Back to the present.
"Jody! You're going to pay for this!"
Soniya stormed forward with her gun drawn. A gray-black aura poured from her body, and Jody could immediately feel the floor beneath her shifting, turning into liquid.
"...!"
Without hesitation, she grabbed the edge of the counter with both hands and pulled herself up, perching on top of it. She aimed a finger at Soniya and unleashed a volley of air bullets!
The bakery erupted into chaos. Glass shards, dishes, and splinters of wood exploded through the air, forcing Soniya to flip a table over and duck behind it.
Thud! Crash! Clatter!
Debris flew in every direction from Jody's destructive assault, and Soniya immediately grasped the nature of her power—those air bullets weren't just fast. They were devastating.
"So she can shoot air... Got it."
Suddenly, the counter Jody was standing on began to melt into the floor. Realizing it just in time, she jumped—using the bodies of Amy and Marley as makeshift landing pads.
She landed on her back, soaking her white sleeves and shirt with blood. But that didn't stop her. She used the two corpses as cover.
"You sick bitch!"
Soniya fired back, but the bullets merely tore into the lifeless bodies of her subordinates, blood spurting out like a burst pipe.
Jody wiped blood from her face and crawled toward another table. With her body in this condition, her only option was to leap frog-style, landing either on her back or arms. But just as she moved to touch the floor—
"Sink!"
Her arm plunged into it.
"!?"
She instantly realized it—Soniya had turned the floor into fluid again. She had predicted Jody's escape route.
It was a trap.
But in that moment, Jody made a decision.
She aimed her other hand—not at Soniya, but toward something behind her—and fired.
Soniya dodged easily.
"Fool! You still want to fight—?!"
"...No."
"Huh!?"
"How the hell would someone like me fight someone like you?"
Crack!
Soniya heard it—a sharp cracking noise from behind her.
"!?"
She turned and saw it. The target Jody had fired at wasn't her. It was the bakery's window.
CRASH!!!
The glass shattered, and right on cue, a flood of tear gas from outside surged into the store.
"Shit!"
Soniya clamped a hand over her mouth and nose. She had to retreat—fast. If she inhaled too much of it, she'd choke and collapse.
"Cough! Gah!"
The power of Lunar Sea dissipated, and the liquified floor solidified. Jody was free.
She dug her heels into the ground and launched herself straight at Soniya!
Bang! Bang!
Soniya sensed her coming and fired blindly, but she couldn't aim—the tear gas was burning her eyes. She had to keep them tightly shut.
The bullets missed.
And then—bam! Jody collided with her, knocking her to the ground. They rolled, struggling amidst the gas. Finally, Jody managed to straddle Soniya and pin her down.
FWHIP!
"AAARGH!!"
Jody shot an air bullet into Soniya's hand, forcing her to drop her gun.
"What the hell?! How are you... still moving?!"
Soniya couldn't believe it. She couldn't see, but she was sure—her hands were locked around Jody's face.
But Jody—she wasn't coughing, wasn't flinching at all. The gas didn't affect her.
Because now—all the air in the room was under her control. Including the tear gas.
Soniya forced her eyes open and witnessed something impossible: not a single wisp of gas touched Jody's face.
That's when she understood.
"You… you control air!?"
And right then, a finger charged with a swirling air bullet hovered next to Soniya's temple.
"Bring them back—now!"
Jody shouted, and commanded the gas in the room to surge directly into Soniya's eyes, ears, and nostrils.
Soniya could feel it—the thick cloud of toxic gas enveloping her face. She fought back, gritting her teeth.
"...You're cough not... from this world..."
"What the hell are you saying!? Bring them back right now!"
Jody slammed her into the floor.
"Yes... cough that attitude... you're an amateur!"
Soniya didn't yield. So Jody shot her in the shoulder.
FWIP!
Blood sprayed.
"AAARGHHHHH!!!"
Soniya screamed.
"Don't get cocky, you bitch!!"
She drove her stiletto heel into the back of Jody's neck. The blow was brutal—like being struck with a steel club.
"!!!!"
Jody lost control of her body and went limp for a moment.
