Suri has a panic attack. Atiena and Gemini face off. But who has the upper hand?

Run.

"Suri."

Keep running.

"Suri…"

Don't you dare stop.

"Suri, please…"

They're going to die because of you.

"No. No they won't. Suri stop."

It's safer for them if you just run.

"You know that's not true."

This is just like before. You ran away once, you can always do it again.

"We said we'd stop running."

This. This is all your fault you stupid, selfish little brat.

"Suri…"

You never deserved them in the first place and now you're going to get them killed like the fucking idiot you are. You brought her here. You might as well have killed them all yourself. This is on you, dumbass.

"Suri! You stupid, insufferable little shit. Listen to me!"

Tooru, Mina, Izuku, their blood is on your hands.

"Enough!"

…

The tunnel vision faded and suddenly the ground that had been rushing beneath Suri's feet began getting closer. She had hit something while running and now she was headed for the ground for the third time in the last twenty minutes. Only, this time it had been her own doing. She hit the ground and slid forward, grinding and dragging the front of her body through the dirt, grass, and rocks that made up the forest floor. It hurt as the sharp edges of rocks dug into her skin and cut her open again. She hurt too much to move and didn't have the strength to push herself up off the ground so instead, she laid her face into the earth and sobbed.

She sobbed because of how weak she was. Sobbed because of the fear that was pouring over her. She let out a pained, agonized scream into the ground as all of her frustration and fear hit her like a tidal wave. A tidal wave that made her shake and tremble throughout her entire body.

Her first anxiety attack and emotional breakdown in months.

She had been doing so well, too.

"Suri," the voice in her head was soft. Softer than it had ever been. Of course, Atiena had always been a supportive and caring creature but it was always a side that she rarely showed. Now was as good of a time to show it as any. "Hey, look at me."

Atiena sent a wave of energy outward, her own metaphysical power and it pulled Suri into the forest clearing inside of her head. Suri went from feeling the harsh earth beneath her to a firm feeling underneath her, one that was warm. She lifted her head and managed to slowly pick herself up to find herself on the flat rock that had made up Atiena's perch. Her head began jerking every direction as she found herself inside the clearing but no sign of her beast half to be found. She frantically searched the clearing and panic was beginning to set in again.

Suri was about to scream out for her beast half when she saw Atiena's human form striding towards her from the trees. She couldn't help but smile, tears rolling down her cheeks as the taller, older version of herself came towards her. Atiena smiled at the smaller girl and outstretched her arms, calling for a hug. Suri went to her knees at the edge of the stone bed and held out her arms to welcome the woman into her arms.

SMACK.

Suri relented and held a hand against her cheek as the heat and pain swelled and radiated from it. She looked up to Atiena with shocked eyes that held a look of betrayal, tears flowing again, and that look begged the question: Why?

"You deserved that," Atiena said softly and then pulled the girl tight into her arms, letting Suri bury her face into her breasts, wetting her skin with fresh tears. "Mathias and Tooru aren't here so it's my job to knock some sense into you when you need it. And, honey, you needed it."

That's right. Despite all of her own struggles and insecurities, Tooru had always been one of the first ones to go to bat for her. For every fault Suri made about herself, the invisible girl had always been able to counter it with something positive.

Tooru was her and Mina's rock.

And sometimes... you needed to get hit in the head with that rock to come out of what you were going through.

"Oh gods, Tooru," Suri suddenly gasped and looked up to Atiena with fear. "A-And Mina! And… oh fuck! Izuku! I… I left them… I fucking left them with a bunch of villains! W-What the fuck is wrong with-"

"Suri," Atiena looked hard at the girl, the stern glare in her eyes enough to make her stop. "It's okay. Really."

Atiena lifted her head and looked out towards the horizon, past the forest and into reality like she had sensed or heard something in the distance. It made Suri freeze up in fear again.

"Wait here and relax, okay," Atiena said with a smile and stepped back from Suri who began waving her arms towards the woman trying to grab her and pull her back towards her.

"W-Wait! Where are you going?"

"It's my turn to take the driver's seat for a little while," Atiena smirked and gave Suri a wink before the human form disappeared in the blink of an eye. She was in her full beast form that Suri had known all along, that giant half canine, half feline creature that was all powerful beauty and grace.

Then she was gone.

Suri was left in the forest inside her mind, feeling the ghostly sensations of everything that was going on outside. She could smell the smoke from the fires, feel the breeze along her skin, and hear the sounds of fighting not far in the distance. Then came the cackling and it sent a jolt of fear down Suri's spine.

She was afraid of this woman.

Atiena could feel that fear and she did her best to swallow it down. She took Suri's fear and drank it like it was honey because one of the most delicious things next to blood and meat to a wereanimal was fear and rage. She'd use that fear to spur her forward because she had to do what Suri and her couldn't do months ago; stand their ground and face everything head on.

The beast had done enough running.

Atiena, controlling Suri's body, flexed and rolled her neck, stretching and easing the muscles in this body. There was so much pain circulating throughout her but she tried to push that back and ignore it all together. But she had to do one thing first. She lifted Suri's right arm and put it out against the tree next to her, lined it up and then forced herself forward, resetting the dislocated arm with a jolt of shock and pain. It made her grit her teeth and let out a growling hiss but once it was moving again and the mind numbing ringing in her ears subsided, she took her first steps forward.

Forward back towards the danger.

Then a jolting sensation went through her, one that she recognized.

