Episode 10: The Sailor Scouts are Ghosts?! - Or, Rise of the Supernaturalist!

They sat around Rory's computer, staring collectively the screen. First, they tried "reporters, Seattle." Then, they tried the more specific "Seattle spy." No results.

"That was a stretch anyways," Narma squinted at the screen, the light blinking in her eyes. I doubt anyone is going to be advertising themselves as a spy.

They were trying to track down their stalker from the park, but thus far no luck. Sure, things were coming up in the engine, but Narma had yet to pick out the girl's face she'd seen in the park, as little as she had seen of it.

Rory stared down at the keyboard as if she were willing it to type in a better search term. "I don't know, girl. We've been doing this for an hour."

"There's a lot of people in Seattle," Narma shrugged.

"We should keep trying," Carmen said from the bed behind them, sipping her tea. "We don't know what that girl may have been after. If she knows our true identities, it could be bad."

Narma nodded. "That's right. So keep typing, computer drone."

"Beep boop," Rory drawled.

"Try 'investigators'." Might as well throw as wide as possible, until they had something to go on.

"Honestly, I'm a little worried she may not be listed at all," Carmen tapped a finger along the side of her cup. "You said she looked about our age, right? If she's working independently, she may not have a page."

Rory switched over to images, as they had on the past pages when nothing in the results had really spoken to them.

"Ah," Narma interjected, placing a finger to the screen. "Ye of little faith. Look there."

Carmen leaned over her shoulder, and Rory clicked the image, enlarging it. "Is that her?"

Narma said, "It could be. She had blue hair. Rory, what site is that from?"

"Doing it now." Rory clicked the link, and after couple of further confirmations, what looked like a blog page pulled up. The page was edgelord city, an all-black screen with dramatic text in the headers: The Seattle Society of Paranormal Investigation.

"Oh, you gotta be shitting me."

Rory shushed her. "No foul language in my Mama's house," she glared.

Right. "Sorry." She cleared her throat. "'If you found this page, you may be wondering what this is. In short, this is a refuge for those in the city of Seattle and beyond who seek the truth.' Wow, not pretentious at all."

Rory frowned at her, but she could tell by the cock of her brow she kind of agreed. She took over. "If you wish to discover the true nature of the world around you, recruitment sessions are held Saturday mornings at the Storybook Café downtown, at 9:30 AM. Meetings are held with the representative pictured above. No photography. No recording equipment."

Narma sat back once Rory had finished reading. "So, basically, she's a crack."

Carmen peered down at her sprawled position. "Well, if we told anyone the things we've seen, they would think we were crazy too."

Narma raised a brow, staring back up. "So, what, we should become—" her eyes flicked back to the screen to confirm the phrasing; she needed to get her facts straight in order to properly talk shit. "—'paranormal investigators?'"

Carmen's lip twitched up. "I'm saying," she stressed, "we don't know what she knows. What she has. Even if she is incredibly…um, incredible, if she has something, she could be a threat."

"'A threat,'" Narma snorted. "So serious, girl. Are you gonna' take this girl out?"

Carmen balked. "What—no! Of course not! We just shouldn't let this go, is all I mean."

Narma turned back to the screen. "You're cute; I'll give you that."

From the computer chair, Rory swiveled around and crossed her arms. "So what should we do, then? If we corner her like the mob, she'll know something's up."

Narma eyed the girl's photograph on the screen. There was no name, probably out of some sense of confidentiality, but that didn't matter so much just then. "Well. We have a time and date right there, don't we?" She gestured to the page. "Maybe one of us does want to join."

Mallory groaned, the realization coming over her that she had overslept. She rolled out of bed, and, still on the floor, she shook out her hair, a steady stream of noise coming out of her mouth.

From the top bunk across from her, Kyle watched the train wreck like a goddamn sadist. "Don't you have that meeting thing to do?"

She groaned louder.

As she grabbed her flannel from the closet, she heard him say, "I can't believe my roommate is a hipster."

"Shut up," she slammed the door behind her. There were groans from the other inhabitants of the house.

Staring in the hallway mirror, she adjusted her jacket, and then her coat, combing her fingers through her hair. Might as well look like she was intentionally a mess, instead of someone who's obsessive scrolling through conspiracy forums last night had caused her to be late to her own recruitment session.

Grabbing her bag, Mallory left the house, grateful it was only about a ten-minute walk to the Storybook Café. She hunched into her jacket, the sun just a little too warm through the thick, dark fabric. Her Saturdays were always a wasted opportunity to sleep in, but you did what you had to do when you had a destiny to fulfill.

And recently, the nature of that destiny had become a bit more transparent.

She reached the café with a few minutes to spare, mostly because she hadn't showered the way that she normally would have. Out of breath, she moved to the front, where Manuel had her order ready. He said, "You look a bit frazzled today."

The barista took her money as she forked it over, letting out a particularly labored breath. Damn asthma. "Had a hard night."

He raised an eyebrow. "Overslept?"

She took the double-shot and the lemon scone. "I admit to nothing."

Manuel shook his head, his dark curls falling in his eyes in a way she was sure was against Company Regulations. "Thank you for your patronage," he quipped.

She took her usual seat by the door, pulling out her laptop. The little table didn't have a lot of room, but it had enough to shove her notes in under the corner of her computer and set her breakfast on either side. Today, the notes were stolen, the notations about a star system called Trappist-1.

These hours usually turned into homework opportunities or a chance to re-read the forum posts she was going to investigate, but regardless, she appreciated the quietness of the café in the morning: the meditation of click-clacking on her computer against the white noise of the café's business.

But this morning, something unexpected happened.

Only about ten minutes had passed when she felt a presence standing over her. Raising her gaze, ready to chew someone out for standing in her light, she was met with a familiar figure. That was both figurative and literal—she had only seen this girl from afar.

