Wherever they went, death followed suit. With an army of faceless devils by their side, a sea of lost souls at their very disposal, no obstacle stood in the way of the dark tide. Losing comrades by the dozens, under the harsh conditions, the hails of bolts and arts born from a deadly disease, hellfire of sorrows, stained steel of mighty blades and many, many more. The one, single constant, numbering a certain four remained as unmoving and stable as ever throughout this endless march towards a goal so vastly different between them all. A troupe of mad puppets, keeping the reaper’s pain monopoly going.
Such were the months spent amongst these hellish rejects, always split into two groups, a case of “us and them” all over again. The familiar and the unknown - a few somewhat friendly faces amidst the ocean of masked brutes. Not to say that the lousy quartet’s relations were all perfect either, but…
… At least they were getting along. Somewhat.
Andy woke up early, yawning and stretching in his tent. Another day, another job, another pile of bullshit to put up with. He turned to grab his goods and chattels, letting the grogginess seep from his eyes. There it was, right by the entrance - a little, pink box, with a bright red ribbon wrapped around it. Cute.
His half awake mind didn’t even bother engaging any self-preservation protocols, simply letting him pick the gift up and shake it. It rattled alluringly.
A glint of childish joy spawned in his eyes, washing the remnants of the night’s embrace away. A gift! For him and only him.
The ribbon came apart, landing gently by his side. His slim, slender fingers grasped the lid and popped it open.
An ear shattering explosion shook the tent and sent his heart rate skyrocketing. A light as bright as the sun itself filled his sight, blinding him completely. A wild, uneven ringing filled his head, setting off every alarm and fight or flight response. He recoiled backwards, covering himself in shock and genuine fear. Once the light finally gave up, letting his eyes free, he turned back towards the source of all this mess. There was a small piece of smoldering metal inside, along with a sticky note.
“The FLASHIEST of wishes for the not so bright~!”
Signed with a crude drawing of a smiley face with X’s over its eyes. Andy felt his blood bubbling within his veins as his breathing slowly started to stabilize. He grasped his shirt. Still alive. His fingers were still here. Everything was fine.
Outside the tent, sprawled across a black box of munitions sat the perp, wheezing and slapping her knees. A sight so common these past few weeks. Something about that wide, sarcastic grin, about those orange eyes, almost squeezed shut, about how her tail swished through the air behind her, was so weirdly alluring. Despite his completely dazed and shocked state, Andy knew that he had to get closer to her. Closer to that devilishly charming face, those rosy cheeks and pale lips. Right this instant.
“Enjoyed my little gift, Ricketts? Picked it out just for you, you should’ve been on the ground by now, rolling around and thanking me for… What? What got your panties all in a twist, wh-...?”
W didn’t even get to finish as Andy cocked his arm back and slammed his fist as hard as he could into that complacent mug of hers. She flew back and landed on the ground, clutching her nose.
“Tch… Motherfu-...”
As she tried to get up, another blow rained down upon her smirking face, sending her plummeting to the ground. Andy seized the opportunity and jumped atop the fiend, preparing to turn her facade into mush. To rip those pretty eyes from their sockets, to crush those cute fangs into a fine powder, to draw blood and let it give some color to her ever so pale cheeks. To break and squash that small nose of hers, to rip those snow-white curtains of luscious hair from her head and shove them down her throat. To turn that pretty face to a pile of bloody devil puree, to stop only when his arms finally give out.
He’s had far enough of her bullshit by now. Every single day, over and over again, quips, insults, words seeping with sarcasm and conviction of her own superiority. Andy had had to snap at some point, with all this exasperation and hatred growing within, seeping into each little nook and cranny of his brain. This wasn’t the W he came to know and somewhat accept.
Long gone were the days of being affectionately called various anti-lateran slurs and thrown around the ground for fun. This one was vastly different, way less genuine and a pinch too annoying.
As his fist flew into her face once more, she managed to grasp his wrist and twist it.
“Now you’re done.”
Gone was her teasing smirk, making way for a grin so cold and detached. As her words seeped from behind her gritted teeth, blood flowing down her face, she twisted the boy’s arm and threw his frail, weak body to the side, quickly reversing their positions. She was the one in control, now, straddling the poor guy in between her legs and wrapping her tail around his torso, just in case he tried to get away. He could feel only a miniscule amount of regret trickling into his head before the fiend on top of him put all her might into a single, bone shattering jab sent into his face.
At that very moment Andy realized that honestly, he had no idea what else he was expecting to happen.
Everything went red so suddenly, so quickly. No one gave him a countdown, not even a heads up, not a light warning before the world turned crimson. His face felt unnaturally warm, covered with blood, profusely spurting from his mouth and nose. The girl on top kept cackling like a maniac and thrashing his poor, fragile face, with her legs holding his arms by his side, preventing him from defending himself in any way. She was a lot stronger than him, given she was a sarkaz, a goliath to be precise, a beast with strength as fierce as a pack of well fed hounds. Giggling away, yelling and wiping the blood squirting from her nose between punches, W had no intent of stopping, clearly enjoying the adrenaline rush.
“Didn’t know you were THIS suicidal, Ricketts!”
Splat.
“How’s that?!”
Splurt.
“This? Any better? You got some blood on your nose, lemme help…!”
