The muffled voices of several soldiers buzz around Osiris's mind in a crazed panic, his subconscious picking up pieces of conversation as they are exchanged at his side.

  "...The compounds..."

  "...in his blood..."

  "...he survive?..."

  "...never be the same..."

  his eyes slowly open, taking in the blurry scene as a flash and flicker of orange and yellow dances across the landscape. The silhouettes of several people block the intense light coming from the bunkers door. A few figures kneel at Osiris's side as the wrap bandages around him, and several instruments are monitoring his vitals with mechanical beeping and whirring. His surroundings start to take a clearer shape as his vision returns.

  The full extent of the damage is now laid bare, as the pillars of flames spewing from the bunkers doors reach out several meters high. Military and police personnel alike work to erect a barricade around the estate, keeping the news teams as well as the general public away from the incident as their blue and red lights cut through the flames, illuminating the surrounding destruction.

  Osiris's gaze wanders toward the house, examining the effects of the blast. All the windows on the side of the house have been shattered open, and several dents adorn the walls as a result of debris being forced into it.

  He starts to cast his gaze downward to assess his own condition as the medical staff attending to him take notice of his consciousness.

  "Osiris! please don't try to move. We're here to help you, don't be alarmed."

  There were several cuts and bruises along his body but his arms had caught the worst of it. The gauntlets themselves were damaged beyond repair, but worse yet, they had malfunctioned during the blast. The metal had contorted and shifted in an unnatural way, digging itself deeper into his arm, almost down to the bone.

  A mixture of blood and the strange compound flowing through the gauntlets is dripping through the wounds of his hands and openings in the metal.

  The machines around him begin to deep rapidly to match his increasing heartbeat.

  "Osiris please calm down! everything's going to be fine, but we need you to relax!"

  His memories of recent events start to flash quickly through his mind. His eyes clench shut as he suppresses them, replacing them of fond memories with his family, but they do little to calm him.

  The moment stretches into what feels like an eternity, but the machines beeps start to slow, and the pauses between them grow longer as the medical staff sigh a breath of relief almost in unison. They continue their procedures as Osiris's words struggle to leave his mouth.

  "What's... happened to me?" The surgeon closest to him responds as he continues his procedures carefully.

  "After the shockwave, debris must have damaged the gauntlets. They are inoperable, but worse, the compound has entered your bloodstream." His brow furrows in response, trying to comprehend the magnitude of the events.

  "Normally this isn't an issue, the compound can be extracted. But we didn't get on the scene for some time after the explosion. Its had a lot of time to enter your system, and even be pumped through your heart. We don't know the full extent of the changes, but what we do know is that you'll be faster, stronger and overall more agile than ever before, but the bad news is..."

  His fist clenches the grass beneath him as he braces for the next revelation.

  "You'll have to continue taking new compound into your system for the rest of your life. You can survive without new compound for a little while but you'll need to take it regularly. By extension, you'll need to wear our other prototype gauntlets almost permanently. We're trying to remove the damaged gauntlets now, and get a new pair on. You should be able to move after that"

  Osiris's head leans back into the grass, the dew cools his hair as it mixes with his sweat. He attempts not to observe the operation happening just below him, allowing the time to pass quickly. What Osiris assumes as hours have passed before the surgeon finally speaks directly to him.

  "Alright, you're stabilized. We'll have to continue our other procedures once you're back at base, but for now, we can get you on your feet." The surgeons scaly hand reaches toward his back, as he raises Osiris's weight off of the ground. "Back at base?" he questions with a worrying tone.

  "That's right. You're caught up in all this now. Rather than just bury you along with the secrets, the U.S.N saw an opportunity to recruit you instead. You're now a part of the U.S.N's covert 'Dark Division' so enjoy the last 'secret free' part of your life while you can." The surgeon quips in a playful way, but Osiris's face remains stern.

  "Doesn't feel like i was 'secret free' at all... not anymore." He mumbles under his breath as his feet find their way underneath him. His arms are covered in thick gelatinous filled casts, with a couple of hanging bottles filled with the compound from earlier that have tubes running into the same casts, presumably directly into his arms.

  The surgeon brushes off any grass picked up by his shirt before issuing him a warning. "Don't try to strain yourself. Your wounds will open up quite easily. There's a grav-ship coming to pick us up, but see if your motor functions are all adequate. Take a stroll, but notify one of us IMMEDIATELY if you start to feel dizzy." Shouting from his companions causes the surgeon to rush to their aid as Osiris stares into the blaze, consumed by its bright flickering lights.

  With one paw in front of the other, he gets closer to the fire allowing the warmth to wrap around him as the roaring of a few more grav-ships fly past him to land nearby. The doors whir downward as several formerly dressed U.S.N personnel spill out onto the yard, including Corvus who notices Osiris standing ominously in front of the inferno. He breaks out into a jog to join him at his side as he carefully examines his condition before beginning his questioning.

  The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  "What happened? What is all this? Where's the rest of your family?" His line of questioning sends a shiver down Osiris's spine as he avoids his gaze, instead the flames continue to hold his attention as he slowly utters out his response.

  "They're... gone. My father had... some kind of laboratory here, under our home. Something went wrong and they unleashed a monster. It killed him." His shocked speech is unable to explain further, as his jaw lowers but the words can't find a way out.

  Corvus's eyes dart around on his face as he reads his expression. His own agape beak slowly closes on its own before he nods in acceptance, seeing the grief starting to show itself on Osiris's wound ridden body and face. He takes a cautious step forward, to be at his side before he carefully asks in a low tone.

  "What about Vallion? Your brother?" Both their gazes stay pinned to the flames as Corvus's body tenses, waiting for his reply. The silence eats away at them both, but Osiris finally answers as a tear rolls down his fur.

