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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This is it, boys and girls. It's countdown time - only two more chapters until the end...

If you're JUST joining us now, then I highly suggest you go back to the beginning and start from there. It's a lot better that way, trust me. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~CHAPTER 25~~~

"No rest! No mercy! No matter what!"

It was the last thing I heard Harry yell as me, Cali, Kyla, Smith, and Evan barged into the OGD facility while the ever-energetic cheetah hybrid took command of the rest of our comrades outside. The remnants of OGD's hybrid soldiers were waiting for us at the front gates as we arrived, and unlike last time we fought each other head-on, both sides were now evenly matched. It was sad to think that one of our original goals was to cure the brainwashed OGDs and we were now unable to do so, but it was still a war. Sacrifices had to be made.

The newest plan was that the five of us would destroy the base from within while the enemies were kept busy outside; the four of them to use their abilities to attack various key points, and me to find Isaac and beat Stryker's location out of him. Even Smith never knew where the mysterious head of the sinister company was located, but we all felt that Isaac had been treated a step above a regular soldier.

'Fifteenth basement level, Greg! We'll be waiting!'

With Smith navigating, we eventually came to one of the complex's few elevators that went down that low, standing rather plainly at the end of a long hallway. We passed many scientists and other human employees, but they dared not raise a hand against us. Not that we would harm them, though. We were the good guys in all this, and this was one of those times when we could prove it.

"Well... I guess I'm going down fifteen damn floors..." I muttered. "I'll be right back after I have a little chat with Isaac..."

Just go. Don't drag it out, don't say goodbye. Just go...

I turned away from my comrades and walked down the hallway towards the elevator, ready to confront my destiny.

But of course, I heard someone start running after me.

"Greg, wait a second. I... I..."

Kyla, please don't do this... I love you and I'm trying to protect you...

But just as she got close enough to where I was standing, the ceiling above us suddenly collapsed from a small explosion. I swiftly tackled Kyla towards the elevator and out of the way of falling debris, and leapt over next to her just before a large piece of concrete flattened me. The five of us were shaken up, but a new problem emerged from the hole above us in the form of three fully armored OGDs. They paid no attention to Kyla and me, but were instead fixated on the others. Three against three was a fair fight, but I could've joined in at any second.

Cali saw my indecision from across the hallway. "Don't worry, Greg! You two go down there and do what you have to do! We'll take care of THESE guys!" she shouted, motioning with her hand for us to go on.

My eyes darted back and forth between my comrades and the elevator door at the end of the hallway. My mind was unable to decide between pursuing our goal and potentially ending the pharmaceutical company war altogether, or jumping into the inevitable skirmish and giving my teammates better odds against their ambushers. I knew the answer was very clear; that our mission was the most important thing in the long run, but it didn't make my sudden choice any easier.

Thankfully, Kyla made the choice for me and grabbed my wrist while I stared indecisively. "You heard her, stud! We've gotta go!"

Rapidly coming back to reality, I nodded and followed Kyla's lead. As we sprinted to the elevator, I glanced over my shoulder just in time to see the OGDs make their move. But Cali and the guys were more than ready. The doors opened automatically, and the two of us leapt inside as the sounds of the fight behind us began to ring throughout the large hallway.

I pressed the button and the doors slid shut, slowly closing my hurried glance of Cali, Smith, and Evan appearing to gain the upper hand against the OGD's. But I didn't care about the husky or the wolf... My eyes were solely focused on my redheaded leopardess semi-girlfriend; more beautiful than ever as she tore into her foes with a ferocity that suggested she was becoming even more of an animal than she already was. It made a plethora of emotions run wild in my mind... I still felt that it was my own fault she was involved with all this violence and bloodshed in the first place, but I couldn't help but swell with pride and joy while seeing her fight. Her strength and willpower had been tested every single day for weeks, and despite the rough start, I felt Cali had become more accomplished than some of the hybrids I knew from the very beginning.

That was my woman. That strong, confident warrior was the woman who deemed me worthy of her love. She was mine, and I was hers...

The doors shut just as one of Cali's napalm attacks hit an OGD right in the face.

But... the ultimate test of her character is still coming. Hers and my own...

