HuniePop: Space Adventures

by MarioandSonicFan19

Roughly a year after their little vacation to Inna De Poona, Max and Nikki have been invited by their alien friend, Celeste, to help her with her job as a galactic enforcer alongside her team. But as time wears on, the couple discovers that the universe is bigger than they thought and discover a threat to, not only their home, but to the entire galaxy

14. Chapter 14: The Hunted

HuniePop Space Adventures

Chapter 14: The Hunted

Usually when you look at yourself in the mirror, it's when you're trying to find something out of place. Maybe your hair is messed up or out of place or maybe you have a zit that's just bothering you. For me, what I was trying to get rid of was much worse than either of those things. What was out of place was something evil. Something that I had wanted to get rid of since the moment we had started this whole...

"OK, seriously. What the hell is so interesting in that damn mirror?" Nikki asked me as I continued to inspect myself in the mirror.

"When was the last time I shaved? A week ago? Five days ago?" I asked.

"That's not why you're looking in that mirror and you know it."

"Alpha told the Sages that my eyes were red when I fought the soldiers at Plantation 13. Just trying to figure out exactly what he meant."

"Max..." Nikki said, trying to get my attention. But I just ignored her and continued to try and look for any unusualities.

"Look, I know that I sound paranoid, but I just have to be sure so that none of our team gets hurt," I said.

"Max..."

"This is a risk that I can't take. For the sake of our friends and the sake of..." I continued to ramble until something hit me in the back of the head. I turned around and saw that Nikki had thrown a book at me to get me to stop talking.

"Did you... throw a book at me?" I asked as I gave her a confused look and held the back of my head.

"Max, you're acting all paranoid and it's freaking me out. Look, I know that I wasn't there when you defeated the Sages, but I know that you're able to control whatever it is that you have inside of you. Even if you do feel that you can't control it... I know that you can fight against it, no matter how dangerous it is. So, stop worrying about it," Nikki said as she walked up to me and gently hugged me. I just smiled and returned the hug, holding her tightly.

"You always try to see the best in me, don't you?"

"Hey. Being with you taught me to do that. In fact, I'd like to say that you rubbed off onto me a bit."

"I guess I did, huh?" I replied. After I had shaved and freshened up, we both headed for the bridge, where Hiro, Celeste and Eila were, along with Zero Two, who was spinning around in a swivel chair.

"You having fun?" I asked.

"Trying to think," Zero Two replied as she continued to spin in the chair.

"About what?" Nikki asked. Zero Two just stopped spinning in the chair and gave her a smile.

"Wedding plans," she replied. I heard Hiro loudly sigh behind me and saw him holding his face in his hands.

"Look, I'm sorry. I keep telling her that we should postpone, but she's been extremely stubborn about it," he said.

"Because I DON'T want to wait any longer for the two of us to get married when there's a possibility that we could die before the mission is over. Plus, we've been together for about two years. Don't you think that it was time we finally got married?"

"It's not that I don't want to get married! It's just that I think that it's poorly timed is all!"

"No, it's not. You're just getting cold feet like any soon-to-be husband would be!" Zero Two teased. As the two continued to bicker, I walked up to Celeste, who was busy driving the ship.

"So? How's it coming?" I asked.

"Well, Zero Two's been asking me to find any good spots for their wedding, but I haven't found any yet. She's been going through designs for her dress and..." Celeste started to say.

"No, I meant how is Rhea coming with the book we got from the prison?"

"OH! She's actually making some progress with that. It's taking a bit longer than expected, but I've asked everyone to stay out of her room and not to disturb her. She's only ever left her room during mealtime and showers. She's concentrating very hard."

"Great. Her full concentration is what we need to win this war."

"Max... are you all right?"

"I'm fine, just trying to remain focused on..." I started to say before a blinking red light got my attention. It also got the attention of Eila, who began repeatedly tapping it as if was trying to either make it stop or she was easily entranced by it.

"Uh, is that bad?" I asked. Instead of answering, Celeste turned her attention to the light and pressed a button next to it, which pulled up a display of a rather bleakish-looking planet with the computer's reticle pointing to a desolate part of the planet.

"This is rather odd. We're getting an encrypted message from the planet, Actaeon," she said.

"What's on Actaeon?" Nikki asked, walking over to us.

"Nothing but death and a lot of apex predators. The last time anyone who wasn't from this planet set foot on it, they were never heard of again."

"So, why are we getting a message from someone living on a dead planet?" I asked.

"I don't know. But this message sounds like a cry for help more than anything," Celeste said.

"It could be one of the Overlord's scouts."

"I thought that was possible, but this message was sent on a frequency that the Overlord's scouts don't use. Max, I understand that you're being cautious, but we must always be willing to help someone in trouble. And if push comes to shove, we will be ready if the Overlord and his minions do show up."

"Then I guess that we don't really have much of a choice. To Actaeon it is," I said.

"ROAD TRIP!" Zero Two yelled, buckling her seatbelt.

"NEVER shout that ever again unless it's appropriate," Nikki said as she and Hiro strapped themselves in. Within a few minutes, we arrived at our destination. As we started to land, I saw that we were landing on the outskirts of a forest of some kind, except the trees were almost stripped of their vegetation. All around us on the ground were some kind of deer-like creatures which immediately scattered before we landed. The rest of the team came onto the bridge after we landed and we all took a look at our surroundings.

"Well, you were right about this place, Celeste. It looks like death happened here and then some," Amki said.

"This planet... its aura... how can so much savagery exist in just one place? And the innocents that inhabit this place..." Rhea said, tears coming to her eyes.

"Celeste, where's the signal coming from? I don't think that many of us want to stay here too long," I said. Celeste pressed a button on the console and pulled up the radar, which showed a steadily beeping dot coming from the transmission.

"It says that the source of the transmission is directly in front of us," she replied.

"What, that mysterious cloaked person standing out by the cliff looking all ominous?" Zero Two said, pointing out the window of the ship. Sure enough, there WAS a mysterious figure standing right next to the edge of a cliff, his (or her) robes flowing with the wind. It did look a bit ominous, to tell the truth.

"OK. All of this points directly ta 'trap'. Anyone agree with me?" Rhonda asked. Pretty much everyone on the bridge raised their hands in agreement.

"Celeste, is the radar picking up anything beyond that cliff?" I asked.

"No, there's nothing. Even if one of his scout's ships were cloaked, I can easily pick up the ship's frequency, so there's no way they could sneak up on us even if they tried," Celeste replied. I looked back up at the mysterious figure outside and thought for a minute. If this figure actually needed help, why would he or she summon us to the worst possible spot in the galaxy?

"Let's not keep our contact waiting then," I said as was leaving. But before I could get out the door, Nikki grabbed my arm and stopped me.

"Max, I don't think that this is a very good idea. Even if it isn't the Overlord, who's to say it isn't someone we can trust?" she asked.

"I agree. You can't go out there. At least not without assistance," Celeste said, handing me a small device. It was cylindrical with a green button on top of it and bright blue lines running down it, like it was pulsating.

"What's this?" I asked.

"A portable teleporter. If this turns out to be an ambush, press the button on top and you'll be transported back here in an instant. Make sure to use it THE SECOND before trouble starts or you might bring unwanted attention with you," Celeste explained. I gave her a nod and then headed outside. The soft chirping of the few birds in the trees and the howls of the animals in the distance made the ambience of my surroundings even more scary than how it looked onboard the ship and even though the forest wasn't that dense, I could feel that I was being watched. When I finally got to the cliffs, the cloaked figure didn't turn around or even acknowledge me.

"You picked a hell of a spot to meet me. You couldn't have picked a better spot for us to meet?" I asked. The figure didn't answer and just continued to stare out at the horizon like it was more interesting than me.

"Could you at least tell me why I'm here or why you need to talk to me?" I asked.

