Before Perfection
by The Great Red Dragon


Chapter 28

I had already underestimated the Pred - I had no idea that he could leap like that (it seems stupid now, that I didn't suspect it. I knew of his agility…but that was simply the first of a number of mistakes I was yet to make in this encounter). However, I countered him with a leap of my own, and released my second pair of arms in midair and took a swipe at him. I missed, and as I dove past him, I rolled into an upright position. By the time I turned around, he was coming at me again, this time on foot.
I made another dynamic leap at him, but he tracked my coming and connected by grabbing me by the arm and slamming my body down hard on the floor. It didn't hurt me as much as it surprised me – being swung through the air at high speed isn't, after all, something that you experience all the time. I landed with a grunt, but before I could do anything else, he was on top of me, breaking out some of my blood with a continuous array of punches to my face.
This was where my extra arms really came in handy: with my two upper arms, I managed to grab hold of his right wrist and hold it firmly in place, so only his left (and somewhat less-coordinated) fist was coming at my face. I was ready with a counter for that, as well – while still restricting his right arm with my upper set of limbs, my lower set of arms began to pound away at his exposed chest.
His muscles were like stone...but then again, I've been known to break stone.

This was a game of endurance, and it was to see who would cease fire and give in first before backing off. Again and again, I felt the Predator's knuckles connect to the side of my face, and I had a growing suspicion that my head was being beaten through the meshwork I was lying on; the crunching sounds in my ear were either that of the metal framework breaking or of my skull giving way.
Then again, the Pred wasn't getting it any easier: through squinting and swollen eyes, I could see sweat running down his scale-like brow as I drove my hurricane of punches into his sternum. I felt my fists beginning to sink into his chest, and I knew that I was causing him considerable pain. He grunted, and I was thankful to feel the force of some of his hits beginning to weaken.
However, I knew that he would have me unconscious if we kept this up. He was physically stronger than me, and I knew that if I wanted this fight to go on a bit longer, I had to do something. I managed to pull my legs out from under him, and mule-kicked him hard off of me, throwing him into the wall.
The Pred grunted as he was thrown against the wall of the chamber with a clang, and he looked at me with renewed surprise; I don't think that he was expecting this much of a fight from me.

"Cocky, stupid sonofabitch…"

Fittingly enough, the damage had been done to my body as well - as I rolled backwards onto my feet, I noticed that I was having a hard time standing; I was very dizzy, and it felt like my jaw had been dislocated. I didn't dare rub it, and otherwise noticed that my right eye was beginning to swell up - it gave me only a slit to see through.
I tasted the metallic tang of my own blood over my tongue, and I spat it out viciously. The Pred doubled over and grabbed his stomach, gave an enormous cough, vomiting a small, messy puddle of blood at his feet.
Obviously, he was hurting as well.
With admirable stamina, he came at me again, and I took an ill-planned and awkward leap at him. As last time, he caught me by the arm, but instead of going for the floor, he swung me full-force at the wall. I clenched my teeth, prepared for impact, and braced my legs as I stuck them out.
My heels made a bang as they contacted with the wall, and my knees buckled painfully. Still, I told myself that I had saved my body from crashing into the wall, and that my knees were of less importance. I pushed off hard, holding on tightly to the Predator's wrist, and as I jumped down to the ground, I yanked his arm down with me this, by the way, is oldschool wrestling.
I was hoping to dislocate his elbow or shoulder, but even after impact, I heard nothing pop…not even a grunt.
I did hear a resounding crack, but that was as his free hand caught me hard in the mouth. I felt one of my teeth leave my gum line as I was thrown backwards against the glass of Lara's tank (damn, he's strong!). The glass didn't give, but I made a fine crack in it and fell hard to the floor.

