Doug still had his grip on the trench gun.

  His finger on the trigger, the only thing not working out for him was the chamber. Ever since he fired a buckshot at Elizabeth, she managed to dodge it, including the tiny bullets which scattered in all directions.

  Crushing his knees along the metallic floor, he swayed his body up, his eyes pushed down once he bit down onto his lower lip.

  (Doug’s thoughts) Shit! Shit! Shit!

  Barely standing up, he tried to aim the barrel at her again, but she lunged her body to the right. Enacting simir to how Luna moves, she jumped repeatedly to her left and right, her fists lowered to her thighs.

  Without blinking, she thrust her right hand forward.

  Sending her jagged knuckles to the standing middle-aged man, he frowned and gulped the moment he made eye contact with her. Eyes filled with fear, who knew how long he felt this type of emotion.

  (Doug) W-Wait just a—

  Using just his instinct, he pushed his body to the left side of him. Unable to fire, he clocked another shell into the chamber, but before he could fire…

  A sparkle of light shone underneath him.

  Letting his breath freeze inside his throat, he looked up at the ceiling that was covered by Elizabeth’s blessing. Sparks of light and electricity wanted to break free from its prison, a small bolt of it struck down where he stood.

  Feeling the zap of lightning running through his body, his heart stopped.

  (Doug’s thoughts) Oh no…

  He felt his lungs freeze like ice, and no air pushed in or out from his nose. His feet remaining his body stationary, he only widened his eyes at the incoming fist hurdling itself straight into his face. Her knuckles smming into his nose, it shattered into a million pieces, despite his skin holding it together. The shattered bone stabbing and letting loose within his face, he felt numb, once his body soared with the wind once again.

  Hitting the metallic wall, the back of his head cracked open, leading blood and chunks of skull to roam free from its clutches. Down on the ground, his butt holding his body up, he stared bnkly at the floor with an open wide mouth.

  As he couldn’t formute a sentence.

  (Elizabeth) You can’t even muster a groan … you re!*%#!

  Just as she was about to send her heel to Doug’s chin, a cold presence dawned in the back of her.

  Stopping halfway, she pulled back her foot, as the feeling of an icicle ran down her spine like a sleigh. Her fists still balled, the clouds above still sparkling with electricity, and the silence inside the fake garden let the sound of her beating heart be heard.

  As she finally gnced in the back of her.

  (Betty) You better stop now…

  Her eyes continued to gre like a hellhound, showing no remorse. Ignoring the beaten-up Doug, she stared at Betty with a glimpse of pure rage.

  Betty had her palms facing the teenage girl, her gre only worsening the more she saw Doug speck out mumbled lines. Looking like he hit the back of his head too hard, she swayed her head back and forth.

  (Betty) I don’t want to lose another one…

  Despite having her gre resume, Elizabeth raised her right eyebrow up, her hands swaying up and down amongst her sides. Her nails were on the verge of sinking deep into her skin, a low growl rumbled her throat.

  (Elizabeth) You didn’t care for Johnny at all … who gave you the right to stop me …

  (Betty) I think Doug had his reasons …

  A small chuckle escaped from Elizabeth.

  Uncurling her fingers from her palms, she raised them to both her cheeks, scratching them harshly as she let her eyes wander the floor. Her eyes widened and filled with craze, she hunched her body evermore, as scenes of Johnny pyed out inside her mind.

  All the times he treated her right, and all the times his family treated him wrong.

  Stopping her scratching, she sunk her nails deep into her cheeks, causing blood to gush from her now-formed scars.

  (Elizabeth) You … this family … me … insane …

  The strands of her long brown hair began to cover her eyes, she lowered her head and bent down. In less than a second she did that, she yanked her body back up, swaying her hair up as it smmed down onto the center of her back.

  As she screeched out her vocals yet again.

  (Elizabeth) YOU’RE ALL INSANE!!

  Instead of thrusting toward Betty—no, she was far too gone.

  Raising both of her hands to the ceiling, her scleras that were once stained red were painted in pure white. As if she was calling upon order with the clouds, every square meter from above started to trickle and sparkle, leaving Betty no choice but to…

  Put Elizabeth in a world of bck.

  Having her vision taken away, she sniffed out the remains of Betty’s foul breath. Even though she knew where she was, she didn’t need to know. She didn’t care anymore…

  Zirardges, vilins, insanity, sanity, sane, insane, sane san, sa, s—

  She pulled her hands down to her waist as if she threw something down to the floor. With silence filling the void, only her voice broke through.

