Chapter 38 - Dust to Dust

Day 30

Morning

Moon/McGibbons Neighbourhood

"How far out are they?" Sydney asked, speaking into the simple radio provided by Mrs. McGibbons, and upgraded by Noah. There were no advanced radios like in the military, but considering they were only capable of squawking before Noah got his hyper-intelligent mitts on them, Sydney couldn't complain. She figured in time he would probably turn them into some sort of quantum radios. For now though, they did exactly what she needed them to.

"A couple minutes max," Noah said, "Sydney…Erin's unconscious."

Sydney shook her head, as if Noah could see that action, and firmed her resolved, "She'll be fine. You said those hits she took caused shockwaves your bots felt kilometers away. That could knock anyone out."

"Yeah." Noah gave a one-word answer that did not reassure Sydney of his belief in the idea.

"Send me a message at the 30-second timer. Going radio silent." Sydney liked the convenience of the radios, up till the point where they became a liability. Without discrete microphones and ear buds, the radio was more likely to give away her position. So it was with disappointment but firm resolve that Sydney twisted the volume knob, turning the radio off entirely.

Somewhere Near the Moon/McGibbons Neighbourhood

Erin's body was healing her injuries at a fast pace, but not quick enough for her liking. While the wounds healed, Erin played possum. Not even opening her eyes. She pretended to be the unconscious passenger being dragged around town by a mentally unstable woman.

It was because of pretending to be unconscious that Erin noticed two things on her HUD, contrasted against the darkness of her eyelids. In her grief after the death of Zack, she stubbornly ignored everything, and now she was kicking herself for it. Erin had one completed quest, and several new levels. Her wholesale slaughter of the entire DN gang had leveled her to 109.

225 Attribute points awaited her, and she decided that it was no coincidence that it divided perfectly by three. She needed to boost attack power and defense most of all. So she put 75 points into Strength, Dexterity, and Endurance each. She couldn't know if that put her on par with Zara, but it had to help at least.

The second thing was that a quest had completed, and it took everything in her willpower not to react as she the message was dictated to her by the System.

Congratulations! You have completed the following quest: Unlock The Nine Tails, 3rd Tail.

You can now call on the power of up to Three Tails. Ki drain increases significantly per tail used.

Rewards: Exalted Shared-Stats Pack Bracelet

Note: Loss is an unavoidable part of life. Few people will experience the meaningful death of protecting the innocent. Few still can say they meant enough for the Gumiho to avenge them. Mourn the fallen, Remember the fallen, but don't become the fallen.

Biting back a sob at the flavour text, Erin focused on the bracelet to read the details.

Item Name: Exalted Shared-Stats Pack Bracelet

Quality Level: Exalted

Description: While foxes are not pack creatures, they often remain in a family unit. The Gumiho is no different. Form bonds, party with those bonds, and this bracelet will make you stronger for it.

Modifier: Pack. This modifier boosts the user based on their party numbers. In the context of this equipment, the wearer will gain a +10% temporary bonus to each attribute for each party member within party XP range.

Modifier: Shared Stats. This modifier will give a percentage of the wearer's stats to teammates within party XP range. In the context of this equipment, each party member within range will receive a +10% temporary bonus to each stat based on the stats of the wearer. Excludes boosts wearer receives from this equipment.

Notes: Stop fighting everyone by yourself! Not all foxes are solitary creatures!

Erin couldn't help it this time, she smiled widely as she equipped the bracelet. Her stats jumped up immediately, hinting at where the woman was dragging her.

One last notification appeared on her HUD, but before Erin could read it, Zara called her bluff.

"You can stop pretending, Erin." Zara said, "I know you're awake. We're almost at our destination, so why not open your eyes and see if you recognize where we're going."

Erin hesitated for a moment, then mentally shrugged and opened her eyes. She was facing back the way they came, and upside down, but Erin could recognize enough of the landscape. They were getting close to her home.

Party Chat

Erin: Everyone, get the soldiers to disband their party and join ours. No time to explain, but it needs to happen NOW.

