Transit Tunnel Terrors
Transit Tunnel Terrors
Human and human-animal hybrids wait patiently on the Spring Garden platform in the city of Philadelphia of Atlantyz for the blue line train to them underground and into Center City. It's late at night but a troop of ten humanoids of diminutive stature, each one is about three to four feet in height in a pair of jeans, combat boot, black sweatshirt and miner's hats march from the tunnel armed with crowbars and a make beeline for the platform. Guards in the uniform of Minuteman Militia Incorporated pull their side arms and start firing on the goblins to drive them back so when the train comes it can continue without incident.
Six goblins die before the other four beat a hasty retreat back into the tunnel. On the train travelling to Center City from Frankford Transportation Center are three hybrids sitting in the front most bench in the first car who are their way to the Eccentric Factory just off of Spring Garden street as all this happens. Kodyax Byzarrowulf, Aurora Oddity and Keiko Yojimbo are ronin well known in Atlantyz for their collective exploits.
Keiko is a gun metal gray furred rabbit whose limbs are all cybernetic decked out like a little amazon from the classic film Road Warrior and armed with a pair of heavy pistols. Aurora is a purple furred fox-wolf with orange stripes and green hair dressed similarly to Keiko. Kodyax is a green furred wolf-bear with orange stripes and a purple Mohawk in a black trench coat over the same body armor as the girls in a decidedly more masculine cut.
"Attention all passengers!" A voice calls over the public address system. "Minuteman Militia Incorporated had to deal with a goblin incursion. All those traveling into Center City and beyond are advised to draw any weapon they may be carrying and be prepared to use it in case of goblin attack."
"And we're headed to the Shadow Cross and Spit-Roasted Seraphim concert," Keiko says in a mix of disappointment and excitement, "It's bee awhile since I was on a monster hunt."
"If these attacks get anymore frequent," Aurora cautions, "You just may get your wish."
"We shall see, Rory," Kody says, "The city is very happy with its contract with Minuteman. It would take something major for ronin like us to be called in."
"Spring Garden Station," The Public Address system announces in a female voice.
"There they are!" One of the black suited Minuteman Militia Incorporated Officers calls as he ribs his buddy and points to the trio coming out of the car. "The Great Giant Killers!"
"Fight any ogres lately, kids?" His buddy asks mockingly.
"Not lately," Kodyax retorts, "But then again I heard you took on a whole platoon of Martians!"
"Fair enough," The first Minuteman officer says with a smirk. "Just in case my sarge asks though, if we wanted to hire you three..."
"Use the new Silver Dragon Security site," Aurora says matter-of-factly and hands them a data card hyper reality object with all the needed coding to access the sit. "The three of us are a package deal."
"Thanks," The other officer says and takes the card. "You three look loaded fo ducks..."
"New armor," Kodyax admits. "Biz been good. Plus you can never be too careful nowadays."
The three hybrids go down the steps to street level as Joe Patton and Mack Arthur kibitz.
"You think the big wigs were serious, Joe?" Mack asks of Joe. "We could use the help on the monsters."
"All kidding aside, Mack," Joe says seriously. "I hope so. Some of the stuff I've heard of what's down there..." An explosion grabs their attention. "What the Hell?"
A tentacled earthworm as big as the train that just went in comes crawling out of the tunnel and advances on the platform. Aurora, Kodyax and Keiko have just got off of a bus and are walking down the street for the Eclectic Factory when the incident occurs. The Cynyx have just finished their set when another squid worm burrows up out of the floor and starts to attack whatever is in range.
Kodyax and Keiko run to the weapons check station as Aurora accepts the commission from management as Spit-Roasted Seraphim prepares to go on stage. Zook, the Asian lady singer for the group smirks as the rabbit runs in with guns blazing while the wolf-bear shoots a grenade at the thing. Zook and Zurgeon, the two Aussies that comprise Spit-Roasted Seraphim perform as the hybrids take down the monster and the disco lights makes the fight seem like a weird floor show to compliment their EBM stylings with harsh lyrics.
Mentally Zook is taking notes on the fight, especially when Kodyax changes to his chain sword and goes all Splatter-Fu on the creature. The two females are less than happy when he gets into psychopath mode but they sigh and hammer away at the thing with their own pistols. It's about that time the monster does just about the dumbest thing it could do if it has even the slightest interesting in keeping alive: it tries to eat Kody.
