Chapter 6
(Tw for homophobia in the beginning)
Eggie gives the Reaper a swift punch in the mouth, he looks frustrated and Artemis is leaned against the wall with his arms crossed and an unamused look on his face. The Reaper looked worse for wear, with him being tied to a chair and his face decorated with cuts and bruises. Eggie then grabs the enemy by the shoulders and shakes him violently.
"I'm only going to ask again once. Where the fuck is this party?!" He screams, but the bandit doesn't flinch, in fact he chuckles and gives Eggie a smug look.
"And if I don't tell you? What happens? You can't kill me because you'll be at a dead end again, plus I won't budge bitch. Do your worst!" Eggie scoffs and gives a smile, but the hatred in his eyes is still prevalent.
"My worst? Ohohohoho, listen here you little bitch boy. Not only are you freaks planning on harvesting souls, but you almost killed Hunt, and by that alone is enough for me to smear your ass across the goddamn wall. Trust me, I can show you my worst." Eggie raises both hands and-
"Eggie." Artemis warns. Eggie looks over at him and gives a noise of frustration before swiftly punching the Reaper again. He walks over to Artemis and gives a defeated sigh.
"What else can we do here? He isn't budging…"
"Let me try, I have an idea." Eggie raises his eyebrow.
"What did you have in mind?" Artemis gets off the wall and walks over to the door.
"Be right back." He says before exiting. A few seconds pass and Artemis returns with a traditional bow and a few arrows. Eggie raises both eyebrows.
"Artemis, we can't kill him." Artemis gives a small smile.
"I know, but trust me on this one." Eggie thinks for a second, before nodding. Artemis nods back and goes back to being stone-faced before walking again, stopping in front of the Reaper. The bandit scoffs.
"So you want to try now? Good luck, cause like I told your boyfriend, I ain't talking, so just leave me alone you fucking f-!" He was cut off with an arrow lodged in his shoulder. He yells in pain. Artemis is still cold faced.
"You know, people say getting shot by an arrow is the worst thing ever, but for me-" He grabs hold of the arrow. "-is getting it out." He starts pulling the arrow out, agonizingly slow, the Reaper starts crying out in pain, but Artemis doesn't stop. "And you know, accidents happen, sometimes if you're not careful, you might slip." He twists the arrow, causing a new wave of pain to the Reaper, he's sobbing at this point, the only sounds coming out of him are his wails of pain.
"STOP IT! PLEAASSE!" The Reaper eventually cries out.
"Are you going to talk?!" Artemis asks, still twisting and pulling the arrow.
"Yes! I'll talk, I'LL TALK!" That made Artemis stop, but he kept a firm grip on the arrow.
"Alright, talk." Artemis says.
"The party is at the Master's mansion, however you need invitations!" The Reaper breaths out.
"And where can we find these invitations?"
"..." The prisoner hesitates.
"I asked a question." Artemis warns before gripping the arrow tighter. The enemy's eyes widened.
"Club Honey Club Honey Club Honey!" He says frantically. Artemis lets go of the arrow and walks over to Eggie. Eggie was shocked the entire time.
"Are… Are you ok Artemis?" Eggie asks cautiously, Artemis tilts his head.
"Yeah? Why?"
"Well I've never seen you act like that before…"
"Oh! Well you said it yourself, he tried to kill Hunt, it's unforgivable." The two smile at that. But their smiles dropped immediately when they heard the Reaper start to chuckle. The two walk up to him.
"And what's so funny?" Artemis asks, confused.
"You think you can stop this? Hehe, you guys are foolish to think that. We are so close to our goal, this world will be reformed. And by the hand of our glorious Master! AHAHAHAHAH-" An arrow sinks into the Reaper's forehead, he quickly dies and dissolves, leaving the two arrows to fall to the floor.
"Gosh that was so annoying." Artemis says before putting the bow on the chair. "Now then, shall we relay this message to Quote?" Eggie nods and the two leave the room.
Cut to Hunt sitting on a bed, with Julia standing over him
"Well, thankfully there isn't any internal damage to your system… speak for me Hun?" Julia says.
"H-hello?" Hunt replies softly.
"Oh good! Well there's nothing else I need to check up on, you're free to go Hun."
"Thank you Julia!" Hunt says before hugging Julia, who chuckles and returns it. They part and Julia guides Hunt to the door.
"Anytime Hun, now run along, I'm pretty sure Eggie is worried that your voice is gone." Hunt nods and exits the hospital section.
