The hulking beast raced toward the large metal security door, striking it with the force of a bull on the rampage. The creature snarled loudly and began slashing at the door with its claws like a crazed cat fighting for its life. It roared, which eventually faded into an unnatural voice.
"Elias!" Primal screamed as he wildly slashed and pounded the door. "I'll kill you, Elias!"
Everyone stared in disbelief at the creature that only moments ago had been a young man. None of them seemed to truly understand what was happening, at least none of them but Paula. She had a knowing, almost satisfied look in her eyes as she watched the animal tear away at the obstacle between himself and his prey. Her expression changed to one of compassion and urgency, however, as she knelt beside April, whose skin was now starting to crack and crumble.
"There might be time," Paula said. She placed a hand on the girl's chest and closed her eyes, concentrating on isolating the poison in her body.
Ray started to stop his wife from trying to save the girl, knowing that Paula might kill herself in the process. He stopped when she looked up at him and shook her head.
"Ray, please." She looked back down at April and closed her eyes again. A spasm of pain enveloped her as she began draining the girl of death, the girl's skin slowly healing and returning to its natural color.
Yards away, Primal continued to force his way through the door, but was stopped when a blinding orb of energy struck his body, exploding on contact. He was thrown to the floor, and when he got up, another blast hit him. He knew before he even looked up who his attacker was.
Sol stood in the demolished doorway where Primal and the others had recently entered from the transport bay. He began forming another orb of plasma in his hands. "You can't stop him," the young man said.
Primal lunged toward Sol, barely dodging the last energy ball the other mutant had tossed at him. He struck Sol with all his might, and the two grappled in a fury of claws and white energy.
Paula looked up momentarily as Primal and Sol fought, but then set back to work rebuilding April's damaged body. The young girl eventually looked as she had minutes ago, beautiful and full of life. Her skin was no longer cracked and discolored, no longer a deathly shade of pale. She smiled as she opened her eyes.
Paula sighed, and her body immediately hit the floor. The toxins she had drawn out of April's body were too much for her own body to handle, and her skin quickly began to deteriorate, cracking and tearing. "Hurry," she whispered hoarsely. "Take me to my father."
Ray quickly but carefully lifted his fading wife off the floor and carried her toward the door that Primal had tried with all his might to destroy. It was still impassable, but that would quickly change. Matthew and Adriana would be sure of that.
Concentrating, Addy formed a pocket of decelerated time to help prolong Paula's life, while Matt set to work tearing the security door to pieces. It took him nearly a minute to finish Primal's job, but to Paula and Ray, it was only a matter of a couple seconds. After the doorway was cleared, Addy released her hold on the couple, and Ray carried his wife into the next control room, April following close behind.
Meanwhile, the battle between Sol and Primal still raged. They exchanged punches and kicks, occasionally one of them landing a solid blow. Sol hit Primal with volley after volley of energy blasts, which were returned with slashing claws and flesh-tearing bites.
"I've wanted to kill you since I met you," Sol yelled as he blasted Primal in the face, throwing the fierce creature fifteen feet. "Disgusting animal."
Primal immediately leapt back toward Sol, swinging his tail at him and burying several razor-sharp quills into his side. He growled, "Too bad you won't get the chance."
"If I haven't killed you yet, it's only because I haven't finished torturing you yet," Sol shrieked. He formed one last orb and tossed it at his adversary.
Primal's instinctual movements allowed him to quickly gain the upper hand. As the globe of glowing plasma neared him, he leapt forward, allowing the orb fly beneath his body. It struck the floor behind him and exploded, propelling him toward his enemy before Sol could even react. As he came close to Sol, he bit his arm and the two sparring titans spun on an invisible axis between them. Primal released his grip on Sol's arm, slingshotting him toward a nearby wall. The young man struck the concrete bulkhead with enough force to send several deep fractures along the wall's surface, and almost as quickly as he was flung toward the wall, he bounced off of it, his lifeless body slumping onto the floor.
Primal growled menacingly, "I said you wouldn't get the chance."
As Primal entered the control room to which Avery and Elias had fled, he was ready to kill his former mentor. He was shocked to find that Paula had already done the job for him, though. She knelt beside her father's lifeless body, Elias' skin turning to dust. Soon almost nothing remained of him.
