Note to guest: I don't plan to have Mavis show up till the later part of the story as this mainly focuses on Dennis, Winnie, and their friends.
Warning: This chapter contains blood, gore, and death.
Disclaimer: I don't own anyone here, Sony Pictures Animation does. My OCs are mine.
Chapter five
Transylvania Dungeon, five minutes earlier
Wally paced around on Cell Block B. His shift had begun nearly two hours ago and he was already sick of this place.
As he glanced around in the cells he thought back to the incident yesterday and the phone call with Wilbur. He knew the reject and the alpha were up to something though he knew it couldn't be good with the vibe he got from them. What put him on edge even more was his brother. "Okay… Just keep your guard up and I'll get ready," was all he said. Get ready for what? What the hell?
The werewolf guard put the troubling thoughts aside and continued his stroll. Perhaps they were on some secret mission that involved the safeguard of Transylvania, and needed to do some interrogation. Or maybe they were down there for some intelligence, intelligence for what? Either way Wally tried to put it, it just didn't feel right to him.
"Ay Wallo! I 'ave a present for ya, fur ball!" A prisoner called from one of the far cells.
Block B was full of not-so minor offenders including expert thieves, capital vandals, second degree murderers, and others who weren't violent enough to be thrown down in Block C. This one in particular inmate had it out for Wally, and was quite infamous throughout the upper blocks. He was a slime monster who simply referred to himself as Henry, and was one disgusting character.
Wally paced closer to the blob's cell, glancing in the other cells when he could. Just as he neared the bars a slime bomb detonated, flinging green mucus on the bars, floor, and railings. He just managed to avoid the main blow by jumping back, though some still splashed on the leg of his pants.
Henry snorted and gave an amused chortle at the sight of Wally's glare. "What's wrong mate, did I splash ye a little?" He was struggling to keep from all out hysterical laughter.
"That just got you another year in here, you know?" Wally returned to his nonchalant look, "and you're cleaning it up later."
"Eh, whatever. Say how's that sister of your's? I'd sure like to show her a thing or…"
Wally snatched out his Tac Light from the war and high beamed it directly into the blob's eyes. Dungeon guards weren't issued any flashlights but Wally kept his as he found it pretty entertaining to torture prisoners, especially Henry.
"Gah! Piss off!" Henry tried to cover his eyes but to no use. The LED rays reflected off the particles in his jello body and lit him like a lime Christmas tree. "So you pulling that one on me, eh?"
The wolf guard smirked at his handiwork. He was almost tempted to melt him into a puddle, but then he'd probably have to clean it up. Once he had his fun much to Henry's agony, Wally clicked off his light and placed it back in his pocket. He turned and started his stroll back down his side of Block B.
"Hey I'll tell the Warden mate!" Henry taunted after him.
"Good luck with that."
Flip
Wally froze, the entire dungeon went dark as in pitch black. He looked around confused and bewildered, this has to be the first outage the dungeon ever had. As soon as the lights came back on, he heard the sound a guard never wanted to hear.
Beeeeeep!
The loud buzzards echoed throughout the dungeon as the lights above the automated cells switched from red, to green. Block by block the cell doors opened, starting from Block C. Shouts and roars echoed from the lower levels and Wally ran over to the rail and looked down. He saw the guards get overtaken a few levels down and hordes of monsters making for the stairs. At the bottom he saw red eyes moving closer, and closer, then he jumped back as several bat cronies flew to the upper levels.
"FREEDOM… VENGEANCE!"
Ah shit! Bella!
Wally did the only thing he could at that point and ran, past the monsters, past his fellow guards.
He couldn't hear anything, just the sound of his own heartbeat. He could see other guards fall to the floor in his peripheral but kept his vision focused on the stairs.
Maybe his brother was right, maybe he was a coward. Maybe that's how he survived the war and how he'll survive this. Or maybe he knew he couldn't do anything to help, that's what he'd like to think at least. He cleared his head and got down on all fours to a sprint and made it up the stairs in no time.
