What goes bump in the night

"Leceel."


"Yes commander?"


"Tiki is heading your way. Spirit bear or no, it seems she had issues with the mobs."


A few more gremlins found there limbs disabled moments before they were met with an explosion.


"Go ahead bring her out, we'll find something else for her to work on in the facility. For now keep her safe."


---------------


"They're going to break through at this rate."


Muerte unloaded an entire clip and reloaded the magazine using his mouth as he unloaded with the other gun. The small hole in the drywall was inevitably being torn up by hand after hand, as Muerte couldn't get a clear shot.
 
Haiku felt like she was dancing with her blades by this point when she heard the communication. "....Muerte we need to get out of here. With the girl." She wanted to emphasize that last part because she had no idea how the being known as Death would handle taking care of a child while trying to get out.


---------


Neimi followed Adrian without question. She had never really been an Alpha personality, so following someone who seemed to actually have the Alpha personality seemed logical at the moment. Her protective instincts were up however and she shadowed Samuel carefully, not allowing anything to jump her new-found friend.
 
"If you are so keen on saving one life, it will be your responsibility. Mine is to the unit, and nothing more." He let off another round before leaping back and pushing one of the examination tables in front of the growing hole.


"Still, just getting ourselves out amongst this horde . . ."


For once, Muerte did not have his impassive, apathetic face on. Rather, it was something much more thoughtful as he looked to the table he had just shoved.


"Woman, throw another one of those things up for now, we're going to give those creatures a meal."


He started to throw a few of the corpses in the room on top of one of the remaining tables


-------------------------------


"Adrian, this is the hermit."


Leceel was rapidly going through the cameras of the building.


"If you head to the corridor on your left, you'll get to the eastern stairwell, take it up three floors and turn right immediately. The second corridor on your left from there should lead you to the central area the commander has in mind, and without meeting too many gremlins."
 
"Acknowledged and appreciated, hermit," Adrian said into his communicator, and immediately started following the directions he was given. The hermit had been correct; as they ran through the path described to them, they weren't overwhelmed by gremlins. There was resistance, of course, but not enough gremlins that Adrian and Neimi wouldn't be able to handle rather easily.


As they exited the stairwell after ascending three floors, they took an immediate right. "Almost there," Samuel said, somewhat relieved. Once they had all gathered, they would have a much easier time fending off gremlins.
 
Haiku raised an eyebrow as she complied. "....you refer to me that way one more time and we'll figure out what it takes to kill you, okay?"


---------


Neimi jumped in front of Samuel, blocking a gremlin that was dropping from the ceiling. Before managing to shoot the thing in the eyes, its claws ran down one side of her face, leaving vertical scratches on her cheek. She looked back at him after killing it. "....be a little more careful, okay?"
 
Samuel immediately brought up his left hand to Neimi's face and rested it there briefly. After a couple of moments, her scratches were gone; he'd absorbed them. "I'll try," he said with a small, thankful smile as he let his hand fall to his side. He continued to run behind Adrian, now being more aware of his surroundings as he ran.


Adrian continued to run to the rendezvous, his odd, warm grin ever-present on his face while he slashed gremlins in twain as he ran.
 
"I very much doubt you could kill me without losing your own life in the process."


Muerte finished piling bodies up on the rolling table, about three or four of them . . . though it was difficult to tell as some were in multiple pieces.


"Help me shove this through the door. We're going to give the gremlins a meal."


------------------


The hallway opened up into a large, lobby-type area. There were a few cushioned benches lying around, and five different hallways opening up. It was currently empty, save for a few gremlins . . . though more could be heard
 
".....this may be a great distraction, but it's just going to create more gremlins." Haiku shook her head and sighed. "Fine." She quickly began to brace for pushing the table. "....Maribelle, be ready to jump on my back so we can get out of here."


-----


Neimi was too focused to even notice that the scratches were gone. Her heightened senses were very useful here and she was careful to keep all gremlins away from Samuel.
 
"We can have more, distracted Gremlins, or we can have less gremlins eating our hides."


Muerte pushed hard against the table, shoving it through the rubble in front of the door and into the pack. Within seconds, the pack smelled the raw meat and dove on top of the table. It was nothing but a tangled mass of emaciated limbs and snarling mouths as they tore through bone and sinew alike. Muerte moved without hesitation as he ran down the hallway, shooting a single gremlin out of the way as he passed. The mass of bodies was accentuated with splortches as the gremlins started to split . . . and form more.


Maribelle was shaking, but crawled onto Haiku's back, her tiny arms locked around her neck. She was crying, though any sobs were stifled as she was too scared to make a sound.


---------


More gremlins started to flood into the central lobby, about a dozen or so.
 
Haiku took off after Muerte, clutching onto Maribelle's arms to make sure she stayed on. She was silent, since she was too well disciplined to make any sound right now. There was the question of where exactly Muerte was running and whether it would be safe for the child, however.
 
Adrian burst into the lobby and launched himself into the fray, sending gremlins heads, arms, and legs flying as he swung his kindjal.


