Chapter 51: The Strength Of A Twisted Friendship

BACKGROUND MUSIC: One Winged Angel Rebirth (Final Fantasy VII Remake)

A considerable crowd of animals had gathered to watch the fight from a safe distance, and they watched in fear as Alex and Riz charged towards each other to begin their battle. Riz threw the first punch, with Alex anticipating the attack and dodging it. The wolf quickly retaliated with two kicks to the bear's belly, causing Riz to stumble backwards. Seizing the initiative, Alex followed it up with two blows to Riz's chest and stomach. "Hmph! So you might have some skills, but it doesn't matter. I'll CRUSH you!" Riz roared.

Riz growled as he swung his arm out, attempting to claw Alex. With lightning reflexes, Alex backflipped out of his enemy's reach, and rolled under a second swipe as he headbutted the ursine's knee, taking advantage of the White Ranger costume's bulky helmet. Alex extended his own claws and raked them across Riz's left legs, causing the larger carnivore to grunt from the slashes.

Alex smirked as he darted around Riz and delivered a flurry of fists to the bear's backside, peppering his spine and bones with punches. Riz whirled around and smacked Alex in the face, sending his White Ranger costume helmet flying off of him and causing him to stagger backwards. Alex quickly recovered, though, and blocked Riz's next strike with his paws.

Alex soon felt something trickling down his face realizing it was his blood from when Riz struck him. The blood trickled down his face, and Alex had to wipe it off before it got in his eyes. As Riz was about to strike with his other paw, Alex jumped back and narrowly got out of the ursine's reach. "Alex?!" Haru's voice rang out, causing Alex's attention to get diverted for a second. The bear then seized this opportunity and rushed in while Alex was distracted, only to be countered by a punch to the jaw and a sweep to the legs.

Riz quickly gets up as they try to push each other back, growling. Riz then let out a mad chuckle as he used all his strength to push the albino back further, while Alex was struggling due to the sheer raw power Riz was exerting. Listening to his instincts, Alex leapt into the air, performing a dropkick on the bear and pulling on his arms. "No matter what you do, it's pointless! You cannot escape justice!" Alex snarled.

"Oh really? Why don't you come closer and tell me that?" Riz cackled evilly as he pulled his opponent in for a bite, revealing his fangs. Alex was forced to break his hold on the ursine's arms and rolled to the ground, but Riz took advantage of Alex's close proximity to the ground and kicked the wolf in the stomach, causing Alex to grunt in pain. The bear then gave Alex a powerful punch to the face, causing Alex's vision to blur as he got a black eye.

"All right, no more messing around!" Alex cried out as he whipped out his taser, setting the voltage to ursine. Alex rolled and leapt back onto his feet as Riz charged towards him, with Alex firing the taser and the two prongs embedding themselves into the bear's chest. He then pressed the trigger, sending a large amount of voltage surging into Riz's body, causing him to roar in pain.

The bear's head arched back as he let out a terrifying shriek, pain assaulting his body as the electricity flowed into him. But more powerful than the pain was the sense of anger that was burning up inside Riz. He felt the strength rippling through his muscles, and he let out a powerful warcry as he grabbed the electric wiring that connected the taser prongs to the trigger, and ripped them out of his skin. With a single tug, the shocking weapon flew out of Alex's paws and onto the ground.

"I could turn your own weapon against you, watch you scream and contort in agony, but where's the fun in that? That would make you pass out much too soon… Tem and I want to make you scream and suffer!" Riz giggled maniacally as he slammed his foot into the taser, smashing it into pieces and rendering it useless.

As their battle continued, Alex was starting to show signs of the injuries that he had received. Although he was quick and able to outmaneuver most of Riz's attacks, the bear made up for his lack of accuracy with sheer, unrestrained strength. Every punch or kick that Riz landed on Alex caused black spots to dance in Alex's eyes, and Riz hadn't even broken a sweat despite the multitude of hits the wolf had managed to score on the ursine. .

Alex jumped into the air, kicking Riz in the balls, but that was a huge mistake. He had acted on instinct, but it would do much more harm than good. Kicking a brown bear in the crotch like that would cause testosterone to flood through their body, making them stronger, faster, and even more dangerous.

"Y-YOU! ONLY TEM COULD TOUCH ME DOWN THERE!" Riz shrieked angrily, shoving Alex to the ground. With furious speed, Riz picked Alex up by the leg, and slammed him face first into the dirt. Mercilessly and without respite, Riz then pummeled Alex relentlessly with his fists, stopping just short of his spine. Alex felt no broken bones, but he did have a sprained ankle where Riz had picked him up, and was too ridden with pain to move out of Riz's range.

Alex was then rolled over onto his back, causing him to let out an undignified whimper as he laid on his injured shoulders. Riz gripped Alex's neck with one paw, causing Alex to begin choking and wheezing as he gasped for air. With the other paw, Riz traced the White Ranger emblem on the wolf's costume. "I know exactly what your coup de grace should be. I'll tear out your heart, and devour it right before your very eyes!" Riz laughed. The mask that the bear wore in public was gone, and now the monster was exposed for everyone to see.

"Any last words…?" Riz smirked as he curled his paw into a fist, pulling it back in preparation for punching out Alex's heart.

"You won't… win… this changes… nothing, Riz! Don't… you understand?" Alex groaned, inhaling as much air as he could with the bear's iron grip around his neck.

"Your secret… is public knowledge now. You'll never escape… the paws of justice!" Alex snarled, spitting in Riz's face as a final act of defiance. Memories began to flash across his eyes. Memories of Judy and Nick, his two lovers back in Zootopia… memories of Legosi, Jack, and the other canines at Room 701… memories of Louis and the drama club members, Sheila, Bill, Els, Tao, and Kibi… and of his adoptive family, his skunk sister Blossom and his adoptive mother Dr. Iris.

"I'll see you in hell, Riz." Alex hissed as Riz pulled his fist back and was about to make the final blow. Suddenly, Riz yelped in pain as he felt a long rope strike his backside. The bear whirled around to see six other similarly costumed animals: a Red Ranger, Orange Ranger, Yellow Ranger, Blue Ranger, Purple Ranger, and Pink Ranger.

Alex's friends band together to put a stop to Riz's madness! But where is the Green Ranger? And who are these animals identities under their costumes?! Find out next time, on BEASTARS: Converging Destinies!

Chapter 52: The Pack Protects Their Own!