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Kamen Rider Wild

CHAPTER 17

It was all her fault.

Everything that had led up to this moment; it was all her fault. She'd led everyone along. She didn't finish what she'd started. She didn't focus on what was most important to her. She thought she'd been ready; she thought that, when the time came, she'd be able to do what she needed to do. She'd been given so many chances, but every time, she couldn't bring herself to finish the job. Tonight had been different. Tonight, she'd committed herself to her cause, and she'd taken that final step.

Only to slay the person she hadn't been prepared to slay.

She'd never been prepared, and only now did she realize that no amount of waiting would have changed that. But she'd done it. She'd ended his life. His_life. His blood was on her hands, and hers _alone. And as Felicia dived through the air, her fangs bared and her claws ready to tear her head off of her shoulders, she Alpha couldn't help but think of how fitting of an end this was for her. Torn to pieces by the chimerical beast she'd helped create by pushing over the edge.

But something got in the way of her untimely demise. A powerful shockwave snapped her back to her senses and shook the ground. It was so strong that it punched a crater into the ground itself. It took Alpha a moment to realize that Omega was now standing between her and the raging beast. Groans of protest rang out from Omega's joints as he struggled against Felicia's strength. "'What...IS this?!'" he shouted, finding himself beginning to lose his footing to her.

Felicia bellowed out as she began to dig her claws into his gauntlets. Sharp cracks rang in their ears as the metal began to give way. Without warning, Felicia suddenly went from pushing to pulling. Omega lost his footing from the sudden change and was tossed aside like an insignificant obstacle. Nothing stood in her way as she dashed towards Alpha at blinding speeds. The human only barely managed to dive out of the way. She grabbed her blade on the way down and reached out for her second.

And froze.

Her eyes laid upon Dr. Kagami's body once more, her blade still embedded deep inside of him. A sickening feeling washed over her; unable to tear her eyes away. Another powerful shockwave knocked her back to her senses. She whirled around to once again see Omega struggling against the raging beast.

"'FOCUS, ALPHA!'" he shouted, putting all of his strength into holding Felicia back, "'What's DONE is DONE! There's no changing that!'" He was allowed to say no more as Felicia broke their deadlock and swung at Omega's face. The cyborg threw his arms up in guard and was met with a tremendous amount of force. As he skid back from the sheer kinetic energy, he saw a sight that filled him with dread. Felicia's claws had left visible damage on his gauntlets; deep, unsightly gashes.

Both he and Alpha warily backed away from the enraged beast upon seeing this. All the while, Felicia kept her eyes locked onto Alpha, flexing her claws in anticipation. "We're out of androids here," Omega spoke softly to his fellow human, "It's just the two of us. As long as we work together, we should be able to finally bring an end to this madness." But Alpha wasn't listening. Her gaze had wandered back to the lifeless body lying motionless at the edge of the forest.

"'INCOMING!'" His shout snapped her back into reality again. She quickly raised her blade as Felicia raced towards the both of them with reckless abandon. She was upon Alpha in the blink of an eye. The next few seconds of the human's life were filled with absolute terror. Felicia's strikes were brutal and unyielding. It took every ounce of strength Alpha had to block and parry her with her blade. There was no opportunity to retaliate, no time to counter, and no room for error.

Alpha parried another strike, and suddenly Felicia lunged forward and opened her jaws wide. Her elongated neck allowed her to slip past Alpha's guard, but before she could chomp her face off, something grabbed onto her tail. She threw her head back to see Omega tugging her back with all of his might. This gave Alpha the time she needed to make a hasty retreat. Another enraged roar boomed in the humans' ears before Felicia thrashed her tail around. Omega struggled to keep his footing, and the loose gravel wasn't making that any easier.

The red and blue lines of her armor pulsated angrily as Felicia screamed her lungs out. She threw her arms back before balling up her fists and plowing them into the ground. A shockwave blasted through the area and kicked up huge amounts of gravel from even the cliffs in the distance. The blast was strong enough to knock Omega off of his feet, granting her the leverage she needed to whiplash her tail and fling the pesky cyborg off of her.

