[scikaiju]

“The Rider has been reborn,” once the raiding party returned that particular bit of news spread like a fire in a dry forest. Even overshadowing the fact that the party was short one member. That was something their ruler was keenly aware of. Mainly out of disgust as it was the one he hand picked to lead the invasion. After making some headway to break the spell the very words “The Rider'' had over his people. And that idiot died by another one, stating it all over again. If it was any of the others it could have been manageable, but no it had to be him that went and got himself killed.

Still he had to try and smother that spark before it grew into a roaring flame. Before him one of that party kneeled in front of him, eyes diverted out of respect. “Was it the same Rider as before?”

“He was different than the stories say,” he answered, still keeping his head lowered. “He seemed younger than the one who died. And his armor seemed different as well.” He looked over to the Priestess. Just like he told her, there was one already ready to take the mantle when the old one died.

“What,” he said slowly, keeping his gaze on the Priestess for a moment longer, “did this one call himself?” It was a long shot but perhaps if he could drive the point home that this wasn’t the same Rider they had been fearing.

“A voice called him Kamen Rider Aegis my lord.” The kneeling one only looked up when he heard a collective gasp from the others. When he did the hand of their lord clamped itself around his neck. Barely having any time to react he was immediately forced up into the air. Struggling to get free he looked at the furious look of their king as he held him in the air.

“What did you say?”, he demanded as the man struggled to breath in his grip.

“My lord,” the Priestess spoke, but not daring to get any closer. “He can not speak if he draws no air.” He looked at her but didn’t release the one he was choking. Finally he opened his hands and the man dropped to the floor sucking in air like it was going out of style.

“Out!”, their lord shouted as he stormed back over to his throne. As he sat his followers were already scrambling to get out of the cavern. A couple of the braver ones helped the one he was choking to his feet and out of t his sight. Before too long he was practically all alone. Except the Priestess remained, along with his guards.

“That name,” she cautiously said. “It is one of ours. It was the name….”

“I know who’s name it was,” he snarled. “If the humans think they can insult us, insult me by using that name. Then they are sorely mistaken. All they have done is strengthen my resolve to make them grovel at my feet. Leave me witch,” he demanded. Without another word she exited to her hidden alcove.

Sitting there he clutched at the stone armrests, knuckles going white. Finally his grip relaxed and he slumped into his throne. “Aegis,” he whispered. They would pay for using that name.

***
This was going to be a nightmare. Nate stood there to the side as the director and the others watched the body cam footage of the armor's debut fight. He knew this was going to happen, he was told this was going to be a regular thing going forward. Was it annoying? Hell yes, but he understood the reasoning behind it. Dad had a slight tendency to leave things out of his reports and the board wanted as complete a picture as possible after all encounters, they had people to answer too as well. Nate was fully prepared to give his perspective on those encounters. But not like this. Not even in his wildest dreams did he think it would have gone down like this. Because that wasn't him in the armor.

Once the footage was over with the lights came back on. While he and the board members stared at each other the computer A.I. decided to speak up, "On a positive note, the armor worked as predicted." There were several groans as Nate glanced up at the ceiling speaker the voice came from and rolled his eyes. "Based on your reactions that wasn't the best time to try and lighten the mood."

"Very observant," the director said before returning that frosty gaze toward him one more time. Nate stood there and took it, resisting the urge to stare back. That was a dad move and now was not the time. Finally she said, "Captain, would you please explain how your brother activated the rider system."/

He wished he knew that answer himself. But 'I don't know' wasn't going to exactly work, and she was still expecting an answer. "I used the key tag as instructed. I assume the driver was still active when he picked it up."

"Captain Cole," she said while leaning forward, "I mean how did he know how to use the driver."

He was afraid that was what she meant. "Honestly ma'am. We both knew how the previous driver worked before I signed on." Like he thought that caused a lot of hushed talking among the board.

All of them except the director of course. She just sat there staring at him from behind steepled fingers. "From your father I suppose."

"That would be correct ma'am," he replied. "Dad made sure that all of us, mom, Marcus and myself, understood exactly what was happening. We told no one of course, he always stressed that this was to be kept absolutely quiet because it could cause a panic."

"Which it did once the news stations took the feed live," one of the other board members spoke up.

"Did he teach the two of you to perform the Lightning Buzzsaw as well?", She demanded. Everything was there in the report. Nate knew at least one of his men reported that he told Marcus how to activate the finisher.

"He taught me," he told them. "Marcus only knew the move because dad didn't want him to feel left out." And dad probably figured he would have shown Marcus anyway.

"How sweet of him," she said dryly. “So why tell him ,how to perform that particular move if he already knew how to do it?””

"He knew how to execute the kick," he explained, " not how to activate the special ability the driver puts behind it. Given the situation it seemed prudent to explain how to activate it.”

One of the board members raised their hand. Actually raised their hand like they were in a classroom. “What situation was that Captain Cole?”

“As you know sir,” he said to the gentleman, “based on our observation from the previous invasion the Cryptids seem to follow a single leader in battle.”

“Which is why ,” the director cut in, “we made it a priority to identify that leader as quickly as possible and eliminate them as soon as possible.”

He nodded, “As demonstrated once he is eliminated the one he was fighting the others lost the will to continue the battle. Given how the other Cryprids were watching the fight with Marcus and the one,” he took a deep breath before continuing, "who claimed to have murdered our father, it was a natural assumption.”

“One that luckily paid off,” the director said. “While I disapprove of how the operation went, nor do I approve of you brother using the driver. You are damn lucky things turned out like they did. Not to mention that he surrendered the driver back to you without any complications.”

“Yes ma’am,” was all he could say.

“However the good doctor has yet to finish his diagnosis on the QScan driver, once that is done hopefully we’ll have some answers about those hiccups that you and your men reported. Until that report comes in, consider this meeting dismissed.”

“Yes ma’am,” he salited her and the others in the room before turning toward the door and exiting.

Once out in the hallway he went a few yards before letting out a breath, “Whew.” That could have been so much worse. But hiccup was an interesting way to destine the driver announcing a completely different name after Marcus used it, or how he was able to use it at all without that key tag they insisted was needed. The board might be anticipating that report, but Nate doubted they were anticipating it as much as he was.

***
“So how much trouble did I cause you?”, Marcus asked. He was talking to Nate over the phone. If that bastard was telling the truth then he had no problem doing what he did. But the last thing he wanted was to get his brother in hot water.

“I got a talking to,” Nate said, “but given the circumstances it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. But seriously Marcus what the hell were you thinking?”

Rubbing the back of his neck he was embarrassed as he said. “Honestly I wasn’t.” Nate snorted over the line. “When he started talking about killing dad…I didn’t realize what I was doing until after it happened.”

