CRACK!

Catastrophe fell to the ground in a crumpled heap, almost limp. Boss knew she was in shock almost instantly, instinctually. On her own half, she knew that if there was one crack, there would be more.

Dimly, she recalled knowledge of the topic. Primitive tools not designed for more than a close quarters engagement, a sword would do better than piece of pipe and lead that made up the weapon she recognized the sound from. But to her amazement, she realized that the sound was from the distance. A gun capable of shooting from a distance? That was... dangerous. She never pretended to be completely up to date with weaponry, but a weapon like that could change just how all battles worked...

And then Ivan lurched forward, unburying her train of thought and reminding her, despite her shock at Catastrophe's sudden plummet, that they were still fighting the zebra who shouted out Purge's name. Mark. They were still fighting Mark, and Catastrophe's sudden plummet could mean nothing unless they were defeated.

She didn't have a clue what Ivan was doing, she only hoped he was about to pull off one of those absolute bullshit magic feats that she knew him for. But wait, no. All he did was throw up another shield...

And break down into tears. The battle feel silent, then. It was a curious feeling, watching Ivan cry with no regard for anyone. Fat dripping tears rolling down his face, wetting the fur that oh so light resided there. The battle was already lost for her side, she could see this now. Canary soon rushed over to the fallen griffon's side, looking rather worried himself.

Boss strangled down a groan. They were in the middle of a battle...

She tore her gaze away from the spectacle of blood and zebras and found a rather odd sight from the other combatants. They weren't doing more than staring at Ivan as well. A little confused, Boss made her way to their side, blades drawn.

They didn't react, a look of almost soundless horror on their faces. Except the one called Mark. He just look shaken, like he was confused as well.

Ivan's Guardian spell blazed on, blocking any incoming shots with the same eerie silence.

She nudged Mark with the hilt of a sword. "You." In a second, she had the other blade pointed at his throat. "What is the meaning of this?" Her bad hand spasmed, messing with the steadiness of her aim. The slutty griffoness, -look, she could tell rather easily that this griffon bitch had seen more guys in the last week than Cata crashed airships- looked taken aback by Boss's supposedly sudden arrival and almost tried to save him. Boss made a cutting gesture with her free blade. She got the drift, as did the other zebra and dog.

The dog was a guy, for the record, and smelled like rancid shit.

"Meaning?" The zebra said, silent. "... I thought..." A griffon flew in from afar and touched down beside them. In an instant,

"Mark. What is the hold up?-"

Boss pulled Mark, who she thought was more than likely the boss of this ragtag group, into a hostage position, blades pulled almost tightly against his scrawny little neck.

"-I get paid by the shot. The griffon said. Boss noted that there was a long bundle on his back, still smelling a bit like brimstone. She shuddered, memories of the mines coming back.

The griffon made a threatening move with his talons, as if he honestly believed that he could take the blades from her before she could slit the zebra's throat.

She bared her fangs at the new griffon and growled. "Make one move against me and his head rolls."

She shook her head. She did not need to have flash backs when she was holding the leader of an enemy group hostage. "What is the meaning of this attack?" She asked, again, with an annoyed tone.

The griffon sighed, dropping his talons. "Look, bitch-"

Boss made a show of pressing the sword closer to the zebra bastard's throat. He actually moved this time, squirming away from the sharp edge. She barely cut him, blood dripping off of one of her blades. It smelled... rather delightful, if she admitted. Maybe Catastrophe had a-

Catastrophe was lying near dead with a bullet in her chest while she wasted time here. "Don't call me bitch."

"Look, dog. My pal that you have at sword point thought it would be a good deed if we offed the murderous bastard. We got paid a nice pretty penny to kill the zebra in that shield over there and to put the hurting on that sociopathic griffoness, as well."

For a few seconds, Boss saw red. She saw a flash back to the shoggoth, and she remembered just why she was with Ivan. Protection. For what little it mattered, Ivan was a... stable environment, he could protect, he could kill, he could destroy, he could do whatever the fuck he wanted as long as she was around. And...

She could hardly follow her own thoughts, now. Shit, was she panicking? She was panicking.

"Clearly..." She muttered.

"Look, we're doing you a service. We kill off the amoral bastard who was probably using you as a cheap labor source, and you get to go free. Just let Mark go, and we'll let you go." The griffon tried to negotiate.

The swordsdog shook her head. "How about this, idiot. I slit this zebra's throat, then move on to each of his idiot companions, then shove that gun so far up your ass that when I pull the trigger your brains'll shoot out your nose?"