As he bounced off the ground, Felicia whirled around and barreled towards him. Her head and tail slithered like a shark racing through the water to close in on its prey. Before she could pounce, an electric sensation washed over her side. Catching the sounds of stomping feet, Felicia whirled around and swatted Alpha's blade out of her hands with her tail. The human reached out to recall it, but Felicia was faster. A powerful gust of wind swept over Alpha dove just beneath her arm and reached out again. Her blade zipped back into her hand in time for her to parry Felicia's second swing.

The beast's head jerked suddenly from another electrical sensation. Alpha didn't even have time to react before Felicia's tail slammed full force against her shoulder. As the human went down, the chimerical beast went up. She used her tail as a spring to fling herself into the air. Omega's fists were still clasped over his head as Felicia slammed into him and grabbed his face in her claws. A large crater was blown into the ground once the two of them came crashing down. Felicia coughed out again and again as Omega plowed his gauntlets into her stomach in a desperate attempt to free himself.

"OMEGA!" Alpha hastily picked herself off the ground and collected her blade. She reached back to hurl it at Felicia's back, only to freeze in place. The overwhelming sense of guilt that followed nearly made her drop her weapon altogether. She was brought back to reality as a sharp crack cut through the air. She snapped her head up fearing the worst, only to see Felicia stumbling backwards and clutching her snout as Omega drew his arm back and shot back up to his feet. He kept up the offensive and rushed Felicia with a flurry of punches. The air cracked with each blow he landed. The ground shook with every impact. The sight of Felicia being forced into the back foot gave him the energy he needed to go all out on her.

"'ALPHA! NOW'S OUR CHANCE!'" Omega's shout jolted her into action. She gripped her blade tightly in both hands and charged forward. An electrical sensation running up her side warned Felicia of her incoming attacker. Now her blood was boiling. She suddenly reached out and caught one of Omega's fists in her claws. Then as Alpha closed in and swung at her, Felicia flung herself upward with Omega's arm and spun in the air, once again striking Alpha with her tail. The rabid beast landed on all fours and charged, only for Omega to grapple her around her waist.

The two of them struggled to overpower each other, their feet constantly sliding and digging into the gravel as they fought for better leverage over the other. Felicia's claws tore at Omega's back and struck fear into him each time he felt them begin to dig into his supposedly sturdy armor. "'ALPHA!!! NOW!!!'" Alpha picked herself up again and readied her blade to throw. But every time she tried, she was reminded of what that had led to.

It was never supposed to happen this way. He hadn't been her target. She wasn't supposed to kill him yet. This was all a mistake, a terrible error! She suddenly collapsed to her knees and clutched her chest. She trembled violently and gasped for air. Was this the pain she had brought upon Felicia? Was this the pain that she would inevitably bring to all the other living beings on this Earth? Was this the pain her people would have to endure upon learning that their salvation was one brought about by blood?

"ALPHA!!!" Omega's scream was wrought with fear. When she looked up again, Felicia was looming over her with her claws spread out and her jaws gaping wide open. They snapped shut right in front of her face, unable to get any closer as Omega grabbed onto her tail once more. "NEXUS!" he screamed again, this time out of desperation, "'DISABLE MY LIMITERS!'"

"'But sir--'"

"' DO IT!'"

"'Understood,'" the AI replied, "'Initiating Overdrive Protocol.'" Immediately, Omega felt a surge of energy rush through his wiring. The glowing blue lines of his body began to brighten until they were glowing a hot red. He roared out as he took a step back and draaaaaaaaaaged Felicia back, eliciting a surprised yelp from the beast. Steam rose from his body as he took step after step, singing the gravel beneath his feet. Then, with a mighty roar, Omega whirled around and flung Felicia across the ground. She flew all the way back to the lip of the forest and landed in a heap.

