Justice League And The Hounds Of Hell

Chapter 28: Belly of the Beast

Ronny looked over his shoulder at us. He took a step back in fright. Then he waved an arm. "Get them!" He commanded. 

The rats, roaches and dog charged for us. Superboy was so focused getting laser vision at the bugs that Ace wormed out of his grasp when he lunged forward. 

"Foei!" I shouted after him. "Hier!" 

Ace didn't seem to hear my commands, despite that I shouted in Dutch. He shot like a bullet after Ronny and pounced on his back, knocking him off his feet. Before he could do any damage with his metal fangs, the white dog barreled into him. 

I heard my dog yelp. 

It was the single most rage inducing thing I've ever encountered, and I hope to never hear it again. Something about that screech tightens your core, makes your vision go red. You bare your teeth and snarl and leap for whatever caused the sound to happen.

That is exactly what I did. I jumped onto the white dog's back without any clear idea about what to do next. I buried my hands inside the rising white fur just behind his shoulder blades. He had knocked Ace against the wall of the sewer and intended to chew him up. Currently being twice Ace's size due to the drugs in his system, it was like a coyote versus a bear. Despite what a badass killing machine Ace is, this would be a losing fight for him. Especially if he was emotionally compromised by Ronny's presence. Taking down an enemy that has size and strength on you requires cunning and focus, both of which are hard to maintain when you're being propelled by vengeance and fear.

I pulled one of my daggers out and stabbed it into the dogs back before he could shut his jaws on Ace. The white dog jolted upward, and spun around snapping at the boots at the end of my flailing legs. It was like being on a mechanical bull, except this one had thick drool swinging off his jowls and huge teeth to gut you with if you let go. I held onto the hilt of the dagger, but I could feel the knife point slipping out of the flesh. Perhaps if I timed it correctly I could miss the jaws.

Superboy wrapped his arms around the dog's muzzle.

"Go!" He shouted just as I pulled my dagger out and rolled away.

I nodded my thanks to him and jumped over the wolfish beast that had now been wrestled to the ground. It shook and snarled but Superboy was the world's strongest muzzle. M'gann covered him by fighting off the mega insects and rats coming after them.

Ronny had disappeared somewhere else in the tunnels. Robin fell in next to me and consulted the computer on his wrist.

"I've got a location on Ace! This way!" We made a right, and then a left. The screen on the computer blinked as the signal came in and out. However, we didn't need to rely on the screen for long. A trail of dead or dying rats showed us the way. Then I heard snarls and screeches. We made a left. Ronny was still running and Ace was surrounded. All of the rats were the same size as he was and pounced on him. One of them missed its mark and promptly had its neck torn to shreds by Ace. Another rat leapt upon his back and held one of his ears in its teeth. The other two came at him from the sides. Robin used a bo staff to smack the one at his right away, while I dispatched the left rat with some batarangs. Ace flipped the rat on his back off and gutted it quite efficiently before I was able to pull him off.

His ear was torn and bleeding. "This was a bad idea." I told Robin. I held Ace's collar tighter. "Hiel!"

He licked my glove but still lunged in the direction Ronny had gone.

Robin knelt next to me. "There's no going back now." He took hold of the leash that pulled from Ace's body suit. I noticed it was a wire similar to the ones on our grappling hooks. "We'll keep him close to us this time, but he's our only chance at finding Ronny again."