“You’d have to, but believe me bro I understand, I felt my blood start to boil too after he said it. How’s Kat handling all of this?”

He looked over his shoulder at the door to Maddie’s bedroom. She has been in there for a while now. “I’m not sure yet. I explained what I could, but she still looked at me like I was crazy.”

“That’s because you are crazy,” Nate told him. Despite everything that went down Marcus was grateful for the joke.

“Well I haven’t seen the guys with the funny coat that ties in the back yet. So I think I’m good.”

“Marcus,” Nate said after a bit. “When you activated the armor, did it feel weird? Like it was fighting against you or something?”

“No,” he said slowly, that was a weird thing to ask. “Things were happening so fast I didn’t really notice anything.”

“Hmm,” he heard Nate mutter. “Well either way you’re damn lucky you weren’t killed doing it.”

“Kat has mentioned that,” he said. Looking back at the door briefly he added, “Several times since we got home. You still coming over for dinner on Thursday? I mean given everything that’s happened.”

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world man. Like you said there’s a niece I have to get to know” Marcus smiled slightly, just at the idea of Nate interacting with a baby. He had to remember to have a camera ready. “But,” he added, “I might have to leave early.”

“Hopefully that doesn’t happen. I remember dad telling us about his run-ins with them. How much do you think they changed since then?”

“Well so far they’re acting like expected based on those reports but we’ll see. Look man I better go. I need to dive into those reports and see what dad left out or I’d forgotten. And there are a lot of reports of those battles.”

“Remember when we were in high school and thought we’d be done with homework after we got out?” Marcus chuckled and Nate joined in. “Okay Nate, I’ll let you hit the books. We’ll see you Thursday.” Ending the call he turned when he heard Kat finally come out of Maddie’s room. She sat on the couch as he told her, “Nate says hi.”

She just sat there looking at the floor. This was a new reaction coming from her, so he sat down on the other end. Finally she said, “How long have those things been around?”

“They're not sure,” he answered. “Honestly, if dad explained it I’d probably zoned it out.” Reaching out he took her hand. “Look I’d be lying if I said I wanted to tell you about those things. But I didn’t want to think about it at all unless I had to. Even if I did, would you have believed me?”

“I’m not sure if I believe it now and I saw it with my own eyes,” Kat admitted. Then she started looking a bit dubious again, “And your dad told you and Nate about them since you were kids?”

Yeah, he said leaning back, “We both knew the deal while we were still in elementary school. Other kids had to worry about the Boogeyman, we had Cryptids.” Gesturing toward their daughter’s room Marcus told her, “She’s just going to have the Boogeyman if I have any say about it.”

“If you’re expecting an argument you’re going to be disappointed.” Kat moved closer and snuggled up against him. “I honestly thought we were going to die today,” he put an arm around her and started rubbing her arm.”Honestly I knew we weren’t going to see Maddie again.”

“Hey,” he said squeezing her a little tighter, “we didn’t die, Maddie’s in her room we’re all good”

“You didn’t know that then,” she said getting out of his grip. “Marcus people were dying around us and I’m not sure how we’re still alive. Weren’t you afraid at all?”

“I was scared shitless,” he admitted. “But while he was telling us about the Cryptids, dad was showing us how to survive in case we were caught in an assault. A lot of it kicked in once I saw them.”

“Did that involve whatever the hell you were wearing?”, she asked.

“”Dad was training Nate to do all that, I was just along for the ride.” Pulling her back on Marcus held her tight. “Like I told Nate I wasn’t exactly thinking when I used the armor. But you have my word, I have no plans on using it again.”

“I’m going to hold you to that,” she said before giving him a quick kiss.

***
Saluting the guards at the door Nate he held his badge to a sensor on the side of it. There was a brief, almost pleasant sounding beep as his ID was verified and the door started to slide open. Walking in he looked around to see Dr. Gordon and a couple of his assistants hovering over a computer, and the QScan driver hooked up to that particular set up. One of the assistants just happened to look up and spot him, “Captain Cole.”

“Doctors,” he said in return as the others all looked up at him. Gordon in particular stepped away from whatever he was looking at to walk around to meet him. “Since no one looks panicked I’m assuming there was no major damage to the QScan driver?”

“You wouldn’t be wrong,” Gordon told him as he walked back around to the side he was originally on when Nate walked into the room. “Despite the fall you described it taking, the driver's physically fine.” Nate wouldn’t call having it knocked out of his hand a ‘fall’, but to each their own. “Gordon looked at him a little funny,” It didn't announce the name we programmed in?”

“Nope,” Nate told him. “It caught me and my guys off guard.”

“What was it again,” Gordon said as he started lightly scratching his chin, “Kamen Rider Angus?”

“Ethos,” one of the others quickly said, obviously trying to correct him. In both cases Nate had to stop himse;f from rolling his eyes. Just as obvious none of them read the report he filled.

“Kamen Rider Aegis,” he said correcting both of them, and trying really hard to remain professional and not snap at them. Angus? Really?. “It said Aegis.”

“Eh I think I prefer Angus,” Gordon said leaning back to stretch his back he added, “Or maybe I’m just hungry. Either way that’s weird. Why would it say a different name upon activation?

“I don't know,” Nate said. “When we tested it out previously it said Kamen Rider QScan every time.”

“Maybe,” the other assistant spoke up, “it was a name already programmed in. And the impact was hard enough to reset it.”

Shrugging Gordon went, “It’s as good a theory as any.” Going back to the computer he muttered, “If I had full access to the plans I’d have a better idea on what’s going on with the driver.”

“Doctor Gordon,” the one who made the suggestion said. “I started looking through the data, from before the driver was activated. There’s a strange energy spike.”

“Show me,” he said. Moving over he pointed out what he was seeing. “Now what the hell is that?

“That reset?”, the other assistant offered.Gordon started typing on the keyboard still in disbelief about what he was seeing.

“Maybe,” he waved Nate over and pointed it out. “Okay I brought up the battle data and created a quick timeline based on it. Here’s where the driver was activated,” he gestured toward an obvious spike. Then he pointed at a slightly less obvious something. It looked like a slight curve more than anything to Nate. “And here’s the anomaly. Is this when the driver hit the ground?”

“No,” Nate said slowly, trying to remember what happened in those moments. Everything was so chaotic it was hard to recall everything that happened in detail. Pointing a bit further back on the timeline he said, “It hit the street about here, and more Cryptids emerged from underground here,” Closer to that anomaly but still not the cause. “I have no idea what it could be.” Wait a moment, when did Marcus pick it up? Was it around that point?

“Maybe,” Gordon said getting his attention, “a review of the battle footage would be helpful. We can gather it and sync it up to the data to see what it is. But maybe we shou;d perform some more tests on the driver. Just to make sure that anomaly didn’t affect anything else.”

