Son of a fucking bitch. It wasn’t just a park. It was the same damned park. The park I’d met Mask in before. I am really starting to hate this park. Its already creepy enough–it’s also the same fucking park that Meg got taken from. Someone had a twisted sense of humor because everything in this case kept bringing me back here. I flung myself out of the shadowslip in an alleyway a bit a ways from the park. I had a full visual of the park. The woods it backed up to went for what seemed like miles from here. The playgrounds sat in their little boxes of sand. I’d spent so much time at this park as a teenager. I’d hang out here with RJ and the others almost daily. It meant a lot to me, before she was taken. Before those fuckers took my best friend and here I was, about to work for them. I shook my head.

ENOUGH OF THIS NOW. GAME TIME.

I had a good point. I slipped my mask over my ponytail and made sure it fit right. The voice changer was already set up under my shirt. I fixed my gloves and shook my head. I’d get her out, I promised. But for right now here in this very moment, I had a job to do. Fear was most likely right behind me. Shadowslipping is fast but their hoovercopters would make it here soon. Unless Melony followed behind me but I'd made sure no one else saw me when I took off. I took the time I had to scout the area. The park was already shadowed in a storm's clouds. Perfect, just perfect. Everything got dark and fast. Trophy Hunter floated, on what I’d assumed was a jetpack, above the largest castle playground in the park. Several armed guards, with military-grade machine guns-might I add, stood by in defense. Their faces were all covered by various masks with ink spot designs on them. I couldn’t make out any of the particular designs, but I counted several dozens of these soldiers moving around the park. I idled by the outskirts, finally hiking a tree for some aerial support. With a better angle I noticed there was someone in the middle of the metal castle, someone familiar. My eyes widened as I realized it was Mask. Trophy Hunter was holding Mask hostage? I had assumed they were working together. I clenched my fist tighter seeing both of them. These were my two biggest formidable enemies to date and here they were.

EASY. THINK BEFORE ACT.

Yeah, I had a point, or whatever this fucking voice is. Mask knelt down in front of Trophy Hunter, their hands were tied behind them with some kind of electro-binds. I couldn’t see what brand or anything but they looked fancy, fancier than something I had. Trophy Hunter's voice bellowed out into the woods. The two of them were facing the opposite way of me, towards the deep thick of woods that backed up to what looked like endless darkness with this storm. I spotted someone casting a heavy gust of clouds from the castle next to Trophy Hunter as well. So, he had some powered muscles here too. Perfect. Fear patrol would undoubtedly be showing up soon and this was about to get ugly when they did.

“This can be a simple exchange, or this can be a bloodbath. Your choice, Devils. My patience grows thin though.” He spoke with such authority that I hadn’t heard from him yet. I watched the boundaries of the trees shimmer. Three flashes of red streaks broke from the woods as cloaked figures stood on hovering boards. The Devils? Were these the ones I saw in my vision?

“Calm yourself, Carlos.” The lead hood spoke. Carlos? HUh, well they just gave me a load of information that I could use later.

“I grow tired of being calm, Barn Owl. You and your lot have been operating underground long enough, killing and taking for your fucking little obsession over that darkfire bitch.” Carlos spoke with such disdain in his voice. “You have no idea what your little games have done to larger operations.”

“Oh Carlos. If you’re referring to that warehouse we hit. We apologize for the disruption of your product. I’m sure you can recover. A few shipments of your precious little magic spell surely can’t be that devastating.” The Lead Hood explained.

“This isn’t just about the damned shipments!” Trophy Hunter shouted. I watched as several more armed guards came almost out of nowhere. Teleportation devices? These guys were fucking packing military level equipment. I had only ever even seen Fear Patrol use this kind of tech once or twice.

“Ah Yes. Of course. How could I forget?” Owl asked, waving a hand to the other hood as they said something in a language I didn’t understand over a walkie talkie. Trophy Hunter growled as he waited for yet another hooded figure to produce someone bound by the same kind of electro-binds. The two of them swerved in from behind the trees and slid to a halt next to Owl. Did these hooded figures all have these hoover boots? I didn’t recognize the bound person that was brought out though. They had scraggly hair and a baby face, and couldn't have been much older than me. Early twenties I’d have to guess.

“Hang in there Josh.” Trophy Hunter yelled. Josh? My stomach dropped–but–there was no way Josh was actually alive and here, in front of me? About to be traded like a western movie or something? This couldn’t be. There weren’t any actual survivors? There weren't any because they were all dead and I had killed them. I killed all of them.

FOCUS. NOW'S NOT THE TIME.

I smacked myself in the head and shook myself back to reality. Josh was alive, here and now. I looked closer and realized that the hoody he wore had a symbol on it. It–it was the Brigade symbol. Maybe he’d seen it tagged somewhere in the city? I could feel that black fire burning in my palm over my gloves. That was one of my earliest and best friends sitting there in the hands of these monsters. Mask I knew, I didn’t know any of these other ones though. The storm grew darker and it was almost the same kind of dark you’d find in the winter time now. Shit was going to hit the fan. If I was going to get Josh out of here I would need to act fast. I slid down the tree burning it slightly as I used my fire to counterbalance the momentum.

