[Deleted]

Sasha had had no time to respond to Metal-Leader's suggestion about the collar, though if he had he would have only shrugged; a cougar wearing a pet's collar was likely to stand out far more than a dog, cat or even coyote, considering how hard it was to mistake a cougar for a domestic animal. But now, he was focused on the fight. The scent of blood was in his nose, and he could sense it wasn't all from the enemy; Metal-Leader was hurt. Sasha didn't allow himself to be distracted though. He had his paws full with the katana-wielding menace, barely dodging each slice, ducking and weaving whilst trying desperately to get a blow in with his claws. Just a swipe of his paw could be the deciding blow, but so too could the sword.

He was exhausted from the fight, his blows slowing as he was forced to back up to avoid being cut by the blade. He gave a hiss of pain as a skillful slash made it past his guard, slicing a gash into his shoulder that made him leap aside with a pained growl. His own blood added to the scent already in the air, but he didn't dare take a moment to check the severity of the wound. Bullets thudded into the dirt around him, from friend or foe Sasha had no idea, and no time to find out. Honestly, if anyone else had even tried to attack him, he might have fallen, he was so focused.

It didn't help that he was still adapting to his new form. A cougar might look similar to a cat, but the different size was throwing him off, as well as the new instincts. Cougars weren't normally so confident as to face off against a powerful opponent, especially without the element of surprise on his side, and his every instinct wanted him to run away. His heart was pounding, his pelt bristling as he realized there was likely to be only one end to this fight. But then more bullets flew through the air. Sasha ducked down, pelt bristling as he tucked his limbs in to try and avoid the bullets from striking him as his opponent began to fend off the bullets and flee just as Metal-Leader's robots began to enter the scene. Relief flooded the cougar as he realized the fight was over, at least for now.

Shakily he rose to his paws and began to limp over to Metal-Leader, sniffing briefly at him as he realized the source of the blood was the mouth. A bitten tongue? Or something more sinister? He wasn't sure. But Metal-Leader was alive at least, and being tended to by a human healer, so Sasha decided not to worry too much about it. Instead, he began to take stock of his own health. His shoulder stung, and he twisted his head to lick the gash tenderly, eye narrowing with pain. The wound was deep, but not life-threatening. Still, it would hinder his movements, and he worried it would cause him trouble in future fights - or hunts. Flattening his ears he continued to lick the wound while still checking himself over for other injuries. He had minor cuts where the blade had nicked him, and one shallow graze on his hip from a stray bullet, but none of them affected his movement or well being overall; the only wound to be concerned about, in his mind, was the shoulder, though he made sure to clean all his other cuts just to be safe. Infection, after all, could be as big a killer as anything else in a wild animal.

As he took stock of his injuries, he noticed Metal-Leader's dogs being taken away. So, they could be knocked out. Interesting to know, in case Metal-Leader ever caused him any more problems. But in the current circumstances, it was a regretful thing to have happened. The more fighters the better against the hunters, after all.

"You okay?" he asked Metal-Leader once he was done cleaning his shoulder, his voice wavering slightly from his pain as he spoke. "That guy was tough. The one with the... long metal claw?" He didn't know the word for a sword, having never heard it named before. 

Nicholas Acker Villin

[Nicholas Acker Villin]

The doctor touched his face dramatically to make a show of the fact that he wasn't wearing his smart glasses. He snapped his fingers and one of his men had a spare that he placed in the doctor's open hand, another henchmen pocketed the broken glasses to give to the doctor later to repair. The doctor put the glasses on with urgency because more time was wasted the more time there was for the hunters to run away like the cowards they were.

Acker was about to take a step forward when he heard the medic's voice behind him "Please Sir, let the drone scan you at least" a round drone floated in front of Acker, eager to do its job. Acker let out a long sardonic sigh to show annoyance "How can I say no to you?" he wasn't talking to the medic, the mad scientist petted his drone affectionately.

From the drone's eye came out an infrared light that scanned the doctor up and down. The data was sent to the smart glasses and the doctor red the data rolling down on the lenses. Data that needed immediate attention was flagged, and there was nothing flagged. It didn't mean that Acker wasn't hurt, but it was nothing that needed immediate attention.

The data was also sent to the medic who was checking it on the wristband device, every henchmen was wearing one, but medical data was only sent to the medic, not counting exceptions in case of emergency. No one was allowed smartphones or anything that could be located, so his own designed wristband devices were assigned to anyone active on the field.

"The data confirms that I'm okay" Acker informed Sasha and the medic both "Katana" it could have sounded a random word, a sign that maybe he wasn't that okay, but Acker had just told Sasha what the long metal claw's name was.

The drone turned around to float away "Scan her" he ordered the drone while pointing at Sasha. The drone turned back around and floated in front of Sasha. The infrared scanned the Shapeshifter's body and returned the data to the smart glasses. The data about the shoulder's wound was flagged.

"The shoulder needs attention" Acker wondered if the katana's blade was poisoned, but to verify that the drone would need to take a blood sample and analyse it with the drone's internal analysing portable equipment. The wristband informed the medic about Sasha's data, so the medic approached Sasha with his medical bag.

