The dry wind displaced a few leaves here and there, scattering them through the canyon. It was quiet, the peace only being broken by the occasional scuffle of a squirrel or a bird in the trees. On either side, tall, jagged cliffs rose high into the sky, punctuating the constant dark blue with an array of greys and browns.

The Vyvyan pass was a mountain pass that cut through the thick cliffs that separated City 88 from City 87. It was known for having a pretty low population density, even compared to the already-sparse population of non-city zones. It was usually peaceful. Guardians rarely passed by around here.

Still, this was no place to be if one was seeking safety or shelter. Nature at night can prove to be a more deadly foe than anything else. Especially if you were unprepared. The only person who was familiar with this place was the gatekeeper, the person who was responsible for the report of traffic through the pass.

Right now, the gatekeeper was sitting at the pass gates, playing a game on his phone. He was used to the boredom of his life by now. He had received no passerby today, as expected. He would be lucky to receive a single passerby in a week.

But today, he should dread it.

Clank. Clank.

The sound of a metallic footstep drew the gatekeeper’s eyes up. It came from the woods in front of him, which were bathed in shadow and darkness by now. The solitary lamp of his post wasn’t very helpful in illuminating specific objects.

Clank. Clank.

The gatekeeper frowned. He had received specific instructions that only humans were allowed to pass. If he were to see any monsters, he should ring for alert. But was this a monster?

Clank. Clank.

It was clearly something unusual. If it was a human, it was wearing something heavy. Something metallic. Armor. Why would any human have armor on in such an isolated place? It made no sense, unless they expected resistance in what they were about to do…

The gatekeeper grabbed the shotgun that he always kept with him while on duty, shoving a shell into it, and pointing it outwards, towards the treeline. He slowly edged his way out of his post.

Clank. Clank.

The noise was getting closer. It almost came from around him, rather than from a particular direction.

“If you are a human, you’re to reveal yourself, immediately!” the gatekeeper leveled the shotgun sights with his eyes, “by Government Order 117-8987, any human who arrives unannounced at a gate is to be treated as a criminal! Reveal yourself!”

There was silence.

Then, he saw it. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw something fly at him very quickly. Before he knew it, he was pinned onto the ground by a metallic clawlike foot. He struggled, but it was no use.

“Ha!” the voice coming from above him was metallic, but it wasn’t robotic, as if there was a cyborg talking to him, “weak human scum...you dare threaten me with your pathetic gun?”

The gatekeeper struggled, gasping for breath as the claw closed around his neck. The thing above him turned to face him from above. It’s entire body was quite thin, and made out of metal. It had a mask that showed no skin apart from a pair of yellow, glowing eyes.

“Prepare for your doom!” the claw really began to tighten on his neck now. Spots began to appear in the gatekeeper’s vision. He tried to call out for help, but nobody was there-

“Release the civilian immediately, and fight someone your own size.” the voice came from behind the cyborg, and had a way more human voice. The cyborg released the gatekeeper, causing him to double over on the ground for breath, and turned around to the treeline.

“And who is this?” asked the cyborg, “who would like to challenge me?”

“I would.”

A figure appeared in front of the treeline, facing the cyborg. It was holding some sort of metal object, and was staring the cyborg down coldly.

“And who would you be?” asked the cyborg, “my name is Garisu III, the third generation of advanced mechs made in the land beyond the wall! You are dealing with a technological terror of unsurpassed firepower and speed!”

“My name’s Jant,” said the figure, now approaching slowly, “I’ve been hunting you for over a week by now. You won’t get away with what you’ve done.”

“Oh? And are you one of those so-called guardians?” Garisu III grinned at him, “I’ve been waiting to encounter one of them. This battle with be a savory one.”

“I’m no guardian. I’m a rogue.” Jant hefted the thing he was carrying up. Now that he was closer, Garisu III could tell that it was a long metal rod. Not a baton - more like a staff.

“Then prepare to DIE!” Garisu III completely disappeared, flying at Jant at a massive speed. Jant dodged his first attack, then whipped around his rod, slamming it straight into Garisu’s legs.

“Augh!” Garisu paused for a moment. “You are quick…”

“Fast enough to kill you, at least.” Jant jumped up, bringing his rod down on the ground where Garisu was, before Garisu suddenly vanished, completely dodging his attack. Jant’s attack blew the ground apart, incinerating everything within a ten meter radius.

“Futile.” Garisu appeared behind Janet, slashing his back, before disappearing again. “You are not fast enough.”

“We will see about that.”

Jant charged forwards bringing his rod down on the ground, using it as leverage to make himself go high into the air. While in the air, Janet opened his palm, summoning the rod back to his hand, before slamming into the ground right where Garisu was. Garisu dodged the main attack, but Jant followed this with a whirlwind of slashes and stabs at his chest.

“Enough!” Garisu slammed his claws into Jant’s staff, knocking him back. He vanished, appearing behind Jant, and slashing him on the legs this time, causing him to cry out with pain and stumble back.

“Your attacks are strong. But you lack speed.” Garisu began to whiz around Jant, not attacking, but staying within talking range, “how does it feel, not even being able to see me?”

Jant growled. Dangit, he thought, this guy is way stronger than I thought...well it doesn’t matter.

