Author Note: Sorry all, it's been a long time I know… I had several things happen in my life and now I am ready to continue! Between TF2, L4D2, and MvC3… it's been REALLY hard to pull away for 20 mins to get it done.
Episode Seven: A Forced Sacrifice… Felicia's Rage UNLEASHED!
From the ruins of a once great city, the sounds of battle echoed loudly. In the clashing of flesh against energy, Joe was going at his fullest to take down the raging Pyron before he could destroy any more of his home world. Avoiding another round of Pyron's Soul Smasher, the second level of the stadium was wiped out. Damn… there goes the food court. Kicking Pyron in the head, the energy being suddenly wrapped around the human with a smirk. "SHIT!"
Dropping to the ground, the suddenly fluid Pyron began to slam Joe around like a ragdoll. Bouncing off the cracked earth, the human spat up blood as he soon found himself airborne again. Halting his unplanned flight, the brown haired human was looking around for his opponent. Over here human! Pyron taunted. Turning around, Pyron had appeared behind his friends with a charged Kuuchuu Soul Smasher.
Sensing something, Felicia turned around and was the first to notice the underhanded move by Pyron. "Look out everyone!" Letting the attack go, Joe was moving to intercept. As he went to punch the sphere away, the attack vanished from sight. "What the…?"
"Joe!" Felicia's cry came late as the energy creature surrounded the human in a ball of flames. Trying to punch his way out only came to pain as his hands got seared from the fiery trap. Laughing, Pyro tossed the captured human into the sky. Let's see you avoid this one! Throwing out several tiny rocks, the projectiles began to explode at will. Breaking the fire trap, Joe was bounced around the exploding rocks like a pinball. Gasping in horror, Felicia watched as the confident Pyron continued to launch another round of his Cosmo Disruption at Joe.
This time, Pyron sent the helpless target into the ground. Turning into a pillar of flame, Joe was crushed into the ground by his unrelenting opponent. Screaming out in pain, the human's cry was picked up by the feline Darkstalkers' fine-tuned ears. Covering up her ears, Pico was scared. "Felicia… why isn't Jo-Jo fighting back?"
"It's because he's human…" Hsien-Ko answered. "We are physically stronger than he is… but there are limits to the human body." Watching Pyron pick up a beaten Joe, his body scraped up and bruised from the punishment dealt by the cosmic conqueror. Landing a sickening blow to Joe's stomach, Pyron started to enjoy himself. I can see why your pathetic kind still likes to torture things… it gives you that satisfaction that you are superior.
"I've seen enough!" Looking at the others, Felicia was getting more and more upset with each second. Charging in on all fours, the cat woman was going directly to the fight. Smirking, Hsien-Ko soon followed by the others. Realizing he was not alone, Pyron laughed and had one of his 'suns' crash into the ground. Just wait your turns, I will be done soon. Cutting off the apparent rescue, Joe smirked at the overconfident Pyron.
Oh? Did the pain finally make you go insane human? Shaking his head, Joe was being held by his neck and squeaked out a reply. "You fool…" Beginning to glow white, the human's hair started to flicker as Pyron tried to figure out the change. What are yo-?
Phobos' eyes suddenly lit up as an alarm went off. WARNING! Massive detonation detected!
"What?" Before Jeff could raise the shield again, the giant sun-like object was shattered to pieces as a wave of energy knocked back all who were going towards Joe.
Silence crept over the smoldering remains of the stadium as it seemed the explosion had ended. Scattered about, the ragtag group of fighters were out cold. Recovering first, Jeff found Phobos out of commission with severe internal damage. The gold machine had protected what it considered its masters as its chest was blown wide open. Damage… 65%. Combat abilities disabled, unable to combat threat to planet.
