“Miss Rosa? Can we stop now?” Officer Rickard moaned. “It’s past sundown.”

  “No, now stop annoying me,” Anastasia replied. The two had been searching the city for hours, stopping and searching each and every crosswalk, corner, and alleyway. They’d now moved outside the inner city, searching the nearby suburban neighborhoods and parks. Currently, they were on their fifth park, placing a camera inside the eye of one of the laughing animal statues at the center.

  “Our evidence doesn’t even span this far.” He continued. “There’s no point in wasting our time—”

  She jabbed a finger at his face, her long nail inches from his eye. “Be quiet.”

  The cop shivered, nodding quickly and swiftly placing a hidden camera in the eye of the kangaroo and hippo. The cameras were small and round, and had to be pressed in until they could see a red dot blink twice.

  “Why can’t we use the ones at the station, miss?” Rickard asked, carefully flattening the round device in the eye of the hippo. “We’ve been using them for years, not to mention they’ve got all the same qualities as these ones. High resolution video feed, not to mention an ultra-durable exterior making it metal detection proof, climate proof—”

  “But not homeless proof apparently,” she said looking around. Her eyes went to the east end of the neighborhood where an explosion had destroyed a house six days ago. Ignoring that, she then looked to her west; thinking about the idiot had told her earlier.

  ‘It was a few days ago, three probably!’ Rickard’s shrill voice played in her head.

  ‘It’s no coincidence,’ she thought, ‘he’d been here even after Amesworth. Is he mocking me? No, remain calm. It’s clear he has no place to go, which explains why he’s working with the homeless. And the boy, I know I fatally shot him, and I know his talent isn’t bodily based on my first run in with him. So how’s he still—’

  “All done!” Rickard’s high voice was like a needle to Anastasia’s thoughts. She shot him a cold glare before returning to the car with him. The man nervously got in, keeping his eye on her as he put his key in the ignition. He started to drive.

  “Y-you know it might seem awkward but I really—and I mean really—appreciate what you’re doing.” He said.

  “Hmhp,” she said.

  ‘No I really, really mean it!” he said. “I mean your calm, smart, cunning and—and really deserving of that Collar. I mean way more than those other guys you were with, ugh!”

  “…”

  “I think you’ll like it at the precinct. You know, we plan on throwing little celebration once we reach seven stars and with you help…you know…you could be our—you know— guest of Honor.”

  “…” she turned to look out the window.

  “A-actually I’ve been meaning to ask uh,” he took a breath, “How do you get a Black Collar? I mean I always thought they were like Red but the color’s so rare only upper ranked Blues and Whites know about it.”

  Anastasia looked down to her chest, feeling her own. Then she remembered Alastor. “You don’t want one.”

  “But I—”

  “No, you don’t.”

  The road was quiet as the two drove, Rickard’s itched the back of his neck nervously, trying to come up with a way to change the conversation.

  “Well…maybe we could train together when we get back to the precin—”

  “Stop,” She said.

  He gulped, “W-what is it now?”

  “Turn your headlights off. There’s a group of men in a black van approximately one hundred yards from us.”

  “What?!” he peered closer to see she was right, a few guys n black t-shirts were passing out packages outside of a dark van parked near a close corner store. He shuddered, “How long have they been there for?”

  “They’ve been hanging around the block for an hour. Get us closer.”

  “Huh?! N-no! We need to call the precinct—back up! We don’t know what those men have—”

  “Seven total. One Bodily, six Material,” She said. “The one with a star on his shirt has a limp in his leg; the other with a cap is heavily armed. All seem to be on enhancers. You’re a cop, you should know this.”

  “Then that means we need back up even more!” Rickard nearly shrieked. “If those are actually talent enhancers, then we’re in BIG trouble!”

  “I don’t care, now go.”

