"
"Nah," He shook his head and faced the microphone. "Anyways, my dudes, just saying, we're fighting against a demon that we know nothing about and incapable of beating but we have a few priorities that we all could protest against later, courtesy of our ex-boss and slave driver, Miss MC… First, we have to rescue the souls of the three humans that were bound to its body, possibly those three veils that looked like it was made from skin. We don't know how we're going to go around it, but let's hope that an accident would happen and tear one off so we could see what's up and next, drag it to the side of town where we have a good amount of flats right beside the river where our third flag is."
"Fuck me," one replied on the phone.
And Jeremy, as though his voice sounded as if he was speaking with a wide smile, added, "Anyways… gentlemen, even with the Dolphin on our side, we are fighting a losing battle where if not all, most of us are gonna die, but even so, for the slightest chance of us getting laid tonight, let's do our best to buy some time and fight... and make it look like we're almost gonna win while we're at it!"