"Why have you called for me, Captain?"
The intimidating juggernaut of an alien casually threw his gun over his shoulder. "You said we had an intruder here a while back. How did he get through the scanners?"
"That's what I've been stressing over. The target is named Null, and he knows about the Merchant's Dice. He appeared on the ship without a camera picking him up."
"How so? Is he a soldier or something? Is he not human?"
"I don't know. I checked through every file we gathered during the festival, and he is the only one we didn't have data on. You know our rule; every anomaly is a threat, and every anomaly will be swiftly executed."
"Yes, and I'll gladly take the role of executioner... if of course, the bounty is worth my time."
"You won't be disappointed. You have successfully completed many jobs for me in the past and was I ever late on the payment?"
"No, not once. I'll be on my way now."
"Geigan!" the captain shouted. "If you encounter any other humans, just make sure you don't kill a girl named Nera. If she dies, we will be trapped in this loop forever. I'm sure you want to go home and see your family again, so no screwing up."
With no further comment, the bounty hunter made his way to the ship's drop zone. "Geigan sir, we have your freefall gear at the ready!" the ally shouted, pushing the equipment towards him. "I don't need it, keep it for yourself in case something happens."
"But sir, the captain-"
Before he could finish, Geigan jumped from the ship, crashing into the water below him. His race was brutal, surviving even the greatest falls, almost like his body was made of steel.
Reaching the shore, he brushed off the sand on his shoulders. Finally out in the open, he stared into the night sky. "Geigan, what were you thinking? You could've died!" He chuckled as the captain yelled through the radio. "Do you know how hard it was to prepare that-"91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLrkeESWFJc
Geigan threw the radio down, crushing it under his boots. "Shut it. I can't have a loud mouth talking during the hunting season."
"Let's see now. If I was a pitiful creature all alone, where would I hide?"
─━━━━━━⊱✿⊰━━━━━━─
I stood outside the cafe, waiting for Null to finish gathering supplies for our journey. We checked the map of the city, and the fields I desired to visit so badly, would take another several hours at most.
Melonia Falls is quite large, it used to be the most valuable location on this continent, but it was just something about this place that started scaring people. It wasn't until the week of the festival, a few residents started disappearing, some people heard whispers coming from the night sky, and some saw unnatural shadows above their head.
The aliens have always been watching, we knew that we were never really alone in this universe. I was just hoping these lifeforms were going to help rather than destroy.
Null closed the front door, and stared at me in confusion. "You're not feeling sick, are you?"91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7skTRFkkMO
"No, let's keep moving."
Following the streets once again, I saw someone in the distance. A woman, dressed in a rather strange uniform. Null was stressed, he grabbed at his chest like the figure was a ghost of sorts. "E-Eradine?"
Was that supposed to be her name? It was as strange and questionable as his. "Hey Null, who exactly is that?" She stared back at us. "Don't go near her. She is a threat to this entire planet."
"W-What? She just looks like a normal human."
"Yeah, well she's not. She is one of the cruelest maids I know."
"Maid? What the hell kind of encounter is this? You didn't live inside a mansion in another world, did you?"91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbsuf1GxbVX
"Uh... something like that. I have no idea why she is here though. The only thing I could think of is... wait a damn minute!"
I jumped in surprise, wondering what kind of crazy story he was going to tell next.
"She might be here to kill me, or maybe find that one maid that went missing, or she might be after the Merchant's Dice!"
I walked over to her and introduced myself. "Excuse me, I never saw you in this city. My name is Noria and my friend over there seems to know you. His name is-"
"Null, I know. If he knew me, I don't know why you would try to introduce him." A sharp pain shot through my chest, as I realized my own ignorance. "I have no interest in reunions. You can tell him that yourself. I'm just simply here on vacation."
"Vacation? You came at a terrible time, because nobody is even here."
"Yes, I'm aware. That's exactly why I'm on vacation."
"Just leave her be, Noria!" Null stuttered. "We have important places to be as well!"
"R-Right. Then let's hurry Null!"
"Is there a problem, Null?" Eradine asked. 91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhVAIZMc5U0
"Nothing that I can't handle."91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOBEAdmogSk
"If you couldn't, I would really be questioning your position. I would've been a better choice by fate, but somehow, I must've gotten on every deities bad side."91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpKm2PmHPfU
"What's his position?"
"If he hasn't told you, then I won't."
