Scott cut her off overly exuberant babbling by reaching out and patting her on the head. "Don't worry. You're a pretty Kitty."
Her eyes widened and her mouth shifted into a bright and jubilant smile. "Oh!" She lunged forward and wrapped him in a warm hug. Her tail swished through the air happily, while Samantha rolled her eyes then shook her head. It had been a hell of a day, and this was just one more ridiculous aspect of it.
Some time passed before Scott managed to coax the naked Kitty away from him. As it turned out, she was the sort of girl who enjoyed cuddles. Of course, that enjoyment of cuddles also became a concern for Samantha.
"Why are you hugging me, now?" asked the bounty hunter while she tried to pry the girl away.
Kitty's tail swished a little and she snuggled in closer. "I'm sorry, and I'm showing it."
"Right, good," said Samantha. "Get off."
The catgirl laughed softly and said, "But we barely know each other..."
"Where's that hand grenade?" Samantha asked Scott. Kitty made a soft purring noise as she nuzzled in to her hated enemy's evil whorish bosom.
He laughed a little then said, "It'll be over soon."
Samantha groaned loudly and looked at the ceiling. "I didn't sign up for this!'
Whether she signed up for it or not, Scott was not about to stop the ship that was sailing at that moment. The main thing going through his mind was, 'Man, I've had dreams about this!'
Sure, there were more important things to do, theoretically at least. If he was honest with himself, however, there was little more important than what he currently witnessed. The constant near-death experiences really drove home the need to have fun with the time that he had left.
A short time later Kitty finished her apology, such as it was, and they were finally able to get down to business. Scott started things off by asking, "So, why was that guy scared of you?"
Katherine nodded to Scott then crossed her legs. Currently she sat atop a display case, and wore a thoughtful expression. "Well, my people have certain innate abilities. One of them is an innate capacity to fight. Another is the ability to transform into a human-like form."
Scott and Samantha listened attentively as Katherine continued to explain herself. She went into detail about how her people were tied to the moon, death, and the whimsical nature of causality. Basically, they could change luck in a small area.
"So, when I attacked you and kept falling down... That was—" asked Samantha.
"Yeah, my ability to change luck. If you had any sort of resistance to the supernatural it would not have worked. I'm pretty weak right now," said Katherine.
"Why would that cause him to bail on that fight, though?" asked Scott.
Kitty laughed a little then grinned at Scott. "He caught me after a long battle. He fought alongside a few of his robe wearing friends, and it eventually wore me down. Before that though, they learned what my ability to change luck was like first hand."
"What did you do to him?" asked Scott curiously.
The catgirl lifted one of her legs casually then used her foot to scratch behind her ear. "Oh rrow.... that's so good."
Scott coughed loudly then turned away, slightly. "Kitty..."
She laughed once more then flashed him a warm smile. Her eyes practically shimmered with the joy that she felt. "Well, you see... They came after me with a few dozen zombies. Originally, I thought that they were from some dark kingdom or other, but they were not from my world at all. They used weird magic and abilities."
Kitty took a breath and continued. "Anyway, these guys in red robes sent their zombies after me. They were terrible fighters, but they were fast. I had to be on my toes." In order to emphasize her point, she hopped up into a squatting position and stood on the balls of her feet. Her knees pointed outward at different angles while one hand reached down between them and touched the top of the display case.
Her tail lashed in a curious manner and stopped in the form of a question mark briefly. "I was kicking zombie butt so hard that these red robed guys started to freak out a little. Next thing I know, they're chanting some really hideous sounding spell."
"Did it make the air around them look like it was blister?" asked Scott.
She nodded to him. "You've seen it then?"
"Yeah, that big zombie mech that he was using came from a spell like that," he told her, while giving her a nod of his own.
"I see," she tilted her head to the side, briefly. After a moment of thought she said, "Well, I was much stronger at the time. When the spell was about to be cast, my ability to change probability in my favor kicked in and well... The spell went crazy."
"Crazy how?" asked Samantha. "The closest thing to magic that I've ever seen outside of a theater was psionics, and the technology of the people who raised me."
Kitty turned her head toward Samantha. "I didn't recognize their language, but something happened that caused the spell to go wild. The next thing I know, the red robe guys are screaming at each other."
She took a breath and continued. "See, the zombies that were left behind suddenly stopped attacking me. Instead, they turned on the three guys."
"So, you turned their minions against them?" asked Scott.
"Well... That would have been great, but what really happened was so much better," she said with a grin.
"What happened?" asked Samantha.
Kitty laughed a little as she said, "A few hundred zombies started chasing after them while shouting weird phrases. Stuff like, 'Senpai! Notice Me!' and 'I've always loved a man in uniform'!"
After she took another breath, she said, "It was crazy."
"Wait. Wait a minute—" Scott looked at Kitty, a grin slowly spreading across his lips. "You're saying that you made them flub the spell so badly that the zombies fell in love with their masters?"
"Yeah. When the zombies caught up to them it wasn't a pretty sight. Believe me," said Kitty, a cheerful smile upon her lips.