He didn't stop there. Wally did the only thing he thought he could do to help and ran for the alarm, and pulled it down. With the alarm now blaring he hoped that would spare a few guards on break.
Wally burst through the door in the main lobby and shot his eyes to the front desk, it was empty. He thought the area must have been cleared out when the alarm went off and he thanked Odin for that.
Wally then made a break for the main entrance, hearing the roaring right behind him as he went through the double doors. Now in the streets, the werewolf guard took a moment To catch his breath and bent down on his knees panting. The smell of smoke brought his attention up and gasped. The LPN Embassy was up in flames.
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Dennis made it to his room and rushed inside. He flew to the center of the room and changed form. His eyes immediately darted to his coffin and found what they were looking for just above it, the Dracula family's sword.
He rushed over and took it off the hanger, then unsheathed the blade and inspected it. The edges were still beyond razor sharp just liked he left it a year ago. It was when he saw the runes carved in the lower end glow a deep violet, that he knew. He felt a jolt of energy move up his arm, leaving it temporarily numb. This blade was thirsty for blood.
The family sword or Lilith's Protector, was an old bronze blade smithed during the later years of the Babylonian Kingdom. It's design was created by Lilith, an old demon and considered to be the mother of all vampires who didn't stop until it was perfected. She later bequeathed it to the first Dracula before he led the other vampires up north throughout Europe. Sure, a bronze sword didn't seem like much to today's standard but it was light and extremely sharp which was perfect for a skilled user. Not to mention Lilith's runes made it unbreakable and gave it the ability to kill virtually anything.
Dennis studied it for any blemishes before sheathing it and moved over to his dresser. He rummaged around until he found all pieces of his Guardian Covert Uniform and his cloak. He then changed out of his dress black uniform, attaching his scabbard to his belt.
Clash!
The bedroom window shattered inward. Dennis ducked as glass shards flew all over the room before looking up to see the perpetrator.
"You're mine now you little shit!"
It was one of Bella's cronies, but he could tell it wasn't the bat creature himself. It's red eyes were burning with fury and it scraped it's claws against the floor. "You're friends are already dead… and you're joinin' them."
He knew it was just a play, it's what the Dark Brood were good at. Dennis had his sword ready and returned the hard stare into the red eyes. The beast charged.
Dennis waited and charged forward once the creature was in the center of his room. It glided towards the dhampir and slashed it's left wing in a way that certainly would've took the boy's head off, but Dennis dogged it right at the last second. These guys were so predictable.
The large bat grinned with sadistic admiration, "you're good, twirp." It charged forward again and kept low this time.
Time seemed to slow for the hybrid as he looked for a window to end this. He had to be fast and low, and flawless. He ducked as low as he could when it was a few feet away.
"YOUR LUCK'S DRY K–"
Sleek!
The creature was silenced.
Dennis looked over his shoulder to see the limped body cramped against the lower side of the window. Blood started to pool around on the carpet around it and a bloody stump sat where it's head used to be, he assumed it must have been launched out of the shattered window. He looked down at the sword to see streams of blood starting to drip, the runes flashed in an excited manor.
Dennis walked over to the dead monster and lifted it's wing. With two rubs on it's wing he managed to get the blood off, then sheathed his sword. One down, probably a thousand more to go.
Before leaving his room, Dennis retrieved one last thing from his nightstand. His tactical CDRU, Communication and Data Retrieval Unit. One of the earliest yet effective technologies developed by the UMA, it resembled a smart watch with an oversized screen that acted as a Communicator, GPS, and Data Scanner all in one. Not only was it resistant to water and EMPs, it's screen is capable of withstanding a shot from a high powered rifle at long range.
He strapped it on his lower arm and booted it up. A small load icon appeared before it quickly vanished. DEVICE FULLY CHARGED… NO ERROR DETECTED, the screen read before switching to the cyan and black home screen.
