Hello and welcome back to Coby's Choice 2! As always, a huge Thank You to my Patrons: Aaron Ashbaugh, Andrew Bohl, Animephilosopher1, Ankhseram123, Ant Franklin, Badmr7, Christopher Mitchell, Clark Kent, Claude Walker, Cordell Sanders, Cory Johnston, Darko129, Dave Gh, David, David Bowling, David Reynolds, Emi Stafford, Eric Bandel, Eugene Malone Jr., EvilJelly, Fenrir ragnarok, FlakeTrain, Garvin Lee Nelson-Mathlin, GLADIUS315, GODA98, Illiasse Naji, Immagenius, Inucbus, Jacob McCarthy, JEP1010, Jkat, John Mekjian, Jonathan Moh, Joseph Baty, Joseph Morrison, Joseph Vargas, Joshua Groves, Kcx1, Kevin Calderon, Korakas, Kyo Anamoto, Lamont Hale, Marielle Orff, Markoos, Matt Walther, Matthew Burley, McBanjo, Mcgin28, Milagros Peres Davila, Milla, Neridian, Rafael Cardenas, ReactedLyric, Ranger Ellis, Richard Barkley, Riley Bolerjack, Ryuu, Sasha, TheWolfThatExist, Thomas Sanders, Tom Peissig, Ty Chaos, and ViewtifulSoul!
Chapter 45:
Force and Fire
"Oww," the Zoan groaned, rolling his shoulder until he felt it pop back into its correct place. He refused to turn and see the final result of his plan; he would deal with the resulting emotions of that later when his crewmates were no longer in direct danger. Instead, he shifted into his Dino Mode again and tromped toward the light in his Haki that he knew to be Merry.
Merry bobbed and weaved with her full knowledge of Paper Art, the claws of the six-legged blue tiger whiffing past her face more often than not. When the claw did catch her, the Klabautermann was usually fast enough to destabilize for the second needed to let the sharp weapons pass through her before taking her physical form again. The couple instances it did catch her, however, took her nose both times and an eye once. Like all times, Merry was glad for her Klabautermann ability to regenerate.
She bent backward away from the tiger's swinging claw, Merry utilizing all the flexibility Sanji's influence had provided her to back handspring away and put distance between herself and her opponent.
The tiger wasn't looking as hot as it had at the start of their fight. Its pelt was covered in scratches from various Tempest Kicks, a technique the beast had been unable to copy despite Merry having watched it attempt to do so. One of its canines had also broken off against Merry's Iron Body, but that tooth had fallen out and regrown larger at the cat's command, now giving its maw an off-balanced look. The tiger's four tails lashed the air, it's sabertoothed mouth pulled back to snarl as a growl rumbled within its throat.
"I don't have a mother, you overgrown furball," the fairy replied, unsure if the animal could understand her language even if her inherent abilities from Chopper allowed her to understand it. She considered the possibility pretty high since the beast was intelligent enough to figure out and use both Shave and Moonwalk in the span of their fight, but there was still that non-zero chance since it had yet to properly respond to her.
The mutant growled a growl with no translation before flashing toward her with claws bared. Merry jumped, flipping over the creature whilst interposing her basic, wooden hammers between them. It meant little, the mutant twisting unnaturally in an attempt to slash at her. Claws met hammers in a shower of splinters as the hammers shattered, but the fighters' opposite momentums carried them away from each other. The cat landed on its feet, as one might expect, while Merry used Iron Body to smash into the top of yet another unused machine, anchoring herself at the top.
"Here, kitty kitty," Merry mocked, pulling one hand free to gesture for the cat to come at her. "Is the big bad predator gonna let the poor little sheep show it up?"
Whether it was the words, the tone of voice, or the gesture, the tiger's eyes narrowed. It slunk toward the machine and lifted it front two paws up to dig its claws into the metal, apparently intending to savor its approach rather than take it quickly in the only way possible with Moonwalk.
