Black Market Merchant

The Plain Strider let out a deafening roar that sounded like a cross between a revving race car engine and a raging bulls bellow. Bullets pelted its scaly head and hairless, leathery flanks as it emerged from behind the building and into the open road. The fleeing humans scampering out into the open parking lot were dwarfed by its massive body. Standing equal to the height of a second story building, the Planes Strider was in its own right, a monster.

“Keep firing!” Lisa shouted over the noise of gunfire and terrified screams.

“How is that thing still alive?” Lisa thought as she pressed trough the crowd towards the lumbering beast. “It has taken plenty of hits from our guns but all I see are dozens of areas where the bullets only managed to break its skin. How tough is that Twisted’s hide?”

The Plain Strider let out another forceful roar upon entering the open parking lot area and now that it was not being confined by the buildings it charged. The distance between it and Lisa was considerable but with every heavy step its hooves took, Lisa could feel the vibrations clearly. The beast seemed to have no clear target and it merely charged at the largest gathering of fleeing humans.

Lisa and the rest of the ERM militia watched in horror as the massive Twisted used it horns to mow down a dozen townspeople in one fell swoop. Their bodies scattered like bowling pins and broke apart like tomatoes thrown on the concrete. The Plain Strider didn’t slow down and followed the splattered and smashed remains of the humans before proceeding to graze upon them like grass. It completely ignored the militia’s bullets as it ate its bloody meal unbothered.

“W-what am I witnessing? Am I dreaming?” Lisa said rubbing her eyes. “How can we ever hope to take on such a creature with weak firepower? We need like a tank or something.”

However, she had no more time to dwell on such things. The Plain Strider was finished with its meal and now turning its attention back onto the fleeing humans. Nearly all the humans had passed by Lisa and the rest of the ERM militia, meaning they were now the Plain Strider’s target.

“R-run for your lives!” One of the militia men shouted throwing down his gun to escape.

Several of the other militia men did likewise and abandoned their post. Others were rooted to the spot, too terrified to run. Lisa knew she couldn’t stop them and did nothing. If she were in their position, she would have done the same. But was not the same as them, not even close.

The Plain Strider thundered across the parking lot at her. Yet Lisa smiled bravely and stood her ground. Then she took off her collapsible katana from its magnetic sheath and extended it to reach its full length of three meters. Its blackened blade glinted impressively in the sunlight as she tossed it across her shoulder. Stepping forward she prepared to face the mind-boggling creature.

“What are you doing?!” One of the ERM militia shouted as he saw her moving towards the massive Twisted.

“Just testing myself and saving our lives.” Lisa called back over her shoulder without looking away from her opponent.

Then murmuring to herself Lisa said, “Advanced Armaments: Stage One.”

She could feel the power of her cores stirring to life within her. The technological energy flooded her limbs and settled into her body breeding a confidence unmatched by anything she could imagine. The Plain Strider was only a dozen meters away when she broke out into a run to meet the Twisted head on.

The two speeding entities collided with each other, katana to horn, with a heavy thud. Lisa’s sword sunk halfway through the Twisted’s horn, and the Plain Strider reared its head upwards feeling the pain. Still holding her wedged sword, Lisa was lifted off her feet and into the air to dangle off the horn. The Plain Strider tossed its head about trying to fling Lisa off itself and dislodge the katana at the same time.

Lisa’s grip was firm and unwavering as she held on. Seeing this the Plain Strider drove its head downwards at the parking lot in an attempt to smash her. Lisa saw this coming and with a wrenching motion, freed the katana from the horn and landed some distance from the beast’s impact. The cracked horn hit the pavement first causing the damaged crack to split further.

The Plan Strider bellowed in pain and started stomping furiously about. The beasts actions made it feel as if there was an earthquake happening and Lisa steadied herself as she planed her next move. The Twisted stopped jumping about and let out a huge puff of air from its nose. Something had caught its eye and it was not Lisa.

Another large group of townsfolk had just emerged from another road on the far side of the parking lot and were now heading for the warehouse. Seeing them sent the Plain Strider into a rage. The Twisted passed by Lisa and started charging at them. Lisa tried to get in its way and draw its attention, but she only managed to run alongside of it. The Plain Strider was clearly much faster than Lisa’s impressive 65kmh.

“Get out of the way!” Lisa shouted at the still frozen militia forces.

