Malfiro ran toward the sound of gunfire, feeling how the blood was pulsating in his temples and how his heart resembled a drum. It wasn’t from exhaustion, he was capable of far more. It was out of rage.
He trusted Galaro. He was willing to give himself up for him. The signs were there, he was the one who pulled the gun on the trader, he was the one who was clearly hostile to…
Banish the thoughts. Malfiro ordered himself to race to the rear entrance. There were barely any guards here, not with all the people already retreating to the hospital. If not for the traitor, this would have endured, the walls were strong enough, and there weren’t that many Malformed for them to execute a pincer attack.
Now his soldiers lay in the pools of blood, the women were being dragged away, both civilians who had failed to escape and those serving as guards. The malformed had already started singing and devouring the remains of the bodies. And there, before one of the buildings…
Malfiro crashed into the crowds of several malformed, slicing the heads of two with his axe and using the handle to pierce through the eye of a third, coming all the way to the brain. The blood pulsated in his veins, demanding retribution and enlarging his muscles ever further, tearing his clothes while he swiped with his weapon, killing foes before him.
The wolfkin landed next to him, jumping through the malformed before her. The foe briefly glanced at the gaping hole in her chest, before slumping to the ground like a sack of mushrooms. Virginia came for the hostages, painting the ground with the blood of the malformed. Her body danced amidst the coming claws and daggers, while her claws collected a grievous toll from anyone coming close to her.
Malfiro let her work, making his own way to the traitor, slicing and hacking through the malformed before him. They were turned toward Galaro, no doubt eager to listen to his plan, and became easy prey for his axe. Galaro leaned back, an empty pistol in his hand, at the closed door of the building behind him. Malfiro looked around the battlefield and noticed several dead guards on cracked ground with gunshot wounds on their heads. To his knowledge, the malformed never used firearms.
"You…" Malfiro hissed, coming upon his formed second in command and cleaving a malformed in two.
“Malfiro,” Galaro exhaled heavily, attempting to reload the gun in his arm. The weapon was destroyed by a single swing of the Breathtaker's axe, while the traitor leaned back on the door, looking at Malfiro with both his good eye and his dead eye. "Are you mad? The hell are you…"
"Boss, watch out!" Thinner came from behind the building, his body compressed into a living rope. Like a snake, he wrapped around Galaro, holding him in place and bending an arm that was reaching for the knife aside, "There is some shit going on around here, boss!" The upper part of Thinner’s body became normal again, while his lower part remained coiled around Galaro’s body, choking the life out of him with a lock on his neck, "I just saw how this…" Thinner reached out his left hand to Malfiro.
And screamed in pain when his hand became sliced in two, allowing the knife to fall from the sleeve of his shit. Malfiro turned to see Virginia, who kicked out and buried her claws in Thinner's coils, forcing the overgrown man to slither away from Galaro and fall to the ground, reverting to human form. Thinner’s leg and hand were ruined, one was sliced in two, and another bore three long slashes beneath the knee, forcing the usually cheerful man to cry from pain.
"What treachery is this!" Malfiro brought the edge of his axe to Virginia’s neck, the blood pulsating in his eye. His power lay in adrenaline. The more adrenaline his body released into his bloodstream, the more his muscles enlarged. But this came at the cost of the ability to think clearly. He forced himself to stay calm and relax a little, noticing how the malformed were slowly backing down toward the exit.
"Treachery it is, that’s true," Virginia laughed as she moved forward, allowing the blade to slice the skin at her neck. Malfiro hastily removed the weapon before it could hurt her, while the wolfkin helped Galaro to stand on his feet, "See, this fatso over here made a few mistakes. First, when your group sneaked up on us, he wanted to slice my pretty neck. With a knife covered in poison. Next, Galaro brought us food, covered with the same poison."
"I would never…" Galaro coughed, "I can kill you fair and square, but…"
"Know it all, hence you are alive, boy," Virginia smiled to him, "See, the food was originally in Thinner’s grubby hands. The same poison here and there, then the good trader told me that Thinner was the one who shouted about the gun, and Galaro clearly had a PTD,PVD, or PSG? Ah, not good with words, he's jumping at every sound, clearly having his head fucked at war, and also this," Virginia punched through the door, revealing a dozen people encircling the shack, "Galaro is a cool dude, because he openly hates me and I always know where I stand with him. I can easily let him guard my back any day of the week."