Merry was thankful for the cat's choice. Though she did have more stamina than the average pirate, her stamina at its base was only as good as Luffy's during their attack on Ennies Lobby. Sure, it has risen some due to her own training, but she found herself breathing heavily as the tiger relished its climb, the Klabautermann taking the moment to catch her breath. She blinked, a flash of green in the corner of her vision. At the same time, her crewmate's essence pinged in her mental senses.
"Coby?"
"Cretaceous Charge!"
Coby slammed into the tiger's side like a sea train, the beast letting out a cry of pain and shock as the force ripped its claws from the metal. The tiger recovered, trying to kick the air with Mookwalk while twisting its spine in ways that it shouldn't to scratch at Coby. The Zoan's momentum made the former useless and the clawing was kept at bay by Coby's hard scales.
"Coby!" Merry yelled, tracking his current path with her eyes. "Watch out! You're—!"
Unable to see through the blue tiger, Coby slammed it and himself into the wall. The cat released a strangled cry as its body was compressed between the wall and the dinosaur-human. Coby's horns dug into the flesh of its side, drawing blood but doing only superficial damage.
This impact was not, unfortunately, totally in the pirate's favor. Coby had not been expecting the wall to be so close, the crash knocking him silly. He and the tiger rebounded from the wall, both rolling over the floor as they tried to deal with their newest aches and pains.
"Coby!" Merry called. "Are you alright?"
"That wasn't my best plan," the Zoan replied, one eye squinted as he climbed to his feet. Merry landed beside him as the rosette shrunk into his Human Mode. The Klabautermann pulled one of Coby's arms over her shoulder and pulled him up so the pair could stare down the tiger. "Thanks, Merry."
"I guess you took care of that deer, then?"
"Let's just say it's not so bouncy anymore," he replied. "More importantly, what are we gonna do about this thing without our weapons? That deer almost had me when it would've been so easy with my swords."
"Well, it's two on one now, so we have the advantage. Attack from both sides?"
"Sounds like the best plan."
Coby shot to the right, Merry mirroring him as she moved to the left. The tiger growled, its eyes quickly darting between the human and the Klabautermann. Apparently making a decision, it turned and shot toward Coby, using its own Shave to appear in his face. Coby's eyes widened, the young man raising his arms up in a crossblock. He'd foreseen the attack with his Observation, but the speed of the attack itself had given him no time to plan a retaliation. Such might not have been possible as the force behind the attack knocked him off his feet, the roset trying to skid to a stop before slamming into dusty machinery.
"Don't take your eyes off me!" Merry yelled, blurring into view over the tiger with her leg already in motion. "Falling Anchor!"
The tiger's back bent unnaturally, the creature nearly folding in half with only its two center legs keeping its stomach from hitting the floor. Its eyes swung upward to glare at the Klabautermann before arching its back upward toward her. The hair there bristled as cats' hair does, but Merry felt her own eyes widen as the hairs stabbed into and through her feet.
"Son of a Jabra!" she cursed as the tiger arched downward again, dragging her with it by her punctured feet while it raised its other hackles to impale her from the front and back simultaneously.
"Tempest Kick!" Coby's foot slashed upward, carving a shallow line into the mutant's underbelly. It abandoned its iron-maiden-esque attack in favor of swinging its front paws and protracted canines down on the male pirate. Coby would have none of that, the Zoan growing into his Armor Mode to catch the paws. The tiger's fangs ground against the bone plating of his shoulders, the pirate now face-to-muzzle with the creature.
"Merry, bring its head down!"
"You sure?"
"Just do it!"
"This is gonna hurt…" Merry pulled her feet free with a spray of essence, using Moonwalk to climb into the air. "Alright, here we go. Iron Body Tilestone Special: Stone Smackdown!"
