[quote]Wasting no time at all once she arrived on the other side Berry clawed the panel open and paused. With her face dimly lit by the panel Berry concentrated very hard on trying to hear that sound again; the sound of something pulling itself along the floor behind her with a hiss. In her mind Berry could see the little holographic map pointing out Roy and herself with two red dots of the Grit on either side.

Berry pushed the button.[/quote]
[quote]Finally he reopened his eyes letting his anger towards the invading Grit prime him for combat. "Three!"

He swung open the door stepping along with it ready for the snake Grit to charge into the room. To charge into an ambush. Should all go according to Vincent's plan, predator would become prey.[/quote]

At the very same moment, the button was pressed and the door was opened. Roy fell and struck the floor with a sound like a crack of lightning, and the slithering Grit whipped into Vincent's room in a blur of angry fangs and scales.

Vincent's spear screamed in terrified determination; a wide red mouth full of several rows of jagged teeth rushed straight at him at an impossible speed.

Randy was faster.

Almost before Vincent's mind had time to process what had happened, the Grit was hanging dead against the wall beside the door; the spear had been thrust into the Grit's horrible mouth, through the back of its skull, and pierced the wall behind. The Grit's eyes had gone dim and dark, and its body twitched in the last spasms of death, pinned against the wall with the spear sticking out of its mouth.

After a moment, the Grit's body disintegrated into a dark mist that vaporized completely, leaving nothing behind -- only Randy, the spear-head buried deep in the cracked wall.

On Berry's screen, one of the red dots had suddenly disappeared completely. Not that she would have much time to look at it.

With a whirr and a click, Roy got to his feet and immediately whirled around toward the staircase. His laser-gun fired twice -- [i]pew! pew![/i] -- each shot lit up the hallway with a blue flash. A dark, spindly Grit was in mid-leap when it was hit full in the chest by the laser-fire, its wide glowing eyes and sharp fangs flashing. It was thrown back onto the stairs, where its smoking body crumpled.

After a moment, the Grit's body disintegrated into a dark smoky fog; the Grit's remains sped away in the opposite direction, toward the door of the mansion. On Berry's screen, the red dot rushed away and out of the house. There were no more threats left within the mansion walls.

Roy straightened and turned to face Berry. "Thank you, Miss Berry. It seems we're safe for now." He raised his head, and addressed the end of the hallway where he thought he'd heard Vincent's voice. "Mr. DeMoore, you'd mentioned there might be a way to fortify this place against more invaders. Now's a pretty good time to do that. What can we do to help?"