I was back on my feet quickly, though not quickly enough - the Pred had advanced swiftly aimed a hard left-hook at me. I dodged this blow, but was met on the other side by a vicious kick to my left shoulder. The pain was excruciating as his steel-clad calf made contact with my body, and I was thrown in the direction of the kick, finally landing with a crash on the floor.
The Pred proceeded towards me, and raised his clawed foot to stomp me into the ground. I rolled away just in time, and the almighty thud of impact was accompanied by a resounding crack as the Pred's foot drove through the grillwork.
I slipped between his legs quickly, thanking whoever that I wasn't on the receiving end of the last attack. Before the Pred could spin around, I punched him as hard as I could in the back of his knees simultaneously, and roared unearthly and his legs dropped from beneath him, rendering him onto his knees. I jumped back a few paces, took a sprinting start, and jumped up high enough to dropkick him in the back of the head with both feet. His noggin crashed forward with lighting speed and smashed into the grills.
I smiled satisfactorily and jumped over his body, ready to give him the same assault from the front. Again, I backed up and made for him, feeling a slight pain in my knees as I ran.
However, the Pred had already recovered, and he sprang forward faster than I had expected, and speared me solidly to the floor. He mounted my stomach and I felt his hands close around my neck. Before he was able to get a firm grip, I pushed my legs up and hooked myself to his arms. My new position made it almost impossible for him to hold on, and I flipped up and head-butted him as hard as I could in the face.

Both of us fell back. I was breathing hard and sweating just as much, and the blood that had returned to my mouth was beginning to drip from my lower lip. My shoulder hurt so badly that I thought it was broken, but I knew it wasn't because I could still control it properly.
The Pred didn't look any better - he was bleeding from his nose, and the teeth protruding out of his mouth were chipped and broken. He might've cracked a rip or two, judging by his abnormal wheezing…I'll bet I had given him a concussion as well.
As if in obligation, both of us arose and continued our brawl.
He came at me hard, as if to plow through me using his bulk alone. I sidestepped his charge easily, but tripped remember, I'm already having a hard time standing as I spun to face him. He was quicker, and was aware of my oncoming attack as I jumped up and dived at him. In a move resembling judo or karate, he evaded me by stepping sideways, caught me in his arms, and spun me around so that my back was against the cockpit door. For a moment, I began to wonder what why I was being hugged...but then I felt his thick, powerful arms beginning to tighten around me in a deadly embrace. I tried to breathe in, but he had already cut off my air. My ribs felt seconds away from cracking, and I knew that I wouldn't be able to land a decent punch in this position – I had to do something!
So I bit him. I clamped my sharp jaws viciously and dog-like into the Pred's forehead.
He grunted loudly in pain and released the hold, and I flipped out of his hold and off of his chest, hit the wall about fifteen feet behind me, and ricocheted back at my enemy. With a source of strength and speed that he must've been holding out on, the Pred grabbed me in mid-leap by the throat, and decisively choke-slammed me onto the grillwork floor.

My spine felt like it had been shattered, and my left leg was jerking and twitching by itself. I looked up, just in time to feel the full force of the Pred's foot and calve guard as he kicked me in hard in the stomach. Only after my body hit the ground again I was lifted up a considerable height could I let out a long, loud, and painful moan. I couldn't breathe, and held my side in pain; my ribs were definetly cracked. Then, I felt the Predator's strong hand grip the back of my neck, and a moment later, he forced me down and began to pound in on the back of my head.
I could actually feel my brain being tossed about inside my skull as blow after blow connected with my head's backside with brutal force and accuracy…it felt more like a huge hammer than a fist coming down on my head. I knew that my consciousness going fast, and I had to do something.
With my last burst of strength, I moved my head sideways, and while his hand smashed into the grills which were considerably dented upon impact, I rolled onto my back and aimed a single, powerful punch at his sternum, hoping that it would hurt him enough to buy me some time.
It didn't.
The Predator simply absorbed the punch, and a few specks of blood from his mouth fell upon my face. I blinked, and my face showed utter disconcertment.
The Pred then grabbed me by my neck and by my thigh, and lifted me up above his head. As I was traversing upwards in his glance, I saw the room go by in a blur and I blinked; I couldn't even see straight. Then, with utter force, the Predator slammed me down as hard as he could onto the grillwork floor.