"You," Mallory spat out immediately, then realized her mistake. If this girl, Latina, long-legged and pretty, the same girl she'd see in the Garfield group at the park, didn't know she was the very perpetrator who had been observing them during the last attack, she'd just acknowledged a familiarity. Quick, you need a save. "I mean, you're standing there. Can I help you with something?" Absolutely flawless.

The girl's hand lingered nervously at her collar. "I, I'm sorry. Maybe I mistook you for someone else. I'm here about an advertisement I saw online? About some…unusual activity in Seattle?"

Rory leaned into her, the girl's stupid sharp elbow digging into her arm. "Can you see anything?"

Narma shrugged her off, peering through the Walmart binoculars into the café on the other side of the street. "GIRL. Cool your shit! They're just talking." She took a breath. "I'll let you know if anything happens."

Rory huffed, "You better, I want out of this bush the second I don't have to be here anymore."

"Sit tight," Narma said, adjusting the view. "They just started talking."

The girl stared up at Carmen from the table, a blank expression on her face. Butterflies kicked up in her stomach—was it possible she actually did have the wrong person? The girl closed her laptop, gaze unwavering. "You're here about the Society?"

It took Carmen a second to recall the formal name of the site they'd found a few days ago. She smiled. "Yes, exactly."

After a while debating the best way to do it, they finally decided that she would be the one to approach the girl who had been spying on them. "She'll know I was mad," Narma had argued, "And you have a really unthreatening face."

"Rory has an unthreatening face too," Carmen had replied.

"Yeah," said Narma, "but she also looks like someone who could kick your ass, if she wanted." Cue Celene and Rory hissing language! at the same time, and then Rory pointing to her free-running muscles in reluctant agreement.

Rory and Narma were outside, watching the exchange. It was actually kind of a shame that they didn't have any sort of recording equipment, though by the serious expression on the girl's face, she doubted it would have gone undetected. The girl gestured to the seat across from her. "Sit."

Carmen did so; no reason not to.

Across from her, the blue haired girl folded her hands. "You have any phones?"

"Ah—"

"Cameras? Any electronic devices?"

Carmen caught up to the rapid questioning. "No," she said, "I didn't bring anything."

The girl seemed to consider her. "Tell me. What prompted you to seek out the Society?"

"Oh, you know." They really should have prepared for this better. It should have been obvious the girl would ask these kinds of questions. "There're just so many strange things happening lately. I want to understand what's going on in the city, and thought it might help to consult a—" she lowered her voice. "—professional."

She could practically see the girl's eyes light up behind her shades at the word "professional." Maybe she had garnered some bs-ing skills from attending to her father's business dealings. The girl steepled her hands. She had a very intense eyes. "The proceedings of the Society are classified, highly serious business. We do not accept less than the utmost commitment and professionalism. Do you understand?"

Professionalism? She looked over the girl's rumpled hoodie, her messy blue hair, her indoor sunglasses. She nodded. "Yes. I understand."

"Good." As she watched, the girl ate the last bite of her scone and chugged the rest of her still steaming coffee, quickly stuffing the many materials laid out on the café table back into her bag. "Now, get your shit together. We're going for a walk. We can't talk here."

Carmen glanced over her empty side of the table, before hurrying to get up and follow. The girl was already heading out the door.

"Shit! They're moving!"

"Don't lose them!"

Mallory marched ahead on the sidewalk, her stomach a mess of anxiousness and excitement. She had no idea what to do with this. It was beyond suspicious that one of the very people she'd been investigating suddenly wanted to join her cause. At the same time, something like this had never happened before. She had to be an idiot to pass up an opportunity like this, to examine one of her subjects up close. That sounded worse than she intended; she just wanted to gauge the girl's intentions. See if possibly she knew more than she was telling her.

The girl jogged up beside her. "I'm Carmen, by the way."

"Shh," she brought a finger to her lips, mind racing. Where was she supposed to go from here? "Not so loud." A pause. "I'm Mallory."

The continued on the block until they reached the bus stop outside the wine shop. "Here." No cameras, no people this time of day early on a Saturday morning. "You may speak."

The girl cleared her throat. "Oh. Okay. So, have you found anything out about the…" She hesitated. Mallory watched her, waiting for any slip she might make. "…attacks?"

Mallory looked her over. "I have some suspects. There was an unusual character wandering the park at time the attack. Long, dark hair. Strange ensemble. But I've yet to identify her identity."

Carmen's expression turned troubled, brows drawn and vaguely pleasant smile slipping.

"What is it?"

Carmen's gaze shot back to her, as if she had momentarily forgotten she was there. "Oh, sorry. I just…I've seen similar figures around the city. That is, people oddly dressed, and in places they maybe shouldn't be."

Now that was interesting. "Really? Where?" Maybe this route was meant to bear fruit after all. She was truly on her game.

Carmen's gaze darted away. "Just a few places; you probably know already. The school had an impostor guest speaker at the attack on the gym. There was also a guy up on the trails that seemed really shady." The girl's posture had changed, her fingers fiddling with a hem of her shirt.

Whoa, wait a minute. "The trails up on Mt. Rainer?" One of the starred notes in her research document came to mind with an insistence. "There was a hiker killed up on those trails with similar injuries to the other attacks just a few days ago. I hadn't been able to find the connection yet."

"Killed?" Carmen squeaked. She suddenly looked a bit ill. Not surprising; most people didn't have the stomach for this kind of work.

"Yes," she said. "That's good information, Carmen. You were right to consult us. Of course, these people are most likely just covering up the conspiracy."

Carmen blinked at her from her seat on the bus stop bench. "Conspiracy?"

