Hybrid doesn't dare take his eyes off the snarling man-beast as he sets his poisoned comrade on the floor. The wolfman towers several feet above our hero -- a fact it makes even more clear with each approaching step.
Finally, the wolfman gives a primal howl.
Hybrid: You too, huh?
Meanwhile, outside...
Wednesday: Yep, looks like I did it again.
Cowgirl Jack: Did what?
Wednesday: Single-handedly saved the day, of course.
Ace: More like Chessmaster, Thorfen, and Fused saved the day.
Wednesday: Are you kidding? It was these bad boys right here!
Wednesday flexes his steel muscles. Small steel muscles, but steel nonetheless.
Cowgirl Jack: Admit it, Wednesday, if it wasn't for Chessmasters quick moves, Centurian's courage, Thorfen's mighty axe, and Fused's sonic fist, you'd still be at Vegi-La punching...
Wednesday: Hey!
Ace: ...like a girl.
Cowgirl Jack: Hey!
Ace: Sorry, CJ. You punch better.
Cowgirl Jack:
Wednesday: Look, I don't need any newbie's help. I could have taken him all by myself.
Suddenly, an angry tendril quickly wraps itself around Wednesday. The monster has already regenerated the parts it lost in battle.
Wednesday: What the--
Wednesday's mouth is covered by the clasping arm.
Ace: What's that, Wedensday? No need to worry? You can take him all by yourself?
Chessmaster [to CJ]: Shouldn't we help him? He is our comrade, afterall.
The JLR watches as the miscreation tightens it's grip around one of their own. Metal or not, it won't be long before Wednesday's body caves in to Vegi-La's incredible strength.
Cowgirl Jack: Yeah... probably.
Meanwhile, inside...
Another monster tears mercilessly at Hybrid, but a swift back leap saves him from the wolfman's sharp fangs.
The hero lands on all fours, his eyes glowing yellow, his nails digging into the floor. He can feel himself losing to his newest animal urges.
Hybrid wants blood.
The wolfman growls and he growls back. They both circle the floor like wolves. Dominance must be proven. Neither will back down now.
Finally, Hybrid leaps forward several feet, his hairy paw aimed for the wolfman's head. With a furious yell and all his strength, he brings a ruthless claw down.
But before Hybrid's nails can puncture the wolfman's eye, the behemouth meets the attack with his own. One fist clenches Hybrid's outstretched arm while the other buries deep into his abdomen. With inhuman strength the beast tosses the gasping fighter across the room and into a wall.
Hybrid comes down next to the bound RM with a loud crash, another exoskeleton forming just in time to break his fall. For one brief moment the human part of Hybrid realizes that he may be outmatched.
And in that moment the Crime Syndicate of Fiction is satisfiied. One by one, they leave the beaten Hybrid, the poisoned Midnight Spectre, and the bound Registered Member 552 to their bloody fate. Some fear their strength may be needed outside. Others simply wish to avoid the bloody display.
Registered Member 552: Hybrid, you've gotta listen!
Hybrid turns his yellow gaze to his teammate and snarls.
Registered Member 552: Hybrid, listen to me! The JLR is in trouble. The Vegi-La we're facing isn't the original. During the convention, we discovered that Vegi-La has the power to regenerate missing parts. That means Vegi-La could potentially heal almost any wound, no matter how much of his body he lost. But, unfortunately, that also means one of the missing parts could theoretically, under the right conditions, regenerate into a whole new Vegi-La. I know it sounds crazy, but at the convention Vegi-La was torn to pieces. I believe what we're fighting now is one of those stray pieces. You have to--
With a growl, Hybrid turns to his enemy and dashes for his feet.
Meanwhile, outside...
Fused: I really think we should go help him now.
Wednesday can feel his life slipping away.
Ace: Almost.
Wednesday thinks of all the things he hasn't done. The difference he could have made. The wonderful things he had the power to accomplish. The women he could have--
Cowgirl Jack: Ok, now!
But a small tendril bursts from beneath the concrete, lassoing Cowgirl Jack's leg. Then another breaks the ground beneath him and trumps the falling Ace. Before Chessmaster can move help another small tendril emerges and checks him at the hip.
Fused moves just in time to avoid a fourth arm. A rabbit-fast sonic punch cracks the street into several pieces. An explosive card pitches the rubble into the air, exposing four smaller vegi-beast creatures from the ground below.
The CSF smiles.
Now the JLR is under attack!
