[LoboDiabloLoneWolf]

SECRETS, CLAWS, AND ENEMIES-A Stranger's demise (cont.)

They knew their bounty hunting days were over, and quite frankly, Umi was the saddest about it. She loved to beat the snot out of Outlaws, using the moolah they got for it to Stranger’s operation bill. She thought it was the funnest thing after Covenant killing back on Halo.
She tightened her scarf that held up her hair, the patterns of the three dark dragons on each side seeming to come to life as it wafted softly in the wind. She followed Stranger, he pulling behind one of the many crates on the facility roof. There were rows of cranes that made a spine along the edge down to the fast-rushing water of the Mongo River. He watched the crate swing heavily with the slight winds blowing across, where he got the most menacingly plan formulated in his mind for the patrolling Wolvarks.
“’Ey, stinky. Les’ do this, huh?” a Howler Punk grinned a crooked smile. He set the Howler down under the hovering crate, and it began to chatter irritatingly out to the Wolvarks walking away from the cranes. They spun back around, grinning madly down at the rat spewing sentences of lewd and vulgar insults.
“Good…” Stranger whispered in a satisfying growl. Next came a Zapp Fly. The bug charged up with its abdomen glowing an electric blue, and tiny sparks scattered over the bow entirely. The driver’s box held out some of the controls to the crane, especially a familiar-looking one, with a red button on the top and a metal handle at the bottom. He grinned ferally, then shot the Zapp Fly at the lever. The impact was strong enough to snap down the lever without pressing the button or holding down the handle below. A faint hum they heard die all of a sudden under the Wolvarks and the Howler Punk. The Howler gazed up with the Wolvarks in suspense.
“Whoa…I’m outta ‘ere,” it quivered with no fear, then scrambled away from under the crate. The Wolvarks stood in place, watching curiously at the crate. One gave a frightened scream, as the crate began to barrel down on the Wolvarks. The others began to do the same, flailing their arms around, awaiting their quick but painful death. Stranger continued to watch the frightened Wolvarks scream for their lives. A quick 3 seconds, and…BOOM. The crate landed upon the Wolvarks with a earth-shuddering quake. Blood-curdling screams and grotesque crunches were all left of the Wolvarks when the crane lifted the crate back up. Umi shuddered at the remaining thought left from the Wolvarks.
“Even if they were such bad guys, I wouldn’t want to do that to such a creature…” Umi sighed heavily. Loud rumbles of Wolvark voices began to uproar in confused and suspicious growls, as heavy pitter-patter of their shoes clamped down on the cement. Sounded like three Wolvarks coming to check out the fallen crate and the patrols of the first company. But what they got was a hard-hitting Bolamite Bola blast around their arms and legs. They growled angrily, writhing out from their trap slowly, but not fast enough. He bountied them up quickly while he had the chance.
“A company, report!” the Wolvarks voice came out the speakers again. There was a brief silence, then a loud feedback. “Anyone there from A company?” it asked again, then fell silent. The Wolvarks’ voice came up in nervousness. “Uh, sir. We lost A company…” it said, then the microphone clicked off. A bridge lowered down from the other facility lower to the one they were on. Two Wolvarks stood at each side, seeing the Steef and the human cross without notice.
“Hey! There’s that Steef! C’mere, you purdy Steef!” it coaxed sarcastically, running over to Stranger.
“Joe, no! You dunno what that thing can do ter you!” the other Wolvark shouted, then eyed at the human next to Stranger. “Well, what do we have ‘ere?” it said, following behind his comrade. They cocked back their guns from safety, and pointed it at one another. Umi held out her Needler, and Stranger shot down a few Rabid Fuzzles. The first one tried to stop from stepping upon the Fuzzles, but it was a little too late, and a bit too close. The Fuzzles roared on to the Wolvark, knocking him down on the cement. It screamed painfully, tripping over the metal frame of the bridge, and plummeted to the fast-rushing waters of the Mongo River. It squealed loudly, flailing around in the water, trying to keep its head up from the water. The current carried away the Wolvark, it quickly disappearing under the water. The last one didn’t stoop for the Steef’s trick, but fired out its shots. Umi knelt down on one leg, firing out her entire clip of needles. They fluttered slowly towards the Wolvark, it watching and chuckling at the flurry of pink crystalline needles, not knowing the danger they held in such a big pack.
