Crackshot Rookie, Episode 2: The Chrono Saints

[Police Girl]

I hope Master Sanzo doesn't end up needing a mechanic any time soon, because he might be in for a bad surprise.

The wry thought crossed the woman's mind as she flew through the air, one hand resting on the wheel, the other arm resting on the door, her head leaning on her hand as she dodged the other traffic in the air. The leather seats had made the long trip from East City to West City a bit more comfortable, and the air conditioning had been a blessing over the Diablo Desert. She had ended up doing a pit stop in Spice Colony for a bit of fast food, however. How anyone managed to live in the middle of the freaking desert, she wasn't sure, but the people there were pretty nice. The only reason she knew it was there was because of the monks at the Orin Temple. They had mentioned something about the colonists not being fond of visitors, but they had seemed fine with a visitor who had only been there for less than an hour, just long enough to get something to eat and go. The people there sort of reminded her demons, the humanoid type, except their eyes were too normal and they were far too religious for it. It was mostly the ears that always made her wonder. Still, it wasn't her place to pry, and she had thanked them for the food, paid, and left.

As long as it works for them.

The rest of the journey had been uneventful... Until she had seen her sister's house. A bit of a proud woman, Seras was determined to live life on her own means, and not on her family's tail coats. Sure, it was nice to be rich and to have a safety net, but she wanted to be able to do things on her own. Hence it was that she only lived in a small apartment and only lived on the salary she recieved as a police officer. About the only charity she willingly took on a regular basis was the occasional meal at Shangri-La. As it was, she couldn't afford to buy a condo, let alone a house... Or two. Her family, however, had various little summer homes or condos here and there, including West City. Not wanting to talk to the dragon her family, the matriarch who always seemed to be disappointed in Seras's career path and lack of promotions, she had instead called up her sister, asking if she had the keys to the family condo in West City still. She needed a place to stay, as much as it irked her that she was doing exactly what her Chief told her to. While Yanma didn't have the keys to it anymore, she did own a small property in the city.

Yanma enjoys luxuries to the max, and I insist on living on ramen and cheap donuts. How does this not surprise me?

Still, at least it was a place to stay... Until she had seen the property.

Seras pushed the memory from her mind, shuddering as she switched hands on the wheel to turn up the music. She was stuck in the pink monstrosity and there was no turning back.. She would just have to make sure no one that she was working with in this city saw that horrendous disaster. Reaching over, she picked up the soda she had bought from a fast food joint on her way out of the pink bitch, taking a long drink.

It was her first day in West City, and she wasn't sure to make of it. Already, it seemed a bit crazier then East City. Maybe it was the proximity of the famous Temple, but things just seemed... smaller, quieter. It probably didn't help that Capsule Corp was located in West City.

Ironic. I was just thinking how weird it is to see anyone from Capsule Corp. That caused her mind to drift back to the events a few days ago, at Orin Temple, and the odd earthquakes that had occured. Whatever was going on didn't seem good, but Master Sanzo had to have it in hand. She had already been re-assigned, and couldn't help them.

Doubt whatever they're doing anyways has anything to do with why the demons are going nuts, anyways.

The station came into view and she turned out of the main airway, diving down to the parking lot. The silver hovercraft she drove was one of the only splurges that she had, besides her guns. It had been a graduation gift, and one that not many people knew she had. Most of the time, she just drove her patrol car. For the long trip, however, she had opted for mileage and comfort. Plus, the boss wanted her to make a good impression.. So whatever. She'd show off the silver monstrosity.

Oh who was she kidding? She loved her car.

Landing easily in the lot, Seras climbed out of the car, looking around before shutting the door and hitting the alarm. The blonde wore a blood-red tanktop with spagetti straps over her torso, jeans resting on her long legs. Over one arm was the blue top to her militia outfit. Sighing, she shrugged it on and tugged it straight over her torso, attempting to make herself look at least a bit professional. Reaching back, she pulled her blonde hair back into a low tail, getting it out of her face before she strode inside.

