Packmaster (Samantha/John)

[Augustine]

The 'Battle Bus' that Samantha operated out of was...quite the thing.  Parked on that sleepy street in Northwich.  It was large, and had been heavily modified.  On the exterior it didn't look all that strange, but inside?  It was quite a thing.  There were two sections towards the back with raised up curtains for potential privacy, a fridge next to one of those, an entire long workbench with tools along one wall, a portable generator, and more.  However, the central aisle of the bus was kept meticulously clean and clear, the reasoning was obvious upon meeting Tolya, Samantha's weaponsmith and partner.  A young, handsome Russian man, his black hair swept back in spikes, with a single thick lock hanging diagonally across his face.  A pair of neat, rectangular glasses sat across his face and he dressed rather casually. He was also wheelchair bound, the central aisle kept so clear so that he could easily maneuver up and down as he needed to.

Most of the seats had been removed to make room for all of this, but a couple rows still were there at the front end.  That was also where the spare cots were, and two of the seats had been modified to recline entirely for those that preferred that arrangement.  At the bus, Samantha had gotten her wounds dressed, seemingly having no method of fast healing, and then promptly gone to pass out in her own little private 'room' at the back of the bus. 

When morning came though she'd have been one of the first ones up, heading out of the bus to set up a grill and prepare breakfast.  A nice meal of flapjacks with berries, and thick sausages, the woman not wearing her vest but just a loose T-shirt, left arm still bandaged along the forearm.  She must have swapped out for clean bandages before she began cooking.  When John woke up, assuming he took any longer than Samantha, she'd greet him casually.  "About time, pull up a camp chair, it's important to eat well, can't do jack shit on an empty stomach."

[John Black]

John had not exactly been sure what to expect when it came to her bus. He'd half assumed it would be some heavily armored death machine, but at least outside it looked mostly ordinary.

Though even once inside the bus, he could see that it had been specifically modified, but still not in the ways he might have expected. The majority of it seemed to be for convenience and ease of movement. Which he supposed made sense since they probably lived on the bus to some degree, and one of the pair on the bus could only move with the help of a wheelchair.

While John was relatively terse, he'd still greet the Russian man, trade names, and take a little look around the bus, before moving himself to one of the spare cots where he could rest.

He considered setting an alarm using his phone but decided that it would be best to just continue following at the woman's pace. She still had not given her name, but he supposed it didn't matter much. Though he'd given his name, she'd dubbed him "Rookie", which he didn't mind.

And in his mind, if he was the "Rookie", then that must make her the "Professional". Or "Pro".

When he woke up the next morning, he pulled on his boots before making his way to where Pro was working on breakfast. It smelled really good. And since he was invited to take a seat, he did. Hanging his coat over the back of the chair.

"Thanks." He said looking over the food, then Pro. "Is your arm okay?" He asked, doubting it would get in the way. She didn't seem too bothered by it, and it might be late to ask since he didn't last night. But he was curious just how bad the wound might have been, if she needed stitches, or if the wound had been shallow. He'd wanted to ask last night, but had reserved his concerns at the time since he hadn't had any ability to help her deal with the wound even if it was serious beyond some vague attempt to wrap or tourniquet it if it needed such a thing. But this morning asking felt more like an idle pleasantry than a true concern.

[Augustine]

"Eh?" She looked towards her arm as if surprised to hear it mentioned, before snorting. "This isn't anything to worry about. It won't affect my combat ability at all, trust me." Well that probably wasn't what he meant but Samantha didn't seem to care either way, dishing him up a plate and handing it to him. "We got syrup right there on top of the cooler." Which also served as a makeshift table when the two bus dwellers couldn't be bothered to set up the actual camping table apparently. "Got soda in the cooler too." Then she'd turn to smack on the side of the bus and shout something in Russian, he would make out 'Tolya' the name of her gunsmith, telling him to come outside? Well the middle doors of the bus would swing back open, and a ramp would slide out and into place for Tolya to leisurely roll his wheelchair down.

