"What the hell are you doing?!" I screamed, tackling Brock's massive form. He stumbled back a few steps but never stopped staring at Ares body with that cold, calculating stare.

I felt hot, angry tears on my face as I sprinted around the cage to the door. I ripped it open and dropped to my knees, gently reaching out toward Ares' brown fur. He was obviously dead, blood pouring from the hole in his forehead.

"What the hell!" I yelled through the bars. "You stupid asshole" I ground out, exiting the cage and stalking toward Brock menacingly. Finally, he broke his glare to slide his eyes to me, just in time to watch my fist make contact with his jaw. Brock's head snapped left with my southpaw. I spun around for a roundhouse to the face but he blocked my leg as well as the fist the followed. Gripping my wrist in his massive hand, he threw me against the cage side, pinning my arm behind my back.

"Ass! Let me go" I struggled.

"You are going to calm down and be quiet" he growled in my ear.

"I'm not going to do shit!" I yelled, head butting him backwards. The contact made a reverberating cracking noise that I knew hurt him, but he didn't make a sound indicating pain. Instead, with a growl, he grabbed a handful of my hair and slammed my face into the bar in front of me. The last thing I saw before passing out was Ares' dead body.

___________________

"You are so abusive" I mumbled.

"If you were not so stubborn, I would not have to beat you to get results" was his defense.

"Put me the heck down" I growled, realizing we were in the elevator.

"I cannot do that"

"You can-"

"I correct myself, I WILL NOT be doing that" he clarified.

I raised my hand to slap him, but before I could he said "If you hit me, I will strangle you until you pass out".

I slowly put my hand down, not wanting to add strangling to my list of incapacitations for today.

"Why?" I asked.

"You will see" he said cryptically.

"I can't forgive you for this" I said, searching his eyes for something, anything. Remorse, regret, an emotion...

"You might not feel the same way in ten minutes" Gerry added, suprising me. I hadn't realized he was behind Brock.

"What-"

But the elevator doors slid open, revealing the guest floor. Twenty guards stood in the middle of the family area. Lunkfield's pod was there too, glowing bright with activity.

I felt my brow furrow as I realized the pod shouldn't be active if it was locked. I pushed off of Brock's chest, which he permitted me to do, and I slid out of his arms and down his body. Walking to the pod, I looked at the faces of all the soldiers. None of them moved as I reached Scar's pod. I touched the screen and it powered on.

"The hacker acquired access easily" Brock said as the image of Lunkfield appeared.

Except it wasn't him...

Or even human.

It was a mountain lion.

"That's impossible" I whispered.

"He was smarter than we gave him credit for. He hacked the mainframe of his pod, permitted animal transformations, and killed himself. Somehow, you two met up" Brock explained.

"But..." I had no idea what I was supposed to say.

"I said that damn cat was too smart" Gerry grumbled.

I continued to stare at the face of my most recent friend.

I had been betrayed. Again.

In the top right corner was a smaller image of the red-haired man I remembered from my past. Somebody had set him to regenerate to his human form. He had about three hours before the pod would open.

"Destroy the pod" I said.

"What?" Gerry asked, appalled.

"Destroy the freaking pod" I growled.

"We can't just-"

"I plan to get him out and hear the truth, then I will destroy his pod and kill him" Brock said.

"Thank you... but I still don't forgive you" I whispered, turning and walking back to the elevator. I got in and turned around, looking at the floor the entire time.

Only at the last second did I look up to find Brock staring at me through the closing doors, expressionless and emotionless.