A moment later, she was saluting the captain of the E.S.P. division.

"I'm sorry to drop in so early, but I made better time then I expected, and my orders were to report in as soon as I arrived."

The captain gestured for her to take a seat. "It's quite all right. It might even better this way, it gives us more time to get you situated." As she took a seat, blinking her blue eyes at him, he reached for the phone. "This will be the perfect time for you to meet your partners."

"What squad am I joining, sir?" She asked, sitting straight in the seat and trying to not look like a complete dork.

"None." At her look of confusion, he hid a flash of amusement. "I'm pairing you with one of our contract detective groups." He began to dial a number in the phone.

"The Chrono Sage Investigation. Don't worry. You'll still be on salary."

[Zanafar]

The past few days had been surprisingly busy for the duo. In the span of three days since their bout with the Hezrou and Kyton, they had to deal with six more incidents of youkai running amok within the city; 'they' meaning 'Zan'. He was the one primarily doing the demon slaying while his partner sat at the sidelines. Granted, he alone sufficed to deal with the youkai threats but it would have been nice to switch places for once and let Fii do all the dirty work.

Now, third day in the job and they were called in to pay the Chief a visit. Whether that meant good news or bad news was anyone's guess. It was rare for the duo to get called to his office unless they really fucked something up or they fell behind on the mountains of red tape they often neglect to finish. Though with the amount of missions they've managed to complete and not cause much collateral damage, maybe they were going to get some medals?

Zan chuckled at the thought as he let his eyes gaze forward at his rather jubilant partner as she walked ahead in an upbeat manner. Apparently she was in a good mood. Earlier they had lunch at a homely burger joint that served tasty, fresh burgers and fries. Aside from that, not much transpired. It was Fii who answered the phone and told him that they were going to see the Chief pronto. If she had reason to be happy then it might just be good news after all.

As he continued to watch her, he noticed that her ahoge was pointing forward and move from left to right like some sort of dowsing rod. At the sudden realization of what it meant, Zan couldn't help but facepalm and groan inwardly.

It first started out as a running gag between the two, Fii's ahoge had an uncanny knack of reacting to the presence of stupid, idiotic, or naive people who could be easily fooled or made fun of. It was a silly ability that they've both dubbed as Fii's Aho-dar, 'Stupid-(Ra)dar' that let Fii preemptively know if the people she encounters are exploitable. Despite how absurd it may sound, Zan had to admit that her 'Aho-dar' was pretty accurate most of the time.

When they finally entered the Chief's office, he was at his usual chair while also in the room with them was a young cute blond girl who Zan had no recollection of seeing before. Nonetheless, he offered a friendly smile towards her way and bowed his head slightly in greeting.

I wonder if she's his niece or secretary? One glance towards his partner and he could see that her 'Aho-dar' was pointing towards the blond girl's direction. He also caught sight of Fii's intrigued look briefly before she turned her gaze towards the Chief and saluted.

Zan followed suit and saluted before going back at ease. The Chief didn't look angry and there wasn't a big pile of papers nearby so there must be some good news in store for them.

"What can we do for you today, Chief?"

[Police Girl]

The captain made a brief call, talking to someone who was named Fee or something. After hanging up, he turned to her, and told her that her new partners were on their way in.

In the time that it took the two detectives to arrive at the station, Seras had been holding an extensive conversation with the captain. Though he had her file in the computer, he wanted to hear from her about her skills and strengths. She in turn asked him questions and began to get a better idea of who her temporary boss was. He was blunt, almost to a fault. But his answers and responses were genuine. He gave her suggestions, and also seemed interested in the fights that she had under her belt.

She also came to realize that this man could probably get anything out of anyone. She wondered if the force used him to interrogate prisoners. He was prying more out of her then others, and had almost caused her to slip on a few things that she never wanted to think about again.

