Advance (Animus Book 4)

by Joshua Anderle

  “Fuck off and die, you creep,” Lazar yelled and pounded a shoulder into the killer’s back to thrust him away. Lazar dropped his launcher and hauled out his machine gun, but it wouldn’t unfold. He slammed it against his leg. “Come on…activate, you piece of—” The weapon came to life and he hip-fired at Gin, who darted behind several of the generators and boxes lining the roof and flipped over the end of the roof across from them.

  “You slimy, cowardly bitch,” the merc roared. Kaiden grunted as he sat up and took a deep breath as he placed Debonair on the ground. His expression set with purpose; he wrapped his hand around the spike, clenched his teeth, and snarled in pain as he managed to pull the metal only partially out.

  “Is this thing lined with barbs or something? It’s barely budging.” He groaned.

  “You’re thinking about it too much. It makes you hesitate,” Lazar stated and grabbed the prong in one massive hand. “Just do it.” He ripped the spike free, and the ace yelped in pain. “Hang on, kid. I can heal that quickly.” He tossed Kaiden his machine gun and popped the thumb on his gauntlet which emitted a small flame. The merc spun the segment beneath it and the fire gained intensity to become a jet flame. “I got some surge rejuv, but it requires me to heat the wound first. I gotta cauterize it.”

  “Go ahead.” Kaiden raised his hand and peered over the side of the building. “But make it quick. I don’t want this guy to get the drop on us again.”

  “Try not to bite your tongue off,” Lazar warned. He held the wounded hand and ran the flame over the top. Kaiden tried to choke back his pained screams, but as Lazar turned his hand and applied the flame to the other side, a brief bellow escaped before he tried to calm himself with deep breaths. The merc flipped the top of his thumb shut and adjusted the setting to its original position. He retrieved a vial of silver-white liquid and applied it to the wound top and bottom. The relief was almost immediate—a similar sting to the adhesive Kaiden had applied to his leg, but it was certainly less than what he felt as the spike was ripped out from his flesh and the wound flambéed.

  “Thanks,” he said through clenched teeth. Lazar helped him to stand, and they both jumped at a crash behind them. Magellan limped up the steps to the roof.

  “What happened to you?” Lazar asked.

  “I blocked a kick from his metal leg which smashed mine to bits,” he growled. “I was knocked back down, barely caught myself, and took some shots, but I think I only hit him once or twice. Where is he?”

  “He disappeared over the side,” Kaiden informed him. “We had to do some emergency surgery. He hasn’t shown his face since them.”

  “He’s baiting us,” Magellan huffed. “Biding his time for something.” He staggered and his teammates helped him up the remaining few steps.

  “Are you in any shape to fight?” Kaiden asked as he handed Lazar his machine gun.

  Magellan pointed to his leg which was wrapped in some sort of black cloth. “I’ll be better in a few minutes. It needs to set. We will finish this.”

  “What do you think he’s waiting for?” the merc asked and looked around. “His barrier has come back. Do you think his cloak is back on too?”

  “Not good enough for us to not see him. He might be translucent, but the shot drains his systems’ energy and staggers the recharge. If his barrier is already up, that thing is better than I was led to believe.”

  “It’s not good enough to create big barriers, but he— Wait, that noise.” A loud, ringing screech echoed on the wind—one Kaiden was familiar with. It made his blood run cold.

  “Finally. I began to wonder if that stuff was useless.” The trio turned as one. Gin sat on a large generator above them and seemed to ignore them as he looked up at the sky. As Kaiden retrieved Debonair and aimed at the killer, he noticed a brown liquid coating the generator he sat on.

  “Chief, what is that?”

  “Scanning… Oh, that’s not good. That’s a liquid constituted of mutant pheromones, Kaiden.”

  “For all mutants?”

  “No, for—”

  The wind kicked up as another cry rang out. Kaiden’s eyes widened as he saw something that, until now, he was only familiar with in the Animus.

  “Oh, two of them.” Gin chuckled. “I wonder how many will gather in a few more minutes.”

  Two large creatures soared toward them, red and black in color, with beaks like scythes and hardened feathers that glinted in the light of the setting sun like scales.