“Wow. Din’t know humans used such sissy weapons…Heh, shooting pink lil’ fairies, ‘n whatnot…” it snickered. When one stuck in to it, the Wolvark only laughed. But when the group of needles stuck in, it actually howled out in pain. The needles detonated in to a pink dust, the remains of the Wolvark splitting everywhere. The others behind the walls growled, the clicks of their weapons reloading and their heavy footsteps thumping on the gravel. Stranger loaded up on the Super Stingbees he hadn’t used yet, and also Boom-bat Seekers, a regular, but lighter Boom-bat with a halo of dynamite stuck in to its skin, and little drones fluttered under its winged ears. An automatic machine turret held in the corner of the facility high above, seeing out beyond the facilities for enemy movement. The turret whirled its one white giant eye to Stranger, and clicked on its machine guns. The turret then automatically shot the bullets out to the Steef, it jumping behind a crate. He stuck his arm over the side of the crate hugging to the barred wall, and hoped that he would hit the turret with the Seeker. Wolvarks began to file up to the crate, they appearing over to Stranger. Umi held them off, while Stranger shot the Boom-bat Seekers off to the turret. A loud rumbling explosion shook down the Wolvarks. He peeked over the Wolvarks and up to the turrets. It was only a smoldering piece of a metal platform that held up the turret. He half grinned, then looked down at the shaken Wolvarks. They were slowly returning to their state, but he wrapped them up simply, and bountied them up. More Wolvarks came out of the facility, rushing and scattering all around the crates around them. Stranger then chose his Spark Stunkz, a lightly-dark green Stunk, wearing a gas mask around its face. Its glass goggles revealed two small black eyes looking around innocently at Stranger and Umi. He looked around the crate again, seeing the Wolvarks standing in different places. He laid down a mass of Rabid Fuzzles to his point of using the Spark Stunkz, then looked intently at the Wolvarks again. He placed down the Stunkz, and its ability proved very useful. A strong smell-like vacuum sucked the surrounding Wolvarks out to the spot it was placed, right on top of the Fuzzles as well. The Fuzzles leaped up on the soaring Wolvarks coming down from their mid-air jump. Stranger left them to their painful moments with the Fuzzles, and passed by them. He stopped at a head of a ramp, leading near the river’s edge. The water at the end was merely a stream, flowing slowly out of a giant sewer pipe. He gave a confident grin, walking down the ramp. There was a bend in the gate, the bars bent back by some unnatural force.
“Those sewers should lead us right in to tha’ facility,” Stranger pointed, Umi coming up from behind him. Umi nodded in agreement.
“Lead the way, buddy,” Umi held her back to him, her face peeking over her shoulder. He jumped down from the ledge, his feet soaking in with the shallow water trickling out of the pipe. Umi followed behind, strapping her weapon back on her belt. She kept close to Stranger, well aware there would be a surprise attack at any time. The sewers were straight, with a sharp turn right in the middle. He broke down the doors locking them out from going inside, and continued. He kept his hoof steps to a dim clip-clop sound, not to alert any unsuspecting Wolvark that was around. There was a faint Wolvarks noise coming through the speakers of the facility.
“Man, that new boss is a son of a bi- Oh! The mic’s still on! Oh shi-!“ then the speakers fell silent. Fog slivered throughout the sewer, through another wooden-blocking door. He busted through the doors, a cleaved out to a large, dampened-smelling part of the underground facility. It was slightly rounded, with a thin covering of fog swirling at their feet.