"Bah, no need to go shouting at me, besides you're going to be quite pleased with what I've gotten accomplished." His Russian accent was noticeable, but not thick, not incomprehensible.

"Ah?" She looked towards her comrade, before a twisted, wicked grin on her face split those features. "Oh fuck ya finished 'em didn't ya?"

"That's right, and from the sounds of it, this is the perfect opportunity for a field test."

Samantha handed him a plate cackling, "Oh fuck, Toyla I could kiss ya!"

"Please don't."

[John Black]

Her answer amused him regardless, lips twitching with amusement. But it did make him curious, if she had been injured badly enough to hamper her combat abilities, would she have been blunt in making him aware, or would she have denied the injury in favor of continuing the fight? So far she seemed fairly blunt and practical in her approach. But she also seemed like the kind of person who would pursue a goal doggedly.

Well, he supposed if they worked together more in the future, he was bound to find out. They were bound to run into some serious challenges eventually.

He grabbed the syrup, listening to Pro and Tolya chatter, which was also amusing. They seemed to have a good working relationship, although it did also make John curious about the Russian man.

"Would you mind if I asked you both, what your goals in all this are?" He asked though he supposed it was a rather broad question. Pro just seemed like she was happy to hunt demons. Between her methodical approach to hunting the demons last night and her approach to combat, it seemed like hunting demons was probably her primary purpose. But if she had other goals he would not mind knowing.

Tolya on the other hand was skilled with weapon craft and seemed to have prepared something for Pro. But why was he here? Did he owe Pro, or was he content to work with a professional hunter that would make use of his weapons? The man certainly could not be considered defenseless, but if Pro became a serious threat to demon kind, he might be targeted just for being close to her. So why was he willing to risk his life?

John was curious about what their motivations were and if they were willing to share them. If not, he supposed it didn't matter too much that he wouldn't know. Either way, he would try to help end the demonic threat festering the forest.

[Augustine]

Samantha and Tolya prepared their own plates as they bantered, the temporary trio settling down for breakfast before they got to the bloody events of the day. With the way they acted, one would be hard pressed to think they were heading into a potential life and death struggle soon. If anyone thought they were hunters, they'd think of completely ordinary hunters, friends talking shit before a deer hunt.

"Our goals?" Tolya replied lifting an eyebrow, "Hah, my quite a probing question don't you think?"

"Hah, I don't care. I've only got one goal, put as many demon motherfuckers in the ground as I can, and when they finally get around to doing the same to me, drag as many into the pit with me as I can." Her tone was friendly and casual but there was an undercurrent of biting hatred for the things she spoke of. She was serious, she intended to do this until the day she died, and kill as many devils as she possibly could.

"Hmph, well, I suppose my own reasons aren't that personal either." Tolya said, taking a drink before continuing. "The revelations of magic and the supernatural materials of the devils prevent hitherto never before seen opportunities for the crafting of weapons and munitions. I could join an organization to research, but they would impose upon me...rules, limitations, restrictions." His nose wrinkled distastefully, "Samantha here will let me develop practically anything I want as long as we actually have the money for it, and test it with a relish one rarely finds in competent weapons testers. It is simply my ideal arrangement." The Russian man shrugged as he finished, a slight smile upon his face.

Samantha just scoffed, "Now what about you, huh? Why're you hunting devils eh?"

[John Black]

He supposed it was a probing question. They were doing good now, but he didn't know their intentions for the future. Though, he was more curious than concerned, at least for now.

Although hearing how Pro felt did make him feel mildly concerned. It seemed she was content to make a suicidal genocide run at demons. He could only assume that demons had done something to her at some point. She didn't come off as being religious, but her response did seem highly dogmatic to him. He wondered how far she would go given the chance, would she kill even an innocent demon?