As Hunt walks into the Guild Hall, he sees Eggie, Artemis, and Quote, they're in the middle of a conversation.
"Now you understand my concern? We already put him at risk for even allowing him in." Quote says. Eggie looks to the side and sighs.
"Look, I didn't realize the situation was this bad, I thought they were a new thing, if I knew that there was this much danger, I wouldn't have been so willing to let him in." Eggie says, a hint of sadness in his voice. Artemis looks downcast.
"So, what next Eggie? Cause not everyone will be available to go with him, and even you can agree that letting him go on missions on his own is absolutely a bad idea." Quote inquires, Eggie looks at him.
"I've been thinking about a-"
"Eggie?" Hunt asks, everyone's head whip to where they're looking at him.
"Hey Hunt! How are you feeling?" Eggie asks.
"I'm feeling fine… Julia found no problems so…"
"Oh thank God…" Quote mutters.
"That's great!"
"Eggie?" Hunt says
"Yes Hunt?"
"Now that I've been cleared… c-can I know what's happening?" Hunt asks, hesitantly.
"I've been wondering that myself actually." Ness says, just popping up, startling everyone.
"Jesus Christ Ness!" Eggie shouts
"Hello." Ness replies nonchalantly.
"How long have you been around?" Artemis asks.
"Only a few minutes, anyway Eggie was going to explain just what the hell is going on, right?" Ness says, egging (pun not intended) Eggie on. Eggie looks conflicted but nods.
"We better sit down for this one." Eggie says gesturing to a nearby table. After the group sits down Eggie starts explaining everything, with Artemis chiming a few times and Ness and Hunt listening closely. After Eggie was finished, there was a beat of silence before Ness spoke up.
"So… we're dealing with cultists?"
"Essentially yes." Artemis answered.
"Shouldn't be too hard then."
"Ness, we don't know where they could be, heck we don't know if the information we have is genuine… cause a person will do anything to stop pain." Artemis states, a grim look on his face.
"We can still run their fade when we find them though."
"Just because we can doesn't mean it'll be easy though… if Artemis had an issue with them, I don't think we can 'run their fade' that easily…" Quote states.
"Hunt? You've been quiet for a while… you ok?" Artemis asks, Hunt looks at Artemis.
"So how can I help?" There was a look of determination on his face. Artemis and Eggie look shocked.
"H-Hunt? Are you sure you want to help out? I mean, you almost died…" Eggie says.
"Absolutely, I will not stand by and let this stuff happen." Eggie smirks ("This kid").
"I do not agree with this at all." Quote speaks up, standing from his chair. Artemis sighs.
"It's his decision Quote, let him live by it." Artemis replies.
"At least put him with someone at all times! Being by himself is way too dangerous at the moment." Quote replies. It's Eggie's turn to sigh.
Then a loud boom from outside and Eggie's phone going off interrupts the conversation.
"Sir! Monsters have breached the wall again. They're bigger and more of them than ever! They've gotten inside, need help!" Kyle's voice rings through the speaker.
"On our way Kyle! EVERYONE LET'S GO!" Eggie exclaims, all the other guild members stream out of various doors….. Except Kylo.
Everyone steels themselves, ready to show these monsters what for. "What's the plan Eggie?" Aggie asks, visibly buzzing with the need for action. Eggie smiles.
"Kill as many as possible, but make sure that the residents are safe, and at the safe zones, got it?"
"Yes Sir!" The rest say in unison.
"Then let's get it!" Eggie shouts before sprinting towards the danger, everyone else following, with Frog going back to her lab.
(Battle Begin)
Everyone is in close proximity, but they are all fighting their own battles. Aggie and Dark double teaming a bear looking monster, Quote and Artemis shooting down some monsters that look like bats, Peachy has another bear's arms and legs wrapped in her ribbons, she pulls on her ribbons and the bears limbs rip right off, she looks proud before sidestepping and stabbing her ribbon through a lizard that lunged at her, Rumble gliding through the air before slamming down his halberd, knocking down a group of monsters, giving a hearty laugh, Kyle and Jake tag teaming a scorpion, and Eggie playing golf with turtle monsters. Hunt is trying his best with a wolf monster, however the thing barely flinching with his dagger slashes. The wolf howls at Hunt before lunging, Hunt guards but right as the wolf was about to make contact, Ness gives it a swift punch in the jaw, a burst of glitch energy dispersing out of Ness' hand. The wolf goes flying through a fence. Hunt's mouth drops open as Ness lowers his arm. He turns to Hunt and raises his eyebrows.