“That sounds like a good idea,” Nate told him. Reaching into a pocket he pulled out the key tag he was given. Handing it back to the doctor he said, “The quicker the better. We all wants to know what’s going on. I’ll leave you to it.” Nate left the lab, he was going to take a look at the footage they had as well. Gordon was right, the answer had to be there.

***
Outside the city Marcus pulled into a sort of animal clinic, although it looked more like a ranch than anything medical based. Getting out of his car he looked around. By the horses he spotted the owner and head doctor look at him and glance at her watch. Reaching back into the car he pulled out a carrier with several coffees in it. “Considering the two of you live together,” she began to day as he walked over and handed her one of the cups, “one would assume that you two would arrive at the same time.”

“I still have five minutes before I’m considered late,” he quickly countered. “Besides, I had to make sure they got the order right. Luckily I realized they mixed it up again before I went through the door this time.”

“Get to work” she said gesturing toward the main building, “The Landrys brought in their dog again this morning. It left another mess.”

“And of course there’s nobody else who can clean it up,” he sighed. “What the hell do they feed that thing?” He walked toward the building to get ready for the day.

Taking a sip of her coffee the doctor made a very pleased noise. She walked around the vast yard looking at the various animals under her watch. Noticing another one of her workers come up she waited for him to complain about something, because he usually did. “I don’t know why you keep that guy around.”

“Ah, Marcus again,” he said out loud unintentionally. Still she felt the need to defend the man, “He’s a good worker.”

“He’’s a glorified janitor,” he countered. “Anyone can do his job.”

“Yet you don’t,” she shot back.

“That’s not the point,” was the usual argument she heard when he confronted him with a point he couldn’r dispute right away. “Most people who start at his level try to get out of it as soon as possible. But that man seems to just be happy where he is. Where’s the ambition? You have said many times that you don’t trust anybody without any personal drive. What drive does he have?”

“I have said that,” she admitted. “However unlike you I looked a little deeper into Marcus than you have since he’s been here. He has a drive, it’s subtle but it’s there.”

“Then he’s spiking you coffee then,” he said in a huff and walked away.

“”No, I decided to look past the cover,” she said to nothing but air. “For a change.” She went back toward the main building to double check with Kat on what was on the schedule for today.

“Rodger!”, a woman cried out. She and several others looked around until they saw a woman clutching at a fenced in pen. Inside the pen, besides one of the dogs that was a bit more viscous than what she usually took in was a boy cowering by the side of the cage. On the inside of the cage, cornered by that dog who was snarling at him.

“Damnit,” she cursed, dropping her coffee as she and several others ran toward the cage. “How did he get in there?”, she demanded. That fence was ten feet high there was no way the brat climbed it without being noticed by somebody.

“I don’t know,” another assistant told her. “Ma’am please let us do what we can,” he said trying to get the mother back. Still she was fighting them all the way. Before the doctor knew it someone rushed past her and started climbing the cage. It took a second to realize it was Marcus as he jumped over and landed on the other side.

“Jerimaih,” he called out, using the dog’s name. It kept growling and coming closer to the scared boy. “Hey! Over here!” he shouted. They looked on as that dog finally turned his attention to him instead of the boy. “You don’t want to bite him. He’s obviously spoiled, he’ll taste terrible.” The dog aggressively turned toward him. “Wait a minute, hold it,” Marcus ordered and put his hand up. Jeremiah stopped where he was but still growling. “You don’t have to get all angry now.” Slowly he took a small step toward the animal, stopping when those growls got louder. “Tha kid’s not the one you’re angry at. He did nothing to you.”

“Get him out,” the boy's mother pleaded with anybody who would listen to her.

“Just relax,” Marcus told the dog. With it’s attention fully on him Marcus quickly glanced at one of the workers and nodded his head at the boy. That man quickly started to climb the fence, unfortunately the noise started to draw the dog’s attention. “Hey. Hey! Keep those eyes on me,” he ordered the dog who surprisingly obeyed. “That’s right,” Marcus said, trying to watch the dog and the boy at the same time. “Nobody has to get hurt. Not me, not the kid, not you.” The person on the outside got over just enough to reach over, grab the boy and haul him out. The boy screamed, getting the dog’s full attention. “Jerimiah!”, Marcus called out, clapping his hands, anything he could do to get the dog to look his way. It did about the same time the boy was out of the cage. Marcus started to back away only turning to run for the fence himself once Jerimiah started toward him. He made it over with the dog literally at his heels as he made it over.

“Rodger,” the mother cried as she took the frightened child in her arms and started crying as well. “Thank you" she said to Marcus before shooting a nasty look toward her. “You’ll be hearing from my lawyer.” Without another word she left, taking the still crying child with her.

“Sometimes I hate people,” she muttered. Then she looked over at Marcus who was sitting on the ground now still keeping an eye on the dog despite the fence between them. Then she spotted the man who had a problem with him, his mouth so open it looked like it could have touched the ground. “That’s why I keep him around,” she told him.


***
In the underground world of the Cryptids by most metrics was orderly. Mostly out of fear of the retributions by their lord for disrupting it. Normally that was. Occasionally, like with most emotional beings, tempers would flare. And with Cryptids it could get rather messy, more so when the guards got involved to break it up. When the lord got involved well there was a reason why they tried not to disturb the peace all that often.

But like with all societies there were those that were not normal. Ones who must be kept away from the rest, out of sight and hopefully out of mind. There was a huge reminder as one started to attack the ones around him.. Taller than most of the others and more muscular they quickly went down from his attack. It took several of them plus a few guards to finally subdue it and force it to the ground, making sure it’s head was over a rock. One of the guards positioned itself to the side an raised it’s weapon for a killing blow looking right at the creature’s neck.

“Hold,” that command was the only thing that kept the guard from completing the act. But he still held his weapon in position even as the one who gave the command stepped forward. The crowd that had gathered parted as their lord walked forward. The only ones not trying to show the proper respect were the ones trying to hold the wild one down.

“My lord,” one of the other guards, who were trying to form a living barrier between him and the still struggling creature, said to him. “This one escaped the pit. Your order said that any of these,” he gestured at the wild one with a tinge of disgust, “left the pit they were to be executed immediately. In case they attacked any of the rest of us.”

At that he and others looked around at their injured brethren from that very attack. The guard who spoke quickly took a step back realizing what he just said. Still their leader stepped around him to fully study the one being held down. “Priestess,” he called out. She quickly appeared from behind him, startling a few of them. “I have need of your counsel.”

“What do you wish my lord,” she said. Although like with many of the others she kept an eye on the wild one.

