October, Halloween decorations everywhere. It was both the best and worst time to deal with Cryptids. On one hand it was easier to cover up, on the other it was less likely for strange things to get reported as people would assume it was just pranksters or halloween shenanigans. The leaves were now fully in autumnal colors and starting to melt from the trees. The cold weather was increasing and it was possible there would be snow before Halloween. A regular occurrence in Wisconsin.
This didn't stop Black Eagle from deploying the moment they got the smallest report of horrible loud screeching in search of the Banshee that got loose during the incident at the NexGen laboratory. Three Humvees plus Pitch were deployed to the area that was believed to be the location of the Banshee based on triangulation of the sound reports. This would be a tricky case even with the Halloween excuses as it was in a residential area. However, difficulties weren't going to stop Black Eagle from doing its job.
Since it's night, there isn't much activity outside making things a bit easier. The convoy comes up the street to see the Banshee standing over a night jogger who was on the ground and had blood coming out his ears. The monster was a pale blue color with thin formations of translucent cloth wrapped around and coming off its body like thin sashes. Its somewhat feminine humanoid figure was thin, almost malnourished looking and the long hair on its head flowed in a way that defied gravity. In the spot one would expect a woman's face was one big round mouth with multiple rows of teeth that can suck in lots of air before screaming and small black dots for eyes.
This monster may have had a human-like shape but was definitely not human. It was unclear from here if it ever was or if this was simply an example of a Cryptid having a humanoid shape for no particular reason. The Banshee saw the men as they hopped out of the Humvees and started to float up in defiance of gravity. It breathed in deep before letting out an unholy scream. Even with the sound canceling helmets the Black Eagle soldiers still gripped their heads and were stunned. Pitch and Ishwada arriving last got out after the scream, Ishwada in full gear for once gets the attention of a soldier. “You good? Anyone have a spare helmet?” He pointed to Pitch who had regular clothes on.
The soldier he directly addressed shook his head. “Even if I did, I wouldn't give him one.” Ishwada grumbles. “He's on our side. You guys didn't have any issues with him when we did the Wendigo case.” The soldier raised his weapon at the Banshee and started to fire, with it easily dodging by flying. “That was before I found out he was completely immune to poison. I thought when you said he was a Cryptid that he was a Doppelganger or something. But I don't know what he is, so I don't trust him.” Ishwada practically growled. “Not trusting is a long way from willingly letting him get hurt.” The soldier scoffed. “He's apparently immune to damage, so it's a waste of resources.”
Pitch walked over to Ishwada. “Don't bother making it an order, even if I wore the helmet I'd be just as vulnerable.” He points to his ears then moves both hands open palm over his body. Ishwada nods, understanding that Pitch is reminding him that his entire body under the mask is basically his ear among other things. He then looked at the dodging Banshee. “Maybe I should have brought an Ampere rifle. The sniper of the electric tech guns.” The Banshee breaths in and lets out a second scream. Pitch gripped his ears as the mask ears were not exactly just for show and not just of habit as he nearly fell to his knees in pain. His entire body was ringing like he had tinnitus everywhere.
One of the soldiers moved over to a Humvee as soon as the stun wore off, still grabbing his helmet as he opened up the back and grabbed what looked like a sniper. Ishwada pointed it out. “Ah, someone brought one.” Ishwada himself made a few focused burst round shots at the Banshee, trying to get it to stay in one area long enough for the sniper to take the shot. Ishwada ordered the rest of the men to do the same. Pitch lifted his Watt pistol and also started to take pot shots at the Banshee. Though he couldn't hit it any better, he wasn't exactly trying to.
After a bit of boxing her in, the sniper charged the Ampere rifle and took the shot. She moved a bit just as the shit fired with a surprisingly loud sound like thunder. The shot hitting her in the shoulder. She suddenly dives down and flies in just above the road making a b-line for the sniper. Everyone continued to fire at the Banshee as she made her approach. The monster angled its body to be standing right in front of the sniper and stood on the ground for the first time. She grabbed the sniper by the head, breathed in, and screamed right in his face. When the Banshee let go the soldier crumpled to the ground.
Pitch ran to him, the Banshee backing off and returning to a hover as soon as he got close. Pitch checked the soldier. Still alive, just unconscious and likely going to have to live with permanent hearing loss. Pitch picked up the Ampere rifle and prepped it before charging it up for a shot. Surrounding her and trying to box her in wasn't working because she could fly and dodge easily and move out of the circle from above, so Pitch decided to try something a little different. “Hey ugly, over here!”
