Chapter 5

A sudden coughing fit gripped him, causing Jet to choke on the water. He waved off a hand, clearing the water from his lungs after a few seconds. "'m okay, Virginia," he growled, a little embarrassed as Clive moved to support him.

"Slowly," the older man admonished him, lifting his canteen back to Jet's lips. He grunted again, annoyed by all the attention. It was getting pretty cold... normal, considering he had been out for most of the day and desert nights were cold as hell. He tried to sit up on his own, damn near ready to try and reintroduce his fist to Clive's nose as the man held him a little tighter.

Waking up had been interesting. The fact he wasn't on hard floorboards, but rather in a familiar bedroll had been enough to confuse him mildly. The dream he had before waking, a barely remembered nightmare consisting of blood, death, and long brown hair, had set him further on edge. When Clive had hovered over him to see if he had woken up...

Jet was certain that Clive deserved the shiner for that stunt.

Virginia scooted a little closer, a steaming mug in her hands. Jet eyed it, a little frightened at what would jump out of it.

"Gallows made it," Clive murmured in his ear.

Relieved, Jet took the mug with almost steady hands.

"Hey!" Virginia's face didn't match the offended tone in her voice. Jet just snorted, taking a small sip of the broth. Their leader could make some excellent sandwiches. Anything involving actual cooking, however... was better left to Gallows or Clive. He was still having nightmares about her stew.

After a few more minutes, and draining the mug to the halfway point, Jet spoke up. "I'm going back to Deadwood."

"Whoa!" Gallows looked up from the fire, surprised. "No way in hell, man. That place is a death trap."

Virginia nodded, firm. "You can't go back. Not like this."

The android snorted, taking another gulp of the cooling liquid. "Yeah, well, it ain't your ARM that asshole has. I'm goin' back to get it."

Clive let out a long breath, tickling his ear. "He has a point, Virginia," he told the girl sternly. "Without his ARM, he might as well go to nest now. And if anything," Clive's voice took a rarely heard dark turn here, "if that town continues the way it has, it'll claim more victims."

"Well, yeah, but..."

Virginia frowned, thinking about this. She looked up at Gallows, opened her mouth like she had an answer, then closed it, still thinking.

"Maybe we should go back to Baskar. I mean, this is really..."

"No." Jet finished off the broth, and started to get up. "We don't have time to go visit her this time. I'm goin' to get my ARM. Come with me or not, I don't give a shit, but I ain't lettin' you keep me here."

"Jet..." Virginia gripped her knees, not looking up at him. "We just got you back. We can't let you just go off and get hurt or... kidnapped or..." Her hands gripped the fabric of her dress tighter. "But... we can't just let this happen. We all saw the bodies. We heard the rumors. And with what happened, we know what's true!"

Clive nodded, and pulled something free from a pack. He flipped it around, and handed that damned knife back to Jet, hilt first. The man just looked calmly at him, damn near understanding. Jet took it, idly noticing someone had cleaned it while he was out. Finally, he sat back down, back up against a rock this time. "Fine, fine. What the hell ever."

Gallows scratched the back of his head, sighing. "Man, and I just can't let you go have all the fun without me. Count me in too, I guess."

Virginia brightened at that. "All right!" She and Gallows started arguing over something, probably something incredibly banal, when Clive spoke quietly to Jet.

"Don't get too caught up in your revenge."

Jet blinked, surprised. Then he snorted, looking up at the sky. "Whatever," he grumbled. Then, grudgingly, "Two days ago... thanks."

Clive opened his mouth, then closed it. "I wouldn't say that so soon. I had to knock her out first."

"Didn't expect it any other way," he said, amused. "How the hell did you make it there, anyway?"

"Gallows," came the unexpected response. "He noticed the horses were being startled a little too easily, and decided to send me on ahead to Deadwood while he calmed them down."

"Hmph. So he does have a brain up there."

Clive shot him a disapproving look tinged with amusement. "Best get some rest, Jet. You're still not healed."

"Yeah, yeah..."

---

"Augh! What is that?" Virginia put a hand to her nose, eyes watering. "It's like there's something dead nearby."

Jet looked at the group in amazement. They couldn't feel the pressure on their chest, and the feeling of complete and utter wrongness? They were focusing on a smell? He watched Gallows cough and wave at the air. With an eyeroll, he turned back to the path to Deadwood. If they couldn't take a smell, then they shouldn't have come with him.

"Yo, Jet, can't you smell that?" Gallows complained, quickening his step to walk next to him.

"No." And he didn't really care. He just wanted to get his damn ARM back and dish out some of the pain he got. In either order, Jet wasn't picky. It felt more and more wrong closer to the town... the sheriff hadn't been killed yet. Guardians, it felt horrible.

Clive placed a hand on Jet's shoulder, causing him to tense and battle the urge to lash out at him. These really were his companions, not a cruel trick. It wouldn't do to hurt them. "You really can't smell it?" the man asked, voice low.

"Hell no. Air feels wrong, but that's about it."

Gallows slowed, obviously thinking. "Hey... That..."

"Hurry up or get left behind," Jet snapped, catching sight of the gates. No one noticed them coming up. Of course, still in their stupid rut. He paused briefly at the gates, watching with tired amusement as the kid relieved another townsperson of some gella. If the town hadn't gone batshit, he might have liked that brat.

"Um... why don't they see us?"