Ah, this poor, naïve girl. Mallory leaned back on the bench, crossing her legs. "The conspiracy to cover up the presence of those creatures in Seattle. It's probably the government, not wanting to disrupt local tourism revenue even though there's fucking cryptids walking the street." She flared a hand out.

Carmen wrinkled her nose. "What's a cryptid?"

"A cryptozoological creature. Undocumented by scientists, assumed to be nonexistent by the general population. But we know better." She paused. She'd reeled her in. Now would be the perfect opportunity bring up the room's resident elephant. "I have to wonder, though. You and your friends have been at several of the attacks—I know you saw me in the park that day. Why haven't you mentioned it yet?"

The girl blinked rapidly for a moment. Mallory waited for her to respond, though the fact that she was taking so long to reply was a bad sign. She narrowed her eyes.

But then the girl said, "I mean, that's why I'm here in the first place."

Mallory watched her expression for tells. "Elaborate."

Carmen folded her hands together. "We've been trying to figure out what's going on—why it's happening around us—but we haven't had any luck. At first, we were mad you were watching us, but then I wondered if it was because you'd figured something out. The others didn't think it was a good idea to talk to you, but if there was a chance you could help, I had to try."

Mallory lowered the pen from her notepad. "So you do think it has something to do with you?"

"I don't know," Carmen bit her lip. "Did you find anything that might explain it?"

Mallory squinted. Perhaps she could share what she learned so far, she even if it wasn't much. But not here. "No," she said before tearing a page out of her notebook, scribbling the time and location. "But we should compare notes. Bring everything you have to this place at the designated time. If you lose that paper, you can find the details on one of our flyers." Mallory gestured to the black paper on the bus stop wall, tapping it with her knuckles.

Carmen murmured, "Flyers?" She frowned at the paper.

Mallory stood. "Good work so far. If the Society decides to induct you as a member, I'll let you know. Give me your phone number." Ah, if only she could be so straightforward in all of her social interactions. Still, business was business.

"I—okay." The girl took the pen, jotting her number on Mallory's notepad.

"Good." She closed the notepad, turning to leave. "See you tonight," she called back. "Don't be late."

She had to bite down the dopey smile that tried to rise as she walked away. That had gone so well!

This is it, Mallory. This is your life taking a turn. She continued down the sidewalk, new purpose in her stride. Time for that destiny you have been waiting for to finally get its ass in gear.

Carmen stared down at the paper scrap, reading over the messy scrawl. The Space Needle. Top floor. 8:30 PM. Don't be late.

Suspicious now, she peered around the intersection, emerging from the cover of the bus shelter. Anywhere a scrap of paper was posted in the square, there was without fail a black flyer somewhere on the board. How have I never noticed these before? Didn't it sort of defeat the purpose of having a secret society if you advertised on every corner?

She stuck the scrap of paper in her pocket, watching as Narma and Rory marched up from around the corner. Narma said, "What happened? What did she tell you?"

Carmen said, "She doesn't have anything about us that she can use as evidence. She kept calling the pithos 'Cryptids.'"

Narma let out a bark of laughter. "So she is a crack. Well, that settles that."

Carmen shot her a look. She held her hands out. "Now wait a minute. She did have some information—I'm not sure we should just drop this. She may have more information that could be useful to us." She lowered her voice. "Guys, the day of the attack at the cabin, a hiker was killed nearby."

Rory looked surprised for a minute narrowing her eyes. "Wait, how?"

"Yeah," said Narma, "maybe he fell off the mountain. And there's animals up there, right?"

Carmen looked to her. "She said he had similar injuries to the other pithos victims."

Rory and Narma stared at one another. Rory spoke first. "So what does that mean? I mean, that's bad, but I'm not sure what to do, you know?"

"Right," said Carmen, hitting her fist against her palm. "That's the point. We don't know everything about with the Agents have been up to." She turned to Narma, straightening. "This girl has been actively investigating it. She's been all over the city. Not only that, but she described someone strange she saw in the park at the time of the attack—I bet it was an agent."

Narma blew out a breath. "Well, shit. What do you want to do, then? You're the one who's in her good book right now."

Carmen chewed her lip, pointing to the flyer behind her. "They're having some kind of meeting tonight in the Space Needle. I think I should go."

Now outside of the bus stop shade, the fully risen sun glared down on them. Carmen said, "Maybe she knows something that could confirm our theory about the Great Beast and the sun."

Rory pumped her fist. "Right! We can't let the sun be a snack!"

"You two are absolute mad women."

Even so, Carmen couldn't help but be a little unnerved by the blatant picture of Trappist-1 on the flyer.

That girl had obviously printed them off before Carmen had approached her, just like she obviously took their notes. So why hadn't she mentioned them?

If this image is significant to you, please call.

Invidia slunk through this city. This was twice now she'd failed. How was she supposed to explain this to Lady Pandorana? There had to be some way to redeem herself. This was supposed to be her chance.

Folding her arms over her uniform shirt, a notice in the local human language caught her eye, the dark paper standing out amongst a sea of bright notes. She couldn't read it, but could memorize the combination of foreign symbols. Of course, what really drew her eye that was the depiction of the star system her Lady was currently purifying. What luck!

They've given themselves away so blatantly! She couldn't keep the smile off her face, her nails digging into the palm of her clenched hand. She recognized the format of a human address. Finally, she had them. She needed to perform every effort. At last, the praise would fall on her, and not those other incompetent Agents of Purity. She took note of the prescribed time. It was time to prepare.

Even the people who didn't live in Seattle knew about the Space Needle. It was a beacon letting everyone in a fifty-mile radius know that Seattle was the place to be. When Carmen and her father had first moved there when she was a little girl, it was the first thing she'd seen, peering out of the rear window.

Rory snapped her fingers. "Wish we had a wire."

Carmen said, "She would definitely notice a wire."

