Chapter 20: 19 - Interlude II

Louise continued to struggle against the restraints as the elevator descended into the earth. The two guards at the front stared forward, stern, while the two behind her kept a close eye on the restraints. They still held firm against the steel frame of the stretcher.

Coming to a halt, the elevator doors opened, revealing an immense, steel-plated hallway. It stretched out to the left and right, comparable to the size of a football field. The halls curved around a bend near the end, giving the hallway a half-doughnut-like shape.

The floor had two large, track indents running near the center. They were almost deep enough that the top of Louise’s head would poke out of them, and wide enough that one would need to jump to clear them. These tracks continued on down the hall.

The outer wall was lined with several large hangar doors, each one spaced by several yards. The inner wall is smooth, holding nothing but a few strange panels, and double doors across from the elevator.

They were almost silent, nothing but the humming of ventilation systems, and whatever other machines were running behind the armored walls.

The guards continued to push Louise down the halls. They were almost empty, the group only passing by two patrolling guards. They stop, and one of the guards uses a keycard against a panel.

Machinery roars from behind, and the doors pulled apart. Inside is another spacious room, though with a much lower roof. The floor was made of glass, a billowing cloud of smog beneath it. At the end was a large vault door, a size larger than an elephant. A few guards were waiting inside, alongside a few engineers sitting at a small table, chatting. They looked at the four guards, along with the girl on the stretcher, with a bizarre expression.

The men got up, and ran over to a computer console. At the end of the room, more mechanical whirring emanated. Near the vault door, a smaller, person-sized door opened. The guards shoved Louise’s stretcher inside, and the doors closed behind her.

More whirring, and she felt the room she was in begin to descend.

The restraints on her stretcher released themselves, and she leapt free.

The room came to a halt, and the door opened again. Now she was in a small, airlock-like room, with a smaller, sturdy door in front of her.

A high pitched whining noise came from the ceiling. It was a speaker.

Louise opens and closes her hands, staring at her gauntlets. Then, she began stretching out.

“So, what dumb work is it that you want me to do?” She barked at the ceiling.

“I know you think you’re very skilled at hunting cryptids. So, I’m going to need your expertise. You’re entering the habitat of a beast I captured aptly known as a Smog Stalker. Its shell is rather tough, and I need a sample of it. It should be simple for a seasoned cryptid hunter like you to acquire, yes? Although, do not try to kill it!”

Louise smiled. “You just want me to do chores for you? Gladly!”

All the more time to find an opportunity to escape, or for Queen and Davis to come to my rescue…

“Then it should be simple, as even I was able to bring this beast down alone. As a bonus, if you complete your task with no issue, I’ll allow you to use your shower tonight!”

The vault door in front of her spun around, and opened. A blast of soot blasted through, and she covered her eyes and mouth.

The air was thick, tasted like charcoal, and burned her eyes. Not to mention inhaling it was difficult.

Without hesitation, she took her bandanna, wrapping it around her mouth. Her eyes still stung, and it was hard to see even a few feet in front of her from how thick the smog was.

Just get a chunk of this thing. I’ll just whack it hard enough, get what I need, then have a nice victory shower.

The Smog Stalker’s habitat was lit with a low, red glow. The ground was made of asphalt, and there were small, collapsed buildings around. Pushing through the smoke, Louise came across a larger, warehouse-esque building that was in the same state of disarray as the others around it. Walking through the empty doorway, she paused.

Resting inside, atop a pile of molten machinery, Louise stared face to face with the skull of a massive, metallic goat.

Smog poured out of its empty eyes, a faint orange glow flickering within. The head reared back, revealing a long, trunk-like neck. The body was cylindrical, jagged pipes jutting out of random points, letting out even more smog. It was held up by six hooved legs.

All over, it was a strange amalgamation of machine, bone, and soot. The skull’s mouth opened, letting out a shriek comparable to scraping metal.

Louise leapt up, grabbing the cryptid by its pointed horns and pulling as hard as she could.

The stalker whipped its head, sending Louise flying away, and crashing into a wall.

She coughed as she impacted, but landed on her feet.

