Jedan and Chris smile while walking in the dark alleyway


    “Hey Chris. Y’know this place used to be ancestral burial grounds of the mountain tri-? OH MY GOD!!!”


    “KICK PON PON!!! KICK PON PON!!!” yelled a weird Nuno sa Punso, a dwarf like critter that dwells in holes. “KICK PON PON!!! KICK POTAN INA MON!!!” he yelled, in a boxer’s Panther-style stance while boxing the air.


    “Hey! Magic man!” yelled Chris.


    “Chris. Please don’t engage the strange creature.”


    “I just did.“


    “Shit. Thought you were singing a song or some shit. Um… Hi, you… I’m Jed. This is Chris!”


    “We live in the Burnham Palace.”


    Jedan punches Chris’ shoulder. “If you don’t mind, we’ll be on our way.”


    “KICK PON PON!!! KICK KICK PONCH!!!” The Nuno hammers his fist into Jedan’s face who just flops into the wall like rubber.


    Jedan growls, fixing and reforming himself as he yells “RUBBER… RUUUUUUUSH!!!” Jed throws a flurry of punches and strikes him.


    The Nuno sa Punso immediately creates holes midair that teleports all of his punches back into his face.


    Jedan crashes away as Chris turns into Rock Form, charging only to crash into the alley’s walls.


    The Nuno sa Punso growls angrily, blocking them from the alley.


    “What the hell is your PROBLEM, MAN!?!? LET US PASS!!!” roared Jedan.


    “No!” roared the Nuno.


    “Why NOT!?!?” asked Jedan, growling.


    “Hm! Fine! The Earth man can go forward! But YOU CANNOT!!!”


    “WHY!?!?” growled Jedan.


    Chris smiles. “You’re letting me pass?”


    “Dude! I CAN’T GET TO THE JEEP HOME IF-!!!”


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    “SILENCE!!!” The Nuno blasts bullets of rocks at the duo hailing from the holes.


    “WHOA!!!” roared Jedan. “AGAIN!!! PROBLEM!?!? Ya fuckin’ DEMON!?!?”


    “Ya frickadoodoos callin’ me DEMONS!!! I AM THE EARTH SPIRIT!!! THE NUNO SA PUNSO!!!”


    “Never heard of you,” said Jedan.


    “I am the Earth guardian of these burial grounds. Your kind have been disgustingly throwing trash ALL OVER my graveyard! AND I AM INSULTED!!!”


    “Hey! We don’t practice littering!”


    “But you could see me and you’re clearly not DOING ANYTHING ABOUT IT!?!? Don’t you kids know how to respect NATURE!?!?”


    “No,” smiled Chris, as Jed punches him in the shoulder. “Heh. Ouch.”


    “Do you want us to what? Grovel? Pray to ya?”


    “I want you to clean this area. This… is the only area I have power over left… This place was once known as Bag-Iw. A land of the tribes… But then the Americans came and burned down forests… huts… My people… I was their god… Among others in the Visayan regions and the Central Luzonite regions, but the mountain Fire Tribe have since taken me in when the Spanish ruined everything… I know this ain’t my age no more… but… I was something to these people… Their ancestors… I meant something… And I no longer hold the power over them…” He looks up to the sky.


    “How come we still see ya?” asked Jedan.


    “Because you seem to be Usog Users… I may ask of you one thing… from one spirit to another..”


    “We’re not Spirits,” said Jedan.


    “What are men but spirits with puppets forged from mud? Lemme finish. I ask of you to exorcise me…”


    “Whoa, whoa… We’re not interested in ending the life of a Spirit,” said Jedan.


    “I would like to move on now. Please. My business is finished. I have done my duty of protecting the ancestors of this land…”


    “Dude. Wouldn’t that mean they’d come back to life? Haunt us or whatever? Aren’t you like… a way to ground those guys 6 feet under?” asked Chris.


    “So, now that this will make you shudder, you require me to stay?” asked the Nuno. “It’s only when gods are needed will they be appreciated. Just ask your God, Yahweh. Such a poor thing He is.”


    Jedan and Chris turn to each other.


    Jedan smiles and proceeds cleaning the trash.


    “Is this your sad attempt to keep me here?”


    “We’ll exorcise you after,” said Jedan. “We’ll handle the monsters that will come when you’re gone.”


    “Why do you do this?” asked the Nuno.


    “We have a friend. His name is Miguel. Aswang. He would want this for you. Kinda rubs off on  others in the end, y’know?” smiled Jedan. “Used to be such a dick, too.”


    “Uh-huh!” smiled Chris. “My whole life, I was just some idiot who didn’t know any better.. A bit slow… Kinda dumb… But Miguel showed us a path. A better one filled with true happiness.”


    “You know… how to exorcise?” asked the Nuno.


    “Yes. And you’re lucky you met us and not some scum out there…”


    “I was a regular man…” said the Nuno. “I had a family. We only wished to live in peace… But then the Spanish came… Their names were Lawa, my wife, and Iluk, my dear son. They exorcised us, believing we were harmful spirits, but no… The fools only feared the unknown… They wiped my family to another dimension completely… I never saw them for hundreds of yeards…  I don’t even remember what they looked like… They called us monsters… Used our existence to make my own people fear me… Keep them grounded… in check… Slaves… Now… I will be remembered as a monster.“


    Jedan smiles and hugs him, and so does Chris.


    “Hey. You ain’t a monster, alright?” asked Jedan. “Aboslutely nothing is wrong with you.”


    “Thank you…” the Nuno closed his eyes and disappeared into golden flakes.