Tread Lightly – Among Monsters And Men

Gunshots ring out constantly as we enter the town, dozens every single second as muzzle flashes appear in my eyes nonstop. The center road of the town is littered with over a dozen bodies as most people are rushing into open buildings to hide from something.

For a second I think I recognize one of the bodies, but the groups of people block my vision. I’m forced to try and look around them, and I do, but even then I cannot find the body I was looking for.

I turn my attention back to the bystanders as they do the same. My group is the only one that is entering the town at the current moment, so attention seems to fall onto us.

Virgil calls out to a bystander asking what’s happening.

“Hey, you there! What’s happening? Is the break here already?”

The man looks up at Virgil on the wagon and yells back after a moment of hesitation from the Nightmares that are pulling the wagon.

“Hunters have come for Johnny’s head! They sent a whole squad led by a Colonel! Get the hell out while you can!”

Virgil curses in response to this and whispers to himself, I am close enough so I can hear him.

“Fuck. Are they that stupid!? Infighting now!? Fucking dammit!”

After cursing to himself, and I assume at the Hunters, he turns to Vernon and me.

“Okay, so, what we’re going to do is–”

Virgil is interrupted by a flying object moving at almost unseen speeds that slams into the left Nightmare, goes through it like an arrow, and impacts the wagon, breaking the front of it and sending all aboard to the ground with a catastrophic tumble.

I’m thrown forward, over where the object crashed into, and land amidst the Nightmare who has a human-sized hole in the side of their body. I roll out of the now-dead creature confused and bewildered by what's happening. Then, still a bit disoriented, I turn back and see a bloodied man full of muscle with an obviously broken arm that is bent unnaturally in over four places slumped against the wagon that is caved in around him.

I see his chest move rhythmically. He’s still alive! What the hell! How! He just got sent into the wagon like a fucking bullet!

The man shakes his head, I assume trying to shake out the deadly impact that he just underwent, and looks at me. Surprise breaches his face before he wipes it away and he cleans his face of blood with his unbroken hand.

“Ah, isn’t that convenient? The crazy kid is back. C’mere Wyatt. It’s Levi, you heard of me right?”

I look at him confused for a second until I remember a name that Johnny mentioned, one that I had to listen to because they would have a controller for the detonator. I believe it was Levi.

While nodding slowly at him, unsure of what to do, I stand from being tossed off of the wagon trying not to be inside the guts of the dead Nightmare. As I do so, he speaks to me while at the same time the other Nightmare that he didn’t kill runs away with the broken pieces of the wagon still attached to it. The dark horse must have escaped because Vernon lost his focus from the impact.

“Good. Eat this. And then follow me.”

Levi, a burly man, pulls out a small pellet from his pocket and hands it to me as he stands using one hand and his knee, blood dripping from him the whole time. I don’t accept the object, though, first I ask him what the hell he’s trying to feed me.

“No, what the hell is that?”

Levi shakes his head, sighing. Then after he stands up fully, he bursts with great speed over to me and grabs me before I can even react, shoving the pellet in my mouth.

“Eat it. It’s to dissolve the Ether Killer, if you're here now, then you did your mission. You’ll feel a bit of Ether suffuse you over the next hour or so. You might want to be a bit careful with using Ether in just a second.”

Frustrated and angry at him for not just telling me what the damn thing was, I yell at him, but I do still swallow the pellet. After I do so, he adds the other part about the suffusing Ether, and I choke partially, unwanting even more Ether in my system.

“Why didn’t you just tell me what it was? I would’ve just taken it! And what do you mean I’ll have to be careful with Ether in just a second?”

Levi laughs as he pulls his disfigured right arm into a straight one with his left, the feat of strength and pain tolerance surprising me.

“No time. He’s coming.”

I look around, confused at what he’s saying, then I hear pounding footsteps, footsteps that shake even my footing. Turning to where Levi was sent from I see a mountain of a man, someone at least seven feet tall, barreling down the street toward us both.

Levi says one last thing before charging to meet the man in open street combat.

“Johnny needs help. Go. Town Square, in the center. Do what you can. You will be massively outclassed, but Graves are Graves.”

