Wolf blasted another one, blasting its skull apart like a carnival water balloon game, "Wow these things are easy to k-" Suddenly Wolf was barreled over by a larger Klounh with blue and orange coloration whose hide was much thicker than the others, allowing him to shrug off Bullets like they were nothing, it laughed and giggled manically as it wrapped its meaty hands around her throat, she kicked and flailed but it was no use, the vice like grip of the Klounh was like steel!

  "FUCK OFF, BOZO!!" Edge kicked it but was immediately seized by another Klounh with blue spots that dragged him backward with jagged claws, Green strode over and raised our sword but we were punched square in the back by a solid orange Klounh with overlarge hands, sending our spine through our lungs and out our front, we fell in the grass as Green receded once more, I gasped helplessly for air as I heard Edge angrily attempting to get free, Wolf wasn't moving, I panicked and As I began to pass out I heard a scream like wrenching metal, that sword from before fell into my hand, once it touched my palm, I felt a rush like adrenaline and I was suddenly able to breathe again, I stood up unevenly and physically JAMMED my spine back through my chest as I felt my healing ability pick up speed!

  Raising the blade above my head I was blown off my feet by a goddamn sonic boom, I flew backward and landed on my ass! I quickly realized that the Klounhs had all already been killed, they'd been obliterated, nothing visible anymore but colorful flesh streamers and HEAPS of glitter with fragments raining down from what had just happened. I stopped and looked around wildly to see Love lying on the other end of the clearing, both her arms and a single leg were being held still by the insta-splint, she was sobbing as she struggled to move.

  Meanwhile, Edge was shaking Wolf who was not moving.

  "Wolf! Come on! Please! Don't do this to me! Not NOW, not you, NOT AGAIN!"

  My pain came back all at once as I fell once more to my knees, then to my side, coughing blood.

  Singleton rushed over and felt Wolf's chest area, then pulled out a med kit.

  I watched as he pulled out a Tracheotomy kit from said med kit, applying it a little lower on Wolf's neck than I would have liked, which meant that he'd figured out that her windpipe had been crushed by the Klounh, I needed to give him more credit for his skill set.

  Wolf gasped awake as she was finally able to breathe, coughing and feeling the straw, "wh... ow..."

  Singleton held her hand down, "don't move, I'm calling a medivac, Green you can stand, can't you?"

  I groan and I sit up, "yea...fuckin spine..." I manage to cough before standing up with difficulty, looking at the sword in my hand, "You again..."

  The blade whispered incoherently in my head, the blade glistening with glowing runes that to my eyes spelled out the word "Blasphemy" right before my eyes before the light faded and the runes were just runes again.

  Singleton looked over at me, "What's that, Green?"

  I looked back over at him, "A sword...one that..." I mulled over Lying to him before deciding on the truth, "That I got from the mermaid at 919."

  I grunted as I felt my spine properly set, "it's supercharging my healing."

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  Singleton's eyes widened as he saw the blade, "Green...hand that to me..."

  I walked over and handed the blade to him but as soon as the hilt left my hand, scabbard and blade vanished in a flash of green sparks.

  Singleton grasped at the sparks, "What...Green what the hell??"

  I flex my newly healed back, "at this point I've learned to stop looking gift horses in the mouth, Agent Singleton."

  Edge carried Love's rigid body to where Wolf lay, I joined him as he set her down.

  Love whimpered as I sat next to her, "I'm sorry Green...I didn't know there were so many...I nearly got us killed."

  I reach over and pat her head, "It's...OK."

  She nuzzles my hand with a sad smile, "hey at least you don't have to wait to heal."

  I nod, feeling out her injuries through her suit, making sure she wasn't too busted up, what I felt was pretty bad but not as bad as it usually would be.

  Love cringes and I remove my hand, she smiles painfully at me and the look of worry on my face. "I love you..."

  I blink, it was odd to hear her of all people say it, like it even needed to be said, but I returned it in kind, patting her head, "I love you too."

  She giggles, a fun and bubbly noise that tickled my heart and my brain alike, "Don't feel special, I love All of you.... you've been here for me since the beginning of this thing, and I want you to know just how much I value you all..."

  I laid my forehead against hers, listening to Singleton on the phone with the cleanup department, "I'm serious, a big fucking tent"

  Love sighed, looking sad, "I've always loved all of you...you, Edge, Wolf...Ripper..."

  Tears filled her eyes, "and the thought that Wolf might..." she began to sob again, "might end up like Ripper...I don't know what I'd do if..." she broke down into unintelligible sobs once more.

  I couldn't help but tear up as well, I hadn't thought about it, but I felt the same way.

  I looked over to see Edge, bloody and bruised with finger gouge wounds from that Klounh in his shoulder. running his fingers through Wolf's hair, "It's going to be ok; we'll get you fixed up and then we'll-" she swatted his hand away, "ge-HT fucked!" She coughed, this time it was Edge's turn to swat her, "Don't you FUCKING talk, you're trached you could get...worse." I saw that he had tears in his eyes too, "y'bitch..." he followed up with, Wolf saw this and put a hand on his chest, then sat still and focused on her breathing.

  I stood and walked back towards Singleton who was throwing up as he was on hold with Houska's cleanup team, I chuckled, "You ok?"

  He looked at me angrily, "How are YOU ok?? Look at that!!" He gestured to the pile of bodies inside the ruined big top, "And GOD the smell.

  I shrug, "I'm used to stuff like this, Singleton, I was raised in it."

  This was the first time, I think, that Singleton registered that we weren't just kids who knew how to hunt, the look on his face made my heart hurt as he wiped his mouth.

  "I keep forgetting that...you're not altogether human yourself, are you, Green?"

  I splayed my arms out and twirled on the spot, showcasing the blood running down my front and back from the spinal abnormality which was still properly setting, "what gave it away?"

  Singleton gagged and then waved me away, after which I went to sit with my crew.

  "You'd think this guy hadn't been in it for as long as he says he has," I say as I walk over to sit next to Edge.

  Edge doesn't take his eyes off of Wolf as the cleanup team pulled up, "Maybe, Green, and this is just a guess, his version of "in it" is different than yours."

  I shrugged as the paramedics came to ship us off back to home base, "maybe you're right."

  Soon enough the cleanup crew got there, burning everything in the tent and getting rid of all the corpses they could find. The report on arrival was that the infestation had been cleansed with "no further incident" what I learned that meant was that this was the last pocket of a dying race.

  We had extinct an entire species, granted, it was a horrible, sadistic, parasitic, masochist species, but a species, nonetheless.

  The world wouldn't be seeing any more Klounhs, or at least not that I could tell.

  Agent Singleton would go on to be a favorite of my squad, earning the nickname Kraft Singleton, after the slices of cheese.

  When we went home it was heavily bandaged, but we had done our job the way we had been trained to do it, I was proud of us.

  Our next mission would be much more difficult...