The Venom

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        Tiger linked up with his crew, and used the Venom assassins to help them move to their horses. A guardsman rushed at Mary, and Tiger rushed in to move Mary behind him. Tiger clashed swords with the guardsman, and stabbed him through the stomach. Tiger quickly turned to Mary. "Get Madison and Hasuto, and get them to the horses. I'll keep the guardsmen occupied for you all to get away." Tiger said. Madison overheard the conversation, quickly looking at Tiger with sorrow in her eyes. "What about you?" Madison asked. "Don't worry about that. I'll meet you all at the northern entrance to the city." Tiger said with a reassuring smile. Mary went to gather Hasuto, and the three began making their way to the horses, as Tiger defended them from any approaching guardsmen. 

           Madison, Mary, and Hasuto reached their horses, mounting them, and rode away. Madison continued to look back, seeing Tiger fighting alongside the Venom. Tiger blocked an attack, kicking a guardsman in the side. Tiger slashed through the guardsman's throat, and swiftly killed the guardsman beside him. Tiger began to notice the Venom were dispersing away, due to the efforts of the guardsmen. "Damn." Tiger said, before trying to run to his horse. Tiger ran as fast as he could, but more guardsmen appeared at the other end of the street. One of the guardsmen scared off Tiger's horse, leaving Tiger in the center of a large gathering of guardsmen. Tiger unsheathed his second sword, and defended himself from the approaching guardsmen. Tiger blocked an dodged the attacks of two guardsmen, stabbed the third in the neck, and returned to decapitated the first. Tiger flipped the second to the ground, snapping his neck with a kick to the head, before slashing the fourth guardsman across the throat. Tiger rolled out of the way of another attack, and was now between two guardsmen. Tiger dodged under the first guardsman's swing, and stabbed him through the ribs, and Tiger hit the second with the pommel of his sword, as he pulled his weapon out of the body. 

          Tiger continued fighting, until the guardsmen began to grow too numerous around Tiger. "I will not be taken by the likes of you." Tiger said, as he continued to fight. A sudden flash of light appeared in front of him, and Dante appeared. Dante grabbed Tiger, and they both disappeared in a flash of lightning. Tiger and Dante appeared in a room in Acention. "Elder god Dante, I am honored to meet you." Tiger said. "Gratitude towards me, after you unleash my evil brother on the realms?" Dante said, in an abrupt tone. Tiger thought for a moment. "That was my only escape from that tomb." Tiger said. Dante nodded his head. "Well, other  than that, I noticed you have a specialty in your spirit. You possess an aura, that needs to be unlocked to become an unstoppable force." Dante said. "Oh really?" Tiger said, unsure of his words. "Yes. I can help you tap into a fragment of its power, but only for a short amount of time." Dante said. 

         As Dante was figuring out how to help Tiger, a shadow manifested, before Devon appeared from within it. Devon threw a ball of hellfire at Dante, and Dante swiftly deflected it to the side. Dante used his shadow energy to create a clone of himself, and Devon did the same. The clones fought, and Dante shot lightning at Devon. Devon harnessed the lightning, before infusing it with hellfire. The fusion, along with Devon's evil nature, began to increase its power. Devon redirected the energy to Tiger. Tiger was struck by the massive amount of energy, and Tiger began to scream in pain. "What have you done?" Dante yelled. Tiger's screams were distorted, and an aura of energy began to form around Tiger. Tiger opened his eyes, emitting a dark red glow, and Tiger's teeth began to sharpen, and his fingers grew claws. 

        Tiger absorbed the rest of the energy, and summoned a pair of tomahawks, ready to fight. Tiger let out a roar, as he rushed at Devon. Devon dodged several of Tiger's attacks, but Tiger caught him with a kick to the side. Devon stumbled to the side, and Tiger knocked him to the ground. Dante threw a ball of hellfire at Tiger, and Tiger effortlessly deflected the hellfire to the side, and threw one of his tomahawks. Dante rolled out of the way of the tomahawk, and Tiger sprinted at Dante. Dante blocked Tiger's attack, but Tiger grabbed Dante by the throat, and tossed him to the side. "Away with you!" Dante yelled, sending Tiger back to earthrealm with a hellfire portal. Devon and Dante looked at each other. "What has you done?" Dante questioned. "He was destined to become that thing. I only helped out." Devon said. "He's half human, and half Evolved. Just like Reaper and Cobra, he'll also become a loose cannon." Dante said. "We've killed members of the Evolved race before, we can do it again if times get tough." Devon said. "And if we can't?" Dante asked. "We will." Devon affirmed.

        Mary, Madison, and Hasuto reached the northern entrance of the city, before sundown. "Where's Tiger?" Madison asked. "I trust he'll be here." Mary said. "We should've helped him. Who knows what's happened to him." Hasuto said. Suddenly Panther, and two other Venom assassins showed up. "I heard we was taken away by Dante, as my other assassins have said." Panther said. Madison and Mary were ready for combat. Hasuto stepped past them. "Calm down. If he wanted to fight, he'd already be doing it." Hasuto said. Panther nodded along with Hasuto's words. "It's by my request that Tiger asked you all to be here. We've got info that the Knights program's facility is beyond the city's walls, northwest of here." Panther said. "You'll help me take it down." Panther added. Mary and Madison lowered their weapons. "What about Dante?" Madison asked. "I feel he'll be joining us soon, after Dante returns him to us." Panther said. 

         The group set out to search for the facility. By nightfall, the facility was in sight, and they staged up an attack. At once, they launched their assault, killing many Insurrectionists by surprise. Madison cut down a couple of swordsmen, as Hasuto killed two others with his sword and another with a throwing knife. Mary stayed behind to shoot at a few other Insurrectionists, when she saw a fast-moving figure in the darkness. The figure was rapidly approaching from the side, and Mary noticed it was a white tiger that was approaching. Mary just watched as the tiger mauled two swordsmen in quick succession, before morphing into a human form, chopping another swordsman to death with a pair of tomahawks. Madison looked at the figure. "Tiger?" Madison questioned. The figure wore a tiger's head as a hood, with the rest of the pelt draped halfway down his back. Tiger was shirtless, with strange markings on his shoulders, arms, and chest. Tiger wore animal skin pants and boots, and the sheathes for his tomahawks were around his waist. 

      Tiger turned around, facing Madison with his glowing eyes. Tiger had warpaint on his face, three streaks of black facepaint under both eyes. Tiger looked at Madison for a moment, before returning to the fight. Tiger knocked two swordsmen to the ground, and buried both tomahawks into their chest. Tiger reached to his waist, unsheathing a pair of combat knives. Tiger dodged a sword strike from another swordsman, stabbing him in the side, and swept another swordsman to the ground, stabbing him in the chest twice. Tiger sheathed his knives, and retrieved his tomahawks. Tiger menacingly walked towards two other swordsmen, as they cowered away from him. "What are you?" One of the swordsmen asked. Tiger morphed into the white tiger, clawing one across the chest, and began to maul the second. Tiger morphed back to his human form, and looked at his friends, seemingly not recognizing them. "This could get bad." Panther said.