Chapter 16: Origins

“It’s almost eleven, why isn’t Ferral back yet?” Leona asked, pacing back and forth. “He’s not answering his phone either.” Zuri added. “Maybe we should go out and look for him.” Loni suggested. “He’ll be fine,” Venus interjected, “I doubt Ferral’s in a bad situation. He just needs time to cool off and get his straight.” “Yeah, I’m sure he’ll be back in the morning and apologize for everything.” Both Venus and Savannah tried to remain positive, but the others couldn’t help but still feel concerned. Especially Leona. “Look, let’s all go to bed and this whole thing will blow over by tomorrow,” Venus said, “We do have that tournament tomorrow, after all.” They all muttered in agreement, but Leona sighed and reluctantly agreed too. As they all slept, Leona tossed and turned, unable to even keep her eyes closed. She stared up at the ceiling, her worry eating her inside. Despite their rivalry, Leona saw Ferral as her best friend. The first real friend she ever had. She remembered when they first got the gym and met the other lionesses…..

4 Years Ago:

“WHAT?!” Ferral shouted in surprise, “You want us to start a business together?” Leona nodded, “Yes. It’s time we stopped acting like kids and got our asses in gear, Ferral.” She smacked the building that the two stood in front. “This baby’s gonna be our money maker. I’m using up all the rest of my organization funds to buy it and spruce it up.” Ferral walked over and looked into the vacant building. “Wooow, what’re we gonna turn it into?” Leona smirked, “Starting today, this hunk of wood and brick will be the first experiment gym!” Ferral’s eyes lit up, “A gym?! Wow, that’s so cool!” “Yeah, I know. I’ll be getting specialized equipment specifically made for experiments.” “Woooah, you’re so smart, Leona. You’ve really thought ahead.” She nodded smugly, “I know, I know. Maybe one day you’ll be on par with my genius.” “Yeah! Just like you’ll be on par with my strength.” Leona stared daggers at Ferral. “Gah!” He jumped back, “What’d I say?” “Ugh, you’re still just an idiot. Well, we got the basics down, now all we need are employees.” “Employees? Guess we’ll have to print flyers and stuff, huh?” Leona shook her head, “No, I don’t want just any schmuck to come and apply. We’re hand-picking people for our little operation.” “Did you have anyone in mind?” “Yeah, I know some who’ll be good.”

As the two walked through the city, they headed toward the outskirts. “Ever since that bastard Atlas revealed experiments, our kind have been public enemy #1.” Leona growled. “That’s because they just haven’t gotten time to know us yet. I think it’ll all work out, and we’ll be accepted.” “Hmph, leave it to you to be the optimist.” Ferral grinned, “You’ll see, I know there’s evil in the world, but there’s a lot more good.” As the two made their way to the outskirts, they were met with a long and tall wooden fence with barbed wire on the top. “Wow, guess they don’t like visitors.” Ferral said. Leona scoffed, “If you were hated by everyone, wouldn’t you wanna keep them out?” Leona stretched and cracked her neck, “Launch me over buddy.” Ferral nodded, transforming and placing his hands toward the ground. Leona took a few steps back before running at Ferral’s hands. Once she placed her right foot on his hand he lifted Leona up and shot her up into the air. She front-flipped over the wire and landed on her feet over the fence. Leona looked up expecting Ferral to jump over, but then heard the wood from the fence creaking. Leona dropped her head to see Ferral tearing off some of the planks. “What the hell are you doing?!” Leona shouted as Ferral took off another plank and walked through the opening. “What? After you went over I noticed that the wood isn’t hammered in very well, so I simply removed the pieces.” Leona sighed, “Whatever, just put those back and c’mon.”

As the two walked forward, they noticed a small group of makeshift huts. There were at least twenty, with an extra one in the middle. “Credit where credit’s due, they’ve got a nice little community.” Leona said. As they got closer, the people who lived there noticed them and started walking toward the pair. “What do you two want?” A male kangaroo experiment asked. “We’re here to see Venus.” “Hmm, I don’t know. You two are domesticated, why should we trust you?” “Only this idiot is.” She pointed with her thumb at Ferral. “Huh? This feels like an insult, but better to be domestic than a savage.” Some of the other experiments that lived here came over and checked the two out, whispering to one another. “Alright, we’ll take you to her.” The kangaroo experiment said and they followed him. As they walked through, the others were all watching them, and Ferral started to feel anxious. “What’s up with you?” Leona asked. “I don’t really like crowds of people staring at me, makes me nervous.” Leona placed her hand on his shoulder, “Don’t worry, I’ll be by your side the whole time, Ferral.”

