It took a few jumps with Plantress with me to get to our destination. We stopped outside of an old police station that was close to Lake Superior. I could already see in the distance part of the lake. Or maybe it was one of the many other lakes.
As we approached the building another superhuman stepped out. His bird-like wings gave it away. They were tucked behind his back and what must have been custom clothes. I wondered if he got too cold because of the cut-out back. He also wasn’t wearing a mask. Kind of hard to hide your identity if you have a fifteen-foot wingspan at least.
“How do you do? Welcome to my neck of the woods. I’m Jacob.”
“Did you do some scouting already,” asked Plantress. She started to activate her powers.
“Kind of. Something is in the water. It is our own form of Loch Ness you could say. The thing has a lot of teeth and wasn’t very happy when I got closer to the water.”
“How big is it?” I asked.
“I’m not sure. It was obscured by the water somewhat, but it was at least 20 feet long and fast. We’ve kept people away, but for now, we are most worried about how it got in the lake, what it might be eating, and whether it will jump lakes.”
Plantress was focused on extending her senses toward the lake.
“I’ll wait to see what Plantress can find. I can’t do much directly. It is too big for me to move, but I can keep us out of harm’s way.”
“I’d get out your weapon. I’m not sure how her skills might affect the lake monster, but it is big enough to sense her plant manipulation. If you will wait here, I’ll see what I can do to draw it out as well.”
His wings spread out, and he took flight over the lake. He unholstered his gun, and I eventually followed suit.
“How’s it going, Plantress?” I asked.
“I’ve spread my feelers out to the lake and have made some connection to the seaweed and aquatic plants in the water. I’m not seeing anything yet, but I will let you know.”
“How did you attract its attention last time,” I yelled up to Jacob.
“Bait is always a good way to lure things out of the dark,” he responded. “Though sometimes we need something disruptive as well.”
Out of a pouch on his side, he threw some powder into the lake. He tossed out a few handfuls of the stuff, and it bubbled when it touched the water.
“What is that stuff?” I asked. I held my weapon ready.
“My own special brew. It’ll notice us soon enough.”
“I feel something coming,” said Plantress. “I’ll try and grab ‘em, but it is moving fast toward whatever you dropped.”
The water churned and rippled. I wished I had a better vantage point. I could try and teleport into the air, but my aim would go to shit afterward. Not to mention, the fall would be annoying. The water beast showed itself soon enough. Jacob was already putting shots into it as it surfaced.
I teleported closer and fired off some shots. The shots bounced off the scales, and I boosted the power of the gun before firing again. Vines rose out of the water to hold it down. The creature thrashed and screeched. Its head rose out of the water. It looked like a traditional sea serpent from illustrations and legends. Its scales glowed in the water, and it bore its fangs.
They continued their battle against the massive sea serpent, determined to prevent it from causing further harm. Jacob soared through the air, his wings propelling him swiftly as he fired precise shots at the creature's vulnerable points. The serpent thrashed and screeched, its scales deflecting most of the bullets, but a few managed to penetrate its tough hide.
Plantress focused her powers, manipulating the aquatic plants to create a dense network of vines that wrapped around the serpent's body. The creature struggled against the restraints, its powerful muscles straining as it tried to break free. The vines held firm, but the serpent's strength was immense, and it wouldn't be long before it tore through them.
I teleported closer to the serpent, my weapon at the ready. With each shot, I increased the power of my gun, hoping to find a weak spot in the creature's armor. The serpent's head rose out of the water, its glowing scales shimmering in the sunlight. Its fangs were razor-sharp, and its eyes burned with a primal fury.
Jacob swooped down, landing on the serpent's back. He pulled out a specialized device from his utility belt and attached it to the creature's scales. The device emitted a high-pitched frequency that disoriented the serpent, causing it to thrash even more violently.
Plantress seized the opportunity and commanded the vines to tighten their grip. The serpent's movements became more restricted, but it refused to surrender. It lunged forward, snapping its powerful jaws at Jacob, who narrowly avoided the attack by taking flight once again.
