Welcome to the Nightside

[Sloane]

I were waitin' on the street, outside the Bloody Tavern. Mao had said she'd be meetin' me aroun' here, an' I had gotten here a little bit early. I looked around at the area, an' I began to regret my choice o' meetin' place. True, we weren't goin' so far as to go inside the Bloody Tavern, which certainly did not seem like a bright decision, based on what'd happened last time we was inside. But this whole street were lookin' like a dangerous, unsavory place. Groups o' rowdy lookin' fellers were makin' their way up an' down the sidewalks, hollerin' with bottles in hand, an' lookin' for the next party. Street vendors stood at hastily erected stands, an' hawked their goods. Most o' the time, I had no idea what they was sellin', but a couple o' times I heard things I recognized, either from my own life or from the knowledge They'd given me when they reconstructed me.

Lemme tell ya, it sure caught my ear when I heard a vendor sellin' "weapons-grade plutonium". An' it didn't set me any more at ease when I saw some fellers wearin' long black trenchcoats an' sunglasses approach the stand, an' start hagglin' fer a price.

Another vendor were offerin' vials o' "Mother Mary's Urine," an' another were sellin' off pieces o' "genuine Rakshasa hide". Every one o' the buyers looked scarier than the last. The whole time I'd been here, I hadn't really ever caught a glimpse of anythin' I'd be like to call "law enforcement", an' here, on this street, where it seemed so entirely necessary, the same held true. T'be fair, it seemed like any Nightside Sheriff who tried to pull rank around here might get his head blown off from a couple different directions.

Outta nowhere, I heard a low thrummin' sound that shook every bone in my body. I spun around to see where it were comin' from, an' watched as one o' the fellers in the trenchcoats, who'd been tryin' to buy the plutonium, cast off his coat an' revealed a gleamin' silver body. In the middle o' his torso, a viewin' plate showed off a swirlin' vortex o' energies, which seemed to be the source o' the thrummin'. The cyborg held out one shiny metal arm, an' it quickly slid around an' transformed into some kinda gun barrel, with a green glow comin' from deep inside. He pointed the barrel at the vendor.

How the vendor could stand so calmly, I had no idea, 'til I saw, faintly, just barely, what looked t'be the vendor's shadow, cast by the light of a nearby streetlamp. The shadow were movin'. It seemed t'be creepin' along the ground towards the cyborg, an' just as the cyborg noticed the shadow himself, the dark seemed to pool right around the cyborg's feet. Suddenly the cyborg plummeted, as if the shadow'd become some deep hole. The shadow then crept slowly back to its proper place, behind the vendor. I coulda sworn I heard a burp comin' from it, too. The other trenchcoat wearin' figures was quick to back away and head off in another direction.

An' the whole incident had gone on with barely anyone noticin' or reactin'. Just another dispute in the Nightside. Woulda sent a shiver up my spine, if'n I still did that.

Needless to say, much as I had a lot to talk about with Mao, an' much as I wanted to get into it quickly, as soon as she showed up, I were gonna advise to move to a different place. Somewhere less likely to get us caught in a drive-by incineration.

[stormygolem]

Mao ran down the street. She had been lost in thought and well walking randomly down the street. Which she had thought afterwards wasn't really a good idea in the Nightside, since you never knew where you could end up. What was worse was she realized that she had no idea what time it was and she was supposed to meet Sloane around this time.

She stopped running as she turned a corner onto the uptown street. Finally She thought as she saw the sign for the Bloody Tavern. Mao really hoped he didn't actually want to talk inside the bar. The last time she had gone there her good friend Azeel had been attacked by vampires...and there had been a werewolf..and well it hadn't really been a very good day at all. Mao smiled to herself slightly, she had gotten to break a tough guy vampires arm that had been kind of fun. Today though she really wasn't in the mood for a scuffel with vampires.

As she walked she looked around at the incredibly busy street. There were people selling things everywhere. From time to time she would catch a name of a weapon or item from some myths in her country but most of it made no sense to her. Stopped when she heard a sudden loud thrumming noise and looked ahead of her. Between her and the Bloody Tavern was vendor with three man standing in front of it.

