Chap 131: Stench

The Commander had another top-notch assignment for his Alpha team in a district close to Dreden. There was a planned sewer bombing, and it made the five teens’ eyes go wide. Another opportunity to take down a Xenosapian—or two.

It was old news that human bait was used to lure Xenosapians into the concrete confines of the sewers. The bait was a mix of criminals and the sick, but too often abducted Xeno-victims. The practice was illegal and always carried out by MG officials during global curfew. Hence, nothing could ever get done about it. The cruel reality made Tee’s lips twitch with disgust.

Before the team teleported, the Commander hinted at a Prodigy assignment coming. It was no surprise to the Sentinels that they would be seeing the criminal mastermind in all white again. Their future kept getting bleaker.

Zod wondered where the Commander got his intel from. It had to be as top-notch as Priman, the main organization responsible for Geovalon’s law enforcement.

Tee teleported into the sewers along with her teammates. They were not greeted with darkness as expected. The one-way concrete tunnel was lit with battery lights on both sides. But the pleasantness quickly swapped with horror, and it wasn’t due to the stench in the air.

The five teens could not take their eyes off the large metal cage with four people inside. They were bloody and slumped over, heads hanging. It seemed they had either passed out from the stench or been beaten unconscious.

Kie knew those abductees were long dead. He used his super-hearing and confirmed the absence of their heartbeats. It made sense—they were dead. Why would the Commander leave living hostages in such a state?

Tee realized each of the bait had crests around their necks. Even worse, one looked young enough to be ten years old. She couldn’t stand listening for heartbeats. She kept her eyes on the cage instead. If any of them were even a bit alive, she swore she was going to kill someone. 

The second she felt her claws pushing, she forced herself to look away, analyzing the cage and pushing herself toward positive thoughts. She was going to single-handedly defeat the Xenosapian and be the best Sentinel.

The flashy lights and wires over the cage reminded them of the dangerous bomb that could go off. They also recognized wireless Xenosapian sensors—devices that sent feedback to the crooks above ground. At the press of a button, they could bomb the Xenosapian that came on the trail, annihilating the humans in the cage with it.

Tee remembered circulating videos on the dark web of humans being eaten alive by Xenosapians. The cages were always weak enough to get pulled apart by the monster but strong enough to trap the humans. Once the humans were eaten, then the bomb went off.

“ I bet these are all abductees. Are they alive?” Zod muttered.

Miko took her last step away from the cage and stood in pitch darkness at one side of the tunnel. A Sentinel of the planet with god-like powers—acting like a fraidy-cat? What a Xenogenist.

Kie summoned a sword and ignited it with blue flame. “Use your brains, Zod. Would the Commander really leave living victims in a cage down here if he knew about it?” he asked.

Silence followed as everyone listened for heartbeats. Tee felt relieved they were already dead—yet horrible thoughts crept in. How had they died? How did three Xenogenists end up dead and conveniently placed in a cage?

What if it wasn’t natural? Zod’s earlier comment about them being abductees sent her rage flaring. That meant they were snatched away without warning. She felt her eyes flash black and turned away from the lights, breathing slowly to steady herself.

“Besides, we need this bait to lure the Xenosapians,” Kie said.

“You’re right,” Zod replied. “Their blood is what draws the monsters from the surface.”

Tee turned back toward the cage. “And you’re saying we don’t smell human enough?”

“The Xenosapians can smell the blood through the stench,” Zod nodded. “That’s why they come from the surface and deep into the sewers.”

“Anyway, we’re not here to free dead hostages—we’re here to kill monsters,” Kie said, glancing up as he analyzed the ceiling.

Kie had unknowingly told Tee exactly what she wanted to hear. If she ever found the MG offs responsible for that cage, she would slit their throats and repeat Kie’s words—she wasn’t here to free hostages, she was here to kill monsters.

“If there’s any chance a Xenosapian comes through here, we need to be ready,” Kie continued. “This tunnel splits, so we’ll break into two groups.”

“Yeah, let’s do that—and move as far away from this bomb as possible,” Saeda said.

Tee remembered the videos she’d seen. The bomb never detonated until the bait was dead. That delay often let the Xenosapians destroy the device, feast on the victims, and escape deeper into the sewers to grow stronger. Then they would surface before global curfew and snatch people. The very tools meant to kill Xenosapians often helped them thrive.

