Call me lucky or call me unlucky, but I never had to deal with an A-class incident until now. When I saw Sandra’s reaction, though, and the raw terror in her eyes, I could tell we were in a lot of trouble.

“So, what do we do? You think we can fight that thing?”

Sandra’s head jerked in my direction. Anger and frustration distorted her face.

“Fight it? What do you think this is? Can’t you see this signature? This is nothing we can handle on our own! There’s no way-“

Theodor’s laugh cut her outburst short.

“A moment ago you had no problem crushing a little kid, but now you’re that afraid?”

When I looked at him, though, I saw how uncertain he was and I’d heard how hollow his laugh was. I knew he was afraid of Sandra, or at least respected her for the powers she commanded. Seeing her like this must’ve made him as uneasy as I was.

“I’ve got to notify Headquarters about this! They need to know about this right now!”

With that, she tinkered with her radar and phone to transfer the data to Headquarters.

“Let’s return to base and await further instructions. We need support. This is beyond anything I expected!”

When I looked over at her radar, I saw her zooming out until she could see the full size of the signature.

“Jesus Christ,” I cursed when I saw it.

Here’s the thing. The size of a signature is proportional to an organism’s power. Sure, there are some like humanoids who can blend in and hide their true abilities, but they are exceptions.

A D-class signature is nothing but a small dot. C-class is roughly the size of a building, while B-class can encompass an entire block. The signature on Sandra’s radar was far bigger than anything I’d ever seen. All the while, it was still growing in size.

The moment we were back, Sandra hit up Headquarters to update them on the situation and to request immediate back-up. It wasn’t long before she began screaming into her phone.

“Help would be too late? What do you mean!? We’ve got nowhere near enough personnel to handle an incident such as-“

Her voice trailed off, her face distorted by disbelief. After half a minute, another outburst followed.

“Then what are we supposed to do!?”

Once more, she listened.

“Yes, all right, of course,” she ended the conversation in a low voice before she slumped down next to me.

“So? What did they say?”

“What do you think they said, Dylan? No help’s going to come, not anytime soon! They told me, us, that we’re supposed to do what we can! An incident such as this can’t be ignored, but what can we even do? What can the three of us do against anything like this?”

“All right, Sandra, calm down. Maybe there’s a way we can-“

Her shrill laugh cut me off right away.

“You think we can do anything? Against something like this? Dylan, this thing is on an entirely different level from anything we’ve handled so far! I can feel its influence from here!”

She started shaking and, for a moment, her powers flared up. Her eyes were staring ahead at nothing and her face distorted before she turned to me again.

“I... I know this feeling,” she muttered. “It’s that manipulator. It’s the thing that was probing your mind and that’s controlling all those puppets!”

“Yeah mean... shit,” I cursed.

I thought back to when I was in a coma and the visions I’d seen. That wasteland, the terrible twisted world behind it and the destruction that was prophesied. Fucking hell.

“So you’re saying this is going to be a suicide mission?” Theodor joked, but neither Sandra nor I said a word.

After a few moments of painful silence, Sandra returned to her computer and rerouted a few more of her surveillance drones. Before she could even get close to the signature’s origin, their feeds vanished.

“Dammit!” she cursed, as drone after drone was destroyed.

“So, we’ve got to go in blind?”

Sandra nodded in frustration.

“Let’s get ready,” she called out and made her way to the storage room.

It was the first time I ever saw Sandra putting on protective armor. I didn’t like it one bit. While I put on mine and stocked up on weapons and equipment, I watched her rummage through the shelf of alchemic contraptions. I saw her pick up mind blocks, wound treatments, and a variety of others. It was like watching a kid at a candy store.

“Get going and put this on!” she snapped at Theodor and threw him a suit of protective armor.

“Nah, I’m good,” he laughed, but a moment later, I saw him grimace.

“This is no joke!” Sandra screamed.

She stepped up to him and pushed him to the ground, using her powers.

“This might very well be a suicide mission, like you said. If we want to have a chance, any chance, we’ve got to do all we possibly can. And I won’t let it be ruined by you!”

I heard Theodor curse in pain before his eyes focused on Sandra.

“Do you understand? Put. It. On. Otherwise, I can get rid of you right here, right now!”

“Freaking hell, all right,” he said shakily.

A few minutes later, we were on our way. The sun was already setting when we reached the commercial area. Everything was as normal as it could be. There was no sign of an apocalypse or a towering monstrosity tearing down buildings. It was just empty office building after empty office building. A few people were still around, making their way towards tram and bus stations, but most of the parking lots were deserted. Sandra’s radar, however, proved how wrong impressions could be. The thing was going haywire. By now, the signature encompassed the entire area, but the numbers were still rising before they reached the radar’s threshold. Cursing, Sandra put it back, but then she staggered for a moment.

