Art-tillery

A vast forest broken up by dirt roads, lakes and clearings is a quiet and calm sight. The afternoon wiles away as various insects and creatures go about their day. All seemed to be quite normal until *BLOP!* From out of the clear blue sky comes a blob of what seems to be paint. It explodes all over the area coating everything in the thick substance. A few moments later there was a disturbance in the plants, trees and animals hit. They writhed and and stretched their bodies in monstrous painful looking ways. They seem to darken and take on twisted forms as the paint consumed their bodies, the sounds of bones rearranged could be heard under the paint layer. When the process was done various creatures emerged looking as horrific forms of early cartoon animation brought to life. Deer walked on two legs with antlers like obsidian crowns. hollow eyes full of red hell fire, limbs and bodies made gangly and twisted. Even the plants bore wicked faces and many thorns as they bounced malevolently looking for evil to do.

We come to a section of dirt road that's being sped down so fast a wall of dust follows the runner. Sprinting for dear life and limb is Ornlu the wolf boy and his friends Big Tom the hammer and Bobby brush. The wolf boy turns his head back as he sprints aiming upward only to see a great mass blotting out the sunlight. "NOOOO!" He screams with eyes wider than a dinner plate, shortly before he dives into a ditch taking cover behind a boulder. The great mass above was another blob of paint landing very close, and in it's splash zone the same effect took place. Plants animals and insects around Ornlu started to twist into vile forms. "WHY DID YOU HAVE TO PRESS THE BUTTON YOU CLOD!" Screams the Welsh sounding animated paintbrush Bobby, a look of mindless panic on his face. "IT SAID PRESS ME! WHAT WAS I SUPPOSED TO DO?!" Responds the living hammer that is Big Tom. "SHUT UP AND RUN BITCH!" Ornlu breaks in when he sees a clear path out of the mess they're in.

Deep in the forest on top of a mountain billowing smoke pours down and covers the mountain in thick black strangling smog. The whole mountain is covered from peak to base in the same wicked paint that was shelling the forest and the young wolf. All along the pathway up are twisted and evil forms of once neutral forest creatures and flora. At the top sits a machine that looks so haphazardly put together. Cogs, gears, levers and parts of all kind seem to be jammed into this thing any which way. From the top protruded a series of canons that fired off the blobs of paint periodically, at the base of the machine forest creatures seemed to be bringing in all kinds of materials to insert into the furnace. Among the things were wood, coal, plants and flesh... Including that of living people from a nearby village.

In Dana's experience, there were three main forces at work: science, sorcery, and nature. Science and sorcery was a formidable combo, and she had her blaster to thank as proof. Science and nature was easy; humans had done that their whole existence, those vermin. But sorcery and nature? That was some scary stuff, as proven by the apocalypse that she drew her codename from.

Dana's trip to the forest was a pretty serene one just minutes ago. Clear skies, babbling brooks, BBQ'd bunny in her belly. Gave her a reason to practice pistol-hunting, because the first time she tried to hunt rabbits with her prototype plasma-slinger was... messy. 9mm slugs put down her lunch with a lot less gore and goo going everywhere.

The poor vixen had little time to reflect on such grisly logistics. Juuuust as she began to close her eyes, those pine-green lenses shot back open at a bizarre sight. Was it just her, or did some stealth bomber just drop a paint payload onto the forest? Before her crazy imagination could imagine a fiery carpet-bombing to ignite the apparent pigment, something much worse began. As if a miniature Moon Fall was happening all over again, the whole of the forest began to mutate out of control!

And why, by Uncle Sam's star-spangled ballsack, did they all look like the Saturday morning cartoons of a sociopath?

