World World: Max vs Pride

"(Max, no!)" she shouts at me, "(I know you want to help them, but you can't fight lions! They're too strong!)" I watch Siren's eyes go wide at Annette's words and I can see she's about to say something as well, but I place a finger to her beak to make sure that I can get my say in.

"(No, I'm too strong. Remember?)" I say to the both of them as I begin getting my clothes on. "(I can throw boulders like you throw sticks, leap nearly twice the height of our hill in a single jump and literally punch holes in stone. Tell me that you think any lion can do anything close to that.)"

"(They can't...)" Siren answers, watching nervously as I shimmy my pants back on, "(But there are so many of them. As strong as you are, you can't beat them alone. This isn't like going up against the hyenas, or the lizards you rescued me from. Lions train to fight from the time they can walk on their own. They are warriors.)"

"(Then we go in smart. Focus our efforts on rescuing the antelope. If we're lucky, we can just go in and grab them. I can toss a few of the lions around, make them wary of me. Cause a big distraction maybe. I don't know yet how I'm doing this, but I am doing this.)" I say, turning back to them with what I hope is a look of determination on my face. "(Will you help me?)"

"(Why would you do this, Max? They are alive, and we know where they are. That can be enough. Lions are not known to kill their slaves. Why risk yourself against them?)" Annette asks me, crawling off of the bed as Siren sits up. I smile lovingly, keeping my eyes locked on Annette's.

"(I guess you didn't hear me when you were drifting off after all.)" I tease her, coming over and kissing her lips gently before continuing, "(I love you too, Annette.)"

I watch as she blinks at me, looking like an antelope caught in headlights until her eyes go wide and she starts blubbering incoherently. I stand there a little stunned as I realize that for the first time ever, I'm seeing Annette embarrassed. I can't help but laugh at how cute she's being right now, and I hear Siren laughing under her breath as well. I smile softly at the adorable woman before me, the woman who's helped me so much since I've gotten here, who's embraced me with open arms despite our differences... She is my Annette, my mate.

I love her, and I will do whatever I can for her. Starting with this.

Siren leads the way by air as I make huge leaps and bounds after her using my power. Annette has her eyes closed, tucked safely in my arms. I don't exactly blame her for being freaked out. The first time I jumped this high, I thought I was gonna die when I hit the ground. Granted, it does have that stinging pain like when you jump to the ground out of a tree but it's nothing I can't handle at this point. I've had plenty of practice after all.

I hit the ground with a very loud thud, sucking in air through my teeth as I power through the pain and tense up my legs to jump again. As I clear the tree lines, I see Siren just hovering in place high above everything and look over to where she's pointing. My eyes go wide as I see what's just past the tree line. A city. An honest to goodness fucking city. Granted, the buildings are primitive wood buildings and mud huts for the most part but it's still enormous. Enough room and places to live for easily a thousand people, all surrounded by a tall wall that seems to built entirely out of chiseled stones.

I land on the ground a little ways outside of the city, letting Annette down before I take a seat to let my poor legs rest from all the abuse I've been putting them through this trip. My shins are basically buzzing as I let the power leave my body, relaxing myself as Siren lands gently beside us. It's been kind of funny, having to figure out how my body works in this world. The power makes me stronger, more durable but using it makes me heal way slower.

"(I am not sure what you plan to do, Max.)" Siren says to me. "(There are obviously a great many lions that must live here. Strong as you are, you are not invincible.)"

"I don't have to beat the entire city." I say in English, "I just have to beat the ones trying to keep Annette's tribe locked up. Which if we're smart and lucky, may be nobody in the first place." I watch as Siren and Annette both sit down next to me as I focus on taking deep breaths now that I'm not talking. I'm gonna need to rest before I go in there like a wrecking ball.

"(What does..) city (mean?)" Siren asks me, having a bit of trouble getting her mouth to work the word city past her beak.

"(A city is just a very large settlement. Villages are the smallest, towns are bigger than villages and cities are bigger than towns.)" Annette explains for me in Yoto before turning to me with a stern gaze I can't help but find a little sexy on her, "(And Max, use Yoto. You know Siren's been having a lot of trouble learning English.)"