“As long as you hold up your end of the bargain, dear Carlos, Joshua here comes home unscathed, untouched and unharmed.” Owl spoke. Their voices, both Owls and Trophy Hunters echoed out through the open fields around us–as if magnified by something. I tucked down and rolled behind a bench, the closest I could get that wasn’t having to physically conflict with any of the armed guards. I felt like that would just cause problems that Carlos, myself nor Josh would want here. I peeked up over the bench and made sure that I was out of sight. Most of the soldiers were facing towards the oncomers and the woods–though there was a sniper watching my direction. The minute I saw him I ducked again.

“Dammit.” I whispered. “How the fuck am I going to get him out of this?” I asked myself.

PATIENCE. PATIENCE IS KEY HERE. CAUSE A DISTRACTION AND WE CAN SLIP HIM OUT THROUGH A BREAK IN THEIR DEFENSES.

I had a good point.

“Yeah, yeah of course. I brought everything you asked for. It’s here in that crate.” I heard Trophy Hunter concede. I peeked as best I could through the wooden panels of the bench and saw TH flickering a little in darkness. Has Trophy Hunter become something more than just a shadow-power? Had he literally become a shadow? Was he using something more to harness his powers? I’d never seen a literal shadow like this before and honestly it was a little creepy, of course–that may also include the fact that he literally impaled me. But–I digress. Two of the spot mask soldiers brought the crate out to the center of the gap between them and the hooded figures. The one on the right, a stocky man with a western cowboy style mask over his face kicked open the crate as a small mist screamed from inside. I couldn’t see the exact contents of the box, but from where I was it looked like they were small vials. Similar to the vial I’d found in the warehouse a few months back. Trophy Hunter–was my drug dealer? He was the one that was running this weird thing that Simon said could kill a person's abilities?

I had to stop this. If these hooded figures got a hold of this kind of product it could be devious at least. I didn’t know much about these hooded guys on hoover blades but I knew two things. Mask was terrifying and had been playing the long manipulation game with my memory and dreams and two– They were dangerous enough to only have four of them at a meeting with a group that clearly had heavier weapons and numbers. That was something that spoke volumes to the way they commanded the situation here too. I ducked back down. I had to act, but what was I going to do? I couldn’t just barge out there could I?

“Excellent. I assume this works even better than the previous batch, correct?” Owl asked. He spoke with such assurance in his voice and there was a conviction to it that almost echoed.

“It is.” Trophy Hunter said through gritted teeth, I could only imagine that he was more concerned with Josh. I was too. We had that in common here and maybe I could exploit that, if even just enough to get Josh out of here. A long time went by before I heard anything. I wanted to look, desperately–but more soldiers had arrived and it was getting too dangerous to peek. How long has it been since I left Fear Patrol? Surely they should have been here by now right? If it was as high profile as Echo said it was? I looked around for any signs of red dot sites or any of their shadow ops teams. Nothing. Before long I heard Josh scream. Fuck it. I looked up and saw Owl jamming a syringe of the stuff into Josh. He squirmed and tried to fight back but there was very little effort on his part. Trophy Hunter threw a blast of darkness towards Owl, which had been met by the other two hooded figures instantly raising their handguns.

“Easy, Carlos.” Owl said through Josh’s screams. “Move one more inch and your brother here dies.” He added. Josh let out another scream.

“You bastard! This was NOT PART OF OUR arrangement. You wanted this bullshit for that mask, darkfire, you got it. Now leave him alone.” Trophy Hunter said. I was taken back. This whole thing was about me? Josh–I am so sorry.

“And once we have confirmation it works. Payments will be made to your accounts, as promised and you’ll get your brother.” Owl said. “But first, we want Woodpecker.”

“You'll get this bitch when you release my brother.” Trophy Hunter snarled. Josh screamed again. I shivered. I couldn’t handle it anymore. I couldn’t stand just waiting on the sidelines as one of my oldest friends was possibly dying. It was when I heard a gun cock from the far end of the field that I found myself moving.

NOW OR NEVER I SUPPOSE.

I tucked out from behind my hiding spot, channeled every ounce of courage I could manage to squeeze out of the pits of my stomach–and I stepped forward.

“My. My. My. This whole party here for me and you couldn’t even invite the guest of honor herself? I’m so offended.” I said at the top of my lungs. The audio voice changer cracked a bit as I did. When I say that every single gun turned and fixed a point on me, I am not kidding. I was met by every single gun they had on that field. I’d expected it, this was no different from the warehouse before, or the millions of other busts I’d done in my day.

“How–when, how long has she fucking been here?” Trophy Hunter spat.

“Believe us, we had no idea either.” Owl said.

“Come now. You guys can’t seriously think I’d have informed anyone I was stopping by this party? Anyway, since I’m here. I want in on this little deal you’ve got going.” I said. I couldn’t see his face directly behind the mask, but if I could, I’d have bet money that Barn Owl raised an eyebrow.

“AH– Lady Mother. How kind of you to join us.” He said, as if I’d not just been here for the confusion a literal second ago.

