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Of all the times for her motorcycle to have problems. Prudence trudged along the sidewalk, kicking herself mentally for overlooking the routine maintenance that must have caused the engine to conk out. At least she hadn't been too far from DC Iron Works, maybe a mile, but it was still a long hard trip pushing the big Harley back there -- only to find that the guys had already locked up and left for the night. She was pretty certain her bike would be okay overnight in the parking lot; she'd have to work on the bike tomorrow, since she didn't have a key to the shop. That meant that she had to walk across town to get home. (Buses? She had no idea about bus routes. And there didn't seem to be any cabs around either.)

She found herself walking through parts of town she didn't frequent enough to know, and that made her a little nervous. There were things out there in the shadows of Destiny City, bad things, and bad Negaverse people who called them and controlled them. She remembered what Hvergelmir had said, that not all of the Negaverse was bad, but it was a little hard to keep that in mind while walking alone at night.

At least she had her gun with her, tucked in the waistband of her jeans in the small of her back. At least she could defend herself if needed.

Prudence was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she didn't notice some of the shadows begin to follow her...

Rounding a corner, Prudence glanced over her shoulder. Had something moved? She was starting to get the sensation that she was being watched, and by something a lot less savory than your average bad guy. With a shudder, she picked up her pace a little, hoping whatever it was wasn't following her.

She heard a shuffling behind her. Oh s**t, she thought. Reaching around to the small of her back, she felt for the grip of her gun. Yep, it was still there. She'd loaded a clip in it but kept the safety on, since she didn't want to shoot a hole in her butt accidentally. Feeling a bit more relieved, she glanced over her shoulder again.

She shouldn't have.

The thing that Prudence saw seemed huge, a shambling behemoth made of long dark fur-like hair and claws and a maw that opened to reveal dagger-like teeth, far too many of them. The horror of the thing before her caused her to stop in her tracks, staring at it in near-disbelief. She knew monsters were real, everyone had told her they were, but this was her first up-close encounter with one.

She reached back and pulled the gun out of her waistband and, releasing the safety, aimed it as best she could. She was shaking so hard, though, she wasn't sure she could actually hit it. "Help," she squeaked reflexively.