The conversation, thankfully, had turned to her weapons and skills when the receptionist buzzed him and told him that the two contract detectives were on their way in. And just under a minute later, two people walked in. Seras turned her gaze to them, blue eyes blinking once before she quickly studied them. A seemingly human woman- She couldn't immediately spot any limiters, which were usually metal cuffs used as jewelery- and an anthromorphic humanoid. The woman was pretty, though she seemed rather quiet. Her hair was dark, and there was a strand that she swore was pointing at her. The man seemed pretty easy looking, even as he saluted the captain with the woman.

"It took you long enough." The captain- Apparently 'Chief' to them- said to them, though he didn't seem angry, only brusque and maybe a bit amused. "It's not about a job... Yet. I wouldn't be surprised if you had your hands full in an hour. No, this time I have good news. Zanafar, Fii, I want you meet Officer Seras Li."

Taking that as a cue, the blond rose to her feet and salute the two smartly. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

The captain bridged his fingers. "Li is on loan to us from East City. Because of East City's low paranormal attacks, they have no true E.S.P. unit. Instead, regular officers such as Li handle the attacks. She's going to be aiding you on your contracts as long-range and heavy artillery support." Giving both detectives a knowing look- Oh he knew them very well- he gestured to Seras, who immediately dropped back into the 'At ease' position. "She's a bit green, but the chief of the East City police force is a jackass who loses to me in cards every time we play. And she's the only help we're getting. For god's sake, don't scare her off."

The look on Seras's face was almost priceless, as she both wondered if she should be insulted, and if she should be worried.

The captain was kind, however, and didn't mention that her family would raise political hell if someone killed off the oldest of their rich family. "Don't worry about your paychecks, she's under my payroll. It won't be affecting your contracts at all. Now unless you have some questions, get going and go play like good children. I've got a pile-" There was a glint in his eye as he gazed hard at the two detectives. "-of paperwork to do for some reason."

It might sound like he didn't like them but the captain actually was very fond of them. He was just a brusque asshole that liked twisting their arms sometimes.

[Fii]

Her 'Aho-dar' was definitely reacting to the new recruit...well, maybe not exactly a recruit but an outside help. The possibility of having someone new to troll and pick on was a welcome change from the troublesome missions they've been going through for the past few days. Fii wasn't expecting to get more help from other divisions in the form of a girl though. Normally it would be some stick-in-the-mud middle-aged veteran trying to give her orders or act like a know-it-all. Nope, Fii's looking at a normal, albeit cute blond girl that was suppose to be a long range specialist and...

Fii took a casual glance at Seras' chest and immediately glared daggers for a microsecond before looking back at the Chief. Great, now she had to team up with a girl with a nice figure and big boobs. Though she was never one to concern herself with petty girlish vanities, she had a secret complex with breast sizes. Ever since her high school days, she was always on the receiving end of ridicule from her female peers. They've always flaunted their figures and proportions while making fun of hers.

So now Ms. Cow cop is going to team up with them. Fii glanced at Zan, seeing his usual calm expression.

If he ever says anything to compare me with her...

Shrugging off her displeasure, she mustered a friendly smile towards Seras.

"We'll be under your care, Seras-chan. My name is Fiia Callahan, but you can just call me Fii." She bowed her head slightly in respect.

"Zanafar, or Zan if you'd prefer. Well met," Zan offered a friendly smile.

New recruit aside, Fii had another reason to come and talk to the Chief face-to-face. The sudden rise of demonic activities was troubling her more than she let on. If the big heads of E.S.P. knew anything about it, she needed to know as well.

"Chief, does anyone in E.S.P. know the cause of all the youkai cases lately? It can't be all coincidental."

The Chief could relate to their concern, he didn't like being out of the loop on vital information regarding important matters. Unfortunately, there wasn't much to go on and they wouldn't like his answer.

"Unfortunately you know just as much as I do, Fii. Something is happening that is causing many youkai to act aggressively. Aside from that, we don't know much else. I will relay any information that E.S.P. has gathered as soon as possible though, don't worry about it. For now, just continue putting out fires until otherwise noted."

