Rambler looked on as Gart dispatched the minion.  He was only vaguely aware of video games and didn't quite know what to make of Gart's Gamer Hero powers.  Either way, they seemed to be effective.  Rambler again fought against his first instinct to stay hidden, raising his pistol and firing at the Minions farthest away from Gart.  His increased vision made the feat a lark; his shots struck his targets right between the eyes.  This girl obviously knew more about the situation than him, and if killing these creatures was important enough to risk being noticed by Calamity then he would follow her lead.

His pre-mission intelligence seemed unusually faulty this time around; he didn't know of any Sea King in Davenport before Gart brought it up.  Rambler chalked it up to his sudden departure.  Being hastily deployed by his latest client a mere two days earlier meant he had very little time to gather any info on Davenport.  [i]All the more important to stick around and find out,[/i] he thought as he continued his assault.

[hr]

Carla's plan worked even better than she had hoped.  The Collective charged for her as she dashed for the tallest building on the block.  As the vampire picked up speed, so did The Collective; it dropped to its hands and contorted its legs with a sickening crunch.  A moment later it continued its pursuit on all fours, leaping forward like a panther with every bound.  Soon it closed the gap and was nearly able to reach out and touch its prey.  Then Carla disappeared.  

[color=FF4500]"A telepor-"[/color]

The Collective smashed into the building with far more force than its size would have been expected to produce.  Before it could gain its bearings, the corner of the building gave way and collapsed on top of The Collective, burying it beneath glass and rubble.  It wasn't seriously injured, and normally escaping such a predicament would be child's play... but it had gone too long without feeding before it arrived at Davenport.  It was weak and half-starved, and the measly lone fatality it had caused so far barely helped.  

Carla's stunt bought her a couple of precious minutes before smoke began to rise from the rubble.  Moments later a great fire erupted from the wreckage, and The Collective sprung forward.  It appeared even more monstrous now: both of its arms had been transmogrified into beastly clawed limbs, and its human eyes had all but disappeared, replaced with piercing yellow slits.  Glancing at nearby buildings it spotted Carla, who seemed to be trying to assist or evacuate the hapless citizens caught in the crossfire.  It wasted no time in charging toward Carla again, just as fleet-footed as before.

[color=CD5C5C]"Listen to me, you ass!  Forget her, we need to eat!  We're even weaker than we thoug..."[/color]

Ivory's voice was drowned out as a fearsome bellow erupted from The Collective's mouth.  It was too blind with rage to listen to Ivory anymore.