  (Elizabeth) Atmospheric Fulmination.

  The clouds above barraged down.

  Clouding half the garden with a chock-full of bck thunder clouds, the hidden sparks of electricity which were damned by her herself…

  Rained hell on both Zirardges.

  Even when Betty tried to sprint her way out of the electric zone, she was meters away from the other side before she got zapped. Her upper body and face were on the outer edge of the cloud, her lower body was bnketed by it still, meaning her feet and legs were …

  (Betty) AAH!!

  Simir to how a horse-human would be branded to tell each other apart, she felt her legs and feet be scorched underneath a burning metal. Over and over again, her skin blistered and scourged, causing her eyes to widen immensely under the burning pain.

  Luckily for her, the electric current didn’t run through her body.

  On the border of wishing for death, the pain was so hellish she bit the insides of her cheeks, letting blood rot her gums. Her lower body convulsing like a fish out of water, she extended her hands outward, trying to grasp an invisible handle.

  (Betty) Ah! Ah! Ah!

  Lowering her hands, she scraped the grass with her long dull nails, scrunching the surface while her vision blurred. Wanting to vomit, wanting to pitch out a blood-curdling scream, she kept her sharp nails into the old grass. As the pounding bolts of lightning finally ceased.

  Like an anvil lifting from her lower body, the fake air finally swept into her parched lungs. Circuting through her airways, it wrinkled her old air sacs the more oxygen stung inside her system. Her face nestled on the grass, she didn’t y on her cheeks but rather had it id on her nose.

  (Elizabeth) You chose the wrong man.

  Walking behind her, Elizabeth extended out her right hand, her palms facing the paralyzed Betty. Her voice continuing to low, she scowled another growl, with every sylble ringing from her tongue.

  The clouds faded away like bristled sand, most of it stuck to the interior metal walls, leaving them to moisten and water. Since the visibility brightened, it led anyone within the fog to finally see, even the…

  (Doug) Drop it.

  He pointed the barrel of his trench gun at her.

  Barely standing on his two wobbling feet, every ounce of his body rippled with blisters from his hair to his toes. Looking like a burnt lobster, blood oozed from his mouth and nostrils, drenching the burnt grass beneath his feet.

  Unwilling to gnce from behind, Elizabeth kept her hands aiming at Betty, all the while directing her voice to Doug.

  (Elizabeth) You’re still standing.

  (Doug) Barely … cough cough …

  Only his right hand wielded his gun, his finger on the trigger as his shoulder bulged from the weight. His feet froze to the ground below, he couldn’t take a single step forward, as blood groped down his pants like a waterfall.

  Not a whisper of breath breezed against his nostrils and throat. Not a beat of his heart pounded against his chest.

  Acting like a zombie, a low gurgle assaulted his throat. His eyeballs burned and charred like coal, his vision was blinded like a bat in an open meadow.

  (Doug) You think I wanted to kill my son…

  Elizabeth hunched her head, turning her face and body toward the disfigured Doug. Upon seeing the entirety of his lobstered body, there was a reason why he only wielded his trench gun with his right hand.

  His left arm was missing, yet no blood was drawn from the wound.

  Making him seem like he was on death’s door, he probably was, since his heart stopped. Considering his curse of Vampire, could he beat his heart back into the rhythm?

  Or is this now his st minute?

  (Doug) Once I heard he wanted to topple my empire … the pride that I cultivated all my life … I had no choice …

  (Elizabeth) You chose money over your son?

  (Doug) What choice did I have…

  She stabbed her palms, drenching out blood which splurted against the grass below. Pressuring her body weight to the tips of her toes, she readied her stance like that of a bullet, waiting for the moment to push fire.

  While Doug did the same, waiting for Elizabeth to make her move.

  Both in a standstill—

  (Benn) And I have a choice for you too.

  Benn pinned the barrel of his machine gun directly at Doug’s heart. Walking at a snail’s pace toward the panting middle-aged man, his finger was on the mechanized metal, ready to fire at a given notice.

  Doug gnced to the left of him, seeing the slow-moving shark-human, who trailed his footsteps like he was stepping on gss. Unable to lower his trench gun, he kept his aim firm on Elizabeth, who had her palms pointing at Doug.

  (Benn) Drop your gun.

  (Doug) I know you too well. You aren’t going to let me walk scott-free.

  (Benn) No, I ain’t.