Narma put her hands on her hips. "So, what's the plan here? We're not going to be able to see you from down here. So what's the point?"

Celene, sitting on the ground beside them, said, "The point is that if anything should go wrong in Gamma's endeavor, her fellow soldiers will be there to assist her. We do not know this girl's intentions. We have to be careful."

"Yeah, and I mean, we can kind of see the top of the Needle from here." Rory pointed the bright ring of light emitting from the tower's upper windows.

Narma gave her a flat look.

"Thanks for coming with me, guys," She smiled. That same part of her that was always whispering reminded her that one some level she was inconveniencing them, but she pushed it down, vocalizing this is important in her head. "It could be nothing, but I am still not convinced that I'm not going up there to be carted off to a human trafficking ring."

Rory said, "I don't think that's going to happen. But we should see what's up with this society thing. If you need us, try waving from the window."

"Got it." Carmen gave her a thumbs up.

"And if you're not back by 10:00 PM, we'll assume you're dead," Narma took a sip of the tea in her thermos.

"Narma!"

"Rory!"

Well, no reason to delay it any longer. Turning, she moved across the street towards the tower, and whatever might be waiting for her there.

The Space Needle had an admission charge. That being said, for a certain price, one could rent out the top room for a certain period of time, with a discount for repeat use. The rate she got the top for every Saturday night an hour before closing wasn't great, but you did what you had to do. Plus, she loaded the charge on autopay from the House's expense card, and thus far no one had noticed.

She usually went straight up, but given the new developments in her current investigation, Mallory decided to wait in the lobby to see if the new girl showed up. If she didn't make an appearance after ten minutes, she would assume she wasn't going to show up and head on up.

That being said, her plans seemed inconsequential when, at 8:26, Carmen entered the front door of the Needle's lobby. "There you are, recruit." Mallory unfolded her arms. "Good. Did you bring your materials?"

Carmen presented a manila folder with a few pieces of paper inside. "Yes, I'm hoping you guys can help me make sense of it a bit."

Mallory slapped the folder closed when the girl started to open it, right in the middle of the lobby. There were security cameras, for cripes sake. "No, no—not here. We'll examine them upstairs." She saluted the security guard, Marge, at the front desk. "Pleasure doing business with you, as usual."

Marge sipped her coffee. "Whatever you say, kid."

"This way." She led Carmen to the elevator, where they climbed inside and waited to reach the top.

"This is exciting," Carmen whispered from her spot beside her. "I've never been to this kind of thing before." She smiled, but, examined closer, it looked a little strained. "I just hope I don't say the wrong thing."

Feeling a swell of confidence in her chest, Mallory pointed a finger at the girl, leaning in what she liked to think was a suave position against the side of the elevator. "Don't you worry, Carmen. You stick with me, and I'll take care of everything." She cleared her throat. "Should the need arise."

The elevator opened, showing off the circular open space of the top room. The lighting had always been slightly yellow, even after the Needle got its renovations. The walls themselves were entirely blocked out with windows, showing off the pinpoint lights of the city skyline. Even this place had contributed to the green initiative, and she could see the plant-life spilling over the outside rails at the room's base.

Their footsteps clacked loudly in the space, and Mallory took a seat against the wall. She watched Carmen peer around, body tense with apprehension. "Where is…everyone else?"

"They'll be here," Mallory shrugged, cocking a leg up. "If anyone else is coming tonight."

"Oh," said Carmen. Slowly, she took a seat against the wall herself, leaving a couple yards between them. That made sense—a newcomer would surely want to mingle with the existing members.

The buzz of the overhead fluorescents filled the silence. "Yeah," she continued, "our members are very busy people, so their attendance to these sessions is a little on and off." She tapped her toe on the floor, peering up to the blankness of the ceiling. "I think they get so inspired, the head off on their own investigations. I can't blame them. It's immersive work."

"Uh…huh." Carmen clutched her folder to her chest, peering around with large eyes. Yes, it was a lot to take in. "Should we…should we wait for them?"

"Yeah," Mallory said. "Let's give them about ten minutes. After that point, we'll just go ahead and share what we have so far."

The girl nodded, and then a silence hung in the air for several minutes. Yes, some other members would be along any minute. Sure, no one had shown up last time, but it was the middle of spring. They probably just needed to do some kind of spring cleaning. She needed to figure out some way to have people sign up for certain meetings online, but she'd been busy. Of course, now there was a present threat that needed to be addressed.

"So…" The girl turned to look at her. "Have you been…doing this…for a while?"

Mallory thought about it. "I've been investigating the paranormal for several years, if that's what you mean. It started off with just visiting haunted hot-spots in the city, but then I discovered the community of cryptid hunters online and realized how much deeper things actually went. Ghosts, poltergeists—they've met their fates. We don't have the technology to do anything about them, we can only hope to capture proof. With cryptids, we have the power to expose those who want to keep them secret. I still go ghost hunting if I get particularly excited by a site, but of course, we have bigger things to worry about right now." She gestured to the city behind them.

Carmen frowned, turning towards her more directly. "So, you don't think you can change anything about ghosts? What about, I don't know, exorcists? Things like that?"

Ah, now, getting into the meat of things. She waved a hand out. "I don't see the point. If there really are lingering spirits, they're there for a reason. What would be the point of interfering? Not our business." She'd rather focus her attention on creatures that were alive, as a rule.

The girl frowned. "So are you some kind of nihilist, then? It doesn't matter either way?"

Mallory pointed a finger. "Common mistake. It's the opposite—I'm a determinist. Basically, I believe that whatever happens was always going to happen. There's no point in agonizing over things that have already happened. There's nothing anyone could have done."

Carmen said, "That's kind of dark, isn't it? That's implies that we have no free will."

