Chapter 18: The Devil's Deal

“Y-You’re my….father?” Ferral stammered. “I know that must be har-” Before Victor could finish, Ferral punched him across the face, severely holding back. Jack caught Dr. Stone before he fell off the edge. “What the hell is your problem, boy?!” Jack shouted. “Who the hell do you think you are?!?!” Ferral sneered, “Damn right it must be hard! You just come out of the gate saying you’re my father?! Who does that?!” Victor rubbed his cheek, chuckling, “You have your mother’s fiery spirit. I should’ve guessed.” Ferral got caught off guard for a second but regained his scowl. “Answer me!” He ordered. Victor fixed himself, “Very well, my son. I’ll tell you about your past, and how you came to be.”

He sat down on the ledge of the building, crossing his arms. “26 years ago I met your mother, Emma.” He pulled a small photo from his coat pocket and handed it to Ferral. It showed a younger Victor, mostly the same, but with less gray hair. And on his left was a beautiful woman with long blond hair and crystal blue eyes. Her smile was warming, it oddly filled Ferral with joy. She wore a white lab coat while Victor still wore his black one. “She was part of our German division,” Victor continued, “She and a few others had visited this facility to find ways to improve theirs. To say it was love at first sight would be wrong. She and I didn’t agree on the other’s ideology. She wanted experiments to supplement humanity while I wanted to sell them off as weapons to other countries.” Ferral scoffed. “But opinions can change, and as we got to know each other more, I started to rethink my ideals. And that’s when your mother and I truly began to connect. She stuck around, and together we made our plans for experiments to be the next stepping stone for our race.”

“But I don’t understand,” Ferral said, “What does this have to do with me?” Dr. Stone sighed, “I was just getting to that. I’m hoping you already know the birds and bees, when a man loves a woman, all of that,” Ferral nodded, “Well, 3 years after we met, the two of us got married and had you. During that time, we were in the process of making something called a Super Experiment. You’re already aware the two known as Leonidas and your friend Leona are a hybrid of a Lion and Tiger. They were only trial runs, to see if the subjects could accept the two other DNAs. Once that was successful, we set our sights on going even further, with five animals. You would be the main subject, though your mother didn’t fully agree. I didn’t either, so we settled that instead of using five different animals, we’d use five of the same kind. Mine and your mother’s intellect and five of the best wolf species known to man, I’d say that makes for quite the powerful concoction. Wouldn’t you agree?”

Ferral didn’t respond right away, he was still processing the information. “What happened to my mother then?” Ferral asked. Victor lowered his head and sighed, “We may be scientists, but we’re not gods. She unfortunately died during childbirth, and there was nothing I could do. You know what’s that like, right?” Ferral nodded regretfully, “More than I cared to admit.” “Emma was my whole world, she changed my entire perspective on how to treat experiments. You’re all I had left of her. I was a fool to hand you over to Armin, that bastard. He shared my old ideologies, I should’ve known better.” Victor got up and placed his hands on Ferral’s shoulders, “I’m truly sorry for all the pain I’ve put you and all your fellow experiments. It was never my intention.” Ferral didn’t respond. “Please, let me be a father to you now. Something I’ve ignored for far too long. Let me help you fulfill your dream, we can help end the suffering of experiments together.” Ferral grit his teeth, “It’s not just that anymore.” Victor looked at Ferral confused, “What do you mean?” “Humanity itself, I used to think that the good outweighed the bad, but I was wrong. It’s the complete opposite and it only gets worse. Our race as a whole is constantly in pain, and all I want to do is rid that pain and bring peace.”

Victor smiled, holding Ferral’s shoulder tighter. “I’ll help you with that too, my son. I want the same peace you do, the same would go for your mother. Together we CAN achieve it.” “How? How can look me in the face and tell me it’s possible?” “ It IS possible, I promise on everything. However…” He removed his hands and held out one, “You have to let me know that you’re ready. To do whatever it takes to achieve these goals of yours. I need to know that you’re serious.” Ferral looked down at his hand, but just as he was about to extend his own, Ferral hesitated. Whatever it takes? That could mean bad things would happen, could he really go through that? No! Ferral knew this would work without cost. He knew this was the only way to achieve his goals. This WAS the only way, and he would do anything to make it work. He gripped his father’s hand and Dr. Stone smiled. “That’s my boy. So in exchange for your assistance, I will help you achieve all of your dreams.” “Yeah, I accept.” The two shook hands, then let go. “Now that that’s all settled, how about you go get some sleep? I’m sure you must be tired after the long day you’ve had.” Ferral nodded, “It has been quite a day. Oh, here’s your picture.” Ferral tried to hand the picture Victor gave him back, but he shook his head. “Keep it, son. You deserve it.” Ferral looked down at it, starting at his mother’s warm and joyous smile. He grinned a little then looked back up and nodded. “Alright then, Jack here will take you to your room.” Victor gestured to Jack and he nodded, walking back to the elevator and Ferral followed. The two got in, Ferral getting one more look at his father before the elevator shot down, leaving Dr. Stone alone.

“This is going better than expected,” He said, “But there’s still one huge flaw in my plan. Despite his current angst, he’s still too much like his mother.” Victor placed his right hand over his mouth, “Her pure heart and kindness still dwell in that boy,” His fingers transformed into reptilian claws, “It’s sickening!” He ran his fingers across his cheeks, the wounds his claws made instantly healing themselves. “Guess I’ll have to try harder. But that’ll be later on, for now, I’ll play pretend.”

Back in Central City, morning had come and Leona and the other lioness woke up and were having breakfast before the tournament. “Still no word from Ferral, huh?” Loni asked. The other shook their heads. “No, but I’m positive he’ll join up with us at the arena.” Venus reassured them. “One of us has to be.” Savannah replied, looking somber while pushing the cereal in her bowl. Leona was still in her room getting dressed in her battle attire, looking in the mirror, she let out a sigh. “Today’s the day. All my training for this moment. I know you’ll show up, Ferral. And when we face off…” She formed a confident grin.

A woman walked through the crowds of the city. Bandages wrapped around her hands up to her forearm and from her feet to her ankle. Wearing a black karate gi with a black belt tied around her waist. Her short white hair had black streaks, tiger-like ears on top of her head, piercing blue feline eyes, and four large canines.  Having the same grin as Leona. “Today’s the day,” She muttered, her voice had Russian accent, “All my training for this moment. I’ve been waiting to face you, Ferral. And when we do…..”

“I WILL BEAT YOU!”