Chapter 13: The Mighty Lioness

The two charged at each other and clashed fists. They went back and forth, trading blows, dodging, and blocking each other's attacks. They seemed even for a little, but the lioness socked Ferral in the ribs, dodging a punch from him and backhanded Ferral into the street again. He quickly got up, continuing their fight. Incoming cars had to come to a screeching stop; some even rear-ended another.

Ferral went for more strikes, but she blocked them and slashed at his right shoulder. Blood started to flow out of the deep wound, but he ignored it and continued. The lioness was so fast and agile that it was hard to get any solid hits on her. As he struggled, Ferral tried to distract her and find an opening.

“So hey, I know you said it’s not important, but what’s your name?” He asked. She made an ‘X’ with her arms to block his punch, “1859: Lioness.” She responded. Ferral rolled his, “I should’ve guessed.” He remembered how both the cobra and gorilla experiments he fought had actual names, so he wanted to ask the lioness if she had one.

He ducked a kick before asking. “Do you have a real name?” She didn’t answer. So, he asked again, “My name is Ferral. What’s yo-” Before he could finish, she right-hooked his cheek and sent him sliding back. She snapped, “I don’t give a fuck about names! My job is to bring your sorry ass back, that’s it!”

She went to kick his face, but he managed to block it with my arms. He quickly grabbed her leg with both hands, attempting to throw like she did to him. The lioness used her free leg and used it to kick Ferral across the face. He let go of her other leg as the two fell to the ground. Ferral took this small opportunity and bolted off, promoting the lioness to follow in hot pursuit. He needed to find a place where other people wouldn't get hurt. Ferral took a quick look back to see that the lioness was right behind me. Panicked, he sped up even more. But that didn’t stop her from gaining; she was only a few feet behind him. Ferral turned a corner by grabbing a lamppost and swinging around. Just before the lioness could turn, an oncoming bicyclist crashed into her. The two hit the ground.

Ferral kept running, not even bothering to look back. People yelped and jumped back as they saw him barreling through. His eyes kept darting around, trying to find an empty area. That’s when he spotted it. It was a vacant construction site. He turned to his left, nearly losing control, and tripped. Then, ran toward it. As soon as Ferral got closer, he noticed the ledge and came to a screeching halt. He sighed in relief, wiping the bloody sweat off his forehead. His rest didn't last long because out of nowhere, Ferral was kicked in the back and flew forward. He rolled down the long dusty hill, digging his claws into the ground to stop himself. He looked up and saw the lioness had caught up with him. She was slightly panting.

The lioness looked behind Ferral, viewing the empty site. “So, this is where you’ve chosen to continue our fight?” Ferral nodded, dusting himself off, “Yep. Here, we can’t hurt any people, and I can fight for real.” He got into his fighting stance. The lioness burst out laughing, “Not with that stance!” She held her stomach, laughing even louder. Once she composed herself, the lioness slid down the hill, standing five feet away from Ferral.

She pointed at his form, “That stance is only used when we’re children. How the hell did those two losers lose to you?” The lioness’s expression changed back to seriousness as she raised her fists over her face. “It doesn’t matter how seriously you’re taking this fight; an idiot like you will never beat me.” 

Meanwhile, Ms. Clare finally caught up with Ferral. Or so she thought. She walked toward a group of people who were crowded around a cake shop. Some were taking pictures of the shattered window and the destroyed door. Police had also arrived at the scene, asking any eyewitnesses what had happened.

A woman said, “I was in there with my sister when all of a sudden, this guy came crashing through the window.” Ms. Clare moved closer to hear better. The woman continued, “All of a sudden, this girl, who looked like a teenager, hops inside and starts growing fur!” The officer looked confused, “Fur? Like, animal fur?”

“Yes! And the guy was in this mash of an outfit, bandages wrapped around his arms, tried to run out, but the girl sent him crashing into one of the shelves!” One of the shop workers joined in, “Yeah, and the guy had these dog ears on his head.”

The officer’s attention locked onto the worker. “Dog ears?” The worker nodded. “Did he happen to be a tall fella?” Both the worker and the other woman nodded simultaneously. The woman said, “He was pretty tall.” The worker nodded in agreement.

The officer grabbed his radio, “This is Officer Mason, I just picked up some information about the commotion downtown. Looks like that dog boy is a part of it.” As other police responded to Officer Mason’s call, Ms. Clare’s face went pale. She quickly ran off, desperately needing to find Ferral and get him to safety. She followed to another scene that happened at a nearby coffee shop. Witnesses were telling the officers similar information about what the two women at the cake shop did. Two people with animal fur covering them and fighting in the streets. Ms. Clare did pick up some information that might lead her to Ferral. Someone had said the two ran down north and headed toward the history museum. She thought about taking her car, but it was a little and parked in a public garage. So it would’ve taken too long. Her only option was to track him down on foot.