The air within the petroleum and gas distribution center was tense. The workers weren't overly troubled by the foul smell or the risk of handling such flammable chemicals—that was just part of the job. Rather, they were set on edge by the Public Security forces, their police lackeys, and the Spectator drones covering almost every inch of the facility.

 

Lieutenant Char Hilt watched over the Public Security personnel in the Hunter carrying the Anti-Magic Wave Emitter. His arms were folded, and he tapped his foot as he waited for a report from his superior. A large holographic map of the facility was projected at the center of the truck, showing the interior layouts of the buildings and the paths around the silos, with green dots indicating the locations and statuses of the soldiers and drones as they moved. Screens around the edge of the vehicle displayed the live feed from the drones' cameras. Four radio operators were responsible for receiving reports from the field soldiers and relaying orders back to them.

 

"Lieutenant, we have an unknown hostile entity attacking the drones," one of the radio operators reported as a red marker appeared on the map. Three nearby markers representing drones were covered with grey Xs, indicating they were nonfunctional. "Spectators 2, 4, and 13 are down. We're getting a transmission from Police Unit 3 as well, putting them through."

 

"Unit 2 is down!" A voice called out over the radio. "All team members are incapacitated, and our drones are down. There is only one hostile! I repeat, one hostile—AAGH!"

 

"Damnit, she's so fa—" a different voice tried to shout, before the signal turned to static.

 

"We just lost radio contact with Police Unit 3," the radio operator continued. "We're getting an echo on the Emitter around them at Silo B. It's faint, but there's no doubt there's a signature."

 

Hilt gave a short nod as he looked at the visualization on the hologram. The capabilities of the AM Wave Emitter never ceased to amaze him. Everyone knew that Anti-Magic Waves could be used to dampen magical energy, even canceling out magical effects. However, they could also be used as sensors, similar to sonar or radar, to detect magical energy signatures if the Emitter was tuned just right—it only worked when the AM Waves were at low intensity. Too much power would also cause nearby electronics, such as their drones, to malfunction. Hence, they were waiting until the perfect moment to activate the Emitter.

 

"Are you hearing this, Captain?" Lieutenant Hilt messaged his superior, who had chosen to join the search personally.

 

"Copy, Lieutenant," Cage replied. "It looks like we found the Chick suspect. Recall the drones and bring the truck to Silo B. Also, have all Public Security forces converge on her location in case she slips past me. I'm in the area, so I'm moving in to apprehend her."

 

"Alone, sir? Shouldn't you wait for—"

 

"That's an order, Lieutenant. I can handle the rest myself."

 

Lieutenant Hilt paused for a few seconds before he responded. "Understood."

 

————

 

As they were falling back, two Spectators were knocked out of the sky, both cut up by knives.

 

The masked girl used tethered wires to retract her weapons into her hands, then stored them in her pockets. She noticed the other drones flying back to their command center.

 

She wasn't there to hunt drones. The masked girl ran through the complex network of pipes, stairways, and railings connecting the silos, trying to get farther from the main distribution center. However, in addition to getting lost, she came across another pair of police officers.

 

"Freeze! Don't move!" Both officers aimed their guns at her.

 

When she showed no sign of backing down, they opened fire. A purple aura glowed around the girl as she flexed her legs. In a flash, she sidestepped and ducked under the shots. Closing the distance faster than they could react, she got between the two officers and swung her cloak out to blind one of them. She dealt with the other officer by knocking the gun out of his hands, then struck both of his arms aside before he could attack. She finished it with two punches in the head and a roundhouse kick to the face, the officer flying back and landing on the nearby safety railing.

 

The second officer backed up and aimed for another shot, but she swung her knife on a wire, knocking the gun out of his hand. She moved in, grabbed his arm, and kneed him in the stomach, slamming him into the other rail.

 

"Sorry about this." The masked girl touched both of the men on their necks to feel for a pulse. They were both alive. Good.

 

"For what?" a voice asked from the same pathway she had come from. The masked girl turned to see a man wearing a bulky, armored robotic exoskeleton. An Ex-Unit, she believed they called it. He fired a taser from his suit's right arm, which she deflected with her knives. The masked girl turned and tried to run, but her only path led to a dead end.

