The endless water ripples from the heavy thumps in the dark world. Light pours through a clock shaped crack in the near black sky, and the cracks shift like a clock hand telling time. Each shift brings a haunting thump, causing the water to tremble and the reflections in the water to break from the ripples.
“Jayson~” hums a female, her voice honeyed and floating through the air.
Jayson’s eyes and ears twitch and strain for the female, and he paces in circles, searching for the one calling him. The thumping from the clock shaped cracks is like a hammer and chisel to his ears, and the ankle-deep water splashes about as he paces in circles. He puts on a brave face, but his heart races, and his chest is tight.
“Why are you afraid, Jayson?” asks the female, her voice in his ears despite her not being near him.
Jayson paces in circles again, stopping when he sees the nearly all black specter rising from the water twenty feet from him. Her body is lanky, covered by torn clothing with two red lines on her wrists, following her arm straight to the elbow. The torn fabric and long black hair floats in the air as if submerged in water, and white voids for eyes stare at Jayson while the figure’s face splits open, revealing bright white teeth.
“Didn’t you want to see me again?” asks the specter.
Jayson's eyes widen and his ears droop. “What are you?”
“You know who I am. I have been in the darkness with you ever since you called me.”
Jayson shakes his head and steps back. “You’re not Lexanne.”
“Oh really? Maybe this will refresh your memory.” The specter extends her hands and turns them so Jayson can see the red marks going up to her elbows, each pumping out red liquid that splatters in the water and spreads outward, carried by the ripples, and her grin widens, nearly ripping her head in half. “Come see with me.”
***
Jayson jolts awake on a public bench, shaking and sweating as the late afternoon sun heats him up. Nearby are a pair of dirty and ragged rabbits, giggling and twitching with dilated eyes.
Jayson stares at them with wide eyes. They don't notice him, though. Then Jayson sees a 20-buck bill lying on the ground. He stares at it. It stays put. He sits up and reaches for it, but it is pulled away by a string taped to it.
Jayson frowns and holds his cosmic wood sword tight.
“Really? You guys thought I was going to fall for that?” says Jayson.
“I told you it was a stupid plan,” says Rolland, his body hidden but his voice easy to hear, despite him trying to whisper.
“Shut up. It's perfect in every way,” snaps Mortimer. Then, “Get him, boys!”
There are multiple clicks, engine revs and tires screech, and Jayson's eyes widen.
A van speeds around the corner with its side door open, and rabbits wearing ski masks and armed with Uzis and pistols aim at Jayson.
Time slows as Jayson draws his weapon, creating an aura around him, and his eyes dart between the van and two junkies. Bullets fly, and Jayson's eyes narrow while the world darkens around him.
Jayson screams and charges the van while the junkies are gunned down, dying laughing.
Bullets strike Jayson, but he ignores this and hits the van with his cosmic wood sword. A shockwave erupts and the bubble of time manipulation expands around Jayson. The van's frame crumbles and its windows shatter in slow motion as it sails through the air. When it leaves the time dilation bubble, it bounces across the street and hits a lamppost, snapping it.
Broken wires flail around, shooting sparks everywhere. Then a missile hits the van, blowing it and everyone inside to pieces.
“Ha! Killtacular!” shouts Lexia from her perch on the roof, clutching her bazooka.
Blood pours from Jayson’s wounds, and he runs to Lexia's side while Rolland's group comes out of hiding, brandishing shotguns. They aim their weapons at Jayson, but Lexia shoots a rocket at them, forcing them to scatter while the sidewalk explodes, flinging broken concrete bits into the sky.
Then Jayson changes course and charges the nearest one of Rolland’s group; which happens to be Shae.
“Are we doing this again!?” says Jayson.
He hits Shae through a nearby window, and he ducks and rolls as Dacre tries shooting him. And while this happens, Lexia jumps off the roof and lands on a car, breaking its windows.
Jayson leaves droplets of blood in his wake as he rushes Dacre and engages him, all while Cryus aims his shotgun at him. But before he can shoot, Lexia bolts towards him, and does a leaping kick to his face. Cyrus flies off his feet and hits a car, and he slumps down with his teeth broken and blood pooling out of his mouth, all while Jayson beats down Dacre.
After Dacre is beaten into submission, Jayson stumbles with thicker blood droplets dotting the pavement, and he and Rolland lock eyes. Jayson's heartbeats and breathing become heavier, his eyes narrow, and everything goes darker as he focuses on Rolland. Behind him is Lexanne, standing in the shadows, her presence known only because of the white eyes staring at Jayson.
