Blessed by Night

It only took a moment for the soldiers to redirect their fire.

They took aim at her as she fell from the sky with a smile.

Her detached feathers moved to form a wide wall that protected her from all gunfire.

As the feathers were struck by shrapnel, they began to shine like sun struck rubies.

Just like Anna, her feathers drew in more and more kinetic energy to strengthen themselves. They hardened dramatically, becoming like plates of delicately crafted metal.

Anna didn't actually have anything to fear from the gunfire. Her skin was so durable now that it would have taken far more complex weaponry than machine gun fire. At the most, it would have only charged her up.

No, Anna had defended herself for another reason entirely.

With a push of her hand, she rocketed the feathers towards the gunmen intent on taking her life.

Once they sailed through the air, they slice through any impeding structures, be they bullet or man, and struck the building.

Anna snapped her fingers with a wry smile. There was a red flash of light, and the entire northern side of the base exploded.

-

The thundering sound of boots hitting the ground was practically all that could be heard in the east wing of the base.

Roughly forty men were running as fast as they could with a woman in the lead barking out orders. With every order given, a small detachment would break off and rush down a specific corridor to fulfill orders.

"Hurry! Get the alarms on!"

"North side wall has completely collapsed! Need men over there asap!"

"Get everyone back in their containment units, now!!"

"YES, MA'AM!!"

With just thirty soldiers rushing to deal with the threat, they were all but halfway to their destination when they suddenly slid to a halt.

Standing in front of them was the absolute largest creature they had ever seen.

A tiger, more than twice the size of even the largest horse. With fur as black as night and claws of the most perfect, pristine gold.

It's eyes were a bright violet. They were equally as petrifying as those belonging to the man on it's back.

No one needed an introduction. His face had already been drilled into their heads for a long time now.

"Wanna put those down for me? Don't wanna make this no harder than it's gotta be."

Malachi's voice was uncharacteristically chilling. It seemed to echo off the room as if it were coming from the shadows all around him.

The cocking of their weapons was the soldiers' only response.

Malachi could only shake his head.

"Don't kill them if you can help it."

Malachi had barely slid down from Serosh's back when he lunged forward. His massive frame meant nothing as he moved faster than a bullet.

He barreled into the men hard, like a bowling ball.
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On first impact, Malachi heard the sound of bones snapping and metal implants being crushed.

Serosh used neither his claws, nor his teeth in this endeavor. But it was somehow equally as horrific to witness.

Hundreds of thousands of dollars in research must have gone into each of these soldiers. And yet, all of them were being bested by a beast with beastial strength that went far beyond what they could produce in a laboratory.

It was almost poetic in a way. Man is destructive, yes, that's true. But nature is designed to endure. To triumph.

Serosh was that idea made manifest. He was the entire animal kingdom comprised in one furry, muscular form.

And he was Malachi's… brother? Other half? Son? He was no longer sure if exactly what the answer to that was, and truth be told, just thinking about it gave him a headache.

Malachi stuffed his hands in his pockets as he walked through the hallway.

His clawed feet stepped over the fallen, unconscious bodies of soldiers who were full of vigor mere seconds earlier.

Mal would occasionally hear a groan and swiftly deliver a kick to their temple; returning them to sleep.

Eventually, Serosh finished and Mal leapt on top of his back once again. "Seems like somebody's having fun."

Serosh scoffed in denial, but Mal didn't necessarily need him to audibly confirm his suspicions to know that he was right.

He and the beast were too close for secrets to carry any validity.

They rushed through the building corridors and encountered six more groups.

Three chose to surrender. Three did not.

Malachi and Serosh finally arrived at a set of heavily fortified doors.

He had seen the plans for this kind of barricade already. A wall of nanotechnology thick enough to make bank vault doors insecure.

Just like the gear Bianca had made for the family, it was designed to harden in response to physical abuse.

Serosh had previously been bursting through every door in this place, but Malachi had to give the eager animal a reassuring head pat to stand down.

The kitten was disappointed.

"Don't look so down, friend. You got to have your Juggernaut fantasies for long enough, didn't you?" Mal laughed.

Serosh looked back with his muzzle hanging open- completely horrified.

"I could hear you saying that line in your head, yes. I never thought one little movie would have such a big impact on you." Mal laughed.

Serosh dropped his head. "…He is the juggernaut, bitch."

"Yes he is, brother-man. Yes he is." Malachi laughed.

He tipped down his sunglasses and inspected the light fixture above their heads.

His fingers crackled with electricity, and he hurled a small bolt into the light.

It went out immediately; shattering.

Serosh retreated to the darkness and Malachi changed his body into pure electricity.

He flew into the exposed wiring and then started moving through the building's circuitry.

It was a strange experience. One almost too alien to describe.

But the next thing he knew, he was being spit out of another light fixture, and now was on the second level of a holding block.

And what he found inside was just as heartbreaking as the day he found Joanne.

Blessed. All of whom were malnourished, disoriented, and with shaved heads.

It never failed to twist his heart. The youngest here was probably only 17-18.

But for now at least, he had to wait to get to them.

"That's quite enough, Mr. Saint. In the name of the revival regime, you are asked to stand down."

Malachi felt his jaw set in place.

He slowly removed his sunglasses from his handsome face as his claws slowly grew beyond their usual manicured length.

His skin and hair turned a deathly, ashen gray, and a unique, short coat of fur sprang up from his pores.

"I promised those two I would try my best to be diplomatic… but I'll just leave you out of my report."