As BM drove Lexie down the narrow path, it gradually transitioned from a barely recognisable path into a seamless blend with nature. The dirt road covered in twigs and grass, beneath Lexie tracks gave way to an earthy trail. The road and wilderness become indistinct. The surrounding foliage enveloped the tank, creating a tunnel of greenery that obscured any semblance of a defined route. Eventually, the path dissolved entirely, leaving no trace of the road that once guided BM's journey. There were dense trees ahead.
"We may not be able to take Lexie forward," BM reported.
Vivi, who was sitting in the seat that controlled the turret, looked into the camera. "Yes, I can see that the path is completely gone and now it is just trees," Vivi confirmed.
"We can shoot the trees down," Nojiko suggested.
"It will alert everyone we are here," Kaya replied back.
"We are in a big tank so that would give us away," HQ said.
"But they don't know that for sure," Kaya said.
"I don't think we should waste our firepower on some trees," Vivi said.
"Should we walk the rest of the way?" BM asked.
"I think so," Kaya said.
"Okay, but what about Lexie?" Nojiko said and added, "Will she be safe and fine without one of us watching her?"
"She will be fine, me or BM can fly back quickly," HQ said.
"We are also connected to Lexie so if she is endanger we will know," BM added.
"Okay," Nojiko replied.
BM opened the doors. They all exited the tank. Nojiko stretched her arms.
"Okay, let's head out," Nojiko said. The other girls nodded. BM closed the doors from the outside. She got a large blade covered in a cloth and strapped it onto her back. They headed deeper into the island.
"We can just follow their footsteps," Vivi said.
"Yeah, that will be the plan," Kaya added.
The threaded on the dense forestry. There were large exposed tree roots along the path and fallen tree leaves.
"This path has not been used for a while," Vivi said.
"All the paths have not," Nojiko said.
"I think so as well, there is more activity now," Kaya said.
"I wonder why?" Vivi thought out loud.
"It could be for the treasure, maybe it only appears at certain times," Nojiko replied.
"Interesting theory," BM said.
"Maybe the treasure is an end to a meet," HQ said.
Vivi was about to reply to HQ when the trees gave way to an opening where they saw a large field . "Looks like we finally made it out of the trees," Kaya said.
"There is a building there," Vivi said. They all looked and saw an abandoned farm lay in a state of quiet surrender. Its fields and structures bear the weight of time's relentless passage. The land wore a cloak of neglect. The fields stood barren, overtaken by unruly weeds. Dilapidated barns and sheds, weathered by seasons of neglect. The fences, sagging and rusted, no longer defined boundaries.
"The footprints lead to that farm," Kaya said.
"I don't see anyone here," Vivi said.
"It is a bit quiet, too quiet," HQ said.
"We should check it out but be careful," Nojiko said. They all nodded and headed towards the farm. There was an eerie sense in the air.
They got closer to the farm and saw the footprints went into the barn. The large, abandoned barn stood, its once-vibrant red paint now faded and peeling under the relentless assault of the elements. The broad expanse of its wooden walls bore the scars of years gone by, etched with cracks and crevices. The roof now sported missing shingles, allowing sunlight to pierce through in scattered beams. Weeds and wild vines embraced the exterior, weaving a chaotic tapestry around the barn's skeletal frame. The air within carried a musty scent of timeworn wood, a nostalgic aroma intertwined with the melancholy of abandonment. Cobwebs dangled like ethereal tapestries, capturing the essence of stillness that enveloped the forsaken barn.
"This place is creepy," Vivi said.
"Boo," Nojiko shouted. Kaya and Vivi jumped up.
"Hey," Kaya said.
"Not funny," Vivi said.
Nojiko giggled. "It was just a bit of fun," Nojiko laughed
"I will tell Ben about this," Vivi said.
"I am so scared," Nojiko replied with her tongue out. The girls giggled.
Suddenly the door opened and a group of dozen men came out of the farm. "Captain Halsey, we found nothing here," a pirate said.
"Keep looking, the treasure is somewhere on this island," Halsey replied. He was a muscular man with tan skin, a downward pointed nose, and brown hair. He wore a blue and black-striped sleeveless shirt and blue shorts. He also wore a blue helmet that had two horns on the sides and was lined with white fur. He was not wearing shoes.
He looked at the five girls in front of them. "Who are you?" Halsey asked.
"Are you part of the Simon Pirates?" Nojiko asked.
"Simon Pirates?" Halsey questioned. He initially panicked hearing that name but then smiled.
"You are not with the Simon Pirates," Halsey said.
"No, we are not," Vivi replied.
"You seem a bit scared hearing their name," HQ said.
Halsey laughed. "Scared us," he said.
"No, since you are not with them, we will take you," Halsey said.
"Yes we will boss, they are all pretty," a pirate said.
"The blue one in particular," another pirate said, licking his blade. HQ pulled a gun out from her waist satchel and shot the pirate. The force of the bullet impacted, pushed the pirate into the air and he landed on his back with a large thud. There was a large bullet wound and he was bleeding.
"Veridian Enigma, and it looks a bit cooler with those heart symbols," Nojiko said.
"Emeraude and Rubis worked on this one as well, she forgot to mention this," HQ said.
"Wow," Vivi said.
Halsey looked shocked. His men just got shot with what looks like a female demon. He thought succubus, maybe. "You girls, I will make you all my slaves and sell you," Hasley said.
