The air reeked of gunpowder and blood. Tables and chairs were in disarray, toppled, broken, and riddled with lead. A cool breeze swept through the old saloon, rustling and blowing about receipts, posters, and dollars. There was an eerie silence lingering, choking up every possibility of a sound until finally, its constricting walls shattered with bullet casings popping out of a revolver's chamber and hitting the floor.

At the center of the hall stood a man, about 8 heads high. His clothes were a bloody mess, casting a silhouette of skin and bone. From the saloon doors, I could see his hands shaking as he attempted to reload the revolver, bullets slipping out of his fingers. Genesis gave me a cautionary nudge to follow her lead. She turned on her earpods and stepped forth through the door, one hand holding it open for me, the other resting on her revolver. Anxiously following, I quickly turned on my earpods as well. We stood opposite the man, some good meters away, keeping our wits about.

"I-I didn't want to... I ain't mean to... B-but first the whore laughed... Then she... Bitch went and told the rest of 'em! In the middle of the bar, makin' a scene 'bout it! What choice does a man have, to keep any respect? Any man would agree! Ask 'em!" The butcher pointed down to a corpse of what might've been a man, head split well apart by a shot and a stomp.

I was frozen. Partially fear, partially disbelief. Eyes darting about, I counted at least 10 bodies, and not one of them could down this man before us. We'd only dropped by for a drink, maybe some company. With a harsh, dry swallow, I carefully raised my hands, one arm reaching for a shrug and the other towards the Canik hanging off my hip.
"Relax, breathe. Just like we've practiced. Attempt to defuse." Genesis' voice guided me through the pods, a direct connection that allowed us to speak outside of the material world. I gave her a quick nod, then looked at the man with a wry smile.
"Hell, even I can agree, mister. They done did you wrong, by my book. 'Specially if you paid the broad, ain't no reason for her to spill 'yer business like that!"

The man didn't reply. His gaze was empty, a void. He truly could've been a devil as he looked beyond me with a foul lust reaching for my soul. Genesis glanced between the two of us then tilted her head away from me, "Pillar. Now." Her voice sounded so different through the pods, like a fearless commander leading her soldiers into battle, a far call from the usual doting caution carrying her words.
She made a sudden dash to the wooden table next to her, flipping it over on its side and brandishing her Mateba 6. I dove behind the thick wooden pillar opposite her and whipped my pistol out of its holster. Deep breaths. "Focus," I told myself, inadvertently speaking through the pods.
"Let him fire first. Don't know how many rounds he managed to put in the chamber. Guy's all types of rattled," Genesis calmly ordered, bracing herself against the thick table.
"Yes'm," I muttered back, closing my eyes for a moment and doing my best to control the uneasy nerves in my hands.

"I think the opportunity to turn yourself in has passed, but you can still go down easy. " Genesis called out from behind the table; she might as well have said nothing at all as her warning fell on deaf ears. The fiend lifted his iron in our direction, cocked the hammer, and pulled the trigger until he blew through whatever he'd managed to load into the chambers, hitting nothing but wood and corpses.
Genesis and I both sprung out from our cover once his hammer rang empty, returning fire with sober precision. Twelve shots rang out altogether, almost in unison, half of them striking his upper body and turning his head into a fine fountain of red mist. He remained standing for a second before finally submitting with a slow collapse onto the bloodied wooden floor.

My arms were trembling and a loud ringing echoed in my ears. It wasn't the first time I'd shot someone, but even if the man was guilty, it hadn't become any easier. Genesis walked over to me and put her arm around my waist, pulling me closer to her. I hid my face in her chest and loosely hung my arms over her shoulders as she ran her fingers through the ends of my hair. "You did good," she gently reassured me.

"But we need to work on your aim. You missed most of your shots. And you hesitated."
"Pft. Yeah, I know. I wanna be like you but..."
"Don't worry, we'll practice some more tomorrow. Grab something to drink while I look for supplies."
"Yes, ma'am."
Her bronzed fingers tilted my chin up, brushing over my cheek as she gave me her signature doting, warm smile. An embrace of its own with those soft lips, painted across her dark skin by Goyo II himself.

I pulled away and let out a sigh of relief as I headed behind the bar, turning off the pods and carefully maneuvering my steps over the bodies of the deceased. Genesis started to nonchalantly rummage through pockets, avoiding taking any sentimental-looking items like golden rings or silver lockets but grabbing any pesos or ammo.

"You jinxed us when you wished for a peaceful night yanno," I remarked with a smirk as I hopped over the counter and grabbed a bottle of tequila from the top shelf, pouring some out into a mug.
"Har, har. You're the one that wanted to call it early. Ooh, Genesis, let's go to this cute lookin' town, ooh!" She retorted, grunting as she turned a heavier corpse over to check its inner jacket.
"I mean, it was pretty cute from afar! Then we got closer and it... started gettin' all weirdly quiet 'n shit..." My voice drifted off as my gaze fell onto the corpses behind Genesis. Something felt wrong. The blood was all still fresh and just enough for...

"Gen, it's not dead. I-i-it's a..." I stuttered as I dropped the mug of tequila and jerked my Canik out of its holster again, ejecting the magazine and fumbling with some spare rounds I had in my pocket, desperately trying to reload it. Genesis arched a brow then turned her head to look, immediately turning back and darting to join me, gracefully vaulting over the counter.

"Shit, you'd think we would know better by now," she grimaced, a hint of worry betraying her otherwise cool demeanor as she checked her Mateba's chambers, reloading it with experience and muscle memory clearly far beyond mine.