One suddenly threw off his coat, Mao sidestepped as it landed right next to her. Her eyes widened in surprise. The man was shiny, he seemed to be covered entirely in armor. The she noticed the hole in his chest that was swirling and filled with some sort of weird energy. The humming noise was comring from inside him.

She took a step closer to try to get a better look and realized that he wasn't wearing armor, his body was made of metal! The metal man pointed his arm at the vendor and it transformed in a hollow cylinder that was glowing. Whatever that was it couldn't be good, though the vendor didn't really look all that worried.

Mao jumped when the man just disppeared, falling into the sidewalk as if there was a trapdoor under him. She cocked her head to the side as she heard a burb come from behind the vendor. Both of the mans companions turned and ran past her.

Now that she was no longer distracted she could see Sloane waiting at the entrance to the Bloody Tavern. She waved once and ran forward, though she did make sure to give the vendor a wide burth as she passed him. Mao wasn't usually the cautious type but she really didn't feel like getting eaten by the ground.

A second later she arrived next to Sloane. She looked the man over agian. It was still weird to look at him. He was so different then what half of her expected, she could see where her memories of the other version of him and what he was now controdicted often. He had the same basic appearence but the clothes he wore to the expression on his face were so different that what she 'remembered' of him.

She smiled at him happily though. "Sorry I'm late, I lost track of time." She looked at the entrance to the Bloody Tavern and continued. "You don't plan on going in there do you?" She waved her hand the generl direction of the bar. "Last time was fairly unpleasent and it seems like most of the people who go there aren't any fun."

[Sloane]

I saw Mao approachin' from across the street, saw her wave an' come up t'me. When she finally arrived next t'me, she looked me up an' down, real quick like, but I still noticed. Didn't mind much. She couldn' quite hide her uncomfortableness in lookin' at me, but then, I couldn't blame her. Though, if'n I had to guess I'm not sure I could quite say whether or not it were because I was just disconcertin' in general, or because o' the disharmony between her false memories o' me, an' the me standin' afore her. On my end, I was startin' to be able to see her differently. Her hair were a different color, an' the Mao o' my memories didn' have a tail, or cat ears or eyes, or claws. An' even aside from the different physical qualities, there were a different air about her. The Mao o' my memories were a serious girl, a woman o' strength an' power, not to be trifled with. A stern exterior coverin' great passions, yes, but very controlled and confined within herself, an' it showed in every aspect o' her bearing. But this Mao...this Mao smiled. This Mao laughed an' waved, an' this Mao had a bounce to her step, an' a life to her that were completely different from the Mao in my memories.

I could appreciate the difference, then. This Mao were the real thing, an' those difference I was seein' were real, an' true, an' important. Made me feel a bit more real, too, an' a bit more connected to the person in front o' me.

She smiled at me, an' it were a dazzlin' pretty smile, again, somethin' that the Mao o' my memories never really did. Her smiles had always been restrained somewhat, held back by somethin' inside o' her. This smile weren't like that.

An' there were those cat-like incisors, too. Those were certainly new an' different.

"Sorry I'm late, I lost track of time," she said. I shook my head at her, about to tell her that she weren't late at all, really, an' I didn' mind waitin'...the Nightside seemed more'n ready to put on a show at all times. But she plunged on: "You don't plan on going in there do you?" I saw her gaze fall across the sign for the Bloody Tavern, the place where techn'cally we'd first met. She didn't look thrilled at the idea o' goin' back, 'specially as she waved her hand at the bar. "Last time was fairly unpleasent and it seems like most of the people who go there aren't any fun."

I couldn' help it, I snorted, tryin' to stifle a chuckle. This Mao didn' wanna go in there on account o' the people inside bein' un-fun. Fun. Apparently a primary concern for this Mao.

I needed to stop sayin' "this Mao". She weren't "this Mao", she were "THE Mao", an' I needed to get used to that idea.

