Tarz glanced behind seeing the heavens themselves unleash a massive bolt of lightning at the edge of town. He stared, knowing full well what had happened.

“Sheriff” he muttered, temporarily forgetting his surroundings.

Sophie screamed, shogging him back to attention. He looked back, saw Preacher Roper had appeared in front of him, and threw a punch directly into his nose. The blow immediately bounced back. The preacher’s eyes widened at his attack having been reflected, which gave the deputy time to counter. Before the preacher could get away, Tarz countered with a punch of his own, sending the preacher to the edge of the park, a distance about 15 yards away.

“Sophie hide!” the deputy commanded.

Sophie looked left and right, thinking of where to go. She saw a weird red tube next to the swing thing her mother talked about. She ran to it, climbed inside. She crawled her way up it, only to slide back down. It was like the weird contraption wasn’t meant to be climbed. She slid back to the thing’s base and decided the best she could do was stay at the bottom of the tube.

Outside Tarz began to fire off rounds at Roper, the latter running and dodging each round like an acrobat. He moved unnaturally, bending and twisting past the bullets. Once again the preacher got close to Tarz. He unleashed a flurry of punches and kicks, only for each attack to bounce off Tarz’s body. It felt like he was experiencing a law of physics first hand. For every action was an equal and opposite reaction. He couldn’t figure out why his attacks weren’t working. Tarz broke through the assault by grabbing Roper by the collar, and with a mighty heave threw him at a tree. The preacher’s body slammed into it, feeling a lot of pain at the back of his head and back, dazing him. Tarz sprinted towards him, stopped a foot away, lifted his revolver and fired. The shot hit the preacher dead in the chest, sending him through the three, and across the ground, bouncing along the way like a pebble thrown across a river. He was able to land on his feet but immediately coughed up blood. He could feel that a lung had been punctured. He wouldn't be able to take many more of those shots. Speaking of more shots, he saw four more revolver rounds were coming towards him. To save himself he fired off four aura bullets from his right hand. The aura and aura infused bullets collided, exploding upon impact.

A cloud of smoke resulted from the collisions, blocking the preacher’s view of the playground which must’ve been about 40 yards away now. This wasn’t good. The further he was from the playground the greater the chance the living sin could escape. He attempted to get up but realized there was a massive figure in his peripheral vision. He looked to his right, seeing Tarz wind up a large punch. The preacher raised his right arm to block but the deputy’s fist was too quick. The preacher was punched into the ground.

“Not fun fighting an adult is it Roper?” Tarz asked, quickly reloading his revolver.

The deputy aimed the revolver at Roper’s head. On the ground there was no way the preacher could free himself which, given the fact all his punches and kicks were nullified, probably wouldn’t have helped anyway. In an act of desperation, Roper pointed his right index finger at Tarz’s head, shooting off a very small aura bullet. It went through the deputy’s left cheek, making him step back in pain, putting his left hand onto the wound. Roper then got onto his feet and dashed behind a nearby tree.

He laughed from behind cover, said “It appears you aren’t invincible, deputy. Your repulsion ability only applies to physical attacks doesn’t it?”

“You must have a very high IQ to have figured that out” Tarz replied sarcastically, wiping the blood off his cheek, scanning the trees ahead of him, trying to figure out which one Roper is hiding behind.

“No need to be coy, deputy. It’s not your fault you weren’t able to end me. Vienna has saved my life once again. I’ve been blessed you see. I am a vessel of Vienna’s will. When I kill you, understand it’s because higher powers are at play.”

“The drugs you take must be really powerful stuff for you to be talking that crazy.”

“Funny deputy. You know the book of Vienna says that the police are instruments of the gods by dispensing justice on earth. That means I respect what you’re trying to do. But your ignorance is too great. If only you were a human. If you were a human you’d understand.”

“Yeah. If I were a human I’d totally be down for murdering children.”

The preacher shook his head, put his hands in front of his face and formed finger guns. At the tips of his index fingers purple balls of aura began to form.

“That thing is no child! It is an abomination! A mistake! It taints the world by its very existence!”

“Roper after this I’m searching your church. I have to know what drugs you’re on.”

“Enough talk!”

The preacher dived from behind his tree, firing off aura bullets at the deputy. Tarz dived to the side, the aura bullets blowing up trees behind him as he fired his revolver. The preacher and the deputy became mirror images. They both dived to the same side, shooting projectiles. They simultaneously hit the ground, got to their feet. They ran, continuing the shootout. The park itself was slowly transforming. Its trees were quickly being felled, holes were forming left and right in the ground as the fighters continued to miss each others’ marks. Further and further they went into the park, away from the playground.

Roper eventually found his mark, he shot a small aura bullet which went through the deputy’s right thigh, causing the orc to collapse and roll across the ground. The preacher stopped, started to form a large aura ball at the tip of his finger gun. Tarz saw the thing quickly form, becoming the size of a beach ball after he stopped rolling. He tried to get up but fell onto one knee. He aimed his revolver, fired a shot. The bullet disintegrated when it hit Roper’s aura bullet. The preacher stood only about 20 yards away, too close for Tarz to roll to safety. Enacting a desperate act of his own, the deputy threw his revolver at Roper. Due to the aura bullet forming in front of him, the preacher didn’t see the giant piece of metal that crashed into his left knee. He screamed in pain and fell over, firing the giant aura bullet into the sky like a rocket. Tarz summoned aura to his leg wound to stop the bleeding and, screaming through the pain, got up and ran to the preacher. The deputy got to his opponent right when Roper got up, grabbed the preacher’s head with his right hand, and slammed it through the nearest tree.