Tentacles grab onto Kodyax's wrists and ankles to bring him closer to its maw but the chain sword is practically Kody's signature weapon at this point so it only gets a partial success. Attempts to drag Kodyax closer to going into its gullet succeed but only because he wants closer so he can eviscerate the thing. As hard as its shell is Byzarrowulf's chain sword proves to be its match as the lupursyn paid extra to make it industrial diamond tipped for extra cutting power.
Ichors starts to squirt forth like a fountain as Kodyax makes his predecessors in the slasher film industry seem like mere posers as he takes down the terror before him. Just for her amusement, Keiko promises the house DJ a blow job if he plays Alice Cooper's "He's Back (The Man Behind the Mask)" which he does gladly and it energizes Kody as he goes berserk. Aurora smacks Keiko upside the head when Kodyax is about to kill the monster or at least drive it back underground.
The thing slumps over on the dance floor as Kodyax howls in triumph as he feels the life force of the monster ebb as it slickens the area with its blood. The ground trembles as it falls as the place is being evacuated as part of belated safety precautions. The trio of chimeras that brought it down are looking over the store for souvenirs of the show.
A Minuteman Militia SWAT team storms the building to care of the monster that was called in when it erupted from the floor. The commander is staring in disbelief that they could have done anything about something like this and the fact that ronin beat him to the punch is just as incredulous to him. He calls it in and moments later Aurora gets a call on her PIDMA.
"Aurora Oddity here," Aurora says as she takes the call. "YES< WE ARE FOR HIRE> What sort of services did you have in mind?"
"Yes, I am Hiram Nathan Fyrum, head of Minuteman Militia Incorporated External Resource Management," the voice on the other side identifies himself, "I understand you're the one to talk to about leasing the talents of Kodyax Byzarrowulf?"
"It's actually a package deal, Mister Fyrum," Kodyax chimes in on a kind of conference call as Aurora gets them both in on the conversation. "Aurora, Keiko and myself are a functioning unit."
""The price quoted here on the sire is for all three of you?" Hiram asks in a somewhat pleased manner. "That actually ends up as being quite reasonable. But onto the reason for my call: Goblins have derailed a SEPTA train somewhere between 15th and 30th streets. Rescue efforts are currently being hampered by the little monsters."
"Is this to be a rescue mission or a bug hunt, sir?" Keiko asks point blank.
"We're hiring you to take out the monsters," Hiram states. "Hostages rescued will be paid for as a bonus."
"That sounds fair," Kodyax says evenly. "What terms are we looking at?"
"20, 000 credits per confirmed goblin killed and 10, 000 credits per hostage returned safely," Hiram states.
"Agreed, we are at the Eccentric Factory now," Aurora states, "We'll lave now and be there ASPAP."
"Yes, Sir," The SWAT leader says into his call and then turns to the three chimeras. "We've been ordered to take to the site."
"Good, the sooner we get there," Kodyax states, "The sooner we can get the job under way."
"Turkey shoot! Turkey shoot!" Keiko sings as she dances for joy.
"Is she OK?" SWAT leader asks in a worried tone.
"This is gonna be fun," Kodyax says with an evil grin.
"They're fine," Aurora admits with her own feral smile. "Bug hunts are fun for us that's all. And it's been a bit since we've been hired to do one."
"Film at eleven?" One of the ladies at a vendor table looking like Elvira's clone asks.
"Do you have a drone camera ready to roll, Lucy?" Kody asks.
:"We keep five on stand by at any given time, Kody," Lucy Lunatic states, "You know that. I'll be going through the footage of your doom dance later for play back."
"Have them follow us and splice the two together then," Kodyax orders to which Lucy just smiles broadly, knowingly and nods like a bobble head doll as she this is what she was planning to do anyway, "And I want a copy of the final."
"Copy and proceeds," Lucy promises proudly. "We still have a contract with you."
"I signed life?" Kodyax asks to which Lucy just gives him a firm nod, "Good to know, we may need to sign the other two though."
"Looking it over now, Kody," Aurora says as she goes over a scrolling hyper screen.
"Pretty liberal contract, I like it," Keiko says as she signs hers; using her finger to write her name in kanji.
LucyLunatic: Is she Atlantean or Japanese?
KodyaxByzarrowulf: Made here but thinks like a Jap
LucyLunatic: And the bitch?
