Revised
Chapter 10: Hidden Hunters
Paula would not be deterred from getting back at that asshole. She will make sure of that. After a night in the hospital, a lot of things happened. One of the things that happened was the island shaking again with a weak continuous tremor which worried all of Stilwater, making them believe that a volcano might tear the town apart. The tremor lasted 50 minutes, but it didn't put everyone to ease when it ended. The most worrying thing was that all of Northern Stilwater was overrun with The Overlord's minions. And there was still people stuck up there, trying to survive from the large-scale raiding.
Paula had left the hospital a while ago, and through reckless abandon, decided to cause some damage to The Overlord's plans as best as she can, in the only way she can. She brought out her cellphone, hooking up her aviation headset to it, and called Pierce.
Paula: Find out anything about the quarantine?
Pierce: It's the strangest thing, boss. People keep coming over the bridges one by one, but the blockades SWAT had set up is not permitting anyone across. Minion or human, if you so much as get close, you get shot down. Everyone is running scared in Northern Stilwater because they are trapped with all the minions causing panic, and a bunch of our boys are stuck over there too.
Paula: Can't they just rent a boat and use it to get over here? Heck, I can swim there and back if I wanted.
Pierce: That's just it though. From what the boys are telling me from the inside, the minions are patrolling the shoreline and anywhere that connects to the river. Anyone who got too close to the water or to a minion... well... you can imagine what happened next.
Paula: Then we alert The Saints that if they want their asses picked up from the quarantine, tell them to meet at Centennial Beach. Bring some boats for them to climb into. Tell them that you'll be there within 2 hours.
Pierce: Are we picking up any civilians too?
Paula: If they can pull their weight, yeah.
Pierce: Then I better tell Gat and Shaundi to get all the boats they can rent then. Boss?
Paula: What?
Pierce: You said 'you'll'. Like you won't be there with us.
Paula: Don't worry, I will.
Pierce: Okay, so you're riding with us to Centennial Beach. Good to know.
Paula: Actually, I'm gonna fly over the city and parachute my way in there.
Pierce: Fucking shit, man, why you wanna do that?
Paula: So I can get as much people with us to storm the beach. I figure that the more there are of us, the harder it's gonna be stopping everyone. Like I said, bring lots of boats.
Pierce: Got it. One rescue mission, coming up.
Paula was flying in the air, piloting a Wolverine high into the sky. She tilted her plane 90° and looked down at Northern Stilwater. Many buildings were smoking, most ostensibly from fires mostly. She opened the plane's pilot door and leaps out from her plane, going into free fall. She did this multiple times, so she was used to the rush of air that rushed past her body. Good thing she always kept a parachute with her in cases like these. In fact, she could survive any fall since she had base-jumped so many times. People were in awe of her ability to survive a landing, no matter how high. But it'd hurt like hell. After a hard tug, her chute jettisoned out of her backpack and forced her from descending in a lethal falling speed, into a gentle glide that would only injure her ankles if she landed wrong. She landed in the Downtown district where many of the stores were looted and minions patrolled in groups. Luckily, she used a building as cover, and landed between it and an overpass on a small, yet concealed platform. Judging from how tough these little guys are, a bullet to the head would be useless when they just swarm their enemies. Paula would have to avoid the patrols, keeping off the streets as much as possible. She called into her phone and contacted Pierce again.
Paula: Know where our guys are holed up in? I think I'm in Adept Way in Downtown district.
Pierce: There's a group that are hiding in Huntersfield. There is another group in the store 'Impressions' in Nob Hill. And I think there is one more group in Filmore, inside 'Brass Knuckles'.
Paula: Got it. Meet you later in Centennial Beach.
Paula hanged up with Pierce and decided to go to Huntersfield. That way she'll work her way towards the Marina district. It was not only a few steps toward her goal that she started holding her nose and almost gagged and threw up at the same time. It was a stench she was not familiar with. Like rotting fish meat mixed with warm shit and skunk spray. She shook her head and soldiered on. But at that moment, she was unaware that some minions already started following her.