The elevator whirred and began its descent to the bottom level.

~~~

My God... this must literally be the world's slowest elev---

"Greg... Are you afraid?" Kyla asked as we passed the fourth basement level.

There went the silence... But it was a valid question. Was I afraid... It was something I had repeatedly been asking myself recently, but the answer greatly varied with the subject. I was grateful for having the tense silence between us broken, but chose to answer Kyla truthfully and not falsely raise her hopes.

Or my own, for that matter.

I had wanted to fight Isaac myself, swordsman-to-swordsman with nobody else caught in the crossfire, but the situation in the hallway forced Kyla into the equation. Though I knew she wouldn't have let me stop her from helping me regardless. Between Isaac indirectly killing Ross and Francis sacrificing himself to save her, Kyla definitely wanted her fair share of revenge against the insane technopath.

"Afraid of fighting Isaac? No, not really. I... WE can do it. I know we can take him down if we work together. It's like you said yesterday; your ice abilities are the one thing that can screw with his nanobot armor. I wish... I wish we'd found that out earlier than we did, but at least we know for now. As long as we keep our guard up and as long as we, heh, keep a cool head, we can win."

"Really? You're going for a pun right now, of all times?" Kyla snickered.

"Just easing the tension" I smiled.

"AND beating around the bush" Kyla countered. "Come on, Greg. Spill it; you know I can handle the truth."

She had read me like a book once again, whether my tone or body language had given it away. "You're right, Kyla. That's only the half of it... Truth is, I'm not afraid of Isaac. I'm not even sure if I definitively hate_him or not for everything he's done, either. My strong, vengeful thoughts and emotions on the subject just kind of come and go every time I think about it. All I know for certain is that right now, I just _pity him. But..."

"But what?" Kyla pressed.

What I'm afraid of? You know EXACTLY what I'm afraid of! And Isaac knows it, too. And that's where it becomes truly horrifying...

"Um, Greg?"

'Then maybe I'll MAKE you see things my way! I'll personally kill the one YOU love and give you a REASON to join OGD! THE SAME REASON I HAD!'

"...Greeeg?"

'KYYYLAAAAAAAA!!!'

I grimaced and snapped my eyes shut, trying my best not to relive that horrifying moment like I had inadvertently been doing with my bad memories throughout the entire goddamn apocalypse. "You already know the answer to that... He tried to kill you before, and I know he'll try to do it again to get to me. THAT is what I'm afraid of. I can't lose you, Kyla. If I have to go through losing somebody I love again... there's no chance I'd ever recover. That's a fact. Even if, like Cali, you came back by some crazy deus ex machina-plot twist in the story of my life, the damage would be done. And there's no telling what I'd become... A lost soul or an irredeemable psychopath..."

She took my words to heart, but instead of giving me a sympathetic response like I had half-expected, Kyla rolled her eyes and groaned loudly. "You really need to have more faith, Greg. More faith in me, and a LOT more in yourself. Enough is enough."

It was strange, almost laughable, to once again be listening to myself being the worried one and seeing her being the confident one in this situation. Especially considering our respective attitudes when the HAC-OGD crisis had just begun, and Kyla had confessed she was too scared to do anything. Back when we had no idea how crazy it would eventually become.

But lately, it seemed that our roles had been reversed. And now, it seemed like this was the climax. The pep-talk near the end of the game that inspires the home team to win... That one last cutscene before the final boss fight...

"We are NOT going to die, mister. Not here, not now. You've never been afraid to kick butt and take names in the past, even if it was only because you thought you had nothing to lose. Right now, yes, it's completely different. You DO have something to lose. But that something is not going to let herself get killed so easily. The problem is that you're too chivalrous, Greg. Most of the time it's one of your best qualities, but other times, it clouds your judgment. That's all you need to understand to get through this!" She kept poking at my chest with a fierce passion in her eyes as she talked, eerily bridging the gap between concerned girlfriend and drill sergeant. I found it simultaneously compassionate and scary. And oddly, a little bit sexy...

"You're truly a knight, a heroic knight in shining armor... But you need to stop acting like one."

Dammit, she's right... Of course she's right, she nearly knows as much about me as I do myself...

"A knight, am I?" I chuckled. "I guess _A Song of Fire and Ice_is still fresh in your mind from a few days ago, huh?"

She playfully punched my shoulder, like she'd been doing since the day I met her. "My point still stands."

"Kyla... I understand what you're saying, don't worry. I guess I just needed that verbal slap in the face to remind myself that you're a lot stronger than I give you credit for... REALLY strong, actually. You know how your hands usually glow light blue when you use your powers?"

Kyla paused for a moment, staring at her hands and making them glow in the aforementioned manner. "Yeah... I noticed that, too. It only used to happen every once in a while, but now it happens a lot more often. In the back of my mind, I've been trying to figure out what it meant."

I took one of her hands in mine so I could get a better look. Her hand was cold to the touch, given the nature of her powers, but not unbearably cold. More like grasping a metal street sign on a winter day. However the glowing wasn't radiating from her hand; it was the air around her hand glowing blue, rather like an aura. I smiled, even if slightly envious that Kyla's abilities had this cool feature and mine didn't. "It means that your gifts are as strong as they can possibly be. I remember overhearing one of the HAC scientists mention it about someone months ago. I've noticed it with Cali too; ever since I showed you how to be more aggressive with your powers, I guess you're literally starting to shine. You didn't know this until just now?"