After his words, I quickly start the flow for Chain Eyes as the two men make contact. I hope to glean an idea as to who has the upper hand. Levi is a large man, that is no doubt, he’s over six foot and covered in muscle, but his opponent is over a foot taller than that and just as muscled.

I see the colors of their manacles just a moment before impact and instantly predict what will happen. Levi is covered in green chains all over that wrap tightly around his muscles while the mountain opposite him is covered in turquoise wrappings. Both of their manacles seem to converge on large muscle groups which hints toward their strength even further.

Levi is outclassed. Matching someone of a higher Sigil in a contest of pure power is never a good idea, but I guess that is what Levi is good at judging from his frame. Either way, he's sure to lose this one-on-one, the other man is just as specialized for strength and endurance as Levi is, both of them probably having Soldier Sigils primarily.

My prediction comes true as Johnny’s left-hand man is sent flying once more from a collision with the unknown giant, this time going through a building on the side, leaving a hole in the front of it spattered with his blood. The massive man turns to me after sending Levi into a building.

As he does so, Virgil steps into etherealness just behind him with a warning in his ear.

“Best leave the kid alone. He’s not a part of your quarrel with Johnny.”

I also hear the cocking of a revolver behind me as I turn just a bit and see Vernon behind a post with his Colt, Mercy. A small period of hesitation passes from the man as he looks at the three of us, then he acts after some consideration. With a growl, he returns the warning.

“You wish to go against the Hunters? I am Clyde Oxhide, a part of the Vengeance Squad. Colonel Fredrick is here along with the full squad. Step away from the Wendigo and Levi the Scarred or face the consequences.”

A flash of uncertainty passes in Virgil's eyes and I notice it, but the man quickly dismisses it as he wipes his hands in dark, necrotic Ether. Necrosis falls upon Virgil's hands and weapons. The man chooses to fight.

“I chose the opposite, Clyde. I’ve heard of your squad before. Even seen you in action a few times. You leave no survivors. I’ve always wanted to fight a man of such a powerful squad, how about that?”

Irritation instantly builds on Clyde’s face before he turns back and swings a meaty fist backward at Virgil. He growls a response that is said more similar to an execution sentencing than a rebuttal.

“Die then.”

Virgil, the fighter that he is, and expert in evading damage, steps back and Flickers, Clyde's fist barely brushing against him. Unlike most times he Flickers, though, this time, Virgil does take damage. He steps back once more, coughing up specks of blood.

Virgil glances at Vernon and me before speaking to the giant man again.

“That’s one hell of a punch. You hurt me just a tad.”

I understand the glance after a moment of consideration with what Virgil says, he wants Vernon and me to take advantage of the man’s distraction and anger. I follow his lead and draw my serpentine daggers, and start a small flow of Adrenaline Surge, being extremely careful not to breach the final barrier. Don't want my Ether to melt me from within.

Clyde grows even angrier after being mocked for his weak punches, which in all honesty would probably kill anyone of us if we were actually hit with it, well except for Levi, he's already taken a few. Thinking about Levi getting hit with the punch makes me turn to look where the man went, and I see debris moving around within the building as a figure within stands.

Virgil makes my attention snap back to him as he swiftly steps into Clyde’s reach and baits out a punch as Vernon fires a bullet at the man from his Colt that he can only raise an arm and take. Then Virgil Flickers through the punch taking a bit of the damage before sliding his bowie knife covered in Necrosis into Clyde's arm.

A hellish scream erupts from Clyde as he bursts with strength and throws Virgil away from him, slamming the Flickering man into a nearby wall. I worry for a moment until I see both the building only shake a bit and Virgil phase through the wall like it's made of mud.

I can see the Necrosis build up over Clyde's arm which still has the bowie knife stabbed into it, so I sprint at him, eager to take advantage and get rid of this threat since he obviously seeks my life as well. He called me out after all.

Virgil also recovers fast enough to return to the fight. He charges at the man alongside me, and together we meet the mountain of a man at the same time. With an arm covered in dark Necrosis, he steps forward toward me with a deep painful growl and swipes at me to grab my torso, his hand large enough to do so.

