Cole practically leaped forward and snatched the binoculars from his friend.

"Heard some gal escaped the lynch mob, took of through the swamp. Probably hiding in one of those bootlegging shacks back there."

"Alright, I'll check it out. Thanks, man," Cole said, handing back the binoculars and jumping off the roof.

He landed hard and caused dust to fly up around him. He waved it away with a hand and began running.

He glared at a few protesters that he had to sidestep to get past to the small pond that separated the swamp from the city.

It was an easy travel to the first shack, not hard to miss and not defended by militia so he approached it easily.

A growl resounded as he reached for the door and he froze for a second, acknowledging his empty surroundings before breaking down the door.
"Hey, Kuo, you in here? Kuo!"

No response.
Cole sighs and back away from the door.

"Plenty more shacks around," Zeke said, cutting into the call and dropping two more coordinates. "These folks love their moonshine."

Cole turned to retrace his steps when more growls rang out.
From the trees came familiar-looking corrupted creatures, except their heads were bulbous and glowing green.

Cole ducked out of the way and shot bolts at one of them. Their green head explodes upon impact and he cringes before taking care of the rest.

He groaned at the goo that seeped from the creatures and had to created distance from them to get rid of the stench they left behind.

"Alright, next shack," he mumbled to himself after recognizing the coordinates Zeke sent.

Search The Shacks For Kuo

It was an easy find for him, but he could do without the extra militia - especially the thick-skinned one with the machine gun.

Cole leaned against the wall of the shack to catch his breath after ducking around, what felt like, hundred of bullets.

"Hell of a place to make moonshine," he commented to himself and busted through the door. "Kuo, come on out!"

Nothing.
With a frustrated huff, he slammed the door closed and moved for the next shack.

His hand was only inches from its door when an explosion made him jump back, senses on high alert.
Rockets and guns went off, immediately alerting Cole and making him run towards the source.

"Kuo," Cole shouts, thoughts moving to his missing friend as he hopped over another stream of water and ran into the smoke that thickened the closer he got to the battle sounds.

He stopped to let some of it clear and noticed the militia men on the floor, unresponsive.

He stepped around them, looking for any dents in the rock or the ground being split apart, but nothing showed residue of the Brookstone Bender.

Something caught his eye; a flash of black and red, appearing and disappearing all around him till he came in contact with it and was taken down.

He feels his back hit the ground, and out of instinct, raises an electrified hand.

The woman -who took him down- hesitates a punch of her own and pulls away from him, holding a Blast Core.

Cole pushes her away to stand. "Woah, woah, woah, demon," the girl says, donning chains and ripped up clothing. "Cole MacGrath, I'm a fan."

Cole watches her wave around the Core, and points to it. "Where'd you get that?"

"Off one of these fools. I thought it was kinda pretty." She grins, her voice accented. "Why, you like pretty?"

She holds it out teasingly and when Cole reaches for it, she pulls it away.

"It's all yours," She drags in a raspy voice. "All you gotta do is help me break a few crackers."

Cole scoffs and gestures around him. "Yeah, 'cause you look like a real damsel in distress."

"It ain't about needing help. I just..." she trails off and steps closer to Cole, eyes fluttering. "...want a little company. Name's Nix."

"Alright, Nix, lead the way."

"Aight," she says and turns away from Cole, teleporting out of sight.

"Unbelievable," he says to himself, only having a trail of smoke Nix left behind as his source of direction in where to go.

He follows her lead down the streets and into alleyways, ignoring her fangirling of, "running with the Demon."

He watches her stomp the ground before four or five pillars of -what seems to be napalm- encases the militia and holds them up in the air.
"Light 'em up, man!" Nix shouts and Cole sends a bolt to the nearest pillar. The rest follow suit when the electricity explodes the crude oil.

"Yeah," she cheers once all the men in the alley are taken down. "That's good, but what's on the roof is even better." She teleports away. "Come on, demon!"

Cole climbs the building in jealousy.

He flips onto the roof and has to dive sideways to dodge a militia who had charged for him.
Four, five, six.
Six men, he could count right off the bat.
Nix was on a different roof, taking care of a group of her own.

Cole took out his Amp and to went to town, swinging and tossing away anyone to had readied an attack for him.

"MacGrath, come help me," Nix called, suddenly only a few feet away from him. She stood next to a barrel, waving him over. "You gonna like this," she said and Coe helped her dump the barrel's contents on the large Bertrand banner.

Without a word, Nix jumps onto the roof where she first took down her own militia. "Hop on that wire, it's gon' take you just across the stage. Two more barrels are there."

He does as she says and takes the cable wire, zooming over the large protest of people. Militia all along the ground, ignoring the shouts of the people. Corrupted monsters were held in cages. This was all in support of Bertrand.

Cole finishes his travel and the first emotion he feels is disbelief.
He huffs as his eyes roam the multiple militias, all knocked out.
Different kinds of restraints held them in place, but they all had one thing in common: the restraints were made from rock.

Nix lets out a maniacal laugh and picks up a nearby piece of paper. She takes a moment to read over what it says before handing it to Cole and mumbling, "That's my girl."

"This seemed like a you-thing, Nix, so I decided to make it a little easier,"  the note read, written in sloppy and rushed handwriting, signed 'Brookstone'.

Nix leaned down to tug on the neck restraint of the nearest militia. "She's gotten stronger," she praised after it stayed sturdy under her pull.

"She?" Cole inquired, letting the note drop through his fingers and flutter to the ground. "The Brookestone Bender's a girl?"

"Yeah, man, she's... she's one of a kind; always got my back even if she don't always agree with what I do." Nixed eyed the note, hesitating.

"How well do you know her," Cole asked, watching Nix pick up the note and put it safely in her back pocket.

"Me and her met a few months back when she came to the city," Nix shrugged, "Happened to stumble into me."

"Tried to put me six feet under, I tell ya'," Nix chuckles while explaining. "She stayed with me a few weeks before deciding it was best to move to the city. Said she needed more ground for her skills."
Nix takes a glance at the dead man by her feet before taking a seat next to him.
"It worked well for us; she got what she wanted and the Militia stopped setting up camps in my swamp."

"So... you guys are..." Cole trailed off, not knowing what to label them as.

"Family."

"You said she doesn't agree with what you do," Cole continued, gazing down at the ruined banners that the bender did for Nix.

Nix tilts her head back and looks into the sky with a soft smile. "Yeah... she doesn't think fear is the way to win people over. She's an angel, that one."

Cole watches Nix glance at the two banners that Brookstone ruined. "Though, there are some exceptions. She don't take people's shit, man."

Cole grins.
"I can see that."

"Now," Nix says and gives a grunt as she stands. "Light those banners then we're out of here. We'll keep in contact, yeah?"

Cole nods.
"See you around, Nix."