Outskirts

[Rampage]

Were Novus and Byrian not distracted by the current skirmish, they might have noticed a speck in the sky rapidly approaching on the scene. That speck, upon closer inspection, was a hovercraft; and at the controls of said hovercraft sat Rampage. His real face was twisted into a gleeful smile. Prior to receiving the Swatbot distress signal, he'd been 'playing' in Robotnik's VERY well stocked armoury. He'd already been having a rooting good time testing out all of Robotnik's toys when the signal came through. As soon as he heard that there was fight going on, Rampage raced out of the armoury, armed with his favorite Mauler assault laser rifle and jumped into his hovercraft to join the fray.

As he came upon the scene of the battle, Rampage looked over his dashboard to get a better look at what is going on. Down below, he saw a human standing over a downed SWATbot with a sword in hand of all things. That just made Rampage snicker. This guy had guts, he had to give him that. Picking a fight with SWATbots that have ranged laser weapons certainly demanded a great deal of skill to pull off effectively; and clearly this guy did. He'd certainly make things interesting.

"Well, time to introduce myself." Rampage shrugged with a grin and pushed the nose of his hovercraft down towards Novus. The single cannon mounted on top of the hovercraft warmed with a reddish-pink glow and fired. Unlike the automatic laser cannon that the SWATbot on the tower was using or even Rampage's Mauler rifle, the hovercraft's cannon did not fire rapidly at all. In fact it was more akin to a small artillery piece because of its area of effect. So, Rampage didn't need to take very careful aim. As a result, Novus was not in any real threat of any serious injury, but he was probably going to get knocked to his feet because of the blast.

[Byrain Fox]

It was official. It was no longer worth the risk for him to continue on. Grumbling in defeat, he quietly walked away, finding the nearest sewer line. Once he got to one, he lifted the heavy metal lid, he carefully climbed down and placed the lid back over. He dropped down, entering the dank, dark and incredibly rank sewers, deciding to try and cause trouble elsewhere. Even though the sewers where dark, he wasn't completely blind, as he at least had walls to feel. Not only that, he didn't have to smell the putridness of the sewers; though it was the least place he wanted to go to. It was better though than getting killed over trying to get a building on fire. He'd rather die over something else.

[to City Streets]

[Novus]

Novus noticed the projectile at the last second and dodged, but was still knocked away by the blast. He was dazed by the blast but still managed to roll and stopped kneeling, half balancing himself on his sword.

"What fresh hell is this?" Novus remarked, wincing in pain as he looked up to find the source of the projectile.

There, in the air above he saw a flying vehicle that appeared to have someone in it. Novus drew his previously used revolver that still had four rounds and waited for the ringing in his ears to stop before he started to stand again.

"Well, this is an unexpected surprise. It seems my introduction has finally been noticed!" Novus said with a wide grin.

[Rampage]

Rampage smiled his own malicious grin when he saw the stranger still standing after the initial smoke cleared. Good. It would be a shame if he'd vapourized his opponent before he got the chance to tussle with him personally.

Rampage set the ship down broadside between Novus and the SWATbot tower. He wanted to take this guy himself. The circular door at the rear of the vessel opened and a menacing orange speck of light could be seen within the dark interior of the ship. As Rampage stepped out, that glow became his bionic eye. Even in the perpetual haze that hung over Robotropolis, it was clear by appearance that Rampage was part flesh, part machine. In his real hand, Rampage casually held his Mauler laser rifle towards Novus. Rampage could see Novus had his weapon drawn. But what good is a fight if you don't start it off without some classic banter?

"So... you're the one the SATbot's are all squawking about...? Huh, you sure don't look like much. Maybe you're not worth wasting my time on after all."

[Dr. Robotnik]

[I figure you two want a little duel with no interruption, so I'll leave you to it Consider me out of this topic, unless you want me to come back in for some reason.]

As the blast hit the ground, the SWATbots running for the tower fell to their feet. The guard on the tower above took a moment to scan for who was inside.