"Fuck… you… invader." Galaro managed to say in a hoarse voice, while Virginia kicked a rifle to him.
"Love you too, hon. Lastly, Galaro is not fast enough to get a quick one on Aranea and run away. Someone really wanted us to frame him, ain’t it so, clever bastard." Virginia’s voice became icy cold, and she advanced at Thinner.
The fat man stopped crying and looked at her nervously. He glanced at Malfiro, opening his mouth to protest, and saw only death in the eyes of his former leader. The corner of his mouth twitched nervously: "Heh… How about my life for the reason I let the guests in…"
"Already can hazard a guess," Virginia said as she approached, "I was in Pearl once, well, in the Arena to be exact. Mommy Alpha made us learn the political structure of the place later. Lemme guess… Somelhaen and the Trade Union… They pay tribute to the Respectable People, which leaves onlyy...
"You are talking too much!" Thinner roared, and the cracked ground next to the dead guards exploded, unleashing something within.
Malfiro turned around in a blur, swinging his axe at the new foe. His blade slammed into the incoming claw the size of his body. The force behind the blow made him move backward a step while the scissor-like claw closed around his weapon.
The being before him stood on six legs, casting its shadow over him. Covered by crimson red exoskeleton plates that left barely any option for either blade of a bullet to strike at the flesh beneath it, its eyestalks looked directly at Malfiro’s face, gauging his size with human like intelligence. Its mouth, covered by twin mandibles, opened, sucking up air and tasting Malfiro’s sweat.
"No! No! No!" Virginia shouted, stepping backward, while Galaro aimed at the creature, "I hate seafood! Get this crab away from me!"
"Then you will be glad to know," A voice purred, and a lean, catlike form appeared from behind the claw that held up Malfiro’s axe. The figure slid across the claw, striking Malfiro behind his right shoulder and causing his entire right arm to go numb, "That Cresty and I are both humans," The figure shifted backwards at the end of the crab-like malformed, lying lazily and staring at the group with rectangular green pupils. Malfiro saw a pistol in the holster at the hip of this cat-like malformed, "Nightfall, nice to meet your acquaintance. Do kill the males, Cresty, I am growing ever eager to taste the female."
"Run," Malfiro yelled, grasping the handle of his axe with his left hand, attempting to push the malformed backward. The being refused to move, lifting another great claw instead, "Galaro, Virginia, please take the civilians and run. This is all my fault and…"
The crab’s body shook, causing Nightfall to hiss like a cat and jump on all fours, grabbing the upper edge with his arms and twitching his long tail. Virginia kicked the crab into one of her legs, snapping the upper leg in two, before making a full roundhouse kick at the claw that held Malfiro’s weapon. Virginia’s claws came against the exoskeleton of the malformed, and the exoskeleton endured the mighty hit, leaving just a few scratch marks on the bone.
"Then, you are on the menu, boys and girls," The wolfkin extended her arm to Malfiro, "Get you act together, moron. You made a mistake, own it and atone for it. As a hero would. Serve your people by living, not by death… And my by giving up the axe." She grabbed the axe, kicking Malfiro back to the hostages.
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"Do you know how to fight then, girl?" Nightfall stood in full size, smiling with a mouth filled with sharp, tiny fangs.
"Oh, I love fighting, mister," Virginia smiled back, showing her own fangs, "How about a choice? Prostrate yourself before me, and I will spare you. A few dozen years in prison and maybe you can even get out, who knows?"
"Ahhhhh…. Cresty, this one is a gem," Nightfall purred, leaning back and allowing drool to fall from a corner of his mouth. The crab moved her mandibles, producing a sound similar to a chuckle, "Get her. I want her. Hurry, hurry, hurry, Cresty, my blood is boiling!"
Cresty came upon Virginia, claws against the axe. The first hit of the axe left a crack upon the oversized weapon of killing, creating a thunderous sound in the air. Virginia jerked the weapon away as the crab circled her, moving to the side with incredible numbness and bringing the other claw at Virginia, forcing the wolf hag to use the weapon as a shield. The force behind Cresty’s thrust moved Virginia two steps back, making the wolfkin release the claws in her legs and leave long slashes against the concrete while she struggled against the push.