"Ow… that wasn't fun Sis." Mei-Lin had been knocked out from her talisman form and was recovering from the blast herself. "No kidding, what caused that anyway?" Donovan was no longer anywhere to be found. "He must have moved Anita out of the area…"
Groaning and mewling in soreness, Felicia was laid out on her back. Being the closest to the wave had made her the prime target. Feeling someone shoving her, Pico was the culprit as the little neko was about to cry. Landing on her head made a large bump as Felicia sat up. "You're ok…" Looking around, the giant sun was now in shattered remains as it seemed Pyron was gone. "Weird, where's… Joe!"
Remembering the style of attack, Felicia stood up and hobbled over to the center of the blast. "Oh god no…" Finding a crater, a bloodied Joe was face down in the makeshift grave. Sliding into the shallow pit, Felicia knelt down and shoved the human's shoulder. "Come on, wake up Joe…" The human's hair was pushed aside and revealed two blanked out eyes to the feline. Gasping in shock, Felicia rolled over the reactionless human to his back. Placing an ear onto his chest, the cat woman listened for any signs of life… there was nothing. "He's…"
Gone?
Appearing in a flash, Pyron teleported in and stood over the blue haired woman. Backhanding Felicia aside, the others saw Pyron return unhurt. That damn human almost had me… too bad I can move faster than he could explode. Stepping on Joe's lifeless head, the energy monster kicked the body out of its resting place and let it roll. Coming to a stop, Pico screamed in horror at seeing the once cat friendly human's body. "Jo-Jo, no!"
"You bastard!" Grabbing Phobos' left arm, Jeff forced the unit to be dislodged and converted it over to a beam cannon. Firing off a shot, it was easily deflected by Pyron's barrier. Worthless… this whole damn planet isn't worth collecting. Looking down the makeshift hill, Pyron saw the recovering team and frowned. THIS is all this planet has left? Might as well just destroy the whole thing and move on.
Rising up a hand to the sky, the energy creature began to charge up power. Forming a sphere, it started to grow in size until its light casted a doomed glow onto the remaining fighters. Unable to counter-attack correctly, Hsien-Ko looked at her sister. "What about the Dragon Soul?" Shocked, Mei-Lin became angry for the first time in years. "You know better! That can only be used by someone who is pure natured, anyone else will be consumed!" Backing down, Hsien-Ko seemed defeated. "So what, we just sit here and die?"
No… I expect you all to just VANISH! As Pyron began to let go of his attack, someone kicked the energy creature in the face. Forcing the attack to be canceled, a visibly angry Felicia was hunched over and gathering EX power. Looking down at the enraged sub-creature, Pyron laughed. You want to die that badly? Fine, I'll do you a favor and grant a quick end. Throwing a Soul Smasher, Felicia hurdled over it and slashed a claw at Pyron. Catching his barrier, the pissed off cat bounced off again. Catching a glimpse of Joe's body again, the normally calm-hearted cat woman's eyes started to water.
A month prior to Pyron's arrival…
Felicia was sitting on the family's restaurant roof looking up at a full moon. Thinking about what they would have to do just to stop Pyron in a world not their own. A gust of wind blew blinded the large haired feline for a moment as Joe appeared in front of the cat woman. "Hi Felicia." Munching on a sandwich, the human was supposed to be training with Donovan in the mountains. "Joe, what are you doing here?"
"I took a break… I'm already faster than I ever wished I could be. So, I figured a few hours away from my tutor wouldn't hurt." Sitting down next to his friend from the world of the Dark, Joe smiled at the green eyed ex-singer. "You got stronger Felicia, I can tell." Blushing a little, Felicia had been training with Lucy and Grace to make herself stronger. Even sparing against Phobos and Jeff had helped to make the feline warrior more powerful. "Yea, but I can't throw energy still."
Laughing, Joe patted the self-doubting cat woman's head softly. "Listen, energy projection is great… but it depletes power reserves." Sounding a lot like Donovan, Joe tried to sound more like himself. "You can generate your own EX power… so just channel it into your physical attacks. Plus, you got that Delta-Claw now."
