*Chapter 2: A Slice of Life*
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[Two days had passed since the CIA assigned Everest and J to a hotel in Indiana to track down the mysterious solid maroon ball user. Instead of diligently working the case, the duo had spent the last forty-eight hours partying, leaving their place in complete disarray.]
Everest groaned as he woke up, sprawled out on the couch in nothing but his shorts. His head throbbed slightly from the previous night. Rubbing his temples, he heard someone rummaging through the fridge in the kitchen.
"J, that you?" he called out groggily.
"Yeah," J replied, sounding unimpressed. "We're out of food, by the way."
Everest sat up, stretching out his stiff limbs. As he walked into the kitchen, he caught sight of J in her pink silk pajamas, her hair still messy from sleep.
"I didn't do anything embarrassing, did I?" Everest asked as he pulled out a milk carton.
J smirked and held up her phone, showing a picture of him surrounded by a group of girls, his face covered in doodles—hearts, mustaches, and other ridiculous symbols drawn in marker.
Everest leaned in, eyes narrowing. "What the hell?! You totally started this."
He was so focused on the image that he didn't notice himself tipping the milk carton too far, spilling milk all over the counter.
J giggled, sticking her tongue out. "Well, you wouldn't let me drink alcohol."
"You're seventeen! You shouldn't even be on this job." Everest hastily closed the milk and tossed the empty carton in the trash.
J shrugged, slipping her phone into her pocket. "Whatever. Get dressed, we've got shopping to do."
After a quick change, the two hopped in the car and drove to the nearest grocery store. As they pulled into the parking lot, they stood proudly before the massive blue-and-white sign that read 'Wall of the Marts,' striking exaggerated heroic poses.
"Is it just me, or are there way too many of these in Indiana?" J asked, hands on her hips.
"Heh, yeah," Everest chuckled.
Their moment was cut short by the sound of a car door slamming shut beside them. Both turned their heads in sync, only to spot a familiar face.
Eve.
Everest and J exchanged knowing smirks.
"Well, well, well. Look who it is," Everest said, dramatically tipping an imaginary hat. "If it isn't Eve Strike."
J joined in, mimicking his exaggerated pose.
Eve rolled her eyes before smacking them both upside the head.
"You idiots don't even know my last name!" she snapped.
J winced, rubbing her head. "Ow! You didn't have to hit us, you bitch."
Everest sighed, helping J back to her feet. "So, what are you doing here, Eve?" he asked, this time in a more serious tone.
Eve crossed her arms. "Just grabbing some snacks. What about you two dumbasses?"
Everest handed her the grocery list.
"Too much partying?" Eve smirked.
"Yeah, something like that," Everest admitted. "Anyway, see you inside."
Without another word, Everest and J skipped toward the entrance, still caught up in their antics. Eve watched them for a moment before sighing. She tilted her head up, staring at the sky.
"At least they're safe," she muttered under her breath.
"WHAT WAS THAT?!" Everest's voice rang out from the distance.
Eve's head snapped toward them, visibly irritated. "HOW DID YOU EVEN HEAR THAT?!"
Everest and J burst into laughter as they continued skipping into the store.
"Reasons!" Everest and J called back between laughs.
Eve groaned. "I swear, those two are impossible."
As the duo entered the store, they grabbed a basket and immediately started piling it with chips, sweets, and other snacks they definitely didn't need.
Meanwhile, Eve stepped inside and immediately noticed a woman with unnaturally pale skin, even paler than what seemed normal. She was dressed entirely in black, which only heightened Eve's suspicions. 'Maybe it's just too much makeup?' she thought. 'Or maybe I'm just being paranoid.'
Shaking off the feeling, Eve grabbed a basket and wandered through the aisles. A few minutes later, she found Everest and J fooling around in the snacks aisle. As she got closer, she overheard their ridiculous conversation.
"I bet you $500 you can't fit this into your bootyhole," J said, holding up a party-sized bag of chips.
Everest smirked. "Show me the money."
Eve froze in place, a wave of secondhand embarrassment washing over her. She quickly turned away, muttering, "These two are so embarrassing," as she pulled up the hood of her jacket and walked in the opposite direction.