"(Sorry.)" I apologize, chuckling a bit after I'm chewed out. "(Just try to remember, I think in English. I use it reflexively. Even when I'm speaking Yoto, I'm having to think about what I say in English then translate it before saying it.)"

"(It's okay.)" Siren chimes in cheerfully. "(I know I need practice. Besides, I did understand most of what Max said so I'm definitely learning!)"

"(Yes you are, and I'm very proud of you.)" I say, ruffling the feathers on her head playfully. She looks at me with what I'd describe as a mixture of enjoying herself and being irritated before she starts trying to fix her feathers. Annette and I have a soft chuckle at the sight of it before I get serious again. "(So do you have any idea where they are keeping the antelopes they took?)"

"(Not really.)" Siren admits to me, "(I only saw a few while I was flying overhead. They were in a big pit with rocks in a far off corner of the city, but it wasn't nearly enough to be a full tribe. The others are probably elsewhere that I couldn't see from the sky.)"

"(That should still be our first stop then. They will likely know where the others are.)" I say, rubbing my chin as I think. I was still as gung ho as ever, knowing that I'd finally be able to reunite Annette with her family, but actually seeing the city before me now made me realize just how ill-prepared I'd come into this. Obviously some of the population here is going to be made up of Annette's tribe, and quite possibly some others but there would still have to be a lot of lions to keep that many people in line.

"(It will not be possible to do this quietly.)" Annette suddenly says, staring at the city with an intensity I don't think I've ever seen in her eyes. "(We would probably be better off causing targeted chaos. Draw their forces elsewhere while we rescue everyone.)"

"(Targeted chaos?)" Siren asks, cocking her head cutely to the side. I can't help smiling at the sight of her, despite the situation.

"(I'm guessing that you're thinking of something destructive. Break part of the city somewhere or cause a fire, taking guards away from their prisoners to deal with the more pressing threat.)" I guess, looking at Annette. "(I'll have to be careful though. Can't have them following us home.)"

"(So we go to the pit, get information from the prisoners being forced to work there and then we'll have to split up...)" Annette starts saying.

"Absolutely not! I'm not leaving you alone in this place!" I cut her off in English, terrified by the thought of them being attacked by lions without me there. Annette says nothing at first in response to my outburst, just turns towards me and sternly stares me down.

"(After we learn where the prisoners are, you will drop me off there and then start breaking things far away from us.)" she starts up again without missing a beat, refusing to acknowledge my interruption. "(Once they are chasing you all over, the rest of us will be able to get out of the city with our numbers overwhelming any obstacle we may come across. With Siren able to scout from the air, we'll know best how to avoid whatever we wouldn't be able to handle.)"

"(I suppose that might work.)" Siren says quietly, "(Lions fight, but your tribe are foragers. If you reach the trees, you'll be able to lose them in there.)"

"(Exactly.)" Annette replies, smiling at her, "(Once we have the cover of the forest, I can lead everyone back home. You can fly and Max may as well be flying. Even if an army of them chases us, they won't be able to keep track of us. Even if they come after us, they'll probably look in my tribes abandoned village but nobody will be there any longer.)"

The both of them turn to look at me, silently asking my opinion on the plan. I hate to admit it, but it's a good plan despite the risks. Hell, if I cause enough damage with my distraction they won't be able to spare the forces needed to track down the antelopes. Annette seemed pretty sure that her whole tribe was still alive and I wasn't going to leave any of them behind if I could help it. I sigh loudly, but nod at the both of them. I stand up and help both of my mate's to their feet before picking Annette up again and watching Siren take to the air. Annette and I watch and wait until she stops flying forward, switching to a circling pattern to let us know where we need to head.

I take a deep breath and let my body tense, charging my body with power before I get a running start and make a huge leap. The wind rushes in and past my ears as we soar over the city, seeing a few lions walking the streets far below us like ants navigating their maze. Thankfully, none of them think to look up to see the odd sight of me kicking my legs slowly as gravity starts pulling me back towards the ground. I can see the pit that Siren told us about as I approach, along with a few specks that I assume are probably people.

