“I can’t see him!” Rei glanced around, using her x-ray vision. Nothing appeared behind the slime and the trash around the water.

"Look out!" Luna blasted her gun. Her fireball shot flew over Rei's shoulder and hit a shadow that almost reached Rei.

The explosion pushed her into the water as black slime rained over her. She sat up and rubbed the guck off her hair. "Yuck!"

"We have to get out of the water!" Luna shouted. "Up here!"

She placed her gun into the holster and clambered up a tall pile of black, oily spheres. Whatever it was, Rei didn't want to know. She only climbed up next for the sake of her life.

At the top, Rei and Luna aimed their E-guns down, watching the water. Muck drifted around the oil pile, swimming like a serpent, waiting for his prey.

"He clearly has an advantage in the water," Rei mentioned.

"You think?" Luna shouted.

I was just saying the water seems to make him strong. We need to fight him on dry land, Rei replied through her psy-link.

How? Nothing is dry here! Luna shouted inside Rei's head.

There should be….. Rei stared at the drone hovering toward her.

She smirked at it. Yuleka! I will use that vermin exterminator drone to survey this section! There might be a chamber we can trap him in.

Then hurry up! Luna blasted the water, but she missed.

Rei nodded and focused her eyes on the drone. The drone’s screen appeared on her right side within her computer vision.

Go! As if the drone heard her thought, the hovering machine glided through the tunnel, buzzing like a bee.

Luna’s blasts echoed around Rei’s ears, but she kept her focus on the drone’s screen. Come on! Come on!

About one mile, the drone flew out through the tunnel end, where the water fell down into a pool. Beyond the pool stood old buildings, standing around broken streets and wrecked cars. The vehicles and buildings appeared to be modern, and also ancient. Broken windows, chipped walls, and cobwebs hanging from the cracks.

Above the city was a metal ceiling with pipes and pillars touching the ground between the old structures. No bushes or plants grew along the sideways, since no sunlight could reach the enormous subterranean chamber. But fortunately, there was no water inside the unknown section.

There is an old city down the tunnel from here, Rei acknowledged.

Luna shot again. The explosion erupts in the water. That must be Jackson City. The corporations built Moreau City over it.

I see no water source in the city. We could lure him there.

Good idea! Luna shot an electric bolt into the water, zapping Muck as he screamed.

Go! Luna leaped down into the water after the electricity vanished. She raced down the tunnel as Rei followed her.

Toward the end, the black panther jumped down from the waterfall and splashed into the pool below.

Rei stopped and looked down. She was surprised her partner took a leap of faith without looking.

"Hurry!" Luna shouted as she climbed out of the pool.

Rei looked back and saw Muck charging toward her. She immediately jumped down and splashed into the pool.

Luna helped her out, and they raced toward the city. On the street, they ran past street posts, old signs, and trash left on the cracked sidewalk.

All the rusted cars had wheels, which was odd. Most cars no longer used wheels because they hover through the sky. Nobody needed wheels anymore where Rei came from.

"How old is this city?" Rei asked.

"About a hundred, I think," Luna answered. "Let’s hide in there!"

Rei spotted an old diner with a giant hamburger statue on top in the middle of an intersection. Since the windows were broken, Luna leaped through one of them and ducked behind the window. Rei joined her and ducked. "Now what?"

Luna peeked through the window. "We can fight him here, but he can hide anywhere. Somehow we need to trap him."

Rei glanced across the street. A repair shop with an open garage stood on the other side. She pointed her finger at the square building. "How about in there? If we close all the entrances, he can't escape from us."

"Good! Then we can freeze him and call back-up." Luna turned toward Rei. "You will lure him to the garage while I prepare to close the door."

Rei widened her eyes. "Why me?"

"Because he wants you."

"Gongjeonghaji anhda! He wants you too!"

Luna hissed. "He wants you first! Stop being a pussy and go get him!"

Rei sighed and stepped out through the window. If she planned to become a professional bounty hunter, then she must be brave. Chicken bounty hunters don't get paid. She didn't mean chicken Humanimals though.