Even though I managed to catch most of the impact with my shoulder, I felt the shock of the collision travel at light speed throughout my body. My shoulder gave a loud crunch, and I was assured that it was broken…as well as everything else in my body.
I had no more energy left to even lift my head, and barely enough to keep myself conscious.
I felt the Predator's hand at my throat, and he raised me high feet into the air. Through my one good, blurred eye, I saw a sharp, pitchfork-like blade emerge from a slit in his right gauntlet. It glinted maliciously, and I swallowed heavily.

"We've put this off for too long", I heard him hiss, and he lifted me even higher.
"You should have known that there was no other way."

I shut my eyes tight, and braced myself for the last second of my life. With luck, it would be quick.

BANG!

The Predator let out a pain-filled roar and dropped me. I fell hard, but looked up as he stumbled forward, his back arched and bleeding. He fell to the floor, injured by some means…but not yet dead.
I looked towards the source of the attack...and saw Riley standing in the entrance from the hallway, holding the magnum, which was expelling smoke from the end of its muzzle.

"Riley? What's he doing here?"

"Auron!", he called out to me, and started to come my way.

But the Predator was already back on his feet, and with rage in his eyes, he came at Riley quickly, faster than I had thought was possible in his state. Riley saw him coming and raised the magnum, but the Predator was too fast - in a single motion, he knocked the gun out of Riley's hand, grabbed him by throat, and forced him to the floor. He raised his bladed arm, ready to kill-

"Oh, Hell no", I thought to myself.

With some magically-acquired strength, energy, fortitude, and determination, I managed a strong, skillful leap across the chamber room, and landed on the Pred's back. With one arm, I grabbed him around the neck, and with the other, I pulled his right arm away from Riley and stretched it back the 'Tazmission'. In reflex, the Predator reared up, and gave me a chance to tighten my grip. My arm around his neck immediately became a vice, and his right arm waved helplessly as the other tried desperately to pull me off.
With a shout, I pulled him backwards onto the floor, and wrapped my legs around his chest, while my lower arms begin pounding relentlessly at his bleeding bullet wound.
Over the roars of pain and frustration coming from my choking opponent, I called out to Riley;
"Get Lara! Get out of here!"

I saw him stand up and look at me and the Pred on the floor: a mess of tangled limbs and writhing bodies. He looked very confused and unsure about the situation, and I angrily loosened a single hand and grabbed the Pred's protruding wrist-blade. I tore it off savagely with the sound of cracking metal, and my hand became slippery with my own blood as I threw it across the room.

"DO IT NOW!", I shouted even louder, in desperation, and sank my teeth into the Predator's shoulder.

After I had tasted his blood for a few seconds, I heard Riley run over to where Lara's pod was. Twice I heard the magnum fire, presumably to break the glass barrier, and a crunching of glass as he entered the pod to lift his sister into his arms.
The Predator had become like a wild animal now - the way his body jerked and fought to be freed, and the long, repeated howls he gave off were frightening even to me. He was frantic, and I had no idea how much longer I could be able to hold him…all I knew was that the explosion that would take place once I released him would be violent.

"GET OUT!", I shouted at Riley, even though I couldn't see him.
"GET OUT NOW!"

I heard Riley's hurried footsteps as he made back down the hallway to the entrance, with Lara presumably unconscious in his arms. I bit down harder on the Predator's shoulder, feeling my teeth gnaw into his bone, and held on tight as the Predator fought against me in the same insane, crazed way. I held on for as long as I could, to give Riley as much time as I could to get away. After what seemed like an eternity, I couldn't hear his footsteps echoing down the corridor anymore – even when I strained my ears to the extent against the Pred's roars.
If figured, hopefully, that Riley was a safe distance away from the ship…that he had made it.
Though the outside world raved and raged, I sighed happily inside of my mind.
Lara was now safe...Riley and his family were safe. I had done what I had promised myself to do – there were no more burdens on my shoulders.
Now, if I managed to escape with my life, it would be an added bonus (I grimaced and laughed at the same time).

