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A Little Less Conversation...

"Well, you can't just jump up and go fight someone, you need more info." I was saying as I paced back and forth in the clearing. "I need to find out where he is, what he's doing, and what he can do. You're such amateurs, when was the last time you fought an epic battle?"

Lethias growled under his breath, small plumes of smoke rising from his nostrils. "You haven't fought an epic battle either, so stop acting superior."

"I know how it's done, just shut up and listen."

Fwoosh!

In a fit of intense rage, Lethias hurled a ball of fire at me, which I dismissively negated with my own powers. He was huffing and breathing heavily as he growled at me. He threw up his claws in frustration. "Fuck!"

I shrugged my shoulders and got back to the others, who weren't flipping out at me.

"You know, you shouldn't be so patronizing." Ember scorned as she glared at me. "Seriously, do you really have any more knowledge than he does?"

I scratched my head and looked down at her. "What's it matter? If he wants to be a whiner about it, he can stay here."

"So, you decide who does what now?" Frost accused. "You're not our boss, seriously."

"Do what you want, fox, I'll go do what I want too. Either you're with me or against me." I hissed as I fluffed out my chest in a display of dominance.

Everyone stopped for a moment to stare at me. Everyone had a look of confusion on their face. "What?" I asked accusingly.

Ember took a step forward and looked me in the eyes. "That doesn't sound like you. Since when do you talk in absolutes? Didn't you used to give a certain friend of yours a hard time about that?"

"Dude, you should be the last one to be giving out orders and talking like that. What the fuck's wrong with you?" Welnis scoffed. "Fuck this, I'm gonna get the fuck out of here, I'm not having some fucking bird tell me what to do." And with that he walked away, into the trees. Ether wasn't far behind.

Fine, let them go. They'd probably just be in the way anyway. I thought to myself. But upon further reflection, I realized Ember was right. What the fuck was wrong with me? Since when do I boss people around? Sure, I'm cocky and arrogant, but I've never been like that before.

It must have been a side effect of the transformation. I noticed I was more calm and placid when I was Runa, maybe this change also had a drastic effect on my emotions. I know Ceylon was a little angrier than anyone else, but I didn't know that he was this offensive.

I didn't want to bruise my ego or admit fault, so I let Ether and Welnis leave, but I did lean in to talk to Kayden, Ember, and Frost. Lethias was still pacing, trying to hold in his anger as he gave me brief glances.

"Look, guys, sorry about that, I didn't know what came over me. I'm gonna try control this body a bit more. So, does anyone have any suggestions?"

"You're the psychic, you tell us." Frost pointed out dully.

I nodded in acceptance. "Good point. Give me a second, I'm gonna see what I can do to find out where he is, for a start."

"That's a good start." Kayden said sarcastically. I just glared at him as if to say, shut up.

I sat back on my haunches and took in a deep breath as I closed my eyes and concentrated on the image of the black wolf in the news footage. I thought about what I wanted to know, and an image seemed to pop up of the wolf in question.

I saw him fly away after the attack in California, I saw him hide in sewers, I saw him shoot the warning video. After that, I could see him zipping at top speed all over the country, and finally settle down in an old abandoned farm house...somewhere in Kansas.

Fuck, he flew a long way. Bastard. I bet the authorities are still looking in California.

"Okay guys, he's in Kansas somewhere. Once we get closer, I'll be able to pinpoint him." I informed everyone.

"Okay, at least that's something....what about doing anything about him? You want to be some big hero, but he can level half a city without even trying, I think that's a lot of power to defeat him with." Frost pointed out.

"Good point, I'll see what I can do to scan his abilities." I closed my eyes again and tried to get a read on what kinds of abilities he had...but I was coming up with nothing. I couldn't read his mind, I guess he was too far away or something. Maybe he had a mental blocker, maybe he WAS more powerful than I was.

I laughed to myself a little, causing the others to look at me curiously. I just dismissed them.

"Well, we gotta try, who's going?" I asked. "I know I am. Kayden, I assume you're going, but I don't think you can fly, so get on my back."

