When Uriel didn't make it to the same building they were in, Sam and Luna became terribly worried for him. He was just behind Medusa one second, then the next he was nowhere to be seen.

"I'll send him a message." Said Luna as she took out her phone and exchanged messages with Uriel. When she learned that Uriel was with Medusa, she thought he was in a horrible situation and needed help, but then her cellphone died when Medusa walked near making it clear for her that she was in the company of a cryptid.

When the last of their cellphones died they were left without a light source and Sam was the only one who could see in the dark, making it a priority for them to find a safe spot where they could light their old school gas lantern. Once they reached a room that still had its windows boarded up, they deemed it safe to turn on their lights.

Despite Luna's mistrust over Medusa's real identity, her usual aloof expression remained the same, if anything, she was more curious than scared. Instead of blowing the whistles right away, she limited herself to examine Medusa's every movement.

Her appearance was exactly the same and she was wearing the armor provided to them by Phlox, her facial expressions, tone of voice and even her behavior was completely normal. It was so perfect she couldn't really tell if she was actually a shapeshifter or if it was just a coincidence that her cellphone died when Medusa walked by.

"I think we should take off a piece of garment." Said Luna under the reassuring light of the lantern after pondering her situation for a few minutes .

"Are you implying there's a shapeshifter among us?" Medusa said, squinting her glimmering eyes.

"That's impossible, I would have seen it coming." Sam said confidently.

"Remember Miss Dragonfang's words." Said Atomic adjusting his glasses. "If someone asks you to prove your identity, you need to take something off. We don't want something like what happened during our first incursion to repeat itself."

Everyone stared at each other with some distrust, but they proceeded to remove a piece of armor each. The first one was Luna herself who, for some unknown reason decided to take off her chest piece instead of something smaller, then Sam and Atomic took off their vambraces.

Luna's eyes became more lively as she watched in disbelief how the person she believed to be a cryptid, took off her vambrace too.

"We need to go to the next building, now!" Luna said as loud as their own safety allowed.

"What? Why?" Sam asked, intrigued by her odd behavior.

"You don't understand... Sage is with Medusa too!" Luna insisted.

"Is it something related to your trait Medusa?" Sam inquired.

"No." Medusa shook her head mildly. "I only have the power to inflict fear on creatures that look me in the eye."

"Then that guy must be with the shapeshifter, there's no other explanation." Atomic stated.

"I know that! we need to hurry! He's only an ascended and..." Luna was now moving erratically across the room.

"Calm down, we need to do things properly. I bet he's fine, at least by the time being... Unless he decides to make out with the shapeshifter." Medusa chuckled gazing at Sam who blushed heavily. "We can't go back by the front door, but if Uriel is really in the building next door we can still try to reach him, maybe through a wall or something."

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"I don't think we should go, we would be risking our lives for just one person..." Atomic tried to argue, but he was suddenly silenced by the angry glares of his companions.

"It's not just that he's in danger, we can't really let that thing looking like Me roam free. What if it tricks other people and I end up in trouble? Do you really only care about yourself?" Medusa seemed to be deeply offended by Atomic's intention to leave Uriel behind.

"There's really no choice, Medusa is currently our leader and we should follow her orders." Luna added.

"Yeah, I guess... But that doesn't answer the question, how are we supposed to reach the other building? We can't go outside now that it's dark. I've seen the things that came out and trust me, you don't want to face them." Sam gulped down a lump of saliva. Just the thoughts of the creatures he saw, shook the very core of his sanity. "And I don't think that we should go breaking walls, I mean, maybe Atomic could do it, but that will draw too much attention."

"Not necessarily, we could try to find a thinner wall, maybe in the upper floors." Medusa insisted on her idea.

"Wait a second, what are we going to do if we see the other Medusa?" Sam asked.

"There's no need to ask any questions, we are absolutely certain that I'm the real one, as soon as you see the other one you should kill it." Medusa sternly said.

***

While his companions in the next building were still discussing what to do, Uriel had already made his mind about what were they going to do.

"Listen Medusa, we already raided the building next door, but this one is unspoiled. I bet there must be something we can use somewhere in here." Uriel said decisively.

"I don't know, this place was an office building, besides some files, cabinets and stationery I don't think we'll find much." She shrugged.

"An office building uh..." Uriel said taking his time to re adjust his plan. "It doesn't matter what kind of building this is actually, we need to find a fire extinguisher."

"Do you intent to start a fire!?"

"Of course not, we're still inside, what would be the point of doing something so dangerous? No, we need the fire extinguisher to create a smoke screen." He grinned.

Uriel and Medusa walked upstairs the building in search for a fire extinguisher, since none of them knew exactly where could they find one they wandered aimlessly across the entire building.

After breaking into what seemed to be a VIP office with a luxurious leather couch, a standing lamp and a finely carved desk, Medusa and Uriel rummaged through the stuff. Inside the cabinets, bellow the desk, even behind the couch.

Uriel took the chance to touch every item in an attempt to see if it was possible to store it, but besides an old looking magazine found in the bottom drawer of the VIP desk, nothing else could be stored inside his museum.

They spent at least an hour ransacking different offices, it was a dull labor made even worse by their need to make as little sound as possible.

After a while, though, they found a small red metallic container with a hose on its top. The label was completely erased by time, but it didn't take a genius to know it was a fire extinguisher.

"Do you think this thing still works?" Medusa asked.

"I guess we'll find out." Uriel replied and just after he did so, a strange knocking sound was heard on the same floor they were located startling them.

It wasn't loud, but it resounded in the abandoned building like a telltale heart.

*bump* *bump* *bump*

The sound became closer and closer as they drew near towards the wall that adjoined the building next door.

"It must be them, get ready." Uriel said as he visited his mental museum.

There were now three standing pedestals with artifacts on top of them. In a hurry, he only glanced at the magazine resting on the marble structure and instead, focused his full attention on the magnum revolver.

An unexpected advantage of his trait was that inside everything was well lit, allowing Uriel to carefully examine the revolver. It looked old but in good condition.

He had never fired a gun before and barely even knew how were they supposed to work. He just had to pull the trigger, but was that everything?

He familiarized himself with the gun model for a few seconds and then came back to reality with a grin on his face and a small but heavy firearm.

He couldn't see it properly since Medusa was holding the fire extinguisher instead of her cellphone and he was holding on to the revolver with both hands.

The sound became louder and louder.

"They're trying to break the wall!" Medusa exclaimed, clearly anxious.

"Of course they are, they think you're the shapeshifter and will attack you on sight." Uriel said.

"How do you know that?" Medusa asked, now cold sweat trickling down her forehead.

"Because... If they decided to come look for us it's only because the shapeshifter allowed it and there's no way that thing wants them to find you if there's at least a hint of doubt that she might be the cryptid." Uriel explained as he cocked the hammer of his magnum.

Before Uriel's voice faded, the wall was finally brought down by Atomic, leaving a hole the size of a refrigerator.