They Called Me Madder: The Mad Series Book 2

by Pal, J

  “That thing will rip through Morpheus and take me with him!” Kitty exclaimed through her golem’s glass barrier.

  “Not if we disable it,” I told her, checking my power levels and firing the Charge Launcher to clear the platyhawks. They were flocking together for I don’t know what, and I intended to disrupt their attack with a single shot. “I don’t know why, but I think it relies a fair bit on momentum. Once it’s pinned down, we won’t have to worry about much besides the beak and claws. What do you think, Liam?”

  He took a while to answer. “I think we’re screwed unless we try.”

  My heart leapt into my throat when the elite behind me stirred. I was sure the sonic attack had scrambled its brains. Why the hell was it getting up now? The king above shrieked, and his knight spread its wings, ready to take off. The elite wasn’t watching us. Its eyes were focused on Liam as he accelerated in front of the almost-boss.

  “Kitty, pin that bastard down!” I exclaimed, running towards it, Sonic Shotgun at the ready.

  As instructed, Kitty shot towards the monster, ramming it with Morpheus. The bike golem’s two arms grabbed onto the platyhawk’s head and beak and held it down. This time, I shot the beast point-blank.

  “Careful!” Kitty exclaimed. “I felt that too.”

  “Sorry,” I mumbled. It was about time I got in the habit of double-tapping my targets and ensuring they were dead. To err on the side of caution, I stabbed the creature in the eye with the Charge Launcher’s electrified blade. The creature spasmed awhile before going still. I went so far as to Disassemble it too. There was no coming back from that.

  Materials stored for creation and upgrade:

  waterproof elite platyhawk hide

  plasma absorber

  hawk-eye optics

  elite platyhawk skeleton

  elite platyhawk talons

  A giant metallic hand wrapped around my torso and pulled me backwards, and a heartbeat later a brick landed where I had been standing seconds ago. It shattered, pelting me with red fragments. I felt a sting along my jaw and above my right eye. A trickle of warmth ran down my face.

  “Stop getting distracted, for fuck sake,” Kitty told me. “You’re going to get yourself killed.”

  “Oi, lovebirds! I’ve got monsters on my tail.”

  Liam had flown up high, and it wasn’t just the king who was chasing him now, but all his subjects too. All of a sudden Liam changed angle and dove straight down at us, flying directly through his pursuers towards us.

  “Try to miss me,” he said.

  Winnie, Morpheus, and I aimed past Liam at the mass of flapping wings behind him.

  “Swerve as soon as I fire.”

  My shots wouldn’t hurt the king, but it would hopefully thin the herd behind them. Winnie jumped the gun and released a barrage of spikes first. I scrambled to unleash my Charge Launcher too. Liam swore and weaved to the side. The boss followed, but the ordinary platyhawks were slow to react. They turned into pincushions for the biometal-covered projectiles before the Charge Launcher’s shot exploded in their midst. Its energy danced among them, bouncing between them, and just like that we’d halved the size of their flock.

  The remaining three platyhawks screeched and came straight at us, forgetting about Liam and their king. “The king doesn’t have absolute control over them yet,” I commented. Perhaps he needed to transition into a full-fledged boss first. The monsters were smart enough to split up, making it harder for us to get them. Fortunately, Winnie’s attack had ripped one of their wings and it was having trouble flying. I managed to snipe it when it fell into an uncontrolled spiral.

  Liam waited until the boss was almost on him before swooping upwards. The king tried to follow, but he didn’t expect his prey to change shape in mid-air and fall on his face. Liam’s spider claws curled around the boss’s head, and he unloaded all of the gun drone’s weapons at point-blank range. The boss screeched and broke into a barrel roll, trying to shake Liam off. He succeeded, but blood burst from her hide when he broke away from her.

  My chest tightened, watching Liam fall. He was missing a leg, and the glass dome containing the brain had a large crack. It took him longer to switch into flight mode than usual, and I had to shoot the Charge Launcher to deter the platyhawks from collapsing on him. As soon as he had finished transforming, Liam shot towards us.

