Even as she poured every last ounce of her strength into prying the bars apart, the collar around Ryla's neck held her energy at a steady low, blocking the flow of neon power that would otherwise pry this refrigerated cage apart like a sardine can. Still she tried, with all of her might, to bend the bars, and just as it seemed she was beginning to make progress, a loud crack heralded a sharp pain through her wrist. In horror, she looked down to see that her hand had snapped right off, her flesh having given way before the metal. Bone splinters protruded from frozen muscle, the pain fighting to even reach her nervous system through her iced over limbs.

And still the auctioneer babbled her pitch, and still voices from the crowd called out bids for her captured friends. And then, as suddenly as it had begun, it was over, the sale made, the price set. Amaro was taken in one direction while Ruki was in another. Two different clients, two different destinations, far from here. To say that they were slipping through her fingers would be to imply that she even had fingers.

If it weren't for this damned collar, she would've been out by now. Ryla wanted to scream, but all that came out of her throat as her comrades left her field of view was a pained whimper. Her own well-being was now officially optional. They would NOT become slaves! Not while she was still breathing! With a roar that sounded more like a wheeze, she rammed her head in between the gap she had made in the bars, pressing the sides of the collar into the icy bars, letting their payload of flash-freezing technology into her restraint. It was not pleasant, the chill now stabbing her from either side, chilling her throat, her neck and her head. In moments, she could no longer feel most of her own head, the pain of the cold having become a steady bind of its own.
And then there was a spark - a soft whiz of electronics shorting out as the circuits iced over, became brittle and snapped. And from that spark erupted a roaring blaze from within Ryla's core as the floodgates opened and her strength shot back into her body with such ferocity that, as she brought her hands up and ripped the door apart as though it were made of pipe cleaners, the pieces that fell back into the sand were molten red-hot.

The response from the guards was fierce and immediate as bolt after bolt, bullet after bullet cut a swath through the air into her body, but she ignored it, the majority of them bouncing off of her hide. And then, suddenly, a cylinder of steel entered her thigh, and she was brought back down from her high, turning to face a burly human goon loading a high-powered harpoon-cannon - one designed to hunt armored megafauna. In a swift motion, the cannon was knocked from his hands and his throat in her hand. In another instant, she would crush his neck and toss him aside.
No. No killing. Ruki was serious about never taking a life. That was one of her finest qualities, Ryla thought, that willingness to risk her own safety to ensure life went on. There would be NO killing today!

The three more goons firing harpoons into her, however, had their own opinions on the matter. Ryla dropped the guard as her body was wracked with bolt after bolt. She could take the pain. Where were Ruki and Amaro?

The roar of engines soon answered that question, as she became aware of the large airship taking off. A quick bound through the air only opened her up to absorb more shots as the guards got wise to which ordinances were hurting her. Five bolts rose from her body, leaving a trail of blood through the air as she rushed for the ship. It was thirty feet off the ground and rising. No time to think; she leaped, her remaining hand erupting into a heavy claw and gripping the bottom. She swung her body up, scurrying up to the still open cargo bay door as more bolts flew, piercing muscle and bone. The blaze inside her faded to a steady bonfire as more and more of her strength drained away. Her vision blurred as her shape grew harder and harder to maintain, her eyes drifting in different directions.

She heaved her upper body into the cargo bay, screaming as another bolt penetrated her back, coming dangerously close to her nucleus. That one was going to be a bitch to remove. As her chest hit the floor, it was more of a splat than anything. Through her one clear eye, she could see Ruki, strapped inside a transparent coffin. A mechanical door was descending quickly over her, securing her for what promised to be a long flight. Ryla contracted her bulk, attempting to crawl inside before something slammed hard into her wrist, snapping it like a twig.

"De-NIED," chuckled a gruff, throaty voice as the tall oni stepped out from the hallway, raising his kanabo. "Came awfully close though, I'll give you that."

Ruki's eyes turned to watch as Ryla lay there, bleeding, helpless, and rapidly losing her shape. A disturbing amount of her biomass was leaking out into the ground below, and her bones didn't seem entirely solid. Moreover, the line between her 'skin' and 'clothing' was fading fast.

"Enjoy that last look," the goon said, smirking at Ruki, then down at Ryla before he brought his club up, twisted his body and swung it into Ryla's face like a baseball bat, knocking her from her perch, ripping her broken arm out from under his heel and sending what was left of her flying a good sixty feet backwards before she plummeted back to Fronterra.

The door in front of Ruki shut tight.

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