Shaggy and Kaleb warned Ren and the rest of the rhinos while Daivor kept an eye on the oncoming K-Tech security. Slink had one of his snakes monitor the Phreaks. They all moved away from the parked dumpster truck and deeper into the stacks of garbage. Vlad had recovered from his blood-drunkenness and followed along behind although he still seemed a little woozy.
“So vhat’s the plan again?” Vlad asked.
“Simple: We hide out here for a bit and let the Phreaks and K-Tech security rip each other a new one.” Kaleb said as he squatted down near a pile of junk and looked up for Daivor.
The soft blue glow of Daivor’s floating chariot zigzagged through the air. He was floating high over the dump site. Kaleb tried to use the glow to get a good idea of where K-Tech security was. Unfortunately, there was no real way to tell with the Gnome zipping around up there. Slink, however, seemed to be in telepathic communication with his snake.
“The Phreaks have found the truck and boy are they pissed.” Slink said.
“Your lawn ornament tell you anything about the screws?” Shaggy asked.
Kaleb rolled his eyes and shook his head. “Builder Gnome and he can’t exactly talk right now.” Kaleb pointed up at the blue glow.
Shaggy squinted up at the glow. “I meant to ask: What’s the deal with that guy?”
Kaleb smiled. “Daivor is one of two companions I’ve gotten in the game. He gives some good bonuses while crafting. Plus, he is a wealth of knowledge.”
Ren and the others all looked up at the blue glow as Daivor dove closer to them. As he drew near, Kaleb could see that the Gnome was still smoking his pipe. Daivor pulled out of his dive and came to a stop in front of Kaleb and the others. Tapping the ash from his pipe, Daivor leaned in to speak to Kaleb.
“That cat-lady is spreading out her troops to create a kill-zone. She seems aware of the Phreaks, but they don’t seem to know about her or her men.”
Kaleb let the others know what Daivor had said. Slink snorted after Kaleb finished explaining. “She is willing to attack them?!”
Kaleb nodded. “Oh yeah, and they will probably kick their asses. We are talking about a heavily armed, highly trained group of troops vs a street gang.”
“Still…” Slink said.
Vlad sway uneasily as he crouched down. “50 credits on the troops.”
“I’ll take that action.” Shaggy said excitedly.
“I’m in too.” Ren said as the other rhino’s raised their hands.
The group save for Kaleb turned to Slink waiting for him to throw in a bet. Slink seemed to be engaged in silent communication with his snake. When he came out of it, he excitedly yelped.
“Ha! They know about the troops. 50 on the gang.”
“Oh, come on! That can’t be fair.” Vlad said angrily
“No backing out now, Vamps. Slink give us the play-by-play!” Shaggy said chuckling.
Kaleb sat nearby with Daivor hovering around him. The Gnome repacked and relighted his pipe as they listened to Slink explain what was happening a few dunes of garbage over. Apparently one of the bunny-eared Phreaks had heard movement from one of cat-lady’s troops. They were now moving as a group toward the sound of the noise.
“Bad move.” Kaleb mumbled.
“Really?” Vlad asked worriedly.
The others all looked over at Kaleb. “Hey, you didn’t bet. No comments unless you're willing to put money down.” Shaggy said.
Kaleb ignored him. “You have thirty guys all heading one direction. What’s the cat lady and the rest of her guys doing.”
Slink hissed as soon as Kaleb stopped speaking. “His right. The other troops are moving toward the back of the mob of Phreaks. They are about to take out the…” Slink cut himself off as he hissed again. “stragglers.”
Slink described how the K-Tech’s security started systematically and quietly take out the Phreaks. Kaleb knew eventually it would devolve into an all-out brawl. But K-Tech security would deal with as many of the Phreaks as they could first. He only hoped that the Phreaks would do enough damage to the security troop. Or at least that the cat-lady wouldn’t call for more backup.
Speaking of which. Kaleb thought. “Hey, where’s the black cat lady?”
Slink paused his description of events to talk to his snake again. “Uh, I don’t know. She was with the troops for a bit there but now she’s gone.”
“Shit! Daivor?” Kaleb said.
“On it, boss.” Daivor responded before flying up in his chariot.
“Worried about one little NPC?” Shaggy asked.
“I think she is head of the security team down here. She seemed powerful the last time I met her.” Kaleb explained as he watched Daivor zip this way and that above them.
Slink glanced over at him as he tried to concentrate on his snake. “So let’s just kill her and be done with her.”
“Well, if we do that then they will lock this place down and K-Tech will probably double security. It has to look like the Phreaks raided the dump site and injured the security team.”
Shaggy sniffed. “Injured, but not kill, huh?”
“Not if we can avoid it.” Kaleb answered.