Jant gripped his staff, slamming it into the ground with as much force as possible. It was enough force to cause the ground to shake, forcing Garisu out of his constant speed.

“Futile,” Garisu hissed at Jant, “your attacks are futile!”

Next thing Jant knew, Garisu had appeared right in front of him, and a claw had slashed across his face.

“Augh!” Jant backed up, trying to ignore the blood that was starting to come out of the wound that was on his cheek now. But in the end, the pain began to overcome him. He collapsed onto the ground, letting go of his staff now, trying to cover up the bleeding.

“You disappoint me, Jant. You humans aren’t worthy of a battle. You are nothing.” Garisu leered over Jant’s broken body, “killing you now would be too fast. Too easy. I like to enjoy the suffering of my prey before I finish them.” as he finished the sentence, Garisu kicked the staff off to the treeline, where it vanished, out of sight.

Jant didn’t have anything to say. He felt hopeless now. This was where he died. There was no escaping it this time. Twenty years of training. All of it useless against this opponent.

“Hey. You.”

A third voice suddenly pierced the night sky. Standing right in front of the treeline, wearing shorts and a t-shirt, was a middle-aged college student leaning against a tree.

There was a moment of silence, as both Garisu and Jant stared at the figure.

“And who are you?” asked Garisu, turning to face the newcomer, “another guardian? Perhaps you can satiate my appetite, if this one doesn’t.”

“I’m not a guardian,” the figure yawned, “the name’s Harvey. Um, what’re you doing?”

Garisu stared at Harvey. “I’m killing this guardian!” he finally roared, “can’t you tell? I’m about to kill one of your-”

“Oh, so you’re a monster?” Harvey raised an eyebrow, apparently unimpressed, “uh, okay. I’ll be on my way then. I only came here to get rid of my writer’s block.”

Harvey turned, heading back into the treeline, his shoulders slumped.

Garisu stared at his receding back. Jant could tell that his breathing was speeding up. This wasn’t good.

“This little punk…” muttered Garisu under his breath, “he thinks he can just walk away like that? He thinks he can just avoid this? For writer’s block? Oh, I’ll show him…”

Jant gulped. At least he wasn’t going to die alone now. He wanted to move, but the cut on his face was growing more and more painful by the second. Jant suspected that there was a poison on the claws.

Garisu vanished, flying at Harvey’s retreating back. His claws were outstretched. His targeting systems had focused in on the neck, which was wide out in the open, undefended. There was no way he could miss this. Garisu grinned, as he flew through the air. His first kill. His first-

Splat.

Harvey’s fist flew out, connecting with Garisu’s face. It was so fast, that Jant barely saw it. One moment, Garisu had his claws against Harvey’s neck, and the next moment, he was a bloody mass on the ground.

Harvey only seemed to notice what he had done then. “Oh. Oops.” he looked up at Jant, “Uh, you think you can clean him up?”

Jant stared, his mouth wide open. “How did you kill him?”

Harvey shrugged, “I don’t know,” he muttered, “just got lucky, I guess?”

Jant continued staring. “You’re...you just killed him! Just like that!”

“I mean, he wasn’t a toughie,” Harvey turned back to the treeline, walking back to the trail, “I gotta get home now though. So…”

“Wait!” Jant scrambled up, “wait! I...I owe you my life! I can’t just-”

“What?” Harvey stared at Jant as if he was crazy, “what do you mean, you owe me your life? I didn’t do much.”

Jant gawked at him, “you just killed a - wait a minute…” Jant’s hand shot up, feeling his cheek, where he could’ve sworn there was just a cut. But now, all he felt was smooth skin. “What the…”

Harvey looked at Jant, as if not noticing anything different, “I just killed a monster.” he finished for him, “yeah, I get that. But I really gotta go back home now-”

“Please, give me your address.” Jant bowed down before Harvey, as if expecting to be knighted by him, “I owe my life and my loyalty to you, sir.”

Harvey blinked. What was going on today? He had killed monsters before….but this was the first time he had killed a monster, and someone else had seen him do it.

And what was going on with this “sir” business?

“Uh...okay, sure. My house code number is 92840280270274275620.”

“Thank you sir!”

“No need to call me sir.” muttered Harvey, turning back to the road, “and don’t come tonight.”

As Harvey walked back to his apartment that night, and entered into his bedroom, he looked around. The whitewashed, unpainted walls. The blank, unused chalkboard to the side. Everything here looked new.

Harvey plopped down onto his bed, grabbing the daily newspaper that he had received that morning, and opening it up. Maybe he would be in it, because he defeated a monster?

Sure enough, there was something in there, but it had nothing to do with him.

The remains of Garisu III, a cobra-class monster, has been recovered after a distressed gatekeeper reported an attack by him on his gate. This has been one of the many gate attacks that have occured recently. Gatekeepers and out-of-city dwellers are advised to stay indoors, as monster sightings within wild zones have been going up.

Harvey leaned back against his pillow. It was probably a good thing that he wasn’t mentioned. He enjoyed the quiet. It was nice.

And then there was the deal with Jant. Hopefully, he wouldn’t come to his house, because if he did, that would be really annoying. There was probably nothing to worry about. Harvey would rather shoot himself than memorize his own house code number again.