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Goth-X

A brawny humanoid in a black balaklava, bloody red hooded sweatshirt and a metal gray pants with a modern pulley bow leans over the window of a burned out building in a part of town that has seen better days. Ursine ears fill out the hood and balaklava but his face is mostly obscured by the head gear. In the street a black limousine pulls up and a blonde haired human female gets out with cybernetic limbs enters the building where the bear is.

"You're late," The bear growls; the cybernetic goggles over his eyes conceals his expression to the woman. "I almost decided to do some vigilante freelancing to relieve my boredom."

"You would, Kodyax," She smirks, "I swear you take too much after that web comic book character, Goth-X."

"Yeah," but they animate him as a human, Cassie," Kody returns lightly, "Not a hybrid like me."

"Didn't the dark archer fight a chimera once?" Cassandra asks. "Professor Moreau or something?"

"I thought you shunned geek stuff, Miss Skinner," Kodyax teases.

"A girl's gotta have some hobbies, Mister O'Connor," Cassandra Skinner retorts. "But I take it you're ready for your next target?"

"You know how I feel about wetwork," Kodyax growls with a warning tone.

"Relax, mighty hunter," Cassandra says sarcastically, "It's a bio-horror." She brings up a hyperscreen and he does likewise as she sends him an image of something combining all the worse aspects of a cuttlefish, a crab on steroids and an alligator snapping turtle. "There's some elephant DNA in that thing as well, the damn thing is as big as my limo. It was created by a secretive bio-tech conglom."

"Echidna, Inc," Kodyax says with a heavy sigh, "I might have known."

"What?" Cassandra demands to know, "I couldn't get diddly on the bio-corp responsible for this; how do you?"

"They made me the mutant I am today," Kodyax admits, "I was trained by them actually. Killing their mistakes is something I did that for a living. Still do actually as taking out their rampaging failures can be quite profitable."

"Minuteman Security Incorporated is offering ten thousand credits per monster killed," Cassandra says seductively, "And there's ten of them."

"Any idea as to their general location?" Kodyax asks as a hyper-map opens up on his other side with glowing blips showing a general location. "Boathouse row? I'm not exactly a boater."

"They've surfaced near the water works," Cassandra offers. "We think at least one of them is at Penn's Landing."

"They're attuned to water?" Kodyax asks to which Cassandra just shrugs, "That's a big help, Cassie, when did the first one get spotted?"

"A week ago in New York harbor," Cassandra admits.

"I thought the quarantined the area?" Kodyax challenges. "We have no idea what hit the city but the fall out needs to be contained."

"As far as I know it is," Cassandra informs, "But drones keep patrolling the area."

'I still think Echidna has gotten samples," Kodyax grouses, "This would have come out of their research of those things. But in any case, I'll take the job."

"Great, there's a five hundred credit signing bonus; I'll transfer the funds now," Cassandra says as she types on a virtual keyboard.

"Lemme get started then," Kodyax states as he moves to leave and Cassandra does nothing to stop him.

Kodyax accesses a hyper screen with a selection of playlists and cues one consisting of tunes for traveling that includes Tim Feehan's "Where's the Fire?"; Ozzy Ozbourne's "Secret Loser" and most of the Scooby-Doo chase songs. Cassandra can hear "Recipe for My Love" in her own personal audio feed as his playlist interacts with the music library of her own cybernetic computer hard drive which gets whatever songs she hasn't already downloaded into it to upload of its own accord which causes her to smirk as she returns to her limo. Once inside the same hardware implanted into the back of her skull, and just everyone else, that allows her to access the net and plays music also acts as a cell phone to connect with her boss, Malcolm Xavier.

"How did it go, Goldilocks?" The hologram of a bald black man gloats as it floats in front of her.

"Good, Malware," Cassandra retorts to her boss in an annoyed tone, "I may have just have to make a porno of him and me doing it with you watching us and masturbating in approval."

"Don't you dare!" Xavier growls. "Or I'll make a freak like him. If you survive the process that is."

"That reminds me," Skinner says in response. "Kodyax mentioned a company I hadn't heard of before: Echidna Incorporated."

"He knows about Echidna!?" Malcom asks in a terrified tone but then recovers quickly. "Of course he knows, they made the War Monster formula that made him a humanimal."

"Who or what is it?" Cassandra inquires in all seriousness. "I've dealt with some obscure companies..."

"Officially they don't exist," Malcolm says with a heavy sigh, "Any meeting with them takes place in cyberspace with only one corporate officer, her avatar is a version of the classic gorgon from Greek mythology, snake body and hair to boot, she takes her handle from and she calls herself Madame Medusa."

"I think I've heard of a hacker with that handle," Cassandra relates, "She paralyzes systems and in the local matrix every sprite is petrified, especially the central processor."

"I'd love to know what coding she's using to do that," Malcolm speculates whistfully. "The programs she stones have to be completely recoded and resculpted from scratch. I've fielded so many complaints on that front it's not funny. But unless the CO moonlights the two are completely different. Fortunately the hacker has been quiet lately."

"Or laying low," Cassandra cautions.

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Top Stories: NATC Witch Hunters found in NYC; Atlantyx lawmakers pass Psychic regulation legislation; Echidna unveils new spring line up; Anthrocon 2112 to return to Philadelphia; Mooncon announced

NATC Witch Hunters in NYC

4/1/2112

Omega Avenger team 13 was discovered hung from Lady Liberty's crown early today by UN drone surveillance. The North American Theological Coalition who sponsors the Omega Avengers who hunt down and kill psychics across the continent and beyond the globe denies knowledge of Team 13 and swears it is honoring the mandatory quarantine of NYC following the black Friday star fall of 20 years ago. They were reported missing as of New Year's Day this year...

>PBWND2112: *snerk* Tomas and friends got caught with their pants down; hanging from their own entrails.

>[email protected]: Careful, Wiz, Tomas likes hunting down hybrids like us.

>[email protected]: Seen 'em around NE, Wiz, Kody?

