Calamity Squad

Prologue

Monster

It was a peaceful evening in the downtown area of Ignago. Apart from the occasional car horns, the city was tranquil. One of the quieter areas was the bottom of the abandoned canal. At least… It’s usually quiet.

*CRASH*

“AW, SHIT!!”

A young man crashes into a wall with such force that it nearly shatters completely. He gets up aching with pain.

“Oooowwww.” the man said as he ached in pain. He had red, spiky hair and donned a set of sharp teeth. The boy steps out of the debris, readying himself for another attack. Before he could fully gain his footing, he saw a tendril with an end shaped like an axe coming straight at him. “SHIT!!”.

Before the tendril could strike, a yellow shield formed around the boy, protecting him.

“Eric!” a girl's voice exclaimed.  “You good?”

“You're a lifesaver, Angie,” Eric says with a toothy grin. Angie, a blonde girl in a baggy yellow plaid jacket and jean shorts, raises a scythe as energy radiates from the shield, and yellow crosses begin to form around Eric. His cuts and bruises disappeared. 

“What the f#ck, dude,” Angie replied with a hint of laughter. “You really thought that was gonna work?” 

“Oh, like you weren’t thinking about it!”

“True, but you’re the one who did it, so you’re the one getting called a dumdass this time.”

Eric and Angie prepare to attack. Eric clenches his hands into a fist, and as he releases his hands, red glowing claws wrap around his fingers. Angie prepares her scythe in a defensive stance.

However, before they know it, the monster is inches away from them. As Angie summons another shield, preparing for another attack. The beast is suddenly hit with a purple laser from the left side of its back and a green bullet from the right. Two more people appear behind the monster. 

“Damn, I didn’t think it would throw you that far,” says Luke, a guy with an afro and green bomber jacket, and a large pair of green-tinted circular glasses. As he lowers one of his arms, holding a pair of pistols.

“And I didn’t expect you to be dumb enough to jump right at it” exclaimed Chester, a boy with glasses, a purple button-down shirt, and very explicit eye bags. 

“Oh, come on. None of you saw those coming either,” Eric defended.

The monster begins to roar. It stretches out 4 bladed tendrils and begins to spin its body around, rotating its blades like a helicopter. The 4 jump back, narrowly dodging. The monster moves toward Eric and Angie.

“S#IT!” Angie exclaims as she and Eric make a run for it. The monster’s tendrils are on their tail. The other 2, Luke and Chester, are shooting at it, trying to get its attention and slow it down. It was then that the tendrils began spinning, moving up and down and expanding their reach to hit the party members.

The 4 book it, jumping to a high point of the canal to avoid the circular saw. The monster moves his blades up to reach their level. The outer edges of the canal are walled off, leaving nowhere to exit. The four panic, with nowhere else to dodge out of the way. It’s not until a boy jumps from above, shooting out his own blue tendrils and pinning down the monster. Another figure comes speeding down from above the boy. She lands a powerful punch into one of the tendrils, obliterating it. Two new players had entered.

“Aw man, we got here on time,” says Rose, a tall girl with silver hair, as she pulls her fist out of the ground, panting a bit after having to run to where Eric was tossed

“Yeah, you guys move quick”. Said Jack, a red-headed boy with a light blue jacket. He and Rose step down to the ground of the canal and meet with the other four.

“Eric, maybe let Jack finish before you make a move,” She said timidly.

“What?” Eric questioned. “‘It’s a weak Ashborn variant with no particular skills or strength.’ Your words.” 

“It’s a weak Ashborn variant with no particular skills or strength… when alone. It goes into feral mode the moment it sees a perceived threat.” Jack corrects Eric.

“Why was there a long pause after that?!”

“You know I’m a slow reader.”

“You shouldn’t have done it regardless, dumbass!” Chester angrily exclaims.

“Hey,” Angie interrupts. “Where’s Joji and Diego?”

The rest of the group realizes that two people were still missing. The monster lets out a loud screech, morphing another tendril, getting ready to strike at the squad. Before it could even nudge it downward, a knife comes from beyond the canal, cutting the tendril down. It stays moving in the air as its direction changes, going back to its user, Diego.

“Found one!” Eric and Angie exclaim, with no wood to knock on.

“Jobin ran off into some tunnel we walked past earlier. I figured you all desperately needed my assistance, so here I am.” Diego boasted.

“Well, did anyone find a plan to cut that thing's heart on their way here?” Chester questions the party. “Neither mine nor Luke’s shots were able to go deep enough.”

“And we can barely get close enough to its body without it sprouting some more of those damn tentacles.” Angie adds.

As the squad was seemingly preoccupied, the monster tried to lunge its head at them. They aren’t as easily distracted as their bantering makes them seem, as Rose counters with a devastating uppercut to its face. Angie follows up with a swift slash with her scythe to the area where its core is. However, she is not able to get through its thick layers of skin.

“Damnit!” A frustrated Angie exclaims as she regains her footing. “How is this thing piss easy to knock down but has the durability of a boulder?”

“Maybe if we do a concentrated attack with enough force, we can cut through deep enough,” Jack suggested.

Diego chimes in. “And how do you suppose we do that withou—- oohhh. Now I see what his plan is.” 

The rest of the squad looks at Diego with slight confusion, until it starts to click in their heads as well. At that moment, all of their phones buzz. It’s a message from their leader who has been absent from this entire conversation.

Jobin: [Lead it to the tunnel at the end of the canal.]

“Well, think of the Devil,” Jack jokes.

“Wait, we have to go all the way back there?” Angie complains.

“Maybe Eric was onto something, letting himself get tossed” Luke says.

“Well, there is a silver lining to this plan,” Rose says nervously as she looks behind. “W-WE JUST MADE THE FIRST PART EASIER!!”

