The Substitutes: Contract

Execution

After that spat, Sam had been expecting to make the trip in silence, but the subject of potential allies had Kyu all fired up, and instead of spending the walk nestled in the back of Sam's hoodie as planned, he altered his form into that of a regular housecat and hung over a shoulder, chatting all the while.

"First and foremost amongst our allies are the Ing-Leash. Out of all those currently catalogued in our databases, they're the race most akin to humanity, albeit with feline characteristics rather than simian ones. They're a proud lot and it's matched only by their physical strength, but neither could save them from the sickness of the blood that wiped out chunks of their community a thousand years ago. Luckily, a wandering Kyu had made planetfall at the time and was able to provide a cure, earning eternal friendship from them. There's also the Ohzsie and the Canaids, but the former are constantly embroiled in war against the vicious animals of their home world and the latter are strictly averse to combat, which is an admirable attitude but I do wish we could rely on them for matters other than research supplies. At least that's more than I can say about the Nohin. You'd think the first registered silicon-based species would have more offer than the inherent curiosity of figuring out how those giant crystals gained sapience, but they're rather dull all in all. Turn left here."

They were long past Sara's school and Sam had a sinking feeling that he knew exactly where the flock of butterflies were guiding them. If he was marked and she wasn't, there was really only one place the ruler of the swarms could have set up shop, leaving him in the unenviable position of having to visit his school out of mandated hours, an idea any teenager would baulk at. His suspicions were confirmed a few minutes later when Kyu's collection picked up speed and curved away as one wing, the false cat on his shoulder demanding they pick up pace at the sight. It wasn't long before they were walking up the familiar road.

"Here, turn right here!"

"Give me a second, and start by getting out of my hood."

"Yes, of course. Wouldn't want to put myself in danger after all."

As Kyu reassumed his natural form, Sam flipped the hood up and wrapped a red handkerchief around his mouth, a holdover from a time spent in awe of stage magicians and one of many abandoned childhood hobbies. It may have been dampening his chin with trapped breaths, but he preferred mild discomfort to going to prison for trespassing. With disguise donned he grabbed the wire gate in handfuls and made his way over, realising only as he vaulted over the top that it might be alarmed. If it was, the school wasn't interested in informing him, with only the hiss of gentle wind his greeting. Kyu had no such worries, leaping to the top of the fence in a single bound and immediately making his way towards the eastern side of the main building upon landing. The direction was appreciated, as sneaking about a place he wasn't supposed to be out of hours was nerve-wracking enough with a sense of purpose, let alone how he'd feel if he had to manually go over the grounds with a fine tooth-comb and glances over the shoulder to make sure he wasn't about to be removed and accused of dubious intentions.

A buzzing overhead caught their attention as they turned a corner, shards of blue and black showering down as twelve fist sized mosquitoes tore through Kyu's butterflies and divebombed the pair in a perfect arrowhead, shades of the maneuverers display planes performed at air shows. Grabbing Kyu by the scruff of his neck, Sam doubled back the way they'd come and loosened the string bag from his shoulders. The insect formation cut through the air like a scimitar blade, swerving hard around the corner right into a cloud of poison. It had been a simple matter to convince his mother to pick up insecticide given the odd climate and Sam sprayed it liberally, casting a trail as they retreated from the shockingly durable defenders, with only the head trio dropping to pavement with twitching legs. Losing members only served to inspire the survivors, the tip reforming the head to set about a second charge. The reward for their perseverance was the crackle of electricity as Sam put tennis lessons to good practise and swung a bug zapper into their ranks, catching two but left flailing impotently as the rest engulfed his view, needle-noses probing what little exposed skin he couldn't conceal and jabbing through where cloth was thinner. Holding his breath and screwing up his eyes, Sam pointed the can at the floor and released the rest of the bug killer, Kyu's voice ringing in his mind to aim his swings – right, diagonal left, turn now! By the time the aerosol was coughing up fumes Sam was sporting a series of rapidly-swelling bites that would undoubtedly leave him begging to scratch and pick throughout the night, but he'd given as good as he'd taken and the engorged mosquito squadron had been permanently grounded. As always, Kyu was the picture of sympathy as the bodies were crunched underfoot, just to make sure they weren't coming back.