As she moved through the store, her eyes landed on the pale woman again. This time, curiosity got the better of her, and she decided to follow. 'Why does she give me the creeps?' she wondered, increasing her pace to keep up.
The woman eventually stopped in the home improvement section, reaching for a hammer. Eve pretended to browse nearby, keeping an eye on her. Just as she turned her attention to a shelf, she felt someone approaching from behind. Instinct kicked in, and she swiftly whipped out her gun, spinning around.
Standing before her was a tall, stunning woman—at least six feet—draped in a sleek black dress that shimmered like dragon scales. Her white hair cascaded down her back, giving her an otherworldly presence.
"Oh my goodness. Everything okay?" the woman asked, tilting her head slightly.
Eve hesitated, glancing at the hammer. "Weren't you about to kill me with that?"
The woman looked at the hammer in her hand, then back at Eve, shaking her head with a soft chuckle. "Oh, heavens no, child. I was just going to ask if you knew anything about building a treehouse for my kid."
Eve blinked, lowering her gun. "Oh. Heh. I totally thought you were, you know… planning to murder me with that."
They both let out an awkward chuckle.
"Oh, goodness no," the woman assured her. Then, with a mischievous glint in her eye, she added, "But I can turn into a dinosaur, and sometimes I get the urge to eat people."
Before Eve could react, the woman's body twisted and morphed, shifting into a massive purple-and-black velociraptor. With terrifying speed, she lunged, sinking her teeth into Eve's leg.
Eve let out a bloodcurdling scream, immediately unloading her gun into the beast. But the bullets ricocheted off its scaly hide as if she were shooting at metal.
"EVEREST! WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU?!" she shrieked, frantically trying to pry the creature's jaws off her leg.
Chaos erupted in the store as shoppers screamed and fled in all directions. Blood pooled beneath Eve as the velociraptor tightened its grip, shaking her violently.
"This bitch is going to maul me to death!" Eve yelled, still firing uselessly.
Finally, Everest appeared. Without hesitation, Everest aimed and shot at the dinosaur's ankles. The creature staggered, losing its balance and releasing Eve's leg.
"Sorry, Eve, we had to grab some snacks first," Everest said nonchalantly, finishing the last bite of a chocolate bar.
"Dick," Eve muttered, exhausted.
Everest knelt down, helping her up as she bled onto the store floor. "Where's J?" she groaned.
"She's about to show up," Everest assured her.
Right on cue, J landed beside them in a flashy, superhero-esque pose, but neither Everest nor Eve were fazed. Golden light beams circled the velociraptor as it struggled to rise.
"So, that's the solid maroon user, huh?" J asked, adjusting her stance.
"Yeah, looks like it," Everest confirmed, cocking his gun and taking aim.
"I saw you go home, Eve. I doubt you'll survive much longer with that amount of blood loss."
Everest handed Eve over to J, who quickly adjusted her grip to support her.
"All right, beast! Tremble in fear, for I am here!" Everest declared, charging forward as he fired a relentless barrage of bullets at the dinosaur.
Before he could land a decisive hit, the creature swung its tail with immense force, sending him flying across the store. Shelves collapsed under the impact as Everest crashed into a pile of debris.
The dinosaur released the girls and turned its full attention to Everest, its predatory gaze locked onto him.
"Same goes for you, boy! Fear me, for I will be there!" she screeched, her voice an unsettling mix of human speech and guttural roars.
Lying amidst the wreckage, Everest coughed, then let out a smirk. "Oh shit, a talking dinosaur," he muttered with a chuckle.
Brushing off the debris, he forced himself back onto his feet, rolling his shoulders as he prepared for his counterattack. But as the dinosaur charged, his pulse quickened.
'Aw shit, I'm not going to be able to pull this off,' he thought.
The moment the beast closed in, Everest made a desperate attempt to grab its legs—only to miscalculate. The dinosaur effortlessly dogged him, and before he could react, it pounced, slamming him to the ground.
The scene suddenly distorts, turning grainy and monochrome as if paused in time. A miniature version of the three characters appears on screen.
