Daryl slowed his bike to a stop in front of a sprawling sea of railroad tracks littered with dozens upon dozens of boxcars. The veritable gallery of graffiti on the cars coupled with the slight smell of rust in the air made this place look more like a graveyard for trains than an active hub.
"Finally," moaned Sam. "Are the roads in the city designed so you hit every possible red light or are we just that lucky?"
"Just lucky I guess," mumbled Daryl as he removed his helmet. "Well, we better get started. Where's Olivia's car?"
"Probably trapped in another time zone thanks to a damn red light."
"Here they come." Daryl approached Olivia's car as it slowed to a stop.
"I'm sorry," Olivia said to Daryl. "We—"
"We can't get around because the chief of police hates us too much to sign off on us using sirens and lights for our vehicles," groused Eric.
"Washington said whatever the TSA found might try to get out of town by train, so we're to investigate for any unusual activity," said Daryl. "You two go to the control tower, ask the yardmaster if they saw anything and if any trains are leaving here in the immediate future. After that, you can help Sam and I search the area."
"Got it. Race ya!" Eric took off for the tower in a dash, leaving Olivia to follow far behind in the boy's footsteps.
"I'll do a fly over to get a bird's eye view while you search the area on foot. Understand?" asked Daryl.
"Yeah. We're not sure what we're looking for, and we don't know where it is. So we'll wander around in the hope that we both find it and that it doesn't want to kill us. That about the size of things?" asked Sam.
"Not how I would've worded it, but yes," said Daryl. "Do you have a problem with that?"
"No, but this does sound a lot like a snipe hunt," noted Sam. "I just heard that kid say the chief of police hates you guys and looking at this place I'm getting a vibe that we're just being given something to do."
Daryl sighed. "Our relationship with the police could be... better. But the Starlight Sentinels work in cooperation with them. So dead end or not we've got a job to do."
"A'ight, you're the boss. Let's go to work."
"I'll be right above you the whole time. If anything happens, just yell." Daryl quickly leapt into the air, seamlessly floating right into the sky.
"Holy shit," awed Sam as she watched Daryl's cape flutter in the wind before disappearing from view. "He really can fly." Turning her awestruck gaze back towards the ground, Sam looked at the endless lines of boxcars stretched out in front of her and sighed. "This is gonna take all day."
Searching the yard proved as tedious as Sam suspected. She checked unlocked boxcars, investigated engines, looked under trains, and without fail found nothing of interest. After a while, Sam reasoned anything hiding here probably would have caught tetanus just from being around so much rusted metal. During a check of another trio of boxcars, Sam tried to recall when her own last tetanus shot was. Before long, Sam's mind was wandering so much she almost didn't hear someone calling her name.
"Sam!" Looking up Sam saw Daryl, descending gently towards her. "Have you found anything?"
"Whole lotta nothing." Daryl landed softly on his feet. "You?"
"I haven't seen anything unusual."
"Telling ya, snipe hunt."
"Eric called a little a while ago. The yard master said he hasn't seen anything either, but there are a couple of trains leaving here soon. We should probably check them out before that happens."
"If you say so. Where they at?"
"One is near the edge of the yard, the other just past this track." Daryl pointed to the train behind Sam. "I'll check the one at the end of the yard, then head back to your location."
"Got it." Sam wasted no time squeezing through an opening between a couple of fuel cars and found her target, a large blue and yellow train attached to yet another long string of freight cars. After a quick but thorough inspection of the engine, including a brief explanation to the conductor inside, Sam started surveying the rest of the vehicle.
She pulled on every door to confirm it was locked and investigated any open boxcars. Reaching the end of the train, she briefly checked under the last car, then climbed on top of it for a better view. Scanning the area, all she found was more old freight cars as far as the eye could see, their faded graffiti tags the only sign that anyone had ever had any interest in them.
"It's a once in a lifetime opportunity," Sam mumbled to herself. "You're gonna love being a superhero." A blaring train whistle sounded and the car Sam was standing on started to move. "Still beats driving a cab, I guess."
Sam moved to the edge of the car and hopped down. As the woman approached the next train, a sharp clanking sounded from behind. Looking over her shoulder, Sam saw what looked like a shadow move past one of the open boxcar doors. She turned to check the train in front of her, only to turn back towards the open car behind her.
"Eh, why not?" Sam spun around and raced to the boxcar as it slowly moved away with the rest of the train. Leaping aboard, Sam removed a flashlight from her belt and investigated the area. The car was empty, just like every car she had checked. She sighed, then made one last sweep with her light.
Having found nothing, Sam turned off her light. She moved to the door, ready to jump off, but stopped when she heard a faint scratching sound. An uneasy feeling crept over Sam as she heard another, louder scratching, this time right above her. Whatever was making it was very close.
Sam aimed her flashlight up at the ceiling and reluctantly switched it on. The light revealed something wearing a cloak somehow pressed flat against the ceiling of the boxcar. Looking closely, Sam noticed whatever this was had dug into the metal roof with long, black claws on the end of its fingers and toes.
"Oh my God." The outburst caused the creature to suddenly jerk its head, bringing a pair of eerie orange eyes down upon the terrified woman looking at it. Sam instinctively shifted backwards, reaching for her taser as the creature let go of the ceiling. Sam took aim and pulled the trigger just as the creature pounced. A pair of taser prongs narrowly flew past the creature as it leapt through the open door.
"Shit!" A loud banging from above signaled the creature was moving on top of the boxcar. Sam quickly headed to the door and found the train was moving much faster now. Looking up, Sam wasn't sure if she could follow the creature to the top of the train.
"This would be a helluva lot easier if I could fly," mumbled Sam. "Wait a minute." Sam removed a flare gun from her belt and aimed it out the door. "Hope he sees this." Sam pulled the trigger, sending a flare streaking into the sky. After holstering her flare gun, Sam reloaded her taser.
Looking up at the top of the boxcar, Sam realized it was too high for her to jump. Searching for anything she could use as a step, Sam found the edge of the door had a spot for a lock. Carefully she planted her foot on the piece of metal, then tried to push herself up while clinging to the side of the door.
