[Unknown Location, 30 Minutes Later]
"Well...that didn't go as well as we wanted it to." Mikayla sighed after removing her mask and bulletproof vest.
"We still got over half of the goods." Hannah replied in a cool tone. "We hit our quota, at least as far as the boss is concerned."
Right now, the trio of Iznana operatives and what was left of their group were moving their ill-gotten gains to new vehicles. It was only a matter of time before the warehouse that they were currently in was found, so their main priority for right now was to transfer all of the merchandise into new trucks before heading back to their cave. Even though the mission wasn't as fruitful as they wanted it to be, it was still an overall success.
That being said, the group did lose about half of their minions in the fighting against the DPA agents. And if what the others said was true, most of them were already dead. It was the kind of loss that was certainly going to set them back a bit. But at least they weren't going to have to pay those guys once this was all over with. And fortunately for Hannah and the others, whoever was left alive had special enchantments on their bodies that restricted them from divulging any incriminating information. So, for now, at least, they wouldn't have to worry about being caught.
"This was a disaster." Aaron angrily huffed after joining his sister and friend.
The 'fire magic' user was undoubtedly upset about how things played out back at the concert hall. And to be honest, neither Hannah nor Mikayla could blame him. The young man had made a mistake by using his magic in front of that McKenna girl. Aaron always had a problem when it came to acting too rashly after losing his cool, and this time was no different. The fact that he was the only man alive who could conjure purple flames was a major giveaway as to who he really was.
"What's done is done." Hannah attempted to console her brother, not that it would do him much good at the moment. "We made sure to plan for something like this just in case. You'll be fine."
"We'll see...."
"It'll be a while before the DPA finds this place." Mikayla then interjected. "I had our guys release the cryptids in the last truck right after we cleared the area. Those DPA guys will be dealing with them for a while before sending someone out here."
Hannah nodded before speaking. "Either way, we need to hurry this up and head to the hideout. The boss will be waiting for a call from us before sunrise. We need to have everything ready to go by the time her people show up and take the merchandise off of our hands."
"True that."
With all of that out of the way, the Iznana trio proceeded to help their remaining men load the stolen goods into the new trucks. They had a long drive ahead of them, and the sooner they hit the road, the better.
All in all, they were glad that the hard part was finally over and done with. All that waited for them now was the final step of their operation. Once that was done, the money and rewards that they were promised would be theirs. And the good life that they were promised would be right around the corner.
Now that Hannah had proven herself to be capable of handling big operations like this, she was finally set to become a full-fledged Iznana member. This was the final trial that was given to her by the Boss. And all the benefits that came with being the Lieutenant of a branch head were within her grasp. All she had to do now was wait until she received the official confirmation.
'Man, what a night....' The 'ice magic' user said to herself as she hopped in the cabin of her truck before she and her friend disappeared into the night.
-(o)-
[A Few Hours Later]
Back at Station Nine, the building was buzzing with activity as all of the station's available agents were running around trying to get a handle on the situation.
The infirmary was filled to the brim with new patients, and a small group of APS agents was currently being prepped by Skylar to head out and start tracking down all of the thugs who got away from the fundraiser.
"I can't believe those assholes still had a whole truck full of cryptids left to dump on us!" Sebastian said angrily while he and Maria walked down to the hall en route to one of the station's storage rooms.
Surprisingly, the raven-haired woman was suddenly called back to the station, not too long after her group had arrived at the MacNamara residence. As of this moment, Cyrus, Freddy, Valerie, the twins, and the Blair cousins were all waiting back at the house until further notice. For some reason, she was the only one ordered to immediately come back to the station. What that reason was, she hadn't the faintest idea.
From what the young woman was able to gather after arriving, most of her squad was still back at the concert hall, dealing with the cleanup. Robin and Chief Dunbar were the ones tasked with handling the police, while Chief Chandler was here coordinating the rest of their personnel.
On a side note, Maria was genuinely interested in seeing how this situation was going to be handled as far as the press was concerned. This wasn't the first time that the DPA was in the middle of some local tragedy that ended up making the news. And it sure as hell wouldn't be the last. However, the young woman wasn't well-versed in what procedures were in place to make sure that everything stayed under wraps. That was the kind of stuff that other sections of their unit specialized in.