  “You should!” the man’s hands we’re shaking so much they blurred. “We’ve been looking into these drugs for a couple years now! Not only do they boost one’s inner-gi significantly, the substance forcefully releases an abundance of dopamine to the brain that turns pain to pleasure, pleasure I tell you! You know what that means right? Not only are they gonna be nearly impossible to hurt, but they’re gonna tough, way, WAY tougher than even our standard bodily types! Ma’am we need—”

  “Rickard Dawson…” Anastasia said slowly. “I’m not going to ask again.”

  With a gulp, the engine roared to life and the car began speeding towards the group. The men turned around, one pointed as the headlights flicked on again, exposing the group. Rickard gripped the steering wheel, driving faster.

  If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  “What are you doing?” Anastasia asked, watching the speed limiter move past seventy and break eighty. “I didn’t tell you to crash them.”

  “I’m saving you.” Rickard said “It’s our only way to stop these guys!”

  Anastasia could feel her anger boiling “I don’t want your pity, I want you to listen. Now stop.”

  “I’m sorry…I-I’m sorry I can’t!”

  The men didn’t move, instead a bigger one in a sweatshirt stepped out from the back, grinning as the rest moved to the sides.

  “They’re going to retaliate. Your plan failed,” Anastasia said, “Stop the car now!”

  “That’s just fine!” Rickard yelled, he could feel his eyes fill with tears as the car was past a hundred miles per hour. “The truth is I don’t want anything to happen to you, okay?! That’s why I’m aiming for him, he’s the biggest threat anyways right!” he laughed nervously

  Anastasia’s eyes shot to the speed limiter, they had hit their max. Her eyes then shot to the man in the sweatshirt, who was now winding back his arm. She could feel a low growl escape her lips.

  “Pull over before I kill you!”

  “I CAN’T!” the cop screamed. “We’re already dead, we’re already DEAD!”

  With a grunt, the sweat-shirted man swung his arm at the cop car, bringing his fist down on the hood.

  ‘CRASH!!!’

  The police car flipped over at its front, going into the air and over the group before hitting the ground hard, bouncing and tumbling like a ball, finally sliding to a stop on its roof as it hit the pole of the traffic light. The gang could be heard laughing as they quickly closed in on the car. The man in the star t-shirt knelt next to the window and peeked into the car, grinning.

  “Little pig, little pig, let me come in!”

  A hand shot through the glass, impaling him in the throat.

  “G-G-G-GAH-CK! GA-HACK!” he sputtered feeling his body being raised from the ground as Anastasia came through the window and stood before the group, her hand still in the man’s neck. She threw her arm to the side, letting his body tumble to the other side of the street. The gang quickly moved back, no longer talking. Even the sweatshirt man’s face was now filled with terror.

  “I don’t like interrogations,” she said flicking the blood off her hand. “They’re often drawn out and boring.” She aimed a bloodied finger at the men. “If you’re not going to tell me, then don’t waste my time. I’ll give you until the count of six to answer these two simple questions.” she then pointed upwards. “One, where did you procure your enhancers?”

  The group erupted into jeers, yelling and shouting at her.

  “Fuck you, you crazy bitch!” the man in the cap yelled reaching behind him.

  “And two,” she continued, now aiming a second finger at the men. “Where can I find a man in a Black Collar, and a gray haired boy?”

  “GET her boys!!” the capped man whipped out two Uzi’s, his fingers squeezing the triggers.

  ‘Heh!’ he thought, ‘I doesn’t matter how tough ya are. Even before these enhancers I was already mowing down law enforcement routinely! With these Uzi’s, even them Bodily Blues knew better than to fight me head on—’

  Before he finished his thought, a purple whirlwind of death flew directly at him, but the man his grinned, falling to his side. However, from his peripheral he saw her coming back. He gritted his teeth and fired a stream of bullets, instantly lining the ground the second he touched the trigger. He fell back into one of his other men.

