Rab took the lead now, only after making sure everyone stayed low and quiet.

Arthur crept along behind him, keeping watch for anything that might try to jump them. Each time the lights flickered overhead, he flinched, though, to his relief, he wasn’t the only one. Neither Jemima nor Theobold had let go of their weapons, and Captain Swordsman’s sword glowed a bright blue.

The only two out of them who looked comfortable were The Explorer and Dr. Kunibert. Both walked along as though they didn’t have a care in the world.

With a closed fist, Rab signaled for them to stop as they reached the end of the tunnel. Arthur moved up beside him and peered into the room, resisting the urge to whistle. From what Dr. Kunibert had said, he’d expected some weird ooze version of a multi-pup. What he got instead was vastly different.

A pack of six canines patrolled the area before the massive blast door Dr. Kunibert had mentioned they’d need to get past. The creatures were a darker green and sizeable, almost chest-height with Theobold. Each of their three heads held large radiation crystals that made up their six eyes. Eyes that tracked around the sacks that clung to the walls and ceiling.

As one patrolled over the overhead light, Arthur could see a purple spiked collar around its neck. Monster flesh floated in it, showing signs of the same purple tinge that he’d seen before. A sure sign that these were Rathnil’s creations, though they looked far more powerful than the Dogclops that had attacked them earlier.

“What do we do?” Arthur asked Rab as they stood near the side of the tunnel.

“Depends,” Rab answered. “Most pack hunters in The Pit don’t patrol like this. They have their areas, sure. But this? No. Plus, I’ve never seen man-made devices like those collars on the monsters before. What do they do?”

They got the answer to that when one of the pack spotted them. It veered off and lunged towards them. Electricity sparked, and the dog yelped as it backed up closer to the terminal. It growled, and the others followed suit, slowly forming into a solid group.

“He’s trained them. Why though? He asked me to come here.”

“Should I shoot them?” Jemima asked, steadying her pistol as she took aim.

Dr. Kunibert hissed. “No! If you miss and destroy the console, we’ll never get that door open.”

“Then we fight them,” Captain Swordsman said. “Try to lure them out one at a time. It’s a large space. We should be able to outmaneuver them.”

Theobold shrugged. “Or we see how much damage those shock collars do. Pull them over to this side, and see what the security system will do for us.”

Rab laughed and moved over to slap him on the shoulder. His visor was up, so Arthur could see his smile as he looked down at his ex-squire. “Well reasoned. The question is, how do we do it? Thoughts?”

Arthur had a few ideas, but it was obvious the knight was asking Theobold directly. As they discussed it, he moved back to watching the dogs. Now that their group had backed off, they’d gone back to patrolling. Each of their three heads sniffed at the air or ground, respectively, as they moved about.

“We have a plan,” Theobold said as he and Rab broke apart.

“Oh?” Arthur asked. “Tell me.”

“Augustus, Knight Rab, and I are the most heavily armored. We pull them forward and see how the lightning works. If it kills them, great. If not, you come in.”

“A strategy we have used before,” Rab cut in. “In some places, the acidic pools work just as well on the monsters as they do on us.”

Captain Swordsman cleared his throat. “Are you sure? Wouldn’t it make more sense for all of us to go together? What if you can’t lure a single one?”

“He has a point. How did you plan on baiting them?” Arthur asked.

Theobold looked down at the briefcase and then back up. While Arthur couldn’t see his face, he could tell the younger mutant was smiling. It wasn’t hard to put together what he wanted to do. While his store was well stocked, there were a few things that would enlarge the dogs.

“You want to feed them?”

Rab laughed again. “We do! No creature can resist an easy meal, and we know these creatures will consume the dead. What do you say, Arthur? A test run to see what happens.”

“I’m game,” Arthur said as he placed his briefcase by the tunnel entrance. “Let’s see what we have.”

Time passed as they debated the best possible snacks, but in the end they went with something simple. Theobold held a sizable amount of the meat from one of the mutated cats the knights had brought in. From his vantage point at the end of the tunnel, he watched as Theobold, Augustus, and Rab all walked toward the group of Chimera. Brightly colored cloth that they hoped would act as insulation, covering their now-bare hands.

