Todd dropped his night-vision goggles over his eyes. The tunnel snapped into green and black. Its walls flared to life, etched in harsh grainy shades.
He moved through the sewer, Bullock and Gordon's voices calling out to him but fading behind him.
His breath quickened. His heart raced. He wasn't sure what he'd find or what he'd even do, but still he trudged on.
Then he froze.
A sound came from beyond the wall. Muffled but strong, like a lion's growl twisted with a man's battle cry. It had to be from the catacombs.
Then came a beeping, and the wall blew.
The blast hurled him backward. He slammed into the opposite wall, then dropped face first into sewer water.
Everything went black for a long second before hands closed around his arm.
Someone hauled him up and slung him over a shoulder. His ears rang. The night vision goggles plopped down into the water, his balaclava was soaked but still clinging to his face.
A groan rolled out from the tunnel behind them. It was deep and rising. Like something waking up. The man didn't slow. His boots hit the water hard, pace quickening as he pushed forward.
"What happened?", muttered Todd, struggling to lift his head like something heavy weighed it down.
No response.
Todd glanced down the black tunnel. Footsteps stumbled, then a wet slap of something dragging.
A second later came a tap, something small and light struck the sewer wall.
A flash lit the tunnel.
Todd winced, eyes shutting against the glare. When he opened them, he caught a glimpse of yellow eyes watching him from the dark.
"What is that?" he whispered.
Suddenly, he was pulled off the shoulder, brought face to face with the ladder leading back to the street.
"Climb!"
Todd climbed. A hand reached down, he grabbed it, and they hauled him up.
"Where is he?" Gordon asked.
Before Todd could speak, the grapnel gun fired. The hook snapped onto a light pole above.
He flew up. Cape torn to shreds, his boots slick from sewage. He perched on the pole, steady despite the rain.
"Get out of here," he said. "Now."
Then came the sound from the hole.
Todd, Bullock, Johnson, and Gordon turned to look.
A pale, scaled hand clawed out of the sewer, long nails black and yellow. They dug into the ground, cracking the black asphalt.
Then its head appeared. Bald. Rounded. Eyes reflective and yellow, catching the light like mirrors. The shape was human, but the details were wrong. Its black pupils were long, reptilian slits. The nose, two slashes in the center of its face. Its teeth were black, jagged, rotted.
Todd stepped onto the sidewalk, transfixed as the creature pulled itself from the sewer. A thick tail followed, nearly as long as the body.
It roared, then lunged at Gordon, Bullock, and Johnson. But a black wire snapped tight around its neck, yanking it back.
The creature clawed at the line, thrashing and dragging its weight low.
The cable snapped.
"Get back!" Gordon shouted.
Todd looked around. Gordon and the others were waving at cars, trying to clear the street, but it was jammed. Horns blared. People rushed inside storefronts, some ducking into Milner's Diner, but still watching from behind the glass.
A bus screeched to a stop, headlights flooding the street in blinding white. The creature shrieked, hissed, and threw its hands over its face as if the light seared its skin. Then it spun, gripped a fire hydrant, and wrenched. Metal groaned, split, and burst under its strength.
Passengers spilled into the street, screaming. The driver stumbled down the steps just as the hydrant slammed into the windshield. Glass exploded outward, spraying the pavement.
The creature hissed, thrashing, striking the bus with the blind fury of something cornered.
Then two orbs dropped to the pavement. Flash-bangs.
The creature snarled, squeezing its eyes shut then twisting in place, searching for the one who threw them. Its reptilian eyes locked on the light pole.
He stood at the top of the pole. His cape in rags, but still he was menacing. His white eyes fixed on creature below.
Another roar.
Another orb.
Only now the creature charged the pole, grabbing it with both hands, pulling hard, trying to rip it from the ground.
But the grapnel gun fired again, hooking to the next pole. He was gone.
The creature shrieked and gave chase, crashing through the street. Its tail whipped across cars, crushing doors like paper. Its feet dented roofs.
Alarms wailed in its wake.
Gordon and the others pushed forward on foot. Around them the street collapsed into panic. Drivers abandoned cars, horns blared, people scattered in every direction.
An old woman in a red coat stumbled, then crumpled to the asphalt.
Todd snapped to focus. He sprinted, scooped her frail body into his arms, and carried her through the screaming chaos to the doors of Milner's Diner.
Then another fell. And another after that.
He kept moving, dragging the wounded to cover, shouting for people to get inside, anywhere with walls and light. His voice cut through the chaos as the city buckled around him.
"Todd," said a voice in his ear, cutting through the noise.
"I'm here," he said, breath ragged. "What do you need?"
"Get your bike, we need to draw him south."
Todd was already moving.
"On it."