*Roooowl*

The Razor Tiger’s loud bestial roar filled the room and the sound froze everyone in the auditorium. The unlikely possibility that a dangerous animal was loose among us, stupefied everyone and the terrible sound awakened the lizard part of our brain that was dormant in our consciousness. It tripped our fight or flight response and made the people in the room hesitate to act. But, there was only one in the room that didn’t have that problem and she leaped on the stage to confront the tiger.

Hera stood up on her hind legs and roared a challenge at the Razor Tiger. Her voice was now as every bit as primal as the tiger’s and her immature roar was now gone. She was no longer the cuddly bear I tried to pass off to the other hunters in the conference. The cute, shy, and kind bear was now replaced with the miniature version of North America’s deadliest apex predator. While other predators could boast of their faster speed and their cunning, but none could surpass the Great Bear’s ferocity in a fight.

The Razor Tiger, hearing the challenge whipped its head to the bear and ignored the professor altogether. Standing up, Hera was now a head taller than the tiger and she tried to intimidate her opponent with her height. Hera was nowhere the near size of her mother, true, but that didn’t matter to her as she moved closer to the tiger.The tiger bared its teeth at the bear, stepped away from the man and squared off with the growling Hera.

I pulled out my rifle from storage and aimed the rifle at the tiger’s head. I slowly pulled the trigger but a loud command made me release the pressure.

“HOLD YER FAYIAH!”

“LET THEM FIGHT!” Someone yelled and I looked back at the crowd. Some had their rifles out and was aiming at the tiger.

“FUCK HIM UP, GIRL!” A female voice encouraged Hera and everyone lowered their rifles slowly.

“GIT SUM!” Miller hollered at Hera and the other hunters cheered the bear on.

I reluctantly lowered my rifle in assent and apprehensively watched as the two predators circled each other. In the corner of my vision, I saw the professor crawl away from impending fight, he stood up and jumped down from the stage. Everyone in the room was cheering like we were in a coliseum watching two gladiators fight. I returned my attention back to the animals and watched anxiously for them to make a move. Both of them were wary of each other and neither of them attacked first. Suddenly, without any warning, the two charged at one another as if a silent bell rang to signal the start of the fight.

There was loud thud as the two animals collided and they started clawing each other. Hera stood up again to give her a height advantage on the tiger and swung a powerful right hooking paw at its head. Her razor sharp claws hit the side of the cat’s face and the tiger staggered sideways from the impact. Hera didn’t stop attacking and another blindingly fast left paw smashed the tiger’s jaw. The cat counterattacked with lightning fast strikes at Hera’s chest and I was afraid that the tiger’s claws would hurt her. I was relieved when I saw the armor vest protected her against the barrage and Hera retaliated with blows to the body while she ignored the tiger’s ineffectual attacks. The tiger retreated from Hera and it was reassessing the situation. They circled one another again, both trying to get an advantage over each other. As they were about to clash again, a booming sound of a rifle shot ripped my attention away from the battle and whipped my head to the sound.

“Ya stupid fucker!” Miller snarled. I saw Miller holding down the smoking barrel of officer Dubanowski’s rifle.

“You made me miss, Asshole! I cou...” He wasn’t able to finish that sentence, on the account of a well-placed punch on his jaw by Miller and he crumbled on the floor, knocked out.

I looked back to the stage to watch the fight but I saw that the Razor Tiger was running away towards the backstage with the growling Hera pursuing.

“That shot spooked the tiger!” Someone exclaimed. I didn’t waste any time and jumped on the stage to follow Hera.

I chased them backstage and the two animals were knocking down a lot of audio equipment and boxes full of wires. I found myself jumping a big fallen speaker and the feline crashed through a partially opened door. I ran after Hera through the broken door and saw a man entering the room from outside. The tiger smashed aside the man with its shoulder and he went flying to the wall. The man was slammed to the wall unconscious and I hurried to his side to check him. The feline was unbalanced with the collision and Hera caught up with it.