Omega glanced back at Alpha, who could only stare back at him blankly. With a sigh, he shook his head and said, "'Stay here. I'll end this for the both of us.'" Felicia's enraged roar was his cue to leave. Thus, he barreled towards Felicia and left Alpha to her own devices. As she sat there and watched her lover rush off into battle, her eyes once again drifted over to Dr. Kagami. Without even realizing it, she reached her hand out towards him. She could not take her eyes off of him as she muttered under her breath the words he would never again hear, "...I'm sorry...I'm sorry...I'm sorry..."

***

The air itself cracked from Omega's shoulder slamming into Felicia's gut. She snarled and slashed at him as he forced her all the way back into the forest. Trees were thrown into the air as they barreled their way through with little regards to their surroundings. Omega's furious charge was finally brought to an end when Felicia joined her fists together and slammed them down into his back. He slammed face first into the ground, only to be yanked right back up by his head.

That's when she grabbed him by the face and slammed him back down with an earth-tremoring impact. She let out a resounding roar before running him through the ground and obliterating any tree that was unfortunate enough to be standing in her way. Omega put a stop to her rampage by slamming his elbows into the ground as hard as he could. The impact stopped her long enough for him to plow his fist into the side of her face.

Stars flew in her eyes as she staggered backwards. As soon as he was back on his feet, Omega rushed her with everything he had. Left, right, left, right. His fists came one after the other, his arms firing off like pistons. He assaulted her from every angle he could manage and hit her with full force each and every time. "'Humanity's salvation is almost within reach!'" he shouted at her at the top of his lungs, "'I've sacrificed SO MUCH to get to where we are now! My body! My blood! My very SOUL! All of it for the survival of my race! All so that I can have a FAMILY AGAIN!!!'"

His assault came to an abrupt halt when Felicia caught one of his fists. Immediately after, her claws clamped around his throat. Omega wasted no time in jamming his knee right into her gut. He was released not long after and continued beating her into submission. "'And with the end in sight, I'm willing to sacrifice even more! It's time to lay your kind to rest! You've put up a good fight, but this has gone on for long enough!'" Felicia was blown back several steps from a devastating right hook. The ground shook as Omega leapt into the air and joined his fists over his head. "'Now join your loved ones and return your life to the EARTH!'"

A tremor powerful enough to pass for an earthquake shook the land as Omega brought his fists down upon Felicia. A huge crater formed beneath their feet as the shockwave passed through her and into the ground. Though she'd been forced onto her knees, the arms she'd crossed in front of her to block the blow still had the strength to push back against his crushing force. "...gamiiii......" She was so quiet that he almost missed her letting out such a noise. Her shoulders heaved as she gasped again, "...aulaaaaaa...ennyyyyyy..." Omega's joints groaned in protest as Felicia forced her way back up to her feet. "...phaaaa....Alphaaaaaa......ALPH AAAAAAA!!!" He flew backwards as a tremendous amount of forced was unleashed upon him. As he recovered, Felicia threw her head up towards the sky and let out a howling roar. But this one was different. It sounded...anguished. Sad even. It was almost as if she was howling in pain.

In the next instant, she rocketed forward and swung her claws at Omega's head. The cyborg blocked with his arm and leaned in to deliver a forward jab right into her snout. But just as he drew back, Felicia grabbed the offending fist and leapt up to deliver a jump kick in return. He was blasted off of his feet and took down several trees along the way. He only stopped after slamming against the side of a mountain. Before he could climb out, Felicia landed on top of him and started clawing away at him. Sparks danced off of his gauntlets with every strike they absorbed for him.

"'SIR!'" NexUs' voice came along with alarms blaring in his ears, "'You're approaching critical levels of--'"

"'Don't tell me, I know!'" he cried out before driving his foot into Felicia's gut to knock her off. The rock and dirt hissed beneath his heated fingers as he clawed his way out of the crater his body had made. "'I'll make this quick!'" The red lines on his suit grew white hot as he ran after the enraged beast at top speed. By the time she was back up, Omega's fist was rocketing towards the side of her face.