They scattered out of the Twisted’s way, but one man was not quick enough to react. The massive hoof of the Plain Strider landed on his middle, smashing him into a messy paste of guts and blood. The onlooking militia retaliated by shooting at the Plain Strider and at such a close range the bullets managed to sink deeply into the monsters flesh. However, the counter attacks did nothing to slow the Twisted down.

The helpless townspeople split into all directions, but the Plain Strider once again mowed down anyone in its path. The Twisted carved a straight path of gore as it charged onwards. This forced Lisa to stop her pursuit out of horror of the deaths she just saw and fear of slipping on the carnage it had created.

Lisa looked about her at the hundreds of people dashing across the parking lot. Her heart sank knowing that so many people were going to die if the situation didn’t change. The Plain Strider turned around and started pawing at the ground in anticipation of its next attack.

“I need to stop its mobility, or it might go after the townspeople again instead of me.” Lisa thought.

Skirting around the path of fresh death, Lisa resumed her chase of the monster. Once again, the Plain Strider ignored her advance and went after the humans that had gone ahead towards the warehouse. Not be outdone, Lisa moved to cut it off before reaching them.

Lisa raised her katana onto her shoulder as she ran and just as the two were about to cross paths, she swung. The blade was not aimed for the horn, head, or body of the Plain Strider, but instead for its back leg.

There was a notable hit when Lisa’s blade tore through the Twisted’s Achilles tendon area causing a burst of black blood to spray in the process. The heavy beast tripped over its own weight as the back leg gave out. The body of the Plain Strider smacked the ground with a jarring thud and then proceeded to roll twice before it stopped itself. The Twisted got up furiously as snot and foamy spit dripped from its muzzle.

“Come on and fight me already!” Lisa shouted waving her arms and katana overhead.

This seemed to work as the Plain Striders angry black eyes locked on to her and it let out another roar. The Plain Strider started to charge after her but the wound to its leg was too much. It could only hobble on three legs but that was more than enough to be a threat.

Lisa ran around the Twisted’s large body using both her speed and smaller size to her advantage and started stabbing at the body of the beast. Though her attacks were not inflicting much damage due to the thick hide, she was trying to buy time for the rest of the townspeople to clear the area. The Twisted was still rampaging about trying to catch her. It stomped and pounded its hooves at it small attacker, but Lisa always seemed to be just out of reach.

Frustrated the Plain Strider threw its head down at Lisa attempting to hit her with his horns. Lisa, however, was ready and waiting. She had noticed long before that though looking far different, the Plain Strider was attacking no differently than a normal bull.

Lisa struck downwards at the broken part of the horn and her blade found its mark. Traveling cleanly through the crack Lisa sheered off the horn clean in two. The beast roared in pain and raised its head, just as Lisa wanted it too.

Lisa, holding the katana’s handle with both hands, slashed lengthwise across the neck of the Twisted. Though the hard scaley skin of the creature was formidable against bullets it was no match for the skillfully crafted tungsten blade. A waterfall of black blood cascaded from the beasts severed jugular as the blade passed halfway through the neck. Then, like a mighty oak being chopped down, the Plain Strider tumbled to the ground with such an impact that it cracked the pavement in all directions. It kicked its legs a few times before finally coming to a standstill.

Everyone that witnessed her unexpected victory cheered vehemently and the once doomed atmosphere lightened. Those nearby started to crowd around and thank her. Yet the celebration was suddenly short lived when the sounds of guns shooting drew their attention. From the direction from where the Plain Strider first appeared was the next horror.

Countless Night Hounds and Logos Cutters were now pouring out from the streets and climbing across roof tops towards the parking lot. The commotion of the Plain Strider’s bellows and fight with Lisa was likely what attracted them here. There were so many that the remaining ERM militia were clearly going to be overrun soon and one again everyone felt doomed.

“Everyone, keep running for the cliff at the far side of town!” Nathans hoarse voice called out from the warehouse’s entrance.

He had come out with the last of the supplies from the warehouse and had also witness Lisa killing the Twisted. Knowing that there were still so many people left in town this was all he could do. Heading his calling the townspeople surged in mass towards the cliff, though for many it was already going to be too late.

From the behind buildings on the left there came two more loud roars. Seconds later Lisa’s heart sank once again, there were two more Plain Striders! Then as if to make things worse from the right side of the parking lot another vast number of Twisted appeared as well being led by another heavily scared Plain Strider.

Lisa looked about her in disbelief at all the monsters. “This is getting out of hand!”