Chapter 144: 142 – Clean Up

Rampart let Shizuka take on the space marine and made his way to the fight between Fursation and Cayman. As he did, the hero called out to Yuppie.

"Go find that mobile base and let Dextra know the location!"

"You got it!" Yuppie yelled back.

The hero blasted off towards the floating island's last location while Rampart met up with Fursation, who was having a better time against Cayman now that the croc couldn't heal.

As Rampart moved closer, the hero started charging up a barrier strike, waiting for a good chance to shoot. Fursation and his foe were still locked in their battle, both their bodies colliding against each other like a car crash. Cayman would swipe with his tail, only for Fursation to take the blow with a watery leg. The hero then followed up with a claw swipe to the face, which Cayman took with little trouble.

The battle looked to be a stalemate. Fursation's natural weapons weren't able to break through Cayman's natural defense, leaving only small scratches. At the same time, Cayman's powerful strikes were slowed by Fursation's water armor, leaving slight bruises behind instead of giant welts. However, Rampart knew that the small amounts of damage added up, and Fursation had to be hurting more than his foe. The crocodilian had the help of his healer friend until recently, after all.

Deciding his attack had charged up enough, Rampart flung his barrier at Cayman's tail. The shimmering shield whizzed through the air like a frisbee, landing just above the crocodilian's bottom. Cayman winced as the attack bit into his back, alerting him to Rampart's presence. The player quickly jumped back to put Rampart into his line of sight, giving Fursation some time to collect himself.

Rampart rushed over to Fursation's side, "You good?"

"Yeah," the player responded. "Thanks, was on the last bit of health there."

"Shizuka got their healer and DPS. All we gotta do now is clean up." Rampart rolled his neck around to stretch it out, "My shields are still recharging, but I have enough to hold off a few blows. You got anything that can break this guy's defense?"

"My fire form should do it," Fursation replied. "And since we don't have to worry about damage, I'll switch forms."

"Sounds good," Rampart responded. He started charging another attack, stepping closer to Cayman.

The crocodilian responded by shuffling backward, making sure to keep Fursation in his sights as Rampart approached. As he got closer, Rampart noticed the man glancing around, as if looking for somewhere to hide. A few more steps forward and Rampart confirmed it. His foe was planning to run.

It was the way Cayman stood, on the back of his feet instead of leaning forward. Rampart knew the man wanted to make a run for it but wasn't sure why. Running didn't change anything for players; dying and running from a fight counted as a loss. So was it possible that there was something important around this area? Rampart figured it was possible. The command center did only release one group of five here. These players could be on a recon of extraction mission of some kind.

The hero took a few more steps forward, letting Cayman shuffle back as he did. Rampart stayed calm; all he need to do was wait for Fursation to finish his transformation. Suddenly, Cayman bolted, turning heel and dashing toward the coastline. Rampart stormed after him, throwing his charging shield as he ran. The attack landed a foot to the player's left, a gust of wind pushing the spinning disk off course.

An eagle's cry caused Rampart to turn his head. A wave of heat assaulted the hero's face as he watched Fursation's new form lift into the air. Mighty wings shoved heated air around as they lifted Fursation off the ground. With another cry, the player soared into the air after Cayman, leaving a fiery trail in his wake. Rampart stopped his chase there; Fursation's eagle would easily catch the fleeing player. Instead, the hero went to take a look at Shizuka's fight.

Shizuka slipped under her opponent's swing and countered with a quickly flicked knife. A metal ting told her that her attack only struck armor, and the woman clicked her tongue in annoyance. A knee from her opponent shot toward her face, but Shizuka escaped again by activating a substitution technique. She appeared in a puff of smoke a few feet away from the space marine.

Her foe had transformed his weapon once again, this time an energy sword that glowed with soft blue energy. At first, the ninja had tried to take the attacks head on but quickly found that whatever his sword was made of cut through her knives. Lucky for her the cuts were more like a hacksaw through wood. So Shizuka switched up her attacks to throwing knives, but the man's armor kept getting in the way. All she could score was superficial damage.