"No, I reckon I'm with you there," I said, eyin' the bar myself. "Certainly don' fancy a return trip to such an inhospitable place. No, I just figgered it'd make a good place for you 'n me to meet, seein' as we both knew where it was. We can just walk fer a bit, an' talk, if'n that's okay with you." I looked down at the sidewalk fer a moment, gatherin' myself up...even bein' dead, I needed to work on my courage...an' then I looked her right in the eye. "Specifically, you 'n me need to decide where it is that we stand. I know you're not the same person as I've got in my memories, an' you know I'm not the same person in yours, even if there's similarities. We've lived differen' lives, an' it's changed us. Maybe for the better...Maybe for the worse." Fer a moment, I felt the cold in my bones swell up, deep an' deathly strong. "But that means that whate'er we think we know about the other...we might not. An' it'd be dangerous to assume we did. So here's what I'm goin' to offer to you." I sighed, an' steeled myself; this weren't easy for me. "I'll tell you about myself, whate'er you'd like to know, an' you can tell me about yerself, whate'er you think I should know. An' then, when you come to realize a bit better maybe what I am, an' what I've done, then we can decide where's we stand."

As I finished talkin', I suddenly felt an alarm bell goin' off in my head. It weren' anythin' clear, it weren't anythin' I automatically understood. But it were somethin' tellin' me...I weren' safe. We weren' safe. Someone...somethin'...was watchin', an wished harm. Somethin'...

I tensed up, lookin' aroun', but the feelin' passed, almost as suddenly as it'd come. I didn't get to be a gunfighter without trustin' my insticts...but I could admit they might be a bit flighty, 'specially in a place like the Nightside. It musta been nothin'. Nothin' at all.

I turned my gaze back to Mao. "Sound good?"

[stormygolem]

ooc-sorry this isn't the best, I had written out a better one but my browser crashed at work (where i was writing it) and I lost it. Didn't feel like trying to rewrite it.

"No, I reckon I'm with you there, Certainly don' fancy a return trip to such an inhospitable place. No, I just figgered it'd make a good place for you 'n me to meet, seein' as we both knew where it was. We can just walk fer a bit, an' talk, if'n that's okay with you." Mao nodded obviously happy with that idea. Walking around the Nightside was something the always promised to be interesting. "Specifically, you 'n me need to decide where it is that we stand. I know you're not the same person as I've got in my memories, an' you know I'm not the same person in yours, even if there's similarities. We've lived differen' lives, an' it's changed us. Maybe for the better...Maybe for the worse." Mao noticed the expression on Sloanse face change for a second as he said this. The differences between him and his counterpart seemed to have hit him worse then her. She felt like saying something but he recovered quickly and continued before she could. "But that means that whate'er we think we know about the other...we might not. An' it'd be dangerous to assume we did. So here's what I'm goin' to offer to you." She noted yet another sigh from Sloane. He obviously didn't do much talking to people like this and it seemed to be really difficult for him. "I'll tell you about myself, whate'er you'd like to know, an' you can tell me about yerself, whate'er you think I should know. An' then, when you come to realize a bit better maybe what I am, an' what I've done, then we can decide where's we stand."

After Sloane finished Mao was about to respond when he suddenly tensed up. It looked like he expected to be attacked at any second. Mao quickly looked around also trying to figure out where his percieved danger was. Another thing she learend about the Nightside was that it most defiantly wasn't safe and it was pretty much dangerous anywhere. "What is it?" she asked him.

Then he seemed to calm down. Mao raised an eyebrow quizically. Aparently whatver had gotten him worried had gone away, or at least he thought it had gone away. He looked back at her and continued. "Sound good?"

Mao nodded smiling. "Ya, that's a perfect idea." She pointed in the direction opposite of the dealer with the robot eating shadow. She would rather not pass by that agian even if it probally wouldn't attack her unless she tried to steal some plutonium...whatever that was. Mao started to walk in the direction that she had pointed. "So do you want to go first or do you want me to?" She asked.

She hadn't let her guard down since she had seen Sloane stiffen up for a second. She new she was probally just being paranoid but it was better then not being prepared and getting attacked completly unawares. Mao body language didn't show that she was expecting anything though, she had gotten very good at always acting like nothing was worrying her no matter what it was.

