Lucille looked at her opponent and narrowed her eyes. What would be the best way to act? A somersault followed by a claw strike? Whipping it with her tail? Bitting was of course out of the question, her teeth would never touch the shadow and she would only shatter them on the stone walls or floor, and she didn't fancy that idea.
She rushed to the right, never leaving the shadow out of her sight as it mirrored her movement, and she leaped into the air. One second, two, three, and smash! she kicked the black shape on the wall with her hindlegs, taking care to take on the right posture to negate as much damage as possible from hitting stone.
She used the force from her kick to rebalance midair and landed on the ground, ready for another strike. As always, the shadow was waiting right in front of her.
As she got ready to attack once more, an annoyingly pompous voice interrupted her.
"Why Lucille kick wall?"
The light-grey-furred rat sighed before turning around to address her sister.
"Training, Blanche. Maybe train too?"
"No thanks."
Lucille sighed once more, exasperated. It had been a day now since their father had slain the two monsters that had turned the sewer into a frenzy, putting an end to the little war the two giant critters had waged on each other. Much to her chagrin, she didn't know much about the state of things before the presence of the Titaroach and the Matoador as her father called them, she was much too young to have lived through this period. Thinking about it, she hadn't had the opportunity to live under their reign either, her father had found her and her siblings before they got a chance to live in the wild, and now... Well, there hadn't been that much time between finding out about the monsters' existence and ending it.
After their little heart to heart - notably about their father's insecurities when it came to raising them - and a little binge-watching of Captain Cyan, their family had decided to rest a little. They had deserved it after the fight they got in. Hence the current situation, their father had taken David and Foudre along to hunt dinner while she, Blanche, and Goliath stayed home. Goliath went back to tinkering with the various scraps they had collected from their raid on that gang's hideout, trying to improve their current equipment before their father inevitably infused it with his shadows or whatever it was he did to things.
Honestly, as much as it pained her to say so, he was very predictable.
"But why fight shadow?"
"Training for father."
The way he fought was like nothing she knew of. Granted, she didn't know much, but none of the beasts roaming the sewers or of the creatures Captain Cyan fought in his series acted like him. The way he glided on the floor as if he was floating before immediately diving down as if he had never been there, the way he could go from a formless shadow to a very real and physical threat... As far as Lucille was aware he had yet to fight an opponent by pretending to be their shadow but she knew that, sooner or later, the idea would cross his mind, and fights against him would become even harder.
She didn't care about fighting itself. In fact, David's obsession and unhealthy aggression confused her greatly. How could fighting be enjoyable? It was a way to execute a task, a means to an end. It was about efficiency, not fun. At least he trained, unlike some other rat she knew.
How could Blanche be so... Herself? What was the point of beauty in the sewers, with no other rat around to boot? Hygiene she could understand, it was primordial to stay clean in an environment as infectious as the sewers could be. Even without taking into account her strange urge to be "pretty", she clearly wasn't training enough and never took anything seriously. David might have been childish too but at least he remembered to train and knew when he couldn't mess around. Sure, she knew how to fight, but if she never improved...
Lucille glanced at Goliath. The oldest and biggest sibling in their litter, yet he had shown a complete lack of fighting instinct on their first sortie. If his body had been any weaker and if he hadn't reacted in time...
There would be one more grave in the dusty alley.
She shook the thought out of her head. They were all alive and that was what mattered. He was getting stronger and constantly working on making them all better. She had yet to feel completely comfortable with any of the weapons they had improvised so far but she wouldn't deny their efficacity. Without them, they would have only been dead weight in the last fight. Not that they weren't dead weight now.
She didn't bother talking about it with their father. She might not have known him for all that long compared to the things he had experienced in his last life, but to her and her siblings, he was everything. Hence, she knew perfectly well he would have dismissed her opinion, reassuring her that he didn't need much. But she knew. She knew he could be more if given the chance. He could replace either of the two monsters he had struck down, considering how easily he had killed them both while in a three-way fight. Hell, as much as it pained her to say, David was probably right about him overestimating the threat the surface presented. But, unlike her older brother, she knew it wasn't cowardice but worry that fueled their father's doubts.
He wasn't worried about himself, but them. She knew it.
The worst part was, his worries were well-founded. They were only rats whereas he was so much more. Oh, she couldn't deny that obtaining sapience had made them more than mere rats, but how much farther could intelligence alone carry them? Goliath weaponized it with his, well, weapons, David combined it with his animalistic and rampaging fighting style to rip and tear his enemies in the best way possible, Foudre got better and better at countering attacks and Blanche...
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Blanche did nothing with it. Nothing that mattered. She just picked up a stick to stab things from further away just to make sure her fur wouldn't be dirtied! If at least she tried to do something with it as Foudre had done to her weird needle-pack, or how Goliath had chosen to wear armor... Even David's claws, which were only random junk strapped on his actual claws, were more effective! It improved his natural weapons and blended into his regular fighting style and didn't impact his mobility, whereas Blanche's spear forced her to stand on her hind legs which meant she couldn't run as easily, at least not without dropping it.
Lucille took in a deep breath and sighed. No, there was no need to be angry. She might have disliked how Blanche handled herself but right now just was projecting her frustrations on her sister. She shouldn't let her feelings get in the way.