Samantha laughed suddenly. "I haven't seen a zombie, yet, but that still sounds hilarious."
"It was." Kitty's tinkling laugh echoed in the room. She waved her oversized hand around and said, "Though, what happened at the end still makes me a little sick to my stomach."
"How did that guy get ahold of you?" asked Scott.
"Hmm? Oh, time ran out and I lost all my strength," said Kitty absent-mindedly. However, she blinked then growled a little. "It was a real bummer, too. I had almost half my aura left, but that jerk used some kind of medicine or something to restore his!"
"Dirty cheater," muttered the catgirl, her eyes narrowing.
"Aura? Time ran out?" asked Samantha. "What are you talking about?"
Kitty tilted her head to the side a little then made a curious noise. It was a combination of a hum, and gentle purr. "The glory of battle, of course."
"Well battle can be glorious, but that doesn't explain anything," said the bounty hunter.
"When two strong fighters start fighting, their auras become intertwined," said Kitty in a manner that sounded like her words made perfect sense. "This can cause a strange warping effect on the world and cause a lot of damage. The gods limited the time that powerful people can fight each other, and then broke that into three round matches. There's ninety-nine seconds in each round."
Scott and Samantha stared at Kitty, but all the catgirl did was flash a V-for-victory sign with her index and middle fingers. "If time runs out, the round ends. Two out of three rounds with more aura means you win!"
The champion blinked then laughed giddily. "Man, so that's how fighting games work?"
"Fighting games?" asked Kitty curiously.
"Never mind," said Scott. "You lost because you ran out of time on your last round?"
"Not quite," said Kitty. "When a lot of fighters are involved, usually more than three on each side of the battle, the rules change."
Kitty took a breath then said, "The time limit changes to three minutes, and the stage expands. You get one round, winner take all."
> "Stage?" asked Samantha. There was a lot of new information to take in about the bubbly naked girl.
"Yes, fights between powerful opponents take place in special stages provided by the gods. That way the power of their auras won't destroy the world, or something. The stages are basically a place where a fight happens, but the aura can't push past the barrier," said Kitty.
"What about the non-powerful people?" Scott looked to Kitty, his eyes slightly narrowed in concentration. It seemed like some worlds would have different rules to follow if he visited them. This sort of information was vital.
"If they aren't powerful enough to generate a battle aura, then the gods don't care." Kitty smiled at Scott then swished her tail to the side. "Though, that just means normal people don't have the protection of the round system. They can't even see their opponent's aura bar, and there's no timer for them."
"Aura bar? You mean like a bar that you can see; one that shows how close to losing someone is at the moment?" asked Scott.
"Yeah. Just look up at the sky above. You'll see the timer and the aura bars," – she stopped for a moment to tap her chin. – "though some people call them life bars. Cuz, you can die if they go empty twice."
Kitty laughed then waved her hand around, "Now that I think about it, the gods even announce what round it is, and tell you when to start fighting."
"People wait to start a fight?" asked Samantha.
Kitty said, "Sure. You can't even move your body till the start of the fight."
That was more than a little disturbing to Scott, but he kept his own counsel for the moment. It really was a lot to consider.
"So, what? There are still normal wars and regular people dying," asked Samantha. She wanted more answers, and intend to have them.
"Yeah, that still happens." Kitty sighed then plopped her rear end back down onto the display table. "It's weird, really. The gods worry more about powerful people warping the local area than nuclear weapons and stuff."
It made perfect sense to Scott, after a moment of thought. The so-called gods had designed a world that operated on fighting game logic. Everything else was background noise. They probably didn't actually give a damn about normal weapons, or regular people, in that setting.
Chapter 5
Explanations, and fights, between the snarky girls came to an end. It was time to discuss the next move. There were plenty of free resources in the zombie apocalypse, but the technology level was not extremely high. Only a few locations would be worthy of raiding.
The first location on the agenda, however, was the house where Kitty was confined. The crystals might prove useful in the future, and there might be a clue to the nature of the red robed asshole that Scott missed during his first search.
A road trip with his new associates seemed like a good idea at the moment. After telling Father Harrison and Jed about his plans, Scott loaded the girls into his battered truck. The trio took off down the road, and once the bridge was lowered they were on their way back to where the final battle took place.
"You won't gain any EXP since we are not on a mission, but this could be a decent trial run without any pressure," said Scott, after Samantha posed the question.
"Trial run?" asked Kitty.
"Sure. We need to see how we will work as a team," he replied.
Scott turned onto the main highway and picked up speed. Zombies shambled about here and there, but their numbers were few. "I wonder if the missions take place only in areas where the zombies congregate."
"What's that?" asked Samantha. She wiggled in her seat while trying to get a little more elbow room. Three people were able to fit in the front of the truck, but it was a cramped situation to say the least.
"I'm just guessing, but it makes sense to me. The mission areas are probably in locations with high zombie populations. If I'm right, we probably won't see a lot of them in one place unless we have a run of bad luck," explained Scott.