Crunch.
She tenderly broke his nose.
“And some on your shirt. Don’t wanna stain that pretty thing, do you?!”
Crack.
She affectionately cracked his ribs.
Groggy mercs all gathered around the two, woken by the grenade and her yelling. Watching, murmuring, observing, whispering, not even one bothered to step in and help the poor boy. When it became apparent that she had no intention of stopping until Andy drew his very last breath, Hoederer stepped in and grabbed W by the scruff, holding her high up into the air.
“HEY! Hey! Hedley, put me down! What, afraid your angel plaything’s gonna go limp?! Let me go, you…”
“I think he got the message already.”
The stoic man turned towards the crowd, still holding the fiend by the back of her collar.
“You, lot. Nothing to see here, just merc banter. Ready your iron, we test our luck at the battlefield today once more. Off you go.”
A wave of unenthusiastic murmurs came from the crowd, which quickly dispersed and went on with its daily routine. Andy was left desperately gasping for air on the ground, feeling a thousand needles stabbing his chest with every breath. He couldn’t even feel his face at this point.
“... You got him good.”
“Thank you~. But the little bugger deserved it, really. Ruined my hair.”
“I never took you for someone who cares about their appearance.”
“Because I don’t.”
She left the red headed man and took a few steps towards the boy. At the mere proximity, he raised his arms above his face, weakly.
“N-No more.”
“Oh, don’t be such a spoilsport. We were having so much fun, weren’t we?~”
She crouched by his side, her sharp gaze sliding all over his battered face and bloodstained clothes.
“... Though, in all fairness, I gotta admit - you’ve certainly got a pair. A pretty big one, too! Rare sight among you lot, angel.”
Hedley soon joined her side, his arms crossed.
“Tch. Looks bad.”
“T-Thanks, big man.”
Andy immediately started coughing out blood afterwards.
“Sounds bad, too.”
“No shit. What else we got… Smells bad?”
W leaned closer to sniff the poor guy.
“Sure does.”
Hedley’s hand creeped to his chin, grasping the messily shaven stubble in thought.
“Seems like you’re gonna be out of action for a few days at least…”
The giant’s mind wandered, counting all the cash they’d lose on account of the marksman’s disrepair. All the necessities needed to treat those pretty much self-inflicted wounds…
“... Which means you’re nothing but dead weight, Andy.”
“H-Huh?”
“That’s what I’ve been saying, anyway. Maybe you should listen to me from time to time, you know~? So, do we drop him now, or…?”
“Shh. Maybe it’s not necessarily a bad thing.”
Both W and Andy tilted their heads in confusion.
“You’ve racked quite the bounty on your head, Andy. Not comparable to what W had on his, but… Still. A bunch of money.”
The boy’s mind froze, sending a chill creeping down his spine. He reached for his holster, only to find it empty. He left both Nuffer and his dad’s revolver in the tent. It felt like a heavy punch to the gut.
“Y-You don’t mean…?”
“Of course not. You’re one hell of a crack shot, all things considered.”
A light smirk stretched on the redhead’s face as all the pieces of his puzzle finally fell into place.
“I know a rogue bounty hunting organization. No flag to serve under, no one to answer to. Bugs among the sand. We can’t just turn you in ourselves, since they know you’re running with Ines and I… They’d sniff out a scheme right away.”
A glimmer appeared in his ever so calm eyes.
“But they don’t know about W. Not this one, anyway.”
She scoffed. Hedley gave her a pat on the shoulder.
“You’re gonna take him there, all battered and bruised, pretending to want to hand him over. They take the bait, wander into your mousetrap like the rodents they are, and you two leave, both in one piece. How’s that for merc solidarity?”
W and Andy exchanged a glance. A wide grin was already making its way onto her face.
“Sounds swell. As long as Drewie and I get some quality leisure time, hm?~”
“I think I’d r-rather you two just kill me right now.”
“Oh, can be arranged.”
She reached for her combat knife in the holster by her ankle, only to be stopped by the giant’s iron grasp.
“No, no, Andy, listen. It’s either this or turning you in at the nearest merc town. You serve us no purpose in this state.”
“Seriously?”
“Yes.”
“No, really, you’re just gonna, what, turn me in?”
“Yes.”
He nodded calmly, again. Andy scoffed and leaned back against the hard ground.
“... I don’t have a choice, do I?”
“You don’t.”
He gave his knee a light pat, which made the boy flinch in pain.
“I’ll arrange you two a meeting for tomorrow. For now, you’ve got a day off.”
W kept watching as the man left, still staying by the injured’s side. She slowly turned her head towards him, a smug smirk plastered all over her stupid mug.
“Ready for a little rendezvous?”
“Oh, fuck off.”
“Tch! That’s no way to speak to a lady.”
“Didn’t know I was talking to one-... OW!”
She flicked his halo. Hard.
“That’s for using such a lame line.”
And again. He flinched in pain.
“And that’s for being an ass~. See-ya, Ricketts.”
Andy was left laying on the floor, bleeding profusely from each hole on his face. It didn’t matter.
He closed his eyes, wanting everything to go away for just a few minutes. To see the land from his dreams one last time.
Tomorrow, he dies. That’s for sure.
Sorry, Lemmy, I’m going on a date with a psychopath.