  (Betty) Then that leaves me no choice as well…

  Betty had her palms facing Benn.

  Side-gncing at the wrinkled woman, he remained his barrel firm on Doug. As Elizabeth noticed Betty still had her body id out on the floor, she moved her right hand to face Betty, while her left hand faced Doug.

  In return, Betty had her right hand facing Benn, and her left hand facing Elizabeth. Doug kept his trench gun pinned at the cat-girl, and Benn had his machine gun pinned at Doug.

  Creating a Haxouburg standoff.

  (Elizabeth) Then what choice did Johnny have…?

  (Betty) He … he betrayed us …

  (Benn) After you used up all of his usefulness? Like how the government did to us?

  (Doug) He wasn’t useful … but until I die, I ain’t sleeping well…

  Doug’s face grew dark, wrinkling his cheeks and forehead the more he remembered the sound of that gunshot. Pulling that trigger, feeling the recoil traverse his chubby body, his mind pyed the scene over and over again like a broken record.

  A record that tormented his already battered soul.

  Souls of the damned he added to his collection, he let the whispers grow louder and louder against his ears. Wanting them to end, wanting the spirits to stop, who will end this?

  (Benn) Then let me relieve your suffering.

  (Doug) I ain’t dying yet … no …

  (Benn) Yes, you are …

  Betty pushed her upper body up, holding herself with just her elbows as they blistered against the charred grass. Her back arched, her lower body id firm on the ground, her legs and feet still paralyzed from the lightning strikes prior.

  All the while muttering a low scowl, a far cry compared to her high-pitched voice.

  (Betty) If you kill both of us, you ain’t going to be sleeping with two eyes closed. Agents, Spartans, bounty militias, they’ll all gun for you and your group, like wolf packs.

  (Benn) Then if I kill your husband here, there’s one less wolf pack to worry about.

  A massive explosion rocked the train.

  The four of their bodies trickled from the sudden motion, the interior walls in which they were enclosed trembled and vibrated violently. Shaking off decades of dust from its hidden corners, along with a couple of lights swaying with the shockwave, it allowed the four of them…

  To lose their bance, especially Doug.

  His body weak, he immediately colpsed on the floor, letting his back sm against the old wrinkled grass. With Betty loosening the muscle strength of her forearms, she crushed the bottom of her chin against the ground, leading her to bite her tongue.

  While Benn and Elizabeth only lost their composure, but not their aim.

  (Benn’s thoughts) Thank you for helping me out with my grudge Stan.

  Benn lowered his machine gun to his waist, before storming out an arkstorm of bullets.

  Letting the hot lead scorch the barrel of his gun, it flew and pushed the air, striking the injured Doug. Riddling him with the fastening bullets, Betty lifted her face with her chin, her eyes brittle with a crimson red color that resembled blood.

  Raising her hands from her stomach, she extended them…

  (Elizabeth) Veil Delirium.

  A small cloud scurried straight into Betty’s mouth.

  Forcing itself, it plowed and pilged her body like a viking. Its destination? Trying to locate her paralyzed legs and feet, which was easier said than done…

  (Betty) AAH!!

  A putrid scream jacked the air, leading her hands to clutch together over her stomach. Feeling like she engulfed a razor bde, the remnants of it littered and poked against her organs, leading her to resemble the feeling of vomiting out blood.

  Unable to protect her husband, she wallowed in absolute despair, piercing and jabbing her vocals over and over again. As Elizabeth kept her palms steady on the girl, her ears rang as Benn’s machine gun shocked the fake garden air.

  Until the bullets ceased.

  Moving his finger on the side of the machine gun, Benn walked toward the bleeding Doug, who slowly began regenerating his wounds.

  (Benn) You could’ve healed prior, during our standoff.

  (Doug) I’ll never show weakness, especially to a sharky …

  The barrel of his machine gun aimed precisely where his heart was, Benn lowered the gun right onto his chest. His frown churning more down than usual, Benn moved his finger on the trigger.

  At long st, his personality, the avatar he went through hell and back with, began to dissipate.

  (Doug) Now just hold on!

  Doug raised his hands, stretching them as most of his muscles tore against each other like razor bdes. His right eye regenerated, his other eye was still charred from the lightning strikes prior, leading him to look like a cyclops.

  Blowing harsh air from his lungs from his burnt throat and nostrils, his lungs felt like exploding, his airways grilled.

  (Doug) You all have morals to keep! You’re the Dark Angels! People who won’t take lives if needed!