The serenity of the forest was officially gone. "Fuck!" Dana cried out, already drawing her BH-48 and clicking the setting switch forward to Kill (though to be fair, this model didn't have a Stun). Was it just her, or did her ears also hear a big ol' truck tearing down the nearby dirt road? Whoever it was might've been burning rubber away from these cel-shaded abominations. She had to help! ...wait, what the hell? Despite all the dirt and dust kicked up from the road, that was no truck. That was... what the actual hell was that? Looked like some kind of teen running super-fast with a... okay, what the fuck? A sledgehammer and a paintbrush? Last the Apocalypse Fox knew, she hadn't cooked with hallucinogenic mushrooms in over a month!

Wait. What was that... that smell...? Oh. Oh no. Oh gods, no. That weird cartoony kid, let alone his living object buddies, were shouting things that didn't register. Those ears. That tail. That REEK. That boy was part wolf! All of the eldritch lunacy all about Dana faded away, her eyes locked to the cartoon stranger. Terrible memories flashed to her. Barking. Slobber. Teeth biting her flesh. Maws snapping at her ankles as she fled. And the cold. The terrible cold of a harsh winter morning.

Words didn't leave the Apocalypse Fox as she stumbled back, tripping over a branch and falling on her rear. That terrified noise didn't even sound human. Just as the wolf-boy and his tools were just about to pass this stranger she shrieked in horror, shuddering with pinned ears and wide eyes.

Scared just like the little fox she was.

((OOC: If it helps, I can't help but imagine Dana whining at Ornlu like this silly fox that can't get down. Just with a lot more PTSD.))

Almost like there was a solid brick wall in the road Ornlu stops dead as his eyes come upon the screeching Fox broad. Of all the scheming, low down, yellow bellied, punk ass creatures that roam the forest it had to be a fox. A two second look at her showed Ornlu she was armed quite well, if that paint hit her she'd be a nasty baddy to deal with. "MOVE DUMMY!" He grabs her by the hand and starts dashing away again at full speed, lucky timing as a giant *SPLOCH!* hit close to where they were. Behind them the same cartoon mutations happen, even the bones of the dead rabbit come back to life in a twisted form. It bears its dagger like fangs at Dana the one who killed and ate it, looking to return the favor as it sprints down the road after the group.

It seems the malevolent cartoons are coming out of the brush and deep woods all around them, the gap to escape narrows considerably as Ornlu stops again while dashing, confronted by a tentacle like tree root threatening to strike like a scorpions tail. The attached tree bears a face like on a jack-o'-lantern though with a red glow and wicked growls.
Ornlu jumps back and lets go of Dana as they are surrounded. "Gah Geez guys some fuckin ideas would be nice!" Shouts Ornlu as he grabs Tom like a weapon, though his shaking and nervous eye shifting didn't bode well for any confidence. His ears lowered and tail curled between his legs as that brain desperately looked for an out.

The tree took a shot at Ornlu striking down at his legs, the wolf boy was pretty nimble as he danced around dodging the tree limb. At the same time frantically swinging Tom at the ground trying to stamp on the giant root like it was a toe. "NO! NO! NO! Stop! BAD! Get away from me!"

Had it not been the Apocalypse Fox to be the one toppled over, she'd have registered the danger of sitting still in the middle of an carpet bombing of transformative paint from the sky. Had she not been having flashbacks to the worst moment of her life, triggered by her unease at the scene and the presence of her phobias, she'd have shot back something snippy when yelled at to move. Had her body not been lightweight, and her arm having not been grabbed by a living cartoon wolf-boy with super-speed like a certain cobalt-blue rodent, her body wouldn't be wavering in the air behind Ornlu like a tattered American flag on a rusted flagpole during the gales of a soulstorm.

Could've, should've, would've.

As if being shocked out of her fears, let alone jostled by the bumpy ride, a few things began to become clear in Dana's mind. One, this wolf and his toony tools weren't out to get her. Two, the reanimated bunny's remains, turned into an evil toon itself, was out to get her. Three, bunnies tend to splatter apart when subjected to superheated aetheric gas.