Perhaps my moment of thoughtfulness was all the Pred needed; he seemingly regained a fraction of his self-control, reached back, and with immense strength, he pulled me off of his back, as cleanly as a band-aid.
With considerable force, he me threw against the wall. I fell hard, but was back on my feet quickly, ready to resume the fight - …
But he didn't come for me. He got up awkwardly, gripping his shoulder in pain, and ran hastily towards the cockpit. Once inside, the door slid closed behind him.
I was a bit taken aback by this strange action…had he chickened out?
I wondered what was going on, momentarily glad that I had a time to recuperate as much as I could…and then I felt a sudden lurch, and then heard the ominous hum of the ship powering up.

"He's starting the ship", I thought.
"He's taking off."

I quickly ran to the slide panel that I had seen before, and yanked it open.
Outside, I could see the accelerators scorching the ground and the vegetation as we lifted up, higher and higher into the air, until I saw exactly where the Predator's ship had managed to hide itself.
The Predator's ship had sneaked its way into a deep drop-off point in the jungle, where trees grew on the slopes that led down to small valley, flanked by a single waterfall. It was almost a small valley, although I could see several places where trees had been crushed to accommodate the ship.
I looked at the waterfall…it was very pretty, to say the very least. It was nestled enchantingly between these two sloping walls of green, and the bright, clear water sparkled as if it were magic.
It was beautiful.

I was snapped out of my small moment of sentimentality as a hiss behind me announced the re-opening of the cockpit door. I spun around and found the Predator standing framed in the doorway – he was holding a large laser rifle. The look of white, burning rage in his eyes let me know exactly what he was about to do.
He shot...and I dodged.
I heard a loud pow behind me, and then the frantic spitting and hissing of an uncontrolled electric current. The next moment, the line of lights above the room and down the corridor blinked off; I figured that the shot had hit a control panel for the lights. Whatever the reason, we were both submerged in half-darkness, the only short flirts of light coming from the paneled window.
Before the Pred's eyes had time to adjust to the semi-darkness, I hurried over to the corner where I had thrown my belt. I couldn't see clearly (due to the darkness and the blurriness still in my eyes), and groped around the floor until I found my belt. My Uzis were stuck, and before I had a chance to pull them free, I shrill, screeching shot from the laser rifle missed my head by about two inches and put a hole in the wall. I grabbed the two things that my hand could close around on – the grenade and the 9mm pistol – and jumped back to avoid another close shot.
What ensued was a long-lasting fire-fight. I could see better in the dark, even with my dull eyes, and therefore could evade the Predator's shots while shooting only a few of my own I had a 16-round magazine, the Predator had laser-cell that I didn't want to guess the potency of. His advanced firepower threw me back, forcing me back into the long hallway that I had entered from. More than once, I had to rely on my wall-climbing ability to jump and evade a shot along the narrow corridor. The Predator, with his massive bulk, pursued my steadily down the passageway, shooting of rounds from his rifle with submitioning potency. He tested my agility more than ever before, and every move I made was riddle with pain that stemmed from my aching back, my broken shoulder, and my cramping knees. Every time I jumped up, flipped backwards, and landed, a sharp ache scorched up my body and left me thinking;
"I really can't take much more of this…"