[Sloane]

I started walkin' alongside Mao, lookin' down ahead o' me. Partly 'cuz I didn' wanna get caught unawares by some horror come barrelin' down the street at us, as seemed wont to happen in this hellhole...partly 'cuz I still weren't sure what it were that set me off an' made me nervous, an' then vanished like that...an' partly 'cuz I didn' quite feel comfortable lookin' at Mao in the face, not when I were about to start spillin' all the nightmares o' my past.

"I'll go first," I said, an' I sucked in a deep breath through my dry lips...force o' habit, I guess, more'n actually needin' to...an' I started talkin'. "I were never a good person, really. Ain't no two ways about it. I got caught in a war, when I were young, got swept up an' into the army. Didn' have enough time to be a good person, afore a gun were slapped in my hand an' pointed at the enemy. Didn' have much time to know anythin' more than the sweat o' the fight, an' the stench o' gunfire, an' the sounds o' men, screamin', dyin', bleedin' out on the ground. Them's weren' good times fer me...or maybe they was. I didn' think much, then, didn' do much o' anythin' except killin'. Found me I had a talent, could kill like most men only dreamt of in their nightmares. Don' know how many I killed durin' that war, but more'n a few mothers probably wept floods o' tears, on account o' me an my gun." My mind started driftin' back to those days o' smoke an' blood-drenched mud, an' suddenly I were rememberin'...

Men were shouting all across the battlefield, as men often did during battle. It seemed that it was a natural reaction, to shout and yell and make noise, but it was idiocy. I moved fast and silent, keeping low amongst the trees. I would be lying if I said there wasn't a grin plastered on my face, a grin that came with the thrill of the fight, knowing that any moment might be my last, knowing that my survival chances rested entirely upon my skill as a soldier. I loved this. I lived for this. I popped my head up quickly, saw an enemy soldier locked in battle with an ally. I didn't even think about it, just found an arrow instantly knocked into my bowstring, found it raised up to my eye so I was looking right down the perfectly straight shaft, right at the enemy's skull. My fingers released, and the arrow sped forward, lightning quick, the only sign of its passing being the rush of air around its length. It thudded into the enemy soldier's skull, and he toppled to the ground. The soldier I had saved looked around, bewildered, not knowing where the arrow had come from, and then he saw me, grinning. I looked back around me, looking for Mao, to grin to her and just through that grin, to see that infuriated expression rise to her face...but she wasn't there...Mao? Where was Mao? What had happened to her...

At least I didn't stumble or stop walkin' as the memory dominated my head. I was gettin' better at feelin' those memories without losin' myself in the here an' now. Still didn' make rememberin' all that much easier. 'Specially with those feelin's runnin' through the memory. My other self...he'd thrilled to the fight. He'd loved the battle. I didn' feel much o' that, or if I did, I tried to suppress it. I was good at killin', an I knew how easy it were to lose myself in that rush...so I tried to fight it. But maybe...maybe that glory he felt in him, maybe that were in me, too, just waitin' to come out. Didn' know how I felt about that.

I quickly plunged on, talkin', afore Mao noticed somethin' was up. Or so I hoped. "After the war, I stuck with what I knew. I killed people, 'cept now I did it for money, instead of on account o' some man in a fancy uniform, tellin' me to. I made my way out west, into the dusty, empty parts o' my country, an' there I killed fer money. A lot. Not much else to tell about that part o' my life, really...I got real good with my pistols, shoulda died a number o' times, an' I spilled more blood than any man's got a right as to spill. Nothin' much else to say, until...until..." I coughed, an' steadied myself, forcin' the name to come off my lips. "Until Lilah."

Afore I could say one word more, I felt it back again, that alarm bell, 'cept now it were screamin' in my skull, screamin' loud an' strong. I barely had time to stop walkin', actually notice my surroundin's...I hadn't really been payin' much attention to where my feet'd been takin' me as I'd been talkin', an' now I saw, we'd turned onto a nigh empty street, with what looked t'be burned out husks o' buildin's on either side. An' then, as my hands swept down to where my guns hung on my hips, it were like a hammer the size o' my chest went slammin' into my back, sendin' me flyin' head over heels across the street.

