The hunt was on. The partygoers scattered across the giant jungle of a villains' base. The young pair had left in their own separate direction, like most of the other hunter groups, to find the monster they had been assigned to defeat.
Along the way, K.O. had been explaining what oil lizards could do and how they behaved to Shannon to try and get her prepared. The orange robot was simply surprised at how knowledgeable her date was when it came to monsters.
"How do you know so much about monsters?" Shannon questioned as they walked, interrupting one of her date's warnings about what to look out for specifically.
"Oh, my mommy used to read me her bestiary before bed. When I got older, I started reading it a lot myself to learn so I could be more prepared as a hero," K.O. explained. The routine followed him for a long while out of that phase of his life to help him become more informed of how to deal with monsters, the info was stuck within his thick skull clearly.
"That sounds… pretty nice really," Shannon was still caught off guard by his surprising intelligence when it came to this.
"Don't worry. I'm sure we'll do great together on this hunt!" K.O. reached up and held his date's hand tight. The Boxmore bot felt warmed by his kindness like before, she was enjoying having this feeling constantly. She had not felt like this in a long time. He suddenly saw something that caught his attention. "Hey, look," he pointed over to it.
Shannon and K.O. approached one of the many bushes that this jungle held. There was a black tarry substance smeared on it. "Yep. That's definitely oil," Shannon looked it over, picking a little up on her finger to examine it. This oil was much thicker than it was in natural slicks.
"That's a lot for an oil lizard…" K.O. murmured. Usually that species of monster was barely big enough to surpass most people's knees. Soon he noticed a tree that had large claw marks on it with small traces of oil left as well. "Hey, Shannon…?" the Level 3 hero chirped.
"Yea?" she replied, only to see what he was referring to. She did not like the looks of these claw traces either.
"How big are the monsters your friend usually gets?" K.O. hesitated to ask. He should be scared, and he was partially, yet he was far more excited to see the giant beast they might be hunting after.
"Depends on how courageous they feel for the party… This is a first though," Shannon responded. Percer had certainly upped their game since they had last met, it made the young orange robot fear for her dates safety.
"This is going to be fun," K.O. grinned before rushing ahead. His date shook her head, not sure if she should appreciate his enthusiasm, or be concerned with the blind optimism. The Boxmore girl continued to follow, thinking they were close to finding the monster at this rate.
The two had been on the trail for a short while now. Even during their search they came across more signs of the oil lizards presence. They even spotted few other hunting parties' targets, which they simply avoided to not waste time with.
The two eventually found what they were looking for in a small valley of trees. There was a large reptile eating fruit bushes. It was devouring them whole like it had not eaten in years.
"That is… one giant oil lizard…" K.O. stared, his mouth agape. The oil lizard's skin was secreting the black substance every step it took. They tended to use it to their advantage to slow attackers down. But this one was nearly as large as a dragon, it made them think it was the predator instead of the prey now.
"My saws won't be useful here…" Shannon sighed, the feeling of worthlessness coming back slightly. She hated being unable to use her primary capabilities. It meant she would have to rely on her secondary power in its place.
"Yeah… everything will catch on fire if you use them," K.O. did not need that to be reminded to him, "But I think I have a plan," he smiled.
Shannon raised an eyebrow, wondering what he had in mind.
As the oil lizard stomped around, looking for more berry bushes to consume whole like rough salads, it began to hear a high-pitched whirring of a buzzsaw, the noise alone made it pause.
The giant reptile breathed out its nostrils, growling as it peered around, as if anticipating an attack. A pair of the taller nearby trees began to fall after the whirring came to an end. Both of them falling on top of the oily monster causing it to let out a loud echoing roar of pain, it was forced to the ground by the weight of the heavy trees.
"Hey, ugly!" Shannon called out, standing atop the stump of one of the two trees she had chopped down. Her presence got the giant oil lizard's attention. It growled beginning to stand back up its feet, the trees slipping off its slick body, it was stomping on the ground as it did so. She threw a rock, hitting its face with it. The oil secreting beast let out a loud roar as she ran off, with it now in hot pursuit. Each step it took shaking the area beneath them.
Shannon didn't think her date could be this crazy with plans. She kept running, really wishing she could use her buzzsaws right now, though she knew she couldn't judge her date for his plans, not when she had dragged him along to a hunting party without telling him.
She managed to get to a place fraught with trees and bushes. K.O. stood in wait, hiding from the lizard's sight above in one of the trees. He waited, until his cue came. It didn't take long for the monster to get right under him.
"Yaaaah!" K.O. jumped down with a battle cry, creating a pair of large aura fists around his arms, bringing them together before slamming down with full force onto the head of the overgrown monster.
"Talk about brave," Shannon thought while she tried to get her stamina back. The Level 3 hero held onto the oily monster, punching the sides of its head repeatedly. The oil lizard tried shaking him off, thrashing around and crashing into some of the many nearby trees.