"That man is incredible," Samuel muttered with a grin as he watched Adrian go to town on the monsters before him.


Adrian noticed a few overturned desks that formed a semi-bunker against the wall. "Samuel, take cover over there. Neimi and I will defend!"


"Right!" Samuel said and moved into position. As soon as he was in cover, Adrian moved over in front of the 'desk-bunker' to defend that location.
 
Muerte was running through different halls, not saying a word, though now they could here the engorged mass of Gremlins behind them. He seemed to be receiving directions almost as he ran up a couple of stairwells and ran through different halls.


---------------


"Adrian, make as much noise as you can. Draw as many gremlins towards your location as you can."


Leceel was still looking through the footage as he gave directions to Adrian.


"Also, in about thirty seconds, Muerte and Haiku will be coming up through the south hallway. There will be a shit ton of gremlins behind them."


---------


Sure enough, Muerte came running into the large area, Haiku right behind him. He didn't even bat an eyelash as he unloaded a whole clip into a few gremlins
 
Haiku however was more worried about something else. "....you, Samuel, take care of her." Haiku quickly put the child down next to him and turned back into the fight, now freed of her worrying. "....oh and if anything happens to her, I'm blaming you since I'm leaving her in your care."


Neimi stood fire shot after shot into the mass. ".....why does it seem like there's a crap ton more gremlins here than originally advised?"


"Ask the guy who threw corpses to them." Haiku replied.
 
"Welcome to the party, comrades!" Adrian shouted as Haiku and Muerte entered. He stood near the desk fort, mutilating any gremlins that got too close. "Make noise, eh...?" he mused, and stabbed his kindjal into the ground, reaching into his chest holster for his gun. He drew it out and pointed it straight at a gremlin launching itself at him.


"A revolver?" Samuel mused as he took the little girl into his care.


Adrian's grin widened. "Not quite!" he said, and blasted the gremlin point-blank in between its eyes, launching six .44 rounds into its skull at once. A resounding BANG reverberated through the room as the gremlin flew into the far wall, extremely dead. Adrian unloaded his pepperbox but didn't bother reloading it. He stowed it into its holster and snatched his sword out of the ground, resuming his melee assault with fervor.


Samuel barely had time to cover the little girl's ears before Adrian fired. He held the child close, seeing as she seemed terrified (and why wouldn't she be?). "You don't need to worry anymore," he said calmly down to her, smiling reassuringly. "These four will make the monsters go away. My name is Samuel. What is yours?"
 
After the massive bang (more akin to an explosion than a gunshot) the sounds of gremlins seemed to increase exponentially. Within several minutes, there were dozens upon dozens of gremlins pouring through each hallway. On queue, a couple of ladders came down from the fourth floor. Leceel's voice came through everyone's headsets


"Up the ladders. Now. Also, cover your ears."


-----------


Maribelle looked up at the young man who was holding onto her.


"M-Maribelle . . ."


She was clearly shaking within the man's arms, despite his reassurances. One could gather she didn't necessarily believe him.
 
Adrian cleared the path to the ladders. "Haiku, go up first, we'll probably need a melee fighter in front. Muerte, right afterwards. Samuel, go after him, and Neimi, you go after Samuel. I'll cover the rear. Let's go!" He beckoned with his sword even as he cleaved through gremlins.


"Maribelle! That's a beautiful name." Samuel said warmly. "We need to climb a ladder, so I'll need at least one arm." He picked her up with his right arm (after being sure his glove was securely on) and exited the cover, heading after the others to the ladder. Adrian covered his back as they went. "Wrap your arms around my neck, and hold on tight," Samuel said as he started climbing after Muerte, using his left arm only, as his right was supporting Maribelle.
 
Muerte didn't bother to question Adrian's authority. He clearly had been in a position of command before, and it would serve them well if someone was designated 'in-charge'. While climbing, he turned around occasionally to fire off a few shots, but didn't start unloading until he was actually on the fourth floor. He continued as the rest of the group came up, but there seemed to be no end in sight. It seemed every gremlin in the building was down in that central area. But then what was the point of going up to the fourth floor? Wouldn't they just scatter unless-- . . . unless something was already in place to deal with them. Muerte suddenly thought about the last statement from the hermit 'cover your ears'.


"Cover your ears."


He spoke not a moment too soon before explosions rang out around the edge of the circular area on the third floor. Several more were heard, and the entire floor collapsed, taking all the gremlins with it. Not down one floor . . . but all the way to the basement. Several pained growls and groans could be heard from the newly made pit, but the source was just coming into view. From a hallway besides the rest of the group, Shepard walked calmly out, holding something that looked like a detonator in his hand. There were a half-dozen switches on it, and he casually flipped the second and pressed it as he neared the pit. A massive explosion came from the bottom of the hospital, along with screeches that should not have originated from anything on this earth. Shepard stopped at the edge of the pit, looked down, and narrowed his eyes. He reached into his trenchcoat and pulled out a device that held blue neon fluid in tubes around it. A small button was pressed, and he tossed it into the pit. There were a few seconds of silence as Shepard turned around and started to walk back ... right before another massive explosion lit up the place. There was dead silence afterwards as he closed the gap to his force.