Four, and discovered when Ornlu stopped, released her rattled wrist and prepared himself to swing hammer against a hellish tree-monster? If the four of them had any hope of getting out of this forest alive and without being mutated, it was time their enemies found out why Dana was called the Ranger of the Wastes. Her blaster was still held tight in her hands, heated up to a comfy warmth, and Dana had a bead on the deadly bunny gaining on them.

"Ideas?" She called back behind her, Ornlu's words finally catching up to her as she got in the zone. "Here's one: we rip n' tear these killer cartoons an' clear a path! Don' even need Judge Doom's dip for these freaks! I got yer six!" The bunny was now a few paces off, but the Tueller Drill only works when a shooter isn't aware. Crack! A bolt of violet-blue plasma whipped across the forest, missing wide and bursting into the ground, leaving a blackened scorch mark like a stick of dynamite would in an old Looney Tunes short. Crack! A near-miss, singing the zombified bunny's side, leaving it crispy and resembling a toasted marshmellow.

Crack! Splat! A direct hit, leaving another smoking crater and melting the monster into a big splotch of purple paint! "Damn", Dana blinked. "Even th' ectoplasm from meltin' 'im got turned toony?"

Then she heard Ornlu's cries, yipped in surprise, and realized there was still the killer tree to deal with. "Aw damn, right! Get outta th' way an' lemme fry 'im!"

Ornlu had to stop dead once more, not due to his enemies presence but for the Fox ladies strange and comedic speech patterns. For all of five seconds Ornlu, Bobby, Tom and even the evil tree turned to Dana with a cocked eyebrow on their face. "Oh great, a hick fox." the wolf thought to himself. That moment was brief before the tree started attacking again, flailing at the wolf. Ornlu sprinted circles around the tree as it desperately tried to strike him, at his feet a bunch of evil flowers gnashed their sharpened teeth and snapped at the wolfs heels trying to get him. Bobby getting a spark of inspiration quickly runs over to an active bee hive. It's no paint or ink but it has colour to it and it's kinda thick and runny, Bobby quickly smashes his head into the hive... Not a great plan. The bees take umbrage with the unprovoked assault and counterstruck Bobby. Truly the chaos was spreading like wild fire. Bobby being chased by bees, while trying to paint. Tom in Ornlu's hands swinging wildly while trying not to get caught himself. Paint artillery raining down among the already dead cartoon critters scorched black.

Bobby finally managed to give the bees a good dodge behind some berry bushes, the bees gave up after a moment and fled away. Bobby poked his head out, big eyes scanning the sky just incase. He takes his bit of honey left on his head er brush and paints into existence a chainsaw. Not just any chainsaw but the most metal chainsaw adorned with extra chains, a goat skull with glowing eyes and it's own thematic shredding music. "Ornlu!" The wolf hears Bobby as he's slowly backed into a corner, Bobby tosses the the weapon to Ornlu sending up high before descending down... And hitting the wolf on his skull knocking him cold.

Tom and Bobby now in full on scream and panic mode hide for their lives ditching Ornlu to his fate as they run towards the Fox girl and hide behind her legs like quivering children. "HELP! DO SOMETHING! DO THE BLASTY BLAST BLAST THING!" Shouts Big Tom with an equal amount of shakiness in his voice as his body. The tree managed to get a hold of Ornlu's wrist and lifted him up above it's endless dark pit of a mouth.

The good news was that Dana was in the zone pretty quickly when it came to slaying. It didn't matter if her enemies were human, monstrous or even cartoons as was the case. Timing her shots to not overheat her blaster was second nature by now, and plenty more of the pigment-altered flora and fauna were scorched black, if not melted down into purple paint.

The bad news is that this was a losing battle if the four of them stayed around any longer. By the time Dana had to reload her blaster with another plasma cartridges, it occurred to her that they needed to run. Not to mention, the other three had anything but the paramilitary discipline she was taught since her adoption. The paintbrush had struggled to paint something into being due to normal bees swarming him; the sledgehammer didn't seem the brightest; the wolfboy was now unconscious and was about to get eaten by a killer tree.