Oh boy. "You sound like Kyle," Mallory shook her head. "It's actually pretty freeing. No stressing about mistakes—it was always going to be the way it is." She checked her watch. If no one showed up in two minutes, that was it.

"Who's Kyle?"

"He's my roommate."

Carmen's brow furrowed. "You live on your own?"

"Oh, no." Mallory's gaze moved to the window. Damn, that was a slip on her part. Shouldn't have brought it up. She pretended to check her watch again, knowing that the ten minutes still had time remaining. "Oh, hey, look. It's time to share notes."

"Oh." Peering around at the still empty top room, Carmen scooched closer. "So," she said. "You explained your theory about the, ah, cryptids. What's your take on the soldiers people have been seeing around the city?" She placed a fist under her chin, pulling a pen out of her pocket.

Mallory narrowed her eyes. "Soldiers?" She thought for a second; had she heard anything about soldiers? Oh, wait. "You mean the 'superheroes?'"

"Right," Carmen said. "Exactly."

Ooh, Mallory'd been hoping they were going to get into this.

Invidia stared up at the tower. It was a truly auspicious structure—the perfect place for her to regain her honor. The pithos groaned from behind her, their forms momentarily repressed. She wanted it to be a surprise.

Entering the building, an old woman sat at the counter. "Sorry, miss." She stared most enviously at Invidia's regal attire. "No more admission tonight," she said. "We close in thirty minutes."

"No need to be jealous," Invidia said, the woman yelping as she called on the corruption in her heart, her other creations stumbling into the building. "You, too, may attend the festivities."

Rory doubled over. "Agh—you feel that?"

Narma winced. "It's awful."

Celene bristled, eye squinted. "It seems our presence was not unwarranted. But where…?"

A bright green flash erupted from the Needle's top room.

Rory's stomach, already aching, dropped to her feet. "Carmen."

It felt like so long since she'd gotten to exchange theories with someone. "Okay. So obviously, there's no such thing as superheroes."

Carmen's mouth hung open for a second, before she nodded. "Right."

"Unless, I guess, the government has been going some kind of experimentation? But organic beings are currently unable to achieve any sort of superhuman abilities. SO, the most likely option seems to be that these 'superheroes' are actually ghosts, possibly poltergeists, taking a form that the human population can understand."

Carmen looked intrigued. "Ghosts."

"Think about it—that's why the cameras can't capture their faces. Spirits, as we have documented, do seem to have some extra human abilities, due to their occupation of multiple planes at once. It's likely these particular poltergeists are formed from the victims of the cryptid attacks. That's why they appeared at the same time."

Carmen clapped her hands, looking satisfied. "Makes sense to me."

"Yes," Mallory cried, enthusiasm climbing, "and that's why—"

The elevator opened. Mallory frowned, turning to the shaft. "This is a private event—Hey!"

It was the woman from the park, and four other people…including the night guard?

They both stood. "Shit!" Mallory hissed. "The jig is up!"

She thought it might end like this someday: taken out by The Man for knowing too much. Even so, she imagined it wasn't her fate to go down without a fight.

She eyed the fire exit, and started to bolt before a hand caught her shoulder.

"Get back, Mallory." The girl had taken on a serious expression, but Mallory stomach dropped as one of the strangers blocked the door.

And then it got worse. As she watched, the bodies of everyone except the woman's shuddered, and in a burst of green, snake-like heads erupted from their shoulders, including Marge. Mallory backed up, her back hitting the wall. Her stomach squirmed at the horrendous sight. "Holy shit." Oh, so NOW she got to see a cryptid! You guys picked the worst time to show up. Nowhere to run.

But looking over to her, Carmen wasn't panicking—she was reaching for her pocket.

They ran for the building, their steps clattering onto the sidewalk. "You think she could have been lying?" Narma panted. "Maybe that girl was the agent." That sucked for Carmen, getting cornered by an agent twice. They had to stop leaving that girl alone.

From beside her, Rory shook her head. "I don't know."

Suddenly, Celene picked up the pace, jolting forward ahead of them. "Hey!" Rory called out. "Where are you going?"

But Celene continued towards the revolving doors. That cat needed to be more careful. She was going to get herself hit.

They transformed in the alley before heading inside. Celene was nowhere to be seen. Inside, the elevator refused to respond. "Well," Narma turned to the steps beside them. "Guess we're taking the stairs."

Carmen pulled out her scepter. She had no choice—it was expose her identity, or watch this girl die. Quickly thrusting the scepter upward, she called out, "Crystal Power Gamma, make-up!"

Light surged around her, and she heard the snake pithos hiss as the uniform materialized its browns, grays, and blacks over her skin. Her heart pounded; she just hoped her power was actually going to work this time. She was way outnumbered.

The light clearing, she saw Mallory press her back to the back wall. "Holy shit!"

Carmen knew what she looked like—that blurry, holographic filter over her features. "Stay low," she ordered, raising her two pointer fingers. "Harmonious Bellicoso!"

The noise shocked through the small space, the agent's (she was clearly an agent; tight fitting, patterned clothing, bright, unnaturally green eyes) covering her ears as the notes struck the beasts, heeding them back. It didn't appear to do any real damage, though. This is bad.

To her surprise, the agent let out a shriek of laughter. "I knew it! Finally, my Lady's praise will be mine!"

The fire escape door burst open. Carmen felt a surge of relief as she heard Celene's measured voice echo up: "—to get in there!"

The pithos was shoved out of the way as the other two soldiers broke into the room.

Carmen let out a breath. Thank goodness.

The Agent's eyes lit up. "So many star souls in one place! Truly, this strategy was the greatest of all possible plans."

"Oh great," Narma said. "She's a talker. Typhoon Strikedown!" The blast rained down on the Agent and the pithos closest to her, once a young man. Narma shot her a salute. "That's getting to be my signature move."