  He remembered the dark-complected man from two days prior, remembering the sawed-off shotgun that tinted its bck light onto his eyes. His barrel pointed at his weak spot, his finger on the trigger, he could’ve killed him right there.

  But he didn’t. Miles isn’t a killer, nor is anyone in the group. They can take out a human life, but they rather not, for only the evilest of men or women are saved for that.

  Or for the undead, who wish for death.

  (Doug) Your friend prior, he showed me mercy … so I beg of you … to think about your—

  (Benn) I finally have a goal.

  Benn’s eyes began to lighten, leading his cheeks to drop down from the heaviness of his eyelids. His eyebags clearing away like a passing rainstorm, Benn kept his barrel steady, leaving no trace of twitchiness or shivering along his fingers.

  Elizabeth, who turned her head toward Benn, held her breath steady as she watched.

  (Benn) Being a good person? Doing what’s right? Which one suits me better?

  A door opened from the previous train cart.

  Benn kept his eyes and gun firm on Doug, while Elizabeth gazed at the group of nerds and geeks, who hauled an unconscious elf. Their bodies were wracked with sweat, and she began running toward them, leaving the tortured Betty to flop around the floor like a dying fish.

  As Betty was tied up by a simple straw of rope.

  (Benn) The people of this country, my people, have suffered long enough from people like you. All I wanted in life … was to live a normal life …

  Benn tapped his finger up and down along the trigger, letting his skin feel and taint the metal with his sweat. Seeing Doug paste his face a ghostly pale, he lowered his hands down onto the old grass below, his palms scraped and cut against the harsh wn.

  (Benn) But I was selfish.

  Benn moved the tip of his machine gun deep into Doug’s chest. Raising his hands to the center of the gun, Doug tried to push whatever strength within his biceps to swipe it off.

  Unluckily for him, his sweaty palms weren’t enough to lift the machine gun away. Both of them hearing a soft trail of footsteps drawing near, Benn knew it was about time to wrap things up.

  (Benn) I see things clearly. To live a peaceful life … no … to live a life in which my people, and every other beast-human, live the same as my leader and friends then …

  Doug began seeing fshes of his life fsh before him.

  Betty, Kenichi, the skirmishes, Johnny, Vivy, even his bloody trail of heads he scattered, he remembered it all. Every head he rolled, every beast-human he used, and every time he mistreated his son…

  For the first time, Doug pushed up his face and eyes, his throat quivering as God finally gave him his deemed judgment.

  (Benn) You need to be finished, and everyone else controlling this puppeteering.

  A single shot rippled through the train cart. Just one bullet, striking clean through his heart like an arrow.

  Pulling back his machine gun, Benn gazed upon the convulsing Doug who stared at the metal ceiling, his eyes twitching under the cold parchment of death approaching. His pupils diting, his fingers unmoving, his vision bckened as only the sounds of his dying whispers nestled in his ears.

  Standing up, Benn accomplished something … something his father would not approve of.

  (Gary) You got to be fucking kidding me…

  The group of nerds let their eyes drop to the resting young man, his head feeling the old grass as he slept his forever sleep. All of them, Gary, Fred, and Diego, softly put Stan to the floor before slowly trailing to the fresh corpse.

  Their heads turned to both Benn and Elizabeth, leading their eyes and cheeks to darken, but they couldn’t look at Elizabeth. Their will weak, they let their pupils stare at the cold Doug, resting into a never-ending sleep which he’ll never wake up from.

  (Gary) Let’s just get the hell out of this train…

  Without nodding, without speaking, they were all in agreement for once.

  Gary had his back full with Loraine, her cheek continuing to rest on his upper back. Being the one to carry Johnny’s fresh corpse, Elizabeth carried it like a bride, bringing his head close to her chest.

  Fred walked toward the id Betty, her ankles and wrists tied by a hay rope. Looking at the knots, both of them pierced down on her skin, leaving Fred to wiggle his fingers from his waist.

  (Fred) Can you help Diego with Stan, I’ll carry her on my back.

  (Benn) Do you want to show pity to her?

  (Fred) Just this once…

  Too exhausted to argue, both Benn and Elizabeth ignored Fred’s mercy, letting him bring Betty to his back. In silence, all of them began heading toward the front train carts, leaving behind the fresh corpse of a rich man.

  A rich man who didn’t deserve a casket pted in gold. Leaving him to rot in his wealth, was almost poetic. Too poetic, as his own money…

  Couldn’t erase his own sins.