Erin sent the message, then closed Party Chat, and prepared for the landing. Ten seconds later, Zara tossed Erin forward as she herself started to come down in the middle of the street.

Twisting her body, Erin planted a hand, flipping so she landed on her feet facing Zara. 

"So who do I have to beat up for you…" CRACK! Zara's question was interrupted when a projectile deflected off the side of her head, the sound coming a half-second later. There wasn't even a scratch. "I guess that answers my question."

Before Erin could stop her, Zara disappeared and reappeared holding Sydney around the neck with one arm.

"Fuckin' let me go, you bitch!" Sydney yelled, struggling.

Zara opened her mouth to reply, instead turning her head skyward. She stared for a second, then a big grin formed. "Looks like the cavalry is finally here."

Explosions broke the relative silence. None fell on Erin's street, but she could see them as close as a kilometer away.

"Mortars," Sydney said, a note of despair in her voice, "They're dropping goddamn mortars! Hawthorne is here!"

"Got it in one, Deputy Cade. But where were we." Zara looked at Erin, "Tell me. If I snap Sydney's neck right here do you think you might finally fight hard enough to give me a challenge?"

"No." Erin responded flatly.

Zara's face was disbelieving, "No?"

"You know what your mistake is?" Erin asked, the corner of her mouth twitching up as she felt her stats bump up.

"Oh, do tell." Zara made a faux frown.

Erin felt her stats tick up even more, "You think friends and family are a weakness. Some loose thread you pull on to unravel your target."

A maniacal smile started forming on Zara's face, "Hahahaha, you've already proven me right! You murdered all those gang members in one night because they murdered your friend."

More stats ticked up, and Erin's chat box flashed. Opening the message, it held two simple words in Party Chat.

Party Chat

Anderson: All in.

"No, my friends and family make me stronger. Quite literally, now." Erin winked, and Sydney slammed her head back into Zara's nose.

The hit wasn't enough to actually hurt Zara, but it stunned her long enough for Erin to slip in and separate the two women. Grabbing Zara by the throat, Erin slammed the woman into the ground hard enough to bury her six inches into the asphalt.

The pinned woman released a gasp as the air was forced from her lungs, then coughed at each attempt to suck in more. When she finally succeeded, there wasn't a hint of fear, anger, or concern in her eyes. She had a look of pure joy at the idea of the fight ahead.

Erin looked over her shoulder at Sydney, "Back up a good distance. This is going to be messy."

"Sure, but Erin…Noah isn't responding on the radio. He was supposed to give me a thirty second warning on your arrival."

Zara started laughing, drawing the attention of the other two women, "Oops, did I forget to mention that detail?" Zara smiled, "My henchman should be well behind friendly lines by now with your resident…I'm sorry, formerly resident genius."

Sydney gritted her teeth in frustration, but Erin decided on a more tactile response, lifting Zara up and slamming her back down into the same hole. Just before impact, Zara's aura changed slightly. When she hit, the reaction was casual, not the dramatic effect of having the wind knocked out of her like the first time.

Because of the depth of the human-shaped hole, Erin hadn't held on this time, giving Zara the freedom to climb out at speed. She pulled a potion from her inventory and slammed it back, then disappeared from Erin's sight.

Reappearing to Erin's right, Zara threw a left hook. It connected with Erin's right cheek, turned her head a few degrees, and then Erin forced the fist back by turning her head to face the woman. Zara's smile only grew.

Erin backhanded the woman, sending her end over end before the other woman landed face first in the grill of a parked car. Flipping the mental switch, Erin's first tail released, and she equaled Zara's speed.

To her credit, the other woman recovered before Erin could reach her, despite the speed, turning the fight into a dance along the street. Their speed was well matched, but Zara had much higher evasion, allowing her to dodge Erin's swings. Unfortunately for Zara, Erin's punches didn't need to land to cause damage. The air several inches around her swings caused damage much like Zara had done before, except Erin's hits were magnitudes above and beyond.

To make matters worse for the malicious woman, Erin didn't even bother dodging her hits. The younger woman took every blow and shrugged it off like a Tyson fighting a toddler. Slowly, Zara's smile began to fade, concern showing in her eyes, then finally fear.

