S5 Episode Twelve: "New Blood, Old Guard"

Rain beat down on the city, the torrents causing the neon signs to bleed into rivers of color. The police scanners were pulling double-shifts, every frequency calling for backup and the noise was getting to be excessive. Lance swiped across the holographic display in front of him, clearing the feeds.

“O.R.A.C.L.E., keep those running in the background… at least until something usable comes up…”

“Will do,” chimed the AI.

“It feels like the city is winding up for one chaotic block party…” Adam began. “The Minister and his zealots, Basilisk, Mythos with every creature of the month…”

“That's how collapse happens,” Lance stated. “Problems stop waiting their turn…”

“Speaking of Paleo Park… Three attacks in one night…” Adam commented.

“That seems excessive, even for what she has been doing.”

“She appears to be moving in a direction across the city…” began O.R.A.C.L.E.

“Previous attacks appeared territorial. These recent attacks have been outside of the zone we had marked.”

“In which direction is she moving?” asked Adam.

“Do we have an idea of what her target might be?”

“I think we know exactly where she is heading…” Lance noted.

“Mythos Labs.”

Lance and Adam turned to see Batholomew Midas and Robert Knight stepping off the lift leading into their headquarters.

“I forgot he basically had the keys to everything…” Adam said in a hushed tone.

“Mr. Midas… Mr. Knight… what an unexpected surprise…” Lance said.

“We won't be making social calls like this every time,” stated Midas.

“We just decided to lend a hand with your current dilemmas.”

“With all due respect, sirs… how?” asked Adam.

“Besides the information you've already provided with the Minister case, what else could you do?”

“I may be a few years beyond my former vigilante days, but I'm still in my prime,” Knight said with a wizened grin.

Lance raised an eyebrow.

“We could use the workshop to kit together armor to fit you,” Lance said.

“Though that might take some time we don't have.”

“Oh, I'm all set thanks to Bart,” Knight said.

“I was tempted to squeeze into my old gear, but we didn't think it was in our best interest to expose ourselves with something recognizable…”

Midas tapped his cane on a case Knight carried.

“We came prepared, dear boy,” Midas said.

“We came to assist, not to impose. Personally, I won't be doing field work tonight as my knee has been acting up… but Bob can and will keep pace with you without issue.”

“So how do you want to do this, son?” Knight asked.

“This is your operational area, we are only here to support you.”

Lance and Adam exchanged glances, confirming they were both thinking similar things.

“We can have O.R.A.C.L.E. triangulate an area to try to corner and either stall or capture Basilisk. I'll need to make some modifications to some of our gear to see if we can actually pin her down long enough to hit her with a tranquilizer.”

Midas stepped up to the console.

“O.R.A.C.L.E., be a dear and run up the data you have from the Zeta Compound to scale with an estimate on Basilisk's physiology. Use reference from the world's largest reptiles on record and give a ballpark of what type and dosage we would need for an effective tranquilizer.”

“Right away, sir.”

Adam and Lance stood silent for a moment in surprise.

“You don't get to where I'm at without knowing some things,” Midas said with a wink.

“Showing off already, Bart?” Knight asked.

“Don't you have a suit to try on?” Midas retorted.

Knight simply shook his head and walked off the command bridge toward the locker room.

“You two should get ready as well,” Midas said as he went over the information O.R.A.C.L.E. presented to him.

An hour later the three were geared up and on their way, being driven to the drenched downtown in a delivery truck Midas had arranged for his assistant to drive for them. They stood in the dark box of their transport, the faint glow of their HUDs being their only light.

“The reports are still coming in… she is down somewhere near the shipyard warehouses in the next sector,” Midas told them over their comms.

“Nearing the drop point now,” Lance noted.

“Knight, what are we going to use for your callsign?”

“Well, we could just use my old one, Aegis… but I suppose that would defeat the purpose of not using my old suit too… Use Bulwark.”

“Bulwark?” Adam repeated.

“I'm sure he picked that because ‘Crippling Back Pain’ lacks intimidation,” jived Midas over the line.

“Five seconds to deployment.”

“So you've got jokes tonight…” Knight commented.

“Destination reached. Deploy.”

The vehicle didn't stop as much as slowed just enough so they could jump out of the side door without sustaining injury. The hatch slid open on its own and they quickly leaped into the rain soaked alleyway just before the truck drove away. They filed into the shadows without incident and continued through the passage between buildings.

“So… how do we find a dinosaur in the city?” Adam asked.

A screech echoed across the cityscape from ahead of them.

“Follow the thing that sounds like a dinosaur…” Lance stated.

