3034: The Awakening

Z V.S. Neese

Z P.O.V.

Mustering up all of the strength and speed we can get we climb to the top of the building as quickly as we can. Scaling such a building of this size proves quite challenging for us as the higher we get the thinner the air is making it difficult to breathe. We push on though digging our long fingers and sharp claws into the smooth metal surface of the building. Each movement is taken in long strides and forceful jabs.

Soon we make it to the top and find a hatch open to a very dark bottom.

' Well what do you think Leona'

She sniffs the air below and nods.

We jump down and hit the floor below making a small indention on the floor as the metal bends beneath our feet making a squeaking sound. The room is completely dark with the exception of a light coming from the hallway of an open doorway.

We keep our pace a one Lycan stampede down the halls, trying to follow Emily's scent. It is very ain't but it still is enough to act as a guide on her location. Soon we find the elevator they must have used and hit the button. The doors slide open swiftly and there on the cold hard elevator floor lifeless are Nicole and Natasha. My chest swells in even more in anger.

'That psycho..that traitor...he will pay' I growl.

'Stay focused Z, your cyborg friends will be okay, focus on the girl' Leona slides the two of them out of the elevator and sits them against the wall.

Focusing hard we close our eyes and try to see if we can catch another break, a scent left on the buttons. Just as we begin to try and pick up something a familiar force meets our body. It's so soothing and calming, blanketing us in a soft sense of serenity.

'Don't worry Emily I'm coming just hold on'

'Z, I'm safe for now, it's Neese you were right'

Emily communicates back to me and we freeze dead in our place. Getting a response from Emily was something that should've been impossible. When it comes to Lycan bonding only mates and pack members can communicate via mind links.

Stopped cold in my place I have no words or thoughts at this moment on what this could all mean. After a few minutes, Leona gives me a nudge.

'Z now is not the time we have to move' she nags.

' It'll be okay Emily stay where you are, ' I respond back quickly to her and take a gamble hitting button 52.

I sure hope I was right on my instinct if not may Emily forever forgive me. Breathing in deep my anxiety grows. Everything in me is shaking with rage, excitement, fear. Multiple emotions all clouded together in one giant hurricane within me.

'When we get in there Leona no mercy, Neese does today'

Huffing Leona smiles eagerly back to me.

Emily P.O.V.

I can feel Z growing closer whatever force draws us to one another definitely has come in handy today. I can't let Z do all of the fighting. It's time for me to quit being a weak scared human. With sound determination, I walk up to Neese and square up to him.

"Awe the human has some courage, tell me what do you think you can do to me?" He snickers.

" Kill you, I am not the same Emily as the one you met months ago. I've changed Neese, I have grown and will continue to grow."

He laughs loudly unmoved and unthreatened by my words.

Balling my fist I catch him with a right hook straight across the jawline. My knuckles send a sharp pain through my first but I don't care. I keep hitting him with right and left hooks each on making an impact leaving red marks across his face.

Pausing to catch my breath he spits out blood. His teeth are red and small droplets stream from the center of his bottom lip.

"Done already? My oh my you are weak. Very well then, my turn" a bloodlust roar leaves his mouth.

Neese shifts himself into a giant four-legged gray-skinned beast with no eyes and sharp teeth with two nostrils bigger than my hand on either side of his muzzle, a tail swings through the air side to side. Circling me he laughs, even more, a predator taunting his food.

" I am going to enjoy peeling the flesh off your bone, and I will relish in your pain!"

He lunges forward snapping his strong jaws at me. Veering to the left I tuck and roll out of the way just in time. Staggering to my feet, I look around the room hoping to find something to use as a weapon.

"Don't be afraid Emily" he taunts.

Swinging his back half around his tail sails through the air cutting its way towards me with such force I drop low and feel the whisk by blowing my hair as it passes over me.

"You are good at dodging I'll give you that"

This was not my plan. I had thought binding him with the crystal and all the punches I had hit him with. He wouldn't have the ability to engage anymore. If only that were the case.

Neese centers on me and aims right in my direction charging full force. In turn, I run to the right. His head rams the steel wall that was behind me. Metal bends from the force of the blow circling around his bald gray head. I can't dodge forever, one hit and this is all over.

Pulling his head free he shakes like a dog trying to dry itself after getting wet. And yet again he targets me.

