Despite her brave words, Mai was shaking like a new-born lamb. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d had a proper meal, sleep, or not felt as though the whole world was watching and waiting for her to die.

Which they fucking are, she thought with a snarl as she surveyed the battle before them. Somehow, against all odds, the low-level urbexers were holding out against the mogwai horde.

None of them were uninjured, and negative effect glyphs hung over their heads.

“No panicking, some intimidation, a little bleeding,’ Fat John helpfully pointed to the affected urbexers. As with any fight she’d found herself in, all of the urbexers had multiple glyphs hanging over them. Some, such as the POISON and BLEED were going to see their bearers dead in a few seconds.

More howls and screams sounded from the direction of the brood’s nest causing the attacking mogwai to pause for a brief second and reply.

That was when Mai struck, blasting with her shotgun she sent a sheet of fire spraying through the air to land on the unaware mogwai before her. Fat John had formed his own shotgun and added his fire to hers, literally.

HIT! 26%

BURN @3% PER SECOND

HIT! 33%

BURN @4% PER SECOND

HIT! 21%

BURN @6% PER SECOND

HIT! 22%

BURN @1% PER SECOND

HIT! 32%

BURN @8% PER SECOND

HIT! 29%

BURN @4% PER SECOND

Thrashing in agony her targets lashed out at their brood-kin, desperately trying to fight back against the pain, only adding to the confusion as the fire spread to their siblings. As soon as Mai saw her shots had caused a mogwai to catch alight she shifted her aim, not bothering to waste ammunition – and precious BIO-MASS – on already wounded opponents.

‘Don’t kill them!’ she shouted to Fat John. ‘Wear them down, get them to less than seventy-five per cent health, then we’ll take them all at once!’

She didn’t wait for him to acknowledge, but moved off to the left continuing to fire with each step.

KILL ASSIST!

BOUNTY! 50 UC!

MOGWAI TITLE X%

The urbexers were too far away to have heard what she said to Fat John and over the sound of the monsters before them, and the approaching second wave, there wasn’t a chance she could let them know what her plan was.

No matter. If they managed to kill any mogwai it didn’t negate her plan, and she had a feeling that she’d be using SONIC BOOM more than once in this battle.

HIT! 24%

BURN @ 3% PER SECOND

HIT! 34%

BURN @ 4% PER SECOND

HIT! 19%

BURN @ 6% PER SECOND

HIT! 17%

BURN @ 1% PER SECOND

HIT! 39%

BURN @ 8% PER SECOND

HIT! 26%

BURN @ 4% PER SECOND

KILL ASSIST!

BOUNTY! 50 UC!

KILL ASSIST!

BOUNTY! 50 UC!

Looking over, she saw that Fat John was nearly back to her, both of them close to completing a full circuit of the ring of mogwai. It was utter chaos, PANIC glyphs appearing over the engulfed creatures.

Almost as if they were one organism the brood surged towards the urbexers, the whole circle contracting as the flaming beasts lunged towards the battered explorers and then, as the PANIC took effect, the circle broke, the disgusting creatures turning tail. Right towards Mai and Fat John.

‘It’s hard to see, what with the flames, but there’s a red outline around the ones you can attack with SONIC BOOM!’ Yelled her former boss. ‘Ladies first!’

Mai smiled, baring her teeth as she blink-clicked on a flashing icon in her retinal monitor. It resembled an open mouth, with what appeared to be three arcs expanding from it.

Immediately her mouth opened and she sucked in more air than she ever had before. It felt as though her lungs would explode. And yet more air entered them. It took only a split second, and then the attack forced the air out in one explosive split second

KILL!

BOUNTY! 50UC

KILL!

BOUNTY! 50UC

KILL!

BOUNTY! 50UC

KILL!

BOUNTY! 50UC

KILL!

BOUNTY! 50UC

KILL!

BOUNTY! 50UC

KILL!

BOUNTY! 50UC

KILL!

BOUNTY! 50UC

KILL!

BOUNTY! 50UC

KILL!

BOUNTY! 50UC

KILL!

BOUNTY! 50UC

KILL!

BOUNTY! 50UC

KILL!

BOUNTY! 50UC

KILL!

BOUNTY! 50UC

KILL!

BOUNTY! 50UC

KILL!

BOUNTY! 50UC

KILL!

BOUNTY! 50UC

KILL!

BOUNTY! 50UC

KILL!

BOUNTY! 50UC

KILL!

BOUNTY! 50UC

KILL!

BOUNTY! 50UC

KILL!

BOUNTY! 50UC

KILL!

BOUNTY! 50UC

KILL!

BOUNTY! 50UC

KILL!

BOUNTY! 50UC

KILL!

BOUNTY! 50UC

NEW TITLE! WHAT A BANKER!

YOU HAVE COLLECTED TEN BOUNTIES IN UNDER ONE MINUTE!

She heard nothing beyond the sound of the air leaving her lungs. It was as if she was breathing on ice to melt it. And that was precisely what happened to the creatures before her. In an instant the flames wreathing them were snuffed out.