 

———

 

As Janus Cage approached the trapped Justice, he glanced at the interface of his Aegis Mk. II class Exoskeleton Unit. Everything was still green, despite his Ex-Unit wielding a wrist-mounted taser and a baton, a far cry from the standard equipment of the Field Officer Configuration he was familiar with.

 

"You're already charged with a long list of felonies, including resisting arrest, trespassing, and destroying government property. Possession and use of a Heart Crystal are minimal offenses compared to that. So if I were you, I would make this easy and come quietly."

 

She turned around as Cage attempted to grapple her, which she countered by grabbing his arms. The Captain used his strength to his advantage, tossing her further down the dead-end. As he aimed his taser again, the girl reacted by tossing a wired knife. It deflected off his right leg, but she immediately hurled her other knife. Realizing that the girl was trying to trip him, Cage hopped away one foot at a time, but he was set off balance.

 

The girl closed the distance again, striking the taser on his arm. She blocked a punch, though she could barely hold against his augmented strength. If it weren't for her powers as a Justice, the Ex-Unit would've easily broken her hand with that strike. The girl threw a roundhouse kick, with the black talons clawing towards Cage's hip. He deflected the attack, the talons scratching along his arm guards instead. He then grabbed her by the shoulder and punched twice. She evaded the first punch to her face by ducking under it, then disappeared in a flash of purple energy as he aimed at her torso. Cage heard a noise behind him and spun around just in time to block the swipe of her knives with his arm guards. He delivered a knee strike into her stomach, throwing her back into the rail. He noticed a tear in the shoulder of her cloak and dropped the feathers he was still clutching in his hand.

 

The girl responded by grabbing the rail with both hands and hurling her legs into his chest, knocking him back onto the opposite rail. Scowling, Cage jumped up and charged at her. The girl slid underneath his legs with another flash of purple energy to get behind him in less than a second. She then kicked him in the back, sending him face-first into the metal railings.

 

So she's skilled at the Flash Dive. Annoying, but not something I can't handle. Cage grabbed the now crooked railings to pull himself up. He blocked another kick aimed at his head and countered with a side punch. She avoided the attack by leaping backward, landing on the other rail. When the Captain came with another swing, she ducked under it and knocked him off balance with another kick, shoving him into the rails again.

 

The girl used this opportunity to run away. However, her luck seemed to have run out. Not only did Cage see a squad of Public Security soldiers emerge from around the corner and order her to stand down, but he also received another transmission.

 

"Captain," Hilt reported. "All the drones have been recalled, and the Suppressor is within range."

 

Cage let out a sigh of relief, knowing that the hard part was over. Even when the girl slipped past the soldiers and kept running between the pipes, he knew this was a checkmate.

 

"Just like what I'd expect from the Justices, even a Chick can put up a fight. Even so," Cage muttered before radioing a message to the Lieutenant. "Do it now! Full power!"

 

The Hunter's AM Wave Emitter was parked right outside Silo B. On the Captain's order, the towering antenna began to charge. While AM Waves weren't visible to the naked eye at lower intensities, the air was quickly filled with their silvery-blue glow, shifting from a light cyan to a dark navy blue. The feathered cloak the girl wore dissipated, her knives crumbled into dirt, and the tethered wires withered like decaying vines. The girl slowed and eventually stopped as the energy that made up the Avdris she was wearing converged into its original white crystal form, leaving her standing in a sports jacket and pants with numerous pockets. The Heart Crystal appeared, covered in dozens of fractures that grew until it shattered like glass, the pieces dissipating into the air. Not a single trace of even its energy remained.

 

"Target has been neutralized," Cage reported as more Public Security personnel approached the girl. "Return the Suppressor to low power. Prepare the truck so we can detain the suspect and transport her ASAP."

 

"Shouldn't we keep it running until she's secured, Captain?" Hilt asked.

 

"That's an order," Cage issued. "My men will handle the rest."

 

The Captain put his radio away as he approached the girl, now harmless without her Heart Crystal.

 

"You rely way too much on those trinkets of yours, young miss. Your lot can try all you like to find weaknesses in our anti-magic technology, but it won't be enough to protect you. Why don't you wake up and face reality? Your magic is simply obsolete."

