As Erika slammed the door to the walk-in shut, Pinpoint moved in front of the butcher’s counter. “Dispatch, we’ve got survivors cornered and a pack incoming. Where’s our backup?”
“Heroes five out. PD’s established a containment perimeter and is still clearing outer buildings.”
The sound of claws scraping against concrete grew louder as the monsters approached. Glancing around the open area, Erika tried to predict where they were coming from, but the sounds echoed strangely. Gripping her tonfa tighter, she wished she had a gun. The shotgun or rifle she’d briefly gotten to use in the lair, or even just the pistol that Pinpoint had taken away before she ever got to learn how to use it. Her left arm started to ache again where the first monster had bitten her. She definitely didn’t feel like getting close to another of those things, let alone an entire pack. Glancing down at the floor, she eyed the cleavers the butchers used to kill the monsters. They looked sharp, but were way shorter than the weapons she already had.
“Keep a wall to your back, don’t let them surround you,” Pinpoint said firmly. “We just need to hold until the others get here.”
Ignoring the grim feeling in her stomach, Erika moved out to join Pinpoint, keeping the counter behind her as she waited for the monsters to come.
She didn’t have to wait long.
“Hrarr!” a massive raptor roared as it came into view, easily twice the size of the ones they’d fought outside. The smaller ones rushed in around it, hissing and snarling as they started to surround the two heroes.
“Yeah, no,” came Pinpoint’s voice in response. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Pinpoint blur for a moment before a staccato of quiet pops rang out.
Before Erika knew what was happening, the large monster let out a pained shriek as it crumpled to the ground. Turning her head, she saw Pinpoint holding one of her pistols in her right hand, her other tonfa clipped to her back.
With a roar, the scaly beasts surged forward and the time for thinking was done. The first few monsters to rush ahead fell to the ground dead as Pinpoint thinned them out, but it only took seconds for them to close in. The monsters came at them in a flood, engulfing Pinpoint, but Erika didn’t have time to worry about the other woman as a trio of the monsters moved around to swarm her.
The first raptor to close lunged at her with a hiss, its jaws opened wide to snap at her. Swinging down with her uninjured arm, she smashed the long end of the tonfa down between its eyes. The monster stumbled and fell face into the concrete floor with a pained snarl, sliding past her in a daze, but she didn’t have time to finish it off as the next one attacked from the side.
The second raptor leapt at her with its hind claws extended, looking to disembowel her, but she managed to step out of the way just in time and retaliate with a hard swing to its hip that knocked it stumbling to the side with a snarl.
The third didn’t let her follow up her attack and hissed, baring its fangs as it started to circle to her side away from the first two. Erika knew as soon as she took her eyes off it, it would attack, but if she focused on it, the other two would recover and hit her from behind. Instead of letting it distract her, Erika flung the weapon in her injured left arm at the third, causing it to skip back with a roar as she darted back around the counter and put her back against the wall as the uninjured monster chased her. Gripping the tonfa like a bat, Erika swung with all of her might as it came in range, catching the creature in the neck with a loud crack. The raptor let out a pained shriek as it went tumbling.
As the raptor fell, the monster she caught in the hip limped at her and tried to bite her weapon, only for it to trip over its kin and stumble. Erika didn’t let the opening go to waste and threw her whole body into an underhand strike that crushed the wounded creature’s throat, and a follow up caved in its skull.
But Erika didn’t have time to celebrate as the third monster drunkenly leapt on top of the counter and lunged at her, its jaws open wide to rip out her throat!
With her weapon out of position, Erika did the first thing that came to mind and ducked out of the way. As the raptor flew above her, she felt its claws tear gouges in her back and she screamed out in pain. Rolling forward, she ignored the pain as she came back up and spun around, only to see the concussed monster draped awkwardly against the wall, its neck snapped.
Jumping head first into a concrete wall, bad idea, she noted to herself. Looking at the other two monsters that’d attacked, only one still seemed to be moving, its limbs twitching weakly as it tried to get up but failed.
More snarls and hisses pulled her attention from the three monsters dealt with and she ducked down behind the counter, wincing as the movement pulled at her shredded back. Peeking up to look towards where she’d last seen Pinpoint. What she saw was blood and violence. Pinpoint moved through the swarm like a whirlwind, lashing out with her weapons. The raptors hissed and shrieked in pain as every blow cracked and shattered bone, but it was far from a one sided affair.
As Erika watched, she saw Pinpoint take a bite to the arm even as she brained one monster and shot another as it coiled up to leap. Dead monsters dotted the open area of the market, but it was just a drop in the bucket compared to the number of living monsters. Even as Pinpoint put more down, yet more flooded into the area, replenishing their numbers.
Fuck, she thought to herself, feeling the pain of her wounds. An image of the bullet riddled bodies she’d left behind in Professor whatever’s lair came to mind. The holes torn through body armor and even the steel tables. “I need a gun,” she muttered, glancing at the battered tonfa in her hands as she felt the blood leaking down her back. If she’d had one, her back wouldn’t feel like she’d just got jumped by an angry blender. Moving her arms hurt, even through her Pain Resistance power. There was no way she could fight without dealing with that first, even if she wanted to.
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Wincing, Erika reached into the kit Pinpoint handed her and fished out one of the fancy injectors before stabbing it into her shoulder. Like with her broken nose, she felt the wounds on her back and arm start to itch and burn. Unlike her broken nose, the pain was far worse.
“Fuck!” Erika cursed, the pain of her flesh being forcibly stitched back together overpowering her lame power.
A raptor whirled around as she cursed, its eyes zeroing in on her hiding place. Cautiously, it took a couple steps towards her before its eyes narrowed and it fluffed up its mane. “Hssssss!” At its cry, five more of the swarming monsters broke off into a half circle facing her hiding place.