  "I didn't see him, but i know he was down there somewhere... I could smell him." His eyes close as he recalls all his senses while down in the bunker before adding onto his statement.

  "No, more than that. I could feel him down there. Somewhere. I just... hope he made it out, but i have this eerie feeling that... he died down there." They both continue to stand still as the flames pull and push their shadows, making them dance behind them as sirens and shouting amongst the silence fill the night sky.

  Sometime Earlier

  Vallion's consciousness ebbs and flows, as a warm tingly and at times stinging feeling dances around his fur. Across his arms. Along his snout. And into his gut. His mouth fills with the sensation of flavorful food, as if reminiscing about a memory of a good meal. Muffled shouts followed by some sort of shooting hisses around him. His pointy ears curve and twitch toward the direction of the noises as his muscles tense involuntarily.

  His claws bare themselves, like his instincts are auto piloting his body, commanding him to hunt. Slowly his vision stretches and pulls at the blurry scenery around him as he struggles to take back control, but to no avail. Through the muted senses, a familiar scent fills his nostrils.

  One that he holds closely to his heart. Memories of his brother reveal themselves in his mind, and all the time they've spent together begin to rapidly play by like a movie being skipped through.

  Once again, his vision pulsates and scrambles as he tries to focus on what his body is doing. Finally, one thing has come into focus, but his own gasp fills the void in his mind as he comprehends what is unfolding.

  Osiris is running, his body covered in wounds. His labored breaths filled and emptied his chest as his face is turned toward him, Osiris's expression is dripping with fear and horror with a hint of anger.

  Vallion's own arms are outstretched as his weight is pressed into them with each leap, his muscles tense as they propel him toward his brother, his arm raised with his claws spread wide open like the jaws of a bear trap about to snap closed around its prey.

  Vallion's own regret and determination pushes his subconscious further, forcing control of his own body if only for a moment, but just enough to divert the aim of his swing away from anything vital on his brother before a recognizable voice sings out from the void.

  "You're interfering with my hunt. Don't tell me you've changed your mind?"

  The experiment's thoughts melt into his as he responds. "Just not him. Everything in here is your prey, I won't deny you that, but don't you dare touch him."

  His mental fortitude holds its own against the experiments presence as its instincts remembers this feeling from earlier, one of submission to its host. The silence between them subconsciously is interrupted by the wailing final words of a dying man.

  "Hay! asshole!" Galvion's voice pierces through them like a spear as the experiments hunger rises along with Vallion's rage.

  "Some hunter you are, I'm still here! Didn't you say i was your favorite prey? and yet I'm still standing! So how about we finish this?"

  Both minds connect as a primal drive takes over both of them. Their thoughts and responses harmonize as one as Vallion allows the experiment to take control once more.

  "A prey after my own hunger! I respect your fervor, so i will grant you your dying hunt".

  It doesn't notice the hissing and clunking of the doors behind it, or its simply too focused on Galvion to care, as it lowers itself on all fours. Without hesitation it zips through the air, closing the distance between them alarmingly quickly.

  Galvion dodges the first swipe from the experiment as it reaches him, displaying unnatural speed for a soldier sporting his wounds. His own punches are pitifully weak in comparison to their previous fight, which the experiment responds to with a low toned chuckle.

  A few more swings slice around him as Galvion keeps dodging, but his wounds finally become too much for him to keep up this defense, and a slash finally finds its mark downward across his chest and through to his leg, causing blood to spill through the wounds, and some internal organs to show through slightly.

  The sudden pain pierces through his body, stopping his adrenaline and allowing all the fatigue from his previous wounds to flood him all at once. He slumps to his knees as his arms droop by his side as if they had been weighed down by steel.

  The experiment slowly saunters over to him leisurely as its claws open wide again, this time dripping with his blood. No words leave his mouth, as his eyes, dripping with disdain gaze toward him. The experiments glassy grin spreads wide before throwing its claws forward in a pointed formation, instantly shooting through his chest, and gouging his heart open wide as it beats its last.

  Galvion's final breath leaves his body, his mouth opens wide from the sudden shock of the strike, and tears roll down his fur to mix with his blood.

  His eyes rest lazily as the life from them is drained away, leaving a hunched over corpse as the experiment satisfyingly pulls its claws from him before turning its attention toward the air vents on this level, that had mistakenly been left open in a false sense of security.

  "Hmmm, time to move our hunt elsewhere." its low growl accompanies his one-way conversation as it trots toward the vent, easily pulling it apart before contorting its body in a disturbingly horrific way. Its own bones snap, crackle and split themselves as his joints are pulled apart, and twist to fit the tight opening.

  Its muscles pull at the walls in unison allowing it to travel through the metal shaft system and upward to the open air as the rumbling of the explosion shakes the walls around it. In response, it begins to move with a newfound sense of urgency as it spews itself out the opening on the surface, disguised as a tree stump.

  It sloshes to the grass as flames erupt from the vents opening shortly after it. The flames were close enough to singes its fur as it pulls its body back into the correct anatomical position.

  It relishes the memories of its battles before the roaring of nearby grav-ship engines spur it into the forest, ready to plan its planetoidal escape, and unleash its hunt on a universal scale.

  Thank you so so much for reading! my newest chapter!! If you have the time, please leave a comment telling me if you like the way it is, or if you prefer it shorter/longer! id love to try and accommodate to as many readers as i can! And leave your thoughts as well as to the story or my writing in general! I'd love to hear your opinions! It will all help me not only to grow but more importantly to engage with my readers!!! :D

  Until next time!(\ >w< /)