─━━━━━━⊱✿⊰━━━━━━─
"This place, shouldn't we stay here?"
"Huh?" Null looked at the building in front of us. "Is this supposed to be inn or something?"91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBmpOHfgjA4
"Not necessarily, I just knew the person who lived here... they were an old friend of mine. I had a sleepover with them once, and I thought I could stay here and reminisce a little bit."
"Sure, I don't mind. Just promise me you'll get some rest. We still have a long walk ahead of us."91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXBnhHDAXui
"R-Right."
I headed inside, staring at the pictures on the wall. My friend, she actually graduated, she always said she would, and she would choose no other school. I chuckled lightly before calling for Null. No response.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjBMWy03CfB
Null wandered off, he detected someone not too far from our location. It was likely someone that the aliens sent after him. Yeah, that's exactly what it was. A bounty hunter holding a 12-gauge shotgun.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuCFapezCcv
He spotted Null with ease, firing a shell towards his face. These weren't normal shells, for they melted surfaces at an unimaginable degrees; alien technology at its finest. "Quit hiding, I was told interesting things about you. I came down here expecting a worthy opponent."91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq9XHrCUZtp
"Incineration is hard to come back from." Null muttered to himself. "This is a really beefy alien as well. What is he some sort of special ops?"
Geigan kicked the bench Null was hiding behind, sending it across the sea. "Holy hell!" Null shouted. Geigan picked Null up by the throat, launching him through the fence of a nearby building.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJR3lVIxJIb
"Fight back, or are you just another rodent! Because if you are... I will stomp you down until you're mush!"
Null was lifted into the air by the giant and slammed down into the ground. His bones crushed with ease. "You're not dead yet? I bet you're in some agonizing pain right now!"
Null stood up and brushed himself off. "That's impossible!" Null just chuckled watching as his body restored to its original form.
"Are you impressed big man? Are you impressed that I can heal so quickly? I bet you never encountered a rodent who could do that!"
"Are you kidding? I love being able to slaughter something over and over again!"91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpkOGDYo7af
Geigan fired another round at Null, a direct hit leaving a massive hole in his cranium. "I noticed you said healing, meaning... it's not self-resurrection. If I pummel you fast enough, doing an unrepairable amount of damage, you will not be able to recover and die!"91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg6W2MLscr3
"Normally, yeah."91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7aLaV0XrA6
Geigan fired over and over again until his body was filled with large holes. All of Null's organs were blown away except for one. "Your heart still beats, what kind of monstrosity are you? With all these craters in ya, I expected you to get worried."91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr3Fy5AiUqj
"Let's just say I don't have a fear of death!"
Anger welled up inside of Geigan as he fired the final shot into his heart. He didn't even try to resist, didn't even try to fight for a second of his useless life. He stood there in shock, waiting for just a subtle amount of movement.
"Dammit, and I had high hopes for this one!" he grumbled. "My life is a real disappointment sometimes."
"Hey, come in Geigan! Did you kill your target? I heard gunfire down there!"
"Yeah, he's dead. He didn't even put up a fight."
"That's quite odd. Anyways, I'll pay you for a job well done. The ship should be picking you up soon."
The call ended on his backup radio. "I'm about to put a round into that damn captain if he keeps this up."
─━━━━━━⊱✿⊰━━━━━━─
Was that gunshots I heard? I put the picture back down on the table. I was certain something was going on behind the scenes, but I felt too weak to do anything. I heard a knock at the door, I stayed silent, hoping for the person on the other side to speak up.
"Noria..."
"Null! I'm sorry, I thought you were somebody else!" she answered. The door opened and Null waved back. "I just had a few things to take care of. Who else would be knocking on doors around here?"
"Aliens."
"Oh yeah... right. I forgot all about them. Have you had enough time to reminisce yet? The night only grows smaller the longer you stay awake."
"Yeah, but I swore I heard gunshots a moment ago."
"Yeah, I heard the sounds too, but they weren't loud enough to be gunshots."
"Are you sure?" Lies, just all lies.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCDr0xoxkLW
"It was probably just something falling apart in the distance... maybe an old building or something."91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJBEL9WH300
"Either way, I'm glad you didn't get yourself killed."91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvZksBJ6I3e
"Nothing could kill the great Null!"91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO55WIF2tCB
"Whatever you say, the journey will continue tomorrow, so don't oversleep." I explained harshly, before walking upstairs.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9aZ3KdJKnt
