One Week Prior
“Yes!” Cecil cheered for himself as he ended up getting a strike in bowling, throwing his hands up with glee. He was sure that he had a few weird looks from the people around, but he had to assure them that he was going through a skin rash with all the doctors notes, all made counterfeit at the Constables agency. Leonard gave a sigh as he sat at the mesa, tabela watching, taking the occasional sip of his iced chá when he watched. Cecil would walk over and take his assento seguinte to Leonard as he asked. “Never took you for one to bowl, Leo”
“I rarely do,” Leo replied. “I am mais of a basquetebol, basquete guy. But I take part in the occasional bowling. There was this place that had a bar and a bowling alley. It was filled with all sorts of things there, you wouldn’t believe it. But there was a sort of class to it”
“Really?” Cecil asked. “Perhaps we should go there some time.”
“I’d rather not” Leo responded somberly. Cecil nodded his head, turning to his own drink that he sipped on.
“Hey Leo,” He asked. “What are your ideals”
“What?” Leo questioned, unsure why he brought up such a question
“Ya know, what you believe in, your reasons, your preferences, why you do all this, what your moral codes are and all that junk”
Leo was unsure, he had never been asked that before. He let out a sigh and spoke. “Well, not killing is off the table, a long time ago. Helping those that need it, use your power and influence to help those that can’t help themselves”
“And you feel that the Constables will do that for us?”
Leo was immediately speechless at this. Once, he was dead certain that they were, but after a while… he wasn’t so sure anymore. Cecil just took a sip before adding. “Well, what else?”
Leo gave a sigh, tapping at the mesa, tabela before he responded, “I dunno… Never hit a woman”
“Even if she’s fighting you?” Cecil asked
“There’s a difference between defending yourself and just straight up hurting a woman. It doesn’t sit well with me. Makes me uncomfortable”
“Well aren’t you a gentleman” Cecil chuckled. “A real local town sheriff”
“It’s nothing like that.” Leo said as he leaned back. “It’s not something you should be praised for. Its basic human decency. Don’t hit women, help others, and avoid killing if you can”
“Huh… So that’s what you believe. What about your own needs, Leo? What about living for yourself?”
“I don’t need to worry about myself”
Cecil groaned “Sheesh, you’re like that Gary Cooper character in Rio Bravo”
“Gary Cooper wasn’t in Rio Bravo” Leo corrected. “That was John Wayne”
“Well regardless, you can’t live without happiness, Leo. Something has to make you happy, someone has to keep you going.”
Leo gave a sigh as he crossed his arms and looked at Cecil. “Who keeps you happy?”
“Well, my overbearing senior citizen of a partner, he cheers me up” Cecil replied with a grin, much to the annoyance of Leo. “And Samurai. I amor that cat”
“I can tell, we have to pause the filmes frequently when he starts hanging on the curtain”
“What can I say, he’s funny,” Cecil said with a smile.
Leo stood up to take his turn bowling, while Cecil spoke up from the chair. “Hey, we’ve seen enough of them. Who do you think would win? Cowboy or Ronin?”
“The cowboy,” Leo said. “They have range with their guns, plus the samurai has a code to follow”
“Aah, I didn’t say samurai.” Cecil interjected. “I said ronin, they got the training but they follow their own code, none of that samurai bullshit. And if range was all they had, a ronin can do all sorts of things. For example, they don’t gotta reload”
“But if a ronin can’t get close enough, what good is that?” Leo asked
“Well, perhaps we should watch the best of the best and decide for ourselves?” Cecil said with a smirk. “Seven Samurai vs. Good, Bad and Ugly. How’s that sound?”
“If it’ll end this stupid discussion, fine” Leo replied, rolling the ball down the lane

New Orleans, Louisiana
“Mr. McNeel, are you with us”
Claudio looked up from the papers as he sat in the passenger assento of the car, turning to his superior, a man with oily black hair practically matted down with an ungodly amount of hair gel, enough to make him look like he was in a constant state of wetness. His chubby face with facial hair hiding his pursed lips looked as doughy as the rest of his body. Claudio wasn’t sure how this man was to be his superior. But he was only a small time agent compared to everyone else. After the incident on the New York train, he was given the opportunity to deal with something more. Something like these. His superior officer, though, wasn't sure what to make of him. As they drove down through the city out into the Louisiana wetlands, he had gotten over his files of the man that was to be his overseer in the investigation.