>[email protected]: Saw him here in Philly and gave 'em a pin cushion.

>Bl00dW0lf: U R a sick bear, Kody, but that's Y we luv U.

>[email protected]: LOL! Whoops! Gotta keep a low profile. I see Tomas, his brother Tomas and his brother from another mother Tomas.

>[email protected]: Inquisition Convention in Libertine?

>PBWND2112: Pretty much, Betty, I just saw Kody drive past me on his bike. Brother can you spare a job?

>[email protected]: Mad Season, Wiz, still want in?

>PBWND2112: Rents due

>[email protected]: Weapons Van? I need to pop.

>B!tchQu33n: Oh, No, Betty! Not w/o me.

>[email protected]: Great, a yiffing chaperone

>[email protected]: Wiz, if you can grab Betty and Veronica and join me, we'll make it a party.

New "Purple Laws" in Atlantyx

4/1/2112

Lawmakers in Boston passed legislation providing federal regulations on so called "mind crimes" for irresponsible and would-be gangster psychics. Mental alteration and domination are the tops on the prohibited list. Stiff penalties to be proscribed for those convicted...

>B!tchQu33n: NE body got the 411 on this?

>Bl00dW0lf: SSDD, Rhonda, it's classifying things 4 the blue slugs.

>[email protected]: This makes things bad 4 biz for of us matey, and not just the ronin

>[email protected]@st3r: Looks like I'm going to get into the practice of mindwiping certain clients when I'm done with them.

>[email protected]: I'm surprised you're not a snake, Hank

>V!pr@: Somebody call?

Moon Con

4/1/2112

Just announce for the new year: a sci-fi convention on the moon! Attendance Packages start at 100K credits which provides passage on Virgo Galactic commercial space liner to and from the moon and accommodations at the Baxter Pad casino and resort hotel. Celebrate the New Year in style!

>[email protected]@st3r: Is this 4 real?

>PBWND2112: Yup, it's gonna be fun.

>[email protected]: Lemme guess, you're staff

>[email protected]: OH YEAH!!!!!

>[email protected]: *facepalm* Wiz; Wiz; Wiz...

Anthrocon 2112

3/31/2112

North America's premier furry con is moving back to Philadelphia with a new deal to fully take over the PA convention center! Local hybrids have successfully petitioned Anthrocon's Board of Directors and brokered this unprecedented deal. July 4th weekend 2112 is going to be spectacular!

>[email protected]: OK, this one went under my radar completely.

>PBWND2112: Had to keep it under wraps, Kody, Tomas was making nasty noises in town.

>Bl00dW0lf: Had to get all the "I"s dotted and "t"s crossed and that was a pain in a tail

Echidna's New Products

The shadow corporation Echidna Incorporated has just announced their spring line of monsters to terrorize others for the right place. Carnage Amphibian Behemoth being the most requested for information. A demonstration has been promised...

[The picture shown is the exact same one Cassandra showed Kodyax]

>PBWND2112: Yikes!

>B!tchQu33n: I'm never eating seafood again

>[email protected]: Aww! It's a mock turtle!

>[email protected]: That looks awfully familiar

>PBWND2112: That's the bug isn't it?

>[email protected]: Yup

>[email protected]: Yay! I'm in! That looks fun!

>B!tchQu33n: No, Betty! Naughty tentacle time this is not!

>[email protected]: Spoilsport!

Kodyax drives his motorcycle towards Penn's Landing and sees an ugly gray van behind him being by a turtle. The driver is rocking out to the Who's "Pinball Wizard" which causes the bear to smirk. A green and purple bunny girl on opens the side door of the van wearing a clubbing outfit that barely allows her to meander around in public and flashes him before a gray wolf with blue hair and eyes to match in black hauls the bunny back inside and closes the door.

"What are you freaks of nature doing here?" An electronic voice demands to know over the cell phone function of Kody's implant. "You're not thinking of impeding the will of God are you?"

"I know you don't have a hotline to the divine, Tomas," Kodyax challenges, "I'm on the clock."

"I got a radar lock on Tomas, Kody," Wiz states over the party line, "Veronica's preparing taking care of things as we speak."

A helicopter with Vatican markings hovers among the high rises as members of the inquisition look down on Kodyax O'Connor.

"Target acquired, sir!" A black man says with a salute to an older white haired gentleman.

"Excellent!" The commanding officer of the unit says to his subordinate. "Prepare to..."

"Incoming!" The pilot of the gunship yells in a panic. "We've been painted!"

"HOW!!" The commanding officer demands to know as he and everyone else in the cockpit reels when the chopper gets hit with a surface to air missile. "Damage report!"

"Radar dome hit!" The Mexican communications nun calls out. "Weapons systems are off line!"

"Damn it!!" The Commanding Officer swears. "We're using xenotech, how did they get a fix on us?" The he gets a grim grin on his face. "No matter, drive this Death Angel, demons even if it means out own deaths."

"YES, SIR!" The others yell in unison.

Kodyax uses an add-on to his computer that allows him to control his bike with only his mind so can have his hands free to shoot his bow. Pinball Wizard Neo-Doom uses bleeding edge nano-tech to make a ramp temporarily on the front of his van so Kodyax can make a daring jump. The Omega Avengers are surprised when Kody comes flying at them and starts firing his bow.

His first shot is explosive and separates the helicopter's blades from the rest of the machine to deny it lift and thus flight capability. Next he shoots a Teflon tipped arrow to kill the weapons officer with a headshot and the pilot as well. The helicopter crashes to the street below and begins to leak fuel; which causes Kody to use an incendiary arrow to ignite the gas which in turn causes the helicopter to explode and kill the nun instantly.

The commanding officer crawls out from out of the wreckage slowly with his body damaged enough to reveal him to be a cyborg. Metal limbs drag a burning torso from the crash as angry cybernetic eyes glow red with rage. A stream of curses pours from his lips as Kodyax lands his bike safely on the remains of his gunship and take aim yet again.