The agent gasped, wiping water out of her eyes.

"No complaints here," Carmen smiled.

Rory moved from behind Narma, pointing her scepter. "Dire Stellar Gust!"

The blast, much like Carmen's Bellicoso, pushed the creatures back. The one who'd been hit by Narma's Typhoon collapsed, falling to the ground. One down already. Four more to go.

Rory peered to her from across the room. "We need to—"

But the sentence was interrupted as Celene darted from between them. The crescent on her forehead began to glow.

"Whoa." The sentiment came from the wall behind her, and, turning back to look at Mallory, she jolted seeing a symbol too glowing on her forehead.

"No way," Narma said. "Her?"

While they were all frozen in surprise, Celene's efforts produced a new scepter with the same symbol, like a squiggly, lowercase d: δ. "Take the scepter and seize your power, Delta!"

Mallory, now standing, pointed down to the Celene. "That cat is talking."

Carmen let out a breath. "That's what's weird here for you?"

"Enough of this nonsense!" The Agent held her palms out. "Attack!"

With a prayer on her breath, Carmen focused a Bellicoso towards the agent. The music mercifully seemed to understand her intention and wrapped around the Agent, keeping her from advancing. She stared at her through the ribbons of music with fury in her eyes. Carmen shuddered under the gaze, but she begged the song not to let up.

The pithos had apparently grown tired of waiting, because they surged forward. Rory fired off another gust, one that kept them from advancing, before a light took over the room. Everyone flinched away.

As the light dimed, Carma let herself glance over to Mallory. As she had anticipated, the girl now wore a uniform similar to her own, but teal accented with beige. The girl peered back to her. Confusion lingered in her eyes, then recognition when she realized Carmen looked like herself again.

Above the noise. Carmen said, "Hey. Sorry; I lied."

"THAT'S ENOUGH!"

The agent's shrill scream shocked through the room, even the pithos flinching away as she broke out of the Bellicoso. Her body glowed green, shadows beginning to gather at her feet. Her face burned red. "This was supposed to be MY moment! You think you can take my victory away from me?"

Mallory lifted her hands. "Lady, I literally have no idea what's going on."

Her honesty didn't seem to sooth the Agent at all. The shadows coalesced into a coil, but instead of forming a single snake around her head, the woman became a regular Medusa, serpents rising in a mass around her shoulders. The shadows at her feet became a tail.

Mallory said, "Okay, that seems a bit of an overreaction."

"Move!" Carmen lunged towards Mallory as the agent struck out towards her. Carmen kept low, feeling as if she were limboing trying to avoid the far-reaching pithos. Rory seemed to be using her Gusts freely, though they weren't powerful enough to move the pithos very far. Using so many in a row must have been wearing them out. These monsters were the worst Carmen had seen in terms of fighting within a confined space, and at this point, the room was full.

She turned her attention back to Mallory, making sure to keep the snakes in her periphery. "We need your help," she told her. "The Agent is much stronger than the monsters, and I don't want to know what happens if we get bitten."

She cast the Bellicoso as one pithos neared, the attack wrapping around the creature's neck and leaving tears in the scales as the notes impacted. They actually did seem to be getting a little easier, but she could feel the fatigue setting in already.

Mallory blinked at her. "What am I supposed to do? I don't have any extra-human abilities."

She immediately shot back, "If you're wearing that uniform, then you do." Carmen tried to figure out how best to explain it. "You just…kind of have to feel for it. Listen—it should just come to you."

She gasped, thrown back as the agent's tail whipped around, hitting her across the torso. The shadowy limb seemed to burn like acid as it touched her, the sting continuing as she hit the back wall. Even through the pain, her stomach dropped when she heard the glass crack under the impact.

"Gamma!" Celene called, pattering over. "Are you alright?"

She hissed against the burn, sitting up. They needed to be especially careful here. If one of them went out that window, superpowers wouldn't save them from the fall.

Beside her, also taken to the ground whether by choice or not, Mallory said, "I don't know what to do here!"

Carmen said, "You should hear it inside."

Across the room, Rory thrust the scepter out, calling on her next attack. "Dire stellar—"

The jaw of the pithos latched on to her side.

Carmen's heart dropped. No no no! "Rory!"

It was as if the girl had tried to scream, but the yelp of pain was cut off midway. Stiffly, she fell over as Carmen watched in shock.

Mallory wasn't reassured by the horror on Carmen's face. The other girl, the one with the nose ring, stared down in shock. Abruptly, she turned towards the beast again, yelling, "Typhoon Strikedown!"

A geyser of rain water seemed to form in the ceiling, crashing down on the naga woman and the snake that bit her friend. Serpent–Marge hissed wheezily the as she was cut off, along with the other snake. Mallory pulled herself up. "The serpents resemble the common krait. They're probably venomous."

Carmen grimaced. "We have to do something."

Mallory jolted as snake number three broke free, coming right at her.

Time seemed to slow. There was a cryptid, maybe, right in front of her. She'd already seen it attack the others. What could she do? Come on, destiny. It's got to end better than this.

Destiny. She'd thought the word a million times, but somehow, this time, it stuck in her mind. But no, something more than that.

Destiny Chain.

She blinked, reality flooding back in. The snake lurched towards her. Fuck. On instinct, her hand moved across her body, two fingers like a salute passing over the snakes immediately in front of her—the assailant, and the biter. "Destiny Chain!"

Her eyes shot wide when an actual chain shot out from her fingers, the black metal skewering the bodies of the snakes one after the other. The creatures stiffened for a moment, before the black chain faded, the only evidence of the attack that 'd'-like symbol that marked the puncture points.

The naga lady laughed.

"Well, that didn't do shit," Mallory scrambled to Carmen's side, the snake back on the advance. The biter, too, lashed out at the other girl.

