The Great Eight (Temporary Hiatus)

Man's Worst Enemy

As the heroes walked through the forest, the lack of sound unsettled them. All anyone could hear were their combined feet scuffles along the dirt alongside the occasional huff of breath. Atlanta, the expert tracker that she is, hung back from the group to allow her senses to work to their fullest extent. So imagine her surprise when it was not her eyes, nor her ears, but rather her feet that found the first real sign of super-human activity within these clustered trees.

Unfortunately, due to her chosen position at the back of the group, not a single one of them thought her temporary absence as strange and continued moving forwards as Atlanta examined the ginormous pawprint that had condensed the dirt beneath it to a point where her hand could fit within the concave with much room to spare. Yet, she was startled out of further examination when the sudden sound of bushes crackling started up all around her. Her throat dried as she abruptly stood up and raced into the night after her teammates, fear adrenalized her as she realized the crackling in the brush was now following her.

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At the same time the rest of the group made headway deeper into the undergrowth. Jay, Herry, and Odie were up front and forcing a path in between larger shrubs in order to follow the signal on Odie's tracker. Its steady beeping was concerningly picking up in tempo and Odie's face screwed up in curiosity as he banged it against his hand and fiddled with its buttons. Releasing a frustrated groan when the tracker did anything but return to its previous tempo. When the boys broached a small clearing, Odie utilized the space to try and see about the gadget's issues but his attention was drawn elsewhere quite rapidly.

"I think you can turn that off now ." Jay's statement wouldn't have been so alarming if his tone hadn't have held an air of wariness. And seeing as Odie was never one for ignoring subtleties, when he looked up he was met with a frightful sight. Needless to say, the tracker was turned off and tucked back into his pocket. The rest of the heroes piled onto the scene in no time as the trio of dogs, including Pepe, who appeared out of the foliage began pacing forwards and snarling threats with their yellowed fangs.

Atlanta, who had been chased her way there, leapt out of a bush next to Odie and Mel. Her two larger escorts jumped into the situation as well and placed themselves besides the other three. Other sounds could be heard hidden behind nearby trees and not for the first time the heroes were hesitant to fight.

"Nice doggie, I'm your friend." Odie tried reasoning with one of the dogs who were edging closer to him and the girls. Putting up his hands in the universal sign of surrender in the hopes that the dog would back off, seeing as how Odie came with no weapons to help him fight off a rabid dog. At most, Odie thought his worst issue would be a scratch from Pepe when they entered the woods, now he was regretting his life choices as a techno-wizard pacifist.

"No. You're a squeaky toy to him." Atlanta joked humorlessly as she twirled her bola around her hand. Spinning it so fast the balls and chain almost looked like a solid shield ready to bash some boundaries between the dogs and her friends.

It wasn't long after her remark that another mutt leapt out from behind the group and tumbled its way onto Theresa. Forcing them to roll away from the group. Unluckily, the dog was the first to get back onto its feet and was then charging its way back towards Theresa. However, Theresa managed to use her core strength to get onto her back and use her legs as a launching pad. The dog's momentum carried it close enough for one of his fangs to graze her cheek before Theresa bucked up her shins and tossed her attacker into the growing line of dogs some distance ahead of the group.

Using its fellow dog's attack as a distraction, another dog raced up into Odie's face and managed to knock down the trio of teens like dominoes. the bola that had been in Atlanta's hand now tossed haphazardly from her hand and behind the dog now frothing on Odie's cheek.