On the balls of my feet, I push myself backward just before getting grabbed and twist to the side, feeling the strain on my ankles from the abrupt movement. The man seems to expect this though, as he does a kind of leap toward me with his shoulder. I can feel the wind itself bend as he pushes through it toward me with incredible strength.

Before he can reach me through the short few in between us though, three things happen in quick succession. I see a bullet land on his head, which surprisingly not only doesn’t kill him, but it also doesn’t pierce his skull. The Ether-enhanced bullet from Vernon only breaks the skin and sends the man’s head to the side with a burst of blood. It seems as though it gives Clyde whiplash, sending his eyes to the back of his skull.

The second thing that happens is that Virgil deftly moves beside Clyde, pulling out the bowie knife mid-movement, flipping onto his hands past Clyde, and stabbing the bowie knife into the man’s calf to slow him down. The knife is still covered in bits of Necrosis that are now being spread into his legs, dealing even more damage over time.

The third is Levi returning to the fight, and he does so with a bang. The man returns the favor to Clyde out of nowhere with a shoulder bash of his own that sends the massive man straight to the ground, tumbling for a few feet before stopping.

I blink in surprise at how close I just came to getting turned to paste, but I quickly recover. It's not the first time, after all. The three of us, Virgil, Levi, and I, are all breathing heavily and already covered with sweat despite the short battle. Well at least short for Virgil and me. Levi takes a single glance at Virgil and Vernon before addressing me.

“Seems like you got some new friends. But seriously, get to Johnny, I can take care of this man now that he’s wounded. It’ll be close, but I got it. He's not the first I've killed of these Hunters today. And if you don’t go help, I still got the trigger.”

I look at Virgil for help and the man just shrugs his shoulders. As he does so, Levi rushes down Clyde, trying to take advantage of his wounds from Virgil.

“I don’t know, Wyatt. Your call. You need a Concoction as soon as possible, but it appears as though if you don’t help the Gunfighter, you will die, either by the Hunters if they win or Johnny if he does.”

I ponder on the situation for only a moment before making a decision. I don’t want Virgil or Vernon to get caught up in this fight between Johnny and the Hunters any more than they already are.

So, I’ll need to get them away from the fight somehow. Get them away from the town square. Taking a deep breath, I speak my plan.

“Okay, you and Vernon should go get me a Concoction and then bring it to me. I’ll go and help Johnny.”

Virgil looks at me deeply for several moments after I tell him this as if he senses that something is off. Then, he sighs and looks over to Vernon before slowly nodding.

“Okay. That’s what we’ll do. Most alchemists live on the edge of town so that they can gather materials, so it will be a bit until we see you, Wyatt. Oh, and we’ll take care of Dakota, I saw him doing something to a nearby corpse. The little guy might just be growing from the townsmen and Sigiled who were killed. Just don’t die.”

After agreeing to my shallowly thought-out plan, Virgil runs over to Vernon, then takes him off to the edge of town, searching for a place that may sell a Concoction. As he leaves though, we share one more bout of eye contact and in that second of connection, I can feel that he disagrees with my idea but is following it anyway.

Once the two brothers leave. I take a moment for a deep breath as I hear gunfire in my ears that comes from the center of the town and see Levi beat the shit out of Clyde. The breath calms my mind and prepares me for what is to come.

I don’t see Primrose anyway, who is Johnny’s other right hand, the lady either fighting the Hunters with Johnny or already dead. So, while looking at all the bystanders who either are not Sigiled or are unwilling to join the fight that are getting as far from the action as possible, I run toward the center of town.

Where the sounds of gunshots only grow louder.

I’m forced to make multiple twists and turns to make it to the center. I run past many people who appear to be running from the fighting or preparing for it. After wasting almost a full minute trying to run through people, I curse and jump toward a building, using the structure as a way to get above the people below.

It only takes me a few moments to climb to the top of the building, and from here, I can see the town square. The circumstances of the man within looking incredibly perilous.

A lone gunman stands against eight Hunters, seven of which are constantly pressing onto him, one of which has another person placed beneath their boot. From this distance, I can’t recognize who it is or even if it's a man or woman, but I can see through Chain Eyes that it’s a 1st Sigil.