“Ok, boys! We have word that there’s a Steef ‘ere in the facility. If yeh’s sees’s it, shoot it down!” the Wolvark’s voice came out again in a sudden moment. Like they didn’t notice, they moved on through the facility’s underground, bashing through the doors that blocked their way. A soft bend filled up with loud Wolvark voices, the fog increasing on the floor. Buzzing, light advertising signs of “Sekto’s bottled water company” hummed off in rows on the walls of the dampened dark halls of the facility. Umi kept a hovering hand over her Needler in defense, while Stranger held down his bow on his arm. They pressed against a stack of metal crates, hearing only the Wolvarks slow footsteps, and their somber breathing.
His Stingbees buzzed a buggy noise, and the Fuzzles growled ominously at the user, he still looking over the crates, watching the Wolvarks slowly approach. The Wolvarks stopped a second near the crates, one sniffing at the air, and gave a grumble in suspicion.
“Someone’s in ‘ere,” it growled. The other two turned to him curiously.
“What’cha smell, Jiff?” a Wolvark asked. “Something…that doesn’t belong ‘ere…” he growled again.
“What the hell you mean by tha’? Yer not a hound dog, Jiff. It’s probably you smellin’ yerself,” a Wolvark next to it sneered. Jiff lifted an arm, whiffing at his pit, then gave a whistle in disgust. “Yer right…” he said, frowning a little. The Wolvark rolled its eyes. “Dumbass…” it muttered, continuing to walk with his troop. Right after they began to walk again, Fuzzles began to fly down in front of them suddenly, the fur balls immediately pouncing on the Wolvarks, and they howling out loudly, echoing down the narrow hallway.
“You go on ahead! I’ll take care o’ ‘em, just don’t go too far from my sights,” Stranger said to Umi loudly over the screaming Wolvarks. Umi dare not to argue, but jumped over the rolling-around Wolvarks, wrestling off the Fuzzles clamping on to them like a magnet. She heard a stinging buzzing sound coming behind her. Stranger was dosing on the Wolvarks that managed to rub off the Fuzzles with his Stingbees. She kept her head over her shoulder, while running down the curving hall. A door right next to her she passed snapped open with a loud, quick squeak, with a trio of Wolvarks standing inside the elevator. She heard the quick snap, and stood down on one knee, holding out her Needler. The Wolvarks roared in command, they beginning to fire with their semi-automatic weapon. She rolled aside, and began to fire her entire clip of needles at the Wolvarks, swerving her arm side-to-side so that each Wolvark would get the same amount of needles to kill them. But things were about to get worse.
She heard a click, like a telegraph would make, and looked at her weapon. The needle holes were empty of the cartridge. She slipped down near her belt to reach for another cartridge, but her worst fears came to her. She didn’t feel the rounded tip of the Needler cartridge, and she frantically ripped off her belt to see if she was imagining things, but it was true. She had no more ammo for her Needler. The Wolvark chuckled maliciously, taking advantage of the defenseless human. It whipped its butt of its rifle right at her chin, then throwing aside the human hardly against a stack of crates. She grunted loudly and painfully from the bump that caused her sight to blur, seeing the feint outline of the Wolvark’s yellow skin and blue uniform coming right to her feet. She felt a swelling sensation coming right to her chin where the Wolvark struck, then feeling another strike come across her left cheek, her neck snapping with the inertia of the Wolvark’s hit. The Wolvark held itself for a moment, to see if the human would try to take a hit to it. Then, began to brawl on Umi with its gun only. She felt the painful hits of the Wolvarks gun hit all over her face, even in her stomach. The Wolvark held down again, grinning devilishly at the weakened human.
“Give up, human? You wanna go quietly, or do I have to kill you?” the Wolvark said in a low, coaxing voice. Umi looked up to the Wolvark, spitting a splatter of blood on the ground before it.