“You really gotta stop with that Mother stuff, first the Mask over there and now you? Who the fuck are you guys even?” I added. It was fair enough, I’d met them in visions and dreams but this was the first time we’d be meeting proper. I almost regretted not having some kind of gift for them. I shook my head.

“AH- That’s fair enough I suppose. We had hoped that our introductory meeting would be a bit more grandiose than this. But I digress.” Owl explained. I walked through the guards and soldiers, each of who had a fixed gun on me–several cocking them back and readying them. One of the other hooded figures, four in total that I counted, closed the crate.

“Well I am here now.” I said affirmatively.

“Yeah, get the fuck out.” Trophy Hunter said, angered. “I will not have you fucking this up.” Before I could say anything he was already behind me, his own gun drawn and pointed right at my head. He swooped down from the castle, leaving the two soldiers there to guard Mask. Trophy Hunter grabbed the back of my neck as I held up my hands. I leaned in as best I could.

“Relax dipshit. We have a similar goal here.” I whispered through pained teeth. A small fire was already building in my closed palm.

“What do you mean?” Trophy Hunter asked, pressing the gun to the back of my head. I was not a fan of this but it wouldn’t do any good to start something yet. Owl, interestingly enough, pointed his own gun back at Josh.

“Well, We would kindly ask you to unhand the Mother. She is a necessary asset to us.” He said.

“Okay what the fuck does this Mother stuff even mean anyway?” I asked. Trophy Hunter gripped me a little tighter. “I am going to say once. Let me go.” I added.

“You’re so lucky Joshua is involved with this.” Trophy Hunter spat, actually throwing me forward. I wouldn’t call anything about this day, lucky. I glared back at him and growled.

“No. You’re the fucking lucky one.” I said through gritted teeth. The fire in my hand burned hotter.

“Easy Mother. This will be over soon. As for us? We would like to explain ourselves but, a better time in a bigger location is already picked out for that. I hope you understand.” Owl explained. I realized then I was standing in between two factions of guns, all pointed at me, except the two guns pointed at Mask and the single gun pointed at Josh. I sighed.

“Alright , alright then. I suppose there is no winning on this one but either way, I want in on this little arrangement of yours.” I said. I had no actual plan here but whatever I said gave me a little more time to think of something. As it was I figured they wouldn’t have just let Josh go on his own.

“You want in on what?” The Second hooded figure spoke. He had a softer voice.

“I want in on this little drug deal you have here. I want a cut of this merchandise.” I explained as I sat on the crate. Trophy Moved again, flickering as he did.

“Absolutely not. Just let me fucking impale her again.” He said. My side ached a little.

“No– and Mother. We can discuss your involvement during our introductions.” Owl explained. “Now, if there’s no further business to attend to–” He continued as he drew his arm from its sleeve. I watched the Veins in his arms bulge and twitch a little. As each vein bulged and twitched a little Josh screamed out, I watched as a cut broke across his face.

WHAT THE FUCK

This was a blood power. This was an up close and in person, physical–blood ability. I clenched my fists together and did something that I am not entirely proud of. A blast of fire shot from my hand and lunged itself towards the woods behind us. Owl moved with such precision, he almost seemed to know I’d do that.

“As we expected.” He said. The next several minutes froze in time. Nobody moved, nothing happened and nothing was spoken. We all seemed to be waiting for something. It was as if everyone froze, literally to the place they were in and couldn’t move. My body felt cold too. I hadn’t felt this kind of cold in years. As a pyro my body constantly feels like an exploding furnace on the fritz. It wasn’t until I focused my mind that I spotted it. A brief shimmer in the light next to me–as it seemed to be walking in between Trophy Hunter and myself. I spotted an ever so slight break in the Hunter’s static lines that struck me as something that shouldn’t have been there. Now, either there was a ghost here or–someone was lurking. I glared as it inched closer to him. I moved my head as best I could back and forth between Josh, who had finally stopped screaming, however, looked worse for wear–and the shimmer. The shimmer stopped moving and just completely vanished. Everything warmed up again and everyone started moving faster.

WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT? EASY aj, WE HAVE MORE COMPANY.

I’m so glad I liked to point out the obvious, thank you.

“THAT’S IT!” Hunter shouted, “ I have had it with these games from you creepy bastards, and this fucking bitch. There’s the crate, as promised. You saw it work on my brother. Now. Release him, so we can end this.”

“Very well, the man has a point.” Barn Owl agreed. “Give us Woodpecker and we’ll adjourn this meeting of the minds here.” I stayed quiet. I could have said any number of sarcastic things but we were as close as we were to getting Josh out of here alive, I had already stopped him from being shot. At this point, I didn’t wanna fuck anything up and make it worse. So, I leaned against the nearest tree and looked as intimidating (and bored) as I could.

“Ah right. Woodpecker. I'll grab her for–” Hunter stopped dead in his tracks as he turned to get her. There was definitely a problem. She wasn’t there. Not only was she not there, the two soldiers that had been left to watch her were unconscious and bleeding out from the throat as their bodies hung lifeless over the railings of the castle. It was at this moment that all my Fear Patrol questions had been answered. I spotted a sniper rifle’s red dot sight fixed on Hunter. It shimmered through the invisible flicker. Before I could even register fast enough, smoke canisters filled the air. Everything exploded in one over-stimulating mess of chaos.

