With his arm over his waist, David took a second to catch his breath, then turned to Alex. "Hey." he said, getting his temporary partner's attention. "I appreciate the help."
"You're welcome." Alex said, handing David the gun back, it's muzzle pointed down. He took the weapons and slid it back into the rear holster of his suit, and it was then that Alex noticed how much damage the suit had taken during the fight. The fabric of the suit was spotted with burn marks from the fireballs and sparks, as was the helmet, it's colors somewhat burned off in spots. The suit itself was also smoldering a bit. "Geez. You sure you're alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine; this thing can take a beating easily. That fireball was like a tennis ball in the gut, though."
Alex winced at that. "Look, um..."
"You don't need to say anything." David interrupted. "I appreciate the help. I really do, but it's best if you and I just part ways now. It's my job to keep civilians like you safe from harm, even if you wish to help to me."
Alex was surprised how much David sounded like a police officer in his way of talking now that the fight was over, although his somewhat cold tone wasn't pleasurable. But then, he had just seen, although he detested thinking it was possible, demons spawn from circles created by a bolt of red lightning. Then, when they took them down, they vanished in a flash of fire and turned into ash.
Looking at the visor of David's helmet, he responded. "I get that, but I won't sit on the sidelines in situations like this."
David sighed, his action thankfully muffled by his helmet. If this guy only knew what all this meant...but he couldn't just blurt out things to civilians. "I know, but my friends and I can handle these things."
"Friends? You mean..."
"Yeah. There are others like me around." Alex raised an eyebrow. More people who could do what David had? "Anyway, I'll see you around." David flashed a quick thumbs up, then added. "Thanks again."
Instead of responding in words, Alex returned the wave, then made his way back to the sub shop. A good number of the people still there began asking what happened as he entered, but he did the same thing David had; assure them that everything was fine. Taking the stack of comics his partner had before, Alex returned to work, ten minutes over on his break time.
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Meanwhile, David made his way to an isolated part of the park, and pulled a device from his belt loop. Holding it near his chest, he set his right hand on it and spoke.
[font color=black][HEADING=2]Spirit, regress.[/HEADING][/font]
The words caused his suit and helmet to quickly shift into a black mist that floated off his body like there was no breeze around him. Starting from the head down, the fog like entity was partially pulled into the device he had, but also into his chest and limbs.
Now back in his original state, he looked around once before pocketing his morpher, and replacing it with his cell phone. He had two missed calls; one from Cassidy, and another from Philip, their team leader.
Dialing Cassidy's number, she responded after two rings. "Hello?"
"Cassidy, it's David."
"Let me guess. The Wyrmlings hit your side of town too?" Cassidy sounded like she had already seen this coming, but she and the other Rangers knew their phones wouldn't work while morphed. It was a revelation that hadn't taken them long to figure out, but it was a welcome thing while on the hunt and a descent indicator of trouble.
"Yep. 16 of these things, in total."
"Sixteen!? Why that many?"
"I don't know. What about you? You sound worried."
"I only had three to deal with at a college around here, but I mean, what's with them popping up all over town?"
Before David could answer, his phone began giving off the Call Waiting tone. The screen showed the name Philip. "
That was quick." "Hang on, Cassidy. Phil's on the other line."
After switching the lines over and saying hello, it wasn't Philip who answered. "Yes, who is this?" asked a female voice.
David stopped walking when he heard that. He knew Phil had a sister, but this voice didn't belong to her. The person's tone was certainly sincere, but he immediately got a nasty feeling about this; Phil was incredibly careful with his phone. "This is David, but could you hang on one minute, please?"
"Yeah, sure."
Taking the phone from his face, David muted the receiver on the phone and resumed walking, taking his morpher from his pocket as he did. Hoping this was just a case of Phil misplacing his phone, he spoke into the front of the device, asking him to reply but not specifying him as the only recipient of the message.