Monster Girl Base 4 Chapter 4

The Roomba sized mosquito-bots surged forward, and my mind kicked into overdrive.

I looked around to see what I could use for a weapon against the small robots and noticed one of the metal pipes that was supposed to hold up a solar still.

“Grab a weapon or something!” I lunged towards the makeshift bat, grabbed it, and then swung it right as the first of the rusted yellow drills reached me.

“What are these?” Fela snarled as she slapped one out of the air with her Garden Weasel. “They look like bugs.”

“I think they’re drills,” I huffed, and knocked another one away from me.

I heard a satisfying crunch as the steel cylinder made contact with the death bot, and then I watched as it tumbled over onto its back like an overturned beetle. One of the killer drill-assholes almost stabbed me in the face, but I swatted it away just in time with a whack of my makeshift bat. I heard another bot’s drill whine near my left ear, but I managed to spin around just in time and shove the damned thing away from me before it could give me an ending like that dude from the movie Pi.

“Why are they attacking us?” Emma stood frozen as the bots surrounded us.

“We must have invaded their territory,” the saber-tooth woman next to Emma said, and slashed another one of the killer drones out of the sky with her Garden Weasel.

Fela’s black tufted tail swished behind her as she squatted down, wiggled her round ass, and leapt off of the ground. She landed with her feet on two of the bots like they were roller blades, and then she swung her makeshift weapon around her in a wide arc like an ice-hockey player as the drill-bots struggled to keep afloat.

Floppy led another charge with his tusks and snout. He was careful to avoid the whirring drill bit, but he let out a scream as one of the machines cut into his back right leg. He managed to shake the thing off of him, but he limped and thick red blood oozed out over his quickly matting fur.

“Floppy!” I shouted, and ran over to help the miniature wooly mammoth.

The bots that surrounded my furry pal bobbed up and down like they were excited for the hunt. They didn’t seem to have a leader, but they also didn’t run into each other, so I started to think that they operated with some sort of hive mind.

“There are too many of them, Dave Meyer,” Fela slammed the two she rode together and then somersaulted off of them like a gymnast dismounting a high beam. As she spun through the air, she swung her Garden Weasel like a Jedi lightsaber and actually smacked two of the fuckers down.

But there were hundreds of them.

I wanted to reply to my cat-girl lover, but I didn’t quite know exactly what to say besides “keep whacking these fuckers!” so I kept up my own work and managed to force a few of them to collide, but it still seemed like a losing battle.

I had to think of something or we were doomed.

I realized that the ones that had been flipped over onto their domed heads couldn’t get back up, and I suddenly knew how we were going to beat them.

“Flip them onto their backs!” I shouted above the cacophony of metal scraping against metal. “They can’t turn back over.”

Floppy let out a triumphant toot, bitch-slapped one of the rusted yellow machines onto its back with his trunk, and then looked over at me excitedly. His back leg had stopped bleeding for the moment, the matted fur had covered the wound, and the little wooly mammoth was raring to go.

I kept an eye on Emma as I fought back the bots, she was still standing stock still, but the drones had apparently decided she wasn’t a threat, and they were kind of avoiding her.

I swung my steel pipe as fast as I could and managed to stun each one of the robots that I hit. It took a few more swings before I figured out that if I hit them low enough on their domed bodies that the little bastards would flip over, and then I was an unstoppable force.

“It is working, Dave Meyer!” Fela shouted.

“They are retreating,” Acrasis said as she appeared next to me.

She pointed a smooth finger to the edge of the circle, and I let out a victorious woop when I saw that most of the metal wasps had moved out of our reach. I kept an eye on the bots while I caught my breath, and gripped the steel pipe in my hand just in case the drones surged forward again.

“What are they doing?” the saber-tooth woman above me asked as she squatted down on her pet’s back. “Why are they not retreating further?”

“I don’t know,” I said as I wiped the sweat from my eyes.

“It appears they are regrouping,” the alien woman to my right said.

“Right,” I said with a nod. “I bet there’s someone controlling them. Or maybe they’re sentient.”