"Wait, wait, wait! That's not what happened!" Everest protests, shaking his head.
"I don't know, Everest," Eve teases, smirking despite being wrapped head to toe in casts. "That dinosaur was definitely dragging you around until J showed up."
Everest rolls his eyes. "Whatever. Stop ruining my story."
The colors fade back in, restoring the scene to full motion. Just as Everest is about to be torn apart by the dinosaur, J dramatically leaps in, striking a heroic pose.
"Okay, this just did not happen."
Once again, the screen freezes, turning black and white.
Calem suddenly pops into the frame. "Hey guys, what's going on?"
The trio immediately turns on him, shoving him back. "Get outta here!" they shout in perfect sync.
Calem clings to the doorframe, refusing to be ejected. "This is my room, you freaking baboons!"
The room they were in was the base of operations for the agents, specifically the computer room.
Florence stood in the corner, watching the chaos unfold with a smirk. "All right, stop messing around, you animals." She stepped out of the shadows.
J instinctively fired a light beam at Florence, but she dodged it effortlessly. "The fuck?" J muttered, clearly baffled.
"Lower your weapons!" Florence barked.
"Don't sneak up on us like that, then!" J shot back, still on edge.
Ignoring J completely, Florence turned to Everest. "Are you absolutely certain the monster was there?"
The trio nodded in unison.
Florence frowned, deep in thought. "Why would she be there? Unless… she knows about this task force." She mumbled to herself.
J peeked over Florence's shoulder. "Why do we have to take her down? She didn't even kill us—she let me and Eve go." Eve nodded in agreement.
"What about me?" Everest interjected, only to be completely ignored by the two.
Florence sighed and opened a computer, pulling up a file and casting it onto the big screen. A name appeared: Ruby Angelo. She turned to the group, her expression dead serious.
"A ruthless serial killer, infamous in Indiana for the past few years."
A team member raised their hand but was immediately dismissed with a sharp glare from Florence. "Stay with me now."
"She seduces her victims and consumes their remains. Born in 1950—ancient, but she maintains a body that looks like she's in her twenties, all thanks to the pool ball. We located her before she had its power, but back then, we didn't consider her a real threat. That was a mistake. She is now wanted by the government, dead or alive."
She took a breath, realizing she had been speaking rapidly, then suddenly noticed Eve standing among them. Her eyes narrowed. "What the hell is she doing here?" She pointed directly at Eve.
Eve glanced around before shrugging. "Well, my name is Eve Striker, and I am one of—if not the—best snipers the world has ever seen." She extended her hand confidently and gave Florence a firm handshake.
Florence studied Eve for a moment before shifting her gaze to Everest. Everest gave her a nod of approval.
"All right, Eve. Welcome to the team. Hope you can help us bring down this creature."
Eve grinned. "Yep, me too. But this leg is going to take a while to heal," she added with a smirk as she puts down her leg on a table.
After their encounters, the scene shifts to Ruby. She sits menacingly on a throne in a hidden hideout, idly twirling the pool ball in her hand. "Stupid Florence, thinking she could send a couple of kids to take me down." With a flick of her wrist, she tosses the pool ball at one of her guards, watching as it bounces back perfectly into her grasp. "Go find out who these kids are—and bring me their heads."
Her guards, dinosaur-human hybrids, stand at attention. Unlike Ruby, whose form is sleek black with neon purple accents when fully transformed, these hybrids bear blue and black patterns. They remain in their hybrid forms outside of battle but can shift into full dinosaurs when needed.
One of the guards rushes out of the room, eager to carry out her orders.
The scene cuts back to Everest and the group, now back at their apartment—this time, with Eve included.
A knock echoes from the door.
Everest steps forward, cracking it open just enough to peer outside. Standing before him is an older gentleman, likely in his late sixties, dressed sharply in a black suit with white gloves. He holds a sleek black briefcase in one hand.
"Are you Sparkspar?" the man inquires.
Without hesitation, Everest raises his gun, pressing the barrel against the man's chin. "Who's asking?" His tone is sharp, unyielding.