I smashed into the asphalt, an' even through my deadened nerves, pain ricocheted around my skull. I saw stars in my eyes as my head snapped back an' bounced off the sidewalk. Didn' even know I could still feel this much pain...My head lolled fer a moment or two, an' then I started seein' again, an' I could actually piece together the world outta the fragments o' pain in my skull.

Right behind where I'd been standin' a moment ago, there were a huge man, towerin' around ten feet tall. I could barely make out his features, though he were clearly pretty ugly, an' I only saw one eye in his skull. His arms, though...each was thick as a tree trunk, an' clad in metal glintin' with the dull light o' the street lamps. At the end o' each metal arm was a double-sided hammer, built right onto his wrists. He were grinnin' a horrible, gap-toothed grin a' me.

Outta the husks o' buildin's, I saw a couple o' other shapes emergin', one or two men carryin' rifles, some feller with what looked t'be mantis arms, snappin' open an' shut with a horrible clickin' sound, an' a bald lady wearin' rags over flesh covered in scales, her mouth filled with fangs, hissin' emergin' from her throat.

"Yous' were one a da fools looking for da Missus Sin," the cyclops rumbled out. Missus Sin? Lookin' for her? My addled brain searched for meanin' in his words. "She's wanting to being meet you fool. You come with us, and we's won't hurts you much more." The grin widened on his face, and suddenly, it occurred t'me, the thought risin' in my skull. The Alal. Missus Sin.

Oh crap.

I started strugglin' to my feet, an' I managed to get one gun out as I went, raisin' it t'point at the cyclops's ugly face. As I took aim, I managed to get out, "Mao...Run...they're here fer me. Get yerself safe." Then, my head still riddled with pain, an' hopin' that Mao would listen t'me, I cocked the hammer on my gun an' prepared to fight.

[stormygolem]

"I'll go first," Mao heard him take in a really deep breath. This conformined her suspicions that the man had some things in his past that he would rather not think about. "I were never a good person, really. Ain't no two ways about it. I got caught in a war, when I were young, got swept up an' into the army. Didn' have enough time to be a good person, afore a gun were slapped in my hand an' pointed at the enemy. Didn' have much time to know anythin' more than the sweat o' the fight, an' the stench o' gunfire, an' the sounds o' men, screamin', dyin', bleedin' out on the ground. Them's weren' good times fer me...or maybe they was. I didn' think much, then, didn' do much o' anythin' except killin'. Found me I had a talent, could kill like most men only dreamt of in their nightmares. Don' know how many I killed durin' that war, but more'n a few mothers probably wept floods o' tears, on account o' me an my gun."

Mao listened intently, there was pain and saddness in these words. This man didn't think very highly of himself or his past. He may not even admit it to but she was certian that he felt guilt about his past life and that was one reason for his saddness. But there had to be more. He didn't sound like a man that was just drowned in guilt, she had met them often in her past life. While she thought about what he had said she noticed that he had paused. She was about to ask if he had finished when he started up agian.

"After the war, I stuck with what I knew. I killed people, 'cept now I did it for money, instead of on account o' some man in a fancy uniform, tellin' me to. I made my way out west, into the dusty, empty parts o' my country, an' there I killed fer money. A lot. Not much else to tell about that part o' my life, really...I got real good with my pistols, shoulda died a number o' times, an' I spilled more blood than any man's got a right as to spill. Nothin' much else to say, until...until..." She noticed Sloane pause and cough before he was able to finish sentence. "Until Lilah."

Lilah? Now she understood, at least somewhat. There was another women and from the way he was acting the key word is was. Losing a loved one was one of the most tramatic situations that could ever happen to someone. She had gone through it when her compainions had all been slaughtered by demons right before she entered the Nightside. Mao surpressed a sob. Momentarily caught up in those memories. She had been so distracted about the new place and world of the Nightside that she had put the deaths of her friends to the back of her mind. Now that she remebered them it hurt, even more so for the fact that she hadn't thought about it for long. After the events that had started this conversation it felt like a lifetime had gone by between now and the time she had arrived in the Nightside.

Suddenly she heard a slamming sound and noticed Sloane hit the ground hard. "What the?" She turned around saw a large man with a single eye standing right behind them. How did he sneak up on us? She thought. He was huge, and apparently well armed and armored. If you could call metal arms with hammers for hands armed and armored. Another warning bell went off in her head as she noticed a ton of strange feelings from around them. Her life magic was now telling her there were more around. There were even more disturbing people around them.