“I’d die first before anyone takes me hostage,” Umi growled, her lip up over her teeth. “Devotion won’t get you anywhere, punk,” it lowered itself to her face, breathing a skanky smell in to her nostrils. She didn’t care of the smell, but what the Wolvark was going to do next. The Wolvark frowned angrily, lifting back up straight. “Fine, then! You don’t wanna play my way, then I’ll do it yer way!” it shouted, raising its rifle above the top of her head. The rifle came half-way down near her head, when a loud roar rumbled through the Wolvark, startling it with its arms cringing back to its chest. Stranger skidded between the Wolvark and Umi, facing the Wolvark sideways. Umi opened her eyes to see four legs, hunched down in a protective stance in front of her, and a large body hunched down as well. His eyes gleamed angrily at the Wolvark, his eyes brighter green and sparking with fury. Stranger kept his arms up near his ribs, his muscles tense. The Wolvark quivered in fear, hearing the Steef growl lowly at it. The Wolvark then dropped its weapon down on the ground, holding its arms up, sweat dripping down the side of its head.
“N-n-nice…Steef. I ain’t gonna hurt yer…human…” it smiled weakly. Stranger balled his fists together, and slammed aside the Wolvark away from him and Umi. The Wolvark flew a good few yards away, it still lying on its belly when it landed, groaning in a pained state, and lay motionless to Stranger’s sight. He huffed out a last angry growl, then turned to Umi, she recovering slowly from the attack the Wolvark laid on her. She slowly began to crawl up, using the wall to support her weakened muscles in her stomach. She rubbed her chin with her palm, then looked up to Stranger with a slight smile.
“Ow,” she said brightly, her eyes shining in a funny way. Stranger felt himself go in to confusion, then chuckled at Umi’s remark.
“You Ok?” he asked, with more concern. She nodded, putting her arm down. “I think the Wolvark gave yeh too many hits on the face fer you to say such a thing,” he smiled halfly. She only shook her head. “Nah. I’ve been through worst. I would show you, but we got other things to take care of,” Umi stated. She had red puffy spots under her chin where the Wolvark struck, and little dots of black and green bruises forming right on the bone. Stranger felt a little grieved to what happened to his partner. He did everything in his power to keep her safe from harm, let alone dead, but it seems failure kept hitting him when he let her alone. Umi looked at him awkwardly, cocking her head to a side.
“What’s up?” Umi asked. Stranger kept looking down from her scintillating look, his grief flooding over him like a wet blanket. Umi grinned concernly, reaching to his furry jaw, and scratched it affectionately. She twittled with his hair between her fingers, looking at his mane of tannish-brown hair. “There’s nothing to worry ‘bout any more, Stranger. I’m fine, you’re fine, we’re all fine. Just as long as we’re together,” Umi said softly. Stranger let out a heavy sigh through his nostrils, he grabbing Umi’s arm and rubbing his head over it.
“Yeah…I know…” he purred, his eye looking to her from his corner. She smiled slightly, knowing now he was relieved from his grief. He turned around to the hallway they were supposed to follow, and squatted down low enough for Umi to swing her leg over his back, and get securely on. He kicked off quickly down the curving hall, now hearing another echo of Wolvarks further down.

The smell of dampness transformed to a nasty, sewer-ish smell. Umi honked under her pinched nose from the disgusting smell, but Stranger didn’t mind. In fact, it was milder than a Stunk’s smell that he didn’t notice.
“Oh…my stomach…” they heard a Wolvark groan distinguishly.
“Why’d I eat that Fuzzle pie?” another grumbled. Bathroom stalls with flies buzzing around held two Wolvark guards, apparently returning from their lunch break with a painful stomach ache. Stranger grinned ferally with a most upsetting plan coming to his mind. He loaded on a Boom-bat Seeker and a few Rabid Fuzzles, aiming below the stalls’ doors to the Wolvarks’ feet and lowered pants. Umi shook her head in disrespect to Stranger.
“That’s not very nice…” Umi whispered in his ear. Stranger grinned up to Umi, his eyes sparkling in mischief.