"Good." Dennis switched it into low power, now it was time to find the others. He headed out of the room before more unfriendly guests decided to show up and took the shortest route that would lead him to the courtyard.
As Dennis ran down the halls, he thought back to bat he'd just killed. He really didn't feel anything at the moment but now his heart had an aching pain to it, maybe that creature was a nice guy at some point in his life. He'd only killed five other monsters in his life and each one weighed on him. He couldn't imagine what his grandpa felt with all the monsters he killed in the past.
In Guardian training, the first thing they'll tell you was to not be afraid to take a life, even a monster's. Protecting the objective came before all else, Your life, and the lives of others or else there would be nothing left. This was hard for non–corrupted monsters to fathom since unlike most humans they heavily valued the lives of other immortal creatures. A monster comes into the world under the comfort of night and has the whole future to look forward to, that could all be taken away with one douse of holy flames or a stab of silver. Dennis thought that maybe that was why most of the later Guardian recruits didn't make it, they were unwilling to take a life of another monster.
Dennis shook his head of the thoughts but a part of them were still latched. Regardless, he pressed on down the main until he reached the entrance of a smaller service hall. As he looked around, he found it strange he hadn't ran into anyone else, no suits of armor, no Dark Brood, no nothing. He could now hear the echoes of gunshots and the distant explosions but most of them sounded like they came from outside, or towards the auditorium.
He darted down the service hall and looked straight ahead for the stairs that led him to the courtyard. As the stairs came into view, so did two armed figures.
Dennis slid to a stop just meters away, and tried to identify them. They were… Allegiance soldiers, he recognized their combat uniforms. One vampire and one werewolf, both armed with ARs and all decked out in Kevlar. Their rifles were drawn but they kept their muzzles lowered once the started to approach the lone guardian.
"Dennis, are you alone?" The vampire asked, his voice demanding and eyes like steel.
Dennis was confused. Why would Allegiance troops be looking for him? And where's the rest of them? "Hey, where's the rest of y–"
"I said are you alone?" The vampire snapped, cutting him off.
"What do you think!?" Dennis waved around behind himself.
"I guess so," the werewolf grunted. He then started to raise his rifle, pointing it right at his chest. The vampire copied his motion but before he could get his muzzle straight, Dennis flew up like a little black dot. His instincts kicked in at the last second and he switched form.
They started shooting.
Dennis flew up and around the ceiling as the bullets wizzed by him. Why the hell were they firing!? Could they not tell it was him!? That couldn't be it, one of them even knew his name. Maybe they were after him for some reason but why?
He turned and flew back to the stairs and shot a quick glance down. That was when he saw it, their eyes, corruption. They weren't trying to kill him because they were ordered to, they wanted to. These imposters were Dark Brood all right.
Their was an archway in the ceiling just above the hall before it fed out into the stairs. Dennis flew around the back side of it and got a good foothold in the corner before switching form. He unsheathed his sword and looked down to the stairs in anticipation. One of them was still firing as the rounds hit the incline in front of him, most likely trying to keep him suppressed in that position. However, he could hear footsteps from the other as they came to finish him.
He waited until the steps were just below him before he let go.
He felt his entire body weight lurch as he fell on top of them, sword pointed down. He jumped back up to see it was the vampire. His neck was gashed in half and blood was practically pouring out of the wound. Dennis could hear the pitiful coughs coming from him as he choked on his own blood. In a futile effort, he tried to claw up to the boy but fell weakly from blood loss.
His attention turned to the werewolf that was now charging full speed on all fours. He must've emptied his mag and decided to say 'fuck it, let's avenge my comrade with a good ole fashion Lycan attack'. The beast was enraged as it charged with it's muscles tensed. An easy target.
A sickly 'crunch' was heard as Lilith's blade cracked through the ribs and right into the heart. The beast tumbled right over Dennis with a 'swish' as the blade retracted, it's lifeless body landed next to the vampire.
