About an hour later, every returning student had arrived at the chapel. Following Axel's instructions, Leon made sure every single person who walked in received a glass of water and a snack.
Finally, the speaker—an old priest who also happened to be the school's principal—stepped up to the podium and picked up the script Leon had placed there. At the same time, Leon rushed back to Axel, standing on the far left side of the room.
"Did you make sure everyone got their water?" Axel asked with a crooked smirk.
"Yeah, every single person. But I still don't see how passing out water helps us find the witness," Leon replied, brow furrowed.
"Aye, kid, hold up. Before you start yapping—do you hear the ticking?"
"Huh? Ticking?"
Leon's eyes darted around in confusion until Raven's voice broke in over the earpiece.
"I suggest you don't question anything Axel says until the mission is over," she warned. "He's already entered that state."
***
A few minutes later, the principal cleared his throat and addressed the crowd.
"Welcome back, Class of 2004! I'm glad to see so many familiar faces. Bet I know you all are surprised to see me still kicking, haha!"
He smiled, then continued, "But before we dive into speeches and rekindling old memories, let's have a toast—to returns."
The principal and all the returning students raised their glasses and took a sip.
Leon turned to Axel.
Axel's body was trembling with restrained energy. His eyes were locked forward.
Then, softly:
"Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick," he whispered, over and over, grinning wider with each repetition.
What's going on with him? Leon thought, a chill crawling down his spine. Wait… my mom always warned me about demon possession! Nooo—why did it have to happen on the first mission I was forced into?!
Axel pulled out his black vintage goggles and slid them on with a snap.
"Rave. Time to end this mission. Increase the room temperature to 122°F," he ordered, voice low but unhinged.
"On it," Raven replied instantly.
"Wait—can an AC even go that high?!"
"No limits in technology matter to a master hacker like me," Raven answered, unbothered.
The room began to heat rapidly as Raven overclocked the system. Despite the sudden rise in temperature, the principal kept speaking—though sweat beaded at his brow. In the back, Axel was breathing heavily… and laughing.
"Hahaha… the ticking! It's getting faster!" he exhaled between manic bursts of laughter.
As the thermostat climbed, Leon wiped sweat from his forehead.
Suddenly, he felt a tap on his shoulder.
Turning, he saw a pale, sweating man struggling to stay upright.
"Hey, server, can I get another glass of water? It's getting real hot in he—"
BOOM.
An explosion tore out from the man's stomach, blasting his body in half and splattering Leon with blood and viscera.
Leon froze. Eyes wide. Hands trembling.
"W-What... waah... waah..." he stammered, staring at the blood soaking his palms.
Axel threw his head back, roaring with laughter.
"Hahaha! There it is! The first boom!"
***
Axel Fuse was born in Compton, California. From age five, he was plagued by an unheard-of condition—an incessant, internal ticking sound. No one believed him. Not his parents, not his teachers. Not until ninth grade… when he caused a massive chemical explosion in his school's science lab.
That's when the truth came out: Axel's mind functioned like a ticking time bomb. The only thing that could silence the noise in his head was a boom.
Over time, Axel became addicted to that silence. Addicted to the release. To the explosion.
His diagnosis? A one-of-a-kind mental disorder officially named:
Tick-Tick-Boom Tendencies.
"Tick... tick... boom," Axel whispered, grinning through blood-covered teeth.
And then—it happened.
Before anyone could react, every person in the chapel excluding Leon and Axel exploded from within.
BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.
Each detonation shredded bodies apart from the inside out, filling the air with screams, blood, and entrails. Guts splattered across walls, and crimson mist rained down like confetti.
Leon could only stand there, watching in horror.
Axel looked up, arms stretched wide as the gore rained down on him like divine blessing.
"Triacetone triperoxide—aka the mother of Satan!" he shouted, euphoric.
"A compound that, once decomposed, becomes explosive gas. Mix it in the water, let the body heat start the process, raise the room temperature—and BOOM!"
He threw his head back and screamed in delight.
"Why search for one witness when we can erase everyone at once?! Hahaha!"
A few feet away, Leon stood motionless.
Trembling.
Blank.
Shaking.
His eyes stared at his blood-soaked hands. At the pieces of people that still twitched around him.
Then Raven's voice cut in.
"I'd like to apologize, Leon. This might've been a lot for a first mission. I didn't think he'd go this far. But this… this is what the Three Big Fs are about. Fuck love. Fuck humanity. Finish the mission no matter what. Axel's following that last one perfectly. This strategy was effective. Just suck it up and move on."
Leon collapsed to his knees, breathing heavily.
"Move on? Move on… from th—"
He stopped.
A cold, bloody hand had gripped his wrist.
Leon looked down.
A woman—half her body missing, intestines spilling—looked up at him with pleading, dying eyes.
"H-helppp meee… it… huuurts…" she begged.
Leon tried to pull away, but she held on tight.
"Please… let go! Don't beg me… you don't even know—dammit!" Leon screamed, tears falling fast.
"Just let go!"
"Help… me..."
Her body finally gave out. Her hand loosened. Her eyes rolled back.
She died.
Axel walked past him without looking down.
"Get up, kid. We need to make sure they're all dead before the cops show up."
He paused.
"Oh—and just in case you didn't get the memo before..."
Axel glanced back, his smile cruel.
"Welcome to Squad Bastards, Leon Abelof."
Leon said nothing.
He didn't move.
His mind spiraled in silence.
On this day…
On my first mission...
I encountered a demon for the first time.