“You little turds are on my side now!” yells Lexia, her voice faint.
“Come see with me,” calls Lexanne.
Rolland aims his shotgun at Jayson, and Jayson legs stumble as he rushes forward. He yells and whacks the shotgun down as Rolland fires, breaking bits of the road, and then he swiftly hits the crook.
Rolland sails through the air, breaking through the window of a second story building. And then a bullet rips through Jayson’s back and Lexia is shot multiple times. Jayson and Lexia both drop to the ground, and Mortimer walks through Lexanne, reloading a pistol while Jayson coughs blood and shifts around, his body becoming slick and weak.
“Well, that did not go as well as I had hoped,” says Mortimer, adding with a shrug. “Oh well.”
Lexia suddenly rolls to her feet and draws her pistol and a knife, and Jayson uses his cosmic wood sword to prop himself on his knees while clutching one of his many wounds.
“Ha! I'm wearing armor!” says Lexia.
Mortimer groans. “Ah shit. I thought you were cosplaying as an Amazonian princess. You certainly fit the part.”
Lexia smiles brightly with hearts in her eyes. “Awww~ Thank you!”
Mortimer grimaces and Jayson tries to stand, but falls to his knees, his blue clothing now almost completely red, and the white fur on his muzzle dripping with blood.
“Lexia, he's trying to kill us!” says Jayson.
“But he complimented me,” says Lexia.
Mortimer aims his pistol at Lexia’s head.
“Well, he's right. I'm going to kill you now,” says Mortimer.
Jayson growls and rushes Mortimer in a blur of speed. He whacks the pistol out of Mortimer's hand, and when Jayson goes for another strike, Mortimer dodges and uses Jayson's momentum to throw him into a brick wall. Jayson falls with blood all around him.
Then Mortimer dodges Lexia's shots, snatches his pistol off the ground, and returns fire.
Incredibly inaccurate bullets whizz past Mortimer and Lexia as they run and shoot, breaking glass, popping tires, ricocheting off the ground or lamp posts.
Mortimer and Lexia slide to cover by the same parked car, both reloading at the same time. After they reload, Mortimer slides around and attempts to shoot Lexia again, but diverts the shot by slicing his arm with her knife. Then Lexia tries shooting Mortimer, but he dodges, draws a knife from his back sheath and tries slashing her.
Lexia barely blocks and stumbles back while Mortimer aims his pistol. She sloppily dodges Mortimer's shot, quickly recovers her footing, and the two go at it again. Slash, deflect, shoot, deflect, slash, deflect. Blocking, kicking, slashing, shooting. It is a mess with every thunderous gunshot making Jayson's ears ring. And Jayson is still on the ground, clutching his wounds and crawling towards his cosmic wood sword, leaving a trail of blood in his wake.
Meanwhile, Lexia and Mortimer go in circles with their attacks, blocks, and counterattacks, but Jayson's world gets darker, and Lexanne appears again, holding her hand out to Jayson.
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“Come on, Jayson. Come see with me,” says Lexanne.
Jayson grits his teeth, blood and sweat soak his body. “I can't.”
“You will.”
Suddenly, a loud gunshot rings out and Mortimer is knocked off his feet, and in the distance, sirens and police lights are rapidly approaching.
Lexia, who is panting and covered with a fresh collection of cuts, looks around, and then up, and steps back Derrick lands near Jayson and scoops up him and his weapon.
“Meet me at the nest,” orders Derrick.
Derrick flies away, and Lexia immediately runs after him. Once she is out of sight, Mortimer winces and rolls on his hands and knees, and he checks himself. Blood drips from his cuts and a bullet wound. He rips open his shirt and sees a bullet is stuck in his vest, but still punctures him. Mortimer glares down the alley and sees Lexia rounding a corner, and he looks to where Jayson was and sees a black feather sitting in the blood.
Mortimer grabs it, looks at the sky, and when he sees red and blue lights reflecting off the buildings, he hobbles away, disappearing from view right as police cars swerve into the carnage. And as he leaves, cops jump out of their vehicles and immediately begin cuffing Shae, Dacre, and Cyrus, and a firetruck works on putting out the fire from the van Lexia blew up.
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Meanwhile, in a nearby quaint cafe, Trafford Augustine is sitting at a table that has a clear view of everything that happened. The patrons are casually eating and drinking their food, uncaring of the carnage outside, while Trafford watches with interest. He is so engrossed in the spectacle that he doesn’t notice Mariana approaching him, wearing the cafe waitress uniform and holding his bill.
“Don't worry. This is a daily thing,” says Mariana.
“Interesting,” says Trafford.
