Lance sprinted past all the carnage the minotaur had left in its wake. At this point, he knew there was only so much time before it could be too late to act and he would not stand by and allow that. He knew his path would likely mean he would be out in the open and likely spotted by the police and other special response units in the area, but he didn’t care. He had a job to do.
He ran through the front gate, which looked like it had been smashed through like a particular kid’s drink commercial mascot through a brick wall… except this was through a sizable metal panel. This creature was clearly even more powerful than he could have predicted based on the analysis of the data they had retrieved.
He dashed by a pair of officers who were so focused on the scene before them, that they jumped in surprise as he vaulted over the hood of the squad car they were using as cover.
“HEY!” one of them shouted after him.
“You can’t…”
Lance didn’t even spare a glance back, but the way the officer’s voice trailed off, he guessed that an armored figure leaping into action wasn’t what the officer had thought he would see tonight. Before him, the front doors of the main entrance to Midas Corp. were just as destroyed as the front gates and he could hear the beastly roars of the creature inside. He ran past several more officers who had turned to see what the other officer was yelling about just in time for him to slip by them.
“STOP!” called one of the officers, but to no avail.
Lance entered the facility and used his memory of the building layout, being that he began his internship there the previous year, to narrow down which direction would be best to head off the beast.
“Any idea as to where that thing is headed?” came Adam’s voice over their comms channel.
“Three possibilities,” noted Lance as he followed the obvious path left by the minotaur.
“One: the reactor room that powers the facility, Two: the main lab server room, or Three: Midas. Any of those options presumes any form of intelligence and cognitive ability for this thing being directed at a specific target, but we can’t rule anything out.”
“So big dumb brute goes smash versus big brute set on a hunt?” asked Adam.
“That would be the short answer, yes,” Lance replied, a hint of grim determination in his tone.
“Well, I can see some movement on the floors above you, so I’m going to guess that it’s some way, shape, or form of the latter,” noted Adam.
“You might want to hurry.”
The tension in the air was palpable as Lance pushed forward, willing his body to move faster as he bolted up a set of stairs. Just as he reached the top, he was briefly greeted with a view of the city. This was promptly interrupted by the breaking of the glass before him as a heavy bullet passed near his body. He instinctively flicked out his arm and unfolded the shield attached to his gauntlet, protecting himself from any more attacks. An amplified voice seemed to call out to him from the street below.
“Whoever you are, I suggest you stop moving,” called the familiar voice, clearly amplified with a loudspeaker.
“Cody…” Lance said to himself with a groan.
He pushed a button on his control, keying up the interface with his servers.
“L.A.S.S.I., patch me to the police communication network,” he commanded.
He waited a moment, then spoke casually.
“Lieutenant Chase,” he called over the new line. “Tell your men to stand down.”
He saw several of the officers look around in confusion, and then the man he had picked out to be Adam’s brother spoke again, this time over the comm line.
“How did you gain access to this channel?” he demanded.
“That’s not important right now, lieutenant,” Lance said with a flat tone.
“Right now you are impeding my objective by having your men fire on me. It would be better to direct your snipers towards the creatures above us.”
“What do you know about these creatures?” asked Cody.
“Are you…”
Lance cut him off.
“Look, no disrespect, but you’re wasting time asking questions,” Lance said.
“Save the talking for later when you have the press looking for the latest scoop. Have your men ready to fire on the minotaur when I give the signal.”
“I don’t answer to you,” Cody said, his voice coming across with an angry grit.
“Then Bartholomew Midas’ blood will be on your hands as well,” Lance said.
“I am going to keep chasing the creature. If you try to shoot me again… let’s just say the outcome might not be so pretty.”
Lance waited a moment, then began to run down the hall in the direction the minotaur went. He could hear several other voices over the line asking for orders and whether or not to shoot as he noticed the red dots dancing across the windows next to him.
“Hold your fire,” Cody growled in response.
“Prepare to focus fire on the creature in the building.”
“Good choice…” Lance mumbled to no one.
He ran down the hall, sensing he was getting closer to his quarry. He entered a large room with a vaulted ceiling and promptly dropped and slid through the threshold as a heavy beam swung through the air where his head was before. He rose back to a defensive stance, his shield at the ready, and examined the monster before him.
The minotaur appeared very true to the depictions in mythology: it stood between seven and eight feet tall on two legs, a vastly muscled humanoid form, human-like arms and hands, a bull’s horned head, hooved legs, and a tail. There was a glint of a baseline of intelligence in its eyes, but all Lance could see in its demeanor was rage. It curled its arms in a menacing flex, roaring at Lance as he charged forward to test it.
The minotaur hefted a desk over its head and hurled it at Lance. He deftly side-stepped the mass of wood and metal and moved in, twisting his momentum into a straight punch at the creature’s side… only for it to barely flinch. The semblance of a smug grin went across its face as it attempted to sweep its arm at Lance to knock him down. Lance dodged the minotaur's massive arm while mentally calculating his next move. He knew he couldn't overpower this beast with brute strength alone, but he had the beginnings of a plan. Lance gave himself more room to avoid the brute’s reach, circling around it as best as he could while avoiding the debris from the ruined office suite.
The minotaur charged with a bellow, its massive bulk thundering toward Lance with unstoppable force. Lance braced himself, shifting his shield, as the creature swung its massive arm to attempt to strike. The impact sent Lance staggering backward, the force of the blow rattling his bones even through the protective armor.
Gritting his teeth against the pain, Lance regained his footing and countered with a swift strike, aiming for the creature's exposed flank. The minotaur grunted as Lance's blow landed, but once again seemed unfazed, its rage-fueled strength driving it forward relentlessly.
The battle raged on, each exchanging blows to no avail. Lance fought with skill and determination, his training and experience coming to the forefront as he danced around the minotaur, looking for an opening for his plan. He managed to dodge a two-fisted slam from the minotaur and finally succeeded in getting into a position favorable to his plan. He quickly back-peddled until he felt the base of a wall directly behind him that led to the outer hall.
“Lieutenant…” he called with slightly winded breath. “Have your men ready… twenty-fourth floor, south-facing veranda…”
“Copy that,” came the reply.
“Come now,” huffed Lance, gritting his teeth. “Is that all you’ve got? I’ve had cuts of steak put up more of a fight than you have…”
Enraged, the minotaur lowered its horned head, pawed at the ground, then charged forward with all its fury. Lance waited until the last possible moment, then quickly dove out of the way and rolled to the side as the creature burst through the wall, into the exterior hall, then right into the heavy glass on the other side. The glass shattered as the beast impacted with it, but the minotaur managed to stop just before it fell, almost as if its sheer will to fight him had anchored him in place. Lance could hear surprised voices and expletives over the comm line as he presumed the snipers took aim and fired on the creature as it attempted to turn back around. Several darts pierced its body and at first, it seemed that it was resisting the tranquilizing drugs, but before it could take another step, the minotaur’s eyes rolled back and it collapsed on the floor.
“Target neutralized,” Lance said over the line.
“Good work.”
There was a brief pause over the line before Lt. Chase spoke.
“You do know that this doesn’t make us friends or even allies,” he said.
“Either you come down here or we go up there and you are to surrender to us for questioning, possibly even arrest.”
Lance laughed.
“We aren’t finished yet, Lieutenant…” he said.
“There’s still one more creature in the sky.”
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