" You are bound to run out of luck soon Emily, just admit your defeat and die quickly, the more you play this game the angrier I become."

" I'd rather die fighting than die surrendering to you!" I shout.

"What insolence!" He runs towards me again.

Come on Emily think he has to have some kind of weakness. I focus on his features, this creature has no eyes, but huge nostrils and large bone-crushing tail and speed. He has most of the senses except one.

His eyesight! The thought hits me and I form my plan. He cannot see me but he can find me by scent. Therefore, by theory, I can force him to ram himself into that same wall again.

Finally stopping I center myself in front of the damaged wall. My heart thumps loudly in my ears the anticipation of his assault mere seconds away.

" Come on Neese, don't be afraid" I try to taunt him.

"Afraid?!" He tightens his robbery lips together.

"I'll show you afraid!" he shouts to me as he charges forward.

Waiting until the last second I jump and roll out of the way. Just as I planned he slams headfirst into the wall getting his head stuck. The metal encases the back and sides of his head.

"Dammit!" Frustration eats away at him.

"This human still has a brain and has outsmarted you, Neese, " I watch him struggle.

"Oh, no worries sweet Emily, I'll be out of this in a jiffy." He stops struggling and his body starts shrinking in size.

"s**t" I blurt out.

He hears me and laughs, this time he turns into a more vicious creature. Tall and muscular black fur covers his body and elongated muzzle forms, canine teeth replace his own and his eyes turn red with his black pupils. The fur that exists on his backside and down his legs and arms have small lowlights of silver color in them. His chest isn't as furry more than anything it is straight muscle and very toned.

"What a cruel joke, " I spit at him.

" Not a joke dear, why I was only able to perfect the shifting into a Lycan because of Z" He swings his arms down as if he was showing off perfection.

" Posing as a Lycan so disgraceful, have you no shame?" I reply.

"You seem to believe I actually give a s**t, let me reassure you I don't, "

He races towards me. The speed he has is more intense than the speed of the first creature. I cannot outrun him or outmatch his strength. He catches me despite my efforts and hoists me off the ground by my throat. My feet dangle down and I struggle against his grip trying to fight back. I reach for the fluorite crystal and manage to grip it. Only to have Neese snatch it away seconds later tossing it across the room.

"You have no need for that," he says as he launches aside.

"No…" I barely manage to get that simple word out.

'Z, you have to hurry please' I try my best to mind link with her.

The room is beginning to grow dark and I can feel my strength slipping away from me. This won't be it, it can't be it, not this time. I think back at how far I have come. From all the obstacles that have come my way. All the forces that have tried to snuff the life right out of me and yet I am still here. I am still alive.

Being alive without a purpose is meaningless and I used to think that I was worthless, a lonely human left to do the impossible. I had thought of myself as nothing because at that time I was nothing. And now at this very moment, I refuse to die, I refuse to go out like nothing. This time it will be different, this time it will be me who turns the tables.

My eyes spring open and I look at him. He may have my throat but he doesn't have my legs. His eyes meet mine, his gaze is cold and evil. There is no good, there is no compassion, there is just pure rage. His eyes are a deep blood red. Seems suiting for the type of being he is.

I lift my legs as far up as I can manage and front kick him with the ball of my foot right in the nose. The next kick I hit him in the throat with more force than the first. The breath escapes from him and he gasps choking as he falls to the ground beneath him, taking me down with him.

His grip releases me and I begin to choke as well trying to intake as much air as possible. My lungs cannot be filled fast enough. I lay on my back. The floor is hard and cold beneath me.

Come on Emily you have to get up. You have to use this time that he is down to end this. Get up! I shout encouragement to myself trying to stand on my feet. The pain that has now consumed my whole body is almost unbearable. I can feel my neck swell from the hold Neese had on me, it begins to feel stiff as the seconds pass. My sides ache and I feel like I have been stabbed over and over again.

Somehow I still manage to get to my feet, barely, but I manage. I stagger towards him weaving side to side as if I had just drunk a lot of liquor. Neese is sitting trying to recover himself from the two kicks he had taken. Out of the two, the most damaging was the one to the throat.

"You...you can't...beat" he struggles to get the words out as he keeps gagging with every movement of his tongue.

I looked down at him, here was someone who was supposed to be my friend. All of our friends and he betrays us for money. He was willing to sink as low to damn the whole galaxy for the sake of money. How pitiful of a thing he truly must be. I raise my leg up bringing it to a ninety-degree angle. His eyes grow wide and he puts his hands up in surrender.