"Slasher mode!" Coby yelled as if in response. His arms turned slimmer, losing the musculature needed to hold the paws in place. The horn from his nose also grew upward, long and thin, pointed directly at the tiger's face as it lost the support from his hold and felt Merry's full weight crash into its cranium.
The pirates had miscalculated, however. While Coby's needle-like horn pierced through the mutant's jaw and up through its muzzle, he missed his true target of the brain. The beast roared in pain and twisted, snapping Coby's horn from his face. The roset could barely get out a gasp of pain before the tiger's latter half came around, checking him with enough force to send him careening backward. Merry, too, was thrown from her spot on its head, crashing into the flooring beside her crewmate.
"Mother-bastard-shit-ass-inbred-celestial-lizard-bitch!" Coby swore, rolling on the ground as he cradled his broken stump of a horn. "Fuck! This is karma for breaking the deer's antlers, isn't it?"
"You're just full of ideas and vocabulary today, Coby," Merry muttered.
"I don't want to hear it," the man groused, shifting into his basic Hybrid Mode. Though the pain was lessened now, his third horn was still broken even in his new form.
"That'll grow back, right?"
"Eventually. That doesn't mean it's not a pain in the ass."
"You mean a pain in the face."
"Not the godadamn time, Merry."
The tiger growled, shifting its jaw in an attempt to get the needle-horn dislodged. In doing so, the beast managed to open its mouth and, essentially, gained a new horn, albeit one incredibly painful and likely to break. It turned cold eyes on the pirates, red blood carving rivulets down its muzzle and throat or simply dripping to the floor.
"So, Coby," Merry muttered. "It sounded like you and Uncle Usopp have seen this thing before. Any idea how to deal with it?"
"We ran away from the last giant, blue, six-legged tiger we saw," the Zoan admitted. "Left it surrounded by tiny, suicidal bulls that could turn themselves into missiles."
"I love the Grand Line," the Klabautermann sighed.
"Raaooww!" the giant cat roared, pounding toward them with its new horn lowered to skewer them. It blurred, using Shave in the hopes of catching the pirates before they could react.
Unfortunately, both of said pirates also knew Shave, activating it themselves and jumping in opposite directions. Coby moved erratically, trying to confuse the cat as he grew into his Slasher Mode and spun, his barbed tail lashing out toward it.
"Needle Twister!"
"Cross Sail Typhoon!" Merry called from the other side, a hoard of X-shaped Tempest Kicks converging on the cat from different angles. It growled before diving forward, curling into a ball so its sharp fur would take most of the damage. It mitigated some of it, but each slash of kick or tail left a long, shallow wound that did more to hurt than actually impair.
The pirates would not be dissuaded when they were so close to finishing the fight, however. Coby jumped over the tiger, shifting into his Armor Mode and curling into a ball of his own, this one of bone rather than hard fur. With its face covered for protection, the tiger had no way of seeing the attack until the roset landed.
His weight compressed the tiger, forcing it to uncurl as the feline coughed up a bloody hairball, dislodging Coby's broken horn from the top of its muzzle in the process. He rolled, exposing the mutant's stomach to the air as Merry placed herself above it. Coby unrolled himself, using his hands and feet to hold the tiger's front four open while the plating of his head and face kept the cat's teeth at bay.
"Do it, Merry!"
"Stone Smackdown!"
Again, the feline compressed, but the force was too much for it to deal with. It hacked up another bloody cough, this one mixed with foam, all over Coby before its eyes rolled back. It slumped like a boneless toy, giving the pirates a chance to catch their breaths. Coby shrunk into his Human Mode and turned, offering the face-up Merry a hand. She smacked his palm with a smile.
"That…" she panted, "was awesome." The cat seemed to deflate a little, its body and fur taking on the same structural integrity of a waterbed with a nice blanket. "I mean, did you see that? I love my life."
"I will never understand you battle maniacs," the young man muttered, trying and failing to get the bloody foam off his coat. "Eww."
"It's all about the adrenaline."