But the effect upon the creatures was utterly horrific. They were flensed. Flesh and tendons were bared for a split second before being stripped from the creatures’ skeletons. Bones shattered, veins spilled their contents in a mist which coated the unfortunate urbexers.

“Fuck. Me.” Mai had seen the effect of SONIC BOOM before, but to actually have such an attack at her beck and call was a totally different matter. She felt like a god. Arms outstretched she gave a roar of exultation. And was knocked flying.

“Gods, Mai! Pay attention. You haven’t got them all!” Fortunately, the mogwai which had ended her premature celebration didn’t stay to rip her throat out, but just bounded off down the sewer, screeching in pain. “Only those under seventy five per cent!”

Fat John had reverted back to his double-bladed Fat Cutter, the blades glowing as they cut through the few remaining mogwai. So wounded were they by the flames and damage done by the urbexers, that it took little effort to finish them.

Cursing, Mai pushed herself up out of the excrement, working her arm where it had taken both the brunt of the impact and the landing. Standing to one side, she was happy to let the urbexers assist Fat John in killing the stragglers.

What really worried her was the approaching second wave. The acoustics of the sewer tunnels had made them sound as though they were closer than they truly were, but they were still closing, and their screeching had taken on a more determined, angrier tone.

“Damn, damn, damn,” she crafted mines, wincing as they were formed from her flesh. Throwing them as far as she could from herself and the urbexers, she created a rough semi-circle before throwing a couple more closer.

BIO-MASS – 40%

Eight mines, five per cent each, a whole forty per cent of BIO-MASS to create them.

“How are you people holding up?” she looked over at the urbexers. Most of them had been fully healed, or as close as possible, but their armour was battered and they looked utterly exhausted.

“We’ll do, but we’ve lost Christi and Ewan,” Kitty stepped forward, pointing to a couple of bodies lying where the urbexers had formed for their last stand.

“Then we run,” Mai pointed off into the distance at the now visible mogwai as they surged towards the party. Not waiting for a response she was off, snatching at Fat John’s arm to pull him along with her.

It felt as though she’d spent her life running. Each step was torture. Calf muscles stiff, feet aching, thighs feeling as though they were made of wood, she felt as though her body was fighting air.

Chest tight, she tried to suck in air but could never seem to get enough. Screeches and screams chasing her down the tunnel she tried to keep up with the others.

Any moment now, she thought, arms pumping, heart pounding, no breath seeming to be large enough to fuel her body. Damned acoustics!

And then there was a flash of light so bright it threw their shadows before them for a split second. Close on its heels was a rolling peel of thunder as the other mines detonated.

INSTAKILL!

BOUNTY! 50UC

INSTAKILL!

BOUNTY! 50UC

INSTAKILL!

BOUNTY! 50UC

INSTAKILL!

BOUNTY! 50UC

INSTAKILL!

BOUNTY! 50UC

INSTAKILL!

BOUNTY! 50UC

INSTAKILL!

BOUNTY! 50UC

INSTAKILL!

BOUNTY! 50UC

INSTAKILL!

BOUNTY! 50UC

INSTAKILL!

BOUNTY! 50UC

INSTAKILL!

BOUNTY! 50UC

INSTAKILL!

BOUNTY!50UC

HIT! 76%

BLEED @10% PER SECOND

HIT! 77%

BLEED @3% PER SECOND

PANIC!

HIT! 80%

BLEED @10% PER SECOND

CRITICAL HIT! 87%

CRIPPLED!

PANIC!

BLEED @14% PER SECOND

HIT! 77%

BLEED @11% PER SECOND

HIT! 76%

BLEED @13% PER SECOND

PANIC!

HIT! 80%

BLEED @11% PER SECOND

Mai spun to face the mogwai. No longer was there a tide of bodies flowing through the excrement to tear her and her friends apart. Instead there were heaps of smoking flesh and creatures screaming in agony or licking at horrific wounds in their flesh.

Without an iota of mercy she selected SONIC BOOM and unleashed it. It was as if she poured all her anger, fear and hatred into the attack, stamping forward and pushing with her hands as if that would add force to her attack.

KILL!

BOUNTY! 50UC

KILL!

BOUNTY! 50UC

KILL!

BOUNTY! 50UC

KILL!

BOUNTY! 50UC

KILL!

BOUNTY! 50UC

KILL!

BOUNTY! 50UC

Silence. Only the painting of the humans with her broke it. It was as if she’d been living with the sounds of mogwai her entire life and now that her pursuers were utterly destroyed, in some cases totally removed from the face of the planet, there was a void.

“Remind me to never get on the wrong side of you,” Kitty said, laying a hand on her shoulder and giving it a gentle rock. “You are utterly bad ass!”

Mai bent over and threw up over her own boots, somewhat spoiling the moment. Straightening, she looked over at the urbexers.

“Want some more items?” She looked over at Fat John. “Even splits okay with you?”

“More than,” he smiled, looking far older than his years. “Waste not, want not.”