[[This work of Champions Online fan fiction includes appearances by characters played by people other than myself. I would like to personally thank doctordarkspawn, BombermanGOLD, narissis, and nulion5545 for their permission and endorsement of this body of work.
Again, this is purely a work of fan fiction, I do not own any rights to the Champions Online universe or any of the organizations, characters, or locations portrayed within. Please don't sue me. I'm broke anyway.]]
The sharp, staccato bark of Pack Rat's assault rifle ended as the last round of his magazine ejected, the chime of the brass clattering to the concrete floor echoing in the eerie silence of the warehouse. The brown-furred man-rat hybrid ducked down behind the crate which was providing him cover, slamming his back against it. His over-sized leather combat backpack strained in protest. He released and tossed aside the spent magazine, and withdrew a fresh one from the webbing at his thigh, slapping it into place.
"It's the rat! Blast 'em!" a voice commanded from across the room.
Pack rolled his eyes. Quite the grasp of the obvious on this bunch. His head, basically that of a common rat perched atop a humanoid torso, and his faintly glowing green eyes, lacking any pupils or irises, made it impossible to mistake the hybrid for anything resembling human.
"So much for the subtle approach," a deep voice growled nearby.
Sajit's muzzle curled into a cartoon-like canine grin. Only the werewolf's striking white teeth were clearly visible in the dim late afternoon light filtering in through the warehouse's dirty, discolored skylights. His midnight black fur otherwise obscured the rest of his form.
"It made them think twice about charging didn't it," Pack Rat retorted, punctuating the sentence by jerking the slide on his rifle, chambering the first round of the new magazine.
Across the large cluttered room several heavily armored soldiers shuffled positions, trying to flank the two animalistic heroes without further exposing themselves. Their gear was colored shades of yellow and green, the hallmarks of V.I.P.E.R (or the Venomous Imperial Party of the Eternal Reptile), a terrorist organization bent on global domination. The groans of the wounded solder lying nearby seemed the cause of their caution. His leg had been perforated by one of Pack Rat's rounds.
"Any suggestions," Pack Rat grumbled a query to his dark-furred companion as a stray energy bolt from one of the VIPER troops weapons skipped across the top of the crate he huddled behind. The electric-blue plasma sprayed splinters across the top of the rat's head.
"Now we do it my way," Sajit huffed as he hurdled over the crate, his canine legs launching the werewolf through the air.
"Crap…" Pack Rat said as he shouldered his rifle and spun, bracing it across the top of the crate.
The skulls strapped to Sajit's belt clattered creepily as he bounded across the warehouse. Each one was a repository for the werewolf's shamanic magic. They seemed to glow with a dim blue radiance in the darkened room. Every leap Sajit made easily cleared two or three of the tall shelves which separated the warehouse into loose rows, quickly closing the distance between him and the VIPER troops. The enemy soldiers quickly noted Sajit's approach and moved to level their energy rifles at him.
"Nuh-uh," Pack Rat snickered as he spotted the barrels of the VIPER troop's rifles sticking up from behind their cover. He pulled the trigger on his own weapon in a slow, deliberate rhythm, sending several projectiles down range with practiced accuracy. Several of the slugs struck their targets, sending the enemy weapons flying far off target if not completely out of hand. The others struck near enough to the VIPER troops to force them to flinch, accomplishing the desired effect regardless.
Sajit plowed into the VIPER troops as their shots flew wide. His leap added momentum to the wolf's already formidable strength as blue plasma sizzled across the ceiling. The nearest soldier grunted in pain, falling limply to the side as Sajit's claws sliced four parallel gouges through his armor, tearing the flesh beneath. The wolf's claws came back red and tiny droplets of castoff spattered the nearby soldiers. The four troopers behind scrambled away in a panic, trying to bring their weapons to bear as Sajit moved past their wounded companion without slowing. His claws flashed again in the dim light, spraying sparks as they scraped the more heavily armored bits of the next soldier. This caused them to break cover as they back pedaled.
"Gotcha," Pack Rat chuckled as he squeezed the trigger. His rifle flashed four times in quick succession. The weak, unarmored shoulder joints of the VIPER troop's protective wear erupted in red blossoms. Brief howls of pain followed, followed by feeble groans as the soldiers collapsed, clutching their wounds. Pack Rat lowered his rifle, checking the magazine as he stood and approached his wounded opponents. The rat-man frowned when he heard Sajit emit a low, throaty growl.
"They're down man. That's enough," Pack Rat said calmly.
Sajit was looming over the nearest soldier, eyeing his bleeding wounds hungrily.
"Saj." Long Pause, "SAJIT!"
The werewolf's growl increased in intensity. His eyes were locked on the wounded prey before him. His eyes glowed red in the muted light. His muscles tensed to pounce. The click-clack sound of Pack Rat's massive revolver interrupted Sajit, and he found the barrel pressed to his temple.
"I'm not packing silver today, Sajit, so I know this won't kill you, but you'll wake up with one hell of a headache."
Sajit paused and rolled his eyes over to Pack Rat. The wounded VIPER soldiers held their breath, despite their pain, hoping silence alone might save them. Sajit began to growl at Pack but just as quickly shook his head, clearing his mind.