He clenched his fists tight in excitement and hopped on. "Come on, let's go!" he said enthusiastically. "Less talk, more ass-kicky!"

"We're getting to that." I told him, then turned to Lethias. "How about you? You coming?"

He crossed his arms over his chest and huffed once. "Fine, but don't tell me what to do, you understand me?"

I nodded in acknowledgement. "Deal." I turned to Ember and Frost. "Okay, we lost Cole for some reason, and I'm not going to go searching for his ass. After all, he wouldn't be much help, he doesn't have any superpowers. Neither do you two, you alright with staying here?"

"Sure." Frost agreed as he shrugged. "You go play superhero, I'm gonna go back to London and see what I can get back of my life." He turned and went down the same path that Ether and Welnis took.

"Why do I have to stay here?" Ember protested as Frost walked away. "I can fight too!"

I gave her a good long look.

"What?" she whined.

"Show me what you can do. Shoot a fireball, lift a ten tonne rock or something." I egged her on.

"I can't do anything like that, but I can still fight!"

"Not this guy you can't."

She growled and bared her teeth at me as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Fine, I'll fuckin stay here and worry about you while you go fight some super-powered terrorist bent on the destruction of the human race. It's good to know you have faith in me." She huffed and walked away after Frost.

"Tell Strype and Cooper where we went!" I called to her, then turned to Lethias, Kayden still on my back. "You ready to go? You gonna be able to kick some ass?"

He nodded. "You know it, let's get to it!" then he dug his heels into me as if riding a horse.

I glared at him for a moment, giving him the impression that I wasn't pleased, then I crouched down and leapt to the air, flapping my powerful wings as hard as I could. I had to get every ounce of speed I could if I wanted to get to Kansas in any reasonable time.

"This is gonna be so cool!" Kayden gushed as he was doing all the hand movements of a director. "It's like an epic battle, good vs evil. Damn, this is gonna be a lot of fun!"

I just laughed. "Don't get so far ahead of yourself. This isn't like , you can really die." I warned.

"I know, I'm not an idiot." He growled. "I'm just saying, it's nice to be able to actually DO something rather than just write about it."

"Better put that good creative mind to use." Lethias advised. "I'm sure you'll need to use it to think of all sorts of crazy spells."

I'm not going to lie, I really don't want to write out every last detail of the trip. It was a long trip, and it was particularly uneventful. About an hour after flapping as hard as I could, I realized I could use telekinesis to fly instead. It was kind of mundane to have the wings, but I guess it was just a character flaw, I don't know.

The trip essentially consisted of us talking to each other about what we could do, and what our strengths were.

Kayden had lots of pretty cool powers that I didn't know about and he never talked about. He was a psychic, but only at close ranges; he had control over temperatures, like me; he was an alchemist, like Ed Elric from Fullmetal Alchemist; and he was like Sandman, in that he could turn his body into sand for many very creative purposes.

A rather eccentric list of powers, but it seemed like it would be effective. It also helped that he had super strength, super speed, and heightened senses, just like any other fur, but better.

Lethias was equally impressive. He could manipulate different forms of energy (he didn't elaborate) and he can create solid objects made of pure energy. I knew the science shouldn't work, but given the things I'd seen since turning, I'm sure it would work.

After all, the amount of energy needed to make a small bit of matter would be equivalent to an atomic bomb.

I wasn't going to complain as long as it worked.

I, on the other hand, didn't even know the limits of what I could and couldn't do. I know I made Ceylon to be incredibly powerful, he was one of the tetrad of Gods in the story he came from, which means he held immense powers.

The only problem was that I hadn't practised what I could and couldn't do, so I had no idea what my upper limit of strength is. I knew that in a fight, I would have to hold back, to be sure I don't put a crater the size of Houston in the middle of Kansas.

When we finally crossed into Kansas, I slowed down to try and get a better reading on the location of the Wolf.

