David Prince P.O.V.

As me and my team ran forwards through the foggy parking lot in the dead of night, surrounded by the inhuman roars of things that I knew to be indeed not human, lead by a kid grinning and cackling in delight and he ran towards the roars with daggers in his hands to ensure our escape, I had a moment of some very hard and through reflection on myself and how I got into this mess in the first place.

Until very recently, I had been part of a spec ops team for the military. Nothing too weird, besides that one time with that governor's daughter. Then a month after I left, a black suited guy showed up at the door and gave me an offer. To join an organization that I have never heard of and become a leader of another team. I said no of course. But… They left a number. Damn that number. I couldn't handle a normal job. I realized that I wanted back in a few weeks later, and I called the number.

And they let me join up with them. From there, I had meeting after meeting with people with so much power and global influence I was shocked I was standing in the same room with them. They gave me presentations and info dumps, one after another. I met founder after founder. Of course I didn't really believe what they said. Who would? But I went along with it, and even let them drug me up with something they called the True Sight Serum. They said it would let me see through some kind of magic thingy. Like that was real.

I was told I would lead the first ever team for the organization. They called this organization UMBRA, which I was told was an acronym for United Meta Bureau of Research and Advancement. They named their task forces with that weird name as well. I was the team leader of UMBRA Force One.

Then they sent me and the rest of the taskforce to New York of all places, where they let us off into the city to get to know each other personally. Everyone had a general profile on their teammates and there were six members including myself.

Brad Pine, Ex-military from Canada, with a wife and a daughter who was named Becca Pine, and is our resident weapons expert.

Korkovich Vysotsky, a Russian demolitions and explosives expert, also Ex-military.

Amy Prichardson, a dubious woman who was some kind of international assassin and criminal before she got mostly rehabilitated and went to work with UMBRA and is our infiltration and stealth expert.

Lerry Alderson, who was a bit of a younger guy but apparently a tech and hacking genius of some kind and was recently incarcerated and then saved by UMBRA on the condition that he work for them.

The second dubious choice for the team. Then finally Janice Petro, Ex-military, Ex-MMA fighter and our close combat expert.

So they let us loose in the city, and we all wandered around the city getting each other's measure. I got a good amount of glimpses into what the type of people I would be working with were during that time. They all seemed decent people at least, even the dubious ones.

I even got to meet and have some fun with Brad’s daughter. Who had apparently managed to follow her dad to New York somehow all the way from Canada. She was a smart kid. I could see that she had a lot ahead of her.

But just as we were about to turn in for the day and head back to base, while we finished our workouts in a basically empty local gym so we could talk freely, a bunch of huge people came inside. That wasn't much of a concern. Until they ate the guy at the cash register. They ATE him. That's about the time everyone realized something was up, and when we looked again I kid you not it was like a screen was lifted from in front of our eyes and we were looking right at seven and eight foot tall giant people who looked like ogres with more tattoos then skin. And clubs.

It was then that I started actually questioning if those presentations about monsters and magic actually had some truth about them. Then we all got our asses handed to us, and when we all thought we were dead and basically fully prepared to sacrifice ourselves to save Brad’s little girl, that sweet little devil angel, an even bigger ogre came stomping in and told them to lock us up in the back instead of killing us.

We didn't resist much after that. Fighting through a horde of monsters easily two times as strong as us wasn't something we could do, but waiting for rescue from UMBRA or even just sneaking out through the building once we were alone.

We all had a good amount of time to reflect on what we had gotten ourselves into. And with a talk to Becca, who was still with us when we got captured, we realized that whatever UMBRA did with that serum actually seemed to do something. Because as far as the little girl was concerned, we were being locked up by a few ordinary thugs that beat up the cashier and locked us up.

So we talked and took a measure of the situation for hours, looking for a way out in case help didn't arrive.