Zod noticed Miko already far down the right side of the tunnel and scratched his head. “I’ll take the right. Since Miko’s already there, I guess we’re a team.” He splashed through the shallow murky water to catch up with her.

“Great. The rest of us will stick together.” Kie sighed, then glanced at Tee. “And no heroics.”

The words hit her like acid—especially considering the plans she had.

Tee rushed ahead down the tunnel with Kie and Saeda close behind.

Tee couldn’t see ahead with her foreseeing. The sewer tunnels were too dark away from the bomb zone. The light from their telecoms only reached so far. The echo of a roar rolled through the tunnels, and they froze. Once they confirmed it was a Xenosapian, they dashed toward it, swords summoned.

Using their super-hearing, they cut through several connecting tunnels until they found the creature. Saeda’s quick thinking made her hold her light back while her two teammates rushed ahead.

The monster opened its jaws to roar, but Tee’s sword tore through its mouth and out the back. When its belly began to swell for a spiked attack, the sudden blue light behind her lit up the walls so brightly her eyes flew open.

Her second sword slipped from her hand, thrown off by her ducking under the slicing energy from Kie’s blade. She landed on her right knee in filthy sewer water as the blue razor wave flew over her head.

The wave cleaved the monster’s head clean in half, the pieces sliding off its neck before its body collapsed. Kie sprinted to her.

“Sorry about that,” he said.

“No, it’s fine,” she replied, standing in the foul water, fighting the urge to gag.

Kie didn’t waste time. He rushed to the large pile of goo to mince the brain.

Saeda approached with the flashlight and stopped beside Tee. “Nice going,” she said without a hint of enthusiasm. “You two were totally in sync. Probably because I was shining the light the whole time. You’re welcome.”

Kie contacted Zod and Miko for a status update. After hearing they were fine, he, Saeda, and Tee spent another hour sweeping the sewers. Eventually, they found light seeping down from an exit and climbed the ladder to the surface.

Saeda was relieved to be out, though the lingering stench made her question if it was an improvement. Under the streetlights, Tee scanned the area with intense focus. Something caught her attention—but not a Xenosapian.

She zoomed in on a man vomiting on the roof of a four-story building. When he lifted his head, he tossed a glass bottle over the edge and stepped into a metal cabin on the roof. The red blinking antenna lights on the cabin made her suspicious.

Realizing he was out past global curfew reassured her he was an MG off. The wild idea that the cabin held the crooks responsible for the sewer bombs flashed through her mind. She forced herself to calm down and resumed scanning.

Tee stood with her eyes wide, lost in her foreseeing. She didn’t hear Saeda trying to make conversation.

Saeda spoke low enough for Kie to hear, “Do you think Tee likes doing these search sweeps?”

“She likes being useful,” he said.

“So, pretending.”

“Saeda,” he warned, glancing at her.

She shrugged. “What? I’d rather be sleeping right now.”

“Wouldn’t it be cool if we could get abilities currently unique to each other so we’re all on the same page?” she added. “Imagine all of us having super speed—or foreseeing vision.”

“Since when do you talk this much?” he asked.

“Sorry. I thought staying silent would creep you out, with it being dead in the night and all,” she said. “I’ll shut up.”

“I never said you should stop talking.”

“But you implied it.”

Tee spotted a Xenosapian approaching.

She almost missed it.

Its matte-black eyes reflected none of the streetlight. It crouched low, sniffing a cracked manhole cover as if tracking something beneath the ground.

It hadn’t noticed Tee. Not yet.

“Found it,” she said. 

Those words alone made Kie and Saeda break into a fast run after her.

Tee’s mind flashed to the MG offs, drinking and laughing inside their safe cabin, showing no guilt for what they’d done.

“Guys, I think I glimpsed another Xenosapian. I need to get closer to check.”

She dashed off before Kie could object. When he saw the dark-veined creature resembling his build, he realized he was dealing with a fast mover. Saeda couldn’t use her shining light as an excuse with the streetlights around. She summoned her sword, its glow a mere mockery compared to the roaring flame of Kie’s.

Tee leapt from the ground to the four-story roof, cracking the concrete below. She counted to ten, telling herself she was overreacting. The MG officials in that cabin might not be responsible for the bomb. But a deep, insistent voice in her head said otherwise.

“Yes, they are.”