9 Rats

"Another Hellfire Arm?" Chance spoke as he saw Ford.

The HAST officer was far from McSweeney when it came to his build. Unlike McSweeney, Ford had a clean cut face, and didn't have a double chin. The Haverton detective narrowed his eyes, and saw Ford's own pupils were red and blue, and minuscule white stars.

The All-American, Chance thought of the Hellfire Arm Ford was holding. Never has a gun really lived up to its name, after Tommy Gun that is.

He thought about the future Hellfire Arms he and the city's finest were going to gather, but the names were the least of his problems.

"What's going on officer?" Barbie Keane asked. Her voice was mixed with demand and worry. Her hands were folding as she eyed the officers in front of her. She narrowed her eyes against Ford, whose cape was as clear as day. The wind started to blow, and Ford's cape began to rise up. Chance grinned at the sight of the cape now waving as the actual flag of the United States.

Rollins cleared his throat as Ford was standing with his arms behind him. "Sorry to disturb you Ma'am, but Officer Ford and I heard reports of a Hellfire Arm user lurking around this neighborhood. We've called in backup from HAST, and strongly urge you to stay inside."

"A Hellfire Arm user?" asked Barbie. "Why would such a person be around this neighborhood?"

"That's exactly why we're here to find out ma'am." Ford spoke. "It's best you-"She and the other men froze as they heard a door banging from behind them. Chance turned to see the door in the kitchen inches away from them.

Next, he turned to the walls, slowly eyeing them from top, to bottom, eventually he did a full rotation of the entire house. The Haverton detective heard shrieking, but they didn't belong to a man or a woman.

His eyes widened. They weren't human at all.

Scratches went into their ears. The walls teared up, and a flood of rats started to fall onto the floor heading into a frenzy.

They were all shrieking in utter panic, bumping into each other as they were all scattered around. Barbara screamed at the top of her lungs, as Rollins shouted. "Everyone get out!", and all of the occupants did. Barbara herself ran off first, Valefar following suite.

The rats didn't seem hostile, but they were on the floor and started to find their way into the front yard.

The 5 people went as far as crossing the next street, stopping at the large blue house just across Barbie's home. The officers panted in shock, as Chance saw Valefar at Barbie's side. He also saw various people coming out of their homes.

From a distance, the people saw what was going on. Some of the men or women had children with them, and immediately they stirred away from the scene as far as possible.

"Get into your homes! All of you!" Ford shouted. "I won't say it again. This area has the presence of a Hellfire Arm user!"

The crowd of citizens who lived in Sunshine Heights spoke with their actions: they made a run for it to their homes. Chance looked left and right. He could be anywhere, he thought about the Hellfire Arm user.

"Valefar." Chance spoke as he had a good look at the rats; they weren't attacking him or the other people, not yet at least. The rats were wandering around in a large group, turning their heads left and right. Their animal instinct perhaps, Chance thought, but if they got here in large numbers…

He spoke to the representative

"Not now, detective. Can't you see the lady here needs some help?." Valefar said as Barbie was near him. "Breath Barbara. I know the rats are disgusting, but you have to calm down."

Even from a distance, Chance saw the outlines of Barbie's overall posture. Her body was trembling, and she rested her hands onto the head. "Hellfire Arms!" she exclaimed. "Hellfire Arms! To hell with them and the people that use them!"

"I'll take care of Barbara, get her to a safer place and calm down." Valefar shouted.

"Get to a gamewell and inform the station to send in more units!" Ford spoke as he pulled the All-American from his strap and proceeded to shoot the rats. Rollins nodded at the HAST officer's command, and ran towards the nearest gamewell. Each of the rats were dead on spot, even as the bullets touched a string of their fur. He and the other men proceeded to run out of the house.

"Detective!" Ford spoke as he pulled the All-American from the handle, revealing a similar gun to his. "A Replica gun. Safe from making the deal with Valefar. It's not as powerful as mine, but it should be enough!" He threw the copycat gun at him. Chance's hands grasped the gun. It wasn't an actual Hellfire Arm for sure, seeing how Valefar wasn't there to make a deal with him.

"Noted! Chance smiled as he slid the barrel of the All-American replica.

Click,

Chance felt a tiny surge within his hands. With one of them gripping the handle, the other proceeded to swiftly pull the trigger. He felt this gun was different from his usual firearm during his investigation days, let alone the service pistol he used in the war back then. He didn't feel like he was out of bullets.

By the time he clicked the trigger and nothing came out. He felt a magazine appear in his coat pocket. Taking it out, he smirked at the replica gun's ability. It wasn't the real deal, the actual Hellfire Arm that requires the soul, Chance remembered, but right now it was a temporary support item.

One rat appeared just next to his feet. It tried to grasp his shoe and nibble on his foot. He winced before he lifted his leg, and stomped on it. A large splat was heard from the kill, the rat died instantly as it's blood spewed out of its body and fell into the ground inches away.

A large unsettling bowel of a scream stopped the rats. Ford and Chance stood their ground.

"Backup's on the way." Rollins came back after he called in the situation via a gamewell. "There's also a couple of Havertons-" he stopped as he noticed a figure coming out of Barbie Keane's house. "What the-"

The figure coming out of the house stood at an average build with a beat up fedora covering his upper face. His teeth were pure white, but they were as sharp as knives, and sunlight reflected from those teeth. With a ragged jacket, there was a rat on his shoulder.

"The only real rats in this town, are the ones in blue." the figure spoke about Ford and Rollins. "And suits." he looked at Chance for a second, but his face turned to Rollins. "Remember me copper!? That kid you shot in the sewers and left to die months back?"

Rollins heard the voice of the figure getting to his ears. The officer stood in silence as the figure's voice was as loud as a bell. He recognized the figure's clothing, and the voice itself. His eyes widened. "Matthew King…" Rollins spoke as his own colleagues heard his voice. "You pulled a gun on me, and you made it clear you didn't want to be arrested."

"You shot me in the back! Like a coward."

"You shot a civilian dead in the middle of a shootout!" Rollins screamed. "You were given the chance to surrender but you left me no choice."

"There's always a choice." Matthew King pulled out his gun. It was a Hellfire Arm. The weapon in particular was similar to that of a Mauser, Chance noticed, albeit bite and scratch marks all over the body of the gun, while a slight instance of fur was on the slider.

"These rats, these new friends of mine. They understand what it's like to be left and deserted. All we want is a share in life but people like you just give us a big fat 'screw you' as soon as we provoke you a tiny bit." King spoke.

The rats were all facing the people in front of him. Each of the rats were in rows, wide rows that then expanded all the way back to the front door of Barbie Keane's house.. "They accepted me as their own leader, they sympathized with me!"

"Barbie's safe with a nearby cop. Your backup's gonna arrive sooner or later." Chance heard a voice behind me. He turned to see Valefar whose eyes noticed Matthew King at a distance. "Tsk. Poor bastard, he really did want payback against some cop when I made the deal with him."

"Mind telling me what we're dealing with now?"

"His name is his Hellfire Arm, and what he is now." Valefar said dramatically. "The Rat King."

Where's pest control when you need them, Chance thought in worry as the Rat King was gripping his Hellfire Arm tight.