Kodyax notches an arrow with a twisted shaft and an explosive warhead to his compound bow and pulls the string back slowly and deliberately. He calls "Hey, Tomas! Over here you demonic Torquemada bastard!" which grabs the cyborg's attention as he whips around to try and bore holes in the bear with his withering stare. Any attempt at intimidation on the part of the cyborg washes over the hybrid like so much rain as he lets his arrow fly straight and true.

It hits the cyborg right between the eyes and detonates almost instantly upon impact and destroys the head utterly. But this does not phase the cyborg in the slightest as a hologram pops up to laugh at him. What he doesn't see is Veronica Morgan and Betty Oakley jump out of the van as Wiz fiddles with the controls of his own vehicle.

Gun Bunny has twin automatics while Queen Bitch has an assault rifle and they begin to flank the cyborg as he concentrates on Kodyax as he begins to concentrate his gaze. Tomas Torquemada 2112 does not catch the significance of what the bear is doing but the girls do and they run for cover. All of a sudden the cyborg's torso explodes as the bomb he has in his chest to prevent capture by the enemy detonates spontaneously.

Body parts are all over the place as the demise of an Inquisition commander is now absolute. Even if they gathered all his body parts can be found, the hard drive that contained his memories and personality is completely ruined. So unless the local chapter of the Omega Avengers has a backup copy, Team 10 and its legacy dies on the streets of Philadelphia at the hands of one they were sent to assassinate.

Any thoughts of celebration are cast aside as they still have a job to do and from the sounds of the screams coming from what was supposed to be their destination, they got here just in time. The monster is the size of main battle tank with six huge legs around a serrated turtle shell including crushing claws but the face is all tentacles with eyestalks to help it see where it's going. All four of them run to Penn's Landing with Pinball Wizard arming himself with a grenade launcher to back up the others as he usually plays the sniper but that doesn't seem like it would cut it in this situation.

Six of the monsters are in various states of emergence from the Delaware river when the team arrives to deal with the things. Wiz launches his grenades which manages to pinball between the legs of the things until it gets in a perfect place to detonate. Veronica lays down some heavy cover fire as Betty runs in with guns blazing.

Kodyax runs to a platform near the main stage and starts firing arrows at one of the things that seem to do little good as he growls and then switches to a battle ax he carries around for up close work and when he runs out of arrows. Surprisingly the ax does better against the things than his arrows did which gives cause to sigh but continues on. Everyone else keeps attacking with firearms as they usually don't carry hand weapons.

Wiz is doing just fine, it's the girls that are getting nowhere with their firearms as Veronica takes out a katana with a tag on it that makes it seem like the blade is made of ice while Betty takes out butterfly swords and begins to hack away. Kodyax and Veronica work on the legs and the shell of the one monsters as Betty tries her best to look like a short order sushi chef with a whirlwind of slashes at the tentacles of the thing. A lucky bounce gets one of Wiz's grenades in the maw of the beast and explodes after the dumb thing actually swallows the firecracker.

The other five walk of and leave their fellow horror to be butchered by the hybrids a feat they accomplish handily in short order. A crowd gathers to gaze at the corpse as the team moves on to take down the next one. Veronica jumps on Kody's Harley in back of him as Betty jumps in Wiz's van which reveals just what gearhead the turtle is as the bunny pops out of the top sitting at the controls of a heavy machine gun turret as they split up to each take out a different behemoth.

Veronica gets the bright idea that the bear should be the one doing the chopping so they switch seats and Kody puts both hands on the haft of his ax. The motorcycle is faster than the van so they catch their target first as the bear starts swinging for the fences. People on the sidewalk are looking for the camera crew as this looks like a scene out of some action movie as the momentum of the bike adds power to Kodyax's blade skills as he manages to chop the legs out from under the thing they are fighting.

Betty is showing off just why they call her gun bunny as the lead is flying hot and heavy and in large amounts but precisely controlled as few bullets are wasted. A few random folks recognize Kodyax and Gun Bunny from their exploits in gladiatorial games on the web and start to take footage to be posted on U-View later. Two more monsters go down as Betty can kill them faster with the gun in the Wiz's van even if Kody gets to them faster on his bike.

Kodyax has an application open on his HUD that he shares with the other three displaying how much money they are making as he makes sure the money is split four ways with each kill. Cassandra Skinner is watching the monsters get killed one by one and smiles as she knows Kody and company will get every single one of them although she will have to ask for introductions later. As far as she is concerned, a team of hybrid ronin is a potential asset as it means she can have jobs done quickly and efficiently.

In a sunken laboratory in the depths of what's left of New York harbor Madam Medusa paces furiously. Through advance genetics she has altered herself to look like Medusa from the original Clash of the Titans movie and she is not happy about how her little demonstration is going. An eyeball on spider legs with crab claws the size of a large dog skitters into her presence.

"You called, Madam?" The eyeball inquires in a voice that sounds a lot like Christopher Lee.

"Yes, Eye-Gore," Medusa replies icily, "What do we know about these hybrids?"

"Kodyax, Pinball Wizard, Gun Bunny and Bitch Queen," Eye-Gore replies without emotion. "Four of our more potent successes in the war monster program. Kodyax especially as he was a witch hunter on the payroll for awhile."

"So the bear is used to taking down our products," Medusa says with a smirk. "Now it makes sense that he can take our newest field test apart as easily as he is doing so."

"Didn't we put out seed money to half a dozen agencies to see if our newest offerings could be taken down?" Eye-Gore asks.

"Aye, that we did," Medusa says as another screen shows Boathouse row where the monsters are feasting on the remains of a team another mercenary security firm hired to take them out but did not fare even half as well as Kody's crew as they got wiped out entirely where the hybrid team has not taken a single casualty. "I suppose I should take the fact that he knows what to expect as a factor. How did they go freelance anyway?"

"They killed their handlers and slipped away." Eye-Gore replies. "Our standard policy went into affect at that point."

"Ah, yes," Medusa says with a smirk. "Now I remember. How many cleaners have we lost?"