"This isn't working…!" K.O. groaned. His mother's bestiary informed him that oil lizard's weakest point was their head. Yet this one's was thicker than the bodega cleaner's own skull. He ended up getting shaken off, as the oil made it impossible for him to keep a grip. He fell back first to the ground. He noticed the giant dinosaur turn to him snarling. That was when he noticed that its fangs looked metallic.
K.O. saw the oil lizard beginning to click its teeth together. It took in a deep breath, causing sparks to fly all over, before it spat out a large ball of oil. The sparks turned it into a giant ball of fire in an instance, that went charging for the young hero.
"Look out!" Shannon extended the sawblades from her feet and darted to quickly get her date out of the way just in time.
"Oh… Shannon, I don't think I like your friend anymore…" K.O. coughed from the jarring grab. They saw nothing but a wave of fiery destruction where the monster had attacked them.
"I'll break 'em the next time I see them," Shannon huffed. Normally she would be indifferent if she got destroyed herself. She could reload into another body. Her date on the other hand, had only one life to his name that she couldn't afford to have thrown away, and knowing it was at risk right now made her upset.
"Watch out!" K.O. called out as the two threw themselves aside to dodge another giant fireball. The forest around them was becoming a burning nightmare, with ash floating around in the air.
"Okay, can't use my saws, so…!" Shannon guessed she had no choice but to use her secondary ability. She transformed into a large hammer by shifting her body. K.O. quickly caught onto her plan, hoping she did not mind. He grabbed her by the handle.
"Take this!" K.O. grinned. As the oil lizard prepared its next flame ball, he hit the side of its jaw with a swing of the oversized mallet, forcing it to stop as well as cracking its metal teeth.
The Level 3 hero jumped up, raising the weapon overhead before swinging downward with full force onto its skull. That combo had done enough to make the oil lizard's teeth shatter. It fell over to its side with a large thud, kicking up more ash as its body hit the ground. It was down and out.
"Ohhhh… Is it over…?" Shannon asked dizzily as she turned back to normal. K.O. held her bridal style in his arms.
"Yep! We won! We actually make a good team," the young boy told his date with a proud smile. He could not wait to tell his mother that he beat a giant oil lizard. Though they could not relish in the victory for long, as a tree crashed beside them. The fire spread around them further.
"Let's get out of here," K.O. insisted before running off with Shannon in his arms. She wanted to say she could walk on her own, but something at the back of her mind told her to just relax and enjoy it.
The young pair arrived back at where the main party had been gathered originally. There were a few hunting groups back already, and clearly their injuries indicated they all had their respective wins and losses as well as tough monsters.
"Ah, you two're back already? Figured I sent you out on a hunt, not a make-out session," Percer welcomed them back with a joke. K.O. stood Shannon back up on her feet. She put her hands on her hips, looking angry.
"What were you thinking getting such big dangerous monsters like that?!" Shannon demanded an explanation, as she stomped up to Percer. Her date tonight could have been killed during that hunt because of this carelessness. K.O. just stood there quietly, having not expected her to get so worked up.
"Just wanted to make this hunting party better than the last few so I just asked for bigger ones… Why are you so angry? I figured you'd be excited for that," Percer was confused. But it seemed every word that passed their lips made Shannon angrier.
"That thing lit half the place on fire and nearly turned my date into crisp!" the Boxmore bot countered. K.O. hated to imagine how angry the drill bot's villain of a boss would be if he found out about the damage.
"So what? He can just reload into another body!" Percer at least assumed this, "You expect me to care that you had one bad run in with a monster, just because you still suck at fighting after all these years?"
Shannon was infuriated. She threw a hard punch to their face, knocking them down to their side. Everyone around them was stunned.
"You've really stopped caring about everyone but yourself, haven't you?" Shannon huffed. It upset her how much worse her old friend had become over the years. "Em, let's go. We'll pass on whatever stupid prize we earned," she ordered to K.O., it took him a moment to snap out of his shock
"Okay…" K.O. nodded, beginning to follow his date toward the elevator. Percer felt their own rage brewing. The driller bot retracted their left hand into their arm, and a sharp drill erected in place.
"No one starts a fight and walks away that easily!" Percer fired the drill. It rocketed towards Shannon while her back was turned.
Before it could collide with her, K.O. caught wind. He threw an aura fist that darted between the two, catching the drill and crushing it into pieces. Now it was his turn to be angry clearly.
"Hitting someone in the back is a dirty way to fight. If you want a real fight, I'll give you one fairly," K.O. declared bitterly as Shannon stood there in awe. Percer was gritting their teeth, but they did no more. K.O. turned around to leave, and Shannon followed, the couple leaving for the elevator. The young boy had one thought in his head left however.
"I wonder if this is normal for a first date...?"