^^ the Alfaxian's ^^

--- Hector ---

I followed Raul out of the class, humming. "We're dealing with what kind of beast today, big bro?"

"Tsk. Six of our Alfa's have gotten loose, again. The idiot new guy seriously needs to learn the gig before one of them eats him." He responded, seriously annoyed.

"You can't expect someone who wasn't raised to our life to be as vigilant as us, though." I reasoned.

"Hmph. Still, for an ex-Seal, he's still awfully squeamish." He grumbled.

I nodded and hopped into the bed of the truck, leaning against the cage, which was outfitted with blessed and salted black iron, webbed with holy silver, and there was a layer of thick titanium carbonate, underlaying it all and reinforcing the frame.

We arrived at the 'Zoo' quickly, and I spoke with the new hire as Raul got to work patching the fences with spare squares of blessed iron we kept around.

"So what happened, Jim?" I asked.

"I-I, I was trying to feed them, right, and one of them jumped on my back, so I threw him off and shot him with the tranq you guys gave me, but that gave my back to the rest-"

"NEVER TURN YOUR BACK ON A PREDATOR!!!" I snapped, and he flinched. "I told you this on your first day, Jimmy! Sigh... what next? They jumped you, you bolted, they got out?" I asked impatiently.

"Y-yeah... sorry, guys, I just... sorry, no excuses, I fucked up, I know." He sighed.

"Any serious wounds?" I asked, sighing and sitting on a crate filled with lamb chops, their preferred meal.

"No, no. Doc already treated my shoulders, and gave me the antidote to their venom." He rolled a shoulder stiffly.

"Alright. Take tonight off, ice your shoulders, and you'll be back tomorrow, yeah?" I nodded.

"We still need to catch them!" Raul called over.

"Ah! Yes, after we catch them. You stay here, watch the CCTV's with Doc, ice your shoulders, and then when we're mostly finished, you're dismissed, alright?" I asked.

He grinned. "Great, I'm not useless! Sure thing, ese!"

"Don't call me that, crackerjack." I smiled, and walked over to the gun racks as he laughed, along with Doc, our resident Indian chemist/vet, and poison/venom expert.

I straightened the rifles and pistols, and then armed myself with a silenced tranquilizer. Its accompanying .50cal tranquilizer rounds, (loaded with a little bit of ketamine, ground up Alfa bones, and a huge dose of elephant tranquilizer,) along with the last choice rounds, blessed iron and bronze-plated .50cal black iron flechette rounds, (filled with salted gunpowder, and a black iron dart that could even get through the scales of a dragon, or Alfaxian, at close enough range) made up the quick load out of firepower.

Salted gunpowder wasn't as strong as regular gunpowder, and screwed up and eroded the firing mechanisms and barrel eventually, but it was effective at close ranges, even if you missed. The cloud of superheated salt would still hurt most supernaturals, or even mortals.

Again, blessed iron and black iron weren't much good against Celtic Daemons, but I scratched crude Celtic Knots into the tips to hopefully do some mystical damage, as well. They were based on two very different types of weapons, as one was based on the power of Christian Religious magic, (potent stuff,) and the other on the original metallic impact-weapon, as black iron, (known in some places simply as cold iron,) shatters upon deeper impacts, creating an almost impossible to remove shrapnel inside every wound they created.

On the same train of thought, I rummaged through the weapons cabinet, and found an Alfaxian Saber-Tooth knife, about the size of my forearm, which I placed on my belt.

"You never told me why those knives or the bone dust in the tranquilizers works the way it does." Jimmy asked.

"Usually the bones of an enemy can be used to hurt that specific species. After all, they evolved to fight each other, not humans." I explained. "Now go on, we've got this handled."

Doc nodded, and helped Jimmy up easily. "Alright, big fella, the computer room is this way." She led him away, one of his arms over her shoulders, and waved to me before closing the thick iron doors.

Raul scoffed. "He's weak."

"He's human." I snapped back at him.

"... hmph." He grunted, unimpressed with our Seal.

I closed my eyes and mentally released the mystical restraints on my body, growing to the same size as him, and began working next to him easily, our work synchronizing as efficiently as always.