By the time Dana went to pull the trigger, trying to distract and harm the tree with the heat of a miniature star, the worst came to be. The plasteel nearly scalded her at the touch, and the weapon refused to fire. "OW! DAMMIT!" She fumbled and dropped her plasma pistol, with steam already escaping the vented barrel with a loud hiss. The blasted blaster had overheated after all!  There was no way her knife could hack through that tree in time to save Ornlu, and her ropey arms had no chance to pry his KO'd body from the tree's barky tendril--

Wait. That thing the paintbrush made. Her eyes darted toward the ground where Ornlu got conked in the head. The moment Dana saw the badass chainsaw laying there, a startlingly sadistic smirk suddenly spread across her sly snout. "Kick. Ass." Just like that, the Apocalypse Fox made a mad dash for the chainsaw, tumbling to snatch it up and try and dodge any resistance from the tree and the nipping plants along the ground. This thing may not have been a Render tactical chainsword, but it was also cartoony. Dana had a good hunch that the tool's chain wouldn't get stuck or break as easily as a real chainsaw would as a weapon.

In mere moments she was there, just about to tumble and grab the saw. Her plan was to rev it up during the tumble, leap high in a signature foxy pounce, and chop down with the full weight of the wicked-awesome weapon into the tree's limb, severing it and saving Ornlu. Question is, would any of that even work?

As she reved up the chainsaw it came to life with a fierce roar of grinding metal and... a lion? The eyes of the tree below grew wide and it frowned with fear seeing the chainsaw wielding fox coming down. It tried to make a dash for it however at its root Tom held it down with all his weight. "I dont think so pal hyeh hyeh!" The tree was shredded in two by the hungry teeth of the Painsaw. Woodchips, sparks and screeching trees filled the air as the Fox tore the trees arm away. Ornlu falls to the ground on his head with a thud and audible sigh like "Fuuuuuuuuuck." Bobby rushes to his side and get him right-side up with some fumbling.

There was still a lot of danger to deal with, besides the tree this machine wherever it was kept lobbing blobs of vile paint bile down to the impromptu group of heroes? Ornlu got to his feet quickly in a scramble and picked up a rock, his face bloated with steam out of frustration. "You piece of shit!" As he whips the stone at the tree while it still tries to escape. With most of the other villainous cartoons defeated the rest start to flee as Ornlu chases them down with a hoodie pouch full of rock. Bearing his fangs and growling as he hits quite a few with some decent accuracy. "Run you lil bastards! Next time I see you I'm going to turn you fucks into a wreath!" Shaking his fist. Of course he didn't quite realize yet they were fleeing from Dana and her chainsaw.

Aw yes. This painsaw was, without a doubt, pretty groovy. Just leaping for her strike froze the tree in terror. With Tom keeping the monster pinned by its roots, that rockin' theme song for the weapon blared loudly in Dana's head. Slow yet satisfying, her body weight and momentum aided gravity as she rent the thing's limb right down the middle. Woodchips and friction smoke escaped, and more importantly Ornlu was free to flee as well!

"Y'like that?!" Dana cackled in a fit of bloodthirsty glee, whirling about the roaring power tool in a crazed flourish. "Plenty more where that came, yeah! Who in th' hell's next?!" It didn't take long before Ornlu was back in action, chucking rocks at the spooked toons while he and his buddies fled the scene. His accuracy beaned more than a few of the transformed beings with stones, but it was hard to tell which was scarier: the irate wolf-boy or the homicidal vixen.

