"Dammit, Ethan, I can't talk right now. I've lost Adam. He's not answering. I can see where he's at. He's probably in trouble. One of those damned dogs is close to his position. He'll have to get out of this on his own, I'm getting complaints on the mobile lines about the situation."
The blonde haired man shook his head and left the office. "He's always busy. Asshole."
Adam couldn't take it anymore. He was ready to lurch, jump, anything! It was too damn quiet! He shook with a sigh, composing his adrenaline rush. It was near impossible, however.
"Be calm."
Adam shot a look at the woman. "What?"
"It's all right."
Glowing fingers worked their way into the illuminated lips and the woman whistled. Adam flew backward with a harsh grunt. The dust made it hard to tell what was going on. Rubble rolled and fell, once more, from what he could hear. Adam coughed and went to move, but a hand-sized, white paw placed itself on his elbows. Not even with his augmented arms could he resist. He saw his revolver. He glanced up, locking eyes with bright, feral blue one's encased in a massive, square head. It prodded the air with a convincing row of pearly whites. The curtains were pulled and wrinkled. The show was pretty clear.
"Baby! I can't believe it's you! Thank Goodness!"
The white beast sampled Adam's front side, huffing and snorting, before he was shoved off the man. The woman helped him to stand back up. She muttered some type of an apology. The man couldn't really tell. Adam regained his balance. The white beast came up to his middle. That was saying a lot, considering the man was 6 foot 3. The dog was definitely a "he", for various reasons. He was a very large dog in every meaning of the word. His build was muscular, stocky in the pelvis and front body, but long-bodied and streamline all the same. A deep chest cavity and shallow gut heaved now with excited panting.
"You know him?" Adam hesitated to move. He was without words. This-this…THING, was her…"Pet"?
The woman embraced the thick neck of the beast and cooed at him. The draping furred tail, completely curled at times, wagged in delight. A gruff yowl filled the storage room and the beast was silenced with a gentle smack to his head.
"Shut up, fool. Good boy, but you have to be quiet. It's good to see you too." The ebony-skinned woman stood on her two feet. She pulled at the fur on beast's neck. He turned his head, trying to catch her hand and lick it.
The shocking quadruped spread his stance. It was very courageous, actually. When he moved away to face the hole he had created, Adam made his move. He snatched his gun, dusting it off . His previous position resumed.
"We need to get out of here. There are more, as you said."
"That son of a bitch!"
"What?" Adam moved over to the woman.
"He's using his two guard dogs to keep us in. He knows I can see them. Can you?"
"Yes. Vaguely, through all of the walls. Is this one…yours?"
The mane of fur between the dog's shoulders bristled. He gracefully hopped over the rubble, onto the stairwell, where he sampled the air. He was quite atrocious, but in a good-looking way. At least, the dog was on his side, for the moment. There was no telling after they got out, if he could detain the woman and take her in for questioning.
"Yes, and only you and me know this. We've got him. We've got nothing to worry about."
Adam followed the woman out into the hall. He secured their six with sights on the dog before him as he followed them. He had to be a mutt. He had some familiar features about him. "What is he? St. Bernard?"
"Akita and St. Bernard mix. He's a machine beast. Like us."
Adam was silent after that. A grin peeled across his lips. "This will be easier than I thought."
"Adam?"
"Pritchard, I'm fine. I…lost contact. Made few friends for the moment."
"Well, regardless, you need to get out of there. More individuals are making their way to the factory."
Adam whistled at the mutt to keep following him. The animal seemed distracted.
"As in?"
The dog pricked his ears at the man. The tall man drew up in alarm when the dog skipped to him.
"FBI? If you want…whatever it is Sarif sent you in there for, get out, now! Hurry up. I don't want to be found jamming their signals. They've got their own specialists surveying the place."
"Right." Adam relaxed once the dog's gait slowed to a casual walk. "Does he have a name?"
"Kubwa."
"Sounds ethnic. What does it mean?"
"Big."
"You got that right."
"He's the biggest out of the three. Rayne doesn't know what he's created."
"Rayne?"
The woman was silent. She pulled her hood over her head. The trio neared two basement doors. They flew open with a squeal courtesy of glowing hands. The night sky was a comforting sign. Adam surveyed the property. This was the other side of the stock yard he had first come in through. Surrounded by barbed chain link fencing, it was a dead end. They were screwed, as far as he was concerned, unless they could get out with a vehicle or a blast. He wasn't rigged with the proper materials.
"Can monster-mutt here tear a hole in a fence?" Adam drew up his firearm at gunfire. It's origin came just beyond a semi they were approaching.
The woman merely chuckled. Adam didn't have time to play games.
"Do it."
"Shoot it! Now-now-now!"