"Well over a hundred, ma'am," Eye-Gore assures. "We made them too well."

"So it would appear," Medusa agrees reluctantly. "Still, if we have a gargoyle harpy team available, launch them. I will not have these ronin show us up."

"Right away, ma'am," Eye-Gore says and then scuttles away to obey his directive.

Pinball Wizard has time to check the general bounty boards and shadow forums all four of them belong to as part and parcel to how they earn in their money in general. It is through here he learns of the death of another team of runners out on boathouse row. Competition in these matters is nothing new but no matter what, nobody wants to see rivals taken out, least of all by the very marks they were sent in to take down. Although the agency that sent them, Blood Workers Incorporated, has a nasty reputation both for sending the most ruthless ronin and also being a little shoddy at protecting those folks they hire.

"Gang, we have a situation," Wiz broadcasts to his friends. "At least one other team is working on the same job we are tonight and they went Elvis."

"Boathouse?" Veronica asks.

"Yup," Wiz responds. "TPK in spades."

"I really need to bite the bullet and get that shotgun I've been eyeing," Kodyax grumbles as he splatters another monstrosity. "I'm axing these guys to go down too nicely."

"Good one, Kody!" Betty giggles over their connection. "Meanwhile I'm giving these things some more lead into their diets."

"Shoot the gun; not you mouth, Betty," Wiz calls up as he shakes his head and drives his vehicle.

Gun Bunny wants to kick Wiz in the head but two things stop her: 1) Doing so might cause him to lose control of the vehicle and 2) She's too short to reach. Then Veronica swerves as she sees an Arabian ninja in a covered trailer selling gyros and other Middle Eastern foods. Ignorant Ignat is a black market weapons dealer and from him Kodyax picks up a Thunderbolt pistol and Big Daddy pump action shotgun that Ignat just happens to have in stock with the modifications for him to use it properly due to the fact with his modifications, he is such a giant that most guns are not exactly user friendly for his hands.

Ignorant Ignat, he takes his name from an old stereotype and just runs with it, knew Kodyax was in the market for such weapons and knew where to get them cheap even with the necessary modifications. He also owes Kodyax big time for saving him from religious zealots who were going to kill him for his sexual preferences. Plus the fact that Ignat has something of a crush on the big bear so selling him the guns and ammo he needs at cost is no big deal for him.

With sabot rounds loaded into his shotgun, taking out the final beast that emerged from the river is much easier which disappoints Betty as Wiz does some financial calculations as is his wont. Wiz is also keeping a virtual ear out for word on where the other four are but so far there is nothing on the news or police chatter about them moving from the waterworks from which they first emerged. Betty yells at him to get moving to the other fight site and while Wiz grumbles about her general lack of patience he hasn't much grounds to argue with her and thus gets going, struggling to keep pace with the she-wolf and the bear.

The back of the Art Museum is a grizzly vision of carnage straight out of a horror movie when they get there with the CABs gorging themselves on slaughtered humans. Neither Wiz nor Betty wants to get out of the van as both Veronica and Kodyax raise shotguns as they dismount. Bitch Queen also picked up a Big Daddy at Ignat's which made the underground arms dealer very happy for the business even if his hopes get dashed when he sees them together as he knows that Ron and Kody are sometimes an item although he does text an inquiry of sex tapes to Wiz who does most of the surveillance when they work as a team and gets back a non-committal confirmation that he may have some video files available.

Eye-Gore looks over the nutrient vats of their underwater home and sees they are fresh out of the monsters his superior ordered be sent out to try and kill the quartet. However, he finds there is something he can send. They are not yet ready to go into production but a new monster in development has a few specimens ready for field testing and this is as good a situation as any.

The name of the species has already been decided as injection manticore as the volley of needles from its tail are designed to act like syringes to spread viruses and/or mutagens at the client's discretion. For this test, Eye-Gore infests the creature's blood with a genetic retrovirus that either further mutate the renegades or kill them painfully. Obviously the intent is for the latter but just to make things interesting a part of Eye-Gore hopes that the former will happen instead as he has been keeping tabs on the four and for the most part has been pleased with their progress since leaving the company to go freelance.

Physically each specimen looks every inch the classic manticore from Greek myth and legend as Madame Medusa has quite a fondness for those tales as is evidenced by how she sculpted her own body. Madame Medusa herself soon joins him and nods her approval of his efforts as the transformation will be entertaining even if it doesn't kill them. She makes their manes a kind of biological fiber optic cable so they can get a first-hand look at the battle when it commences.

Hellish red fur with a mane of blackest ebony and a spiked tail so black it would make the darkest midnight truly envious. Its face is perfectly human in a generic fashion that is neither fully male nor female but it wears a constant scowl on its countenance in utter contempt for its surroundings a level of self-loathing that is beyond compare. In short it is the perfect vat grown suicide bomber caring only to cause as much havoc and amassing as high a body count as it can before it is eventually and mercifully taken down and destroyed, returning to uncaring void from whence it came.

It follows orders because that is what it has been genetically programmed to do and those designated its owner it cannot betray no matter how much it might want to do so. The overall design is more or less where Medusa wants it, she just want to see how effective it is before she takes orders for clients. And she has no shortage of people that want one for their own for various reasons.

Dictators of the remaining stretches of desolate regions want so they can extort money from other nations who will provide humanitarian aid to their countries. Terrorist groups want it as the perfect weapon to spread their message, whatever nonsense that might be, Medusa doesn't really care as long as the money is good. Underground arenas want it as a new attraction for their jaded audiences.

The beast in question is as large as a British double decker bus with a wingspan that aircraft would envy if they could actually have emotions and express them. The bulb of the tail's terminus is about the same size as a human head festooned with obsidian spikes that are slightly translucent with an eerie green glow that vaguely advertises the dooming materials it contains within each ominous spur. The eyes are closed but its mouth mumbles vague curses to nobody in particular but are particularly vile with vague promises of evisceration and other bits of nastiness best left unmentioned.

