Chapter Thirteen
by Cenote

Gaal never was much of a fighter. That's probably the reason why his schoolmates used to call him "gal". Now crouched down behind his makeshift barrier of a fallen table he tried to remember how he'd gotten himself into this mess. The original reasons he joined this skirmish numbered 3.

1) He considered the power and riches that he would receive from the sale of the gem to be well worth the risk.

2) His role was supposed to be a minor one since Frank could "take this chump easy".

3) He wanted to impress Corinna with his battle prowess and hopefully score some points with her.

That's when things got sticky...

Instead of unleashing a devastating magical attack of some sort, or making use of Gaal's time twisting abilities, his "buddy" Frank decided that opening a rift would be the best strategy. The rift succeeded in doing only two things. First, it caused a general panic in the bar, which was good. Second, it caused Frank to go unconscious, which would be considered somewhat bad. Corinna came charging in and hefted Frank (gem in tow) through the portal to lands unknown. All of a sudden all three of Gaal's reasons for being in this fight had disappeared, and seeing as how he had already fired on the borg, his options were very few.

Gaal emptied his clip shot by shot into the borg, doing considerable damage considering it was a Wilk's pistol. This juggernaut of speed and strength was not to be denied by so puny a weapon however. Fortunately for Gaal, unfortunately for the bar's patrons, there were living obstacles in the borg's path. Brains were sprayed across tables and walls, entrails spilled to the floor, yet all Gaal saw was the rhythmic beauty with which the borg moved. Its deftness and agility, coupled with the smooth grace with which these brutal murders were conducted was enthralling. Gaal could not pull his eyes from the gruesome scene before him. This behemoth kept coming closer and closer, but Gaal was unable to even blink let alone escape. That's when the police jeep had roared up to the bar.

The borg had gotten within five feet, and was quickly closing the gap when Gaal was snapped out of his trance. The situation was desperate, his options few until he pulled a little trick those of his profession like to call "time slippin' ". He used these precious few seconds to move to the opposite side of the borg and find a new position hidden behind cover.

No longer finding its prey where it had last spotted it, the Repo Bot decided to get back to its task of tracking down the gem. It turned towards the rift and tried to decide whether or not to follow Frank into the maw of the unknown.

The police charged in, and gunfire was exchanged. Gaal couldn't help but be scared out of his wits. He knew he had to get out of there one way or the other, he didn't want to face down the borg or the cops anytime in the near future. That left his only possible exit as being the portal. While working up the courage to make a mad dash for it; he stuck his head out to see the raging battle. What he saw was not promising. Of the four cops that had entered the bar, one was weaponless, two were badly wounded, and the last was cleanly sliced in half by laser fire. That was all the encouragement Gaal needed.

Gaal leaped from behind his makeshift barrier of a fallen table, and sprinted for the portal. Thanks to the borg's enhanced senses he knew almost instantly that Gaal had reentered the equation. The repo spot spun, and dashed to cut off Gaal from his only means of retreat. The only healthy policeman by this time had spotted his weapon, and was rolling to reclaim it. This borg had killed his men and he refused to let it escape. The Chief snatched up his rifle in mid- roll, and landed in a crouched firing position. He unleashed his whole clip into the fleeing borg.

In its injured condition the borg could never have reached Gaal before he could get to the portal. As the clip was unloading itself Gaal was beginning his dive, but it wasn't the borg that he should be worried about now. The blasts found their mark on the borg's back, knocking it to the ground and killing it. Though the borg was not fast enough to catch him; the excess blasts were. Gaal's body had three new orifices, one of which replaced the area in which his heart had been. His momentum carried him into the portal. The cop stood up with a confused look on his face surveying the massive carnage that had taken place.

Corinna turned around when she heard another body land coming through the portal. She saw Gaal's contorted features with a look of absolute horror on them. She turned back to Alex and said, "What a revoltin' development!"