The monstrous former grizzy bear roared as it spun, far quicker than something of that size and weight should be able to move, and as it did, the electro-metallic parts piercing its bloody chest swung into few, complementing the metallic gleam of its unnatural claws. Perfect, his landing had distracted it from the family that had tried to escape up the tall pine tree.
The roar triggered something primal within him, and his jaws opened, and he hissed back. Distantly, his ears heard Brujeria speaking in Spanish to the family, calming them and preparing them for their escape. So he did what any threatened snake did, he struck.
He dove towards the bear’s hind legs, driving a flurry of kicks and a colossal punch into the creature’s left knee. The blows would have damaged the armor of a light tank, and yet, the knee didn’t crumple, the creature didn’t fall, and instead turned to swipe at the man in dark green combat armor. For all its speed, the former bear proved too slow, and again the man launched a flurry of blows at the same knee, with much the same result. After dodging another wild sweep of modified bear claws, the former soldier launched another set of blows, but this time, his jaws spread apart, allowing the fangs to extend, and he clamped down on the still vulnerable hamstring of the enraged creature.
As the blood flowed into his mouth and down his throat, initial satisfaction surged through him as he watched skin, sinew and muscle weaken, draining the vitality of the creature. Then his eyes widened, the yellowish tinge growing within them as his sensitive taste buds registered the foulness of the blood, an overwhelming since of corrupted metal, a surge of ozone, and clumps of something unidentifiable.
For the first time in his memory, he panicked during combat, ripping his fangs out of the creature’s leg in a spray of blood, tissue, and…..lubricant? As the mutated bear roared, he turned away from the opponent, staggering away, forcing himself to vomit in attempt to get the foul liquid out of his system.
Bile, blood and chumks of bear flesh spewed from him onto the ground, and still he vomited, until the chunks of metal began to spray from his mouth. When the small, slithering piece of metal started to move around the ground, instinct allowed him to crush it with a powerful thrust of his heel.
In the back of his mind, he felt the shudder as the giant creature slammed down to the ground, but in the fore, flashes of suppressed nightmares surged and hammered his mind.
It couldn’t have even have lasted a minute, but the horror they etched in his spirit felt like the barrage of images had lasted years. He caught the tail end of his brother’s orders to converge on Experion, and he turned and raced to meet his teammates to face the return of the being who had given him the greatest sense of personal loss since the Alliance formed, at least until this year.
He knew, he just knew, he would be too late. All of his teammates could cover ground faster, other than maybe his other brother, mainly because they could all fly.
He came racing around one of the zoo buildings, able to see the alien being hovering high above the pavilion, and he could see his baby brother swooping down from a 
massive leap to attack from behind, holding one of his self grown spikes. He just kept racing forward, as the others readied to attack. His eyes took in the surge of power and the pulse that exploded outwards as Spyder drove the spike into Experion’s back, and he kept running.
He watched as the surge of power shot through his brother, watched as the silver clad hero’s limbs spasmed, watched as his daughter’s mentor and childhood hero fell. He kept running.
A near thing perhaps, but even in his panicked state, his eye for tactical movement didn’t fail him as he reached the plummeting figure just in time to use his massive enhanced strength to catch the inert form of his captain, allowing the force of the fall to drive him to his knees, before gently lowering his severely injured brother to the ground.
A quick check revealed breath and a pulse, and then Rook landed next to him. Reaching out her hands, he felt the power she gathered from…..somewhere. His brother would be fine.
He rose from his knees, turning, and saw his target. Not far. Not long. He strode quickly across the yards seperating them, and when he got to him, he grabbed his grey and white gi, lifting and pulling him towards him. He sensed his shock.
He didn’t yell, but he felt the fear beneath his own words, “GET THEM OUT OF ME!”
The other man’s eyes widened; somehow he understood his meaning immediately. As he 
yelled orders to the recovering Spyder, to Titan, and Rook; he began to relax. As he lay down on the ground and slapped the bracelet to remove the nano armor, his panic began to dissipate, as quickly as it had arisen minutes ago when the tainted blood flowed into his mouth.
The thought of what was about to occur didn’t bother him. He would not be the cause of his family’s dissolution. He trusted the Wraith to protect his loved ones.
He trusted his brother to do what was necessary to eliminate the threat.
By any means necessary.
Last Dreams 