But it was Omega who took another blow, one by Felicia's tail. The powerful appendage swung right into his side and swatted him out of the air. He slammed into the ground before careening off the side of a cliff. Felicia raced after him and pounced, throwing the both of them into a mad frenzy. They continued to try and beat each other senseless even as they tumbled down the cliff. Right before it could end, Felicia coiled her tail around his ankle and swung him like a giant hammer.

The force of the impact shook the ground hard enough to crack it. Yet it didn't stop there. Once Felicia was back on her feet, she whirled around and swung him against the face of the cliff they'd just fallen down. The sharp pains that riddled Omega's body from the impact were only further compounded by the amount of warnings that flooded his UI immediately after. Before he could be swung again, he tore out a huge slab of rock from the cliff and hurled it straight at Felicia.

She caught it in her claws and ripped the entire thing in half. That's when Omega closed in and threw an uppercut directly into the bottom of her chin. His other fist slammed against her chest plate just as her head snapped back from the first blow. A rallying battle-cry erupted from his throat before he slammed his fists together and blasted forward with enough force to punch a crater into the ground where he'd been standing. The air _cracked_in the next moment. Omega's fist had once again been planted into the side of Felicia's face, producing enough stars in her eyes to show her the entire galaxy.

A pained cry rang out from her as the human slammed his foot atop her own. Now unable to stagger backwards, Omega went at her as hard as he could. He threw punch after punch, hooks, jabs, uppercuts, everything his body was capable of throwing at her, he threw with the speed and ferocity of a raging typhoon. Felicia shielded herself with her arms, but the man was relentless. His fists plowed into every area she left exposed. Her legs, her sides, and her face especially all received a beating like no other.

Her tail coiled around his ankle again and yanked his foot off of her own. But as he lost balance, he threw the hardest right hook he could muster. It plowed against her gauntleted arms with enough force to rattle her bones and break her guard. Omega then lunged forward and threw an uppercut at her exposed head. He was the one to take the blow instead. Felicia's powerful tail lashed against his arm and threw him off course. Then as he staggered, the enraged beast pounced upon him, grabbed his arm in both claws and sunk her fangs deep into the heavily armored limb.

A guttural scream of pain erupted from his throat as her jaws crunched the once heavily reinforced gauntlet like clay. His UI lit aflame with alerts, telling him in further detail what his pain was already screaming at him. Her claws were digging deep into his elbow joints. Dangerous levels of heat were radiating off of every inch of his metal body. He could even hear mechanical components inside of his body begin to fail on him. "'SIR!'" screamed NexUs, "'YOU ARE SECONDS FROM CRITICAL FAILURE! OVERDRIVE IS ABOUT TO EXPIRE!'"

"'I KNOW!'" he screamed back, beating his good fist against her snout again and again. He was soon released, but only after Felicia took his arm with her. Another scream of agony left his throat before the pain was rapidly numbed. The beast staggered back clutching her face in her claws, dropping the torn off limb. Omega's shoulders heaved as he watched her, his remaining hand trembling. "'...NexUs...'" he gasped, "'...tell my wife I love her.'"

The AI didn't respond at first. "'...Sir?'"

With alarms blaring in his ears and what little flesh he had left beginning to burn from within his mechanical suit, Omega screamed at the top of his lungs, "'FOR HUMANITY!!!'" He then charged Felicia and threw every ounce of strength he had into his fist at her. A shockwave powerful enough to sweep the entire area blasted outwards as his fist slammed into Felicia, cracking her armor and drawing out a cry of pain from her. Rather than let his fist just ricochet off of her, Omega put even more force into it and ran his way through. The ground beneath Felicia's heels was dug up as he barreled forward like an out-of-control freight train.