"I thought that would've been obvious," the figure finally said in a feminine voice. Her voice sounded oddly familiar and when she removed her hood, I got conformation to my suspicions when I saw her pink eyes, her blonde hair, and the black mask covering her mouth. It was Selene, one of the Overlord's minions we had fought before. I tried to push the button on the portable teleporter the second she revealed herself, but Selene was quick to react and grabbed my hand with her whip, wrenching the teleporter free from my hand.

"You're quick…" I said.

"You tried to flee before I could explain my intentions. I'm not here to hurt you. And I no longer work for the Overlord," Selene replied, releasing my hand.

"Yeah, well, forgive me if I find that hard to believe. So, what the hell are you doing all the way out here and why did you ask to meet me here on this… nightmare landscape of a planet?"

"This planet is my home. I know that may not seem like it's the safest place for us to meet, but I had to meet you someplace where I felt comfortable. I'm sorry that I couldn't pick a place that was more to your liking than what I liked. But I believe that it'll be worth it when you hear what I have to say."

"Well, spit it out already."

"Do you see that abandoned facility all the way out there in the distance?" Selene asked, pointing to a lone metallic structure sitting at the base of a mountain surrounded by forest.

"What about it?" I asked.

"That facility was abandoned for almost 5 years, but it was reactivated very recently. I have reason to believe that the Overlord has stationed someone at that facility for some kind of purpose."

"And what purpose is that?"

"I would tell you, but I must share this with the rest of your crew as well."

"And what makes you think that I'll just let you on the ship?"

"Because if I was still working with the Overlord, I already would've knocked you out and we wouldn't be here. Look… I need you to trust me. What we need to do means life or death for all of us and taking out that facility could eliminate a key component of the Overlord's plans," Selene replied. I just sighed and rubbed my eyes for a bit in thought before picking up the portable teleporter.

"I guess that we could use the help. Follow me," I said, motioning for her to follow and we made our way back to the Centurion.

"Thank you. I understand that it might be very hard for me to earn your trust, but I promise that you and your team will not regret it," Selene said as we were approaching the Centurion.

"Yeah, about that…" I said right before I grabbed Selene's wrist and pinned her wrist to a tree with a metal cuff. Selene struggled to try and get free, but the cuff was stuck too far into the tree for her to be able to get it unstuck.

"I need to talk things over with the rest of the team before we can let you on. Don't go anywhere until I get back," I said, leaving Selene to stand glumly under the tree as I headed inside the Centurion and headed straight for the bridge where everyone else saw the events unfolding.

"Nice technique. I really thought that you were just going to let her in like that," Zero Two said.

"I'm trying to be more cautious. Celeste, what are your thoughts?" I asked.

"I ran everything we've heard from her through a polygraph simulation. Everything she's told you was true," Celeste said.

"You mean to tell me she wasn't fibbin'?" Rhonda asked.

"The simulation monitors the speech of a person for any fluctuation of any kind or any conflicting phrases. If she was lying, she's doing a rather convincing job of making it seem like she isn't lying. And I scrubbed through her speech three times. She isn't lying."

"Plus, her tone indicates that she's actually frightened of… something or someone. It's possible that she's so frightened that she actually requested help from US. Which makes me a bit concerned," Eva said.

"Or she's scared of ME and she's asking for redemption because of what she's done," I said.

"Max, I don't trust her either, but if she's offering an opportunity for us to take out one of the Overlord's joint operations, we should take that offer and see what she knows," Celeste said.

"And what the hell was Rhea's excuse?" Amki asked, crossing her arms.

"A poor judgement on my part. But Selene has worked with the Overlord, which means she may have information about where his strongholds and laboratories may lie."

"Hey," Zero Two said, trying to get our attention. But none of us were listening and we continued to argue amongst ourselves.

"But, Celeste, why would Selene just suddenly defect from the Overlord and join us? She'd be posing as a double agent and we probably never know that until the second before she betrays us!" Nikki said.

"Then we monitor her every move if we do let her on. Listen, this is an opportunity that we can't afford to waste, whatever the cost may be," Celeste replied.

"Guys!" Zero Two yelled louder, trying again to get our attention again, only for us to not hear her.

"What if that price is too high for us to pay? Maybe we should just tap into her mind for information and then drop her off at the nearest prison!" Hiro said.

"I support that idea!" Odango agreed, raising her hand.

"I also support that idea. I say we go with it," Amki replied, also raising her hand.

"Hiro, we don't have the technology to perform a procedure like that here and I'm not so sure that doing so would yield any results if she was trained at length by the Overlord," Celeste said.

"HEY!" Zero Two finally yelled, fed up with us ignoring her.

"WHAT?! We're busy talking here, Zero Two!" Nikki replied.

"Well, I'm sorry to interrupt this 'important' talk of yours, but before you resume arguing with each other, does anyone wanna tell what the hell that is on our windshield?" Zero Two asked, pointing up at the upper window of the Centurion. Sure enough, when we looked up, something rather scary looking WAS standing on the top window. It looked like some kind of grey-skinned humanoid creature about 6 feet tall with a posture like that of a gorilla, but its long muscular arms ended in hands with four long, sharp claws on each finger. The back of the creature was covered in hair or a light fur of some kind with spines rising out of its back, but the most disturbing thing about it was creature's jaws consisted of a whole bunch of sharp teeth which were so big that it's jaws couldn't shut properly and it's eyes were pitch black. The creature was sniffing the air as if it were searching for something and it drooled on the window for a brief second as it looked around.

"Well… That's disturbing," Amki said as Celeste walked over to me and Nikki.

"One of this planet's residents, I'm guessing?" Nikki asked.

"I'm actually not familiar with most of the creatures that inhabit this place, so I wouldn't be able to tell you which species it is unless we can find it in the database," Celeste replied.

"Well, it's sitting on the roof of this ship for SOME kind of reason and it's just pacing back and forth. Do we even know what it's doing?" Nikki asked. I had to admit, it DID look like the creature was looking for something because if it wasn't bothered by us, it would have moved on by now. After a few seconds, the creature stopped sniffing the air and got into a stalking stance before it took a few steps forward. I looked in the direction the creature was looking and noticed that Selene was trying in vain to get free of her restraints, a frightened look on her face.

"It's hunting…" I said, before I immediately ran to the cargo bay and ran out the door. I stopped short of the nose of the Centurion to ready my shotgun right as the creature hopped down to sniff Selene's scent, opening its jaws in a terrifying manner before it let out a roar that sent chills down my spine. Right as the creature went in for the kill, I fired a blast from my shotgun which greatly injured and knocked back the creature, but it didn't fully kill it. The monster turned back to face me and roared before charging at me. Before the creature could get its teeth into me, I swiftly thrusted my arm blade into the creature's chest and slit its torso open before I snapped the creature's neck and it slumped lifeless to the ground. Selene let out a sigh of relief as I retracted my arm blade and took the cuff off of her arm.

"Y'know, you could've told me about this, and I would've placed you a bit closer to the cargo bay doors," I said. Selene just scoffed at me before I led her inside.

Nikki's perspective

Have you ever performed a dissection on a frog in middle school or high school? I did once. And it was GROSS. The thought of having to cut into a dead animal just to learn about its anatomy was one of the most disgusting things that I had ever done, not to mention the smell of it. Of course, times change when you get older but, right now, with Celeste performing a study of the creature that Max had killed, I began to get a flashback of me vomiting in science class when we first did a dissection.

"Several enlarged canines mostly at the front of the mouth. Obviously suggests that this predator isn't keen on chewing. There is evidence that this creature goes through a large number of teeth in its lifetime much like Earth's sharks. A study of its brain cavity shows that this creature has heightened senses of smell and hearing as well as improved night vision," Celeste said into a recording device as she opened the mouth of the creature and studied it. All of us were sitting quietly around the table where Celeste was performing her study, safe for Eva, who was trying to find a match to the creature in the database, and Selene, who was cuffed to one of the chairs.

"Are you done yet?" Zero Two finally asked. Celeste just turned off her recorder and stood up, adjusting her gloves.