The fence was quickly mended, then the cages, and finally the front door was scrapped, because the Blessed Iron didn't do anything to stop an Alfaxian, which was originally a Celtic Demon, and therefore not weakened by Christian Faith.

I nodded when we finished checking all the other cages and their denizens, and feeding the ones Jimmy hadn't gotten to.

"Alright, now let's go after the Smooth Cats, eh?" I nudged Raul.

He sighed at the crappy Pun, and Doc's voice came over the intercom. "HA!!! Good one, man!"

Raul tossed me a bag of spoiled lamp bones, tied on a stick. "There's your bait, hermano." He loaded up a bag of the spoiled meat into the cage on his truck, and sneezed harshly when he leaned away from it.

I hopped on my motorcycle, parked by the gate, and kickstarted it, then waved to Raul. "I'll search Chinatown, they usually have lamb and goat there. Natural draw for the Alfa's."

He nodded. "I'll hit up Little Italy, then. Lots of lamb and goat there, as well."

I nodded and gunned my bike, whipped towards my destination.

I kept a keen eye out for signs of their passion, such as claw marks on concrete, melted parts of walls, where they'd breathed fire on the wall, to test its durability.

I found what I was looking for, and approached two of them foraging in an alley, tearing apart a bag of lamb bones and marrow, in the dumpster behind a Korean/German fusion place I'd eaten at once.

'Sounds weird, eats good.' I thought, and shot both of them in the exposed patches of their skin on their right hind hips, something we put on them when they were pups, to make sure they we able to be tranquilized and given medicines.

They yelped and fell silent, sleeping quickly. I opened my coms. "Two down behind the Chinatown restaurant, the one with the beer and kimchi?"

"Copy, sending a retrieval truck from our contacts in animal control... en route." Doc responded.

"Thanks, Doc."

"We've spotted two more, maybe three blocks east of you. They're about to tear into a tourist who just exited a restaurant." She spoke urgently.

I nodded and hopped on my bike, popped the two Alfa with more tranq, and then sped east, listening intently for the sounds of an attack.

I whipped into an alley, and my back wheel slammed into the tourist's heels, just as the male Alfa leapt for his throat.

He hit his back, hard, and was knocked unconscious, thankfully, and the Alfa sailed past, skidding to a stop a few feet away.

I shot him in his exposed flank, and turned to the other, just as her fangs ripped into my knee, protecting her mate. I growled and shot her in the flank, and eased her fangs out of my skin, where they'd barely come through the armor I was wearing under my clothes.

I opened my coms. "Don't tell the noob, but one of them took a chunk of my knee. Light cuts. I'll need stitches. Two more down on-"

"I can see you on the camera's boss."

"... Spercore." I growled.

He laughed. "Alright, we've got animal control headed for you, and an ambulance for that guy will arrive in a few minutes after that. The animal control will give him a dose of antidote, don't worry. And Raul found another pair in Little-Italy, but lost the male. He's in the wind."

I nodded. "Alright, I'll keep looking for him, after school, you guys good job coordinating, get these guys and gals treated for the overdose of tranq, and then feed them, -properly, this time,- and go home."

"I'm never living this down, am I?"

"Naaah. You should ask Doc about when she first started working with us. Let out a Hindu Vorhkara Daemon because it told her it was Vishnu Reborn!" I snorted.

"SHADDUP!! I was Stoned and Religious!" She growled.

"HAHAHAHAHA!!! I remember that! Dad got so pissed he nearly fired her!" Raul laughed over the line.

I drove back towards the Zoo when I heard animal control coming, and met Raul at the gates, following him into the underground garage. "I got four in under two hours. You're doing dishes for a week!" I laughed victoriously when we stopped.

He shrugged. "Good job, yes, yes. Now get doc to look at that leg. It's festering already."

I looked down, and growled. "I waited too long. The female get you?" I looked at his shoulder and knee.

"Yeah. She's got a nasty jaw on her, I think she's pregnant." He nodded.

"Ooh, I hope so! Baby Alfa's are adorable!" Doc opened the garage door and approached us, then dragged us both inside. She injected a dose of antidote into both of our thighs, and then nodded. "Alright, and now stitches for you, Raul, and your cuts aren't deep enough, Hector, so I'll just tape and wrap it." She hummed.