Kyla shook her head in disbelief, staring at her other glowing hand. "No, I didn't. But I'm glad you told me! I knew I was stronger than I let on, but I didn't know I was holding back THAT much..." She canceled the glowing, remembering to save her powers for what lay ahead. "Oh, Greg... it's like every day you bring me more and more out of my shell. I don't think you were trying to do that right now, since I was trying to do that for you... but I really appreciate it."

Kyla...

I firmly placed my hands on the snow leopardess' shoulders. She felt tense, but was probably feeling more motivated than nervous on the inside. "Listen... when this is all over, when we get back home and can put all of this behind us, there's... there are some things I need to talk to you about. Things that have started becoming very clear to me lately, whether I was prepared to accept them or not. I've been avoiding these things for too long, but I think I'm finally ready to man up and face the reality of the situation."

Kyla blinked twice and seemed to gasp slightly; she knew exactly what I was implying. She closed her eyes and nodded in acknowledgement. "I think I understand where you're going with this, Greg. And if you're thinking what I think you're thinking, then I understand it'll take a long time to get used to... But you're right; this is neither the time nor the place. When we... when the three of us come around to it, it'll be the last issue we can put to bed. And no matter what happens, no matter what's said or done, you know that I'll always love you."

I sighed deeply, with a small, peaceful smile on my face. "That's all I needed to hear. And you know I'll always love you, too." We both brought our heads together and prepared to seal the deal with a kiss; a long and deep one because in the back of our minds, the present situation reminded us that it could potentially be the last kiss we would share.

But just as our lips touched, the elevator stopped at the ground floor and the doors slid open.

"Awww... How very sweet of you two... Good to see that at least ONE of us still knows what a woman's love feels like..."

The familiar, cynical voice echoed across the basement floor and into the small elevator. But I kept my composure, determined to not let it get to me this time.

"That's because I was able to move on" I calmly responded. "It might be way more complicated now than it was before, but at least I made the conscious decision to try and find love again. And as luck had it, I didn't have to look very far. She was there the whole time."

Kyla and I stepped out of the elevator and into the dark room. I couldn't see anything around us, but judging from the echoes of our voices, the area we were in was huge. "But you... You're just too caught up in your little fantasy to face the cold, hard facts. You can yearn for the past all you want, but there comes a time when you need to wake up and think about the future."

He chuckled. Which, considering our location, eerily echoed off the walls and sounded like it was coming from all directions at once. As if our enemy could strike us from absolutely anywhere before we even knew it.

"I AM thinking about the future, Greg. I'm doing what needs to be done. But do you think I really WANT to do any of this? Do you think I want us to cross swords once again? I know I'm beating a dead horse here, but I do NOT want us to keep fighting! But... I don't have a choice. I made my decision, made my promise, and I plan on carrying it out."

As soon as the elevator doors slid shut behind us, the room became completely pitch-black for a nervous moment. But off in the distance, a single light snapped on, illuminating what I guessed was the center of the room under a cone of light. Isaac stood right underneath it, clad in the same electronic armor as yesterday, but minus the helmet. He was leaning against what I realized was my stolen sword stabbed into the ground, though from what I could see, it looked very different on the outside. It was more jagged and crooked than I would've ever made it, but knowing Isaac, he had modified it in some way with his abilities.

He himself looked exhausted, but not so much on a physical scale as an emotional one. I could see there were bags under his golden eyes, implying that he hadn't even slept since our last encounter. Or at least, he might've tried to, but either sorrow or guilt had kept him awake.

I hope it's the latter...

Despite everything that had happened yesterday, despite everything that was said and done, a small part of me still clung to the hope that he could be snapped out of his delusion. I wouldn't have wanted anything further to do with him, considering he willingly tried to kill Kyla and indirectly forced Francis to pay the ultimate price instead, but at least we would be able to part on equal terms. Anything to avoid potentially having to kill one of the best friends I'd had in the apocalyptic world.

But you know that's not going to happen. You know that it's you or him_. Because if you don't stop him, you know who'll pay the price THIS time..._

The only thing standing between you and Stryker is him. This is where it's going to end, one way or another.

I jabbed my finger in his direction. "No. No, that's not it. You DO have a choice. You can take us right to Stryker so we can 'persuade' him to end this war. You can make amends for what you've done and work with us to earn our trust back. But you won't. Because you're selfish. That's what this is all about, Isaac. You're willing to sell out your friends, allies, and mentors just to benefit yourself and your selfish desire for love. Yes, you lost Liz, but you still had people that cared for you! You... you still had ME, the guy you saved from becoming something like what YOU are right now!"