KodyaxByzarrowulf: Is a hacker
LucyLunatic: Good?
KodyaxByzarrowulf: And temperamental
KodyaxByzarrowulf: Also my mate for the most part; bunny too with an open relationship.
LucyLunatic: DCs scrambled.
More than goblins lurk in the depths but they're the most organized threat as the trio descends into the tunnels to do their job. Rocker Bats, weird winged critters that look like stalactites until they spread their wings and reveal a single cyclopean eye over a fanged that seems too big for its body swoops in to attack, have taken up residence here in the tunnels waiting to pick off lone travelers and prey on the homeless. Its been suppressed by the media arm of Minuteman Militia Incorporated but homeless sleeping in the underground and lone night riders often fall prey to the little horrors that range from house cat to human sized entities.
Explosive rounds are the best ammo to use on rocker bats as most normal rounds tend to bounce of their rocky hides. Aurora adds the cost to their bill to Minutemen Incorporated and they press on as, with the proper magazines, rocker bats are more of an annoyance than any real threat to them. It's the poor schmucks that can't afford high explosive rounds or don't carry weapons that get into trouble dealing with them.
"I'm just noticing something," Keiko says as she looks askance of Aurora, "When did you switch to a rifle, Rory?"
"Since I got a little stronger, Keiko," Aurora retorts back with a smirk. "I'm a hacker not a front line like you and Kody."
"We may finally have a sniper," Kody teases.
"Don't go there!" Keiko growls playfully.
"I can't handle the big sniper rifle," Aurora says lightly, "But this assault rifle is nice enough."
"Yeah, leave the heavy weapons to me," Kodyax answers as all 3 chuckle together.
The ground beneath shakes almost uncontrollably as another squid worm emerges briefly and the retreats after half a minute while the chimeras just stay still and watch pensively. The trio look at each other collectively shrug their shoulders and press on with their mission. The first batch of hostages are easy enough to find as they are kept naked in cages as the goblins spit roasts a few with spare parts made into a kind of industrial rotisserie.
Keiko runs into the goblin camp with guns blazing while Kodyax uses the shotgun portion of his gun to sweep the area clean as Aurora picks the locks on the cages. The goblins are too busy for the most part to notice their meals creeping out the edge of their camp. Aurora gets fifty humans to a maintenance ladder as rescue workers are conveniently opening the manhole cover above them.
Aurora gets a virtual receipt for this group before going back to see how her companions with an accountant following her to do a body count. The accountant almost faints when she discovers a full hundred goblins slaughtered. But there are more hostages to find and more goblins to kill so the team moves on.
KodyaxByzarrowulf: It's getting even more serious.
AuroraOddity: Why?
KodyaxByzarrowulf: I found ritual material on some of the goblins. I made sure they are absent for the accountant...
AuroraOddity: Who else have you told?
KodyaxByzarrowulf: Just you, Keiko would just freak out.
Aurora climbs up on Kodyax's back and zonks out as she goes virtual. Kodyax can feel the weight but soon realizes what's going on and has Keiko apply the clamps as the accountant just scratches her head in bewilderment. Neither hybrid feels the burning need to explain to the human so they just move on.
In hyper reality Aurora is meandering around a dungeon with skeletons aplenty. None of the skeletons harass Aurora who is in a wizard's robe but otherwise unchanged as if her presence was nothing they need to be excited about. A few of them peacefully interact with behind bars as if they were info dumping NPCs in some role playing game.
One of the skeletons gives her a scroll which lists the general number of folks who were on the train when it collapsed and where they are approximately now. It explains that it's doing this to expedite her contract not help her out. Aurora thanks the skeleton none the less and logs out.
"How did it go?" Kodyax asks when Aurora finally slides off of him.
"Better that I had hoped," Aurora admits. "I don't know what it is with certain programmers and the old fantasy RPGs but it's starting to creep me out."
"We have any better ideas as t to where the hostages are now?" Keiko asks.
"Oh yes," Aurora states as she share what she got with her companions," But the sysop chose a skeleton as his avatar with a dungeon as the domain dressing."
"Was your avatar reskinned too?" Keiko asks jokingly.
"It made me a wizard," Aurora admits shamefacedly.
