Beast Soul

The group of police cars moved through the hillside road, following the exact same speed, as though they had practiced the same routine multiple times before. 

"What do you mean he's escaped from the hospital?" Detective Lewis asked with his widened eyes, and Detective Harry shook his head with an annoyed expression on his face as he answered his question. "What else do you think it means? Of course, it means that the special agent got out of the hospital without following the proper checkout procedures!"

"But why, though?" Detective Lewis still couldn't understand the motivation behind the special agent, who had just been wrecked by a mythical being while he was in the middle of hunting it. Surely, a normal person would take that beating as a sign that he shouldn't be meddling in the affairs of such powerful creatures, right?

"I can understand why you must be confused, Detective.." Special Agent Alan Fischer, who was sitting opposite Detective Lewis, replied with a bitter smile on his face. "Of course, for any normal and sane person, being taken out by a legendary creature that's larger and more powerful than you is usually a wake up call that perhaps this might not be a job worth dying for."

Detective Lewis nodded his head fervently, and Agent Fischer continued, "But to people like Edgerton, this is just everyday business. To them, it's just an obstacle that they have to overcome in order to complete their mission. Nothing more, nothing less."

"I get it now..." Detective Lewis nodded his head once again, signaling that he understood the special agent's words, although his facial expression seemed to imply otherwise. "And is that why Agent Edgerton escaped from the hospital?" He asked.

"Well, that, and the fact that he is a pretty stubborn man." Alan tilted his head sideways as his facial expression morphed into a mixture of slight annoyance and anger, implying how he feels about Agent Edgerton in general. 

Whoosh!

The car moved past a hilly corner, and a boy who was standing next to the road, waving his arms high up in the air, came into view, which made the detective slow down and raise his eyebrows.

He pulled up to the young boy, who seemed to be about seventeen years of age. "What's the matter young man?" Detective Harry asked. "What seems to be the issue?"

"That!" The young boy, who was Harold, pointed his finger at Alphonso and the injured Clarice, and Detective Harry's face turned serious in an instant. 

"What the hell? Medic!" He popped his head out and yelled at the cars behind him. "Get me a medic! Quick!" He continued yelling.

Within seconds, the injured Clarice had been taken to the ambulance that was following right behind the group of cop cars, and the two boys were now standing next to each other, facing the two detectives, who were staring at them with serious expressions. Special Agent Alan Fischer decided to stay in the car, and let the other two sort this problem out. 

"Are you two alright, kids?" Detective Harry asked Alphonso and Harold, who both nodded their heads and shrugged their shoulders in response. 

"We are, but you have to help us find our friends," Harold said with a serious expression on his face, his tone filled with urgency. 

"What happened to your friends?" Detective Lewis asked, one of his eyebrows now raised up, implying that he was curious about the situation. 

"They went away, trying to distract the monster so that we'll be safe.." Harold decided to keep the details about their superpowers to themselves. 

"Oh my god!" Both the detectives let out a gasp, their eyes widened. Detective Harry then grabbed the shoulders of Harold and shook him. "Which direction did they go?"

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"So you killed the creature from the inside.." Gerald mumbled under his breath as he rubbed his chin. "Incredible…" Max let out a nervous laughter and waved his hands dismissively. "Well, it's really not that incredible. It's incredibly time consuming, and it drains my energy with just one try, so I'd only have one shot to try this. And plus, I can only utilize such a technique if there are plants which have seeds that use air as transport and are small enough to enter into the openings of monsters."

"Don't be humble, Max.." Gerald patted him on the shoulder as he spoke. He had a proud expression on his face. "The fact of the matter is that you've saved us. And that's something that you have to be proud about. You can never undersell something like that." All of a sudden, Noah's eyes widened, and his gaze shifted to the side of the road, where a group of cars could be seen coming straight towards them.

"Who are they?" Both Max and Gerald turned to look at where Noah was staring at, and found a group of cars with bright lights moving through the hillside roads. They seemed to be heading in their direction.

"I think that's the police.." Max said as he squinted his eyebrows, and Gerald nodded his head, confirming it. "Yup, it definitely is the cops. I guess they finally decided to show up… after everything's over..."

"Be sure not to act suspicious, alright?" Noah moved closer to both Max and Gerald and whispered softly while he stood in between them, and the two turned their heads to look at him with raised eyebrows. "They know about the whole monster thing?" Gerald asked, and Noah nodded his head. "Of course they know. What? Did you really think that no one would figure out the whole situation under the sewers? Even after the destruction that followed?" 

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense.." Max nodded his head with a frown. "But why are you so suspicious of the cops? Wouldn't they help us?" Max asked Noah. He really was confused as to why Noah was warning them about the cops.

"Because they know more.." Noah whispered softly, his gaze fixated on the row of cars that were heading their way, decreasing the distance between them as time went on. 

Noah remembered the strange man that attacked him and Wolfe when he was transformed. The weapon that the man used was unlike anything that he had ever known. And it seemed like the man knew exactly what he was shooting at as well. Noah also knew that the police knew much more than perhaps even him, but if the cops are anything like that man that shot him, cooperation may not be such a good idea.

"... And because you don't know what they think about you…" Noah finished his words, and Gerald looked at him with even more confusion in his eyes. "They probably might've never seen hybrids like us..."

"You don't know that for sure," Noah shook his head. "You can never be too careful. Not when you're in complicated situations like us."

The cops cars were now a few meters away from them, and their sirens could now be heard clearly. 

"Alright, we'll be careful." Max nodded his head, and then turned around to ask Noah something, only to find him gone, which only made him widen his eyes with surprise. 

"Well, he sure is nailing the superhero - vigilante part…" Gerald said with an impressed expression on his face before turning around to face the police cars, the first of which parked just near the two of them. 

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Meanwhile, under the remains of the destroyed sequoia tree. 

"Buagh.." A loud and coarse gasp escaped from the lips of Special Agent Richard Edgerton, who was lying underneath a bunch of tree branches, all covered in wood dust and dirt. 

*Cough* *Cough* 

He covered his mouth as he coughed, and then slowly began to pat his hands all over his body in order to figure out whether he was really okay or not. 

"Huh, to think that I'm still alive…" A still dazed Agent Edgerton whispered softly under his breath. It seemed that he was not at all dazed by the fact that he almost died because of a mythical creature that was supposed to only be in books and folktales.

In fact, it seemed as though he was intrigued, rather than relieved. He was certainly a strange person.

"I can't believe I failed yet again," He said to himself as he tried to push away the branches that were lying above him and then stood up from the ground, right after which he patted his whole body down, removing the dust and the dirt that was on him. He then stretched his body backwards, and let out a long and heavy sigh. "Oh well, I didn't expect it to be an easy task, especially after the beating I took last time."

His gaze then shifted over to the ground, which he started scanning with his eyes. All of a sudden, his gaze fixated on something shiny on the ground, and a cold smile appeared on his face as he walked towards it. 

He then knelt in front of the shiny material and picked it up, bringing it close to his face as he said, "But I guess I won't be going home empty handed today…"