Chapter 9 - Underground War
Amanda learns just how much bigger this case actually is. As LNV unveils to her a war and the ball is attacked.
So far…
After her encounter with the powerful spirit at the Asylum, Amanda finds herself rapidly growing. The mare’s ludicrously obscene assets grow more swollen with their fluids by the second. As they continuously reach sizes never attained before. Her height is rapidly becoming a problem, too, as she stands 900cm tall.
Despite this, the Indagator still has a job to do. Recently, the hermaphrodite mare picked up an investigation into the suspected dealings with the illegal drug known as “HyperX.” During this, she encountered a map that led her to a cave in the Amazon rainforest. Here, she found a warehouse kept within and destroyed it.
The mare finds three leads in the cave. LNV, Westdon Suppliers, and Stone Enforcers ltd. Questioning them was challenging, but all said the same thing. LNV was someone they had nothing on. Frustrated, the mare returned home and prepped for a ball.
The ball proved valuable for the mare. As she encounters a man by the name of Vlad Dracula. He unveils himself to be LNV and offers her a job.
Chapter 9 – Underground War
“What kind of war is happening underground, and why does it concern me?”
The mare was ready to pounce on the man.
Vlad’s eyes wandered over to the mare. “I'm not here to kill you, Indagator. I just spent the last few minutes stating how I cannot fight you."
The mare relaxed. “Why does this war concern me?”
“The war has the chance to boil out of the underground onto the city streets.”
Amanda leveled her gaze at the man. “What makes you certain of that? And why would it concern me still?”
“Because, Indagator, no criminal organization is beneath using monsters to carry out their bidding.”
Amanda continued listening to the slow droning music.
“And, if I understand correctly, you’re on a mission to investigate the uptick of drug dealings, correct?”
The mare glared at the man. “So I am.”
Vlad smiled. “The increased trading of those drugs is caused by the war. As each major organization is building funds to wage war against each other. Which means-”
“They’ll start buying and using monsters off the black market.” The mare finished.
“Indeed.” The man nodded.
The mare sighed. “What’s the job you offer?”
“I want you to help me stop the monsters.”
“How so?”
“I have good information on some hold-outs where monsters are trained as weapons.”
“You can’t train most monsters.” The Indagator responded.
“While I trust that information coming from an Indagator, I believe the other two organizations could care less.”
“Fine. I'll do your job, but first, I want you to show me how real this war is."
“Not willing to believe me after I’ve unveiled all this information?” Vlad smirked.
“My trust is dependent on how far I can throw you."
“Ah. Very well then.” The man grabbed his wine, took a deep whiff, then said. “It appears my wine was poisoned.”
Amanda tilted her head and snatched the wine glass. “Holy water and silver. Perfect to kill a vampire.” The mare stared at the man.
“Ooh. How long had you known what I was?”
“I could smell it.” The mare put the glass back on the table.
“Indagators really do have heightened senses.” The man smiled.
“Handing me a poisoned wine glass isn’t going to convince me.”
“I guessed as much, Indagator, and I assure you, the show is about to start.”
Amanda glared at the man. Within a split second, the doors are violently ripped off their hinges as an explosion rocked the hall. Anthros and humans poured inside like waves. The band abruptly stopped, the droning music replaced with gun smoke and rending flesh. The mare punched Vlad with such force he slammed to the ground, and his skull fractured.
“WHAT DID YOU DO?!” The horse raged at the vampire.
“I-” The vampire struggled with words. “did nothing. They’re here for me, Indagator. They want to kill me."
Amanda fixated her gaze on the frightened crowd. Indagators had broken chairs and began to battle the intruders. The mare's giant size had already attracted numerous bullets her way. Quickly, the mare threw up an invisible shield with her forearm. The bullets slammed into the shield, falling to the ground. Vlad got up, his skull already reshaping back to its former shape.
“Tell me, vampire! Why shouldn't I hand you over to them?!" Amanda shouted over the gunfire and screamed.
“Because Indagator, you wouldn't have a job, and the other organizations can carry out their plan with monsters."
“Tsk.” The Indagator responded.
“Now, do you believe me?!" Vlad yelled, his head now fully reformed.
“You’re still a gods-dammed snake!”
“Well, Amanda! So is everyone else!”
The mare glared at Vlad again.
Vlad smiled, then faded into a blackish reddish cloud appearing next to an intruder, sinking his fangs into them. Their face quickly paled, and their eyes glossed over. They fell to the ground with a thud. The vampire, his eyes glowing red, fangs dripping with blood, bowed to the mare and moved on to the next intruder.
The mare swore underneath her breath. What the hell have I gotten myself into? The horse shook her head and dropped her shield. Bullets began barrelling through her cloak into her fur. It felt like she was encased in several tiny needles. The horse broke a chair next to her and crushed the nearest intruder with it.
The Indagator then blasted a group of intruders away from her with a shockwave, spun around the ones it missed, and crushed them with her chair again, shattering it. The mare grabbed another and swung again. To her surprise, they deftly avoided it, then came back with a speed no normal anthro could manage.
What? The thought quickly echoed as the mare adapted her stance to another enemy coming at her with a blade. It was a puma-anthro, moving fast. The mare promptly changed her stance, parried the puma, and attempted a riposte. The puma backed off and came at her again, this time from the side. The horse pirouetted around her attacker like a dancer swinging at them as her chair came down.
It shattered, and the puma lunged again. The mare slid underneath the attacking puma, snagged another chair, and threw it. The chair narrowly flew over the puma's head, and the mare grabbed another. The puma reversed their direction mid-air as the chair flew past. Amanda jumped at the puma in the lowest stance her colossal nutsack would allow.
The puma, much smaller than the mare, easily avoided their attack and got off one of their own. As a blade raked across a giant boob. The horse flinched. The mare blocked another assault with her chair. Then let off another massive shock wave sending the puma quickly tumbling through the air and into the marble wall breaking off a chunk.
Amanda listened to the puma’s skeleton turn to dust. As she parried another attacker, launching them in the same direction. The battle carried on as the mare suffered numerous wounds, her blood coloring the white flooring.
By the time it was over, the mare had found herself positively riddled with lead. As the horse's mutated skin healed, numerous bullets slowly fell to the ground. The Indagator had no potions to help her speed this up and ran the risk of losing too much blood. In fact, the mare could already feel the heaviness of her immense body. The mare's tremendous assets playing a detrimental role.
One look at Vlad told her he was in a similar position as most of his body was made up of bullet holes than actual flesh and bone. Despite this, the vampire hobbled over to the mare, leaving a trail of blood.
“This, again, Indagator, is why the underground war concerns you. There's an imbalance, and everyone is killing to fill it. And depending on who wins this war, it could turn out to be much worse."
Amanda, breathing heavily, responded. "I never agreed to kill one wahoo, only to put another in its place.”
“I’m afraid, Indagator, there is no other choice. Who you decide to help will be the one to fill the imbalance. I urge you to be very, very careful, Amanda." The vampire caught his breath. “Here.” Vlad handed the horse a card. “I have information on the other organizations; I believe it could help you with your case.”
The mare took the card and watched the vampire limp away.
“Fuck.”