"Whatever. Do you think Usopp and Robin want our help?"
In the distance, Usopp screamed.
"I'll take that as a yes."
"Goda dammit," Kaku hissed, holding his shoulder as blood leaked through his fingers. The fabric of his suit and coat's right-hand shoulders had been sheared away along with the skin beneath, exposing muscle and blood to the outside air. Kin'emon balanced himself to Kaku's left, one hand holding his upper body up while the other held his primary katana parallel to the floor. His eyes were narrowed, studying this foe the pair had found. "This is your fault! Nami's gonna berate me 'cause you were too slow and we lost Velo and Ace!"
"Oh, my apologies," Kin'emon muttered with a roll of his eyes. "Why do you not try moving without your legs?"
Both fighters moved backward, a blade slicing through the air where they'd been, high enough to have cut Kaku at the waist and take off Kin'emon's head.
The long-nosed Zoan and the half-samurai grit their teeth as they glared at the creature that had done the aforementioned damage to Kaku. Rather than either party having found the other, it was more accurate to say Velo had led the not-pirates to this place and released the creature upon her passing, leaving it in the way of her pursuers.
It looked like it was originally a wolf of some kind, but drugs or selective breeding had resulted in the canine now standing at 10 feet in height, large enough to be a threat but small enough to still fit in the hallways to chase them. It was mostly blue in color with a white underbelly, but said fur was rather difficult to see behind the hardened chest fur of gold and red shaped almost like a shield. It held a sword sized for the grip to fit in its mouth, or at least it looked like a sword, but closer inspection revealed the weapon to actually be the creature's tongue that had hardened into a sharpened blade as long as the creature's torso.
"What manner of yokai is this?" Kin'emon demanded, springing backward for lack of legs to jump with as the wolf charged in, its sword-tongue cleaving the floor. The bisected swordsman flipped, rushing the creature as best he could on one hand. Said rush was pretty fast, all things considered. "Perish, foul demon!"
"Rrrr!" the canine growled, catching the blade with its own. Since Kin'emon did not have legs, be could not plant his feet to maintain force, allowing the monster the chance to throw him with a swing of its head. The samurai backflipped, ready to defend himself should the need arise.
As it turned out, that was unnecessary, the beast's attention being diverted by Kaku charging in toward its side.
"Tempest Kick!" the ex-assassin yelled, a slash of air launching point-blank into the wolf's side. The Velo's creation let out a grunt as the force pushed it sideways, its paws skidding over the floor. Kaku had spent years honing his use of the technique, his favorite of all the Six Powers, into a fine blade that could cut through even Westherian oak cleanly with only a move, but his attack did little more than ruffle the wolf's fur. It spun, forcing Kaku to bend backward with Paper Art, the sword-tongue coming within inches of his nose. He flipped backward with the momentum, landing on his feet. "Good golly, what's this thing made of? Man, I wish I had my swords. Hey, give me that one you aren't using."
"I cannot," the samurai grunted. "To relinquish one of my blades to you, even as an ally, would serve to dishonor me further."
"We're literally fighting for our lives!"
"I worry more what magic this creature possesses," Kin'emon commented, ignoring Kaku's demands. "To form a blade out of one's body parts is unthinkable."
"You ain't been out on the Grand Line long, have you?" the long-nosed man questioned, trying to dig at the man for his stubbornness.
"I will admit I know little of the world, but what part of my ignorance of this creature's abilities makes you question my knowledge of the world?"
"Well, I don't want you to start buggin' when you see this." Before Kin'emon's eyes, Kaku began to grow, his skin taking on a yellow color with brown spots. The tagalong's neck stretched and rounded horns rose from his head. Kaku settled into a fighting stance in his full Man-Beast Form.
