“Winghaven? What the hell?”

Kim took a closer look at her GPS in an attempt to see how they got lost. Wally woke up in the passenger seat and fumbled while putting on his glasses, “What’s wrong?” They were currently parked on the side of the road next to a swamp; it was night now and there didn’t appear to be any residences nearby.

“We ended up in a town called Winghaven,” Kim explained “Astra, do you know how we got here?”

“We drove straight,” she sat calmly in the back seat, not quite understanding Kim’s frustration.

“Winghaven,” Wally repeated the name, “Winghaven. Why does that name sound familiar?”

“I don’t think I nodded off or anything so I don’t know how we ended up here,” Kim checked the GPS again, “I don’t even know what state we’re in right now.”

“I swear I’ve heard the name Winghaven before,” Wally continued.

“I’ll look it up,” Astra tilted her head, “… Often considered the world’s strangest town, Winghaven is a mid-sized city that boasts multiple paranormal activities including hauntings, bigfoot sightings, occult practices and other strange occurrences.”

“I’m glad you’re telling me this while we’re parked next to a creepy bog,” Wally said as he peered out the window.

“We’re about twenty miles off-route,” Kim was still frustrated as she took a closer look at the GPS.

“Winghaven also has one of the highest crime rates in America despite its relative small size,” Astra continued helpfully, “This includes murder, kidnappings, disappearances and -“

Wally spun around, “Hey, if you wanna give me trivia, how about… history or something?”

“Sure, Wally. Winghaven was the home of Heinrich Mason, an eccentric inventor and amateur detective who created a steam-powered mechanical suit called the Locomotive Man. Sometimes, he’s referred to as the world’s first superhero.”

“That’s where I know the name,” Wally snapped his fingers.

“Mason eventually went insane and claimed to have discovered an eldritch being deep underground. Ancient Native American tribes in the area corroborated this theory.”

“Let’s just stop there, okay?”

Kim dropped her phone and took the car out if park, “I’m gonna go down the road and see if I can find a gas station or something,” Kim began to pull away, “Or we can find a hotel? Maybe I’m too tired to dr-“

As they pulled away, a large figure emerged from the nearby swamp and into the path of the moving car. Kim slammed on the brakes with the sound of lose gravel sputtering under the vehicle. The car came to a stop but not before hitting the figure in the side. It wasn’t a hard hit but it should have at least knocked it down; the figure simply staggered as if taking a shove. It stood at 7ft, and was covered in long black fur with red tinges. It turned and snarled, exposing an ape-like face, a flat nose with wide nostrils, a sloped forehead and large teeth. It was wet from the swamp water with bits of leaves and sludge stuck to its fur. “Reverse!,” Wally shouted as the monster placed its massive hands on the hood, “Reversereversereverse!” Kim threw the car into reverse, kicking up dust as the creature stumbled forward, off-balance.

“Hey, I think this is a sasquatch,” Astra said happily, “Most people don’t think they’re real.” Kim slammed on the brakes again once they were a good distance from the advancing sasquatch, then threw it back into drive and speed down the road. “You are both scientists,” Astra continued, “Aren’t you excited to make this find?” Kim tried to swerve around the monster, but it leapt in front of her path, placing both massive hands on either side of the car. Kim accelerated, hoping to run the creature down but it held tight, its feet pushing along the road before it braced itself and stopped the car all together.

“It’s attacking us,” Astra said as she bounced around in the backseat, “So is this a self-defense situation?”

“Yes! Yes!,” Wally shouted.

“I’ll try not to kill it. It’s likely endangered.”

“Just get it away from us!,” Kim shouted over her.

Astra hopped out of the back, getting the sasquatch’s attention. “It’s a rare animal so I don’t want to cause too much harm,” Astra noted as it let go of the car and raced toward her. The sasquatch delivered an upward swing that sent Astra into the air; she crashed through the trees, snapping off top branches before landing in the swamp. Astra sank in the dark water, the light of her face-monitor shedding some light. She noted to herself that she was waterproof, then stretched a hand out of the water, snatching a branch high above and yanked herself free. She landed in soggy grass, not far from the sasquatch who had been searching for her.

The sasquatch stomped toward her and threw another punch but she ducked under it, whipped around to its back, grabbed it in a bear hug, then delivered a supplex. It was a move she had seen in a wrestling clip while searching multiple topics on the internet. She wondered if Wally or Kim noticed but was beginning to understand when that sort of thing was appropriate. The Sasquatch grabbed her by the back of her head and slammed her into the ground, covering her face with mud. He then hurled her into the air where she hit a tree on the other side of the road before falling to the gravel.

“I don’t want to hurt it,” she called out to Wally and Kim, “But it’s really difficult to get it to leave.”

Kim poked her head out the window, “Just lure it away from the road, then get in the – AHH!”

The Sasquatch charged with a tree branch he had snapped off and broke it across Astra’s head. The impact sent her flying, feet-over-head where she slammed into the tree again. “But I’m also feeling angry,” she said to herself just before the sasquatch grabbed her by the ankle and flipped her onto the road. Finally fed-up, Astra stretched her leg out, hitting the Sasquatch in the chest and pushing him off the road where he disappeared into the bushes. She quickly got up and ran back into the car and Kim didn’t wait for her to close the back door before she gunned it.

“I was mad but I didn’t try to shoot it like I did the IMD agents,” Astra told them, expecting accolades that never came.

Wally looked at the rear-view mirror, “Shit, it’s following us!”