Malfunctioning components exploded off of his body and smoke billowed out of every open crevice he had. But he didn't care, not anymore. All he cared about now was saving the only family he had left. Rocks exploded everywhere as Felicia was rammed against and_into_ the side of the mountain. The light of the moon was swiftly swallowed by the growing darkness enveloping them. Their only source of light came from the lines of their suits, with Omega's becoming dimmer and dimmer with each passing moment.

He cried out in pain as a component in one of his legs exploded. "'JUST...A LITTLE...LONGER!'" he screamed, trying desperately to keep at it. But as the lights of his suit began to die out, and his UI began to fade, so too did his strength. His speed soon followed, and eventually the two of them came to a stop. For a moment, the world around Omega was still. Then a set of glowing eyes flared to life.

NUCLEIC BOND BREAK!!!

In the next instant, a tremendous amount of force was delivered right into his chest. He flew out of the tunnel he'd punched into the mountain and was lifted high into the air by what appeared to be giant strands of red and blue DNA. Then, with a bloodthirsty roar, Felicia rocketed out of the tunnel feet first in a savage double kick, cleaving the spiraling strands apart. Omega could only watch as she raced towards him like a feral freight train.

"'OMEGAAAAAAAA!'"

When her feet connected, all of Omega's senses lagged at once. The sheer amount of force that was delivered directly into his chest was enough to lag his entire nervous system. By the time his vision returned, broken scraps of his armor were strewn across the ground, and Felicia was on her knees a fair distance away from him. He watched her gaze slowly lift as she rose from her kneel, locking her gaze on him with a hungry glint in her eyes. Omega tried to move, but every ounce of strength had left his body, making every limb feel as heavy as lead. Thus, he was forced to stare as Felicia roared out and charged straight ahead, ready to rip him apart piece by piece.

"FELICIA BAAGH!" a voice boomed from afar. The shout stopped Felicia in her tracks as the sense of familiarity brought clarity to her state of blind rage. Sure enough, stepping over an unrooted tree and standing at the opposite end of the clearing was Alpha, with both of her hands tightly gripped around the handle of her blade. Had his vision not been so blurred, Omega would have seen how much they were trembling around the weapon. She adjusted her grip and pointed it at Felicia. "He is not the one you're after. I am. So if you're going to go after anyone, then let it be ME."

The chimerical beast let out a snarl. Her tail lashed against the ground as she began to stalk towards the other human, the first being left completely forgotten about. "'Alpha, NO!'" Omega tried his damnedest to move, but the only parts of his body that would respond were the ones still made of flesh. With every step forward Felicia took, feelings of sorrow swelled up in her chest. Flashes of memories raced through her mind, each capturing moments of her life she'd spent with the furs that were no longer with her.

They were moments of happiness, of vulnerability, and of comfort. She longed for those feelings, and for the furs that had brought those feelings to her. Dr. Kagami, Paula, and even Penny. She so desperately wanted to see them again; she wanted to experience more of those moments with them. But that was no longer possible. Now they were all reduced to nothing but images in her mind.

There was no going back, no escaping into such a blissful reality, no safe havens for her to slip into. Now their images only served as a reminder that they were gone for good. Eternal reminders that they'd been taken from her. Their lives taken by her. They were gone because of her. They weren't coming back because of_her_. They were dead because of Her. It was Her. _Her! HER! HER! _

" ALPHAAAAAAAAAAA!!!" Felicia's ear-splitting scream reached out to the heavens above. The lines on her suit surged once again and trailed down her legs before she raced towards Alpha at top speed. The human only had seconds to react. She raised her blade in time to parry one of Felicia's ferocious swings. She ducked under her second and leapt forward, only barely clearing Felicia's tail as it swung around to strike. Alpha rolled back onto her feet and whirled around to swing at the beast's head. But the blade was back-handed out of her grasp by Felicia's fist, which was plowed against her shoulder immediately after.

The human flew across the ground for a considerable distance before she recovered, with Felicia not far behind her. She scrambled out of the way of her savage charge and made a break for her blade. The chimerical beast's pinpoint turn threw her back in the right direction, and she swiftly caught up to Alpha. The human just barely turned off to the side in time to avoid having her head torn off by Felicia's claws. Instead, she crashed into her and sent the two of them sprawling.