When she arrived at Huntersfield, many of the private homes were raided into. She checked one house after another, ready to use dual GDHC .50's when she was caught. Even though she preferred her Kobra's, she needed something extra for a head-kill to these little monsters. Plus, she brought a little extra something just for The Overlord. Finally, she found a house that some Saints were staying in. One of them came out and looked around before speaking to his leader. He wore The Saints colors, but his shirt was tattered. "What are you doing here?" He whispered.
"I came to tell you that you should go to Centennial beach and wait for some rescue boats. Don't go without me." Paula said, deciding that moving in groups might not be a good idea.
"You're leaving us?" A Saint asked.
"No, I'm meeting you back at Centennial Beach. Try and also get anyone else to come with along the way if possible. Don't attract any attention to yourself." Paula said, leaving for Nob Hill and Filmore.
Or she would have if not for the minion that had jumped onto the Saint's back and stabbed him multiple times. Paula swung around, stunned for a brief moment, but then carefully aimed her machete, catching the minion in the face and giving him a deep, face cleaving gash. Once the commotion started, more Saints came out of the house to investigate the tussle. Paula and a collection of Saints started beating the minion senselessly till he was broken and dead. After the scuffle, Paula noticed that this minion wasn't similar in nature to the red skinned and brown skinned minions. Plus, the one they just pummeled with her gang smelled even worse up close. Were these things adapting? It was definitely a new type of minion. "We need to get out of here. When there's one, there's more." A Saint said, 7 of them silently running away, leaving a dead Saint with their leader.
Paula was unsure how that green skinned minion got past her awareness and sliced up one of her crew. She was subtly reminded of the ninja she fought during that one day at the Stilwater Boardwalk. The smell was getting less bad than before. It was probably because she was getting used to the smell. Paula felt like getting a bath after she was done here.
A stealthy trek later, and Paula went to Knob Hill in the HighEnd district to free another group. She wasn't able to get into the store because she saw a bunch of minions that were perusing the merchandise, while a couple were trying to break open a safe and cash register. Paula thought to herself for a moment. 'If I were a Saint, where would I hide in a clothing store?' She thought for a bit before thinking that it could have been the back door. She decided to throw a live grenade a distance away, aiming it an a car for the intent and purpose to make it explode. It instantly attracted the minions inside the store, and any minion in hearing range, which then began to flock to inspect the noise. She peered in and found a minionless store once her distraction was implemented. Perfect. Not a minion in sight in here. she thought. She sneaked her way inside and found the back area, after carefully stepping over some debris and broken things on the ground. She noticed that the door's knob was stuck. She silently knocked on the door. "Hey?" Paula silently said. "Anyone in there? Any Saints?"
"Boss? Oh boss, oh cheese and crackers, thank God you're here." a voice said.
"Listen. Gather everyone you can and quickly go to Centennial Beach. A rescue party is coming. Don't worry about bringing any beer."
"Thanks boss, I'll get there soon. Huh, I think I deserve a beer after today though."
She heard some objects being scuffled, perhaps being moved out of the way as she heard footsteps leaving the room she listened in on. She sighed in relief and went on to her next stop, carefully ducking away from the eyes of the large crowd of minions surrounding an exploded car. They looked at each other dumbly, as though trying to find out who among them was awesome enough to blow up a car. Too bad they won't realize that it had been Paula who did it.
Filmore. The 'Brass Knuckles' shop that Pierce told her where a group of Saints is holding themselves in, looked ransacked. The windows and door was boarded up, but the door was blocked partway. She cautiously approached the door and spoke first, before popping her head in. "Hey! Any Saints?"
"Don't move." Said a voice from the inside. "We have guns aimed at the door. One move, and you're bloody Swiss cheese. Slowly stick your forearms through the door."
"Excuse me?" Paula asked.
"Stick your forearms through the door or we open fire now. You have five seconds."
"Okay, I get it." Paula said. She slowly stuck her hands into the doorway.
"All the way."
She stick her arms in all the way, and sighed. Do they need to see her biceps too?
"Now wiggle your fingers." She flipped them off. "Cute. You and you, unblock the door."
Two officers unblocked the door and allowed her in, but she was accosted by an armed escort of the two police officers. 9 other police officers was there, making a total of 11. The one that barked his orders spoke first. He had deep, fresh scars all over his face, with an eye that was bloody and bandaged up. He looked upon Paula with scrutiny. "Hahaha, if it ain't the leader of The Saints, trapped in this hellhole just like the rest of us!"