The man remains unfazed. "I'm Agent Mehawf. Jack Mehawf. Sent by Commissioner Calem." He lifts the briefcase slightly. "We have something for you." His voice is smooth, deep, and calm.
Everest lowers his gun, smirking as he swings the door open. "Well then, sorry for the hostility."
Jack hands over the briefcase, then turns toward the stairs. But before descending, he glances back with a piercing gaze. "Next time, don't point that at me… or you'll regret it, Sparkspar." His words carry a chilling finality before he disappears down the stairwell.
J and Eve peer over Everest's shoulder. "The hell was his problem?" J mutters, while Eve simply nods in agreement.
Everest shrugs, placing the briefcase on the living room table. "Dunno, but let's see what this is about."
He flips open the case, and immediately, a brilliant beam of light floods the room. Inside, a cue ball rests, glowing with an ethereal white radiance.
"Whoa… this is special," J murmurs, reaching out to touch it—only for Everest to smack her hand away.
"Keep your monkey hands off it. Calem said it was for me."
J recoils, rubbing her hand with teary eyes. "Jerk."
Everest reaches into the briefcase, carefully grasping the glowing cue ball. With a dramatic pause, he leans in and whispers, "Hit."
In an instant, the ball begins shifting, its surface breaking apart and reforming. Pieces move like intricate clockwork, clicking into place until the object settles into a new shape—a flintlock pistol. However, its design is anything but conventional. The barrel is oversized and comically exaggerated, while the wooden handle is adorned with elegant gold accents.
Everest tilts his head, examining the weapon. "Well, isn't this the goofiest gun I've ever seen," he remarks, raising an eyebrow.
J snatched the gun from Everest's hand, spinning it around as she examined it with wide, curious eyes. "So… what now?"
Everest shrugged, taking the weapon back. "I guess we go test it out somewhere in the woods."
—
The scene transitions to the trio deep in the forest, surrounded by towering trees and scattered leaves crunching underfoot. Everest stood a few paces ahead, gripping the strange flintlock pistol.
"Alright, so I just… shoot, I guess?" he muttered, cocking the hammer back before aiming at a nearby tree.
With a steady breath, he pulled the trigger.
A blinding flash of light erupted from the gun, engulfing the trio's vision in pure white.
As the light faded, Everest blinked rapidly, regaining his sight. But instead of a smoking impact on the tree, his eyes widened in confusion. The bullet hovered, frozen midair at the barrel's tip, spinning slowly.
"…Well, that was anticlimactic," he deadpanned.
J stepped forward, narrowing her eyes. "Maybe you have to touch i—"
The moment her finger grazed the floating bullet, her entire body spun wildly out of control like a human tornado. With a loud whap, she was sent flying straight into a tree.
Everest and Eve instantly doubled over in laughter.
"Pfft—HAAAH! LOSER!" Everest cackled, pointing at J as she lay dazed on the ground.
Still groaning, J weakly lifted her arm and fired a light beam at Everest. The shot hit dead-on, instantly burning away the fabric of his pants, leaving him standing there in just his underwear.
A tense silence followed.
"...Fuck you," Everest muttered, his face twisting in mild annoyance as J smirked despite her pain.
Eve chuckled and leaned down to help J back up, brushing dirt off her clothes. But before she could finish her sentence—
FWIP!
The bullet, still hovering in the air, zipped straight into Eve's forehead.
Time seemed to freeze.
J's hands trembled as she stared at Eve's lifeless body. "H-Hey…" she whispered, gently shaking her. "Wake up. I wanna go home now."
No response.
A lump formed in her throat. "Eve, quit messing around! I said wake up, bitch!"
Still nothing.
Panic set in.
With wide, teary eyes, J whipped around and grabbed Everest by the collar. "OI! I THINK SHE'S DEAD!" Without hesitation, she hurled Eve's body at him.
"W-WHAT THE HELL?!" Everest, completely unprepared to catch a full-grown person, stumbled backward and fell on his ass. He looked down at Eve's unmoving form, his mind struggling to process what just happened.
"What do you mean 'dead'...?" His voice was unusually quiet.
J's breathing grew erratic, her hands balling into fists. "Bring her back!"
