Chapter 00110010 00110111

I didn't move a muscle from my position as Beth struggled to find a way around the mine. After she moved the remaining debris it was easy to see what it was. " This is an M16 Anti-personel mine... this will be a bit tricky." She said as I got a quizzical look on my face.

"I was in the armed forces bomb squad unit for 2 tours. Stuff like that never leaves your mind." She said without even having to see my expression.

She pulled out her handkerchief and swayed it over the mines right side. The metal hissed as tears fell slowly melting away the steel. I focused on not moving and hardly breathed. A strand of smoke floated into the air until we could see the inside. Beth examined it for a bit before reaching in and pulling something out which got a squeak out of me.

What? I was scared. I know I can't feel pain but getting blown to kingdom come can't be pleasant. Beth held up the part she pulled out. "You can step off now. This is the detonation fuse." She said with a smug smile. My jaw hit the floor. "You couldn't have warned me!?" I almost shouted before Beth placed her hand around my muzzle and hissed.

"Shush! We need to be quiet! And we need to get through this mine field. Without drawing attention"

My thoughts instantly returned to the fact that we were standing in the midst of a very touchy situation. I took a deep breath before letting out a long sigh.

"So... what should we do?" I asked as I eyed the surrounding ground. "We cant really find every mine and we cant expect them to just pop out like bugs after winter." I grunted out. Beth paused for a moment before snapping her fingers. "Bugs... That's it!" She said as she turned to me. "Call out your scarabs. We can have them search and uncover any mines they find."

I thought for a moment before nodding. It was a good idea and really it would be nice to not feel like a walking beehive for a bit. I spread my arms wide and felt the rustling underneath my bandages. Soon the scarabs flew out in droves. I had the scarabs fly out of my arms and settle on the ground. Without a word being spoken they borrowed and I could tell they were searching. a few moments later a mound of dirt moved to reveal shining metal. My scarabs seemed to move faster and with more precision as they went. each mine came up faster then the last.

Beth folded her arms in front of her with her umbrella held in her right hand. "Not bad for pets. I wonder what skills they'll get after they upgrade." She said as she started walking further into the minefield avoiding the freshly revealed mines. I walked behind her following her footsteps. "What do you mean upgrade? I thought pets stayed the same after you acquired them." I said

Beth turned to look at me.

"Not all pets can upgrade. But most do. Your scarabs might gain a bit in size and strength. Either that or they could even degrade. It all depends on how you use them. Much like your cleaner scarabs. They have their uses.But eventually they will hit a threshold of what they can do." She said as a scarab landed on her finger scittering in between her fingers playfully.

"Eventually they might upgrade to a higher class of cleaner bug. Who knows?" She said with a shrug.

I nodded in understanding. "So it's all based on how I use them and chance huh?" I hummed out. The thought was actually exciting to think about.

My thoughts were interrupted by a tap on the shoulder. I looked down and saw Khepri sitting their with an almost expectant look in its eyes. "Fine." I said as I extended my arms.

The scarabs job was finished so there was no more reason to keep them out. They swarmed to my arms embedding themselves beneath the bandages as I walked toward the doors of the skyscraper with Beth in the lead.

We pushed the doors open with a squeak from their rusty hinges. The inside of the building was in ruins and covered in rubble. We could see through the ceiling to the floor above us which put me on edge for a crafty bomber. Crafters are a nasty bunch for inventions is all I'm saying. Beth's eyes seemed to scan the area before she and I slowly moved further into the building.

I suddenly heard a whistling sound and grabbed her as I ducked. A blade dug into the wall a couple inches above my head.

"Damnit! You missed!" A feminine voice hissed out. I glanced over at a woman who's head was wrapped in bandages. Her lower body was a serpent's with a womans torso. Her mouth was uncovered and filled with pointy crooked fangs.

Next to her stood a blue cyclops with a big axe in his hand. He stood about 8 feet tall and 3 feet wide. His muscles stood out like a body builder's would. The axe above my head was obviously thrown by him.

"And here I thought we might've been the first ones in." I grunted out as I turned and ran for a door with the stair symbol on it. The other axe was thrown and I could hear it whistling through the air behind me. I suddenly felt a thump and and went toppling head over heels through the door with beth in hand. She stood up quickly and slammed it shut behind us.

Meanwhile I looked down to see an axe head sticking out of my chest and 70 points of my health gone. The way it was shaped made it so if we tried to pull it out it would only cause more damage. I rolled over and started walking up the stairs.

"What are you doing?!" Beth shouted.

