Eldridge closed the door to the car as Kesha waved from the inside. It was a nice little date, and he honestly wished he had more time to spend with her. Unfortunately, It was nearing nine and C had made plans. At least the two of them agreed to meet up in the future. He watched the Trip drive off and felt his phone rumble in his hand.

He smiled as he read her comment, before he placed his phone in his pocket. It was time to see what C had planned for the group.

Eldridge nimbly weaved his way through the crowd as he headed for the reserved room in the back. The bar was as rowdy as ever, groups crowded around the darts, the pool table, and even the classic arcades in the corner. Honestly, it was a bit busier than Eldridge remembered for a weeknight. Then again, it was a celebration of the Sparrows first game.

He paused before the booth and sighed, he knew that as soon as entered this room his life would be forever changed. Though, if he was being honest, it had already changed. It was as if he was on a runaway mount only now was he able to get a grasp of the reins and have a chance to steer. He steeled his mind and stepped through the door to the unknown.

“Eldridge!” Arthur shouted as soon the door opened, his mug in the air.

Eldridge closed the door softly and examined the room on instinct, a trait trained into him over his years on the force. The table had most of the appetizers the bar had to offer, onion rings, mozzarella sticks, even cucumber sandwiches. Wine bottles sat unopened, with a half full picher of a dark sitting in the center.

Byung sat at one end of the booth, his demeanor a bit stiff, though Eldridge has come to realize that is his natural state. Devon was off his hand, eating a bit of the meat slices from the platter.

Arthur was in the middle of the booth, mug of the dark in his hand. He grabbed a few of the onion rings before he washed them down with a swig. Guinevere was still upon his head as the fedora with a long feather out of it.

C, surprisingly had a sheet of paper before him with quite a few handwritten notes upon it. Even as Eldridge sat down, C continued his writing. This almost caused Eldridge to double take as he’s known the man since college. The amount of note taking the man did in the past could be fit on one piece of paper.

“Ahh,” C said as he looked up from his work. “You’re all here, good.”

This drew the attention of most in the room. Deven the only one who still ate unperturbed.

“I’ve called you all here to try to take care of the issues that are threatening the coulee. Arthur has tried to move it up the ladder, but the authorities are unwilling at this time to get involved. Not too surprising as our claims are a bit outrageous.”

“Yet, we all saw it at the landslide.” C continued as he looked everyone in the eye. “And Arthur and I saw two hikers caught up in it. We’ve all been given skills and powers that not everyone has. Not everyone will have access too. So I ask, will you join me in not only protecting this town but searching out and finding the lost of the twelve. Cyprus strongly suspects they are the key to the current changes.”

“Devon and I,” Byung began as he leaned forward. “Have a score to settle with a certain individual in those mountains. You can count on us.”

As if to emphasize his point, Devon squeaked at the end of his speech. A bit of meat was spat out in the rat’s enthusiasm.

“I didn’t become a police officer because it is easy,” Arthur replied. “I became one to stand between the shadows of society and the innocent. If we are all that they have, then I will once again take up my oath.”

“I see,” C answered as he pulled out some of his pieces of paper.

“That is good to hear. So we will need to get some details down,” He looked down at his notes as if he was trying to gather his ideas. “First I am looking to buy a chunk of land to build a complex upon. We all need training if not practice in our new skills. A place to gather and center our intelligence out of.”

“You can use my land, I have over sixty acres. Should be plenty to build something.” Byung answered. “I was just going to put an orchard or vineyard on it anyway.”

“We need to grind!” Arthur exclaimed as he slammed down his mug.

Eldridge and the rest just stared at him.

“You know, like in games. We have Xenoid and it makes us stronger. We need to get as much as we can. What we fought now might have been tough, but I can almost guarantee you there will be much tougher enemies.”

“Makes some sense,” Byung answered. “That which controlled Devon was definitely much stronger than we are.”

C was doing his best to write down all the ideas.

“We will also need to scout,” Eldridge finally contributed. “Whoever has the final of the twelve, probably has some other locations. Perhaps in Port Coulee or Ian City. For all we know, they could be in control of one of the cities or from higher up.”

Arthur looked at it for a time before he nodded. “As much as I don’t want to admit it, there very well could be some elements inside the government that are involved in this.”

He sighed as he took another swing of his drink. “That will make things a bit tougher.”

“For now we will scout, use what contacts we can while giving up as little as we can.” Eldridge stated. “We will need to vet everything.”

“And we grind!” Arthur replied.

“And we grind,” C answered as he wrote down the notes.