“The two of us have often discussed how the humans view us,” he said.

“We have,” she quickly agreed, jumping slightly as the wild one struggled harder to break free. “Ever since the one you befriended left.”

He nodded then looked back at the struggling creature. “It occurs to me that our attacks on the surface have been very similar.”

“As it has always been my lord,” she said. “The way we have always waged war pn others who are not of the Earth such as we.”

“As it has always been,” he repeated softly. “The human who was here, she took several notes about us. About how we lived and interacted with others. She… claimed that she wanted to understand us.”

“I remember,” the priestess said bitterly.

“Have you ever stopped to consider that she wasn't the only one of them to do so?”, he turned toward her.. “Their warriors for example.”

“And we them,” she shot back. The others around them looked shocked. She was one of the few who would dare talk to him like that but they were still stunned to see it.

“Exactly,” he simply said. “And yet we barely have a victory against them while they have several.” Looking back at the wild one he continued, “They have studied us well, perhaps it’s time to show them that they don’t know us as well as they believe.”

She stared at him for several moments before looking at the wild one on the ground. “You want to send this one to the surface?”, she said with some surprise.

“Why not?”, he said. “If they think they know us so well, let's show them differently. If this one somehow kills the new rider than all the better. If not, death was in the future for this one anyway.”

“It will be difficult to drag this one to the surface,” the guard interjected, which earned a sharp look that made him take a small step back. “He struggles now,” he tried to explain, “it would take a sizable force to control him until then.”

Their lord nodded silently as he considered that. Turning back toward the priestess he asked, “Can you keep him docile until we can set it loose on the surface?”

Without a word she stepped forward while reaching into a sleeve of her robe. Removing her hand she got as close as she dared to the wild one. With a quick breath she blew the substance she was holding into it’s face. The creature struggles slowed before it just layed there glassy eyed. “I believe so, but I will have to make a stronger concoction to make sure he stays in this state long enough to get him to the surface.”

“Then do it,” he commanded. “But continue perfecting that particular brew you just used. Even if this one succeeds it may be useful to send more. The key to our victory may have been in our midst the entire time.”

As he turned to leave the priestess muttered., “That woman poisoned your mind in more than one way.”

***
Nate was eating when he received the summons to head to the lab, according to that damn computer immediately. So he was already annoyed that he couldn’t finish his lunch in peace. But this probably had to do with the Driver so he tried to keep that annoyance in check. And he definitely kept it in check once he saw the director was already there. There was no way that this was going to be good. “Ma’am,” he said with a quick nod. She returned it and both of them looked at Gordon expectedly.

“Both of you are waiting for me to explain why I called you both here. And rightfully you should. As well as an answer, which at the moment I can’t provide. At least not fully.” He was getting long winded, based on what he knew of the man that usua;;y meant he really didn’t want to say what he had to say. So yeah, not good. “Bot if I had full access to the driver blueprints like I requested…..”

“Doctor,” the director said in a warning tone while crossing her arms.

Obviously the good doctor knew any leeway he had just evaporated. “Yes,” he said and took a step back toward the driver. “Well maybe you’ll both understand if you see it for yourself.” Stepping to the side and motioning toward the driver he said, “Captain if you would be so kind.”

With a small shrug he walked forward, reaching out as he passed to take the Key tag from the doctor’s hand Slipping his finger through the loop he picked up the driver with the other hand. Holding the tah to the scanner on the end he waited for the beep that indicated that it was accepted. The driver made a sound all right, but not the beep. A loud error sound came from the driver, with the director and himself being the only ones in the room who looked surprised at what was happening. Actually most of them, as Nate looked around at the room, seemed disappointed. He tried it again to the same result. “Doctor,” he said putting the driver down, “what the hell is going on??

“I’d like to know that myself,” the director pipped in. “I did not need to be here to find out that something is wrong with the driver.”

“”There is nothing wrong with the driver,” Gordon insisted. “Every diagnostic we’ve run, and we’ve been running those diagnostics non stop since we got a hold of it, says that physically that it’s perfectly fine.”

“So why didn’t the tag read?”, Nate demanded.

“We’re not sure,” he said then quickly winced back, fully expecting to get yelled at. Nate was half way expecting the director to jump down his throat himself which was why he wasn’t saying anything. “But we think it has something to do with that curve my assistant pointed out during the diagnostic.”

“I remember that,” Nate said. Turning to the director he explained, “Before the driver was activated there was a,” he looked at that assistant not recalling what she called it that very slight curve.

“Spike,” she offered.

“A spike,” he repeated. “Actually I played a hunch.” Looking up at the ceiling he said, “Computer, have you compiled the footage I asked you about.”

“Yes I have Captain Cole,” the A.I. replied. “I was going to inform you of this, but Doctor Gordon requested your and Director Miller’s presence before I was able.”

“Good,” he said. To the others he added, “I asked the computer to ccomb through all the available footage of that particular event. I’m hoping we can see what caused it.”

“I should have been kept in the loop,” the director told all of them, “but let’s see it.”

“Computer, on this screen here,” They followed Nate as he walked over to another table with a screen hooked up to the main system. “Now show us what was happening the moment the spike started.”

“At once Captain.” The screen came to life and very quickly they watched as what could be described as bodycam footage showed that very moment. While he wasn’t sure exactly who’s camera it was. That was definitely Marcus picking the driver up.

“Who the hell is that?”, the doctor asked.

Nate glanced at the director, who looked very annoyed at what she was seeing before saying, “That’s my brother.”

“He just picked it up,” the director said studying the footage intently. “That spike was caused by him just picking it up?”

“That can’t be it,” the doctor said, pushing Nate out of the way. Normally he would say something but at that moment he was just shocked that hunch of his was right. “There has to be more to it than him just picking it up. Computer, wind the footage back about thirty seconds.”

“Complying,” the A.I. said as the footage on the screen quickly went in reverse. To the point requested.

“This was right after the Cryptids started to come up from below the streets”

“What is he doing?”,” the assistant asked. Nate didn’t take his eyes off the screen so he didn’t miss what she was seeing. Right before Marcis reached for the driver he whipped his face.

“Pause the footage,” the director called out when they watched Marcus reach for the driver. “What’s on his hand?” They all looked. Even in this definition there was obviously something on his hand.

“Focus on that hand,” Gordon said. The image zoomed in and refocused itself to give them a clearer look at what was happening. “Is that blood?”

Nate tried to recall, Marcus was bleeding. The director spoke up, “That’s what it looks like to me.”

“Blood, hmmm,” Gordon went as he walked away from the group and over to the driver. Snapping his finger he quickly turned around to face them. “That might explain it. Remember after the initial test run, when I said it looked like the drive’s internals looked like it was trying to change?”