The beast clambered up on all six feet, and marched towards the intruder.

Louise glanced around. There was nothing she could use as a weapon around. The monster slammed its head down towards Louise, attempting to gore her with its horns. She slid forward, avoiding the blow.

Rearing back two of its hooves, it attempted to flatten her. She rolled out of the way, still glancing around.

The beast smashed its head into the floor again, and she sidestepped it. With a perfect opportunity, she reared back a haymaker and threw it right at one of the monster's horns.

The force of the impact managed to blow away some of the smoke, but the monster’s head flinched back from the blow. The strike recoiled through her arm, rattling her bones. It stared at her, treating her attack as nothing more than a bee sting.

She instinctively bounced to the side as it charged forward, attempting to trample her.

She bounced over to the pile of machinery the cryptid was resting on top of.

I need something heavier to leverage my strength with. A wrench, thick pipe, sledgehammer, just anything! I just need to chip off one bit-

The monster let out another screech, slamming its head towards Louise. She rolled out of the way, and it smashed into the pile.

She grinned. “Hah, How do you like that?”

Her smile vanished, as the monster had literally taken a bite out of the pile of machinery. It chewed the chunk of steel, swallowing it. Even more smoke billowed from its hollow eyes.

She fled from the building, coughing and rubbing her eyes as she pushed through the soot.

She turned around, expecting the monster to crash through the wall behind her, but it didn’t. It reared its head down low to look through the doorway, staring straight at the girl.

She stared back, panting.

She clenched her fists tight. She crept towards one of the abandoned buildings, and the stalker gazed at her every move.

Now inside, the building was as desolate as the outside. Nothing but rubble and bricks.

She sat down for a moment, closing her eyes to alleviate them from the burning.

It was already rough to breath, and she was already starting to feel a bit exhausted.

Her clothes were covered in soot and grime. Her body was starting to itch. All she could think was how she could beat this monster, and get the shower The Collector promised.

That’s if he even held up his promise.

She sighed, slamming her fist on the ground, still panting.

She rubbed the soot and dust off of her sleeve, and used it to clear her eyes.

“All right Louise. This isn’t your first rodeo. You’re not going to let a dumb cryptid beat you! You don’t even need to kill it!”

She glanced behind the wall. The monster was still watching where she was hiding.

She felt a pang in her stomach.

Looking back, she gulped.

She realized The Collector never mentioned what would happen if she failed. Would she be stuck with this monster until she was finished? Or would she have to yield the information about Benefactor.

She grabbed onto a brick.

Maybe if she bashed its head hard enough, something would fall off.

But now wasn’t the time to worry about consequences. She had to keep on surviving. She couldn’t stay here forever. She had more cryptids to hunt, and a town to save.

She marched forward, straight towards the burning eyes of her opponent.

She felt her gauntlets changing again. The metal shifted and grew longer, but she didn’t let it distract her. She charged forward, brick in hand, and slammed it right onto the skull of the monster.

The brick exploded into powder. Her fist smacked the head of the monster, bouncing off and shaking her body with the recoil.

Time slowed down for her, the cryptid rearing back its head and opening its mouth.

Her gauntlets could protect her from those terrifying teeth, but what if it swallowed her whole? Was this really it?

I refuse! It can’t be over! Not yet!

Her left gauntlet felt like it was growing even further up her arm. She saw how it was growing… Outward?

In a flash of light, the left gauntlet grew a gilded heater shield. More decorative than practical, it bore the same flame-like edges her gauntlet bore.

Staring in awe, she turned to the approaching maw of the Smog Stalker.

Without hesitation, she shoved the shield between its jaws as it closed around her.

CLANG.

The shield stopped its teeth from closing. In fact, the beast had recoiled, letting out another shriek.

Louise stared in awe for a few moments at her shield, determination returning to her soul.

With the shield in hand, she leapt up, swiping at the beast with the sharp edges of her shield.

She could feel the tool dig into the cryptid’s body.

The beast roared, sending forth a blast of smoke. She blocked the attack with her shield, landing back on the floor safely.

From the side, it attempted to strike her with its leg.