"You ok?" Ness asks, voice laced with concern.
"So cool…" But Hunt snapped back to reality when a woman was heard screaming, it was coming from beyond the broken fence. Hunt turns to Ness and Ness nods, the two of them run in the direction of the scream.
There was a woman on the ground with another wolf looming over her. Ness got to it and punched it, causing it to fall backwards. And while that was happening, Hunt was helping the woman get up.
"Are you ok ma'am?" Hunt asks softly.
"I'm fine now that you are here." The woman replies, Hunt nods and smiles. Rumble then lands next to Hunt.
"I can take you to the safe zone ma'am." Rumbles says. The woman smiles.
"Please." She looks at Hunt and Ness, who still is staring down the wolf, who's slowly getting back up. "Good luck to you two!" She says before running off with Rumble. Hunt rushes over to Ness, the wolf finally gets back up. It howls upwards, then a whole new wave of wolves come in, Ness and Hunt are now facing a pack of wolf monsters. Ness laughs and Hunt looks at him in confusion.
"Ah deja vu, or bad story writing, either way, it's all the same." Ness stretches his arms over his head, his sleeves moving down and exposing his cuffs. "Ready Hunt?" Hunt nods and readies himself. Ness nods back and readies himself as well.
Hunt rushes towards the nearest wolf and starts slashing at it, effectively stunning it. He then ducks, revealing Ness jumping at it with his fist raised, he lands a hefty blow to the wolf's face and it goes flying, crashing into another wolf and causing a domino effect, knocking the others to the ground. Hunt then throws a bomb into the pile of monsters, it goes off and it kills a few and sends one in Hunt's direction, he slashes at it and it dies when it makes impact to the ground behind Hunt. Ness is busy with another wolf, sending a string of punches into its stomach and then finishes it off with an uppercut laced with energy, it falls backward dead. That seems to be the last of them, Ness and Hunt look at each, the only sounds are their heavy breathing.
(Battle End)
"You ok?" Ness asks. Hunt nods and sheathes his daggers.
"I'm fine, we should see where everyone is and-" A larger wolf appears behind him, its jaws open wide, just as wide as Ness' as he yanks Hunt behind him and raises his arm to defend. The large monster chomps down-
Onto Ness' cuff. Ness smiles and grabs the wolf's head with his other hand. It glows with energy and then he crushes its head. It dissolves and Ness turns around to face a worried Hunt.
"I'm fine, it caught my cuff, no damage was done." Hunt breathes a sigh of relief.
"I'm glad you're alright Ness." Ness nods and opens his mouth to speak but the sound of a building crashing down alerts them. They run towards the noise and find a big T-Rex looking monster roaring in a plaza. Everyone else is circling around it trying to do damage to it, but its scales seem to be made of rock or metal. Heck even the turrets that are being controlled by Frog don't seem to be doing anything. Rumble goes for an under head strike, but the dinosaur swings its tail and hits Rumble out of the air. He goes flying and lands next to Quote, who is shooting at it frantically. Rumble gets up and jumps back into it. Hunt and Ness run up to Quote.
"What's the deal with this thing?" Ness asks, Quote sighs, but doesn't stop his firing.
"There are armor plates on his body, they seem to be natural, Artemis says that the weak spot under it, the most we can do is keep it here annoyed until something happens." Quote replies. Hunt looks around and sees a big wooden beam among the wreckage of a building, he squints before-
"I have an idea!" Hunt shouts, both Quote and Ness raise their eyebrows. Hunt pulls out his phone and pulls up a radio.
"Hey guys! Continue what you are doing, I just need to get close to this thing!" Immediate responses come through the signal.
"Of course, do what you need, Hunt!" Jake says.
"We'll keep its attention, let's do this Hunt!" The twins say in unison.
"Just don't get it close to the safe zones, but go on Hunt!" Peachy responds.
"Hell yeah Hunt!" Eggie shouts.
Hunt looks to Quote expectantly, he looks conflicted before saying-
"Just don't get killed." Hunt nods before turning to Ness.
"Do you think you can lift that beam?" He points to the beam in question. Ness checks his cuff before nodding. Hunt smiles before doing acrobats onto rooftops.