"I like how you're laughing just so you can feel better about yourself." Paula said.
"Oh spare us your rhetoric. You're lucky that we didn't shoot you, or we would get gremlins from the whole neighborhood pouring into here."
"Why did you needed to see my arms?" Paula asked.
"We needed to make sure you were human. Even though these gremlins might act stupid, they're a lot smarter than they look. Last time they tried to fool us, they used severed human arms to try and get in in another building."
"Were there any Saints held up here?"
"There were. They got word that there's a rescue going on for them up north. But then they kinda got ambushed by green little fuckers."
"Green little fuckers?" Paula asked.
"Yeah, green. Like the color of cannabis, except they smell worse than those other gremlins."
"Aren't they just called 'minions', sir?" Asked a different police officer.
"Shut up before I throw you out." His superior said. He turned back to Paula. "Will you promise that those Saints of yours won't shoot us when we come to the rescue party?"
"I'll give you a good word. Just pull your weight and you'll be okay." Paula said, reaching for the door she entered. But suddenly, she stopped when she heard maniacal voices from the outside.
"This way! This way! Lady in here!" a demented voice yelled out, followed by the riled growls and laughs of minions.
Paula looked around for something that would be good for a temporary barricade. She found a display case nearby, pushing it over and blocked the door with it as banging was heard from the other side. Paula went to who she assumed was the leader. "Feel free to go to Centennial Beach if you value your life." She then left through the back door, unbarring it first before leaving. The police officers were in silent agreement and left, following behind her. An explosion was heard later as the Brass Knuckles store exploded. Paula looked back at the officers, most of which were smiling. "What are you smiling about?"
"The improvised explosive we made worked. We turned the stove on before we left."
Paula had to hand it to them. Despite being the law enforcement, they can handle themselves pretty well.
XXX
Carlon felt very good after his night. Jane enjoyed herself too it seemed as she was over his bed, satisfied and aching. Carlon strode out of his chambers with his head held up high. He walked to his armor and chuckled, remembering the details. Some details were sloppy, but Jane couldn't keep up with him. That, and her sexual moaning turned him off when the quaking started. Gnarl finally came up to see Carlon. "Good news sire, phase 2 is in effect. Everyone in northern Stilwater is being hunted as we speak."
"Good. That will teach these people to shoot me in the face again." Carlon said, ordering his minions with a gesture to equip his armor to his person once more.
A green minion came up to Gnarl and whispered into his ear. "... Huh? Well then!" Gnarl turned to Carlon after receiving the green's information. "Sire, it seems as though there is someone in Stilwater who is trying to rescue the remaining people in the northern part of the city."
"Really? Sigh... these people just can't learn." Carlon said, as he was given back his axe.
"But that's not it, sire. I believe that this human is the leader of The Saints! A green minion overheard a conversation of hers, detailing that she will be leading a rescue party to a sandy shoreline called 'Centennial Beach'. Shall we await for The Saints' leader's arrival?"
Carlon picked up his axe and gave it a few swings. "It's about time to find out who he is. Let's go there now."
Carlon walked to the netherworld gateway and used his will to interact with it. The claw-like chandelier opened up and picked The Overlord off the ground, using its magical capabilities. The gate took him to the ruined amphitheater, which still had some burnt bodies still here. "15 browns and greens, and 10 reds." he commanded. They all popped to the surface, eagerly flocked behind him, and readied themselves to loot and pillage on his command. Carlon was especially proud to have the greens by him again. He walked to Centennial Beach, feeling a incremental amount of excitement. Even though some of the sand were stained with blood, it'd make a great spot for relaxing. Or fighting. Or finding out who this Third Street Saint leader is.
