JUST MINUTES EARLIER, JACKIE STOOD ALONE IN THE STREET, SURROUNDED BYENEMIES. She took them out one by one, prioritizing the Dread Hunters with firearms, dispatching them with sharp, precise shots to the head. Once they were down, she shifted to the remaining attackers, dismantling them with swift and decisive blows.
Then the ground began to shake.
Cups and plates rattled on the abandoned café tables. Jackie paused, heart ticking faster—just as a dumpster came crashing down from above.
She leapt aside, narrowly avoiding it.
As she landed, her eyes locked on the Dread Hunter now blocking her path—and for the first time all morning, she felt a flicker of alarm. This one was massive, nearly seven feet tall, his bulk wrapped in stained armor and a leather gas mask covering his face.
"Well, well, well," came a voice from behind the towering figure, smooth and mocking, "you just keep finding yourself in police business, don't you?"
The speaker stepped into view, calm and confident.
Jackie narrowed her eyes. "Commander Fortier. Chief Nkosi and I were starting to wonder where you'd gotten off to. Turns out our concern was misplaced—you weren't missing. You were switching sides."
She'd done her homework on Eric Fortier. Dug into his file back at Crescent Parish PD. He'd graduated at the top of his class, but his academy records were stained with quiet red flags—notes from the department psychologist that hinted at volatility, signs no one followed up on. Under normal circumstances, someone like him wouldn't have made it past sergeant. But the kingdom was short on manpower. Standards slipped.
"Siding with Dread Hunters now, are we?" Jackie asked, studying the hulking figure in front of her. "Good God. Who gave birth to you?"
Goliath didn't flinch. His voice rumbled from behind the gas mask.
"My mother."
"That was a rhetorical question," Jackie quipped. "But what was she—a dump truck? Giving birth to you must've been one rough pregnancy."
"Aaah! Don't talk about Goliath's mother!" Goliath shrieked, his voice cracking with sudden rage.
Goliath stomped the ground like a child throwing a tantrum. His boots thundered against the pavement as he looked around wildly—until his eyes landed on the only car left on the street.
Shuffling over, he planted himself behind it. Metal groaned beneath his grip as his massive fingers dented the frame. With a deep grunt, he squatted, leaned back, and managed to lift the entire vehicle off the ground. He started spinning, faster and faster, building momentum like a discus thrower—but the weight proved too much. Losing his balance, Goliath let go too early.
The car soared—not toward Jackie, but wildly off course—hurtling through the air straight for the second story of the hotel.
Inside, Commander LaCroix leaned out the window, calling down, "Don't worry, we're coming to back you–"
"Get back!" Jackie shouted.
The car exploded through the hotel window, smashing into the room LaCroix had just appeared from.
"Aaah, that was meant for you!" Goliath bellowed, voice wheezing beneath his gas mask. Still reeling from the failed throw, he roared again and charged Jackie with reckless fury.
The massive Dread Hunter moved with startling agility—faster than Jackie expected for someone his size. She barely managed to sidestep as he came barreling in, the shock of his speed throwing off her rhythm.
She didn't have time to check if LaCroix was okay. All she could do was dodge and bark out her frustration. "What business do you have being that big and moving that fast?!"
Goliath gave no answer. Instead, he ripped a lamppost from the ground with a guttural roar and swung it like a club. Jackie leapt and twisted through the air as the heavy post whooshed past her. Each missed swing left destruction in its wake—café tables splintered, potted plants from the floral shop burst into fragments, and a mailbox sailed through the bakery window with a crash.
As Jackie danced around Goliath's wild, brute-force strikes, Commander Fortier strolled into view, his voice low and cold.
"You know," he began, "it'll be a real shame."
He stepped over broken glass and debris, hands clasped behind his back like he was giving a tour.
"By the time backup arrives, it'll all be over. You'll be dead. So will these other Dread Hunters. And Goliath? Long gone."
His smirk returned, razor-thin and hollow.
"I'll have to report back, of course. I'll tell them my men were killed during the transfer. And how I stumbled upon a helpless woman in the street, fighting for her life. I tried to save you, Jackie. Fought off as many of those bastards as I could but by the time it was all said and done, your poor little heart had given out."
Goliath finally managed to grab hold of Jackie. With one massive hand, he hurled her into the air like she weighed nothing. His other hand was already in motion, swinging the lamp post with impeccable timing.
Jackie barely had time to brace herself before the metal struck.
The blow sent her crashing through the front of an antique shop, glass and debris exploding around her as she disappeared into the wreckage.
"That's it!" Fortier called out, his voice full of unnerving delight as he praised Goliath. "Well done!"