Chapter 24: Innervision

A/N: Bet you thought this day would never come, didn't you?! WRONG! I've been so busy, but that's no excuse to leave you hanging… So here it is. Sorry if it's a little short… But, action, ahoy!

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For a moment, time stood still.

Subject T felt frozen in the heavy fabric of it, caught eternally mid-leap in a blinding panic, gripped by fear. For him, Lara was eight feet away.

The tentacled giant knew nothing of fear; not yet. Its tentacles shot forward, at what must have looked like impossible speeds, writhing and preparing to latch onto Lara's throat. For it, Lara was only six feet away.

Caught in the middle and overwhelmed by agony, Lara lay writhing, clutching her shoulder. Faintly, she wondered, "Is this it..? We've come so far…" All she could do was watch as the thick appendages closed in upon her, her mouth open in a silent cry. Red washed over her vision again, and she knew that either death or unconsciousness was close at hand. Subject T flew through the air, wailing his painful, hideous battle cry as the distance closed between him and his adversary. Lara felt slimy, frigid flesh brush her throat, and she closed her eyes, took a slow breath, and waited for the beast to crush it out of her.

After what seemed an eternity, Subject T's bulk hit his target, and sent them both flying several feet. The tentacle beast screeched as it was crushed between Subject T and the wall, and as they slid to the floor, Subject T began to slice and claw with all his might. He knew, somewhere deep within himself, that if he let his infectious rage grow any further, he may never be able to come out of it. When a slimy tentacle wrapped itself around his throat and began to crush it, however, he knew that if either he or Lara were to survive this ordeal, he would have to succumb to his anger.

He gave into it with a hellish, bloodcurdling yowl that brought Lara back from the brink of unconsciousness, and sliced frantically at the appendage encircling his neck. It fell away, and while the creature shook in pain, Subject T drew his arm back, preparing to deliver a blow to its head. Just as he brought his fist forward, it snaked a tentacle around each of his wrists, prying them away from its body and to his sides. He flailed, snapping and snarling, desperately kicking his legs. As Lara gaped through tunneled vision, the beast began to stretch Subject T's arms out, pulling them tighter and tighter against their sockets. His arms began to creak and crunch as the joints threatened to separate themselves, and when Subject T threw back his head and screamed in a nearly human voice of pain, she couldn't help herself. She found her breath again, and joined in, the sound of a crazed wildcat; the sound of anguish and terror balled into one inarticulate cry.

The sound alone was enough distraction, it seemed, because the creature turned its huge, almond-shaped eyes upon her, baring its teeth and snarling. For a moment, the pull on Subject T's arms weakened, and in that brief instant, he pulled his arms in and tore at one of the tentacles with his teeth, savoring in the dark blood that suddenly spilled upon him. He tasted it; a sour, burning consuming his tongue, and the howl of rage that poured from his opponent's mouth was fuel enough to whip his head to the other side and do it again. He tore and slashed with his wicked fangs, this time, ripping the tentacle clean off. He spat it aside and lunged forward at the raving creature, and as his teeth meet with the creature's meaty throat, he vaguely heard Lara's cry turn into a crow of victory.

Lara released her screaming arm and began to pound on the floor, to kick her legs, to make as much noise as she could in support of Subject T; but also just to make sure she was still alive. Her mouth hung open in a terrible, haunting shriek as she watched Subject T tear into the writhing assailant's neck. She watched as its blood first ran, then oozed, then gushed from its growing wound; stared on and grew silent as its struggles began to weaken. Still, Subject T held it in a deadly embrace, claws sunk entirely into its back, unwavering in his grip as it flailed and seized in his arms. His teeth tore and shredded its throat until he found bone, and even then, he did not stop, yowling and snarling and burrowing his way past the bone and down into its chest. Slowly but surely, he lay it upon its back, seeming to dissect it with his teeth and tongue, crunching through its misshapen ribcage and tasting its innards.

Lara, unable to watch, forced her eyes closed, but could not force away the wet grinding and gnashing as Subject T tore away at the huge, tentacled being. Tears forced themselves through her swollen eyelids and she began to shiver, sobbing silently inside herself as she tried to block out the sounds of carnage and death. She drew into herself as best she could; forcing aside the pain in her undoubtedly dislocated shoulder and aching head.

"Just… want… to sleep..."

The sound of eating slowly died away, but still, she did not open her eyes. Slowly, Subject T rose, staring through nearly empty eyes at the spasming beast below him. With an agitated snarl, he lashed out with one clawed foot, and it struck home, burying itself in the open side of its neck and tearing the head clear from the shoulders. It rolled away, and with his eyes, Subject T followed it, watching as it came to a stop before Lara. A small spray of blood splattered her face, and she jolted, preparing herself for the worst.

Slowly, she opened her eyes, and with all her remaining strength, forced herself not to vomit as a scream caught in her throat. She was staring directly into the creature's soulless, deadened gaze, and before she could release the cry that had welled up in her chest, something in her shoulder ground against itself. Pain exploded inside her, and she saw tiny pinpricks of white light before her eyes. She could not move; could hardly breathe, and laid there, shuddering, as her eyes found Subject T's. He knelt beside her, shoved the head out of view, and used one bloody claw to brush her matted hair from her face. Though she was horrified by the sight of blue-green blood coating him, she lost sight of it when she looked into his eyes. As consciousness slipped away from her once more, she spoke softly, reaching her good hand out to try and touch his face.

"Your eyes… are green… again.."

The smile that had ghosted across her pallid face vanished, and just before she could reach his face, darkness took her, and her hand fell back to the floor. The last thing she saw was the green eyes coming closer, and a warm hand brushing her face.
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EDIT: I see all those page views! Shame on you, reading and not reviewing! Your feedback is what keeps me writing! You guys make a difference in the way the story runs! Positive feedback, negative feedback, anything that lets me know you enjoy reading this fic as much as I enjoy writing it. Please, take the time to click and type, if only to say 'Hey, I was here.". :)