“This seems to be, “the director cut in, “another loop I should have been in.”

“Didn’t I put that in the report?”, the doctor asked his assistant. She shrugged. Nate knew the director well enough to know that wasn’t improving her mood. “I thought I did. Oh well. But if the driver reacted to his blood touching it…”

“That’s a pretty big if,” Nate said.

The doctor went on like he didn’t say anything, “Ir would explain why the driver was looking like it was changing. What a fascinating piece of technology,” he said picking it up and examining it a little more closely. “If I even suspected that blood would have been required to get the driver to function properly I would have pricked your finger a whole ago.”

“I would not say the driver is functioning properly,” the director countered. “By all reports from that first battle it isn’t.”

“It’s still functioning,” the doctor argued. “All the data we collected there’s nothing wrong with the driver. I don’t know why it announced a different name entirely, but outside of that there’s nothing wrong.”

“That may be,” the director said. “But right now we have a fully viaible, fully authorized operator,” she gestured toward him. “And at the moment he can’t even activate it. His brother got lucky the first time.”

Nate could hear them argue, but Nate’s attention was on the screen that was still showing Marcus reaching for the driver. There was another question that they weren't asking. “Director,” he spoke up. “Permission to perform a test with the QScan driver.”

She looked at him. Then she noticed what he was looking at. “Why?”

“I need to know,” he told her. “I need to know if he is the only one the driver is reacting to now or if it’s a one time thing. I mean if the driver is reacting to blood it has to dry up sooner or later.”

Scratching his head the doctor admitted, “That is a possibility. Something might have gotten scrambled when it hit the ground. It would be nice to know either way.”

The director looked at both of them then walked away exasperated. “Fine, but just for a test, to find out one way or another. But if anything happens to the driver I will hold you personally responsible, am I clear on that Captain?”

“Crystal ma’am,” he said. He hesitated before going, “And if it is the case?”

She sighed, not wanting to think about that possibility either, “Then we'll worry about it then. Doctor get the QScan ready for travel” Not even responding the doctor and his assistant quickly began packing the driver in it’s case. Nate gave her a quick salute before heading toward the dior. Nate didn’t say it out loud but he really hoped he was wrong about this.

***
After things died down the ranch pretty much got back on a somewhat regular pace. Marcus, as part of a duty he actually volunteered for closed a fence behind him, a tray of grooming tools in hand as he walked over to a horse in an enclosed field. “Hey Zeke,” he called out before he got close.The horse’s ear perked up but otherwise gave no indication that he was there. Once he was close enough he spoke a bit softer and said “Hey buddy.” A dull film over it’s eyes gave away that it couldn't see. So by speaking he gave the horse ample warning that he was there before touching it with a hand. It jumped slightly anyway. “Whoa, whoa,” he said as calmly as he could, “Just me Zeke, relax, nothing to be scared uf.” He stroked the side of it's head lightly waiting for the horse to calm down. “There you are, just little ol’ me. Nobody to be scared of.”

Once Zeke was completely calm Marcis moved down to rubbing it’s neck. “According to the Doctor you haven’t been brushed in a while. We can’t have that now can we?: Making sure he kept one hand on Zeke he put the tray down and took out the brush and began gently brushing the horse. Before long the Doctor walked up and watched them for a few moments. “Please tell me the Landry’s dog didn’t leave another mess.”

“No mess,” she said with a slight chuckle.Apparently taking the question as an invitation to step forward she lightly touched Zeke as well. “Did I ever tell you,” she began as he kept brushing Zeke, “that I personally hated it when that animal whispering became a thing.”

“I don’t think you did,” he told her.

“It wasn’t so bad when that move came out, not everybody had a horse,” ‘ she smiled while patting Zeke’s side. “Then that damn show about the dogs came out. Next thing I knew everybody and their neighbor expected me to know how to get their dog to behave. Don’t get me wrong, they did before that show just made it worse. Or worse they expected me to pull a Dolittle and just talk to them. Honestly I never thought it was feasible. Then you started working here.”

“What are you talking about?”, Marcus asked.

“Did you seriously forget what happened with Jerimah earlier?”, she asked. “I have never seen a dog that angry, and you did the dumbest thing possible by jumping right in there. And instead of ripping into you that dog was listening to you.”

“”He wasn’t…”, Marcus began.

“He started toward you and stopped when you told him to.”

“I got lucky,” was all he could say.

“I won’t argue with you there,” the Doctor said. “But you do have a way with animals. It’s a pity you never went into veterinary medicine.”

“Me and school never mixed,” was all he could say, feeling slightly embarrassed. “As soon as they tried to teach me anything I’d forget it right after.”

“Now I doubt that,” she told him.

“Okay maybe not immediately,” he admitted. “But whenever test day came around I couldn’t remember anything. And I never grew out of it."

"Maybe you should ask somebody who grew up with him." Both of them looked around to see the owner of that voice come up to them. And there was his brother in a suit and not his uniform. So nothing official then.

"Nate," Marcus went. "Dr. Vega this is my brother Nate." They quickly exchanged pleasantries as they shook hands.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," the doctor said, "and I'm sorry for your loss. Hopefully you took more time to mourn than Marcus did"

"Thank you. Unfortunately preparing for those creatures has been eating up my time lately," he said. The fact he said it at all took Marcus by surprise. For as long as he could remember the big rule was don't say anything to anybody.

"I have a kid to support," he said while still looking strangely at his brother. Then to the doctor he added, "Diapers ain't getting any cheaper."

"So I’ve heard," she said. Then she took the brush from Marcus. "I'll take care of Zeke. Since your brother came all the way out here why don't you show him around."

"Sure, come on Nate." They walked to the gate. Before they exited the corral Nate looked back.

"That horse looks like it's on it's last legs," he commented as he walked through the gate.

"It is," Marcus said as he closed the gate. "The family wanted to make sure he was comfortable before they decide to put him down. Personally I think they're hoping he goes naturally then they don't have to make that call."

"I remember dad doing the same thing with mom," Nate said while they walked the path. "I can't imagine it being any easier with that horse."

"Family is family, you don't have to be related by blood for that to be true," Marcus said. He and Nate were living proof of that. "So we're just telling people about things now?"

"It's a bit hard to keep things a secret when they pop up in the middle of the city," Nate told him. "It was the Director's call. I'm still getting used to the idea too."

"So what are you doing here?", Marcus asked. "We're a tad out of the way to stop by on your lunch break."

"Actually I have to talk to you about something," he said. And this could not be good. "I'll tell you as you show me around."