I turned. "Walking. If we pull this thing out of me it will only cause more damage. So I'm gonna walk till my health refills and then we can talk about pulling it out." I said as a loud thump sounded and the door cratered a bit in the middle. "And we need to move now." I said as I started running up the stairs.

Beth hiked up her dress and started running after me. "WHY IS IT ALWAYS A DAMN DRESS!?" I heard her yell from behind me as we ran. We made it to the fourth level before a bang echoed through the stairwell.

"Quickly!" I said as I ripped open the door to the fourth floor and pulled Beth in after me. It was filled with damaged chairs and office cubicles. Dust covered the floor and the place looked like a wreck.

I decided that a torn down cubicle by the door was good to hide under. It was more a pile of cubicle parts than anything and to my surprise it had two fluffs hiding under the rubble. I quickly coaxed them into my ranch before we settled in silence.

"They couldn't have gotten far!" The woman shouted as I heard thumping coming up the stairs. My hand went over Beth's mouth as hers went around my muzzle. We were extremely nervous. Afraid might even be a good word for it.

Under our cover I heard a door open. Then some shouting and things being thrown. Then another door being thrown open. These moments stretched into what felt like hours as we hid. Beth eventually let go of my muzzle as I heard a sizzling sound.

Looking down I saw why. Her other hand was at the axe head slowly wiping her tears on it. The blade was half way eaten through when our floors door was opened and we heard slithering. A hiss entered the air. "I will find you. Mark my words!" She said as she shouted the last half.

(She really has a foul temper. Is my effect on women really that bad or is that just my luck?) I thought to myself.

The slithering went past us and into the rest of the floor. I peeked out of a crack in the pile and saw her. Her serpentine body was waving back and forth across the floor as she waved around an old looking spear.

It's wood handle was old and petrified while the tip was made of black stone. I felt my eyes warm up as a white screen appeared in view.

Name: Medusa ( Pamela Carrigan)

Species: Gorgon

Mental State: Enraged, Confused

Equipment: Cave Spear (Personally made)

We felt the thudding of footfalls before a large loincloth covered butt entered our view. As the Cyclops walked away from our pile I saw another screen appear.

Name: Polyphemus (Morton Williams)

Race: Cyclops

Mental State: Inhibited, Slow, Calm

Equipment: Undead Axe

Effect: Struck creatures gain the undead status for 4 minutes. Those with undead status sustain additional damage from the axe's owner.

I shivered slightly from what I saw and realized why I had taken so much damage when he hit me. I nudged Beth and nodded to the hole I was peeping through. She leaned over and glanced through before nodding. She slowly held up a finger to her mouth to show me the shush expression.

I nodded slowly before glancing out the hole again. The snake woman was slithering around with her serpentine tongue waving through the air like she was smelling for something. I then realized what it was.

Hypersensitive Tongue.

Snakes are known throughout the world for flicking their tongues as they move. And most know that it is so they can sense things around them despite their bulbous eyes. They use it more as a means of identifying and following trails.

As she smelled around she came incredibly close to where we were. "They were definitely here Morton! I just don't know where they went!" She shouted as she passed the pile. Beth held up a hand as if saying "Be quiet".

We didnt move. We hardly breathed. As she wound around our pile again we heard a loud clanging of something falling somewhere in the floors below us. Medusa spun her head around. "They must've gone below when we were busy up here! Get them!" She shrieked angrily as she charged out the door.

Morton followed close behind and sighed. His voice was slow but it was like he was on boron gas. It was way low. "But Pam... My Axe..." He said sadly with a pout as he thudded out the door.

I admit that I felt very sorry for the guy at that point. Despite me being impaled by the thing. I understood he had it rough. When they were gone I looked at my health bar and noticed it wasn't rising at all. "Why am I not healing?" I whispered.

Beth pointed at the axe in my back. "You have a weapon stuck in you. It's natural that you aren't healing. We need to take it out first." It was then that I heard the tiniest buzz.

I looked down to see my colony of scarabs gathered around the melted axe head sticking out of my chest. Confused I quietly shushed them telling them to go back under my bandages.

Khepri shook himself before glaring at the others and began pushing a side of the axe with his head.

One by one the rest joined him. A slight hum filled the air as a sliding sensation filled my chest. I realized then what they were doing. They were pushing the axe out.

Beth held the handle and gently pulled till the axe came out with a squelching sound. She held it aloft. "Good thing we got it out. How do you feel?" She asked with a concerned look.

I smiled. "Like I just got something off my chest doc. But maybe next time I can just lay on a couch and tell you my problems next time. How does that sound?"

All she did was roll her eyes with an expression that said "Why do I put up with you?"