Soniya seized the chance to flip their positions—now she was on top, hands tightening around Jody's throat.
"Hrk...!"
Jody tried to bring the gas back to her advantage, but in sheer physical strength, she was outmatched.
Soniya could fight even blind and breathless.
"Urgh!!!"
Jody's windpipe was being crushed. She had to use both hands just to hold off the choke.
If she let go to fire another bullet—she'd be dead.
"You think you know who you're with? You don't know him at all! You work for that bastard Syd Barrett, don't you?!"
Soniya's grip tightened. Jody felt like two truck tires were squeezing her throat.
"!? This woman—she knows Syd!?"
"You'll regret it when you learn what he can do! He'll lead you to your death! Just like this!!!"
"Urrggh..."
Jody couldn't hold on. Her vision dimmed.
And in that final second...
Her ten fingers, still wrapped around Soniya's arms—released just the pinkies.
Then, with both little fingers aimed—
FWIP! FWIP!
Two air bullets shot straight into Soniya's throat!
"GACK!"
She instantly let go and clutched her own neck.
The pain forced her eyes open—and she gasped.
A full breath of tear gas flooded into her lungs and burned her corneas.
"AAARGHHHH!!"
Jody didn't back away.
She knew—distance was more dangerous.
As long as she clung to Soniya, the assassin couldn't use her liquefying floor. Not without dragging herself into it too.
"Bring them back! Now!"
Jody was focused on one thing and one thing only.
Thwip! Thwip! Thwip!
Three air bullets slammed into Soniya's legs, tearing through them. The assassin collapsed.
That was when Jody turned to Amy's corpse and grabbed the green-liquid-filled syringe from her.
She knew she had to charge. If she let the distance grow between them, she'd lose.
Crack!
Her already fractured leg cracked further up toward the hip. The pain made her want to scream.
But with sheer will, she forced herself through it and body-slammed Soniya down with her.
WHAM!
Soniya hit the floor face-first. Jody landed on her back, pinning her.
THUNK!
Soniya felt something sharp pierce into her shoulder blade.
Jody had just jammed something—something like a syringe—into her back.
"....Huff... huff... huff..."
Jody's ragged breathing echoed through the shop. Even Soniya, seasoned as she was, couldn't believe this "civilian" girl had managed to put her in a disadvantage like this.
Injuries-wise, Soniya had multiple gunshot wounds, though the ones to her neck were no bigger than a pinky tip and missed major arteries. Meanwhile, Jody's outer injuries were less visible, but her internal trauma was far worse.
Her skull was cracked from the heel strike, her upper arms shredded by embedded bullets, her neck bruised purple from the choke, and her leg broken all the way up to the hip.
"If you don't bring them back... I'll inject you with this poison."
That made Soniya instantly realize—Jody had jammed Yuri's syringe into her.
"...You... you're just a regular person!"
If it weren't for the power controlling the gas in the room...
"...Huff... huff... huff..."
"..."
Seeing she was at a disadvantage, Soniya started trying to negotiate.
"If you kill me... Syd and the kid will be buried alive in concrete."
"!?"
"..."
Jody froze—but didn't ease her grip.
"I don't care how you know him... but if you don't bring him back right now..."
"Hrk—!?"
She pressed the needle in fully. Her thumb hovered, ready to push the plunger.
"...No, Jody... you don't understand... you think I'm lying?"
"..."
"If you kill me, the kid and your friend will stay buried forever. Maybe they're not suffocating yet... but they will be. Decide."
"!?"
Soniya took a breath before continuing.
"You take Syd Barrett. I'll take the girl. Then we walk away. Deal?"
"..."
"It's not like I care about that guy. We only came for the girl, right?"
"..."
"No. You won't let Syd die. He's linked to the girl. If he dies, she dies. And then... you die."
"...!?"
"..."
"Jody, you—"
BANG!
"!?"
A gunshot rang out from across the room. A .45 caliber bullet exploded through Soniya's neck, right in front of Jody!
"!?!?!"
She turned—and saw it was none other than Syd who pulled the trigger.
"Syd!!!!"
Smoke still curled from the barrel of his gun.
