Chapter 3: A ropey affair
“Joan, save usss,” Mark whined when he saw Joan finally arrive. He had a gash on his left temple and his right sleeve was torn. “What took you so long?”
“I figured I wouldn’t be of any use here anyway so I just took my time,” said Joan, skirting around at the edge of the vacant lot.
“What? You little- we’re dying here. And you’re just -”
“Talk later you two. If we only have a way to take that tree from his hands,” said Angelica, running past them, the bungisngis on her heels. “We can’t even make a dent on its skin because it’s so thick. Thank God it's stupid or else we won’t even last this long.” Angelica can feel herself slowing down. The bungisngis was too huge and too tough that it’s taking everything she has just to keep up. If this goes on any longer, they will be at a disadvantage. Afterall, they were nothing but just annoying flies to swat in the bungisngis’ eye.
“Is there even anything we can do?” asked Katie.
Angelica shook her head. She ran all the way across the lot to the opposite side, trying to maneuver around the uneven ground and sharp rocks when at this moment, the eye of the bungisngis swiveled and zeroed in on her. It drew itself into its tallest height and was about to land another punch when -
A loud whistling sound pierced through.
A gleaming red arrow had struck the back of the bungisngis’ hand, which caused it to flinch in pain and drop the tree. It then drew back its fist and tried to pull out the arrow with annoyance on its face.
“Damn not good enough, huh?” said a young woman who just appeared. She wore black jogging pants and a tee shirt, as well as a face mask and a black cap. On her hands was a traditional bow where another arrow had magically appeared.
“Who?” asked Joan.
“It doesn’t matter who. Come on,” prodded Angelica. They ran towards the young woman shouting, “Help! Help us! Please!”
“Who are you?” the woman asked, seemingly surprised to find a couple of teenagers in the parking lot.
“We’re apprentice shamans. We have been trying to make sure that the bungisngis doesn’t get to EDSA itself.”
“Oh, at least you’re apprentice shamans,” the woman mumbled under her breath. “How many are you?”
“There are four of us. Including those two,” she pointed to Mark and Katie in the distance, who were still trying to dodge the bungisngis.
“I see. In that case -” the woman rummaged around and dumped a bundle of rope in Angelica’s arms. Then she took an unlabeled plastic bottle of water from her backpack, twisted its cap, and doused the rope with its contents.
“Is that holy water?” asked Joan, who was one step behind. She looked at the rope with great surprise.
“Is it? I just call it that water,” said the woman.
“Well it’s not exactly holy per se, it’s just what shamans call it,” said Angelica, feeling a bit awkward that she had to explain something obvious to another shaman. The holy water that they use is not the same as the church’s holy water. It is filled by a shaman’s spiritual energy - also known as sigla - which can help in weakening the defenses of supernatural beings. It can also be used to subdue or defeat weaker creatures. Naturally, it is expensive and the stronger ones can even reach thousands of pesos.
The rope glistened brightly underneath the sun as it soaked up the holy water. The woman took three of the same unlabeled plastic bottles and placed them in Joan’s hands this time. “I’ll try to distract the bungisngis while you tie up its ankles. Then you try to use your Arnis to beat up its knees or something.”
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“Will the rope hold up? I don’t think we’re strong enough to even land a significant hit on the bungisngis,” said Angelica, glancing at the seemingly flimsy rope and wondering why on earth this woman had several bottles of holy water in her bag.
“Just throw the holy water on its knees, then beat it up, that should help.”
But Angelica was still unconvinced. “You make it sound so easy.”
“That thing is really potent,” said the woman, referring to the water. “It might even be stronger than the ones on the market. Besides, I’m here anyway, it’s not like you’ll fight that thing alone. Tell your friends too.”
____
“Did I play it cool? I tried to be as confident as you said,” whispered Billie, feeling her palms drenched in sweat. She was as stiff as a board. She somehow expected that some people would be fighting the bungisngis but she never expected them to be students. The way they looked at her like she was their savior almost made Billie run the other way.