Once the boys ran ahead far enough, Dana stopped her maniacal laughter as she realized she was alone in the battle scene. "Hey wait, where did everyone... aw, crud." With that she zipped ahead, grabbing her pistol, and dragging the weighty painsaw while it gouged a line behind her. "So! Name's the Apocalypse Fox, y'all can call me Dana. Do not call me fox-tits if you want your teeth intact! Who're you cel-shaded dudes, and do all y'all have any gods-damned clue what's going on? I hadn't heard of faster mutations in a forest since the moon turned blue!"

Right, she wasn't in Kansas anymore, nor her universe. They wouldn't get that reference. "Eh, forget that last bit. I'm just wondering why everything's turning toony and trying to kill us!"

Seems all the evil creatures fled or were splattered along the road. Ornlu and his friends didn't waste anytime in skiddadling, they even forgot about the fox girl until she caught up to them. The group was headed for the small town down the road, Ornlu rolled his eyes but the other two didn't seem to mind Dana's presence. Ornlu mutters under his breath "Fox tits?" As he glances at her chest and cocks an eyebrow. "Name's Tom, BIG Tom miss Apocal Apolol Apocololo... Er Miss Fox, pleasure to meet you acquaintance."

The bulky Hammer with bold drawn eyes responds with no mouth." Climbing up onto a tree trunk, Bobbby announces himself accompanied by brass band playing from nowhere "And you may address me as Bobberly B. Brush artist extraordinaire!" A glow of pride and superiority surrounds him. Tom scoffs and butts in as the music fades "You ain't shit mate, that chain whatever was th'only thing you've done in ages." Bobby turned red and dismounted his wooden throne to continue walking with his pompous nose in the air "Such a cunt."

"Loup Ornlu, Just call me Ornlu." His arms rested behind his head as he kept forward, his tail swaying as he looked careless and forgot that the artillery was still active. "Uh yeah, we're 'cartoons' as you say. No big deal, why do people get so weird about it?" He says while Tom and Bobby throw rocks at each other without hands. "We're kinda trapped here until whatever is making these forest bastards bad is stopped, human folk say something on the mountain has been firing down this evil nasty paint shit, some of their people were turned into creeps by it. There are huge gates and walls made of some weird stuff that looks like the paint made it. I don't exactly want to but I'm the only one around able to even go outside, weak ass, slow hoomans get snatched up fast." He makes a claw shape with his hand, clearly having too much amusement at it.

Tom chimes in "Wait, you call yourself Apocalypse Fox?" He snickers a bit. "I think Fox tits is less embarrassing."

Introductions were had, and it seemed Tom was a lot more outspoken than he first seemed! Always the ones who lacked a sharp mind that spoke the most, whether or not Dana was aware of her own irony. Tom was about a blunt as well, a sledgehammer. Bobby's shining introduction caught her interest, as Dana was fond of art. While not a valuable skill to survive on her home Earth, a little bit of drawing and especially music made life bearable.

Even if she was still a little on-edge near Ornlu, at least he was to the point. She shrugged back at his statement about cartoons. Much as she enjoyed that medium, it really didn't make a difference to her. She'd had more than enough experiences where being present as a non-human made average folk reach for their weapons. On a different Earth, Dana hoped to avoid repeating such xenophobia. She listened intently to the wolf-boy's explanation of what was going on. Humans always had a habit of screwing something up, only to fall prey to the results of their hubris. At least they were a persistent species, and sometimes those screwups meant something cool could come of it.

But today, this was not the case. Just as Dana was about to respond with a quip, Tom interrupted her to poke fun of her codename. What's more, he even jabbed at her 'fox tits' comment. It wasn't her own title; an ex-merc she called a friend -- and that was pushing it most days -- came up with that loathed nickname. So instead, the vixen put on a strangely saccharine smirk as she walked over to Tom, taking him up by the handle and staring him dead in his oversized, exaggerated eyes.

"Because", she smiled with ice in her voice, "When I catch up to motherfuckers that hurt innocent people? It's the end of the world for them. Get it? 'Apocalypse' Fox, jackass! Mind watching your lack of a tongue when I save your sorry ass next time?"