Kodyax and Keiko chuckle with Keiko giving Aurora a kiss and a nuzzle along with a hug as they pick their way to the next holding zone. In a maze of tunnels that look newly dug the trio are ambushed by creatures that seem to be an unholy amalgamation of praying mantis and scorpion with a mantis torso growing out where the eyes and mouth of the scorpion with the head and claws of a mantis in addition to the scorpion's claws and stinger. Keiko's bullets do very little against their armor but on full auto Kody and Rory's assault rifles shred their opponents with sheer tenacity.
Before moving on, they need to revive the accountant who fainted dead away as soon as the mantis scorpions appeared. At the next site are three cages of fifty hostages each around a minor summoning circle wit blood letting altar attended to be a tall hobgoblin priests who are chanting in an alien tongue to great Cthulhu. Keiko is on the verge of freaking out as Kodyax holds her down.
Aurora and Kodyax calmly check their ammo loads as Kody literally sits on Keiko and the accountant is hyperventilating. Kodyax pops off five grenades in a tight pattern amidst a throng of a hundred goblins and ten hobgoblins while Aurora takes up a sniper's position. Between the bombs going off and a few key assassinations the goblins are thrown into chaos and confusion.
Keiko is let loose to run and gung her way around the battlefield as Kodyax slides down an embankment and Aurora keeps up her sniper's perch. When more than half the goblins are killed Aurora frees the hostages and gets them to safety. Kodyax and Keiko mop up and provide cover for Aurora as they force the humanoids to deal with them instead of her.
The largest concentration of hostages has yet to be liberated as there are a full two hundred and fifty of them deeper underground. One look at the map is enough to concern Aurora and Kodyax as the five cages of fifty hostages each are arranged in such a way that a pentagram can easily be drawn between them and the sheer area of the summoning circle could create is rather alarming. Speculation of what they could summon with that large a circle combined with that many potential sacrifices goes wild between Aurora and Kodyax and does not lead to good places.
Given what they have seen so far the chances that the hobgoblin cultists and their smaller minions attempting to summon something that will have even more disastrous consequences for the planet at large is rather high which means the priority of preventing whatever they are planning to so from actually happening is also very high. The accountant is only looking at the bottom line and cringing at the price tag these "heroes" is going to cost her company as they already owe the trio over six million credits because the lawyers thought it would be cheaper to hire ronin to rescue them than deal with wrongful death suits. The she remembers that there is a silence group within cost management for situations like this.
The accountant slips off a bit to make a call where she can get coverage and be out of earshot of the chimeras while still keeping them in her sight. The final area has five hundred goblins and fifty hobgoblins which gets Keiko very excited because by her calculations this job could net them close to twenty million credits shared among the three of them. She decides to pester the other two about it.
KeikoYjimbo: If we get a full 20 mill; how would we spread it?
AuroraOddity: 6 mill each with the remaining 2 mill in our upkeep fund.
KodyaxByzarrowulf: I know something we could get with 2 mill
AuroraOddity: What are you thinking?
KeikoYojimbo: What?
KodyaxByzarrowulf: 2 soon to reveal but there could be new digs in it for us.
AuroraOddity: And what does that mean?
KodyaxByzarrowulf: Don't worry about it we still have 550 goblins to kill and 250 hostages to rescue.
KeikoYojimbo: You're not planning to go all Splatter-Fu on us are you?
AuroraOddity: The chain sword is fully charged isn't it?
Kody plays "Oh, Yeah!" by Yello rather than properly answer
AuroraOddity: I'm in love with a psychopath and part of me is actually wanting to see this.
KeikoYojimbo: Hand weapons for this?
KodyaxByzarrowulf: It's the big showdown, Keiko, so yeah, you still receiving, Lucy?
LucyLunatic: Oh, Yeah! Been recording all along. I'm going to have fun editing all this when all is said and done.
KeikoYojimbo: I got Butterfly swords, what about you, Rory?
AuroraOddity: I got a whip.
The accountant comes back and finds the three chimeras armed with hand weapons. A formal rescue team has also arrived to take the hostages as the ceremony is still in the planning stages. One of the rescue workers is a fan of Kody's apparently from his horror movie work and asks if this is going to be available later and Lucy confirms it with a virtual coupon for a free copy as a thank you for doing this which all twenty accept.
