Beatle offers Billy a bowl of fermented rice and fish with some eggplant omelet and actual rice he harvested and cooked himself from a nearby rice field.
"Isn't stealing wrong?" asked Billy.
"Farm's abandoned. Don't worry. I magically killed all the parasites the rice has and rejuvenated it to its 'normal state'."
"I don't like the word, 'normal'. Sounds exclusive."
"I.K.R."
"What?"
"I believe the kids back in my day meant 'I know, right?'"
"That's stupid."
"You said it." Beatle stands up and looks around.
Billy sniffs the meal and covers his mouth. "It smells terrible! This... stuff next to the eggplant!"
"You said you eat eggplant."
"Yeah! What is THIS stuff!? And why is it cooked that way!?"
Beatle gently speaks. "That's an eggplant cooked in egg. It's called Tortang Talong. Ancient Filipino recipe. That stuff is fermented rice and fish I carry with me. Made it myself. It's the sauce. We call it buro."
"I don't like buro."
"Then starve."
Billy rolls his eyes and takes a bite. "Ah! It hurts my mouth?"
Beatle sits with him. "Not really. The taste is just heavy. You'll get used to it after a few more bites."
"I don't like it."
Beatle sighs. "If I take a bite, will you eat it?"
Billy softly nods.
Beatle eats it with no reaction to his face whatsoever.
Billy, seeing this, begins eating it, trying to control his instinct to spit, but, he spits it.
Billy is saddened by this. He avoids eye contact. "That was rude. Sorry."
"It's fine. I did the exact same thing with food I didn't like."
"I'm... not you, Beatle."
"I know. You're your own guy. But you could learn a thing or two by hanging with me."
"Like-...?"
"No. Not that kinda hanging. Christ. I'm not the kinda guy to be found with a sadly-written note next to him."
"Oh. Like hangman?"
"No."
"Hangers-...?"
"Like hanging out. What is it with kids these days and their incapability of understanding older pieces of slang?"
"I'm... 10...? And you're like... in your 900s...?"
"Goddamn excuses. Damned kids. Sorry. That was rude."
"It's okay!" Billy's eyes beamed with excitement. "I'm beginning to like Bugo!"
"Buro," Beatle corrected.
Billy's eyes quivered. "Is it bad I don't miss them very much? My family?"
Beatle turns to him.
"They were mean..."
"Your family just didn't know how to handle you." Beatle begins pacing and circling him. Billy smiles and follows after, as they circle the woods together.
"Did you hate your family, too?"
"When I was your age, yes. But growing up, I realize now that they had sacrficed more than I could ever dream of. I was the eldest. I was their... test subject."
"How do your powers work?"
"Hm? Oh. I uh... I'm magic. Or some shit. I dunno."
"You can open portals and shit?"
"Uh... Not anymore. Aurora might uh... find me and kill both of us."
"Can you make magic spells?"
"When it is needed."
"Can you fly?"
"Yes. Whenever I think it's time to try... defying gravity! Eh? Wicked? Ever heard of that play?"
"Uh-uh!" He shook his head, smiling.
"Yeah. Go figure. Again! Kids these days!"
"Hahaha!" laughed Billy, as they pranced around the forest together.
Meanwhile, three Zodiacs walk into the forest together.
One is named "Leo", a man who wears a mask made of Dragon skin. The other two are a pair wearing a Tiger and a Dog mask respectively. These two are named "Gargar" and "Batots".
"Gargar. Status report," said Leo, intimidatingly staring in the distance.
Batots, the Dogman, smiled and snickered. "Sir. I believe that the targets are in our sight." The dogman smiled.
"Gargar. Batots. You know what to do," said Leo.
Beatle can be seen halting Billy within their sight exactly several kilometers away from them.
Batots sneers. "There he goes again! He keeps sensing us with that weird ass magic trick of his! HE'S MOCKING US!!! Doesn't he realize that it's just his anxiety!?!?"
"Then again it's happening at the same time as we tried to attack, IDIOT!!!" growled Gargar. "He's the real deal..."
Batots magically warps out his katanas. Gargar takes out his heavy-duty Gatling gun.
Billy asks, afraid. "What's wrong?"
Beatle squints his eyes. "Many things. Many things wrong now. STICKS, MOTHERFUCKER!!!" Beatle tosses his eskrima stick toward where they stood, exactly at the slope they stood on, wherein the stick explodes upon impact and they are tossed out of the bushes and toward Beatle. Beatle warps his eskrima stick magically back into his hand as Batots slices at Beatle over and over again. He spins and strikes, trying to cut Beatle to pieces but Beatle easily blocks his katanas with his magical eskrima sticks.
Billy grabs Beatle's blaster and shoots at Gargar, but Gargar's Gatling gun's range is far too large for Billy to handle. He ducks and hides under a dying rotten log.
Billy is forced to go on all fours, which disgusts him as he touches the strangely wet ground with all the bugs he can feel crawling all over his hand. Billy felt like he wanted to vomit, but kept fighting on. He crawls around within the wet and smelly log while parts of the log behind him are being torn to pieces upon the impact of each of Gargar's bullets. The log was shredded and Billy was forced to crawl deeper into the darkness.
Meanwhile, Batots laughs and barks at Beatle.
"Morningstar will surely be my BITCH after I kill you!" snickered Batots.