They all needed to get stronger. Both for themselves, and for him.
Yes. They needed to be better.
To be more.
Unknown to her, a spherical object gleamed with potential within her chest.
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Foudre looked at David as he leaped on an unsuspecting toad and quickly scratched it with his claws, sending blood everywhere. She was annoyed, of course. They both knew he could have made deeper wounds and ended his prey's life in a blink of an eye, and yet here he was, drawing out the process to get as much sadistic fun as he could out of it.
"David, one of the first things a hunter has to learn is how to kill as quickly as possible. Your aim, past surviving and securing the kill, is to make the process as painless as possible."
Foudre saw how her brother rolled his eyes. Still, he listened to their dad and clawed the toad's throat out, putting an end to his little torture session. Foudre was pretty sure David would be the only one to eat from this one, considering its current state. Blanche for sure wouldn't touch it. And Goliath would probably be put off by all the blood and gnashes on the flesh. Lucille... Thinking about it, maybe she actually wouldn't mind eating an eviscerated toad. After vigorously cleaning it, of course. And maybe after a little cooking.
The concept of cooking had quickly made its way into their little furry heads. They had been horrified at first, burning food? It was an absolute waste of nutrition! Of course, after they saw how appetizing cooked food was in Captain Cyan's adventures, they had asked Goliath to do some internet searches and had been floored by the results. Of course they each had flashed on something different.
Blanche, unsurprisingly, was interested in luxurious stuff, like lobsters and caviar. She had even asked their dad to cook cockroaches like crabs. Goliath was more interested in sweet stuff, pastries, and candies filling his culinary dreams. Sadly for him, there was no such thing down in the sewers. Maybe they could ask those two humans that their dad had recruited to bring them some? Foudre herself had taken a liking to roasts, something she could thankfully improvise with a little discharge from her needle-pack as she had shown during their last big fight.
Lucille and David... Foudre wasn't sure. David still seemed to prefer raw meat at least, despite their dad's best efforts. Still, she couldn't help but think there was a weird glint in his eyes whenever there was cheese... As for Lucille, she seemed to favor light, quick, and "efficient" meals. Foudre was pretty sure her sister's obsession with being a perfect survival machine was unhealthy, especially in a situation like theirs where their dad could easily deal with most threats.
She wasn't wrong to say they needed to train and get stronger, but they needed to live too.
Not that she could complain, considering the fact she herself had some weird tendencies. Namely, her overreliance on other people's actions to decide her own. She knew it wasn't normal, but it was just so much easier and safer that way.
But, as different as they might have been, all five rat siblings could agree on one thing. Wait, no, two. Captain Cyan was awesome and their dad was incredible. They all wanted to be more like them, to help people, to beat up bad guys, to go on adventures, and be incredible too!
She spared a glance on David's kill.
Yeah, they still had to work some quirks out before they became Heroes.
Unbeknownst to her, a strange orb emitted a small spark in her chest.
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David looked at his most recent kill and his claws covered in blood.
It wasn't enough. He might have been strong enough to toy with the stupid batrachian but the toad could still move, could still have proven to be a threat. He had yet to fully understand which nerves did what in a body, how to most efficiently rip a living thing apart as painfully and safely as possible. No matter, he would get there one day.
He had to. For them. For him. For himself.
He would become the most feared predator in these tunnels. One you couldn't escape from, couldn't hide from, only run aimlessly as he enjoyed the thrill of the hunt before partaking in his favorite activity.
Bear maybe Captain Cyan. That show was good.
Yes, he would become the greatest monster the world had ever seen. One specialized in hunting other monsters.
His blood raged on in his veins.
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Goliath tinkered with odd scraps of metal, trying to figure what they had been and what they could become. This one, with its weird round shape, had it been a gear? Maybe it could become one, or a wheel, or- Oh! Maybe he could make a circular saw! Or a shield!
Yes, a shield! This one spoke the most to him. But which of his siblings would use a shield? It was already a miracle David used his artificial claws, Foudre preferred to evade and already had her electrified needle-pack... Lucille and Blanche? Lucille might find a use for a shield and she had yet to find the weapon that corresponded to her the most, but Goliath felt like a shield would be too bulky and unwieldy to bring out her full potential. No, the shield wouldn't do, not for her. But what about Blanche?
She might complain that it was too ugly, but some cleaning and redesigning... If he convinced her it would help protect her body... Yes, a shield for Blanche. Maybe he could even keep that circular sawblade idea! It would be messy, but as a last resort, it would be very effective. Plus, Blanche wouldn't be mad if she didn't know what would happen.
Now, how could he implement those ideas... Oh, was that another circular piece? Maybe with a third he could- Yes, here was one! Now to find something to turn into a handle, a way to fuel the spinning, and maybe a few more tricks he could implement...
As Goliath sorted through the scraps and began to imagine different designs for brand new weapons, energy began to gather in a specific spot near his brain.
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Blanche watched a series about fashion on the family's phone, her entire body bathed in the light produced by the screen.
Lucille could train all she wanted, Blanche knew she had no chance of becoming a better fighter than her. Her strong suit wasn't fighting, after all. But beauty? No one would defeat her in that field.
Somewhere within, something pulsed near her heart.