The following day started out with quite a bit more excitement than Maria was expecting.
Normally, when the young 'beast magic' user enters the station, she'd have a bit of time to go to her team's work area, relax, and maybe even grab a light snack before they all have their morning meeting. Today, however, was different. And that's because Vice-Captain Stillwater had received an urgent notice that was already ready for them as soon as they showed up.
"Ortega, Conley!" Stillwater shouted at the two agents after swinging the door of their lounge area open.
"What's up?" Sebastian raised an eyebrow at his sister's antics.
"We've got someone that needs to be brought in. A sorcerer by the name of Margarette Davidson. She just killed a guy, and we need you two to track her down."
"What?" Maria couldn't help the surprise on her face. Their target was a murderer? A real, actual criminal?
"She was last seen at a fast food shop a couple of miles outside of Gastonia. The police have an APB out for her, but we need to get to her first before she hurts anyone else."
Sebastian was quick to ask his first question. "What can you tell us about this lady?"
"She's a former inmate of Area 54. She was convicted of aggravated assault three years ago but got out on good behavior. Records state that she's a D-rank 'water magic' user whose specialty is close-range techniques. We get a tip from an anonymous source that the boss verified right before you guys came in."
"Is it just going to be the two of us?"
"I'll send Murphy your way as soon as she comes in. But she won't be here for another thirty minutes."
'Thank God.' Maria was relieved to hear that. Although she was confident in her and her partner's skills, she felt a whole lot safer having some additional backup.
"Here's her last known location." Stillwater then handed the young woman a piece of paper with the address written on it, along with a photo of the target. The woman in question looked to be in her mid-20s with bleached blonde hair and green eyes. "Focus on tracking her down for now. Don't engage in a fight if you don't have to."
Sebastion felt the need to ask the next question. "Are we bringing her back alive or dead?"
"Preferably alive, but do what you have to do."
Well, that was certainly a sobering set of words for someone like Maria to hear. Obviously, the young woman had never taken a life before. Sure, she had killed a few cryptids before she even joined the DPA. But ending the life another person was a giant step up from something like that. The woman was no stranger to death, her past was more than enough proof of that. But she honestly doubted that she had the mental strength to put down another person.
The raven-haired woman then looked to her partner. Stillwater's words didn't appear to faze the guy even in the slightest. Signifying that something like this must have been par for the course for someone like him. The guy had been a DPA agent ever since he graduated from high school. So, of course, he must've handled situations like this more than a few times already.
This did beg the question, though. Had Sebastian ever killed anyone before? And if so, how many? Even more than that, would Maria really be able to do it herself? In all honesty, she didn't want to think about it. Even though she knew what she was signing up for when she took the job, the reality of certain aspects of her current occupation was just now settling in for the young agent.
"You got it, boss." The man then said, breaking Maria out of her temporary stupor.
"Good. Keep me posted on anything that you can find. I have a feeling that she might be trying to flee to South Carolina. So if it looks like she'll get away from you guys, call me so that I can alert the office in Columbia."
"We'll grab this psycho before it even comes to that, ain't that right, rookie?"
"U-uh...yeah, right!" Maria then said with a slight bit of hesitation.
"Hell yeah, we will!"
With that, Stillwater gave the duo a brief nod and a pre-programmed scanner before exiting the lounging area, leaving the two other 'beast magic' users to get themselves in order before departing.
"Meet me at the car in fifteen minutes. And make sure you wear a bulletproof shirt underneath your suit. You never know what you're gonna up dealing with when it comes to cases like these. And even though we have stronger bodies than regular humans, it's better safe than sorry."
All Maria did was give the man a nod before heading down to her locker to get changed. Mentally preparing herself for whatever she was about to go running into.
-(o)-
[1 Hour Later]
In practically no time, Maria and Sebastian were miles outside of the city. Barely a few minutes away from a small town where the target was last seen.
Unlike their previous excursion, the two 'beast magic' users were considerably more prepared for a scenario in which things went south. Which could be seen by the fact that they both now had pistols attached to their hips. Although it wasn't Maria's first time ever holding a weapon, it was a part of her training. That being said, she was really hoping that they wouldn't need to use them.
"Alright, we're here." Sebastian said that once the two finally arrived at their destination. A storage lot that took up at least a couple of blocks of real estate, which wasn't too far from a high school.
Without so much as a word, the senior agent called out one of his beasts. Hoping that the creature would be able to pick up on the scent of the fugitive's mana as quickly as possible. Fortunately for them, all it took Porthos was a couple of minutes to locate it.
"How far away is she?" Sebastian questioned his companion.
"Arf!" Porthos replied.
"Eight miles?" The man's eyes widened.