"Everyone in Class A and Class B! In the name of the pro hero, Eraserhead, you are granted permission to engage in combat! I repeat. Use your training to fight these villains."

With that, Atiena let out a wave of her energy and Suri's human body gave way to the first signs of her beast transformation. Her ears lengthened and tapered while her fangs and claws grew in length while her tail sprung from her lower back and whipped to attention. She had steadily increased her power and strength as well as her senses but she knew that, even without this much of a transformation, the woman she was going to face still exceeded her. She had to be faster and stronger than this woman, whoever she was.

Suri, still inside her own mind, felt this wave of power dance along her skin. The normally pleasant or even pleasurable sensation of it crawling through her entire body made her shiver with fear instead. She knew that Atiena was powering up to go after whoever this woman was. Suri was terrified. Suri could feel the ghostly sensation of the bone structure in her face and calves changing, giving her a sign that Atiena had gone into beast woman form. She was ready to go as all out as she could against this woman and hope that she could come out on top.

Atiena marched forward through the trees back towards danger as a short coat of dark brown, black, and grey fur poured from her dark copper skin. Once she was in full beast woman form she began trotting, padding through the forest at a steady pace before slowly getting faster and faster. She made herself a blur of shadow as she raced through the trees towards the distant cackling that got closer and closer.

"Heh! Hehehe! Welcome back, mutt," the woman snarled in her laughter as she saw Atiena coming and readied herself.

Atiena growled, furrowing her brows, as she bolted hard, leaving the woman staring at a shimmering after image of her coming at her. It made the woman's eyes go wide in surprise before she was groaning in pain as a hand clamped around her throat and slammed her into the ground below. Atiena took the offensive once the woman was down and caught off guard, pressing her knee into her chest and then coming down on her with hard right hammers. She hit her in the face, forehead, and temple nearly a dozen times, sure that one of the hard blows was concussive enough to rock her.

She was growling and snarling as she pounded down at the woman before relenting and leaning back a little to stop her heavy blows. The hope of the villain having a concussion or being unconscious floated away as the woman simply grinned happily, spit blood to the side of her and then licked her lips of her own blood where Atiena had busted open her lip. The woman looked up at her with excitement and began snickering like the madwoman she was.

"So," she sighed with delight. "You're Suri's better half, I take it?"

Atiena remained silent, glaring down at the woman and pushed her knee harder into her chest, making sure she was pinned to the ground. The woman simply took a strained breath from the pressure and let out a pleasured sigh of relief and delight.

She was enjoying the pain.

"Finally, haha. I was getting so bored with this little cat and mouse game she wanted to play. I thought I was gonna have to go get that pink skinned chick, or the ghost girl, or maybe the plain looking kid with freckles. Kinda wanted to string them up and-"

"Not. Another. Word."

The woman's smile faded for a second as she studied Atiena's face and then a look of excited shock washed over her, her mouth hanging agape with unshed laughter. She happily scoffed in disbelief and then let a grin spread ear to ear across her lips.

"Ho-Ho-Holy shit~ You! You're… You're in love?! Heh hehe heh hehehehe," she finally broke into hysterical laughter, clearly amused by the revelation. "Oooo~ I so should have then... Actually! I still could!"

The outburst of laughter that followed made the woman bellow and wriggle beneath Atiena, making it harder and harder to hold her down. Atiena watched in horror as she tried to overpower her and was doing a pretty damn good job of it. The thought that she was trying to get out so she could go and hurt people she loved? Well that. That infuriated the beast woman, making her refocus, snarl, and grab the woman's throat tight, holding her to the ground and choking her into submission, digging her head into the ground.

The woman gasped… and moaned.

"Mmm~" she sighed, rolling her bottom lip under her teeth. "Silly question time… Honey, are you trying to kill me or are we about to fuck? Cause I'm so down~"

"Tch, you're a piece of work aren't you," Atiena scoffed, digging her claws into the sides of the woman's neck. "You just-"

Another jolt through her body surged as Mandalay's Telepathy came through again, cutting off whatever Atiena was about to say.

"We've discovered one of the villain's targets! It's a student named Kacchan. Kaachan you should avoid combat and stick to a group!"

"Bakugou?" Atiena and Suri whispered in unison.

"You! What do they… w-want…"

Atiena's vision fluttered as she looked back down at the woman below her and then a freezing cold sensation surged throughout her body. That freezing cold was never a good sign. Her eyes refocused in a haze to where a sharp pain began radiating from her and found her stomach covered in blood. It was pouring from a series of deep cuts in the shape of an x across her belly and she could see where skin had started to bulge through from the incisions.

She couldn't do anything but stumble and fall backwards onto the ground behind her, clutching at her abdomen and hoping that she could keep her internal organs from spilling out. She felt nauseous again and then her head began to swim in a fog, darkness was coming fast and it was taking all she could do to not pass out. She was fighting a losing battle in more ways than one and the outcome was looking more and more grim.

As she fought to stay awake, her breath became more ragged and she watched the woman get up off the ground and casually brush herself off before grinning at her again. She admired her handiwork, licking her lips at the sight of the younger girl being cut up open and beaten. The last thing that Atiena felt before fading into the darkness was the grip of the woman's hand around her throat, gripping hard enough that she could begin dragging the beast woman's body in such a manner.

"So much for a so-called Lupra," she sighed with boredom. "Come on, your highness, let's go see the queen's loyal subjects, shall we?"

"N-No… l-leave them… alone…"

And then…

The darkness took her.