Chapter Three

Hehe- gotta love them twins. They're good kids, real bright- 'specially on them computers of theirs, in case ya'll didn't gather as much. It's a simple matter of fact- I've yet to find something they can't... well... find! And if they ask a tenth cut o' whatever bounty they're helpin' with who's to blame'em- finding the dang things are at least that much of the work!

Anyhow- it only took'em 'bout five minutes to find info on our man... seems he'd last been seen in some fancy hotel about a days ride east from where Matt 'n' I are now. So, if ya'll don't mind, I'm gonna grab myself some shuteye.

Dawn broke over the field the cart was speeding over- the glorious colors of the rising sun turning everything from darkness, to red, to gold- slowly spreading across the waving grasses, over the cart- and into Matt's eyelids... Effectively waking him quite a bit earlier than he would've liked.

Sitting up and grumbling a bit, he wrenched his shoulders back in a massive stretch, took a full breath of the fresh morning air, opened his eyes... and froze. The cart was now speeding down a road, between rows of old buildings. He knew for a fact that he'd set the autopilot to avoid any extra towns or cities on the way to the one they were heading for- and checked again, to make sure it was accurate, which it was. So... why was it here?

Pulling the cart to a stop at the side of the street, Matt jumped out and began walking around, running a rough check on the various systems while muttering softly to himself. "Sure is a quiet place..."

And quiet it was... as he went through the paces, inspecting all the jets and consoles that might've screwed up the steering he heard nothing but the sound of his own footsteps, and the slight- or, rather, the semi-slight snoring from Kane. "Not even a bird, or a bit of wind."

After stopping a moment to watch the steady swelling and shrinking of Kane's chest, Matt bent down to take a look at the systems on the underside of the cart, then was suddenly thrown to the ground by a sensation like nothing he'd felt before.

Like being drenched in a bucket of ice cold water filled with a thousand needles all intent on permanently lodging in his flesh, pain racked his body, sending him into convulsions.

The sensation started at the back of his head and swiftly covered him- constricting his breath, forcing its way down his throat so he couldn't even scream as... as... as if nothing happened. A few seconds and it was all over- like it hadn't occurred to begin with.

"Holy hell... what was tha... Kane! Did you feel that, Kane?"

Matt pulled himself of the ground, dusted himself off, and looked into the cart. Kane had moved- maybe a half meter from where he'd been before... Matt guessed that he'd just been convulsing about too, and that's just how he'd ended up- except... it seemed sort of odd that he'd still be asleep.

"Kane?"

There was a slight shifting, and then a groan... or was it more of a moan?

"Kane..."

Another shift- larger. And that was definitely a moan. But the shifting... wasn't coming from Kane.

"Kane!" There was another, final shift, and then- like something pulled from a nightmare- it started to rise.

"Holy..."

Not even bothering to think Matt frantically grabbed at his pistols, fumbling with his holsters as a hellhound- headless and rotting as it had been for days- got to its feet... a continues moaning coming from the open, bloody tubes at it neck. Finally getting a pistol free Matt raised it to fire, but too late. The hellhound, now standing on its hind legs, swung one of its heavy, dagger clawed front paws into Matt's face.

Matt's eyes were closed for the strike, but opened in time to see the end of the hellhound's... broadsword... go past?

Like the exact reverse of the feeling before, the water and needles came again- but falling off. And, standing in the place where the hellhound had been a moment before was Kane! Still holding his broadsword- the flat of which he'd used to smack his friend a moment prior.

"Kane! Wait... mind telling me what's going on?"

"Jellies."

"Jellies?"

"Jellies."

Matt stood dumbfound for a minute, then Kane motioned for him to look at the ground. There, at Matt's feet, was a pulsating blob of gelatinous, semi-transparent, gray... something or other. And, as he watched, the pulsating began to grow decidedly stronger. Matt stepped away.

With a sudden, furious pulse, the blob morphed into- a harpy, if anything could describe it- and flew at Matt in a frenzy... Only to have its gooey grey head blown off by Kane's Morgenstern cannon.

That cannon was truly a thing of beauty... About a foot and a half to two feet long, it could only hold a single cartridge at a time. A single cartridge was, however, a full two inches across.

The blast was designed to be extremely powerful and quite wide- its downfall being, it dissipated within about two meters space, but it was quite affective at the two things it was actually made for. Firstly- putting holes in things. Doors, walls... monsters... it was basically instant death within close combat ranges. And, secondly, firing off hunter tools- cylindrical objects which fit over the end of the barrel, containing projectiles of varying sorts. These projectiles, upon firing of the cannon, are then sent flying at high speeds, and can be anything from nets and grappling hooks to long range explosives... firebombs being an example of such.

"So... that was..."

"A jelly. Known for consuming creatures whole and possessing their senses, to the point of causing hallucinations, while slowly digesting them alive. In the case of human sized creatures, it's sometimes over a period of years. They can be killed, but only by having enough of their vitals destroyed quickly enough that they don't just slop back together."

"Like, by blowing off their heads."

"Yup. Cookin'em with charge shots would work too, though- as it'd char their jelly and disable healing... it'd just be slower."

"And how, may I ask, do you know all this?"

"We were warned about'em 'bout a week ago by a bartender in a town not too far off. You were too busy flirting with the busty barmaid to pay attention."

"Oh."

"Now help me unload these corpses."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Hello people!

... people?

Anybody out there?

Sigh... ALRIGHT! Well- nobody seems to read this- it's been up a year'n a half and it's only got one review, so I'm probably not going to waste time writing it anymore. If any o' ya'll want me to continue, just lemme know- I've still got the full plot outline and character bios and all so I can continue at any time. However- as it is- 'tain't much point in my putting out the effort.