The Shadow Chasers

Chapter 9

Tatsumi Port Island Pier

They followed Sam's GPS to its source; a closed down cannery at the eastern piers of the city. They'd found cover between a few large metallic shipping containers near the building that was the source of the signal. Clover finished a swig of her water bottle, and stashed it in her backpack.

"Typical hideout," Clover mused with a hint of irritation. Alex smiled wanly in response.

"I'll let Mitsuru know what's up," Alex said, looking to Clover, then Sam.

"Sounds good. I wonder if we're really about to wrap this up?" Sam replied, moving windswept stray hair back into place. The sun was gradually getting closer to the horizon, signifying the clock ticking on stopping this madman before the full moon rose.

"Sure hope so. Feels funny not doing this by ourselves though," Clover said. She had her M-Ray contacts out and in place to better keep watch by looking through their cover.

"Mmhm. We found him," Alex said quietly over the X-Powder, and pressed a button. "That's our location," she added. Alex listened intently for a bit. "Got it. Thanks," she said, and hung up.

Sam made eye contact with Alex while Clover inclined her head slightly, and shifted closer, focused on lookout. "She said to stay put til they show up. They'll be here as soon as they can," Alex said.

"Considering what we heard last night about these Shadows, and how they work, I'm going to say that's a good idea," Sam replied and gave a nervous smile to her friends.

Alex's brows raised. "Yup, it's a little different for us, but it makes sense. That place could be rigged with hidden cameras for all we know," she said with a shrug.

"No security around here so far," Clover said, shifting her support leg in her crouched position. She briefly glanced skyward for any possible surveillance drones, then back towards the cannery.

Before long, two black sedans pulled in, close as possible to the spies' location. Mitsuru, Aigis, Labrys, and Koromaru emerged from one, and Akihiko, Junpei, and Yukari from the other. They walked quickly after Mitsuru, who followed the green dot on her smartphone to the spies' precise location.

"Glad you could make it," Alex quipped quietly with a smile. Sam and Clover gave thankful looks to the Shadow Operatives as well.

"Yes, we got here as quickly as we could. As you can imagine, we don't get threats like this often," Mitsuru replied. She wore an intricate black combat bodysuit and gloves, and had a rapier in a scabbard. "But since the theft, I asked my friends to try to free up their schedules a bit in preparation for something like this. Excellent job," she said.

The girls smiled in response, and Akihiko inclined his head in agreement. He wore loose-fitting beige pants, combat boots, red fighting gloves with metal plates, and a red cape with a hood over his shirtless upper body. He had scars on his chest, and wore a combat knife at his side.

"It's unusual to team up with others, but what you've done so far is outside our expertise. So thanks," he said evenly.

"Our pleasure, Akihiko," Clover said, gazing back at him dreamily. Sam and Alex voiced agreement with slight smirks towards Clover and a now self-conscious Akihiko.

Junpei was dressed in a blue and white baseball uniform and held a metallic bat over a shoulder.

"Whoa, I wasn't expecting that for a combat outfit," Alex said with a surprised look.

"Yeah, it's a part-time gig, and it's all I've got," he said with an offhanded smile.

Yukari wore a pink sentai-style hero outfit, complete with a small cape. She held a pink helmet under one arm and a metallic longbow with feather designs on the ends in the other hand.

"Now that is a stylin' outfit," Clover remarked to Yukari. Alex and Sam nodded in agreement.

"Aha, thanks guys. There's a story behind it-," Yukari replied. "I'll tell ya afterwards," she said, with a gesture to Mitsuru, who was waiting patiently.

"These are the anti-Shadow weapons I mentioned," Mitsuru said. She, Aigis, and Labrys handed a small grey baton to each of the spies. "Press the button in the middle to extend them," Mitsuru said.

The girls did so, then spread out a bit for room, and swung them a bit to test their feel.

"Wow, first time getting gadgets from anyone besides Jerry," Clover remarked.

"Yup, but usually our gadgets are disguised as something else. Like these would be hairbrushes or something," Alex said, as they pressed their buttons a second time to make them retract.
"But these are awesome, thanks," she added.

"Fantastic combat uniforms," Aigis noted with an impressed look.

"Thanks, Aigis," Sam replied, smiling.

"Also, my scan is not picking up any surveillance cameras," Aigis said.

"Hmm. Well, I suggest all those who can fly move in first," Mitsuru said, looking to the spies and androids. "We'll move once you've given the all-clear," she said, indicating herself and the others.

"Understood. Let's go," replied Aigis, igniting her thrusters. The spies and Labrys did so as well, then they quickly flew to the cannery roof and landed near a skylight.

"That's amazing. You both can fly," Alex enthused to Aigis and Labrys.

The androids smiled in return, and Aigis peered intently through the skylight.

"I am detecting Shadow activity near the entrance to the building. If we had entered through there without a scan of Shadows, we would've been ambushed," Aigis informed the others after tapping an aural disk where her ear would be.

She spoke quietly over the comlink, listened for a few moments, uttered a goodbye, and made eye contact with the others.

"We're clear to enter and engage the enemy. Mitsuru and the others are standing by at the entrance," she said evenly.

A/N: Thank you for reading. Hope you enjoyed. Please vote and comment if you enjoyed it. Your support means a lot.