Parlan and Saimo
Parlan and Saimo, still cuffed, looked pitiful.
Parlan: "We're gonna be put on trial, right, Mo?"
Saimo: "Then we'll be locked up."
They looked at each other and smiled bitterly.
Parlan: "And once we're inside?"
Saimo: "We'll fight over food."
Parlan: "Lucky we're big guys, so everyone will be scared."
They both chuckled.
Saimo: "But you forgot something."
Parlan: "Forgot what?"
Saimo: "That time we got mobbed by the Brimob officers in prison?"
Parlan: "My hand got sprained, and my lips swelled up like a tilapia's."
Saimo laughed.
Saimo: "My head had four bumps, and my cheeks puffed up like I had a toothache."
Parlan laughed in turn.
Parlan: "Total disaster!"
Saimo: "We got turned into flour, Lan."
They looked away from each other and burst into laughter.
***
Giono's Meditation
Meanwhile, at the back post—
Giono: "Are you hurt, Karsiyah?"
Karsiyah nodded, wiping blood from the corner of her mouth.
Giono: "And you, Ngatmo?"
Ngatmo wasn't much better—his hands were blue and immobile.
Ngatmo rubbed his stiff hands, then pointed at Giono's.
Giono coughed and smiled.
Giono: "Let's check on the girls."
The three walked toward Rani and Rina, who were sitting weakly.
Giono: "Rani, Rina—how are you?"
Rani: "My arms are stiff, I can't move them."
Rina: "My chest hurts, and it's hard to breathe."
Giono: "Let's all sit down and meditate—regulate our breathing, expel the evil energy that attacked us."
Ngatmo, Karsiyah, Rani, and Rina followed Giono, sitting cross-legged and closing their eyes.
They began to control their breathing in and out. Gradually, their breath became steady.
A warm sensation started to spread into their stiff hands. Their faces were no longer pale but flushed with color again.
***
Helicopter Destroyed
Meanwhile, in the same area.
The lightning-fast battle — leaving only flashes of red and black — had shifted from the rear post toward the wreckage of a helicopter.
Above them hovered a drone piloted by Tina.
The red and black shadows still darted back and forth, overlapping as they clashed.
The fight was intense.
Several strikes and paper-fan swipes from Mariana were dodged by Nagini. Likewise, every punch and kick from Nagini was blocked by Mariana's fan.
At one moment, Nagini struck with cold inner energy.
Thud!
Mariana, fully alert, whipped her paper fan with a burst of blazing hot inner force.
Whoosh!
Two immense energies collided.
Boom!!
A massive explosion rang out in the air, accompanied by sparks.
Mariana staggered back two steps, her hand tingling.
Nagini also stepped back, her hand numb as well.
Furious, Mariana roared and prepared to swing her fan with full power.
The fan lashed forward, releasing a torrent of wind accompanied by a piercing whistle.
Whoosh!
!
Tweett!
Nagini didn't hold back either — she hurled a Level-3 Needle, her deadliest.
The needle shot forward, riding on a gust of freezing wind that rattled the trees.
Whoosh!
The needle and the fan collided in midair.
Boom!!
The scorching and freezing energies clashed, sparks bursting between them.
Nagini's needle snapped in two like burning embers. Mariana's fan tore wide open.
Nagini was forced back, her face pale. Mariana staggered too, equally pale.
Both drew in heavy breaths.
***
Tina's Drone Falls
Mariana saw her helicopter reduced to wreckage. Rage boiled in her blood all the way to her crown.
High above, Tina's drone hovered.
Suddenly, Mariana raised her hand toward it. A surge of scorching wind blasted upward.
Boom!!
The drone exploded into fragments and plummeted to the ground.
Crash!!
Clatter!!
It hit the earth in pieces, debris scattering in all directions.
Meanwhile, Tina — who had been watching the Nagini–Mariana duel through her tablet's drone feed — had just seen the fierce battle unfold.
Then, suddenly!
Tina saw Mariana wave toward her — through the tablet's screen.
And then—
Beep!
The tablet's screen went black.
Tina: "The drone's down!"
She thought to herself.
Tina gave a faint smile, adjusted her glasses, and pressed the "on" switch on her stun-weapon shaped like a slingshot.
Beep!
From the tips of the stun-slingshot, an arc of electricity formed, half a circle in shape.
Slowly, the electrical field grew, its diameter reaching two meters.
From the rim of the arc, blue sparks leapt outward, tracing the semi-circle — and then expanding further, forming a dome of energy.
Electricity, accompanied by blue fire jumping between arcs, clearly packed enormous power — certainly over 1,000 volts.
What if that struck a person?
The great dome-shaped field now stood directly in front of Tina, like an invisible steel shield.
Tina waited for something to come.
To be Continued