"The anatomy of this creature confirms it… it's some kind of super-predator. One that doesn't fit any other description of other super-predators that live on this planet," she replied.

"If by 'doesn't fit the description' you mean doesn't exist anywhere in the Actaeon database, then you would be absolutely correct, Celeste. Of all the scientists that have explored this planet, it seems that none of them have even SEEN something like this," Eva replied.

"Selene, what can you tell us about this thing?"

"It has no known name, but my people merely refer to these creatures as the 'Bloodhunters'. The scent of even a small drop of blood will make an entire pack run towards the source. They are ruthless, bloodthirsty, and destructive and they won't hesitate to kill everything that gets in their way," Selene said.

"Why is it that they aren't in the database?" Eva asked.

"There has been a rumor amongst my people that these creatures were created by the scientists that arrived here 6 years ago. When the first Bloodhunters were created, they broke loose, slaughtered most of the scientists and they spread over a large area of this planet like wildfire. They killed several of my people and their numbers have been steadily climbing recently. I've devoted my entire life to wiping out these abominations and giving my people another chance at living without fear again."

"And I'm guessing that the Overlord promised you that he would do that in exchange for your services?" Rhonda asked. Selene just nodded sadly in reply.

"And what exactly does any of this have to do with the giant metal structure out there?" Max asked.

"That structure was where the scientists created the Bloodhunters. But almost 12 hours ago, it was mysteriously reactivated by something or someone. I sought to try and find out exactly what was going on and who was behind all of it-," Selene started to say.

"And yet, here you are," Zero Two interrupted.

"Because the facility is surrounded by an abnormally large amount of Bloodhunters. I felt that asking for your help would be better than me just rushing in and running the risk of getting myself killed."

"The facility… how far away is it from here?" Celeste asked.

"A day's walk. More or less depending on the circumstances. Assuming that all of you are in agreement, of course," Selene replied, making all of us look at each other for everyone's answer.

"I mean, if this means us killing a whole bunch of bad things just to save people, I'm in," Amki said.

"I agree. And, just like Celeste said, this could be an opportunity to destroy one of the Overlord's possible operations, assuming that the facility plays a part in his plans," Eva agreed. I looked over at Max, who had a disapproving look on his face before he let out a sigh.

"Alright. We'll do it your way, Selene. BUT… if there is even a HINT of betrayal from you, not even the Overlord will save you. Do I make myself clear?" he asked in a stern voice. Selene just nodded in response and Max nodded back before we all separated and got ready for hike that laid ahead. As I was helping out Celeste with packing a few supplies, I noticed that Max was sitting down and holding his head like he was in pain.

"Max, are you OK?" I asked, holding his hand.

"I'm fine. Just tired is all," Max replied, smiling a bit. I just looked at him funny and put my hand on his head.

"Are you sure? It feels like you have a fever or something."

"I'm sure. I'm just a bit stressed is all. I mean, we're heading into a forest filled with the most dangerous predators on this planet and our only hope lies with one of the Overlord's accomplices."

"Max, I don't trust her either. But, right now, she's all that we have to help us get through the forest so we can reach the facility. If she does betray us, it will be on her," Celeste said. As we were talking, we heard a knock on the door and saw Amki standing in the doorway.

"Hey, sorry to interrupt, but look who just came back to the land of the living," she said before moving to the side and revealing a rather familiar face: Ayano Aishi. Ayano was Max's "friend" whom we had fought against a while back when she was possessed by an Infernite that made her insane. Hell, she was insane even before she became an experiment. But here she was, standing in the doorway, wearing a hospital gown and looking a bit groggy but also a bit saner than she used to. Or so it seemed.

"Ayano. I trust that you are feeling well again?" Celeste asked.

"A little. Just a bit confused by the alien that greeted me when I woke up," Ayano replied. I saw out of the corner of my eye that Max was looking a bit nervous and was sweating a little.

"But… other than that, you OK… right?" he asked nervously. Ayano just smiled and put a hand on her cheek before looking back at us.

"Of course, I'm alright… Senpai…" she replied, giving Max and me a crazy look with her eye twitching a bit.

"Sooooo, are we gonna bring her with us or do you want to leave her here?" Amki asked.

"Better to be safe than sorry. Get her dressed and ready to move out within the next few minutes," Celeste said.

"You got it, Boss. C'mon Ayano, let's go get packed," Amki replied. Ayano just stared at us with a sadistic grin on her face as she walked away.

"Amki. If she starts acting even more crazy, I need you to restrain her. The last thing we need is someone dying because of her," Max said before Amki left. She just gave Max the "OK" sign and then left to help Ayano. After about 20 minutes, we began our journey through the forest and made our way towards the mysterious facility. The forest was full of many different creatures that either turned and ran away from us or just stood in place and watched us walk by. The only thing that I found a bit strange was that there were very few predators that we encountered, although I kinda figured that very few would actually pick a fight with the large, four-armed alien that was traveling with us. After several hours of us walking, the sun began to set and it began to get dark. While the sounds of the forest and its inhabitants were very lively at first, it got WAY more abundant as soon as dusk fell. In fact, I could make out the silhouettes of some predatory creatures stalking us as soon as it got darker.

"OK, WHY did all the predators wait until NOW to stalk us?" Odango asked as she pointed her flashlight arm at the trees.

"Most of the predatory species that live on this planet are nocturnal. And I'm willing to bet that the ones that were active during the day were afraid of our Quadrasapien friend here," Selene replied, pointing back at Amki.

"Odango, how many different lifeforms are around us?" Eva asked. Odango just shot her a mad look and showed Eva her radar, which had a whole bunch of dots surrounding the middle.

"There are about 50 or more individual lifeforms all around us! The only problem is that I can't tell which out of these lifeforms are harmless and which ones are hostile!"

"We don't seem to be too far from the facility now. We should make camp here for tonight and resume our trek first thing in the morning. Eva and Rhonda, set up a perimeter with turrets at each corner. Nikki, take Selene with you and gather some wood for a fire. Hiro, Zero Two, Odango, and Amki will set up tents for us and Max and I will keep an eye out for potential dangers," Celeste said.

"And what are those three supposed to do?" Hiro asked, pointing to Goo, Eila, and Ayano, who viciously stabbed a small lizard with a knife that she swiped off of Celeste before she looked back at us with another sadistic smile.

"Eila and Goo can watch Ayano until we can properly find someplace where she can sleep without her trying to kill anyone," Celeste replied. After Eva and Rhonda set up a perimeter, me and Selene headed into the forest to grab some wood. Surprisingly, there weren't any predators around to distract us as I gathered wood.

"Your team is quite an effective one. I can see why the Overlord holds you in high regards," Selene said.

"Yeah, well, pretty soon he'll have more things to worry about than how effective we are," I replied.

"Though… did Max seem a bit… agitated to you?"

"He's just trying to stay focused is all. That and he doesn't trust you."

"We both know that's not the case. It runs much deeper than that. The energy…"

"OK, guess what? That energy may make him a bit angrier, but all he's really done is kill bad people and aliens. Nothing bad really happened whenever he went berserk," I said as I piled up the wood I had gathered and prepared to pick it up.

"It may seem that way, but in time, he will lose himself to his anger and his sorrow. That's what that energy does. It brings his innermost negative emotions to the surface and the energy feeds off of those emotions like a power battery," Selene explained.

"I'm guessing that the Overlord told you all that?"

"Indeed, he did. The Overlord told me that wielding that energy is only for someone of his own strength and mind. Max may have a strong soul and mind, but he is still only human. He is too fragile to wield power like that. In fact, NO ONE should be given power like that."

"As long as it isn't in the Overlord's hands, we should be just fine until he's killed. Or imprisoned. Whichever comes first."

"…Max doesn't know, does he?"

"About what?"

"I think that you know. That tiny little secret that you're trying so hard to hide from him," Selene said. My entire body went cold the second that she said that.

"H-h-how did you know?" I asked, shivering a bit with an angry look on my face.