Before long, the two 'beast magic' users arrived at the storage room and were met with quite an interesting sight. Standing there, in front of a large, see-through cage containing some type of snake cryptid that Maria hadn't seen before, were the Chief, her husband, and Samantha Conley. All three of them didn't seem any worse for wear. Actually, they looked perfectly fine.
"Good, you're here." Chief Chandler said as soon as the two walked into the room. "I'll explain everything in detail later, but right now I need you to do something for me, Ortega."
"What is it?" The raven-haired teen asked.
"I need you to claim this cryptid." The brunette woman said while motioning over to the beast.
"I'm sorry?"
Hoping to get this done as soon as possible, Lucas quickly explained the situation.
"The gas that was used to knock out everyone at the party was made using the poison that this rainbow serpent produces. We can't kill it since we need it to make an antidote. And as luck would have it, you specialize in serpent-type cryptids."
Sebastian nodded his head in understanding. "I see."
"We need you to tame this monster and have it either produce more gas or an antidote. 'Poison magic' users can naturally make counteragents for whatever they make. And that's usually the case for cryptids who can use the same magical attribute as well. We need this thing to start helping all those who were put in a coma by its attack."
There was also another benefit to this plan that the Chief hoped to exploit, but they would worry about that later.
Maria paused for a moment as she gazed at the cryptid in front of her. It was truly a magnificent creature, in her opinion. A large snake with razor-sharp teeth, white scales that glisten in the light, and a mane of dark blue hair coming out of the top of its head. One that was easily thirty feet long in length. Maria had never seen this kind of creature before, which was saying something considering she knew quite a bit about snake cryptids. The young woman assumed that it must be a type that she had never heard of or one that just evolved out of a random snake or something.
The creature was currently unconscious inside the cage. But it was clear that the Chief wasn't taking any chances with it on account of the restraints that were placed all over its body that appeared to be the result of one of the other agents' 'earth magic'.
"Ortega?" The Chief then looked at the young woman with a curious gaze.
The young 'beast magic' user was doing her best to collect her thoughts right now. After all, this was the first time she had ever been put in a situation like this.
Maria had never tried to tame a cryptid that she didn't either create herself or hatch from an egg. Although the process was still the exact same no matter the creature, it was still radically different from what she was used to. Bonding with cryptids was significantly easier when the creature was either freshly born or newly created from a regular animal. Trying to claim one that was already fully grown was notoriously harder. It was the reason why so many 'beast magic' users avoided it unless they absolutely had to.
"Alright, let's do it." Maria then said, after letting out a sigh. It wasn't like she had much choice in the matter anyway. This creature would be needed to find a cure for the gas that had put a bunch of civilians in a coma.
"Excellent!" Samantha Conley clapped her hands together with a smile.
'Why the hell is she here?' Sebastian couldn't help but wonder why one of his aunts was even allowed in the building. The man assumed that she was going to help with making the antidote. It was the only reason why her presence would be necessary.
Without so much as a word, Chief Chandler walked over to the cage and released the lock on the front panel, allowing it to swing open and give everyone an unobstructed view of the creature.
Maria then let out a deep breath before walking up to the creature and holding her right hand out toward it. After a second, the woman activated her magic, and everyone watched as a stream of silver mana particles began flowing in the direction of the cryptid. However, the moment they reached the rainbow cryptid, the creature instantly woke up from its slumber and began thrashing around.
In response, Sebastian and Samantha summoned their own cryptids to serve as backup just in case the creature got loose. The bearded man's hellhounds were a familiar sight to both Lucas and the Chief; however, the woman's was notably more interesting.
Samantha Conley's companion was a massive deer-like cryptid with jet-black fur and glowing yellow eyes. The front part of its face was a brilliant shade of red, and several balls of golden 'light magic' were hovering around it.
'So, that's the red-nosed reindeer, huh?' Lucas eyed the creature with interest. He had heard about the creature before, but seeing it in person was quite the treat. The notoriously rare cryptid was known for its ability to use 'light magic' just as well as most A-rank sorcerers. On top of that, they were extremely hard to catch, even on a good day.