Shit–Meet fan.

The whole ordeal happened in a matter of minutes. You know in movies how big action ambush sequences always last forever and seem so drawn out, romanticised and epic? It’s nothing like that in real life. Everything seemed like it was over within a few seconds, let alone minutes. I watched the smoke fill around us as bullets rang out from the treelines, which wonderfully happened to surround the entire park area we were in. There was a firefight and the worst part was that none of us could see enough to even be a part of it. Trophy Hunter tucked away into the engulfing smoke. The crate was already gone and so were the hooded figures, from what I could manage to see. Josh was still on the ground, I swooped down and managed to use a small focused flame to burn through the binds that kept him put and we got him to his feet. As I’d gotten him up, I was met with a pair of eyes. It wasn’t Mask and it wasn’t Barn Owl, it was a different hooded figure that I hadn’t gotten the chance to meet yet. Pink hair hung down from the hood, the only discerning feature I could see of hers. Her hair fell down to her waist. I watched as she lifted her sleeves back, revealing her pale skinned arms, which seemed almost sickly pale. I myself have pale skin, but she seemed like a ghost or something. I lit another flame in my hand as several bullets flew past us.

“Release the boy, Mother.” She spoke in a low guttural growl.

“Do you really wanna do this, here? Now?” I asked. The voice changer had been damaged in the commotion so my real voice cracked through a little. Luckily over all the action happening around us, Josh was the only one that seemed to notice. His eyes widened and I heard him mutter my name in shock before another canister flew next to us. I moved my head back to watch Pink and she was already on me. She lunged, knocking me into something I hadn’t even seen. I collided with the invisible resistance and before I could recover my footing, a blade, made entirely of blood, was stuck through my sides and into something behind me? Pain flickered through my body like I’d been hit by a car. I flashed, I was standing in the parking garage of Harmony again staring at all my friends as they begged me to calm down. I burned everything down. No. I shook my head and watched as Josh grabbed a gun and shot towards Pink. She flung a soldier in the way as the human meat shield fell to the ground, dead. Damn good shot though. I could feel myself drifting away inch by inch as I moved. The flickering shimmer I’d knocked into–was Echo. The Blood knife seemed like it had been slammed deeper into her than me, though. I tried to lift her up from the ground but almost toppled over. Before I realized, Josh was next to me again.

“What can I do to help?” He asked. I saw the genuine concern in his eyes, he’d pulled his shirt up to cover up the lower half of his face.

“Here–” I grabbed the tracker device that was on Echo’s waist and tossed it to him. He caught it in his left hand, gun still in his right.

“Chuck that on any of the hooded guys you see.” I said. He nodded, throwing it almost instantly at Pink. NICE I mouthed, forgetting that I was wearing my mask. He helped me back up as the two of us managed to get Echo to her feet. The wound in my side didn’t seem too bad but I still felt woozy and dizzy, like the blood was actively draining out of me. I felt myself fall backwards again onto Echo. The last thing I remember seeing was Simon, full tactical "villain" gear swerving his way through the crown of insanity before I took another plunge into emptiness.

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

________

I opened my eyes and almost immediately closed them again. Another long plunge of darkness. I opened them again, this time for a little longer. I’d noticed a couple people around. It seemed like it was the bunker, but I couldn’t tell for sure. I quietly counted three people before I went down again. I opened my eyes again, this time there was nowhere near as much pain as before and I realized that it was in fact the bunker. I was in my own bed, wearing new clothes. Or at least a fresh hoody. My mask was still on. I could feel the pressure of it against my skin. I used the bedroom in the bunker so little that it almost felt different. Conversation broke from the other room. Someone was in the bunker? I tried to get up but then that's when the pain decided it hadn’t actually left and waved hello in the most excruciating flicker I’d felt since being impaled.

I fell back down onto the bed. Jefferson popped onto the small little smart screen that sat on the side table in the corner.

“Ah good morning there. Glad to see you awake, miss darkfire.” He winked at me.

“Morning,? Jefferson.” I responded.

“Yes Ma’am. It’s about 3:30 in the morning. Snow started falling, it looks nice outside. So I am told.” He added.

“Wait, snow? How long have I been knocked out?” I asked.

“Only a few hours, no worries. It's just that time of year of course.” He sounded a little sarcastic.

“Oh, well thanks. Do I hear voices?” I asked, my own voice sounded weak to me.

“Several, unless you’re referring to the ones in your head, then I can’t exactly speak for them.” Jefferson chuckled.

“Jefferson–” He laughed as I rolled my eyes.

“Yes ma’am. There are several people here. I believe you refer to them as the Watchtower Brigade.” He said. My eyes widened as I leapt from the bed. Before reaching the side, the pain flung through me again but I didn’t care. Watchtower was here and I wanted to go say hi. I took my mask off. Fuck it. These were some of my closest friends and honestly, if they hadn’t given me up by this point–with me being unconscious and all, I was clearly safe with them. I pushed again, forcing myself to sit up.

