A low mist descended upon a military checkpoint, making the cold, wet January morning feel even more frigid than it would otherwise. A unit of husky soldiers rubbed their paws together around a barrel with a fire in it to keep warm, with AK-74s holstered off of their backs. Above them and the road they guarded, pine trees with a light layer of frost gently waved back and forth in the wind.
They'd heard a report of an ambassador or someone being shot in the capital, but not many of them paid it much mind. No one ever came this way. Nothing ever happened out here. There were no cities or towns up this way. The only reason a presence was here at all was to watch over the border, which could be seen from their position in a forested valley below them.
But since there was little to do up here, the huskies decided to discuss the assassination anyway.
"Did they get a look at who it was?"
"Some kind of wolf with yellow eyes. He had a green rifle with no scope."
"I heard he was an Arctic fox."
"What kind of fox has eyes like that?"
"I dunno... Heard shortly after a dark red BMW was seen fleeing the city. He didn't stop when the police tried to pull him over, so they opened fire. But he got away."
An engine note could be heard echoing through the trees towards them. Looked like they had a visitor. But they still kept talking as the set up to receive the traveler.
"Wonder where he'll-- Speak of the devil!"
Around the corner a dark red BMW came flying towards them. Bullet holes could be seen all over the windshield, the front bumper, and hood.
"It's him! Stop him!"
The guards quickly unstrapped their assault rifles and opened fire.
---
Inside the car, Nail Strafer grit his teeth as he lowered his head just to where he could barely see over the steering wheel to drive. It was the capital city all over again. Bullets pinged off of the metal. The damaged windshield finally shattered as it sprayed glass on him, while stuffing came flying out of the shot seats.
He took one last look before ducking down as he reached the checkpoint, smashing straight through the gate. He could briefly hear the sound of wood splintering and guards shouting, as now the bullets started pinging off of the trunk. The hybrid poked his head back out from under the steering wheel...but then realized he was heading off the road, right down into the forested valley where the border was.
"####!"
He slammed on the brakes, but it was too late. The car went over the side and started rolling right down the steep hillside. Tree branches smashed all over the car, spraying him with pine needles and frost. Rocks and trunks bounced him all over the place, spinning him in circles and sending him ricocheting around like a pinball. Finally the car decided to just flip over and scraped on its hood for a few seconds...before it mercifully came to a halt at the valley floor.
"That...could have gone better."
Nail hung upside down from his seat belt, and he could feel blood from a cut on his head, probably where he'd made contact with the shattered glass. But aside from being knocked all around like he was in one of those old wooden coasters, he felt like he was in pretty good shape.
The door opened with a solid kick, as he crawled outside. The trunk had fallen open, releasing a weapons case. Quickly, he flipped it over and opened it up, revealing an M14 battle rifle and stun grenades, plus extra ammunition for the rifle and the M1911 he had strapped to his hip.
With all of his equipment gathered, he started on his way towards the border. Hopefully he could be over it before the soldiers managed to get down to catch up to him. If they didn't want to climb down they'd have to take the road he'd been meaning to stay on, and that was a long detour. So even despite this setback he'd probably do just fine from here...
Gravitos Imperium waited silently behind the huskies. The dark violet hedgehog stood leaned against a wall, arms crossed and head looking down slightl. He had been hired to chase down this assassin and bring him back if things went wrong. Never before would he ever consider taking work from these people. This job wouldn't even been paid in cash. The hedgehog had a couple warrents for his arrest and he was promised a clean record if this job was completed. He was lost in a mental trance thinking about how pointless this assignment was.
The sound of gunshots quickly alerted him and his purple eyes cuaght sight of the dark red BMW seconds before it whooshed straight past him. He was hoping for this so he can see some excitement. Standing around for that couple of hours nearly brought him to insanity. He took off full speed after the car, not even caring if he'd catch up to it. Luck was on his side as he watched the car barrel off the side of the road. Without any hesitation, he leapt off the cliff after it. His body arched out spread eagle almost as if he was attempting to gain flight. Upon nearing the ground, the black ovular markings on his forehead, palms and the backs of his hands took on a blue color as well as the shape of a minus sign. He pointed both palms at himself. Shortly after blue energy rushed through his chest and flowed through his entire body, brefily forming an aura. He once fell with great speed and would ultimately be flattened upon contact with the ground. Thanks to the blue energy, he went from weighing 90 pounds to a mere 18 pounds and floated harmlessly down to the ground. He landed in a crouched position, the aura vanishing and his markings returning to normal upon doing so. By the time he reached the ground, his target was already headiing out.