As the rainbow cryptid continued thrashing around inside the cage, Maria decided that it would be best not to take any chances. So, the young woman quickly summoned Ajax and Ayala to hold the thing down and keep it in place long enough for her to capture it.
The woman was glad that the creature wasn't at full strength, which meant that this was going to be relatively easy. The best method for stuff like this was to weaken the cryptid to the point where they wouldn't be able to offer up too much resistance.
After the rainbow cryptid seemed sufficiently subdued, Maria held her hand out once again and allowed her mana to flow toward it. Once the creature was fully saturated in the young woman's mana, she then condensed the mana particles around it.
The group watched as the rainbow serpent suddenly began compressing and reshaping itself, getting smaller and smaller with each passing second.
The creature struggled at first, but eventually, it was unable to withstand the force that was putting it to heel. And after a little under ten seconds had passed, the rainbow cryptid had been reformed into a dark purple, golf ball-sized sphere that now lay in the center of the cage.
With the first step now out of the way, Maria quickly walked into the middle of the cage and picked up the newly created orb. For a second, she inspected the creation to make sure that everything was in order. Once she was satisfied that everything was exactly how it was supposed to be, the young woman let out another sigh. The next step was definitely the one that she hated the most.
'And here comes the terrible part...' Maria thought to herself before bringing the orb close to her lips. 'I can't believe that I'm about to do this in front of other people. It's so awkward.'
After letting out a quick breath, Maria calmly opened her mouth before placing the orb inside of it and swallowing the thing whole by forcing it down her throat. This was the part that the young woman absolutely hated about taming new cryptids. Not only was swallowing a golf ball-sized ball of foreign mana difficult by itself, but the taste was always hit or miss. Most cryptids had an unpleasant taste that was extremely similar to the sensation of their mana. And consuming one almost always made you want to throw up.
The rainbow cryptid, unfortunately, was no different. Unlike some of her other companions, this one tasted like old onions, burnt rubber, and bleach. It was an absolutely horrible combination of flavors that only a psychopath would ever hope to enjoy. But at the very least, this one didn't taste like rotten fish and chili peppers like Ayala did. Or charred meat and rusted metal like Asmodeus.
After swallowing the orb, Maria paused for a moment as she let her body settle. It was going to take a couple of seconds before she was fully acclimated to her newest companion. For the moment, it didn't feel like she was going to throw up. So that was a positive sign that her taming had been successful. In all honesty, this was probably one of the easier ones she had to deal with.
"You good, rookie?" Sebastian asked his partner as he walked up to her.
"That tasted horrible." The young woman responded.
"Oh, I bet!" The bearded man laughed while patting Maria on the back. "That thing has 'poison magic', I can only imagine what it tasted like."
Samantha Conley then approached the two DPA agents with a smile on her face. "Still, the fact that you could tame an A-rank cryptid so easily is rather impressive. Tell me, young lady, how many do you have now?"
"Seven." Maria responded calmly. The nausea was now starting to kick in, but she was able to fold it off enough to avoid feeling dizzy.
"Impressive."
"The most I've ever heard of anyone having at one time was thirty-five." Lucas chimed in. "Theo told me that's how many Wang Jiayi was able to command when they had their big fight all those years ago."
'Oh yeah...that bitch....' Sebastian rolled his eyes at the mere mention of that world's second-ranked sorcerer. His mind then flashed back to the brief encounter he had with her a little over five years ago. Or at least, what little of it he could remember.
"Alright, Ortega, bring that cryptid back out." Chief Chandler ordered Maria after a few seconds.
With a nod, Maria did as she was told and summoned her newly acquired companion out of her body. In an instant, the now-tamed rainbow serpent was right in front of the group. Although it was a bit weird to see things in such a docile state compared to before, they were glad that they finally had it within their possession.
"What are you gonna name it?" Sebastian couldn't help but ask.
Maria hesitated for a moment as she tried to come up with an answer to that question. Everything happened so quickly that she hadn't put any thought into naming her newest addition yet. The young woman began to ponder over what to call this creature. Naming a companion was important, and she didn't want to pick something lame. So, after roughly ten seconds of thinking, she came up with something that she liked.