"Good work team."


His voice was not as harsh as usual, but not as happy as one might have normally expected from such a victory. It wasn't that he wasn't proud, but this was just business as usual. In a couple of days, they would probably have a new threat of the same level or higher that they needed to deal with. Shepard put his hand to his ear, Leceel coming onto the line.


"Hermit, are we clear?"


"You're clear commander. Nothing's left in that building besides you."


"Good."
 
Adrian wiped the blood from his blade and sheathed it. "Now THAT was fun!" he said jubilantly, and laughed raucously. "So are we heading back to HQ now?"


Samuel let out a sigh of relief and smiled. "Hear that, Maribelle?" he said softly to the little girl still clinging to his neck for dear life, "The monsters are gone, we won."
 
Haiku glared at Shepard. "You just blew up the floors below us; the structural integrity of this building is now nil. Can we please get out of here?" She glanced over at Maribelle and discerned that she was in good hands. Actually, the child was probably in much better hands now. Samuel seemed like the type who could take care of a child.


Neimi was still a bit frozen from the explosions; like all cats, she did not like loud noises and those explosions had been much louder than she liked to handle. Her emerald eyes flickered with something wild for a moment, like a fight or flight reaction from an animal. Then it just as quickly disappeared.
 
Shepard turned around and returned Haiku's glare threefold.


"I blew up a portion of the floor that held over one-hundred gremlins. This building still has plenty of its supports, and unless Versailles is suddenly struck by an earthquake of at least 6.5 it will hold."


He walked forward until he was only inches from Haiku


"YOU, of everyone here, should know I take everything into account before taking action officer. Do I make myself clear?"


He continued to stare her down for a few seconds before whipping around and walking down one of the hallways. There had been venom in his words, especially when he emphasized 'officer'. It was his decisions that kept the force alive, and he would not have anyone question any part of them.


"Leceel, I want the basement quarantined and a team down there as soon as humanly possible. Nobody enters that floor until every last strand of Gremlin DNA is scrubbed."


He pulled his finger from his ear as he continued.


"The rest of you, this way. We're leaving Versailles."
 
Haiku's eyes narrowed; in truth, she held little fear for the Commander and not much respect either. After all, it was the Commander who gave Minuet and herself the assignment that took Minuet's life. The amount of information had been sparse and they really had little idea of the power of the witch that they had been up against. Not much had been taken into account there. She was here simply because she had nowhere else to go and she followed him because there was nothing else to do at the moment.


Neimi realized that in the panic she had lost the fedora that had been hiding her ears. They flattened self-consciously as she looked around for an alternative.
 
Adrian, apparently oblivious to the atmosphere, gave Haiku a pat on the back as they walked after their commander. "Looks like your end did superbly! You and Muerte don't even seem to have taken a scratch, and you rescued a child to boot!" He chuckled. "I was pretty banged up, but Samuel is one hell of a medic. It felt like my wounds were rewinding! Hahaha!" They felt like they were rewinding because...well, they were, basically.


Samuel hung back a little as they walked, noticeably more relaxed now that they had all survived their first mission. He noticed Neimi's reaction to missing her hat, and also that Maribelle seemed to have noticed that Neimi had cat ears: she was cautiously staring at them. Samuel chuckled softly. "They're real, you know. Neimi, would you let Maribelle touch your ears?" He asked kindly. "She seems mesmerized by them!"
 
Vojta broke the action on his rifle and placed it back in it's case, taking off his earpiece in the process. He closed the now inconspicuous suitcase and descended back to solid earth. 'Now that was quite the fireworks display.' He thought to himself as he opened his umbrella, despite there being no rain. He smiled, ever so slightly. 'Just like the good old days.'
 
Maribelle looked up at Samuel, her eyes filled with equal parts wonder and fear


"C-Can I?"


The little girl was still holding onto Samuel as if he was her tether for life itself


Muerte said nothing to the boisterous russian beside him. The mention of a 'scratch' as he put it did cause him to subconsciously look down at his arm, where the fresh stitches were. It didn't bother him at all, his body didn't feel pain, and it was FAR from the first time he'd replaced his arm. That was probably the fourth time he'd done it this year alone.


Shepard pulled out a long strip of black cloth from somewhere in his trench coat, it seemed to be a scarf of some description.


"Neimi, use this until we're in the company vehicles."


He tossed it back to the werecat without much addendum.


"And Samuel, the girl needs to be brought to Helios. He's waiting outside."
 
Neimi took the black scarf and looked down at the child. "....I guess you can." She knelt down a bit nervously since she had never encountered this before. Most people saw the ears and ran for cover.


Haiku looked on stoically. There was something special about this, though she really had no idea what. Perhaps it was the fact that the child was not screaming in terror because of the ears.
 
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