“Hey, are you okay?” Theodor called out and walked up to her.

Sandra motioned for him to stop.

“Yes, I’m all right. There’s just so much power here. I can feel this thing and its influence in my mind.”

My eyes rested on her, but after a few deep breaths, she seemed all right again. She gave me and Theodor a brief nod before we continued on.

It wasn’t long before we made contact. Not with the A-class organism, but with another creature.

“Beast type!” Sandra called out. “No idea what class, but it doesn’t seem above C-class.”

Theodor grinned and stepped into the charging creature’s path. I took position next to him with my gun in my hand. He gave me a puzzled look before he nodded.

“No wasting strength today, all right?” I said.

“Guess I’m not allowed to have any fun,” he said with a shrug.

As the multi-legged, twisted monstrosity charged at us, I fired almost an entire magazine at it. The thing was twice our size, but the bullets still hurt it. It screeched in pain, staggered for a moment, but didn’t slow down. It got closer and closer and finally, Theodor charged forward, barely avoiding a collision. He ripped out his combat knife and plunged it deep into the creature’s flank. Another pained screech followed, but this time the thing didn’t just stagger. Organs and intestines spilled from the gashing wound and, a moment later, it crashed to the floor.

“Why’s there a beast type here, Sandra? What’s going on?” I asked, turning to her.

“It’s rallying forces. It might try to slow us down.”

“Slow us down? Why?”

“It might not have fully emerged in our reality yet,” she said, thinking.

“So you’re saying if we’re quick, we might-“

“No, that’s not it. Even as it’s now, it has more than enough power already. It could destroy this entire area. But maybe...”

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

Instead of continuing, she just shook her head.

“It doesn’t matter.”

I stared at her for a moment, opened my mouth before I closed it again.

While I scanned the area, Sandra brought out a handful of smaller survey drones. She activated them and the things scurried away in multiple directions. Sandra took out her phone, checked their feeds, but it took only a minute before they were all gone again.

“Guess it’s no use after all,” I said, but Sandra shook her head.

“No, I got something. See this?”

I stared at the screen, and just before the feed had been cut off, a puppet was visible. It was down in the dark, in some sort of underpass.

“You got a location?”

She nodded.

“It’s nearby. That’s most likely where the rest of them are. Let’s go.”

We reached the underpass after only a minute. It was old and derelict, a remnant of times past. I was no mentalist, not receptive to the things’ powers, but even I could feel what was waiting for us.

“Shit,” I cursed as I rubbed my temples and wiped the sweat off my forehead.

Sandra reached into her pocket and brought out a small vial. She popped it and swallowed the contents. Then she handed me another one of them.

“A mind blocker. It’s probably not doing a lot, but it should diminish some of the pressure you’re under.”

I nodded and swallowed it, and in an instant my head became clearer. She turned to Theodor, but he shook his head.

“No, all good. I can’t feel a thing.”

Sandra stared at him and probed him for a moment before she nodded.

As we entered the old underpass, we noticed the puppets instantly. The entire area was teeming with them. The moment they noticed us, they all rushed away and vanished in the darkness further ahead. Like I’d seen in Sandra’s live feed, hundreds of them were down here, hundreds or maybe even thousands.

Each step echoed through the darkness ahead and reverberated from the surrounding walls. I couldn’t help but shiver. This was no normal underpass. It was too long, too dark, almost as if it had been warped. The place felt all sorts of wrong. My skin crawled as a strange feeling washed over me. I threw a beacon ahead of us. At that moment, we saw the writings and symbols. The walls hadn’t just been covered, but were caked in them. I heard Sandra gasp next to me and for a second, she cringed.

The beacon continued on and hovered further into the darkness. Two monstrous humanoid types became visible before one of them tore the beacon apart.

“Shit, why’s there two of them?” I cursed at Sandra before I threw another beacon.

“No, it’s not them. They are just guards. There’s no pressure coming from them. They are just here to slow us down like that beast type outside.”

A second later, she lifted her hands. The two creatures staggered back for a second before they roared and threw themselves against Sandra’s force field.

“Quick, I can only stop them for so long. There’s too much interference,” she called out, clenching her teeth.