"Grrr... fine... take them in if you must," Sajit chuffed as he stalked away.
Pack Rat holstered his pistol and kicked away the trooper's energy rifles before they got any clever ideas.
"You're lucky the moon isn't more full or we might all be in a world of hurt," the hybrid rat chided as he zip-tied the VIPER soldiers hands.
A short van-ride later, they had arrived at Millennium City's ninth precinct, the closest police station. Millennium City was built over what some called the ruins of old Detroit. Detroit had been nearly decimated when a super villain mastermind named Doctor Destroyer had launched a brutal assault on the city many years ago. His army of robots and super weapons wreaked terrible havoc on the town before an army of heroes rose up and eventually drove him back.
Captain Jenkins shook his head as Pack Rat & Sajit dragged the trussed up VIPER mercenaries into the police station. His bushy, wild mustache waggled agitatedly in contrast to the short, concrete-like buzz cut his graying head was sporting.
"What the hell is this?" he barked, gesturing dramatically at the wounded captives decorating the precinct's floor, "They're bleeding all over the goddamn place!"
The other officers in the station shrank away from the two feral looking heroes as they tossed the last of their prizes on the precinct floor, but Jenkins stalked forward, undeterred, and thrust a finger into the chest of Pack Rat's green Kevlar vest. Despite being a licensed hero, and officially working for UNTIL (The United Nations Tribunal on International Law), the relationship between the police and what they considered just another mutant vigilante was strained at times.
"You can't just go shooting people up and then drag them in here like this, you ugly freak!"
A quiet collective gasp came from the other policemen and women in the station. It was common knowledge among those familiar with the hero scene that Pack Rat had some image issues and could sometimes be provoked by commenting on his appearance. Pack's eyes narrowed but he only slapped Jenkins' hand away in response.
"I didn't shoot people. I shot terrorists. And they'll live. If you care so much about what happens to 'em, then you call the damn ambulance. My report's in here. Take it up with UNTIL if you got a problem."
With that the rat commando slapped a folder on the nearby counter, then spun on his heel and stomped out of the station and onto the streets of Millennium City. Sajit gave the the captain a cheeky smile, letting his tongue dangle from his mouth mockingly as he turned to follow Pack Rat. Several pedestrians stumbled at the sudden appearance of a black werewolf sporting a string of human skulls as a belt, and a bipedal rat wearing body armor and loaded for bear. They definitely didn't fit the typical mold for most of the so-called super heroes that were known to work in Millennium City. Neither Pack rat nor Sajit paid any mind to the stares as they walked away from Precinct 9 towards Pack Rat's van.
After a few moments, Sajit spoke up, "Woulda been easier to just kill 'em. As registered heroes we do have license to kill in self-defense you know?"
"Seen enough of that," Pack Rat replied flatly, "Besides, they were just goons. No need for fatalities in this case," Pack rat fished a piece of paper from his pocket, unfolding and scanning it.
"Besides," Pack began again as he read, "my real target is almost within range now," his voice was uncharacteristically cold.
"Medford..." Pack sneered as he said the name.
Sajit shook his head as he spoke, "Your obsession with that guy will be the end of you Pack. You've already almost gotten yourself killed more than once chasing that bastard around. I swear I am not hauling your clawed up, shot up, bleeding body out of another snake den in the middle of fucking nowhere again."
Pack Rat rolled his eyes as Sajit continued to berate him about his mistakes. It all faded into the background as Pack concentrated on walking and studying the paper that he had lifted from one of the VIPER troops he and Sajit had cornered in the warehouse earlier. The print was partly faded from a combination of being crumpled and from sweat, having been hastily tucked into a rather unsavory location when the mercenary in question found himself without means of escape. The map was of the topographical variety, loaded with VIPER codes and jargon that the average person could never decipher, but that Pack Rat, having been trained by VIPER from the time he was pulled from the cloning vat, could effortlessly read. The map revealed the location of a facility tucked away in the Canadian wilderness. Only one keyword otherwise set the location apart from any other bunker VIPER may have set up in the area. "Huntress."
Pack knew what that meant. He had met what must have been the first of these "huntresses" several weeks ago. The encounter had left Pack Rat bloodied and limping. The human-cat hybrid displayed a speed and ferocity that Pack Rat could scarcely keep up with. The skirmish had ended in a draw with both rat and cat fleeing with terrible wounds. Director Medford, the geneticist responsible for the genesis of the project formerly known as "Dubielle," created experiment number 609 from a primordial mix of human, rat, and other rodent genetic material. Now known as Pack Rat number 609 vowed that he would have vengeance for the six hundred and eight "failures" that VIPER had euthanized before him. This map told him that this lab was where Medford was producing the next wave of brainwashed cat-like super soldiers.
"...Pack? PACK!" Sajit was already shouting, "Are you even listening?"
"Of course I am," he wasn't.
"So what are you going to do now," Sajit's ears rolled forward inquisitively.
"I'm going to find my father," a vengeful smile crept across the ratling's features, "And kill him."