"So who was your friend?" Carmen's tone was cool and even, despite the faint shake buried beneath, which Swiftshadow found understandable. She had also been a tad shocked when she started town this rabbit hole.
Swiftshadow licked a drop of blood from her foreleg. The sweet energon mixed bloods metallic tang. She looked around for Wilson's nephew. Her spirit vision revealed nothing and the shadow clad building masked any of his gems energies.
"He's my nephew," Wilson answered. His head and tail drooped as he admitted it.
"Wait? How can a robot have a nephew?" Commented Zack.
"Can we please not get into that right now." said Wilson.
"How much of a problem can we expect from him?" Said Carmen tucking a few stay hair strands behind her ear.
"I'm not sure exactly. He's definitely going after the gem, so we have to get it before he does." Said Swiftshadow.
"However," Continued Wilson, "He doesn't like getting his hands dirty. So he'll likely hang in the shadows until the gem is easy pickings,"
"So it's best if still keep an eye out for him," Finished Swiftshadow.
"Who is he trying to save?" Julia adjusted her glasses. Despite everything she still managed to keep her calm inquisitive demeanour.
"His mother," Answered Wilson, "She was diagnosed with terminal cancer sometime in the last year,"
"Awww, that's so sad," Said Ivy.
"As much as I would like here and discuss Wilsons tumultuous family tree, We've got a job to do," Said Chase.
Swiftshadow turned her attention to the shadow clad building. "Welp, It's not getting any less cursed,"
She approached the door with the two waiting goat guards. Their eyes immediately locked onto hers. Their heads dropped into a butting stance. Swiftshadow's tail twitched in anticipation. They pawed the ground and snorted. She snorted right back and stepped closer. They charged in perfect synchronicity.
Swiftshadow leapt up over them. They sided as they swung around to mount another attack. But they never got the chance. A pair of cyan gas clouds blasted into their faces. They staggered a few steps before collapsing onto the ground.
"That settles that," Said Ivy retracting her gun, her brother following suit, "Tranquilizers do work on the goats,"
"Still we should be careful," Stated Carmen, "There were dozens of personnel inside when Malic Korvoth took over. Don't want to get ambushed,"
"Everyone fully armed and ready?" Asked Swiftshadow. A chorus of affirmatives answered her. "Then lets go,"
Long desolate hallways greeted Carmen as she entered the headquarters. She half expected there to be some form of interior guards. Not empty grey lifeless corridors. Every step she took sent chills down her spine. What little colour this building possessed had been completely drained away. Her keen ears picked apart the silence.
The clack of shoes. The clicking of talons. The whirr of washed out florescent lights.
She gripped her gas gun firmly in her hands. A spare that had been kept in Zack and Ivy's car. They had also grabbed a few extra canisters, just in case.
A part of her could hardly believe the events of the past couple of days. Aliens, Ghosts, and demons? Great magical beast spirits guarding and protecting the planes of existence? She felt like some one grabbed her and dropped her inside of a fantasy novel. She wondered on just how much history had been lost or hidden away because it was simply written off as mere myth. How many artifacts that were truly cursed or enchanted?
They broke open every door they came across, sweeping the room beyond. Not so much as a clump of fleece was found. Carmen's apprehension only grew with every empty room. Where was the cursed flock?
Swiftshadow's eye's flickered with a silver glow at every room and around every corner. Her brows knit together in intense concentration. Probably a magic thing Carmen guessed.
"How are your eyes doing that?" Zack said breaking the unearthly silence.
"The silver thing? It's a magic trick. It allows me to see thing like auras and hidden magic things. Can give quite the headache if used too much," She answered tersely, "Now hush, I'm trying to focus,"
They turned a corner and entered the cafeteria. Swiftshadow's eyes flickered. She stopped dead in her tracks. Dread replaced the silver glow. "Their here."
Ahead in the dimly lit cafeteria was a horde of sheep, goats, and Ibex of various species and breed. They stood perched onto of the tables and chairs, their scarlet eyes stared unblinkingly at Carmen and her crew. A markhor stood front and centre. His long spiralling horns were aimed right at them.
A deep groaning sounded behind them. Carmen turned to see a large golden takin barring the way they had come. Her large nostrils flared as she snorted. She brandished her short curved horns and charged.
For a brief horrifying second Carmen realized that they were trapped. The flock charged in perfect synchronicity. Their hooves creating a terrifying marching beat.