Black soulless pits are the eyes the thing shows the world when it fully awaken but with those sinister orbs are whole libraries of pure hatred and loathing and as it turns its baleful gaze to its creator Medusa raises a clawed hand to her scaled cheek in dark contemplation. She wonders if she can inducing something of the effects ascribed to the cockatrice or the basilisk to this beast as the gaze of the thing would surely slay her and Eye-Gore if only it could. Medusa mentally activates a mechanism in the vat that introduces a somnambulant substance to put the thing back to sleep before going to do a little bit of research.

Medusa can find no scientific research that would allow for the vision of desolation she had for the IM and boosting its psyche is something she dare not do no matter how amusing it sounds at first blush. No matter whatever else it is capable of it, she will not give her monsters the capability of biting the hand that feeds them in any way shape or form especially if that backbiting is subtle and happens with neither beast nor owner nor developer knowing such feedback is in existence. Besides, she tells herself, the thing is still unproven it can fully accomplish and utilize the abilities it already possesses.

Gun Bunny is itching to shoot something else as the CABs are milling about and threatening to destroy the historic reconstruction that is on-going as the Philadelphia museum of art is situated near one of the two rivers that the metropolis straddles. Pinball Wizard finds that the ronin that died fighting the behemoths left their cars on Kelly Drive and before the battle begins in earnest he makes the suggestion that they break into the vehicles to see if there is anything in there they can use; a suggestion that is profoundly adopted. Kodyax finds a couple of micro rocket magazines that have been modified to attach themselves to the model of shotgun that he just bought.

The logo on the rockets themselves is for Hachiman Industries indicating they were stolen in a run or something similar as ronin are wont to be hired for industrial espionage by rival companies. In fact an executive of that company living in San Francisco has already e-mailed him an offer for him to retrieve these very rockets. Kodyax shoots him a quick email saying that he found the rockets but kind of needs them right now for a bug hunt; the reply is quick and decisive: use them and report on their effectiveness, the weapon has not actually been field tested yet and is in development so Kody's report will actually give them useful data.

Yamaha Sato, the exec in question is sitting in his hotel suite and temporary office as his company is in the process of getting the necessary permissions to build one or more facilities in the shattered remains of America, is monitoring the situation in Philadelphia as there is a spy satellite he can access to give him a live feed of the fight. He is also on an internet phone call back to the home office in Tokyo where he is giving an update on his task of retrieving the munitions from a secret facility they constructed in the remains of Dulce, New Mexico. Non-Terrestrial forces devastated that military base and left before Hachiman moved in and took it over for their own purposes.

A team of ronin comprised entirely of geeks and nerds amplified with cybertech and all the latest toys they could afford or steal invaded the compound several months back and made off with several crates of materials. Most of what they stole they sold on the black market but a few choice items they kept for their own use or to study and maybe sell the plans for more money. Banditron 5 could not have made a worse enemy for themselves and the news that they were taken out by biological horrors is most welcome to the top brass at Hachiman as the whole affair was something of an embarrassment to them.

Solid slug rounds from a shotgun were brutally effective on the brutes before, but now armed with rockets, taking the things out just got a lot easier. Kodyax is keeping a record on this that is streaming back to Sato who is smiling in full contentment. The bounty money he spreads around to his friends is supplemented by concession credits from Hachiman as a field tester as Yamaha Sato is very pleased with what he sees in the performance at hand.

Parallel to the destruction of the behemoths is the battlefield readiness of the manticore. In fact as the last one of the first set of monster is exploded into chum and thrown back into the Schuylkill river the first manticore takes flight en route to Philadelphia. The money earned by their exploits has been direct deposited into their bank accounts and is thus readily available to be spent. After the fight they go to a nightclub in the heart of center city called the Rainbow Circus to relax and party.

Betty and Veronica are sitting on either side of Kodyax as the Pinball Wizard conducts some side business in a corner of the bar. As far as they're concerned, the work is done for the day and it's time to party as the local news is not exactly supportive of the hybrid ronin. Talking heads blast the invisible outlaws for the devastation and loss of life and praise the clean-up crews that come after them.

Well into the evening the first injection manticore arrives to buzz the statue of Billy Penn at old city hall. The attack immediately comes up on Wiz's radar as the Rainbow Circus is very close to that municipal building. He looks over at Kodyax who is being entertained by the girls: Veronica being topless with her boobs in his face and Betty is under the table giving Kody a blow job.

Kody gets the news flash about a split second after Wiz does and immediately buries his muzzle in Veronica's rack. Veronica giggles at first but then she gets the news via Wiz and growls a curse about Madame Medusa and her apparent need of a boyfriend. Betty is too busy suckling cock to notice the news feed as she is intent on getting herself a mouthful of salty cream.

As it turns out, there is tracking software in these things and as soon as the alerts are delivered to Kodyax, the manticore turns and flies straight for the glass pyramid with its ever-changing hues that is the Rainbow Circus nightclub. The dance floor and bar where the team is situated just so happens to be under said pyramid and the site of the manitcore above them smashing at the reinforced glass with its mighty paws is enough for the Wizard to go to the weapons check closet for their gear. Maybe it's because there is a monster trying to raid the club but they give the turtle no grief about getting firearms inside the club.

"Attention runaways!" Madame Medusa screams as her image comes up on every television in the Rainbow Circus. "You have finally pissed me off! How dare you strike down my own creations! Each and every one of you hybrids owe your existence to methods I developed! I am not going to tolerate your insubordination any longer! Prepare to die!"

"Wiz," Veronica asks of the Pinball Wizard, "Is this just a broadcast or can we yell back at the scaly bitch?"

"One way communication only, Ron," Wiz says with a sigh. "I have some choice words for her myself."

"Where is Kodyax!?!" Medusa demands to know at full volume. "I especially want him and his team dead. I will make his corpse an example to others that would defy me."

"Oh, it's on now!" Betty shouts. "Is she actually here, Wiz?"

"As if!" Wiz retorts as he tosses everyone their hardware. "You think she'd risk coming after us in person when she could send a proxy?"