Growls and bark filled the air, far louder than comfortable due to both the acoustics of the room and the sheer number of heads. With bated breath, he waited for them to throw the carcass.

Theobold was the one who tossed it, and it sailed through the air and landed just behind the spot where the last beast got zapped.

That was when all hell broke loose.

***

The plan was for one monster to go for it, not for all of them to charge it at once. They barked, yipped, howled, and whined as they all charged for the food, pushing against each other with wet slaps. Then, as one, they tumbled over the invisible line in a near-writhing mass.

Arthur cursed as he watched the display. While a path to the terminal was now clear, it hadn’t happened in the controlled manner they’d wanted. Still, he didn’t plan on looking the gift horse in the mouth. Instead, as the sounds of crackling electricity and barking filled the air, he turned to Dr. Kunibert.

“Your up. Let’s go?”

“Are you sure?” Dr. Kunibert asked and sounded concerned.

“They aren’t getting any more distracted,” Arthur said as he gestured towards the pile.

Whatever was happening with that many shock collars had multiplied with so many of them. The small group who’d thrown the food was backing away as the creatures went berserk in their pile. They fought and snapped, half melting as they continued to wrestle on the line.

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

Dr. Kunibest bowed his head. “I suppose you’re right. Lead on.”

They crept around the pile, Captain Swordsman and The Explorer both keeping their weapons at the ready. Jemima hadn’t drawn her gun, instead clenching her large hands into fists. He didn’t know how effective punching one of these would be, but he supposed they might find out.

As soon as they reached the terminal, Dr. Kunibert gestured towards the controls. “I doubt this body can type.”

Arthur nodded and moved over quickly, pressing the small power button. The screen blinked on, showing first the name of Genomian Inc. and then the Glenradine Corporation. At its appearance, Dr. Kunibert directed him to hit enter and then talked him through the various login screens until they got to the part they needed—the entrance sequence.

“This won’t be difficult. Simply follow the directions as required.”

“Why did they make it like this?” Artur asked as he read the first line, which informed him he’d need to click on the red square when it appeared.

“Because it’s easy to mess up under pressure. That would allow any security personnel to know if someone was being forced.”

“Ahh.”

It made sense; he supposed. Though he wished there was a way around it. With a quick check over his shoulder at the pack of hounds, he sighed with relief. They were half melted now, with electricity still sparking between them. Augustus moved around the edge of the slime puddle, but nothing seemed to happen.

“Pay attention.”

Arthur turned back and quickly hit the red square. “Ok, sorry. How many of these are there anyway?”

“Five,” Dr. Kunibert said. “Quick enough that you could get through them without losing too much time in your day. Long enough, it would annoy anyone who tried to brute force entry.”

“Did that happen often?” Arthur asked as he circled his mouse inside a set line.

“Intrusions?” Dr. Kunibert chuckled. “Never. But those above us were paranoid and crazy. Did you know they had another department practicing magic? Lunacy. I’m glad that I left before then.”

“You left them?”

He almost missed the answer as he quickly answered a series of math questions. Thankfully, none were exceptionally difficult.

“I did. To work in the hospital with people that mattered on projects that were less crazy. It’s there I ran into Nyssa, and well…”

Arthur nodded as Dr. Kunibert trailed off. He knew the rest of that story already, and neither needed a repeat. With a click on a series of green squares, he asked a question that had bothered him since they’d met earlier in the sewers.

“This idea for the bodies. Is that serious? Are you going to try to see her like this?”

“No!” Dr. Kunibert exclaimed quickly. “Not like this. I’ll perfect it, then I can help the others. Once I can show her that I’m not the monster she must think I am. Believes I am. That will be when I go to her.”

“I see. For what it’s worth—”

Augustus’s fearful squeaks made him miss the click on the last, and he watched a screen come up. It told him he’d need to wait fifteen seconds to restart the application. He cursed and spun around to see what the problem was. It became obvious immediately.

The puddle was moving, and three heads far bigger than any of the individual dogs emerged. Lighting crackled over the far darker green carapace of the creature, and its growls were almost deafening.

“Well,” Arthur said as the necks elongated. “Shit.”

***

A boom filled the room, and Arthur winced at the sound as he tried to will the computer to go faster.

