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In the time it took them to reach their assigned positions, the city bus had come and gone, with only one passenger getting on. Being so late, Vauxite knew that they wouldn’t have to worry about the next one arriving for at least another half hour, giving them plenty of time to work without needing to worry about witnesses or possible interference.

A single vehicle pulled into the gas station and stopped at one of the pumps. They watched as the driver filled the tank before getting back into the car and leaving without incident. Once it disappeared down the main street, Markeb continued toward the 7-Eleven and slipped into the alley behind it.

Vauxite casually walked along the sidewalk, turning left at the corner before stepping onto the property behind the RV. He approached the chain-link fence and, without breaking stride, vaulted the ten-foot barrier to position himself closest to the camper.

The plan was simple.

Markeb would send her wraith over to the parked car and have it scare the driver away. The hope was that the sudden sound of the vehicle starting, followed by the screech of tires as the driver panicked and sped out of the lot, would create enough of a commotion to make their targets scatter into different directions.

All they had to do now was wait for Libethenite to get to his position and signal to the Dark Mirror Senshi hiding behind a stack of wooden pallets that it was time to set this ambush into motion.

Markeb caught Libethenite’s signal, then looked to her brother, who gave a sharp nod.

“Game plan’s on. It’s on you.” She motioned for her wraith to move toward the parked car. “It’s all yours, take what you can. Just please don’t get dusted.”

If it could roll its eyes, she was certain it would have at her last comment. But as it was, the creature simply floated its way between beams of light as if it was in no particular rush or had anywhere important to be, only stopping when it reached the passenger window.

It was rolled halfway down, a plume of cigarette smoke billing out. The driver, however, remained unaware, his attention focused on his comrades having a conversation just outside the RV.

The Senshi of Wishes tried to motion for it to go around to the other side, but the wraith paid her no mind. And if it saw her, it deliberately decided not to obey.

“Damn it,” she hissed through clenched teeth.

She knelt to pick up a generous handful of random debris: loose rocks, a small screw, a bottle cap from a beer, and some other trash. Then, with what little accuracy she possessed, Markeb threw them towards the car, hoping that at least something would hit the windshield.

Meanwhile, her wraith was not as idle as it had appeared. Beside the driver, its form was becoming subtly more solid as small amounts of energy were siphoned away, prompting the man to release a rather large yawn.

The driver had been caught mid-yawn when the sharp sound of something ricocheting off the windshield startled his attention.

“What the ********?” he growled. Glancing around the dim-lit area for the source of the sound, his eyes swept across the parking lot before catching sight of something lingering just outside his door.

The wraith was far more solid than it had been moments ago, its form now visible enough that there was no mistaking the unnatural figure hovering beside him. <******** this s**t.”

With trembling hands, he started the car and threw it into drive.

“This is not what I ******** signed up for…"

The engine roared to life, and both men who had arrived with him turned toward the car. One took a few hurried steps in its direction before the vehicle lurched forward, leaving them both behind. “You son of a b***h!” The other swore and started after it, only to stop when the car sped out of the parking lot.

“What the hell?”

Neither had much time to wonder what happened, or what had scared him into suddenly fleeing, before the man standing in the RV doorway reached back inside.

The unmistakable clack-clack sound of a shotgun being racked followed. “You brought a tail.” Hit voice was deep and gravelly, carrying the kind of hard-edged authority that made it clear he wasn’t asking.

Both men stared at him.

“What? There wasn’t anybody following us,” one of them insisted, glancing back toward the street. “There weren’t any cops.”

The other looked around as well, clearly just as confused. They hadn’t noticed anyone watching them, and there certainly hadn’t been a police cruiser anywhere nearby either.

“Get the ******** outta here before I give the reason for cops to show up, and they find your dead bodies.”

Both men raised their hands and backed away several steps before turning around abruptly and running in different directions.

Vauxite knew at that point the man in the camper was one to be left alone. He signaled to Libethenite to go after the one who had run east and trusted that Markeb could handle the one who went towards her.

Vauxite hadn’t quite expected him to be so fast. Had they been ordinary civilians, he suspected they would have had trouble keeping up with their target.

The man had an unassuming build, neither particularly large nor thin, but a strength beneath his casual appearance suggested he knew how to handle himself in a fight.

The man slowed to a stop after LIbethenite’s call, skidding slightly as he turned to face him. His previously panicked expression hardened into a simmering fury, jaw clenched as he rolled his shoulders and shook his arms out.

“So you’re the piece of s**t that scared our driver off?” It was more of a rhetorical question. His posture changed, one foot sliding back as both hands came up and his weight shifted onto the balls of his feet.

Vauxite recognized the stance immediately. This wasn’t someone who had simply gotten into a few fights; he knew how to throw a punch.

Then he lunged, but Vauxite was only close enough to grab the back of Libethenite’s uniform and yank him out of the way rather than take the hit for him.

Vauxite’s jaw clenched at the pet name “ducky,” his annoyance evident in the brief tightening of his expression and the way he narrowed his eyes warningly at Libethenite.

That irritation, however, did not last overlong and quickly gave way to genuine surprise when he saw how seamlessly his comrade recovered from being pulled off balance. The kick he’d landed had been impressively solid, so hard it had effectively knocked the air from the other man’s lungs.

He wheezed, stumbling sideways as he fought to regain his balance.

Vauxite, on his part, held his breath to keep himself from smirking. Later, he’d be sure to praise Libethenite for the recovery, but he wasn’t about to give him the satisfaction of seeing him amused now.

“He’s all yours.”

Vauxite let out a muffled humph and shook his head. “You talk an awful lot. Maybe lead with the kick and save the chit-chat for after you know they’re no longer able to hit you?” It was only a suggestion.

As if on cue, the sound of two gunshots echoed down the street.

Vauxite’s head snapped to the side, back toward the 7-Eleven where he’d left his sister. “Markeb!”

He looked back at the lieutenant, then at the unmoving man. “Stay here,” he demanded. “Do what you want with him.” Vauxite didn’t have time to give any other instructions.

The last thing he wanted was Libethenite getting in the way, especially when his sister might already be hurt. With teleportation not being an option for him, he knew he wouldn’t be able to carry two people away if anyone else got hurt.

Without another moment's hesitation, he spun on his heel and raced back toward where he’d last seen Markeb hiding.