The deputy quickly picked up his revolver, aimed it at Roper, who had already gotten up. The preacher aimed a finger gun at the deputy, the two five yards apart from each other, making it impossible for either to dodge. They fired simultaneously, the bullets bypassing each other. The aura bullet went through Tarz's left shoulder while the revolver bullet blew off Roper’s right hand. Both yelled in pain. However neither combatant collapsed. Tarz raised his revolver again while Roper made a finger gun with his other hand. The two fired once more. This time the aura bullet went into Tarz’s right rib cage, the revolver bullet going through Roper’s left shoulder. Again they yelled. Again they remained standing. They began the third exchange, this time the revolver bullet went into Roper’s stomach, the aura bullet into the top of the deputy’s head. Finally they collapsed. The deputy fell onto his back, the preacher onto his stomach. The latter began to pant heavily, the bullet wounds taking their toll on his body. The former was silent as he laid.

“Vienna….always protects.” Roper said, his face deep into the dirt.

He tried to get up, but the pain was too great. He could feel the blood coming out of his wounds. To slow the bleeding his aura served as impromptu bandages. He stayed on the ground for a few minutes, catching his breath. He started to laugh. Once again he had cheated death. The blessings he received were truly infinite. But then he heard something that ruined his moment of triumph. He heard the cock of a revolver. Slowly he rose, sitting on his butt. In front of him was Sophie, the large weapon shaking in her hands.

“You….you...my mommy’s dead because… of you” she said, the words barely audible due to the crying and mucus coming out of her face.

The preacher looked at her, then at his remaining hand. He could sense that his aura was mostly depleted. He didn’t have enough strength to form another aura bullet. He examined Sophie, and to his surprise, saw a very faint light red aura emanate from her body. She could actually have the strength to pull the trigger. He’d have to talk his way out of the situation.

“I did not kill your mother. I wanted to save her. But it appears Vienna did not wish it so. Your mother died because she angered nature, creature.”

“But..if it wasn’t for you….Mr. Kurgan...all the nice people...would still be alive! My mommy wouldn’t have gotten stabbed! It’s all because of you!”

“No you are mistaken! Your mother was responsible! If you were never born, all the beings who died tonight would still be alive! All this destruction, all this death, lies with her..and with you. Everyone who tried to protect you has died because your mother corrupted them. You want to make things right? Want to make Vienna herself pleased? Put the barrel to your head and pull the trigger. That is the only way to make all the deaths tonight mean something. You could kill me, but it’d accomplish nothing. Your mother will still be dead. You will still be a disgusting abomination. No matter where you go, you will be acknowledged as the monster you are. You will never find happiness. Your life will be nothing but suffering. All you will find in this world is hate. That’s not an existence worth living is it?”

Sophie lowered the gun, continuing to bawl. It appeared that the preacher was right. She saw what happened to her mother. Her own mother was bleeding to death, and people just watched on, doing nothing. All the people that did try to protect her tonight were dead. All the death began to weigh on her mind. She put the barrel of the revolver to her temple. Perhaps the preacher was right. Perhaps by ending herself she’d do the world a favor. No more people would have to die. She could avoid a life of pain. And maybe, just maybe, she will see her mother again.

“That’s right creature. Do what’s right.” The preacher egged on.

She slowly began to pull the trigger but stopped. She remembered Warren and Akane. Outsiders who for whatever reason, didn’t think she was an abomination. Were there more people like that in the world? Redrock was the only place she’d ever known. But her mother told her the outside world was different. The land was different. The people were different. As much as she wanted to see her mother again, she knew that her mother wouldn’t want her to die like this. Not after what everyone did for her. Her mother would want her to see the world, find some place where she’d belong. But if the preacher was right, she’d be hated no matter where she went. If only there weren’t bad guys. Bad guys were responsible for everything. They attacked the town. They attacked her mother. That’s why Warren and Akane came to town. To defeat the bad guys. If all the bad guys were gone, nobody she cared about would die. The world would be a happy place where everyone could live happily.

“No...it’s all your fault. You have to go away. All bad guys have to go away.” Sophie muttered.

Preacher Roper’s eyes widened at the scene before him. The aura emanating from Sophie was big, much bigger than any child could conjure. But then again, what stood before him was no child. He could sense the rage building within the elf-human hybrid.

“Tch. Of course you wouldn’t do the right thing. Don’t think I’m gonna beg for my life! Vienna will save me! She’ll make you suffer a fate worse than death! You will never find safety! Everyone you get close to will die just like your mother! You will be hunted to the ends of the earth! You disugsting fucking abomination” he spat.

“I’ll keep going…” Sophie wiped the tears from her eyes. “...until no one wants to hurt me anymore.”

