"The earthquakes are a new addition..." Said Sue aloud.
"Hmmm?" Queried Cassie.
"Never mind."
They entered the room slowly, they had been caught out by far too many traps already to want to rush headlong into another. The VR Temple field was undoubtedly beautiful but that did not make it any less dangerous. In fact for them, the VR sun setting low over the horizon was directly in their eyes, a very real hindrance in the event of an ambush.
Sue did a quick reconnaissance before calling Cassie out from the doorway. This room was covered in various patches of brightly coloured blood indicating that others had passed this way already. A possibility not lost on Cassie.
"Will we really have to fight other hunters?"
"If it comes to that, then yeah." Sue glanced down at the tracking device now affixed to her right wrist.
She could quite clearly see the relative location of pair that they were following, but there was no indication of geography. This meant lots blundering into dead ends and wrong turns. It would have probably been faster to locate the exit first and let them come to her she reckoned. Lost in thought she almost missed the 'electronic power-up' sound made by a Dark Belra as it materialised behind them. The doors sealed locking them in.
Cassie stood there, seemingly mesmerised by the strips of coloured lights that adorned its dark beige body. It lumbered slowly towards them on its stumpy legs, claws dragging on the ground, each step felt as a thump through the soles of their feet.
Cassie stood her ground, brought her Hold Lockgun up and began to fire round after round at the behemoth's head. The shots were quite accurate but the majority seemed to ricochet off. Unperturbed by the attack, the Belra leaned back, raising one of its huge arms to point at the pair. Sue could hear the whine of the Belra's ion counter-thrusters igniting even over the sound of escaping gas as hydraulic pressure built up in its elbow joint.
With a jolt Sue ran and tackled her partner to the floor. Both of them felt the incredible rush of wind as the Belra's claw flew overhead and impacted with awesome force into the wall at the far end of the room. Within milliBeats it began to dissolve into a sickly green liquid.
Sue recovered quickly and yanked Cassie up to her feet.
"Don't stop moving for too long!" She shouted running around to flank the giant.
Cassie nodded and started to move in the opposite direction. The Belra hesitated briefly, unsure of which one to follow, before finally tracking Cassie. From the stump of its right arm slowly flowed out a viscous green fluid which began to darken and take on the shape of the missing limb.
With its back exposed to Sue she darted in and slashed it repeatedly with her Nei's Claw. The neon pink blades scraping across its surface, doing little more than cosmetic damage.
"Sue? Do something!" Cassie shouted out.
The Belra was advancing upon the hapless RAnewearl who was now being backed into a corner. Sue had seen first-hand what kind of damage could result with a swipe from one of this beast's arms and she became desperate. Pulling her arm back, she gave a loud yell and punched the claw as hard as she could into the Belra's back.
The blow must have struck something as the Belra threw up its arms to the sky, arching its back in silent agony. Cassie took the opportunity to run out of its path. The Belra lowered its arms and once more plodded relentlessly after its intended target as if nothing had happened. Sue, with the Claw sunk into the monster as far as it would go was unable to extricate the weapon and so was dragged along with it.
"A little help here please!"
"I'm a... Little busy at the moment!" Sue protested.
Even with placing both feet against the Belra's backside and pushing against it Sue could not remove her Claw, it was if it was bonded at the photon level...
Of course!
Sue deactivated the Nei's Claw and was rewarded with a fall to the hard floor. The giant stomped onwards oblivious to Sue's attack or subsequent troubles, once more trapping Cassie in a corner.
What's it going to take to stop this thing? Wondered Sue desperately. The first time she had taken the Lab's exam she successfully avoided combat with a Belra and prior to that she had only ever encountered one in the Ruins while accompanying a team of Hunters. The six of them combined was enough to fell the monster but it did not go down easily.
A moment of inspiration at last! Sue sprang to her feet and ran at the Belra, Claw reactivated and punched into it once more.
"YEEEEEEAAAARRRRRRHHHHHHHH!"
Again the claw sank deep into the stone-like flesh. This time was different. She had targeted the vulnerable knee joint and as it walked the movement chewed it up. The green liquid that passed for its blood poured out over Sue's hand, it was sticky and unpleasantly warm. With a quiet groan, the leg buckled and unbalanced by its heavy arms the Belra toppled to one side before rolling onto its face.
Even as it struggled to right itself, Sue clambered onto its back and attacked its exposed neck joint. Mere centiBeats later it slumped back to the ground and became still. Sue leapt off before it began to dissolve and trap her in its 'rotting' body.
The doors all clanked and re-opened automatically. Sue breathed a sigh of relief as Cassie hugged her a little too enthusiastically.
"I was scared that you wouldn't be able to stop it!" Cassie whimpered and squeezed her tighter.
"Ooof! Relax!" Sue laughed as she prised Cassie's arms from around her chest. "I was a little scared myself there for a moment. But don't worry... You can't die in the VR field.
The ground shook violently once more.
"I think that means that we'd better hurry!" Said Sue running through the nearest doorway.
She heard a scream and screeched to a halt. She turned just in time to see fire raining from the sky.