I lit the left fucker up in an instant. The creature screamed, but more in anger than in pain. Shit, they were tough. No time for games. I ripped out a grenade, activated it, and threw it. The grenade exploded right in front of the creature. I heard a pained shriek as bits and pieces were torn off its body. By now, the second creature had focused on me, pushed itself through Sandra’s force field, but Theodor was already upon it. His combat knife flashed through the air, but the creature noticed him. It dodge his attack, and I could hear Theodor curse as the creature retaliated. Clawed appendages shot forward, about to tear into him, but I heard Sandra scream up. Power exploded from her body, rose past Theodor, batted the creature’s attack aside and restrained it. I’d already reloaded my gun and went forward to support him. The bullets didn’t do a damn thing, but they were enough to divert the creature’s attention momentarily. Theodor attacked again, and this time, he rammed his knife deep into the creature’s skull. For a moment, it lashed out blindly before it fell to the floor. One down, I thought, but there was no room to breathe. The left creature was back, and it was enraged about the death of its companion. It threw itself at Theodor in a suicidal charge, but its attacks were sloppy. With its body tethered as it was, it could barely do anything. It wasn’t long before it went down as well.

Sandra next to me was panting. I saw her pop another vial. For a moment, her body shook uncontrollably and her hands cramped up before she seemed calm again.

“Jesus, Sandra, what the fuck are you doing?”

She gave me an angry stare.

“What’s necessary,” she spat at me.

We continued on, past the two downed monstrosities, and soon found a dark tunnel looming ahead. It led down further into the depths of the earth below. Engravings and writings encrusted all the surrounding walls. The power coming from them was so intense, the entire area glowed in a low, unnatural light that made my head hurt.

“What now? You want me to throw down a few of those?” I asked, turning to Sandra, holding a grenade in my hand.

“And you think that’s going to do a damn thing?” she said, laughing.

I mumbled a curse.

“Come on,” she snapped at me and Theodor as she started down the tunnel.

It wasn’t long before it opened up and extended into a sort of cavern. The entire thing seemed to have been dug out by those puppets who were still busy extending it. Bones and remains of animals littered the cavern’s floor. Here and there I could even see what I assumed to be parts of people amongst the carnage. In the center of the cavern, a ghastly giant altar had been erected. Yet, my eyes didn’t rest on the carnage or the altar, but on the creature hovering above it.

It had a small, almost skeletal body. Its head was disproportionately large. It was a skull comprising nothing but raw, twisted bone. Two deep lying eye holes, glowing in a strange, yellowish light, were staring at us the moment we entered. When they came to rest on me, fear washed over me. Sweat broke out all over my body, my heart rate went up and I had to fight to keep the rising panic at bay.

“Jesus Christ,” I stammered in a shaken voice.

For a moment, these eye holes flared up and my mind was flooded with images. I saw a torn city, tentacles, an upside down sky before my head reverberated from a cacophony of screams. In an instant, I was on the floor, panting and cringing. Sandra next to me was on her knees, screaming in terror under the thing’s assault. Only Theodor was still on his feet, but I saw him grimace. He’d not felt a thing before, but it seemed even he couldn’t withstand the thing’s assault unscathed. With a shaking hand, Sandra got a hold of another one of her vials. Once she’d downed it, she fought herself to her feet and threw me one of them, too.

“Shit, what are we even-?” I started, but couldn’t bring out another word.

In front of us, the creature descended from its ghastly altar. Power exploded from it. The remains on the floor were torn apart and shredded before they gathered around the creature. Bones pushed from its body, were extended, then flesh and muscles were added before the creature landed on a pair of newly formed legs. Words appeared in my mind, then threats and feelings.

Doom. Futility. End. No hope.

I clenched my teeth and with the help of whatever Sandra had given me, I pushed the thing’s influence to the farthest back of my mind.

“Fuck you,” I spat, grinning.

In an instant, power crashed into my body and I was thrown backward. The air was pushed from my lungs and I crashed to the floor half a dozen meters away. As I pushed myself back to my feet, I felt the iron taste of blood in my mouth. After a moment, I picked up my gun, pointed it and shot, but it didn’t do a damn thing. The bullets were stopped a meter in front of the creature and fell to the ground. The air was filled with quiet clangs before laughter reverberated inside my head. Theodor seemed to feel it, too. It seemed he could still somehow ward off most of the creature’s powers, but I saw him step back, too, and saw him cringe.

Then I saw Sandra hovering in the air. I saw her push her hands down and power exploded from her, power like nothing I’d seen before. The wave of energy crashed against the creature, but it merely brought it to a halt. Then the skull turned and focused on her. Another bone pushed from its body, forming into an arm and finally a hand. A single wave brought Sandra to her knees before she started screaming again.