  “Is Liam okay?” Kitty asked.

  “I sure hope so.” I didn’t like this one bit. Liam’s speed had dropped considerably, and I felt like a sitting duck watching him. “Get over here, Liam!” I exclaimed. “You don’t have enough firepower to do this alone.”

  “My sonic attack wasn’t powerful enough to do real damage. It’ll have to be you, bud.”

  Once Liam was a half-dozen meters above the roof, he switched to spider-mode again. The propellers compensated for their low power with high control. Liam simultaneously shot to the side and slowed his fall. The king tried to do the same, but his weight made it impossible. The beast crashed into the roof and his head went straight through the floor. Cracks spider-webbed from the point of impact, destabilizing my footing.

  The stabilizers kept me from falling, and I launched myself at the king using the Pogo Heelies. Unfortunately, I found myself flying a meter off my mark. Perhaps a grappling mechanism would need to be my next invention. The giant platyhawk was struggling to pull his head off the floor, so I charged in and hit the bastard with the Sonic Shotgun.

  The platyhawk thrashed harder, claws flying everywhere. If I didn’t activate the Barrier Projector, the biometal-lined appendages would’ve shredded me. The projector’s energy bar dipped towards empty, but I heard a ding as the Sonic Shotgun’s ammunition refilled.

  Morpheus braved the unstable ground and smashed the king’s head deeper into the ground. The cracks widened, and the floor shifted once again. The attack kept the beast down though, and the thrashing weakened. I hit it with a point-blank blast again. The biometal coating around its neck cracked and fell apart, revealing raw skin. Morpheus planted a couple of poison darts in the opening, and I stabbed it with the charged dagger blade.

  The king pulled his head out and screeched. Morpheus grabbed me around the waist and threw me away from the monster. Meanwhile, Morpheus’s arm blocked a clawed swipe. It ripped through the metal but stopped at the central skeletal structure. Flames burst from the wounds.

  “Ditch the limb, Kitty!” I yelled, extending the Charge Launcher’s barrel. Her fuel tank was damaged and leaking.

  Kitty hesitated for a moment, but then the king snapped the limb off with its beak, taking the decision away from her. My crosshairs were already lined up. As soon as Morpheus had cleared the area, I fired a condensed sphere of crackling energy at the creature. I didn’t miss, and the limb exploded, enveloping the king in flames. It screeched, trying to rise into the air, but Liam was ready. His gun drone’s barrel glowed white before multiple shotgun blasts burst from it, most of which burned through the creature’s wings.

  As soon as the creature fell to the floor, the spider-bot was on it again. On the ground, the form had greater mobility and grip. He got on the king’s neck, drilled through the skin, and unloaded the gun drone’s weapons once again. The oversized platyhawk’s thrashing and movements slowed before it collapsed altogether. We ran in and continued our attacks until the “Disassemble” option lit up in my interface.

  Materials stored for creation and upgrades:

  king platyhawk hide

  plasma absorber

  hawk-eye optics

  elite platyhawk skeleton

  elite platyhawk talons

  king platyhawk beak

  biometal gland x4

  plasma charger x2

  McGuffin x2

  The remaining platyhawks screeched and flapped their wings, creating distance between us swiftly. They cried at one another before disappearing amidst the tall buildings below us.

  “Reckon they’ll be back?” Kitty asked, watching them.

  M
y eyes remained on the corpses lying on the roof. Usually the bodies disappeared when I absorbed the parts. The parts I hadn’t absorbed slowly melted into the floor, and it rippled. The cracks shrunk before the hole started closing itself up. The filling looked fleshy at first, but then it darkened and eventually took on the color of ambient materials before blending all together. The texture remained leathery though.

  “We’re going to make sure they don’t,” Liam said. “We need McGuffins, and wherever they’re going, there should be plenty.”

  “I don’t get it.” Kitty’s brows furrowed

  “What Galaxy Brain is trying to say, Kitty, is that there must be another nest close by,” I explained. “My guess is they’re well past capacity. Since they don’t need to compete for resources and no local predators, they’re looking to expand.”