“Watchtower is here? You just let people in the bunker?” I asked. I arched an eyebrow.

“I figured it was fine. Besides, if any of them try anything stupid. You know our defenses.” Jefferson admitted, nodding at me. “You can take that off, you know.”

“I–right.” I said, removing the mask. Most of them hadn’t seen me unmasked. Well. With the storm that was brewing after what just happened, this may as well have been as good a time as any to introduce myself to everyone. I forced myself up, the pain subsided a little bit as the world spun. I reached for the door and headed out to meet my friends.

would make it here soon. Unless Melony followed behind me but I'd made sure no one else saw me when I took off. I took the time I had to scout the area. The park was already shadowed in a storm's clouds. Perfect, just perfect. Everything got dark and fast. Trophy Hunter floated, on what I’d assumed was a jetpack, above the largest castle playground in the park. Several armed guards, with military-grade machine guns-might I add, stood by in defense. Their faces were all covered by various masks with ink spot designs on them. I couldn’t make out any of the particular designs, but I counted several dozens of these soldiers moving around the park. I idled by the outskirts, finally hiking a tree for some aerial support. With a better angle I noticed there was someone in the middle of the metal castle, someone familiar. My eyes widened as I realized it was Mask. Trophy Hunter was holding Mask hostage? I had assumed they were working together. I clenched my fist tighter seeing both of them. These were my two biggest formidable enemies to date and here they were.

EASY. THINK BEFORE ACT.

Yeah, I had a point, or whatever this fucking voice is. Mask knelt down in front of Trophy Hunter, their hands were tied behind them with some kind of electro-binds. I couldn’t see what brand or anything but they looked fancy, fancier than something I had. Trophy Hunter's voice bellowed out into the woods. The two of them were facing the opposite way of me, towards the deep thick of woods that backed up to what looked like endless darkness with this storm. I spotted someone casting a heavy gust of clouds from the castle next to Trophy Hunter as well. So, he had some powered muscles here too. Perfect. Fear patrol would undoubtedly be showing up soon and this was about to get ugly when they did.

“This can be a simple exchange, or this can be a bloodbath. Your choice, Devils. My patience grows thin though.” He spoke with such authority that I hadn’t heard from him yet. I watched the boundaries of the trees shimmer. Three flashes of red streaks broke from the woods as cloaked figures stood on hovering boards. The Devils? Were these the ones I saw in my vision?

“Calm yourself, Carlos.” The lead hood spoke. Carlos? HUh, well they just gave me a load of information that I could use later.

“I grow tired of being calm, Barn Owl. You and your lot have been operating underground long enough, killing and taking for your fucking little obsession over that darkfire bitch.” Carlos spoke with such disdain in his voice. “You have no idea what your little games have done to larger operations.”

“Oh Carlos. If you’re referring to that warehouse we hit. We apologize for the disruption of your product. I’m sure you can recover. A few shipments of your precious little magic spell surely can’t be that devastating.” The Lead Hood explained.

“This isn’t just about the damned shipments!” Trophy Hunter shouted. I watched as several more armed guards came almost out of nowhere. Teleportation devices? These guys were fucking packing military level equipment. I had only ever even seen Fear Patrol use this kind of tech once or twice.

“Ah Yes. Of course. How could I forget?” Owl asked, waving a hand to the other hood as they said something in a language I didn’t understand over a walkie talkie. Trophy Hunter growled as he waited for yet another hooded figure to produce someone bound by the same kind of electro-binds. The two of them swerved in from behind the trees and slid to a halt next to Owl. Did these hooded figures all have these hoover boots? I didn’t recognize the bound person that was brought out though. They had scraggly hair and a baby face, and couldn't have been much older than me. Early twenties I’d have to guess.

“Hang in there Josh.” Trophy Hunter yelled. Josh? My stomach dropped–but–there was no way Josh was actually alive and here, in front of me? About to be traded like a western movie or something? This couldn’t be. There weren’t any actual survivors? There weren't any because they were all dead and I had killed them. I killed all of them.

FOCUS. NOW'S NOT THE TIME.

I smacked myself in the head and shook myself back to reality. Josh was alive, here and now. I looked closer and realized that the hoody he wore had a symbol on it. It–it was the Brigade symbol. Maybe he’d seen it tagged somewhere in the city? I could feel that black fire burning in my palm over my gloves. That was one of my earliest and best friends sitting there in the hands of these monsters. Mask I knew, I didn’t know any of these other ones though. The storm grew darker and it was almost the same kind of dark you’d find in the winter time now. Shit was going to hit the fan. If I was going to get Josh out of here I would need to act fast. I slid down the tree burning it slightly as I used my fire to counterbalance the momentum.

“As long as you hold up your end of the bargain, dear Carlos, Joshua here comes home unscathed, untouched and unharmed.” Owl spoke. Their voices, both Owls and Trophy Hunters echoed out through the open fields around us–as if magnified by something. I tucked down and rolled behind a bench, the closest I could get that wasn’t having to physically conflict with any of the armed guards. I felt like that would just cause problems that Carlos, myself nor Josh would want here. I peeked up over the bench and made sure that I was out of sight. Most of the soldiers were facing towards the oncomers and the woods–though there was a sniper watching my direction. The minute I saw him I ducked again.

