The Wandering Spirit | Underworld Office

When The Dam Breaks

"So what're you going to do now!? The sweat pea's ghost is out there giving people nightmares during night and can disappear at will! And I doubt they'll fall for one of our traps now that they know we're after them!" Joan interrogated the leader of the office.

"We'll figure something out, Joan. For now, let's just try and prevent them from giv-" Boss didn't get to finish his sentence as a kick landed on his cheek and sent him back a bit. "GAH!"

"RIVER! WHAT THE DEVIL WAS THAT!?" asked Joan aggressively as she stood infront of Boss.

"THIS IS HIS FAULT!" she shouted as she tried to land another kick to Boss but was blocked by Joan's cane.

"CALM YOUR HORSES! DON'T YOU DARE GET ANY CLOSER!" Joan warned the aggravated ghost.

"STAY OUT OF THIS, JOAN! THIS IS BETWEEN HIM AND ME!" demanded River as she launched another attack but was once again blocked by Joan.

"THIS ISN'T ABOUT EITHER OF YOU! THIS IS ABOUT EUGENE!" Joan swung her cane at River but the latter dodged and tried to trap Boss with her hair.

Boss managed to dodge the incoming trap and unsheathed his fan. As River tried landing another kick, he swiftly dodged to his left. This caused the younger to hiss at him and attempt a flurry of punches at him but he managed to dodge and block all of them until Joan hit her with her cane and she flew back.

"I got this, Joan. You don't have to be involved." he reassured the elderly ghost as he prepared for River to strike.

"I'm not going to let you beat each other to a pulp until neither of you can fight!" she stood by Boss's side but he wasn't taking that for an answer.

"JUST GO!" ordered Boss as River was getting ready to pounce.

"NO!" Joan stubbornly stayed.

"BIG MISTAKE!" taunted River as she rushed back into battle.

She used her hair to grab hold of Joan's cane and tried throwing it out of her hands. Unexpectedly, Joan came flying with the cane as she held onto it. Boss took this opportunity to cut her with his fan while she was mid-air but she narrowly dodged at the cost of landing awkwardly.

Once Joan landed on her feet, she turned her cane into a rifle and aimed for River. At the same time, Boss was getting ready to subdue her. Thinking quickly, she tripped Boss and took cover behind him as Joan started firing shots, two of them hitting Boss before she halted fire. He delivered a light kick to River's shins and threw her to the floor.

"This has gone far enough, River!" scolded Boss as shadows started appearing out of thin air, surrounding him.

"WE HAVEN'T EVEN STARTED!" she retorted as shadows started surrounding her too.

"Joan! Warn the others! I'll deal with River!" he ordered and the former complied, phasing out of the scene.

"IT'S JUST YOU AND ME NOW!" River declared as she rushed in for another attack.

"We can talk this out!" Boss pleaded as he blocked two shadows attempting to smack him. "Be rational, River! We don't need to fight!"

"YOU'RE NOT GETTING AWAY WITH WHAT YOU DID THAT EASILY!" said River as she tried trapping Boss again and failing.

"There are better ways to settle this!" he argued as he managed to slice a shadow in half with his fan.

"THIS IS THE BEST WAY TO SETTLE THIS!" she managed to break down Boss's defenses a bit which caused him to slightly recoil.

The two continued to exchange blows, River trying to tear through Boss's wall of defenses while the other tried to catch her off-guard with counterattacks. Occasionally, they'd manage to hit each other but neither of them were able to create advantages for themselves.

A plan started to be formulated in Boss's mind as River continued to release an onslaught of swings and smacks at him. The plan is extremely risky but if it succeeds, there's no doubt that he'll get the higher ground.

Waiting for the opportune moment (which didn't come for a while), he retreated his defenses and started sprinting towards River. The shadows she sent after him were either being dodged, sliced up, or used as a platform for him to get closer. She had no idea what he was up to but he was getting closer which meant she had better chances at hitting him so she continued to attack.

Eventually, a shadow managed to catch Boss by his ankles and she rejoiced as her opponent was now dangling upside down. She started slamming him on the ground repeatedly and stopped for a moment to take a look at his pathetic and beaten state.

"YOU DESERVE THIS! FEEL THE PAIN THEY FELT BECAUSE OF YOUR ACTIONS!" she mocked him and then laughed uproariously.

"I do... but I'm willing to pay that price to calm you down!" he sliced up the shadow holding him, freeing him from its hold.

River's joy turned back to rage at this and she tried trapping the older ghost once again. Boss managed to get close enough and as River tried punching him, he grabbed her left arm and suddenly, the office was empty.

The two combatants landed in the middle of an alleyway. River noticed that they were now standing in broad daylight. Immediately after, Boss started launching attacks but River was too slow to react and got hit a multitude of times.

"THIS WILL NOT STOP ME!" she cried as she recovered and started going back on the offensive.

Unlike before, however, her attacks were now weaker. Boss was no longer having a hard time dodging and blocking her strikes. This didn't stop River from attacking, though. However, each strike became more desperate than the last.

"THEY'RE DEAD BECAUSE OF YOU! BECAUSE OF US!" her voice cracked as tears started flowing down her cheeks.

Boss stayed silent as her ranting continued. Her attacks were continuously getting weaker by the second and less effort was put into his dodges and blocks.

"WE SHOULD'VE AT LEAST ACCOMPANIED THEM! I SHOULD'VE TRIED MORE! I SHOULD'VE DONE BETTER!" River started sobbing.

Guilt was starting to fill Boss at not only the state of his co-worker, but also at what she was saying. She shouldn't be blaming herself. This was his fault. It was his decision to fire Eugene. His decision to ban River from getting near their area. What's happening to both of them right now was a result of his actions.

"WHY, BOSS!? WHY COULDN'T YOU HAVE LET ME CONTINUE TO VISIT!? WHY DO THEY HAVE TO SUFFER MORE THAN THEY ALREADY HAVE!? WHY!?" her questions came off as pitiful wails.

"I'm sorry... I'll fix this. I promise you." said Boss as he took hold of the weakened River and knocked her unconscious.

"I promise. I'll make sure everything turns out okay."