"What are you doing?" Startled by hearing someone's voice in her ear, Sam lost her footing and felt herself being pulled to the ground, but it never seemed to reach her. "I've got you." Sam looked down to see she was floating above the area. Turning her head she found Daryl beside her, his arm wrapped around her waist.
"Holy hell, we're flying!" she exclaimed.
"I saw your flare. What's going on?" asked Daryl.
"I saw it! I saw the snipe! On top of the train!" Daryl pulled them further into the air and over the top of the train. "There!" Sam pointed at a cloaked figure standing on top of the engine. Daryl charged through the air and landed near the creature.
"Don't move!" ordered Daryl.
"You've got nowhere to go!" Sam took aim with her taser. The cloaked creature briefly glanced at the pair, then leapt off the train. It soared through the air for a few seconds before landing back in the yard. "Goddammit." Sam holstered her taser. "Now—"
"Come on!" Daryl wrapped his arm around Sam's waist.
"What are you—ahh!" Sam felt herself being dragged high into the air. She looked down at the ground shrinking away beneath her and started clinging to Daryl out of fear of being dropped.
Daryl however kept watching the escaping beast duck and weave between the parked train cars. He moved closer to the ground, following the cloaked figure as best he could, only for the mystery monster to duck under one of the trains and out of view.
Daryl quickly landed where he last saw the escapee and ran over to the boxcar it had disappeared under. But checking beneath it, the man found no signs of the creature. Daryl quickly launched himself back into the air and looked down at the surrounding area, but again saw no clues of where his target had gone. Slowly he floated back towards where Sam was standing.
"Looks like I lost it," concluded Daryl. "What was that thing?"
"Back on the ground..." mumbled a dazed Sam as she stared at the dirt.
"Are you okay?"
Sam looked up at Daryl. "Sorry, flying thing kinda freaked me out."
"What was that?"
"I don't know, I didn't get a good look at it."
"Why is it so hard for people to get a good look at this thing?"
"I only saw it up close for a few seconds but it ain't human. It's got big claws sharp enough to dig into metal and these creepy orange eyes."
"Did it attack you?"
"No, it just made a run for it after I spotted it."
"I'll contact the police to let them know their target has made it to the train yard, then call Eric to warn him to be on the lookout. After that I can fly us around the—"
"Please, I don't think I'm ready to do that again. Just, let me follow you on the ground for now. I mean, how do you even fly? Are you like, magic, or something?"
Daryl groaned. "Yes, I'm magic or something," he mumbled as he reached for his phone. "Still, if you want to stay on the ground, that's fine. That might be easier for me; you're pretty heavy." Daryl started dialing while Sam shot him a dirty look.
"Wait, what'd you just say?"
Daryl watched as Sam crossed her arms. "It's... probably just all that equipment you're carrying."
* * *
Olivia emerged from an empty boxcar and reexamined her surroundings. Everywhere she looked were more cars and she didn't know where to go next. She had been trying to use the graffiti to keep track of where she had been, but looking at the side of the car in front of her she couldn't be sure if this was the same tag she had seen from earlier or not.
The tag just said 'peace', and it looked like it was drawn exactly the same as a tag she saw earlier, but the colors appeared different, like maybe the artist did the same work with different paint on more than one car. It then occurred to Olivia that one person may have painted the same tag on several cars and that her system for navigating the yard was probably flawed. But before she could devise a better one, a loud bang sounded behind her.
"Hey there." Spinning around, Olivia found the source of the bang.
"Kid Astounding?" she said. "God, you scared me."
"You can just call me Eric. The fancy names are more of a PR thing." Eric hopped off the boxcar and landed next to Olivia. "Daryl called me. Sounds like he and Sam spotted what we're looking for. Some kind of monster with razor sharp claws and a helluva jump."
"Really? Are... are they okay?"
"They're fine. They found it hiding in a train car before it ran off."
"It ran away?"
"That's what Daryl told me."
"It didn't attack them?"
"Sounds like it just ran."
"It's weird it hasn't tried to fight back yet. It sounds like it's faster and stronger than us, but it just runs away and hides when people see it."
"Yeah, it's like it's playing games with us," noted Eric. "I'm starting to think things would be easier if it just wanted a fight with us."
"You want to fight a monster?" asked Olivia.
"Better it fights me than someone who can't fight back." Looking over at Olivia, Eric could see his comment had made her nervous. "Well don't worry, I've got your back."
"I've just never done anything like this before," said Olivia. "Have you really been a superhero since you were eleven?"
"Yeah. I would have started a ten but I just barely missed the score to go solo, so I only could work with traffic cops for my whole first year. Next time I passed, but they still wanted me to be a sidekick because I'm so young. I told them no, so I could only go on patrol with a police officer, which was almost never because the police chief hated the idea of me riding along with cops."
"And your parents are okay with all this?"
"My dad is, mostly. Took a lot of begging in the early days though. One of the reasons I'm working with Daryl now is because my dad feels better if another hero 'keeps an eye on me." Eric sighed. "Not that there's anything happening right now. This thing just keeps running off and hiding."
"So your father is okay with this, but what about your mother?" Olivia waited for Eric to answer, but the boy seemed lost in thought. "Eric? Did you hear me?"
"This thing just keeps hiding..." A smile crept across Eric's face. "That's it!" Eric pulled his goggles down over his eyes and started scouring the area.
"Wait, what are you doing?" asked Olivia.
"Right now, I'm looking for something I can use as a bat."
"A bat?"
"Yeah, anything I can swing around really." Eric spotted a loose board in between a pair of tracks and quickly scooped it off the ground.
"What are you doing?"
"This thing is just gonna keep hiding. So instead of tiptoeing around we need to flush it out."
"Wait, how are—"
"Just do your best to keep up." Eric sprinted down the length of the nearest train, repeatedly rapping his makeshift bat against the side of the boxcars. Olivia started running after Eric as fast as she could, but it was hopeless. She could only cover half the distance of the train before Eric rounded the last car. The girl hopped through a gap in the nearest boxcars to the next track only for Eric to immediately pass her, banging his board against every car on another train.
"What are you doing?" she yelled.
"Making noise. I'm gonna scare this thing out of hiding."
"Are you sure this is a good idea?"
