Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, faved and alerted this story! You guys rock!
PS Thanks to Niffer, who pointed out a mistake in the previous chapter. I wrote Stryder, not Stryker and corrected the error… I was so tiered when I wrote the chappy that I just messed up his name.
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As Stryker was about to leave the entrance hall, he stole a quick glance at Creed and Zero, catching their attention and silently ordering them to follow him. Looking at each other with a curious shrug, both men walked out of the room, following the major a leaving behind the others who chatted away happily with the newcomers.
The made their way without a sound to the major's office, where he finally sat behind his desk and gestured for them to come stand in front of it.
"I've already spoken to you of my future project of creating the perfect soldier, have I not?" Stryker started wearily, looking up at his two fighters. They both nodded in unison, trying to hide their obvious intrigue. "Well, I believe we have acquired the perfect piece to begin experimenting."
"The angel, sir?" Zero asked, frowning. Creed scowled slightly, but knew that the newcomer was indeed a perfect specimen, considering his powers… it was only a question of breaking him down and analyzing him, now…
"Yes, the angel." Stryker smiled knowingly, looking up at the ceiling. "I have an assignment for both of you. Zero, you are to find out by the most… subtle means what can and cannot destroy the angel. We're going to need him either in a coma or dead if we want to have the time we need to understand how he functions. And you, Victor…" The man glanced at the feral with a sigh. "The girl… she's proving to be more of a burden than expected, considering that she probably cannot do anything without the angel at her side. I need you to do whatever has to be done for her to break out of her shell and become autonomous. She'd going to have to be, if we want to keep her as a fighter, once he's not around to support her anymore…"
The smirk that crossed Creed's face was far from reassuring. He'd just been given the green light to mess with the feral girl, which he would have done either way, but now he had official permission to screw her up… she was done for.
"One last thing." Stryker gave them a very grave look. "No one but the three of us is to know what I asked you to do. No one. Is that clear? (the two nodded) Good… gentlemen, you are dismissed."
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John and Chris gave the two newcomers a tour of the place, starting off with their playroom, moving on to the bathrooms and dorm corridor. Gabriel was asked to pick two rooms for himself and Chelsea, but he decided to settled them both in a single one, explaining that the girl often had nightmares and needed to be with him to calm down and not rip the walls to shreds when they happened. She followed them docilely through the whole walk, uninterested by what was being shown, silent and humming to herself. Chris kept sending her friendly, gentle glances and once, she responded with a kind, sheepish smile. He turned to Gabriel.
"Why is she still like this… you said it's been years since she… almost died… wouldn't she have healed by now?" They were back in the playroom, where Wade and Dukes were watching a football game, seated on the edge of the sofas, screaming when points were scored and groaning when the players couldn't get far enough on the field.
Gabriel looked at Chelsea sadly as she joined the two on the couch, staring blankly at the television. "I believe that… the one you call Victor Creed, he is a feral as well, right? And he has a regenerating ability." John and Chris nodded. "Well, Chel cannot regenerate herself. All my blood succeeded in doing to her is prevent her physical aging… but her skin can still be wounded and she cannot heal it any faster than a normal human. Perhaps Creed would have been able to reverse the damaged done to his brain, if he had almost died, but she cannot… the animal in her has grown unbalanced and she cannot control it anymore…"
Wade laughed from the couch, turning around slightly. "I don't think Kitty Claws can heal the damage to his brain. Otherwise he'd be less of an idiot."
"Come again, Wade?" A voice behind them snarled lowly. They all spun around, noticing that Zero and the male feral had just joined them, entering through the far door of the room. Creed looked somewhere between amused and pissed, fangs showing in an aggressive smirk.
Wade got up, grabbing one of his swords and starting at the feral with an expectant face. "You know your kitten claws are no match for my blades of doom. Just accept the truth and live it down, Creed…"
"You wanna bet on that?" Victor growled, his claws slipping out of the end of his fingers, long and menacing.
Dukes moved closer to Chelsea, whispering in her ear. "I'm putting twenty bucks on Wade."
The girl gigged softly, looking at him with amused eyes and Gabriel noted the exchange immediately, slightly surprised to see the young girl respond to such a comment, as if actually understanding the situation… was it coincidence or did she have a moment of lucidity?