I didn't immediately know where he was, but I knew what direction to go, so I kept flying after slightly altering my course.

"We're almost there." I informed Lethias and Kayden.

"Awesome." Kayden replied.

Lethias didn't say a word. I think he was a little nervous. I would be too if I was his size and power. Then again, maybe that was just my cockiness starting to show.

I was scanning the countryside below me as the trees and roads whizzed past, watching for an image that looked like what I saw in my vision. After a short while, I saw what I thought was the barn we were looking for.

It was away from any roads or constructs, a nice little barn that had to be three stories tall. It looked old, but well kept, an overall cozy little place.

Except the countless piles of dead animals heaped around the outside of it.

"What the hell is that?" Kayden yelled.

"Seriously, what the fuck?" Lethias cried. "What are those? Animals?"

I took another glance at the heaps of bloody flesh and fur and shook my head. "No, those are the bodies of all the other furs that got here first."

They took a moment to let that sink in before saying anything.

"We should have gotten Strype and Cooper. This isn't right." Lethias said in a worried tone.

"Nonsense." I scoffed. "These were all weaklings. Pyrokinesis, super speed, and everyday furs. People like Frost and Ember, capable, but not super. We'll be fine."

"Fine? This is a goddamn slaughterhouse!" Lethias cried. "I'm not a God like you seem to think you are Runa. I really don't want to die just because you got cocky!"

"It'll be fun!" Kayden exclaimed. "Don't be such a sissy. I can tell we'll be fine, he doesn't have strong powers like us. I'll meet you down there!" he said as he leaned over and fell off my back and dove his way to the ground.

"That brother of yours is kinda strange." Lethias Commented. "Not too smart, but strange."

"He's smarter than he looks. Promise. As for that Wolf, I can feel him, he's definitely in there, but I can't read him any better than that. I don't even know what abilities he has."

"Dude, he's blocking you out, can you be sure you're not going to be overpowered?"

I just rolled my eyes. He was so cautious. I know he was trying to be smart, but still, it was irritating. "I doubt it, just a feeling, let's go!" I tilted forward and fell to the ground in a dive, quickly catching up with my brother, who was free-falling still.

All three of us landed daintily on the ground beside the barn. None of us were hurt.

Just as we landed and got ourselves situated in front of the barn, the front gate opened, and out walked the Wolf we were here to confront. He didn't run, nor was he shocked. He just stared at us, as if waiting for us to make the next move.

He was surprisingly large, far larger in person than he looked on film. He stood at least eight and a half feet tall, and was built like a linebacker.

"More visitors." He said with a grin. "What is your business here?"

I motioned Kayden and Lethias to stay back for a moment as I stepped forward and nodded slightly. "My name is Ceylon. What is your name?"

He smiled and extended a paw. "I am Echron Balemof. Pleasure to meet you." He said in his most polite and formal voice. "Are you here to help cleanse this world?"

I looked to Kayden, then to Lethias, who were wondering what the hell I was doing. It'll be fine. I broadcast to them telepathically. Just let me do my thing first.

I sat back on my haunches and looked at him. He and I were eye to eye, both the same height. Me in feral form and him in Anthro form, both of us about eight feet tall. "Actually, I just came to talk to you about that."

He cocked his head to the side. "What do you mean?" he asked curiously.

I took in a deep breath looked him straight in the eye. "Well, as much as I agree with you, the humans are scum, I'm not sure if killing them and destroying everything is the way to make them change. All that does is make them want to kill you."

He shrugged his shoulders and waited a moment, as though he was waiting for me to say more. "...So? What's your point? What are they going to do to stop me? Shoot me and point their pitiful tazers at me? People need to be taught a lesson, simple as that, and I'm sure you and these two here both know, peaceful protest and talking never solved anything."

"So why fight? Look at you, with all this power, you don't HAVE to abide by their rules, you don't have to do what you're told, you have insurmountable power, why use it to kill and maim when you could be doing better things. Killing just leads to more killing."