"Better than just quietly waiting around and doing nothing." Eric circled around an engine and Olivia squeezed between a pair of boxcars to follow.
"I really don't think this is going to work," said Olivia as she emerged on the other side.
"Well what should we do?" asked Eric without stopping. "It's not like we even know what—" A loud crash echoed from inside a cargo car, prompting the boy to skid to a sudden stop. Olivia watched anxiously as Eric looked at her and made a shushing motion with his hand, then waved for her to follow him. Approaching the freight car, the pair noticed the doors were closed but the handles had been bent badly, as if something had tried to pull them off.
"Okay, we charge inside on one," whispered Eric. "Three, two—" The doors to the container swung open, knocking Olivia and Eric backwards. The cloaked stranger burst out of the cargo container and landed on the ground on all fours. It quickly glanced at Olivia and Eric, then took off running. Eric leapt to his feet and started chasing after it. As he ran after the beast, Eric grabbed his cellphone and held the button to speed dial Daryl.
"Hello? Eric?"
"We found it! We're chasing after it now." Eric watched the creature scurry its way up the side of a black tanker car.
"You saw it? What is it?" Daryl's questions went unanswered as Eric leapt onto the car's ladder and hurried up to the top.
"I don't know what it is!" Eric spotted the creature leaping off the tanker and onto the next car. "Just fly over here and give me some help!" ordered Eric as he chased after his target.
"Where are you?"
"Somewhere in the train yard."
"Where in the yard?"
"I don't know! I'm on top of a train. Just keep an eye out for the teenager in the green spandex shirt chasing a monster in the Friar Tuck getup." Eric slowed to a stop when he spotted the creature peering over the edge of the last car of the train. The boy pocketed his phone and quietly closed in on it.
Edging closer, Eric only made it a few steps before the creature spun around and looked at him. Slowly it stood up on two legs, its baggy cloak concealing all but a pair of bright orange eyes shining through the darkness, like a couple of small fires. Eric stood there for a moment, staring into the creature's eyes as it stared into his.
"You can't run away forever, especially not from me." The creature kept staring at the boy while Eric eyed his prey. Suddenly, the boy made his move. He had been fast, but the creature had been faster. It sprung forward through the air and narrowly landed on the next train as Eric landed on the spot where they creature had just been standing.
The boy looked over at the creature in disbelief. Three empty tracks were between them now, a lot further than Eric was sure he could jump. Confident it had escaped, the creature turned away, prompting Eric to back up as far as he could.
The boy sprinted forward and bounded off the edge of the train. He soared through the air, for a few seconds before falling considerably short of his target. Eric hit the ground rolling and tumbled painfully across the last empty track and into the side of the train he was trying to land on.
"Dammit!" Eric picked himself up off the ground. "That was stupid," mumbled the boy as he climbed onto the boxcar he had just crashed into. Spotting the creature in the distance, Eric hopped across the remaining trains and then leapt back to the ground. He pushed himself to move faster as he pursued the figure through a dusty lot filled with rusted machine parts and piles of scrap metal.
The creature cut across a small parking lot, ducking through a row of cars before racing out into the road. A truck horn blared, causing the creature to panic. It clumsily rolled out of the way, retreating back onto the sidewalk. It lay still for a moment before regaining the courage to stand up. It leaned forward to look for more oncoming traffic, only to be knocked off its feet from behind.
"I told you. You're not getting away from me!" Eric wrapped his arms around the creature's legs, binding them. The creature dug its claws into the sidewalk and tried to pull itself free, but the young superhero tightened his grip. Eric desperately fought to keep the cloaked figure from kicking out of his grasp, jerking it backwards as it attempted to crawl out of his grip.
"Give up already!" Eric pulled hard on the beast's thick legs, but couldn't quite get it to budge. "It's over! You're not—" Eric watched in disbelief as something near the creature's legs shot out from under its cloak and towards his face. It was a long dark red appendage that seemed to dance in front of the young man's eyes.
"What is that?" The creature's tail knocked Eric across the head, sending the boy tumbling onto the ground. The creature pulled itself free from Eric and scurried a few feet away. It stood up and looked back at the boy, who was still rubbing his forehead.
The creature turned away from Eric, and found Olivia charging directly towards it. The girl drove her fist down towards the creature's head, but hit the road instead, cracking the asphalt. The creature fled across the street while Olivia helped a still woozy Eric to his feet.
"Kid, I mean Eric, are you all right? Say something."
"Where is it?" Olivia pointed towards a pair of old brick warehouses and Eric instantly took off. The young woman tried to follow him, but Eric scaled onto the nearest building's roof with incredible speed. With no way to match Eric's mobility, Olivia cut through an alley to try to keep close to the boy as he traveled by rooftop. Emerging in a small backroad bordering more warehouses, Olivia found no sign of the creature, or Eric.
"What am I even doing here?" Olivia leaned against the nearest building, finding the heat of the sun-soaked bricks soothing, but only slightly. She was standing in some dingy old alley in a city she had never been in before, chasing after a monster. Feeling overwhelmed, Olivia took a deep breath, then let out a yelp when she heard a rustling from above. Spinning around, she found Eric perched on the roof right above her.
"Dammit! Stop doing that," said Olivia.
"Keep your voice down," warned Eric as he dropped onto the pavement.
"What's going on?" whispered Olivia.
"I saw that thing dive into a dumpster near the end of this warehouse. I'll chase it your way and then you tackle it."
"Shouldn't we wait for the others?"
"I don't want to risk this thing getting away from us again. Let's not give it enough time to figure out its next move."
"Umm, okay."
Eric studied Olivia, noting how she seemed to be shaking slightly. "You all right?" he asked.
"I think so. It's just... I just started today and I'm already chasing some mystery monster. Is this like an everyday occurrence in this city?"
"Hell no. In the five years I've been a hero here, I've only fought one super villain. Just one, that's it. Aside from that, I've had to deal with two bank robbers, three different idiots pretending they were villains, a handful of drug dealers, and a bunch of small time crooks.
"Oh, and once I had to help round up escaped zoo animals." Eric noticed this did nothing to reassure Olivia. "Okay, saying it out loud like that, yeah, some weird things occasionally happen here, but not daily. You're lucky you get to see some action like this on your first day."