***

“Hurry before he snaps out of it.” He heard a voice but he couldn’t see it, nor could he move. Suddenly he felt his arms fall limp and heard others run off. In the darkness he slowly felt his limbs start to move and things became clearer. While they worked it still took effort to reach for his face. That’s when he felt the material in front of him. After a short grunt he was able to rip it off his head and was immediately blinded by a bright light.

Blinking a few times his eyes finally adjusted to the brightness but they still stung. Resting his head back and roaring a challenge to anything that could hear him. There was nothing. Usually just hearing the crowd he wasn’t allowed to be in usually got his blood boiling. But now surrounded by all the quiet he thought he longed for, now he was just angry. Not even sure he knew where he was going he rushed off straight ahead. There had to be something in this blindingly hated world that he could tear into.

He only slowed because of a pain in his stomach, a pain that said he was hungry. A sensation that also fueled his anger because he and the others would feel this pain for a long time, often resorting to feeding on each other. But here in all this… this nothingness, there was no food that he could recognize. Then he thought he heard a sound. Sound, no matter how hateful that it was, meant food. Walking in the direction he thought it was coming from he eventually found the source. Beasts of types he had never seen before were in some sort of open area, but even in this upperworld he recognized an enclosure when he saw one. It didn’t matter, the pain would not stop until he fed and food was right down there. He just had to identify the weaker ones and pick it off from the rest.

***
“Look Maddie, here’s daddy,” Kat said as she walked toward the two of them as they leaned against Nate’s car. Getting closer to Marcus she angled the phone in her hand so he could get a better look at the screen. And there was their daughter in the arms of her sister, looking her usual happy self. “Say hi to daddy.”

“Hi Maddie,” Marcus said. He smiled as Maddie heard his voice and looked at the phone camera on her end. “Daddy misses you.”

“Daddy did something really brave today,” Kat said as she focused the phone more on her. “Something really stupid but really brave.” When Nate looked at him Marcus held up a hand as to say he would explain later.

A voice on the other end of the phone spoke up, “It’s usually the same thing.”

“Love you too Trish,” Marcus called out. Kat was smart enough to get the phone out of range before her sister could reply.

Nate watched all of this with a bit of wonder. And was that a little jealousy in that expression. Marcus wasn’t sure how he felt about that. “You’re a lucky man bro,” he finally said.

“Don’t I know it,” he said as he watched Kat as she walked back to the building she works in. “Which makes me wonder why you’re trying to cause trouble."

“I’m not trying to cause trouble with what you have,” Nate insisted. “I told you I’m just here to test a hunch I have about the QScan driver.”

“Look I don’t,,,, wait. QScan?”, he asked. “This whole thing was supposed to be called Kamen Rider QScan?” Snorting a bit as he looked away he added, “That sounds like the type of name that outfit you’re part of would come up with.”

“Marcus,” Nate said to get him to look at him, “something might be wrong with the driver…”

He cut him off, “Then fix it.”

“We will,” Nate said with a bit of annoyance edging his voice. He stopped himself, took a deep breath to calm himself down. “Bur we can’t until we know what’s wrong with it. And I have to know if you using it was a one time thing.”

“Oh it was,”Marcus told him. “”I told Kat I wasn’t going to use it again. I gave her my word…”

“And I appreciate that,” Nate said. “I do, I really do. Marcus I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t think it was important.”

“How is me using the driver again important?”, he demanded.

“You picked it up with your bloody hand,” he blurted out. Marcus looked down at his hand, remembering that there was some blood on it.. “Look bro, I’ll level with you. We’re not exactly sure how the driver works." Marcus looked at him. “Not exactly,” he amended. “The file and diagrams for it, they were discovered when they were trying to upgrade the BScan driver dad used.”

“Then you might want to talk to the guy who created those diagrams,” Marcus told him. “Ask him what’s going on.”

“We can’t.” Marcus went to argue but Nate quickly cur it off. “He’s retired and went off grid. We don’t know where he went.”

“And that’s why dad said that group the two of you are in was run by a bunch of Goddamn idiots.”

“Do you see me disagreeing?”, Nate asked him. “Just once that’s all I’m asking. Just to see if it’ll react to you.”

“Marcus!”, both of them looked over to see Kat run back toward them. Nate looked behind her to see if anything was going on. “Marcus,” she said forcing the phone into his face.

“What?” he asked. The first thought entering his head was something happened to Maddie.

“Trish shared this video with me,” she said. “Somebody filmed you fighting that Cryptid monster. Look.” Touching the screen the video started to play. Nate moved over to get a better look at it himself. Yeah that was him all right. But something else about the video caught his attention.

“Hold up,” he said, taking the phone and pausing the screen. Marcus ignored the looks the two of them were giving him. He quickly found it, the vid’s title. “Excuse me, I'm sorry. A Dollar Store Iron Man? Are you fucking kidding me? The amors don’t even look the same. It’s not even the same color,” Kat snatched the phone out of his hands looking annoyed as hell, “scheme?”

“Seriously?”, she demanded. “You’re on video and that’s your biggest concern? What if somebody filmed you,” she tried to find the right word, “putting that armor on?”

“Not going to happen?”, Nate spoke up.

“How in the hell do you know?”, Kat demanded.

“Because we have an A.I program…”

“You guys are still using Artie?”, Marcus interrupted, which got an annoyed look from both of them.

Nate answered him anyway, “No. Artie was a few generations ago. What’s left of that program is monitoring the entrances.””

“Man I liked Artie,” Maecus said crossing his arms. “He was cool for a computer program.”

Turning back toward Kat he went on with his original point, “We have an A.I to monitor every video feed of that battle. Since Marcus picture is on file I told it to look for his image in those vids and blur him out.”

“And you think it’s working?”, Kat asked him, not looking all that reassured or convinced.

“We have actual people watching the various feeds, even the ones on the dark web and so far it is,” Nate went on.

“So I’m guessing that’s why reporters haven’t been pounding at our door. So much for my fifteen minutes of fame,” Marcus joked. A joke that quickly earned him a punch in the arm from Nate. “Hey!”

“I’ll give you a twenty to do that again,” Kat told Nate.

“Hell I’ll do it for ten,” he told her.

Before Msrcus could say anything there was a scream. That sounded close. All of them look toward the main compound.Nate was the first to run toward the commotion they were seeing, seeing this was where they both worked Marcus and Kart soon followed.

"Oh my god!” one of the vets cried out. The three of them made their way through the crowd to get a better idea of what was going on. As soon as they did they immediately regretted it. Nate and Marcus went closer to a small dog’s mutilated body on the ground.

“Whar the fuck?”, Marcus whispered as Nate got closer with one of the other vets to get a closer look.

“I don’t get it,” the vet said after turning away. “I’ve been here for a couple of years and never seen anything like this.”

“Any wild animals in the area?”, Nate asked.

“Not any that could do anything like this.”