Jody quickly crawled off Soniya's body and rushed toward him.
Both Syd and Sally were still cuffed together, filthy from head to toe, and Sally was coughing violently.
"Cough! Cough!"
"Jody! Help!"
Jody couldn't understand—how had they gotten out of that liquefied death pit?
Then she saw it.
Syd's free hand gripped a handcuff, which was latched to a table leg—outside the liquefied floor's boundary. That's what saved him.
"Sergeant Harvey's handcuffs!"
Exactly—the same handcuffs "Sergeant Harvey," or rather Marley, had threatened him with earlier.
"Help pull us up! Hurry! The floor's re-hardening!"
Jody reached out and dragged him up like pulling someone from quicksand.
At last, all three were reunited. Exhausted, battered—but alive.
Syd stood up, glanced down at Soniya's corpse—his own kill—then looked back.
"We need to deal with these bodies..."
"And how do you plan to do that?"
"Like this..."
He led Sally over to Soniya's corpse, carefully picked up her gun using a cloth, and placed it beside her body.
"...We pin it all on her. Done."
"You think that'll work, boss?"
"Yeah, Syd... will it work?"
"It will. She was killed by an air bullet. That's our advantage. There's no physical evidence."
Then he turned to Autumn's body...
"The gas outside is thinning. Rescue's inbound... we have to hurry..."
They carefully searched Autumn's body. Jody crawled beside him to help, making sure not to touch any blood.
"Miss Jody... are you okay...?"
Sally asked in concern—because even a kid could tell Jody had been through hell.
"I'm fine," she smiled.
But Syd cut in, blunt as ever.
"You're full of shit. Stop pretending."
They finished searching and found three items on Autumn: an ID badge, a weapon, and a pitch-black phone.
"..."
Syd picked up the phone. After staring at it for a moment...
Snap! Crack!
He destroyed it, smashing it until it was useless.
"...What are you doing?!"
Jody's tone shifted the moment she saw him crush it.
"Why destroy it?! Why not keep it?! There might've been useful data in there, Syd!"
"This is all I can do for him now, Jody..."
He paused.
"That bastard might've been untrustworthy... but the last thing he did before dying was save me. The fiberglass suit he made me wear? It was lightweight."
Because it was light and flexible, Jody had been able to pull Syd out of the sinking floor.
She immediately understood—this was Syd returning the favor to his former mentor.
Sure, they could've brought the phone back to Roxxy to extract data... but Syd deliberately destroyed it.
He wanted no one—friend or foe—to ever see what was inside.
"..."
Jody didn't fully agree—but she respected his decision. Syd could sense that, but didn't say a word.
"...Let's go. We can make it through the gas now. People are already starting to flee outside too."
"...Yeah..."
But as Jody tried to walk, limping painfully, she lost balance and almost collapsed—Syd caught her just in time.
"...Ah..."
"You can't walk. Come on."
He slung her arm over his shoulder to support her. Sally followed closely, walking beside Syd on the opposite side.
"Hey... get ready to hold your breath."
"...Okay!"
"...Syd... I still have a little energy left... you don't need to hold your breath. I can keep the gas away from us..."
"You sure?"
"Yeah..."
"Alright then..."
And so, the three of them began making their way out of ViVi's Bakery.
Jody turned back to look at the sign one last time, then turned away and hobbled out, leaning on Syd.
ViVi... I'm sorry...
They moved through clouds of white gas like walking through fog. Sally couldn't use her ability to see through it, so she relied on touch.
Luckily, with Jody there, the gas couldn't breach their immediate surroundings.
Left and right, they saw people running with wet towels over their heads, some charging blind through the haze.
Then suddenly, something clicked in Syd's mind—
"Jody."
He let go of her.
"What is it?"
beside her—Syd Barrett.
He had taken it off and put it over her shoulders without the slightest concern that her blood might ruin it.
"Wear it."
"Syd…?"
"Your sleeves were white. Now they're soaked in red. Wear this—unless you want everyone staring."
He had a point.
"But your sweater—"
"Doesn't matter."
"…"
"..."
"…Syd… thanks."
"Don't mention it. Can you walk?"
"…barely…"