“I know…” he nodded, looking back to the bathroom stalls. The Fuzzles growled readily, their red-yellow devilish eyes growling at him as well. Stranger released the Fuzzles that bounced under the stalls. The Wolvark inside yelped in surprise, then the Fuzzles struck at it. The feet behind the door danced frantically, screaming and flailing began in the stall. The other Wolvark in the stall yelled out to his partner in surprise, it pulling up its pants, and crashing through the stalls’ doors. It spotted the intruders harassing the guard next door, and began to fire its automatic machine gun, nearly similar to the outlaw Semi-autos’ gun. Stranger ducked down, Umi holding tightly to Stranger across his chest, keeping her head out of the line of fire. He jumped aside, and fired his Boom-bat Seeker at the Wolvark. Three little drones that fluttered under the Boom-bats’ wings spreaded out from under its wings like regular Boom-bats. The explosion was tremendous, larger than a regular Boom-bat. So big, that it actually obliterated the Wolvark to shreds of flesh and bone. The other Wolvark, well, let’s just say he didn’t have to go to the bathroom any more. They continued to move passed through the bathrooms, and now to a large storage room. Giant metal crates stacked upon each other to make perfect ambush points for Stranger and Umi. A ramp led up to another wooden barrier door, guarded with Wolvarks, scattered around the storage area. He didn’t unlock his bow, but kept hunched low under a square area of crates large enough to fit a Steef and a young human on its back. They heard the clopping of the Wolvarks footsteps ramble through the smooth cement-laminated floor. He continued to peek his head out to see where the Wolvark was currently, then when it walked out from the edge of the crates, he snapped back under and listened closely as the creature got closer to where he was. The blue cloth of the Wolvarks uniform peered over to Stranger. His reflexes snapped over to the Wolvark, snatching him under, and knocking him out with his hard skull.
“Huh?” mumbled another Wolvark, his grumbly voice echoing through the large enclosed space they were in. It got suspicious from the quick squeal of the Wolvarks voice. “Billeh? Billeh, where are yeh?” the Wolvark called, the others gathering around the calling Wolvark in curiousness.
“What the hell you doin’?” one asked irritatingly. “I swear I heard something. I think Billy’s gone…’R just playin’ a trick. Like the last time, he stuck a fire cracker in the toilets. When I went, he set ‘em off, and I was more mad at ‘im than my ass were,” it growled at the obtained memory. The others snickered at his memoir, looking away from him and covering their faces with their free hands. The Wolvarks’ head steamed with anger. “Ok! All y’all…get back ter work!” it pointed loudly back behind it. The others obeyed, but still snickered at the Wolvark. Stranger held out from his recent hiding spot, over the crates than led to the group of scattering Wolvarks. Now he unlocked his bow, and loaded on two Bola Blast spiders. Their red eyes glittered under the dull lights lighting up the largely storage room. He saw two Wolvarks heading his way, while the others headed back up the ramp to the barricaded door. Umi hopped off his back, both pressing their backs flatly to the crates. The Wolvarks noticeable yellow skin flashed over the crates. Stranger jumped out, holding the bow literally, to the Wolvarks’ head. The other Wolvark closer behind jumped to a stop, holding its rifle up to the Steef. Stranger grinned a little to both, then fired the two Bola Blasts to the Wolvarks, them dropping their weapons on impact, and sliding to the floor. Stranger slammed on a few Rabid Fuzzles, and shot them out to the Wolvarks further behind. He bountied the wrapped Wolvarks, then ran back to the others busily scrapping off the Fuzzles. He left them to their misery, and broke through the barricaded doors, that led to a winding ramp upstairs to a glass door. Wolvarks were everywhere on the ramp up, more automatic machine guns than regular semi-autos, which posed a greater threat. And since Umi had no other weapon to use to get rid of most of them, she had no way of helping Stranger when he needed it the most, especially since he was a Steef up for a bounty. But Stranger had a better idea, involving his Snuzi darts.
He zoomed in on his snooper/sniper, and watched the Wolvarks further up wander aimlessly around the winding ramp. He got a shot on one head, and let the Snuzi dart take it out. The Wolvark in front of the killed let out a brief yelp, snapping its gaze around suspiciously. It, too, went down with the headless Wolvark. The guards at the head of the ramp began to trot back up to where their comrades patrolled, cocking their weapons off of safety.