That seemed to calm him down, “So, who’s this Venus lady?” He asked. “She’s a lioness like me,” Leona answered, “Her, along with two others are the remains of Leonidas’s group.” “I see. I remember fighting those ladies, I wonder if they’ve gotten stronger.” “Doubt it. They’re pampered bitches, only relying on their natural born strength rather than putting the effort into training.” Once they finally made it to the center hut, the kangaroo opened the door and the two walked in. When they went in, Ferral and Leona were met with Venus sitting crosslegged on a large chair, while Savannah and Zuri sat against both sides of the wall. They scowled and growled at the two, “You gotta lot nerve bringing your ass here, bitch.” Venus sneered. “Good to see you too. So I’ve heard you go by Venus now.” “Of course. She’s the goddess of beauty, so it only seemed fitting for my sexy stature.” Leona scoffed, “Whatever you say. Look, I’m here to make a proposition with you. All of you.” The three laughed, “Like, why would we EVER make a deal with you?” Zuir said. “Yeah, don’t think we didn’t forget the humiliation you caused us.” Savannah added. Leona sighed, “Figured. Stubborn broads.”

“I’m sure we can come to some form of agreement.” Ferral voiced. The three stopped laughing at looked at him. “Hey, I know you,” Venus said, “You’re the Failure, aren’t you?” Ferral chuckled, “It’s Ferral, actually. With two Rs, or at least that’s how assume it’d be spelled.” “You’re the one that broke my jaw.” “Oh, I remember that. I’m sorry, I was a little worked up during that time.” Venus smirked, getting up from her chair and walking toward him. “You’re really strong,” She put her hand on his shoulder and leaned up at his ear, “I love strong men.” She whispered, making Ferral’s face turn, and moved away embarrassed. The other two giggled while Leona groaned. “Tell you what, because I think you’re cute, I’ll make you a deal.” “Really? What kind of deal.” “We’ve been training rigorously after that whole incident. Soely to put your friend into the ground.” Leona let out a burst of obnoxious laughter, “You lot training? That’s hilarious.” “I think that’s great,” Ferral said, “Can’t say I agree with the goal, but at least you became motivated.” Venus chuckled, “As I was saying, so here’s the deal. If you two can defeat us in a fight, we’ll do whatever the hell that slut wants us to do,” Leona growled at Venus’s insult. “However, if we win, you’ll be mine. My sex slave.” “Given what we came here for, I don’t think that’s a very even….” “Deal.” Leona butted in. “Hey! You can’t just pawn me off like some piece of meat!” Ferral objected. “Relax, Ferral. You really think we’ll lose to them?” “Maybe! They have been training hard, they could be way stronger than us.” Leona scoffed, “When hell freezes over. So let’s stop wasting time, I’ll gladly kick your asses again.” 

The three lionesses looked at each other, nodding at one another as Savannah and Zuri got up. Then instantly burst at Ferral and Leona. It happened in an instant, Leona was socked in the face but Ferral managed to block the strike, both being sent crashing out of the hut. People jumped in surprise and ran off. “Woah! They really have gotten stronger!” Ferral remarked, getting into a fighting stance. Leona rolled on the ground before stopping herself and getting up. “Tch! Fighting dirty as always.” She got up and readied her as well. The two lionesses came rushing out, Savannah at Leona and Zuri at Ferral. While Ferral dodged Zuri’s attacks, Leona blocked Savannah’s and countered with an upper kick to her chin. Ferral pushed one of Zuri’s fists to the side, then elbowed her in the ribs, sending her stumbling toward Leona who saw and backhanded Zuri with her fist back at Ferral. Savannah regained herself and started slashing at Leona, one of her strikes cutting into her forearm. She winced in pain and then went for a punch, but Savannah blocked it and gut-punched Leona. The two became locked in a back-and-forth, while Ferral saw Leona struggling. “I’m sorry.” He told Zuri, and she looked at him confused. He grabbed her left wrist, picked her up over his shoulder, and slammed Zuri into the ground. His eyes were crimson red for a split second, then reverted back to normal. Leona got sent back by one of Svannah’s kicks, but Ferral caught her.

