[GearRyu]

Time for Chapter 2! Thanks for all the views thus far AND for the comments. I assure you, if you think the story is interesting now, you are going to love what's coming up! I'm happy to say that I have resolved an ending for the story. Everything is going well. At my current rate, I am posting a new chapter every time I finish up the chapter that is two ahead of that one. The plan is to keep the updates regular. Well, enjoy the next chapter, and expect another one to be coming up sometime tomorrow. Also, have a Happy New Years Eve! (And leave comments! :-D)

Chapter 2
?The color of your skin don't matter to me
As long as we can live in harmony

Why can't we be friends?
Why can't we be friends?
Why can't we be friends?
Why can't we be friends??
~ ?Why Can?t We Be Friends,? War

We?re Friends, Right?


?Class dismissed,? declared Professor Fromm.

The 40 students slowly rose then filed out of the night class; amongst them was Cranberry, and her human friend, Lukas. She and Lukas had met during the beginning of the semester. Before Cranberry met Lola, Lukas was the closest thing she had to a friend. Their relationship had always been entirely platonic. They only saw each other in class. Still, at times, Cranberry wondered if there could be more...

She was a tad shy about suggesting anything.

Dr. Fromm?s class was the last class of Cranberry?s long Thursday night. Most people were exhausted by this time. Even other hybrids. She thrived enough to stay and ask questions. Tonight, she planned to have a few words with the professor, whose brain tended to ache after the second or third Cranberry question.

**

?Oh, hey, that?s all right, Cran? said Lukas with a small smile. ?Look, I have to run, anyway. Got a few things to take care of, you know? Next week, same time??

Cranberry nodded. ?Next week, same time. But do your reading this time.? She smirked. ?I dislike having to cover your butt.?

?Eh.? Lukas just shrugged and smiled. ?Toodles.? He turned and walked off, smiling. As he did so, he reached for something in his pants and held it in front of himself.

**
?Question answered, Miss Pawis?? Dr. Fromm tugged his tie a bit and adjusted his glasses. He looked across the hall at the clock on the wall.

?Yes, sir,? replied Cranberry. ?Thank you for your time.? Her tail swished back and forth as she turned to leave.

?Yeah, thank God. Welp, drinking time again.? Dr. Fromm plucked a bottle of something strong out from behind his desk, filled a shot glass, and took a swig.

**
?Cran!? A panicked shout.

Cranberry turned quickly in the direction of the noise. Far out in the distance, her keen eyesight discerned Lukas being accosted by a couple of thugs. It seemed they had already scuffed him up a bit and bruised his eye. Lukas was struggling to throw them off. He was looking in her direction. One of the thugs grabbed him by his hair and yanked him around a corner, behind a building.

?Cran! HELP!? shouted Lukas. And before she knew what was happening, Cranberry was already dashing down the street, and around the corner, where she saw an open manhole. No time to call the police, she told herself. A little nervous, she dropped down into the waiting chamber.

**
She smelled him before she heard him before she saw him. Her hands dug into the thug?s right arm and, with a heavy heave-ho, she flipped him over, knocking him onto his back with a heavy wind-taking thud. The thug groaned in the flicker fire darkness.

?What did you do to Lukas?? she shouted to him, attempting intimidation. The effect was mitigated by her pleasant voice but enhanced by her physical prowess. Cranberry?s eyes were adjusting to the minimal light the lamps on the street above let down into the sewers. She could see several humans standing in the dim light; a gang? Something heavy slid over the manhole above.

??ey, boss,? said one of the men. ?She fell for it! I don?t believe it! Wan?us to cap ?er right now??

?No, no,? said a familiar voice. Cranberry?s heart was thudding softly in her chest. She was tensed, prepared to fight, to save Lukas, when the speaking figure flicked a lighter and lit a cigarette he was holding to his lips. In the soft glow of the cigarette light, she pinpointed Lukas? features. The young man had an expression of controlled determination on his face.

?Lukas?? Cranberry asked, incredulous. ?Lukas, what happened? I saw those thugs drag you down here, but-?

?Jesus, hold it,? said Lukas, pulling the cigarette from his lips and releasing a small luminescent puff of smoke. ?First off, I want to thank Big T and The Mike for helping me pull that little charade. Good job.? Lukas clapped his hands. Cranberry frowned.

