Oxhead was one of the largest cities in Aginem, second only to Spiritfield in terms of sheer size and population. Located where a river met the ocean on the Eastern border of Aginem, the city was nationally famous for its love of seafood, beaches, and ocean-themed tourist attractions.

Octavia, Gracie, and Frazier belonged to the Oxhead region of the POH. As a heavily populated city - especially in the summer because of tourists - Oxhead had a high number of local Heroes.

Now that the summer was over, and fall was rapidly becoming colder, the streets were much more quiet and empty than usual. Being near the water, the winds and air were more chilling than they were inland. Locals elected to stay indoors by fires rather than walk by the beach.

The change in climate did nothing to stop crime, though.

The three Heroes came in fast, speeding through the streets on their hoverboards. They hopped off their boards before fully coming to a stop. Pushing through the crowd that gathered outside the apartment building, they finally made their way up to the commanding Hero at the front of the blockade. 

Octavia was horror-struck. At the edge of the crowd, a variety of wounds were being tended to by healer Heroes. Some were minor - simple cuts and bruises. Some were much more grave in nature. Not only were Heroes included in the wounded, but pedestrians, too. The situation they had just arrived at was definitely much more than a normal bronze-level mission.

She fought off the bile climbing up her throat.

But she was a Hero. She had to help, no matter what.

"McCoy, what the hell is going on?" asked Frazier, looking amongst the wounded with dread in his eyes.

"Demon," McCoy answered curtly. "One, a female. But she had two other human thugs with her, both male. We've connected them to a string of robberies down along the boardwalk and discovered this apartment building as their hideout. As you can clearly tell-" he motioned to the wounded with his chin, "-things aren't looking good right now. We were able to take down the thugs, but the demon is still chopping us down one by one. Almost literally," he added with a lower tone. 

McCoy was a shorter, stockier Hero, whose curly, black hair created a mini-afro at the top of his head. He was also a gold rank, and one of the highest in charge of the Oxhead region of the POH.

"What's her magic?" asked Gracie.

"She can create razor-like projections from her body," McCoy explained evenly. "Sword magic, to be precise. We thought we had her at first, but we haven't been able to find someone with magic that can be effective against hers. What makes matters worse is that she's grown stronger with each Hero she's defeated, absorbing their fear and despair like the damn monster she is."

"Sounds a lot like your magic, Octavia," Gracie sneered.

Octavia rolled her eyes. Her magic allowed her to grow expandable tentacles of magic from her back. She classified herself as a defensive specialist, mostly using her powers to pull others from dangerous situations or moving objects too heavy for her normal limbs. She rarely used her magic for offensive purposes.

"Octavia, your tentacles can create a means of defense, right?" asked Frazier. 

Octavia flinched. "Me? Oh... uh, yeah."

McCoy looked at Octavia with wide eyes, then at Frazier.

Frazier understood the silent message immediately. He turned toward Octavia and Gracie.

"We're going in," he said with authority. Before Octavia could protest, he swiftly cut her off. "No, Octavia. We need you. These civilians need you. I know this isn't something we ask of bronze ranks, but you have to help us. If your magic has even the slightest chance of countering that demon's blades, we can end this now and prevent anyone else from getting hurt. We can save lives."

Octavia's heart pounded in her chest. She felt for her phone in the pocket of her uniform. It hadn't rung in quite some time.

"Okay," she sighed. "Let's just finish this quickly. I need to make a call soon."

***

"Something involving a demon, apparently," answered Hara, looking up from her phone.

"Damn, it must be bad," Tabito groaned, "You can tell they're keeping the camera away from where the Heroes are. There's gotta be a ton wounded, or maybe even worse."

Riarshi didn't speak. A wave of cold shame swept over his body, followed by a flood of anger and resentment.

How the hell was his mother so different from these monsters?

The diner was oddly quiet. Most everyone in the dining room who had access to TVs had their attention focused on the screen closest to them. The grills were finally silent. No one had ordered for quite some time. 

