Standing on top of a skyscraper adjacent to the facility, I wait for my signal. This will be a stealth mission, Sam, I remember Bella had said before I left. Be on your best behavior.

  A wry smile tugs at my lips. Even when I'm about to risk my neck to save a city, I think. She still treats me like I'm ten. Just then an IronClad convertible floats by. Jim, in the driver’s seat, nods at me.

  “That’s your cue, Sam,” comes his voice in my earpiece. “I’ve already scanned the area for any signs of trouble. You should be in ‘n’ out.”

  “Excellent,” I reply, as I jump off the roof. As I fall, I whisper, “T.I.T.A.N., initiate the landing sequence.”

  I get two quick beeps in response. A compartment in the back of the suit opens almost instantly, and I feel as though I’m being let down by a parachute. The gravitational mitigation unit lightly and noiselessly set me on the pavement leading up to the building. I walk to the side door and quickly scan the street. Coast clear, I think, and walk in, shutting the door behind me. A silent reception room with faint moonlight from the windows greets me. The place is trashed; tables are overturned, drawers are pulled out, and…

  This place just got searched, I think. After looking around the room again, I say out loud, “Y’all seeing this?”

  “As clear as day,” I hear Jim say through my earpiece. “Someone got there before you.”

  “Look around anyway,” says Bella. “You never know what you’ll find.”

  “Righto,” I reply, as I begin to walk around the room. “T.I.T.A.N., scan this mess.”

  My T.I.T.A.N. begins to do so, and on the screen inside my helm, I begin to see little details the sensors are picking up. At first, it seemed so random, that I began to think something was broken. But then I noticed the things the sensors are checking are leading to behind the desk. I walk slowly towards the desk and lean over it to peek behind it. Nothing. I stand back up for a second before something hits me in the back of my head.

  The blow didn’t damage anything, but it threw me off guard. Before I fully turn around, another blow is thrown at my ribs. I fly clear over the desk, and land on a broken filing cabinet.

  “Sam!” I hear Bella cry. “SAM!”

  “What?” I ask.

  “What the heck’s going on?”

  “I’m about to find out,” I answer as I leap onto the desk, my new sword in hand. My foe wasn’t a monster, as I expected. It was a person, wearing a similar Hunting suit as the one I had on.

  Seeing I recovered from their assault, they quickly set themselves in a battle stance, putting their small knife in front of them. I jump off the desk and slash downward. My challenger lifts their knife to block me.

  This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work.

  That puny knife can’t possibly stop my blade, I thought with a smirk, as my sword makes contact with their weapon. I step back stunned. Their knife grew to 5 times its size and became a full-fledged sword. I don’t dwell on that long though, and I quickly attack again, aiming for their legs. They jump above my blow and counter midair with an attack to my chest. I lift my sword to parry it.

  “You’re stronger than you look,” I tell them.

  “Do you remember the last time you said that Sam?” they say back.

  “Wha-”

  The assailant suddenly steps back, lowers their shoulder, and bullrushes me into the desk again.

  “Damnit, Sam,” Jim says. “You can fight harder than that.”

  “Shut it, Jim,” I say, as I twist and grab my opponent's arm to throw them into the desk. The impact shatters the granite countertop, and my opponent gives a little yelp as they topple over the edge. They stand, but I’m there already with my sword at their neck.

  “Have we met?” I ask politely.

  With deliberate slowness, as if wary of provoking me further, my defeated competitor lifts their hand to the side of their helm, and they tap twice. The faceplate clicks open, and slides back, revealing their face.

  “Yes,” she says. “We’ve met.”

  A jolt of disbelief, sharp and intense, courses through me. “Tess?”

  “Who is that, Sam?” Bella crackles through my earpiece.

  I step back, and strap my sword back to my side. “Tessa Davis,” I answer opening my own faceplate. “We took the Hunter’s Exam together.”

  “Who are you talking to?” Tessa ask.

  “I got Bella and Jim on the line.”

  “Hi, guys!” she calls out, as though she didn’t just try to cave my chest in.

  “Ooh, tell her I said hi, Sam,” breaths Bella.

  “I’m putting y’all on speaker,” I say. “T.I.T.A.N., activate surround sound.”

  “Hi, Tess!” exclaims Bella.

  “When y’all are done pretending she didn’t almost kill me,” I say irritably. “I’d like to know what Tessa is doing here, and why she snuck up on me.”

  “I’m doing the same as you,” she snaps back. “Hunting for a heinous hazard to all our safety.”

  “I like that alliteration,” Jim jokes.

  Unconvinced, I ask, “Why’d you attack me, then?”

  “If you saw me sneaking around, wouldn’t you do the same?”

  “Sam,” Bella interrupts, “Leave her alone. She’s not up to anything, I’m sure.”

  “Fine,” I say, my faceplate sliding back in place. “But I’ve got my eye on-”

  Before I can finish, my sound systems pick up an unmistakable sound. Footsteps, I think. Tessa, whose own suit must have also picked up on the sound, draws her blade.

  “T.I.T.A.N.,” I whisper. “Turn off surround sound.”

  Tessa smirks. “You call it a T.I.T.A.N.?”

  “Not now, Tess.”

  Tess, however, had no plans for stopping. “Why’d you copy my design, by the way?”

  Revolving in the spot, back-to-back with weapons at the ready, we scan the room. Behind me, I hear a vase shatter and Tessa gasps.

  “What is it?” I ask her without turning.

  “One of those mechanical Abnormals,” she answers.

  Then, in front of me, a thin creature zips towards the door. Instead of fleeing out, it stands there, blocking our exit. A few more of the same creatures begin to flank us. I elbow Tess and say, “We’re surrounded.”

  “Damnit,” Bella, Jim, and Tess say simultaneously.

  Then Tess looks back at me, smiles, and whispers, “One more Hunt together for old times’ sake?”

  I bare my teeth, grinding them. “Let’s go, then,” I reply, and launch into the army of machines.