"You are—‽"
Kin'emon's gasp was overpowered by a howl from the wolf, the creature lunging forward. Kaku spun, swinging his own head like a hammer under the creature's tongue-blade to smash into the wolf's shoulder. The wolf showed no sign of damage, but the force redirected its momentum to the side. The creature's eyes widened as its front paws moved out from under it, its body twisting. The floor rose to meet the wolf's jaw, the mutant letting out a pained yip as its sharp teeth bit into the fleshy part of its sword-tongue.
"Take that, you filthy mut!" Kaku laughed. "I'll show you the overwhelming power of the giraffe!"
"You fiend!" Kin'emon yelled, Kaku turning to see the man's sword on a path toward his long neck. The ex-agent ducked, shifting into his Man Form to dodge the attack. "You must be a spy for that man!"
"Spy?" Kaku demanded. "I ain't a spy anymore! I left that hootenanny behind years ago!"
"So you are a spy!" Kin'emon spun, his blade forcing Kaku backward lest he feel its edge. "What is your ultimate goal? Are you here to recruit these pirates for your master? Perhaps ensure Momonosuke and I never return to Wano?"
"What? No! Stop attacking me, you moron!" Kaku backflipped, lashing out with twin Tempest Kicks. Kin'emon deflected one while the other was bisected by the beast. "See this? This is buggin'! I'm not your enemy here!"
"I can believe nothing you say when your powers are identical to those oppressing my home! It is no wonder you wished for one of my swords!"
"I'm just a Zoan and a swordsman!" He moved, flowing around a swing from the wolf with Paper Art. One eye stayed there, making sure none of the mutant's attacks made contact, while the other ensured Kin'emon would do nothing while his back was turned. "Dammit, samurai! Even if I was, we have bigger things to worry about right now!"
"My fear of this creature is minimal compared to the threat of your master and the pain he has caused me and mine," the swordsman of Wano growled, his grip on his sword so tight that his knuckles were white and the weapon shook. "Were it I had my legs, I would cut you and this wolf down where you now stand in one slash!"
"I'm not a spy, you idiot! Take a chill pill for a sec and listen to me!"
"I have no ear for any of your honeyed words, pirate."
"Frickin' closed-off narbos," Kaku grumbled to himself. He kicked upward with Moonwalk, reaching the ceiling quickly before using Finger Pistol to anchor himself in place.
"You coward! Regress and fight me!"
"Why should I? Besides, if you're so confident, you've already got an opponent willing to fight you down there."
"Rrrrr," the wolf growled as if in response, swinging its sword-tongue around. Kin'emon brought his katana up, parrying the he-didn't-know-what-to-call-it. The fingers of his balancing hand dug into the floor, warping the metal beneath him to hold himself in place. The muscles in Kin'emon's arms bulged, holding Velo's creation at a stalemate as his lips pulled back to scowl.
"Tempest Kick Storm!" From his place perched by the ceiling, Kaku rained down a storm of Tempest Kicks that pelted the wolf's back. They, like all the ones before, did not cut into the beast's flesh, but they did serve to distract it long enough for Kin'emon to disengage. The wolf turned a narrowing eye on Kaku.
"Did you hope to catch me in that flurry of blows?" Kin'emon demanded. "I am one of the Red Scabbards, spy! I will not fall to such a simple trick!"
"I wasn't aiming for you, dumbass! I'm trying to help!"
"I need not your help, pirate!"
"Look out!"
Kin'emon pushed up in the approximation of a jump, a swing from the wolf's sword-tongue passing under him. Kaku dislodged himself from the ceiling and fell, spinning forward as he grew into his Man-Beast Form. His muscles tightened as the ex-agent locked his body into place, falling toward the mutant.
"Iron Body: Giraffe Hammer!"
His square muzzle slammed into the top of the wolf's skull, forcing it downward. The canine's sharp teeth bit through its tongue completely, the mutant releasing a howl of pain as its main weapon was severed.