?Lukas?? Cranberry backed up against the sewer escape ladder leading back to the surface. She did not want to fight, not this many, not down here, not at all. She knew she would die, or have to kill somebody, because when trapped in a sewer with nothing but mice and angry thugs, your bad day is just getting started.

Lukas raised his left hand in the universal gesture for ?stop?. ?Oh, don?t bother trying to escape, Cran. I had a couple of my boys slide something up there so heavy that three of you couldn?t lift it.?

?Lukas,? shouted Cranberry, trying again to sound intimidating, ?this is NOT funny! I want out of here, now!? She bared her fangs.

?Funny girl,? said Lukas, grinning. ?Isn?t she, boys?? Laughter. As a spent piece of cigarette dropped to the floor, Lukas made a few minute hand gestures. The thugs, half shadow and half matter in this darkness, armed with knives, bats, guns approached. As they did, the illuminated Lukas spoke.

?See, Cran, I?ve never liked you. You?re a hybrid, a freak of nature. You shouldn?t be here. You don?t belong, see? Your kind,? he said, his tone becoming increasingly menacing, ?they?re too fast, too strong? and in your case, too smart. You think that just because you?re genetically engineered, you?re perfect!?

?What?! No! Lukas, this is cra-?

?Shut up! I?ve had enough of these lies! Government propaganda; ?The Hybrid is your friend?, all that bullshit! Was a hybrid my father?s friend when he lost his job because the government figured a genetic freak could do it better?! Do they help by being better than us, domineering, slowly taking over our society? You?re a cancer, every one of you! And you?re no friend of mine!? He clenched his teeth heavily onto the cigarette.

?Lukas,? Cranberry pleaded, even as she extended her claws, preparing to fight (?oh god, I do not want to fight, please god, do not make me fight, I do not want to die, oh god?), ?come on. Let us talk about this? please. This is crazy.?

?What?s that?? Lukas began, as if interested. He smiled and spoke as if talking to a child. ?Crazy? Cran, this whole world?s crazy. I?m just setting things right.? Lukas plucked the cigarette from his lips. The embers glowed a mystic orange against the shadows. ?Night vision goggles on, boys. Do her up just like the last four.? He flicked the orange stick into the running sewage. It expired instantly, and in the crowding darkness, a horde of shadowy figures descended on Cranberry.


**
When faced with fight vs. flight, those in heavy doubt of their victory will often choose the latter option. Some wise strategists know when to leave a single escape route open (however impossible escape actually is) to make a confused opponent fight less vigorously than he would if his only option was to fight. When cornered, a coward becomes a challenge.

Cranberry had, to this night, never raised a paw in self-defense. The event at the coffee shop was her most exciting physical activity outside of the hunting grounds. Like all sphinx, she possessed a natural physiology that made her superior to human beings, at least physically. For example, the thugs required night vision goggles, whereas Cranberry?s eyes were naturally attuned to the darkness. Cranberry tossed herself against the first lumbering body she saw. Sharp claws knifed through clothing and into flesh. The thug screamed and brought his elbow down against her head, buffeting her with a lucky blow and knocking her off guard for a second. Cranberry danced back through the darkness, slightly dazed, as poorly aimed pistols sent bullets whizzing through the darkness. They missed and embedded themselves in the eroding sewer walls.

Passing seconds were making Cranberry careless. She pounced at one of the men moving into one of the shadows. Her momentum stalled as a heavy object thudded against her arching back. Her target tackled Cranberry, attempting to pin the struggling girl to the ground. Her powerful muscles quickly tensed, then tugged, shifting rapidly enough to keep herself loose and claw at him. Sharp, lancing pain filled the space between two ribs and breathing suddenly became difficult. Something was stuck there for a split-second. When it came out, the pain became worse. Heavy pains of all kinds built up in the darkness around Cranberry; a giggling, chortling mass of fleshy shadows drowned out her growls of fear and fury. In the background, she picked up the sound of Lukas? faint, humorous laughter.

**
Cranberry screamed and (black bloody) drowned (hurts?) out (need to escape?) - She did not want (heart beat, beating heart, ka-thud, ka-thud, will burst) to die here, not in the darkness? she would do anything to escape (break free, claws). The battering (so easy to give in) continued (pain is gone!). She tried to lunge (heave) outward, and was dragged (weight?) back in. She tried (growl?) to spring outward with all her fury, but (pressure, suffocating) was dragged back in. She wanted to live? (oh god, it hurts, noise is loud) she WOULD (red, so much red, want more red, paint the sewer red) live! SHE ? WOULD ? LIVE! (bleed them white and you can make everything go away?).