In the midst of her roll, Alpha caught glimpses of Felicia recovering far sooner than her. Her heart raced as she fought to stop her momentum, but Felicia was too fast. She let out a thundering roar as she spread her claws and closed in on her still sprawling prey. Just as she pounced and opened her jaws wide, Alpha's blade flew back into her outstretched hand and was slashed against the top of her snout. As one fell, the other rose. Felicia slammed into the ground chin first as Alpha twirled in the air and landed gracefully on her feet. Both maintained their forward momentum, and Alpha used hers to rush back into the forest. Seeing this filled Felicia with rage, and she slammed her fists into the ground to fling herself back upright. Her savage roar echoed through the air as she gave chase.

Alpha ran as fast as her legs would carry her. Every time her feet touched the ground, she felt it shake from Felicia's furious stomps. For every tree the human slammed into and weaved around, two more were completely run over by her pursuer. "BACK!" came Felicia's guttural roar, "BACK NOW!" A tree was blown forward and landed directly in Alpha's path. She hastily leapt over it, only for her foot to catch against one of its branches. As she fell to the ground, Felicia slammed her tail into the ground to leap high into the air. " GIVE HIM BACK NOW!!!"

Alpha flipped out of the way before the enraged beast slammed her feet into the ground, kicking a huge crater into it and blowing the human backwards with a powerful shockwave. Error messages flooded her UI as the back of her head slammed against a tree. In her dazed state, she shouted, "He's gone, Felicia! I'm-I'm sorry!" When the messages cleared, Felicia was standing over her with her arms spread wide. Alpha's heart skipped ten beats as she ducked beneath a ferocious swing. The tree she slammed into was severed from its roots and toppled over.

Still beneath Felicia, Alpha lunged forward and slashed her blade against Felicia's stomach. Sparks danced across the forest floor, but no cry of pain came. Instead, a firm grip wrapped around her throat and hoisted her off of her feet. Felicia's armored face filled her vision soon after. "It's ALL! YOUR! FAULT!!!" Her vision was then filled with tree branches and dirt as she hurtled through the air. Her untimely flight was brought to an abrupt end as her shoulder crashed against a tree at the wrong angle, sending her face first into the forest floor. She had to pry herself out of it before she could start running again.

"I KNOW! And you're right to hate me for it! But please LISTEN!" She leapt off one of the fallen trees before it was smashed to bits by Felicia's fists. "We can talk things out! He wouldn't want us to fight anymore! Isn't that what you want too?!" Alpha's heart sank as she saw Felicia rip an entire chunk of land out of the ground.

"I WANT YOUR HEAD!!!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. The huge rock was then hurled at Alpha with a guttural roar. The human threw herself upwards and ran across its top, but before she could leap off of it, Felicia shot forward like a bullet and rammed her shoulder into her stomach. Alpha was sent sailing through the air alongside the torn-out chunk of land, with her adversary in hot pursuit.

When her senses returned, Alpha hastily plunged her blade into the rock and yanked her feet away before Felicia's jaws could chomp them off. She planted her feet on either side of the blade before prying it free, just in time to parry Felicia's claws. The beast came at her again and again, slamming her tail against the ground to lift her high enough to strike. Alpha could do nothing but defend with her feet planted on the land chunk as it continued to sail through the air.

At least until the rock exploded against the side of a hill and sent the human back into the air. Felicia launched herself into the air, bashing aside the rocky chinks in her way before grabbing onto the human. The two of them kicked and struggled with each other until they crashed back down onto the ground, where they were unceremoniously split up. Felicia changed that immediately by closing the distance between them just as Alpha brought her blade back up. Sparks danced off of the weapon's metal as claws raked across its surface.

