Lena would wake up to the sound of a furious Joseph.
"You're telling me, we just got back, and we have to go on a mission?" Joseph exclaimed.
Michael replied, "Unfortunately, so it's going to be you and Lena. It shouldn't be terribly long, though."
Lena got dressed and walked out to the commons area, where the conversation was taking place. Joseph and Michael were talking over the table, while Roy sat to the side of it, reading a magazine and seemingly staying out of it.
"What's this mission about? I'd like to know before I do it."
Michael replied, "Just a check-in at an older apartment complex. There have been calls about noise from it, and the rest of the force is handling other operations or at the Leonese border."
Lena curiously asked, "What's going on down there?"
Michael scoffed, "Hell if I know. I ask Roland anything about it, and all I get is indecisiveness and lies."
Joseph whined, "But, do I have to?..."
Roy raises his head from his magazine, and says, "That's the whole reason you're here, after all."
Michael then says, "Me and Roy will be on the radio, while you and Lena take a look in there."
Lena says, "Alright, I understand."
Joseph says, "I guess I could make some room in my schedule..."
Michael interjects, "Then go on and get ready."
As Lena and Joseph head off to get supplies, Michael asks, "So, Lena, do you enjoy your current living situation?"
Lena turned back to talk to Michael, however, it seemed like Michael was looking at Joseph instead.
Lena says, "Yeah, I like it."
Michael, without turning, says, "Good, good."
Lena turns away, and walks to her room, with Joseph walking to his.
Roy says to Michael, "So, are you sure you don't want to know more about what's happening in Leon?"
Michael says, "If Command doesn't want me to know, they have a good reason."
Roy looks back at his magazine, saying, "As you say."
—————————————————
Joseph complains, "Why do we have to be up here for so long!"
He, and Lena, were on a vantage point next to the building. Specifically, on the roof of a parking garage next to the complex itself. He had brought a combat knife, and his revolver in terms of weapons, while Lena brought some gloves. They had been watching the complex for about two hours by now, and it seemed no different from when they had first arrived.
Lena says, "Once again, that's our whole job up here."
Joseph replies, "Alright, any stories to pass the time?"
Lena says, "I suppose I have some."
Joseph says, "Do tell please, I'm dying with anticipation."
Lena says, "Well, this one time I was strapped for cash, so I took a job that I never previously thought I would do. I went to work at a restaurant. I was just a server, nothing special, but it wasn't easy. Not especially for an eighteen-year-old, who didn't have anything on her resume beyond basic education. I remember one day, when this one dude was taking a really long time to order, and beyond that, was a real asshole to customers and employees alike. I decided to take some vigilante justice into my hands."
Joseph says, acting very invested, "And what was that justice? Was it some kind of over-the-counter kick? Or a punch to the jaw?"
Lena laughs, before saying, "Not really as physical, but just about as effective. I used some of my rune-making skills and made the burger electrified."
Joseph starts laughing too, saying, "Wow, I guess that shocked him!"
Lena laughed too, before realizing the pun that came out of Joseph's mouth.
Joseph stops laughing, before looking at the sun, and saying, "After I'm done with all of this police work, I'd like to open my own restaurant. One with all my friends and family, so we can all joke around after this is all over."
Lena smiled, before saying, "Don't expect me to work there."
Joseph replied, "I wouldn't want you to shock any customers to death with your cooking."
Lena says, feigning offense, "Don't knock it until you try it! It's got a kick to it!"
They talked for a few more hours about a variety of topics, until it came to one particular.
Lena asked, "So, what about your family?"
Joseph says, "Me? Just my parents and I, no siblings, but I do have a dog. You?"
Lena says, "It's co-"
She was cut off by the sudden arrival of a few unmarked trucks pulling into the complex's basement garage.
Joseph says, "No more small talk, I guess. Those trucks are pitch black, which will help them, especially when the sun is gonna set soon."
Lena replies, "We don't know anything yet, they could just be some delivery drivers."
A few men got out of the unmarked trucks and opened the back. They rolled out what seemed to be large glass tubes, filled with a liquid of sort. And, even more, with what is at least a human body in it.
Joseph's voice suddenly adopts a more serious tone, saying, "Any doubts now?"
Lena replies, "Not enough to object to a clear sign of something shady."
Joseph readied his revolver, before telling her, "Then let's go in."
Lena put her hand on Joseph's shoulder, saying, "We can't just go in there, just guns blazing. We need a plan, or we'll get beat."
