Let the Disciples do their job, echoed in Trixie's mind. She's seeing for herself the power the Disciples hold, and yet…

  "But I—"

  "Just trust me," Dodeka interrupted quickly, already ushering her into a safer position instead. "The last thing we need is you getting shot by accidental fire."

  Trixie didn't argue this time, eyes going wide when she realized that there was chaos all around the battlefield and they were sitting ducks out here...so she let herself be steered over.

  Raliya let out a low huff of relief at that, eyes still scanning her surroundings alertly. "Trixie, you idiot...." she muttered under breath, still keeping that rifle trained on Vexa's men in case they tried something.

  The Gaia Disciples were systematically wiping out Vexa's forces at incredible speed though; black and white uniforms flashing left and right as they mercilessly dismantled the white men with alarming ease. Severed limbs and heads were flying everywhere in the Disciples' onslaught, some of those heads and limbs headed straight for Vexa, who dodged them.

  "What is this?!" Vexa snapped in disbelief while taking cover behind a nearby vehicle, "Those lunatics look trained!”

  Raliya's breath hitched, her entire body freezing for a fraction of a second as she watched that head roll toward her.

  Then her face twisted into something furious and disgusted all at once, tail bristling violently behind her while snarling: "You—!"

  She fired three rapid shots straight at Vexa’s cover without hesitation, the bullets ricocheting off metal with sharp pings as they forced him to duck lower.

  Vexa barely had time to curse before another Gaia Disciple materialized out of thin air right in front of him, their sword already mid-swing aimed directly for the neck next…

  But then a deafening BOOM echoed across the battlefield suddenly, one so loud it made even the Disciples pause briefly.

  Everyone turned toward the source just in time to see Giovanni standing atop a pile of rubble nearby, holding a smoking sniper rifle casually over the shoulder like nothing happened.

  And Alphonso let out an impressed whistle from sidelines too though:

  "Damn Gio...nice shot."

  The decapitated head belonged to one white man who was about to attack Raliya from behind but was now dead thanks to intervention.

  Giovanni just shrugged nonchalantly under mask though:

  "...What? He was about to shoot someone."

  Raliya's eyes narrowed at Giovanni from where she was though, her entire body still tensing at that near miss earlier while saying coolly: "Yeah, thanks."

  She didn't trust the Traveler Bros any more than she could trust Vexa, in fact? She couldn't decide who she hated more right now.

  Vexa looked ready to kill Giovanni right there, teeth gnashing in anger while still keeping cover for now.

  Giovanni smirked faintly at that, still seeming totally unbothered by this whole thing.

  Alphonso was too busy reloading his own weapon to even pay attention anymore, and Kirsi just looked exasperated.

  "Great." She finally said after a moment of silence, "Just great.”

  "What?" Giovanni asked casually, "Not happy you're still alive, miss?"

  Kirsi just rolled her eyes in response, not bothering to dignify that with a response either.

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  Giovanni still just smirked before adding in dry tone again:

  "I'll take that as 'thank you', then.”

  Raliya scoffed, her grip on the rifle tightening again as she shot him a look that could've killed if it were possible.

  "If you wanted to play hero, maybe don't wait until someone's about to get shot in the back," she snapped back sharply, voice laced with enough venom to make even Dodeka glance at her sideways too.

  Giovanni tilted head slightly behind mask though , almost like considering that for beat before shrugging once more:

  "...Fair point."

  Vexa was still fuming from sidelines though , clearly pissed off having his own sniper outplayed so easily by the enemy here…until Alphonso suddenly chimed in next from where he stood reloading:

  "Yo Gio? Maybe stop pissing off the Fennec lady with killer eyes, yeah?"

  Giovanni exhaled through nose heavily but didn’t argue further.

  Meanwhile Trixie just watched all this unfold silently while clutching the box tighter than ever.

  Dozens of Gaia Disciples were now surrounding Vexa and his men, swords drawn. It was clear they weren't going anywhere without bloodshed unless Vexa surrendered immediately.