The malformed charged, and Malfiro managed to stand up. He faced them, his fists against theirs, while backing away to protect the civilians behind him. They retreated, step by step, toward the center of the two. Galaro was shooting the foes who tried to circle his leader, while Malfiro endured the foes before him. Cuts covered his body, his right arm barely worked, but he was intended to see the people coming to safety. Even at the price of his life if needed. Malfiro fought back against the berserker rage that demanded that he stop his careful approach.
Cresty crashed Virginia against the wall, leaving a dent in the metal. Virginia growled, pushing back the claw that held her in place, and Nightfall slid from the arm, coming close to the wolfkin and kicking her in the head: "So much for a fighter, eh? Here, let me give a helping hand," He reached out, touching the skin behind Virginia’s right shoulder blade, and quickly moved back, when the wolfkin tried to snap at him. Her arm went limp, and Cresty’s scissor like claw was about to close on her body. The wolfkin let go of the axe, sliding down and running from underneath the legs of the crab, rolling aside to gain distance, "Ups! Seems like I took a hand away," Nightfall laughed as he slapped his sides, "You know what it is, girl?"
"Yep, pressure point technique, my favorite stuff actually." Virginia laughed back, reaching with her left paw and pressing something around the right shoulder. Her right fist clenched for a moment, before relaxing.
"You… What?" Nightfall asked in surprise.
The malformed who attacked Malfiro fell with a round hole in his head. The Breathtaker looked back, angry that Galaro was wasting precious bullets to help him as more and more attackers started to fall, gunned down by the automatic fire coming from the center of the commune. The trader's guards stepped into the fight, clad in power armors; one of them nodded to Malfiro, opening fire on the enemies and assisting the civilians in fleeing.
Seeing this, Nightfall pointed at Virginia, and the wolfkin’s body shook. He smiled while she reached for her head, looking at the trembling paw for a moment before crashing face down on the ground. The wolf hag gave out a loud snore, making Nightfall’s leer even wider.
"You there," He snapped his fingers at the nearby malformed, "Beat her to an inch of her life, break her arms and legs, and get to my tent, pronto. Cresty, we have guests. Feel free to eat them, my precious."
****
"You know, I finally found out how Virginia always found time to look at me all night." Estefania said offhandedly to Mia while both women were preparing for sleep.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, they had a proper bed. With the war temporarily stopped, there was a lack of patients to look after, and the wolfkins could heal minor cuts and wounds quite fast on their own. Estefania hated being surrounded by the beings covered in scars, and with permission from Alpha herself, she forced all wolfkins in her care to show up to her in order to treat the wounds they received after domination. Soon, Mia and the others joined her in this idea.
"And?" Mia asked, putting the terminal away and yawning.
"She resists sleeping with her strong will."
"Is she having nightmares?" Mia frowned.
"It’s more complicated than this," Estefania started to explain, sitting on her bed, "See, Virginia sometimes reverts back to her animalistic side when the stress is big enough for her. All this walking on all fours, sniffing, mangling speech… all symptoms of this. She needs proper care, and… well, she can’t get it here. But when she met Annie, the two became friends. Until Virginia lost the grip on her consciousness and nearly killed her during their duel."
"I am not sure that I understand."
"Alpha drilled the way to fight into her soldiers. Use claws to open foes and so on.Due to Virginia’s condition, when she goes to sleep, she can’t feel pain. Even if an insectoid stabs her, she won’t wake up. To make matters worse, she frequently walks around in her sleep and is unable to communicate effectively with others, despite being semi-awake. And worse, she can fight in her sleep, which is when her animalistic side comes out in full. And that’s not all! You know how your body can sometimes summon an abnormal power when it is in mortal danger?"
"I read a case where a normal human lifted around 500 kilograms to save himself and another woman who were blown away by a hurricane to a distance of over 400 meters and received no fractures," Mia nodded, "But you can't summon this power with your will. Your brain won’t allow it."
"Well, Virginia can do it!" The medic clapped her hands nervously, "I only once spoke with her other "I" and let me tell you, it was freaky. Sure, she too tries to act nice and feels like shit about what she did to Annie, but…" The medic fell silent for a moment, "Virginia told me she needs help getting over it, so I decided to ask for the help of a professional. Velka gave me the phone number of a good specialist, Philip, from Iterna."