“Hey look at that fence,” someone called out. They looked over at where she was pointing, and a broken section that you could drive a small car through was in the middle of it.

Movement from Nate drew Marcus’ attention. He was reaching for something in his jacket. The look on his face as he studied the area around that break in the fence told Marcus one thing and it wasn’t good. “Kat, we need to get everybody in the main building. Now.”

“Oh god,” she said as she figured out what he was talking about.

Nate backed away not taking his eyes off the area, “How well can you barricade the building?”

“There’s not a lot of windows,” Marcus said trying to think it over quickly. Right now he was wishing he paid more attention when dad explained exactly how to do that. “There’s a pretty heavy couch in the main lobby we can put in front of the door.”

“That’s a start,” Nate said when another scream came from another part of the compound.

***
A couple of hands looked around as they heard that same scream. "What in the hell?"' one asked. The guy next to him suddenly flew back before he could say anything. "Larry…" he got out as he turned around. He was struck speechless as a huge gargoyle looking thing sunk it's teeth into Larry's throat and ripped it out. As it chewed as it:s eyes turned toward him. The monster dropped Larry as it started toward him.

***
Nate ran as soon as he heard that scream. Marcus wasn't with him, which wasn't that surprising. He wasn't trained for this sort of thing. But hopefully he was trying to get people in the building like he told Kat. Gun drawn and in hand he slowed down when he found another mutilated carcass on the ground, some kind of duck he guessed. There wasn't:t much left of it to be certain.

Keeping a watch on the area he reached into another pocket and retrieved his phone. Glancing at it long enough to make sure he was selecting the right number, one connected to the A.I. directly, he held it to his ear. Getting a tone that they said indicated the line was picked up he waited for it to stop before speaking. "This is Captain Nathan Cole. We have possible Cryptid activity at my location. Track my signal and send a response team immediately." Keeping the line open he returned the phone back to it's holder and put both hands on his weapon. "That A.I. better be as smart as I think it is," he mumbled as he stepped past the dead animals and looked for the culprits.

But something about this wasn’t sitting right with him though. Every report he’d read about the Cryptid said they always acted in packs. If these dead and half eaten animals were them, then where in the hell are they? And why were they just going after the animals? Man if this ended up being nothing but a wild animal he was not going to hear the end of it back at HQ. Then he stopped when he spotted a couple of poor bastards on the ground. Covering the area all around him Nate made his way over to them. His first instinct was to check for a pulse, that became moot once he was close enough to see their physical state. Poor bastards indeed. And still sort of warm, this just happened.

Looking around Nate thought he spotted something that might have been a trail, it was better than nothing. And it didn’t take long for Nate to realize that it was heading back toward the main buildings. Damn it, he should have inspected it when he had the chance. He had to trust Marcus knew what to do to barricade the place. He just had to buy all of them some time.

There was some movement out of the corner of his eye. He pointed his gun that way but held off firing when he saw it was somebody cowering beside some barrels. Nate wasn’t sure if the dude worked here or not but he looked fucking terrified and Natye was fairly certain it wasn’t because of him. Noticing something on the other side of the barrels he crouched down to not get it's attention as he made his way over.

The guy didn’t even notice he was there, thank god for small favors. Taking the moment once he got close enough Nate peeked around the barrels. And there was a big ol’ Cryptid hunkered down over another dead animal just eating away. Clamping his hand around the guts mouth he struggled to keep him from moving too much and drawing the Cryptid’s attention.Finally it took using the barrel of his gun in a shushing motion to get him to stop and Nate immediately removed his hand and returned his attention back to the creature.

First thing first he had to get this bastard out of here before he did anything else. Now how the fuck was he going to do that without the Cryptid noticing them. Nate quickly looked around his immediate area. And all he found was a fairly sizable rock. A bit on the nose but you had to work with what you had. Picking it up he took one more look to see where the Crtptid was looking, then chucked the rock as far as he could in the other direction. The Cryptid heard the noise when it landed and immediately looked in the direction and stalked over in that direction. Once it did Nate grabbed the guy by the arm and dragged him to his feet and toward the main part of the ranch and away from the Cryptid.

Nate kept looking back as they ran, if the Cryptid saw them then both of them were dead. So far they had been lucky but he wasn’t going to feel safe until they were inside that main building. And about twenty or so armed troopers were standing in front of it firing away.Once he realized they were on the path that led to that building Nate increased the pace.Then he stopped when Marcus and Kat came into view, waving even more people to the main building. Practically pulling the guy with him along Nate made his way over. “Why are you still out in the open?”, he demanded.

“There were more people here today than I thought,” Marcus told him.

“And there’s a lot of land,” Kat added as she gently took the guy with him and walked toward the main building. For the first time Nate got a good look at it.

“That seems like a lot of windows to me,” Nate told him.

“Dr Vega is getting as many as she can into the inner rooms,” he told him. “How many are there this time?”

“Just the one that I’ve seen.” Marcus looked at him funny after hearing that. Even he knew that was unusual. “So far it seems to be enough.”

Kat ran back, “Offices are pretty much packed and we’re starting to push people into the restrooms. Please tell me you called for backup,” she said directly to him.

“I called it in,” Nate told them both. “But even if they mobilized immediately it’s still going to take about twenty minutes to get here.” Kat lost all color in her face. Marcus looked back at the main building then back at him. “We just got to hold out twenty minutes.” He looked down at the gun in his hands. He only had the one clip. “I don’t suppose there are any weapons on site?”

“Just a shotgun that hasn’t been fired in years,” Marcus answered. “Somebody better suit up and take care of that thing.”

“My thought exactly, Kat get in there and get as much furniture moved as you can, then get deeper into the building.” Then Nate grabbed Marcus by the arm and dragged him toward the parking lot.

***
Marcus was giving Nate an ear full as he was dragged along. That soon stopped the moment both of them saw movement on the other side of the lot and quickly knelt down before it spotted them. Nate still made him follow him to the car. Fortunately he was able to park it close to the center, just a couple of rows out. Didn’t mean it didn’t feel like it was miles away though. When they finally reached it both of them peaked over the hood to see where it was at. Marcus flinched as Nate opened the passenger side door, that sounded loud as hell at that moment. As he removed a briefcase of some kind Marcus watched the Cryptid. He muttered, “You’re dumbass better not be planning on using me as bait.”

“Not exactly,” he said in return while popping the latches open. And there was the driver. While he pulled out both halves Marcus returned his attention to the Cryptid.

“Just so you know I’m running like hell as soon as you use thar.” So intent on seeing where the creature was Marcus didn’t see him turn and slapped the buckle part of the driver against his waist.” “What the fuck,” he wanted to shout but didn’t, knowing the Cryptid would hear.if he said it any louder. Two straps shot out and clasped together behind his back.