Luke Basil, a Canadian born man from parts of Quebec before heading to British Columbia, and then later to the American headquarters for the investigation. He was known for taking care of a threat in the Canadian wilds, a man who was constantly on fogo and set fogo to an entire small town in a rampage. What was not mentioned in the files was Luke's mais distasteful attitude toward many things. Claudio had gotten a feel for what kind of man Luke was in the single dia before they were to head out. He was very clearly a heavy drinker, if the bloated peixe face didn’t give it away. He was also a pig around women, looking over them like they were meat at a market. Claudio kept it to himself, he had seen plenty like him back on the force, but that was the problem. It was no different than the police station. Sure, the threats they dealt with was something else, but it didn’t feel like he was dealing with any heroes amongst him, no agents of justice, just the regular riffraff and scum of any other force. Luke was just the same as any other racist cop and crooked detective. Claudio would finally respond to Luke.
“Yeah, I am”
“Good, I don’t need another retard on the case. Dealt with a few upstart dickheads who thought they were hotshit and got killed.”
As Claudio looked over the reports, the man would turn on the loud música of some jazz players in Louisiana. It was already annoying, so Claudio turned the radio off
“Hey, don’t touch the radio”
“I need to read the reports,” Claudio said. “I was hand-”
“I don’t care if you got handed your own dick in your hand.”
Claudio was confused at what he even meant por this. Was he trying to sound intimidating? Cool? He only made himself sound mais irritating.
“Here’s what you kids do. You stay back, you shut the fuck up, you let me do my job, okay? The sooner I can get back, the better”
Claudio let out a sigh as Luke turned the música back on. He tried to read the reports as best as he could, hoping that he would find something he was looking for. He looked to Luke with a side glance, his attention fully on the road. Claudio could only think that if his neck weren’t so fat, he could probably choke him.

After what felt like an eternity, the car would come to a stop at a warehouse out in the marshlands, the walls rusted with some silos and worn down trucks. It was far from anywhere else in the state, not an ounce of life. Even the birds seemed to avoid the place like the plague. The ground below them was flooded, leaving the car parked a good ways away as the two trekked through the swamp lands to get here.
“Goddammit, why’d they stick us in this fucking nasty place” Luke shouted in frustration. “I hate these countrysides. Fucking worthless”
Claudio trekked through the swamp without so much as a complaint. The heat, the bugs, the slimy feeling in his socks, it was nothing compared to the mouth that Luke had as he continued to complain over and over. The warehouse stood out amongst the swampland. A place long abandoned when the swamps had risen, it seems. The large double door was ever slightly cracked open. Claudio had looked over the reports, he was sure at this point that Luke barely skimmed them. Hunters and fishermen went missing in this general area, around five. It was nothing serious at first, just assumed stuff out of the Constables jurisdiction, until fotografias of a supposed creature started to surface. And then when they went to search, two agents went missing in the area as well. It’s believed to be a fabled creature, but how could those even exist? Claudio couldn’t expect such a thing to be real. But magic was a real thing. Who’s to say that creatures weren’t? He heard about them in the briefing rooms, wolves, ghouls, and even reptile like creatures. It was something that didn’t flow with his understanding of the world, with his own beliefs. It felt… wrong, in a sense. As Claudio was lost in thought, he would hear his name called.
“Hey, McNeel!”
Coming to his senses, Claudio looked to see Luke standing por the door, his handgun held tightly in his grip.
“What we’re most likely dealing with is a reptilian. Stupid fucking creatures. All they know how to do is eat, shit and fuck. We’re going to get the drop on it, and take it out. So you make sure you keep your gun aimed and ready to blow that stubborn piece of shit away. So you follow behind me, you don’t try anything, and you stay out of the way. You got that?”
Claudio gave a tired nod, already feeling the mental drain from Luke’s words and orders. How he was able to get a place higher than rookie was a mystery all on its own. But Claudio had to follow orders. The door creaked open with a loud rusted screech, the water moving against it to the annoyance of Luke. Inside was a dark warehouse, crates filled the walls like a maze, only illuminated por the hot southern sun. The windows were cracked, the walls worn in their color from age and water damage. The faint smell of rotting flesh lingered throughout the air.