"Lucky? That thing could have killed you." Olivia pointed to the large bruise on Eric's forehead.
"I'll be fine. Now, can I count on you for this or not?"
"Umm..." Olivia tensed up as she looked at Eric, who just sighed.
"Look, we've both got super strength and the element of surprise. All you have to do is grab hold of it when it runs past you. Even if you only slow it down, that'll be enough for me to catch it."
"Okay, I think I can handle that."
"Great, see that?" Eric pointed to a big dumpster near the far end of the warehouse. "I'm going to scare it your way. Stay out of sight near the edge of the building and rush it as it runs past. Got it?"
"Yeah, I think so." Eric moved towards the dumpster while Olivia took cover behind the corner of the building. She poked her head out and watched Eric grab the lid of the dumpster. He flung it open, loudly banging it against the side of the building. The cloaked beast clumsily sprung out of the dumpster and stumbled onto the ground. Spotting Eric standing in its path, the mysterious figure started running the other way.
Olivia's stomach dropped as she saw the creature charging closer, running on all fours like a terrified animal. The girl's legs didn't want to move, but seeing Eric chasing after the cloaked figure forced the girl to take action. Olivia threw herself out from cover and collided with the creature.
The whole world seemed to spin as Olivia and the creature tumbled across the pavement. Trying to stand up, Olivia spotted the creature right in front of her and instinctively leapt onto its back. The beast kicked and thrashed about, trying to knock Olivia off. But the girl planted her feet on the ground and bared down on the creature.
"Time to show yourself." Eric pulled the creature's hood back, and found nothing. There was no creature, and Olivia suddenly found herself lying on an empty cloak. "What? Where is it!"
"I don't know... I was holding it, and then... it was just gone," mumbled Olivia as she stood up. Eric yanked the empty cloak off the ground, shocked to find nothing at all inside of it. Even the cloak itself was disappointing. No pockets, no markings, nothing to tell him anything about what they were chasing, other than it wore a ratty old brown cloak that even Goodwill probably wouldn't accept.
"This is bullshit!" yelled Eric as he hurled the empty cloak aside.
"Oh God," muttered Olivia in a quiet voice. Looking at the girl, Eric saw she was staring at the ground, a frightened look frozen on her face. Gazing down at the pavement, Eric discovered what appeared to be a shadow of a monster.
Its silhouette revealed it had short horns, a long mane of hair, sharp claws on its hands and a long tail. Looking around, Eric realized there was nothing that could be casting this shadow. The boy's gaze turned skyward, reasoning maybe the creature could fly, but there was nothing above them either.
"Wuh... what... what is that?" asked Olivia.
"I don't know." Eric looked closely and realized the outline of the creature was much darker than his own shadow, as if it had been painted onto the cement. He knelt down and reached for the image, only for Olivia to grab his arm.
"Don't touch it." Eric pulled his arm free and ignored Olivia's warning. He pressed his fingers against the blackened concrete. Nothing happened to Eric, he just felt the pavement at his fingertips.
"So, what is—" The creature's image twitched suddenly. Eric fell over backwards and scrambled away from it. The beastly shadow seemed to crawl across the pavement, a single sudden movement at a time. Olivia tripped backwards as she scurried away from the phantom image.
The strange shape kept shifting and contorting across the ground up to the wall of the nearby warehouse. It slowly crawled under a closed loading door and out of sight. The two teenagers just sat there in silence for a moment, dumbfounded, before Eric suddenly broke the silence.
"What the hell was that!" he shouted.
"You saw that, right?" asked a frightened Olivia.
"Eric!" Daryl called out as he and Sam landed on the ground.
"Really hate flying," Sam mumbled to herself.
"Finally, where the hell have you been?" grumbled Eric.
"Language!" scolded Daryl. "And to answer your question, we were looking for you. What happened to our target? Did it escape again?" Eric stared at Daryl for a moment, trying to think how he could explain what just happened.
"Well, we did catch it." Eric picked up the empty cloak. "And then it turned into a... shadow, and snuck off into that building over there." Daryl and Sam had no response to Eric except to look at the boy in disbelief.
"Oh... kay," said Sam, still trying to process what Eric said. "Is shadow code for something or... what the hell did you say just happened?"
"I had it. Right here," explained Olivia. "Eric went to pull its hood off, and it was just gone. Then we stood up and saw it. This ghastly silhouette of a horned monster burnt into the pavement. Then, it started moving, like it was alive! It twitched and jerked across the area until it slid under that door." Olivia pointed to the building behind them.
"Oh... kay," repeated a stunned Sam. "That's... clearer?"
"Well, if what you're saying is true, it sounds like we're dealing with something supernatural," concluded Daryl.
"Yeah, no kidding," snapped Eric. "Anyway, we saw... it, go into that building, so we need to get in there, now."
"Hold up," said Sam. "You just said this thing flattened itself, or something, after you jumped it. If it can pull weird stunts like that when it's cornered, how the hell are we supposed to catch it?"
"Hey, if you're scared, you don't have to come," retorted Eric. "The three of us will be just fine without you."
"I ain't scared, I just want to know if we have an actual plan. Because I have no idea what we're dealing with and it doesn't sound like any of you do either."
"Plan or not, we still have a duty here!"
"Eric, easy," spoke Daryl in a calm voice. "She has a point. This may be out of our league, and we should probably contact the Order for assistance. I'll send a message to Captain Washington to let him know our target has left the train yard."
Daryl started typing on his phone. "In the meantime, we should continue to investigate. Even if we can't stop this creature, we might still learn something useful about it. It looks like you two managed to disrobe it. Maybe we'll at least finally see what it looks like." Daryl pocketed his phone and moved to the loading door.
"Locked." Daryl looked at Olivia. "Force the door open."
"Uh, okay." Olivia bent down and grabbed the loading door handle. "We're allowed to do this, right?"
"As a licensed superhero team we're permitted to act in a manner we decide is in the service of the greater good of the public until such time an objection is raised," recited Daryl.
"And the city has an insurance policy that covers the collateral damage we do," said Eric. "Just so long as we don't break anything too expensive."