Not this time Neese, you don't deserve mercy and you don't deserve to live. Someone like him should be dead for all the hell he has caused the chaos he had helped rain down upon countless innocence. As I am about to press my foot down upon his neck. I hear a familiar shout come from behind me. Making me pause inches above his vulnerable neck.

Z P.O.V.

The elevator couldn't have reached the floor fast enough. A lot of time had gone by since the last link I had gotten from Emily. Panic is slowly starting to set in and I try my best to keep it at bay. To panic is to fall victim into fear and ultimately leading you to perish wastefully.

Leona does good tracking Emily's scent and we manage to find the hidden room she was in. Reaching the doorway we arrive just in time. And I am relieved to see she is still alive and horrified at what she is about to do. This isn't the Emily that I have come to know. She isn't a killer and I can't stand here and watch as she does draw first blood and takes a life.

"Emily, wait! Don't do it!" I shout to her.

Stopping inches from Neese's neck she looks at me.

Taking the opportunity to catch her while she's distracted Neese grabs her by the legs and drags her down to the ground forcefully. As she hits the floor he stands to his feet. Clearly in pain and almost to his breaking point.

I sprint quickly towards Emily hoping to protect her before Neese is and to bring her any more harm. I fail he grabs Emily holding her sideways by her arms that are stretched above her head and her ankles. Looking at me he throws her and she come barreling at me. Bracing ourselves for impact Leona stops and plants her feet into the floor and readies to catch Emily. Underestimating the power of which he threw her. We get knocked back and sent flying across the room into a wall.

'That'll hurt in the morning' Leona groans.

' Pain later, fight now!' I tell Leona as we get to our feet.

Emily is badly beaten. Bruises cover her face and arms from what I can see. Her neck is swollen and has now turned a dark purple. Even her eyes have grown swollen.

"Rest now Emily, we are here" Leona brushes her fingers along Emily's cheek.

" I'll..admit for a mere human she has some powerful kicks and punches." He manages the insult but with a wheezy voice.

" if I hadn't distracted her you would be dead now. Quit the insults, Neese."

"Why did you stop her? Couldn't bear the thought of losing a friend?" He mocks.

"You are no friend to me, I only stopped her because she is innocent and killing you would rob her of that purity."

Hmph.

We circle each other, our eyes never leaving each other. Our arms up and ready in a fighting stance. The time has come for Neese to die. And it will be all the sweeter having him die by my hand.

"Before we begin, I do have some questions for you." He stops in his place.

Annoyed I don't respond.

" What made you not trust me Z? I'm curious to know how you were able to see right through my charade."

With a finger to his lips and one arm crossed he watches me.

" I quit trusting you when Roland left us. And even more when you insisted on taking Emily here alone without me."

" Go on," he nodded.

"I gave Emily the fluorite crystal before she left to make sure she would remain safe. I had underestimated just how much of a coward you are. Thinking she's safe with the twins and having the crystal was a rookie mistake."

He laughs with pure delight on his face clapping his hands together.

"What about you Neese? What made you become a traitor?"

"Ah, the age-old question, why? Why, why, why seems to be the hot question to ask. Well Z nothing more than good old fashion being rich and left alone by the army. Pure greed, if you will" Neese, pops his neck side to side.

" So, how did you manage to be there when Emily's father made that video a thousand years ago?"

"I've been around a long time Z. And when you reach my age you begin to learn plenty of things. Incredible things at that. To have allowed him to live would've been devastating to the future. In short, I teleported. It's a one-off there is only the trip and the return and that is it the port key won't work after that."

"Port key?" I glare at him.

"Oh yes, a powerful item that will take the user to any point in time either the past or the future. See those archives are not the first ones I had seen. When I found a different copy of them and realized just how rich I could become, I wanted to ensure that specimen X would be around for a long time"

"You monster!" I growl.

"The video doesn't show it, but I'm sure you can use your imagination, however my only mistake then, was not killing Emily right then after her father. A mistake I will correct after I am done with you."

We both bolt full speed toward each other, there will be no mercy this time. He throws a few quick jabs and Leona manages to dodge countering with a hail of our own. Just as fast as we move to strike Neese moves to dodge.