"Pathetic! I'm surprised our Lady would desire such weak souls in the first place!"

Mallory looked to Carmen. "Souls?"

"Yeah," the girl said. "Did I not mention? Don't worry about it," Carmen peered down at the bitten girl's injuries. "You tried."

The one good thing strategically was that the room was small enough that the all the awkward serpents were getting in each other's way. She heard Carmen call her attack again, music erupting in ribbons around her.

They struck the biter and the naga, the biter dissolving. Mallory was hit with understanding as the other snake, the one that had been connected to the biter with the chain, also began to disintegrate. She laughed as the snake haired woman gaped. "Hell yeah!"

The victory didn't last long, though. No sooner had Mallory freed up some space in the room than Marge stumbled towards her, the snake head hauling her withered body beneath it like a flank of meat in a butchery. "Whoa there," she held her hands up to the snake. "I've always cleaned up after meetings, haven't I?"

"Afraid you're gonna have to clean up again this time," Nose ring girl gritted her teeth, kicking the naga back as she clawed down to reach her. She seemed to be blocking her from the other girl—wait, what?

Mallory dove to the floor, Marge groaning horribly as her new head struck out, trying to catch her. "You mean...?" Mallory pointed up towards the old woman who was now a snake. "Aw, man, really? I don't want to hurt her."

"Well she wants to hurt you."

Point. Reluctantly, Mallory gave a sweeping salute from the floor, trying to catch the naga in the path. "Destiny chain!"

Nothing happened.

Shit! Mallory pathetically rolled away as the snake continued its pursuit, lugging around the security guard who really had no business doing this kind of physical activity. She yelled, "It didn't work!"

"Surrender your souls to the great beast," the naga hissed. Her hands had closed around nose ring girls throat, hair snakes snapping in a halo of pain.

"I'll pass," The girl grunted. "Carmen, can you take care of the granny?"

Carmen stood from the bitten girl's side. "You got it. Sorry, Miss. Harmonious Bellicoso!" The music surrounded Marge, the notes hitting like enormous sparks. At the same time, Carmen flung her arms forward, her conductor's stance seeming to force them both back. It seemed the best strategy was just 'don't get too close.'

Marge mercifully slumped. Then, it was just the three of them standing, the naga, and the unmoving girl on the ground. Nosering girl rubbed her neck. "Thanks. I was hoping to not get more handprints any time soon."

The naga glanced around at them. As horrifying as she was to look at, compared to her snake-headed minions, she actually didn't seem to be that tough. "This—" her words were barely discernible anymore, her voice giving way more and more to the snake-like hissing. Mallory guessed that smoke wasn't just for show. "—this wasn't how this was supposed to go!"

Whelp, now she was just asking for it. She'd stepped herself directly into Mallory's wheelhouse, and her attack may have been useless against her, but she was accomplished at making people feel stupid. "Sorry, lady. That's not how destiny works." She leaned forward. "This is exactly how things were always going to go."

The woman's face became feral, bearing her shadowy fangs. "Agh!"

Nosering girl and Carmen stood side-to-side. The girl in blue said, "You remember what me and Rory did back in the skating rink?"

"My sentiments exactly," Carmen's open expression had hardened, lips pursed. "There's an imbalance here that needs to be righted."

"That's cool," Nosering girl said, "but we're going to take her out, right?"

"Yes."

"Then lets do it."

"No!" The naga women screamed defiantly.

Carmen held her palms up while the other thrust hers down, before meeting in the middle. "Punishing Cascade!"

It was like the geyser attack, but worse, both more violent and elegant. It reminded Mallory of those fountain shows in the park—the water burst up then down in three rounds, each strike precise and terrible. Mallory may not have known what was going on, but this was cool shit.

Then something slammed into her.

She didn't see exactly what happened. One second, the naga was thrashing in the center of the room, and then a weight collided with her from the knees up, tossing her bodily across the room.

She felt the glass give way against her back. Then, she noticed it was black outside, and she was falling.

There was a second or two of shock, the sound of glass breaking and the final wail of the Agent. For an instant, Narma's mind blanked, watching the girl get flung through the window by the Agent's death flails.

A beat.

"Dire gust!"

The words were shrieked from the floor, and the wind rushed into the air, blowing out the remainder of the glass and bursting into the night.

Pulse pounding, she and Carmen ran to the window. Staring down to the street, Narma's mind tried to make sense of it—the girl's body against a canvas of black.

But then she noticed the starlight dotting the blackness, the girl's uniform fluttering in the wind as she stared back up at them, in equal shock.

Narma collapsed to her knees. "Bhagavaan ka shukr hai." She'd caught her. Scared the shit out of me.

Carmen's gaze flew back. "Rory!"

Narma looked back too—the girl's eye was squint, and she seemed to be struggling just to sit up enough to raise the scepter. "I need to bring her back in," she forced out, her arm shaking. "Get ready to catch her—I don't know how long I'll be able to hold her."

They stood under the window as instructed, catching the frazzled conspiracy theorist when Rory's wind powers inevitably dissipated.

"Oh, thank goodness," Celene fretted from the floor, hovering around their feet, trying to get a look at the soldier she'd just inducted in, Narma guessed.

The girl, in as much as she had proven herself so far to be a chatterbox according to Carmen, immediately spoke. "So, I'd just like to start off by saying what the fuck." She took a breath, brushing glass off her shoulder as they lowered her to the floor. "And also thanks for saving me, I guess, but mostly what the fuck."

Carmen immediately went to Rory's side while Narma cautiously watched the new girl. Couldn't have her running off. "You okay?" She heard Carmen ask, helping Rory to her feet.

"Yeah," Rory said. "The paralysis started fading once that pithos was dusted. Sorry to leave you guys hanging."

"I hope that wasn't a joke," said the theorist.