Vivi pulled out the Gero Gero gun and shot a frog shaped bullet at Hasley. Hasley saw this and pulled his large machete out to block the attack. It had a golden handle. The frog shaped bullet hit the machete. The bullet exploded and created an explosion. Hasley slid backwards. Five of his men got caught in the explosion and they went down.
"Nice shot," Nojiko said.
"Men," Kaya angrily said.
"Ben is a man," Vivi said.
"But he is a pervert," Kaya replied.
Nojiko looked at Kaya. She smiled. "Okay, maybe not as bad as them," Kaya added.
Nojiko and Vivi smiled at each other.
Hasley was panting. He had scratches all over his body. He was not expecting such an attack. The walls of the barn crumbled a bit.
"Why you?" Halsey said.
"Men get them," Halsey ordered. They looked a bit frightened. They did not expect these slim girls to have such firepower. However they were just five girls and they still had over two dozen men. They smiled.
"Lets get them," the pirate said. They charged towards the girls. BM took to the sky and dashed past the men towards Halsey where she tackled him into the barn.
"BM, be careful," Nojiko said.
"She will be fine," HQ replied as she aimed her gun and fired the Veridian Enigma again at a pirate. The bullet hit him and he was knocked back from the force. He went down in a pool of blood.
"Cloud Surge," Nojiko said as she created dense storm clouds from her hands. The clouds surrounded the men.
"What is this?" the pirate said.
"Where did these clouds come from?" said another pirate.
The dozen pirates in the clouds looked around. "Lightning Barrage," Nojiko said as her clouds darken. The pirates looked in confusion. They started to panic when the lightning bolt hit one of them. He screamed.
"We need to get out of here," a pirate said. He tried to run when another lightning bolt hit him. Several lightning bolts hit the pirates as one by one they all went down.
Nojiko sighed as the cloud dissipated and there were bodies lying on the floor. Some groaned in pain.
At the same time, Vivi and Kaya had a dozen men coming towards them. Kaya transformed into her full beast form. She opened her mouth and shot a golden light beam towards the men. "Angel HyperBeam," Kaya said as the attack hit the men who went flying in the air.
Vivi aimed her Gero Gero gun and blasted the men. All pirates from the Halsey Pirates were down, only Halsey was up.
"They were easy," HQ said. The other girls nodded.
"Vivi, you just fired at them when Halsey said those things. You saved some pirates on the first island," Nojiko said.
"It made me angry when he said those things about us. I don't like it when they talk about taking us away from each other. I will protect my King and his harem," Vivi said. Her voice got more angry and her eyes went red.
"For the King," Kaya added.
"Take a deep breath you both," Kaya said.
Vivi's eyes went back to normal. "Those pirates were helpless so I wanted to help them. I did not want them to die like that," Vivi added.
Nojiko noticed they were both different for a bit, however now they were normal. HQ smiled.
"What was that?" Nojiko asked.
"What was what?" Kaya asked back. Vivi looked confused.
Nojiko thought she would ask Ben about this later. HQ looked normal as well. Although she knows that HQ will also protect them and has their best interests, she must not see this as a problem.
"Let's go and see if BM needs any help," Nojiko said. They all nodded and headed into the barn.
As the girls dealt with BM was fighting Halsey. BM had tackled Halsey into the barn. She jumped back. Halsey got up. "You are brave, fighting me by yourself," Halsey said.
"I can defeat you," BM said.
Halsey laughed. "You are foolish. A red hair like yourself could probably fetch a good price on the market," Halsey said.
BM looked at him coldly. "That blue hair will fetch a better price, especially the one with the tattoos," Halsey added.
BM took the weapon from her back. Her facial expression changed. She took the sheet and revealed it to be Kiribachi. It was three meters long and looked too big for someone like BM. Halsey laughed again.
"Can you even use that?" Halsey asked as he charged with his machete towards BM. He swung his machete aiming for BM. BM swung Kiribachi and knocked the machete out of Halsey`s hand. She then swung Kiribachi and slashed Halsey. He got hit on the chest and screamed. He jumped back.
He held his chest with his hand. He could feel blood leaking out. BM facial expression did not change. "You demon," Halsey said.
"I will protect my lord`s harem," BM said.
Halsey got up. His chest was bleeding. "I will sell you all. You have a soft spot for that blue hair with tattoos. I will personally make sure she suffers the most in front of you," Halsey said. He laughed.
BM flew towards him and slashed his throat. Halsey's eyes popped out as he held his throat. Halsey saw a black wing demon with a black tail in front him. He saw darkness and went down.
"My lord likes her. She looks at me like a mother. I will protect all of them," BM said. BM picked up his machete. She noticed the gold handle had some cravings of buildings. She noticed that this machete took a hit from an explosion and had not a single scratch on it.
She picked up the sheet and wrapped Kiribachi up and walked out that barn with the machete. As she exited, she saw Nojiko, Kaya, Vivi followed by HQ enter the barn.
"You are fine," Nojiko said.
"Yes I am fine," BM replied. Nojiko smiled.
"There is nothing here," BM said.
"Halsey?" Vivi asked.
"Gone," BM replied.
"Okay, I was going to give him a piece of my mind for the things they were saying," Kaya said.
"I am sure BM has," HQ said.
They all nodded and left the barn as they exited, they saw they were surrounded by pirates and two large robots.