Chapter 31 - New York has sem bigger... (2/2)

"Geoff, keep quiet and creep closer when I do and let's see what's going on, if that's a bear we might only need to destroy the remains of the nest making this mission much easier." Said Gray in a hushed tone.

"Understood" replied Geoff.

From opposite sides of each other, Yurika could see both Gray and Geoff slowly creep towards the source of the sounds. Geoff looked around one tree and finally got a good look at the area around the nest. Gray finally got close enough that he could also get a good look.

Gray was able to pick out several animals that appeared to be about the size of a wolf and a larger brown furry animal. "Looks like the mama bear brought her cubs to eat" said Gray softly.

Geoff was about to agree when he added "Why isn't the mama bear moving? Why is that huge brown pile of hair next to the pair shaking?"

Looking closely at the pile of hair Gray had to ask Geoff through the communicator "Kinda looks like a Volkswagen Beetle, doesn't it?"

"Yeah, but the original one, not that redesign garbage they did a few decades later." Replied Geoff

"It actually looks like a fuzzy Volkswagen Beetle, a brown fuzzy one, did it just move?!?" exclaimed Gray.

Gray had flashbacks to one of his favorite movies of all time where a certain character had said 'That's no moon, that's a space station'. The huge brown pile of hair was about twice as tall as the bear was when it was standing, but this pile of hair had a long tail, 4 legs, and giant rat head that were only visible once the rat turned slightly to reveal a side view of it.

Gray and Geoff both gasped when they realized what they were looking at; the bear didn't eat the rats, the rats ate the bear, the bear cubs were actually smaller rats that the big momma was taking care of.

"B-back away slowly, do not let it see us!" Gray said quietly to Geoff.

Both Gray and Geoff backed away slowly while beads of cold sweat started to form on their backs looking at the rat the size mid-size car. Gray and Geoff backed off enough to be out of line of sight of the rats and let out a slight sigh of relief.

"See? I told you they're always giant rats!" said Gray to Geoff. The rest of the team asked what they were talking about and Gray sent them a snapshot of what he had seen.

"Awww, looks like the mama bear wants to feed her cubs and is sleeping next to that brown fuzzy looking dome next to it." Said Stacia

"That… the bear is dead, those bear cubs are actually rat pups, and that brown fuzzy dome is the mama rat." Said Gray.

Everyone's eyes turned huge when they were told what they were actually looking at. A swarm of rats taking out a bear would've been believable, but mama rat took on a bear solo and won.

"Wait, rats form a family, if the big one is the mother and the small ones the babies… where is Daddy?" asked Geoff.

Gray instinctively almost blurted out "I'm your Daddy!" out of pure reflex but managed to hold it back after considering the fact that the males were usually larger than the females.

"Damn, this… this is way more than what we thought it would be. Caleb, what're your thoughts?" asked Gray.

"I believe the mission is actually easier to accomplish now compared to before." Replied Caleb.

"There is one, possibly two, fuzzy Volkswagens at that nest, how is that easier?" said Geoff surprised.

"Given the food supply, with the rats being so large we probably only have this one family to worry about. Also, guns will be significantly more effective due to the rats actually being large now to hit. The main worrisome part is if they retain their agility even in this giant state. Also, no matter the size, beasts are still intimidated by fire usually so our original plan just became a lot easier as we can use the fire to box them in and then shoot them with our guns instead of using the guns to just scare them closer together and hoping to get all of them with a few blasts from the flamethrower."

Gray closed his eyes and folded his arms in thought for a minute "Ok, I agree with you Caleb, if anyone wants out I won't hold it against them, but if you stay, you stay, don't go running away halfway through."

Gray looked at everyone else and to his surprise everyone wanted to stay.

"Good to hear, now, Caleb, time to prove your value as an encyclopedia again because I have an idea."