Chapter 9: Alpha

Alpha was about my height, but was three times my size. It was very unnerving; in fear, I backed up. The rough, but gentle voice of Alpha calmed me for a moment. The thought of how old the tapes were gave me a clue on how old he is.

"I'm not as old as you think," Alpha described. "I've been in chronic suspension for quite a long time. It ended when you entered the lab; the suspension was to last until someone played the tapes. Now that I've been released it is time to find out what happened to the world."

"It's hard to put it simply, but it's worth a try." I took a deep breath. "The people, just like yourself, were sent to Io, but they call it Clone-Earth. It is identical to Earth. I was on this planet earlier and was arrested for being a traitor."

"What!? You a traitor? That's impossible. It was you that created me."

"Now it makes sense! It was this project that they branded me a traitor. Or maybe something happened that caused this contriversey."

"The poachers; they caused it. Once you morphed, they knew that you were different. That's why they call you a traitor."

"Well whatever the reason, we have to leave this place. If they find me and you in here, they may want to kill us. Come on, me ship is..."

"I'm not leaving! Well, not before I give you a special gift."

What was he talking about. A gift? What is so important about it that I couldn't leave. Well whatever it is, it better be given quick before someone notices the ship sitting outside.

"I knew of the bases that were built underground, so I had the computers construct a series of cars, vans, and trucks; just in case you ever returned. Oh, there is something bigger than those, the bases were turned to one enormous structure." Alpha led me into the new base. "This is 'Hanger X'. It was built with some of the technology from the above ground labs and from your old bases. With that said... Oh, no!"

"What are all the alarms for?"

"We have an uninvited guess? This computer will bring your ship in here." A button was pressed and the Lion's Paw appeared inside Hanger X. "It's roomy enough to hold your ship and everything else inside. I did better that I thought."

"Your right about that, but is there a way to see whom our guess is?"

"Just turn your attention to the monitor." Alpha pressed a button under the screen and an image of the intruder came up. "It's just another tiger."

"Yea, but I haven't seen one like that. It looks like it has a mane. Tigers don't have manes unless..."

The maned tiger began to pound on the wall of one of the labs, the building collasped. I noticed that it began to attack another building; it collasped as well. If something wasn't done soon, the maned tiger would destroy all of the labs.

"I got to stop him," I told Alpha.

"No, we'll go stop him. Not only did I build a new base, I've built new armors and weapons. Those vehicals could be joined together; they're built with the vehicals that were left in here."

"Well, I'm surtainly surprise by what your capable of during." I told Alpha. "I'll take the Lion Land Rover and the lion Armor."

"I'll use the Tiger Tank and the Tiger Armor. We'll show him something that he won't forget."

The vehicals started up without anyone behind the wheel; this was very scary for me. Keeping focus on what had to be done, Alpha and I activated the armors we took. The power that these armors weren't as strong as any other armors, but they still had power. We got inside our vehical and drove out of the base.

Outside, we drove right at the maned tiger. By this time, the tiger had towered over ten feet. With someone that large, we had to take him out before he found another city to destroy; the labs were destroyed.

"Chester," Alpha's voice sounded out of a speaker, "press the button on your right. It'll activate the morphed mode. Once activated you'll be in a VR simulator of the surronding area. It'll be able to fight as the battle vehical."

The blue button was pressed and the Rover began to take to the skies. The rear half of the Rover stretched out and split into two halves; forming feet and legs. The front end stretched at the hood; forming a head. A chest and a pair or arms also formed. The arms was fromed from both halves of the Rover. After completing the change outside; it was time for the interior to change.

The steering wheel vanshied as the Rover was in the air. The panels disappeared when the steering wheel vanished. Wires and a VR visor was straped to my body. Surprisingly, the visor wasn't large or heavy; I wasn't worried of having it falling off in the heat of battle. The floor began to shift; a 360 degree moving treadmill would allow me to move in any direction needed. The changes ended.

"It feels weird." I told to Alpha.

"Well better get use to it." Alpha replied. "Let's see how well we can take out that big cat."

I charged at the tiger; he turned to look at me and steped aside. I was struck in the back as I went by; I fell to the ground in pain. It was hard to get back up.

As I was busy trying to get back up, Alpha engaged the maned tiger; he wasn't faring any better. Unlike me, when he was knocked down, he managed to get back up.

I got back up and began to help Alpha double-team the tiger. The tiger was still able to pound both of us to retreating positions. All seemed to be at a lost, Alpha wanted to give up and regroup.

"I'm not backing down!" I told Alpha. "We started to fight and we'll end this fight."

"Not if I finish you first!" a familar voice called out. It was Tigon; that explanes the mane. He was the child of a male lion and a female tiger. He managed to survive the last confrontation!

Chapter 10: Tigon's Return

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