"It was love or loyalty, plain and simple" Isaac replied, in a tone that suggested he had rehearsed this little confrontation and prepared a response for anything I had to say. "The heart wants what the heart wants, and I let mine make the choice for me."

It was strange... It seemed he was trying to prove these things to both me and to himself... He seemed so sure of everything he was rambling about yesterday during the interrogation and the fight, but now it sounded like he wasn't as enthusiastic. Combined with his emotionally drained appearance, there was a possibility that the real impact of Isaac's actions from yesterday were catching up to him and tormenting him on the inside.

Well... even if that's the case, you deserve all of it. And now I'm going to kick it up a notch. You forced me to come to terms with my life a long time ago, hoping it would snap me out of my delusion. So now, I'm going to do the same thing to you.

I took a deep breath and began to verbally tear down any remains of Isaac's corrupted reasoning. "That's the worst part, Isaac; your one-track mind refuses to see the implications of that choice. This whole damn thing probably goes beyond just destroying the rest of HAC. You know what Stryker said_he promised you, but do you really think he'll be done with you after defeating us? Because I don't. Who's to say he won't round up the rest of us, force us to join him somehow, and rebuild his hybrid army? Or find more zombies to mutate and use _your abilities to control them? And what would he do with this grand army, you ask? I think I know; he'll go after EVERYONE ELSE! One of Stryker's own people told me that OGD wants to be the ones to save the world from the undead and be the big hero. But I think he was told a lie. I think this company's _real_goal is to take over the remains of the world, and then rebuild it however they want. There are still survivors out there, and eventually they'll have nobody to turn to except OGD. And whether through persuasion or force, they'll obey."

Isaac scoffed. "You know, just because we're living in a post-apocalyptic world, it doesn't mean everything's going to play out like a shitty disaster movie, Greg. Both of our company's goals are to save the rest of humanity, not enslave them! Our world is ravaged and broken, but we've all been trying to fix it. There's no way it would ever go that far!"

Once again, I already knew exactly what to say. "Why wouldn't it, Isaac? Look at us; look at what we can do! We can shoot fire, freeze things solid, teleport anywhere we want, or run at super speeds! We don't run out of ammunition. We heal from wounds way faster than humans do. Hell, YOU could shut down an entire military complex with your mind if you really wanted to. Do you really think humanity would stand a chance against us? They barely clung to life against the undead, but against them AND us, there'd be no chance. This is what it's all been about - OGD eliminating the one and only thing that could stop them from doing everything I just said; HUMAN ADVANCEMENTS. And you swore your loyalty to the madman who wants to make it all happen..."

My throat was getting dry from talking and borderline-yelling so much, but I still had a lot more to say. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see that Kyla was just as bewildered by my sudden stream of consciousness as Isaac was.

"Um, Greg? How the hell do you know all that?" she asked.

All I could really do in response was shrug. "Remember this morning when I said I didn't get a lot of sleep last night? It's because all this was running through my mind. There has to be a reason Stryker's doing what he's doing, and this was what made the most sense to me. The more I thought about it, the more it all clicked."

"It doesn't matter" Isaac replied. "You... you can't prove any of that..."

I could hear it in his voice; the growing shadow of doubt in OGD's actions and, by extension, his own. If even the smallest part of Isaac was beginning to see the light, I needed to drive every point home.

"Oh yeah? Then answer me this - why did Stryker capture you and leave you alive in the first place? And then give you a reason, as real or fake as it might be, to fight his battles for him? Because you have inside information on HAC? Sure, that would be valuable right off the bat. Or was it because you're a good fighter? You are, of course. I can attest to that personally... But if you think it over, you'd realize that Stryker obviously already HAD intel on HAC long before finding you, and that in our own ways, we're ALL good fighters with our own strengths and weaknesses. The real reason is something I already mentioned; it's because of your ability to control the zombies. You can control an army of zombies, and Stryker controls you. So it's Stryker who controls an army of zombies. He gave you that suit, but maybe his technology isn't good enough on its own. Maybe he needs a technopathic hybrid's brain in the backseat to make it all work."

"What. Is. Your. POINT, Greg?" Isaac sneered.

"My point? My point is that I've said it before and I'll say it again - he is fucking USING you for his own sick goals, Isaac. Admit it; everything I've said just makes way too much sense!"

I could see it in his face; the way his eyes began to flicker out of control and how he was taking large breaths as if they were the only thing preventing him from having a heart attack. I knew that what was happening in Isaac's head was precisely the same thing his words had voluntarily and involuntarily been doing to me since yesterday morning. That horrible, throbbing pain undoubtedly festering in his stomach... His mind jumping to conclusions and torturing itself with the horrifying scenarios they entailed...

But instead of making a single attempt to prove me wrong, Isaac snapped out of it and suddenly turned his attention towards Kyla. "What if it was you, hmm? What if you were the one who---"