And amongst the group, there are two more people wrapped in turquoise and five in green. I also spot one man wrapped in blue chains similar to Johnny, but instead of Johnny's manacles being focused on his hands, this man’s are gathered around his legs. He must be Frederick. Five 4th Sigils, two 5th Sigils, and a 6th Sigil. That is quite the killing squad.

The lone gunslinger, Johnny constantly moves against the squad that attacks him relentlessly, firing bullets without stopping while dodging blades, bullets, and dozens of insane Ether skills. From streaks of lightning to actual bullets of blood. He never even stops for a moment to reload, my suspicion when I first met him bearing fruit, his gun has unlimited ammo.

Here or there I can even see him block one of the Hunter’s Claymores with the butt of his pistol before twisting and kicking the man away from him alongside a quick bullet to the gut. But after this happens, one of the Hunters in the back cuts his palm and draws a circle in the dirt that is rapidly becoming bloody mud. Then, the circle glows as the bullet hole closes in on the wounded man.

I watch for a few moments, just observing the squad’s teamwork. While I do so, I catch a flash of movement in the corner of my eye underneath my building on the opposite side of where I climbed up. A cloud of green smoke emerges in an alley as a familiar woman stumbles out and slashes her pink scarf backward.

The pink scarf catches the man around the neck who emerges from the cloud that appears to be melting off his face that is rapidly regenerating against the acidic cloud. Then, Primrose yanks the scarf to the side as drops of acid drip off the part of the scarf that is wrapped around the man’s neck. The man is wrapped in turquoise as is she. Somehow she increased her Sigii since I was gone.

The man yells in pain as he grabs the flesh-melting scarf and pulls Primrose toward him. He makes it so that either she loses her weapon or her life. Primrose obviously chooses the scarf as she lets go and backsteps just before getting close enough for the man to grab her.

She somehow seems to be immune to the acid of the scar, but she is definitely not immune to the axe that the man holds or the saw-off shotgun on his hip.

After I see her lose her weapon and back up from the man, I feel a sense of urgency and desire to help her. I glance at Johnny and see that he is still fighting with all he’s got, no sign of him losing his life any time soon. So, I run over to the edge of the building, draw my daggers, and jump off with a burst of Ether for Stealth that once more threatens my life. I can feel the Ether within me teeter, on barely able to exhale enough to not collapse.

Primrose notices me just before I land onto the man’s back. Once I land, I place both both serpentine daggers into his neck to break my fall, the silent movement through the air making him unable to react in time. We both fall forward into the dirt below us and I quickly roll off of him, looking at Primrose with a smile.

“Saw you needed some help.”

The 5th Sigiled lady of poison and acid just sighs and then walks over to the man that I stabbed from above.

“He’s not dead yet. Freaks and their evolutions are hard as shit to put down. You hear him breathing right? Oh! See right there he’s trying to get back up... No, you don’t.”

Primrose picks up her scarf as she schools me and wraps it around the man’s neck. Then, as the man tries to stand she tightens the scarf, causing even more acid to spill out and into the wounds on the man’s neck. Additionally, she puts her heels into the man's back, pulling his neck up to meet him. The acid enters his body and quickly kills him alongside the crack that resounds from him because of her actions.

“Most of the time you got to either get their brain or heart. Acid in the heart always works for me. Glad to see you're still alive, kid. And thanks for the help, but I gotta get to Johnny. He needs me. Levi, some others, and I only got about half of the Vengeance squad. You coming?”

The fair lady that acts completely opposite to her looks wipes off the bloody acidic flesh on her scarf before wearing it and holding her hand out to me. Already planning to help the man without much choice, I take her hand expecting just a confirmation or deal, but what I get instead is a vision of green as a cloud covers me.

A vision of green that quickly fades and turns into a view of the town square from the top of a nearby building. Somehow Primrose is able to use the cloud of green to transport us, but I don’t speak up about it, instead, something else catches my attention.

Now that I am much closer to the town square, only a few hundred feet away, I recognize the person on the floor in the square.

It’s Earl.