"I'm a natural born predator. I can sense when you're in distress," Selene replied. In the blink of an eye, I forced her up against a tree with my forearm pressed hard against her throat and placed a sword tip against her forehead.

"Listen here, bitch. I don't know what you think it is I'm hiding, but it is NONE of GODDAMN BUSINESS, OK? And the LAST thing that I need is for Max to worry about MY problems!"

"I'm not threatening. But if you keep this sort of thing under wraps, it will be a lot harder on you if he does find out and you may lose him forever."

"That… will be my concern when all of this is over. Until then, you either help us or stay out of the way. Clear?" I asked. Selene just nodded and I backed down before I picked up the pile of wood and we made our way back to camp.

Max's perspective

Nighttime fell pretty fast over the entire forest. Everyone was asleep inside their tents except for me, Celeste, Ayano, and Selene. Aside from the turrets that were pointed out at the forest surrounding us, me and Celeste were keeping a lookout for any potential dangers while Selene and Ayano were both chained to a tree stump. That might sound like a problem, but we made sure that Ayano couldn't even get within arm's reach of Selene. She seemed to actually be grateful, mainly because Ayano stabbed another lizard to death with her knife… and then ate its tail like a psycho.

"I can see why you recommended to keep her away from Selene," Celeste stated as Ayano began to cook the lizard over the fire.

"Ayano, you just ate dinner. How can you still be hungry?" Selene asked.

"Because she's a psycho…" I replied half-heartedly.

"All that I had was a small bowl of beans, Senpai. I got hungry again," Ayano replied. I angrily rubbed my eyes in distress before looking back at her with an angry glare.

"Ayano, I'm gonna say this just once: Don't EVER call me Senpai again for the rest of your pathetic life," I growled. Ayano just grinned at me before taking a bite of her meal. I just leaned back and looked up at the starry sky, deep in thought.

"I can see why you hate her. She seems very unhinged," Selene said as she stared up at the sky with me.

"Unhinged? Try 'completely fucking insane'."

"That too. Even the Overlord thought that it was unwise for Info to make her a part of her projects. But he found her motivations rather interesting."

"Yeah… sure."

"Is it true what she says? She took away the first love of your life?"

"Look, whatever she may have told you about her, it was completely false. My first girlfriend was the sweetest human being that I ever knew. She was everything to me. And Ayano took her from me. As if she was that desperate to have me."

"I'm… so sorry," Selene replied. I just scoffed in reply.

"Don't play the pity card with me, OK? I don't need you to feel bad just because I got dealt a bad hand," I said.

"I know loss as well, Max. And it wasn't just my people that I lost. Almost 2 years after the Bloodhunters were unleashed on our world, our living conditions became completely harsh. We had to move around so much, me and my family, just so we could stay ahead of them. But we soon ran low on food and had to resort to eating flesh from dead carcasses to stay alive. My father caught botulism from a rotting corpse and died within hours. And almost a month after that, the Bloodhunters caught up to us and butchered my mother. I tried to save her, but the Bloodhunters ended up scarring my face and me and my brother were the only ones left to take care of each other. The Overlord took us in when we were left with basically nothing. Back then, I respected him. But ever since he did, I still felt like I was missing something. A part of me that I lost due to my anger and my suffering."

"Sounds to me like the Overlord should be setting a better example. I mean, look at you. You're capable of so much more than just killing people for the sake of his mission. You're better than this."

"Perhaps… But, for now, we should get some sleep. We can discuss more about my fate tomorrow," Selene said before she grabbed a blanket a fell asleep under the full moon of the night, leaving me to just stare at the starry sky once more.

Hiro's perspective, the next morning

The morning chorus of the birds woke me from my slumber. I slowly opened my eyes and moved my arm to wake Zero Two up, but all that was beside me was an empty blanket. I exited my tent and stretched my back and arms as I stepped out into the daylight, looking up at the morning sky. Amki was busy packing up the turrets while Odango and Eva were busy taking readings of the area. Ayano was sound asleep with her knife in her hand and Rhonda was leaned up against the tree alongside Eila and Goo, staring at the birds as they flew by.

"Morning, sleepyhead. Have a good sleep?" Amki asked me.

"Barely. The noise kept me up most of the night," I replied.

"Well, it's a good thing ya woke up. Celeste says that we're headin' out once we get everything packed up," Rhonda said.

"Sounds like a plan. Hey, have any of you seen Zero Two?"

"Not me. Selene said that she had breakfast with her and Nikki ten minutes ago, but she didn't say where she went after that," Amki replied.

"Well, either way, I need to go wash up quick before we leave," I said, grabbing a towel from inside my tent.

"There's a small pond with a waterfall back that way," Selene said, pointing behind her. I just nodded and headed in that direction. As I was walking, I heard the sounds of roaring and screeching throughout the forest. Normally, I wouldn't have been too scared to hear these sounds, but I was walking through the forest without my weapons and wearing nothing but my underwear. But I reached the pond without any trouble and set my towel down. The waterfall was extremely beautiful, and it felt like it was a bit out of place on a hostile planet like this. Right as I was about to take off my underwear, I heard a small splash behind me and instinctively bolted behind a tree. After it had quieted down a bit, I peeked out from behind the tree to see what exactly was in the water. To my complete surprise, it was Zero Two, who was busy washing herself down underneath the waterfall. She had left her clothes on the other side of the pond, leaving her completely nude figure out in the open as she continued to wash herself. She gently fondled her breasts as she washed down her chest and her hands wandered down to her crotch. I assumed that she was thinking about me being there with her, but I was so enthralled by her display that I nearly lost my footing and accidentally stepped on a twig, which let out a loud snap. I immediately pulled my head back behind the tree and waited for a few seconds before I heard another splash. I looked back out at the pond, but Zero Two was nowhere to be found. I ran over to a tree that was a bit closer to the pond and peeked out again. I did see a small trail of bubbles on the surface that were swirling all around the pond before disappearing completely. I figured that Zero Two was underwater and just stayed behind the tree. After about 20 seconds, I started to get a little anxious, but I thought that she was expecting me to rush in and save her like last time, despite the fact that she actually wasn't drowning. But I was too focused on the water that I didn't realize that I was being snuck up on.

"Found you," Zero Two whispered into my ear before she nibbled on it. I let out a small yelp and whirled around to find Zero Two, naked and wet, standing behind me with a smug grin on her face.

"Don't do that! You almost gave me a heart attack for God's sake!" I said, panting heavily.

"Were you enjoying the show?"

"I… don't know what you're talking about," I replied, looking away. Zero Two just smiled and playfully pushed me into the water. As I resurfaced, Zero Two waded into the water after me and put her arms around me.

"How does the water feel?" she asked.

"A bit cold. But… that may be because I just… woke up."

"But I feel warm… right?" Zero Two asked, wrapping her legs around my waist. I began to sweat a little as my underwear got a little tight.

"You could say that…" I replied sheepishly. Zero Two just smiled again and kissed me tenderly. Before I knew it, I was gently fondling her breast and my other arm was wrapped around her waist. For a brief moment, I had completely forgotten about where we were, but I quickly snapped back to reality and broke off the kiss, staring into Zero Two's eyes.

"Y'know, I was thinking about you not too long ago. You and me here… just enjoying this private time to ourselves. Swimming together. Bathing together."

"…You told Selene where you were going, didn't you?"

"Well, give her credit. This place was a great one for us to be alone. Besides, I wanted us to be alone so we could talk."

"About our wedding arrangements? Zero Two, don't you think that it would be better for us to wait until this whole thing is over?"

"While there's still a chance that we might not make it through this? Like hell. Plus, we've been together long enough to start thinking about marriage, right?" Zero Two asked. I just smiled and kissed her again.

"It's really hard to change your mind about something, isn't it?" I said, putting my hands on her face. But before I could kiss her again, she put her hand on my lips as if to tell me to be quiet and looked towards the forest.

"Shhh," she whispered.

