Eieeeeeeerrraaahhhhkkkkk!

Invoking his inner demon, Alessandro let out an unearthly shriek of power and fury. A crack of lightning appeared from the surrounding air and struck him in the chest. Thunder roared outside. The recoil made Aless crouch close to the floor as an aura of electricity sizzled and crackled about him. He looked to his hands, strength surging and flowing through them. He squeezed his hands of stone into fists. New vitality and vigor coursed through his arms and legs.

Rhraaahhhhkkkkk! Eeeaarrhhhkkkk!

Outcries of exhilaration! Alessandro stood upright as his body transformed and shredded the clothing on his chest and back. Muscles rippled into full flexion. Black wings emerged behind him and expanded into an imposing capacity. His eyes glowed a fierce sapphire blue, and his snarl revealed a sharp set of incisors. The creature inside was unbound. A vampire from Earth's past had come forth to meet its future!

The King of the Canines smiled. "So there is a monster here after all. Ha-ha! I'm sorry my friend, but you are as ugly as you are smelly." He pinched his nose and waved a hand in front of his snout.

The vampire boy brood and breathed deeply.

"Why so serious, bat-boy?" Gevaudan laughed and shook his head. "What's the matter? Ha-ha! Can't take a joke? Isn't that what humans do with their haughty intelligence? Joke around? Ha-ha!"

Gevaudan guffawed, but no one else seemed to laugh with him.

"Ah, ha, wait. I forgot! You're not human! Ha, ha! You're some kind of 'creature of God!' Ha, ha, ha!"

He laughed again, taking a couple of advancing steps in the process.

Rhraaahhhhkkkkk!

Alessandro screeched, and with a flap of wings, he took to the air and landed a few meters back and away, out of range from Gevaudan and his Canine henchmen.

"Where are you going, monster? Afraid of a little kiss?"

"Do not confuse a kiss with evil intent," Alessandro replied.

The Wolf King was annoyed. "Well, you're no fun! Are you always such a killjoy?" He turned to his waiting soldiers. "Leave that guy off the party invite list, ha-ha!" He hesitated, then ordered, "Kill him!"

Immediately, two Canine soldiers charged forward.

Alessandro clapped his wings forward and together, smashing the mongrels into one another, their heads colliding like coconuts.

Laser fire shot out.

The vampire ducked and used the stunned animals as a shield. The unlucky canines were pummeled with a volley of laser shots, dropping them and their guns to the ground. Alessandro kicked the weapons aside, placing them a short distance from the scientists; so perfectly located, it was not a difficult decision to take the arms up again.

Another pair of mongrels attacked from opposite ends.

Alessandro twisted 360 degrees, his wings pushing the charging canines past one another. An added shove propelled them to the ground in opposite directions.

More gunfire erupted from the Center lobby.

The scientists scrambled for shelter, searching for loose firearms and shields, and joined the foray. Together, they created a criss-cross of laser fire and surprised the mongrels with a renewed show of resistance.

"Create some cover!"

"Get people to safety!"

Alessandro leaped out of harm's way and landed between two surprised Canines. The vampire punched one in the face, while the other panicked and shot his gun wildly. A random shot hit Aless in the shoulder. The vampire grimaced and grabbed at his arm, just managing to dodge the next blast. He rushed the firing soldier and slammed him into a wall, knocking him unconscious.

Elsewhere, Elliot spotted a nearby pulse-shield on the ground. He picked up the armor and activated it, creating a projectable barrier at once. Simultaneously, he averted a shot aimed at his head. Looking across the room, he located his friend Alessandro, who was standing behind a corner wall, evading gunshots.

"Aless!"

Elliot ran and leapt over a couple of fallen bodies. Laser fire whizzed through the air around him. Making a direct line, he steered his way through hindrance and hurdle, focusing on the only objective in front of him, the only thing he could think about. He reached Alessandro's position unscathed and at once blocked a couple of shots intended for his friend.

Bwwzzzz! Bwwmmmm! Bwwzzzz!

Bwwmmmm! Bwwmmmm!

Suddenly, outside of the Center, a fresh barrage of laser fire blasted through the front entrance, striking several mongrels and toppling them over.

Bwwzzzz! Bwwmmmm! Bwwzzzz!

"Drive them into a corner!"

"Prevent them from forming into packs!"

Bwwmmmm! Bwwmmmm!

A platoon of HP officers with jet packs flew through the Center's entrance and landed, taking the mongrel soldiers by surprise; another squadron of humans had arrived.

"Lasers on full power!"

"Fire!"

There, Elliot spied Mimi at the front lines, bounding through the air, using rocket thrusters from her cyborg leg to carefully control her flight. As graceful as a gazelle, Elliot thought. A superheroine come to rescue the day!

"Elliot! Aless! Are you guys okay?" Mimi called, as she landed close by. She calmly deflected an errant shot, as if it were a nuisance mosquito, and secured the area around them.

"I'm so happy to see you," Elliot said, beaming. "I wasn't sure you'd make it!"

"Have a little faith, Elliot," Mimi said, giving him a wink.

She glanced at Alessandro in his transformed character, hunched over with his wings partly retracted. The tips of his fangs peeked out from his dropped mouth as he scowled and breathed hard. It was difficult to discern his vampiric state of mind, Mimi thought. "Aless, are you alright?"

"I am," he reassured, his eyes pulsating a familiar, icy blue. He looked at the female HP officer. "I'm better now... thank you."

Mimi recognized Aless' face and its underlying intensity. It was a look she'd recognized from the first time she met Alessandro. She lost the edge to her smile and turned to Elliot.

"Get Aless out of here. Now!" she ordered. "Take him as far away as possible, and let him cool off. He's not in control of himself."

"What?" Elliot paused to protest, but knew better than to second guess the girl.

"I have to join the others," Mimi said, "but I'll check back as soon as I can. Hurry, now! I'll cover for you!"

Meanwhile, back at the forefront of fighting, the Canines were now caught between two lines of firing humans.

"Look out!"

"Take cover!"

Confusion followed. Surprised and outmaneuvered, the mongrels tried to fight the battle on both ends of the floor, but the tactic was ineffective, their attention too divided. A couple of dogs dropped from the melee, starting a chain-reaction of dispersion and panic.

"Stop running away, you fools!" Gevaudan commanded. "Get back in your lanes! Get back in your lanes!"

"Make a break for it!"

"Let's get out of here!"

"Run!"

Instead, more and more Canines left the fighting zone. An all-out mutiny appeared at risk.

"Retreat! Retreat!"

Unable to regroup, Gevaudan ordered his remaining soldiers to withdraw, before they were encircled and completely trapped.

"You win for now, humans," the Grey Wolf called out, "but I'll be back! I'll destroy you, your fake building and your stupid monster! This battle is only beginning!"