I considered what to do next for a moment before I teleported onto the serpent's head, my feet finding purchase on its slippery scales. I aimed my weapon directly at its eye and fired a concentrated blast. The serpent roared in pain, its head jerking back as it tried to shake me off. I held on tight, determined to weaken the creature. My hands started to slip, and I realized I could only stay for so long.
Jacob circled above, raining down a barrage of shots on the serpent's exposed underbelly. The creature's scales cracked under the onslaught, and it let out a deafening screech that echoed across the lake. Plantress summoned more vines from the depths of the water, creating a dense web that restricted the serpent's movements even further. The creature thrashed and writhed, its tail whipping through the air and crashing down on the surface of the lake, sending massive waves rippling outward.
I teleported back to shore, my weapon still trained on the serpent. Jacob and Plantress continued their relentless assault, pushing the creature to its limits. The serpent shook the water sending waves deep onto the beach. I backed up further. The water seemed to want to pull us in grasping near my boots before I got away.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
Just as it seemed the battle was nearing its end, the serpent gathered its remaining energy and unleashed a final, desperate attack. It lunged forward, its jaws wide open, aiming directly at Plantress. Jacob swooped in, using his wings as a shield to deflect the serpent's strike. The impact sent him tumbling through the air, but he quickly regained his balance.
Plantress seized the moment and commanded the vines to constrict around the serpent's neck. The creature gasped for air, its eyes bulging as it struggled to break free. I fired a final, powerful shot at the serpent's head, stunning it momentarily. Its eye leaked blood.
“I’ve got it.”
“It is still shaking. I can only empower the seaweed so much,” Plantress shouted.
“Fire as many shots as you can. It is going to break,” shouted Jacob. There was a hum in his gun as he switched to rapid fire. The energy blasts shot out in a tight beam. Water was sent everywhere as some of the shots hit the water.
Realizing that it was outmatched, the serpent let out a defeated roar and began to retreat. It thrashed and writhed, breaking free from the vines that held it in place. With a final, defiant screech, it dove beneath the surface of the lake, disappearing into the murky depths.
I sighed looking over at Plantress who was exhausted from overtaxing her powers. She stepped back and sat on the beach. Jacob watched over the water for a minute before lowering his gun. I did the same.
“So, what now?” I asked.
“It should know by now that we can’t do much to it while it is in the water. The bait is unlikely to draw it out a second time. We may need an aquatic hero to help us.”
“Then that is it?”
“Unless you have some better ideas?” asked Jacob.
“Can we starve it out? Hasn’t it eaten most of the fish in the lake to get to its current size?”
“That may just make it madder. Not to mention we don’t want to let it continue to disrupt the natural ecosystem.”
“It is already doing that by existing.”
“Jacob is right,” said Plantress. She approached. “While we could try and starve it that is likely to be ineffective. The lake is too big and there are tens if not hundreds of thousands of fish in the lake. We need to focus on containing it to a small area if we want to even try and starve it out or kill it.”
“Then what are we meant to do? I’m not sure how you are supposed to trap it alone while we wait.” I asked. This mission was starting to feel like a dud. Why did they decide to pair us up like they did seem odd? I needed a better gun. The ones that were had heavy restrictions on them. However, this was a good case to use them.
“What if I go get a bigger gun?” I asked interrupting their continued discussion. “There is no one on the lake because of the Sea Serpent and it isn’t a human. Maybe? So, it should get the green light.”
“How long would it take?” asked Jacob who was considering the idea.
“Maybe 20 minutes. I can teleport in front of the requisitions office. In the meantime, you two will need to find a way to pull it out of the water long enough for me to fire off a shot or two from the cannon.”
“So, we are going with a bigger gun then?” Plantress asked rhetorically.
“Guess so,” said Jacob.
“See you in a bit.” I teleported away.
I reappeared in front of the requisitions office. The office was dimly lit, a single clerk sitting behind the counter, his eyes wide as I materialized out of thin air.
"Need a bigger gun," I said, panting slightly from the urgency of the situation. He considered my badge and the current mission I was listed on. The clerk nodded, understanding the gravity without needing further explanation. He led me to the back room where the heavy artillery was kept. My eyes settled on a massive cannon, its barrel gleaming ominously in the low light.
