The re-bodied Helbourne nodded once, then stood up, robot stiff. All three turned to the front door and moved out of the house. At the base of the porch steps, they split apart, one left, one right, and the newly re-housed one heading straight ahead, uphill toward the campus.

Overhead, a single silver orb observed them, keeping all three in sight for as long as possible.

Up in the Davis Center, Chris Gordon, the oh-so-powerful Hammer of God, was hemmed in by fragile autograph and selfie-seeking students. Justin, who was unknown to the wider world, had an easier time moving about the perimeters of the first floor.

“Chris. Three individuals have just left one of the target houses under observation. I have positively identified one individual as a recent dropout of a drug rehabilitation center. One matches the Vermont driver’s license of a missing person case out from Montpellier. The third is still unidentified. I can only follow one of them. All other drone units are occupied.”

“Pull surveillance units from the other two houses. Cover all three. They might be Helbourne,” Chris said. He looked at Justin as the big were shook his head. Negative on the demon search. She had lost them somehow, probably by changing forms.

“‘Sos, a little help here, buddy,” he said. There was a noticeable space around the huge wolf, a space that doubled as the furry figure blurred, growing into a truly enormous Kodiak.

Students stumbled back in a sudden panic, clearing yards of distance in a rush of yells and screams. Until Chris raised his voice. “Quiet!” he yelled. Most of the kids were startled all over again, this time remembering who was standing with them, and they froze, even the ones facing the giant grizzly. Most of the eyes turned his way, although more than a couple kept watching the monster bear standing quietly in their midst.

“If you’ll excuse us, we have work to do,” Chris said, loud enough to be heard by the now quiet students and the handful of adults who had turned out to see what was going on.

Using the path helpfully cleared by his were-bear-wolf, Chris moved out of the Davis Center, Justin following as ‘Sos trundled ahead like a furry bulldozer. A few students started to follow, but once outside, Chris turned immediately toward Route 2, which ran right through the center of the campus. As he and his two companions got to the road, a big black SUV pulled up almost as if it was somehow coordinated. They piled into the car and it pulled away.

“Omega, we lost her in the center. Is there any way for you to keep watch?”

“I have subverted all of the university’s camera systems and am actively using cameras on students’ cell phones and laptop computers. I have found an interesting anomaly, albeit too late to be of much use.”