She jumped on the tiger’s back and they were rolling on the floor clawing each other. The tiger’s face and its body were sporting long bloody wounds from Hera’s sharp claws and I examined the bear’s condition. I was alarmed when I saw lots of bloody spots on Hera’s fur that was not covered by the armor vest. I heard loud footsteps behind me and I turned around to see Miller was also pursuing the Razor Tiger.

“Shiyeet.” He muttered when he saw the bloody man near the wall. Miller kneeled beside me and a medkit appeared in his hand. I looked at spry old coot as he performed first aid expertly and was satisfied that Miller knew what he was doing. I glanced back at Hera but saw the tiger escape her grasp and it leaped through emergency exit doors. The tiger was now outside the building free at last and a roaring Hera chased after it. I hesitated to follow and debated if I should wait for more hunters.

“Go, Ah got him. Don’t let im getaway! Go!” Miller gently pushed me forward. I sprang to my feet and ran outside.

The Razor Tiger was a fast runner as it made a beeline to the left side of the ski area but Hera was able to keep up with it as they ran parallel to the tree-covered slope. I was lagging behind them as I went around trees and I willed my Bear Core to give me more speed. My chest burned with the familiar sensation and my legs pumped harder with the nanites help. I was surprised at Hera’s speed as she matched the tiger’s pace. I concentrated running on the uneven forest floor and watched out for things that might trip me.

The tiger changed its direction abruptly and moved towards the steep mountain slope to the left. Hera was slightly caught off guard but she was able to change course nimbly and continued the chase. I tried aiming the rifle while running but it was too difficult keeping the tiger in the crosshairs. Frustrated, I stored the rifle with a thought and ran upslope cursing. I took a quick look behind me and I saw down the slope the small figures of other deputies entering the woodline but they were too far away. I decided to not to wait for them as the danger of the tiger escaping overrode my sense of self-preservation.

After ten minutes of brutal running, the three of us were on the base of the mountain and terrain was more rocky with fewer trees. The angle of the slope was getting steeper but the tiger wasn’t having any difficulty going up and was stretching its lead. I having a hard time moving the thirty-five degree slope and I was getting winded. The high elevation of the area with the air’s low oxygen content was starting to take a toll on me as I exerted my muscles. I could feel my heart pumping hard as it tried to supply my body with the necessary oxygen. I took deep breaths as the edges of my vision started to black out. I kicked myself for not getting the Mods to compensate for the high oxygen demand and I promised to buy them when I get back home. I slowed down to a fast walk as I struggled to keep up.

The razor tiger disappeared from view upslope and I forced myself to up the pace. There was a level area between the two mountains and I crawled up the lip. I saw the tiger leap behind a pile large rock boulders near the edge of the saddle and the cat hid behind it. Hera was approaching the large rocks cautiously and sniffed the general direction of where the tiger was. She made a low growl as she detected the hiding tiger. Breathing heavily, I materialized my rifle from storage and shakily aimed at the boulders as I walked slowly towards it. I was glad at the respite even though I knew this was most likely the final confrontation of this chase. I motioned Hera to take the right side of the boulders while I took the left near the cliff. We walked towards it slowly taking care not make any noise. As I neared the edge of the rocks, the tiger appeared in front of me and it took me by surprise.

I hastily took a shot at the large animal but missed hitting it by inches. The tiger charged at me and bowled me over. I was stunned when I hit the back of my head on the rocky ground and the rifle flew out of my nerveless hand from the impact. The gun skittered over the lip of the saddle and clattered noisily down the mountain. The world was spinning and I tried to get up from the ground. The Tiger swiped its paws across my chest and I was thrown back near the edge of the slope. The wind was knocked out of me and I tried to hold on to the rocks to stop me from rolling down the slope. A moan escaped my lips from the pain in my chest and it felt like I broke a couple of ribs. The Tiger was about to attack me again but Hera appeared from behind the boulders and jumped on the cat’s back.