 

The girl charged at him in some desperate last stand. He easily brushed off her feeble punches and grabbed both of her arms. "Quit your struggling, and be lucky we were ordered to capture you alive! Otherwise, we would've blown your brains out already."

 

Perhaps he grabbed tighter than he intended, because the girl's forearms were crushed under his hands. Only, upon closer inspection, they were made of wood and vines.

 

As the hood of her black raincoat slipped back to fully reveal her bird-like mask, a burst of plant matter was launched into his face, blinding him. As he shook off the grass and pine needles, he found the rest of the body had collapsed into dirt and wood. The bird-like mask that she wore crumbled apart last.

 

Cage clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. It was obvious that they had been had. The nearby Public Security soldiers reacted in shock, though none of them seemed to know what to do. The fact that a Justice could create a copy that could fight so well would have been a worrying thought, but Cage was too distracted by his anger at being tricked to think too much about it.

 

As the mannequin crumbled to the ground, the Captain immediately grabbed his radio and squeezed the button.

 

"Lieutenant," Cage shouted. "Cancel confirmation as negative!"

 

"Sir?" Cage's order was met with confusion again.

 

"The suspect is still at large! I repeat! The suspect is still at large! Send out all forces and redeploy the drones immediately! Find her!"

 

————

 

Shizuko dropped onto the catwalk of the main building, shaking the rope to pull down the grappling knife from the skylight. She was back in her normal clothes, having de-transformed to avoid detection by the AM Wave Emitter while she was outside.

 

Shizuko inspected her Heart Crystal. Thankfully, it showed no signs of damage. She had been lucky to be so far away when the Emitter reached full power. Her golem had not been so lucky, but it had served as an effective decoy, allowing her to enter undetected.

 

However, a new crisis came to her. Shizuko dug through her pocket, searching for the piece of paper that had a reminder of her mission here. When did I lose that? The realization that Public Security might have somehow found her note left her dazed for a second, but what else could explain their presence here today?

 

Shizuko shook her head, reminding herself of her mission. She had already made it this far, and she had to focus.

 

A crackling sound came from beneath Shizuko's feet. Down below, she noticed that all the cameras throughout the hallway had been destroyed, now sparking and looking like they had been impaled by something. The cameras would have been disabled while the Emitter was running, but that wouldn't have caused the kind of physical damage seen here.

 

Evidently, there was another intruder. A lucky break for her? Maybe, but that depended on who it was and what they were after.

 

"Sir, this area is restricted to facility staff," a man said from down the hallway. "Please state your business."

 

Fortunately, the man hadn't spotted her—the voice was coming from another room. There were also no footsteps anywhere around her, and the chances of anyone sneaking up on a Justice at her level were negligible, even if she wasn't actively listening.

 

Using her crystal to transform again, she got down and stealthily crawled along the catwalk bridge leading to a large warehouse where the voice was coming from. Staying low, she peeked over the edge to find multiple fuel tanks and dozens of oil drums filling the room. The place seemed almost deserted. The employees had likely evacuated at the same time as the soldiers went to engage her decoy golem.

 

The only two people left inside were a muscular man in blue coveralls and someone who seemed to be the floor supervisor, confronting him. The worker stared at one of the fuel drums, which had a hole in its side, leaking gasoline.

 

"Hey, I said that this is a restricted area!" the supervisor shouted. "Get out of here before I report you to the police! In case you haven't noticed, they're all over this facility right now!"

 

The supervisor grew even angrier as the man continued to ignore him. He started to approach the worker. "Hey! I'm talking to—"

 

It came without warning. In a flash, the worker's right arm impaled the manager's forehead. The corpse spasmed for a moment, and the worker tossed it onto the puddle of spilled oil.

 

Shizuko flinched, pushing herself back slightly. With the sight of the corpse and the blood, she couldn't help but turn her head away, but as she did, she noted a black tendril coming out of the man's sleeve. She watched out of the corner of her eye as the man reached up with his other arm, a second black tendril extending to one of the large ceiling lights. His sleeve slipped down, and she noticed the tendril extending directly from his arm.