Tom's eyes swelled up even larger when he was grabbed in a most undignified way. Tom was a brave ma... er hammer, but wasn't accustomed to such handling not by Onlu. He turns away and in a meek and very fast spoken tone "Kay kay just kid'n, dun gutta get awl intents." Bobby scoffs and chuckles at Toms predicament "You cant help being an absolute bell end can you? Just keep your mouth shut for a while." Tom's eyes shift away in annoyance. The group made it close to the town when they discovered that a few wicked cartoon squirrels were dragging away an elderly woman up a tree, with their unnatural animated strength they dragged her up into the tree obscured by the leaves. suddenly there was screaming and a flurry of blood splatter flying everywhere. A moment later the womans stark white bones were dropped from the tree, the squirrels laughed a shrill goblin like laugh before scampering off towards the mountain with all their flesh harvest.

Bobby, Tom and Ornlu gazed on in shock and horror, eyes twitching and knees shaking. "Th... that was, oh dear." Bobby faints and faceplants. "I fucking hate squirrels." Ornlu mutters as he raises his hood and closes the opening by pulling the strings. The town is still ahead but it seems that Ornlu, Tom and Bobby are a bit hesitant to take the lead. The three of them subtly shift their gaze towards Dana, an expectant look of "We're not going first, you go." on their collective faces. Ornlu quickly pipes up with "Well go on then hero fox, we'll follow your lead." As they all stand behind her acting tough.

Dana let the properly-intimidated hammer out of her grasp with a smirk. "Good. Glad y'see it my way. No hard feelings." Although Bobby was quick to salt the wounds of the threatened Tom, it seemed odd to Dana that Ornlu didn't retaliate. Heck, not even Bobby stood up for his buddy. Reminded her exactly like that ex-merc of hers, although the shorn-headed hick also didn't play that game with her.

With friends like those, she thought to herself. Keeping quiet after, Dana gasped in fear as someone's granny was snatched up by the cartoon squirrels. She hadn't time to drop the painsaw and grab her blaster before a darkly comedic amount of blood splattered from the trees, followed by her bleached bones clattering onto the forest floor. If not for rusty or cream fluff covering her face, all three of the boys would've seen Dana go pale.

"Th-those bastards", she gasped quietly. "How th' fuck...? I-I couldn't--" She sighed, flicking the blaster on but keeping it held tight in shaky hands. There was nothing she could do to stop or avenge the squirrels' fatal harvest. They were worse than mutant piranhas in Florida. One false move, and there wouldn't be enough of her intact to grow back!

She turned back to Ornlu, watching as neither he nor his tools took point. The coming town didn't look as easy to hide in as the forest, but Dana was no stranger to traversing the urban jungle. "Right. Safety in numbers. Any of you good at hide-n'-seek? Now'd be a good time to hide, and I'll seek out those toons."

She begins to approach, feigning bravery as much as she could. Fake it till you make it.

Abruptly she turns back to them. "Do not engage those monsters either. The less we have to fight, the better odds. If you have to, get the jump on them first."

Good that you reminded your fuzzy ass, Dana thought to herself. Fake it till you make it. Padding ahead slowly and surely like a SWAT operator, the fox kept well aware of her surroundings. Keep aware of anything on the ground to avoid tripping, or kicking something noisy. Humans usually didn't look upward at 45-degree angles, like that old lady. Those killer squirrels could get the jump on her if she didn't look up periodically. Keep near to obstacles or anything that would break her outline, but keep alert in case of ambush from those same bits of cover.

All of this training flashed into Dana's mind, the files of bioelectrical software being opened by her organic  CPU that humans called a brain. Stalking like a tiger and with as intense of a gaze, Dana's eyes swept the parameter as she advanced. Below, above, forward. All the while those fanciful sound triangles on her head stayed acutely attentive to any sound around her. Only the hum of her blaster, too quiet for human ears to pick up, kept her company in this uncomfortably long approach.