"Oh, don't you give ME any of that bullshit!" Kyla yelled abruptly, surprising both Isaac and myself. "Suddenly Greg starts making too much sense for you to handle, and now you wanna drag me into this? Well, that's not happening! Dammit, I never even met Elizabeth in the first place, but I know she'd be ashamed of you!"

"You SHUT UP about her, you stupid cu---"

Kyla wouldn't even let him finish his insult. Her hands instantly lit up the same bright blue as in the elevator as she fired a frozen missile of cryokinetic energy right at Isaac's head.

But in one swift motion, Isaac grabbed and uprooted his sword, and swiftly deflected the frozen blast. It harmlessly struck the floor on the right side of the arena as Isaac smirked at us, as if he had been expecting a surprise projectile attack from Kyla all along. Clearly, despite looking like he was running out of steam, the wolf hybrid still had plenty of game.

"I'm so sorry it has to end this way, Greg!" Isaac jeered as he charged at us, sword raised high. His helmet materialized from his suit and rapidly enveloped his head, completing the transformation of my former friend into something I still found difficult to recognize.

No... no you're not sorry, Isaac. You're just a lost cause...

I quickly glanced over at my cryokinetic partner. "Kyla, get ready! This is it!"

"I'm ready, stud! Let's do this!" she shouted with a thumbs-up.

Drawing my own sword, I ran up to Isaac to intercept his slash head-on, so as to give Kyla a chance to blast him with more ice. I kept it horizontal and successfully blocked Isaac's forward slash, though he already had his next move planned. While Kyla dodged and moved to Isaac's right side, he swung at her with his right arm, which quickly grew back into the same large, three-fingered claw as last time. Luckily, Kyla saw it coming and threw her head back, cleanly avoiding taking Isaac's claw-arm to the face.

But he wasn't expecting Kyla to anticipate his claw swipe, which threw him off guard for the split second I needed to break our sword-lock. I swung my sword out, knocking his back and giving me the perfect opportunity to spin back around and slash Isaac across the chest. Staggered, he groaned and took a step back as Kyla leapt back into action and shot Isaac nearly point-blank with another ice blast. Though a quick step to the left allowed him to avoid the worst of the impact, Kyla's attack had hit Isaac's right shoulder just hard enough to encase a small portion of it in ice.

Isaac moved his arm about to try and crack the ice on his shoulder, which worked, though the three of us could see that some of the nanobot armor had been broken off in the process. He looked undisturbed by this as the suit repaired itself, but for Kyla and me, it felt refreshing to reaffirm to ourselves that Isaac's armor was powerless against ice attacks. Just like my battle from yesterday, with every small piece of armor we could remove from his body, the less powerful Isaac would become. It wasn't even a plan as much as just an accidental observation yesterday, but today, it was definitely our main goal.

Suddenly, there was a loud click far off in the background, and starting from the opposite end of the room, the overhead lights began to turn on. Blinding at first, my eyes quickly adjusted to the light alongside Kyla's. Now that the arena was completely lit, we could see that we were right about how big it was. Big enough to play two football games side-by-side, even. The HAC arena that we regularly trained in was nothing in comparison.

"Impressed?" Isaac sneered. "It's only the second time I've been down here myself!"

Kyla and I said nothing. There was simply nothing to say anymore.

I tightened my grip on my sword and dashed forwards, with Kyla just far enough behind me to be out of my weapon's reach. My eyes were focused on Isaac readying his own blade to intercept mine, but I could feel the coldness from Kyla's readying attack behind me.

I leapt up and swung down, but unfortunately Kyla fired her charged blast way too early. Isaac blocked this attack as easily as he did the last one, but knocked it towards ME instead. I redirected my landing and neutralized the attack myself, but now Isaac had a clear shot at Kyla.

As I expected, Isaac used his window of opportunity to attack my teammate by rushing straight at her with his sword held high over his head, determined to slice her in two. She looked slightly disoriented, but quickly recovered as Isaac loomed over her and swung down. Displaying an impressive burst of agility, she rolled to her right and easily dodged my stolen blade's blow, and just as quickly rolled to her left to avoid a swipe from Isaac's claw arm. As Isaac growled and brought back his fist for another jab, Kyla tucked in her legs and rolled backwards this time, right between her attacker's legs. With a blast of ice, she propelled herself off the ground and into the air like a cannonball as I rushed forwards, anticipating her next move.

With better judgment this time, she fired an ice beam at Isaac's back before sticking a perfect landing. Unlike her blasts, this attack was meant to discombobulate Isaac instead of dealing outright damage. The beam created a cluster of ice crystals on his back; the sudden extra weight on his person making him stumble forward just as I closed the gap between us. Fueled with adrenaline, I grabbed Isaac by his neck and hurled him right over my shoulder, slamming him into the ground and shattering the ice on his back. More importantly, breaking off another large piece of his armor in the process.

Had he not held onto his sword the entire time, I would've gone even further, but Isaac regained his focus and jabbed the crooked weapon right at me, forcing me to back off. He leapt to his feet as Kyla ran to my side, but she and I could both see the large gap in his back plate fixing itself. He was still covered from head to toe in the lethal nanobot armor, but as long as my partner and I kept up the pace we were at, he would run out of the necessary material eventually.