Her back spasmed as something important got fixed, sending a mixture of pain and relief shooting down her arm that had her fingers twitching. Unfortunately, gravity seized its chance to rip her weapon out of her hand to clatter noisily onto the blood-stained concrete. “Shit!”
With a snarl, the hissing monster leapt up into the air towards her, its talons flashing as it headed for her position.
Snatching up her dropped weapon, Erika sprung up in a batter’s stance and swung with all of her might. The battered tonfa slammed into the monster’s leg hard enough to redirect the leaping creature to the side in a shower of splinters as the weapon snapped under the strain, leaving her with the handles and a few inches of sharp wood.
The five encircling monsters closed in like a tightening noose, their manes fluffed and teeth bared.
Acting on instinct, Erika flung the shattered remains of her weapon at one of them and dove across the floor towards the walk-in and the corpses of the monsters killed by the dead butcher. A shriek of pain came out from one of the closing monsters as her hand wrapped around the handle of the heavy cleaver still sticking out of the skull of the dead monster, and with a bit of effort it came loose in her hands. Grabbing the second cleaver next to the dead butcher, she sprung back up and spun around just in time to see an angry raptor charging at her with a snarl. With an angry shout, Erika swung out at the creature and chopped deep into its wrist with the heavy metal blade. As the monster recoiled from the unexpected attack, Erika chopped at it with the second cleaver, cleaving deep into its chest before it could get away.
With a pained yelp, the monster dropped back as another took its place. This one was already wounded, blood dripping from a puncture wound in its chest as it attacked in a furious series of swipes. Using the wide and heavy blade of one of the cleavers, Erika batted a claw to the side as she stepped in and slammed the other blade down between the monster’s eyes, the sharp metal chopping through flesh and bone with a satisfying thunk as the creature started to fall. Tightening her grip, Erika ripped the weapon out of its skull in a spray of blood and brain matter as more of the monsters rushed around the counter at her. Backing up towards the walk-in, Erika fought like a demon possessed, hacking and chopping with the scavenged cleavers at any bit of the monsters that came within reach. New wounds appeared in her arms and legs as she fought, claws and teeth doing their worst, but the wounds began to burn and heal as whatever was in that injector continued to heal her, though it did nothing to replenish her stamina.
Chest heaving and muscles burning, Erika ripped a cleaver from her latest victim’s neck as more monsters rallied against her and she backed up again, only to be stopped by the door to the walk-in. Cornered, Erika glanced at the handle for the heavy metal door and wondered if she could slip inside before the monsters could get her. She never had a chance to find out. As she prepared to throw one of the cleavers at the closest monster, a searing blue light cut across her vision and slammed into the monster before leaping out to connect to the rest. The smell of ozone, burnt blood, and cooked meat filled the air as the creatures spasmed and fell.
*Ding!* Your party members have defeated Maned Raptor (Class E) x36! You have gained 1,800 EXP! Congratulations!
*Ding!* Your party members have defeated Maned Raptor Alpha (Class D)! You have gained 250 EXP! Congratulations!
*Ding!* You have defeated a Maned Raptor (Class E) x8! You have gained 4,000 EXP! Congratulations!
Dismissing the notifications, Erika’s eyes flickered from corpse to corpse, making sure none of the monsters near her were still alive.
“Shocking!” a familiar voice screamed. Before Erika could figure out what was going on, she saw a person wearing what she could only describe as questionable rave wear leap over the counter. The stick-thin man did an actual somersault as he did, only to slip as he landed on a monster’s corpse and fell into the lap of the dead butcher.
Blinking, Erika stared at the wiry boy wearing black spandex covered in neon green and purple lightning bolts and what looked like a pair of VR googles. Like a figure skater got high on bad decisions and couldn’t decide between gaming or going to a rave.
“What the—what am I on? Aaaaaaaaaaahhh!” the fashion challenged figure skater wannabe screamed as he realized he was giving a dead man a lapdance no one wanted.
Ignoring the weirdo’s struggling for a moment, Erika looked out at where the main swarm had been to see Pinpoint sitting atop a large monster’s corpse while a woman dressed in what looked like a mash up of sexy nurse and space marine looked her over. The woman’s form-fitting armor looked to be some kind of black suit covered in white plates with a large red cross on chest and another smaller one visible on her shoulder. Why does her armor have boobs? Erika thought to herself sarcastically.
“Firefly I presume?” a man’s voice said with a hint of amusement, pulling Erika’s attention away from the two women to a man leaning on the butcher’s counter.
Erika narrowed her eyes at his question. The man was wearing a black trench coat and dark sunglasses, like he was some sort of edgy cosplaying priest, complete with oversized silver crucifix and spiked black hair. What looked like a wholly impractical silver scythe leaned against the counter next to him.
“Silent type huh? Well I’m Sanctum, and that guy over there is my latest sidekick Game Phreak,” he said with a smile as he jerked his tongue at the spandex-coated assault on good taste.
“Game Phreak?” she asked, glancing at the man as he finally managed to get back up. A mental image of a greasy boy in a hoodie that kept talking about video games to her in the portal came to mind. She’d forgotten about him.
“That’s me! Game Phreak, the electrifying new hero!” Game Phreak puffed his chest out as he struck a pose to flex nonexistent muscles.
In less than two weeks, Erika was attacked by zombies, blown up by a torch, manhandled by a robot-wannabe, beaten up by cops, tossed around by Pinpoint, and shredded by packs of living fossils. None of those experiences were as painful as Game Phreak introducing himself to her.
“Yeah, I’m Firefly.”
