//------------------------------// // Prey // Story: Regenerator 228 // by Hopefullygoodgrammar //------------------------------// Regenerator 228 Chapter 21                                                                                             ************************** “I really, really hate this place.” said Gilda as the group made their way through the cramped, wet tunnel, the stale air made her feel nauseous and the fact that she couldn’t use her wings was making her more than a little claustrophobic. “I hate to say this, but I totally agree with her.” said Rainbow Dash, looking at her wings with a pained expression, “My wings are gonna atrophy if this keeps up.” “‘Atrophy’?” asked Gilda with a snort, “Since when did you start using million-bit words?” “Since I got better friends.” growled Rainbow Dash. “Will you two please stop fighting!” growled Twilight, stopping and turning to face them, “If you haven’t noticed, we’re in the middle of trying to find a pack of ravenous reptiles who could attack us and eat us at the slightest provocation. A provocation like…. oh, I don’t know:  a griffon and a pegasus constantly arguing!” The two shut up and wilted under Twilight’s fierce glare, but they still shot each other angry looks when she turned her back. 228 had moved back to the front of the group after leaving Fluttershy with Applejack, whom he knew would take care of her. He was crouched slightly, letting his nostrils flare open so as to take in every scent and keeping his breathing down so that he could hear better. Though, as he went deeper, he felt like letting those precautions fall by the wayside; the stink of messy death and lizard was getting steadily more overpowering. The group turned a corner and found themselves faced with a branching path. “What do we do now?” asked Pinkie Pie, looking to Twilight. The Element of Magic narrowed her eyes and turned her head to both sides, scanning the darkness for any sign of life; finally she opened her mouth and was about to speak when Gilda cut her off. “It’s to the left, I can smell ‘em down there.” said the griffoness. “I was….going to say that…” said Twilight weakly, visibly deflating. Pinkie Pie and Applejack both snickered and Rainbow Dash hid her smile underneath a hoof. So the group headed down the left path. The air grew colder, the ground began to get stony and slimy underhoof, and it seemed like someone was tripping over a protruding branch every few seconds. Everyone except for Twilight, who had the most illumination around her, and 228, who was just very cautious in his movements. The group had become so accustomed to the darkness that, when they finally emerged in the cavern, they were momentarily disoriented by the light which radiated off of the crystalline stalactites. The cavern was massive, with a slick floor dotted with slime-filled pools which glowed a sickly green wherever the light hit them, small clumps of purple fungus littered the area around the puddles and clung to the bases of the crystals; the only sound that could be heard was the pop! of tiny, bacteria-born bubbles in the puddles. 228 opened his mouth to ask Twilight what they would do now, but Twilight shot him a look and held a hoof to her lips; 228 nodded and made a zipping motion. Those teeth of his actually make his mouth look a little zipper-like. thought Twilight with a shudder that--thankfully-- went unnoticed by 228. Gilda was the first to venture out into the cavern; the griffoness kept her body low to the ground as she sniffed the air. 228 followed her, but he kept his back straight and his head tilted at an angle so he could see the cavern ceiling. They’re a pretty good team. thought Fluttershy as she watched the two begin their search, But I guess it’s to be expected, they’re both predators after all, so it would make sense that they’d be in tune with each other.  Gilda made it past the first few puddles before the stink of death hit her hard. She staggered and fell on her stomach, feeling the pervasive--yet somehow stealthy--odor smother her. She had smelled death before, she was a hunter after all. But this was death of a different sort: a bloody death, a violent and cruel end to something that wasn’t just another prey animal. It made every fiber of her being want to vomit and then run away, but she knew that she had to go farther. Thankfully, she had a partner who was right behind her.  Gilda felt a wave of relief wash over her when 228 came up to her “Are you alright?”. he hissed Gilda nodded, “Yeah. It’s just that this place reeks… I really, really do not like it here.”. 228 nodded, “I undersstand, I don’t like thiss place either, but if those creaturess are here and we don’t sstop them then we’ll have blood on our handss.” Gilda shuddered as the mention of blood on their hands brought the image of the mangled meat pile back to the forefront of her mind. 228 laid a hand on her back and gently rubbed in circles, “It’ss okay, Gilda.” “I really wish that I hadn’t seen that.”  said the griffoness, looking down miserably. “I know.” said 228, running his hand up to her head and ruffling the feathers on her pate; Gilda looked up at him and smiled. “Oh, for the love of Celestia, could you two kindly stop making out and tell us if we can follow you?!” called Rainbow Dash. Gilda snarled and turned to Dash, who was snickering, along with a few of the other ponies. “Yes, Dashie, you and the other dweebs can come in.” “Gilda…” said 228 from behind her in a small, weak-sounding voice. The griffoness whirled on 228, feeling her anger surge up. Her anger died out when she saw the three, 5-foot long talons sticking out of his chest. Gilda stumbled back, her beak opening in preparation for a scream, a scream that was cut short when another talon shot out of the