Two men holding some sort of weapon with a cylinder at the end of it. A man with insectoid limbs, and finally a old bald women with scales and fangs. Why hadn't her life magic noticed them? Mao thought to herself. Then she realized her magic had she had just been to distracted to noticed.

The cyclops spoke "Yous' were one a da fools looking for da Missus Sin, She's wanting to being meet you fool. You come with us, and we's won't hurts you much more." Missus Sin? Thought Mao. She glanced quickly at Sloane. At the same time she reached down and grabbed hold of both of her tambourines.

Sloane pulled out one of his strange weapons and pointed it at the creature that had hit him. "Mao...Run...they're here fer me. Get yerself safe." His weapon made a clicking sound, it reminded her of a crossbow being prepared.

"Run?" Mao said slightly sarcasticly a distinct mischevious and ,if it could be descriped that way catlike, tone in her voice. "I still haven't told you anything about my life or what I did." She pulled out her tambourines and shook them once, a high pitched hum filled the air around them. There was a dangerous glint in her eyes as she looked back up at the cyclops. He tail twitched back and forth and she grinned menacingly showing her fangs. The claws on her hands were fully extended.

The hum became even more high pitched and seemed to be centered around her the tambourines in her hands. Mao took a step towards the cyclops. "Come on. Lets play a little." She pointed one of her hands at the creature that had hit Slaone.

She was feeling a double feeling of vengeance at these creatures. One because she had been thinking about her friends who had been killed by abominations like these back in her world. Two, the fact that they had struck Sloane the way the dod had awaken feelings of anger from the other Mao. She had just had a lot of emotions bottled up and a good form of release had just been presented to her.

[Sloane]

As Mao grinned that evil-lookin' grin an' stepped toward the cyclops feller, I could only grit my teeth. She weren't goin' to leave, I could tell that now. She were goin' to stay an' fight, no matter what I said. This were not a good thing fer me. I didn't need anyone else's death on my conscience, an' much as I were sure Mao could take care o' herself in general, I weren't even sure if I were gonna make it outta this fight alive, let alone Mao. I didn' want to take that chance, but Mao didn' seem the type to be anythin' less than stubborn.

"Mao, I can tell yer just gonna drive me mad, ain'tcha." I turned slowly, so that I was facin' our other four enemies. If Mao were gonna take on that cyclops feller, then I'd keep the others off her back. "Big guy over there is all yers. I got these fools fer myself." An' then, afore anyone could react, I started movin' an shootin', my legs pumpin' as I started runnin' straight towards the mantis-armed feller. My guns snapped aroun', aimed at the two fellers holdin' rifles, an' I let loose with some fire, hopin' at least to keep 'em pinned down behind cover afore they could get off any good shots. I knew I could take a bullet or two an' keep goin', even if they did hurt like a sumbitch, but I didn't wanna take the chance that one o' them would get it into his head to shoot Mao in the back while she was distracted, fightin' Cyclops Hammerhands.

My shoots took one o' them in the shoulder, an' spun him around, sendin' the rifle flyin' outta his hands. The other one quickly ducked backwards, behind some o' the blasted wall still standin' on his side o' the street. My shots plinked into the rubble all aroun' him, not doin' nothin' 'cept maybe sprayin' him with small pieces o' hot brick. The mantis-armed feller, seein' I was runnin' towards him, moved his one leg back, gettin' ready to take me, raisin' one o' those mantis arms up in the air an' openin' the scissor-like end of it wide, lettin' me see all the chitinous jagged blades runnin' along it. I grinned a terrible grin, knowin' this were gonna hurt, an' I picked up speed, much as I could muster, chargin' straight at the feller.