Dennis took a few minutes to get his bearings. Thankfully, the choking sound had stopped and the vampire's immortal life was put to an end. He finally turned to see his handiwork. Even though he sensed that sickly residue of Dark Magic, their uniforms still gave him the chills. This would be very hard to explain to the Allegiance if they force him to disclose his events during this attack.
Figuring enough time has been wasted, he turned and made his way down the stairs. Maybe I'll leave that part out of my report.
Dennis came to the double doors at the bottom and pushed them open. He was met with cold rain, and a hail of gunfire. He ducked down beneath the door, just missing the shots that punctured above.
He flipped into his bat form and shot out into the raging storm. He was easily able to dodge the rounds as he noticed the majority of the fire wasn't focused on him, but a golem crouched behind a stone fence. There were about ten Brood all in all that were scattered behind pillars.
"Hey! Got something for you creeps right here!"
Dennis maneuvered around and glided to the golem, he knew that voice anywhere.
Jake dug his arms into the earth which cracked into a large chunk of soil. He then anchored up and hurled the boulder–sized chunk with all the strength he had. "Eat this!"
The chunk smacked into one of the pillars where a Brood was behind. A diagonal crack appeared on the base of the granite pillar, right beside the brood's head. It was too late when the vampire noticed and the whole top of the pillar collapsed, the bottom of it crushing the imposter.
Got one! Jake felt a sense of triumph. He peeked over the fence at the toppled pillar, yeah he's not getting up from that one. He felt a tap on his shoulder.
"Oh hiya' boss, kinda late to the party aren't ya?" Jake greeted when he saw Dennis. He looked over the bloodied sword, "or maybe the party found you."
"Seen any sign of Val or Winnie!?" Dennis yelled, trying to sound over the rain and gunfire.
"No! I just got here and all those fuckers over there ambushed me!" Jake pointed over the wall. Dennis looked over but ducked from the shots.
"Those guys are relentless aren't they!? I swear those aren't normal Dark Brood, did you see their uniforms?"
"Yeah, ran into two of them in the side hall I came out of." Dennis looked around at their surroundings. They had two escape routes, one from the service hall and one from the main hall entry just down the sidewalk. The stone fence wasn't very tall so both those options would likely get either of them killed. Dennis could pull it off in his bat form but Jake was an easy target, and as leader of the Guardian Squad like hell he was going to leave him behind. "Alright Jake, we need a game plan buddy."
Jake pulled up another chunk of the ground and hurled it over the fence. It missed it's mark, but managed to scare a brood out of cover and into a bush.
"Whoa, carful there man. Drac's gonna be pissed once he sees the courtyard."
"You see what I did there?"
Confused, Dennis took one peek over the cover. "Uh. . you scared one over to the others."
"Exactly, they're grouped up." Jake said with a devious grin. He rubbed his big hands together and energy in the form of white light began to radiate around them.
"Ohh, that new attack?"
"Yeah, the only thing I need now is a distraction."
"Got it, I'll go when they start firing again." Dennis caught on to the plan. The troops were reloading now but when they start shooting again Dennis would be able to fly out and draw their fire. Jake was actually surprised he volunteered so quickly.
Now!
Dennis shot up into the stormy sky and circled over the compacted imposters. They pointed their rifles up and opened fire on the flying dot of a target. No matter how hard they tried to group their shots, Dennis was just too fast as the rounds only zipped right by him. He felt the kinetic force behind the bullets skim his wing which only caused him to move faster.
Jake stood up and clinched his right fist, the energy was so built up it started to numb him. He focused on the cluster of troops still firing on Dennis and lined up his shot. He slammed his fist in the ground.
Wam!
It was almost as if thunder clapped right in the courtyard, Dennis honestly couldn't tell the difference. He looked down to see the ground in front of Jake shift up and watched as a my mini tremor made it's way just under the surface. The ground exploded just under the broods and sent them flying in multiple directions.
Stunned, Dennis hovered there for a second and looked over the bodies. They didn't appear to be moving.