“We are not prey,” Fela snarled. “And they will pay for hurting Floppy.”

The cat-woman’s black tufted tail puffed up as she hissed at the retreated bots, and her slitted pupils dilated when one of the bots began to wiggle on the ground.

I followed her gaze and swore under my breath when I saw the little dome shaped bot flip itself over. It apparently had hydraulics around its body, and the little Roomba-sized machine had figured out how to use the puffs of air to force itself back over. The one that Fela had spotted bounced in the air a few times like it was making sure that it could still move around, and then it charged towards us again.

“Fuck,” I muttered. “These assholes are learning.”

The swarm on the edge of the circle rushed forward, and soon the bots that we’d flipped over were joining them. The little shits darted around each other like it was a damned competition to see who could kill more of us, and that made a cold river of fear run down my spine.

“What shall we do?” Acrasis had formed a mallet with her hand and slapped one away from her, but she was quickly becoming surrounded on all sides, and it seemed like there were even more of them then there had been before.

“We keep hitting them,” I said. “Maybe if we aim for their display panels they won’t be able to see us.”

“There are still too many of them!” Fela snarled and slashed at the three around her.

“I know!” I shouted. “Just keep looking for weaknesses. They have to have one.”

I watched in horror as a rusted yellow robot drilled through the top of my steel pipe. It only took a few seconds for the machine to pierce through the thick metal, and then half of my weapon collapsed onto the ground next to me.

Floppy saved me by piercing through the metal body of the machine with his tusks, and I used the second of freedom to scoop up the other half of my steel pipe.

I spun my two pieces in my hands, took a deep breath, and then began to slash through the air as fast as I could.

“My spear!” Fela yelled as one of the bots cut through her Garden Weasel.

“We need better weapons,” I said.

“It seems like they can cut through anything,” Acrasis said, and looked down to the bot that had just cut through her stomach and exited out of her back.

The slime woman reformed and didn’t seem any worse for wear, but my heart still skipped a beat when I saw the gaping hole in her middle. I shoved one of my pipes through the bot’s display, and felt a satisfying crunch when the glass panel shattered from the blow.

“This isn’t going to work,” I huffed, and watched the drill bots begin to come together again. “We need something that’s going to take them out for good before we’re overwhelmed.”

I looked around our makeshift camp and saw the chainsaw that I’d left over by the pile of wood. I knew it needed more gas, but it would last for a little while, and I was sure that I could take out at least a few of them before it was running on fumes.

I dodged through the faded yellow machines until I reached the chainsaw and yanked on the start handle. The engine coughed out a black plume of smoke before the blades started to whir, but one of the drill bots managed to shred through my sleeve while I was distracted. I sliced through the air towards the little shit as it realigned itself like a charging bull, and then I cut through the steel dome as if it was butter.

The bots nearest to me retreated from the spinning blades of my chainsaw like they had when we’d begun to flip them over, and I realized that the fucks were trying to adapt again.

“I do not like that they keep leaving and coming back,” Fela said as she sank down to the ground.

“Neither do I,” I said.

The saber-tooth woman stretched out her blood covered hand to check her nails and then nodded in satisfaction when none of them were broken.

“Do you think someone is controlling them?” Acrasis asked with a tilt of her head. “I remember the humans in my world had something like these that they flew at me.”

“Those were probably human-controlled drones,” I replied. “But I think these things are in charge of themselves since they don’t move as one.”

“They have attacked as a pack when they fly at us,” Fela pointed out.

The saber-tooth woman had strolled over to inspect Floppy’s back leg, and her beautiful lips were turned down in a deep scowl.

“Yeah,” I agreed. “But if someone was controlling them then there wouldn’t be the random outliers, and none of them would hang back while the ones in front attacked.”

“Dave,” Emma whispered.

She’d been far enough away from the attacking bots that she hadn’t been hurt, and they’d seemed to discount her as a threat when she’d frozen in place. Tears pricked her sky-blue eyes as she stared at the broken machines that the rest of us had managed to kill, so I stepped toward her.

“Are you okay?” I asked the shaky woman as I rested my arm on her shoulder.