“That Steef’s ‘ere…I know’s it,” a Wolvark growled, holding its weapon up close to its chest. Its suspicions were as good as the others. It looked down to the entrance to the staircase, seeing a hairy, but shadowy-looking character, holding some type of weapon up above its shoulders. But before it could call out to the intruder, a sharp pain ran clean through its skull, leaving a bloody hole on its forehead. It tumbled down as if it were a frozen statue, then the others began to notice what happened to its team leader. They saw where the Wolvark was last looking, and shot a glance at the entrance, seeing the shadowy figure as well, receding back in to the shadows. They shouted a command, and began to fire randomly at the doorway. Cement shrapnel began to flurry up to their faces, stinging in the places the stones shot. Stranger waited for the Wolvark to stop and reload its weapon, then shot out behind a support beam that held the heavy roof up over them. The Wolvarks looked up from their weapons, noticing no movement at all from their rounds of hailing bullets. Little puckered holes at where they shot were all they could see; no overcast of the creatures’ shadow, nor the shadow peeking to them with sharp luminous green eyes. They began to mutter to themselves like they always did, saying they probably scared off the creature, or maybe they wounded it. They began to turn back around and go back to their original posts, when they felt themselves being hit and tied together with a thick coating of white sticky web. They growled angrily for letting their guard down so easily, and began to struggle through the wrapping. Their heads tilted back to see the same shadowed figure emerge from behind the beam, its color coming in to a tannish-brown mane of fur, and devilish green eyes.
“The Steef! The Steef!” they muffled loudly, trying with more effort to wrangle out of their ensnared selves. The Steef grinned heinously to each of them, now knowing that it wouldn’t let them go out alive. They felt a strong suction begin around them, their tarnished webs now breaking off, but clawing to the ground to escape the dark hole they were being sucked in to. The others now fretted with fear, not wanting the fate that happened to one of their comrades happen to them. Too late for them, as the Steef bountied each of them in to its vacuum and becoming more than trapped with angry, growling, carnivorous critters, beginning to chew at their augments.
Umi looked down at the weapons the two dead Wolvarks laid, and picked one up. She inspected it for a moment, finding out how exactly to use it. It was nearly similar to the MA5B Assault rifle she used once back on Halo when she had no weapons she’s rather use than a hard-handling human weapon, only the variant of it wasn’t exactly the same. She slung the shoulder strap over her head, and picked up some extra ammo from the second automatic weapon, and clipped it to her belt with her dead, useless weapons. Stranger grinned down to her concernly.
“You know how ter use such a weapon, kid?” Stranger asked. Umi gave a shrug with one shoulder.
“Eh…I think I can manage. If not, I’ll just nab a semi-auto,” Umi said. Stranger gave a huff, but accepted her thought, and trotted up to the glass doors. He broke through them, rather than just opening it casually. A similar hallway they passed through back downstairs curved softly down to an elevator-looking containment. Wolvarks stood in a line of six, each marching behind one another like a marching band. They faced to where Stranger and Umi entered through, and gave a bark of surprise. Semi-autos took the first step, kneeling down on a knee and firing three repeating shots out to the intrusions. Stranger letted a pack of Fuzzles tackle on them, they wailing back behind the row of automatics now.
“Step back, Stranger. It ain’t safe ‘round me with one of these kind’a weapons,” Umi warned, as she stood in front of Stranger, knelt down, and popped the pin from safety. The Wolvarks kept a curious eye on the human now stepping up to plate with one of their own weapons. She clenched her teeth together, remembering what a weapon she held would do to her entire small, little body, and held down the trigger. The weapon shuddered violently, as shots among shots spewed out of the gun barrel, hailing down to the Wolvarks, now running around nervously, as the shots began to strike upon the Wolvarks. Umi felt herself shudder off from the line of fire, moving slightly aside, but she kept a steady hand on the holster below the gun to keep her arm steady from moving away from the target. Stranger watched her handle the weapon with such expertly experience, and nodded in impressments. The Wolvarks began to trip down dead, one by one, blood beginning to trail under the dead stack of bodies. She halted her fire, when she noticed that all targets were down for the count. The gun barrel smoked hotly from the continuously-streaming bullets let out from the ammo chamber. She lowered the gun to the floor, letting out a surprised sigh, and turned around to Stranger, with a grin of pride.