'That's a lot of ground to cover in a short amount of time.' Maria told herself. It was almost impossible to cover that much ground on foot. Especially since they needed to track this lady down as soon as possible. And the more time they wasted, the more likely it was that the woman was going to get away.
"So what do we do?"
"What else can we do?" The senior agent replied. "We gotta do this the hard way. And since this chick probably knows that people are going to be looking for her, we need to be fast. Fuck...the two of us might not be enough."
Seeing as there was no other option, the two sorcerers and their hellhound guide hopped right back into the car. Doing their best to stay on the woman's trail by having Porthos bark out directions every so often to make sure that they didn't lose her.
-(o)-
On the other side of the town, just outside of a gas station, Margarette Davidson was doing her best to keep a low profile. Which could be seen by the fact that she had a ball cap and a pair of sunglasses practically glued to her face. The bleach blonde sorcerer was getting more and more stressed out by the minute.
'C'mon, hurry up!' The woman internally shouted at the gas pump as she was waiting for the tank in the car that she had stolen to fill up. She supposed that she should be lucky that the poor old lady she boosted the vehicle off of had the decency to keep some cash in the glove box. Especially since using her credit card would've been an idiotic move considering she was on the run. But she could've swore that this damn gas pump was purposefully going slow just to mess with her.
It was already bad enough that the 'water magic' user needed to go to these lengths to keep herself hidden. But she really had no idea as to what she was about to do. Everything spiraled out of control so fast that she barely had enough time to catch her breath.
All of this was because she had to be an idiot and kill her boyfriend without actually thinking about what would happen after that. In her defense, the bastard was cheating on her, so it was his own fault. Actually, she wasn't truly sure that he was. But the guy had been acting suspicious over the last few weeks. And that one coworker of his that she didn't like was texting him way too much for them not to be seeing each other. On top of that, the idiot wouldn't let her see his phone. So what else was she supposed to think? Besides, he knew that she had a temper before they even got together. So once again, it was his own fault.
In hindsight, she really should've kept her cool and at least allowed him to explain himself. But there was no point in dwelling on the past. What she needed to focus on right now was getting as far away from this area as possible. That was the first step in her currently ongoing plan to maintain her freedom.
'I sure as hell ain't going back to prison.' She told herself. 'Two years in Area 54 was more than enough for me. There's no fucking way I'm letting them put me back in a box.'
To make matters even worse for the woman, her employers had no doubt ratted her out to the DPA already. That bitch, Hannah, had the nerve to tell her that they weren't going to cover for her after she told her what happened. And that she had to figure shit out on her own. Like, what the hell was that all about?
After all the jobs she did for that skank and her two lackies, rounding up cryptids and kidnapping people, you would think she at least earned a bit of loyalty from her associates. But apparently, the old saying was true; there really was no honor among thieves.
The sound of the gas pump clicking brought the woman out of her thoughts, and she wasted no time hopping back into her newly acquired car and pulling off. Her best bet right now was to try and make her way down to Georgia, where one of her old cellmates was living, and see if he would let her crash there for a bit while she tried to figure out what to do.
She had already tossed her phone, so it would be a while before anyone was able to find her. And she was certain that she had covered her tracks well enough. The only slight hiccup may have been when she raided that storage unit for a couple of guns, ammo, and supplies just in case she needed it. But that old hag wasn't going to be using the stuff anytime soon. Mainly on account of Marget drowning her in her bed before stealing and bailing from the scene.
'Great...and now I have two murders under my belt in under eight hours. What a wonderful day this has turned out to be....'
The woman was just about to turn onto the freeway when she spotted a blacked-out sedan in her rearview mirror. From what she could sense, there were a couple of sorcerers in the vehicle. And that caused her to immediately go on edge. People like her were already rare enough as it was. So the likelihood of two of them just randomly popping up behind her like this was damn near zero.
While trying not to tip them off, Margaret checked her rearview mirror to see what she was dealing with and saw that there were two people in the front seat. A man and a woman. Along with some kind of canine-type cryptid that she had never seen before. Yup, there was no doubt about it, they were definitely here for her. How they found her so quickly was a mystery to her, but she damn sure wasn't about to let herself get caught by these assholes.
Even she knew that each DPA office had strict jurisdictions that they had to work in. And once she crossed the border into South Carolina, they wouldn't be able to lay a finger on her.
-(o)-
"What do you mean 'she's right in front of us'?!" Sebastian shouted at Porthos with an incredulous look on his face.
"Arf!" The hell-hound responded matter-of-factly.
"Well, shit..." Maria couldn't help but let out as she inspected the blue vehicle that was directly in front of them.