  “That’s insane,” Kitty stated. “There could be lots of these pairs around us, creating more nests.”

  “Exactly. So we find these places and put them down. It’s much easier than combatting them in the sky. That’s our McGuffin sources sorted.”

  “I got two McGuffins from that one and a biometal gland,” I said. “I reckon both could come in handy for the 3D printer.”

  “Screw that for now,” Liam told us, staggering as he struggled to get accustomed to seven legs. “Upgrade the spider-bot. It needs a power-up to fight the creatures in this zone.”

  “I could use the other one.” Kitty climbed off Morpheus. “He’s ready to shed the golem core but needs a McGuffin to take over as the energy source.”

  “Does that mean we’re getting a new golem friend?” I asked.

  Kitty nodded.

  Chapter Seven

  New Toys For Everyone!

  Plasmade! – Too many spawnlings? Not enough amorous partners to help with their care? Need fuel to grind away at your button-pushing, dead-end job? Ingest Plasmade! Top up your bodily fluids and power-up with the energy of a thousand species!

  Plasmade has officially broken its ties with Stellar Express. The Nomicron Nugget special is no longer available. We’re officially cutting all of our ties with the product.

  Plasmade is the official supplier for the Nomicronion liberation army!

  Plasmade! Now powering justice and starving out genocide!

  The lead drone in the Menagerie begged for a plasma charger and biometal gland. Liam’s 3D printer needed one of the latter, so after a little hesitation, I gave it up. The drone claimed he could ensure creatures born in the Menagerie would have both parts. It not only confirmed that they’d be more powerful than their natural brethren but, if they fell in battle, we’d get more of the invested materials back.

  “We need to get more beasts and parts,” Liam said. “This is bloody amazing. Imagine how powerful our base could get. We could build an army of elites.”

  “With platyhawks like that king, we could very well carve up the crushers—”

  “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” I stated, interrupting Kitty. “It took way too much effort to put those monsters down. The creatures in this sector are in another league. We need a lot more firepower and more hands before going after the crushers.”

  “Good luck finding trustworthy hands until after we’ve taken them down.” Liam scoffed. “For the time being, we can’t rely on anyone but one another. So let’s get powered up and take down the platyhawks first. Doc, do your thing.”

  “I’ve been waiting for you to call me that for all this time.”

  Kitty’s process of upgrading Morpheus was much quicker than expected. She sat down cross-legged in front of her golem and held the McGuffin out in front of her. As she focused, the sphere’s color changed to match the cores that accompanied her power. The part of Morpheus that was the gas tank opened up. The golem core floated out of its resting place, shining with a hauntingly beautiful silver light. The McGuffin took its place, and Morpheus started shifting.

  Silver strands connected the golem core to the McGuffin, and the latter took on the former’s color. The bike golem regenerated its old arm first. Then the skeletal frame groaned and creaked, transforming. With every metallic crunch, the golem became sleeker and more streamlined. The arms and sides appeared less bulky but more robust than before. Kitty fed the golem our hoarded biometal, the plasma absorber, and elite platyhawk hide. The latter only served to make the bike’s seat soft and cushioned, but her comfort was just as important as power.

  Kitty picked her golem core out of the air and sighed deeply. I watched, amazed, as her eyes shone and Morpheus continued to shift. Biometal coated his exterior and then darkened to match the golem’s charcoal shade. Then more armor appeared around the rear too but folded into a more compact form. Finally, the wheels got wider and ridged. They looked like they belonged on a monster truck.

  “Do you have any ideas for your new golem?” I asked.

  “Yes,” she answered and turned to Liam. “You’re not going to like this idea very much, but is it alright if I take the biometal gland?”

  I expected Liam to flare up, but an emoticon smile appeared on his cracked dome. “Go for it,” he said. “I get the feeling we’ll find plenty in the nest. What kind of golem are you planning?”

  “You’ll see.”

  She took the parts and retired to the corner where I’d stacked all the materials I couldn’t put to good use. Then it was Liam’s turn.