"I have you now!" Kin'emon yelled, both his hands on his sword as he fell toward both Kaku and the wolf. Fire sparked before surrounding his katana in red and orange. "You are in my way, canine! My fight will not end here! Not in a place far from home and away from Momonosuke! I will cut you down! Begone, both of you! Foxfire Style: Flaming Flash!"
"Shit!" Kaku bit out, vanishing with a combination of Shave and Moonwalk. The wolf did not have such a luxury, the burning sword cutting into and through its upper body like water. The attack had such force that it also carved a molten line into the floor under the beast.
"What the what?" Kaku blinked. "Since when could you do that‽"
"You need not learn such information," Kin'emon replied, pointing his sword at the Zoan. His visage would be much more imposing if he were not still severed at the waist. "You will be the next to taste my steel, preventing any information you have from reaching your cruel master."
"For the love of— I don't have a master! Look!" Kaku raised his arms in surrender and shrunk back into his Man Form. "I used to work for the World Government, raised from childhood to be one of their personal assassins, but I booked it on that life two years ago. I've done a lot of shit I'm not proud of, but I don't have a clue about whatever Clydesdale has your brain on the fritz, ok? I might've been a spy, but not for your enemy."
"Once a spy, always," Kin'emon spat. "One does not simply leave the life they learned in childhood. Perhaps you are not a member of their army, but I cannot take that chance. I will—"
"The Hell?" a voice questioned, both Kaku and Kin'emon turning toward the doorway where Nami and rest of the group had finally caught up to them. The young mother stood at the lead, her hands fisting at her sides. "What is going on here? Where is my son?"
The two men glanced at each other, sweat running down their brows. As one, they pointed at each other and —very maturely— stated, "It's his fault!"
The laboratory shook, the men garbed in yellow looking around with an air of wariness. It was not uncommon for the lab to shake —some of the Master's experiments and a fair number of Velo's being the most common cause of such— but this time did not seem like something they were used to. The last time the lab had shaken like this was the escape of a monstrous, barrel-throwing gorilla Velo had made, the unfortunate animal having met its ultimate fate in the jaws of the red dragon in the Burning Lands. That time had not, however, come with a repetitive clanking from somewhere below them and they had been forewarned to the possibility of its escape and the subsequent threat of death-by-barrel. This was not like that time, the men slowly congregating around a shoot that went to the garbage.
BANG
"Uh," one of the men muttered, turning slightly to his companions. "I'm not the only one hearing that, right?"
BANG
"N-No," another man stuttered, this one shorter than most of the rest. "I-I hear it, too."
BANG
"What could it be?" a third worker questioned.
BANG
"I-It's coming from here," the second muttered, inching toward the shoot. He raised his rifle, readying his weapon for whatever would come, even if he was shaking so badly that the barrel would not stay steady.
BANG
"Hey, Stran. Go check the shoot."
"Why the Hell does it have to be me?" the one called Stran demanded. "You do it!"
BANG
"Because I'm older and I've been here longer, so that means I get to tell you what to do."
"B-But—"
BANG
"Make Gallager do it! He's the youngest of us!"
"What‽ Why me?"
"No way! Gallager's funny! You do it!"
BANG BANG
"I don't want to! You ass—"
With a hulking CRASH, the pipe before them all but exploded, throwing dust and other particulates into the air as an obscuring cloud of brown and grey. The workers staggered backward, trying to stay out of the cloud so they could maintain their vision. The cloud stayed thick for several seconds more before it began to clear, a shadow forming in the dust. The workers readied their weapons.
"I-I-Identify yourself!" Gallager squeaked.
The figure remained silent as the cloud cleared, their form revealing itself through the obscuration. There Luffy stood, eyes shaded, with Momonosuke wrapped around his shoulders like a shawl. He was loaded down with all the weapons of his previously-captured crewmates, all of them held tightly to his body by different pieces of rope and cloth. Under one arm were Kin'emon's legs.
All was silent for a moment.