"Okay." Olivia gripped the loading door's handle tightly. "Real quick, will this insurance cover the crack I put in the road?"
"Crack? You didn't split the road in half or something?" asked Daryl.
"No."
"Well how big—actually, this isn't time, just open the door." Olivia pulled with all her might and ripped the handle clean off without disturbing the rest of the door.
"Oops."
"Maybe push on it?" Following Sam's suggestion, Olivia rammed the loading door with her shoulder, busting it off its rails. She gripped the bottom of the damaged door and pulled it up enough to allow the team to slip inside.
The warehouse was a dimly lit collection of industrial shelving filled with nothing but stacks of wooden loading pallets. It was kind of eerie just how many wood pallets there were, as if this was their secret meeting place. Sam and Daryl both produced flashlights that illuminated the area, whereas Eric removed his goggles.
"Eric, where's your light?" asked Daryl.
"Didn't bring it."
"I told you to start bringing a flashlight while we're on duty."
"And I told you I have excellent night vision." Daryl sighed, then went back to examining his surroundings. The cluttered shelves formed large aisles that led across the length of the warehouse, giving the creature plenty of places to hide.
"We should split up to cover more ground," suggested Daryl.
"Yeah, it'll make us easier to kill." Daryl shot an annoyed look at Sam. "Oh come on. Splitting up to find a mystery monster hiding inside a dark building? You walked right into that one," smiled Sam as she clipped her flashlight to her vest.
"Everyone be very careful. We still don't know what we're dealing with. If you see this thing, call for the rest of us. Don't be a hero," said Daryl.
"We are heroes," reminded Eric.
"You know what I meant."
Eric darted into the nearest aisle.
"I don't have a light either. What should I do?" asked Olivia.
"Stay and guard the door," answered Daryl before flying into one of the aisles. Olivia turned her big brown eyes to Sam next, who instead of saying something, removed a glow stick from her belt, cracked it and then handed it off to Olivia.
"Here, this way if something happens you'll at least be able to find what's left of me." Sam watched as Olivia nervously fidgeted in place, all five feet and one hundred pounds of her. "I'm kidding. Ease up a little. I know this is freaky, but keep it together." Sam placed her hand on Olivia's shoulder.
"This is all so overwhelming. I'm... scared."
"You got super strength, right? Can't you crush this thing if it gets close?"
"I don't know, maybe. I've only used my power a few times. Mostly during my basic training for my exam, and I didn't do very well. I'm starting to think this was a mistake."
"Well, mistake or not, right now, we've got a job to do. You need to concentrate on what you're doing. You hear me?" Olivia sheepishly nodded in agreement. "Tell you what, if it makes you feel a little safer, you can hold on to this for me." Sam removed what looked like a small pink gun from a holster on her hip.
"What's that?"
"Pepper gun."
"What's it do?"
"Shoots pepper spray," answered Sam. "It's not much but it at least gives you the option to keep your distance." Sam placed the pepper gun in Olivia's hand. "Safety is here." Sam pointed to a small metal pin above the butt of the gun. "Pull it down to unlock, little like cocking an actual gun. Tap the trigger for a quick squirt, hold it to spray. Aim for the face and don't fire until you're sure it's something you want to douse with painful chemicals. Any questions?"
"Do you think this would even work on it?"
"No idea. But it wouldn't be running this much if we couldn't hurt it and I know it has eyes. So it's better than nothing."
"Thank you, Sam, right?"
"Yeah. You're doing okay. Just try to keep calm." Sam gave Olivia a light pat on the back, which got Olivia to crack a slight smile. Sam pulled her taser from its holster and moved away from the loading door.
"Wait, Sam," said Olivia "One more question."
"What?"
"Why is it pink?"
"I like pink." Sam moved into one of the far aisles while Olivia hooked the glow stick onto a belt loop. She placed both hands on the pepper gun and stood patiently in front of the door. Olivia found the dark aisles and sudden silence unsettling. It felt like something would jump out at her at any moment. But after a few minutes that fear gave way to boredom as Olivia realized it'd be more likely they'll search everywhere here and not find anything. The monster could be long gone by now.
Now more restless than frightened, Olivia tightened her grip on the pepper gun and looked for a good place to start searching, reasoning she could at least help speed things up. Eyeing the nearest shelf, she spotted a wooden pallet leaning against it that seemed out of place. Olivia knelt down, pulled the pallet off the shelf, and found a pair of ominous orange eyes staring at her in surprise.
The young woman felt herself trembling with fear as she stared directly at the creature. She couldn't force herself to look away, or even focus on the rest of its face. All she saw were its orange eyes, floating in the darkness like embers above a flame. The young woman's heart pounded against her chest as a razor sharp claw moved slowly towards her face. The creature reached out, gripped the pallet Olivia was holding and slowly pulled it back in place to conceal itself.
Olivia blinked her eyes a few times, trying to work out what had just happened, then tightened her grip on the pepper gun. The girl tossed the pallet aside and pointed the pepper pistol right in the creature's face. The beast slowly stumbled backwards into the wall, allowing Olivia to get her first good look at it.
It was human, or at least human-shaped. It had dark red skin, long black claws on the end of its fingers and toes and a tail almost as long as its legs. There also appeared to be a long black cape draped over its shoulders that hung down to its legs, which was its only clothing.
It merely shivered in terror at Olivia's feet, now seemingly helpless. Olivia took aim at the creature's eyes, but was unable to pull the trigger. Looking closely at its face, Olivia saw it had strange black horns growing out of its forehead, a long mane of hair that was as dark as coal, and orange irises floating on top of blackness where there should have been eye whites.
Yet it still appeared startlingly human, with twisted expressions of pain and terror clearly visible on its face as it lay on the ground, gasping loudly for air. Olivia lowered her pistol, then moved in close. The creature shut its eyes and turned away as the girl knelt down beside it.
"I won't hurt you." The creature turned its head and locked eyes with Olivia. Each stared at the other, unsure what to think. Examining the scared beast more closely, Olivia came to a realization. "You're a girl." Observing the creature's feminine physique and facial features, Olivia was certain this being was female. It calmed slightly and stopped breathing so hard.