I grinned. "Thanks, Doc."

She nodded, rummaging through her bag of doctor's supplies. "Yes, well, you allowed it to fester, so I'll have to do some digging and cutting in your wound, which is always fun! So, yay you." She said sarcastically.

"This is payback for the story I told the new guy, isn't it?"

"Oh... only about 30% about fixing your knee, and about 70% about your pain." She smiled evilly.

I groaned and leaned back slowly. "Do your worst, Doc."

"Challenge accepted."

---

"You really shouldn't have challenged her like that with her knife inside your knee." Raul chided me as I limped down the halls.

"Well, my manhood was also within reach, and it remains undamaged, so I think she likes me." I laughed and opened the door.

---

I halted and kicked down my kickstand, looking around Little Italy. "Where would I be if I wanted rotten Lamb..." I murmured.

"You lookin' for something, Buddy?" A patrolling officer stepped up to me, eying my belt, visibly carrying a pistol and knife.

"Ah, hello, I'm Raul Fulminate, I work at the Petting Zoo down on 5th, the little one? Some of our animals got out, and only one remains loose, a large Caucasian Mountain Hound. Now, they mostly eat lamb, their natural prey, so I'm trying to figure out where he'd go, so I can bag and tag him, get him back into the Zoo." I explained with a professional air.

Tip for dealing with strangers who are suspicious of you? Make it sound like you're doing official business, and have lots of details on standby.

He blinked, taking his hand off his belt, and his weapon. "Oh, alright, well, it's about 05:00pm, so most restaurants haven't tossed out their bones and such yet... uh... oh, what about the north side, residential? People are making dinner about now, maybe they're cookin' up some lamb? Maybe that would draw your hound? They've got great senses of smell, right?"

"Right, true... yeah, you're right. Thanks, officer!"

He nodded. "You're welcome, buddy. Now, I do have to ask you for your license on that weapon? It looks like a tranq, but I still have to ask."

"No problem, it's in the boot." I opened the back of the bike, and pulled out a copy of Raul's concealed-carry papers and Motorcycle license, handing them over. "Sorry, that's all the identification I have, I'm technically at work, so my wallet is in the lockers still."

He shook his head. "All good, man. All in order, so long as those are... ouch, .50cal tranq rounds? What are you taking down, again?"

"Everything from elephants to crocodiles. I'll probably just use a leash on him, he's not very aggressive, really, just confused and hungry." I grinned.

"Got you, got you. Alright, well, have a nice day, sir, good luck!" He stepped back up onto the curb.

I nodded and gunned the throttle, and started coasting down the street, looking for the dumpsters, and those tell-tale scratches.

---

I found the trail, finally, almost two hours later, just after the little earthquake that shook the city a bit, and followed it as quickly as I could.

I turned a corner, and witnessed my classmate toss a bag that smelled of lamb bones into a dumpster, and the Alfaxian hiss, pissed off.

I sprinted over, just as he lunged out of the dumpster, and kicked him across the skull, knocking him out painlessly.

The girl, whose name, (I think,) was Danny, fell onto her butt, and blinked slowly. "Wh-what...? Raul? What are you doing here?"

Then she seemed to get her intellectual feet back under herself, and flinched. "Omigod are you alright? Did it bite you?" She asked quickly.

I blinked. 'Raul? Oh, right...' I chuckled. "No, no. I'm fine. You?" I slung the heavy Alfaxian over my shoulder, not trusting her to not mess with him.

"Uhm, no, I'm not, not by a long shot, but I didn't get bit, if that's what you're asking." She shivered, lingering adrenaline coursing through her veins.

I nodded slowly. "Well... good, I guess? Sorry about this one, we're still tracking down some of the more crafty ones." I made up the excuse on the fly, hoping she was in enough shock to accept it as it was.

She hummed, nodding gravely. "Ahhh, right! Well... okay, I guess? Thanks for the save, and good night?"

I grinned. "Oi, all's well that ends well, cierto?" I threw in the Spanish because it's what my brother would've said.

