13 Degrees of Separation (61 page)

“Shit,
I hate it when he gets like this,” Bullet said, climbing over the rail. “Come
on, he's got something,” he said. “Well?” he asked stopping. “You two coming?”
he demanded.

“We're
coming,” Nohar replied, climbing over the rail.

They
were in a flood wash, but the kills were recent, savage on the street.
Apparently Jack had either done it on a whim, or had tried to drag the bodies
back to the tunnel but witnesses had forced him to change plans. Phantom
pointed down. Bullet nodded. Bloody footprints led deeper into the wash but
then stopped at a fork. They lost the prints in the dark and water and muck.

“Do you
think he'd come back?” Bullet said softly to the others.

“He did
in Ring City. He likes to watch. And if he's got a den in here...” Magnum said
looking around.

“Shit.
I was afraid you'd say that,” he growled, now looking around himself.

“He
likes to double back. I think he might of, but we won't know for sure unless we
catch him,” Nohar murmured. “I think he was planning on dragging the kills in
here but when the witnesses responded he bolted to draw them away from this
wash.”

“It's
the best cover in the area. Everywhere else people are on the lookout for him,”
Phantom replied. “Can we get going?” he asked plaintively.

“Split
up,” Bullet said. “We've got the left fork,” he said, heading to the left with
Phantom. “Make some noise if you find him. You don't come back here in twenty
or we'll come looking,” he growled.

“Gotcha,”
Magnum replied with a wave. “So, this'll be fun,” he said, eying the dark cave
like tunnel warily.

“You
don't have to come you know,” Nohar growled.

“And
let you have all the fun? Not likely,” Magnum joked, following behind Nohar. “Nice
kitty, here kitty kitty...” Magnum said, pulling his pistol out.

“Oh
shut up,” Nohar snorted.

...*...*...*...*...

Phantom
and Bullet took one end, Magnum and Nohar the other. Immediately Nohar picked
up the scent of a neolion. This was before the cologne, so he finally had a
good whiff, but it didn't tell him much. Still, he followed it like a
bloodhound. Nohar was so focused on the scent of neolion and blood he tuned out
the area.  Nohar shushed Magnum repeatedly as the human got more and more nervous.

“Nohar!”
Magnum said.

“What?”
the tiger demanded, rounding on the human finally. Urgently Magnum pointed to
something with his free hand. Nohar turned, he saw the top hat on a rock
nearby. He swore just as a sudden burst of movement on his left made him turn.

Nohar
yowled as he felt claws dig into his left torso under his armpit. He twisted
away, but knew by the scent of his own blood that he was injured. In the
confusion Magnum was swatted contemptuously aside, they were separated, the
human rolling and rolling away into the darkness and then into the stream.
Nohar wasn't sure if he was dead or knocked unconscious. If someone didn't find
him soon he'd drown.

Matilda
was yanked from his holster. The gun went off, deafening them in the confines
of the wash. The neolion dropped it in shock. When Nohar lunged for it he
kicked it into a sewer side pipe out of reach.

“Why?”
Nohar snarled, trying to buy for time. He fervently wished Magnum would go for
help if he was still alive. His little pee shooter wouldn't bother this lion at
all. He was a good 500 kilo's easy. “Why kill your own kind?” He snarled,
sizing up his opponent. He was a full lion, in his prime. Tawny gold coat
splattered with mud, muck and blood, some of it tiger blood. His white
underside was splattered as well. He had a black mane with purple highlights.
Golden mad eyes stared at Nohar.

From
the look of the soft scars on his chest and face he was a fighter, a real
brute. Someone who wasn't worth toying with in a hand to hand situation...
which this was turning out to be, great.

The
Neolion wiped at his bloody jowls and mouth with the back of a hand paw and
chuffed. “So? I did it,” he confessed. “Go ahead, take me to jail,” he mocked,
holding his hand paws out. “If you can,” he growled, claws suddenly extended.
Nohar blinked at him, rearing back out of reach.

“Well,
that was easy,” he said wryly, trying to keep his head. It was too easy to give
in to the violence, to lose one's self. But he had to think smart, this lion
was. He was strong, stronger than the tiger, and worse he'd gotten the drop on
him.