  Devil birds.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Kaiden stood and stared, wide-eyed, as the flying mutants approached. Several shots rang out as his companions fired at Gin who flipped over the generator. The ace saw the Yokai still on the ground and ran to snatch it up. He shoved it haphazardly in Debonair’s holster.

  “You are not getting away,” Lazar shouted and raced behind the generator, only to be knocked back by a kick from the killer.

  “Oh, of course, I’m not. I have no intention of leaving. This is getting spirited,” Gin quipped. Magellan raised his rifle and fired directly at him, but he blocked it with a hard-light shield barely bigger than the palm of his hand. “Tch, you’re getting predictable Magellan.”

  The bounty hunter responded by launching two small spikes from his gauntlet which struck the man in the leg. They activated and shocked him, and he laughed and danced around. “Ah! Ow! Neat party trick.”

  Magellan removed the rifle’s magazine and slotted in a new one before he drew the gas pistol and fired the remaining two shots at Gin. The shots exploded at his feet and again enveloped him in the gas.

  “Kid, call the dropship,” he ordered.

  “What?” Kaiden balked. “Those devil birds will tear it out of the sky!”

  “Not if we keep them distracted,” the bounty hunter retorted. “Look, you lost your Tempest, Lazar lost his cannon, and his launcher has no ammo. My rifle is down to its last two mags which is twenty-four shots. We ain’t got enough to take those things down ourselves and deal with Gin. The guns on the ship aren’t exactly top-of-the-line, but they should be enough to at least take those big bastards out of the sky if not eliminate them completely.”

  “We can head back into the building,” Kaiden said and pointed to the rooftop entrance. “Fight him where he doesn’t have room to maneuver.”

  “Neither will we,” Magellan countered. “He’s already started to toy with the two of you. Do you really want to see what happens when he gets bored?”

  “I thought you said we would finish this.”

  Magellan growled, grabbed Kaiden by his chest armor, and pulled him close. “Do you think I suggest this out of cowardice, kid?” he fumed. “As long as I can still walk and he keeps fighting, I won’t leave unless he’s dead or I am. But I won’t ignore those flapping beasts. Now call the dropship. If she bitches, tell her I’ll pay for the damages and ammo.”

  The ace looked at Lazar who now scrambled to his feet and muttered curses. Gin had still not emerged from the gas. Kaiden nodded silently and retrieved the small beacon device from the slot on his shoulder. “You should have kept this with you,” he said as he broke the covering and pressed the button down until it blinked with a blue light.

  “It was more important that one of you had it,” Magellan stated. He opened his Volt pistol and removed one large, battery-like cartridge from it and slid in another. “This is meant to be used on droids or guys like Gin who use a lot of tech, but it has plenty of power behind it. It might be enough to make those devil birds think twice about—”

  Something shimmered on a box behind the bounty hunter and a blurred shape appeared for a moment. “Magellan, move,” Kaiden shouted. He pushed him aside as Gin leapt into the attack and aimed the killer’s own pistol at him. Without conscious thought, he pressed the trigger to coil the shot.

  The spike gouged into Gin, and he decloaked and tumbled to the surface. He flipped a couple of times before he managed to drag his metal hand along the roof to stop his slide.

&
nbsp; “Shooting me with my own gun?” the killer inquired. He wrenched the spike from his rib, and a trail of blood spurted before it was covered by a foam-like substance released by his armor. “How rude.” His voice had lowered and no longer held the delighted tone it had maintained up until now.

  One of the devil birds landed on the edge of the roof as the other circled above the group. Gin looked at the mutant. “It’s ironic. Now, I wish I hadn’t called these things here.” He glared at Kaiden and Magellan as his body became transparent again. “I want to take my time with you, kid.”

  The bounty hunter fired his pistol, the beam of electricity aimed directly at the killer. It struck the underside of the devil bird instead of the man and released another shockwave. The creature squawked in surprise and arcs of electricity danced up its body. The other screeched in the air and swooped down to dive-bomb the men on the roof.