slimy, algae-filled pool that she had been standing beside and started to pull. Twilight, her friends and the other ponies in the group took one look at the massive spears of bone that had torn bloody holes in 228’s torso and screamed loud enough to drown out the ambient noise. The sound seemed to get the attention of the creatures, because the talons that had impaled 228 retracted sharply, causing 228’s black blood to gush out in thick streams; the regenerator fell to his knees, gagging and coughing even as the wounds closed. Gilda wasn’t so lucky as the taloned hand continued to pull her closer to the water’s edge. 228 looked up, saw what was happening, and staggered to his feet. Then, with more speed than anyone who had been impaled should have had, he lunged forwards and extended his arms so that they arched over Gilda and slammed into the filthy water where the reptilian arm emerged. His talons pierced the water-- and the arm-- like a hot knife through butter, causing a massive splash and severing the appendage at once. The water bubbled as the thing under the water bellowed in pain and the dark green of the water became a dull brown color as its tainted blood began to leak out of its newly-received wound. 228 pulled his hands out of the water and pushed Gilda out of the way just as the creature shot out of the water and lashed out with its remaining arm; the blow caught 228 around the head and sent him flying into another pool. Now that the beast was out of the water, everyone could see it clearly: it was taller than the ponies (and Gilda), but not quite as tall as 228. It was covered in dark green scales, had long limbs that ended in massive, gore-encrusted talons, it turned its small-skulled head towards the group and bared its jagged fangs in a primal snarl; a cobra-like hood flared open as it advanced on them. Twilight was the first to get over her shock and therefore was the first to act: she lowered her horn and fired off a bolt of magic that caught the creature across the face, knocking it on its back. Twilight readied herself for another attack, but she was distracted when the other creature emerged from its pool and leaped into the air with its talons aimed straight at her. At the speed that its falling, I’ll have no time to defend myself. thought Twilight as she watched the talons descend like a trio of scythe blades. Then a lions roar echoed across the cavern moments before a feathered blur crashed into the creature and sent it flying into the far wall. Gilda let the momentum of her attack carry her into a second attack as she raised her paws and delivered a solid kick to the creature’s sternum. The lizard hissed angrily and swatted at her, its blade-like talons missing her by an inch. Damn, these things are fast! she thought as she dodged another swipe. The griffoness evaded a few more attacks before abruptly going on the offensive and beginning a barrage of punches and kicks that staggered the beast. Gilda saw the opening and buffeted the beast with her wings, destabilizing it. “You are way more of a wuss than I thought.” taunted Gilda, going for one last punch. Her bravado vanished when the creature caught her talon as it came down and jerked her arm violently to the side; Gilda screamed was she felt her arm bone snap like a dry twig. That thing played me. thought Gilda as the creature bared its fangs in what almost looked like a smile. It clenched its talons and slammed both hands into Gilda’s stomach; she doubled over as the wind painfully left her lungs. The creature raised both arms and then brought its hands down on her back, slamming her hard into the ground and making her vision dance with multi-colored spots. The pain was unbelievable, and it had all happened so fast. Gilda felt like her body’s pain receptors had been overloaded, leaving her whole body to feel like it was on fire. Gilda began to crawl away, fighting the agony as best she could, as the beast slowly walked towards her, taking its time and savoring her pain like a cat toying with a mouse. Gilda looked around for something to fight back with, she knew that she only had a second to take advantage of its sadism and she would be mincemeat if she failed. She looked around, but all she saw was dirt, fungus clusters and…. A leg bone… A long, chewed-up leg bone that still had some wet, dark gristle clinging to it; it didn’t take a genius to figure out what kind of creature it had come from. Oh, sweet Maker, why did it have to be a body part? questioned Gilda, feeling her gorge rise at the prospect of what she had to do.  Screw it, if I think about it too much then I’m dead. I’ve got to do this… right now! Gilda’s talons shot out and wrapped around the bone. She twisted onto her back and raised the bone outwards just as the creature lunged forwards with its fang-filled maw open and its tiny head down. The tip of the bone went straight down the monster’s pink gullet and  lodged there firmly. The monster stumbled to the side, its blade-like talons clawing at its mouth and throat in an attempt to dislodge the foreign object, but the bone had been jammed in too deep, making the overgrown lizard’s struggles utterly futile. Gilda shakily got back on her paws, then she crouched down, aimed her head at the lizard’s face, and shot forward like an arrow from a bow. She slammed beak-first into the thing’s ghastly face, gouging a bloody path along its cheek and rupturing one of its yellow eyes. The griffoness then raised both of her talons and brought them down, hard, on its skull. CRUNCH Gilda’s clenched talons slammed into the skull with enough force to put a considerable dent in the thing’s armor plating. The lizard gave a single, choking gurgle, then it toppled over and lay still. “Yeah…. that’s right…. who’s awesome? Me…” wheezed