"Do you understand what I'm saying?" The creature nodded. "What are you?" The creature stared at Olivia for a moment, then opened her mouth.
"Hey Olivia, what are—" Eric saw the creature staring at his teammate. "Olivia, get out of the way!" Eric leapt through the air, trying to land a flying kick on the creature. She narrowly rolled out of the way and Eric collided with the shelf unit behind it. The creature quickly stood up and tried to escape.
"Eric stop!" Eric ignored Olivia's plea as he spun around to deliver a powerful kick into the fleeing creature's back. She fell forward onto all fours and started scurrying away as quickly as she could. She zigged and zagged through the cluttered industrial shelving, desperate to stay away from Eric. Turning a corner, the creature found Sam towering over her. The creature swatted her taser away only for Sam to slash the creature's arm with a knife.
She pulled her bleeding arm away and started to run when a sudden sharp pain struck her shoulder. Sam had tossed the knife right into the creature's back. The wounded creature slipped through one of the shelves and into a different aisle, where she struggled forward towards an exit sign at the end of the building.
Just as freedom was in reach, the industrial shelving started collapsing inward, creating a barricade of twisted metal and broken wooden pallets. The creature turned around to find Count Nutus floating above her, and Kid Astounding and G.I. Genocide closing in on her. The wounded creature fell to her knees in defeat as the Starlight Sentinels approached.
Poised to strike, Count Nutus motioned to the rest of his team, only to be suddenly yanked out the air. The creature watched as Olivia grabbed Sam and Eric by their collars and tossed them backwards towards Daryl. She then quickly positioned herself between the creature and the team.
"The hell is wrong with you!" Sam aimed her taser at Olivia.
"Explain yourself!" demanded Daryl as he and Eric picked themselves off the ground.
"She isn't a threat to anyone," announced Olivia.
"She?" said Eric.
"She's just scared. She doesn't want to hurt us."
"Yeah right," retorted Eric.
"Move out of the way Olivia," ordered Daryl as he ascended into the air.
"No." Daryl stared at Olivia. He could tell from the expression on her face she had no intention of moving. Looking down at Eric and Sam, Daryl nodded, motioning for them to attack.
"Please don't kill me." The sudden plea caught everyone off guard.
"Uh, who just said that?" Olivia stepped aside so that Sam and the others could see the source of the voice.
"Please. Please don't kill me," begged the cowering creature.
"You can talk!" She nodded weakly in response to Eric's outburst.
"Then why the hell didn't you say anything!" She flinched upon hearing Sam's words and started clinging to Olivia's leg as Daryl approached them.
"It's okay, he's not going to hurt you," assured Olivia.
"Who are you?" asked Daryl.
"I... I am demonic." The creature lowered her head in shame.
"Your name is demonic?" asked Daryl.
"No. I don't have a name."
"What are you doing here?" asked Eric.
"I don't know."
"What do you mean, you don't know?" asked Sam.
"I went to sleep in my home and awoke in darkness, bound by chains. After I had broken free, I found myself in this strange place."
"Home? Where's your home?" asked Daryl.
"With my master."
"You have a master?"
"Yes. He raised me. Taught me." The creature looked directly at Daryl. "Please, I just want to go home." Daryl looked at Olivia, who just shrugged.
"Okay. What happens now?" asked Sam as she lowered her taser.
"I'm calling the Order. None of us are familiar with the proper procedure for... I guess demon deportation." Daryl removed his phone and started dialing while Olivia helped the demon girl to her feet.
"You're safe now," reassured Olivia.
"Thank you, for sparing me," she spoke.
"Why don't you have a name?"
"My master says I am not deserving of a proper name."
"That's ridiculous. How about I give you a name?"
"If you wish," answered the demon in a dejected tone.
"How about Demona? She was my favorite gargoyle."
The demon nodded drearily at Olivia. "If you wish."
"You don't like it?"
This question confused the demon. "It is not my place to speak out."
"You can tell me what you think. I won't mind if you don't like it."
"Well, I have been called a demon my entire life. That name just reminds me of what I already know."
"Then how 'bout Snipe?" suggested Sam. "A mysterious creature nobody ever catches. That sounds like you. Well, except we did catch you."
"Snipes are small duck-like birds," said Daryl as he waited on hold.
"For real?" Daryl nodded at Sam. "Well, my eleventh birthday just got a whole lot crappier."
"How about Leia? That's a classy name," suggested Daryl before turning back to his phone. "Hello? I'm Count Nutus with the Starlight Sentinels; we have a situation."
"Why not something cool? Like, Immoral Support?" said Eric.
"I've got it," said Olivia. "Angela."
The demon's face perked up upon hearing that. "Like Angel?" she asked.
"Yeah, and she was my third favorite gargoyle," said Olivia.
"I think I would like being called Angela."
Olivia moved to place her hand on Angela's shoulder, but noticed the knife sticking out of her back. "Who did this?"
"I did," said Sam. "Wow, that's still in her? That was a good throw."
"Why did you do that?"
"I thought we were hunting a monster. I didn't know she could talk." Sam positioned herself behind Angela. "Hold still, I'll pull it out." As Sam grasped the blade's hilt, Olivia noticed Angela's cape was actually part of her body, attached to a couple of appendages growing out of her back. "You could've said something," Sam said to Olivia. "You didn't have to fling us around the room like that."
"Indeed. Was it really necessary to attack us?" said Daryl. "You could have seriously hurt us."
"Or worse, she could've torn your precious cape," joked Eric
"I'm sorry, I thought you were about to kill her," said Olivia. "I tried to tell Eric, but he didn't listen."
"Hey, I see someone face-to-face with a monster, I spring into action." Angela moaned in pain as Sam removed the knife. "So Daryl, what's the Order telling us to do with the monster?"
"I'm on hold. I'm waiting for one of their thaumaturgists to pick up."
"Thumba-what?" asked Sam.
"Thau-ma-tur-gist. I think it's a fancy word for magician."
"Well when they pick up be sure to ask if they got any fancy words for monsters," said Sam as she examined the strange black substance the demon had bled onto her knife. "Because we're not dealing with anything human."
"Stop calling her a monster," insisted Olivia.