"Alright team," Kodyax states. "Spread out but be careful. This sucker is new for Echidna. We don't know what it can do yet." Then he looks over at Wiz. "Is that thing acting as a conduit for Medusa?"

"Yup," Wiz says simply. "Transmission started as soon as it arrived and I'm detecting carrier waves emanating from its head. If that ain't the source of this broadcast I don't know what is."

"Can you hack the signal, Wiz?" Ron asks.

"I think I know where you're going with that," Wiz says with a fiendish smile. "I'll get right on it."

"We'll keep it distracted." Betty promises.

Gun Bunny, Bitch Queen and Kodyax get access to the roof to deal with situation as the Pinball Wizard points an EMP wand at the thing and tries to access its CPU remotely. The first thing the manticore does when it sees that it has company is launch a volley of needles at the approaching hybrids. All three of get hit well enough for the tip of the needles to get through their armor and skin to inject the compound contained within directly into their blood streams.

Pinball Wizard uploads his own psyche into the brain of the monster only to find an icon of Medusa herself waiting for him. Apparently there is something within the beast's programming that allows her to direct its actions remotely. The interior matrix of the injector manticore's CPU is structured to resemble the underwater city that Medusa now calls home and she is none too pleased at having an interloper into her affairs.

"And who might you be?" Medusa asks through her virtual form.

"Call me the Pinball Wizard," Wiz retorts as he give her a sinister smile. "Combat hacker and communications expert of Kody's crew."

"In other words," Medusa says with a sneer, "The technician/mechanic of the team. "I don't see a turtle among those I infected on the roof."

"I'm inside hacking your system." Wiz states as he manifests a virtual saber in his hand representing viral code that he intends to deconstruct the systems he is currently virtually insinuated inside. "Time to crash and burn, bitch!"

"You think you can take me out so easily?" Medusa growls as she manifests a bow to defend herself. "I created you, turtle, I can umake you."

"We shall see, Medusa," Wiz growls back. "But for now, En Garde!"

Wiz rushes forward as Medusa fires arrows at him. She sees him as beneath her and thus has nothing but contempt for him but this is the arena where Wiz shines. Her arrows bounce off his virtual armor as he built his firewall to be extremely effective and against her ranged attacks.

For all her bluster, Medusa is a long range combatant with exceptional poor skills when opponents attack in close. She tries to hide this by using monsters to fight her battles by proxy but here in the virtual reality of the monster's internal computer matrix she can't summon monsters to aid her. The Pinball Wizard knows this all too well and is counting on it to help him triumph over his virtual tormentor.

Out in the real world the retrovirus Kody and company were infected with does its dirty works as they take cover as their immune systems try to deal with the changes. All four of them take on additional animal traits with Kody spontaneously growing a tail and has his head change from ursine to lupine. Bitch Queen gets some vulpine DNA grafted which alters her somewhat but not a whole lot as she was already canine in form as she is a wolf but Betty really gets messed up as jaguar DNA overwrites more of her human genetic code and turns her somewhat predatory, not that this is much difference from her normal personality.

Much to Medusa's disappointment, all three of them survive as the DNA sequencing runs its course and makes mainly cosmetic changes to their bodies. The failure in real time distracts her in the virtual world enough that Wiz gets a good strike in and seriously degrades her avatar in the process. She is not hurt physically but her ego takes major damage.

Kodyax still has some of those micro rockets and decides to use them on the manticore as it begins to take off. His first shot rips a big hole in the belly of the beast they are facing and the shock of the wound threatens to shut the rest of the body down as internally Medusa frantically tries to do damage control as she holds up the bow to try and shield herself from the Wizard's assault.

Pinball Wizard can feel the aftershocks of Kody's attack in the virtual world in which he is battling Medusa. The fact that Medusa is fighting defensively tells him the creature is potentially mortally wounded and if he can eliminate her from the equation the thing should fall, hopefully not taking any of his friends with it, but it's a risk he needs to take. This monster needs to be taken down quickly and decisively, especially if they can get it to crash and burn with a portion of Medusa's consciousness trapped within as it may send the message to her to leave them alone.

He knows this a bit of a long shot but he has to try as Echidna Incorporated keeps sending monsters to increase their bottom line. The cost in lives both does and doesn't matter as the body count each abomination racks up is a secondary indicator of success and efficiency to Medusa. In fact virtual movie houses showing the carnage of what they wrought is another source of income for the corporation.

Gun Bunny shoots out the manticore's eyes with her accurate aim as it roars in pain. Bitch Queen's shotgun blasts knock out the equipment Medusa has been using to broadcast her verbal tirades of which the rest of the club is now very grateful as she started tiresome and just got worse from there. Madame Medusa is meanwhile livid at having the plug pulled on her show of contempt for the captive audience she had.

One more shot from Kodyax and it's all over as the injector manticore explodes in a shower of blood and guts. In the club a version of "Ding Dong the Witch is Dead" is played at full volume to celebrate the fact that once again, Echidna Incorporated sent a monster to destroy the hybrids that came about due to their secret military project and once again it proved to be no match for the very people it was sent to kill. Kodyax and company get free beers all night which gets Betty and Veronica even more drunk and randy.

The fact that they get drunk enough that they start a strip routine is just fine with the patrons of the club, both human and hybrid alike. Groping and touching other sexually, the girls tease the club and most of the patrons know better than make a play for them. Betty and Veronica are a couple unto themselves with a semi-open relationship that is on the cusp of becomes a closed polyamorous relationship with the third leg of the triangle being Kodyax himself.

In fact anyone approaching their table gets three sets of disapproving eyes glaring at them in an unspoken challenge to those that would interject themselves into the triangle to make it a square or a circle. It's a matter of trust as Wiz is actually gay while Kody is straight and they have been fighting and working together for so long that all four of them can almost read the mind of each other at any given time. It's not official in any capacity but while they are each their own person, they keep their options open in terms of relationships with Kodyax, Betty and Veronica content to having a friends with benefits relationship with one another at the time being.