More importantly, he would need to make her aware of his nature. Tolya didn't seem like he would care, he just wanted to make weapons, albeit potentially those weapons would be illegal and frowned on even among various organizations, although he thought that Tolya might fit in well with the Umbral Witches given his interest in creating magical weapons. But he wanted to make sure that Pro wouldn't try to put a bullet in his head if she learned he wasn't entirely human.

He might have thought it was obvious last night, but thinking about it, it had been dark, and she had been distracted by her own fight. If they could not work together due to his race, then it would be better to split now, then have her question him later when it became clear there was more to him. And trying to hide the fact when her feelings on demons were apparent would only make her distrust him more when she found it if it was going to be an issue at all. If she was going to be pissed with him, then maybe it would at least turn the dial back a notch or two.

"The reason I am hunting demons like these wolves is a matter of representation. There are malicious, even evil demons, but not all of them." He said simply. "I myself am a half-demon. So I do not wish to allow such bloodthirsty creatures to walk the Earth freely. I will not allow them to cause death and chaos." He explained further as he looked between the two of them, waiting to see how they would react.

[Augustine]

The two waited for his response, and Tolya didn't seem all that concerned with it. He looked a little intrigued even, but Samantha? Her expression shifted, that friendly smile briefly falling off of her face as she looked at him.

"Half-devil huh? That must suck. Well I'm not gonna pry." She took a long swig from the can of soda she was holding, she was staring at him closely and intensely. "I don't care what your beliefs are, as long as you'll pick up your sword when it needs doing, but trust me pal, the only good demon is one that's hiding it's true colors from you. I hope you figure that out before it results in an 'innocent devil' pulling your head off your shoulders like popping the cork on a bottle."

Well she wasn't going to dismiss him for being half-devil but her response was...it sounded like she'd made a number of unpleasant assumptions about why he was a half-devil. Yeah, Samantha clearly had a pretty set and hateful view of devils as a whole, but would trying to argue with her about it before they went on a hunt be all that productive? Would arguing with her about it at all be productive?

"Anyways, Tolya, show me these new shells, I'll be taking them on the hunt."

"Hah, of course." Tolya replied, setting his empty plate on the cooler and wheeling around to head back into the bus.

"Be out in just a few, do whatever business ya need, once I'm out, we're going hunting."

[John Black]

"Those wolves need to be taken care of. I won't hesitate to raise my sword against them." He agreed. And while it didn't show much on his face her response did confuse him a little bit. He wasn't sure what assumption she might be making about his life, but at least she sounded like she was attempting to be sympathetic somehow. Personally, he felt he held a pretty sweet position. He held several natural benefits as a half-demon, the biggest benefit being his inhuman resilience in this line of work.

He might have wanted to discuss it further, however, he decided this wasn't the time, nor his place. He'd only mentioned the fact he was a half-demon to make sure she could still work with him. It was clear that while she might have some small reservations or assumptions about him, she did still intend to take his assistance, which was all he wanted to make sure of.

And even if he wanted to potentially press her on the issue, he didn't think he was nearly close enough with her to be convincing. He figured he probably only fell into the category of useful college at the moment. Nice to have around, but no reason to think she had enough personal attachment to him to think she might feel especially bad if he died while they were on this mission.

And certainly, the mission held priority over his personal feelings on the subject. Those wolves needed to be taken care of.

"I'll be ready." He agreed, curious what kind of shells Tolya had prepared for Pro. But he supposed he would find out when she used them against the wolves. He'd almost feel sorry for them he had little doubt.

[Augustine]

He wouldn't be waiting too long, just a few minutes before Samantha came back out. She was dressed basically the same as last night, the combat vest, boots, pants, the tactical vest with shells fed through loops along the straps. There was the knife over her left shoulder, the revolver and pistol on either side of her hip, and of course, that shotgun, bayonet affixed firmly just under the barrel. She looked the very picture of some kind of roughneck mercenary, the lack of sleeves showing the winding black tattoos along her arms.