Everest stared at her, still trying to rationalize the situation. "Relax. She might not even be—"
"YOUR STUPID GUN DID THIS TO HER!" J screamed, her bracelet beginning to glow ominously as she aimed it directly at Everest's face. "WAS THIS YOUR PLAN?! TO GET RID OF HER?!"
Everest raised his hands slowly, keeping his voice steady. "J, calm down. Lower your weapon." He cautiously reached out for her arm—
But J yanked back, shaping the light into a shimmering blade.
"I'LL FUCKING CUT YOU! BRING HER BACK!"
With wild, erratic swings, she lunged at him. Everest barely dodged the attacks, moving with calculated precision.
"WHY THE HELL WOULD I KILL SOMEONE I'VE KNOWN FOR YEARS, YOU DUMBASS?!" he roared. Grabbing a thick log from the ground, he hurled it at J.
SHINK!
Without hesitation, she sliced through the wood like it was nothing, her face twisted with rage.
"BECAUSE YOU SAID YOU'D DO ANYTHING FOR MONEY!"
With a burst of light, J propelled herself toward Everest, her blade aimed for the kill.
But Everest was faster.
In a swift motion, he sidestepped and grabbed J by the legs, swinging her down with force. She hit the ground with a loud THUD, the impact shaking the dirt beneath them.
"Still can't beat me, even with powers," Everest smirked, wiping blood from his nose. His cocky grin widened—until he saw the look in J's eyes.
Fury.
J growled lowly, pushing herself up as she raised her bracelet toward Everest once more. His smirk faltered.
A second later, a massive beam of pure light blasted from J's bracelet, heading straight for him.
Shit.
Everest barely had time to react. He threw his hands up, bracing for impact, but the sheer intensity of the blast overwhelmed him. His vision blurred, the world around him turning into nothing but searing white.
And then—
A sudden shift.
Something moved.
The bullet—the bullet—slid out of Eve's forehead, floating weightlessly between Everest and J. The moment J's beam ceased, the bullet remained, hovering in the air for a brief second before dropping.
Instinct kicked in.
Everest caught it with lightning reflexes, staring at it, breathless.
"…The hell are you?" he whispered, his voice barely audible.
The bullet, almost as if responding, returned to its pre-fired state and slowly drifted back into the gun. As Everest watched it sink into the chamber, a strange sensation washed over him.
Pain—gone.
He blinked, touching his face, his arms—every bruise, every wound inflicted by J's attack had vanished. He was completely healed.
His eyes snapped to J, who still held Eve's lifeless body.
"J."
His voice was quieter this time.
He forced himself to his feet, stepping forward until he stood right above Eve. Slowly, he raised the gun and pointed it at her.
J's breath hitched.
"…Everest, what the hell are you doing?" she asked, voice shaking.
Everest exhaled, steadying himself. "I think I know what this gun does."
J's grip on Eve's body tightened. "What does that mean?"
Everest met her gaze, serious now. "We have two options." He took a breath. "A—this gun is purely meant to kill, nothing more. Or B—it does whatever it needs to protect its user. Because it healed my wounds after I caught the bullet."
J's lips quivered. "That doesn't prove anything."
Everest's fingers tightened around the gun. "Whoever holds this weapon, the gun—or maybe even the bullet—protects them. So, if we give it to Eve…" He swallowed. "If she pulls the trigger on herself… she might come back."
J hesitated, staring at Eve's motionless face.
"…What if we hurt her more?" Her voice cracked, her tears falling freely now.
Everest smirked, reaching out to gently close J's eyes with his fingers.
"I think we've got a high chance of me being right, kid." His voice carried that same cocky arrogance—but this time, it held something else. Hope. "And I'm always right."
With careful hands, Everest shifted the gun back into its pool ball form and placed it in Eve's palm.
Then, leaning close, he whispered—
"Hit."
The ball morphed instantly, reshaping into the flintlock pistol. Everest knelt beside Eve, guiding her limp fingers around the handle.
His grip tightened.
And then—he pulled the trigger.
The shot rang through the trees, aimed right at the base of her throat.