"You know, you're making this fight super boring," the ninja commented as she prepared more knives.

"Boring is good sometimes," the marine replied as he brought an arm up to block the incoming attacks.

"It's just," Shizuka started as she flung her knives, "I expected a more interesting power from someone trying to be a space marine."

"Like what?" Space grunted as knives pinged off his armor.

"A teleporter? Some kind of time stop? I feel like you have more options than laser gun, laser shield, and laser sword."

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"But laser swords are cool," Space complained.

"Ninjas are cool," Shizuka countered. To prove it, she took out more knives, this time attaching some of her explosive talismans onto them. A quick flick of the wrist sent the blades in Space's direction, who again blocked the incoming attack with his gauntlets.

The explosion from the talisman sent the marine to the ground. He gasped as some dust entered his windpipe, much to Shizuka's delight.

"I was saving that for when you did something interesting," Shizuka said as she took out another group of knives. "But I guess you didn't have anything fun for me."

"Oh, I'll show you fun," Space murmured as Shizuka stepped closer.

The man pulled a plasma grenade out of his inventory and primed it with a flick of his thumb. A high-pitched beeping spread over the battlefield, alerting Shizuka to the threat. The woman smiled as Space tried to stealthily roll the grenade toward her under the cover of dust.

"Now that's more like it!"

Without a care in the world, Shizuka ran at the beeping noise, pulling a fan out of her inventory to blow the dust cloud away. A swipe revealed the silvery sphere rolling towards her, a small red light flashing quicker and quicker. The ninja reached down and scooped up the explosive. Space rolled to his feet at the same time, readying his sword.

Shizuka fell into a pitcher's stance, turning to eye Space as he stood.

"Hey batter, batter!" She said.

Space's eyes bulged as Shizuka spun her arm. The marine dove to the ground, kicking up the settling dust as he closed his eyes and plugged his ears. Shizuka ignored his move, putting all her focus into finished her pitch. The explosive sailed high into the air, straight toward a small bush in the distance.

The grenade never made it that far, exploding high in the air once the timer ran out. Sound and wind washed over the surroundings, drowning out any other sound in the area.

"Aww, I missed," Shizuka lamented as sparks rained down. "Oh well, I guess we'll have to try again."

Shizuka pulled out more knives, mentally marking that she needed to restock after this fight. She pounced as her foe stood, flinging three knives at his arm while keeping the last at the ready in her hand. Sure enough, Space blocked the blades as he stood, hastily using his sword to ward off the blows. Shizuka took the opportunity, swinging her fist around and plunging the knife inside the marine's neck. The man winced in pain as his health drained, though he wasn't out yet.

Space pulled his sword to cut Shizuka's arm, but the ninja had already retreated. Another flurry of knives met with the marine's armor, putting him on the back foot once again. Shizuka took the opening, dashing forward and making a hand sign. Space saw the movement and moved into a defensive stance. The marine might be on the back foot, but he was confident that he could stop anything she sent at him.

He wasn't expecting a second Shizuka to spawn and go for a dropkick. Hastily, Space met the attack with his sword, splitting the attacking ninja in half. She vanished in a cloud of smoke, and Space knew then he messed up. The drop in his health a moment later confirmed it, and the marine cursed as the death screen appeared.

"And that's that," Shizuka said, wiping her hands as her opponent vanished. She quickly dismissed the screen appearing in front of her to talk to Rampart, who was on his way over.

"Too bad we lost one, eh?" Shizuka said as he arrived.

"The worst part was he was our tracker," Rampart complained. "I've got Yuppie on tracking duty now, but we should try to collect Psy-Ops ASAP."

Shizuka threw a salute, "You got it, chief."

Rampart sighed, "I'd rather you go after the command center, but I can't stop you from doing what you want."

"You know me so well," Shizuka replied. She patted her companion on the cheek, who promptly retreated from the affection.

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