Kaleb stayed near Roy as the oncoming mob charged. He fired into the mob with his Cybar pistol until it needed to vent then drew his Magic gun. Roy met the fastest chargers with his Stun baton, stunning them into a paralysis and then stabbing them in the legs with his collapsible spike. Apparently, He still couldn’t bring himself to kill wantonly.
Kaleb, meanwhile, dodged around some melee fighters and fired his Magic gun into groups of gang members after charging it for a short time. Kaleb thought that shooting the gun was akin to pulling a rubber band, the more Mana he poured into it the bigger the shot. Unfortunately, that meant he had to guess at how much Mana he had to pour into it to make a lethal shot. His first few shots did little more than push people back, he had focused on earth magic to simulate bullets. But they weren’t powerful enough.
Kaleb dodged a swipe from a clawed hand and slammed his metal shoulder into his attacker. Roy was helping clear space around them as they stood back to back, but soon, they would be overrun by the mass of Phreaks. Kaleb aimed his Magic gun toward the gate where The Master stood and focused on pouring Mana into his gun. He tried to put what he thought was twenty Mana into the shot and released his hold on the Magic.
A large funnel of air exploded out his Magic gun, snapping his arm back. The funnel pushed some Phreaks back creating a momentary opening in the mob. Kaleb roughly shoved Roy as he got his footing back. A slobbering hyena-man leaped on Kaleb’s back as he yelled at Roy.
“Run!”
Roy seemed to hesitant as Kaleb dragged the small Hyena-faced man off his back. Kaleb pulled the hyena down in front of him and fired a flame shot into his face before looking at Roy again.
“Go damn it!”
Roy nodded slowly before he swung his Stun baton in a large arc in front of him while running for the gate. Kaleb wielded his Magic gun as a club as he vented his holstered Cybar pistol. He clubbed another rabbit-eared woman in the face and turned as the mob kept coming. His field of vision filled with images of rabbit ears, tiger claws, cricket legs, and other animal people.
He tried to draw his Cybar pistol, but he felt someone jerk the gun out of his hand and other hands latched onto his other arm. The surrounding mob pummeled, scratched, and stomped him as Kaleb went under in a wave of bodies. Someone stomped his Magic gun free of his hand and kicked it away. Kaleb covered his body with his arms protecting himself while he watched his Hp slowly drop.
His Hp was in the fifties when he heard a familiar loud roar. Kaleb smiled to himself as the pummeling stopped and members of the gang drew away from his prone form. Oh Gaming Gods, please make him a gloater. Kaleb thought as he laid down, resting to get what little Hp he could back. Soon a body was thrown down next to Kaleb and looking over Kaleb saw it was the Master.
They had broken his mask, and his clothes were ripped and shredded. The blue-eyed human man behind the mask looked broken and tired as he tried to stand back up. Kaleb watched him for a while as the crowd murmured around them, some throwing insults, others taunting them. He ignored them until they fell silent and he could hear the soft padding of footsteps approaching. Kaleb closed his eyes and waited, but a mask-less Master didn’t appear to be that patient.
“You have not won this day, oh King of Beasts!” Said the Master, rather dramatically Kaleb thought.
Kaleb heard the lion-man chuckle deeply. “Your home is in ruins, your followers are dead, and you are soon to follow them to Hell. I’m sure I’ve won.”
Kaleb heard the lion move closer to them as he kept an eye on his health bar.
“Should we ask the interloper which one of us comes out ahead in this little war?” The lion asked as he seemed to pace close by.
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Kaleb cracked an eye and stared up at the lion. He had to stop himself from chuckling at the burn mark from his Cybar pistol that surrounded the lion-man’s snout. Kaleb shuffled his back pretending to get comfortable on the dirt floor of the courtyard.
“Nah, I’m good. You and Shakespeare finish up first. Then you and I can settle up, your majesty.” Kaleb said closing his and pretending to yawn.
The lion roared angrily and suddenly Kaleb felt an immense pressure on his chest. Opening his eyes, Kaleb did his best to look unbothered by the lion-man. The lion was now hovering mere inches from Kaleb’s face with both his hand placed firmly on Kaleb’s chest. Kaleb heard his metal chest armor creak as the lion’s claws extended from his fingertips.
“Or we can go right now, princess. It’s up to you.” Kaleb said breathlessly as the air was forced slowly from his body.
