The weird shadow my ROB had given off was, well, something that I was definitely surprised by. Additionally, I was also unsure what, exactly, said shadow was - I hadn't seen any creature/being that her shadow could represent, and since I had spent most of my teenage years playing video games and obsessively examining the internet, that was saying something. My current bets were on her for being some sort of eldritch entity, but beyond that, I had nothing.

Whelp, I guess I'll just have to check out my video archive and see if I can find a clear image of her in there.

I quickly pulled up the archive, popped some popcorn, and started up from where I had left off.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

The first thing that came into view was a huge jungle. Birds flew around, what appeared to be okapi grazed, and all was calm.

Then Melissa darted into view, looking haggard and covered in plant-life. Birds took flight as she dashed past them, while the okapi quickly headed for cover.

Idly, I wondered Melissa was running, only to almost choke on my popcorn as a huge black something suddenly emerged from the underbrush. A moment later, the video went to static, before a different scene took its place.

The new surroundings consisted of an open clearing, with a strange, hi tech wall on one side, and a forest on the other.

After a moment of calm, Melissa darted out of the forest, followed by her pursuer who, rather humorously, slipped on a log and tumbled into the wall, with Melissa barely managing to avoid being squished by diving onto the ground, then quickly retreating into the jungle. A moment later, the creature managed to right itself and began searching for her.

The change in scenery gave me an opportunity to finally see this creature in its entirety, and that allowed me to figure out what it was.

Black body? Check.

White, bony head? Check.

Only two limbs? Check.

Reptilian appearance? Check.

Clearly, this beastie was a skull crawler.

And it was on the war path.

With its quarry currently hidden, though, the beast had calmed slightly, having gone from aggressive predator to inquisitive one. Slowly, it circled around the clearing, trying to find out where, exactly, my ROB had gone. It slowly flipped over every stone it could find, looked at every nook and cranny in the wall, and even sniffed around the tree, trying to find its prey

Rather humorously, though, it didn't seem to notice that Melissa was on top of one of the trees, slowly climbing toward it. Now that she wasn't running, I noticed she was wielding some kind of staff.

Then, just as the skull crawler started to sniff the air, she struck.

Melissa leapt at the lizard and slammed her staff on its head, dazing the mighty beast. With grace that seemed (and potentially could have been) inhuman, she swiftly grabbed ahold of the beast, took out a knife, and started whaling on the giant beast, which tried, desperately, to shake her off. In obvious pain, it thrashed an howled, occasionally ramming itself into trees and the wall, attempting to crush her or, at the very least, dislodge her from its back. Each attempt was met with profound failure, as my ROB deftly maneuvered herself out of each and every attack's line of fire. Eventually, after she'd inflicted quite a few wounds on the beast, she jumped off of it, brandished her staff once more, and slammed it down on the skull crawler's head, causing the beast to collapse. With her foe now dazed and helpless, she took the opportunity to strike it again and again, ravaging its unarmored underbelly, before finally breaking off.

Not a moment too soon, as the skull crawler soon recovered and attempted to return the favor with a flurry of bites, all of which Melissa dodged with ease.

Then the lizard swung at her with its tail, and my ROB went flying.

She hit the ground hard and started to roll, but managed to right herself before she hit anything else. She took a moment to spit something out of her mouth, apparently just saliva, before taking somethijg from her side - a flare gun - and shooting it into the air. The skull crawled backed up in surprise at the sight, before trying to whale on her again...

Only to be blasted by both fire and lightning from above.

As the creature struggled to recover, my view shifted upwards, reaching...Operatives Tau and Zeta?!

And they were smiling?!

As they glided to the ground, Zeta shot a fireball from her hand toward the skull crawler, severely singing it, while throwing something that exploded at Melissa's feet. Whatever it was seemed to revitalize her, as my ROB quickly returned to the fray by shooting a giant icicle at the crawler, goring it in the stomach.

Tau followed that up by slamming into the beast's side with an axe while Zeta pulled out a hammer from somewhere ( hammer space, I guess, haha) and swiftly slammed it into the beast's right arm, shattering it.

Desperate, the skull crawler charged at Melissa, grabbed her staff and hoisted it into the air, sending Melissa upward with it. As she fell, though, she managed to angle herself so that, instead of falling into the creature's gullet, she slammed down into the base of its skull with her staff. A loud crunch filled the air, and the beast went still.

"...show off."

That was Tau.

"Guilty as charged," responded Melissa. "...Thanks for the help."

"No problem. So, what next?"

"Now we clean it. I'll get the intestines...and the crap in them."

"You sure?" Asked Zeta.

"I am, but thanks for the consideration."

"You're welcome...You okay if I make a cloak out of its skin?"

"Sure. Couldn't have slain it without your help...well, at least not without taking a lot more injuries."

"Well, thanks then. So, what does the boss want us to do next?"

"Not sure yet."

"Well," remarked Tau, "let's focus on cleaning this first before we think about what to do next."

"Fine with me," responded my ROB.

XXXXXXX

...well, that was unexpected.

Also, why, exactly, were those two so friendly with Melissa?

AN: Read and Review! This is Flameal15k, signing off!