But help did arrive. And help in this case, was an insane and most likely mentally unstable boy named Ardika with real medieval-style metal daggers coming to kill the monsters with his own previously mentioned daggers. But the thing was, we had taken a look around where they were guarding us. There was at least one of the monsters guarding the only hallway in here. So the thing was; either this kid was with the monsters, or he managed to kill at least one of them already. And the kid didn't look like a monster, even with that serum letting us see through those weird illusions. Plus, it made no sense for them to try to get us to escape. So… this kid had got in and killed at least one of them with nothing but a few daggers, while we only barely managed to injure one ourselves. Without us hearing it too.

Amy, the stealth expert who had been getting out of situations like this for decades, didn't hear the kid coming until he opened the door. And that meant a lot.

Janace said that the kid's grip and stance with his daggers was almost professional, and then she dropped the bomb that she suspected that the kid somehow knew where we were in the room before the light came on too. In the pitch blackness, while everyone but me was being deathly silent, with the room was so echoey that it was basically impossible to hear where anything was coming from. But that thought was supported by Amy who said that he was looking in all the right directions from the moment the light came on and he could see. Even at the people behind the shelves when the light came on.

Brad, me, Korkovich and Larry didn't have much to contribute after that weirdness. Becca did though, saying that she liked him. That was kind of cute, but also a bit concerning considering the kids general psychotic appearance. Brad didn't look impressed with his daughter at any rate.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

Then the kid came back, and he actually managed to lead us through the building without being caught. Amy said she was impressed by his technique and at how quiet he was while basically going at a normal walking speed in runners.

Then came the whole scene at the door, and the kid actually arranged a semi-decent strategy for escape. Reckless and completely hanging on his ability to clear the way of anything that might want to stop us, but it was honestly the exact same thing I would have done in his place, and he was really confident. It was a weird experience.

But then here we were. The kid running like a madman, which honestly going by everything that was happening he probably was, to the hulking figure that was cutting us off from escape. Is this freaking normal for people who can see monsters!? Is this going to be a normal workday for us now!?

I continued running as we enacted our half of the plan that we had constructed in the second before we left the building. Head to the van that was positioned on the next street over, and explain just what the hell was happening as best as we could, and hopefully get some backup on the way while we got our weapons and went back to save that weirdass suicidal, and strangely skilled kid with the daggers.

We ran in a tight line, and stayed together with Becca being carried by her dad in the middle of the group along with Lerry. If we were intercepted, then our more combat capable people, namely Amy, Janice, Korkovich and me, would be able to divert attention and hopefully let the others get away. It was a bit of a… not very hopeful strategy, but these were monsters that we were talking about here. This was a do or die mission. Or more accurately, run and escape or be eaten by some cannibal giant ogres.

Funny how our first mission is just trying to run and save our asses.

I felt my blood pump hot as I checked on positions from the rear of the group. We were all set, running like the wind. Only the kid was faster, and by the time I looked back at the front of the group he was already moving on the attack.

He got within grabbing distance, and the monster in the form of a man reached out to him to do just that with teeth bared in a grin, but the kid was apparently ready for that. He threw himself to the asphalt beneath the arms in a way that made me wince in sympathy, sliding under the monster's guard, and then he popped up once again and stabbed forwards into the monster's chest. That made the thing stagger backwards, its hands coming to its chest, but the kid took a wide step back and something weird happened. Well, two weird things happened.

The first weird thing that happened was the least clear from my position but I could see it just fine. The gaping wounds left by the kid's daggers closed up as he took that step back. Full movie style, physically regenerating. Then the most clear and weirder thing happened. The kid shouted something that sounded a lot like “SOLIDIFY!” and suddenly there was a glowing ball spreading quickly around the figure's head.

I nearly stumbled at the sight, and Brad actually did. “LET'S GO PEOPLE! LETS GO!” I roared as everyone faltered in their run at the sight. Of course I was in complete shock. But the thing about me and shock, was that I could deal with that latter. Just focus.

My shout got people moving, and we got around the monster with the now glowing head that soon did not have a head as it was slashed off by the kids' daggers while it was distracted.

The kid seemed delighted for some reason and I could hear a whoop coming from behind us as we ran, followed by bellowed roars of rage coming from behind us.

But by then, we were past him and quite a bit farther away from anything that might follow despite the insane and possibly magic kid stopping them.