Donny Merino, the current owner of Merino's, stepped out from the kitchen in his apron to watch what was happening on the screen. He rested his big, hairy hands on his rounded waistline and leaned on the bar. There was a rare glint of worry in his eyes.

***

"This place is a freaking pig stye," Gracie frowned, grimacing and kicking an empty can of soup down the inner stairs of the complex. 

The cities were supposed to be the wealthiest parts of the country. Buildings were mandated to always be maintained and kept up to district standards of cleanliness and functionality. 

There were monthly inspections, too. If an apartment failed inspection, the landlord would lose a significant amount of respect from the surrounding community, and they would suffer a rather large financial loss in profit.

This apartment, however, was even worse than Octavia's, which was located in the more rural district of Oxhead. 

Cobwebs caked the corners of the stairs, whose wood was rotted and infested with hundreds of squirming termites. How anyone could possibly live here was beyond any of their beliefs. 

Octavia watched the can fall in a rolling tumble, coming to rest in a puddle of many people's blood collecting at the base of the stairs. The sound scared off a family of mice conjurgating along the nearby wall. 

A shiver ran through Octavia's spine. This was insane. The most she ever had to deal with as a Hero was the occasional shoplifter, trespasser, or domestic despute. Never had any of her missions come to something this extreme and dangerous. 

She'd fought her fair share of demons before, but they always turned out to be on the weaker side. This demon, however, had only grown stronger from the despair of others. 

Was there any limit to how strong this woman could become? Would they have to call one of the Top Ten if things got out of hand?

Octaia shook away these worries. She had to stay focused. 

McCoy and the other Heroes stationed at the entrance of the complex stated that the demon woman was located on the third floor of the complex, and had locked herself in her apartment after the last wave of Heroes. 

Octavia, Gracie, and Frazier had just made it to the landing on the second with no sign of the demon. All of the apartment doors were boarded shut, and nothing had stirred in the stillness of the stairway. She must have still been in her apartment.

An eerie silence was broken only by the creak of the floorboards beneath their feet. 

"Stay on guard," warned Frazier, whose pewter eyes were now glowing bright with magic. 

"As always," Gracie sighed, following Frazier up the stairs. Her light-blue eyes flickered on. 

Octavia followed suit, brightening her eyes with a deep, saturated green. The pointed tips of her magic tentacles began to slowly protrude from her back. 

She tried to stay calm as her heart pounded in her ears. It was becoming increasingly harder to breathe with each step.

"Do we even have a plan?" asked Gracie, hesitating to touch the metal stair railing tha had rusted a copper-brown. 

"Octavia uses her tentacles to block out each of the blades," Frazier responded, "then we handle the rest. It's all we got right now. We have to stay confident, otherwise the demon will only feed more off our fear or insecurities."

Octavia noticed Gracie furrow her brow, snarl her lip, then remain silent, continuing her track up the stairs by passing her and Frazier. Gracie possessed water magic, a well-rounded power that could fit most of the specialties, but without one area of expertise.

Octavia knew all too well that Gracie couldn't come up with a better plan. And neither could she, for that matter. 

The trio arrived to the platform of the third floor with sweat already seeping down their temples. No matter how much experience one had in the field, the emotions and nervousness rarely faded in scenarios like this. 

Frazier had to take the first step. He knocked on the door of the lone apartment on the floor. Nothing happened. 

He knocked again. Same result.

Gracie cursed under her breath. Octavia let the tentacles grow a bit more from her back. She had to be ready for whatever happened. 

After a third knock, someone finally answered. 

"I know it's you, Heroes," called a female voice, much less sinister than Octavia would have expected from a demon. "I've already cut down a half dozen of you, so don't even think about barging in. I have nothing left to lose... I'll kill more of you if I have to."

Frazier was about to respond, but was promptly cut off by the voice. 

"I know I'm screwed, you don't have to say it. Y'all have the place surrounded, and I bet there's gonna be a Top Ten member coming soon to put me down."

"Well, you're definitely aware of the situation your actions have placed you in," Frazier praised with feined sincerity. "I'll give you that. What's your name, demon?"

"Marion," the demon said after a short pause. 