There was an electronic device in her hand, and she was looking at it, the other hand putting a cigarette in her mouth before reaching for a lighter. Her shotgun hung off of one shoulder by a strap. "Alright, c'mon then, let's go hunt down some wolves." She'd say, sounding completely normal as she walked past him to head into the woods once again. Not surprising she didn't want to linger like that, any cops saw her with that equipment and they'd probably have a lot of questions.

Back into the forest, and on their way to where they'd fought that night. A simple and easy hike, it felt like a different environment entirely. The difference was, literally, night and day. For many folks it'd be hard to shake a feeling that this couldn't possibly have been where they were last night, it just looked too different under daylight, but that clearing would appear. There was the boulder shaped to create that overhang, and if one looked closely they'd see the occasional spent shell...and spatters of monstrous blood.

[John Black]

He nodded once Pro was out and ready to go, getting up to follow the woman out, assuming the device was linked to the counterpart she had dropped down the wolf hole last night.

John looked much as he did last night, though, after a little inspection, one thing was different, at least to John since Pro was unlikely to notice the change at the moment. But John's sword had altered slightly. The shape was the same, but the coloration was different. Tints of gold stood out on the blade's design, as well as what could only be described as "veins" of red, which seemed to pulse and shift within the blade, making it seem more "alive", and perhaps a bit more ominous. It was also strangely warm to the touch, unrelated to the sun shining on them.

John was eager to get moving too. The big sword on his back was just as notable if not more so than the shotgun that Pro was carrying around, considering that it was nearly as long as he was tall.

The scene at the hole was certainly different than he remembered. But then he supposed that he'd only ever seen small areas of the forest that the flashlight could highlight during the night. Now he was getting the full picture instead of just part of it.

He took note of the blood stains in the area, picking up the scent in the air as he wandered over to examine each one. And looking to see if any of the wolf bodies were still around, or if someone or something had collected them.

[Augustine]

There were no visible bodies, but Samantha didn't seem phased by that, and seeing how he was looking she'd walk to one area with a particularly blackened patch. "Look at this, this thing's way too big to be just a pool of blood from a wound, even a lethal one, more to the point, nothing's been dragged, and no footsteps in case something picked it up." She kicked at the ground, and thick mud was pushed up. "Fucker's dissolve sometime after death, leave plenty of traces and evidence, but no actual bodies. Guess we should be lucky they leave any evidence at all eh?"

She continued moving around carefully before squatting down low. "Over here, we got tracks, blood and paw prints. Let's go." She'd stand back up and start moving carefully. That tracker was put away and she instead had her hands on her shotgun, one on the handle, good trigger discipline keeping her finger along the metal frame rather than on the trigger, the other resting under the barrel. It was going to be slow going as Samantha started tracking, making sure they were on course, especially when the actual blood stopped and they only had the actual tracks to go by.

[John Black]

He knew it was common for killed demons to dissolve. But he wasn't sure about the details of why. Was it ever explained to him? He could not remember. It seemed like the sort of thing he'd be interested in knowing though. Just a small fact of life that he didn't know.

But he supposed it wasn't important at the moment. It didn't really change what they had to do at least and made it clear that they had done a good job killing plenty of the demons judging by the number of large puddles left behind.

"Good to know they died at least." He agreed.

When she mentioned the tracks that went beyond the blood he nodded and followed along. Pulling his sword as he did to keep it ready, resting on a shoulder as he walked so he would not need to draw it later.

[Augustine]

"Typical of a devil to refuse to die of something as mundane as bloodloss. Conventional firearms barely do a thing to 'em and even if you cut holes in 'em as long as they can run they'll be just fine. Tch." She'd keep going along after the tracks for several minutes. Then she stopped.

"Hey do you hear that? Or, rather do you not hear that?" The forest was quiet. As in, it was silent. There were no birds chirping, they couldn't hear the rustling of animals through the branches. It was an unnatural silence for anyone who knew the sound of a healthy, normal forest. Her eyes narrowed as she continued along the tracks for a moment longer. She was holding Black Betty more directly, closer up to the chest, ready to turn and shoot at any moment now, and then she stopped again and, "Fuck!"