Just keep telling yourself that, Greg... This time, it's going to WORK.

For several minutes, that same routine repeated itself like a choreographed dance; Isaac and I were at odds with our swordplay, attacking and blocking each other nearly as perfectly as last time. But every so often, Kyla would sneak in a cryokinetic attack and slightly damage Isaac's armor. Any other time, her shots were blocked or happened to miss. Each time, however, Kyla came closer and closer to hitting her target. Isaac swung at her every chance he could, but the leopardess' dexterity far exceeded his speed.

I parried another slash to the right, knocking Isaac off balance as Kyla fired a shot that went too far to the side. He used the momentum to spin around and slash horizontally, grazing my chest plate and giving me a painful electric shock. Enough to force me to a knee, but not enough to keep me down. For a tense second he seemed to have the drop on my girlfriend as she realized her shot went wild, but once again she demonstrated her agility by easily backflipping out of the way. I felt like I could see it in slow-motion; Kyla timed her backflip so perfectly that Isaac's sword harmlessly passed right over her stomach. Didn't even scratch the armor.

Once she landed onto her feet, she used her powers to propel herself forward at Isaac as he finished his swing, delivering a swift kick right to his jaw. Even though he saw it coming a mile away, Isaac had already thrown all his momentum into his arms, ridding him of any chance to dodge Kyla's counter-attack. The kick knocked Isaac back and compelled him to rub the pain out of his jaw, distracting him long enough for Kyla run over and help me up.

"You okay?" she asked, scanning my body for any visible wounds I might've missed. But there were none, thankfully. And the worst of the numbness from Isaac's shock had already worn off.

"Like a million bucks. Thanks for--- LOOK OUT!"

I didn't know how I didn't see it coming, but I reacted without a second to spare. Immediately, I grabbed Kyla's arm and flung her over my shoulder just as Isaac suddenly appeared behind her, ready to stab his sword through us both. It would've been a terrible way to die if the last thing I ever saw was Kyla's face frozen in pure terror, but this just wasn't the Grim Reaper's day. With my super speed making the millisecond I had to react seem like two regular seconds, I brought up my sword with my other hand and barely managed to block Isaac's attack. He raised his giant fist and prepared to smash my face in, but didn't see Kyla gracefully swoop to his side.

"Game over, Greg" Isaac said solemnly.

"Game over for YOU!" Kyla cried as she cleanly punched him in the head with... a giant fist of her own.

I saw it out of the corner of my eye; Kyla had thought quickly and encased her entire right arm in ice, making its size slightly smaller than Isaac's. But being a level 3 cryokinetic like Smith, she could make the ice hundreds of times thicker than normal. Her fist was now like the iceberg that sunk the Titanic.

And the sound of Isaac's howl of pain as that fist made contact with his head was music to my ears.

This time, the force of Kyla's blow shattered the entire left side of Isaac's helmet, sending him flying backwards and skidding across the floor. His sword flew out of his hand and landed somewhere outside my line of sight. He managed to roll onto his knees, but needed another moment to address his wound. If Kyla's fist had struck his jaw and not his forehead, it would've come flying off.

I ran over to our enemy before he could get off his knees and shoved the tip of my sword against his throat. Behind him, Kyla followed suit and readied a shining cryokinetic blast in her left hand as her right arm returned to normal, aiming right at his head. This shot would not miss its mark.

"Yield. This is over, Isaac. We've beaten you."

All he did was chuckle dryly as his helmet reformed itself. "Oh, no it isn't. Not by a longshot."

And quick as a flash, Isaac became transparent and disappeared from sight. Instinctively, I thrust my sword forward and Kyla fired her charged shot, but both of us only hit empty air. Our enemy had used our split second of confusion to cloak himself and escape our trap. I hadn't forgotten Isaac's suit could make him invisible, though I figured that he would avoid using that feature so he could save power.

Kyla and I shared a worried glance. I started to curse, but I was cut off by the leopardess suddenly gasping for breath and appearing to levitate off of the ground. Her face clenched and her hands grabbed the invisible arm that I assumed was holding her by the neck, but her physical strength was no match for Isaac's. She tried to kick him in the chest, but just before making contact, Isaac used his stored energy to deliver another devastating electric shock.

Kyla screamed in agony. It was the first time I'd heard her yell out in such pain, and it made me feel like I was going to throw up.

"STOP IT, ISAAC! LET HER GO!" I shouted, even if in vain.

But he ignored me. And thanks to the sparks flying everywhere, I could see a faint flicker of Isaac winding back his claw arm to deliver a fatal blow to Kyla's head. He was finally ready and willing to kill her.

Except... he had made one mistake. He was so fixated on Kyla, that he completely forgot about me.

...At least, that was what I thought...

I dashed forward and brought my sword back to slice at where I believed Isaac was standing, but before I could, he chuckled and threw the paralyzed Kyla right at me. She hit me hard and knocked us both down to the ground, momentarily knocking the breath out of my lungs. My own sword had been knocked out of my hand and was out of reach, and Isaac dashed towards us with his fists full of cackling, blue energy. He had used the suit's electricity discharging abilities only a few times today, more than likely saving most of it up for one giant, fatal shock.