He flew down and switched at the nearest group of downed soldiers. By the sense of their energy levels Dennis knew they weren't dead, but unconscious. He assumed they had a few hours or so until they were up.
Jake walked over to the hybrid. "Yeah, ya like that show huh?"
"What was that, the Earth Storm power?"
The golem flexed his muscles. "Sure is, took me the whole year after the war to master it." He looked at the crater he created. "With the enemies grouped up like that, and enough force and precision, wouldn't be surprised if they're out a day."
"Good." Dennis looked around at the other troops. "To be sure these guys aren't all from the Transylvania regiment?"
"If I had to guess, most of them are from North America or the werewolf packs. I know a lot more allegiance troops came than last year and their leaders seemed kinda off."
"Yeah." Dennis bit his lip, remembering the speech just an hour ago.
"Say, how are you holding up by the way? They sure hit you hard–"
Dennis put his hand up, stopping the golem mid sentence. "I don't want to talk about right now. Let's just wait for the ladies, then maybe."
"Oh." Jake kept a concerned eye on his friend. When he was in the auditorium, he almost felt the pure terror in Dennis. Though he knew he could never understand how that must've felt.
A vibration on Dennis' forearm brought his attention to the Tac Pad and saw there was a message on the RU's screen. In cyan letters it read, "Have orders, ANAC ready, meet in garage." The blue tab next to the message box confirmed it was a certain doppelgänger.
"Hey, you get that too boss?"
"Yeah," Dennis responded, wiping the droplets off the screen of CDRU before clicking it off. Who gave that order? And by ANAC she meant we're leaving the city?
"So what do we do now?"
"We go down to the garage, if she has orders from a castle brass then we have to follow them." Dennis turned and was about to lead the way but another question from Jake stopped him.
"What about Winnie?"
Dennis felt his heart drop. She wasn't at the address nor did she show up now, and he hasn't even got a message from her yet. He stopped himself from thinking right there that something happened to her earlier.
"We go anyway… I'm sure she's with Val, if not somewhere in the city." A part of him doubted it, but he held the belief she was strong enough to handle herself. "Alright, let's not waste time.
"Alright! Let's get to smashin' heads then!" Jake pounded his chest to the amusement of Dennis.
With that, the two left with Dennis leading the way to the Main Hall. From there they could navigate down to the garage.
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"Let me in there! now, you little bitch!"
Winnie pushed harder against her desk which was now pressed against her door, along with other items stacked in a makeshift barricade.
When Wasilei mentioned he was sending up someone to 'keep her company', she never once thought it'd be half his pack of violent brutes. Winnie stepped out one time to get some fresh air and clear her head, only to be… ambushed, by those thugs. She managed to escape back to her office but just barely.
Her dress was ripped up along the sides and lower skirt where the tried to claw and catch her. She was able to bite and slash her way out and could still taste the blood of her species. Even now they were clawing and pounding on the supposedly reinforced door, trying for some retribution. The look that was in their eyes told her they were going to do more than just rip her to shreds.
"C,mon! If you let us in, we'll give you a painless death before we tear you to pieces!"
That's what you want, isn't?
Winnie shook her head at their mindless howls. Her eyes started to tear up, from both the smoke and the fear. She had no clue where the fire was at but she never felt this kind of fear before. Just the thought of what they were going to do to her once they broke in sent shivers up and down her spine. With her training she could probably take out a few before they overwhelm her and–
No.
No they won't.
She shoved that aside and looked to the window. I'll run and jump before that happens.
Winnie lifted her sleeve and decided to try one last time to get a message out to her zing. On the screen showed her last message she tried to get out, "Need help at embassy now!" She resent the message.
…
Message failed to send
"Dammit!" She cursed herself. Something hit her head, and she looked in horror at what it was on the ground. One of the hinges popped off. A black furred paw started clawing out of the loose corner.