Then we were on the street, in a more relaxed formation that prioritized speed over anything. This was the home stretch.

Larry started jogging beside me after we escaped the parking lot, looking at me with no small amount of panic and concern on his face. He was a quiet guy, but when he spoke it was usually something he spent time thinking on. “Am I the only one who is freaking out right now!? I- That kid- Ardika just cast a spell to suffocate a monster and then sliced his head off! We not going to talk about that?!” He shouted, looking like he was about to have a panic attack.

I was about to respond, but Korkovich cut in there, running in step beside the kid as well. “Why so panicked, American comrade? It just magic ball.” He said in his heavy russian accent, with a smirk and a joking tone before clapping the young man on the shoulder and smiling. “If ask nicely, he let you play with later!” He joked again, grinning wildly and enjoying every second.

“Eff off, Kork!” Lerry grunted out, not amused and a bit embarrassed as he glared at Korkovich. I gave the Russian man a look as well and the man scoffed, still smiling, and jogged farther ahead. I turned to Lerry with a final look of annoyance at Kork.

“Listen kid, the whole reason we are a thing is to figure out what the hell is going on in this world without us knowing about it. Then we figure out a way to deal with it. We get our weapons, call for backup and then help the kid out! Focus on that.” I instructed, and his jaw tightened slightly as he nodded, pushing himself forwards faster along with the rest of us.

We caught sight of the blacked out van at the end of an ally, just where we parked it hours ago. Everyone all started bolting the last few feet until Brad, still carrying his daughter, reached it and swung it open the doors to the interior while Amy reached along the back to the trunk where the weapons were. I jumped into the van interior while the others went to get weapons, or in Brad’s case talked to Lerry and his daughter into staying together in the van. I closed the door, and I found myself sitting in a seat in the dimly lit van. I took a breath, trying in vain to think things through before I made the call. But I admitted defeat after a moment and retrieved the phone installed under the floor.

Personal devices weren't allowed for operatives for some reason, so this was the only phone we would be seeing while we worked. It was black and did not have any dial on it, just a single button that I quickly pressed to connect me to UMBRA headquarters. I placed the phone to my head, and waited.

It rang once, then a loud click could be heard signaling it had been picked up. I took a deep breath. “This is UMBRA Force One Team Leader.” I said quickly into the phone, and I waited. I was sure that this call would be transferred to someone of a higher authority the second I said that. Maybe I could finally hear from the mysterious Director. They were supposed to meet with us tomorrow, for some reason, with our first mission.

It turned out that my thoughts were actually correct, as I heard the deep voice of a man sound out in a no-nonsense tone and an urgency that caught me off guard. “Team Leader, this is The Director. Why on god's green Earth have you have been gone for a whole day?” He demanded, quickly and I could feel a slight intimidation just with this man's tone.

I swallowed that quickly though as I started speaking up. “My team was taken prisoner by a group of cannibal monster people for the last five to ten hours, and we have only recently escaped with the help of a crazy boy with daggers that might or might not be a wizard!” I ranted a bit, working myself up as he went dead silent. Then I winced. “Sir.” I added quietly.

The silence continued for a second before I spoke up again. “I think we might need backup sir. I am pretty sure that one of those fuckers healed almost instantly from deep stab wounds when they were attacked by the kid before he chopped its head off.” I asked, finishing my ‘report’ of the current situation and the line went quiet.

“Back up is coming, Operative. Attempt to contain the threat until they arrive, and aid this ‘wizard’ if at all possible for your team. If not, retreat and keep an eye on the situation.” The man said quickly and decisively, sounding pissed off before I heard a click and the call ended.

I quickly put the phone down and swung open the van with force, emerging from the vehicle and looking out at the team gearing up around me.

“Right! Backup is incoming, and we have been ordered to help the kid while we wait for them!” I announced to the group and I heard some cheers as they checked their guns and other weapons the sci team had insisted they use. I grinned. ‘Just wait, kid. Heavily armed help is on the way.’ I said to myself as I went to strap on my own gear.