“No, it's not. Here's your bill.”
Mariana drops the bill next to Trafford’s empty plate and leaves.
Trafford looks at the bill, shrugs, drops the appropriate amount of money on the table, and leaves. Once outside, Trafford watches the police shove Rolland's men into their police cars, and more cops fan out to search the area. This brings him to smile and pull out his notebook.
“What an interesting place,” says Trafford.
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A couple hours later, Rolland, Cyrus, Dacre, and Shae are still sitting in a jail cell, all bloody and bruised. A pair of cops sit at a nearby table, with one reading newspapers marked with a headline saying: "MAYOR MARCOS MACANAS & GOV GALTERO GARCIAGUIRADO WIN RE-ELECTIONS IN EARLY MORNING LANDSLIDE VICTORIES!"
The other cop is playing a crossword puzzle game that came from the newspaper.
“Hey, what’s the study of ancient species?” asks the cop with the crossword puzzle.
“Nerdology,” says the one with the newspaper.
Then a crackling buzz blurts out from the speaker overhead, and the metal door sealing the occupants inside open. Claribel enters soon after (unarmed) with Mariana in a police uniform as an escort (armed).
The cops stare at Claribel with some confusion and wonder, but she pretends to ignore them and goes to the jail cell while Mariana unlocks it. Rolland is the first to leave, but he stops when Claribel pokes him in the chest.
“You're lucky there is no cash bail or minimum hold times here,” says Claribel.
“You call it lucky, but Mama Bear calls it investing in local resources. Now I'm ready to go home,” says Rolland. "But first... I want a taco."
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Back at the Safe House, Mortimer is sitting in a chair in the dining room, bandaged and drinking lemonade. Beneath the chair are torn garbage bags to make sheets to cover the floor and table and Ramsey is washing his bloody hands in the sink. Mortimer's vest is resting on top of a plastic sheet and his bloody clothes are in the trash.
“You're lucky you wore that vest. That bullet would have gutted you,” says Ramsey.
“I never leave without it. But we got a bird flying around,” says Mortimer.
“Are you implying that the bird shot you?”
“That’s exactly what happened.”
Ramsey goes to the cabinet, opens it, and is momentarily stunned when he sees everything is organized by type and in alphabetical order. But after a few seconds of his eyes darting around, he finds his protein cookies, and takes them to Mortimer.
“What kind of bird are we talking about?” asks Ramsey while giving Mortimer the small round pastries.
Mortimer thanks him, bites into one, and his chewing shifts from a glimmer of happiness to confusion, then to disgust, and he inspects the cookie, noting that it looks like a chocolate chip cookie, but tastes like cardboard soaked in old hamburger fat.
“What the hell is wrong with your cookie?” asks Mortimer.
“They’re protein cookies. Now, what about the bird?”
Mortimer sets the cookies down and chugs his lemonade. Once the cup is empty, he sets it on the table, rim side down, and gasps for air to pop the bubble in his throat.
“I’m not sure, to be honest. I didn't see who shot me, but it was from an odd angle that only a bird can pull off,” says Mortimer. He pulls out the black feather from his pocket and gives it to Ramsey. “This is where you come in. Work your science magic and find out what this guy is.”
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Jayson wakes up with a start, covered in bandages and laying in Derrick's nest of pillows, cushions and blankets. He looks outside and sees Derrick sitting on the porch. Then he looks to the side and sees Lexia cleaning her homemade rocket launcher. She is also covered in bandages.
“What happened?” asks Jayson groggily.
“Derrick shot the fox,” says Lexia.
“That's a relief. That ambush... I wasn't expecting that,” says Jayson.
“Yeah, that's generally how ambushes work. And you're lucky Derrick showed up because I would have just let you bleed to death.”
“Always the charmer.”
Lexia slides her rocket aside and looks at Jayson, holding a stern expression with glazed eyes.
“I'm serious. One hundred percent would have left you to die,” says Lexia.
Jayson stares at Lexia, and she stares back at him. She is still frowning and blinking the haze out of her eyes, and he isn’t shy about his annoyance being written all over his face.
“You know, one of these days you'll have to explain why you're a prickly cactus to me,” says Jayson.
Lexia resumes cleaning her rocket launcher, and Derrick walks in, goes to the fridge, and grabs a bottle of orange juice.
“I didn't see anyone, but I have my sensors ready, so if anyone shows up, we'll know in advance,” says Derrick. He goes to Jayson and gives him the orange juice. “How're you feeling?”
“Good. Which is surprising, considering how many times I was shot,” says Jayson as he opens his orange juice.