"Run check on who has Hoverpod 2124 checked out," he said to SWAT Surveillance.

"Rampage is using it at the moment."

"We will leave him to this. He likes fighting alone and would probably destroy us if we got in the way."

"Agreed."

The remaining SWATbots on the ground quickly retreated into the tower and shut and locked the heavy metal doors, while the one up top stayed on his mounted machine gun in case Rampage required assistance.

[Novus]

Novus was surprised by the half beast-half machine being, but not any more than anything else he'd seen since the odd flash of light that brought him here.

"Not much huh? I'll ask your opinion again after I've carved you up a little." Novus said, finishing his sentence with a dark chuckle.

Novus stood up completely now and rested his sword over his shoulder.

"So before you meet your demise, would you mind telling me who the leader of this fortified city is? I'd rather not dispatch the first intelligable thing I see before I've questioned it." Novus said, his maniac grin widening even more. He was trying to irritate the badger thing, as he knew from experience that an angry opponent made more mistakes.

[Rampage]

Rampage grinned back while his robotic face remained stoic and emotionless. If anything, Rampage's cybernetic face appeared to be permanently fixed in a menacing glare.

"Demise? Carve ME up? Heh, heh, heh..." Rampage was starting to like this human. Kind of reminded him of himself. Even down to the part about colourful boasting and Novus taunting Rampage to make him come at Novus stupid. "Take a look at me bub. You think I'm scared of you and you're overgrown parring knife? I've squashed fleas that were tougher than you. You're going to regret blowing up Dr. Robotnik's toys; and I'm the one who's going to introduce you to a whole new level of regret."

Not opting to give Novus the chance to act first, and wanting to let Novus know who's boss here, Rampage opened up with his Mauler. Within a few the span of a breath, Rampage unleashed a hellish hail of 20 crimson laser bolts down range. Rampage's aim was hardly perfect. But he's always known that. What he lacks in accuracy, he makes up for in ruthless unabated shooting.

[Novus]

The instant he noticed his finger squeeze the trigger, Novus dashed sideways in the blink of an eye to avoid the shots, deflecting what he couldn't dodge with his sword, and returned fire at Rampage. Firing two more shots as he evaded, he targeted Rampage's weapon hand hoping to disarm him. Novus wanted information, but this was also the first good fight he'd have while he was here and he wasn't about to pass it up.

"So it's this Dr. Robotnic who runs the place huh? And I take it you're his trigger happy henchman?" Novus said while still strafing and closing ground.

[Rampage]

Rampage took the first of Novus' shots in his cybernetic shoulder. While his robotized parts may not be entirely bullet proof, the round hit on an angle and deflected the light round with on minor denting to his arm. Before the second shot came, Rampage dropped into a crouch, letting the second shot sail just barely over his right ear. But Rampage didn't even bat an eye at the near miss. "HAH!!! You call that gun?! I've seen pea shooters that got more kick than that!!! Here, let me show you!!"

He kept on shooting, firing another twenty rounds down range at his target. But now, in a more stable firing position, Rampage's aim was much improved. Novus would find he'd have a much harder time getting closer to him with this level of concentrated fire directed at him. "You got the 'trigger-happy' part right." Rampage shouted back over the wail of his laser fire. "But I prefer to think of myself as a one man demolition crew, thank you very much. No hold still, this will only hurt for a second! Once I sear a hole through you're spine you won't feel the rest of what I'm going to do to you!!!"

[Novus]

"Thats good, I came here looking for a job. Consider this my application for your job, as I see an opening in the near future." Novus retorted.

Novus stopped in his tracks instead of keeping up the strafing and as a result was grazed by a couple of rounds across his side and arm. He then hurled his sword in a rapid spin at Rampage and drew his second gun and prepared to fire both at him while he was preocupied with the blade.

"I call this move SLAYER!" Novus shouted with a mad smile upon his face.