Lucy Lunatic isn't worried about lack of profits as she know the freebies will generate a legion of word of mouth advertising that will spread the meme that this actually happened like wildfire. What she doesn't know is that the rescue workers are really assassins who will free the hostages but come back to kill the chimaeras. Unfortunately for the accountant the chimeras are expecting a double cross and she just signed the death warrants of each and every one of the silence group gathered to do this job.
"Can you perpetuate anymore stereotypes?" Keiko teases,. "I should be glad you're a folf and not a cat."
"Can you be anymore Asian?" Aurora teases back. "Really? Hook Swords?"
"That's enough you two," Kodyax cautions. "Time to get to work."
It's almost graceful, this dance of death all three chimeras displays as they go through the throngs of vile humanoids like a hot knife through butter. The accountant is looking a little pale as the idea that maybe calling in the silence group wasn't such a hot idea. The fake rescue workers descend to do the cover job they were sent in to do as a few of them are contemplating not coming back to take on the chimeras afterward.
Keiko uses her hook swords to swing from the ceiling until she gets to a cluster of goblins before dropping down among them. She lashes out blindly secure in the knowledge that she is clipping a goblin somewhere with every swipe. Goblins at this point are mainly armed with clubs although a few do have knives to defend themselves with.
Aurora saunters up to them with the whip playing out around her and seems to have a serpentine mind of its own but is always in her complete control. Knife wielding goblins rush towards her only to get cut to ribbons from the tensile strength and make up of the whip. The entire vicinity around her seems to be filled with razor wire to which she is immune which tantalizes those watching this on a live feed as well as those goblins that want to see her bleed.
If the goblins were less than terrified by the girls when they went into the fray; they are actually terrified as Kodyax starts to swing his chain sword with authority. Many of these same goblins have watched the films Kodyax has been in so they recognize him as a threat and true to goblin style of combat they swarm around him to try and take him down by sheer numbers. He wouldn't have it any other way.
All over the ocean the fight is broadcasted with liberal use of Alice Cooper's "He's Back" Rob Zombie's "Super Beast" and Gothminister's cover of Michael Jackson's "Thriller" all of which is played as they watch Kodyax cut a wide swath of green skins to ribbons. The chain sword is almost Kody's signature weapon at this point as he loves using it so much. His clothes are becoming soaked in blood from so many victims becoming choice cuts of meat with every swing that he makes.
Hiram N. Fyrum credits the trio with the rescue of all hostages and sighs as he watches the body count rise. Minuteman Militia Inc. makes a payment to Silver Dragon Securities already rescued and all goblins killed which goes into the bank account that all three share and while the transfer registers with them they are more concerned with completing the job right now. The accountant in the filed is also made aware of the pay off and is now grinding her teeth with every kill.
Standing at his altar the High Priest-King leans over it and drums his fingers as a means of expressing his frustration and watches the carnage with great annoyance. A stray thought parades across his dark mind that causes him to smile an evil smile. His gravelly voice sings out amidst the screams of his dying subjects, using their shed blood as the catalyst for his summoning.
Tremors intensify all around the underground as a rift opens in the very Earth itself. Four shaggy forearms complete with huge taloned hands grasp the edges of the canyon before hauling a giant from the depths of the dreamlands to the waking world to do the hobgoblin's bidding. It's eyes burn like fire as its vertically mounted jaws open and close as if taking in the air and tasting the fear its very presence inspires all around it; although some idiot changes the music in the background to Ozzy Osbourne's "Killer of Giants" which miraculously helps Kodyax regain his courage.
Kodyax roars a battle cry before advancing on the alien giant while Aurora gets the presence of mind to switch to her rifle to help him out. Using his chain sword to help him climb, Kodyax does his best to slaughter the monster before him or at least drive it back to the dreamlands where it belongs. The high priest-king is dumbfounded as he just watches the creature he summoned get slaughtered by the lupursyn as Keiko sneaks behind him to take him out.
Victory for the chimeras is a foregone conclusion at this point as the dying giant falls back into the hole from whence it came and the silence group is recalled. The resulting film when released is entitled "Monster Clash" and is an instant hit, earning them residuals for years. Back in Kodyax's apartment the girls are getting a shower and yelling for him to join them, but Kodyax take two million of the credits they just earned and purchases a recreational vehicle for them to use as a mobile headquarters even though he knows Aurora will be pissed at him when she finds he's made this purchase but until then he strips and joins the two females in the shower for good clean and dirty fun.