Joseph turned to Lena, and said, with a glacial tone, "If we get beat, then blame me. But, if you want to stand by while those people do something to those bodies, be my guest."
Lena says, "Alright, fine. Let's do this."
Joseph raises his radio up, and says, "We're going in, we see bodies being transported. Clear."
Roy replies, "Sounds good enough to me, go get'em, tiger."
Michael says, "Don't get yourself killed."
Joseph slipped his radio back into his pocket, before saying, "You ready?"
Lena replies, "As ready as I was before."
Lena and Joseph jumped down, sliding off of the walls of the parking garage, before running up to the men.
Joseph yelled out, "What are you doing?"
At the mere sight of them, the men ran into the garage, before slamming it down in front of them.
Lena says, "Not very receptive."
As she says that, Lena's hand starts pulsing with a blue aura, and Joseph notices that her gloves have holes around her fingertips. And, where those holes were, lay a mark on her skin. She raised her hand, forming it into a fist, before punching the garage door, exploding it wide open. Inside, were three men, all holding guns.
The man in the center yelled, "Shit, shoot at them!"
Almost as soon as he finished yelling, three gunshots rang out. The three men crumbled to the ground, with bullets straight through their hearts.
Lena says, "You know, at least from my conversations with Michael before we left, with him seeming more of the "No killing" type, you sure are different than I expected."
Joseph replies, "Michael's good, better than me, but I do what has to be done."
The glass tubes had been carted deeper into the complex, as represented by the open door. Lena and Joseph rushed down the door, into the hallways of the basement of the complex. As they reached the end of the first hallway, with a stairwell in sight, two men armed with shotguns hopped in front of them from the side rooms. Lena turned back, to see two more similarly armed men from similar side rooms. Lena grabbed the one closest to her, and put her mana into her legs, as she used the man as a shield to bash into the other one with. She slammed the man she grabbed into the other one, even as the other one desperately racked off shell after shell. After knocking the other man over, she grabbed him, and pushed electricity from her fingertips through his head, knocking him out, at least.
Joseph pulled out a combat knife and plunged it into the man nearest to him, knocking him into a side room. The man attempted to fire off some shots, but Joseph was attacking him too fast and at a far too close distance, stabbing him in his chest, and his joints. After neutralizing the man, he threw him into the hallway, which received a shot from the man stationed at the end of the hallway, who was waiting for a shot. After hearing the shot, Joseph could use it to determine the man's location and used that to shoot at the man through the wall, going straight through the upper chest. The man was rapidly firing everywhere, after being wounded. Lena grabbed a sizable rock on the ground, and put all of her mana into her fingertips, as she raised the rock to her face. She pushed the rock straight out, with strings of lightning erupting from her fingers. The rock hurtled to the man, hitting him in the face, and knocking him out.
Joseph and Lena cleaned themselves up from the fight.
Lena says, "You know, you can be scary whenever you want to."
Joseph says, "Yeah, I guess."
They walked down the stairs, and Michael cut in on the radio.
"This is where the noise complaints source from, as far as we know."
Lena says, "So, whatever big bad we're fighting against is in there."
Roy continues from Michael, "Make sure to call for backup if you need it, from what we've heard, there's some suspicious stuff going on here."
They walked to the bottom of the stairs and saw a door, with sharp, blue neon light shining out from the door at the bottom.
Joseph says, "Alright, let's do this."
Lena kicks the door down, and they see a very surprising room. It is arranged like a hospital room, with several beds, however, the glass tubes were placed on machines, with several pipes pulsing in and out of it. The people in them, at a closer glance, looked alive. There was also a large door at the back, with an equally as large lock, which there was no equivalent for outside, especially because of its position that low in the ground. However, the most disturbing one was a man with a face mask on, standing next to a bed, and a girl, in a hospital gown, who can't be older than sixteen or fourteen laying face down on the bed, with what seems to be wings on her back. The man had a syringe and injected it into the girl as they came into the room.
Lena yelled, "Stand down, and what the hell are you doing to that girl?"
The man raised his hands, saying, "Calm down. You've already taken care of the rest of those up there, correct."
Joseph says, "They've been taken care of, and if you turn yourself in quickly, maybe they won't be dead."
The man replies, "Trust me, they mean nothing more to me than a penny does to a millionaire. I am far past needing those thugs."
Lena says, "Still, what are you doing to the girl? What are those... things?"