My thoughts were true – I dared a quick glance behind me, and found the small circle that connected the corridor and the two doors (the one to the outside, and the one that had been locked): I was running out of space.
I thought back to my previous training with Riley, and even to my months spent with Jumba. In both environments, I had been thought a simple, yet unorthodox strategy: use the environment to your advantage.
I had been doing that already, by jumping around to avoid being shot…but now, my eyes fell upon the exhaust ports and pipes above me that were still spitting the chilling steam. Immediately, I turned this scenario into ammunition for my creative mind. I jumped up high, evading a shot from the Predator's rifle, and gripped one of the pipes. I tore it down with me, and in its disrupted state, it spurted ice-steam harder than before, right at the Predator. He roared and stepped backwards as the frozen current cut into him and let loose an accidental shot from his rifle that punctured another pipe, worsening his situation as another stream shot at him.
Taking advantage of the situation, I spun around and bolted towards the two doors. Knowing that the one to my right led to a thousand-foot drop, I desperately tried the control panel next to the one in front of my. It was still sealed, and I groaned audibly. Throwing down both of my weapons, I gripped the underside of the door with both hands and forced it up with all the strength I had. My entire body screamed in protest, but I gritted my teeth and wrenched the panel up as indescribable pain crashed through seemingly every nerve.
Finally, I managed to open a space large enough to accommodate me, and I crawled through with a stifled whimper, managing to grab my weapons as well.

Once inside the room, I got heavily back to my feet and opened my watering eyes…and they, as well as my ears, were met with a violent welcome.
This was obviously the engine room of the ship…but I couldn't have expected anything less primitive for an S-1 model. Large, spindly generators thrashed and spun as machine work smoked and hissed from all directions: large, evil-looking contraptions habitated the room, creating a formidable maze of sharp, treacherous walls and an almost unbearable amount of noise.
Behind me, I heard a lurch and a grunt; the Predator was trying to open the door the rest of the way. I groaned and scurried forward, taking a random path to the right. I knew that the Pred would be following me as soon as he could get inside, and I did my best to lose him in the noisy haze. I took turns at random, hoping that I could confuse and lose him for a while…even though I had no idea where I was going.
I got about a minute of repree out of this, and dared to take a few seconds to rest against a large, protruding with a measuring-dial on it. I breathed heavily, but strained my ears for any sounds of approaching footsteps. The angry plodding that identified the Predator was seemingly gone, and I could hear nothing but the whirr and this hiss of the mechanisms. Perhaps I was safe for a second...but I had hoped too soon.
From behind, I heard an angry growl that made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. I spun around, my 9mm raised, but the Predator was quicker to grab me by the throat, and with the other hand, force my gun down. He lifted me up, and pushed my head towards a sharp, spinning cindler that would slice my head off faster than a heartbeat.
I tried to fight, but he was too strong, and I felt the contraption nip harshly at one of my ears. In a desperate effort, I tilted my gun out of his grip, and emptied my two remaining shots into his leg and hip with identical, echoing bangs.
The Predator roared even louder than he had done before and let me drop. Immediately, I pushed him hard against the whirring machine behind him, and he bellowed even louder as a spoke cut into his back. I dropped my gun as I took off; it was empty.
I ran (with a slight limp), once more choosing direction at random, until I found myself facing a door at the other end of the room that seemingly had not yet been opened. It wasn't sealed, and thankfully, I was spared of the need to pry it open…I probably wouldn't even have had the strength to.

The door slid open and I hurried inside without even looking, and immediately closed it back down behind me. When I turned around, I was hit by a light so bright and severe that I shielded my eyes before I could adjust to the painful vividness.
This room was smaller than the last; only about as large as the pre-cockpit chamber. In the middle of the floor, floating on a raised platform, was what looked like a sun-bright, rectangular crop of light situated above a platform from which ran cables that looked thick and heavy.
I didn't need to wonder about this place: this was the ship's main reactor.