She whirled around now, Shotgun up fully as she scanned the forest around them. "Fuckers doubled back. Take a look if you want, but keep your guard up." The tracks continued ahead through the forest soil, however, there was a second set of tracks, that headed back this way. Only they paused right around where Samantha had stopped before diverting to the left. "Those tracks are fresh they did this recently." It would be hard to tell if John wasn't a practiced tracker himself, it was about the level of weathering, the edges of the tracks and how defined they were.

Then from somewhere in the forest they'd hear it. Not a howl but a bestial bellow, like the snarling of some massive wolf, a rumbling sound that sent birds flying off into the skies as Samantha turned her shotgun towards the source. "The fuck was that?"

[John Black]

"True." He agreed, demons were a hearty species. It was rather amusing to him that half-demons like him were generally hard to kill as well. Bullets were probably even less effective against him than against things like these demon wolves, he could recover from a bullet wound in seconds or less depending on how severe they were.

He nodded when she asked if he heard the lack of sound. "Not so much as a chirp." He wasn't sure he would have noticed if she had not mentioned it, or at least not as quickly. He certainly intended to brush up on his tracking in the future. He didn't want to be useless in a scenario like this in the future when Pro wasn't around to guide him since she was clearly the better between the two of them.

He noticed her spin around and reacted to quickly do the same, watching for any trouble, his sword ready to cut into anything that might approach them. The sudden tension caused his sword to begin glowing lightly with a sudden warmth as if preparing... John eyed his sword unsure of what it was doing, it had never done something like that before. But then it had undergone a change of some kind after last night.

Hearing the bestial bellow his blade reacted further, almost seeming to thrum and vibrate quietly in anticipation of facing a threat. John had no idea what was coming, but he was ready, or at least he thought he was. John stepped forward keeping his blade ready in case anything started charging their way, putting himself between the sound and them, but keeping a side eye as well in case they were pincered. He would not forget how the wolves attacked from multiple angles last night.

[Augustine]

Samantha's eyes narrowed as she stared out into the trees. They'd both hear it before they saw it, the heavy thumping of something large traveling across the ground. What the hell was it? What could be that heavy and still fit in the damn forest? Had the wolves merged together into one giga wolf?! At first, Samantha thought that might actually be the case when the thing finally came into view. It was indeed similar to the demon wolves. It had similar heavy black fur, but it was much larger and also far more humanoid. A savage wolf's head, sharp teeth exposed as it growled out, with massive heavy front limbs. They were like the arms of a human body builder sheathed in fur, ending with sharp claws and fingers. Its chest was like a barrel, its entire body huge, with tree trunk thighs that bizarrely descended into the rather narrow structure of a wolf's hind legs. That gave it a somewhat lopsided look, like some kind of wolfish gorilla, even using those big heavy arms to help propel itself rapidly through the trees, the sheer force producing that heavy pounding into the ground!

The reason they hadn't seen it until it was only a couple dozen meters away was clear. When the shade of the trees and branches covered it, those parts of its body turned invisible, vanishing. It was a disorienting and bizarre proposition but also made it clear, any shadow rendered these things invisible, even in a forest so diffused with light that one could clearly see into the shadow.

"Where the fuck did the wolf man come from?!" She shouted, as the beast lunged at them. Getting closer it really was a brute of a beast, John would maybe come up to the thing's chest if it stood upright, and in bulk and width? Claws lashed out and Samantha leaned down. In a moment several things happened. Notably was that the temperature near Samantha dropped abruptly, the air seeming to waver as if in a sudden mist, and then she went flying off to the side, as if her body had been jerked by an invisible source. With this came the bellowing boom of Black Betty, the wolf letting out a snarl as pellets slammed into its left shoulder, its right hand swinging to try and slam into John with crushing force and send him flying!