  “Told ya pigs ain’t shit!” he laughed as his comrade helped him up. “All speed, no aim—”

  “URK!” a voice sputtered from behind them. The capped man and the rest of the group turned their heads in horror to see the sweat-shirted man standing there, a hole the size of a beach ball on his bloodied stomach and the woman crouched at his front, standing up as he fell back.

  “One,” She began.

  “GRRRAAAA!” another cried, swinging a crowbar at her. Anastasia moved towards him, twisting her hip and swinging her foot through the bar and into the man’s skull with as sickening, ‘crack!’

  “Two,” she continued.

  “Lou! Bug!” the capped man shouted. Two men dashed her, foam filled grins on their faces as silver flashed from their wrists. Dual switch-blades dropped from their sleeves and into their hands, swiping at the woman, aiming for her neck and gut. But she was quicker. Spinning between the men and directly in front of the capped man as Lou and Bug’s stomachs flew open, falling to the ground in a bloodied heap.

  “Three,” she said to his face. “Four,”

  The man’s arms felt like noodles, his mouth was as dry as bone. “Wait a minute, how many of us are left?’

  “WAIT, WAIT! I’ll tell you!” someone dropped their gun and put both hands up. “Just promise me—”

  Their words were cut short as a nail flew from her middle finger, imbedding itself into their head and sending their body into the pavement, dead.

  “Too slow,” she said. “Five,”

  “The abandon lot, THE ABANODN LOT!” the capped man screamed, arms shaking. “It’s just up the hill from here, you can’t miss it! The enhancers! I even saw the black man and gray boy! I saw it all!!”

  Anastasia slowly wrapped her fingers around the man’s throat, getting closer enough to see his blue eyes shake like a pinball machine. “And who gave you these enhancers?”

  “H-h-haven! Haven for fucks sake that’s where we got our strip-lash from!”

  “And where are the man and boy now?”

  The capped man gulped. He felt his heart would shoot out of his chest. “U-um I-I’m pretty sure they—”

  She squeezed her hand, sending her nails into his neck before violently yanking it out. His body spun, toppling to the ground like a sack of bricks.

  “Six.” She said.

  “H-help…me…” a weak voice said.

  Anastasia looked to the flipped over police car to see Rickard, still buckled in, battered and bloodied by glass. A popped airbag lay on his chest as he gasped for breaths clutching his stomach.

  “I…can’t move...” He moaned.

  The woman made her way over and knelt over, “Does your radio work?”

  “Y-yeah…” he coughed hard, blood spilled from his lips. “Tell them…my ribs are broken and…and I think they punctured a lung—”

  “Use it. I’m going ahead.” With that, she turned and hopped in the black van. Much to her delight, the keys were still in the ignition.

  “Miss Rosa…wait!” he coughed watching the van speed away. He gagged now, his chest felt tight, breathing was becoming harder and harder. “Please…wait…”

  The black van skidded into the abandon lot, the door being kicked open before it stopped moving and Anastasia running out at full sprint. The first thing she saw was some wrappings of paper on the ground. Carefully, she picked each strand up until something caught her eye.

  A single used bandage.

  ‘There’re traces of Inner-gi on this!’ she thought picking it up. ‘They were just here and judging by how potent the left over residue is. They couldn’t have gotten far…’ Her eyes frantically searched from left to right, carefully looking at the ground as she slowly stepped further and further, until feeling a minor decline in the dirt. Looking down she saw her foot was in that of a much, much larger footprint.

  “One of them was huge’ she thought, crouching low to the ground. She eyed the rest of the area, more footprints, square marks, and a circle stretching around a large part of the lot, ‘Those squares. Judging by their placement, size, and movement around them they were probably traffic cones. The also clearly had something coiled up in the center as most of the prints became disfigured. Was this some kind of training activity? And what does ‘Haven’ have to do with this. Unless he’s dealing enhancers himself, it must tie back to the homeless he’s allied with. The homeless…Haven…’

  She put her fingers to her chin, feeling smile began to crack along the corners of her mouth. “They’re the same.”