Friday – 5:07 p.m.

  A large ball of fire erupted as red-orange flames ate at what was once a black and white Mustang at the side of the road. He stared, jarred by the image of the mangled second-hand car with its bonnet wrapped around a light pole, all while keeping in mind there were two things that would definitely result in his death: his mother, who had gifted him the vehicle only minutes ago; and the other. . .well, he was about to find out.

  He went from being a driver to something else as he brought up his hand, revealing a magnificent, sleek bow whose mystical workings enabled him to conjure an arrow of jade and gold; its glowing hue matching that of the bow. He became. . . the Hunter. He fired the arrow and to his side, her hands a-glow with bright blue flames and her eyes ethereal, the color of the sea—Pisces stood, apprehensive. She braced herself for what lay ahead. And so did he.

  He watched the arrow sail towards the chaos where it blew up in an array of bright green lightning flashes. The chaos cleared and out of it materialized something he should have been terrified upon seeing but given what he had recently come out of, this was an ordinary Friday for him.

  Still, he planted his feet firmly to the ground.

  “Shit,” he swallowed, muttering under his breath as the figure before them took form. “Was really hoping we were done with this.”

  The figure charged towards them. Towards him. And the battle ensued. . .

  He summons another arrow into his hand and nocks it. The figure is upon them. He releases the arrow. A near miss. The figure darts, zooming in at a low angle, and, before he knows it, he is airborne. The figure has rammed into him. It summons a weapon of its own—a crossbow—an arrow already in place.

  He is brought back safely to the ground against his will by an unseen force. He turns thankfully to his ally once he is back on his feet.

  Returning his attention to the figure, he notices its towering height. He regards it as he recalls its name. The name Pisces had told him before everything had gone wrong—Orion—clad in what appears to be heavy bronze armor from head to toe. There is a helm over his head, leaving only slits for his eyes: two red glowing orbs of darkness, similar to the ones his master had before him.

  Orion reloads and fires. His attack is deflected by the Hunter’s bow. The arrow spins before dissolving in the air. Pisces is already on the counterattack and the Hunter catches a faint strain on her face as she conjures up glowing spheres of sapphire energy and blasts them at the adversary.

  The blasts push him back. The Hunter advances and fires multiple arrows in rapid succession, each one exploding before the figure. He closes in on Orion, together with Pisces, moving over the asphalt with the sun setting beyond them.

  The figure is down on one knee. Pisces suppresses it with her powers. The Hunter fires again but this time, Orion changes tactic, swiftly switching from his crossbow to a large square shield. The Hunter’s arrow ricochets upon contact and darts back towards him. He barely gets out of the way, feeling the hot graze of his own weapon slash across his right temple.

  He is down on the ground. Orion rages, erupting from the ground. The armor fits his lean form immaculately. He is not as built as his former master but still bigger than both Pisces and the Hunter combined. He lunges at the Hunter who rolls out of the way before the ground splits apart from the figure’s impact.

  The Hunter brings around his bow. Orion turns around in time to catch him mid swing. The bow is knocked out of his hand and clatters over the asphalt. Orion lifts him by the neck, bearing his red eyes at him before slamming his back against the ground. His spine rattles, sending vibrations through his skin.

  Frantically jabbing, the Hunter tries to break free from his attacker’s grip. Orion’s shield morphs into a double-edged sword, its silvery blade glinting. He thrusts it down. The Hunter braces himself. But the sword never touches him. Orion lets out a low grunt and is thrown off of him. He is being pulled back against his will. Beyond him is Pisces, intricately maneuvering her hands in the air.

  Picking up his bow, the Hunter readies himself for another attack. He is about to fire an arrow but then something strange happens—well, stranger—Orion’s cosmic form phases, shifting in and out of view at odd angles until he simply. . . vanishes.

  Pisces breaks out of her telekinetic hold, gasping and out of breath.

  “Huh. . .” the Hunter frowns, “that was it? You’d think he’d put up a better fight than—”

  The air changes suddenly, splitting open and Orion reappears, phasing back into existence. He groans, checking himself in confused fashion.

  “And. . .he’s back. . .” the Hunter frowns in dismay.

  “He’s. . .he’s unstable!” Pisces gathers, coming to the Hunter’s side with a dawning expression on her face. “It’s his essence.”

  “His what now?” the Hunter readies his bow.

  “You know, like I was,” Pisces maintains her glowing eyes on Orion. “He hasn’t adapted to this world like I have.”

  “That’s gotta be a good thing for us, right?”

  Pisces remains silent and by the look of things, the Hunter can tell whatever is happening to their weapon-shifting enemy does not appear to deter him. If anything it only makes him madder.

  Orion charges, leaping into the air. Pisces tries to bring him down again but he breaks through her telekinesis, shattering her energy like glass with his crossbow. She falls and the Hunter returns the assault. They meet midair, their weapons clanging against each other and, as it has happened several times before, the Hunter crashes with his back to the ground. He coughs, splattering the asphalt with tiny scarlet beads.

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  “You’re the one who took down Aries?” Orion finally speaks, pinning down the Hunter with his foot. He is already reloading his crossbow. “I guess he should have summoned me sooner.”

  If only the Hunter had a nickel for all the times weapons had been pointed at him as his eyes meet the tip of the arrowhead quivering before him. But, as the crossbow is about to be fired, Orion’s form quivers. He misfires and the arrow plunges into the ground right next to the Hunter’s head.