Gilda, trying to fight against the tide of unconsciousness that was slowly creeping up on her. She looked back and saw 228 and the other Elements fighting the other creature. She saw the black dots start to fill her vision, so she reached up to her left wing and plucked a feather, letting the sudden stab of pain wake her up. Then she turned back to the others and flew off to enter the fray. “Why *UMPH* coudn’t we *HRRGH* fight something *OOOF* a little faster?!” asked Rainbow Dash in between punches. It was astounding: the lizard was at least as fast as Gilda, maybe even- No! Don’t even go there, me. thought Rainbow Dash as she ducked under s swipe that left her with a few less hairs on top of her head. Twilight and 228 were side by side, the former using his elastic arms to find openings in the lizard’s attack and the latter was shielding them both with her magic. It was a pretty good strategy, at least until the lizard decided to move away from them, which forced them to pick a new spot to attack from. “Hiya, Dashie!” said a voice to her side. The prismatic pegasus yelped and turned to find a smiling Pinkie Pie bouncing alongside her. “Oh… hi, Pinkie Pie. Watcha doin’?”  asked Rainbow Dash, not quite sure why she was sounding as casual as she was. “Oh nothin’, just looking for the other hunter is all.” said the pink party pony. “Hunters?”, Dash raised a brow. “Yeparooni! I figured that, because they were hunting us, that they should be called Hunters, pretty clever, huh?” “Yeah….clever” said Dash with an eye roll, she turned back to the fight and was starting to gear up for another attack when she actually processed what her crazy friend had said, “wait a second… did you say ‘third’ Hunter?” “Uh-huh, 228 said that he smelled three Hunters, so where’s the last one?” Rainbow felt like somepony had punched her in the gut. She began to fly around, trying to find the third Hunter. There was no sign of it in the water, nothing behind the pillars of crystal and nothing hidden in the shadowy nooks and crannies that filled the area. So where the hay is- Her thoughts were cut short when something landed on her back with enough force to send her plummeting towards earth like a stone.   Gilda was the first one to see the Hunter attack and therefore was the first to alert the others, who all let out horrified cries when they saw Rainbow Dash fall towards the earth with the Hunter latched firmly on her back. She may not be my friend anymore, but she’s still a living being and I’m sure as hell not gonna let that son of a bitch kill her! Gilda shot towards the plummeting pair and managed to catch hold of Dash’s tail, yanking her away from the Hunter seconds before they hit the ground. The griffoness landed painfully and dropped the prismatic pegasus to the ground, she turned her over and checked for a pulse. She’s still breathing, thank the Maker. thought Gilda with a sigh, But that still leaves the lizard. The lizard in question had miraculously survived its fall and was now heading towards them at a speed that impressed Gilda despite herself, but that didn’t at all impede her from taking a fighting stance. To her surprise the lizard stopped a few feet away from her. It crouched down and unfurled its hood, the slits that served as its nostrils flared and its forked tongue flicked in and out as it tested the air, finally it rose to its clawed feet and hissed at her. Oh, you wanna play this game, huh? Gilda thought as she raised herself up. She opened her beak and let out a booming lions roar. That was the same kind of roar that made Fluttershy cry. she thought guiltily, hoping that the timid mare hadn’t heard. The Hunter cocked its tiny head, then it opened its jaw and delivered a roar that was so loud it made her teeth rattle in her jaw. Then it attacked. Gilda had been prepared for a full on assault in a similar fashion to how griffons fought, but that wasn’t the case with the lizard. It feigned slashes, it dodged her punches and moved out of the way when she kicked. “So you’re testin’ me, huh?” growled Gilda, “Well how about ya test… THIS!” She flew into the air and lashed out with both of her paws. The lizard ducked out of the way and then swung upwards, Gilda saw what was coming and sucked in her gut just as the talons sliced into her flesh. The pain was unbelievable to say the least. Gilda’s wings locked up and she fell right on her new wounds, causing her to scream as white-hot agony lanced through her gut. She looked up and saw the Hunter looming over her. As she looked into its cold, yellow eyes she could swear she caught a fleeting flicker of triumph reflected in their depths, but that was probably the blood loss making her brain all esoteric and stuff. “I hope my bones cut your innards to shreds.” she hissed, knowing that those would be her last words. She briefly considered adding “I’m sorry Rainbow Dash.” , but her tongue had gone numb. The Hunter unhinged its jaw and let its hot, foul-smelling saliva trickle onto her face. I hope its quick. thought Gilda, wishing that she had the strength to close her eyes. The Hunter let out a bellow and lunged towards her throat. But the pain that she expected to follow didn’t come and neither did her death. Instead Gilda watched as a gray, taloned hand erupted through the creature’s mouth, punching out most of its teeth and shearing its long tongue off. And, just like that, the predatory light behind the Hunter’s eyes went out and it slumped forwards, only to be yanked back roughly. Then two familiar faces filled her darkening vision: Fluttershy and 228. Gilda smiled at them even as she started to taste her own blood. The last thing that she thought before falling into oblivion was: I don’t know why they looked so worried, but I’m kinda glad that they did.