The Ballada Appears

Franchise and Evangelist stand close, inches from one another. Evangelist’s pupils’ glow, a piercing red. With her eyes, she sees the Threads that make up the ground, the air, and all of reality. With her fingers, she searches through Franchise’s Threads. Until she found the Thread that stated: “A target to the Party People”. And with her scissors, cut them.

With that Thread destroyed, that concept no longer applied to their world. Meaning that Franchise would no longer be targeted by the Party People. She had already cut hers after dodging the first attack and went on to cut the Thread: “Party People don’t attack each other”. The Threads eventually return to normal, but they take many hours to do so.

That was Evangelist’s VSS. Franchise had his own VSS, admittedly much more boring but quite useful. Upon licking his fingers, they could cut through anything he wanted.

The duo walks away, unharmed through the flower field, in search of a legendary artifact. The Shattered Essence, capable of rewriting all of reality. Evangelist’s powers only tapped into this idea; momentarily blocking a concept from the world. She couldn’t stop Franchise from being the target of so much karma, so this was their chance. But the journey ahead of them would be a tough one. Who knew how many days and nights they would spend on it? How many challenges… only time could tell.

Not even a minute after the battle, they encounter a stranger. A short, tubby man. A real gremlin. He was bald and walked quickly with his stubby legs. He was carrying a pot, almost his size, and appeared to be in a rush. He stumbles on the road and drops the mysterious pot. Thankfully, Franchise grabs it before it hits the ground.

— You okay, sir? — Evangelist asks with her hands behind her back.

— Oh jeez… I eh… — He mutters, in gremlin voice, while getting back up. — Oh, wait a ding dang dong minute! Are you two… Searchers?!

— That we are. Here’s your pot. — Franchise offers the pot back to the gremlin-man.

— Dear, oh goodness! My prayers had been answered! — He takes the pot. — I’ve been searching for you Searchers; I have found something only the likes of you could handle! This pot you see! 'Tis a relic, named the Shattered Essence!

— The pot that you were about to drop? — Franchise asks, doubtful and wholeheartedly confused.

— THAT’S THE RELIC?! — Evangelist yells.

— Well… yes, but the relic is an energy, a mist that imbues objects with its shot. I put it in this pot to contain it. Please take this with you!

As the 100 cm man offered the pot to them, the duo traded a look of confusion. But they had no reason not to take the man’s offer and accept the relic.

— She carries it.

— I carry it! — They say at the same time and take the relic.

— So… — Evangelist wonders out loud.

— I guess we're done here. — Franchise prepares to call Hyuga.

— Do you want to meet up with everyone, we can hang out for a while, and then we take it back to Hyuga? — She asks.

— Sure… Hey goblin man. How does the relic work —

— Don’t be rude! Mr. Goblin man, sir, how does the relic work?

— Eh, you have to use the item that the Essence is in. You have to open the pot to use it!

— Thanks! — She yells, walking away.

Evangelist and Franchise part ways with the little man and exit the fields of Depth 5. They were after a group of friends, Searchers like them.

— What I’m wondering is that if it's such an offensive word, then why do they say it over and over again! — The sly and attractive Juice asks.

— It’s part of the plot! They need to show that it’s a bad word by saying it! — Little Imperium answers.

— That doesn’t make sense… — Ragnarök wonders.

— Why are you asking me, I didn’t write the books!! — Imperium struggles.

— You’d think the wizards would know some good stuff too, like… the cure for cancer or something, so why are they ostracized? — A cute, green haired girl comments, with her soft voice.

— Don’t give them ideas! — The boy uttered.

— WHAT’S UP WITH THAT?! — Ragnarök wondered harder.

— EXACTLY! IT'S FILLED WITH PLOTHOLES IMPERIUM!! ITS UNBELIEVABLE HOW MUCH PEOPLE LIKE IT!! — Juice despaired.

— AND WHAT DO I HAVE TO DO WITH IT?! I DON’T LIKE IT EITHER!! — The boy continued to argue.

The Ballada, as they were known, were a group of 7 talented Searchers. Franchise and Evangelist were part of that team. And these were the other 5. Walking towards a fountain to meet with their boss, from right to left, they were Killerkill, Imperium, Juice and Ragnarök.

Juice was a tall, slender but extremely handsome and seductive man, close to his 40s. He wore the black uniform like all other Searchers, but had a purple coat tied to his waist. On his torso was a leather strap and gun holster, with a real flare gun on it. He also wore a purple fedora hat.

Imperium, the prodigy child, was only 11, but had a fearsome and unique talent. His black uniform had little blue and pink ice-cream designs all over. His short curly hair was also blue and pink, as were both his eyes. Killerkill, was a college student, smart and kind (not that does things are directly related). She had bright green hair and eyes. On the right side of her uniform, were many blue bandages she kept wrapping on herself. There were three on her right arm, four on her right leg and two on her waist. The VSS was doing wonders for her body too.

Ragnarök was the brawler maniac of the group. She had dark skin, which contrasted nicely with her short-sleeved uniform and her wild orange hair. She had a black mouthpiece that prevented her from biting others, and she always carried her one-handed mace. Furthermore, she had the most muscular body in the whole team, but there was something strangely pleasant about her hardened and defined figure.

Arriving at the fountain, they see a man in a white uniform.

— Enough. — He signed with his hands.

The group stops arguing. They also communicate with him using sign language, out of sheer respect. That was the leader of the Ballada — of their group. Luscious Liver.

Luscious Liver was their leader. He was mute and communicated via sign language. Since he was a Captain Searcher, he had a white uniform. And for extra style points, he wore a little blue scarf. He had drawn back white hair and always wore a serious expression. When it came to his reputation, no one knew whether he was actually mute or just extremely quiet. But no one really cared, either.

— How is it going, chief? — Juice signed, casually.

— You look good as always, chief! — Killerkill signed, with admiration.

— What’s the mission today, chief? — Ragnarök signed, hungry for action.

— Will Franchise and Evangelist join us, chief? — Imperium signed with care; he was new to this.

— They are on their way, but first we have to take care of something ourselves. — He informs. — Someone is threatening to destroy the Wetlands. Let’s not waste our time here. — They walk after him.

— Destroy the Wetlands? A damn idiot, then?! Let me at em! — Ragnarök says.

— I’ll shoot the rat bastard before you get the chance. — Juice says, taking out his flare gun.

— I can get them first! I’m way faster than you guys!! — Imperium says, trying to measure up to their height.

Ragnarök and Juice share a look before laughing out loud. While the three argue, Killerkill shyly approaches Liver.

— Boss, should we be worried? Destroying the Wetlands doesn’t sound like an everyday task…

— We’ll act carefully as always, and with Franchise and Evangelist coming to us, we will be at our best.

— Okay! I trust your call, boss! — Killerkill signs, with a cute smile.