But I had one last idea up my sleeve.

"Gonna kick you into the air" I whispered into Kyla's ear.

"Wait, wha--WOAH!"

I thrust my legs forward and launched Kyla at least ten feet into the air, right in an arc towards Isaac, hoping she saw what I was trying to do and wouldn't panic...

...And thankfully, that's_exactly_ what happened. I saw her smile as she fired a beam of ice right at the bewildered Isaac, hitting him right in the left foot. Kyla stuck the landing as the mist and dust cleared, and we could all see the result. Isaac's entire leg was encased in thick ice, frozen to the ground. For the moment, he was trapped.

"HA! Now we've finally got you!" Kyla shouted.

Isaac quickly knelt down and tried to smash the ice with his claw arm, but Kyla reacted faster and launched another blast at him; this time hitting his right side and halting his escape attempt. Isaac lost his balance and stopped himself from falling over, at which point Kyla froze his other hand to the ground.

Isaac paused, stared at his frozen, motionless limbs, and gazed right back at us through the shiny black visor. "You... you can't do this..."

My tone was as stone-clad as my face as I climbed to my feet. "We can. And for your own good, we_will_."

Panicking, Isaac frantically squirmed about, trying to use any force he could to break the thick ice. But Kyla wasn't about to let him do anything else. One after another, she launched a flurry of ice attacks at Isaac until he was completely encased from the neck down, unable to move and unable to fight back. He tried for a second to focus his mind and manipulate his armor to shatter his frozen prison from the inside, something I would've done right away instead of freaking out. But this too proved ineffective; his electronic suit had definitely crashed.

I pointed at the wolf hybrid, drawing his attention away from his helpless escape attempt and towards something much more petrifying. "Isaac! This is for Francis, Ross, and all the others you've killed in the name of your selfishness!"

Roaring with a righteous fury, I dashed towards my former friend as fast as I could; putting all the anger, grief, and sorrow he had caused all of us into a single punch. I hit him right in the center of his helmeted face. I was going so fast that time slowed down and I could see every individual crack spreading from where my fist hit him to his entire ensemble. The feeling when my fist connected was indescribable... a powerful mix of satisfaction and sorrow... but it also consisted of intense relief.

And as the effects of my speed wore off and time seemed to return to normal, I could see his face for a split second. His dumbfounded, terrified face... I looked right into his eyes and he looked back into mine, acknowledging that his reign of insanity and terror had come to an end.

Isaac broke clean through the ice, skidding roughly along the ground with every bump making more of his armor crack apart and fall off due to the frost damage. He finally crashed into the back wall with a sickening smack, shattering all but a few shreds of the frozen armor and leaving him to fall limp to the floor.

As my rage wore off and I was able to breathe and focus again, I thought for an awful second that I had just killed him. But as I walked closer, I could hear Isaac moaning in pain on the ground; hurting but alive. I certainly meant to punch him as hard as I did, but I was relieved to see it hadn't become a vengeance killing. Perhaps subconsciously, my mind forced my body to tone the blow down just enough to not make it fatal.

Regardless, this part of the mission was over. Kyla and I had beaten the best OGD could throw at us.

After retrieving my sword for me, the leopardess walked over to observe Isaac's limp form for herself, looking equally as satisfied with the way the fight had ended as I was. "I... I know you and I were fighting with everything we had and not holding back, but... I'm glad he's not dead. Maybe it was just pure luck, but I won't argue with it."

She handed me my weapon as I patted her on the back with my free hand. "You did an amazing job, you know. I never doubted you for a second."

She blushed and tried to reply with something, but suddenly, there was a sharp electronic click followed by the sound of someone clapping their hands. "My, my... I must say, that was quite an intense battle. Most entertaining to watch! Can't say I'm entirely approving of the way it ended, though. But as the old saying goes, c'est la vie..."

This new voice, like Isaac's earlier, sounded like it was coming from everywhere in the arena all at once. But I looked up and saw that it was because the ceiling had nearly as many speakers as lights adorning it. The voice, however... was exactly what I had imagined it to be. Confident, condescending, and hinted with just the perfect amount of subtle arrogance to make it complete.

Stryker...

There was no mistaking it; the head of OGD had finally revealed himself to us. But at the same time, he had just watched Kyla and I defeat his best soldier. If he had waited to make his presence known until just now, it was sure to be more important than simply praising our fighting skills.

Sarcastically praising our fighting skills, more like it... And here I thought I was the master of sarcasm...

"STRYKER! Is it finally you?" Kyla shouted, gazing around the room as if our enemy would suddenly materialize somewhere within. "If it is, then first off, FUCK YOU! And second, if you liked all the fighting so much, how does it feel to see me and Greg finally beat your crazy little lackey?"

Yeesh... laying it on kinda strongly there, Kyla... What is it with you today!? You usually have a calm and slightly timid demeanor, but when you get angry... it's like you're a whole different person! Not in a bad way, but it's still kinda scary...

No, I NEED Scary Kyla right now. Because Scary Kyla is Strong Kyla, and Strong Kyla makes me into Confident Greg.