"Well, Ceylon, if you don't want to fight with me against the humans, and you're just here to try to give me a pep talk, then you're wasting your time. I have power, I plan on using it. I'm not going to pussyfoot around things like....like a pitiful human. I'm going to do it whether you want me to or not."

I hung my head and sighed. You can't say I didn't try first.

"I hate humans as much as you do, and I happen to agree that they're scum, but I can't let you just eradicate them!" subconsciously I reared up on my hind legs like a horse, but instead of coming back down in a flurry of fire or ice, I felt a deep grinding in my hips and shoulders as my body rearranged itself.

I couldn't control myself, it was all happening automatically! I was scared, and I could see that Lethias and Kayden were both shocked at what they saw.

With a sickening crack, and a shift that I had no control over, I felt the bones in me break and instantly heal inside me....in different positions. My front legs snapped and cracked, rearranging themselves to humanoid arms. My legs did the same, cracking and grinding sickeningly as they morphed from digitigrade legs to bipedal legs.

Within only a moment, I had effectively altered myself from a feral gryphon to a full anthro gryphon, at least 12 feet tall, and very well built. How it happened, I didn't know. All I knew is that I looked like a giant, and it felt natural.

Echron gave me a look of disdain, like he was bored with my flashy show of strength and ability. "You won't let me?" He mocked, "Look around you, the ground is littered with the corpses of would-be heroes that came before you and fell before me. You really think that your show of how big you are is going to scare me? Look around back, there's the body of a 30 foot dragon burning in a fire she herself created. You think you can stop me? Come and get me!"

He got in a ready stance as 4 other furs walked out the front door after him. A White tiger with red glowing eyes, another wolf with blue and red fur, a Cat with a samurai sword, and a human.

Yes, a human. Apparently there were humans who hated humans too, and wanted to help 'Cleanse' as Echron put it.

I couldn't figure out what each person did as far as superpowers go, I didn't have time before Echron extended his paw at me and shot a massive energy ball at my chest. I took the blow straight on, but the burning flesh on my chest healed almost instantly.

"Fuck!" Lethias screamed and shielded himself as the blast exploded on me.

I glared at the group of five and leapt at them, the four newcomers dispersed immediately and went after Kayden and Lethias, but Echron held his ground defiantly.

I grabbed him around the neck and threw him as hard as I could to the ground, clouds of smoke and dirt exploding outward from the impact. Still holding onto his throat, I picked him up again and threw him as hard as I could into a tree, causing the bark and splinters to explode from the impact, effectively snapping the tree in half.

The other four were keeping Lethias and Kayden busy. I saw shots of fire and ice being thrown everywhere. People were transporting in portals, and large rocks and trees were being telekinetically thrown.

I didn't worry myself with Lethias and KAyden, I knew they'd be fine.

I turned back around and walked towards Echron, shooting random blasts of fire and energy at any of the other four when they got too close to me.

FWOOSH! I felt the ground underneath me shift and form a giant wall behind me. It was Kayden, using alchemy to hurl a wall of earth at the samurai cat, who deftly jumped out of the way and tried to stab Kayden, but no luck, Kayden sidestepped and grabbed her.

With a heave, he threw her head on into the Wolf who was attacking Lethias. Just then, the Human used Telekinesis to pick up a boulder and hurl it at Kayden. Kayden stood in place and let it hit him. His body exploded into sand and reformed where he stood.

With a wicked cackle, he continued fighting.

OMPF!

Distracted by Kayden, I forgot about Echron, who dove out of the woods and kicked me square in the chest. Landing on the ground before me, he threw balls of energy at me, one right after another, all aimed squarely at my chest.

The balls were little more than a distraction and a light show, as they didn't hurt, and the wounds were healing before he could throw another.

"Pitiful." I bellowed as I glared down at him through the flares of energy being spat in my direction. "You really think those weak assed energy balls are going to do anything to me?"

"Heh, impressive." He exclaimed as he grinned and stopped wasting his energy. He re-assumed his fighting stance and waited for me to make the next move.