“Nice work, kid. That was very impressive,” Stranger chuckled, placing a hand upon her head. She still felt a little shaken from the weapons’ firing, but it would rub off within the next hour or so, she knew from the experience back on Halo.
“I…think I’ll use this fer a little while longer. Just for some defense,” Umi raised the weapon above her head, pinning it back in to safety. Stranger let out a snicker, hunching down to Umi so she could get on. He walked quickly down to the elevator-looking containment, and entered it, clicking an activation button on. The doors behind them snapped shut, then a few seconds later, the doors in front of them opened. They heard the fast-rushing waters of the Mongo River flow beneath them.


“Ah! The Wolvarks are invading! Run! RUUUN! Oww! My legs! My legs! They’re-they’re gone! Oh wait…they’re right there……RUUUN!” a Grubb cried, running crazily with a mob of Grubbs fleeing from the Wolvark-infested village. Stranger skidded at the head of the village, letting fearful Grubbs scramble passed him. Umi jumped off his back, now seeing a bigger mob of yellow pale-skinned, blue-uniformed, ugly SOB come down from the highest point of the village. Houses ran on fire, gunshots stuck out of the stone walls, and dead, bullet-torn bodies of Grubbs laid scattered around the grass. Hell was already unleashed on the poor, defenseless Grubbs.
Stranger growled angrily, unlocking his bow, and hunching down slightly for the first Wolvark to show its ugly face. Umi reloaded her automatic, and cocked it off of the safety, holding her finger closely on the trigger. Bombs began to fly with a sparkling trail of blue and white, overhead to Stranger and Umi. He snatched Umi away from the bombs landing on the ground, making a high-pitched beeping sound-off to detonation. Wolvarks that threw the bombs came down a ramp from the heart of the village, where they landed at first from Dusky Hollow. The Wolvarks wielded a long, wide police shield, visors over their eyes, and threw out the same exact bombs that nearly got them. Stingbees were the first ones to be fired out upon the Wolvarks, but their shields, however, blocked off all the projectiles Stranger shot at them. But could they block his punches? They were to find out real soon. He ran up to the head Wolvark, and snatched him up. The other two threw bombs at him, but used the Wolvark he held as a shield. When the bombs beeped off the detonation time, he tossed the Wolvark in to the others, and took a step back. They wrangled off the time bomb, but the Wolvark was just too heavy.
“You need to lose some weight, fat ass!” the Wolvark grunted.
“Well, I won’t be losin’ any weight to where we’re going!” the top Wolvark sneered.
“Where we goin’?” the last one asked. The top one grinned hatefully at the Wolvark whom stated. “STRAIGHT TO HE-“ the bombs detonated in to a flurry of dirt and blood. Burning flesh began to waft in to the air. Stranger and Umi passed the burning corpses, up to the point where Stranger received his armor and Umi got her stripes painted. Wolvarks shoved down the shelves of liquid paints and brushes, kicking on the ground the exact same Grubb whom gave her the stripes. Her anger flurried up in an instant she saw that, and stormed off to the Wolvark. She lifted her gun to the Wolvark, snickering at the poor Grubb. Then, it felt a cold shape press upon its boney skull, and stood frozen.
“You think its funny, pushin’ down these li’ Grubbs?” she said between her tightly gripped teeth. The Wolvark whimpered a squeak. Then she gave out a little chuckle. “I ain’t laughin’,” she frowned, then held down the trigger. The Wolvark heard the click of the rifle she held, then only felt a quick, searing pain run through its skull, and fell blank. The Grubb held in a fetal position tightly in to a corner near its door to its home. Umi walked over to the Grubb. The Grubb gave a bright smile.