Sophie pulled the trigger, blowing the preacher’s brains out. The blast made her fall onto her back, staring up at the sky. Rain continued to fall on her face. The tears continued to flow out. It was over. She was finally safe. To her left she could hear groaning. She sat up, turned and saw Tarz sitting up, rubbing the top of his head.

“Ugh goddamn. Tonight has not been a good night” he grumbled.

He scanned his surroundings, saw Sophie sitting next to him with his revolver in hand. He snatched it from her, yelled “Sophie what’re you doing!? Children aren’t supposed to wield these. You’ll blow someone’s brains out.”

He got up and saw the preacher’s corpse. He looked back at Sophie, put two and two together.

“God damn it.”

He holstered his weapon, picked up Sophie.

“I did it Mr. Deputy. I-I defeated the bad guy. Just like what mommy wanted.” she whimpered.

“Yeah...yeah you did.”

He began to walk away from the preacher’s corpse, bypassing the destruction. For better and for worse, the battle of Redrock was over. The end result, complete destruction for both sides.

***

Preacher Roper awoke in a strange location. The floor beneath him appeared to be out of glass. He could see his reflection clearly beneath and to his surprise, was completely healed. The view above was full of the night time sky. Hundreds upon hundreds of stars littered the space above. It was a breathtaking sight. Around him was an empty vastness. Nothing discernable could be made out. All he could see was the empty glass floor expand outwards until his eyes could no longer see the floor.

“So you’re the one who’s professing to represent my church” He heard a voice behind him say.

He whirled around, and saw a small woman wearing a purple and black dress seated on a massive purple throne. On her head was a purple and black jester’s hat.

“G-goddess Vienna” he said, his voice full of complete awe.

The goddess flicked her wrist, making the preacher fall to his knees.

“I didn’t say you could speak filth. I got a bone to pick with you.”

“W-what do you mean goddess? I’ve been your vessel. I-”

“See I’m gonna have to stop you right there. I never did anything of the sort. Now I've been around for a while, which is surprising given how good I look but it’s true. I’ve seen a lot of things humans do over the years. Great things and terrible things done in my name. Usually I don’t care one way or the other. I simply like to watch. It’s entertaining. But I gotta say, out of the thousands of years of watching humanity, you’re a first.”

“Of course. No one is more devout to you than-”

“You’re the first person who I’ve seen who has deliberately done everything wrong. I got angry when I saw what you did in my name. I had to pay attention, you kept saying my name every five seconds. Now don’t get me wrong, there are more people evil than you out there. People worse than a psychotic muderer who tried to make a child commit suicide. But I became apoplectic with you.”

“But goddess why-”

“Because you claimed to do it all for me. That’s what angered me. Because now you’re making me look bad. All the other gods are saying ‘oh there goes Vienna. She’s the one with the psychotic xenophobic followerers.’ All my teachings were so misconstrued by you. What’s worse is that you dumbasses are everywhere. I got a reputation to uphold, both in this realm and on earth.”

“What do you mean? I-”

“Took everything I said all those years ago, and thought you could use it to justify all your evil actions. You think I enjoy mass murder? That everytime you and your followers get drugged up and murder beings that look different than you I’m satisfied? No. Not at all. You’re an evil dumbass thinking I care about such things. I’m going to make an example of you. To show the other gods I can’t stand such insanity.”

“I-I don’t understand. You saved my life so-”

“No I didn’t. You were just disturbingly lucky. If it were up to me you would’ve died as an infant. The world would’ve been better off if that happened. You know you said that there’s a fate worse than hell. You’re right, I have a special place for people like you.”

Vienna snapped her fingers and before the preacher, was a hole. The preacher looked into it, and began to scream like a madman.

“No! No, don't make me go in there! Goddess please! I did it all for you. I’m sorry! I’m sorry for everything I did!” he begged.

Vienna smirked, saying “Too late for that. Have a fun time Roper. You’re going to go on a wild ride that will never stop.”

The preacher tried to get up but couldn’t. Some force was preventing him from moving his muscles. Suddenly a massive purple hand came out of the hole, grabbed his waist. It then pulled him into the hole. Vienna snapped her fingers again, making the hole disappear.

“Phew. Hadn’t needed to do that in a while. I really am getting soft caring about humans this much. This is what I get for summoning the hero...and that other one.” the goddess remarked to herself.

She snapped her fingers again, and in front of her appeared a window. On the other side was Tarz carrying Sophie, who had fallen asleep in his arms.

“Poor girl. I should give her a blessing or two. Hurry up and get strong William, her tragedy is too common in this world. Ughhh I need a break.”

She snapped her fingers once again, making hot cocoa appear in her hands.

“Oh yes. The good stuff.”

She sipped her cocoa for a few minutes, staring out at the endless expanse before her.

“Pretty lonely though. I need more friends.”

With that the fate of Preacher Roper was sealed. All council members of the Redrock chapter of the HDF had been killed.Yet so had many of the town’s defenders. Only one man remained. James Mason, the man who had started it all, eagerly awaited his assassins. Three people now would decide Redrock’s fate.