"Yes, sir." Fii sighed. It wasn't unexpected that they wouldn't know the cause.

"Chief, a question. Did you mention to officer Li about our...abilities?" Zan asked in a subtle way.

Oh yeah... If they had to work closely with an officer outside the E.S.P., it would cause some complications for them if they had to use magic in their presence. There was always a catch when they decide to be flashy in front of what Mages call Sleepers. Accumulation of Paradox. Long explanations aside, using magic around those who don't believe in it was risky for Mages like Fii and Zan.

The Chief merely shook his head 'no' which meant that it was up to them to convey any ground rules that may follow. Oh well, hopefully they can get by with subtle magic, unless the recruit was a 'Sleepwalker.'

[Police Girl]

Poor Seras was completely unaware that she was now going to be the target of many, many trolling moments, and basically hell. And she was also unaware that her... assets were going to cause trouble between her and the other female. Frankly, if she could, she'd give the damn things to her. Large breasts had never helped her. In fact, they were a big pain in the ass...

When the woman, Fii, mentioned being under her care, the blond officer scratched her head a bit sheepishly before she stopped herself and clasped her hands behind her back. "I'll try to not let you both down." She said, giving them both a bow.

With that out of the way, she fell silent, listening to them as she spoke. The rise in activity, slowly over the past few months, and much more progressive in recent weeks, had been noticed by East City as well. Her frequent patrols at the temple had divulged information, but mostly speculation, and very little that seemed to pertain to the situation. It was comforting and troubling at the same time to know that West City was at a loss as well.

Something was off about Zanafar's question but she shrugged it off. Whatever it was, she would figure it out later. She was certain that once she knew what it was, she'd adapt, whether it was bombs or running in with machine guns or some other weird tactics. All she had to do was point and shoot, after all.

They'd be in for a bit of a time with her. When questioned about it, Seras declared that she didn't really believe in magic all that much. But the truth was, she believed in it. She just didn't want to admit it. It reminded her too much of what had occurred when she was seventeen.

Plus, it'd be ridiculous for someone who fought against demons to not believe in magic. Or someone really stubborn and stupid.

"Is there something I should know?" Seras asked innocently, inviting herself to all kinds of trouble. In fact, the captain even hid a wince at the opening for trouble. The officer blinked again before looking at the captain, then the detectives.

"And East City doesn't know either. Even the monks don't know what's going on... I've heard Master Sanzo, the head of the Orin Temple, make a mention of it as well..." She paused, wondering if she should remark on the strange things she had been overhearing by complete accident. After a moment, she mentally shrugged it off.

"I think he's looking into as well. So... What now?"

[Houmei the Hateful]

"Well, you can start by checking out whatever the hell is going on in Dream Land." A voice piped up as one of the employees poked her head in after hurriedly opening the door without a knock. She looked a picture of confusion and worry. New person in the room or not, she didn't hesitate to let them know what she had just been called about. It was bound to wind up plastered all over the news at any moment anyway.

"...I'm sorry, you need to calm down, sis..." What had been expected as a personal call from her sibling had been more like an emergency call. Her sister was frantic at first and her words fell over one another as she talked in a hurry. After being asked to calm down, she did just a little but the stress in her voice was still very evident.

"There was some creepy, smiling...thing that killed an employee coming into the park. So some cops arrived...And he killed them, and now the dead people are running around the theme park!"

If the other woman on the other end of the line hadn't sounded so serious on top of the screaming in the background, then she might have dismissed it as some silly joke. "Look, I'll let the captain know and we'll send someone down. In the meantime, get the hell out of there before you wind up the same way." After hanging up on the call, she rushed back into the building from where she had been taking break to arrive at the office.

"Apparently some 'creepy smiling' weirdo is killing people in the park and the people he killed are bouncing up and running amok like zombies, if I had to take a guess. Not sure if it's a demon but we can't have undead all over the place any more then them..."