(Boss Battle Begin)
Hunt circles around the monster, throwing bombs at it, they go off and the lizard tries to turn to Hunt, but Rumble jumps in his field of vision and gives it the middle finger, which got its attention. Hunt mentally thanks Rumble before continuing his barrage. He sees the plate start to crack. ("One more come on.") He readies his bomb but the monster's tail swung towards Hunt, breaking the building he was standing on, Hunt's eyes widen and he throws the bomb, it makes impact but as Hunt was grabbing his daggers, the tail and the building caught up to Hunt, causing him to be apart of the debris and breaking his daggers. There was a puff of dust, but no Hunt.
A chorus of "Hunt's!" Rang out through the group, but Hunt emerged from the wreckage, with scrapes and scratches on him and he pulled out his phone.
"I-I'm fine, but the plate broke! Ness, it's your turn!" Ness nods and runs up to the beam. He then closes his eyes and furrows his brow. His hands started glowing energy and the beam started to glitch out, the beam started to rise from the ground and Ness' forehead started to sweat. He opens his eyes and his right eye is glowing red, blue and green. He aims the beam to the exposed part and throws the beam. The energy fades from his hands and his eye goes back to normal. He crouches in exhaustion. Hunt nods before saying.
"Artemis, get Eggie to that beam!" He shouts. Artemis stopped firing his bow and looked to Eggie. Eggie nods and Artemis fires his hook at Eggie then grabs the rope with both hands and starts to spin. They begin to gain momentum and at the peak of it, Artemis swings the rope and flings Eggie towards the monster. Eggie turns his glaive into a hammer and raises it behind him.
"Go back to being extinct motherfucker!" He shouts before swinging his hammer at the beam. The beam goes through the monster, leaving a hole in it. It falls to the ground dead. Eggie lands and does a triumphant pose. Everyone cheers and Eggie smiles. Hunt walks over to Eggie and hugs him, Eggie reciprocating. Artemis walks over and pats Eggie's shoulder, Ness walks over and gives a weak smile and a thumbs up. Quote looks at Hunt and chuckles. ("This kid.")
(Boss Battle Completed)
A few days later, everyone is at the table for breakfast, Eggie and Kyle finished talking about the Kingdom's repairs. Eggie looks over the table and sees Hunt, who has a bandage on his face, and Eggie assumes the rest are under his clothes, Ness who is trying his best to eat but his glitch energy isn't cooperating, like it does every morning, and Artemis who is chuckling and is helping Ness not ruin anything. He smiles before standing up, which got everyone's attention.
"As you may have known, abnormal things are happening and I apologize for not telling any of you what's happening. You see, we are under the threat of the Reapers, who are harvesting souls for a cause that we are not clear about. Me and Artemis are trying to get more information. However, I've decided that I can no longer do things on my own for this, so I've chosen a team for myself." A few murmurs at the table.
"The teammates I've decided are Artemis-"
Artemis gives Eggie a 'I'm not surprised' look.
"-Ness-"
Ness looks at him and smiles.
"And Hunt."
Hunt looks shocked and looks at him dumbfounded.
"That is all I have for this morning, thank you."
After breakfast was cleared, Ness, Artemis, and Hunt walked over to Eggie.
"So, what made you decide this?" Artemis asks
"Because I wanted to." Eggie shrugs.
"Fair enough." Artemis nods.
"Now then, we need a team name… I was thinking the 'Culture Hunters'." Eggie says with pride, Artemis shakes his head.
"We are not naming our team after your old guild… what about 'Kings'?" Artemis suggests, Eggie shakes his head.
"Really? After you just said what you said? That's a reference to your guild" Eggie jabs.
"I'm just saying, 'Ness and Friends' sounds pretty cool." Ness pipes up. Artemis and Eggie glares at Ness, who just shrugs.
"W-What about 'Misfits'?" Hunt says softly, the other three raise their eyebrows.
"'Misfits'? Why that?" Eggie asks.
"U-Um b-because if you really t-think about it… we are just a couple of misfits…" Hunt looks to the ground, waiting for rejection. There's a few beats of silence.
"I like it." Eggie says after thinking about it.
"I agree." Artemis adds.
"Roll credits…" Ness murmurs.
"What was that Ness?" Eggie asks.
"I said cool." Ness replies. Hunt looks at them dumbfounded.
"Alright, from this day on we are Team Misfits!" Eggie raises his fist in the air.
"Team Misfits!" Artemis raises his fist.
"Team Misfits." Ness raises his fist.
Hunt snapped out of shock, before smiling and raising his fist.
"Team Misfits!"
End of Chapter