"You're foolish to think you can escape easily." Nail would hear from his backside.
Nail would turn to see the dark violet hedgehog (now on his feet) glaring deeply at him. His eyes letting his target know he meant serious buisness.
Nail's mouth dropped open in surprise. He might have expected bullets to come flying down at him from the top of the cliff, but never to have someone catch up to him down here so easily. Who was this guy? Did he know teleportation or something? He sure couldn't think of any reason someone would be waiting for him to crash down here.
Of course, Nail couldn't see Gravitos since the hedgehog was behind him. So for all the hybrid knew he had a gun pointed at his back. With that (incorrect) assumption, Nail figured it wouldn't be wise to try to run. He'd need to do something to make an opportunity to run. Keeping his arms clearly in view, Nail slowly turned around to confront his new opponent. He'd need to make this fast before the soldiers got to the top of the cliff above him.
Surprisingly, it wasn't a soldier at all, but a hedgehog who appeared to be completely unarmed. Nail stifled a grin. Talk about overconfidence. Was this just some kid who'd heard about his exploits on the news and decided he wanted some action? In any case, he didn't feel like gunning down another unarmed person today, so he'd settle for something else.
At first, Nail appeared to start to raise his hands up, but then Gravitos would see nothing but a blur of gray fur as the hybrid's right hand reached for his M1911.
(Quickdraw)
In less than 0.4 seconds, Nail had the pistol out and was firing. But he wasn't shooting at Gravitos. Instead, he put three bullets very quickly into the BMW's exposed gas tank. The car went with a very nice boom and shockwave, quickly spilling flames all around it. However, the explosion was more meant to disorient and scare away Gravitos rather than hurt him, since he wasn't that close to the car.
Nail would immediately turn tail and take off running into the woods after that, quickly trying to put some foliage between himself and his pursuer.
Gravitos watched the hybrid very closely as the two made eye contact. The hedgehog was already half-expecting to be shot down. He raised an eyebrow and tilted his head slightly as his foe began to raise his arms. Surely someone in his position along with the weapons wouldn't give up so easily. Although he suspected things were all too easy, he barely had time to blink as the sidearm was drawn.
As the bullets left his gun, Gravitos cringed his body, his eyelids shut to the point he made them sore. He truely beleived he had died then and there, but as he felt no pain, he patted his body around to find no bullet wounds. He gave Nail a smug grin thinking he missed. However, the explosion occured seconds after. He turned to see a car door careening towards him. He outstretched his arms and as the door approached him, it suddenly ceased all movement instantly. Gtavitos had used an anti-gravity forcefeild to prtotect himself.
The door dropped harmlessly to the ground as he turned back around. He let out a growl as he saw his target had taken off. With jo hesitation, he took off full speed after the hybrid.
Nail shoved his way through the underbrush as fast as he could, although it wasn't because he was scared of Gravitos. It was more the border patrol that was no doubt bearing down on him right this very second. He'd become an instant celebrity in this country, after all.
But amidst all the noise he made as he pushed aside the branches and the bushes, he distinctly thought he heard Gravitos still in pursuit behind him. His ears briefly flattened and a low growl uttered from his muzzle.
Kid, you need to go home!
Looked like he felt determined to give chase even after Nail had given him the chance to run away alive. Now he would probably have to die. Regrettable, but necessary if Nail were to complete the mission. The hybrid would lose sleep over it for a couple days but it would be a small price to pay.
Up ahead, Nail saw a tree with a trunk skinny enough for him to reach his arm around. Grabbing it with his left arm, he used his momentum to swing himself back around the tree. It would allow him to spin to face Gravitos while still staying in motion. Meanwhile, Nail held his Colt in his right hand. As Gravitos would enter his sights from the sudden turnaround, he tapped the trigger three times, firing off three more shots.
