2 NEKOMATA I

Difficulty level: four

Status: Branch Alpha landed in Shizuoka

17.45: Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan

It has been almost 12 hours since the Alpha Branch stepped onto flight EG-667, departing from London to Shizuoka airport. Timothy White, more commonly referred to as Alpha, rose from his seat and tapped his seatmate awake.

"We're here, Fushimi." Yves Fushimi, or Beta, lifted his eye mask drowsily, there was still tiredness left in his eyes as he flattered them open and yawned.

"Finally," Jack Williams, from two seats behind, sighed in relief. One by one, the team got up and retrieved their carry-ons from the baggage area above their seats before forming a line and exiting the cabin.

"Ah! The fresh air of Japan!" Exclaimed Johnny Wang from the back of the line.

"We're still inside…" Mark Adams corrected. The ten of them made their way across the air bridge into the building. Upon arriving at the arrival gate, they showed their ID cards to the agent and left towards the baggage claim area, fetched their luggage and hopped onto the Enigma team bus.

Enigma team buses are stationed all over the world for the members of the team, they are highly restricted for personnels only and do not travel out of route. They look like any other regular buses, but black in color with a sign, similar to a taxi's, on top. The license plate is black with neon green fonts.

"Listen up team, here are the details for this operation, I'm sure you all have already read the contents of the document, but this is for formality's sake." Timothy got up from his seat and announced, the chattering died down immediately, "A Bakeneko sighting has been reported in the Akaishi Mountains range, particularly Mount Kita. People have been disappearing from the nearby villages every night for a consecutive fortnight. Our job is to neutralize the Bakeneko and wait for the clean-up team to retrieve its body to be brought back to the Japanese base. Any questions?"

Johnny Wang's hand rose up, Timothy nodded as a response. "What is a Bakeneko?"

"A Bakeneko is believed to be a cat that has lived for many years and escaped to live in the mountains. It is commonly mistaken with Nekomatas due to their similar looks, the only distinct difference is that the Nekomata has two tails. Both the Bakeneko and Nekomata have large bodies that can grow to be 3 meters long. It is believed that they can transform into a human, speak the human tongue, and even bewitch people." Harper Lee answered with crossed arms, Dominique shot a salty look at him that Harper did not see.

"Right, thank you Harper. Any other questions?"

"Why are we handling a level four disaster?" It was Harper again, with a disregarding tone.

"Apparently, the previous Giant Earthlings branch has not reported back for three days, so we are here to also see what has become of them, and retrieve their bodies if they have died."

"You should have said that in the introduction, Alpha."

"Hey Harper, watch your tone." Jay Anderson said in a warning voice. Timothy raised his hands to stop them from fighting.

"Calm down lads, let's not fight among ourselves, any more questions?" No one said anything, so Timothy retreated back to his seat.

At the back of the bus, with three people seated next to each other, the chit chats have begun.

"I heard that Bakenekos are violent because they have been previously mistreated by their owners." Jack told Dominique and Jay, his hands shaking.

Jack Williams, code name Eta, is a close-combat fighter who specializes in knife wielding. Close-combat fighters are generally not compatible against giants or creatures with abilities like fire breathing. They are, however, very powerful against creatures with high agility or strength, because they are very speedy and powerful.

"How rude, I would never let anyone handle my kitties like that." Dominique added. Dominique Josephine, alchemist gamma, is skillful in brewing potions. More often than not, he does not participate in the fighting. Alchemists carry a go-to set of chemicals, from both the original Earth resources and the extracts from plants or the remains of animals that appeared after the meteor. Before the mission even starts, the alchemist would have to study the case and brew up potions that are effective against the opponent. As the enigma era had just started, most of the cases handled, especially by the Alpha branch, are case studies, the alchemists would have to study about the creatures themselves from historical reports and formulate an effective counter-attack for their teammates prior to the operation. Which explains the especially large luggage that Dominique has to carry around.

"How many cats do you have again?" Jay asked. Jay Anderson, another close-combat fighter by the code name Theta. Specialized in hand-to-hand fighting, he does not carry any weapons as he claims they are 'a hassle.' He has the most raw strength out of all the ten members, compiled with the training he had gone through, one can say, in simple words, that he is extremely strong. Not only does he have immense strength, but he is also very flexible, which is something he has been even before the crash, so he can most definitely do a somersault.

"Seven, including mama cat,"

"Jesus Dom, how do you remember all their names?" Jack asked, clearly amused.

"It is easier than remembering all your names." Jay laughed at Dominique's answer, hitting his hands on his knees to show pure joy. Jack frowned, Dominique joined in on the laughing. "I'm kidding Williams, don't take it to your heart."

"How big do you guys think the Bakeneko is?" Mark Adams, or Delta, turned around from the seat in front of Dominique to ask.

The negotiator, this name might seem absurd at first, but it makes perfect sense. Negotiators are those who have gained the power to talk to other-worldly species, even Earth languages that they did not previously know. As some creatures are only violent because they are scared or protective, negotiating can be a non-violent and quick way of handling the situation.

"Imagine two Tommies stacked on top of each other." Mark laughed at Jack's words, Tommy Jaques, sitting one row in front of Mark whipped his head around at the sound of his name being called.

"How come it's me?"

"Because if it was two Jays it would be about four meters long." Dominique added.

"I am not one-fifty, thank you." The four of them laughed at Tommy's glare.

Tommy Jaques, the Psi mage. As the name suggests, he has literal magic. He can both attack and defend using spells. His range is impressive and his magic is very powerful. Spells like petrifying and defensive spells are very useful. However, using magic takes up a lot of mental power, so the number of attacks he can make is very limited.

"Guys, I think it would be better if you all went to sleep. The Bakeneko is nocturnal like normal cats, so we would be fighting all night. I don't want Fuyu-chan to have to heal each of you every two minutes because you are tired." Timothy said.

"It's okay Timmy, I am very energetic today!" Fuyu Aoki replied with a bright smile on his face.

"No Fuyu-chan, he's right, you should get some shut eye too." Yves Fushimi said, not lifting his eye mask.

So they all listened. One by one, they fell asleep as the long journey to Mount Kita went on. It would be another three hours before the bus arrived at the departure spot.