“Yeah,
I started by killing the cubs to bring their mother's into heat, but then I
found out I really enjoyed the killing. The blood, the thrill of the hunt,” his
voice was savage, full of glee. His teeth glittered in the dim light.

“First
cubs, and then others, other harder prey. The cubs weren't much of a
challenge,” he purred.

“And
that's when you started to feed off them?” Nohar asked, doing a quick
assessment of his injuries. So far everything was minor. Scratches, cuts, the
cuts to his ribs were deep, but he could feel the blood flow already slowing as
his implants kicked in, flooding the area with enhanced blood clotting agents.
He'd have to be careful or he'd have a stroke.

“I
deserved it! To the victor goes the spoils! Meat! Glorious meat! Not some rat
or fish, but real meat,” the lion growled and then roared. “Meat suitable for a
king!” he thundered.

“Right,”
Nohar said, recognizing the justification.

“That I
am, king of all Neos. It is ours by right!” the lion roared, baring his teeth.

“Right,
I just so happen to be bigger,” Nohar pointed out.

“So you
think you can take me?” the Neo asked, fluttering his eyes, and acting coy.
“Aren't you a precious little thing,” he said mockingly. “I'd like to see you
try it,” he growled, dropping into a crouch.

“Why
the cheetah?” Nohar asked. “Why? What the hell is your name anyway?”

“What's
in a name?” the lion asked, picking up a skull on a concrete shelf and looking
into the eye sockets. Nohar was tempted to take advantage of the seeming
distraction but caught the slight look the cat did out of the corner of his
eye. He was expecting it, trying to draw him in.

“After
all, Neo cheetahs are the mortal enemies of lions, so they just
had
to
go.”

“Right,
and I suppose the humans and others? Witnesses?”

“Ah,
you guessed it,” the Neo smiled. It was a feral smile, one that would haunt his
nightmares Nohar realized. If he lived long enough to have them he thought.
“Some died because they witnessed something, others...” he shrugged. “We are
the king, we choose who lives and who dies in our kingdom.” The lion extended
his claws on his left hand paw and flicked a speck of dirt and much out between
his fingers.

The
lion didn't know it, but Nohar was bidding for time. It was a classic thing,
getting the enemy to gloat, buying the hero time. He doubted it would work, but
at least he was recording it all for posterity. He knew going tooth and claw
with this beast was going to be tough. A lion had a mane to protect its vulnerable
throat and neck. Attackers would get a mouthful of fur and little else if they
went for the jugular or the spine. No, to kill this beast he'd have to think
with his head, hard to do while staring down into those mad golden eyes.

“No one
knew, the humans didn't. They didn't
care
. Not until you got involved,”
the lion spat, sounding both annoyed and amused.

“That's
right, I bet that stung,” Nohar said with a trace of a smile in his voice. He
made a show of raising his ears to flick them briefly. That damn voice was
distracting, sometimes light and lilting, then dropping into a mad snarl.

“No, it
just proved our point all along.”

“And
what point is that?” Nohar asked, curious. He was glad his implants were
recording all this. He was curious about the royal we, definitely a nut job.
Hopefully not rabies, he was behind in his booster shots. He just wished his
damn wifi still worked. He would love to have called in the cavalry.

“We are
the kings!” the neolion said, sounding triumphant.

“Kings?
Kings of what? You are a pitiful sad excuse for a Neo! A psycho who should be
put down!”

“We are
the top of the food chain!” the neolion roared, baring his teeth. “We are the
best!”

“You
are a rabid animal who should have been put down a long time ago,” Nohar
snarled, showing his own fangs, spitting and hissing. “An animal, not a tool
user!”

“The
humans whimper and hide in fear! Join us!”

“I'm
not an animal!” Nohar screamed and yowled, ears flat back. “I am a sergeant in
the 501
^st
! We who stand between the dark and the light, we fight for
what's right!” Nohar screamed, baring his claws and swiping. The fight went on
once more.

Two
massive Neo cats, each over 500 kilos of muscle, sinew, and bone battled it out
for supremacy, for life. Nohar had more than just his own life on the line
however, he knew if he failed others would die after him until someone else
could put a stop to this monster. They roared, two feline titans battling for
the death.