  Magellan aimed his rifle at the oncoming bird and fired four shots as it descended. Each struck the mutant’s head, and it screeched again as it shook its head in pain. Kaiden and the bounty hunter used the moment to rush out of the way as the winged mutant slammed into the roof.

  The rooftop gave way as cracks formed from the impact. A sudden shadow alerted the ace, and he looked up. The devil bird Magellan had shocked now stood above him, its sharp beak poised to strike.

  Kaiden threw himself aside as it descended to impale itself only a few feet away. He scrambled to his feet as the mutant yanked its beak from the surface and released an angry hiss when it turned to swipe at him.

  He spun clear and felt the wind of the beast’s attack behind him. It continued its efforts to skewer him, and he weaved to avoid it. The speed of the attacks increased as the devil bird’s strength quickly returned. Kaiden occasionally tried to fire at the creature, but neither his Debonair or Gin’s Yokai did much to injure or slow the mutant down. The attacks certainly didn’t calm it either.

  Magellan and Lazar fought the other devil bird. The merc had jumped onto its back while it was down and now fired his machine gun directly into its skull.

  The bounty hunter took aim as the beast violently thrashed. When it opened its beak to shriek, he delivered a volley of shots into the gaping maw. Smoke billowed from its mouth, and it continued to buck and flapped its wings to take flight once more. Finally, it managed to dislodge Lazar, who landed hard and vented his machine gun as his partner continued to shoot.

  “We don’t have the firepower to take them down!” the merc roared.

  Magellan lowered his rifle as the devil bird took to the skies. “Maybe not conventionally. Do you still have your grenade launcher with you?”

  “Yeah, but all I have are the kid’s useless shockers.”

  “Not useless. Let me see one.” Magellan took one of the grenades that Lazar tossed him, “Kaiden said they were short-circuited when Gin hit him with the arc piston, but my guess is that they deactivated the priming and activation switches. The energy still remains.” He used a small knife to dig into the outer shell of the shock, tore off a piece, and studied the interior. “Yes, this will work, but there won’t be a lot of room to mess up.”

  “Unfortunately, the only consistent thing we’ve done is fuck up.” Kaiden ran from the other devil bird and created small tremors that they felt through their boots. “Hey, kid, would you keep it down?”

  “Would you get off your ass and help?” Kaiden shouted and turned to fire Debonair as the devil bird opened its beak and tried to bite him. He dove to the ground as the two halves of the beak closed directly above him, pushed up, and continued his dash across the roof. His furious assailant continued the pursuit.

  “It seems its wings are still paralyzed from the shock,” Magellan observed. “But my guess is not for much longer.”

  Lazar sighed, readied his launcher, and unwound the belt of grenades from his arm. “Here, take these.” He tossed them on the ground in front of the bounty hunter as he closed the vent of his machine gun. “I’ll go help the kid. Finish doing whatever you plan to do with that, and don’t let that freak catch you unawares.”

  “No need to worry about that,” Magellan responded. “He’ll show himself again soon but having his gadgets still not at their best seems to have shaken him slightly. If he was caught in that second blast, he’s probably playing it cautious again.”

  “He can play this however he wants,” the merc growled as he walked away. “I’ll take him out the next time he decides to show his face.”

  “Would you piss off already?” Kaiden yelled and hurdled over a generator as the devil bird smashed it under its talons directly behind him. The ace had begun to tire. He’d been beaten, stabbed, shocked, and had run from mutants for the last few hours. All that now accumulated, and he wasn’t sure how much longer he could maintain his current pace.

  Rapid laser fire erupted behind him when Lazar blazed at the back of the mutant. “Over here, you ugly son of a bitch!” the merc howled. The creature turned and Kaiden could see its eye widen and its iris sharpen in anger. He saw an opening, spun, and pulled the trigger of the Yokai to direct a shot into its eye.

  It struck home, and the mutant emitted a pained, angry screech.

  “Nice shot,” Lazar complimented him. “But now it looks more pissed off than before.” The mutant flapped its wings. They were still too stiff for it to take off, but that didn’t seem to be the goal. Instead, it whipped them around aimlessly as if attempting to hit them or toss them with the wind velocity.