Adam balked. The brown forefeet of the dog planted on the concrete from under the trailer. The hind feet followed and the officer was tackled and mauled. His uniform was torn, his arm broken, his bullet proof vest shredded, and his helmet enclosed by huge jaws. His head was crushed while a paw held his upper body down and his head was pulled from his shoulders. All the while, drool flew from the mouth of the dog. The man's scream wasn't comforting.
Kubwa threw himself at the fence to Adam's left. The fence jingled and rattled each jerk of his grand head. Immense paws braced against the ground with each jolt of his brawny body. He made progress by prying a few wires in two, but time was wasting. He placed his two forefeet on the fence now and clawed at it. All four feet of the beast on the other side of the semi planted themselves and froze. The dead man's body dropped to the asphalt. Four feet paced to the front of the truck.
"Is he done?" Adam drew up his revolver.
A dog, similar to Kubwa in profile, just brown and white, sailed over the hood of the semi at Adam. He felt the powerful breath of the beast, even from eight feet away. The snarl was ominous and lips were curled. The nose was a scary mess of wrinkles, accenting the bared fangs. Adam fired off three shots before he fell backward. He quickly righted himself to see the white dog land on top of the brown one in a tackle. Adam glanced at the fence after the two animals started wrestling. The hole was plenty big for them to get through. It was a good place to disappear; rife with vegetation and overgrown weeds.
"Call him back!" The black hands called on an EMP grenade and Adam pressed the detonation trigger.
"Kubwa!"
The white mutt reared in the air. His front paws, followed by body weight, pushed into the gut and groin of the other beast. The brown monster yelped. Kubwa dashed away, back to his master, leaving the wheezing dog to flail and flop as he tried to stand and breathe properly. Adam chucked the emp grenade at the mutt. He was not the least bit fond of the damn thing. He herded the woman through the fence once the vegetation was lit up by the electrical bubble from the emp. The wailing cry from the animal satisfied Adam as much as it did this mysterious woman he still knew nothing about.
Kubwa went ahead and scouted for a proper way out. Once Adam broke out of the vegetation, he saw the dog slide to a stop on loose soil. The dog glared up, over another fence. He paced and barked. It shook the man in his shoes.
"Get! Go over it! We don't have all day!" The woman cleared the dog in a leap. She caught herself on the chain link fence.
Adam did the same, beside her. He just had to be the faster. The fence lurched as the hulking beast shot up it. The fence whined when he balanced on its edge. With a grunt he landed on the street below, having left the fence warped. The sky growled with anger. Adam hit the ground first. The woman was cornered the moment her feet hit. She grunted at him before smirking.
"You really aren't going to let me go, handsome, are you?"
"I'm sure you already knew that, from what I've heard. It sounds like you're in trouble." The ex-swat folded his arms. He had all night even if it meant being seen by the FBI. She, most likely, did not. "It's your call. This IS my schedule. I have nothing else to do."
Kubwa paced about, claws clicking on the pavement. He studied Adam for a short bit before his growl drew the man's stance into a defensive one. A smile formed on the woman's lips.
"You're scared of him."
Adam shifted his weight. "No, I just like to be ready to defend myself."
"Whatevah. Where are you going to take me?"
"Have you heard of Sarif Industries?"
The ebony-skinned woman looked away. Adam noticed nothing about her was glowing now. Not her eyes, hair, lips, or hands. The deep huffing of the mutt drew his attention to his left. The dog was only being nosey about his whereabouts. He let the animal be. The last thing he wanted was to piss the dog off. His temperament was probably very short, at best. Maybe. He did seem awful playful. The man wondered about the beast's intelligence.
"Yes. I'll…be safer there. He's not expecting that."
"Who's "he"?"
"You'll find out, eventually."
Adam dropped his arms and turned away. He started walking to the two great towers in the distance. "Pritcahrd, tell Sarif I have her. Tell my guys to stay on high alert. When I get there…tell them to allow her dog inside. I don't know if he does well on his own."
"Dog…what dog?"
Reluctant, she followed him. He heard her low mutterings to the mutt. Only the clicking of the claws entered his mind now. A black shade glanced over his shoulder. Kubwa padded up beside him; tail wagging while the woman scratched behind his ears from his backside. Now, it made sense, how she was able to get away so fast, in addition to the damage she had caused on the way out the first time he had ran into her the night before.
"Where's Adam?" Megan leaned over Pritchard's desk.
"He's on his way back. He has the person we've been trying to catch for months now."
"All right." She flew down the stairs. The escalator was broke…again. The damn repair team was dumber than a box of rocks. She'd have to mention this to David. Now, was the time to get the hell out of Dodge. Her booted feet met the floor. She glanced over at the entry doors. They were still. Relief was brief, but it was there. She continued on her way to the cafeteria.
Adam and Canon Characters© Square Enix
Original Characters©FatWithFuzz