I didn't let him say anything else. I grabbed him again, my monstrous claws easily wrapping around his neck. I pulled him up close and stared him in the eye. "Pitiful."

I concentrated my energy to my claw and felt the ice begin to form over his body. I could feel his blood stop, and his limbs froze solid, starting with his neck and working it's way down his body.

"How's that feel?" I taunted. "How's it feel to be the victim?"

The ice continued to spread across his body, freezing him solid. I relished in my very quick work of him. I tell you, there's something about turning the tables on an assailant that makes me hard.

"Urk!" I grunted as I felt something pierce me between the wings and out my chest. It was just a sharpened stick, but it fuckin hurt.

I dropped Echron and turned around to see who my assailant was. It was the human.

I shook my head and grinned. "Fucking humans." I mumbled as I pushed the sharpened log out of my back, letting it fall behind me.

I reached around and picked up the log, which was still soaked in my blood, but that wound was already healing shut. I looked down to the closing hole in my chest, then looked at the human "Bad move." I said as I threw the stick back at the human. He easily avoided it by telekinetically deflecting it, but it distracted him long enough for me to telekinetically throw a small rock from behind him, cracking him the head with the velocity nearly that of a bullet.

He fell to the ground, unconscious. Yet another victory by Ceylon the great!

"Good shot!" Kayden complimented as he dodged a blow from the Samurai Cat.

Lethias was fighting the remaining two. The Blue and White wolf and the White tiger. They had made their way slowly away and into a cornfield, but I could still see them jumping and flying and throwing energy balls around.

Frost was right, we were too overpowered. Thankfully, we had a purpose, and that was to stop terrorist furs like Echron.

I turned back to finish the job on echron, but he had disappeared.

Confused, I looked searched the ground for him, but I couldn't see him.

I'm over here! I heard a voice say in my head. It seemed like it was coming from the barn. I took a huge lumbering step over to it, and felt a slight sting in my legs.

I looked down and lifted one of my claws...but only the knee came up with it. The bottom half was severed from my body!

Angry and irritated, I put my leg back down, and it reattached itself. I concentrated on Echron, trying to find where he was.

"Omph!" I grunted as I felt a stiff hit to my gut.

The bastard was invisible and was right in front of me!

With a renewed sense of need, I concentrated my magic on finding him, essentially making him visible again. This time he had a sword, and he was coming at me again, this time the sword was aimed at my midsection.

I reached out and pinched the blade between my claws, stopping the swing, but not cutting into me. I pulled the sword from his grip and threw it into the woods, where it stuck into a tree. Where he got a sword is beyond me, but he had it.

I telekinetically pushed him back and into the side of the barn, throwing him right through the wood and causing him to hit the cement on the ground with a loud crack.

The foundation of the building was weakened, so I raised my paw and telekinetically pushed down on the roof, causing the whole building to collapse on top of him. With a wink, I caused the wood to erupt into flames atop him.

He didn't make any effort to put the flames out or get out. I think he was done with.

I turned to Kayden, who now had a sword in hand as well, and was swordfighting with the Samurai. It was a fairly one sided battle, as Kayden wasn't even trying all that hard.

KKKKRACK! A loud crack of wood behind me. I spun to see what it was, and I was treated to a vision of flaming boards falling from the skies, embers filling the air, the heat wave that resulted caused my entire vision to blur and distort. I could see Echron standing in the middle of the foundation as burning splinters and ash rained down on us.

"Why won't you die?" I yelled as I walked into the firestorm, the heat burning off much of my feathers and even a few layers of skin, all of which healed almost instantly.

"Why won't you understand?" Echron scowled back at me. "Just DIE!"

As he screamed 'die', the fire erupted again in a strong plume from where I stood and into the sky, centralizing around me. I had to close my eyes, that hurt, but the fire had little effect on me, as I surrounded myself in tight cocoon of intensely cold air to negate the fire effects.

After a moment, the fire died down and Echron just sat staring at me. He was in utter disbelief and shock that I wasn't dead yet. His eye twitched and he began to grind his teeth in frustration.