But the best laid plans always fell short in first contact. How long before something went wrong, especially with three cartoons behind her?

Tom and Bobby kept low to the ground and shifted their eyes left and right, looking as attentive, stealthy and inconspicuous as an animated hammer and brush can. Ornlu took to going on all fours and even sitting like a canine would, given his seemingly humanoid physiology one would think this awkward in terms of comfort and mobility. The wolf boy however seemed to naturally conform and move around with great ease. Though the enemy wasn't clearly visible, there was a heavy dread in the air as shadows crept around alleyways and the dark corners of town. At any time a random battle could occur if the group takes a wrong step or alerts some creature.

It was like walking through some psychotic Childs horror fantasy. Withered, gutted and otherwise meat deprived corpses were strewn about in terrible ways. On many lay objects like anvils, pianos and safes. Some were clearly splattered from being dropped on high. There was a massive streak of blood and viscera stretching down the main street, in front of town hall there was a massive opening that led into darkness and leading out some train tracks. Not actual wood and steel tracks but the wheel marks made by an out of control train launched like a missile. There was little to no signs of human life left in the absurd bloody mess... But for the a human eye and cheek peeking out of the bar window. As the group got closer sneaking their way past a series of garbage bins that had teeth like mimics and horrid breath.

When they got close to the bar however there were guards of the evil variety keeping watch on the street. A pig man that seemed to be surgically made into a biped with a bottom made of scrap parts, his ally was a tall goat man with the same scrap surgery. The goat had most of the surgery on the right side of his body including his face. They carried with them the most gnarly of weapons; the pig man carried what looked like a blunderbuss with six barrels looking like a horn section of a band, the goat had a pitchfork with a crude battery on it that made the pitchfork buzz with energy. From their vantage point they can see around the corner of a brick ma and pa shop catching the guards as they strolled along. Curious that they were guarding the exact place the group needed to go Ornlu though as he leaned on Tom who leaned on Bobby.

As Dana took point, she was aghast at everything she had seen in the desecrated town. Every now and then in her cycles she'd look back, and the first time she'd seen Ornlu's strut on all fours caught her off-guard. It reminded her of a catgirl from back home, an urban legend and a dumb kitty alike. It was easy to forget that such beings' beastly traits weren't just costume pieces they couldn't remove. All the more ironic that Dana was the fox who wanted to be human, while Ornlu was the "human" that was more of a wolf.

Of course, the ranger of the overgrown wastes knew she was going "egghead", as she called it. Her mind was trying to disconnect from what she was seeing all around her, instead focused on analyzing the quirks between her and Ornlu. This disassociation was dangerous, as she was supposed to keep alert for her and her acquaintances' safety.

She cast her gaze forward once more, looking to the ground. Blood and bits of entrails smeared across the pavement as if dragging people across on the chains of vehicles. She cast her gaze upward. All sorts of heavy objects must have fallen from there, causing the logical human-squashing brutality when they landed square on their victims. She looked forward. Man-eating garbage cans ready to feast, and horrors worse than any raider gang could've accomplished in such a short time.

No cartoons could've done this. Not the cute and cool critters and characters she'd seen on old DailyMotion uploads, or on the couch of her tech cult. Not even the villains of those Saturday morning spectacles could've caused anything this nightmarish. In Dana's mind, the falling paint globs from the sky created monsters. Demons in the cel-shaded flesh. Once or twice during their dreary trek, Dana had to stop to silently retch, a hand on her queasy tummy, gagging without the boys seeing her face. The sour taste of a returning lunch reached the back of her throat each time, but somehow she kept the meal down.

Then, the glimmer of an eye and cheek poking from a bar. A glimmer that someone, somehow, could be alive. If Dana's mind was steeled enough to be rational, she could've seen this as a trap. The eye and cheek could've just been the face scrap of another dear heart brutally taken from this world. Though she lurched forward in haste, she had to stop herself mid-step.