Winnie pulled herself up once she had the courage to ease off the desk, and moved over to the window. Her picture of Dennis and a bottle of brandy sat on the frame. She grabbed the French brewed alcohol and popped the cap. Handed down from her father, she figured she'd save it for a late night with Dennis but now she had a different plan.
She dug in her back pocket for a flip–lighter she kept just in case and snatched off a dangling clunk of her dress. She then clogged the opening of the bottle to the best of her ability, leaving a loose piece of cloth to dangle. Winnie watched as the flames consumed the cloth when she lit it, this precious drink was now a weapon.
The top of the door now hung low as the second hinge busted, a couple of the brutes were already trying to squeeze through. Without thinking, she threw it.
Flames instantly engulfed the barricade and moved it's way up the wall. The brutes yelped and fell back, the clawing on the door ceased.
"Yes!" Winnie immaturely jumped in victory. Her celebration was cut short when she noticed the flames have spread up to the walls and were creeping across the carpet. Knowing she probably just screwed herself, she backed up against the window. Looks like she would have to jump sooner than later.
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The guys ran into a few more Dark Brood on there way to the garage level. Thankfully, they weren't uniformed which made it easier for them to dispatch.
"Aw dude! She could be anywhere!"
Anti Nuclear Armored Carriers, the garage was still lined with them. Even the center parking lanes were still choked full of them. The massive, monster built 4x4s would be a tank without it's tracks and main gun. A remote controlled fifty cal turret sat on most of them and they were usually stocked full of weapons. Their insides were spacious and their armor was thick enough to shield against most explosives and like their name, blocks radiation.
"You go this way and I'll go there," Dennis pointed down the lane on his side.
They were about to go off until a set of headlights flashed on them. With the large shape and the sound of the engine, there was no mistake this was a carrier. But just who was in the driver's seat?
The two backed up as the vehicle creeped closer, shielding their eyes from the LED rays. They moved over to the passenger side once the carrier slowed to a stop. They figured whoever was behind the wheel was friendly since the turret was lowered.
Dennis was the first to look inside when the passenger door creeped open, and immediately drew his sword. "Who the hell are you!?"
The suited up vampire didn't respond. He just smiled and looked over at him, his face beginning to shimmer.
"Gotcha."
Dennis exhaled and mentally pained himself at the sound of feminine laughter. Should've seen that one coming.
"Ha! The look on your face!"
"Yeah yeah, laugh it up." Dennis had to smile, she got him good. He climbed into the passenger seat. Val opened the crew hold door so Jake could enter.
"Yo Val, you gonna tell us who gave you that order?" Jake called out from the crew area. He made his way up to the cab and grabbed the top handles.
"Someone with a top brass tab, by the call sign of Stone Cold."
Dennis gave an amused grunt, what a call sign. He couldn't wait to meet whomever this may be. He remembered something, "any sign of Winnie?"
"No, but I assume she's still in the embassy, if not that then the streets." Valerie pulled up her RU.
"Why so?"
Val moved the screen closer to reveal the GPS. She pointed to the LPN Embassy where a Waving bubble seem to hover around it. "What does that look like to you guys?"
"No way that's the storm doing that," Jake said while rubbing his chin, studying the screen hard. "I'd have to say that's some kind of scrambler."
"Exactly, a portable jammer." Val boot the device off and shifted the gear to drive. The vehicle started to move down the lane. "From the looks of the waves, it's a late model one which could block out any signal. We better go now or she's finished."
"Since when did the Brood have that tech?" Dennis asked.
"They don't." Val speed up. "There's something else going on here, and it's not great."
"We kinda got that," Dennis said as he thought back to the Allegiance uniforms.
The ANAC moved through the garage corridor at a brisk pace as Val kept the speed just under 60 KM/H. They moved around a corner and up a ramp to the last corridor that would take them to the bridge. It was only when she cleared the ramp did a sinking fear become true, a blockade of troops along the exit.
"Shit," Val muttered. About halfway down the they fired upon the carrier, once again proving they weren't official. Val swerved around as the bullets bounced off the glass. "Hang on!"