 

She was shaken out of her revulsion at the corpse when the light came crashing down about a hundred feet from the ceiling. Sparks flew as it landed, showering onto the oil puddle and instantly igniting the fuel, engulfing the corpse in flames. The worker retracted his tendril and walked away as the alarms sounded.

 

Shizuko rose into a crouch and peeked over the catwalk to get a better look at the man. Before he exited the door, she noticed something unusual on his body. There was something stuck on the back of his neck, leading down the back of his shirt. It seemed to be made of the same material as the black tendrils he had used, but it was clinging to his skin like a tick. She also noticed several lumps on his back, under his shirt.

 

She had seen this phenomenon before. Her orders had been fairly sparse in details since, unlike her partner, she had trouble following some of the advanced concepts. What she did know was that she had been instructed to look for a massive truck with two trailers scheduled to arrive at this facility around this time, and that it had something to do with the creatures infecting people. This man was obviously involved. She just needed to follow him.

 

Alarm bells rang throughout the warehouse as the gas fire grew, enveloping the other tankers. The temperature of the entire room rose rapidly, and she started to sweat even with the innate thermal protection from the Avdris wrapped around her.

 

Shizuko rushed down the catwalk bridge, taking a right and encountering a door that led to the outside. She ripped a bar from the railing to transform into a second kunai and quickly swiped through the lock and hinge, letting her kick the door off the frame. A strong breeze blew into her face, soothing her body with its cool air. She shielded her face from the wind and continued along the catwalk, hugging the outside of the building, looking down at the refueling station below.

 

She caught sight of the man as he merged seamlessly with the crowd. The workers were already panicking, fully aware of the fire in the distribution center. The man's distinctive build, blue protective coveralls, and the lumps on his back made it easy for her to keep track of him. As she watched him, she noticed that his movements seemed off, as if he were moving almost robotically.

 

The man stopped by two other people, probably his cohorts. One was dressed in the same blue coveralls as the man she was tracking, while the other wore a lab coat. The scientist directed them towards a semi-truck towing a shipping container in the front and a fuel tank in the back. Just to be sure, she glanced over all the other trucks at the depot, but they were all single-tanker fuel trucks. That must be it!

 

An explosion came from the warehouse behind her. Following the sound of crashing debris, she glanced to her left and spotted a burning piece of a fuel tanker flying through the air towards a nearby fuel silo. It impacted the tower's side, and the stored gasoline began to leak, further spreading the flames.

 

Every alarm in the facility was blaring as the fire and resulting destruction continued to spread. The drivers hurried to their trucks to start their engines, while those left on foot started sprinting from the fire.

 

The man she was trailing entered the truck's cabin with his similarly dressed affiliate, while the scientist climbed a ladder to the top of the container.

 

Shizuko glanced around. With everyone focused on escaping, it was the perfect opportunity for her to get on board unnoticed. She waited for the scientist to get inside, counting the seconds as he finished climbing and opened the hatch on the top.

 

Her window of opportunity began to close as the truck started to pull forward, even as the scientist was still climbing down. She breathed slowly and deeply to calm herself. Her timing had to be perfect. As the truck picked up speed, she aimed for the gap between the two containers on the chassis and jumped, focusing her energy to manifest wings of magical energy behind her to let her glide. She managed to grab the back edge of the container, but the truck was going too fast, and she felt herself slipping off. Reacting quickly, she tried to use her knives to stab into the top of the container, but it wasn't enough to stop her fall.

 

Thankfully, as she fell down the narrow gap between the trailers, she set her feet on the chassis frame, using that foothold and a knife quickly stabbed in the side of the truck to hold herself securely in place. As she calmed down, she realized it was also a perfect hiding spot. The men in the truck would have no way to see her, and with the fire raging behind them, it was unlikely that the police would be stopping traffic to search the vehicles.

 

Shizuko held her breath as the truck passed the police cars by the facility's main gate. She could hear a lot of chatter from the police radios, but couldn't make out what they were saying. Too many transmissions were being sent simultaneously, and she was too tired to try to isolate any of the sounds. Thankfully, no one seemed to give the truck a second glance.

 

She got as comfortable as she could. At least she would have a reprieve from the escalated disaster and the alien entities involved in this crisis. She could only pray it would end well.

 

————