[Zanafar]

The Chief was no stranger to surprises, especially when supernatural troubles were involved. Normally, protocol demanded certain procedures were to be followed in such an event, but this was neither the time nor place for them. Any situation that involved Dream Land or other high profile areas where an abundant amount of casualties could arise were prioritized. The Chief was already dialing on the phone to get in contact with other E.S.P. agents he can reroute to help.

"Zanafar, Fii, go! Take Seras with you and deal with whoever is causing this."

"Seras-san, let's go. Did you bring any equipment with you? If you didn't, we'll have to go to the armory first before heading out. Fii-"

"I'll have the portal up and ready in three minutes. I'll place it at the doorway near the armory." Fii was already out the door.

Zan nodded and looked back at Seras. Whether or not she brought equipment with her, they were leaving in three minutes sharp. There was no time to ease the newcomer in or get to know her work ethics better. Any situation involving Dream Land was had to be remedied ASAP. Zanafar followed suit and exited the office, bidding Seras to follow him.

"Sorry, Seras-san. I know it's sudden but you'll have to trust our methods. We have less than three minutes to prepare so grab your gear quickly so we can head out. If you have it stored in capsules then all the better." Zan himself already brought his sword with him. With what's been happening for the past few days, it wasn't worthwhile not to keep his weapon on his person.

"Fii is placing a portal on the doorway near our armory. Once she's done that, just step through it and you'll be at the amusement park. When we get there, we'll help with evacuating the civilians if needed otherwise we'll dispatch any threats that are around."

As he walked in a hurried pace, he willed his Life Arcanum magic to strengthen the resilience of his flesh, enhancing his skin to become as durable as steel. No outward changes seem to suggest otherwise, but it was all happening at a cellular level. One his defense was manifested, he invoked another magic to increase his strength and agility to superhuman levels.

Unlike Fii, he could only maintain four spells at once, mostly thanks to his stamina. That left him with two other spells he could continuously maintain. He'll have to provide magical protection for Seras as well. Since they didn't know what kind of demon, if that, was wrecking havoc at the park, he didn't want to risk being unprepared.

Unfortunately, having to use magic in such a highly populated area caused some problems for magic users such as him and Fii. Having to watch over a recruit who might not be accustomed to seeing magic was also problematic. Paradox caused by disbelief was a constant obstacle for mages to overcome.

Oh well, we'll just have to wing it like we always do. Which reminds me...

He might as well head to the armory so he could borrow headsets so they could communicate with each other.

[Police Girl]

So much for getting there a day early to get to know her new team.

Then again, what better way to get to know them than in real combat? I just hope I don't disappoint them... The thought flew through Seras's mind as she listened to the worker that had interrupted the conversation in the office. Not that anyone blamed her. Seras herself was already looking sharply at the captain before giving him a nod, turning to Zanafar and Fii immediately.

"I-" Before she could reply to Zanafar, Fii spoke, causing her to blink her blue eyes at the woman. Portal? Like... magic? She only thought about it for a moment before focusing, following Zanafar, almost right on his heels as she reached down, already opening up the pouches on the belt around her hips. The first capsule was the one that held the plain, worn and yet well cared-for pistol, as well as a shoulder harness to carry it. The busty blonde pulled the brown leather over her torso, tightening the straps as needed and sliding the gun into place.

"Pistol, sniper rifle, and, if things get back, heavy artillery. Get me a vantage point, and I can hit anything." It wasn't even boasting. One of the few things Seras was good at was with her rifle. "If we need the heavy, I'm going to need time to set it up, and you're going to need to be prepared to get out of the way. Hopefully it doesn't come to that, property damage is a bloody bitch." The young officer answered quickly and honestly, getting straight to the point. "I don't have any armor on me, unfortunately, other then my helmet."