“They’re just like my world,” the Gibson girl lookalike whispered. “They won’t stop coming.”

“We’ve managed to kill a few,” I reassured her as I brushed a stray hair behind her ear. “And with your help, we’ll get them all.”

The ground around us was littered with the proof that we could beat them, but the beautiful woman still shivered in my arms.

“There are still so many of them,” the Victorian era woman mumbled to herself.

The delicate woman closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and then glared over at the robots. Then the swarm of mosquito machines inched forward like a tidal wave of maple syrup, and Emma lifted her lightning covered fingers into the air.

“You will join the fight?” Fela swished her tail and grinned at her fellow pack member.

“Yes,” Emma said. “I’m sorry that it took so long.”

“You’re here now. Are you ready?” I took a step back, revved the engine of my chainsaw, and glanced back over to my lover.

“I think so,” the gorgeous woman said.

Her ebony hair floated around her face, charged by the lightning passing through her body, and her ice blue eyes were trained on the killer bots.

“Good,” I said. “Alright, Fela, Acrasis, Floppy, we’ll slap the shit out of them, and Emma, you hit them with your lightning. Hopefully that’ll be enough to short circuit them.”

“As you wish, Dave Meyer” Acrasis said.

The slime woman stretched out her mallet shaped arms and mimicked the stance that Fela had taken.

A high pitch whine filled the air as the bots surged forwards, and I rushed to meet them with my chainsaw. The blades scraped against the shell of steel for only a second before slicing through, and then I was on to the next one.

“It is working,” Fela cheered, and a crack of lightning collided with one of the bots next to her.

Emma pooled energy into the tips of her fingers and then slashed out with whips of lightning like she was Zeus. The machines that she hit let out a shriek before their displays went completely black and they toppled down onto the ground at her feet.

“That was amazing!” I shouted.

Black smoke billowed out from my chainsaw as the gas ran out, and I tossed the now useless weapon aside to dive for my pipes. The slick metal sticks vibrated in my hands when I jumped up and slammed them into the nearest bot, but they held up, and I pushed forward into the swarm.

“We have to end this soon,” I said. “Emma, do you think you could do a massive power surge like you did in the last world?”

“I can try,” the dark haired woman said. “But you’ll all need to get back.”

“I don’t think Floppy can move,” I said and motioned to the stationary wooly mammoth.

He gave an indignant toot but didn’t budge from his spot.

“I’ll draw them away, then,” she said and stalked towards the ledge. “You may want to close your eyes or look away.”

“On it,” I said. “Alright everyone, don’t look at Emma.”

Floppy gave a weaker toot before he plopped down on the ground and covered his eyes with his injured ears.

The rest of us turned away just as Emma threw open her arms and released hundreds of bolts of lightning like she was a summoning rod without a Faraday cage.

Once the rumbles of thunder died away I looked around to see that all of the bots hung upside down with their metallic legs in the air like roaches that had been knocked off of a wall.

“You did it!” I rushed over to Emma to scoop her up into a big hug.

“I did, didn’t I?” the exhausted woman said with a small smile. “I suppose that makes up for me freezing. I’m sorry.”

“You were amazing,” I reassured her. “You saved all of us. Again.”

“I do come in handy,” the blue-eyed woman yawned, and laid her head on my shoulder. “I think I need to rest for a little while now. That took a lot out of me.”

“Of course,” I said. “Why don’t you take a nap in the tent? I’m sure we can clean all of this up.”

“Just for a minute,” Emma said. “And then I need to treat Floppy’s wounds. That cut in his leg looks awful.”

The Victorian woman peeled her eyes open to stare at Floppy’s blood matted fur and made a disgusted noise in the back of her throat.

“We can take care of that,” I said. “You did your part, we can handle the rest.”

I started to lead her back towards the dark canvas tent but stopped when I heard the unmistakable sound of drills whirring to life. The killer robots clicked their tiny metallic legs together as puffs of air came out of their hydraulics. I ground my teeth together and watched their fucking displays flicker with bright green numbers.

“No,” Emma gasped. “I used so much power on them. How can they still be alive?”