Although at the moment the pair of females are interested in each other and maybe letting him in later which is just fine for the lupursyn as Cassandra Skinner walks in sits in Kody's lap. Neither Betty nor Veronica notice her at first as Cassie just looks at the hybrid girls getting it on and giggles like a schoolgirl. She is here to congratulate Kodyax and his crew as well as formally meet the other three as usually she is just dealing with Kody himself and he draws in other specialists as needed.

Cassandra is pretty much a regular at the Rainbow Circus as she has a taste for hybrid males or most human males. She is welcome there as she is recognized as someone that the ronin who frequent the establishment can come to for odd jobs. Her boss is not always approving of what she does here but the stable of ronin she has been able to garner has been quite impressive so he can't raise too much of a fuss as the hybrids can be quite efficient in their work ethic.

"New look, Kody?" Cassandra teases as she rubs her rump against his groin. "I like it. Now you have a bit of the big bad wolf mixed in with the papa bear look you've been sporting for awhile now."

"Did you have actual business here?" Kodyax asks slyly. "Or did you just want a trip to the rumpus room?"

"Well, there is the matter of a bonus for you and your crew for taking out the monsters so quickly." Cassandra states. "Plus I'd like to know as much as I can about Echidna." Then she feels someone tap into her cortex physically, looks up and sees Wiz. "What the...?"

"I'm sharing all we know about them through a direct and secure link." Wiz explains. "I'm the Pinball Wizard."

"He's our tech guy, Cassie," Kodyax assures. "You giving Cassie the full monty, Wiz?"

"Yeah," Wiz confirms. "And this is Cassandra Skinner of Minuteman?" Kody gives him a nod. "You'll be able to upload this to your database. But if you share it, please let me know so I can track where and how far the intel circulates."

"You served in the same unit as Kody when he was human didn't you?" Cassandra asks.

"Yeah, I was the unit's communications officer," Wiz admits. "I've always been a tech guy, although I also have sniper training."

"Were the two girls in your unit too?" Cassie asks as the pair finally notice and glare at her.

"We met them later," Kodyax admits. "Ron, Betty, this is Cassandra Skinner from Minuteman. I've been getting a lot of our job orders from her."

Veronica nods as Betty just stares balefully until her partner slaps her face. Betty glares at Veronica before she gives the cabbit a dark look of warning herself that forces the shorter female to back down. Cassandra gets very nervous about the exchange and does her best to retreat further in the chair so that Kody can protect her if necessary.

Kodyax also gives Betty a disapproving glance and shakes his head as he knows how hot headed she can get. Betty considers Kodyax as much a part of her general love life as Veronica so when they both give her the "Back down if you know what's good for you stare" she gets a sheepish look on her face and changes tactics. Veronica has seen the "break down and cry so I'll get my way" act from Betty more than Kodyax so when it starts, the folf grabs the cabbit and takes her into the ladies room for some girl talk.

"Don't you dare, Betty!" Veronica growls once she has gotten her lover alone. "Kody is free to stick his dick in holes others than ours. I want him in our life as much as you do, but we don't have a lock on him yet. You are not going to embarrass me in the main common room of this or any other club. Do I make myself clear?"

"But, Ronnie!" Betty whines. "We haven't found any other males that we can agree on! And didn't Wiz make himself an it?"

"I'm beginning to think that I need to lock you in the stocks of the rumpus room for a night or two," Ron threatens as Betty's eyes light up. "Can you act less like a bunny for awhile?"

"No," Betty admits in a pouting tone of voice. "I just like good vibrations. From sex or firing my guns."

"Why am I not surprised?" Veronica asks with an exasperated sigh. "I have a squirting strap-on back at our flat..."

"I know, but it's not the same!" Betty whines. "He uses his cock differently."

"You're impossible, you know that?" Veronica growls. "I think we need to go home."

"NO!" Betty screams. "Please, Ron, not without Kody, please!"

"We really need to find a place for the three of us don't we?" Veronica facetiously to which Betty smiles and nods her head like a bobble head doll. "Fine, I'll take a look at apartment listings later and put Wiz on the case. Now we just need to convince Kody."

While Veronica is trying to talk some sense into the colander that constitutes Betty's mind Cassandra has been getting rather comfy in Kodyax's lap. Cassandra is well aware of and is well versed of what is in and what goes on in the Rainbow Circus's Rumpus Room and for the most part is trying to get Kody to escort her there. The Rumpus Room is open to pretty much everyone but the club does designate that humans cannot be in the room by themselves and thus they must be accompanied by a hybrid at all times.

Malcolm has been riding pretty hard the last month or so for her preferences in selecting hybrids of either gender to sleep with and while there is little she or Malcolm do against the other in this matter it still puts tremendous stress on Cassandra that she has to release somehow. Usually this means going to bed with random hybrids after spending an evening trolling at the circus. She keeps a public profile available for anyone that wants to peruse it for this exact purpose.

In the blended reality of 2112 folks can fill out a public profile that others can read in a hyper-screen that pops up in their peripheral vision as a kind of hologram provided for them by the same machine implanted into their spine and cerebral cortex. This can be readily available or kept quite hidden with information on display that the user wants to show at any given time. One rule at the Rainbow Circus, is that portions of that profile must be readily available to be viewed by anyone wishes to.

For perhaps the first time, Kodyax and Cassandra are reading each others profiles which proves enlightening to both. Among other things the profiles list the sexual preferences of the user. This has made things much easier and harder to get a date but here is Kodyax and Cassandra have filled out:

Name: Kodyax O'Connor

Gender: Male

Preferred Pronouns: Male

Orientation: Straight with Gay experience

Preferred Partner: Female, she-male

Kinks: Bondage, Pegging, Cosplay, Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Horror

Turn-Offs: Religion, Politics, Privileged Attitudes, Gay Agenda, Flags (Waving and Burning), Tyranny

Name: Cassandra Skinner

Gender: Female

Preferred Pronouns: Female

Orientation: Bisexual

Preferred Partner: Hybrid

Kinks: BDSM, Cosplay, Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Horror

Turn-Offs: Vanilla, Pacifists, Humans, Stupidity, Blood, Prejudice

"Where would erotic Grimm fairy tales fall under your lists?" Cassandra asks with all seriousness.