I had only time to notice a large, top-to-bottom window to my left (much like the one in the earlier chamber), before the door behind me opened.
I turned, and saw the Predator. It was the first time that I had seen him in light since the headlights had gone out, and I was quite surprised at his bloody, mutilated appearance. His wounds seem to have gone deeper, and bright red blood coated his side (presumably from his back). Angry red patches on his chest and forehead showed where the ice-steam had 'burned' him, and he stood slightly hunched-over and wheezing.
His eyes were bloodshot, and looked more sunken and lifeless than before. They displayed only a droned rage and hatred towards me. Only now did I understand how much he had grown to hate me during our fight; this was personal to him now, as well…and I had no doubt in my mind that he wanted to kill me, more than ever before.
In his hands, he still carried the laser rifle. He raised and aimed it towards me, and as if in slow-motion, I could see his finger tighten around the trigger.
Doing the only thing that seemed possible, I picked up a pipe lying on the floor and threw it as hard as I could. At the same time, the Predator fired.

The pipe hit him before the shot hit me. It spun hard as it flew and caught him hard in the face, elicting a groan from him that was almost a sob as his head was knocked back. He dropped the rifle, but not without having fired it already, and by now, the shot had hit me.
I was lucky enough to turn away from the blast, so that it missed my chest by only a few lucky inches. My left shoulder was therefore exposed, and I felt the tearing sting burn into my muscles and bone. It hit me with force that I didn't think possible for a rifle, and I was spun to the left in midair in reaction – against the window.
In a weird motion, the glass cracked and broke after I had hit the floor, and the entire pane shattered and fell out into the air. I covered my head as a few shards fell down on me, and opened my eyes to the welcoming brightness of the sun. I raised my head slightly, and realized that I was lying on the edge, high above the sparkling ocean below.
I got up, stumbled forward blindly, and felt a cold hand grab me. I was thrown into a pile of cables in the corner, and instantly I felt the Predator's hands close around my throat. I tried to pry him off, but he had settled his weight on top of me, and there was no way I was going to get out on my depleted strength. I opened my eyes as I fought desperately to pull his hands from my throat, and my eyes met only his – red, bloodshot, bleeding, and deranged scores of light that lay deep within that sunken head of his.

"Now...you die", he growled in terrifying triumph, and I felt my windpipe close completely.

I squeezed my eyes shut and continued to struggle, even though I knew it was useless. He was too strong for me, and I couldn't away. He was going to kill me, and I was too weak to do anything against it.

But then...

My body relaxed, and my mouth turned to form a small smile. A chuckle escaped my lips, even though my air had been completely cut off. I laughed again, and I felt the Pred's grip loosen slightly in surprise.

"What's so damn funny?!", he shouted at me, spraying me with blood and saliva.

I opened my eyes lightly, continued to smile...and then, I held up the hand grenade that I had still been holding onto.
The cap was off: and it was armed.

"Is anybody immune to explosions around here?", I choked smugly, relishing in my silly, yet confident demeanor.

For a single moment, the Predator stared at me in disbelief.
He must've been thinking how this was possible…after all, he had me where he wanted me. I was weak, and he still had enough energy within him to kill me. It was his hour – he was supposed to win. All equations pointed towards him: it was the grand finale that he should've been the victor in.
But now…the simple equation of an armed grenade in a room with the highly-sensitive reactor spelled double jeopardy for him.
Yes, he knew what was to happen…and he couldn't believe it. Luckily, I had enough sense left within my thrashed mind to grasp it, and I bounced the grenade playfully in my hand.

"Life's a bitch, ain't it?"

Then, before he could snap out of the cobwebs, I slammed my head forward and caught him with a crack in the face. He fell back, and I jumped up. I threw the grenade into a corner, and two seconds to go ran to the edge of de-glassed window. The sun now shone higher in the sky than before, signaling the transition from morning to noon, while the bright shores of Mana twinkled atop the bright blue water one second.
I spread all of my arms, and I heard the Predator shout behind me. I closed my eyes and smiled quietly to myself;
"Thank you…it's finally over."

I felt the Predator's hand on my shoulder, heard the deafening explosion start behind me-


And then...I was flying.