Rylai Capones and Divine Hesoyam Rosa watched with barely controlled excitement. The former was already clutching her scythe while the latter was impatiently tapping her sword on a tree stump.
(The last time I got to go all out was at that hotel, and even then that fat piece of shit managed to escape.) Divine thought, thinking of her previous matchup when she was trying to recover Frizz.
"You two, go ahead. Justing and I will stay, we'll watch your backs." Hei de la Roxas said, glancing at the team of soldiers slowly creeping up on the compound's flank.
With those words, the two women grinned with exhilaration as their eyes beamed in excitement, leaping forward and leaving a powerful gust of wind.
*Whack!* A small watchtower's wooden legs were destroyed, sending it down along with the two insurgents inside.
"Ah, crap, that was almost fatal," Frizz said, summoning the baseball bat responsible for breaking the watchtower's legs to his right hand.
*Whish!* A strong gust of air shot past Frizz, ruffling his hair and surprising him. *Wham!* An insurgent was sent flying, crashing through a bamboo hut.
Divine chuckled, knocking out an insurgent with the hilt of her sword. An insurgent then aimed for her head, but she swiftly parried the bullet with her sword and sent it back, hitting the insurgent on his shoulder.
Nathaniel softly whistled at Divine's prowess before glancing at Rylai, who had already taken down eight insurgents in four seconds.
"Who the hell are these people!? Who the fuck are these people!? Call the reinforcements!" A communist insurgent officer shouted, rapidly firing at the quickly approaching woman with a scythe before being knocked out.
"Capitalist dogs! Hold on, comrades! Stand your ground and don't let these pigs - " *Whack!* The roaring insurgent collapsed after being struck on the chest with the tip of a baseball bat.
⟐
The compound was full of terrified screams and panicked firing; the communist insurgents' numbers slowly dwindled. The Revolutionary Filipino Army, a communist rebellion ever since the late sixties, was fighting a group that they had never fought before.
A young recruit, hiding beneath a decorated table inside the bamboo hut, was quivering while silently hoping that his comrade would defeat the invading fascists.
Balit's family grew up poor, being simple fruit vendors. His father and mother would walk all around town to sell their harvested ripe banana and papaya fruits, while his two older brothers were simple, uneducated day laborers.
"Shit!" A comrade cursed, jumping through the open window. Balit recognized this man; he was one of the people who recruited him. A kind, selfless man who gave some sugar canes to the elderly in the village that Balit resided in.
He was about to call him out until a flying baseball bat struck the man in the back, sending him flying straight into the bed.
"Oh, father..." Balit cried, remembering his father's motorcycle accident. His father broke his leg, and they couldn't pay for it. They looked everywhere for help, but the mayor couldn't offer anything, the public hospital was full, and the private hospital refused his father's admittance since they couldn't even provide a meager sum.
Only the Revolutionary Filipino Army reached out and offered to pay for most of the medical expenses. They also offered free tuition and dental plans.
He could still remember his mother's disapproval, but his father needed treatment, and this was the only feasible option. The Revolutionary Filipino Army taught him a lot about how the corrupt administration siphoned money away from the people who needed it the most.
How the government bowed down to corporate oligarchs, how the standards of becoming a politician were so low that even washed-out celebrities can become one.
Balit nodded his head, listening to the spiels, agreeing to every topic. He was then trained, educated, and disciplined by the Revolutionary Filipino Army.
This was his first day of becoming a proper revolutionary.
"I can't fight. I can't do it." He said, weeping in silence while covering his ears. The loud gunshots caused his ears to ring, and he couldn't bear the cries of his comrade in arms.
*Clap!* A distinct sound, a distinct clap caught Balit's ears despite the ringing. It was the sound that the underground bunker hatch door made when it was opened. He crawled out of the decorated table and peeked out of the holes in the bamboo hut.
He spotted a group of soldiers making their way into the bunker.
(The head revolutionary is in there! He's also injured.) Balit said before peeking into another hole, this time looking at the carnage that was in the middle of the compound.
The strange invaders looked as if they were taking their time, enjoying everything, and doing it slowly. They were smiling, as if this was the best day ever, especially the two women.
Balit took a deep breath and equipped his holstered AR-15, an award for the most exceptional trainee, he used the stock to make a hole in the bamboo wall to crawl out of as the soldiers entered the bunker.
(Big mistake.) Balit thought, he knew the bunker inside and out; it was intricate, yet he already memorized the layout.
He dashed towards the bunker, ignoring the cries of his fallen comrades begging for help.
*Wham!* Balit was struck from behind. He gasped as he wobbled before falling over, dropping the prized rifle. He could feel his stomach churn; he couldn't accept this, but he couldn't do anything.
"An AR-15? Where did this jungle socialist get this?" A voice rang out, it was from a young man.
Balit mustered all his strength to take a look at the attacker, but his heart sank deep upon seeing that it was a young man of the same age as him and had the appearance of an arrogant city boy.
Balit wept, slowly losing consciousness, now staring at the bunker hatch door. The head revolutionary was the most benevolent person he had ever met, and their life was now in the hands of these men.
⟐