Episode 8: 2 v 20

It was a nice day in the city. The sun was shining. People went to and from work without any issue. Some even grabbed ice cream and hotdogs along the way.

And in the middle of this peaceful scene was the SPD Headquarters. When people looked at it, they felt safe. Secure. Even when news of Fantasia Supremacists hit the news, they weren't worried. As long as the Supernatural Police Department did its job, everything was fine.

"EVERYONE, TAKE COVER!" Chakob's voice rang towards the pedestrians below.

And in that moment, a room at the third floor of the mighty SPD Headquarters, boomed open. Torn asunder from the inside, shards of glass, rebar, and concrete hurtled for the masses.

Panicked screams filled the air as the debris fell around them. Survival as the main priority, everyone followed their instincts to take care of their own, even when it meant screwing over someone else. It was utter chaos.

Meanwhile, two shadows jetted out of the ruined building.

"Holy shit!" I yelled. "What the fuck's with that voice of yours? I think my ear's bleeding."

"Orcish warcry hijo," Chakob replied with a hearty chuckle. "Fantasia don't have megaphones so we evolved super special vocal chords to shout really loud in battle. My ancestors even scared the shit out of Dragons just by shouting at them."

"Goddamn..."

We were in a precarious position. Just as Chakob said, we were completely surrounded in that room. So, I had no choice but to cause a hurricane in an enclosed space to get us out. At least in this open space, we could see our attackers better. The mess though... I sighed at the thought of all the paperwork I'd have to do later.

"Hijo, you got raw power, but your control sucks," Chakob commented as we flew through the air. "Your mother can stop a bullet you know? Why couldn't you get rid of the rubble with more finesse huh?"

"They're alive. That's all that matters," I replied. "And how do you know that my mom could do that anyway?"

"I took your parents at the shooting range the other day," he replied. "They got too out of hand though so they got banned. Your parents sure know how to have fun."

I pinched the bridge if my nose. "Come on guys..." I sighed.

We eventually landed on a building quite a ways away from Headquarters. From this vantage point, we could see the first responders as they arrived on the scene. Blue and red lights rhythmically blinked at every corner.

"Fuck, we made such a mess..." I muttered.

There was still no sign of the attackers. So, I fished inside the inner pocket of my uniform and took out a wireless earpiece. I pressed the button and after a quick beep, it was online.

"Minerva, calling for assistance," I said.

At once, the space near us distorted and crackled, and a few moments later, a small creature came out of it. It was humanoid, female in appearance, and was about two feet tall. Everything about her was purple. She had purple twin braids, purple pajamas, she rode on a purple rubik's cube, and hugged a purple pillow.

"What's this little creature?" Chakob inched closer with obvious curiosity.

"It's Minerva," I replied. "She's an artificial intelligence that was integrated with Mr. Han's space-manipulation powers. She's responsible for equipping every SPD officer in the world."

Minerva rubbed her eyes and looked at us with half-open eyelids.

"What is it Officer Roberts?" she asked with a yawn. "Tell me what you want so I can go back to sleep."

I chuckled. "Some of Mr. Han's personality also got grafted into her core..." I said. "Give me twenty anti-magic cuffs, a radar, and my hoverboard please."

She raised an eyebrow weakly. "Twenty? What, are gonna host an orgy or something?" she said with a slight smirk. "Also, your hoverboard's still being fixed so pick another one."

I was taken aback for a bit. Because she had an appearance of a child, that was the last thing I expected, let alone wanted to hear from her.

"Just give me Elizabeth then," I sighed annoyedly. "And I'm gonna talk to IT about restricting your Internet access."

She snapped her fingers and the nearby space crackled and a bag plopped onto the floor. "Just try it. As if those nerds can restrict me anymore," she replied. "Anyway, don't forget to report your item usage. I'm out."

"Goodbye, little Missy," Chakob waved.

"Fuck you, criminal," she replied with a scornful glare.

The space distorted again and after a bit, she was gone.

There was silence between us. I turned to Chakob, who was obviously shaken about what just happened.

"Well..." I trailed. "She IS part of the justice system..."

He put up a hand to stop me from saying anything more.

"Let's just get this done..." he said.

"Right..."

I checked the bag for its contents and found everything I requested.

"All here," I said as I took out the radar. "Just gonna set this to detect calm biological ticks and we'll find our attackers in this sea of panicked people."

Chakob craned his neck to take a look at the device in my hand.

"Technology's advanced so far huh, hijo?" he mused. "That radar may help you find them, but it still won't beat razor sharp senses when it comes to combat."

"I'll disagree on that," I replied. "Masters like you spent years honing your senses while we can just press a button..." *Beep* "... and get the same results."

Chakob scoffed and shrugged. "Ok, hotshot. Can your radar tell that someone's about to shoot their sniper rifle at you from your 4 o'clock?"

"What?" I exclaimed and immediately dropped to the floor.

And as I fell flat on my stomach, a high-speed object whizzed by my ear.

"Or that another one's gonna shoot from your 2 o'clock?"