"Fight room. Now, Wade." Creed growled, turning around swiftly and walking out through the far door. Wade jumped over the couch, grinning, and sped off after the furious feral with his blades spinning in his hands from the excitement.
John sighed softly. "I guess this is as good a chance as ever to show you two the Fight room. Come on now, before they kill each other and the demonstration is over."
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The six members of Team X made it to the observation room just in time, as the fight down below in the FR started. Wade requested there be no extra challenges, wanting to fight Creed without distraction and Chris immediately explained what the 'extras' were to a fascinated Gabriel.
The angel honestly wowed and complimented the many consoles that recorded, controlled and usually added danger to the fight, impressed by the paintball and holographic fighting options. In his fascination, he failed to notice Chelsea, who was standing at the big glass window that overlooked the huge room, following the furious, high-speed battled down below without missing a thing. Zero followed her every reaction carefully, noting in Creed's absence exactly what made her tick and react, knowing that even though he didn't particularly like the feral man, it was in their best interest to work together on understanding the new pair.
Dukes was cheering Wade on loudly, grinning as Wraith softly commented on the good and bad moves the two made below, hoping to enlighten the young girl that seemed simply mesmerized by the battle. She was drinking in his words, aware for once that someone was talking, all the while memorizing the way Creed assaulted the mercenary.
The fight was raging on with surprising fury, Wade quickly dodging the rapid feral and blocking his claws with agile blades, while Creed pounced and threw powerful blows meant to hit the young fighter. They were jumping off the cylinders in the room, using them to propel themselves one at another in an amazing clash of weaponry.
Chelsea turned around suddenly, facing away from the window, and looked right at Chris with wild eyes.
"I want to fight Creed." She ordered and everyone in the room suddenly noticed that her pupils, although still surrounded by chocolate irises, had become slightly elongated into catlike slits. Gabriel stared at her, shocked.
"You… want to fight? But, Chel…" He stopped himself short when she shook her head, a slightly manic grin spreading over her face.
"Now." The words were punctuated by a low growl and her irises stared to fade, her slit pupil crawling out of them, becoming long and terrible. Black, hooked claws slowly emerged from her tense fingers and she groaned with the pain they caused, closing her eyes for a moment. Gabriel nodded at Chris, shrugging his shoulders hopelessly.
The young blonde used his mind to access the intercom and communicate with the FR. "Uhhh… guys… Chelsea wants to try and fight Creed… right now."
The two below stopped brutally, panting slightly from the effort they had just given and glanced up at the observation room.
Silently, Creed was feeling victorious at the girl's choice. This had taken less time than expected and with a little luck, he might even be able to understand her enough during their fight to force her animal part out so far it finally regained its place inside of her and the balance returned. That was what was expected of him and he'd make it his pleasure to achieve his goal before Zero was done with his own assignment.
Wade shrugged, putting his blades away. "Truce?" He asked with a grin.
Creed smirked. "Don't count on it."
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Chelsea stood yards away from Creed, her bare feet in the sand that covered the ground of the FR, looking around curiously at all the cylinders as if to calculate how they could be of use to her. She had needle fangs pointing out of her mouth, black claws still present on her toes and fingers, restlessly shifting as her gaze finally fell on Creed, piercing and terrible.
She sniffed the air. "You smell like me."
He smirked. "That's cuz I am like you. Only stronger."
Chel revealed her pointed array of fangs with a dangerous grin, bowing her body slightly as if to pounce. It was an open challenge, one only another feral could understand and Creed didn't waste a second in taking it up.
He leapt through the air, running on all fours towards her, claws extended and deadly. He swiped them at her at the last moment, but she jumped right out of his reach, coiling herself into a ball of muscles on the vertical surface of a tall cylinder, shooting away from it in a rebound that allowed her collide a foot with his jaw. She had moved with speed he had never seen before, so quick she appeared blurred to everyone.
The kick sent him flying and tumbling into the dusty ground yards away, but he jumped back up to his feet rapidly, growling angrily. He had already healed from the blow, feeling no pain.