They emerged on the outskirts of a warehouse facility with a tall fence surrounding it. Lance and Adam scaled the side of the heavy metal bars with ease. Knight waited until they were over it and in one bound leaped over it. Once again Adam and Lance were astounded at the ease in which he performed.

“I told you, I'm in my prime…” Knight said as he walked past them.

Rows of shipping containers stretched before them, creating a symmetrical maze of metal across the dark yard. They continued forward, splitting between different rows to cover more ground.

“It's quiet… too quiet…” commented Adam.

He checked for thermal signatures with his visor.

“I don't see any abnormal heat signatures either…”

“That doesn't mean she isn't here.”

A distant metal shriek sounded from across the yard that put everyone on higher alert.

Then came a growl… low, animalistic…

Wrong.

“Nope… don't like that…” Adam commented.

“Be ready,” Knight called calmly. “Group up in the intersection ahead.”

A loud crash sounded somewhere above them, then another as the shipping containers near them began to shake. The undeniable groan of bending metal sounded…

Lance looked up just in time to see claws tear through steel as Basilisk burst through like a living nightmare.

“MOVE!” Lance called.

Adam dove aside just as claws raked through the pavement where he just stood.

Basilisk hissed violently.

“You…”

Her voice came out fragmented, human pieces of speech buried beneath a predatory rasp.

“You keep hunting me…”

“We can help you!” Lance responded as he readied his shield gauntlet.

“LIAR!”

She swung at Lance.

He blocked the attack with his shield, but was thrown back against a stack of crates hard enough to splinter wood apart.

Adam raised the tranquilizer gun he was carrying, attempting to fire a dart… Basilisk caught his arm mid-shot.

“Not good…” Adam squeaked.

She lifted him off the ground effortlessly, bringing his faceplate closer to hers in a snarl…

In a black and gold blur, Knight came between them with a fist to Basilisk's jaw. The impact staggered the reptilian and caused her to drop Adam.

“You okay, kid?” he asked.

“I'm fine… I've mostly gotten used to it…”

Basilisk roared and charged at Knight.

And everyone else watching learned an important lesson… he knew how to fight.

He wasn't sloppy or desperate. He was precise in his movements, both offensive and defensive. Every motion was economical in its act as he sidestepped and redirected the massive claws and form of the beast. In a flash, he used her momentum to redirect her and slammed her into the wall of a shipping container.

He activated a mechanism in his gauntlet and a surge of electricity glowed into Basilisk with a punch. She screamed.

“Where do I get one of those?” Adam asked.

“Well if you ask nicely enough…”

Basilisk recovered with terrifying speed and spun her body around, slamming her tail into Knight. The impact launched him across the intersection and into the framework of a crane. The old man crashed hard.

“kNIGHT!” called Lance.

For a brief moment, his age showed.

Pain. Exhaustion. Mortality.

And Basilisk saw it, her predatory instincts kicking in. She charged again. Lance interrupted her with his shield again, slamming into her from the side to push her away.

Adam rushed toward Knight.

“Are you okay?”

Knight groaned as he pulled himself upright.

“I've had worse…”

“You absolutely are someone who would say that after being hit by a truck with teeth…”

“Actually,” Knight muttered. “It was a helicopter once…”

Adam stared, slackjawed.

“...what…?”

“No time. Later.”

Across the pathway, Basilisk had overpowered Lance and slammed him into the ground repeatedly, the concrete cratering with each impact.

“LANCE!”

Knight looked around, then up.

“Get the yard lights on!” he called out on comms.

“On it!” O.R.A.C.L.E. responded.

Moments later, the massive lights came to life in a blinding explosion of white illumination. Basilisk immediately released Lance and shirked from the light, covering her eyes.

Lance painstakingly pulled himself from the ground and moved in with the others.

“What do you want….?!” Basilisk shrieked.

“Who are you?” Lance demanded, coughing from the effort.

“A….Alexandra……” the voice hissed.

“Alexandra who?” prompted Adam.

She hissed again.

“Bassssssil”

The group lowered their guard, only slightly.

Her voice cracked, more human just for a moment.

“It hurts! Please… help me….!”

Knight took a step forward… just as alarms blared in their comms.

“Warning! Incoming hostile units, inbound from multiple vectors!”

“We've got inbound!”

Lance looked down at Alexandra Basil's reptilian form.

“O.R.A.C.L.E., kill the lights,” he commanded.

The yard instantly went fully dark.

“Go,” Lance said.

“Before they get here…”

Her yellow eyes reflected the distant lights as she blinked to readjust to the shadows… then she leaped away.

“Let's go.”