I immediately smacked my hand on the floor and a massive gale rushed upward. The sudden change in wind direction made sure that the bullet missed my head by a few inches.

"There's also a couple of guys jumping around buildings headed this way," Chakob continued.

"Alright! Alright! I get it!" I yelled in surrender. "Would you just cover for me while I assemble my shit?"

Chakob smirked. "It feels good to be right," he said and promptly disappeared in a flash.

I rummaged through my bag to find Elizabeth. It was a high-powered sniper rifle custom-made for me. It was powerful, but it had three parts that needed to be assembled so it wasn't my most favorite weapon. My hoverboard would've been enough to outmaneuver these guys and arrest them one by one. But since that was out of the question, the next best thing was to hurt them enough so they couldn't move.

As I worked on the rifle, an explosion suddenly boomed nearby.

Looks like Chakob's at work already. I sure hope he doesn't kill them.

My hands worked quickly with Elizabeth. My hands remembered where everything went so the parts clicked perfectly before long. And finally, all I needed was to insert the magazine. But before I could finish, Chakob suddenly appeared near me. I glanced at where he was and my eyes immediately locked onto the smoking bullet that he caught with his bare hand.

"You done, hijo?" he asked with a smile.

I inserted the magazine, and with a quick snap of the bolt, I nodded. "Tell me where these bastards are," I said as I took the sniper position.

"I already took care of five so there's fifteen left," he said. "And don't worry, I used those cuffs instead of killing them. Oh, 3 o'clock."

I squeezed the trigger and after the loud bang, a voice yelped in pain in the distance.

"The snipers use blink so it'll be hard to pin them down," he continued. "But the others are either coming towards us or are easy to find. Oh, three casters chanting an awful spell at your 6."

Three gunshots and the three mages rolled in agony in my scope.

"Great weapon you got there, hijo," he said. "Too bad your control sucks too much so you can only increase the power. It'd be nice to see you curve a bullet like your mother did the other day. Two above."

I squeezed my hand and a burst of wind, as strong as a jet's propulsion, shot the two above me down to the cold, hard concrete.

"Nine left," Chakob clapped. "You could've been a hitman, hijo!"

"I'm reloading," I replied as I took out another magazine. "What're the nine's positions?"

"All around us," he replied. "They're coming closer though. Your friend, the guard outside our door, seems to be the one leading them."

"Leave him to me," I said and clicked the magazine in place. "Have you figured out the blink patterns of the snipers?"

As soon as I asked that, two bullets zipped towards Chakob's head. But he simply moved an inch to avoid them.

"Pretty much," he replied with a grin.

"Alright, I'll leave them to you then," I said.

Then, he disappeared again.

Now alone and with seven maniacs headed my way, I took a deep breath and started my work on Elizabeth again. The inventors went overboard in making it and developed a second mode: one that was meant to be used as a last ditch effort if I got surrounded.

As I busied myself with my weapon, footsteps suddenly shuffled around me.

"Hello there, Roberts," a voice called out to me.

"Hey, Steve," I replied.

I was surrounded. Seven SPD officers, who I've know for years, inched closer as if I was prey. And leading them was Steve.

"Are you even the real Steve?" I asked.

Steve paused, then his lips curled to a malicious smile.

"Nah, I'm not," he replied with a chuckle. "That dude got sacked even before you joined."

"I see..." I trailed. "And what about the rest of you?"

The other six gave me a mixed response. Three were real and the other were impostors.

"The Miracleworker's quite the generous guy," Steve stepped closer. "Just for your head, they're offering big bucks. Ya know, the kinda scratch that'll give us the life we deserve."

"So you decided to split it among seven people?" I asked.

"Yeah! And even then, each of us would be set for life," he replied.

Then, they laughed. It was loud to me. Deafening, even. Money? They betrayed my trust, no, the PEOPLE's trust, for money? Ridiculous. So ridiculous in fact that I couldn't help but laugh myself.

"Hey, hey what's so funny huh?" he said as he grabbed my collar.

"It's just funny to me that all of you joined in the crusade to kill me just so that you could make a couple of bucks," I replied.

I gestured to him with my eyes to look at my hand. He followed, and when he saw what I was holding, I pressed the button.

Elizabeth, which I morphed into a single-use trap, shot all six bullets at once. The goons that surrounded me roared in agony as each 8cm bullet ripped through their flesh. They wouldn't die as long as they got medical aid, but it sure would hurt like a bitch for a while.

Steve looked around in horror. As the blood from his allies dripped onto his shoes, he jumped. His grip loosened and I didn't know what I looked like to him, but his face showed absolute terror when he looked at me.

He then ran for his life. A reasonable response, but a futile one. I squeezed my hand and immediately, the air within a ten-meter radius rushed inward, with me as the center. He tried and tried to run, but the gust was too strong for him to fight against. Eventually, he was directly in front of me.

"Please! No!" he cried out and prostrated before me. "I surrender! I'll cooperate! Just please don't kill me."

As I contemplated my next move, Chakob appeared behind me with two unconscious bodies.

"What're you gonna do with him?" he asked as he dropped the bodies without care.

I shrugged.