He swung his arm down, an' I felt the blades comin' down on my back, piercin' through my coat an' cuttin' into my skin', each one a little gout o' flame, lightin' up my whole torso with pain, but I didn' stop. I lowered my shoulder an' plowed into him, throwin' him backwards an' sandwichin' the bug-man against a standin' chimney. I heard the breath go whooshin' outta his lungs, felt it against the back o' my neck, glad my head were down, an' the pain were distractin' me, so I couldn' smell it. Afore the feller could get himself back together, I quickly raised up one o' my guns, puttin' the barrel right against the underside o' his chin, an' I squeezed the trigger. I saw the shot tear up through his jaw an' come out the top o' his skull with a little spurt o' green stuff, but I weren't gonna count him down yet. If he were bug-like, then there were no tellin' where he kept his brain, or even if knockin' his brains out were enough to keep him down. Fer the moment, though, I figured he was at least winded, an' I could afford to turn my attention elsewhere.

Good thing, too. Just as I started peelin' myself out from under the bug-man's mantis arm, each blade comin' out o' my back with another hot flash o' pain, the snake-lady were comin' up behind me, her mouth gaped wide open, her fangs out an' drippin'. I managed to quickly roll outta her way, an' she missed me, stumblin' right into bug-man, but I couldn' catch my feet quick enough an' I toppled to the ground. She hissed loud again, an' then came at me, quick as lightnin'. All I could do was send my foot sweepin' out, catchin' her across her cheek an' sendin' her spinnin' through the air. When she thudded into the ground, I could still hear her, hissin' away, an' I saw her movin' slowly to get up. Me, I scrambled to my feet, just in time to catch a rifle shot in my side, a lightnin' bolt o' pain racin' up through my already achin' body. Off on the other side o' the street, the feller with the rifle were nice an' nestled behind a low wall, an' were aimed right at me, clearly takin' potshots. An' whats more, I coulda sworn I saw his feller on the ground with the busted shoulder, movin' around an' gettin' up, the blood flow from the hole in his arm havin' closed up nice an' tight, an' all the blood thickened into an armor-like scab all across his upper arm.

I gritted my teeth again, even harder, an' reloaded my guns right quick. I could only hope that Mao were doin' better 'n me.

[stormygolem]

The cyclops looked at the much smaller Mao and smiled evily showing a large amount of very sharp teeth. He lifted up one of his hammer arms and swung it through the air. "The kitten wants to play?" He sends tauntingly. He lifted his arm up high over his head, Mao watched the arm swing up. She gripped her tambourines even tighter and the high pitched humming sound grew even louder. "Play with this! The cyclops swung the arm down with amazing force aimed directly at Mao's head. Mao suddenly blurred into motion, sidestepping the blow just before it hit her. There was a burst of dust as the powerful blow slammed intot he ground. A second later the dust cleared to show the cyclop's hand buried in a large crater that was was left in the ground from the impact of his attack.

A look of confusion flickered across his face. Mao wasn't anywhere to be scene. Suddenly he heard a ringing noise next to his head. His singular large eye turned and saw a large bell a few inches from the side of his head. Mao was crouching on the large creatures shoulders. "Now, your going to have to do better then that." The creature started to make a wild swing at her with this free arm. Mao ducked under the swing and started a back flip off of the cyclop's back. The hammer whistled over her head just missing her. As she moved Mao hooked one of her tambourines around the creatures wrist and she rested the other one over the creatures head the razor sharp edges of the instruments many cymbals a few centimeters from its throat.

The cyclops didn't even have time to register more then a few seconds of surprise before Mao whispered into its ear. "You weren't any fun at all." She pulled downward. There was a splatter of green blood that shot in every direction and the cyclops's head and the end of one of its hammers fell to the ground with a dull thud. The last thing the cyclops registered before it died was the headless corpse of its body falling on top of it. Mao flicked both of her weapons at the ground. The blood on the tambourines flew off of them and spattered on the ground. She looked up just in time to see Sloane get shot in the side.

"Sloane!" She yelled out. She traced the line of fire to the other demon that she had seen approach them. Mao bolted to Sloane's side and took quick note of the situation. Over to one side lay the body of the man with insect arms. His head was oozing out blood that was a similar color to the cyclop's. The creature wasn't moving. The reptilain women was on the ground but recovering and the last man was standing up apparently shrugging off what should have been a debilitating wound.

"You need any help?" She asked inclineing her head towards the men by the wall pointing there guns at them. "I finished mine already."

