Aaron crouched on one knee looking across the street to the warehouse before him. Director Meyers had told him that they had gotten word S.P.E.A.R. heard word through the grapevine that the group known as the 'Superior Church' was using the warehouse for some kind of criminal activity.
"Alright, what's the plan?" Haley asked in her tigress form punching her hand ready for a fight.
Aaron looked around before him. He had been unanimously put in charge of the group before him which included his own siblings as well as Ikuro and Nyx. Mason and Fenrir were already in their hybrid form as Mason had promised his mothers that he would be in hybrid form whenever they were dealing with the Superior Church. Aaron hadn't been too sure about bringing Nyx along with them before they left, but Nyx assured her boyfriend that she had plenty of training in combat from the best vampires she knew.
"Alright everyone listen up, S.P.E.A.R. intel tells us that the Superior Church is doing something messed up in there, and we're going to put a stop to it. Once we're inside we may need to split up to cover more ground." Aaron explained as everyone nodded.
Aaron now went over to Mason directly to speak with him and put his hands on Mason's shoulders.
"Stay beside one of us at all times, alright? No going off solo, I don't want to explain to our moms how you went in being reckless." Aaron said to his little brother.
"I'll keep close to one of you, I promise big bro." Mason said holding out his furry hand as Aaron grasped it and shook on it tightly as a promise.
Aaron, Kari, Haley, Nyx, Mason, and Ikuro all now made their way over to the warehouse where they looked carefully for a place to sneak inside. They eventually found a place where they could all sneak inside together. Huddling together, Nyx made a gasp before covering her mouth quickly. Not far away, they spotted young supernatural children who look like they're being put into trafficking. They were tied and chained up and many of them looked tired, disheveled and sad.
"Oh my god, those poor little ones." Kari said quietly before she looked over and saw Nyx looking horrified.
"Nyx, Nyx, it's alright, we're going to make sure all those kids get out alright." Aaron said holding Nyx closely to him.
Ikuro now looked around the warehouse to check their surroundings.
"It looks like some of us can take on these soldiers while the rest of us free the children." Ikuro explained.
Nyx looked at the children and nodded her head.
"I'll help free the kids." Nyx volunteered.
"Yeah, so will I. I'd rather make sure the kids are safe than have a fight right now." Kari said as she now looked over to Mason.
"Mason, will you help me and Nyx free the kids?" Kari asked her brother who nodded.
"Alright that settles it then. Kari, Mason, Nyx, you three will go free the kids while Haley, Ikuro and I keep the soldiers distracted." Aaron said as they all nodded and the six of them split up into two teams.
Aaron, Haley, and Ikuro now went over to where the soldiers were at and counted how many there were. There were plenty for each of them to take on.
"What's our plan for keeping their attention on us?" Ikuro now asked as Haley smirked and got up. Aaron immediately hissing for Haley to get back here.
"Hey there boys! How would you all like to take on a real woman?" Haley said confidently as she strolled towards the soldiers swaying her hips.
"Freeze you tiger hussy!" One of the soldiers shouted as he and several other soldiers all pointed their firearms at Haley.
"Hussy? Please, if you're going to insult me, I prefer being called a 'jade', it does after all resemble my color. But I don't think my brother and my boyfriend will like you calling me 'hussy'." Haley said giving Aaron and Ikuro the signal to come out from where they were hiding.
"Fuck guess we're doing this the loud way," Aaron sighed. Leaping from their position, Aaron and Ikuro took the soldiers by surprise. Aaron had taken the time before hand to silence his duel pistols while Ikuro darted forward, his katana at the ready. The pair managed to subdue the guards, several well placed shots from Aaron neutralizing their targets as Ikuro knocked the others out with blinding speed. Regrettably it was not all as the alarm now began to blare.
"Ikuro!" Aaron called, gesturing towards the approaching soldiers. Ikuro nodded, releasing a war cry as he attacked the charging troops. Quick slashes of his katana made short work of his opponents as Aaron laid down suppression. Gleefully Haley entered the mix, conjuring forth a Warhammer, which she swung with reckless abandon. Soon enough though, the number became overwhelming, forcing Aaron into hand to hand combat.
Ikuro glanced towards Aaron, marveling at the kintaro's fighting prowess. The kitsune unsure what was more impressive of Aaron, his skill with weapons or his martial arts. Aaron punched and kicked his way through several advancing attackers, countering their moves. The young kintaro using his surroundings to his advantage as he would counter a blow before slamming his attackers head into the wall or nearby crate.
"Impressive Aaron, did your uncle Fukushu teach you as well?" Ikuro asked as he continued fighting off some Superior Church members.
"A little, but its mostly the Morelands. Caleb Moreland was one tough teacher let me tell you." Aaron commented.
"I have yet had the pleasure of seeing a Moreland fight. But if they are impressive in battle as you are, they must be quite the warriors." Ikuro complimented.
"Thanks, you know if you and Haley ever marry, I think I'd be glad to have someone like you in the family." Aaron complimented, Ikuro blushed momentarily flummoxed before regaining his composure. Unfortunately, Haley overheard them.