He, just like his bounty hunting buddies, got the drift. "Now, as you can fucking see... and hear.." She was silent for a while, and Ivan's sobbing filled the air, as did Canary's grunts as he did his best to try to save the griffon. "As you can fucking hear, I think you got the wrong group. Would a fucking sociopath cry over anyone?" She asked.

Mark, whatever the hell a chess piece was as he so called himself earlier, stilled in her grasp. "Shit... Guys... I think we blew this one..."

Boss spat on Mark, letting it run through his mane. "You think? You shot my employer's girl friend and ruined my ship. You're really lucky, lucky because I'm not about to skewer you and leave you on the side of the road as a warning." She growled again. Her tail flicked a little.

She was panicking... Get it together, Boss. You don't panic.

"Now, you're all pretty damn sorry, right?" She could tell this, as well. Most of Mark's group looked... somber, and sad. Except for the griffoness, but Boss could give less than the worth of her for a night for her concerns. Now, the griffon, the one with the gun, he was a darkish color. Not quite like Catastrophe, but from Boss's eyes he looked like a strong sort.

Mark didn't dare nod, but she got the idea that he agreed. "...What are your conditions."

Boss blinked almost glassily for a few seconds. They... they were actually giving up? She gestured at the griffon with her tail. "You. What's your name, and how good can you fly?"

"Davi-" He cut himself off, shaking his head. "I go by Deadshot. I can fly quite well."

Deadshot? What kind of a stupid name was that? "Go see if Ivan and Canary have stabilized Catastrophe, the griffon you shot like a fucking idiot." She was cursing more than normal... She felt like she was still on the verge of panic. Hold it together...

Deadshot did as commanded, walking over to the shield and knocking on it like it was a door. Almost as she expected, the shield bulged from the opposite side of the sphere and then slammed into the griffon, sending him flying.

"IVAN. I'M ALRIGHT!" Boss roared out, hoping that he could hear her. Mark was getting sweaty in her grasp, and he didn't smell great either. "THE GRIFFON IS GOING TO HELP US FLY CATASTROPHE. DO YOU THINK YOU CAN KEEP HER STABLE?" She almost went hoarse with screaming, she did it so loud.

The zebra mare rushed over to the barrier, then seamlessly jumped through it, landing inside of it. She hadn't gotten the mare's name, but the mare immediately joined the efforts to keep Catastrophe alive through the blood matting her chest. Damn... had she been shot through the heart?

Boss had a sinking suspicion that the worst was about to happen, and that not only was Catastrophe...

Catastrophe, one of her... few friends...

Not only was she about to die, but Ivan was about to flip the fuck out and level the area around him. This was not only Catastrophe's survival, this was preventing the massacre of everyone around.

The barrier finally fell, and Deadshot made his way over to the group of Zebras all huddled around the fallen beauty. Damn...

Boss could hardly recall when Catastrophe fell now, the seconds felt like years.

Had it really been just a few minutes?

Finally, she let drop the zebra was was holding hostage, then rushed over to her... friends' sides. She had friends. Interesting.

Finally, she had a look at one her imagination had been telling her. There, on the ground, covered in healing magic trying to heal her up as best they can, Cata lay, blood pooled out in front of her, her eyes closed like she was sleeping. She was sleeping, she wanted to say, ignoring the tears and blood that matted Ivan's fur and Cata's feathers...

Like a fallen angel.

Boss felt the cold sucker punch of reality hit her like a brick wall.

----

Far away, over an ocean that was traveled by myriads of ships, further even, through the islands that encircled the globe, there was a single rather unremarkable island. There was a flat plain, grass growing despite the most of it being near the salty water of the shore, there was a rather large mountain, smoke billowing up from it, with harpy nests dotting the sides of it like a solemn warning.

Well? This griffon, a rather large on at that, like a Terror bird, Terror was his name indeed, this griffon, Terror, was not one to heed unspoken warnings. Hell, he hardly even paid attention to spoken ones.

His studies of... everything he could think of to achieve his goals had led him here. Here, being the rim of the active volcano. The air was purple and thick with smoke, like the lungs of a tobacco user after his third pack. He didn't much care for cigarettes, he thought as he stared down into the dim glow down below. This was his stop. He was going to test just how... invincible he could be, right here.

He faintly recalled the warning made by a zebra sage he had come across by the foot of the mountain. This was an evil place, an unhallowed site of the pure profane. Honestly? Honestly, he didn't give a damn what the sage thought.

A few drop of sweat rolled down his beak and dropped into the fiery hell pit. He could almost imagine them evaporate long before they hit the bottom.

This was his stop.

Calmly. and without any ceremony, he took the plunge into the golden glow below.

A harpy screamed out behind him, the flock angrily debating whether to give chase.

Terror hit the lava and knew no more.

Author's Notes:

For Nathan Traveler.