They were indeed giving those dogs a cruel beating, although unlike some of the candidates Pierce felt no remorse for them. With cold-hearted ruthlessness and efficiency, Pierce identified the weakness in the wounded dog and shot it. With even more ruthlessness, his left hand darted to his second pistol and with a blur drew it and shot the dog again. While that dog was still standing it was a threat, so he wanted to bring it down as quickly as possible while the opportunity was there.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Action(s): Attack Doberman B (8-1=7 damage)
Use Quick Draw on Doberman B (7 more damage) (-5 Energy)

Passive: Regenerate 1 energy

---

Now that Metar is faced with two dogs trying to attack him, he figures this is a perfect opportunity to try out his new technique. All at once, he swings one of his shields out, in an effort to whack the more heavily injured dog with it. If he gets the opportunity, maybe he tries to do something similar at the other dog simultaneously, though he probably won't.

---

Action: Shield Bash Doberman 2! (-4 Energy)

---

The mocking words the Head Summoner crooned the candidates with threw Phantom for a slight loop, and somehow, the previous thoughts he had concocted became worse. These dogs were females - mothers, if their overseer was correct - and it sounded like the Head Summoner even had the rest of the pack on standby for later use against the candidates.

A thought in his head told him to stop, but another said, that first dog's become less of a target now, and where the hell did Meat Mallet go?

Having successfully weakened Doberman B, Phantom figured to go ahead and close in for the kill. With all other individuals wailing on the bleeding dog, the ninja leaped forward, aiming for a lethal blow to head to take down the wounded hound.

---

Action: Attack Doberman B's head.

The dobermans were proving to be tough devils to take down, but the sustained attacks were beginning to take their toll on the beasts. Darting back and forth, making sure to keep her line-of-fire clear from her allies, Bumblebee focused her firepower on the crippled hound, hoping to take advantage of its weakened defences.

---

Recover +1 Energy

Bumblebee is Levitating! -1 Energy

Attack: Doberman B

Events:

Player actions:

• Shihon attacks Doberman B, dealing 10 damage! 32 HP remaining.
• Nightingale violently attacks Doberman B, dealing 5 damage and stunning her! 27 HP remaining.
• Pierce uses Quick Draw!
  
  • Pierce shoots Doberman B, dealing 7 damage! 20 HP remaining.
  • Pierce shoots Doberman B again, dealing 7 damage! 14 HP remaining.
• Metar uses Shield Bash on Doberman B, dealing 10 damage! 4 HP remaining.
• Phantom attacks Doberman B's head, decapitating her!!! Doberman B is now dead.
  
  • Tutorial activated! At the end of the fight, everyone levels up!
• Bumblebee punches Doberman B's dead carcass.

Enemy actions:

• Doberman A uses Lunge on Phantom, dealing 7 damage! (2 damage prevented) 8/15 HP remaining.
  
  • Doberman A uses Bite on Phantom, dealing 7 damage! (2 damage prevented) 1/15 HP remaining.

---

Enemy: Doberman A
Base Stats: 55/6/3
Current Stats: 43/6/3
Effects:
Skills:

• Bite: Deal (ATK*1.5)
• Lunge: Lunge at a target, dealing (ATK*1.5). If the first attack deals damage, use Bite afterwards.
• ???

Traits:

• ???
• Tutorial: Guarantees a level up after the battle is over if this creature is killed by the players

Enemy: Doberman B
Base Stats: 55/6/3
Current Stats: 42/6/1
Effects: Dead
Skills:

• Bite: Deal (ATK*1.5)
• Lunge: Lunge at a target, dealing (ATK*1.5). If the first attack deals damage, use Bite afterwards.
• ???

Traits:

• ???
• Tutorial: Guarantees a level up after the battle is over if this creature is killed by the players[

---

When one of the doberman's head goes flying around after Phantom decapitated her, it suddenly stops in mid air, like if someone pressed a pause button. Meanwhile, several voices shouting orders in the midst of a gun fight can be heard from... somewhere.
- "Oh, no. Oh, no, no, no, no, no, NO!! Not now, you bastards!- Then, the lights go off, along with the Head Summoner's voice.
A bark can be heard in the dark. The dog is still angry, it seems, and you must deal with it... In the dark.