"What? I'm not saying that it's a bad thing! It's just that…" I started to say before Zero Two covered my entire mouth with her hand.

"Quiet!" she hissed before she dragged back behind the waterfall and pointed to the forest. Her silence was well deserved because something came walking out of the forest, curiously sniffing the ground. It was another Bloodhunter, but this one was 2 feet taller than the one that we saw yesterday, and it looked more ferocious and terrifying. Its arms were covered in spikes that ran all the way up to its shoulders. The spikes on its back were larger and looked more like blades. But, the most terrifying feature out of all those was its head. It had a lot more teeth than the other one and its eyes were a blood red. The Bloodhunter stopped by the water's edge for a brief minute to drink some water before it turned its attention to Zero Two's clothes, which were still sitting on the bank, and curiously sniffed them. It then looked back up and stared directly at the waterfall that we were hiding behind, growling ferociously. I knew that it probably couldn't smell us because we were in the water and it DEFINITELY couldn't hear our heartbeats over the roaring waterfall, but there was still a pretty good chance that it could still see us through the water. My thinking was slightly confirmed when the creature took a step forward, its back spikes becoming tense and its mouth drooling. But when it took another step forward, it suddenly jolted a bit and began to make a gurgling noise before blood began to drip and its head fell off of its shoulders into the water. Both me and Zero Two were completely confused as to what was going on, but suddenly, Celeste's head just appeared out of nowhere, one of her katanas in hand. She then pressed something on what I assumed her wrist, making the rest of her body appear out of nowhere just as her head did before she took her hand and ran it down the blade of her katana, wiping the blood off of it, and then holstered it on her back.

"Zero Two! May I remind you to not leave your clothes out in the open like this? Our scent attracts predators!" Celeste yelled, throwing us off guard a bit. I began to sweat again, this time at the thought of Celeste actually knowing what we were both doing.

"Noted!" Zero Two acknowledged. Without another word, Celeste grabbed the Bloodhunter's head from the water and began to tow its body back to camp, leaving me and Zero Two completely dumbfounded. But we immediately shook it off and grabbed our stuff before we made a beeline back to camp. By the time that we had gotten back, the entire camp was picked up and everyone was ready to move out before Celeste dropped the Bloodhunter's body next to the campfire, leaving everyone speechless.

"What the hell were you up against?" Amki asked, walking over to the corpse.

"Another Bloodhunter. But this one looks larger than the other one we saw," Celeste replied. As Odango and Eva walked over to examine the corpse, Max looked toward me and Zero Two, who was still soaking wet.

"Where were you two?" he asked.

"I was taking a quick bath," Zero Two replied.

"I was… close by. Waiting for my turn," I said. Max gave me a raised eyebrow, but he didn't ask any further and looked back to the corpse as I took the opportunity to get dressed. As I slipped into my suit, Odango's wrist began to beep steadily.

"That's odd. My scanner's picking up traces of foreign chemicals in the creature's body. Kind of like… well, the equivalent of human steroids, but it's on a molecular level," she said.

"Have you seen anything like this?" Max asked Selene, who had a horrified look on her face.

"Never," she replied.

"So, wait. Are you saying that someone is… enhancing these things?" Nikki asked.

"It's very possible. That may be why the Overlord has someone at the facility. He's weaponizing them for his army," Celeste said.

"Where did you find it?" Eva asked as she inspected the creature's jaws.

"Out by the pond with the waterfall. I think it was a scout."

"A SCOUT?!" Selene yelled. She looked completely terrified.

"Yeah? Why is that a bad thing?" Nikki asked.

"Bloodhunter scouts never travel alone! If you found one of them, the rest of the pack may not be far behind!" Selene replied. All of us went quiet at that statement and our eyes went wide with fear. And then, from all around us, the silence was broken by the sound of violent rustling in the trees and ferocious snarling. In the blink of an eye, a Bloodhunter burst out of the woods and attacked Amki, biting down on her arm. While she was busy trying to get it off, 9 more Bloodhunters ran out into the clearing, baring their teeth and claws, and began to attack us. One Bloodhunter knocked me to the ground and tried to stab me with its claws, but I just rolled out of the way and grabbed my shotgun, firing a sticky bomb into the creature's throat which blew it up, spraying blood all over me. As we continued to fight, Celeste sliced the chain holding Selene and Ayano and tossed Selene her whip, which she immediately used to grab one of the Bloodhunters by the neck before she broke its neck. Amki tried in vain to get the Bloodhunter on her arm off, but the creature's teeth were too strong for her to get it off, so she grabbed its body with her other three arms and pulled until the creature's head and spine were ripped out. One of the Bloodhunters then pounced onto Zero Two, pinning her to the ground and baring its teeth, but before it could take a bite out of her, Ayano leapt onto the creature's back and started stabbing it maniacally until it finally fell to the ground dead. But that didn't stop her from continuing to stab it, even after it was dead. She was too into it that she didn't notice another Bloodhunter behind her. But Zero Two did, and she immediately electrocuted the monster with her electrostaff, causing it to stumble backward and get shot by Rhonda's revolver at point-blank range. Odango then fired up a sonic cannon which she aimed at the remaining Bloodhunters. The monsters screeched in pain from the noise until one was hit in the gut by Eva and then its head split in half by Celeste's katana. Rhea used her magic to turn the earth into quicksand which briefly trapped one of the creatures, but it got out of the dirt pretty fast. As it moved in for the kill, Goo trapped the creature again, followed by Eila electrocuting it and then Nikki crushing its head with two maces. Max squared off against the last two, knocking one back with a solid punch and holding the other one back with his forearm as it snapped its jaws repeatedly. When Max saw an opening, he grabbed the Bloodhunter's jaws and pried them apart until they snapped, leaving the creature to fall to the ground dead. As for the last creature, Max punched its head to stun it and then plunged his arm blade into the creature's shoulder, causing it to howl in pain. Seeing that it was now outnumbered and left with an injured arm, the Bloodhunter turned and began to limp away. Selene started to run after it, but Max stopped her from pursuing.

"What are you doing?! You should've killed it!" Selene snapped.

"It's wounded. It will probably head back to the rest of the pack to recover. But we'll be following behind to wherever that is. That's why I didn't kill it," Max replied.

"It looks to be heading towards the facility. Quite a wise move, Max," Celeste said.

"I already knew the way to the facility! You have to wound it just so we could get there!" Selene said. But Max just picked up his shotgun and put it on his back before he started to follow the Bloodhunter.

"If it starts to move in a direction that differs from what you think is right, let me know and we'll follow you," he said. All of us just grabbed our gear and began following behind him, back into the forest.

Max's perspective

It must've taken us a whole hour just to get to the mysterious facility. Of course, that was completely my fault, seeing as I wounded a Bloodhunter's shoulder and then let it lead us all the way to said facility while only staying a couple feet behind just so we wouldn't get spotted. But even that was starting to become a chore because we had to watch our surroundings to make sure that we didn't get ambushed.

"How much further? I think Ayano's about to stab her 13th small creature!" Amki said as she tried to restrain Ayano.

"It shouldn't be much farther, Amki. And keep your voice down. The last thing we need is to attract unwanted attention," I replied. Turns out that I was right, because as we came to the edge of the forest, I saw a path leading straight up to the facility doors. But I also saw an abnormally large number of Bloodhunters sitting around the path, just as Selene had earlier told us. I signaled to the team to head up the ridge overlooking the clearing and we hid behind the rocks before one of the Bloodhunters could hear or smell us. The Bloodhunter that I had injured walked up to the pack and was approached by what I could only assume was the leader of the pack. The pack member growled a little at the injured Bloodhunter and curiously sniffed the wound on its shoulder, but instead of tearing into the injured packmate, the pack leader gently nudged the injured packmate up the hill and lead it to a metal plate on the ground. When the injured Bloodhunter set foot on the plate, a group of metallic arms with needles on the ends sprang up and pierced into the flesh of the Bloodhunter, injecting some kind of liquid into the predator. Once the metallic arms retracted, the injured Bloodhunter began to roar in pain and curled up as its back spikes began to grow and its arms sprouted smaller spikes. After it had grown a few feet in height, the Bloodhunter let out a blood-curdling roar and found a place amongst the rocks to rest, allowing its wounds to heal.