"Felicia, I can make it up to you, I promise! You just have to give me a chance!" Alpha's desperate pleas went unheard amongst the harsh clangs of metal against metal. Her grip threatened to give out with each blow she blocked, her balance threatened to give way with each slip and scrape her feet made across the dirt, and her joints threatened to give in as they were worked to their very limits in the face of Felicia's ferocious strength.

"PAULAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!" she howled out to the heavens themselves, "KAGAMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!! JUST GIVE THEM BAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!!!"

Hearing this, the pain, anguish and sorrow that was spilling from Felicia's voice, stabbed Alpha deeper than any wound could ever stab. It was just for a moment, but it was the only moment that mattered. In that instant, Alpha's grip on her blade faltered, and the weapon was struck right out of her hands. In the next, Felicia's tail slammed into her chest and knocked her clean off of her feet. The beast was upon her before she even hit the ground.

Pure, primal terror flooded Alpha's mind. She kicked and screamed with all of her might, but Felicia overpowered her and pinned one of her arms above her head. She thrashed and writhed as hard as she could, keeping her other arm away from reach. She tried using it to recall her blade, but the weapon was embedded too deep in the ground to be so easily pulled away. Felicia was panting heavily now, making her growls deeper and feral. She bashed her elbow against Alpha's forehead, stunning her long enough to grab her other arm and pin it over her head as well. This triggered an inner mechanism which sent shockwaves of electricity through the beast. As she violently spasmed, Alpha pried herself free and made a run for her sword.

NUCLEIC BOND BREAK!!!

Just as she reached out to grab it, her arms and torso were suddenly bound together by red and blue DNA strands. She thrashed around in an effort to free herself, but all she managed to do was turn around. When she did, her heart almost stopped upon seeing the strands led right back to Felicia. Her head hung low, and her shoulders were heaving with each feral gasp she was taking. Slowly, she reached out and grabbed the DNA bases directly in front of her. Alpha's heart dropped as she watched her raise her other set of claws and flex them. "F...Felicia...please..."

Her pleas went unheard.

With a savage roar to the heavens, Felicia threw herself forward and tore the strands apart with her claws. Alpha thrashed and writhed with every ounce of strength she had left, all to no avail. Explosive power erupted out of Felicia's claws as they drew closer and closer. She had seconds left, but no options. Three seconds, two seconds, ONE SECOND!

And in the split second that took place just before the distance was closed between them, a single moment in Alpha's life played over again and again in her mind. A single decision, a single action, a single throw.

A deep pain filled her body as Felicia's claws dug deep into her chest armor. Time slowed to a crawl as Alpha stared into the enraged beast's eyes. Even through the mask, she could see it; the raw, pure hatred coming through them. At this point, Alpha couldn't even find it in herself to scream. She just stared into the eyes the very monster she had created and waited for vengeance to be finally brought upon her.

And as she waited, she realized that time hadn't slowed to a sluggish crawl. Felicia was panting heavily, and her claws remained completely static. Cracking reached the human's ears, and she wondered if it was from herself. But a web of cracks spread up Felicia's arm and wrapped all the way around her armored form before the entire thing began to crumble away. Felicia's fingers slipped out of the crevices she'd stabbed into Alpha's chest armor, and the girl collapsed onto the ground. As the last of her armor crumbled away, Alpha saw the hybrid beast she'd become.

But in her hazy-minded state, she didn't focus on that. She focused more on the vacant look in Felicia's eyes, and the way she panted so heavily. It took her a moment to realize that she was not only exhausted, but also terribly dehydrated. Soft growls continued to resonate from the mutated fur's throat before her eyes drifted closed, and she passed out then and there.

With her bonds freed, Alpha's arms dropped down to her sides. The rest of her soon followed, and she collapsed to her hands and knees. A whirlwind of emotions began to brew deep within her as she stared at the unconscious fur. She lifted a hand to the openings left in her chest, grazing her fingers across each of them. And when she fit them perfectly, she realized she was using the same hand she'd used to end Dr. Kagami's life.

A horrible, blood curdling scream erupted from the human, one that reached for the heavens as well.