The last twenty minutes for the 'beast magic' duo had essentially been a wild goose chase. Although the hellhound's nose was pretty sharp, chasing down a criminal on foot was way different from trying to track them down in a car while still having to obey traffic laws. But at least Porthos' nose was good enough to get them where they were right now.
Their car was more than close enough to the fugitive to sense the mana coming from the person in the driver's seat. It wasn't a whole lot compared to the amount that Maria had, an average amount at best if the woman was being honest. However, she wasn't foolish enough to underestimate her target just because she wasn't as powerful as her on paper.
"Okay, here's how we're going to play this." Sebastian began as he pulled his phone out. "She probably noticed us already, but I doubt that she knows that we're after her. So for now, we're just going to tail her until we get to an area that's lightly populated. Once that happens, you're going to send one of your companions out to destroy her tires."
"And then?" Maria questioned.
"If she's smart, she'll just give up. If not, we take her down."
Well, at least the plan was simple. That was certainly something that the junior agent could appreciate. All of her companions were more than fast enough to quickly blow out the tires on a moving vehicle, so that wasn't going to be a problem. But the fact that they were probably about to get into an actual fight with someone who obviously had no quarrel with killing was not lost on her.
'I guess it was bound to happen sooner or later.' Maria let out an internal sigh before calling upon Asmodeus inside of her body. Letting the snake-cryptid know what he had to do.
Unfortunately for the two agents, their plan completely flew out the window when their target suddenly pulled off like a bat out of hell the moment the light turned green.
"Fuck!" Sebastian cursed before he, too, slammed down on the accelerator and began pursuing their target.
And just like that, the two agents found themselves in the middle of a car chase. Within the first thirty seconds, Sebastian was whipping through street after street while trying to keep up with their target. All while Maria desperately tried not to fly out of the passenger seat. The only saving grace in this situation was that the roads weren't heavily populated. But considering the fact that they were heading towards the freeway, that was probably about to change.
"Now or never, rookie!" The senior agent shouted at his partner after making yet another hard left turn around what may or may not have been a barbershop while avoiding the random guy that standing at the corner.
Without so much as a word, Maria leaned her body out of the passenger side window and aimed her hand at the fugitive's car. Luckily for her, Sebastian had done a pretty good job of staying close to their target.
"Go, Asmodeus!" The junior agent then shouted only a moment before her green and silver snake-cryptid launched itself out of her body and made a beeline directly for the rear tire of the car.
In one swift motion, Asmodeus was able to bite a solid chunk out of the tire, forcing the vehicle to immediately begin spinning on the road. And after roughly three full rotations, the thing came to a halt once it landed right in the middle of a nearby ditch. Which also caused Sebastian to slam on the brakes and come to a full stop barely twenty feet away from her.
"Fuck!" Maria heard the driver shout in frustration. However, that didn't stop the fugitive sorcerer from kicking the door open and quickly forming a ball of water in her left hand. Maria had just enough time to put up a mana barrier before a stream of highly pressurized magical water came flying at her. And thankfully, the attack wasn't nearly strong enough to penetrate her defenses.
Seeing as talking her down was obviously not an option, Sebastian wasted no time in sending his companion to their target. While at the same time, Asmodeus also attacked the woman who just tried to harm its master.
As the two cryptids rushed towards her, Margarette Davidson did the only thing that she could realistically do in that moment, which was to try and take out either Maria or Sebastian as soon as possible. It was common knowledge that cryptids that were bonded to a 'beast magic' user died with their owner. Unless that cryptid was extremely powerful on its own. So, doing away with the two agents in front of her was the smartest move that she could make.
The blonde-haired woman then forced a significant portion of mana into her muscles before dashing forward. Connecting with Maria just as the junior agent was getting herself out of the car. With a loud thud, the two hit the ground. Of course, Maria instantly went on the defensive to try and get the criminal off of her. However, she was too late to stop the woman from punching her in the face a few times.
Sebastian then leapt over the roof of the car, arriving at Maria's side just before the fugitive could properly form a mana burst in her left hand. The man was able to land a solid kick to the side of the woman's head that was strong enough to send her flying ten feet in the opposite direction.
'That should throw off her balance for a few seconds.' The senior agent thought to himself.
'Fuck!' The blonde fugitive internally cursed as she tried to regain her balance. 'That bastard kicked me in the fucking temple!'
Just like Sebastian had thought, the woman's vision was now blurry, and she was having a hard time standing upright. This was not ideal for her, not in the slightest.
Just as the woman was about to try and form another strategy, a sharp pain shot up her right leg. Looking to see what the cause of this was, the woman looked down at her feet. Only to be met with the sight of Asmodeus sinking its teeth into her flesh. Out of pure instinct, the fugitive used her other foot to kick the snake-cryptid in the head. And that seemed to do the trick since it caused the creature to immediately back off. However, that one bite was enough to draw her attention away from Porthos. And the dog-cryptid didn't hesitate to sink its teeth right into the woman's left shoulder.