"So that's how they've been getting enhanced," I whispered.

"Well, we've figured out how their getting all souped up and where the facility is. Now, how the hell do we get in?" Rhonda asked. As if to answer, Celeste released a small drone which flew over to the front of the facility and began scanning it. The Bloodhunters looked up briefly at the drone and a few roared menacingly at it, but they just simply ignored it otherwise. After the drone had finished scanning the building, it flew back to Celeste and attached to her wrist, showing a schematic of the entire facility.

"Well, there's good news and there's bad news," Celeste stated.

"What's the good news?" Nikki asked.

"The facility's structure is relatively strong, but it's not strong enough to block any signals going in or out. And the facility is protected by an electromagnetic barrier that's keeping the predators out. Once we've secured the facility and taken out the generator room, we can beam directly back to the ship the predators overrun it."

"And the bad news?" I asked. Celeste just pointed to the door at the front of the facility.

"That's the only way we can get in…" she said.

"Are you kidding? There aren't any windows or access ports on that building?!" Amki asked.

"There are, but they've been sealed tight. Whoever's operating this facility didn't want anyone getting in that easily. That door is the only way in."

"What about the sewers?" Hiro asked.

"Darling," Zero Two replied sternly.

"What? It's just an idea."

"The sewers are closed off as well, unfortunately," Celeste said.

"So, either we risk a frontal assault and die or… nope, I got nothin' else. Our only option is just fightin' our way through," Rhonda said, annoyed.

"Can we vote NOT to?" Odango said. As the others began to debate about what to do, I looked back out at the Bloodhunter pack sitting in front of the door. The majority of the pack was resting amongst the rocks while the sentries were keeping a lookout and the cubs were playfully fighting each other. The sentries turned their heads to the slightest sounds to see where they were coming from. But seeing them react to every sound that they heard gave me an idea.

"Selene, can I borrow your whip really quick?" I asked. Selene just raised an eyebrow at me like I was crazy.

"What for?" she asked.

"Just trust me."

"Max, what are you planning?" Nikki asked me as Selene handed me her whip.

"Just hang tight," I replied before I started to head down the side of the ridge with the whip in hand. As soon as I got to the ground, the Bloodhunters sentries started calling to the rest of the group to warn me of my presence. As some of the Bloodhunters began to guard the cubs, the enhanced Bloodhunter and a few others rushed over to face me head-on. Right as they were a few feet in front of me, I unfurled the whip and then cracked it right in front of me. As I suspected, the sudden loud noise caused the Bloodhunters to roar in pain and back away a bit. But they didn't go far before they started to close in on me again. I once again cracked the whip, which made the predators back up again, but I gave the team the signal to group up with me as I continued to drive the Bloodhunters off. The sound of the whip cracking soon became too much for them to handle and the mother Bloodhunters and their cubs retreated into the forest, leaving the others to fight us. As we made our way up to the door, I repeatedly cracked the whip mere inches in front of the Bloodhunters' faces to keep them at bay until Odango finally got the door open and we all got inside, the claws of the enhanced Bloodhunter nearly missing my face as the door closed.

"That was very clever of you," Selene remarked as I gave her back her whip.

"The thing about whips: when you crack them, they produce a mini sonic boom. And it's LOUD. Figured that would throw off their senses a bit," I said.

"Either way, we're in. What's the call, Celeste?" Nikki asked. Celeste pulled out her wrist computer and showed us a schematic of the entire facility.

"Me, Amki, Hiro, Eila and Eva will head for the generator room and attempt to overload it so that it will destroy this place while keeping the damage to the surrounding forest to a minimum. Rhonda, Odango, Goo, and Ayano will locate the terminal for the forcefield and shut it down so we can escape. Max, Nikki, Rhea, Zero Two, and Selene, you'll locate the main laboratory and stop the production of the enhancement drug and take down whoever's running this place. Any questions?" Celeste said.

"Actually, yes. Why exactly is the terminal for the forcefield separate from the laboratory?" Odango asked.

"Just in case of electrical outbursts, I would theorize," Eva replied.

"Any other questions? …All right, let's get going!" Celeste yelled before we split into our groups and ran through the facility to our respective destinations. My team ran through the hallway until we got to a large door which Nikki and I pried open so we could get to the upper levels. But, when we did reach the upper levels, we were greeted by a number of tubes along the sides of the walls. Each of the tubes contained an enhanced Bloodhunter with small tubes attached to their arms, which were filled with the same liquid we saw earlier. Selene walked up to one of said tubes and put her hand on it, as if she was actually sad to see them in this state.

"Do you still hate them now?" I asked, walking up to her.

"This torture is what they deserve for what they did to this planet. They can go to hell for all I care," Selene coldly stated, walking away from the tube. We then made our way to the door leading to the main laboratory and Nikki took a look at the panel for the door, which was showing a red lock.

"This feels like our first mission on Ares all over again. What is it with scientists and locked doors?" she asked as she tried to open the door.

"I guess you could say that they don't want their 'science' to get out," Zero Two replied. As Nikki continued to work on getting the door open, I suddenly heard the sound of air hissing behind us and looked back. The tubes containing the Bloodhunters were draining of the fluid and the predators within were now wide awake, snapping their jaws and scratching at the glass until they managed to break out, leaving me, Zero Two, Rhea, and Selene to go on the offensive. As the enhanced Bloodhunters got ready to charge us, Rhea used her magic to grab some of the leftover fluid from inside the tubes and turn them into ice-like daggers, which she threw at them. The ice daggers punctured a few of the Bloodhunters' skulls but some of them managed to avoid the attack by climbing onto the wall. Selene used her whip to disorient them before Zero Two electrocuted one with her staff and then blew its head off with one of her pistols. Rhea used her magic to set one of the Bloodhunters on fire before she grabbed a slab of the metal wall with her magic and used it to slice the predator's head off. As for me, the final Bloodhunter bit down on my arm and started to tug violently on it, but I was able to get it off by punching it in the head before I brutally ripped its jaws apart, splitting it in half to the waist and exposed its organs before the monster fell dead to the ground. Blood and guts were all that remained of the Bloodhunters when we were finished.

"Max, none of this is gonna mean a damn thing unless we get that door open," Zero Two said, panting heavily.

"I've almost got it open, but someone should try and flank whoever's in the main control room, just to be safe," Nikki said.

"I'll take the vents and take them by surprise. Max, can you give me a boost?" Selene asked, pointing to a vent opening. I did as she requested and boosted her up into the vents before I heard more sounds coming from behind us. I turned back and saw another group of Bloodhunters trying to get through the door behind us. Just as they were almost through, Nikki finally managed to get the main lab door open. But right as me and Nikki managed to get through, the door immediately closed behind us, locking Rhea and Zero Two out.

"Goddammit, NO!" Nikki yelled, banging on the door.

"Zero Two, are you and Rhea OK?" I said over the comms.

"Yeah, we're fine. Rhea's trying to concentrate on keeping her forcefield up, so she can't talk right now," Zero Two replied.

"Rhonda's team just finished with their task. They're heading up to help you right now," Celeste said over the comms.

"Understood. Over and out," I said. Me and Nikki then took a look around the room to see exactly what was being hidden. But all that was in the room, aside from the equipment, was something on the tables that looked like some kind of stone-like cocoon that had burst open and gave birth to something. But on the inside of the cocoon were a whole bunch of scratch marks like something was trying to get out. But neither me nor Nikki had time to think about it, because the walls behind us began to open up, showing some regular Bloodhunters inside some cages that were starting to wake up. After the walls had completely opened up, the cages began to open and the Bloodhunters eagerly pushed each other aside so they could get to us faster. As they ran toward us baring their teeth, both me and Nikki got our weapons ready and prepared for the worst.