Dennis pushed back in his seat and clutched it's sides while Jake crouched down and tightened his grip on the handles. They knew Val met what she said.
Val hit the gas, and she trained the front of the vehicle right in the middle of the barricade. Some of the troopers managed to jump out of the carrier's way once it smashed the plastic barriers, one werewolf wasn't so fortunate.
Crunch!
The ANAC's left side bounced up. The guardians winced as the heard the sound of the bones, rib cage probably.
Jake looked over his shoulder out of the rear door window and could see the shape struggling on the ground. "Man, bet that'll take awhile to heal. What do you guys think?" There was no response.
"Hey guys?"
He turned to see what they were looking at, and froze. Out of the windshield and across the bridge, one would think that the gates of hell opened right in the city of New Transylvania. The embassy, the dungeon, and some apartment buildings were all ablaze with bright gold flames. There were explosions on the streets with shock waves that could be felt through the armor. They couldn't make out any of the Transylvania Regiment, only the bat cronies and the scattering of civilians below them.
Those weren't just any flames. No, that was Bliss Fire, a tab of holy water in a jug of napalm. Made by the humans at the end of the war, it was now used widely by the Dark Brood. It could kill any monster and not only were the burns painful, they can take decades to heal. The rain certainly wasn't going to put it out.
Dennis looked in horror at the embassy. His gaze moved up to the top floor which hasn't yet been consumed in the flames. It was there he could make out some movement in the window of Winnie's office.
"Val floor it!"
She didn't have to think twice. The carrier jerked forward and went full speed down the bridge. Another checkpoint was waiting for them and once again, the bullets started flying. "Can you get on that gun for me Jake?"
"Got it." Jake stepped back into a cubby between the hold and cab, and across from the weapon locker. He crammed himself in the best he could and interfaced with a small computer. "Gun's working and loaded, kind of a tight fit though."
"Just cover us!"
Jake did as he was told and aimed the gun at the incoming barrier. Soon the cute pops of rifle shots were drowned out by the drumming of the heavy MG. It had the troops scrambling for cover off to the sides and a few of them were chopped down. There was no resistance as the cruised through the checkpoint.
"Yeah! How's that for some suppressive fire!?"
Dennis kept his eye on the figure blocking the window as they moved closer to the burning building. C'mon please be Winnie please be Winnie.
Gripping the frame tightly, Winnie eased out onto the ledge of the window putting her left foot first.
"SSS. . AAGH!" Winnie yelped and jumped on one of the shudders. She made the mistake of looking down and saw the smoke coming from her right leg where the flames had licked her, but her eyes widened at the sight just below her. The almost blinding flames were climbing higher and blanketed the sidewalk and most of the street. The office was now in flames so there was no going back. Just one slip and that'd be the end of her.
Her attention was drawn to the heavy gunfire coming from an approaching armored vehicle, it's turret firing upward at some cronies. Hey, the regiment! She started waving her arms around, if they were vampires they could help her. That turned out to be a mistake since she lost her grip.
"Noo!" She regained her grip but her beloved picture frame slipped and fell. Teary eyes watched as it vanished into the fire.
The softwood shudder she was on began to crack under her weight and it would only be a matter of time now. There was no jumping like she thought earlier, just a painful death. She took one last look at the vehicle that had now stopped at the intersection across from the embassy.
"Winnie!"
Her ears perked up, she'd recognize that voice anywhere on the planet.
"DENNIS! HELP!" She screamed through the smoke and mucus in her throat.
"Hang on! Jake, cover me!" Dennis jumped out of the passenger seat onto the hot asphalt. He got up and took flight in a flash.
Winnie weakly smiled at the sight of her zing coming to the rescue. It was almost like in her dreams how Dennis came to save her. Her knight, armed to the teeth and fully suited in the world's strongest armor fighting off creatures and humans just to claim her. Despite her sharp hearing, she failed to hear the creak of weak wood.