She held the shield between her, and dug her feet into the ground. As the beast’s mighty appendage struck the shield, Louise didn’t feel much of an impact, but the leg rebounded, almost like hitting a trampoline.

From above, it attempted to gore her with its horns again.

She sidestepped, this time putting all of her force into another blow, swinging the shield like a sharpened blade.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

CLANG

The beast let out an even louder metal-like shriek, as its horn was sliced off.

Louise grabbed it, and bolted from the building.

She stared back at the monster, who watched as she ran back to the habitat entrance.

“I’m not done with you!” She yelled. “I’m gonna come back with my friends, and we’re gonna finish the job!”

She pounded on the door, holding up the horn. “I got your chunk of Smog Stalker right here!”

She coughed, inhaling smoke.

“So are you going to open up or what?

No response. She looked back at the cryptid staring her down, and back at the door.

The machinery began to click, and the door opened. She bolted inside, and the door sealed behind her. She sat down against the wall, gasping for breath. There was still soot in the air, but thankfully not enough to cause too much issue. She pulled down her bandanna, smiling, and gripping the severed horn like her life depended on it.

“I think you’re full of it!” She yelled. “No way you alone managed to take that thing down alone!”

She coughed again. “Now if you were like me, maybe you could have a chance!”

Silence over the intercom.

She snickered. “Yeah, I thought so!”

The elevator doors opened, and she walked in, grasping the horn with all her strength.

They’re going to have tasers I bet… I wonder if this metal is conductive?

The elevator closed and moved up. Her heart began to race. She held her shield in front of her.

Staring at the exquisite embellishment on the shield, she thought once she was free, she’d have to talk with Davis to give it a new name.

The doors dinged, and opened. Two guards were waiting for her, each armed with the same taser rifle the Collector had used before, aimed right at her.

“No trouble, rememb-”

The guard’s voice was cut off as the horn flew through the air, piercing him through the chest.

Louise had thrown it at full force, staring wide eyed at her opponent. She was breathing heavily, her heart slamming against her ribcage. Adrenaline was flooding her system.

The second guard pulled the trigger on his taser, firing off their prongs. They connected with the shield but the electricity didn’t conduct.

Louise grabbed the wires and yanked them towards her, ripping the gun from the guard’s hand. She charged forward, still wide eyed. She grabbed the man’s chest and effortlessly slammed him into the floor. She pulled the blood-tipped horn from the first guard’s chest, and lobbed it across the room, striking another guard.

He screamed in pain, as the other guard realized what was happening.

The engineers stared in horror at the young girl’s actions.

She leapt forward, leg outstretched, and kicked the final guard square in the chest. He slammed against the wall, and slumped over.

Louise wasted no time in recovering the horn, along with snagging a keycard from one of the guards.

She glared at the engineers.

“You’re gonna do the right thing, and not impede my escape, right?”

They nodded in unison.

Louise smiled, scanning the keycard against the hangar door. The machinery whirred to life, doors grinding open.

The doors had just cracked open wide enough for Louise to leap through, staring side to side.

No guards in sight.

She began sprinting over towards the elevator.

As she ran, still no guards. She chuckled to herself.

He’s underestimating me. Maybe still thinking he needs a few dumb goons to keep me held back.

The elevators were ahead. A ding came from them.

She skidded to a halt, jumping into the track trench to her side.

She clenched her teeth, hearing footsteps. She had no doubt it was The Collector.

She was going to jump up, ambush him with the horn, and flee. Simple as that.

She inhaled, getting ready to jump as she heard the footsteps approach.

Something grabbed her by the shoulders. She was lifted off her feet out of the trench, and was sent flying into the wall. As she flew, she saw The collector, whirling around to face her.

She slammed into it, stunned for a brief moment.

He drew his elephant gun, shooting her in the stomach.

The force of the gun felt like it flattened her into the wall even more. She coughed in pain, and fell to the floor, limp and sore.

Struggling to get back to her feet, her foe took a taser rifle, firing two prongs at her back.

To her shock, she didn’t feel like she was being electrocuted.

He walked up to her body, kneeling down to her level. He took the horn from her hand.