"Probably can't," Gallows spoke up, thoughtful. "You said that this place went completely apeshit and everyone started killing everyone else, right? The day's probably on constant replay."

"But... how?"

Jet snorted. "There's a demon. Probably download itself before Beatrice."

Everyone looked at Jet, confused. "How do you," Clive started, pushing his glasses up when the android cut him off with an exasperated look. "Oh. Right."

"Bein' the Filgaia Sample come in handy," Jet said, shrugging, turning away. He knew that Virginia was going to come up beside him and try to comfort him with a touch. Girl always tried it. But Clive was a bit of a surprise, as was Gallows.

"Don't put yourself down," Clive started, sternly.

"We're a team!" Virginia smiled at him brightly.

"Whether you like it or not, buddy."

Jet snorted, looking back at the town. "We better get moving. Don't have that much time before it goes insane." He nodded towards one building, freeing the knife. "Over there. That's the jail."

"Then let's go." Virginia pulled out one of her ARMs, raising it to her forehead briefly. "Ready."

Two red shells slammed home into the Coyote. "Ready."

And a bolt was pulled back and thrust forward, chambering a round. "Ready."

Jet narrowed his eyes. "Ready."

---

"Can I help you?" The sheriff stood, tired. Jet pushed down his urge to beat the snot out of him right then, and nodded to his Airget-Lahm.

"That's my ARM."

"Is it?" The sheriff looked it over, blinking at it. "For the life of me..."

Jet raised a hand. "Cut the bullshit," he snapped. "You know where it came from, and you know who it belongs to." He stepped back, warily. "So why don't you just stop the normal act?"

A rich, wrong laugh bubbled from his throat. "Impressive. And you brought your friends this time." The sheriff lifted the Airget-Lahm, looking it over. "How did you know, dear Jet? You aren't quite human, are you."

No, he wouldn't let himself feel that bit of alarm. "And you're not as stupid as you look," Jet shot back.

A shout from outside... Virginia. Jet tensed at the sound of Gallows firing, glaring at the sheriff. "Oh, didn't you realize? They do what I want. Redo the day that gave me the most terror, draw in new souls to feast on... and kill to protect me. They are quite the invincible army."

Jet snarled, starting to circle him. Knife fighting... the basics were somewhere in his body, borrowed from the original Jet Enduro. His half-healed ribs started to hurt, warning him that yes, he had a limit. Damn Gallows and his refusing to cast a healing spell for broken bones more than once an hour.

Two shots... Virginia. There had to be a way to defeat them. A single, loud shot, and a curse coming from an unlikely source. Clive's ability to cuss surprised the rest of them and made them wonder just what kind of childhood the cultured man had.

The room was too small. Neither of them would have the space to fight properly. But all Jet had to do was grab his ARM. If anything, they could fight their way out after that. He didn't care about stopping it from luring unwitting travelers. He'd rather live.

"Virginia!" Gallows yelled, loud enough to be heard on the other side of Filgaia. "They're undead!"

Jet's eyes widened. Of course. Using that exclamation as a signal, Jet rushed forward, tackling the possessed body. He managed to wrap his fingers around his ARM on the way, but only knocked it off the desk. Bored, the sheriff knocked him off. "Is that..." It suddenly stumbled, looking outside. "Bastards."

"Requiem!"

Jet laughed bitterly, groping for his ARM. "Invincible army?" He curled his fingers around the handle.

The sheriff's response to that was to grab Jet and toss him through the window. Instinctively, Jet rolled into the landing, managing to only injure his shoulder and face a little from the razor-sharp glass.

"Jet!" Virginia looked over at him, a golden Guardian slab in her hand.

"You're on the right track!" Jet managed to shout back before the sheriff jumped out, hauling him to his feet. He kicked at the man, managing to break free and back up a bit.

Suddenly, he heard Gallows's voice, speaking the trigger Arcana word with a resonance that only said he was invoking his special ability. "Requiem!" The sheriff staggered, nearly going to his knees as the townspeople dropped from having their puppet strings suddenly cut. Jet smirked, and placed the barrel of the Airget-Lahm against his forehead.

"Sorry, but this had always been my best friend," he said, and let out a burst directly in its face. "Now!"

"Right!" As it was healing, Gallows cast another Requiem on it.

And the world snapped into sickening reality around them, the sight and scent of death, rotting people and rotting buildings, became apparent.

---

"Geh." Gallows followed Jet carefully, inching around the dead body on the stairs. "Look, we got your stupid ARM and took care of the town. What else do you want?"

There was just one more thing. Jet looked at the half-opened door, pulling out the knife. He didn't need it anymore. The kid was laying there, a good portion of its middle eaten away by scavengers too stupid or too desperate to be driven away by the demon. Jet thought about it, then bent down, putting the knife in the child's outstretched hands.

"Oh." Virginia looked down at the body. "Yeah... he shouldn't be left without his weapon."

Jet looked behind him, about ready to give her an incredulous look when he realized all of them were giving him knowing looks first. Clive nodded, pushing up his glasses. Virginia smiled, nodding as well.

"That's all good, but can we get out of here? This place gives me the creeps." Leave it to Gallows to ruin the moment. Jet shrugged, straightening as they started out. He passed by Clive, and hesitated as the man said something.

"... heh." He just smiled a little, shifting his ARM. "So you say."

Clive shrugged, following him.

And the child's body laid there, as if fending off the attacker that had cut its life short, Clive's words hanging in the air.

"That was a kind thing to do..."

The End