"Whelp, that's it… we're dead," Rei said as he saw the small figure of a knight walking through a gate and about to walk into their building. His words were then followed by a sharp gasp that made him look helplessly at his broken left arm and his right hand that had his lifeless fingers hanging by his skin. "So much for me trying to drag the thing away… you told MC about our change of plans right?"
"Yeah," Juanito replied before falling into a sense of hopelessness as the silence continued to permeate through their surroundings. He couldn't help but push back his slick sweaty hair to his nape, letting out another deep breath as he looked at the empty room's darkened and unfurnished walls that felt more of a cage instead of refuge. "I told MC that you tried to drag it away but failed and it eventually found us in that apartment building we were supposed to hide so we had to move…"
"I guess this is it then," Rei followed with a tired laugh as his body slid across the wall and created a short bloody trail made by his back at the moment he fell back to his seat. "Maybe I could talk to him, ask him to go away, maybe?"
"Dammit," Juanito said, still bound by that feeling of dread that chewed on his heart. "If only I was—"
"Don't worry about it," Rei interrupted him. "We did our jobs properly but this guy was just… we're terribly mismatched. I don't even know if I would have a chance if I had a rocket launcher on me." He laughed again with his words getting weaker and weaker. "Anyways, I'll do you a favor… I promised to protect you so yeah, I'll hold down the fort for as long as I could, so why don't you try to go through the backdoor and run?"
"But what could you do?" Juanito protested, shouting back with a voice that was loud enough for him to know what he meant but was soft enough so that no one else could hear it. "What, you're gonna challenge it against a rap battle?"
"I was planning to trash talk it and bait it to attack when he especially couldn't because of chivalry and honor, but you know what? I might as well try it," Rei replied with a sarcastic tone.
"That guy is too strong, it's just unfair…" Juanito laughed as his face sank to the floor.
"I wonder what kind of reaction would you show once you meet Dolphin," Rei scoffed and closed his eyes. "And yeah, that's the Blues alright or as what Jeremy likes to call it, the ghost Akatsuki. If they claim to be the strongest front that protects them spirits from us reapers, of course, they'll be that formidable."
"Is there nothing like we could do or… do we just wait for our deaths, again?" Juanito asked as he gazed at Rei in front of him across the room like a puppy as he waited for him to smile and say something good.
"Well, we could wait," Rei replied without moving from his spot. "or you could through the back door and leave me here to save yourself. That would be fine with me too… as long as you're okay. I can't let you die here you know… Unless—"
Their small talk was interrupted as soon as they felt something hitting the rooftop of their building. The impact rang on their ears and made their hearts tremble the same way it shook their home itself down to its core foundations. It was followed by another of a moment of silence which made their episode of anxiety and dreaded anticipation worse as if the air suddenly felt heavy and cold.
"What is that!" Juanito whispered with outstretched eyes and in panic.
"Well if that fucker can jump through three-story buildings, I'm going to shit myself before I die," Rei commented as he faced the ceiling as though it was about to break but as soon as the sweet smell of cucumbers passed by his nose, his face crept out a relieved smile.
Juanito bit his lip in confusion. "Why are you…"
"It's the fucking Milkman!" Rei raised his voice in celebration and then, the walls around them began to liquefy and collapse.
They felt like they were falling but not that fast enough to make them fear for their lives. Soon, they found themselves outside, cushioned by what felt like a jelly that looked like softened concrete. They couldn't help but take a glance at the empty lot around them and the brick gates in the distance that boxed them in before they stared at the two reapers that appeared before them.
The first one was a short fat man who stood proudly with his white mask that had distinct saddened eye holes accompanied by a white grin, baring its row of teeth under its lips that spanned from the side of its face to the other. He was wearing fitted blue jeans and a black shirt that exposed his swollen belly under this baggy orange checkered long-sleeved polo shirt that he wore as if it was a jacket. His strong stature seemed as if he was boasting his huge chained morning star attached to a metallic shaft that was as long as a staff resting on his broad shoulders while he held his posture over his black slippers.
The woman, the second reaper who carried a pike, a spear that was twice as long as her height that was accompanied by her white blank mask that had nothing but a straight line over her eyes, stood right in front of Rei with Juanito watching her back. She had her wavy dark brown hair tied into a bun and her tall slender figure draped in a black wide-sleeved wrap dress that defined her chest lines and gave shape to her supple breasts. The dress went down and was just enough to cover half of her lean thighs with the rest of her legs being covered by a thin layer of black stockings that highly accentuated its shape and lines. The rest of her body was covered by a tulle coat that seemingly enveloped her body with this soft dark green mist that fades and appears into view every time they blinked.
"I ask of you," the woman said, breaking the silence as her sweet yet dominating voice that made both of them swallow their saliva and move their face towards her. "are you my master?"
"What?" Rei looked at her as a bead of sweat rolled through his cheeks in confusion.
"Nevermind, was just doing a bit," the woman replied indifferently, raising her head to look into his eyes and to Juanito who remained in his place behind her. "Jeremy told me to say it, he'll just pay for it later but for now, what's the situation?"
Rei fell to panic, feeling a bit giddy as he explained, "I-we, we were running from this knight and we lost most of our resources and—"
"Look out!" Juanito said in a panic as he raised his hand to point them towards the white knight flying towards them.
As a response and appearing as though time had slowed down, as the other reaper watched her, she stepped back and raised her pike without even batting an eye as if she couldn't be bothered to look at him. Then, as a gripping sense of dread overcame Rei's and Juanito's faces, she planted her feet and swatted the knight back to where he came from even before they could realize it.
"He's dumb as fuck, that's for sure." She tilted her head as she looked at the cloud of dust in the distance. "But careful though, that armor of his is strong."
"Sure thing Viela, I was about to flatten that fly down, but it's nice that you still got it. Let me try hitting it next as planned," the other fat man replied as though he was smiling.
He then lowered his weapon until the chain spiked ball attached to his staff bounced and slowly sank at the gelatinous surface of what looked like a puddle of melted concrete beneath their feet. The man proceeded by switching his grip so he could hover his right hand over to the ball behind him. Then, as though he had commanded it, the puddle of concrete began to gather and attach itself to the morning star until it became as huge as a house. He touched its chains next and as the knight in the distance began to emerge from the cloud of dust on a wall across them, the man brought up his staff with both hands and surprisingly, the huge ball of gelatinous concrete was lifted as if it was just an overgrown bubble.
"That already?" Viela chuckled.
Both of them watched as the fat reaper began to spin it, which made the ball appear farther and faster after each rotation. The dust around them began to gather as if a storm was brewing at that very moment and after the Knight staggered on with a few steps, the man sent his ball far back with the chains attached to the end of his staff appearing to be stretching with unreal proportions.
"I don't like taking chances, after all," he followed with a whimsical tone. Then, after a short delay and as their enemy looked like he was about to break into a run once more, the reaper placed his foot forward like a fisherman about to throw his bait into the ocean and shot that boulder at him as though it was a cannonball.
The concrete ball came bolting back, ripping through the air and carving out a path on the ground right before it crashed onto his enemy. His armor rang and seemed it was in the midst of crying out at the point of impact but to their surprise, right when the knight was about to reach the wall, the boulder went into a full stop. There, in that moment of bizarre silence, they saw the knight walking out and that his armor, especially his great helm and gauntlets, was cracked.