"Just don't do it again," Narma teased, looking her friend over. There were still two massive puncture wounds, blood seeping slowly into the fabric of her uniform. "You sure you don't need the hospital or something? Those looked pretty deep."

"Nah, but I need to stop by the CVS." Leaning over, she unapologetically tore a hunk out of one of the former pithos's shirts. "I'm sure he'll understand," she said at Carmen's look. She pressed the fabric to the top hole.

"Still here," said the new girl. "Almost died."

"Sorry," Carmen ran a hand over her face. Narma didn't know what she was apologizing for—this girl was a stranger. Rory took precedent. "You should probably sit down,"

"No, not here," Rory straightened, Narma moving to hook an arm behind her back. Stubborn girl. "Someone's going to notice that the window in the Space Needle's been busted out. The cops will be along any minute, and I don't want to be the ones to explain this. We should get going."

"Avoiding the authorities. Got it." The girl stalked for the door. "And we need supplies for wind girl's bite wound."

"It's Rory," Rory called forward as they moved for the elevator.

"Mallory," the girl responded.

"Narma," she said herself. "Now let's hurry up before Rory bleeds out."

Celene fretted, "Goodness!"

They awkwardly dressed Rory's wound in the CVS bathroom, flanking her like English guards so that the store clerk wouldn't ask any inconvenient questions.

Afterwards, they moved outside, gathering in the alley nearby. It was headed on either side by troughs of planted trees and, most importantly, no cameras.

Celene, more than maybe any of them, had been worrying. She occupied the space at Rory's side with a steel determination, perhaps unconsciously nosing at the wounds. "Aurora, are you sure you're well?"

She girl scratched behind her ear. "Yes, Celene, I'm sure."

The new girl leaned on her knees, her sunglasses stowed away in the pocket of her hoodie. "So," she looked to Carmen. "You knew what was going on the whole time, huh?"

Carmen smiled apologetically. "Yes, I'm sorry. We had to know what you knew."

The girl shook her head. Pulling down her hood, she brushed her hair back. "Well, you did a good job. It takes a lot to fool a professional."

Narma resisted the urge to roll her eyes, narrowing them instead. Mallory. She'd almost forgotten she told them her name back at the needle. She'd sort of been distracted, considering her best friend had a gaping hole in her chest.

"So. What are you guys?"

They looked at each other. "We're human," said Rory. "We just got some kind of super powers from a star system called Trappist 1. Honestly, we don't really understand ourselves."

Mallory pointed out Celene. "And the cat?"

"I am a guide for the sailor soldiers of the Trappist-1 star system, but my memories have been compromised. I wish I had more to tell you." The cat curled up on herself.

Narma addressed the girl directly. "Basically, there are these agents who want to feed our souls to a monster called The Great Beast, who may or may not be as big as the sun. Those monsters are their lackeys. They're called the pithos. We fight them, they turn to smoke, and that's a day."

"And that's all we know…" Mallory rubbed her chin. So quickly, she seemed to integrate herself into the group.

"Yeah, for now," said Carmen. "But if you have powers like us, that's just more information we have."

Narma raised her arm. "Question. You do those meetings on the regular, right?"

Mallory's brown eyes blinked at her. "Affirmative."

"Then the security guard lady knows you. You're definitely going to have the cops looking for you."

The girl didn't flinch. "I use an alias. I would never host a top-secret rendezvous using my real name. What kind of amateur do you take me for?"

Point taken.

Carmen closed her eyes. "Honestly, I feel as though something has changed. On a fundamental level, I mean. Like some disorder has been made right. Do you know what I mean?"

"Maybe it's because we dusted the snake lady?" Narma shrugged.

It sounded a bit idealistic for Narma's tastes, but, as she checked in with herself, she couldn't say the girl was wrong. She hadn't noticed it before, but sitting on the outskirts of the CVS parking lot, the group of them seeing by the light of the flickering streetlight, something did feel different. It was like when she completed the last sketch in a series she'd been working on. A full set.

Mallory slapped her hands down on her knees, setting up. "Alright. Then I guess that's it. We continue the investigation tomorrow."

Narma turned to Rory like are you hearing this? They began to stand, collectively taken aback. Guess the meeting's over. "What? Just like that?"

The girl turned to look back at them all, her face fully visible in the light of the fluorescents. Her eyes shone with an almost manic anticipation, expression one of someone who was just barely holding themselves back. "I've been waiting for a moment like this my entire life." Her lip twitched, not quite smiling, but something almost scary. "I wouldn't dare to waste a minute of a destiny like this."

They watched her leave. After a moment, Carmen spoke up. "She was…intense."

Narma said, "That's one word for her."

Carmen phone dinged, and she flipped it on with a couple quick taps. "She says we can use that café as a recon spot."

Narma stretched. "Well tell her I'm not getting up as early tomorrow. She can forget it."

Suddenly, Carmen giggled. "You have to admit, she's got an enthusiasm."

A pause. Rory clenched a fist. "Okay, yeah! Now we've got a professional investigator on the job! I'm sure we'll figure this out soon!"

"You guys are way too positive."

Still. Narma couldn't help but feel as though they were overlooking something important.

It was unwise for a creature to hunt in the same place twice. The prey would be skittish, and the creature only increased the chances that it would be caught. It was as foolish as it was unartful.

Lupido dropped the human, shaking the uneaten remnants of the corruption from his fingers. The shadowy aura coursed over his arms. Just as the great beast, he would consume to destroy. It was clear to him now—they could outnumber him, even outmaneuver him, but in the end they were merely fawns, still shaking from the birth of their unrealized power. If they came face-to-face with something more than themselves, the weak grasp they had on their magic would falter. He thought it was nearly time.

He tossed a sheet over the empty husk in the alley, her empty gaze towards the sky filling him with anticipation.