He sighed. “I knew you were going to keep causing more trouble for me, but this much?”

Louise moved her head, body still aching all over, to stare at her foe.

“To think you’d actually stoop to such a low as murder? All you had to do was listen to my orders, and-”

“Shut it.”

He paused, almost baffled by Louise’s response.

“Excuse me?”

Louise grimaced. “You, of all people, are trying to chastise me for killing people? And your orders are utter crud!”

“My purpose with you is not that of murder. You, however, took four lives. Men with families and hopes of their own?”

“How stupid do you really think I am? They work in a secret facility, for a messed up geezer, happily throwing somebody to get eaten and killed by some cryptid. NOBODY is going to miss them.”

The Collector took a deep breath. “Perhaps you forgot, that you have something I want, and in order for me to get it, you need to be alive? You’re failing to understand how much control I have over you.”

“I’m sure you have that Smog Stalker there under your beck and call too, huh? So he wouldn’t just eat and digest me?”

He shook his head. “This is getting nowhere.”

He stood up. “I will have you know, I’ve been very up front and honest with you this entire time. Your performance, and even bringing out more power of your artifact has greatly surprised me. You could have had a nice shower had you returned quietly. But, you just had to cause yourself more trouble.”

He grabbed a radio. “Another stretcher down here, please. Also, do prepare the crematorium as well.”

He turned back to Louise. “But you surprised me again with such heartlessness-!”

The girl kicked out, trying to sweep his legs. Without even budging an inch, he clicked on the taser. Her body locked up as thousands of volts of electricity shocked her body. Her vision started to blur out, barely hearing the last of The Collector.

“And naivete. For your sake, I hope you realize the reality of your situation…”

He sighed, staring at the bloodied horn. He smiled.

“What absurdity… Are you really that headstrong? Or is it really just stupidity?”

Soon, a few doctors, along with a group of soldiers came down the elevator. The Collector handed the horn to one of the medics.

“Toss this in the crematorium as well please.”

----------------------------------------

“...So in short, your employer was trying to get us killed, and Louise decided to try and to get him by surprise. Now she’s captured, and I’m going to get her out. Are you going to have any issue with that?”

Kirino sat on the couch across from Davis. By her sides were Dom, who was sinking into the furniture comfortably, and Clarice, who was watching Davis with a hawk-like glare.

Behind them, leaning against the wall with a somewhat serious expression, was Scott.

Queen was behind Davis, tensed up and gripping his chair tightly..

Kirino dropped her head into her face, rubbing her eyes.

“I’m not sure if to be impressed at her nerve, or to be astonished that she made such a horrid risk.” Scott spoke up. “And you didn’t go along because?”

Davis swallowed. “I didn’t expect it to work as well. Like you said, It was too risky. That, and I was going to help back her up in case something went horribly wrong...”

Scott nodded, smiling.

“Y-you’re going to rescue her, right?” Dom spoke up.

Davis nodded. “I have to. She’s depending on me, and this is not a time I can afford to let her down.”

Kirino sighed. “The fact that she has been captured alive is deeply concerning. The Collector is almost impossible to bargain with. What exactly does she have that he wants?”

“I…” Davis shut his mouth. “Is this really all you wanted to do? Ask meaningless questions while Louise is in danger? I can’t waste any more time. Don’t try to convince me otherwise.”

“Hey!” Clarice barked. “These questions are important for us to know too! Louise’s interference affects us as well!”

“Calm yourself Clarice.” ordered Kirino. “Even with all the trouble Louise has caused, nobody deserves to be a prisoner of that vile man. Not to mention, I hope we can both agree that nothing good can come from The Collector getting what he wants from her.”

Davis’s eyes brightened. “You're actually going to help free her?”

She shook her head. “Not directly, I cannot afford to tarnish my current relationship with him. What I can offer you, however, is a safe way into his compound.”

She looked at the skinwalker. “You, Queen. When you were released from his captivity, do you remember the tunnel you escaped from.”

Queen nodded, still with an intimidating look.

“That tunnel is currently under construction. At least, on paper. No security systems, cameras, guards, or anything like that. For when The Collector wants to release an UMA into the public, without any eyewitness or electronic evidence that it was done intentionally. That can be your way in and out of the facility.”