The lion bared his teeth for a few seconds before he pulled back slowly. Kaleb heard the lion-headed man slowly chuckle as he stood. The chuckle became a laugh which then became a deep-belly guffaw of laughter. The lion’s fellow gang members picked up the laugh as they all stared down at Kaleb who was slowly getting his breath back.
“HA HA HA HA HA HA! Ohhh, I like you little lizard.” Said the lion before suddenly snapping out a kick to Kaleb’s midsection.
All the air Kaleb just returned to his lungs escaped again as he doubled over in pain. The armor had blunted a good deal of the blow, but he thought it best to overact. As he rolled around in mock convulsions in looked for his guns. The Magic gun was on the ground near where the Master kneeled in defiance. But his Cybar was in the hands of a long-nosed green-skinned goblin looking thing. The little bastard was waving it around like he had won a prize.
“I think I WILL deal with dear old Kevin first. The lizard is proving too fun to play with.”
“Kevin?” Kaleb asked bemused.
“My name is The Master!” Kevin yelled at the same time.
The lion ignored them both, kneeling down in front of Kevin and extended his claws on both his hands. Kevin for his part looked unafraid sneering right back into the face of his enemy. The lion-man placed his claws under Kevin’s throat and looked ready to say something when Kevin moved. It surprised Kaleb how fast it happened but next thing he knew the talking lion had a white dagger in his throat. Kaleb almost swore, Kevin had just taking his own plan.
The lion gurgled and reached a hand up to his throat feeling the small white dagger. Kaleb was about to warn him not to remove it when the lion did just that, sealing his fate. Blood gushed from the wound staining the lion’s large mane and down his chest. Kevin went to brush the lion’s arms aside, but found himself suddenly wrapped in the arms of his victim.
The lion-man bear hugged poor Kevin and with the last bit of his strength squeezed. Kaleb and the surrounding Phreaks all watched in macabre fascination as the two enemies slowly died. The lion-man from the hole in his neck and Kevin from being slowly crushed in the bigger man’s embrace. Kevin tried to scream as the lion-man forced the air from his body, but all anyone could hear was a loud exhalation of breath and then sudden snap of Kevin’s backbone as the lion snapped Kevin’s spine.
The lion-man threw down Kevin’s broken body and tried to put his hands up to his wound. But whatever strength he had was gone. Kaleb slowly rose to a seated position drawing the eye of the dying lion. The lion grinned wickedly and tried to say something.
“K… kil… *Ahem* kil~ gragh!”
Kaleb quickly stood and retrieved his Magic gun as the lion continued to gurgle nonsensical words. As he moved near the lion wiggled his body ineffectually. Kaleb smiled at him and shoved him over theatrically, the crowd made a sudden gasp as Kaleb spun on the spot ready for an attack.
Focusing his Mana on the image of a stone bullet, Kaleb smiled at the assembled Phreaks. “The king is dead. Long live the king?”
The surrounding Phreak’s expressions went from shocked to pissed as Kaleb pointed his gun down. Releasing his Magic Kaleb sent a stone bullet into the back of the lion-man’s dying head. The surrounding crowd roared in anger and surged forward as Kaleb made a bee-line for the goblin bastard that had his gun. As Kaleb raised his metal arm and fired a few spikes a loud clamor rose from beyond the surrounding crowd.
Kaleb and the Phreaks slowed to a stop as the ground seemed to shake and they could hear voices growing closer. Kaleb hopes rose as he the noises grew louder and the Phreaks close to the gate moved backward. Kaleb scanned the crowd real quick spotting the goblin weaving his way forward to get a better look at what was coming. Kaleb quickly followed, a few Phreaks tried to stop or grab him but he pushed his way forward catching the goblin near the courtyard gate.
After he wretched his Cybar pistol from the little thief’s hands Kaleb smiled at the oncoming tide of lizards. It didn’t look like there were many of them but their large weapons and similar size made for an imposing group charging toward the mansion. Kaleb couldn’t see Roy or Wulkun, but Aqwen was in the lead charging forward with her metal staff. Kaleb turned expecting to see the faces of a beaten and downtrodden gang. Instead, he was met with looks of hatred and the obvious intent to go down swinging. Kaleb gulped as the mass of Phreaks all seemed to go feral and charge him again.
“Shit!” Kaleb swore as he took off toward the charging Brute clan.