Exodus/Part 2

~ Part 1 ~ Exodus ~ Part 2 ~

Myra stares ahead through her binoculars at the bandit shanty town that lay in middle of nowhere. There were a few vehicles scattered around, with bandits unloading their stolen goods out of them. Most of their loot was just essentials like food, water, and maybe even weaponry, but there were also a bunch of miscellaneous junk that they'd find some use for. A big and burly boar wearing biker get-up, rags and metal armor comes out of the shanty town and starts barking orders to the other bandits.

"There's our guy." Myra said. "The fat bloke's got a bounty on him for everything in the book and then some."

"Yeah. Manslaughter, theft, kidnapping, foul odor, littering and even cannibalism."  A robotic voice said. It's voice sounded far less like a robot and more like a bad comedian trying to talk through a cheap microphone. "Are we sure trying to take him on is such a good idea?"

"Since when is anything we do a 'good idea', Beatbox?" Myra asked. "At least the sun's starting to set. Should make it harder for them to see us coming until we're right on top of them."

She revs the engine of her hoverbike before proceeding on, making her way towards the bandit settlement.

"The plan's simple." she called over to her robotic companion, who was currently resting on her back like a backpack. "We swoop in, tether him, and ride like a bat outta hell before the others can bat an eye."

"Sounds good, but aren't we supposed to bring him in alive?" B34T-B0X asked. "Alive, but nobody said he had to be in one piece." Myra responded. "Besides, all that leather he's wearing will probably protect him well enough."

Meanwhile, at the camp, one of the bandits, a ragged canine of some sort called out to his fellow ne'er-do-wells. "'Ey! We got ourselves a coupla stowaways 'ere!" he said as he threw two young cats out of one of the trucks.

"Is that right?" The boar asked, approaching to see for himself. The two boys were tossed unceremoniously onto the ground, and the red-clad one immediately moved to shield his brother from the bandits, shaking fearfully yet doing his best to look tough. This foolishness had been all the older brother's idea; these same bandits had raided the small town they were staying at, and he decided that he needed to do something about it... while also dragging his brother along for the ride. To be fair, the younger cat hadn't been completely against the idea, but now he was sincerely regretting this decision. The both of them were, in fact.

"Dat liddle blue one in da back looks like 'e might make a good meal," one of the bandits, a scrawny weasel, leered at the younger cat, causing him to whimper in fright and cower behind his brother, shivering.

"Y-You leave my brother alone, ya b-big bully...!" the older one hissed, still remaining close to his sibling.

The boar laughed menacingly, and the other bandits joined in with their own laughs and snickering. "You got guts kid. I'll give ya that." he said to the older cat. The older brother, Calvin, huffed a bit, before smirking.

"I could say th'same thing about you," he said, pointing a finger at the boar's gut. His brother, Micah, couldn't help but giggle at that.

Some of the other bandits stopped laughing, glancing somewhat nervously at their leader. He did not take kindly to people making fun of his belly. The boar leans closer menacingly. "Got guts, and a big mouth too, but lackin' in the brains department." he retorts loudly. "What was the big idea with you hitchin' a ride here, anyway?"

Calvin leaned back nervously as the boar got closer, swallowing thickly.

"Y-You guys are thieves! So we were gonna t-take back what ya stole!" he declared, trying to sound brave. Micah just nodded meekly in he background, shivering in fear.

The boar laughed heartily at this, picking up Calvin by the back of his collar, raising him to eye level. "Thieves? We're just trying to survive out here. If you can't protect what's yours, then you don't deserve to keep it!" The other bandits laughed along with him.

Calvin let out a squeak as he was hoisted up into the air, his legs kicking a bit in a panic.

"W-Why not work together to survive, then, instead'a stealin' from others who also just wanna survive?" Micah piped up meekly, fidgeting a bit. "Fighting over resources doesn't seem as good as helping each other..."

"It's called 'survival of the fittest', kid." the boar answered callously. "If you can't stay at the top, you ain't fit to survive." he dropped Calvin to the ground next to his brother.

"I don't know what made you think you had any chance of stealin' back what we rightfully stole, but I can tell ya it was a big mistake."

"Does dis mean we can've sum fun now?" the bandit that previously leered at Micah asked. Micah ended up scooting towards his brother and away from the bandit, whimpering in fright.

"Yeah, I reckon we- wait. . . " he stopped to listen. "Ya'll hear that?" he asked. As he turned towards the sound, his eyes grew wide at the sight of Myra speeding towards him at high speed. She leapt off the bike, and let physics do the rest of the work. The bike sped on, hitting the boar head-on and taking him with it as it barreled through the doors the thug had walked out of earlier, soon followed by a loud crash.