The monster looked at him after the active taunt was issued and breathed in to let out another scream at a distance that stunned the soldiers for a moment. Pitch's body cringed hard till he was nearly crouched but he grabbed his pistol with his left hand and fired it at the Banshee anyway, hitting the same shoulder as the snipers round earlier. It let out a small yelp sound before glaring at Pitch who aimed the sniper at her face. The Banshee rushed at him and as she was coming Pitch fired a round right into her mouth as she breathed in for an attack.
The Banshee twitched as she hit the ground with a bounce before sliding to Pitch's feet. Pitch went to kick her but she rolled and got back to a hover just above the ground. Pitch grumbled. “Surprisingly durable for such a gaunt thing.” The Banshee moved on again and swatted the sniper right out of Pitch's hand while letting out a small ethereal wail that wasn't enough to hurt anyone. She then grabbed Pitch by the face and got right into it. She breathed in, with Pitch trying to smack her arms and hands to get her to let him go. “What are you guys waiting for? She's not moving, take the shot!”
After a short hesitation everyone, including Ishwada, fired burst rounds at the Banshee. Although a few rounds hit Pitch, most of them landed on the Banshee who let out her scream while still taking in air. The sound came out not as one solid sound but somewhat broken up with small pauses. Although Pitch still nearly fell to the floor. He made a strange gagging sound. “I feel like I'm gonna throw up.” Pitch felt dizzy, disoriented, and queasy. “Is this what motion sickness feels like? Vertigo maybe? Either way, I don't like it.”
The Banshee started to fly around oddly, not just to dodge but it almost seemed like it too was disoriented. Ishwada looked at it curiously. “What did you do to it?” Pitch made coughing sounds
“Nothing really. I slapped its arms uselessly until you guys fired at it. Though a few rounds hit me.” Ishwada looked at Pitch, knowing what his body does to electricity. “You good?” Pitch nodded. “It wasn't enough to cause problems.” He then picked the sniper back up. The Banshee started letting out wails rather than screams as it clumsily danced in the sky avoiding fire from the ground.
Ishwada observed it for a moment. “Maybe it's because it took damage? Enough to get it to change tactics.” Pitch also put his gun down to observe. “I don't know but I'm getting really sick of this thing dancing around and avoiding attacks.” Ishwada looked at him. “Are you sure it's not just because this thing can actually hurt you?” Pitch grumbled. “That's annoying too, but not my main focus.” The Banshee dives back down and starts making strafing runs, screaming as it passes people, the soldiers nearly collapsing as she does.
Pitch lets out a groan. “Yep, she's changed tactics. Hit and run. I'm guessing she's not used to people surviving her attacks.” Ishwada nods. “It would make sense, outside the team that captured her originally, she's probably never encountered people that can take attacks from her. Too bad we can't just fire a net gun at her.” Ishwada chuckled. “Actually we have an electrified wire net gun we call a Faraday.” Pitch looked at him. “Is there an electromagnetic scientist you haven't named a weapon after?” Ishwada hummed. “Volt Rifle, Watt Pistol, Ohm scatter-shot, Edison Bulb, Ampere Rifle, Faraday Cage, Gauss Cannon, Tesla Maelstrom… nah, I think we covered all the major ones.” Ishwada ran to his Humvee and fished through the items in it while the soldiers provided suppressive fire.
Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.
Pitch watched as Ishwada pulled out the large net gun. “You missed Galvin and maybe Ritter. I also wouldn't be surprised if you had fire or heat guns named Fahrenheit, Centigrade, Kelvin, Rankine, or maybe after Herschel.” Ishwada knitted his brow. “Who the fuck uses Rankine? Nobody even knows what that is. No normal person anyway. Also, the UV gun is named after Ritter because he discovered UV light after hearing about Herschel’s discovery. Even if he's more known for his electromagnetic contributions.” Ishwada took aim at the Banshee as it weaved back and forth to avoid the shots from the soldiers, occasionally diving in for her attack. One of the soldiers collapsed to the ground either dead or unconscious. There wasn't time to think about the losses right now, the job came first.