"Okay greens. Spread out and guard the beach near the shoreline." The greens hissed with glee and went around the beach, then turned invisible as they guarded the sands. A very powerful weapon for the greens was their ambush power used in conjunction with their invisibility. Not many lived through their stabs. Carlon gave a look-around and found a lifeguard tower in the middle of the beach. It seemed to be the perfect place to hide. He went into the tower, followed by his reds and browns, ducked low and waited patiently. He started to hear the boats that was supposed to be the rescue approaching. And all they needed was the party to come to them. But Carlon and his 'surprise' would intercept them first. He peered above the low open window, careful to reveal his presence to the incoming boats, and saw above the stairs that descended into the beach that there were men in purple, police uniforms, and various civilians. They were weary, but also suffered unrest.
The Overlord waited, waited, and waited till they were so close to the shore and so close to his green minions. Many people at once screamed when something jumped out and started stabbing them. It was Carlon's cue to start his ambush. "Charge!" His browns and reds went and did their carnage on his behalf. Many people were overwhelmed, either becoming wounded or dying altogether.
Paula was prepared this time, careful to aim her pistols at each of the minions heads to take them down. Sadly, they had tiny heads, so it was harder to hit them compared to hitting the head of a human. Carlon noticed this behavior however. And it was then that he recognized her.
"You." He said menacingly to Paula, jumping off the lifeguard tower and walking towards her.
Paula looked back at The Overlord. "Well if it ain't fucking Mr. Mind-games."
"You're the one that shot me in the face, yesterday."
"Duh, dumbass. Should I remind you how that started?" she said, pulling out her BFHCs.
"So who are you supposed to be?"
"You must have lived in a cave your whole life. I'm the leader of The Saints, and no one disrespects me without getting a bullet lodged somewhere." She said, taking aim.
Carlon swung his axe and knocked her pistols out of her hands. She took out her machete and stood in a defensive stance. "And no one rebels against me without dying by my permission." Carlon said in retaliation.
Paula attacked, clanging into his armor and hitting him as hard as she could. But Carlon's might was stronger, as his axe strikes were enough to burn and deal much more pain. She had to break away from him and retrieve her weapons, realizing now that her advantage was her firearms. After performing a tactical roll, she reacquired her BFHC .50s and started shooting at him. Carlon was slow in his armor, but he slowly caught up to Paula as she walked backwards and fired her weapons. Carlon summoned a green from the fight and pointed at Paula, outstretched finger guiding the minion to his target. Paula, hearing a small pitter-patter of an approaching green that broke away from a corpse, switched back to her machete again and struck twice. Once to sever an arm from the elbow, and the other to cut the minion in half. Even though these green minions are dangerous when behind someone, they are actually weaker than the browns. But she wasn't paying attention to Carlon, who now readied a hard blow with a downward strike. Even though she tried to dodge the attack and block at the same time, her machete was broken in half from the blow.
"Oh, fuck this!" She pulled out an XS-2 Ultimax shotgun and started unloading 12 rounds in quick succession. Each blow pushed back Carlon till he fell over. She looked down at the fallen overlord. Did she slay him?
He sluggishly got back up, shaking his head and breathing heavily. "That... hurt." He said through clenched teeth, his eyes slowly becoming a glowing lemon color as his anger festered.
Paula started reloading her weapon and looked behind herself. Despite there being death amongst the minions and the citizens of Stilwater, there were a few refugees that made it past the beach and started swimming towards the boats. When she was done reloading her shotgun, she turned back on the overlord to start firing at him again. This time however, the gunshots didn't faze him as much, looking as though an aura surrounded him while she unloaded on him. Carlon still approached and growled at Paula. "Magic beats blunderbuss." After his remark on the futility of a technological weapon being used on defensive magic, he casted a fireball at Paula. Her abdomen felt like it was hit with a sun. She instinctively went onto her stomach on the cool sand and rolled.
"Hey boss!" Paula looked to the water after hearing a familiar voice. She found Gat piloting a speedboat, getting out a sniper rifle and shooting a few rounds at Carlon.
Carlon's axe was shot out of his hand, while the next two shots made his head jerk back violently. Even though he has his shield spell active, those sniper bullets still hurt. Before Carlon was able to shake free from his small concussion, Paula, the apparent leader of The Saints, was swimming towards her allies. He glared at Paula and shouted at her. "YOU CAN'T WIN ANY FIGHTS BY RUNNING AWAY!"
