THE MOMENT
“Silverlight wisp!” The feral beast roared in agony as metallic flames consumed it without spreading to any of the nearby flora. It was midnight, and the full moon barely pierced the dense treetop canopy, but the silvertinged blaze illuminated the forest enough to reveal the other four members of the task force. The werewolf couldn't move, despite its frenzied attempts. It couldn't drop to the ground to try and smother the flames, nor flee in the direction of the nearest lake. The task force was a team of elites trained for the very purpose of hunting supernatural threats, and they'd laid a perfect trap for the known killer. It was bound in silver chains that were anchored to the ground, even before Yuki set it alight; that's what the other four trained soldiers accomplished while the young girl stood in the center of the trap, waiting. In a world with common supernatural happenings, werewolves were common, and some even contributed to society. But more frequently, they were consumed with animalistic rage and required a firm, tactical hand to bring down. They were usually dumb beasts, but even wild animals got lucky sometimes, and the team never took any mission lightly. But once the guttural cries went silent, they knew the mission was over.
“Great job, everyone,” Connolly, the leader, moved carefully toward Yuki with his rifle still raised. They were only hired for one werewolf, but it was a big forest. “You good?” He asked the magical girl in a red top and skirt with subtle white accents.
“Didn't even come close to touching me,” Yuki nodded as the rest of the team closed in. They were all professionals who’d worked together for dozens of assignments. They were in a hurry to leave with the nowhuman corpse. Werewolves didn't always change back after death, but Yuki's flame always revealed them. Two of them grabbed the burly man while the third created a portal for them to leave through. Connolly kept his gun ready and actively scanned the area, just in case. Within five minutes of defeating the beast, the five of them were back at base, along with their target’s body.
“See you at the party later?” Lando, one of the soldiers who carried the body through the portal, stopped to ask Yuki as he headed out of the warehouse bay they arrived in. He’d let the man’s top half plop down to move on to his next assigned task. They had rotating responsibilities, and for this job, once they were all safe, he needed to file the reports.
“Obviously…,” Yuki nodded with a giggle as she walked around to the corpse’s top half to pick it up. She was going to say more, but she was interrupted.
“Wait, don’t rush me.” Rodney had carried the man’s legs through the portal and let them drop just as unceremoniously once they arrived. But his task was now equipment maintenance, and he was still wrestling the silver chains off the body while trying not to completely ruin the scraps of clothing it still wore. The fire didn’t burn them off, but they weren’t much more than modesty-saving rags at the moment. Still, that modesty was important to him, with their youngest member still present.
“So... this was the last one, huh?” Steven took the opportunity to wrap one arm around Yuki for a side hug.
“You know, you were the best bait we ever had,” he chuckled.
“Well…,” Yuki shrugged but returned the hug. “Maybe I can still join you for really dangerous assignments if you need me,” she nodded. “But I do need to leave the team ‘officially’ to become a student. At least during the school year. I can come back during the summers too!” she said.
“We look forward to it,” Connolly nodded.
“Alright, clear.” Rodney nodded as he stood upright with chains jangling in hand. He didn’t linger and bolted toward the door with a wave. “Gonna dunk these, then go home and change. See you all at the party!”
“See you there,” Steven waved as he and Lando also left the bay in separate directions. Steven drew the lucky duty and didn’t have to do any post-monster-hunting tasks to tend to this time.
“You can go too, if you want,” Yuki smiled as three silvery wisps took shape alongside her. In an instant, they erupted into magical flaming energy that took a very magical-girl-like shape, and she was standing among three other duplicates. They surrounded the corpse and each grabbed a limb. “I can finish putting him in the freezer.”
“I’ll walk with you,” Connolly nodded without making an effort to help. The truth was that in her magical girl form, Yuki was physically stronger than any of them and easily able to carry the body of a full-grown man alone. He knew that from experience, she’d saved his life on more than one occasion. Using the duplicates was her way of making the process more fun.
The walk from the bay to the freezer where they stored the bodies for inspection wasn’t very long at all, but quieter than Connolly intended. With super-strong girls carrying it at full speed, it didn’t take long to arrive.
“I thought I’d have more to say…,” he chuckled as he opened the freezer door for her. “It was your last mission with us, and it was practically a walk in the park.” He finished his thought, waiting by the door while the four Yukis rushed in, threw the body on a slab, and then three of them flickered out of existence like dying flames.
“Are you kidding? This means we get more time to party,” she exited the freezer and closed the door.
“I do have a little something for you, though,” he said. He pulled out a small, thin, red jewelery box with a white bow on it. “From all four of us,” he said.
“You’re gonna have to give it to me at the party,” Yuki laughed and shook her head.
“Well, everyone’s going to be there and I didn’t want make anyone feel bad for not getting you anything and..,” he watched her grin grow wider as he explained, and she was barely containing her laughter. “...and… you’re already there, aren’t you?”
“It’s not every day I get a party in my honor,” she shrugged as her form started to flicker out of existence.
“Hurry up! I want to see my gift!”