She looked at him body tense and ready for anything, awaiting his next move.
Creed did not hold himself back. He let the animal out, doubling his speed and strength, going berserk to get a hold on the girl She was fast, but she was also fighting against her nature, which de-concentrated her and made it eventually hard to keep dodging the claws aimed at her. They were jumping all around the room, shooting like bullets form one column to another, using their claws as anchors over the smooth, vertical surfaces. Chelsea, unable to form a coherent attack plan in her confused mind, found herself simply trying to escape the determined feral that was following her relentlessly, claws swiping at her ankles in an attempt to catch her.
The other members of the team were follow the fight with awe from the observation room and Gabriel was writhing his hands worriedly, frowning and nearly praying that nothing bad would happen to the feral girl. He had no idea what to think of this, because it was the first time in seven years that he actually saw her fighting willingly even if she was just incoherently dodging assaults at the moment. For a moment, it even seemed to him as if she was resistant enough to tire Creed to the point where he'd be weakened, but just as that thought crossed his mind, the feral male swung out a clawed hand that latched onto Chelsea ankle, wounding her.
She let out a furious, pained roar, letting go suddenly from the cylinder she'd been escalating. Creed dragged her down, twisting in midair at the last moment to crush her into the sandy ground as he landed just feet away on all fours without a scratch on him. Refusing to abandon now that he had her hurt and down, he leapt on top of her twisting body, pinning her into the dust with strong arms.
"Let go!" She snarled, slit eyes squinting angrily. What followed were a series of animal cries, roars and growls as she tried to struggle out of his grasp, snapping her needle fangs at his face and arms, none of which she could actually reach. Creed smirked dangerously, feeling the animal inside of her taking over bit by bit as she became harder and harder to maintain to the ground. He growled deeply right back at her, knowing it would only draw out the beast more… her smell was changing, becoming more feral, more powerful… she smelled like desire and wilderness and dirt, like pine trees and rivers…
For a moment, things seemed to stay suspended. He took in her scent, enthralled and she continued to fight, snarling with even more fury.
But then, the door leading into the Fight Room burst open with a bang and the angel's voice rang out, full of worry and panic.
"Chelsea, no!" He screamed, rushing up next to them and using a powerful wing to simply throw Creed off his love, sending him flying, startled, into a cylinder. He grabbed onto the berserk, struggling girl holding her by the wrists and trying to calm her down. In her rage, she bellowed and roared and sank her pointed fangs into his arm, drawing a pained gasp from his lips. But even if those needle teeth seemed sharper than razors, they did not pierce his skin and draw blood… at least not immediately…
He started talking to her in a low, soothing voice and she stared at him, panting, eyes wild and her fangs still sunk into his arm, where they were slowly starting to puncture the flesh.
"Chelsea, listen to me. Listen to my voice. You've lost control. You can regain control. Just listen to my voice and remember who you are. You are not an animal, you are a human being and you have always been. You can win against it, Chelsea, just listen to me. Please, it's time to change back, Chelsea." With every word he said, she seemed to calm down a little more, eventually releasing his arm and lying back down on the ground, her eyes still staring wildly around. The rest of the team looked at the scene, silently standing behind the angel, knowing it was probably best if they didn't interfere.
The girl closed her eyes and groaned painfully, her fangs turning back into normal teeth and her claws receding back into her fingertips. She started to breathe slowly, soundlessly and they all realized she had lost consciousness.
"Should we take her to the infirmary?" Wraith asked carefully when Gabriel stood, holding her in his arms tenderly. The angel shook his head.
"No, she just needs to sleep. This has taken a lot out of her."
The all exited the room, and Zero threw a calculated, understanding look at Creed as the feral rose from where he'd been thrown to. They silently agreed to meet away from all ears and eyes to discuss what they would be doing next.
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How did you like this chapter? I'm trying not to go too much into useless details and give you as much action and awesome as I can…
For you guys who voted on my poll, why don't you want Perfect Soldier and Clockwork to go into a sequel? I don't think I'll write one if I don't combine the two stories… it could actually be pretty awesome if I did, and I have a good idea for it already. Review and give me your opinion.
And remember, many reviews=quick updates.