“These things are really starting to piss me off,” I snapped.

I pulled away from my exhausted girlfriend and went for my metal pipes. The makeshift bats were slick with oil, so I wiped them off on my pants, and then settled into another fighting stance with a sigh.

“I have grown tired of their endless attacks,” Acrasis frowned and slapped a few of the mosquito bots away from her.

The drones were like gnats as they buzzed and dove towards her. The alien woman just swatted them like they were nothing but an annoyance and then glared at them as they regrouped. A few of them had some of her slime on them, and she waved her hand at them as she made it move down into their gears.

The unsuspecting drills whined and struggled when the goo coated their legs. The tiny metallic pieces began to stick together but the slime acted like fast drying glue and held them in place. The bots managed to stay in the air for another few seconds before they made a popping sound and plummeted to the ground like falling stars.

“That looks like it worked,” I gaped.

“Do you think it will still adapt, Dave Meyer?” Fela asked as she slashed at another bot.

“I don’t know,” I said. “The smoke seems pretty final to me. Alright, new plan. We’re going to flip these bastards over and Acrasis, you’ll gum up their systems.”

“I am ready,” the alien woman said as she lifted her hands.

“Do you think you can help us for a little while longer?” I asked Floppy.

The wooly mammoth rolled his molten brown eyes at me and then swatted at the nearest drill bot. It flipped over onto its back, but before it could use its hydraulics to turn over, Acrasis used her slime to coat the shiny underside.

“I hope this works,” I muttered before I started to swing.

With all of us working together, we were able to make some progress against the army of flying drills. The little shits were slashed and electrocuted until we stood in a field of rusted yellow machines.

I started to move slower as the pile around me grew. There were still about forty drones left, but I was starting to deflate like a three-week-old birthday balloon.

One of the killer bots used my slower movements to slice into my side. I screamed but managed to slap the drone away before I dropped my makeshift bats to look at the torn flesh.

“Dave!” Emma rushed over to me and electrocuted everything in her path.

“It’s fine,” I grunted and moved to grab pipes.

“It most certainly is not,” my lover huffed as she lifted my shirt.

“See, nothing major,” I said as blood trickled down to the top of my jeans.

“Do not lie to me,” she straightened and pinned me with a look that was just as dangerous as her lightning. “Raz! You need to finish this, now.”

“As you wish, Emma,” the slime woman replied.

She threw her arms out and whips of slime erupted from her body. Strings of goo coated the mosquito drones until they dropped out of the sky with echoing pops like the hoard of locusts at the the end of The Last Witch Hunter. The alien woman reformed her shapely female figure and then hurried over to Emma and me.

“I’m completely fine,” I said when the alien woman bent over to look at my side.

“You are injured, Dave Meyer,” she said. “You will need to be repaired.”

“We need to keep an eye out in case any more of those bots show up,” I replied with a shake of my head.

“I will protect us,” Acrasis said. “I will create a slime shield. They will not be able to get through it easily.”

“You can do that?” I asked and forced myself to stand up straight. “Okay. That’s a good idea. But we still need to get rid of all of these bastards. Who knows if they’ll be able to adapt and figure out a way to turn back on.”

“We will move them out of the circle,” Fela said as she walked over. “And then Acrasis can put up her shield.”

“That sounds like a good plan,” I said and reached down to grab one of the bots.

“Dave, you need to rest,” Emma huffed as she took the Roomba-sized machine. “Now go sit down, and we’ll take care of this.”

“I’ll be alright,” I chuckled. “We can all lick our wounds once the pocket dimension is clear.”

“Emma is right, Dave Meyer,” Fela said. “Our pack leader must remain strong. Let us take care of these. Floppy will keep you company.”

The miniature wooly mammoth let out an irritated trumpet before he scooped five of the dead bots up. The metal drones scraped against each other until Floppy tossed them over the edge of the camp. He limped over to grab some more and gave Fela a pointed stare before he threw those out, too.

“Seems like Floppy and I agree,” I chuckled as I walked over to help the creature.

“You are both too stubborn for your own good,” the saber-tooth woman huffed, though I saw the flash of pride in her yellow-green eyes.