And the two of them just beat Crazy Isaac!

Groaning with pain, Isaac slowly climbed to his knees at the implied mention of his name. He gazed all around the floor at the frozen remnants of his shattered armor, focusing on each and every piece with disbelief. As if they were severed parts of his own body. They might as well have been; without his armor, he was completely unarmed and powerless. But in his mind, I believed he saw the broken pieces as a physical representation of his twisted ambition coming to an end. Either way, it filled me with an uncomfortable combination of joy and pity. Despite everything he had become, the hybrid I once called my best friend was in there, somewhere.

"Stryker... sir... I failed you. I couldn't beat them both at once. I thought I could, but I... I..."

But then he abruptly fell right back down to the ground, clutching his head and sobbing loudly. "Oh God, oh GOD! Elizabeth... Liz... I'm so sorry! I failed Stryker, and I failed YOU! It's all over... I'll never see you again! I wasn't strong enough!"

I still felt he deserved everything that was happening to him, but it still hurt to see my former friend like this. It was like looking at myself from a year ago, which was probably why it was so very unsettling.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Indeed Mr. Deneia, this does lower my expectations of you quite a bit..." Stryker replied with enough condescension to break Isaac's spirit even further. "But I haven't lost faith in you altogether, my boy. You soundly defeated Mr. Ossland and Miss Briggs atop the roof yesterday, so I'd like to think you can do it again. All you need is a little... backup."

Almost as if on cue, I heard the elevator from behind us opening up and could hear someone walking out. I turned around and readied my sword for whoever Stryker had called in to assist Isaac with fighting us, but my heart swelled with joy upon seeing who it was.

Yes! She made it, she's okay!

It was Cali! She had successfully beaten the OGDs from upstairs, and was ready to help us!

"Joke's on YOU, Stryker!" I taunted. "Looks like OUR backup came first! And I'll bet she REALLY wants a chance to repay you in kind for everything you've done to her!"

"Yeah!" Kyla chimed in. "C'mon, Cali, we're so close to ending all this! Isaac's down for the count and Stryker's not too far away from where we are! We can find him and finally make him stop all this!"

It was a surreal moment, with victory being within our grasp and neither of the women I loved getting hurt any more than they already had. It felt good. Almost... too good to be true...

Oh, come on, Greg! Give yourself a bre--- Wait, what's she doing?

Cali didn't walk over to us like we beckoned her to. Instead, she teleported mid-step over to where Isaac was laying on the ground. Without saying a word, she grabbed him by his still-intact collar piece and pulled him to his feet. His expression turned to one of hate and anger, given his misguided notions about Cali having killed Liz. But like us, he also looked confused about why she was helping him.

I had no idea what was going on. Neither did Kyla, from the look of it.

"Cali? What are you doing? And wait a minute, where's Evan and Smith?" Kyla asked.

Still confused and growing a little irritated, I walked over to Cali and tapped her on the shoulder to get her attention. "Cali, what's go---"

But before I could even finish the word, I suddenly flew backwards onto the ground, my jaw on fire and my eyes only seeing stars. I was dazed and nearly lost consciousness for a second, and quickly realized it was because Cali had sucker-punched me the instant I touched her. I clumsily stood back up while running my tongue over my teeth to make sure they were all still there. Cali said nothing, just cracked the knuckles on her fist individually with her head held low.

"Jesus Christ, Cali! What's your---?"

And then I was able to get a good look at her face. And what I saw staring back at me made me feel like I had been punched in the stomach this time.

Oh no.

I didn't know why, I didn't know HOW, but the unmistakably cold, lifeless look in those green eyes I had loved for so long confirmed it. Confirmed something I thought was impossible, but was inexplicably happening all over again.

Something inhumane. Something soul-shattering.

Oh no, no, no, NO!

Stryker chuckled. Wherever he was, he could clearly see my mortified reaction to what he had done. "I think the battlefield is a little more even, now. And I must say, I'm absolutely thrilled to see the return of my original protégé after her little vacation back into reality! But now, it's time for work. Miss Greenlaw, would you kindly assist Mr. Deneia with killing these two? Please make it fast."

Oh CHRIST, NO!

I was wrong earlier... The hardest part of the mission had just begun.

Red Death had returned.

~~~

~~

~

Didn't see that one coming, didja? DIDJA?

So WHY is Cali's dark, twisted alter-ego suddenly back for another round, you ask? You may just find out next time, after the epic 2-on-2 battle between justice and corruption. Good and evil. The heroes and the infamous. The saviors and the harvesters. Light side and--- well, you get it.

Oh, and with this latest chapter, the entire story's now officially over 100,000 words. I never thought I'd get this far when I began, but here it is... And I must admit, it feels AWESOME. Though one day I'd still like to see the whole thing as a comic book or video game, too :D

Matter of fact, I think I set another chapter length record with this one O_O

And on a final note, I may be above shamelessly promoting my work in other places (at least I am now...), but I'm certainly NOT above promoting the interestingly awesome ideas my friends come up with. Thus, I invite you to check this out: https://www.sofurry.com/view/593317. Concocted by the lovely Picklessauce69, it's a great way to get an expertly-written erotic Commission of varying size and detail for a discounted price.

Rate, Comment, and Watch!