Ishwada aimed for some time, waiting for the right moment, and took his shot. The electrified net hit the Banshee and sent her to the floor. “Got her!” He exclaimed as she struggled under the net getting zapped. She breathed in deep, her chest inflating from the air going in, and letting out a scream louder than anything she'd let out before causing everyone to stumble. This scream sent pulses of airwaves that pushed the net off the Banshee. Pitch wobbled and his vision was blurry and he started to hear a faint heartbeat as he tried his best to shake it off enough to focus his eyes.
“I've had just about enough of you.” Pitch growled in a distorted voice before running right under the Banshee. He then crouched down and leaped high into the air aimed right at the Banshee. Pitch collided with her mid air pushing her up and managed to maneuver himself to bring above her, bringing her down with him. He wrapped his right hand on her neck and slammed her to the pavement as he landed on his feet on the pavement beside her. She struggled and kicked but Pitch climbed onto her and straddled her, holding her down with his body as his hands squeezed her neck.
“If you won't shut up, I'll shut you up. You'll finally be silent and I can have some peace and quiet once more.” The Banshee gasped and scratched at Pitch's hand, letting out soft whimpers and wails. Pitch squeezed harder causing her to kick and claw and flail even harder. She started letting out short burst screams that would be choked out by Pitch’s squeezing. He then put his other hand on her throat, squeezing with both hands and throttling the monster and slamming her head on the pavement repeatedly as she fought for air, gasping and sputtering out spit.
Pitch's skin paled as he smiled wickedly and his eyes turned out black. He laughed maniacally. “Hehehehe, so tell me Banshee. Do you fear death?” He gripped tighter as all the monster could do was make choking sputtering noises as she kicked, flailed, and clawed so hard she was scratching up herself as much as Pitch who was bleeding from his ears and the nail marks on his arms since his mask was built to mimic surface injuries. The cuts were not deep enough to break the mask.
Pitch's hands flex as they tighten even harder, he shakes his hand one last time before grunting and making one last intense squeeze. There is a light distinct crack sound followed by a high pitched boom as a sound wave pulses from the Banshee as her body goes limp. Pitch lets go as his skin and eyes return to normal. He wipes his forehead with his hand. “Damn, I nearly lost my cool there.” He got up off the Banshee and looked up to see the still conscious Black Eagle soldiers, minus Ishwada, all still pointing their guns with shaky arms. One even picked up the Ampere Rifle and was aiming it right at Pitch's head.
“Uhhh… the Banshee’s dead. You can lower your weapons now.” Pitch said with a normal sounding voice, but all the soldiers, including the Doppelgangers, kept their weapons raised. “Jiryu, can you order them to stand down?” Ishwada took a step forward and removed his helmet. “Stand down men, target neutralized.” One of the soldiers steadied his aim. “Secondary target identified. Contain if possible, kill of necessary” Ishwada moved in even more, walking up right behind the man and grabbing his shoulder. “Did you not hear me? That man is an ally and I order you to stand down.”
The soldier keeps his weapon raised. “Sorry sir, but I can't do that. I'm fine working with Doppels and Succubi because they are just as vulnerable as us and if they go rogue we can handle it. But that… man, if you can even call him that, just did a jump that could have leaped a tall building in a single bound. He then choked out and snapped the neck of a Banshee with his bare hands. I heard he didn't need a helmet for the Catoblepas toxic spores and he was able to survive a Banshee scream point blank. Not only that, but he clearly enjoyed killing it near the end. It's not just the fact that he's not human, but he's clearly some kind of monster. Not just a Cryptid, but an honest to goodness monster.”
Pitch chuckled nervously. “So I got a little carried away, she was really annoying and the screaming hurt. It was clear we weren't going to capture her and I was sick of her god damn death screams. As a Cryptid feeding on fear is kinda part of the deal so when I sensed fear my more monstrous instincts kicked in. I'll try to conduct myself in a more calm and reasonable manner in the future and I'm sorry if I scared anyone.” Several of the soldiers lowered their weapons but kept them at the ready on standby just in case. The one with the sniper, the same one that refused to give Pitch a helmet at the start, kept his weapon aimed.
Pitch sighed and put his hands in the air. “I suggest you put that gun down, you'll regret firing it.” The soldier scoffed. “Maybe, but you won't be alive to see it.” He pulled the trigger and a thunderous sound came out of the weapon as a bolt of lightning struck Pitch right in the forehead sending his head backwards. He brings it back up with a scowl and no clear sign of injury. “That was unpleasant and unprofessional.” He then flicked out his arm pointing to a tree with a snap of the limb. A thick purple bolt of lightning struck the tree and broke off a large chunk causing it to fall over.
