by thedoctor, TheTimeTrust and Grimm
Dirk Bell had dropped into the middle of an all-out war. Strange beasts were attacking with ferocious strength. He just started to unload clips into whatever was coming at him. During one of his moments while changing guns, Dirk noticed the guy with the axe and skull-face fighting beside him. Christ! he thought to himself. I hope I'm on the right side.
The tight quarters of the cave slowed the onslaught down a bit to allow the group to get a fair fight. Unfortunately, the monsters seemed to be able to take bullets a little better than most humans, causing Dirk to expend more before he felled an opponent.
"Screw this!" he said as he pulled a grenade out of his coat. "FIRE IN THE HOLE!" Dirk tossed the grenade well into the attackers. A few seconds later, a brilliant flash of white light filled the cave. Several beasts caught fire and ran for cover, forgetting their purpose.
"What was that?" Grimm asked.
"Just a little homemade concoction. Loads of fun at parties." Dirk reached back behind his collar and pulled a katan from underneath his trench coat.
Pete Glover said, "How much stuff do ya have in dere?"
"A lot," Dirk replied. "Why else do you think I wear this thing? It can be a real bitch, especially in summer." The destruction began to wear off. The remainder of the beasts were continuing their attack. "Guess it's time to do a little clean up."
Suddenly, Pete tripped on his shoelaces and hit his head.
A few moments later he got up, but his countenance had completely changed. He looked determined, unafraid, and ready to kick some ass!
"Hey, Pete? You all right?" said Danny Hearn.
"I am just fine, Daniel, thank you," Pete replied with perfect diction over his shoulder, to Dan's confusion. "But please... call me Chance."
"Um... okay."
Everyone in the tunnels had stopped. Naecken was down on his knees, one arm reached up to the spot where his other had formerly been. He was screaming. Those who had known him for some time were shocked into stillness.
Grimm looked over at Naecken and the being with the flaming sword that stood over him, triumphantly, preparing what seemed to be a killing blow. A low growl began rising in Grimm's throat. He turned and ran toward the being, chopping and cutting off limbs and assorted parts of the strange amalgamated creatures along the way. The growl built until it became a loud scream.
The angel began lowering its sword, aimed to take off Naecken's head. It was too far; Grimm would not make it. Instinctively, he threw the axe, putting everything he had into it. The vague blue energy glistened (it seemed as if briefly, for one nanosecond, the axe appeared to be something else, a scythe, and then was an axe again) as the axe flew toward the angel's form.
Everything seemed to be going in slow motion.
The axe struck dead center in the middle of the angel's head, cleaving it in two right down the middle. The angel fell back against one wall of the corridor and slumped down to the floor. The flaming sword slowly stopped burning, to reveal a hilt with no blade. Naecken seemed to have passed out.
Grimm just stood there, watching. What had he just done? He didn't know, and tried to put the possible origins of the being and consequences of killing one out of his mind.
Dirk Bell walked up and patted Grimm on the back. "Good job! Not as good as I would have done, though. Why, I remember this one time I was flying over Macho Grande..."
Grimm just looked at him while Danny and Pete/Chance finished off the rest of the monsters.
Danny watched in amazement as Pete, calling himself Chance for some strange reason, and speaking English without any slang (again for some strange reason), used his small, nimble body to climb on top of the beasts' heads, where he then stunned them with some kind of karate move.
Pete/Chance leaped from head to head like a monkey leaping from tree to tree, and Dan remembered him saying something about having been in the circus when he was a little kid.
But Pete was usually so... laid back and mellow! It was like he was some completely different person right now. And he wasn't just relying on his luck to get him through any longer -- he was actually taking a proactive role in the battle. It was strange and wonderful to see at the same time.