One Doberman down, one to go. One dog was mauling Phantom, who had cut off the other dog's head, when there came panicked noises from the Head Summoner and suddenly the power went out, plunging the room into darkness. Quickly, Pierce fired his pistol at the last known location of the surviving Doberman, hopefully before it moved. He trusted his aim enough to not accidentally hit Phantom, unless he had moved to where he was aiming.

This situation was bad. It would have been worse if both dogs were still standing, but considering what it just did to Phantom one dog was too many, especially without sight. That dog had the sensory advantage- it could track by smell and hearing. They were working blind now, unless someone had a light source. Having made his shot, Pierce stood perfectly still and silently. Perhaps the dog wouldn't notice him, or if so then he should be able to hear it coming and respond with his heightened awareness. In the silence, he was able to think for a moment. Someone had obviously overpowered the Head Summoner and shut down the testing chamber. He obviously wasn't so powerful in person, in that case. It was entirely possible that whoever had taken down the Head Summoner was also looking to kill them, which meant they would need to be on high alert even after they killed this dog.

But first, the dog needed to be neutralised.

~~~~~~~~~~~~
Action: Attack Doberman A (since blinded, target last known location), then stay quiet.

Passive: Regenerate 1 energy (now 2/10)

---

Phantom's well-placed strike lopped the weakened dog's head clean off, where it suddenly stopped mid-flight. Notably confused, Phantom wasn't able to avoid the ferocious attack from the other Doberman, the mad dog barreling the cybernetic ninja over and gnashing at his neck. Reflexively, fueled by adrenaline alone, Phantom managed to get the beast off so as to resume the confrontation.

Panting and bleeding badly, the ninja was barely aware of the distant sound of firearms, and the panicked voice of the High Summoner, before the announcements went quiet and the lights died. Strange indeed, but the prime concern was still the dog. Muttering a muted curse, Phantom shut off the lights on his helmet and attempted to launch himself into a dash, aiming for the throng of allies. He was in no condition to risk continued fighting, but at least he was aware of what systems of his to improve next.

As for the loss of lights, Phantom would need to reconfigure his vision cameras so that he could operate regardless of environmental obstacles like these. That is to say, he would do so when the Doberman was dead and he was not.

---

Action: Attempt to withdraw from combat.

Seeing her colleague savagely mauled by the feral beast Nightingale quickly broke off from the battle and rushed over to Phantom, dragging him a little ways clear of the fighting before pulling out her medical kit as the lights flickered off plunging the party into darkness.

"Don't worry, we'll soon have you feeling much better," she said in a soft, seductive voice, flicking her goggles down and activating the night-vision feature so she could see what she was doing a little better, and then jammed a large needle into Phantom's throat. As the chemicals did their work Phantom suddenly found himself feeling a lot better than he had moments before. "Now say 'Ahh'," the combat nurse ordered, holding up a lollipop.

---

Action: Combat Triage - (Energy -6, Phantom Health +6)

---

Having helped violently kill one of the dobermen, and given that the other dog is now hidden in the darkness somewhere, Metar decides to perform another taunt, yelling in the rough direction that he heard the doberman barking from, and preparing to block the dog's attack with his shields.

---

Action: Taunt Doberman A. (-2 Energy)

Spinning around in confusion Bumblebee tried to get her bearings. One moment she'd been high in the air shooting down at the attacking dog and the next she was down next to it, her fists pummeling its dead body. Unless something was seriously wrong with her something strange had happened to reality in the last few seconds, and the aviatrix preferred to think the latter was true.

With a quick spin she launched herself high into the air once more, swooping and looping through the air to get herself clear from the blood and gore once more before bringing her guns around to target the other animal, hopefully covering Phantom's crippled escape.

---

Recover +1 Energy

Bumblebee is Levitating! -1 Energy

Attack: Doberman A

---

---

Shinon nearly instantly nocked an arrow and shot one of the Dobermans out of the air as it lunged towards Phantom causing the dogs savage attacks to miss. As she prepared to fire again suddenly voices come from nowhere and the lights turn off. She pondered briefly what she was going to do about aiming in the dark. She could fire through the dark at the sounds of the dogs, or at them when they tried attacking the armored warrior who seemed to have a knack for taunting the beasts, but it was likely she would shoot one of her allies. Alternatively she could just try to stab one of the dogs, but the same problem applied she would likely just run into somebody. Frustrated by her inability to act she held an arrow in her hand ready to stab at the dog if it attacked her.

---

Action- Defend