Then I waved and trotted away, humming some Bach to calm my nerves.

---

I deposited the Alfaxian in his cage, and then tossed a rack of lamb ribs in next to him. "Sorry again, buddy." I sighed, and sat down, re-connecting my mystical limits. My body shrank down to my smaller form, and I cracked my neck slowly.

"I'll never get used to that." Doc sat down next to me.

"And I'll never get used to your Ninja Skills, but here we are... put us together, and we're collectively whelmed." I grinned.

"Shush, you." She smiled.

"Anyway, how's the new guy? Going to survive?" I asked.

"Oh easily, yes. He'll have scars, and an embarrassing story for you to tell for all eternity, but yeah, he'll survive. He'll also never turn his back on a Daemon again, so that's good." She nodded.

"Mm." I nodded slowly. "That is good. And you?"

"I'm fine. My boys are safe, my animals are safe, and I'm safe. All is well." She patted my cheek gently, and then stood, ghosting away with no sound. Not even the sleeping Alfaxian's ears followed her, showing how exactly silent she was.

I stood up slowly, groaning when my knee bent, and headed upstairs to my apartment, which doubled as the aviary. The smaller bird-shaped Daemon's greeted me loudly, and I sighed, sitting in my office chair. "You know, I'm going to college for Veterinary Medicine so I can take care of you guys and gals better. At least let me sleep, huh? And stop pestering Jim." I grumbled, leaning back in the chair.

"As if!!! He's hilarious!!! Flaps his hands around his head like a fuckin' baboon!" One of the Raven's laughed, and the mockingbirds quickly took up the call.

"Yeah! Yeah! Yeah, what he said! Yeah! A Baboon!"

"Shaddup, I'm talking over he'a, ya fuckin jackasses!" The Raven, transplanted from Philadelphia, snapped at them, pecking their cage walls.

"Sorry! Hugo's fault! He started it!! You know we can't help it!!! When one of us talks, the others talk!! Yeah, we all talk, bro!!"

"Ahem! Anyway. Listen, boss." The Raven flew and landed on my left shoulder. "Listen to Ol' Ralphie, eh? Your boy, Jim, he's uh... how can I say this politely?... nah, fuck it. He's a fuckin' moron. I mean, who turns their back on five hungry alfaxian's, whilst holding a fuckin' lamb chop!!!???" He shrugged his wings in a visible and helpless 'eh, fuck it' pose.

I sighed. "He's learning. This is his second week, Ralph. Cut him some slack, huh? Help him out every once in a while."

"I'll do my best, boss, but turnin' shit into diamonds ain't really my thing!!" He laughed throatily.

"Yeah, yeah! Shit into diamonds ain't his thing, boss!"

"SHADDUP YA FUCKIN PIGEONS!!!" He screeched at the mockingbirds.

I sighed and closed my eyes. "I need some sleep, guys. Please shut up for just four hours."

"Don't you have work to do? Maths and stuff?" Ralph pecked my ear gently.

"Uuuuugh. You're right." I pulled my backpack out of the safe, and started doing my homework on the Cold War.

It was relatively easy, because father had told me stories about his friends who lived in Russia during that time. They had drifted apart with the communist-vs-capitalist thing, but hey, friends are friends, regardless of political beliefs.

I decided to take a quick digression, and ended up spending six pages explaining the way I'd met a communist man from Ukraine with a glass eye and a fake left hand, and learned quite a bit about the American Economy, before he was arrested for being a Suspected Terrorist.

It was a thrilling story, at least I thought so, so when I had finished my story, and I had twenty pages of anecdotes about the Cold War and the tensions, Escalation, and Deescalation of the conflict between the USSR and the UN, I printed it on my computer, ran a quick spell checking, translated it to English, ran a grammar checking, and then printed it.

"Lookin' good, boss!" Ralph croaked.

"Stop calling me-... screw it. Night, Ralph." I kicked my feet onto my desk, and closed my eyes again,

"Night, boss." He ducked his head under his wing, after hopping onto the back of my chair.

I let myself absorb the sounds around me, instead of blocking them out, and relaxed until I fell asleep naturally.