As Samantha slid to a stop though, her attention would turn from the massive wolf-man to the side, as she saw a pair of eyes appear in the shade. "Clever fucker." She twisted immediately, shotgun coming up as one of the shadow wolves leaped out of the shade, sliding into visibility as jaws clamped down on the barrel of her shotgun, and forced the woman onto her back!

[John Black]

He wasn't sure where this new primwolf came from, and he assumed it was a rhetorical question. But he found it a little ironic they somehow had a demon like this ready now when they didn't last night. With that in mind, he thought that perhaps this wasn't just a coincidence then, perhaps an ability the wolves possessed but didn't have the chance to make use of last night, or there was some external force exerting its power over these wolves to cause one of them to take on this form, empowering them. Or maybe this wolf simply came from somewhere else, a rift to the demon world letting these demons through?

Now wasn't the time to question it too deeply though. They would investigate later, he was sure. But first, they actually needed to survive the encounter.

Seeing these wolves moving in the daylight among the shadows, made it clear that if not for Pro, he would have been fucked. Because he hadn't brought a flashlight last night, and even now with how thick the trees and the shade were, these wolves could be hard to detect, blending into the environment as they took shade. Even the big primwolf seemed to possess this ability, though the size of its body and the sound of its steps perhaps negated part of the benefits its partial invisibility might have otherwise given it.

Leaping at them, but lashing out at Pro, John didn't hesitate to bring his blade up to slash against the beast's chest with all the force he could muster behind the blade. He'd been forced to use a single hand while fighting last night, but now he could use both. However considering how bulky and powerful this new primwolf was, he was doubtful he could move it nearly so easily as he had the smaller wolves.

Even so, he roared out as he cut... And his blade seemed to resonate with the sound, roaring with him. The sound of a dragon's shout filled the forest around them, emanating from the blade in John's hand, unleashing a wave of force into the primwolf just as John slashed at it, adding to the force behind the blow, if not the cut itself. And blowing a hole up through the treetops as the wave of force extended past, conveniently shedding even more light into the area, as leaves and branches were blown away, brightening things a bit as a wide new hole was left in the canopy of tree leaves high above them.

[Augustine]

Blade met wolf, and a terrible sound, like the bellows of a beast, opened up the canopy of the forest. The great wolf was sent stumbling backwards, a gash in its muscular chest as it yowled out from the blow. However it was not nearly enough to lay the devil low, and with a snarl, one heavy clawed hand dug into the forest soil before flinging it upwards in a great spray towards John!

At the same time it leaped forwards, other hand rushing forwards to try and slash at him with those wicked claws. At least he could see the thing clearly as it rushed beneath the beams of light he'd allowed the sun to cast down. Yet it was not the only threat. Even as he tried to deal with this great wolf, one of the ordinary beasts was prowling behind him, and would leap attempting to seize the back of his neck and take him down to the ground!

He was on his own for at least the time being at least, as Samantha was busy dealing with the wolf slobbering over her shotgun. She was snarling just as fiercely as the wolf though, baring her teeth as she struggled with it, keenly aware there was another as it dove in trying to clamp its jaws onto her ankle. Her foot twisted away before it could get a good grip and delivered a sharp kick, and one hand left Black Betty, leaving her struggling with just one hand, but only for a moment. Roulette pressed to the thing's stomach and with a yelp from the beast, a bullet hit with icy effectiveness, crackling along its stomach. With mobility crippled she was able to force the thing off, and then aim Black Betty.

Samantha's eyes shone blue again, and a mist seemed to briefly wrap around her as her body was lifted up off the ground as though someone else were there, before the heavy boom of her shotgun sent one of the beasts flying back away from her! She wasn't finished by a longshot!

[John Black]

The clash went better than John had hoped it would. Though he'd stunned the primwolf more than knocking it back or dealing serious damage, he was quite pleased with himself for a moment.

But it wasn't going to last for long when the big demon focused on him, one big clawed hand swinging for him, while a wolf he only just detected at the last moment leaped for his neck.