"Why in the world Velka have... Nevermind. And the results?"
"We just started. Virginia looked embraced, revealing everything, and I asked her forgiveness for my previous actions. I think that Virginia and I managed to work out our differences. Then she let out the other one. This parallel Virginia can speak, this much I can tell. And she wants to be locked away, hating herself for what she did to other Virginia’s only friend. Philip tried to convince her that this was not healthy and that they needed to collaborate."
****
Nightfall almost jumped out when the malformed who surrounded this Virginia girl were flung aside like trash. His eyes blinked nervously upon hearing the low growl. Virginia was standing up, holding the neck of a whining malformed between her jaws, her amber eyes madly rolling, not stopping at one object even for a second. The jaws closed, and the malformed neck disappeared under the pressure of mighty chompers.
"Crabby? Kitty?" Virginia’s eyes nervously stopped at Nightfall, making him feel uneasy, "I think you might underestimate the madness within me. Such a silly mistake to make. Ready to prostrate now?" Virginia's every word sounded like a growl, and Nightfall's ears twitched at the way she was mangled the speech.
"Early bird, eh? Cresty put her back asleep, this is getting silly."
The crab obeyed, turning around and circling Virginia on five legs. The right claw descended, and Virginia jumped, creating a small crater in the ground. Cresty’s body shook a bit when the wolfkin came in contact with a claw like a cannonball, smashing the exoskeleton at the joint. Cresty clanked her mandibles in pain, smashing away with her left claw and leaving a wide, torn wound around Virginia’s collarbone, sending the wolfkin into a building near the wall.
Nightfall let out a hiss, tapping at the exoskeleton. Cresty moved her mandibles again, and another leg came from the stump of her broken leg, along with a new claw growing up at a rapid pace.
"Hm," Nightfall smirked, "Cresty is a human, but she has some characteristics of a long-extinct crustacean. She is able to regrow lost limbs at a rapid pace," He allowed himself a leer. Cresty’s new limbs will have a weaker shell, but the girl doesn’t need to know about it, "Of course, this comes at a cost of hunger. Great hunger. I am afraid that you just lost your arms and legs, Cresty will undoubtedly feast on them, and I don’t have the heart to say no to my precious. So you see, you achieved nothing! You are bleeding and…"
"It’s no fun if I ain’t bleeding." Virginia replied, climbing out of the ruins, her eyes still fluttering.
Cresty moved, slamming both of her claws against nothing. Virginia disappeared, leaving an afterimage behind. Nightfall failed to even see her, but Cresty somehow tracked the wolfkin. The crab-shaped malformed turned around, slamming her claws into the ground, while the wolfkin raced around Cresty, laughing and howling at the same time.
"Enough of this!" Nightfall reached for his gun.
"Here, lemme show ya." Virginia said, grabbing the axe.
The malformed managed to take aim at her, before the wolfkin disappeared. He blinked, and she was standing next to him atop Cresty. The axe moved, slicing away his hand and allowing a searing pain to hit across his entire body. Nightfall howled and meowed from pain, falling off Cresty, while Virginia grabbed her axe with both arms, bringing it down with a force of thunder.
The shell cracked after the first hit, and Cresty’s belly slammed against the ground as her legs gave in. Virginia wasn’t finished, her paws reached into the crack, while Cresty’s eyestalks moved madly, she tried to lift her claws, hitting her mandibles in pain. Virginia grabbed something and Cresty desperately gave one last clank before Virginia pulled out the entire brain. The malformed’s body twitched one last time and went limp forever.
"You… You murdered my precious!" Nightfall cried out, rolling in his own blood. The damn bitch took away his entire right arm, all the way to the elbow! He quickly pressed several points on his arm, stopping the bleeding, and allowed his power to strike in full, "I will put you into an eternal catatonic state, you ugly beast! Say welcome to the sleep from which you will never wake up!"
His power reached Virginia, who was chewing on the meat of her defeated foe. Her body trembled again, and the wolfkin looked at her paw in surprise. She blinked once, looking like a person waking up from a night’s sleep.
"Aw. We switched again," Virginia said in a clear voice, "And she got me all dirty."
Why is nothing working? Nightfall thought in despair and horror.