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July 16th – Raptor attack – Part 2 of 3

The metallic raptor clawed away most of the wood and then broke the rest of the window as it leapt inside, smashing anything in it’s way.  Smoke billowed from it’s exhaust ports filling the asylum with the noxious gas as it entered.

Arnold had jumped behind the desk and steadied himself, his heart racing as the clockwork moved and blocked the door as Heliotrope cursed.  

The horse stepped forward and called out clearly, “Attention, clockwork device! Can you understand me?”  As the raptor turned towards him Helio turned to Arnold and whispered a lot lower, “Get those pieces somewhere safe.

The cat looked down at the remains of the device and began to scoop them up quickly into his pockets and belt pouches, the raptor noticed his motions and stalked closer but Heliotrope took a step forward, “Clockwork: are you capable of speech emulation?”  

The creatures attention was taken by the Professor and it moved towards him and away from the door. There wasn’t much room, but it was enough for Arnold.  He leapt onto the table, and then over to the balcony.  The raptor turned towards him, but he was gone and out of the doorway before it could attack.  He didn’t turn back to see what happened next as he rushed to the northern bridge.  When he was sure he wasn’t pursued he ran to the other side and looked through the windows…

***

“I have a message for your creator!” Heliotrope shouted, taking a step towards the active device, which brought the clockworks attention back into the room and away from Arnold.  He had correctly suspected that the functioning device would be set as a higher priority. “Observe my hoof. Compare it to his hindquarters. End of message.”

The raptor growled mechanically and crouched between the device and Helio, and while the professor looked on he couldn’t help but admire and evaluate the clockwork.  He especially noted the flywheel at the top and that the underbelly seemed to be made of the same metal as the hypnotic devices.  “Impressive design…I wonder how he solved the balancing issue.”

He wasn’t allowed to think about it long as the Raptor hissed as it let off an even larger burst of steam and swiped at the professor with its claws.  The horse stepped back and stared at the clockwork angrily, “Are you issuing a challenge?!”  

The raptor closed on the professor, it’s metallic claws twitching as it stalked forth, “Now you listen to me.”  Lionheart spoke with authority.  “We have one of those eyes. We know the inner workings. It’s too late for violence.”  

The raptor clicked it’s eyes a few times, but it opened it’s jaw and looked like it was getting ready to pounce.  Heliotrope snorted angrily, “Fine then! I’m a professor of clockworks. I know which cogs to pull out of you! Come at me!”

The metallic raptor bounded at the Professor knocking him backwards in surprise as the clockworks heavy weight crushed his ribs.  Only one leg was on his chest, but it was pressing down.  He kicked at the beast’s belly with one leg and it clanged loudly as it moved back slightly.  The raptor raised it’s leg and then swiftly brought the foot claw down as it sliced through the horses chest.

Crimson slashes spread on Lionhearts shirt, and he groaned in pain as he gripped his wounds.  The raptor was raising it’s foot again to strike and Helio took his chance and rolled out from underneath it.  The clockworks foot scratched the wooden floor, and Heliotrope got to his knees and reached around the clockwork to grip the flywheel on the back of the creation.  

The raptor realized its danger and jerked back failing swiping with its short claws to keep the horse away from the wheel.  When the horse kept coming, it spun and tried to hit him with its tail.

Furniture was knocked aside and broken, but that slowed the attack enough for Heliotrope to roll to the side and came up into a stance again in a fury.  

The clockwork took a moment to examine its prey, which was wounded now but had found a weakness….it tapped a claw on the floor twice as it came to its decision, and then lunged forward and opened its jaws to rip the horse apart with its teeth.

The horse tried to jerk aside, but the weight of metal moving forward was too much and he was caught.  But he maintained his footing this time.  He whickered angrily as he wrestled with the slippery brass and tried to throw the damned thing into the wooden floor so it would stop working.

The raptor fought him with tooth and nail as it tried to shake itself loose of the horse, while Heliotrope bleed freely from more and more deep scratches and his ribs felt like at least one or more might be cracked or broken…he couldn’t keep this up for long like this.

Heliotrope lost himself as he let the eldritch energy explode out of him.  He became inflamed and snorted as the creature bloodied and bludgeoned him while he kept trying to break the wheel.  The raptor didn’t understand what had happened, but it was not capable of fear.  It changed its tactics and slammed itself into the wall trying to knock the horse off as the metal on it’s back heated up.

Heliotrope grunted as he was thrown about as his body was crushed.  He had to put an end to this.  He knew it would hurt, but he had been left with no choice, he reached around hugging the creature and grabbing the wheel in both hands, howling as it teared his flesh as it came to a stop.

The raptor thrashed about, knocking the few remaining paintings from the walls and breaking everything in the room as it’s wheel stopped.   A loud crunch of metal could be heard as the axle snapped and the flywheel came loose, and the metal raptor screeched to a halt as it slumped to the floor pathetically with the horse beside him.

Heliotrope let go of the wheel, and he released his demonic form and the pain and exhaustion began to overcome him as he shouted, “ARNOLD!”

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One Comment

  1. DoctorDinosaur Runner DoctorDinosaur Runner July 18, 2012

    Balancing issue?  oh, you see, the tail acts as the balance of a lever with the hips as a fulcr…wait a second, WHY AM I EXPLAINING THIS TO YOU??!!

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