Selene's perspective

Given the fact that the scientists were studying the Bloodhunters, I would've thought that the vents would have better security than what I was seeing right now. But, at the moment, I was more concerned with getting to the main control room more than anything. Before too long, I got to the vent that lead to the main control room and silently entered. Standing at the control panel was a male figure who was staring out the window as Max and Nikki were fighting more Bloodhunters. I quietly crept up on the figure and unfurled my whip, but the figure raised his head as if he knew that I was there.

"I figured that you would come through the vents. Misdirection and stealth were always your strongest suits," he said.

"You act like you know everything about me," I replied. But when the figure turned to me, I saw that there was indeed a reason how he knew me. The figure was none other than my brother, Malicus. My own brother was the one running this facility and I had no idea.

"Malicus? What are you doing here?"

"I think the better question is, what are YOU doing here? You actually asked the human and his friends to come and stop me? To stop what the Overlord has asked me to do?"

"What use does he have for the Bloodhunters, Malicus? Don't tell me that he means to use them against innocent people!"

"There WILL be those who will try and resist, sister. The Bloodhunters will only be used as a special army against such people. You may not understand now, but the Overlord will keep his promise and destroy them as soon as his conquest is complete," Malicus said.

"These beasts were already created by accident! Why would the Overlord wish to use abominations that were never supposed to be here in the first place?!"

"That's just the thing, sister. These Bloodhunters weren't created. They were here long before we ever were. They were an ancient species that were once the top predators that dominated this planet until their apparent extinction. The survivors were living deep in caves, trapped in rock-like tombs until the scientists that built this place dug them up and resuscitated them. Such people like that deserve to die…"

"They made a mistake! They never knew what was living beneath us and neither did we! I did agree to help the Overlord so that we could return and destroy the Bloodhunters together, but I never wished to use them to slaughter the innocent! The Overlord has been manipulating us with lies from the beginning!" I said.

"YOU call it 'manipulating'. I call it 'reasoning'. I swore that I would uphold the Overlord's demands without question, and I would never betray him. But you… you have broken your oath, sister."

"And you have taken leave of your senses…" I replied before I grabbed Malicus by the throat with my whip and kicked him in the jugular which knocked him backwards into the console. Malicus angrily unsheathed two knifes from his shins and charged at me, swinging the knifes at me with unrelenting fury. But, being the better hunter and assassin, I was able to dodge each of his attacks and counter each of his thrusts before wrapping my whip around his neck, jumping over him, and delivering a reverse headbutt to the back of his head. Malicus quickly recovered and tried to stab me again, but he hit the console instead and I kicked him in the nose before I tossed him away.

"Do you honestly think that our parents would approve of the treason that you're committing?" my brother asked as he spat out some blood.

"Our parents would not want us to use our enemies against innocent people! And they most certainly would not want us to fight each other like this!" I said as I dodged another knife attack and use my whip to strike Malicus' flesh. But my brother quickly got back up and backhanded me, knocking my mask off of my face.

"They always held you in high esteem. Much more than me, in fact."

"They loved us both equally, brother. They had no favorites among the two of us!" I replied before I lunged at him and bit down on his shoulder, drawing a large amount of blood and making him yell in agony. Malicus angrily knocked me away threw one of his knives at my head, which nearly hit me.

"But it wasn't just our parents that held you in high esteem. The Overlord was also fonder of you! All I ever wanted was for us to be equal!"

"That will never happen with combat, brother…" I replied. Malicus' only response was to grab his knife and charge at me, yelling.

Nikki's perspective

"ANOTHER ON YOUR LEFT!" I yelled to Max as I shot another Bloodhunter with my arm cannon. The predators just kept on coming as we fought on and it seemed like there was no end to them. Max continued to slice and dice through the creatures with his arm blade as I kept mowing them down with various weapons. But, even then, they were still too numerous for me to handle and I ended up using a special weapon that I had been saving for an occasion like this: The Iron Spider. Yeah, I know. That's not exactly an original name by the sounds of it, but the results were beyond awesome. Four spider-like arms made of a strong metal, strong enough to rip through flesh and help me out in combat when the odds seemed to be against me. As the Bloodhunters came towards me, the legs stabbed each and every one of them while I used my arm cannons to hold off even more. Max, on the other hand, was having some trouble holding off so many Bloodhunters when he was only armed with his shotgun, his arm blade, and his shoulder launcher. While the grenades were helping clear up most of the predators, his shotgun could only hit so many Bloodhunters at once and he could only use his arm blade at close range. As we were fighting off the Bloodhunters, Selene burst through the window fighting a masculine figure. As she continued to fight, I saw that the figure was Malicus, her brother. Malicus flipped Selene over on to her back and prepared to stab her, but I quickly fired a grappling arm and threw him into the wall.

"You OK?" I asked Selene as I helped her up.

"Worry about that later. We have bigger problems right now!" Selene said before she pushed me out of the way of Malicus' attack, which hit her in the shoulder. Max noticed our distress and tried to grab Malicus with his grappling hook, but the Bloodhunters tackled him to the ground and began to claw at the sides of his face, making him scream in agony as the blood flowed down from his scars. Max tried in vain to get the Bloodhunters off, but he was soon overwhelmed by the predators. I prepared to launch a rocket to try and thin out the pack, but Malicus came in from behind and stabbed me in the leg, which made me fall to the ground and scream in pain. But right as Malicus grabbed my throat and prepared to stab me, the entire room suddenly flashed an intense red and an electrical discharge knocked everyone back, even setting some of the Bloodhunters ablaze. When I got back up, many of the Bloodhunters in the room were burnt to a crisp, but I saw one that was burned on one portion of its body that was starting to stand back up. But by the time that it had sensed me, a hand burst through the creature's chest and then another hand ripped the creature's head off. It was Max. He had once again transformed into his Berserker form with the scars on his face now healed, but he looked even more feral than the other times before and he had lightning violently surrounding his arms. Behind me, both Selene and Malicus emerged from the corpses, completely stunned by the carnage and destruction all around us. Without any warning, Malicus lunged at Max and tackled him to the ground.

"YOU THINK YOURSELF INVINCIBLE?! YOU THINK YOURSELF WORTHY?! THE OVERLORD'S WILL SHALL BE DONE! AND YOU WILL NOT STAND IN THE WAY OF WHAT I WAS PROMISED!" he yelled, grabbing Max by the throat. But Max simply just punched him off, making some of his teeth go flying. As Malicus reeled back from the blow, Max grabbed him by the leg and threw him against the wall and began to savagely punch Malicus in the face and body without even hesitating until Malicus' nose began to bleed, and his body looked badly bruised. Max then threw Malicus away before he began to stalk toward him again menacingly. Malicus took out both of his knifes and tried in vain to stab him to death, but Max stopped him short of doing so and grabbed his other knife before stabbing him through the hand and taking the second knife. As Malicus fell to the ground in pain, Max came in from behind and slashed both of his cheeks, creating two gashes. Malicus just fell to the ground, his energy depleted, and his body horribly battered from the assault, but Max wasn't completely done yet, as he picked Malicus up by his hair and prepared to slit his throat, only for Selene to use her whip to grab his arm and wrench the knife out of his hand.

"That's enough, Max! He has been beaten!" Selene yelled as she tried to stop her brother's wounds from bleeding. But Max pushed Selene away and picked up Malicus by his throat, preparing to kill him.

"MAX, STOP!" I yelled, trying to get him to come back to his senses. But it didn't work, and Max began to tighten his grip on Malicus, making him choke. Selene recovered quickly and wrapped her whip around Max's neck before throwing him into the floor. But that wasn't enough to keep Max down and he was back on his feet in no time. He stood over both Selene and Malicus, glaring menacingly at them.

"Please… he doesn't deserve this!" Selene begged as she held Malicus in her arms.