"NOOO!" The shudder she was on splintered from the top and stuck her arm, knocking the poor wolf girl off. She closed her eyes. It already felt like forever since her stomach lurched up and she got that weightless feeling just before her fiery death. All she felt now was the scorching friction around her body, then it started to fade and was replaced by cold pattering against her fur.
She then had the courage to open her eyes. They were met with the black of night and the outcrop of the vehicle she saw earlier, coming closer. She noticed she was elevated and looked up to see her savior. Dennis.
Dennis toted her with all his might away from the deadly blaze. His bat form was stronger in his young adult age but Winnie's soaked and torn dress made it nearly impossible to keep a firm grip on her. He flew as close as he could to the carrier and dropped her at about six feet above the pavement. She fell to her knees coughing.
Dennis switched and immediately ran over to her, thinking he might've injured her. He placed a hand on her shoulder. "Winnie? You all good? Talk to m–"
The werewolf turned and pounced on him, pulling him into the tightest embrace they've ever had. She snuggled up to his chest and dug her claws in his back though not hard enough to puncture skin. Dennis returned the embrace, she looked like she certainly needed it.
"Dennis," Winnie choked out weakly.
He looked to his chest and saw she was eye level with him. She might've been crying by their redness and dread, the rainwater made it impossible to tell.
"Winnie," Dennis gentle rubbed her head and around her ear. "It's okay, we're all here now… it's okay."
"W–what's happening? What happened Dennis!?" Her voice was weak but the fire in it shone through. She wasn't blaming him for anything, she just wanted to know; what the hell is happening?
"Um guys, we have to go." Val's voice rang out over their RUs.
Dennis pulled himself up, helping Winnie up as well. He gave her a reassuring nudge. "I don't know who did this, but you can bet your soul I'm gonna find out."
"Yeah," was all she could say. Winnie let off of his shoulder and limped over to the ANAC. She smiled at Dennis he kept beside her. "I know you will."
Dennis decided to let Winnie have the passenger seat as he crawled into the back next to Jake, who sat cramped up in the turret control.
"Yo Dennis, you wanna take over man?"
The hybrid snickered it his awkward position, "sure thing Jake."
Jake let out a hefty sigh as he wedged himself out of the cubby, and retook his spot in the door way. Dennis sat himself comfortably and interfaced with the controls.
"Hey Winn, you ok?" Val asked.
"Yeah." She sat up straight, there was no use sulking down now. "I'm fine now."
"Looks like we're all here," Jake concluded with confidence.
"Alright." Val shifted the gear and they were off again.
They took a turn along the sign of the engulfed embassy with Main Street now leading them southwest, straight out of the city. Dennis panned the gun around as they cruised by abandoned buildings and burned out ones, he found it strange the streetlights weren't on or the fact they haven't encountered any other monsters since the embassy. Maybe they could make it out and figure out what the hell happened, that is if they didn't run into anymore resistance.
"Well, there goes my… everything." Winnie somberly noted as she saw the burning apartments coming up on the right.
"It's alright Winnie, all those are replaceable and we'll find you something else to wear."
Winnie didn't respond to Jake. She knew he was right but she'd already lost a lot, and now this. Her eyes widened, she hadn't even thought about her family. Were they even okay? Her two brothers, mom and dad, and Sunny. Oh Sunny. She shouldn't have to see any of this.
"I hope no one perished in there," Val commented on the apartments.
"There's still hope, I saw a line of monsters running west from my window in the embassy."
Val glanced down at the carrier's dashboard and saw there was an alert on the touchscreen. "It says here the attack started in the northeast district where the dungeon is."
"Eh, that shithole." Jake grimaced.
"Does it say anything about who's behind it? I doubt the Brood just broke out of there."
"No Dennis, it's just a local alert. But it did come from the west side of town."
"Good, maybe the regiment's entrenched there."
Val sped up and continued straight down Main Street. With any luck, they can find some of the local UMA fighters.
