Luke opened the door onto the roof to find himself facing what appeared to be a series of nests made from a collection of throw away items from the old world.
Huddled inside the nests were half a dozen large birds that looked a lot like vultures. The were large, each was just under half Luke's height, who was not short himself. They had impressive talons that had grown so ungainly that the creatures were no longer adept at walking. Most intimidating of all was their beak which stretched into a sharp point and for all 6 birds had blood dried on it.
These creatures were another example of the effects of the Azure blue world on its inhabitants. These creatures that appeared to be similar to vultures were actually once just common pigeons. But they were no longer the docile creatures that the old world had been used to.
These were the second most common creatures you would encounter in the Azure London. As such Luke had plenty of experience in dealing with them. But generally the best way to deal with them was to take cover inside. Often you would only encounter one at a time unless you came across a left over carcass, as the similarities to vultures did not just stop with the cosmetic.
As Luke walked into their vision every single head turned to him simultaneously. At which point an intrusive thought entered his head and he couldn't help but recall out loud a scene from a movie he had once watched.
"Mine!" He cried out, inevitably this got no response from the birds. They were instead focused on what appeared to be a food delivery arriving straight to their homes.
This was another situation where Luke was going to make a very different choice to the one he would have made just days before. But that was what he felt it would take to completely change his pointless life. He should have just gone back inside and given up, but after climbing 50+ floors that seemed like a painful defeat and an unacceptably depressing descent back down those same stairs.
Instead Luke planned to test out the extent that he had improved thanks to the Completion system. But even with the improvements that the completion system had brought him he feared the fight was going to be difficult. Their ability to fly would be a large advantage for Luke to overcome. One that Luke currently didn't have an answer for.
"They always say the best way to learn is on the job. Might as well throw myself straight into the lion's den. Or in the this case pigeon's nest, although I'm not sure that sounds very impressive."
The upper hand Luke had when fighting the creatures was how stupid they were. There were much stronger and faster than they had been following their evolution, however, their level of intelligence had not changed since their time as normal pigeons.
The pigeons wasted no time and moved into action. As if in a display of synchronised skill, the birds which people had come to call Predator Pigeons, all took flight in a V-shape and flew directly at Luke. He had no choice but to duck out the way of there first fly by. As they began to arc back to come for a second approach, Luke braced himself.
This time as they approached Luke waited for the very last moment before doing a backwards roll, which caused the birds to fly straight over him. He received a notification as he did so, but he had no time to check it at that moment. Instead he made use of his improved speed to shoot back up to his feet. He did so in one continuous movement that meant he was now just behind the birds which were flying away from him. Sticking out a hand he managed to grab the wing of one of the creatures.
This caused the creature to start trying to beat at Luke with its wings and scratch at him with its talons. In a showcase of just how much a 20% increase to his defence affected him the Predator Pigeons strikes with its wings did not hurt at all. Sadly, the same could not be said for the attacks from its talons. These still cut into him, but thankfully the cuts were shallow and he was able to keep a hold of the creature.
Luke pulled his free hand back, before putting his full boy weight behind delivering a strong punch to the creatures head. The creature recoiled at the blow and for a moment it halted its attacks. However, after a moment it recovered enough to start its assault again. In response Luke just delivered another blow with his fist. This time the creature stopped moving completely. Luke just dropped it to the floor.
"One down"
In the time that Luke had taken down the one opponent the rest had circled round and before he had time to respond 5 other sets of talons scratched along his back. The pain was enough to bring Luke to his knees. Though it was far from enough for him to start regretting his decision to fight. Quite the opposite, he was starting to wake something in himself. Something that might turn ugly if he didn't carefully cultivate it.
Taking down the next Predator Pigeon was simple. The birds did not learn their lesson from the first time and he was able to repeat the whole thing in the same way. Once again he received some scratches from the trapped creatures talons and once again two blows was enough to kill the creature. The only difference was that Luke did learn his lesson. When he threw his second adversary to the floor he also rolled to the side and avoided the retributory attack from the predator pigeons still in the air.
The Birds did at last learn from their two fallen kind. This time they did not allow Luke to roll out the way by flying a great deal closer to the ground as they attacked. Regrettably for them this was a bad choice. The moment they got close Luke was able to kick the closest one. The blow landed cleanly and from the connection Luke already knew that the creature would not being getting back up.
Luke's speculation was further evidenced by the fact that the bird flew off without the power of its wings, much like a football after being hit. In fact, it sailed a good distance going between two of antennas on the roof. Which, brought another notification. One that made Luke feel a little guilty.
With only two Predator Pigeons left Luke made quick work of the next with yet another kick, receiving minimal injuries in the process. The only thing of note being that he received a notification after he had defeated this the 5th creature.
When all six were defeated, Luke almost let out a cheer. He had done what yesterday's Luke would have considered impossible. Though weak, there were plenty of people that needed protecting from Predator Pigeons. His ability to safely deal with them meant, at the very least, he could find himself a much better job and cut out a better life for himself thanks to the Completion system.
*ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED*
[Angry Birds] Bronze Achievement unlocked for killing 5 Predator Pigeons (+3 to Attack)
[But could you do it with a steering wheel?] Hidden Silver Achievement unlocked for performing a perfect roll in combat (+ 15 to Defence, Speed and Health)
[Goaaaaal] Hidden Bronze Achievement unlocked for kicking something that isn't a football for a goal (+4 to Attack)
It was another satisfying set of achievements to add to the days haul. But Luke greedily still wanted more. He turned his attention to the main reason for all his choices up to this point. But before Luke could start to at last look out at the view which he had come to the roof for. A large cry came down from up in the sky. Looking up Luke could see that his fight was far from over.