Pouncing on top of Neese we open our jaw wide burrowing our sharp canine teeth into his shoulder. Screaming in agony he throws a few hard fists hitting us on the muzzle and in the eye. Forcing our release on him we back away. His blood fills my mouth and I spit it out.

"Taste like rot" I spit.

"You will pay for that!"

He lunges at me striking me in the ribs and abdomen. The next jab hits me on the left cheek. One after another he bombards us. Trying our best to dodge one after the other he still manages to make his mark a few times.

"Killing me won't be easy, my purpose will be fulfilled. My fate isn't to die just yet. No. That'll come when I am old and wealthy" Neese smiles wide as he continues his assault.

'Leona enough toying with him already, it's time to show him.'

'As you wish Z'

Retreating away from Neese, Leona begins to shift into our second form. Our muscles stretch and our bones crack as they grow too long and wide to fit the form of a darker, more deadly Lycan.

Our feet grow out well beyond anything human or if a male humans average size foot. Our arms grow longer and down to our knees. The torso of our new body shapes and molds itself into a tougher hide and tighter muscles. This time we stand close to about nine feet tall and our strength is well beyond the measure of picking up a vehicle.

"What? How the hell can you change into that beast?"

I can't help but snicker at his facial expression. This once tough and unbeatable man now feels like he is a tiny ant.

"I didn't show you everything Neese and for good reason."

He stares me down clearly aggravated at the piece of information he clearly had lacked. This time I charge first my speed outmatching his. My fur has grown longer and pitch black and my eyes have shifted to a blue ocean color.

I spread my hands out wide, stretching my elongated fingers out and examining my long jet black claws. I s***h at him managing to strike his chest. Neese tries to counter with each swift motion that I bring to him. His evading skills are better than my own. He ducks and weaves.

I keep on with my onslaught of attacks. Slashing my claws at him hoping to rip into his fake Lycan body. He counters with a few punches but with my thicker skin, the blows I receive do little to no damage.

Fear is growing inside of him the more he realizes that none of his attacks are incapable of inflicting any type of damage to me. I s***h once more managing to finally hit his red-colored left eye.

He falls backward, retreating a few steps away from me. I close the gap on us again and grab his arm. Keeping my grip firm, grab Neese by one arm and send him hurling into a metal wall. He gets back to his feet and I take him by the arm again throwing him to the other side. The wall dents this time as we slide down the wall and to the ground.

"Z wait" he begs.

"Your time has run out, Neese, there is no more waiting, just your death." I walk towards him.

" I won't die just yet" Neese shifts into some flying type creature small in size and hard to see.

"We will meet again, and next time Z you won't catch me by surprise."

The size Neese had shapeshifted into is impossible to see. Leaving me to scour the room multiple times in hope of trying to catch him before he escaped. His small statute had given him the advantage over my eyesight and he slipped away.

After I am certain beyond all doubt I go to Emily and check on her. While she is breathing her body is badly injured and bruised. Gathering her in my arms I look down at her and examine every inch of her battered face.

"He may have gotten away this time, but there will not be a way out for him next time. That is a promise."

She's unconscious as I speak my promise. One of which I hope I don't end up breaking like so many I have already broken in the past.

Reaching the elevator the twins are lifeless as well. Whatever Neese had used to take them out seems to have long-lasting effects on them. I place Emily in a fireman's carry over my shoulders. And grab one of the arms of Nicole and one arm of Natasha and drag them into the elevator.

Hitting the button of the floor we had come in on initially. Sitting them up against the wall, the smooth ride of the elevator slightly calms my nerves. As the door slides ajar I peer to the right and left before getting out of the elevator. Once I am comfortable that there aren't any threats on the floor I proceed to continue on our way getting us back to the hole in the ceiling.

Finally making it in the room that is still pitch black with no light except for what illuminates from the hatch above me, I set Emily down on the ground. Fighting Neese and dragging two cyborgs that weigh half a ton each has taken a toll on Leona and I.

Just then the door closes behind me and a voice calls me from behind. Chills run up my spine making all my fur stand straight up. Of all the rotten luck I have had today and more just has to be added to it.

"Hello Z, " the voice calls to me.

Going from tired to pissed off is definitely a good talent of mine. Who do they think they are to even call my name? To have the audacity to approach me from behind at that all casual. They must really have a death wish it would seem. Drawing in a deep breath I clench my fists tight.

"What do you want…."