Case #2-The Twelve Zodiacs, Part 2

"Alright, what is it now?" I sigh as I step into my house, with Crimson, Raiden, Circe, and Koga in tow, and Evelyn, who's wearing the special supernatural-seeing glasses that I gave her a while back. As we enter the Purgatory Castle that is my cozy little home, the six of us find my dad lounging in his large recliner in front of the blazing fireplace.

"My, how your group has…grown," my dad says with a small smirk as he surveys my friends one by one, taking extra time to stop on Circe and Koga.

"Oh yeah, those two are new," I reply. "Well…they're not really new, but you haven't seen 'em yet. Only Evelyn and Raiden."

"I have an important case for you, Zach," my dad begins to say.

"Yeah, that's pretty obvious considering the text," I snort as I roll my eyes.

"Zach, as you know, I am prohibited from taking action myself against any manners that threaten our world, by the will of God themself," my explains, and I notice Evelyn flinch, probably due to yet another confirmation of the existence of God. I don't think a regular human could ever get used to that. "I'm only allowed to leave Purgatory if it has to do with my Reaper duties…or grocery shopping. So as much as I hate sending you off to do my dirty work, I have another task that I need you to fulfill."

"Oh, great," I say as I cross my arms and roll my eyes. "What does the big-bad Grim Reaper want me to do now?"

"There's a group of baddies who are hunting down the Reapers scattered across the world," my dad says, and instantly, my entire body tense up as my eyes shoot towards my dad. "Judging by your reaction, I presume that you ran into them?" My dad asks, causing me to nod.

"Yeah, right before you texted," I answer. "Crimson and I were fighting a Bigfoot. Called himself Cancer of the Twelve Zodiacs. What's that mean?"

"The Twelve Zodiacs is the name of their group, as per the information I've gathered from speaking with the other Reapers," my dad explains. "The group consists of twelve very powerful Supernatural Creatures, who are set on hunting down Reapers. However, their motives are unknown. Currently, we have information on a few of their members: Capricorn, the Wendigo, Virgo, the Ogre, and Libra, the Witch."

Upon hearing mention of a witch, Circe tenses up.

"Yamata and Mikoto Rogue, the Rogue Brothers, Scorpio and Leo respectively," my dad continues, causing all of our eyes to widen.

"The Rogue Brothers?!" Evelyn cries.

"But why would they want to hunt down Reapers…?" I ask.

"And now, as you mentioned, Cancer the bigfoot," my dad continues, causing me to nod.

"Their leader is unknown, but they have been name-dropped as Saggitarius," my dad finishes. "That leaves just five members that we know nothing about."

"So basically, you want me and my gang to hunt these guys down and take 'em out before they kill any more of us, is that it?" I ask.

"That's it," my dad answers. "In all honesty, I don't care about the fate of the Reaper's underneath me, -except for you, of course- but they've been making a huge fuss about this, so I figured that I'd gather my only non-Reaper allies to take care of this, you guys."

"I'm a Reaper," I reply.

"Only non-Reaper duty bound allies, I should say," my dad says.

"So where should we start?" I ask.

"Wherever you ran into the bigfoot seems like a good starting point," my dad answers. "I'll also send you the points where the other members of the Twelve Zodiacs were spotted." My dad then pulls out his phone and taps a few buttons.

My phone then buzzes, and I pull it out, seeing a map labeled with each member of the Twelve Zodiacs that we know of, and where they were spotted. "This map only shows Cancer, Libra, and Mikoto?" I ask.

"That's because Virgo's, Capricorn's, and Yamata's targets are dead," my dad explains. "And their bodies were disposed of. Meaning, that we have no way of knowing where they may show up."

"Alright, so how do we do this?" I ask as I turn around to face my friends. "We have six targets and six of us. However, our opponents are too strong for us to take in one on one combat-cough cough Evelyn cough!"

"Hey!" Evelyn snaps.

"And on top of that, we only know where three of our opponents are," I continue. "Therefore, we will split up into three teams of two, just like the Rogue Brothers case. Crimson and Koga, Raiden and Circe, and Evelyn and I."

 "Who are our targets?" Crimson asks.

"Who do you guys want to go for?" I ask.

Circe opens her mouth up to reply, but Raiden cuts her off as he raises a hand.

"Excuse me for being picky," he says. "But I want to go after Mikoto. I'm interested in speaking with him more, as the alleged ex God of Storms."

"Fine by me," I reply with a smirk. "I like seeing you take what you want, Raiden!"

"Is that alright with you?" Raiden asks with a shy smile as he turns to face Circe.

"Of course it is!" Circe exclaims as she slings her arm over Raiden, causing the wizard to blush. "Whatever you want, I'm fine with, sweetie! I was gonna say how I'm interested in Libra, since I've never met another witch before, but eh, whatever! You've got a better reason than I do!"

"Oh…okay…" Raiden shyly trembles.

"Alright, well that leaves you two with Libra," I say as I turn to face Crimson and Koga.

"Hmm?" Koga asks. "We don't get a choice?"

"Nah," I answer as I punch a fist into my palm with a smirk. "I got a score to settle with Cancer now."

"Are you sure?" Evelyn frowns. "We're going up against an enemy that managed to drive both you and Crimson back. Are you sure that you want…me on your team?"

"Of course I do!" I answer with a smile. "And besides, before, I didn't have my sickle-sword with me. Or you."

 Evelyn flashes me a small smile.

"But before you go, I have one more thing to tell you-" my dad interrupts, drawing all of our attention to him.

"Which is?" I ask.

"The Twelve Zodiacs…is a foe that you six can not handle alone. Granted, I have seen none of you in action, but judging by Zach's and Crimson's wounds, I can take a guess," my dad begins to say, causing Crimson and I to frown. "And so, because of that…there is one more ally that I have, but I'll need you to contact them for me."

"Oh, okay," I reply. "Who are they? Another Reaper."

"No," my dad answers. "Almost the opposite, in fact."

And when my dad says who they are…all of our eyes widen.

"The Supernatural Investigators."

…

....

...…..

"WWWHHHAAATTT???!!!" The six of us cry.

"Dad, you do realize that the Supernatural Investigators are trying to kill me, right?!" I exclaim.

 "Yeah, I legit have a bounty in my head!" Crimson adds.

"I understand your apprehension, but remember, I've been alive for a couple hundred more years than you kids have-" my dad begins to explain. "-And when it comes to the Supernatural Investigators, whether it be a Reaper or even a Devil, they'll team up with whoever they have to in order to save the world when the Earth is threatened."

"Alright…" I reply with an exasperated sigh. "If you say so." I then turn to face my friends. "Raiden, Circe, you guys to talk to the Supernatural Investigators."

"Huh?" Circe asks. "Why us?"

"Because you two are the most human out of any of us," I answer.

"What about me?" Evelyn asks.

"You're too human," I answer. They won't listen to you."

Evelyn pouts.

"And what about me?" Koga asks. "I know, I know, due to my superhuman capabilities thanks to my Koga Clan training, it may seem like I'm not human, but in fact, I am."

"You're just weird," I answer.

Koga shrugs.

"Wait…do we know where the Supernatural Investigators' Headquarters even is?" Evelyn asks.

"Of course we do," I answer. "It's public knowledge, it's in the most Southwestern part of town."

"Hmm…" Evelyn mutters to herself.

"What's up?" I ask.

"It just feels weird…the base of our greatest foes being common knowledge," Evelyn answers, causing me to sigh.

"So there you have it," I say as I take out my phone and send the map of the Twelve Zodiacs' assumed locations to my friends. "Let's move out!"

"Right!"