Shadow Angel: Volume 1

The Check-Up

The day of Cody's check-up had arrived a week after the Centipede Eldritch attack. As promised, Evan drove him to Morningstar City's DEA agency, where Heather awaited him. The drive was silent on the way, for the radio was off, and both Cody and Evan didn't talk. All the dark-haired boy did was stare out the window, thinking about three things: Keith Belmont, the Centipede Eldritch attack last week, and Lucien. Beside him, Evan took a glance at him before turning his eyes back to the road.

Soon enough, Cody and Evan made it to the agency. The building wasn't too short nor was it too tall and it was round. The windows were also like mirrors reflecting the light of the morning sun. There was only one feature Cody expected of the agency's structure: the color it was painted, teal. As the two walked into the building, Evan approached a receptionist and informed her of Cody's appointment with Heather. Once they received confirmation, they made their way to the agency's medical wing, where they waited to be called.

While waiting for their turn to be called, Cody kept thinking about his and Milo's hangout events last week. But then, Evan decided to break the silence between them.

"Got something on your mind, Cody?" Evan asked as Cody turned to look at him.

"Uh, yeah," he answered. "Just last week when I was with Milo, I learned something."

"Something?" the green-haired man repeated.

"Keith Belmont, the first Slayer. I saw a statue of him in the city, and when I asked Milo about him, he just told me everything he knew. Milo said Mr. Belmont and his team disappeared a long time ago and no one knows why. By chance, do you know what happened to him, Evan?"

Evan's breath hitched as he raised both his eyebrows. Then, he looked away and said, "I wish I could say I do, but I don't. Just because I'm a Slayer doesn't mean I know everything about DEA's past."

Cody frowned in response. But then, he heard a door open as a man dressed in a white lab coat entered the waiting room and called, "Cody Byrd?" With that, Cody and Evan stood up and followed the man to a room with a single rectangular table and a small, round object, presumably a scanner, attached to the ceiling. In that room were Scott, Mia, and Rich, who were sitting on chairs inches away from the table, but Heather wasn't present. Cody was confused by this at first, but Mia explained that Heather was currently doing check-ups with other Slayers and students. With that brief explanation, the man had Cody check his height, weight, and blood pressure; all three looked well. After that, the man provided the dark-haired boy with a teal hospital gown to change into before leaving the room to fetch Heather.

Scott assisted Cody in putting on the gown after he took off his current clothing. Finished with that, everyone waited quietly in the room until Heather finally arrived. Cody was instructed to lie on top of the table as Heather operated the scanner by standing near a computer. As the scanner was switched on, everyone watched as it slowly went down until it was above Cody's chest. Then, its light flickered on and it slowly went down his upper body before going back up. Meanwhile, Heather nodded to herself as her eyes focused on the computer.

As soon as the scan was complete, Cody was free to stand up from the table as Heather, Scott, Mia, Evan, and Rich walked out of the room. With the adults out of the room, he removed the gown and slipped his clothes back on before leaving the room himself, finding Scott standing in the hallway waiting for him. Scott proceeded to take Cody to an office where the others were waiting for them. There, Heather stood at a desk with a flatter-looking computer as Mia, Evan, and Rich sat in chairs near a wall. As Cody and Scott sat in front of Heather's desk, the latter turned the computer around to show two pictures of Cody's ribcage; the one on the left looked broken while the right one only had a few small cracks.