From the corner of his eye, he’d seen Jemima shoot one head, the bullet impacting, lodging, and detonating in rapid succession. Goo flew across the room, splatting against every available surface. Captain Swordsman, his weapon glowing a bright blue, sliced the middle head in two.

As the last one continued to form, Rab and Theobold moved in together. Almost as one, they slashed and smashed at the head until it collapsed in a tidal wave of goo. Arthur breathed a sigh of relief as the threat vanished and turned back to the computer.

When it came up, he quickly clicked on the red square.

“Pay attention and get this done. They have your back. You’ll be fine.”

“Damn it!” he heard Captain Swordsman swear, and he had to force himself to focus on the second challenge.

As soon as he’d finished drawing the circle, he turned to see the commotion and immediately wished he hadn’t. Three smaller heads emerged from the puddles of green that littered the room. Like the giant versions, they were darker green and lacked the normal translucency.

A plop sounded as one creature, as small as Splotch, fell from the ceiling. It yipped and tried to bite Augustus’s ankles, but the armor blunted its attack to nothing. His chief of security stepped on it and then did his best to wipe the goo off the stone as he battered back another one.

Arthur cursed, doing his best to focus on the third task even as one of the three-headed monstrosities the size of a small dog jumped at him. He flinched, but then paused as it simply gnawed at his scales. It’s teeth unable to penetrate his new hide. With a frown, he used his brief time between challenges to punch it.

The creature exploded.

“Huh,” he thought as he turned back to the console. “That was easier than expected.”

The fourth task was finished, and he turned to examine the new task as he listened to the fighting in the background. He clicked on the screen when he heard Jemima shout. He forced himself not to turn and check instead of finishing the task. As he did, a new screen popped up.

{Raise the blast doors? Y/N}

“Click yes,” Dr. Kunibert demanded.

Arthur did, and above them, he heard the spinning of gears as the door raised slowly. He battered away another few of the smaller attacks that tried to get to him as he turned to Dr. Kunibert.

“Send your rats through. I want to know if we should prepare for another fight.”

“Of course.”

That done, Arthur turned and started towards the fight. He joined Augustus, and together they smashed the creatures left and right. Jemima joined in, stomping the smaller ones. Goo littered the ground, and more of the tiny creatures emerged.

Then the sound of grinding filled the room. Arthur cursed and spun, looking towards the door in disbelief. It had jammed. It sat open just enough; he knew they could get under if they crawled. It was useful, but when combined with the tiny monsters, it made it a death trap. He could imagine the small creatures getting under clothes and into the crack of armor.

While they may not bite through his, and maybe Jemima’s, scales, the rest were a different story. He looked around, frantically trying to figure out a plan, when he spotted it. The goo on the ground shifted as small sparks of electricity ran through it. As it joined up with other spots, the monsters that appeared were bigger.

“Get them in a group! Then get under the door.”

No one argued, and the next few minutes were frantic combat. Arthur watched as the puddles grew bigger and bigger. He laughed, crushing another monster even as he waved people through.

“Get in, go!”

Dr. Kunibert was first, his movements awkward as he forced his body through the gap. Captain Swordsman was next, with Theobold and Rab following suit. The Explorer nodded and seemed to slide through with a laugh. Arthur turned to Augustus.

“Go.”

A large bark almost drowned out his words, the two oversized Chimera staring down. They moved slowly, but that didn’t matter. A single attack would crush them. Augustus squeaked and pointed, even as he stepped back to avoid an almost half-hearted bite.

Arthur grimaced and nodded. They didn’t have time to argue, even if he didn’t like it. With that, he leapt to the floor, sticking his briefcase and cane through first before shimming in after. Hands grabbed at his clothes and pulled him until he was standing up.

He turned, ready to do the same for Augustus. The first thing that appeared was the spike bat, and then the armored form. He pulled, and he heard a snarl and bark as something tugged on the other end.

“Help me!” Arthur cried out.

Rab hurried forward, grabbing his other arm. “On it.”

Together they pulled until, with a whine they felt the pressure lessen and Augustus popped through the gap. Arthur grinned, as he watched a large paw try and scrabble under the gap. It found nothing, and eventually moved away.

With one last check everyone was ok, Arthur turned to examine the fastest way out of the lab as the fire burned in his chest.

Whatever game Rathnil was playing, ended, today.