Paula got herself onto the speedboat. She founded something there that brought a smile to her face. She looked back at Gat and he just nodded, giving her a silent answer, as though he soundlessly said 'Yeah, I know. Ain't I thoughtful?' Paula picked up the present Gat brought and pointed it at The Overlord. It was an RPG launcher. "WELL YOU CAN'T WIN ANY FIGHTS BY DYING NEITHER!" She sent a rocket, aimed at Carlon, The Overlord.
Carlon decided to use his best defensive spell in the shear split second he had. The rocket struck and exploded on its mark, creating a small cloud of smoke from the explosion. When the smoke cleared however, Carlon was still standing. He seemed to be surrounded by a golden light before it faded away.
"... Okay, rockets have no effect on this guy. I'm willing to say he's supernatural." Gat said, shifting gears and preparing to run away.
Carlon was feeling quite irked, and used his confusion spell on one target. Gat convulsed all of a sudden, and then started attacking Paula. She looked at Gat once and knew that something was up when he started aiming his sniper rifle at her. She sprinted forward and knocked away his aim on her, then pulled away his sniper rifle when he tried to aim it at her again. With a hit from the butt of her broken machete, she decided to commandeer the speedboat before The Overlord decided to control her mind next. Counting the people she rescued, she figured that she must have saved about one fifth of the people she found and brought to the beach. Sadly, the sand only became redder due to her actions. She wasn't really sad by it though. But she now realizes the kind of power that The Overlord has.
Carlon huffed and kicked sand in frustration. "Sire." Gnarl said. "You need to be more careful next time. Your mana was almost completely used up!"
"It will restore itself. Gnarl, I think it's time to find out more about the leader of The Saints."
"Well, all we know about the bitch is that she is responsible for millions of dollars of damage and so much wholesale carnage and death to Stilwater! Being the leader of a well known criminal gang, she bought many stores and created a fearsome name for herself."
"You clearly don't know the half of it." Jane said, now coming into the conversation.
"Oh, Mistress Jane! How pleasant to have you here! You just missed an impressive battle between the master and The Saints' leader." Gnarl said.
"Since my darling is alive, I'm assuming his victory is achieved?"
"Well... not quite. The Saints have made a tactical retreat."
"Typical." Jane sighed. "If you really wanted to destroy Paula, I would suggest going for her assets."
"Oooooh, sounds very appealing~!" Gnarl said perversely.
"Her financial businesses, Gnarl. Try not to drool everywhere."
"Oh. Right." A dejected Gnarl said.
"Carlon, my lord, I believe that you may have to find certain individuals in this town. In order to get all the funding you will ever want, defeating these people will be key."
"How so?" Carlon asked.
"Simple. There are three people that need to be found and dealt with. The first one that will be a problem for us is this city's chief of police, Troy Bradshaw. With him either captured or out of the picture, law enforcement would suffer a heavy blow, enabling us to do whatever we want and however we like it. The second person we need is Monica Hughes. We will need her if all of the city is to belong to us. Plus, as a municipal government official, she will be able to grant us special resources and additional funding. Lastly, the third person is the one we most definitely have to take care of. Johnny Gat. He's an insatiable fighter, even though he is only the right-hand-man in The Saints. Taking him down will be difficult, so I suggest taking down The Saints lieutenants as a side objective. Once all three of them have been dealt with, all that stands in our way is Paula."
"Paula is her name? How do you know her?" Carlon asked, turning to leave the beach and ready to head back to the netherworld.
"She sometimes calls me when she needed some backup. She refers to people that she can rely on in a fight and are somewhat close to The Saints as 'homies'."
"'Homies'? Hmm... not to sound like a person that is not technology savvy, but does that mean you have her number on this 'cell phone' device?" Carlon asked, calling his remaining minions to himself.
"Yes, I believe we can use that!" Gnarl said aloud. "Sire, using this 'cell phone' thingy, we can orchestrate the demise of our enemies and help us to our rise in power. I'll see what I can do here and make a plan with Mistress Jane. In the meantime, I do believe it is an opportunity to tell everyone in Stilwater that you can't contain raw and pure evil! Let us make another broadcast, shall we?"
Carlon smiled.
A/N: Took me a culmination of 2 days to make this story. Yup. I'm a fast typer.