Goar waited under the streetlamp near a brick foundry. At his feet knelt a robotic figure with large white eyes. Goar held a minigun to the back of the robot's head. The robot was a little banged up but seemed to be intact. He had no perceivable mouth or ears or nose. Just a round head with oversized eyes. His chest was a gray round case with two red vertical stripes, and he had unnaturally long arms and legs.

Goar let go of his gun with one hand and lifted the gunsmith bot with his free hand. The bot looked from the minotaur to the large machine approaching. I tried to imagine what the robot was thinking seeing the large many-legged mechanical monster coming down the alley.

We came to a stop as Goar raised his gun to point at us. He growled something at the robot and pulled the bot in front of him allowing his gun to rest on its shoulder.

I unstrapped from my chair and walked toward the door.

"This robot is the property of Magus Barker." Goar shouted, "If you have an issue, take it up with him."

I headed down the spiral stairs and turned to the hall leading to the jaw.

"I'm gonna give you the count of three and then I'm gonna cut a hole from your forehead to your salad shooter." Goar threatened.

"I really like him." Tootsie danced about my head. "He makes me feel all jittery."

"One."

I crossed the dark room and felt for the lever.

"Two."

"Damp buttery biscuits." I cursed to myself as I felt for the lever. I pulled it and crossed quickly to the opening as the jaw lowered.

Goar stood, his mouth hanging open as he spotted me in the creature's mouth. He cleared his throat and swung his gun away from me. "Magus, excuse me, I thought you were part of the guard."

I smiled with all four fists planted on my hips. "Good catch Goar. See you got a new gun too."

"Yep," he grinned, "and enough ammo to carve a canyon."

"What's your friend's name?" I asked.

"Dunno, I call him kettle head." Goar pushed the bot toward the mouth of the dragon skull.

"How did you catch him?"

"Caught him hunched over his crafting table. Smashed his head over it a couple times and talked him into joining our party with a muzzle in his eye. He was pretty eager to join, I must say."

"Well, Kettle Head, glad to have you on board." I patted the robot on the shoulder as he passed. The robot turned his head and stared blankly at me and Goar shoved him toward the main hall.

"What do you call this thing?" Goar looked down the hall at all the doors. He had not noticed the spiral staircase yet. I flipped the switch and the jaw closed.

"Her name is Beth." I replied. I started up the spiral staircase and pointed down the hall. "Find a good room to lock him in."

"Son of a Beth, she is huge." Goar walked down the hall.

"Goar." I stopped near the top of the stairs and looked back.

Goar turned and rested his minigun on his shoulder. He had a new bullet belt across his chest and combat boots. He had done some shopping at the gunsmith.

"You did get the smithing table, right?" I asked.

Goar patted his pouch on his hip and winked. "A few other things too. Might even name my new gun after your ship." He lifted his gun and turned it so the light danced over the barrels. "She looks like a Beth."

"She sure does." I said and pushed the hidden lever. The door opened behind me, and I stepped inside. "There is a kitchen down in the belly. Go get some grub." I let the door close and walked back over to my chair. "One down, eleven more to go."

"We need to be out of here by dawn." Mia warned. "Hermes will be back by then."

"Better double down then." I strapped in and put my feet on the pedals. Mia turned the head and lifted us up above the buildings to see better. A loud ping made her turn the head to the left. A sniper lay on his stomach two buildings over.

I rolled the ball back and we began to climb the building between us and the sniper. Mia worked frantically to keep our head pointed at him. The hunchback fired a blast of flame as we created the top of the building. Two more pings hit us on the right. We turned just as the sniper, fully aflame, ran off the edge of the building and fell to the ground with a pop.

Sniper killed exp: 1856

Level up

Wow I even received experience from the Beth. I hadn't even pulled the trigger. We swung around on our long neck and swooped halfway down the side of the building to look at a patrol truck. The leather and spike clad thugs in the truck dropped their guns. The truck began driving back and forth trying to turn around and escape.

I operated the foot pedals, but the body of Beth was too high up the building to reach down with her claws. I rolled the ball back and we began to descend the side of the building, metal feet plunging through the concrete in rapid bangs.

The truck was finally turned around and his tires squealed on the pavement as he blasted down the alley. I rolled the ball back and two the right and we propelled forward turning left. Mia was slower to turn our head and I caught a glimpse of our long centipede-like metallic body.

Then we were on the chase. We turned corners crawling up the sides of buildings and pushing off back down into the street as the truck maneuvered down side roads to lose us. Hunchback fired blasts of searing flame narrowly missing the truck and scorching the buildings black.

I finally caught the truck with my right claw curling my toes to crunch the truck like a pop can then hurling it off the side of a building as the thugs screamed terror.

Four Thugs killed 3880

Level up

I then noticed the growing monster in the darkness ahead. Vines stretched out as the object grew larger. I laughed and the thing ran toward us dragging something along with it. "I'll get her." I said throwing off my buckles and sprinting for the door.

As I ran down the stairs, I heard a loud bang. "It's me." I yelled down the hall as I ran toward the jaw. "It's me."

"I bet she could get in here." Tootsie laughed. "She is mad enough, crazy as a bat too."

I flipped the switch and as the jaw opened vines slipped in through the mouth. I stepped back so I wouldn't get caught by them. They pried at the upper and lower jaw of the door trying to spread them faster. Then she saw me and her angry face went slack.

"What are you doing in there, Rage?" Shia asked letting go of the door and allowing it to open itself.

She had a small, strange man wrapped up in the vines behind her. His face was contorted in pain and terror. He had thick long whiskers sticking out the sides of his fat upper lip. Some kind of antenna coming from his forehead and wings like a butterfly on his back. He wore white spandex suspenders. He had short blonde hair combed to the side.

Tootsie buzzed around the butterfly man inspecting his white and blue wings.

"This is my Beth." I looked from the strange man, "I mean my ship. My mobile fortress."

"Where did you get it?" Shia stepped inside and shoved the winged man ahead of her.

"From a hunchback worshipper." I shrugged. "He's a big fan."

"Get in there." A large cyclops stumbled over the jaw and landed on the stairs behind Shia. Thurnar and his son's climbed in lifting their legs high over the teeth. "Gotcha a two fer one." Thurnar announced swiping his palms off each other. "He's an armorer and a black smith. Twice the work half the weight."

The Cyclops stood to his full height and his eye was level with mine despite being halfway down the stairs. "Well twice the work anyway." Dredge laughed and slapped his dad on the shoulder. Mido grunted his agreement, and the three dwarves shoved the giant up the stairs past me.

"Is that everybody?" I asked, reaching for the handle.

"I saw the lovers quarreling in the next alley over." Shia answered.

"Did they have a craftsman?"

“They had three, that is why they were fighting I think.” Shia laughed.

The cyclops turned his head to look back at me. Thurnar and Dredge shoved him forward. Mido mumbled something to his brother.

“What is his name?” I called to Thurnar.

Thurnar laughed, “I call him Popeye, cause I already told him once.”

The giant cyclops glared down at the dwarf. Thurnar lifted his hammer in a threatening gesture.

“Shia want to join me in the cockpit. I want you to learn the controls. Mido, can you escort her uh, guest.”

Shia ran her fingers down the butterfly man’s face, and I watched as he cringed and shivered. “I call him Wasabi.” Shia thrummed.

“Well Wasabi, and Popeye, welcome to the Beth.” I waved them off and began the climb up the spiral staircase. The jaw closed with a clang behind us, and Wasabi jumped. “Let’s go get the old goats.”

“You wouldn’t say that if they were here.” Tootsie laughed.