Shadow Runner [LitRPG]

Thankfully, it didn't take us long to find our way back to street level after that. None of us wanted to linger in the tunnels. I swear even the drone was starting to look just about done with it all.

Also thankfully, we didn't run into any Zerx guards down there. The gang members were a bit too busy trying to survive or escape, apparently. And according to our allies, the tunnels were already a known death-trap in the eyes of the enemy. All the Zerx who had tried to use that route had ended up the same way, as confirmed by the many corpses we came across.

Regardless, we were glad to be out of the fragrant underground. Discarding our raincoats to show off the guard uniforms, we encountered no opposition as we shuffled quickly through the streets. The few Zerx we did see just hurried by with barely a glance in our direction. Most of them looked lost, panicked, and drugged out of their minds.

I must admit that I took a certain perverse pleasure in this. It was about time for them to be the ones afraid and cowering.

We passed several hives of Zerx activity on the way to our destination, including some kind of HQ and a rough-and-tumble boardinghouse. Both places were appealing targets, yet we chose to ignore them. Each was heavily guarded by Zerx who actually looked to be fully aware and in control of their faculties. Trying to circumvent them just to do some petty rage-damage wouldn't really help us in the wrong run.

In contrast, the building Gatorz had chosen as his hideout was entirely unguarded.

At first glance.

A homeless-looking man huddled just beyond the entrance, shivering heavily and seemingly out of it. His bulky, ratty clothes concealed his muscular physique fairly well, but my new Acuity score was more than up to the task of seeing past the deception.

I fired off the most subtle Ping I was capable of, then blanched at the sheer number of hidden cameras that pinged back at me from the building's façade. We weren't even that close to the place yet, but I was willing to bet they knew we were coming.

My nerves began to play up. I licked my lips, my mind running through all the many, many ways shit could go wrong.

Landen took point, his eyes sharp and determined and alive. I could only hope all the instructions we had fed him would be enough to weather an encounter with his old allies.

The second we were past the front doors of the building, he gave the homeless-looking guy a quick salute and started rattling off his story.

"Landen reporting in. There was an issue back at the former Kittens' HQ. Our communications were fried completely. I need to talk to Gatorz."

The 'homeless' guy's entire demeanor instantly shifted. "What the fuck, Landen? Gina and Marius, too? None of you are supposed to be here!"

"Can it, Paul," Landen snarled, reminding me forcibly of how I'd heard him talk to Mort. At least the drone was doing a very good job of channeling the gorilla's old temperament. "I didn't want to fucking be here. Did you not fucking hear me?!"

"Now listen here, you piece of —"

There was a loud crackle. Paul physically recoiled to the side, clutching his ear. I managed to spot the earpiece there before he slammed his hand down on it.

I tried not to look confused. Honestly, I'd expected him to have cyber optics, rather than relying on that kind of tech for communication.

Paul's face twisted in displeasure, and he nodded at the stairs. "Go on up. And try to work on that fucking personality of yours before I fucking shoot you."

Landen sneered and stormed away, almost leaving us in the dust. I shot Paul an apologetic smile before following. He rolled his eyes, but his stance did soften a little.

Of course, I forgot about him completely when we arrived on the next floor up and immediately encountered a group of six casually dressed individuals lounging about the hallway.

Problem is, they 'lounged' in the same way as large, deadly predators. All coiled muscles and obvious menace, with wary eyes trained right on us.

I did another Ping, finding a whole lot more cameras, sensors, and several other devices I didn't like the feel of. I wasn't one hundred percent certain, but they seemed like turrets of some kind.

One guy stepped forward, his eyes roving up and down our forms.

"Marius… Gina… Landen. Whatcha doing here, big guy? It isn't like you to abandon your post."

"It also isn't like me to sit around and be fucking killed by a bunch of fucking useless dipshits just because I got stuck babysitting idiots!" Landen shot back irritably.

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I held back another wince. I was starting to question the wisdom of relying on the equivalent of a verbal hedgehog for getting us in with a VIP target.

"Mmmhmm," the other guy said slowly. "Weird you didn't call ahead. They might have fried your comms, but you still have those eyes of yours, don'tcha? Also… haven't seen ya for a while, Gina, but I have to say… you're looking awfully different there."

Amelia said nothing. She probably would have been able to alter our bodies to resemble the guards more closely, but neither of us had wanted that. We hadn't expected the idiots to be so observant…

My heartbeat picked up to match the rising tension as the guy drawled on.

"Got nothing to say? Come on, let me hear ya. You too, Marius. You're both looking shorter than I remember. Got your kneecaps blown out and failed to find proper replacements?"

The mocking grin was plain to see on his face. He wasn't even trying to hide the movement of his hand as it inched closer to the gun holstered on his hip.

Now, I wouldn't say we were made then and there. I knew our plan wasn't a complete wash yet. We could probably get a little closer without violence. I also knew that the fewer people we had to slaughter on our way up to Gatorz, the better.