“Oh, thank you, human! I can’t even begin to say, how much gratitude I have for you for saving my worthless life!” she squealed with joy.
“Worthless?” Umi tugged her up by her arm. “Don’t say that. None y’all are worthless,” Umi grinned. “Now, I suggest you get the hell outta ‘ere, uh…” she looked at the Grubb. The Grubb looked confusedly at Umi, then her eyes brightened. “Name’s Jala. And yes, I shall!” she nodded, then ran passed Umi. What Jala didn’t notice was the Wolvark hiding in the berry bushes that they used to make their paint. The Wolvark snatched her up, covering her mouth with its grubby, dirty hand. Jala screamed through its muffling hand, trying to look up to Umi. She sneered hatefully down at the Wolvark, and raised her rifle to her cheek, and used the crosshairs to get a straight shot at the Wolvark. But there was a problem: the Wolvark held Jala high enough to get her too. There was only one option left. Get it the stealthily way.
She slipped out her knife from her pocket, and held it between her teeth. She kept crouched low, and jumped down from the ledge under the berry bushes. The Wolvark mumbled deviously in to Jala’s ear of something threatening that made her struggle harder from the Wolvark. Umi was right at the back of the Wolvark, and held position for a moment. The Wolvark could turn around any second if she jumped now. When she was sure the Wolvark wouldn’t move, she pounced upon its back, and held back its throat so its chin would lift from its neck. The Wolvark dropped Jala, gagging loudly from the thing holding it back.
“Run, Jala! RUN!” Umi shouted between the knife in her teeth. She nodded quickly, and scurried off from her. She slipped out the knife from her teeth, and held it to the Wolvarks’ throat. The Wolvark felt the cold blade touch upon its disfigured pale yellow flesh. She didn’t say anything, but rip the blade across its throat in a blink of an eye, then pushed off of the Wolvark. Red blood trickled heavily from its throat, the Wolvark dropping to its knees, holding its throat and making throaty noises. Umi folded her knife back in to her breast pocket and watched the Wolvark slowly die. It cringed in to a slight ball, making one last gurgly noise, and fell dead. Umi saw a mass of Grubbs behind her run passed her and down out of the village. She saw Stranger, fighting off a trio of Wolvark with Rabid Fuzzles and Riot Slugs, a more-spikey Thud Slug, with blue eyes and a purple encasing. Stranger moved as far back to Umi as he could. She knelt on one knee, and shot them down one by one with the rifle. When that trio was down, all the Wolvarks that had invaded were gone. Umi and Stranger smiled gratefully to one another, the Grubbs receding out of their homes, glancing around at the dead bodies. They began to gather around Stranger and Umi, cheering loudly at their saviors. But then, a loud hum zoomed overhead in to the blood-red sky. A blimpy-looking dropship flew overhead, lowering to the ground. They weren’t done yet. And they won’t be until every last Wolvark invading the village is dead. The Grubbs began to scream in chaos again, flailing around with their heads snapped up in the air.
“No…” Stranger growled angrily. He looked down to Umi. “Umi,” he addressed. She turned to him. “I need’s yeh to evacuate the village. Make sure every Grubb ‘ere is out of harm’s way,” Stranger said firmly. Umi stuttered in her throat.
“But, Stranger! You can’t take them all on!” Umi said with her arms spread out. Stranger shook his head. “It’s too dangerous fer you. Go help the Grubbs. I’m more concerned of the Wolvarks right now, and the safety of the Grubbs now depends on you,” Stranger said. Umi’s eyes sparkled objectively. “I know you wanna help me, but please. Don’t argue this time. It’s my duty to keep the Grubbs safe and you as well,” Stranger said in a softer tone. Umi let out a nasally sigh, looking down. “Fine. I’ll help the Grubbs. Just, don’t get yerself in to deep trouble. I can’t be lookin’ after you,” Umi grinned playfully to him. Stranger smiled down to her. “I’m supposed ter look after you, kid,” he ruffled her hair. The dropship was hovering over the land now, and the flaps underneath opened, literally dropping a mass of Wolvarks on the grass.