Nohar
felt the claws biting into his fur and flesh but fought on desperately. He was
slow, the other was younger and in his prime. He twisted, using jujitsu as much
as primitive fighting instincts to stay in the fight. But when he flipped the
bastard onto his side the big cat lunged out with both hand paws and grabbed
his leg and dragged it in and bit and twisted.

Nohar
howled as he felt his fibula and tibia snap. The cat crunched again, mangling
his limb. Nohar's hands were free though, he didn't go for the throat, it was
protected by that thick mane. Instead he clawed at the exposed soft underbelly.
He got a couple good licks in as he fell onto the killer.

Realizing
his error the lion let go of the leg and used his hind legs to kick the tiger
in a somersault over his head. Nohar tucked and rolled, but knew he was in deep
shit. His vision swam. He lashed out, trying to stay off the bad leg and keep
the lion at a distance. He was playing for time now he realized.

“It's
over. We finally know who is better, the lion truly is king!” the lion snarled,
gloating.

“That's
right, go ahead and gloat you bastard,” Nohar snarled. “A real man, preying on
women and children...”

“We
prey on the weak!” the lion chuffed, pacing back and forth, blood dripping from
his stomach. He wasn't even bothering to rise to his hind feet, he was in full
primitive lion form, on all fours like Nohar. Nohar however had seen something
the lion hadn't. An edge of a battered human face and familiar shirt around the
corner. He snorted, shifting his position slightly.

“I
think you are dead, we're both dead, you just don't know it,” Nohar replied.

“What
this? A scratch,” the lion laughed again.

“No,”
Nohar replied as the human rounded the corner and fired. The other cat twisted
but the first rounds hit him in the exposed spine. His spinal column was
severed and his hind quarters dropped like a puppet. He snarled, twisting and
raking the air with his claws at the new attacker. Magnum emptied his little
revolver into the lion's chest and mouth. Finally with a groan the killer
flopped backward and coughed.

“You've
killed me,” he murmured, taking a shuddering breath. “Long, live, the king,” he
said taking a shuddering breath with each word and then letting all the air out
and lying still.

“I got
him!” Magnum said, putting a finger into his ear to ring it out.  Nohar
grunted. All that work and the human does the deed. That was a bit humiliating
to some, to him he was just glad the monster was dead. If the sound of the gun
going off like that didn't alert the damn dogs he'd buy them hearing aids when
he got out of here.
If
he got out of here, he thought. His consciousness
swam. All the trauma was adding up, his implants couldn't keep him awake
forever. He was having all he could do to stay alert, but knew it wasn't for
much longer. He noted Magnum hadn't followed procedure. He coughed and tried to
talk.

“Don't
talk,” Magnum said, looking at the leg. “Shit man, I'm sorry,” he said.

“Reload,”
Nohar said weakly, trying to roll onto his side. He groaned. He couldn't get
up, he knew if he did he'd lose it.

“What?”
Magnum asked as Nohar spotted golden eyes behind the human.

“Reload!”
Nohar snarled. He knew better than to stand there with an empty gun. What fool
did that? “Reload, Reload!” He wasn't at all sure the lion was dead, he could
be playing possum. Then he snarled as he saw movement above and behind the
human. He should have known, he thought, a lava feeling of guilt and betrayal
cutting through him.

“Why?”
Magnum asked kicking the body.

“Behind
you!” Nohar snarled, trying to raise his good hand to point just as the human
felt the subsonic vibrations of a snarl.

Magnum's
eyes went wide. “Oh shi...” Magnum said, twisting and trying to reload.
Unfortunately he ran out of time. A twin of the first neolion was already in
motion. He snarled and ambushed Magnum from behind, breaking his back and
killing the human PI as he crushed his skull and tore his head off with one
mighty rip. He looked up, savage golden eyes staring into the mauled tigers for
a long taboo minute. Nohar snarled feebly back. “Well, come on then,” he
growled,  knowing his leg was bad. Still his claws came out and he barred his
teeth in challenge. “Come on then!” he snarled.