The rest of the group looks in the same direction she is. The monster was up and at it, but with not just a few new tendrils, but at least thirty, all razor sharp, and completely enraged. 

The squad makes a mad dash to the location Jobin instructed, all while avoiding vicious slashes from the monster. They managed to outrun it and get to the tunnel. 

“Ayo, hold up,”  Luke exclaims with nervousness mixed with terror. “He went into the Weeping Folk Tunnel?” 

The tunnels in the canal carry with them many legends and superstitions, which Luke knows all. He believes them all, for better and for worse.

“Luke, this is not the time.” Chester comments.

“Why would he go in there?!” Luke complains.

“Cause the curse isn’t real,” Chester answers, slightly annoyed.

“We’ll debate about it later. Let’s give Jobin the signal before that thing guts us like fish.” Angie comments. She runs up the entrance of the tunnel. She clears her throat, letting out an odd noise, loud and clear for Jobin to hear. “KRA KA KOO. KRA KA KA KA KA KA KO.” 

The squad looks at Angie in utter confusion. “What was that?” Rose questions?

“Don’t worry. He’ll know what it means.” Angie confidently explains.

“There’s always something new with you two.” Diego points out in a jokingly suspicious tone. Angie looks away, slightly blushing.

“W-well,” Angie tries to retort before being interrupted.

“Everyone,” Rose announces, “It’s coming!”

The monster finally catches up to them. The squad backs up away from the tunnel entry so that the Ashborn can be front and center. Angie places a large shield in front of the group, bracing for any attack that it would throw while waiting for Jobin. Suddenly, they feel the ground shaking. The vibrations get stronger and stronger, all leading back to the tunnel. The monster turns its attention away from the group to look at the tunnel. A faint blue dot can be seen within the distance of the tunnel, followed by a rumbling sound. The dot gets bigger and bigger, and before anyone can react, a giant beam of water comes bursting out. It hits the Ashborn with vicious amounts of nonstop pressure, cutting through its thick layers of skin. The monster is unable to escape the pressure. 

The concentrated, constant pressure shaves of its flesh, enough to expose its heart. The beam of water weakens until it comes to a gradual halt. The monster is trying to recover, but the womb is too deep to heal efficiently, but it was more than slow enough to take advantage of. With that roaring sound of water gone, a new sound can be made out from the tunnel. They were footsteps, ones that were then followed by a loud shout. The squad’s leader gave them the signal. “Give it all you got!!”

The squad wasted no time. Eric manifests his claws, leaping at great speed, striking its heart. Angie comes in, summoning a scythe, and slashes at the heart. Luke takes out his dual trick pistols. He toggles a meter to a screen with different modes: [FIRE], [ICE], [WIND]. He sets it to [LIGHTNING] and takes aim, shooting the Asborn's heart until the power meter on his guns drains. Chester enters the fray. Purple dots start coming out of his sleeves. Tiny little robot-like creatures come out of his skin. They gather in multiple spots in the air, forming circular constructs with cybernetic symbols, like something you see on a motherboard of a computer or TV. The constructs proceed to shoot lasers at the heart, adding to the onslaught of damage. Jack is up next, with four of his tendrils protruding from his back, he delivers piercing jabs at the monster’s heart. Rose tags in. She leaps towards the beast, delivering a devastating punch, enough force to take out a large building. Then last was Diego, who takes multiple knives out of a pouch on his back attached to his belt, throwing all of them at once. 

The Ashborn collapses on the ground. Its heart is severely damaged. With the last of its strengths, it creates a single razor-sharp tendril, one bigger than the previous ones. Before it can even think about its next move, Someone jumps out of the tunnel, a young man dressed in a blue and white sailor uniform. He summons his weapon, a staff with an anchor as the blade. He deals one last blow, dealing a downward slash, cutting the heart in half. The Monster lets out one final screech before completely collapsing. As the noise becomes quieter, it starts to lose its form, becoming particles of ash that disappear into the air. The fight was over.

Jobin regains his footing after that last attack. He walks up to the rest of his team, all conjoining with faces filled with relief and victory. “F#ck, Yeah!” Angie excitedly exclaims, raising her fist in victory. “Another commission done!”

“Jobro with the plan as always.” Eric followed with. “Man, I thought we’d never beat that thing. Felt like cutting a bunch of tar.”

“Nah, for real.” Luke agreed. “Is there such a thing as an opposite of a glass canon? Cause that monster went down way to easily for something so tough to cut?”

“Is everyone alright? No one got too hurt, did they?” Jobin asks with a bit of anxiousness. 

“Aw, quit worrying, Joji,” Angie answers with confidence. “That thing barely put up a fight.”

Chester chimed in on the conversation. “Still, it's weird. The first Ashborn spotting in the canal for months.”

Jack rubs his chin in agreement. “Yeah, and one that big? Usually, it takes months of staying in one spot to get that big, especially in the city. Though it’s like Luke said. This one felt… off.”

Rose timidly enters the conversation, visibly having reservations about this whole mission. “I’m just glad we made it out alright. Let’s go home already. This place already gave me the creeps.”

“Don’t tell me you bought into Luke’s superstition.” Diego laughs in a snarky tone.

“How can you not?” Luke questions. “Speaking of which, J-Boss, you didn’t hear any weird voices in there, did you?”

“Uh… no.” Jobin answers, already guessing what Luke’s talking about.

“Don’t worry, Luke,” Diego remarks. “If those spirits do come after him, your amazing brother will save the day in his usual flare of glory.”

“Oh, like how you’ saved the day’ tonight?” Jobin retorts.

“Aw, can it, you two.” Eric interrupts. “Rose’s right. Let’s go home already.”

“Right, I’m friggin starving!” Angie nods in agreement.

The eight walk back to the entrance of the canal, talking amongst each other after a job well done.