Carmen and her crew scattered to avoid the onslaught. A pair of horns brushed passed her raking against her coat. A blast of gas sent an ewe tumbling down to the ground. It took all of her training and skill to avoid being rammed into.
Swiftshadow leapt into the air and tackled the Takin, riding it like a bucking bronco before tripping it up with her tail. It skidded over the tile floor. The dragon pounced off as Ivy knocked out the takin.
An urial bashed into Chase sending him crashing into Shadow-san. A blaze of fire scattered the flock allowing the two men to regain their footing. Swiftshadow kept the hight advantage by leaping high into the air out of reach of the horns and hooves.
A mouflon snuck behind Zack gouging him in the back. he yelped in pain as he felt to the floor his body spasming. Short course fur erupted from his skin and curved horns burst from his skull. Cloven hooves replaced his hands and feet, and a short tail grew from his behind. An alpine ibex rose in Zack's place. His once blue eyes now scarlet.
"ZACK!" Screamed Ivy as a sheep charged at her. Carmen intercepted it with a gas cloud knocking it down to the floor.
"We need to retreat," Ordered Carmen. Swiftshadow blasted a column of fire, splitting the flock in twain. Carmen and her crew darted down the cleared path into a hallway. At its end they slammed a pair of heavy duty doors and threw the lock. It shook with the crashing of dozens of horns. The bangs reverberated through walls and floor.
"That isn't going to hold long," Carmen noted.
"Oh, Zack," Ivy mourned, "I always thought he was the GOAT, but not like this."
"We can still save him," Swiftshadow assured, "We just have find the snag a gem off of whatever beast Gray turned into,"
A gas gun clattered to the ground.
The clattering directed Swiftshadow's attention to Chase. The man was hunched over clutching his wrist. His breathing was heavy and laboured. Sweat dripped from his brow.
"You Okay?" Said Wilson.
"Chase show me your wrist," Ordered Carmen. He slowly lifted his hand to reveal a series of blunt tooth marks indented in his flesh. A scarlet hue started to creep into his brown eyes.
"Shit," Was all Swiftshadow could say as the man fell forward, his body warping out of proportion. Horns twisted out of his skull. Muscles swelled. Brown turn fur sprouted. A glimpse with her spirit vision showed the gems scarlet energies entwining with his burnt orange aura. He rose back up, not as a man, but as a big horned sheep.
A rumbling bleat escaped his throat. Scarlet eyes glared at group for only a moment. The ram charged. Swiftshadow was the first to act. She placed herself in the rams path. The rams horns crashed into her own. The impact rattled her teeth and compacted her neck vertebra. She was thankful that her skull didn't crack open like an egg. Her talons dug into the tile as she wrestled with the rams bulk.
Bighorns were no small animal. Weighing as much as a black bear with most of it being muscle to power those massive horns. Swiftshadow neck and shoulders strained as she shoved the sheep away. The ram backed off as he wound himself up for another charge. But he never got the chance.
Julia darted in and blasted him with her gas gun. The ram collapsed in a heap.
"How you doing?" Wilson's voice sounded in her ear. Concern eking in.
"Other than a slight headache, I'll live," She answered, "Really hoping that I don't get a concussion from that. Or crack my skull. Remind me to never get into a head butting competition with a bighorn sheep."
A metallic popping sprang from that door. The lock was giving out.
"We need to move," Shadow-san urged. Swiftshadow and the others made no complaint as the bolted down the hall, determined to put as much space between them and the flock as possible. Swiftshadow glanced back as the door twanged open. An Iberian Ibex with a reddish coat led the charge.
Swiftshadow skidded to a stop and turned to face the flock. Taking a deep breath in, she blasted a cone of fire at the floor, walls, and ceiling of the hall way. A wall of fire blocked the flocks path. The sprinkler system rang to life dousing the flames. It wouldn't be long before the flock would be bold enough to brave the fire. It would at the very least buy time.
She caught up with the crew in a couple of strides. She could feel the darkness growing stronger. More pungent. They were getting close to the target. Taking the lead she turned down another hall. She passed by a couple of doors before finding the one that concealed their foe.
"This is it," Swiftshadow panted, "You ready?"
"As we'll ever be," Breathed Carmen. The others braced themselves and readied their weapons for whatever lay beyond the door. Shadow-san kicked the door open.
"ACME international. Freeze!" Ivy shouted as she charged in. Swiftshadow and Carmen followed suit. Julia and Shadow-san close behind.
A dark laughter answered.
"It took you long enough."