Samantha nodded to him then gazed out the window. "So, those people out there? What's wrong with them?"
"Not sure. They're zombies. That's all I know," said Scott. "They carry diseases and can turn you into one of their kind. Takes a solid headshot to kill one."
"Headshot only?" asked Samantha.
Scott casually rounded a sharp curve in the road before he answered. "Yeah. If the brain isn't destroyed, they don't die."
They chatted freely about zombies on the way to the old house. Scott explained the types and attack patterns of the zombies that he faced in the past. Samantha seemed unimpressed, while Kitty already knew most of that information from her battles with the undead.
It was a short drive back to the house, made longer by the necessity of avoiding the occasional abandoned vehicle or small pack of zombies on the road. The snow plow in front could push them out of the way if there were not many, but avoiding them altogether would keep the truck from taking more damage than it already sustained in its previous outing. It was the same logic someone might use when faced with a large deer in the road. Sure, the truck would win that fight, but why risk the damage if it could be avoided?
The house sat well off the road, down a partially obscured little dirt path. Grass had grown up in the driveway due to the lack of traffic.
"So, this is the place?" asked Samantha. She looked around at the field then back to the house. "Doesn't seem like much."
"Probably why he picked it," said Scott. "Off the road a bit, and few survivors would think much of it going missing from sight after the apocalypse."
A zombie staggered around the corner of the house, but it only took another three steps before Scott casually blew its head apart with his plasma pistol.
"Nice shot," said Samantha.
"Thanks," he said simply. It was not difficult for him to take out zombies anymore, at least not the slow ones. He was slightly saddened by the lack of experience gain, however. Even with unlimited ammunition, it seemed like a waste of a bullet.
Kitty frowned at the house. She held only bad memories for it. However, that did not stop her from going in with the others.
Once inside, they immediately went down stairs. The crystals lining the walls previously, were still in place. The red robed guy did not return to claim them.
"What are these things, anyway?" asked Samantha.
Kitty picked up one of the crystals then frowned at it. "Essence stones. They contain the essence of supernatural beings."
"What good does that do?" Samantha picked up one of the crystals as well, then tapped it lightly with her finger.
"Depends on the one using them. I can't use something like this, but a magic user might use it to conjure all sorts of things, or make enchanted items," said Kitty.
"So, valuable?" asked Scott.
"If you plan to study magic? Yes," said Kitty. "I don't know much about it, but they can be used for all sorts of things."
"We'll have to load them up and take them back to the hub. I won't be able to store all of these in my storage," said Scott.
The idea of having magical items to study filled Scott with a giddy sense of hope for the future. The gravitas flower, and boom seed, were great items but they were not the same as personally controlled power. They were essentially a consumable power-up item with a heavy drawback. Overwhelmingly useful in a life or death battle, but on long term missions the withdrawal symptoms would be devastating.
Roughly one day of superhuman ability granted by those items, would lead to several days of severe weakness and some physical pain. The damage to his body might not even heal properly until he could reach his home point. No, the floral powers were not to be used lightly.
Scott stored some of the crystals in one of the closets upstairs, and then helped the girls to load the truck with the rest. In total, they numbered nearly three hundred and varied in size from about the length of his hand from wrist to middle finger tip, to the length of his pinky finger. Most were a happy medium between the extremes.
Kitty frowned at the largest crys
tal, one slightly bigger than the others. "This is where he stored my essence, and I can't even get it back."
"Sorry. Maybe we can figure something out," said Scott.
"It's fine. I only have to absorb the energies given off by moonlight. It will just take a few months to gain all of my energy back," said Kitty.
Scott nodded to her then put the crystal into the truck's glove compartment. He wanted to keep that one separate from the rest, just in case they could do something special with it.
They were about to leave when Kitty remembered something. "Did you get the grimoire?"
"Grimoire?" Scott looked at her curiously. "What do you mean?"
"The red mage's spell book? I know he has one here, somewhere," said Kitty.
"I haven't seen one! Do you have any idea where it is?" asked Scott.
"Well, I think so," she said.
Scott followed her back inside while Samantha stood guard near the truck. They went back down into the basement, and then into the room where Kitty had been imprisoned.
"I know it should be in here somewhere," she said. Kitty looked around for a brief moment then pointed to an innocuous section of wall.
"There. Behind the slightly discolored section of paneling," she said.
Scott went over to check the wall. After a few minutes of poking and prodding, he discovered a hidden catch. A small section of wall opened to reveal several interesting items. "Hello!"
Inside the hidden area, he discovered a small knife with a red jewel in the hilt, several large crystals, a sack of gold coins, and a well-used book. "Man, I hope the leather on this book is made from a cow..."
Kitty started to speak, but her voice cut off suddenly. The world grew dark and then shifted to a black and white color scheme. Only the items inside the wall remained in color.
A message screen popped up to inform him of something that made his heart skip a beat. Scott grinned as he read through the information provided.
Galactic Fist of Legend: Volume 2 Page 8