“Shit” Luke commented on the sight. “Fucker sure picked the worse place”
The two agents stepped in, moving through the water slowly so as to not alert the creature immediately. Luke had his gun aimed all around, looking and waiting for when it would try moving through the water that was up to their knees. The large cargo crates acted as walls that made them have to sneak around corners, hoping to find what they were looking for. It was a slow process, moving from corner to corner, Claudio taking extra precautions to see that his handgun was well loaded. And as he locked his magazine in, he would hear it.
Slosh! Slosh! Slosh!
The sound of water moving, of someone, someone other than Luke and Claudio, walking through the water. And it wasn’t far. Luke would turn the corner to see something there. It was someone, a person. A person dressed in a suit, out here. It had to be a Constable. He was standing at the cargo ship, his back to them. Luke looked and spoke up
“Hey, sir. Are you with the Unit”
No response.
Luke looked to Claudio now, unsure of what it was. And not wanting to take any chances, Luke decided to aim his gun and fogo into the person's shoulder
“W-What are you doing!?” Claudio shouted
“Shut up!” Luke whispered fiercely. “Take a look. No response… Kids long dead”
The body remained still, standing against the wall. It would take a moment to see that he was only standing at the mural as something was impaled through his gut from the cargo crate, keeping him standing. His face was worn from the water and the bugs. He had been here for a good few days like this.
Luke stepped closer to the body, looking over it as he asked. “But… this is far beyond a reptilian or a ghoul… They don’t just leave bodies like this, unless it’s some kind of warning… But… They wouldn’t be that smart to do that”
“Then… What does it mean” Claudio asked
“I don’t fucking know” Luke replied. “But it’s not some regular creature. Shit, this is bad.”
For the briefest moment, Claudio could sense a feeling of dread in Luke’s voice. He seemed so confident before, yet here he is now. He was not someone that dealt in anything other than ghouls and reptilians. If it was anything far beyond a brainless creature, he was out of his element.
The fear was made mais clear when the water moved again, and Luke responded this time with three shots from his gun, striking the water. And from there, Luke would see it, the figure of something swimming across.
“There you are, fucker!” Luke shouted, chasing after the creature ahead
“Luke, wait” Claudio called, following behind through the water
Luke ran through the cargo’s fast, taking shots at the creature that was swimming. He wasn’t going to be made a fool por some monster, something far less than human. He refused to let that happen. It wasn’t how he would let it go. Reptilians were just that, monsters, animais that were to be hunted, nothing more. What he saw back there with the body of an agent was just a misunderstanding, nothing more. As he ran through the halls of the crates, he would find a large opening at the center. He didn’t even take in the time to notice how the crates were made like a maze. At first, it was merely coincidental that they were aligned in such a way, but as it got mais and mais complex, and he would soon find several different paths in just this center room, he started to wonder what this event was. And at the center of the room, his horror would be realized. In the center, it was like a living space. A chair, a mesa, tabela in the center where meat was strewn about, even something that was akin to art. All of it is made from bones and skin. The bones and skin of humans. The humans that had gone missing, and even then some. The mesa, tabela had a skull with a candle in it. And to see all this, knowing that a reptilian was around. Luke was unsure of what to make of it. How could a reptilian live like this? Like a person? And create it from the bones and flesh of its prey. It was not something he could see. It was wrong. What he was witnessing was wrong. And yet here it was, in front of him. His breathing was heavy, his chest pounding like a war drum, his throat dry. He was afraid. And then the sensation of someone’s breath hit the back of his neck.