"That's where you're wrong, Batots. She doesn't like being called that word..."
Beatle slams his sticks into Batots' face, tearing his head off as his spine is left dangling out from it.
"I should know..." Beatle drops his head as it rolls down with blue fluids all over the ground.
Beatle turns to the log. "BILLY!!! Sorry! Didn't mean to shou-!"
Gargar turns to him and shoots as Beatle blocks all of the bullets with one eskrima stick that constantly spins.
Beatle growls as Gargar begins to overpower him.
Beatle yells out. "BILLY!!!"
Billy successfully shoots Gargar in the head, angrily yelling as he blows his brains out.
Beatle sighs, tired as he kneels down.
"Why... were his bullets so much faster than-?"
"Our weapons are imbued with Divine or Satanic Magic. Theirs is Devilish in nature."
Suddenly Beatle blocks a perfectly angular shot directly pointing toward Billy's face.
Beatle sees that it's just a rock, but the rock has Satanic properties, seeing the upside-down star on it.
"Leo," said Beatle. He slowly turns to Leo.
"Please, Beatle. Do no longer call us by our slave names. Call me Cheapshot!" Cheapshot smiles as he crosses his legs and sits on a rock.
"Cheapshot. Leave this world alone. Please."
"Why? Aurora said it was hers to conquer."
"Who sent you?"
"Aurora."
"I mean, which of your idiot teammates is handling you right now?"
"Why ruin the surprise!? Beatle, Beatle, Beatle. It's so weird that we used to be friends."
"No. You were one of the people who used to make fun of me and fucked the person I was in love with."
"Huh? Oh, YEAH!!! Well, she's dead now, so, eh! That was 900 years ago. SHE was 900 years ago! You still remember and even CARE about that!?"
"Yes," said Beatle.
Cheapshot laughs. "Wow. You really are a sore loser!"
"And you are a 'that thing I keep in my drawer'."
"For your D?"
"For my ass. Now fuck off, Leo. Before I pummel you again."
Beatle turns around and walks away as he immediately blocks a shot from Billy's head coming from the other direction.
Beatle sighs. "Y'know, you should be wearing the dog mask. Fits how you come back always to bite me in THE FUCKING ASS!!!"
"HAHAHAHA! There you go again! God! We used to make fun of you because you were so insufferable AND STUPID!!! You made your condition an excuse for your behavior."
"My behavior was unpleasant because you were scared of someone like me. Scared of difference. You people feared people like me because you people never understood me. So you decided to-..." Beatle blocks another shot from Billy's face. "-... get rid of people like me." He shoots another at Billy's face. "Fucking stop that."
"No!" Cheapshot kept on shooting at Billy some random rocks that constantly bouncing off from objects that nearly perfectly striking Billy's head.
Beatle just kept blocking his efforts.
"STOP ROCK BLOCKING ME!!!" roared Cheapshot.
"No."
Billy shoots at Cheapshot but Billy blocks it with a rock that was shot from the sky earlier.
Billy's eyes beamed with excitement and fear at the same time. "WHO IS THIS GUY!?!?"
"Eh. He's a simp for Aurora. Blames me that she chose me."
"Weird. I thought no one would ever love me!"
"That's toxic. For your own good, love yourself. You're beautiful the way you are," said Beatle.
"Okay!" smiled Billy. "Wait, 'she chose you?' YOU GUYS DATED!?!?"
"Thought I made that clear," said Beatle. "CHEAPSHOT!!! THE ONLY REASON YOU'RE ALIVE RIGHT NOW IS THAT I PROMISED AURORA TO NOT KILL ANY OF HER TOYS!!!"
"FUCK YOU!!! SHE LOVES ME!!!"
"No, she doesn't."
Cheapshot shoots another rock as Beatle just sways his stick around.
Beatle sighs. "Fuck. He's beginning to shoot other places."
Beatle begins... just... walking around to protect himself and Billy.
"How... can you so easily block his attacks?" asked Billy.
"Pair his magic, which is the ability to land perfect strikes no matter what, with an ability that can sense anything dangerous that is about to happen is kinda like an almost unstoppable force meeting cockblocking," said Beatle, swaying his stick as he yawned.
"I AM A THREAT TO YOUR INSECURITIES!!!"
"That just means you help me feel secure," said Beatle.
"FUCK OFF!!!"
"Ugh..." said Beatle.
"Who are these guys?"
"The Antichrists? Ah. They're anti um... My religion. But in reality, they're just a bunch of people who hate me because I'm different. No biggie."
"Wait... the reason the war happened was because-?"
"Because I'm different. Yes. But... it's a little more complicated than that."
"WHY. WON'T. YOU. DIE!?!?!" growled Cheapshot, shooting at him.
Beatle sighs. "Hold that thought. Imma leave an apology note for Aurora."
"EXCUSE YOU!?!? GET HER NAME OUT OF YOUR FUCKING M-!!!"
Beatle slams his stick into Cheapshot's face by extending it similar to a stretchy chain as he pulls it back to its original shape.
Cheapshot falls to the ground, dead.
"There are... better than him," said Beatle.
"Wow," said Billy. "Will you ever tell me your origins?"
"Eh," Beatle shrugged. "Maybe. Got a pen and paper?"
Billy sighs.