At the center of the saloon, flesh and bone began to crunch, tear, and meld together, creating life anew. A cursed existence, a vile creature with no home, even in a world as haunted as ours. It groaned through labored breaths. Haunting groans united into a vile shriek, immediately making me nauseous and forcing my eyes to roll back. My brain wanted to kick and elbow its way out of my skull. Something warm began to coat my lips, bringing with it the scent and taste of iron. Blood began to flow from my nose.
I tried looking at Genesis, but I was unable to move. Unable to focus my eyes on anything at all but the darkness spreading from the ceiling, its claws reaching ever closer for my face, hungering for my flesh.

My vision slowly and negligibly returned, the world still a blur. I was suddenly on the ground with Genesis above me, her hands clasping my ears, muffling out the shrieking. She managed to finally turn on my earpods with no help from me, my muscles burning and fighting any attempt to move. "Listen to me." The cruel, painful hell fell into silence, a familiar humming burying it all into the background and bringing clarity to my mind.

Half-shut eyes tried to once again focus as Genesis grabbed her revolver and stood up, reaching for all the liquor bottles she could carry with her free hand. She looked down at me with a smile then turned back to face the carcass-eater, her eyes narrowing and her lips curling into a sneer. Genesis braced her legs and then dashed away from the bar, leaving the boards where she previously stood fractured from the force of the launch. From between the slabs holding up the counter, through a half-conscious dream, I watched her toss bottle after bottle at the beast, coating its rotting form in alcohol. An accelerant. And despite all this, her hum continued through my pods, evolving into the singing of a note, followed by another, effectively blocking out the fiend's bloody shrieks.

Just as the hellspawn seemed doused enough in liquor, Genesis took aim with her revolver; however, the carcass-eater displayed its own supernatural prowess, launching an entire arm forth and striking the revolver out of her hand. It seemed the beast had at last found its footing with its newborn form. I had to help her. I had to do something. The carcass-eater began to unleash its full onslaught, focused entirely on Genesis as it lunged forth with wide-sweeping limbs, using them as both projectiles and blunt weapons.

Rage filled my veins. Rage at my own helplessness. Rage at the carcass-eater wreaking havoc, bringing harm to the only person that'd ever shown me any semblance of care and love. Having had enough, with boiling blood, I was able to drag myself up against the bar, just in time to watch Genesis take a blow to the abdomen, sending her flying back into some chairs and cutting off the singing shielding me.

"WE WILL BECOME ONE" the carcass-eater screeched, rising at the center of the saloon and displaying its unparalleled height as arms and legs supported it upright, its ugly head hanging just below a candled chandelier. Faces were spread across its body, all displaying emotions far inhuman with soulless eyes, mere husks leading into hell.
"THE GODDESS... AWAITS..."

Its initial earsplitting shriek seemingly subsided, the hellspawn now focusing on its ability to properly attack with its limbs. I glanced at Genesis, still sprawled out amidst broken chairs and tables. The carcass-eater shifted its gaze from her to me, its vile mouth forming into a hideous, distorted smile created by multiple faces having their lips stretched and strung together. With a trembling hand, I raised my Canik and focused through the mounted red dot sight, aiming at one of the faces before the realization struck me. The chandelier. I quickly brought my other hand up to support the gun, stabilizing my aim. "Breathe," Genesis whispered through the pods. I took a breath and kept my eyes on the chain hanging the chandelier before I pulled the trigger.

"YOU MI--" The demon's mockery ended abruptly as the chandelier came crashing down on it, setting its rotting flesh ablaze. Its scream was overwhelming, nearly knocking me back onto my ass, but I did my best to keep my strength and took heavy, rushed steps around the bar. Stumbling over broken chairs, tables, and floorboards, I made my way to Genesis as the carcass-eater lashed out, aimlessly flinging fiery limbs out in all directions. "Can you stand?" I asked, trying to pull her up by the shoulders, but instead, I fell over, blood once again flowing from my nose and this time, from my eyes and ears as well. "I've got you," Genesis replied as she pulled herself together then picked me up, supporting me with an arm under my knees and the other holding my back. She began to hum again, doing her best to avoid the demon's blind rage, dodging and weaving out of the bar as the hungering fire began to eat away at the remainder.

Genesis propped me up on her bike and saddled up behind me, turning it on and revving the engine. In another dazed state, I watched as the stars in the night above blurred by. We left the town behind us, then came to a slow halt on the side of the road up on a hill, overseeing the town. The bar finally collapsed in on itself and the cries of the devil were no more. "It's over," Gen whispered, turning our off pods and holding me close. We sat there in silence, it taking me a while to fully come to again. I found myself holding her hands around my waist, squeezing them tightly. Relaxing my grip, I tilted back to look up at her, her chin lightly resting against my head. Her eyes remained focused on the fire, the town as a whole. The neighboring buildings were being eaten away, one after the other, leaving nothing but bright and furious embers behind.

"It wasn't that bad. We got lucky it could hardly walk," Genesis broke the silence, glancing over to me.
"Ain't that some luck. But yeah, you're right. Guessin' it was just some local wraith that bit more than it could chew."
"Probably. We should move our camp further out though."
"Let's just wait here a minute, yeah? Make sure it's properly burnt down and all that."
"Hm. Sure."

I gave her hand a squeeze and smiled, looking back to the blazing town and digging myself further into Genesis' embrace.