The man laughs, before grabbing the wings, which elects a painful grunt from the girl, and says, "These things? I wouldn't expect dogs to understand their masters, but this is true beauty. This is what the gods have declared to be perfection, this, is the body of an Angel."
Joseph says, "What the hell are you talking about? They look nearly grafted on!"
The man smugly continues, "Of course, sacrifices must be made to achieve true beauty, but isn't that true of all greatness? Shouldn't divine beauty be fought for? It's only right, after all, to reject the form of the divine is to commit the greatest sin against creation, a truly evil-"
Lena says, "Shut up."
She launched herself at him, and he quickly rolled under the bed. She grabbed his arm, and yanked him up, before throwing him at the wall. He flailed as he hit the wall, and he quickly ran to the back door as soon as he got up, blocking it with his body.
The man says, "Of course, government mutts don't know such beauty, all you know is to roll over and bark for your master."
He turned to Joseph, and said, "And you, just watching there. I heard all of those gunshots on the upper floors, you're a bloodthirsty dog, but in the end, you're just a puppy, waiting for the guard dog to do all the work! You're just a pawn! Useless."
Joseph flicked his revolver up and shot the man two times in the chest. Blood poured out, and he slid to the ground. As the man fell, the large lock broke from the bullets and fell off.
The man hacked up blood, and said, "You're just dogs, and in the end, you always bite on anything."
The door slowly opened, and they saw a large claw slowly reach out, and drag the man into the darkness, with blood quickly shooting back out of the shadows.
From the darkness, emerged a body that they could not relate to any living life form. It had the body of a lion, with markings and tattoos along its fur, written in an unknown language, and wings stained with blood. Emerging from the torso of the lion, was three snake heads, each with a venom bag below it, that looked akin to the handle of a gun.
Lena says, "What the hell is that..."
There was blood stains on the middle head's mouth. The monster slowly inched forward, and each head scanned the room. The heads all focused on the two in the middle of the room, and each head opened its mouth. When they did, gun barrels emerged from the heads. A light emitted from the barrels, and golden bands of energy would circle the barrels, with unknown runes written on them.
Joseph grabbed the girl, and said, "Get out!"
He and Lena ran to the door, and as they reached the door, they heard loud blasts erupt from behind them, and blinding lights blowing through the wall.
Lena says, "What about the others?"
Joseph replied, "While I'm all for being the serious one, I just gotta respond, what about us, man!? Michael will kill me, even if I'm not already dead!"
Lena says, "But what about civilian casualties?"
Joseph grunts before saying, "Alright, fine, I guess that's our job anyways."
Joseph sat the girl down, before talking to Lena, saying, "If you let me distract that thing, then you should be able to grab the people, right?"
Lena replies, rubbing her hair, "You're assuming a lot of me, but I should be able to."
Joseph reloads the gun, and fires several bullets at the monster, doing a bit of damage to the heads. Enraged, the heads fire back at him, which Joseph dodges with elaborate acrobatics, before running up to the chest of the monster. Joseph pulls out his knife, and stabs the three heads in the part that attaches them to the body.
Joseph turned, and said, "Now, Lena!"
Lena pulled her hands up, and shot strands of electricity at the four glass containers, breaking them, and wrapping around the people inside of them. She pulled the strands back, dragging the people to her. She laid the people behind her.
She yelled, "I think I know how to to take it out in one shot! If I power up your shot, you should be able to defeat it."
Joseph replies, "Do you think that it'll work?"
Lena yelled back, "I hope so, because the other option is a long battle that we aren't guaranteed to win."
Joseph jumps back, and reloads his gun, while Lena says, "If I make a wall of electricity, the bullet should be imbued as it shoots through the wall. The mana should disperse the attacks from it's head, and shoot them back."
Lena quickly made a wall of electricity in-front of the barrel, and watched the monster. Eventually, the monster readied it's heads to fire, and began to charge up.
As it neared completion, Lena yelled, "Now!"
Joseph fired every round in his revolver, and as Lena said, they were imbued as they traveled through the electricity. They hit the monster's attacks, and shot them back at the monster. That, combined with the impact of the bullets themselves, seemingly, at least knocked out the monster.
Joseph and Lena stood there for a bit, watching the monster, before they both had a sigh of relief. Almost as soon as the fight ended, the radio started to buzz. Joseph took it out, starting to say something, before he was interrupted by Roy.
Roy says, "You both need to come back. You wouldn't believe what just happened."
Joseph and Lena looked at each-other, and both shared the thought that, they had sighed too soon.