Chapter 521: Fighting against Ka-Rat-E

=-Kat was trying to use her brief moment of… well it couldn't really be called a reprieve, but the small distance she'd managed to open up between her and the rest of the rats provided a little bit of time to think. It was rather unclear what to do.

*I can't even take a big hit for a decisive blow because if I'm held in place too long the rest of the rats would just join in. If they can't kill me they can at least hold me by like… wrapping their claws around my bones or something. Now, Chunk is probably out of the fight if I can give it time, but because everything is moving so fast, he's still a combatant unless I can finish him off. No. I can't just leave him. A combatant is a combatant no matter how injured. If Chunk isn't out of the fight.*

Kat pushed herself forward trying to press the advantage. She spread one wing to cover her attacking side and prevent the rats from going straight for her. Chunk was recovering as best he could, and managed to move towards a frantic block for her incoming fist, but it was slower then before. She could use that.

Kat barely registered the feeling of three hands worth of claws shredding her wing. There was a bit of resistance, and they might not have gotten through so easily had Kat not been moving so quickly, but she was, and the offer was easily made. Black blood seeped from the wound leaving a trail in Kat's wake… but the exchange wasn't yet done.

Kat's fist made contact with Chunk's two crossed hands as they tried to absorb the impact, but it was hardly any of her power. It would have still forced the rat in question back a bit but Kat had used her charged as a chance to wrap her tail around Chunk's leg, and instead of being pushed back, Chunk was being pushed down. Arms still reeling from the impact Kat brought her knee forward and let it strike dead centre between the rat's legs.

Now, these rats were never meant to bread. They were similar enough to swarm rats that they lacked reproductive organs and as such, no genitals were crushed in this action. Of course, that doesn't really reduce the pain Chunk was experiencing as Kat's knee completely shattered his pelvis breaking. The bone fragments broke through the skin in places as if a bomb had gone off inside the rat, and nothing useable remained.

Chunk might not be dead… but he was close enough. He would not stand anymore and his fight was over. Death would come soon, and while it wasn't immediate, Kat could be confident in the knowledge that he would STAY DOWN. Still, Kat needed to keep moving so she pulled her sliced up wing forward an in, letting it come away from the other rats so she could keep moving forward and gain a bit of distance.

The action was actually harder and more painful than she'd hoped it would be, a good number of the small muscles contained within her wings that allowed for specific changes in flight had been shredded, even if the muscles in her back that let her fly were not. Large swaths of leathery wings were simply missing even if the gaps were closing.

Still, Kat didn't go far, she only took a few steps past Chunk's body before spinning around to face the other three, now looking significantly more enraged as blood dripped from there claws. Kat tried to get ready to fight them by closing up her wing behind her back, making it less of a target but she felt the muscles protesting.

*Shit. I can't close my wings completely. It can go to resting position semi open behind my back, but 'closed' is unavailable. I don't seem to have enough of the muscles that do that left. Dammit. Ok. That just makes that wing a bit of a target for now.* 

She could already feel the wound healing so it hopefully wouldn't be too long. Her leg had also completely repaired itself at some point during the charge. She hadn't notice it or the pain that should have accompanied it. Kat used the brief moment to check her reserves and found them sitting at seventy five percent.

*That's really not what I wanted. I've got three left and twenty five percent per rat is too much. I can't really work with less then ten percent my body just crashes. Still… I've got the big ones out of my way and my wounds are healing for now. I'll have to deal with these three without getting as injured… but that should be… doable. Hopefully.* 

Kat squared up, and got ready. Scratch came straight for Kat, not to take her out as no attacks word even attempted, but the rat was making sure she was in range. If she tried to run he might be able to get a light hit on her, and if she turned her wings and tail would be vulnerable for a second. Patch and Chipped were fanning out, using Scratch as a bit of cover so Kat couldn't get free hits in as they moved to complete the triangle formation around her.

Kat wasn't just going to sit there and let them do as they wanted though, so she kicked off the ground sending her backwards a bit. The plan was sound. Jump backwards, slash out at Patch with her tail, and then keep Scratch at bay. The issue was her wing. She still hadn't managed to close it, and its partner was completely shut leaving her uneven in the air resistance department.

This sent Kat into a light spin and she had no choice but to go with it. Abandoning the plan to slash at Chipped, Kat instead used her legs to kick off the rat and head towards Patch on her other side, this time letting her other wing out somewhat to compensate, not fully of course, and the wholes in her right wing meant it was mostly a guess, but it seemed to work.

Kat tried to twist around so that she could look at Patch, but the rat moved faster, getting up closer to her body instead of giving her the time to flip around and elbowing her in the stomach as she passed. Kat felt the wind being knocked out of her but managed to try and rake her nails down the rat's leg in retaliation… to minimal effect.

*Shit. These guys have better fur! Kamiko might be getting stuck, I need to step up my game.* As Kat's back hit the floor and the other rats tried to move in to counter, Kat decided it was time to cripple Patch. She lashed her arm out aiming for the knee joint and punched it as hard as she could. Due to the horrible angle and the pain of her back slamming into the floor, it wasn't the best.

It was enough though, she heard the joint give way, and while the kneecap wasn't shattered, the muscles holding it in place were shredded, forcing Patch to stagger. Chipped and Scratch had caught up though and were bringing there own legs down to bear on Kat.

Still, she wasn't as useless on her back as a human combatant would be. Kat used her tail to springboard herself towards Patch who was still in the process of stumbling back letting her slam into the rats legs and start him toppling over.

Kat rolled with the rat until her hands were under her and she managed to push herself upwards. She could tell that Chipped was behind her and getting ready to attack her as she came up, but that was a sacrifice she was willing to make to get back onto her feet. Patch was also pretty out of the fight. He could theoretically be a bit of trouble but the loss of a leg would be a major setback.

Scratch came in to try and stab her in the eye, but she easily deflected that with a hand as she rose, straight into the claws of Chipped that dug into her back. Kat grimaced but she was now on her feet. She pushed herself forward and lashed out with a tail against Chipped at the same time. It was blocked, sadly, but she was away from them and another rat down.

*Ok. Ok that's good. Two down two to go. I can do this. I don't need to worry too much.* Kat really wanted to catch her breath. Using her ability to continuing thinking so fast was weighing on her mind more than her energy reserves. It wasn't that time was slowed; it was just how much she was doing in that slowed time. She was doing full combat manoeuvres as fast as she could, mind looking for openings wherever they may be. Still, she wasn't done yet. She'd be fine. Or at least that's what she told herself.