"Let's go with...Abzu." The woman then said. "Yeah, that sounds nice, Abzu it is."
'The Mesopotamian god of water?' Samantha Conley thought to herself while inspecting the cryptid. 'That's a pretty odd choice. But definitely not the worst I've heard.'
The newly christened Abzu let out a low hiss upon hearing its name, a sign that the group took as one of approval.
Now that the hard part was over and done with, Chief Chandler wasted no time in giving Maria her next set of instructions. With the rainbow serpent now under their control, they needed to get to work as soon as possible. And so, the Chief got her subordinate to start working with her new companion.
By the grace of the universe, Abzu was indeed able to produce a counteragent for the poison that it produced. A blessing, which meant that all of the non-sorcerers currently in the station's infirmary would be able to receive proper treatment as soon as possible. With this new revelation, Lucas and Samantha quickly got to work with the station's available 'healing magic' and 'wind magic' users to put the antidote in canisters before distributing the substance among the injured. It was going to be a while before they were able to get to everyone, but at least they now had a solution to their problem.
While all that was going on, Chief Chandler and a few of the other senior agents from the night crew quickly rounded up the two remaining thugs who were still alive and began interrogating them. With any luck, they would be able to probe the criminals for any and all information that they had.
Needless to say, it was going to be a long night for Maria. And the raven-haired woman wanted nothing more right now than to crawl back into bed as soon as possible and rest after the chaos she had just gone through.
-(o)-
[Unknown Location]
"Boss, I just got word from Hannah and her two flunkies." A man said to the person currently sitting in front of him. "The heist was successful."
"How much did they get?" A woman, the Boss, said while sipping on a glass of sweet tea.
"They were able to get about half of the merchandise that was up for sale. They did miss one key item, though."
"Hmm..." The woman put her hand up to her chin. "I suppose that's about what we expected."
"What did they miss?" Another man who was sitting on the opposite side of the room asked.
"One of the paintings that we wanted."
"That's not too bad."
"I've already sent a team to go take the merchandise off their hands. They should be there by morning."
The Boss nodded in agreement with her assistant before picking up her phone and scrolling through her contacts list. Now that the valuables they wanted were in their grasp, it was time for her to start making some phone calls. All of the buyers had already been lined up, so now it was her job to start hocking off everything they were able to get. If all went well, they should be able to get rid of everything by the end of the week after they returned to their base of operations.
"So, what do you want to do with the little ice bitch and her friends?" Another woman, one who was sitting directly next to the boss, asked.
"We'll give her what she wants for now." The Boss replied. "Hannah and her group still have their uses. Besides, she still has one more job to complete before we're completely done with her."
"Are you talking about that little 'tree magic' brat?"
The Boss nodded before continuing. "Yes. It's about time we make our move on Cyrus Moore and Desmond Reed. I still have yet to work out how exactly we're going to deal with Desmond, but I'm confident in how things will play out once Hannah gets her hands on Cyrus. Once she's done with him, that's when I'll approach him."
"I still say this plan is too risky." The Boss's assistant folded his arms over his chest. "I get that we need him alive and in one piece for our plan, but are we really going to recruit him?"
"High risk, high reward. Besides, if what our associate told me about his 'tree magic' is true, then we won't be able to force him into doing what we want. We can't take any half-measures with the creation of the World Tree. All the time we spent working on this plan will have been a waste otherwise."
"Whatever you say, Boss." The man at the far corner of the room sighed while folding his arms behind his back.
That seemed to be the end of the conversation. So, with that, the Boss, along with the rest of her Iznana operatives went back to doing what they were before receiving the good news. The pieces of their plan were beginning to fall into place, and it was only a matter of time before all of their hard work would be paid off. Their goal was now fully within their grasp. And nothing was going to stop them from seeing this through to the end.
Too many sacrifices had been made to get them this far. So failing at such a crucial juncture was not an option for them. Once this was all over, the world will change. And the Boss will go down in history as the one who turned this disgusting world into a paradise for all sorcerers across the globe.
Until that time, though, all they could do now was sit and wait for their time to come. And once it did, nothing will ever be the same.