"Argh!" Margarette Davidson shouted in agony as she desperately tried to pry Porthos' teeth out of her flesh. Only to immediately be met by Sebastian's fist burying itself into her gut.
The punch was strong enough to force whatever the woman had for lunch out of her stomach. And with the golden opportunity right in front of him, the senior agent unleashed a barrage of devastating punches onto the woman's head. By the time the sixth punch had landed, it was clear that she was down for the count. And judging by the way that the fugitive's body went limp, she wasn't going to be getting up for a while.
'Shit. That was a close one.' The senior agent thought to himself as he immediately placed a pair of mana-cuffs on the woman's hand. This way, even if he did manage to suddenly regain consciousness, she wouldn't be able to use her magic.
Now that the hard part was done, Sebastian turned around and rushed over to his partner, who still lay out on the ground next to the car.
"Yo, rookie! You good!" The man shouted in a concerned tone. Maria was currently sporting a bloody nose and a decent-sized bruise next to her left eye. But aside from that, she looked to be alright.
"Shit..." The junior agent let out a few seconds later after finally getting her wits about her. Of all the things she had on the schedule for the day, getting knocked out by a murderer wasn't on the list. "What happened?"
"You took a few nasty blows, but I managed to catch our fugitive."
"Oh..." Was all that Maria could say. Despite the fact that her head was throbbing right now, at least she didn't have to worry about the criminal anymore.
Sebastian was quick to help the woman back onto her feet. Asmodeus immediately rushed to its master's side to make sure that she was alright, to which Maria simply gave the creature a few pats on the head before recalling it back into her body.
Now that the hard part was done, all that was left was to take this psycho back to the station and let Chief Chandler deal with her and take care of the cleanup.
Of course, DPA agents couldn't take sorcerer criminals to a regular police station for processing. Which is exactly why they had holding cells back at the station.
Once they were properly secured, a separate group of agents from the Raleigh station would come by and take those criminals off their hands. From there, it was pretty much the same as how they would treat regular people. Margarette Davidson would have to stand trial for her alleged crimes. And if she was found guilty, then it was a one-way trip back to Area 54.
While the duo waited for additional backup to arrive, Maria couldn't shake the thoughts that were currently going through her head. She had definitely screwed up earlier during that fight. If it wasn't for Sebastian helping her out, she probably would've died before she even had a chance to defend herself. That was certainly something that she didn't want to think about.
This entire experience was rather sobering for the young woman. Of course, nobody wanted to die, you'd be hard pressed to find a single human being alive who wasn't the least bit scared of death. And one would be right to say that dying prematurely was a real risk in her chosen occupation. But the possibility of kicking the bucket before finding out what happened to her father didn't sit right with her. It was clear to Maria that she was going to need to train a bit harder if she was going to avoid situations like this from happening again. After all, whoever put a bullet in her father's head all those years ago was a dangerous person. And when (not if) she got the chance to finally confront that person face-to-face, she needed to make sure that she would be ready.
'I guess I might as well-'
The raven-haired woman's thought was cut short when the sound of a bird flying overhead caught her attention. Maria looked up to see an all too familiar creature gliding down in her direction, only moments before the thing landed on the roof of the car.
"Skaw!" The multi-winged bird with green and brown feathers screeched at the two agents.
"Is that you, Robin?" Sebastian asked the cryptid as if he already knew the answer. To which the creature nodded its head a couple of times.
'That's right...' Maria took note of the sight before her. 'Vice-Captain Stillwater can see through the eyes of her companions. Just like Dad.'
Being able to share your senses with your companion was a high-level skill for 'beat magic' users like them. It was the kind of skill that anyone like them could learn, but it required years of practice. As well as a deep connection with the cryptid that you were bonded with. As of right now, Maria wasn't anywhere close to being able to do something like that. And she probably wouldn't be for a while.
"I'm assuming that Skylar and the clean-up crew are on the way?" Sebastian then asked. And the bird once again nodded its head, much to the relief of Maria. The sooner her coworker showed up, the sooner she could put this mess behind her.
Not even thirty minutes later, backup had arrived. And the group wasted no time in securing their target and ridding the area of any evidence that they had ever been there. Thankfully, no one had been around to see that fight. Which was nothing short of a miracle considering they weren't too far away from the nearest residential area. But now that this entire ordeal was over and one with, Maria wanted nothing more than to get back home and empty her brain out with some good old-fashioned videogames. Which is exactly how the young woman spent the rest of her night.