  Lazar continued his barrage until his gun overheated. Kaiden fired two more shots from the Yokai. One hit the devil bird in the head, and the other struck its throat. A small spray of blood erupted.

  The Yokai was out of ammo, and Gin hadn’t been kind enough to leave more. Kaiden grunted, slid Debonair into its holster, and shoved the Yokai into a compartment on his leg. He braced himself and ran toward the beast, ducked under its flailing wing, and jumped to wrap an arm around its throat. Clinging with one hand, he grabbed the spike with the other and tried to force it in a little farther.

  “What are you doing, kid?” Lazar shouted. “That thing could take off any second.”

  “And we’ll be easy pickings for the both of them,” Kaiden responded and now climbed to the mutant’s head. “We gotta keep it grounded as long as we can. Keep firing.”

  “You’re in the way,” Lazar said, although he snapped his gun closed and aimed at the beast.

  “Then shoot anything that isn’t me.” The ace continued to climb until he was at the top of the devil bird’s head. The merc’s slugs tore into its body and it wiggled its head quickly to throw Kaiden off as he retrieved his blade and stabbed it into the other eye.

  The mutant screamed and thrashed and stomped its feet into the roof in pain.

  “Kaiden, jump off,” Magellan ordered when he approached from behind Lazar with the launcher and aimed it at the mutant’s open mouth. The ace placed his feet against the bird’s neck and pushed himself off to land several yards away. The beast turned to snap at Lazar and gave the bounty hunter the perfect shot into its mouth.

  He fired the launcher and a glowing orb arced from the weapon and down the creature’s gullet. An explosive sound issued from within the devil bird. It reared back and screeched, and electric sparks erupted from its mouth before it collapsed.

  “What did you do?” Lazar asked as he looked at the defeated mutant.

  “I unlocked the safety mechanism on the bottom of the battery in the grenade, releasing the energy,” the bounty hunter explained. “It supercharges the grenade and increases the energy output and blast radius, but you’re as likely to get caught in the blast as whoever you’re tossing it at, so I improvised.”

  “Heh, good work.” Lazar kicked the mutant’s head.

  Kaiden approached it cautiously. “Is it dead?”

  “I don’t feel like checking for a pulse. But even if it isn’t, I doubt it will recover in time for it to pose a problem for us.”

  At a shrill cry from
above, the three turned their attention to the remaining creature. “Do you think you can pull a repeat performance?” Kaiden asked.

  “Perhaps, but it doesn’t look like that’ll be necessary,” Magellan stated and looked in the opposite direction.

  “What do you—" Kaiden’s question cut off when several explosive shots struck the mutant. It jerked, and the massive wings flapped less vigorously as its head snapped toward the north. The dropship approached with its cannons primed. It fired several more shots. The mutant managed to dodge a few, but the rest found their target. It didn’t even cry out as it plummeted to the jungle below.

  “That will cost you boys extra when we get back,” the pilot’s voice chastised from their comms. “That’s for getting me involved in your mess. Have you found the thing you came here for?”

  “We have,” Magellan acknowledged and gestured with his thumb to the cylinder on his back. “But I recommend you stay at a safe distance for now. There’s been a complication.”

  “Whatever. I’m hourly,” she snorted. “But hurry the hell up. I’d prefer not to hang around here and deal with more bullshit than I have to.”

  The bounty hunter was silent for a moment, then removed the canister from his back and held it in his hand. “You guys should go ahead and head out.”

  Lazar spat a wad of saliva and blood to the ground. “We’ve already been through this,” he growled. “I’m not leaving until I take out that chirpy asshole. His little party favors are dead, and he’ll come back.”

  “He might have actually left this time,” Magellan pointed out. “He didn’t take any opportunity to attack us. If he didn’t intend to—”

  “Magellan!” Kaiden shouted and pointed behind the bounty hunter with one hand while the other reached for Debonair.

  Gin stood with his arm raised and his blade firmly in his grasp. Magellan leapt back, tossed the canister aside, and slung his rifle into his hands. Lazar beat him to it and blasted his machine gun into the man’s chest. The shots passed right through, and the killer didn’t move. His body became transparent, and his head and arms shook with static.