"It's fine," spoke Angela in a soft voice. "I am a monster."
"Don't say that. You're not a monster. And you're going to be okay." Olivia's reassurance seemed to ease Angela slightly, only for a sudden beep to startle her again.
"It's Washington," reported Eric as he checked his phone. "He wants an update on what we're doing."
"That's gonna take a whole lot of explaining," commented Sam.
"He also said he's in the area and can back us up," added Eric.
"Probably easier to explain this in person," reasoned Daryl. "Tell him to meet us at this location."
"Got it, I'll head outside and figure out where we are." Eric went running for the loading door while Daryl turned back to his phone.
"My team has encountered something claiming to be a demon and... hmm? Well, what types are there?" Daryl adjusted the grip on his phone to hear better. "Really, there're that many types of demons?"
Sam removed some medical tape from her vest and started bandaging Angela's wound.
"Wow. You got everything in there," noted Olivia.
"Pays to be prepared." Sam cut the tape and finished the bandage on Angela's back, then started tending to the cut on her arm.
"Oh, that reminds me." Olivia handed the pepper gun back to Sam. "Didn't use it."
"Olivia?" called Eric in the distance. "I could use a hand bending the door back open."
"I'm coming." Olivia ran off to assist Eric while Sam tended to Angela, who cowered before the woman. The demon girl appeared so small now that Sam could see her up close. She was hardly any bigger than Eric, and practically shaking in fear. Looking to Daryl for advice, Sam saw he probably wasn't getting off the phone anytime soon.
"How do I determine if it's chaotic evil?" asked Daryl. "No, it's just quietly standing there. Really, that's the whole test?"
"Should've spoke up earlier," Sam told Angela. "Save us a lot of trouble."
"I apologize," she answered meekly.
"Well, in your defense, none of us probably seemed all that talkative. Cept for the girl in the hoodie."
"Well, I'm back on hold again," grumbled Daryl. "We really should show the police we've got everything under control now." Daryl turned to the demon girl. "Now Miss..."
"Angela?" she finished.
"Right, we need to take you outside for a moment." Daryl noticed Angela was awkwardly positioning her hands over herself in what looked like a feeble attempt to preserve her modesty. "Here, why don't you take this?" Daryl unclasped his cape and handed it to the demon.
"Thank you," said Angela as she clutched Daryl's cape close to her body.
"Don't worry, we're not going to hurt you."
"Anymore..." added Sam with a nervous laugh.
"We need to assure everyone you're not dangerous. Do you understand?" Angela nodded at Daryl. "Okay, just follow us. Once this is over, and if I ever get off hold, we can hopefully start working on a way to get you home." Daryl gently gripped Angela's hand, taking care not to touch her claws, and slowly led her to the exit. As they walked, Sam started laughing quietly to herself.
"What's so funny?"
"We're going outside to politely ask the police to not shoot at a demon we found. This is just so weird."
"And you find that amusing?"
"Kinda. Maybe you're used to stuff like this but when I signed up for this job I figured, without powers, I'd wind up as a glorified security guard. Never thought I'd get to be a part of some crazy shit like this," laughed Sam. "We did kind of luck up though."
"In what way?"
"Well, I don't know anything about demons, but I'm guessing friendly English speaking ones have gotta be rare."
"The nuns taught me to speak," said Angela.
"Nuns?" asked Sam. "You grew up in a church?"
"A monastery, where I lived with my master."
"Who's this master you mentioned?" asked Daryl.
"He looks after me, and taught me to be a pacifist."
"Sounds likes a good guy," commented Sam.
"He's a righteous man, always vigilant for when I stray from the path."
"What happens when you stray from the path?" asked Daryl.
"He punishes me," answered Angela in a quiet voice.
"Punish how?" inquired Daryl.
"Usually with a whip."
"Well, scratch the good guy comment," said Sam.
"A righteous man doesn't whip people," asserted Daryl.
"I'm not a person," said Angela as they reached the exit. "I'm a demon." Olivia bent the door open and everyone stepped outside. Daryl spotted Eric talking with a pair of police officers. One older with glasses and the other a younger man with a crew cut.
"Jack, just don't freak out," Eric said to the older officer.
"Jack?" repeated the younger officer. "Captain Washington's first name isn't Jack."
"It's a little nickname K.A. has for me," smirked the older officer. "Me and Sergeant Frost will behave."
Eric left the officers and moved to where Daryl was standing. "Okay, I told them what's going on. Let's show them what we found."
"Captain, Officer, what you're about to see may be startling, but I assure you that everything is under control. Please, remain calm." Daryl motioned for Angela, who slowly stepped into view.
"Holy hell!" Frost quickly pulled his gun from his holster, prompting Angela to retreat behind Daryl.
"Way to follow directions, Frost." Washington calmly put his hand on Frost's gun.
"Did you see that thing?" blathered Frost.
"Yeah, it's real freaky, but I'd still rather you not piss it off by pointing a gun at it."
"She doesn't mean any harm. She claims to have been forcibly displaced here and was just frightened." Angela slowly peeked out from behind Daryl.
"How do you know that?" asked Washington.
"I told him," answered Angela. Washington looked at the demon girl for a moment, then shrugged.
"Well, that's all I needed to hear. Come on Frost, let's go." Washington started walking back to his car.
"You're just going to leave that... thing, with them?" asked Frost.
"She's not a thing," insisted Olivia.
"Talking monster woman who wants to phone home or something. This is the costumed people's jurisdiction, not ours." Washington opened his car door and motioned for Frost to get inside.
"You really trust these people with this? How do we know that they weren't involved with all of this?" said Frost.
"If you want to go through a group of superpowered individuals to attack something that can probably tear you apart with its bare hands, that's your decision. But as your senior officer, I advise against it, for a lot of reasons, least of which is me firing you." Washington climbed into his car.
"Chief Izuna won't like this," grumbled Frost as he approached the car.
"Let the city's liaison to superheroes worry about explaining this to her," said Washington.
"Who's that?" asked Frost as he took his seat beside the captain.
"Me." Washington started the car and the pair drove away, leaving the team alone with their discovery.
"Really makes you feel appreciated, huh?" asked a sarcastic Sam.