  Pisces rushes over, taking advantage of the situation and blasting back Orion. The glitching intensifies until he loses control over it. He vanishes right before the arrow explodes beside the Hunter, causing his brain to rattle against his skull. His vision shifts as if a brand new lens has been passed over his eyes, transitioning him into an entirely new environment.

  There were flashes of green lightning everywhere. Someone was screaming. He followed the sound and it led him to a person suspended in the air, levitating. It looked like. . .He looked a lot like. . .The Hunter squinted, getting an eerie sense of familiarity alongside a foreboding sense of doom while trying to make out the face but the lightning intensified. Waves of red and green energy swirled around this person. The energy then let up, engulfing the person in a terrible explosion. . .

  Someone was calling out his name. He could feel the level of alarm but could not make out where it was coming from. Darkness had befallen him. He could not see, until someone touched his shoulder and the darkness was sucked away by an incredible shower of sapphire light.

  The light waned and in its place she appeared. She knelt by his side.

  “Are you okay?” Pisces scrutinized him, her dark brown eyes no longer ethereal blue.

  The Hunter tried sitting up, gradually regaining awareness of his surroundings, alongside his own body. “I think I’ve got a concussion,” he winced the moment he felt his head. “Scratch that. I think I’ve got serious brain damage.”

  “Stay still!” Pisces cautioned, “You’re only making it worse.”

  “But Orion. . .he—” the Hunter tried sitting up again, ignoring the pain.

  “Is gone,” Pisces forced him back down before looking out into the road. “For now. . .”

  She placed a hand on the Hunter’s forehead, her pale brown skin contrasting with his ebony complexion. He watched her do what she had done countless times before.

  “Don’t think I’m ever getting used to—”

  “Quiet!” Pisces whispered, shutting her eyes. A tiny crease formed between her eyebrows which came in and out of view from beneath the bangs of her straight black shoulder-length hair. She felt the Hunter’s pain, which thankfully had nothing to do with brain damage but it was still pain all the same. His pain became hers until the Hunter could no longer feel it anymore.

  Opening her eyes, Pisces withdrew her hand from the Hunter’s forehead. There was a tear streaming down her cheek but before the Hunter could ask if she was okay, he noticed something else even more alarming.

  “You’re bleeding!”

  Pisces felt her lower lip, quickly wiping away the tear before casting a worried look at her partner. “So are you.”

  “My healing. . .” she muttered, her voice breaking.

  “My healing,” the Hunter was quick to catch on the sharp edginess in Pisces’ voice. “it wasn’t like this before. . .before I. . .” She curled her right fingers into a fist.

  “Hey,” the Hunter smiled, gently placing a hand on her shoulder, “thanks to you I’m not brain dead.”

  Pisces smiled back, especially after she noticed his blood-stained teeth. They both got off the ground.

  The Hunter tried to avoid looking at the Mustang, wondering how he would explain to his mother once she found out: Hey mom, some alien dude with a grudge and a crossbow wrecked the car you just gifted me. No hard feelings!

  He shuddered at the mere thought and, instead, decided to focus on the present just as a new sound was coming from beyond the wreckage. Sirens.

  “Is it so hard, for once, to ask for a normal birthday?” the Hunter gritted his teeth, a weary look on his face as Pisces joined him. He glanced at his mangled birthday present again. Smoke was snaking out of the Mustang’s hood.

  “And here I thought nothing could top fighting off some psycho Zodiac in an ancient island yet here we are again!” The Hunter rented out his woes with clenched fists. “Already dealing with another psycho who’s out to get me.”

  “Well, you did kill his master,” Pisces shrugged nervously.

  “Umm, I’m not sure kill’s the word I’d use,” the Hunter countered. “Aries destroyed himself. He was the one doing the killing.”

  “It doesn’t matter,” Pisces shook her head, almost a little too vigorously, “you’re the reason he’s dead and now his most loyal acolyte is—”

  “Coming to kill me and everyone I love,” the Hunter spat, “nothing I haven’t dealt with before!”

  He looked past his ruined car after striking at something with his foot. He paid little attention to the object which skittered across the asphalt.

  “I mean,” the Hunter hoisted the bow in his hand, “what am I even doing?”

  The bow disappeared from his hand which distracted him for a second before he resumed his lamenting.

  “Some teenager running around with a magical bow,” he let out a dry laugh. “I’m basically Robin Hood if he had superpowers. . .! Which somehow still sounds way better!”

  The Hunter noticed his partner’s puzzled expression but even then he was still too angry to start elaborating on a self-glorified fictional character who stole from the rich and gave to the poor using a bow and arrow.

  Pisces’ eyes steered the Hunter away, almost literally, like they had done many times before, except they used to be the color of the ocean and the more he looked into them the more he saw himself, or at least a reflection of what he was becoming.

  “Desmond,” Pisces whispered using only her mind. “You’re Desmond Turner. . .Soon to be more. But you will always be Desmond Turner.” The softness of her words cut through his mind like a delicate cloth, wiping away and clearing his thoughts.

  Her entrancing effect wore off faster than she had intended and Pisces could not decide whether it was because of her waning powers or that she realized she had been holding Desmond’s hand that entire time.

  Casting another weary but more relaxed look at the Mustang, the Hunter exhaled, “We better get out of here.”

  He was regaining his composure and becoming himself again. Becoming Desmond Turner.

  His back to the car, Desmond led the way as he and Pisces hurried off and out of the avenue, distancing themselves from the wreckage and the oncoming Sacramento PD.

  ZODIAC HUNTER: THE QUIVER'S CURSE

  COMING SOON!

  MAY-16-2025