Davis grabbed her hand, shaking it. She flinched at the action.

“Thank you, that’s almost perfect. Just with that, then I need to put together a plan, and she’ll be free in no time!”

He stared at her, smiling. “This means we’re all cool, right? No more having to fight?”

She broke her hand from his grip. “Should Louise be saved and we cross paths again, we will try to stop you. But she doesn’t deserve death, nor whatever the Collector will inflict upon her.”

Davis backed up, slightly flustered. “Oh uh… Sorry? Ah crud…”

“One last piece of information.” Her face turned terrifyingly serious. “No matter what you think, how advantageous a position you think you're in: Never try to confront The Collector directly. Doing so will result in your death.”

He felt his heart sink. “Wh-what do you-”

Queen spoke up. “You are lying. You want something from him, so you want him alive.”

She glares at the skinwalker. “I’ve been nothing but honest with you this whole time, and I will continue to be so.”

She held up her sheathed Katana. Davis lurched back, and Queen’s fingers sharpened into claws, digging into the chair Davis was sitting in.

"Becoming one with lightning is not all this artifact grants. It also grants a sixth sense, a flash of a future for me to exploit. For The Collector, however, no matter how opportune a moment to strike him down I find myself in, I'm shown flashes of my death. If something as sudden and powerful as lightning can't put him down, then there's far more about him I need to learn."

The two relax as she puts her sword away.

“Now, I need your phone number.”

He gasped. “W-what? What even for? I thought we were still gonna be enemies after this?”

She sighed in frustration. “I would at least like to know the time of your attack. Unless you would want to risk attacking me in the facility?”

“O-oh…” He exhaled. “Sure, here it is. I’ll send a text slightly before my attack.”

Kirino took out her phone, adding him to her contacts. “Do not be direct. Send me a code, like ‘Are you prepared for school?’ Be inconspicuous.”

“Yeah, that sounds good… I think. I’ll just send it to you on the day of the attack.”

Kirino stood up. “I wish you the best of luck. May we cross paths again.”

She walked towards the front door. Clarice glared at Queen.

“You two better not screw things up even more!”

She followed Kirino. Dom stood up from the chair, stretching.

“Your uh… House is nice Davis.” He looked to the side. “Maybe I could just hang out here a bit after? I’m sure Kirino won’t mind…”

He shook his head. “Just, good luck! Please bring Louise back safely!”

He ran out the door. All who remained was Scott, still leaning against the wall.

Davis glared at him. “Aren’t you going to follow the rest of your posse?”

He laughed. “Well, I can easily catch up. I just wanted to say something to you with a little bit of privacy…”

He glanced at the doorway, finding Kirino waiting outside. “I’ll catch up in a few moments! Don’t wait on me!”

He turned back to Davis. “Honestly, I would tag along with you if I could. I mean, a jailbreak to some high tech compound filled with UMA sounds like it’d be a blast.”

Davis stared, half dumbfounded, half infuriated.

“After all you just told me the other day, you want to HELP?”

He shrugged. “I mean honestly, I don't think you’re fully cut out for this. Kinda why I want to tag along and give you a bit of help.”

Davis frowned.

“Hey, come on! Maybe you got a bit more sense to you than I thought, maybe not. But nothing’s cooler than an underdog beating the odds, ya know? But if I can tag along, I’ll shoot you a text or something, then make this a jailbreak to remember!”

He tapped his chin. “Well, I guess every jailbreak is one to remember. Ah well. Hopefully, I’ll see you in the future!”

He waved, and hurried out the door.

Davis stared in shock as the rower ran out after his friends.

He would still be a great help, but I need to do this myself. For Louise. She’s counting on me, not him.

Queen peeked over. “Davis, could we go to Royalty Burgers? I am still not fully recovered. The burgers are very filling.” She drooled slightly. “They are also tastier than your food.”

He laid his head back into the chair headrest. He exhaled, feeling all the stress of the meeting leave his body.

He felt his stomach rumble. He had skipped breakfast. Burgers did sound nice and filling…