Which reminded her. She put away her empty capsule and reached for another one, cracking it open. One of the downsides of using rifles or heavy was that normal headsets tended to have horrible feedback. And then there was the lovely spots of deafness. The helmet was noise cancelling, granting her protection from the detonation of her guns, and doubled as her own communicator. To avoid killing the hearing of her allies, the communicator was touch sensitive instead of sound sensitive, or just always on. For the moment, she left the helmet off, since she needed to hear him. "If you've got a frequency for communicators or headsets, let me know so I can tune my own into it."

Seras hesitated for a moment as she followed him. Finally, after a second or two, she voiced her thoughts. "You said portal.. Like magic? Is that what you meant when you asked the captain... You know what. Forget it. Just tell me to run and I'll jump. I'll just wonder what I'm jumping over later." Closing her eyes, she did something that she frequently found herself doing nowadays.

Time to suspend skeptism and do my fuckin' job.

[Zanafar]

Zan glanced over at Seras' helmet before snagging two headsets in the armory. Seems like she was adequately prepared for sudden missions. It was a good sign of being an experienced officer, in his book.

"We'll be using 519.20 as our frequency. Set it before we go through the portal." After placing a headset over his left ear, he dialed in the channel and did the same for the other headset. At Seras' mention of not having any armor, Zan placed a hand on her shoulder and began to invoke his Life Arcanum spell that enhanced the target's flesh. Normally, any strong aversion to being affected would immediately cause the spell to not work. However, he'll have to trust in Seras' to trust him in some degree.

"Don't worry about body armor. I'm going to place a spell on you that'll make your skin become tougher than steel. It's called Organic Resilience. Your skin will tingle for a second and you might feel like you're wearing a skin suit but you'll feel normal again after a minute. It'll only last for a couple of hours but don't think that you'll be invulnerable."

As they got to the doorway next to the armory, Fii was already finishing up her spell. A faint line of energy traced the doorway and the very space between it started to ripple and distort, like a sheet of water was blanketed over it.

"Yep, like magic," He found simple answers to be best in these types of situation. Leave the details for a later date. "Fii and I are both mages specializing in different aspects. Long story short, whatever you see us do, just go with it. If we tell you to do something that might seem crazy, just trust us on it."

"The portal is ready. Go in, it'll only last twelve seconds. I'll go in last." Fii stepped to the side.

What was an empty lounge room on the other side of the doorway was replaced by the image of a clean alleyway between two buildings and a giant Ferris wheel in the distance. Zan nodded and stepped through the doorway, appearing on the other side, in Dream Land.

"You're turn. And if we tell you that it wasn't us that did things...just go with it." Fii gave Seras' a thumbs up before beckoning her through.

[Police Girl]

Really, Seras had learned from the best to be prepared. She had a good example to follow, a memory that was too strong to stray away from. But that was a thought for another, and another time.

"519.20. Got it." Seras responded as she turned the helmet in her hand, pulling up the control panel, her fingers flickering across the surface as she keyed in the code. Before she could do anything else, however, Zanafar had placed a hand on her shoulder. She lifted her eyes to him and blinked at him before-

What was that?

Even as he spoke, she looked down at herself, quickly turning her hand over and peeking down the inside of her coat as if expecting to see something on her skin. At the sight of nothing, however, she blinked up at him, chewing on her lip for a moment before nodding. "... Got it. Tingle, I'll feel normal, but I'll have a bit of protection... Bit different then what I'm used to do, but I can deal."

His next explanation was also one that was easy for her to accept. Lifting a hand, she flicked him a jaunty salute. "Listening to orders is something I can do easily. You call the shots."

There wasn't muhc time for her to say anything else. Her blue eyes flickered to Fii, studying her for a second before nodding and returning the gesture. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and ducked through the portal.

It felt like a sheet of water was coursing over her skin for just a split second. But water didn't have a strange tingle over her skin. Shaking off the feeling, she opened her eyes-

... What the hell?

Seras stared at the zombies that were... shuffling around at the food stands and operating the rides. There were also zombies wandering free, but...

...

Why the hell were they operating the stands and rides? What kind of sick mind was behind this?