Chapter 13: Lioness

This girl was tall. About as tall as me! She wore a black t-shirt with white claw marks on it, dark blue jeans, and this black collar thing around her neck. Her hair was long and puffy, a dirty brown with black tips. Her eyes were this olive green…stern and focused. She was very pretty. VERY pretty. I didn’t want to stop staring at her face. “So, you’re The Failure, right?” She asked. “Ah man,” I said under my breath. Of course, this pretty girl would be with The Organization! “*sigh* Yeah. And I’m gonna assume you’re gonna try and take me back home, huh?” I responded. “Try isn’t the word I’d use. I WILL take you back.” I moved away from her, getting my distance, and saw the line of people watching us. Then I looked back at her, “Hey, let’s take this somewhere with no pe-KUH!” She hit me across the face with such power and speed. I crashed through one of the front windows of the store and landed on the sidewalk. A woman yelped as people turned their heads to see what was going on. I looked up and saw the bag of groceries was scattered all over the ground. “Heeeeey, you didn’t have to bring the food into this!” I hopped back up, but as soon as I did she kicked me in the face and sent me flying into a moving car. I smashed my back into the front side of it and fell back onto the ground. I groaned in pain, “So that’s what getting hit by a car feels like. Good to know.” I got on my hands and knees as she was walking toward me. Her hands became these large paws and her legs from the knee down looked cat-like. “Oh right, I can turn into an animal too.” Wait? I looked at the ground…..how DO I turn back? I looked back up at the girl as she was running at me. “Uh oh.”

She kicked me in the hard stomach, lifting me up in the process. Then she grabbed my legs and started spinning me around. She threw me across the street into another building. I crashed through one of the windows and fell on a table. The people sitting at the table screamed and ran off. I gripped the table and growled, “Alright…now I’m NETTLED!” I got up and saw her charging at me. This time, when she threw a punch, I caught it. She looked at me with surprise as my hand started to grow fur. I returned back into my animal state, and I punched her in the stomach. “GUH!” She groaned as I threw her into the middle of the…OH! This is a cafe. I should remember this place. She chuckled, “Heh, guess they weren’t joking. You do pack a punch.” She got into a fighting stance, “Guess I’ll start taking this seriously.” “Hold on. Let’s take this somewhere else, I don’t want these people to get hurt.” “Oh please, they’re collateral.” “I don’t know what that means…..OH WAIT! Is that thing you get when you eat too many eggs? Saw that on TV once.” She sighed and rolled her eyes, “That’s “cholesterol,” you idiot.” “Darn.” She rushed at me and I blocked a strike from her. Then she kicked me in the stomach and I flew back but was able to keep my footing. Even after I returned back, she’s still really strong and fast. JUST THE KIND OF CHALLENGE I LIKE!

We charged at each other and clashed fists. We went back and forth with punches and kicks…dodging and blocking each other's attacks. She socked me in the ribs and I punched her in the face. I swiped a few slashes at her, she dodged them and jumped into the street. Multiple cars had to come to a screeching stop, some even hit one another. I went for more strikes, but she blocked them and slashed my right shoulder. Blood started to pour out of the wound, but I ignored it and continued the fight. She was so fast and agile, that it was hard to get many solid hits on her. “So hey, forgot to ask, what’s your name?” I asked. She crossed her arms to block my punch, “1859: Lioness.” She responded. “I’m Fer-AH!” I yelped as I ducked a that went for a slash on my face. “I don’t give a damn what your name is, I’m here to beat you and drag your sorry ass back to the Facility.” She went to kick my face and I blocked it with my arms but was still pushed back. I took the put in distance as an opportunity and ran off. I needed to find a place where random people won’t get hurt. I looked back to see the Lioness was right behind me “YEEEE!” I turned back around and ran faster. She's SO fast! I turned a corner and kept running, people jumping back scared as they saw us charging through. My eyes kept darting to try and find an empty place. Then I saw it….it was a vacant construction site. I ran toward it and as soon as I made it to the site and stopped, I was kicked in the back the flew forward. I gripped the ground to stop myself and looked back to see her slightly panting. “So, *huf* *huf* is this where to choose to continue our fight?” She asked. “Yeah, no people here to get hurt. Which means I can go all out!” I got into my fighting stance. “HA! Not with that stance you’re not. Only beginners and children use that pose.” She got into hers and we stared each other down. “LET’S GO!” We shouted and charged at each other.