“Dammit.” I whispered. “How the fuck am I going to get him out of this?” I asked myself.

PATIENCE. PATIENCE IS KEY HERE. CAUSE A DISTRACTION AND WE CAN SLIP HIM OUT THROUGH A BREAK IN THEIR DEFENSES.

I had a good point.

“Yeah, yeah of course. I brought everything you asked for. It’s here in that crate.” I heard Trophy Hunter concede. I peeked as best I could through the wooden panels of the bench and saw TH flickering a little in darkness. Has Trophy Hunter become something more than just a shadow-power? Had he literally become a shadow? Was he using something more to harness his powers? I’d never seen a literal shadow like this before and honestly it was a little creepy, of course–that may also include the fact that he literally impaled me. But–I digress. Two of the spot mask soldiers brought the crate out to the center of the gap between them and the hooded figures. The one on the right, a stocky man with a western cowboy style mask over his face kicked open the crate as a small mist screamed from inside. I couldn’t see the exact contents of the box, but from where I was it looked like they were small vials. Similar to the vial I’d found in the warehouse a few months back. Trophy Hunter–was my drug dealer? He was the one that was running this weird thing that Simon said could kill a person's abilities?

I had to stop this. If these hooded figures got a hold of this kind of product it could be devious at least. I didn’t know much about these hooded guys on hoover blades but I knew two things. Mask was terrifying and had been playing the long manipulation game with my memory and dreams and two– They were dangerous enough to only have four of them at a meeting with a group that clearly had heavier weapons and numbers. That was something that spoke volumes to the way they commanded the situation here too. I ducked back down. I had to act, but what was I going to do? I couldn’t just barge out there could I?

“Excellent. I assume this works even better than the previous batch, correct?” Owl asked. He spoke with such assurance in his voice and there was a conviction to it that almost echoed.

“It is.” Trophy Hunter said through gritted teeth, I could only imagine that he was more concerned with Josh. I was too. We had that in common here and maybe I could exploit that, if even just enough to get Josh out of here. A long time went by before I heard anything. I wanted to look, desperately–but more soldiers had arrived and it was getting too dangerous to peek. How long has it been since I left Fear Patrol? Surely they should have been here by now right? If it was as high profile as Echo said it was? I looked around for any signs of red dot sites or any of their shadow ops teams. Nothing. Before long I heard Josh scream. Fuck it. I looked up and saw Owl jamming a syringe of the stuff into Josh. He squirmed and tried to fight back but there was very little effort on his part. Trophy Hunter threw a blast of darkness towards Owl, which had been met by the other two hooded figures instantly raising their handguns.

“Easy, Carlos.” Owl said through Josh’s screams. “Move one more inch and your brother here dies.” He added. Josh let out another scream.

“You bastard! This was NOT PART OF OUR arrangement. You wanted this bullshit for that mask, darkfire, you got it. Now leave him alone.” Trophy Hunter said. I was taken back. This whole thing was about me? Josh–I am so sorry.

“And once we have confirmation it works. Payments will be made to your accounts, as promised and you’ll get your brother.” Owl said. “But first, we want Woodpecker.”

“You'll get this bitch when you release my brother.” Trophy Hunter snarled. Josh screamed again. I shivered. I couldn’t handle it anymore. I couldn’t stand just waiting on the sidelines as one of my oldest friends was possibly dying. It was when I heard a gun cock from the far end of the field that I found myself moving.

NOW OR NEVER I SUPPOSE.

I tucked out from behind my hiding spot, channeled every ounce of courage I could manage to squeeze out of the pits of my stomach–and I stepped forward.

“My. My. My. This whole party here for me and you couldn’t even invite the guest of honor herself? I’m so offended.” I said at the top of my lungs. The audio voice changer cracked a bit as I did. When I say that every single gun turned and fixed a point on me, I am not kidding. I was met by every single gun they had on that field. I’d expected it, this was no different from the warehouse before, or the millions of other busts I’d done in my day.

“How–when, how long has she fucking been here?” Trophy Hunter spat.

“Believe us, we had no idea either.” Owl said.

“Come now. You guys can’t seriously think I’d have informed anyone I was stopping by this party? Anyway, since I’m here. I want in on this little deal you’ve got going.” I said. I couldn’t see his face directly behind the mask, but if I could, I’d have bet money that Barn Owl raised an eyebrow.

“AH– Lady Mother. How kind of you to join us.” He said, as if I’d not just been here for the confusion a literal second ago.

“You really gotta stop with that Mother stuff, first the Mask over there and now you? Who the fuck are you guys even?” I added. It was fair enough, I’d met them in visions and dreams but this was the first time we’d be meeting proper. I almost regretted not having some kind of gift for them. I shook my head.

“AH- That’s fair enough I suppose. We had hoped that our introductory meeting would be a bit more grandiose than this. But I digress.” Owl explained. I walked through the guards and soldiers, each of who had a fixed gun on me–several cocking them back and readying them. One of the other hooded figures, four in total that I counted, closed the crate.