“A good leader doesn’t just let everyone else do the work,” I shrugged and shoved two bots to the pile of debris below.

“I suppose you’re right,” Emma said in her elegant accent. “But you two are going to be the first ones taken care of after the barrier goes up.”

Floppy shook his head so hard that his bloodied ears slapped him in his face. Streaks of red covered his tusks and his trunk, but he ignored them and limped over to the farthest area from Emma.

“Doesn’t look like he agrees with you,” I laughed.

“Oh, he won’t have a choice in the matter,” the blue-eyed woman said and narrowed her eyes at the beast.

“I will help you to cleanse Floppy’s wounds, Emma,” Fela said when she finished with the machines at her feet. “He can be stubborn, but we will be able to work together.”

“Sorry, bud,” I said with a sympathetic smile at the elephantine ancestor.

“Don’t think you’ll be getting out of it either,” Emma said.

“Yes, ma’am,” I laughed. “I promise I won’t try to get away. Let’s save one of these bots to study later. I think we can take out one if it manages to come back on.”

“That’s a good idea,” the dark haired woman replied. “Maybe we can use it when we set up those solar stills.”

We worked as a team to toss the dead drones over the ledge until they’d become their own mound. It teetered for a moment when I threw the last one on, and I held my breath as I waited for the machines to topple over. When they settled, I turned to look at my girls with a triumphant smile.

“And that does it,” I dusted my hands off on my pants and tried to ignore the pulse of pain from my side.

“Finally,” Emma muttered as she wiped her hands on her black bustle skirt.

“Then I will put up the shield,” Acrasis said.

She extended her arms, and I watched in fascination as a thin layer of slime dug into the earth at the edge of our pocket dimension. The goo was almost see-through with deep green and purple swirls, and it stretched up and over our heads to become a dome that even blocked out some of the harsh afternoon sun.

“That’s amazing, Raz,” I said with a bright smile. “There’s no way the bots can get through.”

“What about from underneath?” Emma asked with a small frown. “They did have drills on their faces. Can’t they just come up from below?”

“I believe they were unable to permeate the dense rock,” Acrasis responded and let her hands hang by her sides. “I sensed a few earlier, but they did not make it close enough to be a concern.”

“How far down is the soil?” I asked with a glance over at the solar stills.

“Eighteen inches,” the alien woman replied.

“That’s not going to be enough,” I muttered. “Maybe we can modify this thing so it can get through the rock. Though I think we’ll need to find another version of Sol that can help us. I’m not particularly good at taking apart and successfully putting machines back together.”

“Why don’t you use those fancy goggles that you were given in the last world?” Emma asked as she walked over to where she’d stored the first aid kits.

“Fancy goggles?” I asked. “Oh right. The NAMSHUBS. I’m not sure they’ll even work in this world… “

“It’s worth a shot,” the blue-eyed beauty said while she motioned for Floppy to sit down.

The miniature wooly mammoth shook his head but relented when he saw Fela’s glare. She had her hands on her hips and her tail flicked behind her irritably like she was a mom staring down her disobedient child. He whined and buried his head between Fela’s legs but let Emma come closer.

“You do not want the wound to become infected,” Fela said as she stroked her pet’s trunk. “Let Emma help.”

“I’m sorry this is going to hurt, Floppy,” Emma said with an apologetic smile.

She knelt down and poured a little moonshine over the wooly mammoth’s back leg. He jerked and let out a scream like it was acid, but quited to a whimper after a few seconds. Emma stroked the creature’s matted fur before she went back to work, but Floppy still tried to squirm away.

I distracted myself from the pitiful sight and the pain that was coming my way by looking for the NAMSHUBs. They probably wouldn’t work in a different universe, but Rigs had said that he’d made some upgrades before we left. I’d already discovered the movies that he and Puck had added, but with some luck the glasses might be able to connect to the satellites in this world. If they could, then we might be able to find out what had happened and why there were drills bots that wanted us dead.

It was a long shot, but if it didn’t work we were going to be sitting ducks the next time they attacked.