With its attention focused on Sandra, I handed Theodor one of my grenades. For a moment he seemed puzzled, but then he took it and nodded.

All the while, Sandra tried to push back against the assault she was under. For a moment she appeared to do it, but then she crashed to the floor. The flamer flew high through the air, flames exploded and descended, but the creature was entirely unharmed. Once more laughter reverberated inside my mind, this time louder, and stabbed at my brain. Then I was the one under assault by its powers and was thrown to the floor again. I felt bones crack, felt one snap, and then I felt it tear into my mind. I closed my eyes, tried to fight back, but my thoughts were assaulted before my very being was torn apart. For an instant, all sense of self was gone before the attack dissipated.

I opened my eyes and saw Sandra. I saw the empty vials on the floor next to her. Blood was streaming from her nose as she held back the creature’s assault. I ripped out another flamer and started unloading on the thing. It did nothing, of course, but under assault from both me and Sandra, Theodor did exactly what I’d hoped he’d do. He rushed forward, pushed against the creature’s powers, pushed through and was about to rush the thing’s body when the hand snapped forward. I heard him scream as the creature closed its hand to crush him. Then Sandra, staggering, her face white and bloody, used the last of her powers to protect him. I stepped forward, continued shooting, but in an instant my hand was batted aside. I screamed in pain as my wrist broke and the gun clattered away.

Yet, all of this had given Theodor enough time, the one second he needed.

He’d activated the grenade I’d given him and had thrown it with all the force he could muster. The small piece of metal crashed against the creature’s skull and exploded.

Theodor crashed to the floor as the hand let go of him. Sandra’s powers ebbed away, and I saw her keel over. When the dust and the fire of the explosion had settled, all that remained of the creature were pieces of flesh and bone.

I saw Theodor move. His hair was almost gone and his arms were red and burned, but he was alive. I crawled over to Sandra, shook her and, after a while, her eyes fluttered open. Her nose was still bleeding and her mouth, too, was covered in blood. She gave me a hard, bloodied grin before she pushed herself to her knees. Then she started convulsing. I saw her fingers dig into the hard ground of the cavern floor before she vomited.

I pushed myself to my knees, and after two failed attempts, made it to my feet. Sandra was still on all fours, panting, but the shaking had stopped. One stare showed me that Theodor was back on his feet as well and on his way towards us.

“Did we get it?” he asked.

Sandra laughed.

“You think that finished it off?”

“It’s gone, isn’t it?” I asked.

Sandra shook her head.

“Not gone, it just left. It hadn’t fully emerged yet, like I thought. It was merely gathering its powers and forming a body. All we did was to stop it for the moment.”

“Then where did it go? Has it gone back to its, well, world?”

“No, I don’t think so. It displaced itself to a different location, most likely somewhere else in this city. I can still feel it faintly. It’s still around. All of this, this cavern, this altar, what it did here, it seemed to have been nothing but preparations.”

“Preparations? For what?”

“I don’t know, I don’t fucking-“

She started shaking again before she could continue.

“Maybe more distortions and changes to the natural energy flow. It might plan to create a portal, a permanent one, but I can’t be, ugh.”

Once more, she broke off, and I finally helped her to her feet. As my eyes wandered around, I saw the puppets had either vanished or ceased functioning.

“Dylan,” Sandra started as we made our way back up the tunnel. “Burn it all to the ground.”

I gave her a questioning look.

“Why?”

“This place, this altar, it’s got power of its own. It’s dangerous. If we don’t destroy it, god knows what will happen. It might distort the entire area and-“

“Sure thing, I got it,” I cut her off.

I tried to smile, but standing on my feet and supporting her was all I could manage. My entire body hurt. I took out the handful of grenades I’d still left, and one after another, I threw them down into the cavern. As we stumbled back outside, the entire area behind us came crashing down. Once we’d made it, Sandra took out her radar again. While it had gone haywire before, it was now completely quiet.

“Nothing,” she said.

“So we finished it off after all?” I asked.

“No. Like I said, this wouldn’t be over that quickly. But maybe,” she mused, thinking. “Maybe it’s able to hide its presence somehow.”

“Didn’t you say this was impossible?”

Sandra nodded.

“Normally, yes, but this thing, its power, is beyond measure. With a creature like this, we’ve got no idea what it’s capable of. All bets are off, Dylan, all bets are off.”

I cursed to myself. How the hell were we ever going to stop something like this?

Fuck monsters and fuck A-class.