"What's the matter Echron? Can't kill us as easily as you did the others? Tough luck, try again, you're going to have to try harder to do anything to me." I raised my claws to the sky and shouted, "Come and get me!"

He let loose a growl and started to walk towards me. I felt him focussing all his energy to his paws. He was readying a massive ball of energy. I braced myself for the impact.

FLASH!

Like expected, he let loose a giant ball of energy into my face which temporarily blinded me and burned all my feathers and fur off my chest and front of my legs.

I healed quickly, but it still took a moment to regain my composure, and by then I noticed that Echron was gone. I looked up and scanned the sky. I couldn't see him, but I could feel him. He was fading fast.

"Kayden!" I called to my brother, "Can you take care of that Cat?"

He yawned and continued to deflect sword blows. "I've got it!"

I nodded and jumped to the air after Echron, wings tucked in close so I could fly telekinetically instead of physically. I kept my mind trained on my target, I didn't want to lose him. He was moving incredibly fast, I found that it took most of my power to catch up to him.

But I did, and I did gain on him. He was invisible again, but I saw him. I eventually caught up to him and grabbed his leg. As soon as I made contact, he took off his invisibility and he tried to kick me off.

"Fuck you!" he yelled in anger and frustration.

I slowed to a stop and held him near me, keeping him from flying any further.

He turned around and grabbed my by the throat and squeezed. He was trying to choke me, but he was failing. It took both his paws, and they didn't even go all the way around my neck.

"Pitiful." I mocked him. "Look at you, all this power, and you're beaten by a fucking bird. Honestly, is that the best you can do?" I reached up and wrapped my one claw around his neck and squeezed as I stared him in the eyes.

I wasn't playing games anymore.

He let go of my neck and tried shooting energy balls in my face, but they did nothing. I knew what way was down, and I knew what I was doing with him.

I slowly let myself go, no longer holding myself up telekinetically. I felt myself slowly descending to the earth. I then pushed myself harder with the use of my powers, and we were going at mach3.

He kept launching energy at me, trying to distract me, so I couldn't see the look on his face, but I'm sure it was a look of terror as he realized what it was I was going to do to him.

I was going to crush him like a bug!

I kept pushing myself faster and faster. The flares of energy that Echron was discharging coupled with the speed we were going made us look like a comet streaking down to the ground. It must have been a hell of a sight for anyone watching from afar!

We both hit the ground together at mach5, the resulting sonic boom actually blowing the trees in the area over, swaying as if in a hurricane. I looked down and saw Echron below me in a crater of earth. Dust and dirt was flying everywhere, it was like a storm of mud!

I held myself in position, claw around his neck until the dust and dirt settled so I could get a better look at my victim. He looked beaten and battered, but the wounds were healing up already.

"Why don't you fucking die?" I whispered to myself.

He looked up at me and coughed. "I have a purpose!" he sounded weak, but his strength was returning quickly.

I got off him and stood to the side to see if he was going to get up again.

At first, he just lied there and breathed heavily. He was definitely a resilient one, this was proving incredibly difficult to fight against. Like me, he seemed to have an incredible ability to regenerate, and he was incredibly strong. It's a shame he had to be a bad guy.

He started slowly stumbling to get up. He sat in the crater beside me, then crawled to his knees, then stood up on wobbly legs.

In a flash of an instant, I could see him, for that split second he dropped his mask and let me into his mind. I knew him, I knew what he was capable of, I knew his history, I knew his intentions.

Talk about cliche. Human gets teased, finds solace in roleplay, and makes a too-strong character to make up for his inadequacies. This is compounded by the way he sees things, making him think that people were inherently evil.

So of course, he dealt with this by creating a character that could KILL everyone that ever pissed him off, and now that he had the power, like he said, he planned on using it.

I was noticing that to be increasingly evident.

In that split second, I also caught a hint of what he was doing next. He knew that I'd follow him wherever he went, so he was going to take this fight to a crowded city!