"Max, please! I know that you're still in there! Don't let your anger control you! You need to fight it!" I said, trying to reason with him. Max looked back at me questionably, looking like he was about to snap out of it. But, instead, he turned back to the siblings and drew his arm blade, ready to strike the two of them down. I knew that I had to act fast and think of something. But when Max lifted his arm blade and began to swing it, I immediately shot him with my arm cannon. Bad idea. Max angrily looked back at me, his eyes burning with rage. He swiftly grabbed his shotgun and pointed it at me, firing the grappling hook. But I quickly dodged the hooks path before grabbing it and yanking Max towards me, knocking him down with a clothesline power move. I knew that there was no going back now. It was either fight Max and try to get him to stop or we all die. Max got back onto his feet and stared me down with a menacing glare.

"OK… if you're not going to listen… then I'll fight it out of you!" I yelled before I created a plasma cannon and shot Max directly in the chest, which launched him backwards into the wall, where several pieces of debris fell to the ground around him. When he got back up, he picked up some of the debris and threw it at me, but I was able to jump from one to the other until I sliced the final piece in half with my sword and kicked him in the stomach. As to be expected, he barely even flinched, and he grabbed me by the leg and threw me into the floor before stabbing me in the shoulder. It hurt like hell, but I wasn't about to give up just yet. Using the Iron Spider Legs, I was able to get Max off my back and counter each of his attacks until I used the bottom two legs to uppercut him away from me. I then activated my superspeed boots and proceeded to relentlessly attack him until he was practically trying to shield himself. But right as I was about to hit him again, he grabbed me by the neck and threw me into the ceiling. I was able to catch myself, using the Iron Spider Legs to attach myself to the ceiling, but Max jumped up to try and catch me, punching a hole in the ceiling. The battle was practically going nowhere as every attack I threw at Max barely even bruised him and I was too fast and cautious for him to even land a fatal blow on me. I started to plant small bombs in the ceiling, hoping that whatever was above us would be heavy enough to incapacitate Max, but that was completely nuts because he was trying to hit me as I moved in a wide circle around the ceiling. Right after I had placed the final bomb on the ceiling, I turned around and knocked Max back to the floor and detonated the bombs. Much to my luck, a whole bunch of heavy-looking equipment fell from the ceiling and seemingly crushed Max, creating a dust cloud that filled the entire room. I immediately ran back to Selene, who was still trying to stop Malicus' bleeding, and created an ice beam shooter, which I used to freeze Malicus' scars which thankfully stopped the bleeding. But, behind me, I heard the sound of cracking and rocks being moved. I looked back and saw Max, still in his Berserker form, making his way out of the rubble and climbing up to us. But, when he was almost five feet away from us, he suddenly collapsed and returned to his normal self, just as Celeste and the others had entered the room.

Max's perspective

I have absolutely no idea what happened back at the facility, but whatever it was that happened, I was out cold. When I came to, I was lying in the med bay bed with Nikki, Hiro, Zero Two, and Selene surrounding the bed. As I began to stir, Nikki noticed and put her hand on my shoulder.

"Hey," she said.

"What the hell happened?" I asked before I winced from the pain in my head.

"Well, as Nikki tells us, she kicked your ass," Zero Two replied with a smile.

"Oh God… did I have another episode?"

"You did. And the only way that Nikki could get you to stop was to drop almost a few tons of rock on top of you, which apparently was also enough to wipe a bit of your short-term memory," Celeste said, entering the room. As I sat up, I noticed that Nikki had a bandage over her shoulder and her upper leg.

"What happened to you?" I asked, pointing at the bandage.

"Oh, nothing. Just some flesh wounds," Nikki replied.

"So… what happened to Malicus?"

"He's in the brig. But Celeste had to stitch up the gashes that you left on his face," Selene replied.

"And… um… he was NOT the least bit happy about you doing that," Hiro said. I cringed at that statement.

"BUT… Celeste says that Selene's proven herself worthy to be on the team! Isn't that great?" Zero Two asked. I just nodded without smiling as I held my head in pain.

"Could you guys give us a minute?" Nikki asked. Celeste nodded and everyone else left the two of us alone. Without any warning, Nikki punched me in the arm.

"Ow," I said before I started to get up.

"What happened back there? You didn't even try to fight your rage! You just ran with it and almost killed both me and Selene!"

"I don't know. It was just so… enticing. Like I was unstoppable, and nothing could get in my way."

"What about the last few times? You said that it felt evil before!" Nikki yelled as I got dressed.

"Look… All that I know is that something in my mind is telling me to just run wild, but it's also telling me to slow down. My mind just feels so… divided," I replied. Nikki just gave me a sad look before calmly taking my hand.

"What happened back there… It reminded me of the last big argument that we had."

"I didn't hurt you back then."

"That's true, but it still felt so horrible. We both said and did things we didn't mean… the whole hour of silence that happened afterward… that was the loneliest that we had ever been," Nikki said, hugging my arm. I just put my arms around her gently and held her for about two minutes until she felt that we had hugged for long enough.

"I know that things are not in the greatest of conditions right now, but nothing is going to get better until we defeat the Overlord and put a stop to this whole thing. That's all that I know for sure right now," I said.

"I'm just afraid for you is all, Max. I worry because I love you."

"Look, we should get some rest. We can worry about this tomorrow. I'll stay here for tonight and try to sort this out and we'll discuss what we do next, OK?"

"OK," Nikki replied as she started to walk out of the room.

"Y'know, technically speaking, you actually won the last fight before this one," I joked. Nikki just gave a slight chuckle before she left.

Malicus' perspective

Agony. That's all I've ever known since the day my sister and I lost our parents. And I was now feeling it again. But it wasn't just in my head. It was also along the sides of my cheeks from the sutured wounds that I now had. I could still taste the metallic taste of my blood in my mouth as I laid on the floor of my cell. But a faint buzzing sound awoke me from my slumber, and I took out a small holographic disc from my pants before I answered it, a hologram of the Overlord appearing.

"My lord…" I said.

"Malicus… what is your status?" the Overlord asked.

"…I'm sorry, my lord. They've left the facility in ruins. There is nothing left."

"And they have captured you…"

"My lord… All is not lost. This is just a minor setback."

"I am sorely disappointed in you, Malicus. You allowed your judgement to compromise your thinking. And that has cost us the means to supply an army large enough to surpass every other military might in this universe. We are losing more of our allies than we are gaining them."

"This failure rest upon my shoulders, my lord…" I said.

"Yes, it does. And now, you must pay for it. Perhaps your time will be better spent living in that cell. For the rest of your pathetic life," the Overlord said before the hologram disappeared. I was completely distraught by what I just heard. But, as I sat there in silence, someone from behind snatched the disc from my hand. It was Selene, who dropped the disc on the floor and crushed it beneath her foot.

"Now you see it. He does not care for either of us. We were just his pawns for his own sick game," she said. But I just turned away from her, disgusted.

"This is all your fault. Because of you, I'm now condemned to die alongside the worthless lot of you. Don't ever speak to me as your brother again," I replied. Selene just gave me a sad look and reactivated my cell door again.

"It's because you're my brother that you aren't dead. I will always love you, no matter what you say or do, Malicus. It will never change," she replied before she left me.

Max's perspective

I think that I heard somewhere that taking a cold shower helps with reducing stress. At least, I thought that was the case. But, as I was taking said cold shower, my body felt like it was warming up a bit. Even after I had cranked the cold water up, I still felt like my body was burning. After I had finished up, I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my head and collapsed in front of the sink. As I was getting up, I noticed that the blood vessels in my arms and hands were poking out again and were pitch black. I scrambled up to the mirror to see my reflection and saw that the blood vessels in my face were the same as my arms and my eyes were now red, much to my horror. But, after I was hit with another wave of searing pain in my forehead, I looked back up and saw that my face was perfectly fine, and it looked like nothing had happened. But I couldn't help but feel a sense of dread that something was going to lead to something that would change everything.

And I felt that this was preluding the start of something horrible.

To Be Continued…