Those two guards were on patrol, marching the bloodstained streets. Pulling back behind the mom-and-pop store, Dana's breathing got heavier than she wanted. Some goat with a pitchfork-cattle-prod, and a pig with the biggest, craziest scattergun this side of the pièce de résistance of an apocalyptic redneck's arsenal. In the span of seconds, the trickster's icy blood had boiled over.

Time to show Tom and the others why she called herself the Apocalypse Fox.

"Hold", she whispered to the trio. "Two of 'em. One stabby, one shooty. I've got shooty. We ambush."

With two pistols and two hands to wield them, Dana figured she had the best chance to put down the pork before he could mulch them with his crazy firearm. Passing her plasma gun to her left hand, she drew her snubnose into her right. She knew the blaster had little to no kick, and that her small six-shooter had used a round to end her rabbit food the first time. If that swine pointed those six barrels at any of them, a symphony of destruction was just a trigger-pull away. She had to wait until he passed first, the goat be damned.

The ranger stepped forward silently out of cover, certain that she wasn't seen by at least the pig. Both wrists were steady, both index fingers itching to pull back tight. Her pointy muzzle was back in a snarl. The right hand pointed her slug-throwing gun to the back of the pig's head, and the left hand aimed to sling man-melting plasma into her victim's back. The moment she fired the conventional pistol was the moment she'd break stealth but by then, she intended to avenge everything the pig had done to these people in one fell swoop.

If Dana had her way, death would come on swift wings to one of the two barnyard killers. Zeroed with her killer instinct, she was oblivious to all but her murderous vengeance.

Click-click.

The lads nodded their heads though were less than optimistic about taking on these tanky boys. Never the less Ornlu picked up Tom ready to swing as hard as he could at the Goatman. Ornlu wondered as Dana approached the pig if the noise would attract any unwanted attention , too late for that though as she pulled the trigger and... SPLAT! It's head was splattered against a wall traced by black scorch marks. The goat turned fast with a shocked look, but no time to react as Ornlu, Tom and Bobby pounced on him. Ornlu bashed the goats face with rapid  and wild swings as Bobby did his best to be useful shoving himself in the goats mouth to stifle it's screams for help. The frantic ambush somehow worked as the goats head was finally turned into a chunky ground meat mess.

Ornlu's eye twitches as he wipes brain matter from his cheek, Bobby and Tom are much the same including an uneasy look. Seeing violence was a common thing where Ornlu came from, but this was different, a lot more... Real? Ornlu shakes it off fast and looks over at the blunderbuster and the charge fork. He picks up the charge fork and presses a button on the handle that makes the fork shoot sparks. He carries it as a new weapon for the time being so Tom can swing on his own. There also appears to be a strange bottle of red liquid and some American currency, about fourteen dollars that Ornlu picked up. He also pocketed the red liquid in the thin bottle, Ornlu in his odd ventures had developed quite a pack rat mentality. Things dropped by monsters around him usually seemed to be oddly useful to him but useless to them.

Not wanting to wait and see if there were going to be any reprisals the wolf boy skittered inside the bar. The place was full of people, survivors of the siege who have held up in this tiny refuge.  There are people on the top floor as well armed with hunting rifles, the windows are crudely boarded up from the inside as the curtains cove the woods. The people speak in only the most hushed tones when they address the group. "You're alive? What did you find out?" "Is there a way out of town?" "How many more monsters are there?" "Did you stop that machine yet?" "I need my heart pills." The crowd descended on the group with desperation in their eyes and Ornlu couldn't think of anything calming to say. "Hey hey hey relax, I found a real soldier lady person fox thing..." He slides away as the spotlight narrows on Dana. The wolf boy takes it upon himself to fill a pitcher with beer and take a break somewhere in the crowd. Once again putting it on Dana to do the heavy lifting, a repetitive theme with this selfish wolf.