“Well I am here now.” I said affirmatively.

“Yeah, get the fuck out.” Trophy Hunter said, angered. “I will not have you fucking this up.” Before I could say anything he was already behind me, his own gun drawn and pointed right at my head. He swooped down from the castle, leaving the two soldiers there to guard Mask. Trophy Hunter grabbed the back of my neck as I held up my hands. I leaned in as best I could.

“Relax dipshit. We have a similar goal here.” I whispered through pained teeth. A small fire was already building in my closed palm.

“What do you mean?” Trophy Hunter asked, pressing the gun to the back of my head. I was not a fan of this but it wouldn’t do any good to start something yet. Owl, interestingly enough, pointed his own gun back at Josh.

“Well, We would kindly ask you to unhand the Mother. She is a necessary asset to us.” He said.

“Okay what the fuck does this Mother stuff even mean anyway?” I asked. Trophy Hunter gripped me a little tighter. “I am going to say once. Let me go.” I added.

“You’re so lucky Joshua is involved with this.” Trophy Hunter spat, actually throwing me forward. I wouldn’t call anything about this day, lucky. I glared back at him and growled.

“No. You’re the fucking lucky one.” I said through gritted teeth. The fire in my hand burned hotter.

“Easy Mother. This will be over soon. As for us? We would like to explain ourselves but, a better time in a bigger location is already picked out for that. I hope you understand.” Owl explained. I realized then I was standing in between two factions of guns, all pointed at me, except the two guns pointed at Mask and the single gun pointed at Josh. I sighed.

“Alright , alright then. I suppose there is no winning on this one but either way, I want in on this little arrangement of yours.” I said. I had no actual plan here but whatever I said gave me a little more time to think of something. As it was I figured they wouldn’t have just let Josh go on his own.

“You want in on what?” The Second hooded figure spoke. He had a softer voice.

“I want in on this little drug deal you have here. I want a cut of this merchandise.” I explained as I sat on the crate. Trophy Moved again, flickering as he did.

“Absolutely not. Just let me fucking impale her again.” He said. My side ached a little.

“No– and Mother. We can discuss your involvement during our introductions.” Owl explained. “Now, if there’s no further business to attend to–” He continued as he drew his arm from its sleeve. I watched the Veins in his arms bulge and twitch a little. As each vein bulged and twitched a little Josh screamed out, I watched as a cut broke across his face.

WHAT THE FUCK

This was a blood power. This was an up close and in person, physical–blood ability. I clenched my fists together and did something that I am not entirely proud of. A blast of fire shot from my hand and lunged itself towards the woods behind us. Owl moved with such precision, he almost seemed to know I’d do that.

“As we expected.” He said. The next several minutes froze in time. Nobody moved, nothing happened and nothing was spoken. We all seemed to be waiting for something. It was as if everyone froze, literally to the place they were in and couldn’t move. My body felt cold too. I hadn’t felt this kind of cold in years. As a pyro my body constantly feels like an exploding furnace on the fritz. It wasn’t until I focused my mind that I spotted it. A brief shimmer in the light next to me–as it seemed to be walking in between Trophy Hunter and myself. I spotted an ever so slight break in the Hunter’s static lines that struck me as something that shouldn’t have been there. Now, either there was a ghost here or–someone was lurking. I glared as it inched closer to him. I moved my head as best I could back and forth between Josh, who had finally stopped screaming, however, looked worse for wear–and the shimmer. The shimmer stopped moving and just completely vanished. Everything warmed up again and everyone started moving faster.

WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT? EASY aj, WE HAVE MORE COMPANY.

I’m so glad I liked to point out the obvious, thank you.

“THAT’S IT!” Hunter shouted, “ I have had it with these games from you creepy bastards, and this fucking bitch. There’s the crate, as promised. You saw it work on my brother. Now. Release him, so we can end this.”

“Very well, the man has a point.” Barn Owl agreed. “Give us Woodpecker and we’ll adjourn this meeting of the minds here.” I stayed quiet. I could have said any number of sarcastic things but we were as close as we were to getting Josh out of here alive, I had already stopped him from being shot. At this point, I didn’t wanna fuck anything up and make it worse. So, I leaned against the nearest tree and looked as intimidating (and bored) as I could.

“Ah right. Woodpecker. I'll grab her for–” Hunter stopped dead in his tracks as he turned to get her. There was definitely a problem. She wasn’t there. Not only was she not there, the two soldiers that had been left to watch her were unconscious and bleeding out from the throat as their bodies hung lifeless over the railings of the castle. It was at this moment that all my Fear Patrol questions had been answered. I spotted a sniper rifle’s red dot sight fixed on Hunter. It shimmered through the invisible flicker. Before I could even register fast enough, smoke canisters filled the air. Everything exploded in one over-stimulating mess of chaos.

Shit–Meet fan.