All Nate said in response was, “I knew it.” He started struggling to get it off of him as Nate tried to stop him. “Marcus,” he grunted through his teeth, “It’s only reacting to you. Right now you’re the only one who can use it.” He held out the other part of the driver. “Swipe up on the screen then tap it to activate it. You know the rest.” He continued holding it out as Marcus kept staring at him. They could hear it getting closer.

“God, I hate you sometimes,” Marcus finally said as he took it from him. Nate pointed for him to go in the other direction. Marcus looked back toward the main building as he got what he meant. Nodding he walked around Nate and got behind the Cryptid. With his some he swiped up on the screen with his thumb which pulled up a QR code as he stood to his full height. With a tap of that same thumb the screen flashed briefly, an electronic voice saying, “Ready”. Holding it out in front of him he said, “Henshin!” The Cryptid heard him and turned toward him like Nate planned. Then he slotted it into the buckle and snapped it into position as he swung his arms to the side. A giant QR code formed in front of him, obscuring his vision slightly but quickly started sliding back toward him. Passing by him the Armor formed in all it;s pixelated glory before becoming solid.

“Kamen Rider Aegis,” the driver announced as he cracked his neck then ran at the Cryptid as it charged toward him.

“All right ugly, let's go!,” Marcus shouted as they got closer to each other. Then he threw a punch that caught the creature flush that knocked it’s head to the side. Not wasting any time he immediately jumped on top of the Cryptid and started pounding away at it with all he had. Then the creature got a hand through his attack and wrapped a hand around his throat and threw him off with relative ease. Before Marcus knew it the monster was on it’s feet and picked him up again and threw him away like trash.

The Cryptid started stalking him as he hurried to his feet and lunged forward. He moved to the side suddenly as the creature took the bait by continuing where it thought he was going to be. It turned around only to be met with a knee to the bridge of it’s somewhat flat nose. Marcus fully expected the beast to crumble. It didn’t, in fact it shook his head slightly then focused those eyes directly on him.

“Umm…. Nate,” Marcus was able to get out right before the Cryptid struck him in the head. Then it walked away only to pick up a small car then turn back toward him.

“Fuck,” Nate cursed as he quickly took aim and fired his gun. Whatever effect those bullets were having was enough for it to stop and turn toward him. “Oh shit,” Nate was already diving out of the way as it started to throw the car in his direction. As it landed with a hard crash he rolled to a knee and opened fire again. He only stopped when he saw the black armored arms of the suit wrap around it’s neck trying to direct it in another direction.

“No you don’t ugly!” Marcus shouted as it tried to shake him loose. Then looking like it was picking some random direction it started running with Marcus still clinging on. “Oh shit!”

Nate watched them go then looked at his watch trying to estimate when that back up was going to arrive.Then he realized exactly where they were headed, straight toward the main building with everyone in it. “Shit,’ he muttered right before chasing after the two of them.

***
Marcus was holding on for dear life as the Cryptis ran through the ranch. This was not how he expected this to go. Catching a glimpse of what he thought was the main building, where they told everyone to go, he panicked and started twisting his arms around his ride ‘s massive neck. It’s headed started to move, not by a whole lot but it was enough to cause it to get unbalanced enough and crash to the ground. Again not what he originally had in mind, he was looking to choke the bastard out. But stopped it from reaching the main building so it was all good either way.

Letting go as the monster crashed he rolled to his knees and charged the Cryptid one more time. Putting all his weight and momentum behind a punch that actually seemed to rock it this time around. Marcus kept pounding on it trying to keep the thing down. “Holy shit!”, somebody cried out. Marcus turned and looked back out of instinct than anything else. He saw Dr. Vega, Kat and a couple of others try and drag one of the workers, the one who usually talked shit about him. Who was holding that shot gun that hadn't been used in years back inside.

“Stop being an fucking idiot,” he heard Kat say.

“All of you get back inside!” Marcus ordered. “Son of a bitch,” he muttered right before the Cryptid reached up and wrapped it’s hand around the horn on the helmet. That was enough of a distraction to let that happen. He immediately grasped at that hand as it started swinging around, taking him off his feet. Then before he knew it he was flying through the air and crashed hard into the side of a truck they used to pull the trailer for transporting the larger animals.

As he watched the monster come closer to him a gun shot could be heard. Nate finally showed up and took aim at the Cryptid. Marcus happened to look over to see Kat looking through one of the windows, appearing very confused as he looked back and forth between him and Nate. Worry about that particular fight later he told himself as he pushed off the side of the truck and went after the Cryprid again. Even if he was properly trained to go against these things like Dad was, he wasn't going to stand a chance with this one with what he was currently wearing. As soon as he got close he lowered his shoulder and plowed straight into it’s back. The brute force approach seemed to work as it stumbled forward letting Nate to run past it.

Not seeing it’s next apparent victim the Cryptid turned around straight into a spin kick by him. While it’s back was turned Marcis lunged at it low and rammed his shoulder into the back of it’s knee. The Cryptid screamed in pain as it buckled from the blow.as it toppled over him That was an opening if he ever saw one. Quickly he touched his fingers to the screen on the driver then swiped right, pulling up a new QR code that he quickly tapped on as the Cryptid finally stood up. The belt around his waist announced, “Lightning Buzzsaw.” Marcus quickly spun around as the saw like waved that trailed his foot cut through the monster. As it fell back and exploded Nate ran up to him. Leaning over a bit he tried to get his breath back.

“Are you all right?”, Nate asked as he got close enough to put a hand on his shoulder while he checked on him.

Marcus just looked at him, “I want to punch you so bad right now.”

“Yeah, you're good,” Nate said as he patted that shoulder and looked around. Marcus pointed out a particular direction and he did the same. In the distance they saw a couple of vans race down the road and turn into the driveway that led to this place. “Now they show up,” he said. Looking at his watch he looked a tad surprised, “A little faster than I expected too.”

“Marcus!”, Both of them looked over at Kat who was staring at the two of them. Marcus on the other hand was looking past her at Vega and the others who were talking among themselves with more than one pointing directly at him. It took Kat a second to realize exactly what she just did as she looked back at them as well.

“And she was worried about me getting outed on video,” he sighed.

Nate smirked at him, “You going to point that out to her?”

“I am neither suicidal or crazy,” Marcus told him. Then he looked at the rest. “I wonder if I should just confirm it now or just go off out of sight before deactivating the driver and give it back to you. And you are taking it back,” he insisted. “Then you’re explaining all this shit to her,” he added pointing at Kat. Nate had enough sense to look worried at that particular demand.

Then he turned back toward him, “Yeah about that. Bro, we really need to talk about something.”