Cooperate

"Cooperate? Us? With them?" The young man in the back spoke again, but one look from Alastair and he shut up, looking elsewhere as his fist balled at his sides.

Alastair's voice was low and deep, one which had high vibrations and felt resonant. It was one which they called the morning voice. It was opposite to Aiden's voice which was, although similarly low pitched, but felt completely flat. Aiden's voice could often be described as raspy.

Hellen stepped forward to meet his handshake. "Hellen here. Pleased to cooperate with you. I was told the Bureau doesn't have any information about the specter. Correct?"

It was a rule to always say specter instead of ghost in case there were any unqualified individuals around. It was one of the strictest rules of the Bureau to not let anyone who didn't fight against ghosts to call them as one.

"Yes. Have you managed to procure any?"

"Can we take this inside? Or rather at my home since there's nothing else to find out here."

Alastair nodded with the same seriousness on his face. "We'll follow your lead for now. Let me introduce you to my teammates first."

He pointed at the young man who had been rude all along first. "That one is Scottus. Don't mind his rudeness, he has been assigned to a task he didn't want to take. I'll handle him." 

The petite young woman with happy-go-lucky vibes introduced herself before Alastair could do so. "I am Cordelia. I can make pretty powerful blasts of air around me, so beware of me okay? But no worries, I am friendly, and especially helpful when protecting you from specters." She even pointed at the short but lean young woman, who seemed to pack some serious compact muscles. 

"This is my partner, Luna. A battle crazed lunatic." The girl laughed at her joke, unconcerned how no one else followed and continued, "You'll know what I mean by partner later. For your information, Only me, Alastair and that jerk are supers. Luna here and —" She pointed at the middle aged man. "Cedric, an investigator and a walking library, are normal people."

Alastair seemed like he was totally fine letting Cordelia do his part, just happy to have the mundane task of introducing off his head. He took his time looking around the town while Scottus glared at Valeria a bit before taking out his phone to pass time. 

Luna and Cedric both waved when Cordelia pointed and introduced them. It seemed like only Scottus was the problem. 

Hellen made a short introduction as a polite response once they were done. "I am Hellen, your guide for this town and also a former field agent who collaborated with the Bureau for a few years."

Scottus immediately snapped at her. "Who the fuck do you think you are to think you collaborated with the Bureau. You? A normal fucking pathetic human dares to say you had a partnership with the Bureau on equal footing?"

He zoomed in, with his hands stretched out. Aiden thought his stance while rushing in was quite strange but was already preparing to help Hellen when he saw it.

Hellen took a step back, and instantly executed a spinning kick, which landed accurately on the side of Scottus' neck, knocking him out before whatever he was attempting came to fruition. 

Awesome move! Fucking fantastic! What power and accuracy must the kick have to knock out a peak human physique moving at high speed towards her. A slight miscalculation and it would have ended a lot worse, at least for her.

Aiden marveled at her quick thinking and immense force behind the kick as he was reminded that she was a retired field agent, not just any middle aged woman. He instantly halted and glanced around to see their reactions. It could count as valuable information depending on how they reacted.

Alastair looked like he was struggling to hold in his laughter, with a small smirk on his lips, while Cordelia was frowning. As soon as his eyes fell on hers though, her expression instantly changed into a smile directed at him. Luna narrowed her eyes while Cedric was smiling freely without care for anyone.

So Cordelia and Scottus are somewhat of the same views? Alastair must be opposite Scottus. Cedric's smile didn't give anything away, if anything, it just felt creepy. Luna felt like she wanted to fight Hellen, but I am unsure if it's because she is itching to simply have a go against someone or if she is on the same side as Cordelia. She did indeed earlier say about how Luna was her partner after all. 

Aiden couldn't glean much information but what little he guessed was valuable nonetheless. Valeria was too shocked to react. Ever since the team had gotten off from the helicopter, she had been shocked silent. 

She was an investigator at scenes of possible ghost involvement. Never at a direct confrontation with the ghost, hardly with supers around who had stayed behind for emergency and backup reasons. She also hadn't climbed the ladder enough that she would be invited to large gatherings or any big events. She was just one of the many investigators who just happened to be lucky enough to catch the eye of the Bureau to help with their ghost related activities. And that too at the lowest rung.

Alastair had a polite smile on his face as he confronted Cordelia who didn't have one right now. "I'll carry Scottus. Don't try anything, we need their help to complete the task. It was the most difficult one on the list, completing this will guarantee us the top spot in examinations. You don't mind listening to me do you? We were in the wrong just now anyway."

Cordelia turned around after a single grunt. She wasn't pleased but had to listen to Alastair. He wasn't their group leader for nothing. He was currently the most powerful student among freshmen in their academy. She and Scottus also ranked in top 10 of freshmen respectively, making them one of the most powerful groups around counting pure strength. It was not for nothing that they were allowed to take the most difficult mission.

The academy trained only supers, giving them all the knowledge on how to deal with ghosts coupled with the true history of the world and so on. It drilled into you everything which could be helpful when dealing with the ghosts and anything which would help you survive unknown situations better.

"Sorry that he behaved so impudently." Alastair apologized to Hellen and picked up Scottus. Aiden inwardly thought while looking at Alastair with narrowed eyes as the guy acted all polite. 

You said earlier that you'll handle Scottus. Not even a few minutes passed by and he attacked aunt Hellen while you didn't even move. Scottus talked shit then moved, you had all the time in the world to react, but you didn't. You aren't good either are you? Or did you just want to test us?