Parallel: United Front

Chapter 9: Winchester

"Scatter!"

Dayle and Arthur lurched in opposite directions as the concrete table exploded. Dust caked the air as unforgiving metal blasted through with prejudiced ease. Dayle fired loose rounds as he rolled to a low crouch behind another table. But his bullets easily bounced off what seemed to be a kinetic barrier.

Chips blew off the wall as the gunman swiveled in his direction. "Shit!" Dayle cursed. He had few options. He could duck in between rows of floor-to-ceiling shelves to his immediate right. That would block him from the vokian. But on the flip side, he too would not be able to track the vokian's movements. Plus, that would leave Arthur completely exposed. There was no cover on his side of the room.

Well, I always wanted to pull of one of these scenes anyway. Dayle swallowed hard. He pushed towards the wall at full sprint, then jumped against the wall at an angle. The depressions in the wall gave a rough estimate of the weapons attack range. Dayle ran up and over, pushing hard against the wall to prevent himself from falling. His heart skipped a beat as a chunk of the wall blew out millimeters away from his feet. Luckily, he somehow made it over the hail of bullets then dropped to the floor. Before the vokian could readjust, Dayle pushed off hard.

Arthur shook his head at the crazy stunt but his rifle was already trained at the vokian before Dayle started his run. Live with a madman long enough, you learn to predict his actions. "Hey!" Arthur hollered as he squeezed the trigger hard. The vokian jerked to his direction, but the weapon mass did not allow the rest of his body to react as fast.

The eight foot giant staggered backwards and released the trigger as hails of concentrated plasma smashed against the barrier that protected.

Dayle closed the distance.

The vokian noticed Dayle's approach. He swung a fist at the intruder. Dayle sharply ducked. The swing only brushed the side of his helmet, but still managed to leave him momentarily disoriented. The vokian's head dropped all of two feet to crash against Dayle's.

The Radi staggered backwards, dunned by the monstrous power. If not for the helmet, his head would have been split open like a watermelon. His eyes struggled to regain focus, and he had to blink rapidly. There was a loud thud as the Gatling gun dropped against the earth. Minor quakes followed as the vokian rushed Dayle, arms out to wrap him in a bear hug.

"Fuck," Dayle cursed as the monster approached. When the vokian was within arm's reach, suddenly, there was a gun in the Radi's outstretched hand. Though no one could see it, a proud smirk crossed his face. "Let's see how well your shield works from this range." The barrel of the revolver pressed against the vokian's chest.

A thousand emotions flashed through the vokian's eyes as it registered what had just transpired. As it settled on ra—BANG!

The vokian slowly retreated a few steps. Very dark red pooled around his chest. He coughed hard as another round went through his chest, this time puncturing his lungs. Rage filled his eyes, but it was getting more painful to breathe by the second. He was literally drowning in the blood that seeped into his lungs.

The vokian glared at the intruder, bloodied teeth gritted in defiance of the pain it endured. It mustered all of its energy then charged the Radi. BANG! BANG! Two holes in his temple stopped his advance. He dropped to his knees, then fell to the side.

Dayle stared at the lifeless body. Just another casualty of war. A tap on his shoulder drew him back to reality.

"You okay?" Arthur asked.

"Yeah," Dayle assured. "I'm fine." He cocked his head as he gave the man a closer look. "This guys remind you of anything?"

"Hellboy?" Arthur offered.