The medic approached Sasha slowly and carefully as if she was worried that the Shapeshifter would attack her at any moment "I just want to disinfect the wound and bandage it, there is a high risk of infection" Acker gave Sasha a look "The faster you let the medic do her job, the faster we can go back hunting the hunters" he had found it out to be an entertaining sport "Also, the blade could be poisoned, you should let the drone take a small blood sample" although that would take more time, but if Sasha died of poisoning then all of this would have been for nought.

Acker let the medic and Sasha attend their business and activated his smart glasses. He observed the robots chasing the hunters from the robots' point of view. He felt a rush of excitement by seeing the chase and a malicious smile appeared on the mad doctor's lips.

Suddenly, the visual from one of the robots started glitching and then there was an error message: Connection Not Available. The smile disappeared.

"Lost connection to one, we must proceed" Acker imagined that the hunters had worked probably together to take one of the robots down. They needed to reach the hunters before it was too late. The robots were giving them an advantage, so they needed to hurry before the advantage was gone.

@sasha

[Deleted]

Sasha dipped his head in response to Metal-Leader's announcement that he was okay, repeating the word 'katana' in his head until he was satisfied he would remember it. He'd make sure to ambush anyone with those kinds of weapons again in the future, now he knew how dangerous they could be. The shapeshifter watched as the drone scanned him, his ear flicking as Metal-Leader announced what he already knew about his shoulder.

"Fine," he said quietly, sitting down to let the medic do her job without being quite as intimidating to her. Memories of a previous infected wound flashed through his mind. When the stray had injured his face, blinding him in one eye, he hadn't known how to treat his wounds by himself. Struggling for food and shelter, he had found himself with an infection that had left him feverish and weak. For a long time he had been barely able to eat, hidden beneath a dumpster, sure he would die there. He still couldn't remember how he had survived that infection; pure luck, most likely.

The reminder of that kill made him growl softly, before he quickly stopped, muttering an apology to the medic as he realized he might've startled her with his sound. He waited patiently as she finished disinfecting the wound, barely flinching at the sting, though he moved uncomfortably when the bandage went on; he wasn't fond of the restrictive feel on his shoulder. The suggestion of blood tests made him grumble softly, but once again he remained still to allow the drone to take the sample, if only because he wanted the whole thing over with so he could go after that 'katana' human and get his revenge.

"Satisfied?" he asked with a flick of his tail, glancing at Metal-Leader. "This form prefers ambushes. I'll follow in the trees." With those words he sprang up towards the branches, sinking his claws into the bark and dragging himself up with a wince as his shoulder twinged. He'd have to watch himself when ambushing, and now the concerns over his wound becoming infected was in his mind, despite the disinfecting. He would have to go hunt down some honey after the hunters were dealt with, and try not to get stung by any bees while he was at it; it seemed to be good for wounds, and he had used it previously when being injured whilst hunting.

Nicholas Acker Villin

[Nicholas Acker Villin]

Acker rose a brow at Sasha's snappiness "Ungrateful much? You are welcome" like seriously, it was true that good deeds never went unpunished. Although, was it really a good deed? After all, he had done it more for himself than Sasha.

Since the sensing power hunter had died, Acker sent a spy drone after Sasha to keep track of her, the drone disappeared from sight.

A part of him wanted to sit back and observe Sasha and his robots against the hunters. The mad scientist wanted to take notes, observe and examine the data. But then there was this other side of him, the side who found enjoyment in battle. It wasn't just the excitement and the adrenaline running wild, but it was the challenge.

His men looked at each other, wondering why Acker wasn't advancing. They were ready to fight, they had been trained for moments like this, also they were experienced because of the type of lifestyle their boss lived.

It might seem odd that these men were ready to die for their boss, but the pay was substantial, and most importantly they were loyal. Acker might see his employees as henchmen, but he respected the fact that these men were skilled and used their skills to work for him.

So, when the boss told them to advance and keep Sasha safe, they obeyed without hesitation. Acker wasn't stupid, so they trusted his judgement.

The mad doctor stood there for a little longer, observing his robots and men attacking the hunters. The one with the katana wanted to slice and dice his robots, but his men were shooting at him.

Then, Acker finally took a step forward, followed by another. He advanced, weapon at the ready. He felt the rush of adrenaline in his veins and he started running towards danger.

If he had been Xena, he would have shouted a war cry. In fact, he almost did. In his mind eye, he was seeing himself as the warrior princess right now. The only thing stopping him was his neurons warning him that shouting would have been suicide. Like marking himself for death which would have been justice finally doing its job, but here only actions and their consequences mattered.

The hunter with the pushing-power was womanhandling one of his robots. He could see the robot's outer shell being crumbled by the hunter's power. Even though Acker felt the urge to protect his robot, like a father with his child, the mad scientist was fascinated by the hunter's power.

He wanted to capture the hunter to study her, but he knew that it wasn't an option. With a heavy sigh, the doctor started rising his weapon at the hunter. His mood had changed into revenge by the time his weapon was fully raised. He reminded himself that the hunter had tried to kill him and pulled the trigger.

The hunter knew that she was dead. She could deviate the bullet, but then the robot would have had time to deal the final blow. Or she could let the bullet pierce her skull.

She moved her hand up and deviated the bullet. She wanted to direct it at Acker, but unfortunately the robot killed her while taking aim. Unbeknown to the hunter, the bullet didn't hit Acker, but was directed at Sasha. It was an unfortunate accident.

@sasha