“I used some leftover medijects from my time in the Toxic War. Heals wounds quickly. Unfortunately, you lost a good amount of blood, so you're going to have to take it easy for a bit.”
“So easy as in...?”
“Lexia will take over the whole town while you recover.”
Lexia fist pumps. “Yes!”
Derrick glares at Lexia, and she smiles nervously.
“I mean... Happy to help,” says Lexia.
“That's better,” says Derrick.
He then pats Jayson's head and turns on the TV. The TV has a third person view of a video game character of a female mouse wearing an explorer outfit traversing a blocky jungle with blocky water and blocky rocks and blocky ruins. At the corner of the screen is pixelated "GSC"
“I'm going to make dinner. You two relax and behave yourselves,” says Derrick.
And coming from the TV is an obnoxiously fake happy narrator. “Helllloooo, everybody! Game Streaming Channel presents, Ms. Fritz Bee! Aaaaaand~ her favorite game, Block World! Disclaimer: AllfootageisprerecordedthreeweeksinadvanceandallfootageiseditedbyprofessionalsthereforeitisitechnicallynotstreamingbutstreamingisacoolwordifyouwouldliketoenlistinGSCthenbuyourcatalogueandsignthestuff. NOW IT’S GAME TIME!”
Lexia gasps and takes a flying leap on the couch, and Jayson uses his cosmic wood sword as a cane to go to the couch. He sits next to Lexia, and the harlequin’s eyes sparkle as she focuses on the screen.
“Oh, Block World! I love Block World! And Ms. Fritz Bee is the best Block World player! I would love to have her autograph.” Lexia squees. “I wonder what the challenge is going to be today. I hope it's a civilization run. Those are always fun.”
Jayson rolls his eyes and Lexia turns up the volume.
“Hello, everyone! It's me, Ms. Fritz Bee, for another episode of Block World,” says the player, her voice carrying a slight South Welsh accent. “Today's challenge is going to be creating a civilization with three hundred other players! We're going to do it colonial style.”
“Yes! I love it when they do these civilization scenario things! They're always goofy! My favorite is when they do swords and sorcery civilizations. That’s when things really get nutty.”
Jayson reaches for the remote, but Lexia slaps his hand.
“No! Bad!” says Lexia.
“But the Xenia marathon is on,” says Jayson.
“How do you know?”
“Call it a hunch.”
“Not good enough.” Lexia sits on the remote. “My remote now. Unless you want to dig for it.”
Jayson sighs heavily. “No. I'll let you have the remote, but I call dibs on it in an hour.”
“Bull. Nobody uses dibs.”
“I use dibs.”
“Since when?”
“Since now. And since I called dibs, that means you have to give me the remote in an hour,” says Jayson.
“You have to actually spot it first to mark it for dibs, Jayson!” says Lexia.
Jayson's hand shoots forward with the speed of a viper and he snatches the remote out from underneath Lexia's hip with impressive accuracy. Lexia is stunned, her expression a mix of surprise and embarrassment as her face heats up. On the other hand, Jayson is smugly satisfied having pulled off such an audacious maneuver, a mischievous smirk playing on his lips as he proudly holds up his trophy.
“Dibs on this remote in one hour,” says Jayson.
He tosses the remote on Lexia’s lap and relaxes in the chair, completely at ease, and Lexia's blush remains while her wide eyes stay on Jayson for a few seconds before she turns to Derrick and points accusingly at Jayson.
“Derrick, Jayson's cheating on dibs!” she cries out.
“Am not!” protests Jayson.
“He called dibs and both of you saw the remote after you tried hogging it, Lexia. Fair's fair,” says Derrick without looking at them.
Lexia glares daggers at Jayson, who just grins back in amusement. Derrick, however, is busy rummaging through his freezer and pulls out a rather suspicious frosty box with a slice of blueberry pie pictured on it.
“Do you two want this blueberry pie? It looks like it's expired, but I’m not really sure,” inquires Derrick.
Jayson and Lexia exchange an awkward glance before they both respond to the offer in unison - “Sure!” says Jayson while Lexia insists, “Yes please!”
Derrick shrugs, sets the oven to preheat, and then quietly goes about preparing dinner. And Jayson and Lexia watch Ms. Fritz Bee traverse the dangerous environment of Block World in total silence. But when Lexia puts up a cushion wall between her and Jayson, he smirks, adjusts his position and presses his feet against her wall while resting against the arm of the chair, locking her in on the couch.
Lexia growls, but Jayson doesn’t budge. Despite getting shot a lot, he finds this moment a perfect way to end his day.