[Sloane]

Afore I could even think about my next plan o' action, Mao were at my side, like a lightnin' bolt. I were surprised, not least 'cause I had expected that there cyclops to be more 'n enough trouble fer either one of us. But a quick glance over at where she'd been fightin' that big feller confirmed...she'd brought the bastard down, an' hard. Far as I could tell, he didn' have a head no more. I were impressed, very impressed. The Mao in my mind, in my false memories, weren't no slouch in a fight...but she didn' exactly cut off cyclops's heads. She was more the "suck the life outta ya" type. I were impressed that this Mao...the real Mao, I had to remind myself...she were a dab hand with fightin'.

I could get to like someone like that, I thought.

"You need any help?" she said, nodding her head at the feller across the street who'd just put a bullet in my side. "I finished mine already." My face set hard, an' I gritted my teeth as I got up on my feet. She were good, an' more 'n a bit cocky. She probably thought she could take on all the rest, by her lonesome...an' she even might be able to manage it. Maybe, if she were lucky. I weren't goin' to let it come to that. These fellers were here 'cuz o' me, an' I were goin' to see 'em done myself.

An' then another bullet cracked into the cracked brick wall behind me. That damned man with the rifle across the street again.

Alright, fine...maybe I did need some help.

"If you could take care o' that feller with the rifle, I'd be much obliged," I grunted at her, motionin' quick with my gun towards where the feller sat across the street. "I got these two." I kept my eyes on the two I meant, the reptile woman, gettin' up to her feet an' hissin' like crazy, an' the scabbed up feller, now makin' his way into the broken buildin' i were standin' in. His face were empty, an' I saw now his eyes were black. He weren't normal, that were fer sure.

I moved quick, to take care o' them, afore they coud make the firs' move. I didn' watch Mao, assumed she were doin' as she could to take down that rifleman. Didn' have time to pay her more attention, as the reptile lady came at me, movin' with a jerky speed. One hand swung out at me, clawed, cuttin' at my chest. I jumped back quick, lettin' her claws shred up the front o' my shirt. Didn' much mind that...much preferred it be my shirt, an' not my chest.

I tried to get one o' my guns up, point it at her face, but she moved too quick. Afore I could raise it much at all, she swung again, with her other hand, an' the claws raked against my cheek, leavin' three long tears o' unbleedin' dead flesh. It hurt a bit, but not too much. One o' the advantages o' havin' deadened senses. I snapped my head back around quick, makin' sure I didn' leave her outta my sight. She grinned at me, then, a fanged, snarlin' grin, an' her forked tongue darted out an' run across her claws, lickin' off whate'er bits o' flesh were still stuck on 'em. Well, let her. I bet it were tastin' terrible.

I suddenly heard a shufflin' near me, an' I had the good sense to duck, right before the scabbed man's fist went hurtlin' through the air where my head had been. Bastard had sneaked up on me; I'd almost forgotten about 'im. I swept my leg out at his calves, an' the feller couldn' move away quick enough. Big feller went crashin' to the ground, an' I went up at the same time. I swung one gun down quick an' pointed it at the feller's chest, lettin' out a few shots, but not lookin' careful. I figgered even if this feller could scab up quick, keep from dyin', a few shots should be enough to keep him down long enough fer me to deal with snake lady.

An' it were good that I kept my eyes up, away from the scabman, 'cause right away, the snake lady were comin' at me, fangs bared wide. She hurtled straight fer my neck, ready to sink her teeth right into it. I dropped one gun, an' sent my hand up to grab her neck. It took all my strength, but I managed to divert her, send her over to the wall, slam her up against it. I brought my other hand up, an' pressed the barrel up against her abdomen, pulled the trigger. The shot rang out in the air, an' after a couple of seconds, the snake lady stopped strugglin', stopped gnashin' her teeth at me, an' slid to the ground.

Two down. One to go.

I turned t'face the scabbed feller, who were already standin' tall an' grim before me. His entire chest had become one big ol' scab, like a crimson, armored plate.

Well...This'd be interestin'. But this feller were goin' down, one way or another. An' there weren't no two ways about it.