  Kirsi looked at them coldly before saying bluntly:

  "Stop wasting our time.”

  Vexa's face twisted into something ugly again before replying just as coldly: "I don't take orders from some self-hating libtard white woman."

  That made Kirsi's nostrils flare dangerously , her eyes flashing with fury again while her jaw tightened so hard it could've snapped from pressure too: "You will surrender now, or you and your men are dead men."

  Vexa's own eyes narrowed at that; fingers flexing like he wanted to reach for a weapon of his own now….

  The Gaia Disciples didn't hesitate, blades flashing in unison as they moved.

  Vexa barely had time to scream before his head was severed clean off, the body crumpling to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut. The rest of his men weren’t far behind, their blood joining Vexa’s on the battlefield within seconds. Then the Disciples, with their job done, vanished into thin air. The TIFA soldiers clapped and cheered, relishing their victory.

  Silence fell heavy over what remained alive now…until Alphonso let out an uneasy chuckle from sidelines:

  "...Well that escalated quickly."

  Raliya scoffed loudly at that, tail lashing once more behind her as she turned away sharply instead: "Good riddance."

  Kirsi exhaled slowly, her eyes scanning the area again carefully for any stragglers still left standing.

  Raliya's tail kept lashing behind her, she was still on edge despite everything being said and done. Her body language screamed aggression as she moved over to where Vexa's body lay on ground now too; rifle still clutched tightly in her arms as she approached.

  Kirsi just crossed her arms, her gaze drifting toward Giovanni from a distance now before saying dryly:

  "Well, that was a mess...but we aren't leaving without the Miracle Eyes in your possession.”

  Giovanni just shrugged again like it wasn't really a big deal.

  Alphonso snorted loudly.

  "So it's back to politics already, huh?"

  Kirsi rolled her eyes, "It's not about politics, Alphonso. It's about doing what's right."

  Alphonso just let out a lazy shrug of his own while replying:

  "Sounds like politics to me. All this fighting and for what? Me and my bro got what we came for, now we're outta here."

  "And what exactly is it you got?" Kirsi snapped back, eyes flashing with thinly veiled irritation now. "The only thing you brought here was chaos.”

  Alphonso just gave her a lazy grin in response, not at all phased by that remark. "Chaos is good business, miss."

  Kirsi just shook her head, clearly not amused by this guy's attitude at all. "Chaos might be good for business, but it's not good for people."

  Alphonso just shrugged again, still not backing down. "Not my problem, sweetheart."

  That made Kirsi tense up visibly, the insult clearly striking a nerve. "Don't call me sweetheart."

  "Lookie 'ere, miss," Giovanni said, "We ain't gonna go back n' forth wit'cha, so have fun talking to yourselves, 'cause we're out!”

  Kirsi's patience snapped like a brittle twig.

  "Fine." She hissed, stepping forward with lethal grace, golden eyes burning into Alphonso’s skull. "Let me rephrase that for you." Her voice dropped to something low and deadly: "You walk away now, or I will personally ensure your next breath is your last."

  Giovanni finally looked up from cleaning his rifle at that, his mask tilting slightly as if mildly impressed by the threat despite everything else here today…

  Alphonso hesitated for half a second, grip tightening on his sniper rifle before letting out another slow chuckle.

  "...Damn, Gio? She got fire."

  Giovanni shook his head while muttering:

  "Just leave 'fore she actually does somethin' stupid."

  "We're not done yet," Dodeka said, her rifle aimed dead at the two brothers.

  Giovanni's eyes narrowed from behind mask now but he didn't make a move, instead letting out another sigh before replying:

  "Fine. Whatcha want?"

  "The Miracle Eyes.”

  "Nope."

  Giovanni's reply was immediate, like he already expected that question coming anyway too.

  "Then enjoy your last day alive," Raliya threatened.

  Giovanni just laughed at that, almost seeming amused now while replying: "Miss, I'd like to see you try."

  Kirsi's eyes just hardened at that, teeth clenching. Dodeka elbowed Trixie, who nodded, knowing they were going to have to beat the Traveler Bros into submission.