***

The sun tipped over the horizon and the shadows stretched as dusk set on Ian city. A particular shadow on a particular street slowly grew until a cloaked man stepped forth. He hid in the ally as he examined a nearby game of tag the local youths were playing. A smile crossed his face as he watched one of the boys nimbly dodge the It and race to safety. Suddenly his head shifted and his gaze went distant. The shadow shrank and he bled from the world once more.

Shadows across the city shifted slightly as the man worked his way towards the disturbance he felt. Once more a shadow elongated as he soundlessly stepped onto the rooftop of a bike shop. Before him was a small mischief of rats, the creatures scurrying towards one of the nearby apartment studios.

The green rodents jumped along the rooftops, aided by an unseen wind. Each focused on a particular third story balcony down the street. The man let out a sigh as his shirt slowly shifted down his hand. He kicked off the ground, a small spark of electricity along the soles of his feet, and he darted towards the creatures.

As he neared the first of the rats, his hand went out and the dark blade of his sword sliced through the torso of the beast as electricity fried the wound. His off hand grabbed the two parts of the creature and burnt them to ash with a blast of electricity as he darted to the next target. Within a minute, all of the rodents were ash in the wind.

He slowed and stared at the balcony the creatures sought and watched as a young girl danced to an unheard beat. He turned from the building and let the sword fall from his hand. The weapon melted as it neared the rooftop, a medium sized ferret soon took its place. The creature ran up the man’s back and stopped on his shoulder.

“Another dud,” The man gruffed as he walked to the building’s edge. His gaze intense as he took in the hustle and bustle of the street below.

“And what of the girl?” A high pitched voice spoke through his mind. “I don’t think it was a dud to her.”

“It’s just frustrating. I know they're out there, if only…” The man answered as he watched a furniture truck blast through a yellow light. He squinted his eyes as he examined the vehicle once more.

“Though,” he muttered as he took a step back and let his body once more sink into the shadows. He flowed through the inverted world until he found the shadow of the vehicle and attached himself to it. He rode along as the truck sped through downtown.

He grimaced as it took the next turn, feet from a pedestrian as they tried to cut across the road. As they continued, he found it to be the first of many traffic infractions as they ran red lights, stop signs and almost hit a few other pedestrians.

Finally, the truck started to slow before it turned down an alley and stopped midway through. With great care, the man slipped into the nearby cross alley and stepped once more out of the shadows.

“You know of the others now, so why not ask them for help?” The ferret asked as the two watched the furniture truck.

“They are like infants that recently learned to walk. Ones that don’t understand what’s beyond the fence.” The man whispered as the engine of the vehicle shut off, though the lights held bright.

The ferret laughed through his mind for a short while before it finally spoke. “And you’re much better?”

“No, now shhhh,” He reprimanded as two men dismounted from the cab.

He watched as they walked to the back of the vehicle and began to mess with the door. As they were doing that, his gaze shifted along the wall around them. There was nothing here, nothing but solid concrete wall as far as the alleyway went. His attention was drawn back as the door was rolled up and he felt it.

Xenoid! His body cried out, hungry for the energy within. He felt his hand twitch as he took in a shallow breath. There was so much Xenoid in that van, nearly as much as he had already assimilated. It was a wealth of power.

A second later he slowly breathed out and got himself once more under control. He wasn’t here to feast, but to find clues. The men looked around once more before the smaller of the two walked to the concrete wall. They placed their palm on the structure and the man watched as a large section of the wall sank into the building.

“Well I’ll be,” He muttered under his breath as he took in the hidden room. It felt very much like a warehouse with a large empty space and steel girders across the ceiling. No walls, no doors, nor windows to let light in. Yet in the middle was an odd rectangular section in the floor.

As he continued to watch, smaller of the men slipped into the back of the vehicle. A few seconds later a solid metal cage with a long copper wire hanging off was handed over, a large off yellow rat inside. As the other man took hold, a flash of electricity cracked through the air as the beast snarled.

“Easy there,” The worker said in an attempt to calm the creature.

“Just get it onto the elevator,” A gruff voice ordered from the vehicle. “We have another load to get to tonight.”

The shadowed man watched, his interest peaked. If this wasn’t the group he was looking for, this was at least a similar organization.

“We going to wreck their day?” The ferret asked as it squirmed around his neck.

“Calm down Freki, we need to be slow about this.” The shadow answered. “We don’t know how deep this goes.”

“Oh right, they did say elevator,” Freki answered as he raced to the head. “Do you think it is like a missile silo?”

“That’s not what; never mind,” He stated as he prepared to follow the men down. He would figure out their plans if it was the last thing he did. They had taken over his town, his people. Now they would find out who they were messing with.