Shaggy said something in response but Kaleb ignored him as he glanced up to see Daivor rushing back toward them. The Gnome seemed to be waving his arms frantically. Kaleb glanced all over expecting that the cat-woman was close but he couldn’t see her. However, soon an ominous purring sound came from the above him. Looking up Kaleb saw the bright yellow eyes of the K-Tech cat-lady.
Kaleb’s movement caught everyone’s attention, and they all glanced upward. The cat-woman stopped purring and spoke in a soft voice.
“I thought I smelled a little puppy.”
Before Kaleb or anyone else could react, she darted down the junk pile. She was a black missile as she ran down and slammed heavily into Shaggy. The werewolf yelped in surprise and grabbed her claws as she tried to claw at his face. Kaleb rose from his crouch and drew both his Cybar and Sun Gun. But before he could get a shot off, Vlad flitted forward and yanked the cat-woman off of Shaggy.
The woman yowled in surprise as she was lifted bodily and tossed aside. Kaleb smiled until he watched her shoulder roll out of the throw and get back to her feet. All three Rhino-men charged as Vlad went to check on Shaggy. Kaleb momentarily took his eyes off the fight to slam on his new silver helmet. On top of the added protection, it also hid his identity somewhat. Turning back to the fight, Kaleb swallowed hard as he watched the cat-woman climb up the body of a rhino-man and use his own horn as leverage to snap his neck.
Stolen novel; please report.
Ren and the other rhino-man bellowed in anger as the simultaneously swung Kaleb’s tiger claws at her. Kaleb saw the knifes dig into the armor she was wearing but he couldn’t see any blood. He moved forward waiting for a shot. The cat-woman dodged a large swing from Ren and slammed her hands into his back sending him tripping into the other rhino. They both slammed into a nearby junk mountain and were buried under an avalanche junk.
Kaleb opened fire and watched the red blast of fire and the yellow energy collide into the cat-lady’s chest. But the energy smacked into her chest armor and seemed to dissipate. It looked like it spread out the energy through her armor until it disappeared. Oh, I’m stealing that armor. Kaleb thought as the cat-woman turned to him and stalked toward him. Luckily, Vlad and Shaggy rushed her at the same time.
Shaggy lunged at her as Vlad did that weird flitting thing again. Kaleb holstered both his guns and drew his Magic Gun. Meanwhile, Shaggy was losing a fight with the cat-lady as she kept moving to keep him in the way of Vlad. Kaleb focused his Mana into the gun and took aim, waiting for his shot. But she was just playing with Shaggy and Vlad. He wouldn’t get a shot unless he did something.
“Line of Fire!” Kaleb shouted as he pulled the trigger.
Shaggy dove to the side at Kaleb’s warning. But Vlad just stopped, directly in the path of Kaleb’s lightning shot. Blue electricity slammed into Vlad’s back and the mutant vampire froze up. The cat-lady grinned a wide smile and grabbed Vlad by his waist and casually tossed him aside. Kaleb charged his gun again. But, before he knew it she was in front of him and grabbing his wrist.
Kaleb blinked and suddenly he was on his back looking up at the panther-like face of his assailant. Nearby Shaggy rolled to his feet and charged back into the fight. Kaleb moved to stand and help, but she wrapped one hand around Kaleb’s neck and jammed her other hand into Shaggy’s throat. The werewolf choked and spluttered as he tried to catch his breath.
It surprised Kaleb at the strength of the cat-woman’s grip. She had an arm like a steel bar. Fortunately, she didn’t seem too concerned about Kaleb at the moment. Instead, she watched Shaggy with a strangely pleased look on her face. Shaggy still coughing, swung wildly at their attacker. But that just seemed to amuse her more.
“What’s a matter little pup? Can’t control your shift?” Cat-lady said in her soft voice as she smiled at Shaggy.
Kaleb reached up with his metal arm and slammed his metal fist into the crook of cat-woman’s arm. The blow took the woman by surprise and Kaleb’s helmeted head rocked forward and into her face. She let out another screech of surprise and annoyance, but her grip remained firm. In fact, her grip on his throat got tighter, and she glanced down at him angrily.
Oh great, we’re back to being strangled. I’m going to shoot her in the face. Kaleb thought to himself as his vision narrowed and he raised his metal arm again. This time he pointed his Spike Launcher up at her face and fired. Unfortunately as he fired, she batted his arm away with her other hand. The spike flew out and up, clipping the cat-lady’s face and long gout of red blood poured from a large scrape above her eye.
She yowled in pain and surprise again looking at Kaleb pissed. Great, now she will squeeze harder. Yep, there she goes. Kaleb thought as he tried to fire another Spike, but she still had a firm grip on his metal arm. Suddenly, several things happened at once.