Pitch was about to sprint at the soldier to disarm him but Ishwada beat him to it. “I gave a direct order to stand down! Besides, if he wanted any of you dead, he'd have done it. I've put my trust in him, and you've put your trust in me. I expect you to conduct yourself like professionals. Do I make myself clear?!” The man gave a soft “yes sir” prompted by Ishwada yelling “I can't hear you.” The man said “yes sir” a lot more loudly this time. “Now pack up the corpses and wounded and get ready to roll out.” “Yes sir!” Shouted the soldiers and they started to get packed up.
Ishwada put his hand on Pitch's shoulder. “Are you sure you're okay? For a moment there you looked like the other guy. It was kinda scary.” Pitch took a breath. “I… don't know what came over me. I guess I'm not used to things being a genuine threat to me. Normally my struggle is making sure I keep the mask up and make sure everyone is comfortable. But it shouldn't be my job to make sure everyone is comfortable with my presence or existence. So when I was actually in danger and feeling pain I guess I stopped caring about everyone else being comfortable. Then once I had her in my hands and she knew she was going to die… the fear and desperation was almost human and… well let's just say I haven't exactly been eating as well as I used to since I finished off the remaining death row inmates and recovered from my injury.”
Ishwada tilted his head. “You've been starving yourself?” Pitch nodded. “I've been slowly cutting down, trying to get it so I only eat once every other week instead of once or twice a week. Trying to balance out the extra meals I had to eat to recover.” Ishwada rubs his mouth with his hand, having obvious mixed feelings about Pitch's diet. “As distasteful as what you need to eat to avoid going feral is, I can't have you working hangry. I get most would say murder is murder but honestly the kinds of people you go for probably won't ever change. Drug addicts, dealers, people already near death from sickness due to drugs… These people aren't beyond redemption but one must seek it out and these people don't want to or are too far gone. STD, drugs… these people are already dying.”
Pitch looked at the floor. “I can try to justify it all I want, call it mercy… I still feel like shit. I'm no better than that scientist feeding death row inmates to Abe.” Ishwada scowled. “Bull shit, that guy also did illegal experiments on Dopples and Succubi. He didn't feel bad about any of it, if fact he was proud of the progress he made. The fact you feel remorse is proof you're still human on the inside.” Pitch sighed. “Yeah, but for how long, Jiryu? I feel like I lose a piece of my humanity every time I eat or have to embrace my current body. The worst part of it is Kat has accepted all of me, and I can't bring myself to do the same. I look at Abe or Vance, and I see a dark future. A path I could have walked or could still fall into if I'm not diligent. I feel like I'm holding my humanity by a thread, only to find out I'm pulling at the frey.”
Ishwada pats Pitch's shoulder. “Have you taken any time to actually process things since the change? I mean you said you felt like you died and were reborn. Have you taken the time to mourn the loss of the old you?” Pitch shook his head. “I've been focused on the mission, and it didn't really feel like death in that way. I mean I'm still here, kinda. I'm still me, mostly.” Ishwada nodded. “I know what it's like, to dive into something to avoid your own feelings. To distract yourself from processing the loss because if you do that makes it real. Take some time off from your other job, I'll only call on you if I really need you. Take some time to process the crazy shit that's been happening. I'll put you in line for a session with Tickle Monster. One hour with that Cuddle Bug and the stress will just melt away.”
Pitch gave Ishwada a weak smile. “Thanks for looking out for me Jiryu. It's great to have a small group of friends that know all of me since I brought Cuda in the loop. He took it fairly well. Asked a lot of questions about the mechanics of monsters when I expected questions about who was and wasn't real. I know I should have given you a heads up but he ambushed me at my house after spotting me at the farm.” Ishwada gave a dismissive wave as he loaded up his Humvee. “Yeah, that's fine. Now go home and relax.” Pitch noticed a long ornate and decorative looking lock box that showed significant age in the Humvee. “What's with the fancy old box?”
Ishwada looked at it. “Old family heirloom, it's like seven hundred years old and contains a Katana. Family legend says it was forged by a dragon for an ancestor in order to protect the land from demons. I thought since a lot of myths are Cryptid related I'd bring it along. I forgot where I left the key though.” Pitch nodded and started heading to his own jeep. “I'll go get that rest now.”