Pulling back to signal a pause, Erin asked, "What's the matter, Zara? I thought you wanted a real fight?"

Her chest heaving, more indicative of the damage she had already taken rather than any exhaustion, Zara responded, "You're stronger than I thought." She tried to smile, but that flexed a muscle she could clearly feel was hurting, causing a wince to form instead.

"I'm not even in my final form," Erin grinned at her, "Here, let me show you."

Her second tail formed, and in the time it took Zara's mouth to form an O, Erin was on top of her. She didn't even bother forming fists. Moving around Zara at speeds nearly twice what she achieved a moment ago, Erin poked the other women over a hundred times across her body.

Moving right back to where she started from a second earlier, Erin watched as Zara's body collapsed from the assault. Cuts, bruises, and gashes forming before her eyes on the woman. "Come on, Zara. You aren't done already, are you?" Erin chastised her.

Zara coughed up a mouthful of blood before she could respond in a shaky voice, "Not…not on…your life." She spit out more blood and gave a bloody smile, then added, "Give me…everything…you've got."

This time Erin didn't smile, only frowning at her like a parent frowns when their child misbehaves, "I don't have all day to play with you, so I'm going to make this next lesson quick and painful. Then I'm going to return you to your masters."

Erin gave the mental command, and a third tail formed. She felt the pressure of the ground on the soles of her feet lessen, drawing her focus down for a moment. As the first time she was activating Gumiho's Wrath, 3rd Tail, Erin didn't have any unique expectations beyond more power. In this case, with that power came a slight displacement from the surface she was on. It also came with a massive Ki drain.

The displacement didn't let her rise up any further, leaving her to suspect this was her Ki becoming more solid around her. Putting those thoughts out of her mind, Erin focused on her prey.

The other woman was kneeling, resting back on her haunches, arms limp in her lap. Erin had some ideas on how to drive this point home.

Disappearing and reappearing beside the woman, Erin lifted Zara up by the back of her neck. Popping the claw on her right forefinger, Erin poked through Zara's back and into her right kidney as easily as a kid sticks a finger through fresh snow. She didn't move very quickly, but still Erin saw debris and viscera shoot out the front of Zara's abdomen. The woman squirmed, but didn't scream.

Next, Erin flicked the woman's ear. The resulting force blew Zara's right ear apart and caused a gouge to form on the side of her head from back to front. Still, the woman didn't make a noise.

"You have a high pain tolerance, that's for sure." Erin commended the woman.

"Y-you…have no…idea…" Zara's voice was even less steady now, but she still held to her defiance.

"Tell me, right or left?"

Zara's face tried to scrunch in confusion, but didn't quite achieve it with that new gouge she was sporting.

"Right or left? Your dominant side?"

"I-I'm ambidextrous…but I…was born right-handed."

Without hesitation, Erin dropped the woman back to her knees, grabbed Zara's right arm, and held it out. Before the woman could question or protest, Erin's left hand sliced through the arm at the shoulder joint, then she tossed the arm in front of the woman.

This got a scream.

"Find a new hobby, Zara. If I hear about you harassing people, or using martial arts to hurt more innocents, I'll take the rest of your limbs."

Zara hadn't even stopped screaming when Erin grabbed her by the front of her clothes and threw her like a football straight out the east side of town. Directly towards the military's front lines.

Without hesitation, Erin turned to Sydney, who was now running towards her. Releasing her tails, Erin zipped across the distance at super speed, meeting the woman more than halfway, and lifted her into a hug.

"You're crazy!" Erin said, a smile on her face.

Sydney chuckled, "Says the woman who plays with her food."

Erin made a decision, letting Sydney back down to the ground, she grabbed the back of the deputy's neck and pulled her in for a kiss.

While not as long as either would have liked it to be, Erin wanted her intentions to be clear.

"Wow, okay…more of that," Sydney said, "But later. We need to find Noah, and repel the military."

Erin nodded, took on a more serious visage, then grabbed Sydney and sped them both to the house.