Slade and Sasha peered around the rubble. Ahead, a group of figures were hauling Slade's bike into a tilted building, disappearing through a shattered window. The two crept toward the leaning structure and poked their heads inside. It looked like an old, multi-story parking garage—massive. They slipped in. Sasha immediately shifted to half-wolf form for stealth, and Slade turned both his hands, which looked like liquid metal, back into shotguns.
They moved slowly, soundlessly, toward a light up ahead. They reached the light and peeked around a corner, seeing a cluster of pale-skinned, yellow-eyed, half-machine figures. They had a fire burning in an oil drum in the center.
Two skinny, iron mohawk-haired guys in black vests brought Slade's bike into the middle, talking to a huge, burly, shirtless boss—a giant of a man with scars all over his chest, a full beard, and an eye patch over one scarred eye. He was sitting behind the drum with his feet propped up.
"Boss, we snagged this outside. Just left sitting there," one skinny guy with a mohawk said.
"Yeah, Boss. What's the word? Can we sell it?" his buddy asked.
"Toss it with the rest. We'll haul the whole lot to the fence in the Vorg capital. That guy pays top dollar," the Boss said, pointing behind him with his thumb.
"Will do, Boss, hehe," the two men replied.
They wheeled Slade's bike to the back, behind where the Boss was sitting. Slade used his bionic eyes to scan the area behind the Boss. He saw a large cage holding several captives, and inside the cage, he spotted his target: the little girl, Celes, being held by the other girl, Selene, along with several other prisoners.
"Hey, Sasha, the little girl, Celes, and Selene are in the cage back there. Plan?" Slade whispered.
"Huh… really? We move now!" Sasha replied, starting to stand up.
Slade instantly yanked Sasha's arm, forcing her back down into a crouch and pulling her close. He pointed up while covering her mouth. Sasha looked up and saw a ball-shaped drone with propellers floating past above them. Once the drone was gone, Slade spoke.
"Don't rush in. There are about twenty guys in here. We need a plan," Slade whispered.
"Okay, okay," Sasha agreed.
"I'll fire a smoke bomb inside. The Vorgs will come out, but the Zoan and Noz guys will be trapped inside since they can't see in the smoke. I'll handle the Vorgs out here; you go free the prisoners," Slade whispered.
"Okay, okay… and how long are you going to hold me like this?" Sasha whispered back, slightly flushed.
Slade immediately released her. He quickly apologized and explained that his duster has stealth tech to trick drones, radar, and other sensors, and he had pulled her close so the passing drone wouldn't detect them.
"Well, next time, warn me, so I don't get the wrong idea," Sasha whispered, her face still a little red.
"How could I warn you? The drone was right over us," Slade whispered back.
"Got it. Let's do this," Sasha confirmed.
"Yeah. Get ready."
Sasha shifted into a cheetah, while Slade swapped one of his shotguns for a grenade launcher. "dun," "klaaang." Slade fired a smoke grenade into the room. Immediately, the room filled with smoke, and red laser beams from the Vorgs' eyes focused on Slade's position.
Sasha shot forward, sprinting into the smoke. Slade ran away, then fired a second smoke grenade. Dozens of red laser lights danced wildly from the Vorgs' positions in front of Slade. They hadn't located him yet inside the smoke.
"Time to start the party." Slade raised his shotguns and began blasting the Vorgs in front of him.
Meanwhile, Sasha, in cheetah form, darted past the confused, screaming Zoan and Noz bandits. She headed deeper into the room and spotted Slade's bike. Right next to it was the large cage holding several Vorg, Zoan, and Noz captives. She saw the girl she was looking for, Celes, hugging the other girl, Selene. Sasha, still a cheetah, zipped to the front of the cage. The little girl saw her.
"Sister Sasha!" Celes yelled.
"Shhh… don't talk. I'm getting you out of here," Sasha whispered.
"Look out!" Selene shouted from beside Sasha.
Sasha ducked. "klang!" A massive claw smashed against the cage bars. Sasha rolled to the side and spun around, crouching on one knee to face the giant Boss, who had transformed into a huge bear and hadn't yet pulled his claw off the bars. The Boss turned his huge head to Sasha.
"Well, lookie here. A little rat snuck in. Explains the smell. Who are you?" the Boss demanded.
"Hmph. I don't owe you an answer," Sasha shot back.
"Graaaaaaah." The Boss turned and immediately attacked Sasha.
Without hesitation, the Boss swung his claw at Sasha's head. "tap!" The Boss's claw was caught by a smaller bear claw. As the smoke cleared slightly, the Boss saw that Sasha had fully transformed into a bear, though not as large as he was. The Boss tried to pull his hand back, but Sasha's grip was iron-tight.
"Graaaaah!" Sasha swung her other claw, raking it across the Boss's chest. Then she kicked the Boss's stomach, releasing his claw and making him stumble back.
"Y-you bastard! You're that mercenary chick who can shift into anything and do it fast!" the Boss screamed, clutching his wounded chest.
"Oh, so you do know me," Sasha said, walking toward him.
"Die!"
The Boss charged, raising his hands to grab Sasha, but Sasha opened her own paws and caught both his claws. She twisted, and "buuum!" slammed the giant bear body hard onto the ground. Sasha immediately leaped onto the Boss's fallen body and began raking her claws repeatedly across his body, unaware that a red laser beam was targeting her.
"Watch out! Blood Bind!" Selene yelled.
Selene thrust her hand out of the bars. Thick, black liquid blood shot out from her palm, forming a whip that instantly wrapped around the neck of a Vorg outside the cage who was aiming his rifle-hand at Sasha. But "psiiiu," the Vorg fired his rifle anyway, hitting Sasha in the shoulder.
The shot startled Sasha, and she fell backward, sitting up. The Boss, covered in claw marks, stood back up and glared at Sasha, who was holding her wounded shoulder.
"You little punk! You got guts… DIIIEEEE!" the Boss roared.
He raised his claw and swung it at the sitting Sasha. Sasha closed her eyes, bracing for the hit, but "blood fire!" a blood-red fireball shot out, hitting the Boss in the chest. Sasha opened her eyes and turned. She saw Selene, her hand still smoking, sticking out of the bars with a look of worry. The Boss, hit in the chest, stumbled back, clutching the wound with one hand in pain.
"Thanks." Sasha thought.
Before the Boss could drop, Sasha leaped up and tackled him head-on. Both her claws grabbed the Boss's head, and "kreeeek," Sasha twisted the Boss's neck until his face was pointing backward. Sasha, now in human form, backflipped off him. "bum." The Boss's massive body crashed to the floor, face up.