This time she had turned away from the apprentice shamans and walked closer to the bungisngis. Mark and Katie finally came over, staring at her and looking confused.
“You did well. You sound like a professional,” came Puddle’s disembodied voice as they passed by. He had transformed into a bow on their way to the site. “It might be better if I become a sword you think?”
“What? I’m not that good with swords.”
“You’re fine. You’re not as good as your aunt but it will do. You still have holy water in your space pouch, don’t you?”
“Yes, but I feel like I’m scamming them. It’s like they're expecting Albus Dumbledore to appear but what they got was Neville Longbottom-”
“That is oddly specific. Hey watch out!”
At the last second, Puddle had changed into a sword. Billie swung it overhead to stop the bungisngis' angry fist from smashing her to pieces. The ground beneath her feet cracked and sunk from the force. A visible wave of blue sigla began to envelope Billie as she tried to parry the onslaught. The force however broke through her defenses and in the end, she was almost thrown to the sidewalk.
“Damn, I’m careless. Are you okay Puddle?” said Billie, tasting a metallic taste in her mouth. She may have bitten her lip during the exchange.
“Yeah, how about you?”
“When have I ever been okay?” asked Billie. She leaned forward and as if her knees were spring coils, she launched from her position and leapt towards the bungisngis arm that was still on the ground.
SLASH.
Warm red blood blossomed from the bungisngis' wound. Yelping in pain, it threw another punch. Billie dodged it this time. It wasn’t very fast but holy shit was it strong. The wound was shallow too. She needed something else to really drive the sword through.
Billie took another bottle of holy water from her bag and drenched the sword with it. After gripping its hilt, she ran close to the bungisngis’ ankles, trying to sneak another hit. But the skin in this area was tougher and Billie couldn’t yet wound it at her level. She almost bumped into Katie who had been trying to encircle the bungisngis ankles cautiously. Changing her plans, she jumped again on its forearm and ran along its length, only stopping at its elbow.
“Tell me when you’re done tying. I’ll try to keep it in one place,” she shouted. She leapt to the bungisngis’ right shoulder, her sword slicing through the open air with elegance. Irritated, the monster raised its left hand to swipe her, but she had already deliberately jumped into another position. Higher and higher. Not hesitating. Until she reached the top of its head.
Her muscles rippled with tension, as she gazed at the going-ons beneath her feet. Not to be outdone, the bungisngis tried to swat its own bald head with such force that Billie was thrown over to its left ear. This area smells even more vile and foul. However, she had no choice but to cling on the curve of its earlobe despite how disgusting it was.
“It’s done!” screamed Angelica. Billie looked at them and saw her waving over. Mark was holding one side of the rope while Katie and Joan held another portion.
“Great!” said Billie. She already spotted her next landing - a fold of skin on the bungisngis’ forehead. Her legs bent on instinct and as she hung on for dear life, she plunged the sword with holy water on the bungisngis’ lone eye.
Howling in agony, it clutched its now profusely bleeding eye as Billie swiftly pulled out the sword from its trenches. Narrowly avoiding its hand, she propelled herself to the lower eyelid and quickly took another stab.
ARRRGHHHH.
An ear shattering scream pierced through the morning sky. Seeing this, Angelica yelled, “Tighten the rope! Make sure the bungisngis falls within the vacant lot.”
“Okay!”
“Copy!”
They splashed the ankles of the bungisngis with the remaining holy water, half of which they had already used for their own arnis sticks. They heard a loud hissing noise, as if the skin of the bungisngis had melted with the influence of the holy water. All three warrior shaman apprentices then smashed the bungisngis’ ankle joints forward, bracing themselves for the recoil impact. In no time at all, it had already stumbled backward and tripped, all the while screaming and giggling. The earth rocked and swayed and shuddered, then finally the bungisngis was brought down to the ground.