"Damn that ghost."

Felissa flexed her fingers, the feedback returning as she could feel the magic flowing again, the ringing in her ears gradually dissipating as she could once again hear the sounds of the rain. The crackle of thunder. None of it made her feel any less frustrated.

"Dammit."

She looked out towards where the spirit had gone. The same direction she had seen the devildog running in. Even with the blackout in place, she knew she had to follow. To see the extent of what they were dealing with.

With a quick flash of magic, she reactivated her augmentations, racing down the rain-soaked streets of Angelas.

***

As she expected, there wasn't a ghost in sight.

Rounding the corner, Felissa had to stop to take in the many wrecked sections of building and scorched walls. She put a hand across one of them, lingering traces of magic resonating off the spot. Holy magic. Oh no. She picked up the pace, racing ahead as she saw fallen pieces of metal and...bullet holes.

Felissa stopped in her tracks, her worst fears confirmed when she spotted the two standing before a mess of upturned garbage cans. Mages of the PIB.

"Thank god!"

She ran over only for the enthusiasm to drop in seconds when she recognized who they were. Her least favorite mage and the poor soul she'd been partnered up with. The latter was in the process of bandaging his wounds when she arrived.

"Major?" he asked.

She frowned at the destruction.

"Mother of- What happened here?"

The partner, who she remembered was named Eric, bowed to her.

"It's our fault, ma'am," he said. "We were investigating the cat phenomenon as requested when we were ambushed."

He raised up his phone, the screen reflecting the truth in his words. An official order from the chief to investigate a "sudden influx of cats". Nothing that wouldn't have been standard fare for rookies. But the order had clearly been given before she'd called the chief. Before she'd found out the cats were all illusions created by that spirit. That damn spirit. She cursed under her breath, making a mental note to chastise the chief later for not updating their people.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

For the time being, she had a duty as a major to take control of the situation. A brief check over the two revealed no major injuries. A few cuts and bruises, but nothing scar-worthy.

"Report, officer," she said. "What did you find?"

Eric saluted.

"A trio of monsters, ma'am. Our apologies. We wanted to contact HQ for support but were overpowered. All we could do was try to survive their onslaught. We barely escaped with our lives."

She nodded, though her gaze couldn't help but linger on Alice. The entire time she'd been there, the mage had not once addressed her. Or so much as looked her in the eye. In fact, she seemed more standoffish than usual, her gaze glued to the floor. She wouldn't let that stand.

"Officer Morino," she said. "Do you attest to your partner's report?"

The blonde finally looked at her then, the usual glare even more direct than she'd expected.

"Yeah," she said. "We failed. Is that what you wanna hear?"

Alice narrowed at her. There were multiple reasons why she didn't like the blonde. Her rampant unprofessionalism. Her incessant need to flaunt her power. The fact that she, of all people, was supposed to be humanity's savior. As if they needed the likes of her. But even putting aside her disgust of the air she breathed, there was one thing she begrudgingly respected Alice for. She wasn't afraid to admit defeat.

Seeing the mage's anger, she could tell that was the truth of the matter.

Looking out at the destruction, Felissa felt even more confident in her choice to contact the chief. Between the incident at the junkyard and this latest stunt, one thing was becoming increasingly apparent. Angelas was losing its safety net. And given her encounter with that ghost, they'd need to fix it fast.

She took a moment to clear her throat.

"I've been in contact with the Senator," she said, letting the weight of words linger. Alice's agitation was expected, but there wasn't much she could do about their connection. She continued on, moving to further examine the destroyed streets.

"This much collateral damage goes beyond our department," she said. "All this destruction. The timing of it all. A normal demon attack would be one thing, but this is clearly something more coordinated. Planned. It's not something I expect rookies to clean up, but rest assured that things are being dealt with as we speak."

As she spoke, she watched both their reactions, Eric turning from surprise to curiosity. Alice stayed enraged the whole time. As she should have figured. Their so-called savior never did excel at grasping the big picture. But they'd keep Angelas safe with or without her involvement. The people deserved that much. Felissa looked out to the sky, the artificial rain pouring over her face.

Pathetic human! So weak! Is that all the power you command?

Her lip curled, a hand squeezing her hilt.

That ghost. I don't care if she's just a slave or an accomplice. I'll cut her head off myself.

She looked back to the rookies, Eric looking at her expectingly. She put on a reassuring smile.

"I hoped it wouldn't come to this," she said, "but there's nothing to worry about. Let us vets take it from here, okay?"

She gave a wink despite how much she wanted to scream. Like them or not, she was still their superior.