  Spider-bot MK II: Arachnophilia

  biometal chitin

  biometal blades

  plasma absorber

  elite platyhawk talons

  queen platyhawk beak

  McGuffin

  Liam explained how he intended to increase the power of his inbuilt tools: drill, knife, saw. He hoped the McGuffin would supercharge the venom gland as well. The upgrade would likely increase his melee potential. My energy bar dipped by a third as I started the upgrade. A silver light consumed Liam, and then I found myself alone.

  Now that I didn’t have others to attend to, I turned my attention to the lab coat. It had saved my life once again but had suffered greatly for it. The left breast was shredded. Meanwhile, the back had one massive hole where the repulsors had exploded. The lab coat had served me well and it didn’t deserve to go in the bin.

  At first, I had assumed the device was dead altogether. My technopathic sense barely picked up any signs of life from it. However, when I focused, I detected a soft glimmer. It was like a candle struggling to sustain its flame. If I didn’t fix it soon, the lab coat would die. Even though it was just an article of clothing, I treasured the piece and would’ve loved to invest a McGuffin in it. Unfortunately, that would have to wait.

  Lab coat damaged.

  Evolution energy lost.

  One Upgrade available.

  Repulsor function lost.

  Two Upgrades available.

  Pick one of the following material’s body for repair:

  elite platyhawk hide

  king platyhawk hide (Upgrade: elasticity + gliding)

  Upgrades available:

  Camouflage (royal mantis stalker chitin)

  Flexo Armor (imperial mantis matron chitin)

  Plasma Cloak (plasma absorber + McGuffin)

  The upgrade options had me drooling. I didn’t know what a Plasma Cloak was and I couldn’t wait to find out. For the time being, I picked the king platyhawk hide and royal mantis stalker chitin. I’d gotten the latter part from killing the creature who’d killed Rajesh. In some screwed-up way, it felt like a part of him was living on in the lab coat now. Now I’d have stealth to get around battlefields and reposition for maximum damage.

  I preserved the second royal mantis stalker chitin for Liam. He wanted stealth for his Recon Drone. We’d have to wait for a McGuffin before going through with that Upgrade though. My energy bar dipped by ten percent, and then I poured more into the device to speed up the process. The sooner my lab coat was functional again, the better. Hopefully I’d get more use out of the device and it would grow in strength quicke
r.

  When the process completed, I was glad to feel the lab coat’s old consciousness in a corner of my mind. It wasn’t just excited to be alive but was keen about the changes too. Testing the gliding function would have to wait until later, but I got a taste of my lab coat’s new stretchiness. It still had a leather feel but felt light as air. When I pulled on one of the sleeves it stretched like a rubber band, and my arms weren’t long enough to pull it to the elastic limit.

  Much to my disappointment, the Camouflage didn’t make me completely invisible. When I checked in the mirror, it looked like an image of whatever lay behind me was projected on my front. The odd reflection reminded me of the creatures from the film Predator and their transparent outlines while cloaked. A new bar had appeared in my interface too. This one was black in color, and it drained quickly as I switched the camo function on and off. Overall, I couldn’t be happier.

  Leaving my friends alone, I went down to the kitchen to make a celebratory snack. It was then that the world around me turned gray. Knurven appeared in his usual fashion and, much to my surprise, they didn’t have the System Assistant on their tail.

  “You, my friend, are the best bet I’ve ever made,” they said through a black triangular speaker molded into the flesh above their eye. “Good job. Your following has quadrupled since our last meeting. My colleagues were hesitant when I splurged on the Hub Core. We’ve not only made our money back but are already enjoying the dividends.”

  “That hunk of junk set you back by that much?” I asked. “It’d be useless to anyone but me.”

  “Well, it’s a hunk of junk way beyond your planet’s technology level. We managed to hide the contents of the package from the Alvans, which cost us an arm and a leg. However, they managed to discern it was advanced tech and their agents demanded extra. Then there were the bribes to keep the package’s origins and destination a secret. The device cost us only a tenth of what it took us to get it to you.”

  “So the Alvans don’t know about us yet?”