I brace myself for the landing as best as I can, keeping Annette firmly held in my arms as I land on the ground with a suspiciously quiet thud. I look down, seeing that the dirt I landed on is pretty loose and must have cushioned the sound. Pretty good bit of luck, and that's something I'm definitely going to need plenty of today. I hear a few gasps and turn towards their sound, getting my first look at the captured antelopes. I can only see five and all of them are males who are shrinking back at the sight of me.

"(What monster have the spirits sent after us? Aren't the lions punishment enough?!)" one of them says out loud, holding a large, sharpened stone in his hand. I get a good look at all of them and the sight is sickening. All of them have had their antlers destroyed and most of them are very clearly malnourished. These guys should be in a hospital, not slaving away in a damn rock pit. I can't help the growl that escapes me, but the feeling of Annette patting my face calms me down.

I let her down gently and watch as all the eyes turn from me, slowly over to her as she approaches them with outstretched hands. I see her looking over all of them as I start looking out for anybody else. Oddly, nobody seems to have come to investigate the noise. I guess loud thumps would be common enough in a rock quarry, still I felt like I was waiting for the shit to hit the fan.

"(Be calm.)" Annette said firmly to them. "(This one is Max. He is a human from another world and he is here to help.)"

"Max? Human?" the male antelope said, chewing the foreign words in his mouth like they tasted sour. "(I have never heard of such a thing. Why would he help us?)"

"(He has given me his word that he would help me free my tribe. He has great power. Greater power than any lion has ever even dreamed of. Please, do you know where my tribe is?)" Annette asked them, her tone more desperate than I've ever heard it before. I was stunned by her question nearly as much as the antelope males before us were by her explanation. I hadn't even considered that there would be more than a single tribe that had been enslaved. That meant there were two villages at the minimum whose lives these lions had ruined just because they were fucking lazy.

"(If your tribe was the last batch of slaves brought here, then yes. They were marched here from parts unknown by 30 lions, then their children were taken from them just as ours were so that they would not think to make foolhardy attempts at escape. The lions make no distinction between tribes, so we are all forced to live together in the slave quarters to the south of here.)" he said to Annette. His words tick the last snippet off of my patience and I finally fucking snap.

"COWARDLY, LAZY MOTHERFUCKERS!!!" I roar out in English, my eyes feeling like they're going to bulge out of my head. Annette, Siren and all five of the unknown antelopes flinch and turn at the sound of my voice ringing out. I know I've made a mistake, but at this point I'm just too fucking angry to care. Taking people from their homes would have been bad enough, but this clear mistreatment on top of taking their children from them? I wasn't going to let this stand. Everybody is going free today, if I have to tear this entire city to the ground with my bare fucking hands to make that happen.

I see the antelopes tear their eyes away from me and turn to where they are looking at. I see the lions up close for the very first time, seven of them to be precise. Five female, two male and all of them shredded like Olympic athletes. The males all have manes that were obviously groomed and combed somehow while the females have sleek fur, all of them the same golden color as one another. None of that matters to me though. The only thing I care about right now is making someone hurt.

I quickly hop over to the nearest boulder I can find, lifting it up and tossing it behind me at the entrance. The lions scramble in a panic as the boulder starts falling towards them, landing hard enough that several of the lions get knocked to the ground just from the tremor and even the soft ground I'm standing on shakes from the impact. The lions look slowly between the boulder and I with a look of complete shock on their faces.

"(Everyone whose lives you have ruined, whose children you have taken...All of them are going free today, and there is not a fucking thing you can do to stop me!)" I growl out in Yoto as I start to slowly stalk towards them. I hear Annette and Siren shouting after me to stop, but I'm too far gone at this point. I feel on the breaking point of going savage, just out of the fury boiling my blood. The seven lions stare at me for a moment more and I see fear in their eyes, yet they all extend their claws. None of them look even remotely like they're going to back down. Good.