"Aw, really? Thanks twin bro, that makes me happy to hear." Haley said as she threw a few soldiers off of her back. The tigress now grinned with a maniacal smile, swinging her hammer like a baseball bat and sending the remaining troops sailing through the air.
As Aaron, Haley, and Ikuro were dealing with the soldiers, Kari, Mason, and Nyx were all going over to where the children were being held. They saw a kitsune girl who barely looked seven keeping a younger werewolf cub who looked to be at least five or so company. There was also a young vampire girl, an elf, a troll, and even a dragon child all there looking surprised as Kari, Mason, and Nyx all now went over to free them from their bonds.
"P-P-Princess Nyx? Is that you?" The frightened vampire child asked.
"Yes, it's me, don't worry, my friends and I will get you out of here. How did you get here? Do you have a mommy or daddy who might be looking for you?" Nyx asked as the girl now looked sad.
"My....my daddy got caught by that scary person who works with those bad men out there. I followed them to a church but I couldn't go in because my daddy told me churches are harmful to vampires. I watched....from outside the doors....as my daddy got hung up on a cross....and he started to burn. I don't think he made it." The vampire girl said as she now began to cry.
Nyx had heard from Brendan about the vampire merchant that Connor Moreland had given a mercy killing to, she never thought that the vampire might have had family, now this girl was alone.
"I'll take you back with me and my friends and we'll go to the vampire realm and find someone to take care of you, okay?" Nyx asked as the girl nodded and Nyx freed her from her bonds.
Mason and Kari had freed a few more of the supernatural children before coming over to the young kitsune girl who was holding the werewolf cub close to her hugging him.
"It's alright, I'm Mason and this is my big sister Kari." Mason said gently to the two children who looked less frightened now.
"Are you from the kitsune realm? How did you get here all by yourself?" Kari asked getting on her knees to look at the girl.
"I....I got lost....during the war with our people." The kitsune girl explained.
"What about your parents? Where are they?" Mason now asked as she gently shook her head giving the Harris siblings a sad answer without saying anything.
"I found my way into this realm. I thought people might get scared if they saw me. So I made myself look human and....went through the streets to find food. I found this werewolf cub in an alley one day looking for food just like me. He's my little brother now and I take care of him. We got caught by these mean people. Please don't separate me and my little brother, I don't care that he's a wolf." The kitsune girl pleaded with her eyes dampening.
"It's okay, we won't separate you or your little brother. Look, this is my little brother and he's a werewolf just like you." Kari gently explained to the kitsune girl.
"Really?" The kitsune girl asked as she and her werewolf little brother looked at the two a little surprised.
"Yeah, and you're a brave girl for taking care of your little brother. Just like my big sister does for me." Mason complimented as the kitsune girl and werewolf cub wagged their tails happily.
The last of the children were freed and Mason, Nyx, and Kari all got ready to take the children out of the room with them. But before they could go anywhere, a battered and beaten Superior Church soldier held his firearm up at them.
"You three aren't going anywhere with these little monsters. Now I suggest you put these little cretins back and lock yourselves up too." The soldier ordered.
Normally, Kari, Mason, or Nyx would've done something to fight back against this solider. But they didn't want any harm to come to the children and stood their ground as the soldier looked like he was about to fire before getting hit on the back of the head with a metal pipe and fell towards the ground.
"Whew! That was definitely a close one. Good thing I was hear to help you guys out." A Japanese boy in his twenties with red hair and glasses said smiling at them.
"Do....do we know you? You sound awfully familiar." Kari questioned the young man.
"Huh?" The boy asked looking surprised. "Oh, right, you haven't seen my human disguise before." The boy said as he changed his appearance to that of a kitsune with glasses.
"Genki! Oh, you're my hero of the night." Kari said coming over to give Genki a quick kiss on the lips. "And you look so handsome in your human form." Kari complimented.
Suddenly they all heard a blaring alarm going off as the kids covered their ears.
"What's that noise?!" Mason yelled to Kari.
"Someone must've rigged this place to explode in case of emergency! Genki, grab a couple of the kids and let's rendezvous with Aaron and the others before getting out of here!" Kari shouted above the alarm as Genki grabbed a few kids and carried them out.
Aaron, Haley, and Ikuro had also heard the alarm after their fight with the soldiers and quickly met up with Kari and the others. They each helped carry a kid to safety and made a rush out of the warehouse before it exploded behind them.
Aaron looked around to see all of them had gotten out safely. But he also saw the scared looks on many of the children's faces.
"We'll take these kids back with us to S.P.E.A.R. and help them all get home." Aaron told everyone.
"Or help them find a home." Kari said holding the kitsune girl as Mason held the werewolf cub.
Aaron looked over to see Nyx holding a vampire girl who was crying in her arms as Nyx tried to reassure the girl that everything would be fine. Aaron and the rest soon made their way to S.P.E.A.R. before anyone else showed up to investigate the warehouse explosion.