Interlude - Electric Rat

  Becky was so ready for some action, which was a little weird, because it was like, five AM, and usually she'd either be very much asleep or about to go to bed. Waking up at four in the morning was not something she did.

  Still, she was hyped as hell, so it didn't matter.

  Actually, it wasn't just that she was hyped, she was also a little... stressed? She wasn't too used to feeling that.

  "Okay, I'm heading out!" she called out into the Mouse hole, their base. There were only a few River Rats up at this hour, most were off to sleep or whatever, and most didn't even live in their main base because... well, why would they?

  "Hey!"

  Becky froze, almost out of the door. She looked back, and then blinked. Mouse was out of her den? That wasn't normal. "Yeah?" she asked.

  The woman walked over. Becky wasn't all that tall, but she might as well have been a giant next to Mouse. The woman came up to her nose, and only when she wasn't hunched over from hours spent staring at a screen. "You're heading out to see your little friends?"

  "Yeah?" Becky replied. "We're gonna do... stuff."

  Mouse stared at her for a moment. "That might be dangerous."

  "Uh-huh," Becky said. Then she grinned and raised a fist. There were a few snaps in the air as stray sparks flicked off of her. "I'm counting on it."

  Mouse stared, then shrugged. "'Kay. Don't embarrass yourself."

  The sparks, both around her and in her heart, died immediately. She she not have told Mouse what happened at that Jane person's shop. Mouse wasn't going to, like, poke her about it, but honestly, it was probably the kind of secret she should have taken to the grave. "Y-yeah," she said. "Don't worry."

  "I'll worry a bit," Mouse said. "Don't die."

  "Yeah," Becky agreed.

  "I'll be watching," Mouse said.

  "What? No!"

  Mouse crossed her arms. "Yes," she said with finality.

  Becky had never had older siblings, but even she could feel that 'don't fuck with your big sister' vibe coming from Mouse. She licked her lips, wondered if she could do anything about it, then sighed. "Fine," she grunted.

  Becky was a strong D-ranker. She could kick ass.

  Mouse was a strong C-ranker. If it came to it, Mouse would slap her around, itty-bitty spaghetti noodle arms or no.

  "Okay, well... bye," Becky said. She slipped out of the Mouse Hole before Mouse could start giving her rules to follow. That'd suck. She felt a little warm in the face as she slipped outside and tugged on her coat. It was just this old thing, covered in cool patches that she'd had for a while, but it covered up her 'uniform' real well.

  Stupid uniform. Stupid-sexy-Jane and Sexy Deadline, with their kissing and all that. It wasn't fair. She shook her head, getting her head back into the game. It wasn't time for that.

  She stood outside for a while, then hopped into the taxi she'd ordered up on one of them apps. It wasn't long that she was being driven across the city. She had a backpack with some gear in it, and space to shove her coat into it when it came time to change. She even brought a bottle of water and snacks, just in case.

  Riding through Fortress ENE at this hour of the night was kind of weird, but kind of chill, too. The city felt different when it was this early. People--lame sorts, with like, jobs and shit, were just getting started.

  Deadline had told her and Fran to meet around the parking lot of this little gas station. It was nearing six-twenty-ish when she pulled up, and already she could tell that the others were here.

  Deadline's bike was parked in an alley in the back, hidden in the shadows and almost invisible. Fran's ride was a lot more obvious, this sleek rich-bitch SUV parked next to a rental van.

  "Yo yo!" she said as she hopped out of the cab and slung her bag on. "Hope you weren't waiting too long."

  Fran gave her an unimpressed kinda look, but Deadline smiled. Becky took-in a quick suck of air. Damn, how'd she end up in a situation with two bad bitches like this? "You're late," Fran said.

  "Traffic," Becky lied.

  Fran looked at her, then at the nearly empty road behind. "I'm sure," she replied, dry as all hell.

  "It's fine, I took that into account," Deadline replied. "But we should get going anyway. We have a lot to tackle today. That van there is our ride. I have a lot to explain, but the number one thing we have to keep in mind is that time isn't our ally tonight."

  Oh shit, Deadline was being all sorts of serious. "Why are we in such a rush?" Fran asked. She reached up and adjusted one of her hair drills.

  One day, Becky was going to tug onto one of those and see if they went sproing when pulled.

  "Get in? I'll explain on the way."

