Dark War Read Online Free PDF

antidote to the Hyde plague. They also fired chemical weapons of an entirely different sort. A tiny dart shot out of my gun's muzzle and streaked through the air toward a particularly grotesque Hyde that appeared to be part reptilian. I guessed his true form was that of a demon, but luckily his flesh was only partially covered by green scales, and the dart struck him on a soft part of his neck. He took two more steps before his eyes went wide with shock, then he doubled over, howling with pain as he grabbed his crotch. 
    Â Â I couldn't help grinning. A cocktail of instant syphilis, herpes, and gonorrhea was a potent weapon indeed.
    Â Â So we continued fighting our way across the lounge toward the bar, Devona and Darius dosing Hydes with antidote, me making life extremely uncomfortable for any of the creatures who came too near. I kept glancing at Bennie as we drew closer to him/her, but instead of seeming concerned at our approach, Bennie looked amused, as if we were no more of a threat than a trio of actors in a Mind's Eye program.
    Â Â Lyra broke off from her enthusiastic coupling with Lourdes to attack us, and I had no choice but to hit her with a VD dart, and when that didn't do much more than slow her down a little, I hit her with a second and third. She collapsed to the floor and writhed in agony, and while I knew she wasn't exactly the same Lyra as the one who lived in my Nekropolis, she was close enough, and I felt awful for having to put her through so much pain. But as least she was still alive, and hopefully she'd stay that way – if we could reach Bennie and put a stop to this plague.
    Â Â By the time we were within ten feet of the bar, Darius' forehead dripped with sweat, and he looked exhausted. Despite his ability to traverse dimensions, he was only human, but since Devona and I were more than that (or perhaps in my case, less) we didn't tire, and the two of us were still in fine fighting shape when we reached the bar. Now that we were in firing range of Bennie, I flipped the selector switch on my weapon back to antidote, and the three of us hit Bennie with a triple blast of gas. Bennie – who'd continued to switch between genders the entire time we fought to reach him/her – merely sat smiling as the yellow cloud enveloped him.
    Â Â The rest of the Hydes in the lounge stopped what they were doing, and all of us watched and waited to see what would happen.
    Â Â When the cloud dissipated, Bennie was still a he, but he was also still very much a Hyde. 
    Â Â "Nice try," he said in a bestial rumble. "But my ancestor invented the Hyde formula, and I take regular doses of it – or rather, a variation of the original recipe – to maintain my dual gender nature. Imbibing the potion over so many years has had a permanent effect on my physiology. Your pathetic antidote won't work on me."
    Â Â It was strange to hear such intelligent words coming out of a Hyde's mouth. Not because of the way Bennie looked – I'd been in Nekropolis too long to judge any being's intelligence based on appearance – but because of the violently chaotic nature displayed by the Hydes we'd seen up to this point. I was impressed that Bennie was able to focus past his lust for mayhem long enough to form, let alone express, coherent thoughts. 
    Â Â I thought about hitting Bennie with a few dozen VD darts, but I knew it wouldn't do any good. The pain might lay him/her low, but the other Hydes would still tear us to pieces. Since at the moment the other creatures were watching and waiting to see what would happen next, I decided our best bet was to keep Bennie talking.
    Â Â "Not our antidote," I said. " You made it. Or rather, another you made it, one who lives in a different dimension."
    Â Â Bennie's features softened slightly as she became female again. She leaned forward, her eyes narrowing as she inspected us more closely. "I recognized Darius right away," she said.