"I just don't know if it's enough…" Felicia confessed. Worried about losing, Joe smirked and scratched the worried cat's ears some. Purring out of nature, Felicia pushed Joe away and blushed heavily. "Stop it! You're embarrassing me…"
"You are too wound up… just relax Felicia. No one's going to see us here." Sighing, the fur striped feline curled up and let Joe continue. Purring a little more, the scratching human dropped a bomb. "Hey, once everything is over… you mind if we try the whole dating thing again?" Smiling down at a shocked Felicia, Joe didn't mind to try his luck once again. "What about it Felicia… Felicia… Felicia…"
Echoing softly, the once kind-hearted human was now a lifeless husk of a person. Felicia never answered Joe's question because Donovan found them easily and pulled him away to continue training. Growling more… Felicia's teary eyes narrowed at the glowing energy creature. Hmm, something is starting to generate more power… Looking at the injured reserve fighters and the non-moving human, the source of power was not coming from them. The active cat woman was still generating her own power force. Better not let this continue, last time I was defeated.
Transforming into a wheel of fire, Pyron charged right at Felicia. Jumping over the wheel… Felicia avoided the attack but was knocked to the earth as Pyron suddenly turned around and crashed into her back. Landing on her chest, Felicia was slow to get up. Heh, you are pathetic… just like that human. Dripping from her eyes, tears started to hit the ground. "Stop it…" Standing up, Felicia's hair started to warp. "… you have pushed me too far!"
Back at the camp, Grace dropped a dish from her hands. Shattering on contact the shards went everywhere. "What was that feeling?" Walking in, Lucy checked on the older cat woman. "Did you feel that too?" Nodding, Lucy was trying to calm down the smaller neko-girls who were worried about their friends fighting the scary creature. "Felicia… what happened?"
Flexing her tensed up body, Felicia's hair had started to change. From a calm blue to a fire red color. Watching without any cause to worry, Pyron didn't attack. Clenching her claws closed, a loud roar came from the normally non-violent Felicia. The two beaten down Darkstalkers, Morrigan and Demitri were climbing out from the rubble when the power surge and roar echoed. "Who knew kitty had it in her?" Morrigan smirked. "Still, she isn't stronger than I am." Demitri countered. Grinning, Morrigan knew at this point Felicia could easily take both of them down.
Raising her power into A-Level, Felicia continued to push it further. Stunned, Pyron realized his mistake. I cannot allow this to go any further! Threatened by the justly enraged feline, Pyron prepared to fire yet another Cosmo Disruption. Rolling into a ball, Felicia flew under the projectiles. "This one's for Joe!" Clawing through Pyron's defensive barrier, Felicia kicked the energy being directly in the head and away from the others.
Lying face down on the earth, Joe's eyes were still blank. However… deep down somewhere inside the human was a thin strand of hope. "Ugh… did I die and go to hell?" Joe thought, the human was floating in an area of pure darkness. Nothing could be seen except empty blackness… "Great, I died and the whole world blew up."
Not quite… A lone voice echoed from the dark. Appearing in the forms of two spheres, one of light… another of darkness, two copies of the human appeared. Hovering apart from each other, Joe recognized them as what he looked like as a Chaostalker and a cat person. "So what… you two are here to mock me for failing?" Reaching out, Joe's chaos form frowned and slapped him in the back of the head. "Just shut up and listen, we have a deal for you."
To Be Continued!
Trailer for next time…
While Felicia dealt with handling Pyron with her newfound power, the next step in Joe's evolution was about to arrive. However… with power comes change.
Joe: What do you mean move to a new level?
N-Joe: Its simple, just move into the next step of being a Darkstalker.
Joe: But…
C-Joe: Stop being so pathetic! Felicia will like you either way! Damn…
Next time… Episode Eight: Soul Conversion… Embrace the Darkness!
Joe: If it'll help… I'll DO IT!