  "Shotgun!" Becky called before rushing around the van. It was just one of those rentable moving vans, but there was room within for three to sit comfortably.

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  They boarded, and she noticed that there were bags at the back from a hardware store, just kind of tossed there.

  Fran slipped into the back and buckled in without complaints, and then Deadline hopped in and started the truck up. "I don't have much experience driving this thing, so sorry if it's a little bumpy," Deadline said.

  "Do you have your license?" Fran asked.

  "No," Deadline replied. "Not for cars. Fortunately, we won't be using this for very long. Just enough to get into the area with the portals."

  "Portals?" Becky asked. "Like, with an S on the end?"

  "Plural, yes. What we're dealing with is a breach in progress. Three portals that are all going to breach within the next couple of hours, or which have already."

  "That feels like a little bit more than our usual escapades with unclaimed E-rank portals," Fran replied. "Can you tell us more?"

  "One of the portals is a C-rank slime portal. We're not touching that one," Deadline said.

  "Why not?" Becky asked.

  "Because we'd die," Deadline replied. "Or face a challenge that we're not ready for. The other two portals are D and E ranked. We're taking those two. The slime portal will be nabbed by Seraph. They're coming in with a whole team that we can't match."

  "We're doing a D-rank and an E-rank in the same night?" Becky asked. She sat up at that. Two portals in one day was... kinda nuts, actually. She'd never heard of anyone doing that. "Fucking badass."

  "Yep," Deadline said. "Let me go over the two. This won't be that easy, and we're going to have to move fast. We want to arrive before the breaches get out of hand and the portals are too hard to tackle."

  "Yeah yeah," Becky said. This was hype as fuck! She'd already been doing pretty good lately, growing stronger by a lot just from hitting up a couple of portals with Deadline and Fran. It was more than the growth of the last... like, six months in just a week or so. She could tell that her core was straining, just a little, from all the new energy, like her tummy feeling very full after eating too much all at once.

  "The first portal is a D-ranked kobold portal. I think mid-D. Kobolds are relatively intelligent, tool-using monsters. They're pretty tough, will use weapons, and can coordinate together. Since we're going to be rather heavily outnumbered, I brought some... chemical deterrents. They're not perfect, but they do work."

  "Chemical deterrents?" Fran asked.

  "Pepper spray," Deadline explained. "Kobolds have very sensitive noses."

  Becky snorted. She liked that idea. "So, we spray then blast our way through?"

  "Pretty much, yes," Deadline said. "We'll be counting on you a lot, today. Otherwise, Kobolds are... not resistant to guns at all. No more than a human would be."

  "Got it, got it," Becky said. She couldn't help but grin. She liked being useful, especially in front of hot women.

  Deadline went over some other stuff, about the possible layouts of kobold portals and whatever, but she was having a hard time staying focused, at least until they arrived at the industrial zone and Deadline pulled the van into an alley. "The portal is just a few buildings over," Deadline said. "If you have to leave anything in here, do so, but we need to move fast."

  Becky changed quickly.

  She loved the look of her 'uniform.' The black shorts, the armoured top, the huge cloak, and most of all the black cap with the little mouse-ears sewn onto it. It fit her well, and more importantly, she looked like a villain out of an anime, which was objectively awesome.

  "You'll need these," Deadline said as she opened the back and pulled out some stuff. Two bags were set to the side, each one jangling and... were those axes? The other she opened and pulled things out of to hand to her and Fran. Goggles. "Jane might not like the look of them too much, but you'll appreciate it when you don't get pepper spray into your eyes."

  "I understand," Fran said before she fiddled with her and slid them on.

  Yeah, that was a cool look too. Becky did the same, then blinked to get used to how the world looked through the goggles. They didn't block too much, though her peripheral vision was shot.

  "Damnit, we're late," Deadline muttered. "Let's move, ladies."

  So the moved. Deadline carried the bag with the axes with her until they crossed an alley, then she tossed it in there next to some trash 'for later' she said. Becky didn't question it... aloud, though she was wondering what that was all about.

  Then they were up in front of a building with an old sign that red Redlad Welding and Deadline moved up to a window, picked a rock off the ground, and casually smashed it in.

  "Après vous," she said.

  "Why thank you," Fran replied as she climbed through.

  Whoa! Barely an hour in, and they were already doing some B&E? Today was gearing up to be awesome!

  ***