Huntress

The woman in the purple-black uniform entered the chaotic underground mall, using her night-vision goggles to quickly move toward the source of the disturbance. A female voice providing remote assistance through her mask's earpiece warned her, "Watch out, Huntress. Your target went in through the electrical room. It's moving deeper, should be in the generator room by now. I'm sending its location to your mask's display."

"Great. Why do freaks always love dangerous places?"

The woman called Huntress grumbled, swiftly following the directions to a door marked with a lightning bolt symbolizing danger, expertly picking the lock and stepping inside.

She took a deep breath, sharpening her focus to the utmost, and slowly descended the dark staircase. The outer walls were covered in chilling claw marks, and indistinct growls echoed from deep below, the sound waves bouncing off the sealed space into multiple reverberations that sent a shiver down the spine.

Reaching the generator room, Huntress gripped the door handle with one hand while pulling a folding composite crossbow from her pale thigh with the other. She inhaled deeply, pushing the door open inch by inch with near-silent care, stepping inside cautiously.

"Heat signals show it's in this room. It could be hiding anywhere," the voice in her earpiece reminded her. "Be careful, Huntress. Feedback indicates the target is extremely fast and potentially very strong."

Huntress didn't respond. She held her breath, her sharp, keen eyes behind the night-vision goggles scanning every flicker of movement like a precision instrument.

Then, suddenly, she spun around, her crossbow slicing through a perfect one-hundred-eighty-degree arc to point directly behind her, the specialized alloy arrow aimed right at the tip of someone's nose.

Both froze. Huntress kept the crossbow trained on the person's nose for a good three to five seconds, the two of them standing like statues in the dark.

Through her night-vision goggles, Huntress made out a man—or perhaps a boy was more accurate. He wore a deep blue hood, and though he stood a head taller than her, his face still carried a hint of youthful immaturity, giving him a bookish look.

This was naturally Jay, who had followed the source of the commotion down here. The moment he unexpectedly encountered this beauty, his eyes lit up as he recognized her. He recalled that Huntress's real name was apparently Helena, a DC Comics superhero who had once been part of Batman's team, specializing in stealth and hunting, just like her codename suggested.

This should count as the first local superhero Jay had met since arriving in this world. The thought got him a little excited.

Huntress frowned. This clearly wasn't in her mission briefing. She asked, "Who are you?"

"That's a question from a girl wearing a mask and a cape," Jay shot back. "Who are you, and what are you doing here?"

"Huntress, dispatched to handle the emergency here," she said. "This place is very dangerous. You shouldn't—"

As if to underscore her word "dangerous," she hadn't even finished speaking when a blurry shape came whistling in with an invisible gust of wind. Jay's pupils contracted, and without a second thought, he stepped forward and shoved Huntress to the ground. A cold, sharp object whizzed past their scalps, leaving a deep gouge in the dark green casing of a heavy machine.

Huntress reacted just as quickly, instantly realizing the enemy was right on top of them. This kid seemed sharp enough; she had to ensure his safety first before figuring out how to deal with the enemy.

Yes, she had already mentally marked Jay as an "innocent civilian who wandered into a minefield," making his protection her duty.

She sprang up nimbly, throwing an arm out to shield Jay behind her while shouting, "Get back!" The enemy's fierce lunge had missed, and it turned around, seemingly irritated. Only now did Huntress get a clear look at what she was facing—it stood twice her height, its body covered in white scales. Its eyes were blood-red, its hands bore sharp claws, and its gums were lined with jagged, saw-like teeth.

A disgusting creature.

Huntress sucked in a sharp breath. Her intel had said the target was a troublesome non-human entity, but she hadn't expected it to be this extreme. She had to admit she was a bit shaken, to the point that she only realized she should dodge when the creature's claws were already raised high above its head.

Her sideways roll was a bit clumsy. The monster's vicious claws tore a corner of her cape, then it pivoted sharply and chased after her. Huntress leaped, dodging the swipe while nimbly flipping onto the creature's back, planting her feet on its shoulders. She pulled two small electrodes from her multi-purpose belt and slammed them onto both sides of the monster's temples—or what should correspond to temples, since she had no idea if this creature had them.

It seemed she guessed right. Blinding blue electricity erupted violently from the electrodes, briefly illuminating the pitch-black room like a fleeting flash of lightning. The monster let out a groan-like roar from its throat and swatted Huntress off its shoulder with a single slap. Her cape billowed in midair, spreading out like a bat in flight as she was flung away.

Her back slammed into a voltmeter cabinet, denting its door with a loud thud, and she hit the floor hard, looking like it hurt. The white monster showed no mercy, giving her no breathing room as it lunged again like a starving jackal.

Huntress's pupils shrank. She rolled across the floor just in time, and the monster crashed onto the spot she'd been a moment ago, its claws punching straight through the metal flooring. It lifted its head, its bloodshot eyes quickly re-locating its prey, and pulled out its blade-like claws to close in. Huntress, still sitting on the floor, scrambled backward instinctively while raising her crossbow and pulling the trigger. The arrow shot out with a whoosh, and a spinning capture rope tightly bound the monster's legs as it tried to charge. The white creature lost its balance and toppled over, but still raised its head and roared at her in defiance.

After Huntress had yelled "Get back," Jay obediently folded his arms and stepped aside, watching the "professional" handle things. Though she was constantly on the defensive due to her strength gap with the enemy, her combat skills as an ordinary human without superpowers were genuinely impressive.

If she could handle it without him stepping in, that would be ideal. But judging by the current situation, it looked like he'd have to get his hands dirty.

Just as Jay thought this, Huntress's capture rope tripped the monster, sending it crashing to the ground. She scrambled to her feet, turned without a moment's hesitation, grabbed Jay's hand, and bolted.

Jay didn't react in time. "Hey, wait, wait—"

"That rope won't hold it long," Huntress said, dragging him along with deadly seriousness. "We need to move!"

Uh. Hold on, lady, aren't you the professional sent to solve this problem?