"That sort of thing is usually a combination of cosplay and fantasy." Kodyax admits as he paws Cassie's breasts and she offers absolutely no resistance. "Do you want to go to the Rumpus Room?" All he gets from her is a lusty smirk and a definite nod. "Alrighty then, shall we proceed?"

"Please," Cassandra says and drapes herself all over Kodyax's huge frame.

Cassandra and Kodyax leave for the Rumpus Room and all the toys it provides before Betty and Veronica get back. Wiz informs them of where they went when they get back and gets a pair of burning gazes in returning. Neither Betty nor Veronica are so incensed that they seek to shoot the messenger and sit down to wait for him to return.

They have the option of playing the rumpus room themselves but both girls have enough restraint to not go in there and potentially physically assault their collective rival for Kody's affections. After about an hour though they decide to go back to their apartment and leave word with Wiz that Kody is invited to join them when he is available. Wiz also gets a request that if he hears about any apartments with room big enough for the three of them to let Ron know so she can check it out.

Kodyax is not looking for a permanent residence for his affections right now, although Betty and Veronica are on the short list of considerations for when he is ready. Deep down inside, all hybrids are baseline human with their DNA tweaked a little to appear as they do. Kodyax, Veronica and Betty all had their animal gene graft go farther than what is considered normal but at the end of the day they pretty much got what they wanted.

Some hybrids are more human looking than the hulking monster that is Kodyax and in the hybrid community that is also welcome, grudgingly in some spots but still welcome. Cassandra herself if debating whether or not to take the plunge and add a little something extra to herself in the kind of bioware that creates hybrid individuals but she is very much interested in remaining mostly human. Kodyax does not approve of Nekos, those humans that have a couple of animal parts are a kind of fashion accessory but he does not go out of his way to give them trouble.

For hybrids like Kodyax, being a monster in modern society is where it's at and the look he can get when he wants to be intimidating makes all the prejudice he has to deal with on a daily basis worthwhile. After his time with Cassandra is done and he gets the message from Wiz that Betty and Veronica want him at their apartment he has a pint of potent German beer to help collect his thoughts and decide what he wants to do, as a good stiff drink is sometimes just what he needs to help put his thoughts in order. The girls want to cool down after two hot runs and right now Kody is very chill, having gotten his rocks off with Cassie, but he also values their friendship, camaraderie and affections very much.

At the end of the night, Kodyax decides to honor their request and rides his bike over to their complex unaware that two teams of watchers monitor his movements in secret. Omega Avenger team 6 is watching him so as to ascertain the best moment to strike and avenge the destruction of team 12 at his hand. Bat winged eyeballs with slug feet are also observing Kodyax but unknown to the other set of watchers, the spy eyes of Echidna, Inc. notices the other team as well as their quarry.

Omega Avenger team 13 met its collective end at the claws and tentacles of one of Madame Medusa's playthings. The fact that the Omega Avengers hunt hybrid as they believe them all a perversion of God's work is an offense to Madame Medusa, one she takes rather personally. While she wants Kodyax dead as an example not to impede her will, the Omega Avengers are a thorn in her side she'd sooner seen removed and thus a higher priority on Medusa's scale of who gets killed and who is allowed to live.

Utilizing advances in science that may or may not actually exist in reality, the mad geneticist Madame Medusa folds space between her laboratory home and the streets of Philadelphia to unleash a squad of creepers, a weird amalgamation of crab and octopus the size of a large dog that are deadly to those ignorant of their existence and capabilities but hardly a threat to those who know about them, like Kodyax and his crew, with the stated goal to kill and devour the members of the Omega Avenger unit stalking Kodyax. Medusa realizes that by doing this she may be giving Kodyax a boon he may not really deserve but there is a weird code of honor about her regarding this sort thing. It's something of a super villain cliché but she reserves the right of killing folks like Kodyax to be hers and hers alone and anyone that looks like they are going usurp that right from her is to be eliminated before they can have the chance to enact their own plans to eliminate Kodyax.

The spy eyes observe as the creepers silently and bloodily eviscerate the members of Omega Avenger team 6 one by one. The five man team works in two teams that have near constant communication between them. But eventually nature calls and since each man must do his business alone, they easily fall prey to the creepers.

In fact the first kill happens one member goes to use a public toilet at 30th street. He sits down to his business only to find the creeper as waiting for him in the next stall. Eyestalk coming from under the partition went unnoticed and by the time it slid the rest of its body into the same stall as the soldier it was already far too late to do anything but die silently and with a lot of blood and guts painting the walls of the stall when the creeper was done with him.

His partner was waiting nervously in the vestibule, assault rifle at the ready when he got his. It's funny how society trains its people to ignore the ceilings of their surroundings. Death from above took the life of the inquisitor as he strangled from the tentacle limbs of the creeper a scant few feet above him.

The death of Omega Avenger team 6 went unreported the next morning in the daily news feed, the Vatican itself made sure of that, at least for regular consumers of media in the tri-state area. However, the local ronin reporters are not so easily suppressed and news like this too juicy to leave unreported. Underground news feeds are often quite salacious and more often than not accused of being utterly tabloid trash by more respected news sources.

Underground News Unlimited, which in respects is absolutely delighted in being given the appellation of tabloid, reports the slaughter in excruciating detail. In fact they have utterly disgusting graphics to go along with the story from an unnamed source, although from the angle and images presented, Kodyax and those like him know damn well who provided the pictures and why. Madame Medusa leaked the digitized photos to UNU as a warning and a reminder of her reach, a message heard loud and clear by the hybrid community as another reason to look over their shoulders occasionally; it really isn't paranoia when you know for an absolute fact that some very devious and very powerful wants you very, very dead.