I lunge forward, seeing red as I ball my fist up and punch one of them in the face so hard they actually spin in the air like a cartoon after their head explodes from the impact of my fist. The others waste no time in surrounding me and I reach out to grab the nearest one, a male who tries to pull out of my grip in vain before I toss him up in the air like a rag doll. I hear the bones in his wrist break as he takes to the air and wildly swing behind myself, guessing one of them would probably try to attack my blind spot.

The female I nearly hit manages to duck out of the way in time and slashes at my leg, cutting it. I barely feel the pain as I quickly turn and kick her away, catching her in the chest right below her collarbone. She goes flying and another set of claws slashing my back, this time enough that I can feel it and I shout out in pain. I kick blindly out behind me, catching whoever it was in the stomach and hear the sickening crunch of them impacting against a wall. Four down, three to go.

I jump up with a little bit of my power, ending up about 10 feet off the ground and watch as the remaining lions scramble away. Only one male and two females are left so I target one of them, picking the closest female to me and dashing after her the second I land. She roars at me, claws at the ready but she's gone into the loose dirt so I scoop a handful at her face. It gets in her eyes and mouth, making it easy for me to get up to her and grab her legs.

I toss her hard at the last remaining male, slamming them both hard into the same wall I made one of their comrades into paste against earlier. Surprisingly, they both still seem to be breathing but I pay them no mind as I start slowly walking towards the last one left standing. I see her look at me, her entire body shaking as I stalk towards her like a god damned serial killer and she turns to make a mad dash towards the antelopes, Annette and Siren. I dash after her, easily catching up and grabbing her by the tail before lifting her up by it. She yowls loudly in pain, suspended above the ground by the sensitive appendage and flailing wildly in a vain attempt to escape my grip.

"(The only way that you are getting out of this alive is to tell me what I want to know.)" I say to her, my voice still in that harsh growl. "(You will tell me exactly where you keep the people you have enslaved and their children. Otherwise, I will rip your tail off and then make you watch as I take every other limb slowly off of you. One...piece...at a time.)"

"(What...what are you?!)" she shouts back at me, terrified as I look down upon her dangling body. "(No. No! I will not falter here. I will face my death as a warrior and I will be remembered!)"

"(Not when they don't recognize what's left of you.)" I say coldly, pinning her upper body to the ground with my foot and applying a bit more pressure towards ripping her tail off. "(You're just another nameless face, blending into the herd. No one will care that you're gone, because they'll be too busy fighting for their lives and losing. Just like the seven of you did.)"

"(You are a monster.)" the lioness says to me, her voice shaky as she trembles underneath me.

"(Every other person I have come across in this world says the same thing about your people.)" I reply, pressing down with my foot on her back. I hear the grunts of her trying not to scream in pain as I stress the bones in her back until I suddenly get shoved off of her. I whip my head to where I felt the hands and see Annette looking at me, looking both furious and horrified.

"(You are bleeding,)" she says sternly to me, "(But you are so caught up in your rage that you haven't even noticed. You need to stop.)" The two of us look at one another for a moment in silence as I keep a firm grip on the tail of the lioness. I take a moment to look myself over and see that she's right. There are a few more cuts that I guess I hadn't even felt earlier that are all bleeding lightly, but nothing worse than the injuries I've sustained during my stay here in this world.

"I promise I'll calm down." I say to her in English. "I'm still freeing everyone though. Every man, woman and child still alive in this hell hole is going free today. I can't just leave them here. Not when they're so obviously being mistreated." I gesture over to the malnourished antelopes. "This isn't just forced labor, they're being starved. Who knows what state the kids are in?! This has to stop."

"...okay." she replies to me, sighing deeply before looking back at the confused antelopes. I can only imagine how off-putting it is for them to see and hear a conversation in two languages like this, especially with how she pushed me aside earlier despite me literally tossing their tormentors around like rag dolls. "But promise me not to lose yourself in your rage anymore. If you have to fight, fight smart. Keep distance and try not to kill anybody unless you can't avoid it. You're not a monster. Don't act like one."