"Okay, Marion, my name is Frazier. Please come on out peacefully, ma'am. Like you said, the place is surrounded by dozens of Heroes, with even more speeding in as we speak. If you give up now there might still be mercy in the courts. There doesn't have to be anymore bloodshed. The other two Heroes currently behind me are very understanding individuals... as am I. Not the same can be said about some of the others waiting out on the streets." 

Frazier had been known as one of the top negotiators in the Oxhead sector of Heroes. Made famous within a small, niche wing of the POH, he had numerous missions under his belt which were completed without the use of magic. 

His magic, however, coincided with his linguistic skills perfectly. Supersonic hearing allowed him to detect the faintest of sounds and minute changes in pitch. He had the skill to alter his approach depending on the changes in a suspect's voice and word choice. He used this to his advantage every day on the job. 

The demon didn't answer for a while, but Frazier remained patient. Patience was key in negotiations like this. 

"Just let me leave, all right?" the demon pleaded, with a sense of desparation in her voice even Octavia picked up with her normal hearing. "I have to do something important before anything happens to me. Just let me do it and I promise I'll be all yours."

Frazier had heard this excuse a million times. Something important to do? Like run away to an accomplice to book it across the country, beginning a nation-wide manhunt that would dry the POH's resources?

He shook his head, his disbelief graciously hidden from the demon by the closed door of the apartment. 

Gracie was red in the face. She desparately wanted to bust down the door with her water magic and take the demon head on herself. She was already sick of this stupid negotiation nonsense. The dirtiness of the house must have been getting to her. 

But patient was key.

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that, Marion," Frazier answered evenly, with a small sense of well-practiced, artificial remourse in his voice. "You probably have an endless number of loose ends to tie and obligations to uphold. But there's too many risks allowing a demon who hurt my men and women to walk free from this apartment. You surely understand."

"Then tag me, or something!" the demon woman offered. "Anything! Just give me three... no... two days. I promise on everything that I'll turn myself in after."

Frazier's face displayed a clear sense of anger and annoyance, but his soothing, calming voice never waivered. "Can't do that either, Marion. A tracking spell can still be broken or altered-" he broke off. 

"Please! It's just something small and important to me. Please!"

Even a top negotiator's patience could waiver. 

He had enough of this. Back in the day when he was twenty and full of energy, he had completed dozens of negotiations that lasted multiple hours and well into the night. Now that he was in his mid-fourties, and one of the oldest Heroes in the POH, Frazier's patience had grown as thin as his grayed hair. 

"Marion," Frazier boomed, impatience and fatigue erasing his gentle facade of a voice. "Get out here with your arms raised and magic off. Now!"

There was a prolonged silence once again. 

Then each of the Heroes was surprised. 

"All right," Marion groaned. Frazier heard feet shuffling, and the clank of a lock. "The door's unlocked. I'll surrender to you peacefully-"

"No!" another voice cried from inside of the apartment, this one much high pitched than the demon's voice. More childlike in nature. "Mommy, no! You can't go with them! You can't leave me alone!" 

Frazier, Gracie, and Octavia's eyes all flashed their respective colors. 

"There's a child in there?!" Frazier roared. 

Octavia had no time to react. In a split second Frazier was at the door, twisting the handle. 

But it was locked. 

Suddenly, five sharp metal blades pierced the wood of the door, striking their target on the other side multiple times then retracting back through the splintered slits in the door.

Frazier stumbled, stood erect, then slouched as a fading breath left his lungs. His limp body fell backwards and tumbled down the stairs, coming to a sliding rest on the second floor landing. 

A new river of crimson crept and merged with the others by the empty can.

Octavia and Gracie stood motionless and in complete disbelief. The apartment door opened. 

The two remaining Heroes were met with the glowing, red eyes of Marion, and the dim, steel-gray eyes of a small female child. 

The child hid behind Marion in the distance, shaking uncontrollably and racked with tears. 

"You're not taking me away from my daughter," Marion grumbled with heated conviction. Multiple pointed blades protruded from her back, taking careful aim at Octavia and Gracie.