Myra landed next to the two cats, and immediately threw a gadget about the size of a baseball at two other bandits. The gadget immediately released a tether that attached to the bandits and slammed them together, tying them up in the process.

The brothers watched in awe at the events currently transpiring, staying close together just in case; neither of them had any reason to believe that this mysterious newcomer would be a danger to them... right?

"Whoa...!" Calvin squeaked as he watched the bandits be tied up by the tethering gadget.

The canine bandit tried to charge Myra, swinging his bat. Myra ducked under the swing, kicked him in the stomach before turning her back to him, leaving Beatbox facing him.

"Say 'cheese'!" the small robot said as he released a flash and wave of kinetic energy, knocking the bandit off his feet and flying back into another bandit, who's attire made it difficult to discern what species he was.

Of the six bandits that had originally surrounded the cats (including their leader), only the one commenting on Micah's chubbiness remained. "Well, don' you look tasty." he remarked, licking his lips and pulling out a chain whip.

"I'm not on the menu tonight." Myra retorted, getting into a fighting stance.

"I wasn' talkin' bout dinner." he leered. At that moment, another bandit joined him, also brandishing an improvised melee weapon. Calvin frowned, watching the ensuing conflict between Myra and the bandits.

"Stay here," he whispered to Micah, before quickly and silently making his way towards the two bandits, heading for the chain-wielding weasel. Once he was close enough... he lunged and sank his teeth right into the weasel's tail as hard as he could!

The weasel howled in pain and turned to see what was biting him. "Why ya liddle- I oudda- " he was cut off as Myra took the opportunity to deliver a low blow and kick him in the groin. The weasel drops to his knees, unable to do anything other than groan in agonizing pain. Myra then quickly takes out a stun gun and shoots the other bandit, incapacitating him with an electric shock.

"Thanks for the assist, lad."  Myra said to Calvin as she takes a quick look around and spots another hoverbike. It was much larger than the other bikes, and appeared to be decked out with a side car, and even a holster for some kind of large melee weapon. Given the flame paint job on the side and some other customization, it was safe to assume it belonged to the bandit leader.

"I think that'll be our ticket outta here." she said.

Calvin had backed away as soon as the weasel turned around on him, grinning cheekily as he watched Myra kick him directly in the crotch. He laughed.

"No problem!"

Micah had run over to Myra and Calvin, now, looking around nervously. But before the three could do anything else, some banging caught their attention. The boar made his way back out, brushing off dust and debris from his leather vest. He was also now brandishing a large makeshift battle hammer. The hammer was almost as intimidating as the expression on his face, which was a mix of rage and annoyance.

"Ya'll ain't goin' nowhere." he growled. "When I'm through with you, I'll make your head into a hood ornament!" he slammed the hammer down menacingly, as though to emphasize the point. Micah yelped in fright and hid behind Myra, shivering, while Calvin nervously tried to stand his ground.

"Beatbox, get that bike workin'." she said.

"You got it!" Beatbox responded, he hopped off Myra's back and quickly hovered towards the bike to hotwire it and get it started. Myra then motioned for the two cats to follow him. "Get in the side car." she told the two kids. "I'll handle this walking tub o' lard."

"The name's "Roadhog"! And it's gonna be the last name you hear!" he roared as he charged at Myra. Myra dashed forward, acting like she was going in for a slide, but stops short as Roadhog slams his hammer down. As soon as the hammer is about to hit, she jumps and uses the hammer as a footstole to jump over Roadhog's head while also dropping a grenade of some kind.

The grenade released a blinding flash and Roadhog staggered. "Gah! Can't see!!" He bellowed angrily. Meanwhile Myra quickly pulled out a cable and tied it around one of the boar's boots before running back to the motorcycle. As she did, some more bandit reinforcements started to arrive.

Beatbox continued fiddling with the wiring to get the bike started. "Hmm. . . should I connect the red wire to the blue wire, or the blue wire to the red wire?" he thought out loud. He decided to go with the latter, and was rewarded with an electric shock that made him jitter before the bike roared to life. Calvin and Micah had already climbed into the side car, waiting nervously for Beatbox to get the motorcycle going.

"Th-There's more of 'em!" Micah squeaked, pointing at the group of bandits that were headed towards Myra and Roadhog.

Myra hopped on and quickly tied the other end of the cable firmly to the back of the bike. "Alright, let's go!" she said as she took the steering handle. The her legs could barely reach the foot rests, as the bike was meant for someone much, much larger. However, she could still rev the bike to get it going and took off full throttle. Beatbox almost fell off, but managed to grab the bike's saddle in time. Calvin couldn't help but let out a whoop as the bike roared off ahead, seeming to be exhilarated by the speed. Micah just cowered down and covered his eyes, ears pinned back.