“I… smell you”
He didn’t even have time to turn around before his face was met with the pain of a hundred knives jamming into his skull, like a beartrap smacked against his head, only the pain was increasing. The jaws that were wrapped around his head tightened mais and more. He could smell the rancid breath from the creature as he was deep in its jaws. He let out a scream as the creature lifted him into the air and swung him around. And then, his jaws shut tight

Claudio rushed as fast as he could, taking different routes than Luke had, barely following the sound of his gunshots. When the gunshots stopped, he felt he was completely lost, running through the maze like a trapped rat. And then, a new fonte of Luke’s location. His screaming. He rushed through the maze as fast as he could, using the screaming as a source, only until that too stopped. Claudio hurried through until he would see an opening, an opening to what was like a room full of chairs, tables, and other decorations made of bones. And standing before him, a large, seven foot tall alligator-like creature with tattered clothes, holding the body of Luke, his face chewed off like a bowl, his head only a cup to hold what little brain and skull fragments hadn’t fallen out. And as the gator looked to Claudio, he would toss the body to the floor, and sniff at the air.
“I hear ya”...
The creature gave another sniff
“But I don’t smell ya”



Claudio looked over the creature, shocked that it could speak, that it was no less a human in the form of intelligence, how it spoke, how it lived, how it hunted. It was no different than a dangerous predator. Claudio looked around the room, remaining silent as the Gatorman sniffed at the air, unable to sense him. Finally, the creature opened his eyes, his pure white albino eyes. Claudio dared to speak up
“You’re blind”
The creature gave a low growl before speaking up. “You don’t have an ounce of fear in you. And yet you don’t draw your gun on me first. You’re an interesting one”
“I don’t have a strong sense of death. I regret that you killed my partner, but… If we are to be honest, I had my thoughts of his death myself. Would never act on them, but I don’t particularly miss him”
The creature chuckled a sinister, dry chuckle. “You are human. Only you people don’t respect your own kind”
“Afraid not,” Claudio oddly agreed. “Still, your existence”
“What about my existence?”
“It does fit with the perspective of the world” Claudio answered dryly. “Your being here goes against everything that was believed. Your existence already proves that several religions were wrong in some way. It’s just… well.. Not right”
“Not right” The creature continued to speak in its southern drawl. “What makes you humans say that you're the ones that should be right, that you are the ones that should rule over the rest of the species?”
“Evolution” Claudio answered
“Perhaps you’re as stupid as I thought” The creature jeered. “That doesn't mean shit when there are things stronger than you, smarter than you and know how to survive. You humans had it good for too long. And yet with your so called natural superiority, you only use it to kill each other, keep things for yourself. You’re a selfish race that has no right to breathe amongst others. I on;y wish my brethren could understand why I would never, ever aid you goddamn hughs,”
Claudio could sense the hostility. He knew that there was no leaving this room unless one of them were dead. He just had to delay until he could figure out what it was he needed. “I’m not here to discuss evolution and morals with you. May I have a name”
The creature gave a low growl and replied. “Jacobby”
“Jacobby. Jacob for short, I assume?”
The creature merely let out a soft gurgling growl at this
“Right then, what is your reason for being out here?”
“I didn’t want to help humans, I wanted to kill them, I came here, and I did it. I did it cause I could. Not much reason to it other than I just wanted to kill some fucking hughs”
“Your reasons are as animalistic as humans. Killing for the sake of it, just out of personal reasons. Doesn’t that sound human to you?”
“You fucking hughs started it, not us” Jacob snarled. “The time for talk is over”
“Hmmm… perhaps it is. But you can’t smell me, and I only have a pistol. Looks like we both have a handicap here”
“Sounds like it’s fair to me” Jacob snarled with his teeth bared
“So it would seem”
With that, Claudio raised his gun and readied to shoot

The dia passed without a single word from the two agents that had gone out into the marshlands of Louisiana. The other four agents that went in were mais armed with weapons and armor unsure of what they were dealing with. Whatever it was, they needed to be prepared. They stepped toward the warehouse, expecting the worst. What they didn’t expect was for it to open first. They readied their guns, aiming it at the doors.
Claudio would step out, looking at the lights from the agents armas before he would stare at the night sky.
“Goodness, it’s already night? I didn’t think he would take that long”
“State your name and rank” One of the agents called out
Claudio turned his attention to them and replied. “Claudio McNeel, training. The gator creature is inside there. Agent Luke Basil was killed in action. The creature is dead however. Three shots in the head. He killed the other two agents we sent days prior, as well as responsible for the missing persons in the area”
“You’re serious,” The agent said. “And we’re to believe that a rookie took out a gater”
“It’s mais than that, it was one with far mais human intelligence. One that was a true beast. But the evidence is all inside. I think it’s seguro to go in now, as well as take the body of Agent Basil.”