I knew all that. But by that point, the urge to move had grown into an ache in my chest. I needed to fight. To claw up a few idiots. To really try out my newly enhanced body.

Besides, there was something deeply annoying about the way this guy was looking at us.

Clairvoyance kicked in. With a grin I couldn't hide, I launched myself forward.

I couldn't properly explain how I felt in that moment. Movement was less a command I had to impose on my body and more a matter of art. My step had actually scuffed the floor with enough force that fragments of tile went shooting backwards.

And the delicious shock on the guy's face was so very, very satisfying.

I swiped my claws right through that face and sent bits of it raining over the other five guards, much to their horror and chagrin.

I didn't trigger Stealth, because I didn't need to. My claws carved through two throats and another face before anyone even managed to draw weapons. I sliced off the next guy's arms, leaving him to flounder as I snatched the gun right out of his suddenly missing fingers. Flipping the weapon around, I shoved it into its owner's face hard enough to obliterate the entire thing.

That was when the final guard's first bullet left the chamber… and I negligently swatted it right out of the air with a mere sting to the back of my hand. The man gaped at me for the entire split second it took me to step forward, rip his tongue out of his mouth, and then shove my claws through his eyes. Their blood wasn't quite done spraying the hallway around us when he collapsed, his life extinguished.

"Yeeeeeesssssss…"

The hiss that escaped me was most definitely not in any human tongue.

And I. Didn't. Care.

I spun around to give Amelia my most blinding smile. My mouth was so busy laughing, I had to rely on our call to communicate.

"I love you. I love you so, so much, you wonderful eldritch ripper."

Obviously, Gatorz must have realized at that point that something was up.

The devices I was keeping an eye on with Ping finally started moving. Clairvoyance treated me to the sight of turrets starting to unfold from four spots on the ceiling.

I reacted before I even knew what I was doing.

Essence flooded my body, and I jumped. One set of claws stabbed into the ceiling while the other sank into the entrails of the unfolding turrets, bringing their motion to a stop. I kicked off the wall next to me, raking my claws through the second turret on my way to the floor, then launched myself one final time to ruin a third as I snatched my gun out of its holster. Bullets bit into several points of the final turret moments before it was ready to shoot, disabling it.

Just as my Clairvoyance had assured me would happen.

Slowly, lazily, I stretched and gave the camera my very best smug smirk.

"We're coming for ya, Gatorz. Here we gooooooo!"

I was pretty sure he got the message, because the entire building suddenly went insane. It was like someone had hit a panic button.

Probably because he did, or something.

Seven people suddenly erupted out of the various rooms on our floor. Just to confirm my suspicions, I quickly flared Tracking. Above us, thirty-something signatures milled about like panicked ants, doing who-knows-what to prepare for our arrival. Each one of those signatures, the ones on our floor and those above, irritated the fuck out of my senses.

I briefly tried to fight the irritation off, but… since neither Amelia nor our drone did anything to tickle my senses anymore, did I have a single reason to hold back?

I let my most bloodthirsty smile out to play, my fingers flexing in anticipation of claws sliding through flesh.

"Don't kill them all! I need people to work with! I need them!" Amelia shouted at me.

But while I did send her a quick wink as I tore into the idiots, I couldn't say I was feeling particularly merciful.

—

It took us a total of forty-seven minutes to make our way up the stairs to the correct floor and dig Gatorz out of the room he'd hidden himself in. Forty-seven delicious, delicious minutes, in which all of the worry and horror and whatever else our future sometimes inspired in me simply fell away.

They couldn't move as fast as me. They couldn't react as fast as me. Even the eight cybernetic-enhanced Zerx we encountered on the higher floors couldn't stop me. Sure, I had six new bullet holes in my side and left leg, which Amelia had made sure to heal as painfully as possible. But between my new body and Landen, who acted as a wall of muscle and rage once Amelia unleashed him, we won.

For a moment, I wondered why we had even bothered with all the planning. Clearly, I was better than any of our enemies. Better than all the Zerx and the mercenaries and all that crap. I could personally take out every single one of the dirty fuckers myself…

My eyes landed on Amelia, who was busily rearranging Gatorz's brain.

Instantly, my thoughts slowed down. I looked around at the twelve drones we'd collected on the way up, all standing around and waiting for orders. Slowly, as I let the Stalker impulses cool, I found myself thinking of all the advantages we'd had on the way up, from limited enemy numbers to tight hallways.

Then, one by one, all the threats that could and would end me drifted up to the surface of my mind. Missile launchers. Grenades. Heavy-duty firepower. Plain old superior numbers.

My newfound belligerence faded, and I sighed.

But just because I couldn't personally end every last Zerx didn't mean I wouldn't have my fun. Someday soon, I was going to get my hands on my father and Amelia's father.

And then I would end both of them.

Personally.