The whole ordeal happened in a matter of minutes. You know in movies how big action ambush sequences always last forever and seem so drawn out, romanticised and epic? It’s nothing like that in real life. Everything seemed like it was over within a few seconds, let alone minutes. I watched the smoke fill around us as bullets rang out from the treelines, which wonderfully happened to surround the entire park area we were in. There was a firefight and the worst part was that none of us could see enough to even be a part of it. Trophy Hunter tucked away into the engulfing smoke. The crate was already gone and so were the hooded figures, from what I could manage to see. Josh was still on the ground, I swooped down and managed to use a small focused flame to burn through the binds that kept him put and we got him to his feet. As I’d gotten him up, I was met with a pair of eyes. It wasn’t Mask and it wasn’t Barn Owl, it was a different hooded figure that I hadn’t gotten the chance to meet yet. Pink hair hung down from the hood, the only discerning feature I could see of hers. Her hair fell down to her waist. I watched as she lifted her sleeves back, revealing her pale skinned arms, which seemed almost sickly pale. I myself have pale skin, but she seemed like a ghost or something. I lit another flame in my hand as several bullets flew past us.

“Release the boy, Mother.” She spoke in a low guttural growl.

“Do you really wanna do this, here? Now?” I asked. The voice changer had been damaged in the commotion so my real voice cracked through a little. Luckily over all the action happening around us, Josh was the only one that seemed to notice. His eyes widened and I heard him mutter my name in shock before another canister flew next to us. I moved my head back to watch Pink and she was already on me. She lunged, knocking me into something I hadn’t even seen. I collided with the invisible resistance and before I could recover my footing, a blade, made entirely of blood, was stuck through my sides and into something behind me? Pain flickered through my body like I’d been hit by a car. I flashed, I was standing in the parking garage of Harmony again staring at all my friends as they begged me to calm down. I burned everything down. No. I shook my head and watched as Josh grabbed a gun and shot towards Pink. She flung a soldier in the way as the human meat shield fell to the ground, dead. Damn good shot though. I could feel myself drifting away inch by inch as I moved. The flickering shimmer I’d knocked into–was Echo. The Blood knife seemed like it had been slammed deeper into her than me, though. I tried to lift her up from the ground but almost toppled over. Before I realized, Josh was next to me again.

“What can I do to help?” He asked. I saw the genuine concern in his eyes, he’d pulled his shirt up to cover up the lower half of his face.

“Here–” I grabbed the tracker device that was on Echo’s waist and tossed it to him. He caught it in his left hand, gun still in his right.

“Chuck that on any of the hooded guys you see.” I said. He nodded, throwing it almost instantly at Pink. NICE I mouthed, forgetting that I was wearing my mask. He helped me back up as the two of us managed to get Echo to her feet. The wound in my side didn’t seem too bad but I still felt woozy and dizzy, like the blood was actively draining out of me. I felt myself fall backwards again onto Echo. The last thing I remember seeing was Simon, full tactical "villain" gear swerving his way through the crown of insanity before I took another plunge into emptiness.

________

I opened my eyes and almost immediately closed them again. Another long plunge of darkness. I opened them again, this time for a little longer. I’d noticed a couple people around. It seemed like it was the bunker, but I couldn’t tell for sure. I quietly counted three people before I went down again. I opened my eyes again, this time there was nowhere near as much pain as before and I realized that it was in fact the bunker. I was in my own bed, wearing new clothes. Or at least a fresh hoody. My mask was still on. I could feel the pressure of it against my skin. I used the bedroom in the bunker so little that it almost felt different. Conversation broke from the other room. Someone was in the bunker? I tried to get up but then that's when the pain decided it hadn’t actually left and waved hello in the most excruciating flicker I’d felt since being impaled.

I fell back down onto the bed. Jefferson popped onto the small little smart screen that sat on the side table in the corner.

“Ah good morning there. Glad to see you awake, miss darkfire.” He winked at me.

“Morning,? Jefferson.” I responded.

“Yes Ma’am. It’s about 3:30 in the morning. Snow started falling, it looks nice outside. So I am told.” He added.

“Wait, snow? How long have I been knocked out?” I asked.

“Only a few hours, no worries. It's just that time of year of course.” He sounded a little sarcastic.

“Oh, well thanks. Do I hear voices?” I asked, my own voice sounded weak to me.

“Several, unless you’re referring to the ones in your head, then I can’t exactly speak for them.” Jefferson chuckled.

“Jefferson–” He laughed as I rolled my eyes.

“Yes ma’am. There are several people here. I believe you refer to them as the Watchtower Brigade.” He said. My eyes widened as I leapt from the bed. Before reaching the side, the pain flung through me again but I didn’t care. Watchtower was here and I wanted to go say hi. I took my mask off. Fuck it. These were some of my closest friends and honestly, if they hadn’t given me up by this point–with me being unconscious and all, I was clearly safe with them. I pushed again, forcing myself to sit up.

“Watchtower is here? You just let people in the bunker?” I asked. I arched an eyebrow.

“I figured it was fine. Besides, if any of them try anything stupid. You know our defenses.” Jefferson admitted, nodding at me. “You can take that off, you know.”

“I–right.” I said, removing the mask. Most of them hadn’t seen me unmasked. Well. With the storm that was brewing after what just happened, this may as well have been as good a time as any to introduce myself to everyone. I forced myself up, the pain subsided a little bit as the world spun. I reached for the door and headed out to meet my friends.