"Man!" Luffy laughed, looking up with a smile. "That was harder than it needed to be! I mean, I dropped weapons and had to go back for them so many times! Momo, you should have just flown down and gotten them for me!"
"I cannot fly, you buffoon!" the pink dragon yelled, raising his head to glare at the behatted pirate. "We have been over this!"
"It would be a lot cooler if you did," the pirate grumbled.
"That is not a power I possess! And my name is Momonosuke!"
"Then just find a way to do it," Luffy shrugged. "Sanji and Merry couldn't fly before, but now they know how to kick off the air like the CP9 guys we fought a long time ago, so they can fly now. You just gotta learn the same thing, and it should be easier for you since you're a dragon."
"Though I could understand the individual works you spoke, when put together they mean less than nothing to me! Talk of people I do not know will not motivate me to do the impossible!"
"You don't understand what I'm saying?" Luffy blinked. "Oh, I get it! You can't fly 'cause you're stupid!"
"I am not!"
"Poot! Have we escaped?" the legs questioned. "I sense we have stopped moving yet are not falling once more."
"I-Identify yourselves!" Gallager repeated, a little louder.
"Gyah!" Momonosuke squeaked. "They have weapons pointed at us!"
"Oh," Luffy blinked, dropping Kin'emon's legs. They hit the floor with a small poot. "You think they're a threat?"
"O-Of course!"
"Gum-Gum Dual Loaded Pistols!" Luffy plucked Gin's tonfa from his belt and gripped their weights rather than the handles, slamming them into the two guys on either side of Gallager. The smallest and youngest worker let out a sound like a wheeze, almost visibly deflating. Luffy tucked the tonfa into his belt and snatched up the legs again. He walked forward, Gallager shrinking in on himself as the pirate got closer.
"Now," the captain said, his smile turning sinister. "I've got a question for you."
"F-For me?" Gallager questioned.
"Yeah, you." Luffy nodded. He leaned in, his free hand grabbing the front of the worker's outfit and dragging him close. "Where the Hell is my crew?"
The centaurs moved quickly but carefully, watching where they put their hooves with one eye while the other tracked the skies and surroundings for any dangers that might come after them. Their primary fear was the dragon, the red creature perfectly camouflaged for the burning landscape. Even if they hadn't heard any of the great lizard's roars, they knew other dangers scuttled about the flames, various creatures that escaped from Velo's lab over the last couple years and had made new homes here. All it took was watching one fellow guard get devoured by firemice to make one wary of every flaming doorway.
The centaur in the lead of this group, the tallest among them with a fedora and the lower body of a palomino, inched around a corner to make sure nothing moved nearby without their knowledge. He gestured after a few seconds, his subordinates shuffling to him as they made their way to the bend.
"Hey, Cap?" one of them questioned, the man walking on the legs of a chestnut stallion. "You gonna tell us why you're dragging us out here? You know, other than Master's orders?"
"What more information do you need?" Cap replied, raising his rifle to take aim at a window above. An ash-colored bird screeched at them and dove their direction, only to get blown to pieces as the centaur pulled the trigger.
"Friggen' bitch," another centaur muttered to himself, this one with the horse body of a black appaloosa. "That crazy woman made things to guard this area but didn't key us into it? It's like Velo wants us to die."
"That's my point!" the chestnut insisted. "The Hell does the Master want us to do out here near the door?"
"He wants us to open the door, Rig," the leader said. "Apparently the pirates and marines are teaming up against the Master and are overwhelming the defenses. They won't listen to reason. They don't understand Master's benevolence, so we need to break out the big stuff to keep the Master safe and drive them into a trap."
"And what are the details here for this trap?" Rig asked. "I mean, we had to carry a sleigh of fruit to the edge of the Frozen Lands, a giant piece of candy to the Burning Lands, and now we're trudging through Velo's murder birds to open the godadammed door?"