"This should do it," I muttered, hefting the weapon with effort. It was heavier than I anticipated, but desperation lent me strength. I teleported back, the cannon in tow, appearing beside Jacob and Plantress who were maintaining a vigilant watch over the lake.
"Got it," I announced, setting up the cannon on the shore. Jacob and Plantress nodded, their faces set in grim determination.
"We need to draw it out," Jacob said, scanning the lake's surface. "It won't come out for the same bait a third time."
Plantress, looking paler but resolute, stepped forward. "I might have something. It's risky, but it might just work." She took a deep breath, her hands glowing with a verdant light as she reached out to the aquatic plants once more. The water began to churn as Plantress manipulated the seaweed to create a massive, swirling vortex. It was an impressive display of power, the lake bending to her will.
The surface exploded as not one, but several shapes burst forth. My heart sank as I realized the grim truth—there were smaller serpents, each a mirror image of the monstrous parent we had been battling.
“Damn it, it has children!" Jacob cursed, taking to the skies once more. He dove, firing at the smaller serpents, trying to herd them away from the shore.
“What did you do to alert them all?” I yelled.
“It kept going toward the same corner of the lake. Each time it ran. I might have ruffled a few too many plants in that area.
I aimed the cannon, waiting for the parent serpent to show itself. It emerged, drawn by the commotion, its eyes blazing with protective fury. I fired, the cannon recoiling as the shell sped toward the beast. The impact was direct but hit its children.
The serpent roared as its child died. It spun to protect the other children. Water was sent flying into the air disrupting their view of the lake. Jacob flew up above and watched it start to flee. His gun could do little. As the water cleared up, I fired another shot, but it skidded across the water as I adjusted to the cannon’s recoil. Instead of diving down beneath the water the Sea Serpent and its dozen children jumped over the lake and kept going.
“What’s that direction?” I asked Jacob as he circled around us and flew back down.
“Nothing good. It is heading toward the other lakes. If they split, then we could have even bigger problems.”
As the parent serpent and its children fled across the lake, Jacob, Plantress, and I were left to deal with the aftermath of our failed attempt to contain them. The smaller serpents, though not as massive as their parent, were still formidable creatures, each at least 10 feet long and as agile as they were deadly.
"We need to stop them," Jacob shouted, his wings beating fiercely as he chased after the fleeing serpents. "If they split up, we'll have a nightmare on our hands!"
Plantress and I followed close behind, our weapons at the ready. I aimed the cannon, trying to get a clear shot at one of the serpents, but they were too fast, too agile. They darted and weaved through the water, making it impossible to get a direct hit.
I teleported closer, trying to get a better angle, but the serpents were relentless. They attacked me with ferocity, their jaws snapping wildly as they tried to take me down. I dodged and weaved, avoiding their attacks by mere inches. I only had a few shots.
Plantress used her powers to try and restrain them, summoning vines to wrap around their bodies, but the serpents were too strong. They broke free, their scales glistening with water as they continued their escape.
I managed to get a shot off, hitting one of the serpents and causing it to bleed out into the water. But there were too many of them, and soon they were all fleeing in different directions, disappearing into the depths of the lake.
"No, no, no!" Jacob shouted, his wings beating in frustration. "We can't let them get away!"
“We need backup. There are too many holes,” I said.
But it was too late. The serpents had escaped, and we were left to deal with the consequences of our failure.
"What now?" I asked, panting heavily as I surveyed the chaos around us.
"We need to regroup," Plantress said, her voice tired but determined. "We can't take on all of those serpents alone. We need a plan, and we need it fast."
Jacob nodded, his eyes scanning the horizon. "I'll fly ahead, see if I can track them. You two call back to HQ, report what happened. We need to get a team together, and fast."
I nodded, teleporting back to the shore with Plantress. We watched as Jacob flew off into the distance, his wings disappearing into the horizon.
"This is not good," Plantress said, her voice barely above a whisper. "We've made things worse."