As Gravitos turned a corner, he was met with three bullets. He had ducked right at the sound and he felt them drill through the three, upright-pointing quills on his head. He growled in anger as he glared at the hybrid. The marking on his forehead as well as the ones on his hands took on a red color as well as the shape of a plus-sign. Having just barely enough energy, a beam of crimson energy was luanched from the markings on his palms. The were aimed at Nail, and if they struck, the wolf would find himself twice as heavy for 5 seconds. It would be more than enough time to get a hold of him.
Oh damnit, magic!
Nail had no clue about any sorts of magic, so he really didn't know what he was about to see. He'd fired six shots now, which meant he was down to one bullet in his gun. Crouching, Nail ejected his clip and quickly withdrew a fresh one from a vest pouch, slamming it home. That left one shot in the chamber, so eight rounds now.
But before he could get a shot off, a red bolt flashed out of the guy's hands and hit him. Suddenly his arms felt as if they weighed twice as much, and correspondingly the pistol in his hands went from pointing at Gravitos's head to down at the ground at the hedgehog's feet. Much as he wanted to, Nail had a hard time raising the M1911 back up to shoot. The hybrid grit his teeth and grunted from the effort of pulling his arm back up again.
However, Nail had an idea. Normally you pulled down while shooting your gun, due to recoil making the gun kick up away from the target. But since he couldn't raise the gun any higher on his own, maybe he could use the recoil's force to his advantage.
Resisting his year's of training to fight the recoil, the hybrid simply started with the gun pointed at Gravitos' feet and started shooting wildly. Heavy arm or not, the recoil would push the M1911's barrel back into line at Gravitos's center mass at least.
The hybrid couldn't believe he was doing this. For once the recoil of this .45 was actually a plus!
With his Gravity Spear sucsessfully struck its target, Gravitos did not hesitate to close the gap between them with a quick dash. As the bullets nearly hit his legs, he needed to thik fast. He also noticed the hybrid was using recoil in an attempt to aim more upwards. He increased the chance of geting shot with the closer he got, but the hedgehog was not a ranged fighter. If he were to just get close enough, victory could possibly be his. His foe appeard to be well with weapons, was he skilled in hand-to-hand combat too?
In order to avoid being shot, Gravitos took a mighty leap into the air. He raised his arms above his head, his hands into tight fists. He attempted to smash Nail with a deadly downward strike.
He jumped?!
By this point though, Nail realized the curse had worn off as he tried to move out of the way. He performed a sideways role to avoid the attack, letting Gravitos' fists crash into the ground. As he got to his feet, the hybrid holstered his pistol and removed the M14 from his back. Immediately, Gravitos would no doubt notice the very shiny, serrated bayonet knife tipping the weapon.
Nail knew he could not afford to get hit by that gravity attack again. He needed to make sure that Gravitos didn't get another chance to use it. But at least now he'd know what to look out for before this guy fired it off.
For the moment, Nail simply stared down Gravitos, holding the bayonet rifle in a fighting stance as if it were a short spear. His feet spread apart in a firm, but flexible position, with the bayonet ready to jab or defend at any second.
"Kid, go home, and I'll forget about this. Keep fighting me, and you're dead. Your choice."
If Gravitos tried to attack Nail unarmed, he'd very likely get jabbed by the bayonet before he could get too far. Being on a long gun gave the knife a very long reach as well.
[Oh, I've been waiting to try out this bayonet since I gave it to Nail
]
.Gravitos landed with a thud, remaining in that crouched position. He watched Nail closely through his side vision. Moments like this is when he wonered why a bouny hunter would go unarmed. Right now would be the perfect time to perhaps dual wield twin swords. Maybe thesse swords could connect and make some sort of staff-like weapon. The hedgehog snicered slightly at the very thought of the limitless weapon possibilities. Standing straight upward, the Gyromancer faced Nail, staring deeply into his eyes.
"You're worth too much to let go." He replied, keeping his stern demeanor. The blade being pointed at him never even phased him. He remained almost emotionless throughout the encounter. "You keep pointing that thing at me and you're dead. Your choice." He snaped back in an almost mocking tone. With his Gravity Spear usage depleted, Gravitos wouod have to rely on his impressive jumping abilites to buy time. Attacking Nail head on would almost be suicidal.