Rise of the Feline Society Chapter 20 - An Unfortunate Outcome
When he was done eating the meat from the packages, William picked up a random shirt from the alleyway wiping his hands on it. After he was done, he looked around to see if he could get on the roof so he wouldn't draw too much attention. He noticed multiple pipes along with ac units.
"Good," William muttered as he used his limited controlled transformation skill on his hands.
Immediately fur grew on his hands as his fingers elongated. His eyes pulsed orange as he leapt, clinging onto one of the pipes. He grinned as he carefully scaled the wall reaching the roof. When he was on top, he immediately deactivated his limited controlled transformation skill and began to run across the rooftop. When he got to the end, he picked up speed launching off of the roof and onto the next. He kept doing this occasionally slamming into the side of the building as he would have to jump over a small street that separated the buildings.
Eventually, he had to scale down a building as the next building was just too far away. He ran across the street, and he could see the building up ahead.
"There it is," He muttered.
That's when he slowed down, spotting guards outside at the end of an alleyway. They wore the typical Shadowfire gang uniform, carrying various makeshift weapons. Since the "Banning of Lethal Weapons Act," all that people could use were makeshift weapons. If someone like Amos were to have weapons, he either got it illegally or made it himself.
At this point, William walked casually, trying not to look suspicious as he scoped out the situation. He was still trying to figure out whether Jack was outside.
Where could he be, William thought as he slowly got closer. He was pretending to look at the menus that were in a display case outside of the restaurants next to the building. There aren't many people around, and that was probably because of the sheer number of Shadowfire gang members in the area. Most of them were down the alleyway but it was still more than what people would like.
As William got closer, he slowly looked up at the dark building and his heart stopped as he saw who was hanging by his hands from the building.
"J…J…Jack?" the barely audible voice of William sputtered.
With his enhanced eyesight he could see poor Jack hanging from his wrists outside of the top floor of the building. Tears formed in his eyes as he was seeing Jack clearly. After a tear slid down his cheek, he could feel a burning rage fill his thoughts as all he wanted to do now was to punish the ones who did this.
"BPM 133. BPM 142. BPM 150," The system began. "Your heart rate has reached a threshold. Skill activated: Agile reflexes."
He could feel a surge of energy travel across his body. He clenched his fist as his skin had a subtle metallic sheen as the nanoparticles were moving around his body. After a moment a faint energy was sent out. The energy fueled his anger as the system jumped in.
"New Quest Received," the system jumped in. "Jack is being held at the top floor of this building. Defeat the enemies and save your friend in 14 minutes, before the rope is cut causing Jack to die from the fall. Rewards will be calculated upon completion."
Fourteen minutes, William thought in a panic. I must act now.
He took his shoes and socks off in one motion activating his limited controlled transformation skill. He darted across the street on all fours, his hands and feet elongated and covered in black and orange fur, giving him the appearance of a cat. A pair of cat-like ears grew within his orange hair as his human ears remained the same. His green eyes glowed with an orange hue. He made it across the road, leaped into the air, and threw a punch at the nearest gang member in the alleyway. The gang member had no time to react as William's fist slammed into his face knocking him out cold.
"You have knocked out an opponent," The system announced. "Plus 20 exp. Exp: 310 of 365."
The Shadowfire member crashed onto the ground alerting the others
"We're being attacked!" Someone shouted.
"Where?" a female voice came out.
"There!" Another gang member shouted pointing at William.
William hissed at them, his orange eyes glowing brighter as he darted to the side.
"Did he just hiss at us?" Another member shouted in confusion.
Just then from the shadows the Felkin jumped in swiping at the woman's legs causing her to fall. She screamed as there were deep claw marks on her ankle, dripping blood. She could then see a shadow loom over her. She looked up at what could only be described as a cat-like robot with the glowing lines of nano-machines rolling across his face.
"He's an Animorph!" She shouted in panic.
"Rawr!" William hissed, sounding like a kitten trying to be scary as he slammed his fist into her face.
"20 exp," the system notified him.
Two down, still so many to go, he thought as he stood up eyeing the other gang members. They all trembled at the sight of what, to them, looked like a partly transformed Animorph.
"Rush him!" One of them shouted.
That's when the twenty or so gang members there rushed forward at William. Instead of trying to take them all on he darted to the side. He knew that he wasn't strong enough to defeat all of them, well at least not all at once. So, he decided he would pick them off one at a time.
"Energy: 158 of 180," the system stated.
William darted in, leaped into the air, and drove his foot into a gang member's chest, sending him flying backward. With that kick he had jumped back into the shadows. A moment later a brick was thrown from the area hitting another gang member in the groin.
"Ooh!" the gang member yelled. "My sausages."
"You're gross for saying that?" his friend chuckled.
"Next time I'll throw a brick at your crotch and see how you react," the injured gang member growled.
William darted in again but this time one of the members was ready as he slammed his crowbar onto his head.
"Minus 5 HP."
William tried to move out but just as he was moving a muscular gang member grabbed him by his hair lifting him up. He slammed his fist into his chest causing William to spew up blood."
"Minus 8 HP. Your rib is broken. Emergency healing has been activated. Minus 7 energy."
He could feel a soothing feeling but it was quickly replaced as the gang member's fist slammed into his chest again.
"Minus 9 HP."
"Rawr!" William's cute hiss echoed in the area as he swiped his hand across the gang member's face.
"OW!" the gang member roared dropping William as blood was dripping from his left eye.
"Emergency healing has been activated to heal your two additional broken ribs. Minus 16 energy. HP: 28 of 50. Energy: 148 of 180."
"You little sh*t!" the injured gang member roared.
William tried to get away but the same gang member grabbed his transformed foot swinging him into a concrete barrier.
"Minus 2 HP."
Dang he is strong, William thought as he got up. He looked at the man who had four claw marks across his bloody eye. It was clear that he no longer had a left eye.
Another gang member rushed at William. When he was close enough, William threw out a punch just like how Jasper had taught him. The punch connected with the gang member's face, knocking him back as blood sprayed from his lips. Instead of falling, he used the momentum to spin and lash out, his fist striking William across the face.
"Minus 6 HP," the system said. "HP: 21 of 50."
Sh*t, William thought. My HP isn't very high or my body is very weak. I got to restore my Health somehow, but there is no meat around. The emergency healing seems to only restore my health part of the time. I need to either defeat them faster or get more meat. He then paused forgetting one crucial part. According to the quest, it seems that there is a timer for Jack. Is this just the system setting the time, or does it somehow know that Jack will die in that timeframe?
William was stressing, debating on whether he could leave really quick to get more meat, then come back. That's when a gang member had snuck up behind him. She swung a hammer at William's head. His Agile Reflexes skill was still active and he could feel his body starting to move to avoid the attack he didn't see coming. Unfortunately, it was a little to slow as it grazed his head.
"You have taken a critical hit. Minus 12 HP. HP: 9 of 50."
Crap, he thought his body slammed on the floor. She jumped over the barrier swinging down her hammer.
That's when William could feel that same sensation as he felt before. The instinct to…survive.
William grabbed her wrist before the hammer could hit him, yanking her down as he bit into her neck and ripped out her jugular. Blood gushed out of her neck as her eyes went wide with shock and pain. She tried to scream but no sound came out except choking noises as she collapsed to the ground. She continued to make gurgling sounds for a couple more seconds before she stopped.
William came out of his daze as he stared at the woman on the ground, her jugular still clenched between his teeth. When he realized what he had did, his heart began to beat faster than normal.
What have I done, he thought staring at her unmoving body?
William…had killed again.
******
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