By the light of the Moon, they could see the Sasquatch turn onto the road in a dead sprint, its powerful legs allowing it to gradually catch up. Kim accelerated down the road, which put some distance between them as the creature emitted an ear splitting howl in rage. As Kim sped up, she saw a bend in the road up ahead and pumped the brakes to avoid taking the turn too quickly. The car fishtailed and slid on loose gravel before the back tire hit the ditch, jostling everyone inside. “Oh no!,” Kim said as she hit the accerlator, “I think we’re stuck.” Wally looked out his window and saw one wheel spinning uselessly as it hung over an incline. Astra checked the other rear tire and saw it spinning into loose mud. Meanwhile, the Sasquatch was closing in.

Just then, they noticed the headlights of a pickup truck approaching from around the corner. They couldn’t see much behind the lights but they could tell the truck had come to a stop and two figures quickly got out and raced to their location. A large man in a leather jacket ran past their windows, stopping at the rear of their car before opening fire with a gun. The Sasquatch could be heard roaring as it reeled back but it didn’t appear to be seriously injured as it ducked behind a tree for cover. A young, Afro-Cuban woman ran to the other side of the car, nearly poking her head through the window, “Ya’ll okay?”.

“Do we look okay?,” Wally shouted.

The girl ignored him but instead, turned her attention to the backseat, “Oh, shit. Is that a robot?”

“In a way,” Astra answered, “I’m Astra Machina.”

“Alysa Saraki,” she shook her head as if remembering the situation, then opened Wally’s door, “Look, we gotta get ya’ll outta here.”

“Get them out of here!,” the large man shouted as he reloaded his gun and waited for the sasquatch to return.

“The hell you think I’m doing, Creed?,” Alysa shouted back.

Farrell Creed flicked on a flashlight and raised it with one hand while keeping his gun drawn with the other.

Astra popped up beside him, “Hi, can I help?”.

Creed gave her a surprised look but soon brushed it off, “Is that armor or what?”

“It’s me. I’m kind of like a robot.”

“Uh, okay. You got anything that can tell me if it’s close?”

“Yes, I have radar and other sensors that can detect lifeforms,” she turned toward the darkness, “Oh,… the bigfoot is coming right for us.”

“Sonuvabitch!”

Creed tucked and rolled as the sasquatch emerged from the shadows and took a swing. Alysa had gotten Wally and Kim out of their car and was in the process of getting them into the truck but stopped when the sasquatch came back onto the road. She raised her hands, mystic energies shinning from her palms as she summoned a small whirlwind that blew leaves and dirt around the Sasquatch to get its attention. The creature stopped attacking and began to move in a circle as it curiously followed the strange winds swirling around him. “Hold it!,” Creed shouted as he put his gun away and brought out a pocket knife. Doing as told, Astra formed giant clamps from her hands, placing one around the Sasquatch’s torso to hold its arms at its side while the second set held its ankles. Creed hopped on its back, holding a fistful of fur before cutting it loose with the knife. The creature snarled as the hair was removed but otherwise was unharmed. “Okay, get it outta here,” Creed said. Alysa cast another spell as Astra released it. The creature swatted at something in the air that only it could see and followed it into the darkness, disappearing back to the swamp.

“What is going on?,” Wally’s words were quiet and meek as he no longer had any emotional energy left.

“That was a bigfoot… sasquatch… whatever you wanna call it,” Creed calmly placed the fur into a plastic bag.

Alysa, meanwhile, studied Astra up close, “Are you running an AI program?”

“I am an AI program,” she answered cheerfully, “I noticed weird energy signals from you. I’ve never sensed those before.”

“It’s magic.”

“Of course it is,” Wally rubbed his temples, “Can we get the car out of the ditch now, please?”

“Sorry,” Astra turned and grabbed the car by the bumper, carefully moving it out of the ditch and onto the road.

“Creed, you seeing this?,” Alysa said excitedly.

“I’m seeing about 20 grand,” he studied the bag of fur in his hand.

Kim took note of the bag, “Were you… hunting that thing?”

“No, but there are people who do and they’re always looking for proof. Sometimes, these people give me a call and ask me to come out and take pictures but not too many folks take those seriously. This was the first time they asked for actual physical evidence.”

“And none of what you just said sounds odd to you?”

“It’s Winghaven. The town gets weirder than that, trust me,” Creed shrugged, “You folks lost or something? It’s not a good idea to be out by the swamp.”

“Thanks for the tip,” Wally grumbled.

“Stay away from the woods, too,” Alysa added.

“Yeah, the back roads are a bad idea in general.”

“Honestly, we have no idea how we got here,” Kim explained, “We just ended up here.”

“Yeah, the town’s got a thing about attracting weird shit,” Alysa told her and then pointed at Astra, “I mean…”

“If you could give us directions on how to get the hell out of here, that would be amazing,” Wally said finally.

Minutes later, Creed finished giving them directions on how to reach the nearest main road. Creed and Alysa waved and watched as the taillights disappeared before making their way back to the truck. Alysa smiled brightly as she climbed in, “Can’t believe they’re just driving around with a robot in the back. I wonder where she came from?”

“Eh, the less we know the better,” Creed got in the driver’s seat, “I’ll drive you home.”

She rolled her eyes, “Creed, I just saw my first bigfoot and a robot in the same damn night. Can you try to match my energy?”

“Nah,” he started the truck and pulled away.

As Kim drove through the town, she yawned. Astra took note and thought they should stop at a hotel but said nothing as it seemed they weren’t as attuned to listening to her while in the town. She attributed it to the sense of danger they felt themselves in. Certainly, the past few days didn’t elevate that feeling as they seemingly kept escaping one threat after another. Once they were out of the town and on the highway, they stopped at the first hotel they found and finally decided to rest. Astra stayed up as Wally and Kim slept in their separate beds. They were safe now and she hoped that she would not attract any more threats as she wanted to keep her new friends safe.