Unfortunately, he wasn't going to be able to resist taking some injuries this time, though hopefully, he could do something to minimize the damage.

He felt that he disliked the idea of getting his neck bitten more, turning to backhand the wolf jumping from his neck behind him. His fist crashed into the side of its muzzle with a fast heavy impact. Sending it flying off to the side, before an even bigger clawed hand met his defending blade, then him.

Lifted off his feet her was sent hurtling into the forest. He was much smaller and lighter than the primwolf, and while he could not say how strong they both were, the primwolf certainly had a size advantage.

It wasn't long before his back slammed into a tree, knocked some feet away, and likely smashed the tree in half. The pain was blinding, but he didn't think his back was broken despite the force. He was left momentarily breathless though, gasping as he climbed back to his feet, and lifted his sword, trying to keep it between him and the big wolf.

Blood dripped from a large gash on his arm, and the clothes were torn by large claws. But the wound beneath it was already quickly closing, and whatever soreness he felt quickly fading. Strength returned as he prepared himself to continue the fight.

[Augustine]

With her body hurtling up into the air it wasn't hard for Samantha to grab onto the branches of the trees around them. She landed on one, feeling the branch creak but...it held solid, holding her weight for now, one foot braced near the trunk itself to ease the load. It put her out of reach of the wolves, at least for the moment, and let her scope out the battlefield.

Lifting Roulette she took aim and the sharp crack of the gun sounded off again. This time, it was a streak of fire, an explosion of heat washing over the man wolf's shoulder as it snarled out in pain from the sudden impact and burning sensation. As she fired though, Samantha once again was tossed around, her body hurtling out of the trees and forwards, falling down towards the wolf as she hefted Black Betty. There was a wild, feral grin on her face, eyes wide and shining before the bayonet of her shotgun plunged into the beast's flesh, both feet slamming into its body before she pulled the trigger.

Once again the thunderous boom of that shotgun sounded out, and she went flying off the brute, who was only staggered. She landed on the ground and rolled up onto one knee, racking the shotgun. "Come on motherfucker, let's teach you to play dead!" The brute wasn't dead, injured sure, but how severely was hard to say. It had turned its attention away from John though giving him a reprieve...from that one beast.

The wolf he'd slammed his fist into had recovered and had run around to try and come from the side and seize an ankle, to try and cripple and drag its chosen prey to another who could pounce onto his chest to try and bite into his throat!

[John Black]

With some space between him and the biggest wolf, he had a chance to recover a bit, while dealing with a pair of the smaller wolves at least. When he heard the wolf he had smacked aside earlier running his way he didn't hesitate to bring a hand around to his back, draw his pistol, and put a pair of bullets into the skull of the wolf that just tried to grab his ankle. He simply didn't give it that chance, before pointing his gun at the second wolf further away and firing off a barrage of bullets in its direction. In this case, going for quantity over quality with his shots as he fired off significantly more bullets in a few seconds than the gun's clip could possibly contain after killing the first wolf to fire at the second.

Keeping his sword in his left hand as he stood up he took his time to aim before firing off some bullets into the biggest wolf, though he aimed for locations where there was no chance he might accidentally shoot Pro. But seeing as the biggest wolf was both taller and bulkier than either of them, he figured that if they didn't make a conscious effort to dodge it should be like trying to shoot at a shed. He simply took one shot every second, taking a small half second to recover his aim, then fire again. While his gun didn't have the kind of impact that Pro's guns did, he figured that punching a few holes in the demon's tough hide with a few Devil Penetration Rounds could prove annoying, and potentially lethal if he happened to nick something vital. But considering just how bulky the big wolfman or primwolf at John had been thinking of it was, he wasn't sure just how deep his bullets could actually punch.

But hell, if it looked his way while Pro was nearby maybe she could put a shell through its eye or something. Between the two of them, John was sure she was the better shot and could capitalize on even a slight distraction.