**
Cranberry?s right hand snaked out, grabbed a baseball bat and tore it from the victimizer?s hand. It cracked slightly as she squeezed upon the wood. Her powerful arm swelled with strength and swung it around in a wide arc, buffeting the invading shadows to the tune of heavy cracks. Strong legs broke free of the shadows and thrust through the thick. Screams echoed down the sewer passages as the sensation of knives darting ripped through the dark forms. Choking. Dripping. A powerful figure with eyes like hellfire lurched in the darkness. Muscular, sharp-toothed, long-clawed, predatory. Small objects flew toward it and passed by harmlessly.

Something akin to twisted laughter rose along the sewer walls in the dirt and heat. One of the thugs hunched forward and doubled-up and spilled his vitals upon the ground. A powerful, long back leg swung upward and caught another ? he gasped but could not speak because of the newly displaced vocal chords dangling from a set of claws. The leg swung about, lifting both carcasses before dropping them once more. One swung into another of their companions, whom was knocked into the sewage water.

Shouting in the darkness. Spent bullets fell to the ground in tune to a garbled beat. Guns primed, triggers pulled, their firing rate constant repeat. The snails crawled by, perchance to die, while they saw another feat.

The creature turned toward the bullets as it passed by them, laughed, and snatched one from the air. It flicked it at one of the frightened shades and was delighted by the strange noise his throat made when the bullet embedded itself within his Adam?s Apple. The two other gunners kept firing, shouting obscenities, and screaming for someone to kill the bitch.

Their screams to nothing came.

**
Lukas excused himself from the hopeless slaughterfest during those few seconds. He was walking first, trying not to attract attention. In the distance, he heard a plea for mercy become an echoing shriek accompanying a demonic cheetah?s growl.

Fuck it. Run. Just needed to make it to the nearest unsecured manhole. Get out of here before the freak finished slaughtering everyone else and realized he was missing. He ran.

And then he heard the growling again, but it was no longer in the passage he had left behind. It was behind him, far away in the darkness, its echoes traveling forward.

Heat began to flood his muscles as he pushed them harder, hoping to escape. Perspiration formed on his brow.

The growling darkness loomed closer, breaking the silence again. Lukas? back arched as he felt malicious eyes boring down upon him. His eardrums pulsed with the beat of blood and the clickity-clank of bloody claws scraping against the ancient sewer mortar.

Faster! His lungs felt like they could explode! His feet hardly touched the ground! The world distorted and the darkness pulsed with an iris of white and grey! Incredulous laughter rose as he looked ahead.

A ladder leading to freedom!

He did not hear himself laugh. He did not hear himself say, ?Oh, thank God! Jesus Christ! I?m free! I?m out of here! YOU WON?T CATCH ME NOW, YOU FREAK!? He practically tossed himself at the sewer escape, leaping into the air and grabbing onto the bars for dear life. No more growling.

He gasped, and he looked back into the darkness. NO more searing red eyes. Oh, thank God. NO more red eyes. She must have gotten tired, and given u-

Lukas screamed as he looked up the sewer escape. A pair of gleaming red eyes stared down at him. Something growled.

**
As Cranberry flung herself into her orange artificial leather arm chair, she attempted to recall what happened earlier that night? when did she last see Lukas? As he? left class, right? How did she get home? Lukas left class? she left class? she must have walked home? Cranberry could not recall walking home.

She dug her claws unto the artificial leather of her chair?s upholstery. The more she tried to recall, the more rage built within her. It ached so. Cranberry had to take a deep breath and calm herself down. She could not recall ever feeling so angry.

She tried harder. Lukas left class. She left class. She wanted to tear the flesh from his face. She wanted to claw him to death. She- Cranberry gripped her head! The headache stopped building as soon as she stopped trying to recall. That is right. She had coffee with Lola earlier today. She went to class. The lecture was interesting and she stayed afterward to talk to the professor a bit. Then she walked home. She was very distracted, since she spent the walk thinking of her papers due on Friday. That is right.

Cranberry stifled an unbecoming giggle, wondering why she was so frustrated over this. She lolled her tongue in her mouth. Strange taste as her tongue went along her teeth. Oh, right, must have been something she ate along the way. She picked up a sandwich along the way home, but the taste was not quite right. That is right.

That is right.