“Are you alright?” He asked. She wiped the side of her mouth, “Yeah. Where’s your girl?” “I beat her.” Ferral responded, motioning with his head for her to look back. She looked behind them to see Zuri unconscious on the ground with cracks underneath her. The two looked at Savnnah who started to sweat a little seeing she was outnumbered. “That’s quite enough, Savannah,” Venus said as she came walking out of the hut. “I’ll handle them now.” Ferral and Leona turned their attention to her while Savannah ran over to tend to Zuri. “Leona, maybe we shouldn’t hold back against this one.” Ferral suggested. “You might be right. Fine.” Leona clenched her fists and growled before letting a loud roar as she transformed into her awakened state. Ferral closed his eyes, taking a deep inhale and exhaling before shooting them open, their original amber color now crimson red. Venus smirked, “Well, I guess it’s my turn, huh?” They looked at her with confusion as she let out a loud roar of her own. Her body grew slightly, her muscles became more defined and her hair grew slightly as well. The dry grass brown of Venus’s fur and hair gained streaks of black, and when she looked back down, her eyes were a sunset orange with black tear-like markings under her eyes.

“Woah! No way!” Ferral exclaimed. “She can awaken too?!” Leona asked stunned. “I told you, I wanna put you in the ground.” She bolted at Leona, falling and running on all fours. She was extremely fast, faster even Leona’s awakened eyes to see. “LEONA, LOOK OUT!” Ferral called out as she jumped in front of her. Venus lunged forward, cocking back her right fist and throwing the punch at Leona, but Ferral was able to cross his arms and block it just in time. However, the force of the punch was so strong they both were sent flying back and crashing into another hut. The two groaned; Venus was surprised seeing that Ferral blocked her. “Wow, you’re good. My speed and power are far greater than Leonidas’s was.” The two got up, panting a little. “My eyes are the only part of me that’s awakened, so my vision is greater than your speed,” Ferral said, “You can’t hide from these eyes.” Him and Leona got into fighting stances, but Ferral’s prosthetic arm had broken in half. He took off the glove over it and the upper half fell on the ground. “Aw man, not again.” He groaned, however Leona wasn’t paying attention and charged at Venus. “Leona, wait!” Ferral called out, but it was too late. Leona launched a flurry of punches and kicks that Venus dodged and blocked each one. She countered with a gut punch, followed by a left-right-hook, and ended it with a left kick across the face. Leona was sent flying back, landing, and rolling on the ground before she caught her footing and stumbled back up. However, Venus had already caught up with Leona, kicking her in the back, then spinning around her for a swift backhand. Venus tracked Leona’s flying body, and slammed both her hands into her stomach, putting her into the ground. Leona groaned in pain while Venus stood above her, picking her up by the collar.

“See, toldja.” Then, Venus lifted her right hand, detracking her claws out, ready to deliver a final blow. Ferral saw this and gasped, “Leona!” He grit his teeth and growled with anger. “Don’t you..…FUCKING DARE!!!!” He shouted, exploding into his full awakened state as he launching himself forward. Venus looked and immediately was socked squared in the left cheek by Ferral. His right hook was so strong, he picked up her body and slammed her head first into the ground. He stood over her as she groaned in pain. Ferral gripped her hair and picked her up, “Don’t you EVER try to take the life of an innocent person! ESPECIALLY my friend!” She nodded her head in fear and he dropped her back on the ground. “Leona, are you alright?” Ferral asked, helping her up off the ground. “Yeah, thanks.” The two both looked down at Venus. “So, ready to hear OUR deal?” Leona remarked. 

Afterward, the three lionesses decided to agree and become employees for Leona. “The only reason we’re agreeing is because the Failure there is amazing.” Zuri said. “Yeah, he’s incredible and we want him to train us.” Ferral chuckled bashfully, “Well if you insist. I’ll make sure you three are kept in check.” “Don’t let it go to your head.” Leona sighed. Venus walked up to Ferral and hugged him from behind. “I’m gonna enjoy training with you. You and I can get well acquainted.” She gently bit his neck, Ferral thrashing around embarrassed. “LEONA HELP!!!” She shrugged, “That perverted crazy is your problem, not mine.” Before the five went off, someone came running toward them. “Wait! Don’t leave me! Wait!!!” They all turned around to see a young lioness running toward them. “Who’s that?” Leona asked. “Ugh, it’s this annoying lioness that always wants to be with us.” Zuri groaned. “Yeah, she’s super annoying.” The girl stopped in front of them, panting heavily. “Ple…Please…take….take me….with you.” The other four lionesses looked at her, “No.” They said simultaneously. “Sure you can.” Ferral replied, making the other look at him. “Absolutely not.” Leona said. “Oh c’mon, she’s all alone.” “We’re not taking a child with us, Ferral.” “But she could help us. We can always use more helping hands.” Ferral gave Leona a puppy dog look and she let out a long sigh, “Okay, fine. You got a name kid?” She shook her head. “Alright, well we’ll spitball some ideas on the way back home.” And with that, Ferral and Leona’s new family was formed.