Shaggy’s hands formed into claws and he lunged forward, Cat-lady released Kaleb’s arm, and Vlad popped up behind the woman and bit down. Kaleb lurched backwards into Shaggy’s legs tripping them both. The cat-lady struggled for a little, but soon her strength seemed to leave her completely. She collapsed backwards taking Vlad with her into the dirt.
Kaleb untangled himself from Shaggy’s and rushed over to where Vlad was feeding on her neck. “Don’t you dare kill her! That’s a headache we do not need right now.”
“Are you serious!” Shaggy screamed. “She was kicking our asses, dude! Fuck her! Drain the bitch, Vlad!”
Kaleb glanced down to see that even Vlad’s eyes were wide with incredulity. “Vlad you kill her and we can’t use this site anymore. No more dump site means no more materials for equipment. Drink your fill, but don’t kill her.”
Vlad’s eyes scrunched up in annoyance but eventually he opened his mouth and let his fangs shrink. Blood dripped down his chin again as he lay there mumbling, fake accent gone.
“Fine, but seriously, she is like worth 150 points and it’s still going up.” Vlad went back to sucking at her neck after saying his piece.
Kaleb sighed as Shaggy grumbled to himself. Kaleb looked around for a bit confused. “Where the hell is Slink?”
Shaggy shrugged as he looked down at his, now human, hands. “I do not know. Little shit better not have run off.”
Kaleb nodded in agreement. One of the nearby junk piles shook and soon Ren and the remaining rhino-man excavated themselves from the avalanche of junk that had submerged them. Kaleb kept an eye on Vlad as Shaggy moved off to find Slink. Kaleb had to talk down the NPC rhino-man from smashing the prone cat-lady. Eventually though, everyone calmed down and the only sound was Vlad noisily drinking.
Soon Shaggy gave a shout. “Ha! There you are, you little weasel.”
Shaggy had reached behind a pile of junk and pulled the tiny teen out. Slink looked more annoyed than scared. Shaggy dropped the teen onto the dirt and stood over him.
“Care to explain?” Shaggy asked placing his hands on his hips.
“What?!” Slink whined. “You guys had it. You didn’t need me.”
“Well, thanks for making things easier for us.” Kaleb said sarcastically as he turned to study Vlad. “Hey! You're not on a date! Wrap it up, Lugosi!”
Vlad grumbled annoyed, but he stopped feeding and wiggled out from under the black-armored cat-lady. Seeing the armor, Kaleb remembered his thoughts about taking it. Turning to Slink he asked.
“Are you still in contact with your snake?”
“It’s not a snake and yes, I can’t just turn it off!” Slink whined.
Kaleb stared at Slink and when the teen offered no more information, he prompted. “And?!”
“And what?” Slink asked confused.
“And hows the fight going, dumb-ass!” Shaggy yelled smacking Slink in the back of the head.
Slink grumbled and went into a trance-like state to talk to his snake. “The Phreaks are on the run. Two of the security troop are down and they injured another one.”
*Hiccup!* Vlad hiccuped loudly and stumbled to get back to his feet.
Once up on his two feet, Vlad was back to being completely drunk on the blood of his victim. Kaleb sighed and tried to think of a plan of action. He wanted the K-Tech armor, but he wasn’t sure how long the dangerous cat-woman would be unconscious. Turning to Shaggy and Slink, Kaleb said.
“Slink, why don’t you show everyone else here where the other K-Tech security team is. Their armor seems like some high-end gear. I’ll stay here with Vlad and see how long this bitch will be out.”
Shaggy shrugged. “Whatever you say. Maybe we can have a proper fight where we don’t have our asses handed to us.”
Slink looked ready to complain, but Shaggy dragged him away. The two rhino-men followed, both looked pissed at having missed the fight. Kaleb moved over to check on Vlad who was just standing and swaying on the spot. Kaleb waved his hand in front of the glasses-eyed vampire.
“Yo! You doing ok there, Vlad?”
Vlad shook his head and stared up at Kaleb. “That blood was gooooood, man.”
“That’s great, Vlad. How about you tell me how long your victims remain unconscious?”
“Um, forever? Drain them dry, man.” Vlad slurred through blood-red lips.
Kaleb rolled his eyes. “And the ones you don’t drain dry?”
Vlad groaned and swayed faster on the spot. “I don’t know, man. A few hours?”
Kaleb sighed loudly. “Great, good to know you’re on top of that.”
Kaleb left the inebriated vampire alone and focused on the collecting the K-Tech armor. He helped Vlad sit down next to another pile of junk and then moved over to prone form of the cat-lady. He checked over the black armor a few times before he removed the armor and set it in a pile to the side.