"Look, I'm just doing what the Master told us to," Cap growled. "Whatever he locked behind the door must be powerful enough to beat all the pirates and marines. We'll release it before running back to the base. I do not want to be in the way of whatever it is Master wants us to release."
Rig shifted, blowing another murder bird to feathers and giblets. He, Cap, and Marv eyed the surroundings warily, the rooftops' edges hosting a gathering of the grey birds.
Marv swallowed audibly. "Can we get this over with?" he demanded. "It's too hot over here and I think that one wants to peck my eyes out."
"Which one, Marv?"
"That one." He gestured with his rifle, pointing at an ash-grey bird with a slightly longer beak than the others. It tilted its head. "These things are giving me the willies. That one specifically."
"Then shoot it."
"And what? Have Velo on my horsey ass about it? Not until I can claim self-defense. She's set up cameras, you know."
"She has not."
"I don't know," Cap muttered. "She's crazy about her creatures. I wouldn't be surprised if she did set up cameras."
"Can we just get this mission over with already?" Rig demanded. "I'd rather hedge my bets against the pirates than stay around these things a moment longer than needed."
"Yeah, yeah. Come on."
The murder birds did nothing but watch as the trio of centaurs clomped down the street toward the massive, steel door at the end. The lack of action would have been underwhelming if it wasn't for the constant fear of their luck turning for the worst. Cap, Rig, and Marv shuffled their feet, the latter two eyeing the birds.
"Alright," Cap swallowed. His rifle shook in his hold before he holstered it on his back. "Alright! I'm gonna open the door! Watch my back!"
"Right!"
Cap twiddled his fingers, sweat rolling down his brow. Swallowing again, he reached up and grabbed the massive wheel lock.
As one, every bird in the area looked up and screeched, all three centaurs jumping at the sound.
"EEE, EEE, EEE, EEE!"
"Hurry it up!" Marv insisted.
"I'm trying!" Cap replied. "Help me!"
"Keep watch, Marv!" Rig ordered, joining their current leader. Both struggled, their muscles straining until, with a groan, the wheel lock shifted. Air depressurized as the door creaked open, a beam of light cutting into the darkness and landing on something purple at the far end.
None of the centaurs could see this, however, as the birds stopped their screeching and dove. Marv fired a bullet into the hoard, taking one out, but the swarm easily overpowered it. Marv screamed as dozens of beaks punctured his skin, the murder birds living up to the name the centaurs had given them as they ripped the horse-man to pieces.
"Run!" Cap cried, pushing Rig out of his way and booking it to the left.
"Cap!" Rig yelled from the ground. He tried to get back on his hooves only for the murder birds, finished with Marv, to pounce on him like a wave of red and grey. "Cap, help me! Caaaap!"
"Gotta get away. Gotta get away. Gotta get away." the lone remaining centaur chanted as Rig's screams died away. Perhaps, if he left the area fast enough, his friends' sacrifices would ensure his own survival. Why Velo ever made such horrid creatures, he would never know, and he would be sure to question her about it once he was back across the lake.
And a beak stabbed through one of his hind legs.
Cap went down with a cry, twisting around as he grabbed for his rifle. A bird with a long beak —the same one Marv had pointed out before— stared at him with beady, red eyes. There was a spark of intelligence there, the bird tilting its head at him. Cap dared not to breathe, praying these avian killers would let him go if he didn't move.
They did not.
Caesar watched all of this on the cameras that Velo had suggested installing, not a shred of remorse or sadness for the loss of his subordinates' lives. They, like everyone else, were disposable for his own ends and he got to study how much more vicious this new generation of birds was compared to the last. Yes, such clever birds would be another bestseller on the black market. Joker would surely want them, among other buyers willing to pay top dollar for such a subtle defense force.
The scientist grinned. The idiots had achieved their mission, so the pirates and marines would not be a threat for much longer. All according to plan.
End of Chapter 45
Read and Review!
-SwordOfTheGods