"So, what now?" asked Eric.
"Still waiting for the Order to give me an answer on that," said Daryl as he raised his phone to his ear. "Huh? Oh, how long have you been back?" Daryl started talking on his phone while Angela moved to pick up her discarded cloak.
"Are you okay?" asked Olivia as Angela dressed herself. "I feel terrible about what we did to you."
"Speak for yourself," scoffed Eric. "I'm still annoyed at her for all the running she made us do."
"She was just scared. She didn't know what to do."
"Yeah right, she seemed to know to whack me upside the head when I cornered her earlier." Angela approached the boy and examined the injury on his forehead. "Admiring your handiwork?"
"Allow me to atone for what I did," said Angela, voice laced with guilt.
"What?" Angela placed one hand over Eric's bruise and the other on the back of his head. "Hey!" Eric struggled to break free.
"What's going on!" Sam shouted as she pulled her taser.
"This thing is trying to finish me off!" accused Eric as he broke free of Angela's grip. The demon stumbled in place, clutching her forehead as if she was dizzy.
"Are you okay?" asked Olivia as she moved in close to Angela.
"This thing attacks me and she's worried about it," griped Eric.
"Oh quit your bitching, you're fine," said Sam.
"Fine? This look fine?" Eric pointed to his forehead.
"Umm, yeah, it does."
Eric felt around for the bruise and found nothing. His head didn't even hurt anymore. "What did you do to me?"
"I took your pain as my own." Angela let go of her head, revealing a wounded expression on her face. "It is how I pay penance for what I am."
"And that weird shadow trick? Is that also about penance?" asked Eric.
"No, I don't know how I did that," confessed Angela.
"What's going on?" asked Daryl as he joined the rest of the group.
"Oh, just trying to figure out Olivia's friend here," answered Eric.
"Well for some reason the Order's thaumaturgist wants to speak directly to you for a moment." Daryl offered his phone to Angela. She carefully grasped it and held it in front of her face, unsure what to do. Olivia gently guided her arm so that she was holding the phone near her ear.
"Hello?" She listened closely for a moment, then offered the phone back to Daryl. "He wants you."
Daryl took his phone back. "Hi, so did... but she only said one word... and you're certain... wait, I don't think we can—hello?"
"So, what'd they say?" asked Eric.
"He said she's not an immediate danger and they'll look into finding a way to send her back home. In the meantime, he wants her to stay with us."
"Seriously? They expect us to babysit a demon? What's so important that this has gotta wait?" asked Eric.
"I don't know, something about one of his students being trapped near the inner circle of thought." Daryl turned to Angela. "Well, I guess you'll be staying with us for the time being." Angela edged away from Daryl, a distressed look forming on her face.
"It's okay, he just wants to help," assured Olivia. "He's going to take you somewhere safe until we can send you home."
"Where?" she asked quietly.
"I guess you can stay with me back at headquarters."
"Will you be there?" Angela asked Olivia.
"Um..." Olivia realized she didn't have an answer to that question. The girl looked at Daryl.
"What? Oh, right. I forgot we were auditioning you two," he said as he looked at Olivia and Sam. "You two both show so much potential; I wish I could just hire you both."
"Nick said he wanted us to be a trio, and just a trio," reminded Eric.
"Hey, didn't you say you could fire him if you wanted to?" asked Sam as she gestured to Eric.
"What!" Eric scowled while Sam laughed.
"I never said that," stated Daryl.
"You know, I was undecided, but now I'm sure Olivia would be a better pick than you," retorted Eric.
"Yeah, well, I'd probably agree with you," said Sam.
"Yeah, well... wait, what?"
"Yeah, what?" asked Olivia.
"You talked a monster down; that's ballsy. And you've already got me outmuscled. I get you two picking her over me."
"Hang on, if you hadn't spotted the demon in the first place we'd probably still be searching the train yard," noted Daryl.
"She happened to be in the right place at the right time. That's it. Other than lucking up, what else did she do?" asked Eric.
"Sam helped me in the warehouse," answered Olivia. "I was freaking out until she talked to me. I probably wouldn't have joined the search if she hadn't given me that glow stick and the pepper gun. To be perfectly honest, I don't think I'm cut out for this stuff."
"What? You helped catch a demon on your first day, and then you helped the demon," reminded Eric.
"Are you not going where I'm going?" asked a nervous Angela.
"Okay, if you're both willing, why don't we just do an extended audition, like the Cavaliers did for Sam. You can both be part of the team for a while until I make a decision. That'll also let Olivia stay close to Angela until she can go back home," suggested Daryl.
"Well, I'm already here. I guess I can try this hero thing a little longer," reasoned Olivia.
"Do we get room and board in the meantime?" asked Sam. "Because with the Cavaliers, I had to rent a hotel for almost a week and I really don't want to go broke for a job I might not get, again."
"You can both stay with me at the firehouse. It's a bit under furnished right now, but there's plenty of space," offered Daryl. "Mr. Tetra converted all the VIP lounges on the second floor into bedrooms."
"Who's Tetra?" asked Sam.
"Nick Tetra, he's the team's sponsor," said Daryl. "And what he doesn't know won't kill him. Besides, he's going to be out of town until next week, plenty of time for me to make a decision."
"If you say so," shrugged Eric.
"Thank you for sparing me," spoke Angela in a quiet voice as she offered Daryl his cape back.
"Like I said, we're not going to hurt you. Just relax," assured Daryl as he donned his cape. "Time to head home. Sentinels, retreat!"
"Aye, aye, El Capitan!" chuckled Sam as she did a mock salute.
"You said you weren't going to do that, again," mumbled Eric.
"Come on." Olivia offered her hand to Angela, who gently grasped it.
"Your name is Olivia?" asked Angela.
"Yeah, sorry. Forgot to introduce myself."
"Such a nice name."
"Thanks."
"Oh, Olivia," said Daryl. "Just how badly did you crack the road?"
"Um... not bad," insisted Olivia. "I mean, like only slightly worse than when I dented your door at the firehouse."
"Wait, you dented our door?" asked Daryl. "When did that happen?"
"Umm... that insurance Eric mentioned," said Olivia. "Does it cover knocking on a door too hard?"