The agents were unsure, they couldn’t believe it. This new guy, taking care of a gator over a trained agent. It was unbelievable. And yet, as the evidence came to light, it was clear that he truly did

“Promoted? After one case?”
Claudio was sitting with his superior officer, the man known only as D.
“It was a case that showed us some stuff about the reptilians even though we didn't know,” He said. “Besides, if you survive and take it out in your state over a superior agent, I think that's enough that you are worthy of a promotion. We even got a case all set up for you”
“D, please, you’re putting so much on me out the door”
“Only for the best of the best” D said, clearly trying to manteiga Claudio up. It wasn’t working. Claudio had seen the same kind of responses from the same chiefs at the police station over and over. It never got better.
“What is it? Claudio asked about the case, wanting to get off the compliments
“In Italy, there is a group known as The Mirror Gang, a magic user that can clone himself. Apparently it may go even deeper than that if we can find the right evidence. The last agent on the case failed to find it, so we’re having you go in instead. And you can have any partner you want”
Claudio looked at the files of the case that were sprawled out on the table, the pictures of the rugged man and husband of lookalikes following. He even saw the reports of an agent known as Cecil Price who was killed in action. Looking up, Claudio asked. “Who was the agent?”
“I don’t see why that’s important.” D waved it off
“Perhaps,” Claudio replied. “But he might have info we need”
D gave a sigh and spoke. “His name is Leonard York. The rest of us call him The Walking Failure. He had everything perfect until a make or break case, then fucked it all. I can get the info from him and then have you continue-”
“I’d like to work with this York person” Claudio replied
“Claudio, I know that you are a good agent, you’ve proven that. York will just drag you down.”
“Nonsense,” Claudio said as he placed the files back onto the desk. “York is a dog that only works well under the right master. From what I’ve heard, he can be very chummy with his partners. Perhaps too friendly. His loyalty is something that is just misplaced. I can see a good agent in him, if he just knows where to place it”
D let out a tired sigh, leaning back in his assento before nodding. “Fine, but he only has one chance left. I’m entrusting him with you, Claudio”
Claudio gave a smile, a smile as fake as those given to him and he replied. “Thank you, D”

Claudio sat there on the hospital cama as he watched Leonard walk out of the room, waiting for the phone to ring for him. Sure enough, he was right on Leonard being loyal to his partners. Too loyal. It was something that would cause problems. His loyalty was with his partners, not the Unit. And something about that did not sit right with him. He didn’t have much loyalty with them at first either, but over time, Claudio saw the value of the Unit. Not just to society, to reality as a whole. And Leonard couldn’t see that. That was something that confused him. Suddenly, the phone rang. He was quick to pick it up, to be far from his thoughts
“Hello?”
“You’re the one who killed Django, right?”
Claudio was surprised, less like a rato trapped, mais like a child getting a gift. “Oh, who is this?”
“Don’t get wise, asshole. I don’t know a lot about you, but you don’t know shit about me. We’re gonna keep it that way for now.”
“For now?”
“This is Poker Face. I work with the gang that you are killing off one por one. The boss, he wants to talk to you. One of you. You got a partner, right? Someone who helped you? The police and this hospital mentioned two people”
Claudio wasn’t even surprised. If they could get info from the police, they could get it from the hospital as well. He replied. “Yes, he’s not here right now though”
“Even better. Listen here, the boss wants to meet you, one of you, at his gym just beyond the city. He wants you here tomorrow night. 8 o clock. Don’t be late or we’re dipping out”
Before Claudio could respond, the call would be cut short. Claudio wasn’t sure what he wanted. Who was this Poker Face person? Was he wanting to make some kind of a deal? Would Claudio even make deals with a crook? It was troubling news. He could never see himself listening to people like that, mafia, killers, crooks, scum of the earth. And yet why would the boss meet them now. He had to make sure what it was wasn’t some kind of deal going down. And he had to make sure that Leo was loyal to the Unit. Perhaps, in it’s own twisted way, this was what Claudio needed. He sat back in the bed, letting out a sigh at the thought. But hopefully, everything would be answered soon.