This time, instead of clawing her opponent, Hera grappled the tiger from behind like an MMA fighter and they fell to the ground with the tiger on top of her. The bear’s four paws were holding back the feline’s kicking limbs as the tiger tried in vain to break away from Hera’s grip. Hera had the advantage of leverage and she slowly pulled the tiger’s legs back with her paws. The tiger’s chest was vulnerably exposed and the cat snarled in distress. Seeing the opening, I took out my monoblade and ran to the tangled animals. I leaped forward with my blade in both hands and plunged the monoblade in the tiger’s chest. The beast wailed with an anguished cry and like a hot knife through butter, I pulled the monoblade towards me disemboweling the tiger. I grimaced when my face was splashed with the feline’s hot blood and I stepped far away from the spasming body.

I wiped the blood away from my face and flicked the blood off the monoblade. Hera let go of the tiger and pushed the body away from her. She stood up on her hind legs and roared to the sky in victory. He dropped down on all fours and patted the dead tiger’s body with her paw. Satisfied that it was truly dead, she came to me and gave me a big bear hug.

“Owww. Not so hard, Hera.” I winced at the pain from my ribs and pushed her away gently.

“C’mon, let me see your wounds.” I checked her body and there were long shallow lacerations on her unprotected skin. I took out my first aid kit and applied it to Hera. She whined when the clotting agent did it work.

“Don’t be a baby.” I chided her as she tried to pull away from my ministrations.

“I’ll get you a dozen jelly donuts if you stay still.” I bribed her. She heard the magic words and she froze so I could finish applying first aid.

“Alright, it’s finished.” I said after I glued the last of the wounds close.

“Oh. I forgot.” The other hunters were probably still looking for me and I needed to show them my location. I took out a flare gun from my storage and fired it in the sky. The burning flare hanged in the air slowly as the parachute deployed.

I groaned in pain when sat on a nearby rock and I unzipped my jacket to examine my battered ribs. They didn’t seem to be broken when I prodded them gently and I surmised that they were only bruised. The Strength Mod finally paid off when it reinforced my bones were with nanites. Without the mod, the tiger’s attack might have crushed my chest. I exhaled in relief and watched Hera as she ate the tiger’s organs greedily. I learned from the lectures that most of the nanites were concentrated in the heart and liver. I scrutinized Hera’s bloody fur and realized her skin needed to toughen up more. This was a good way for Hera to acquire more nanites and improve her body.

I examined the sun and there were maybe two or three hours of daylight left. I decide to wait for the other hunters to come to me because I was too tired to go looking for them. I slowly relaxed from the day’s pandemonium and contemplated the actions I took in chasing the tiger by ourselves. I concluded that it was a risk that I had to take or else someone would have died if we let the tiger roam free. If that idiot only held his fire and didn’t spook the tiger, Hera would have won hands down without my help. That brilliant grappling move that she did was eerily similar to a submission hold and I bet she copied it from watching tv. I shook my head and wondered what other tricks she had up her sleeve.

“Hey, Hunter! Ya still alive?” A voice yelled out. I quickly stood up and carefully looked down the slope. Miller and his posse was slowly climbing up with their rifles pointed up.

“I’m fine! Come on up!” I waved at them and I had a large grin plastered on my face. They saw me and they ran up. I grabbed their hands and pulled them up one by one.

“Ya lose this, pardner? Hehehe.” He handed me my Gauss rifle and checked it if it was broken. It was still fine but had a few scratches on the surface. They found my Gauss rifle when they saw it tumbling down the slope and deduced my general location. They were examining the tiger’s body and was taking pictures with their cellphones.

“Jesus, Hunter. You only used a monoblade?” He asked incredulously. He was kneeling near the corpse and was examining the open chest cavity.

“I dropped my rifle.” I shrugged. They looked at me with raised eyebrows.

“C’mon! Moar details!” Miller yelled. I told them about the chase and the fight. They laughed and shook their heads in disbelief when I told them of Hera’s new found fighting skills.

“You didn’t wait for us.” Rogers said pouting.

“He done not need our help. Hera’s clahws did a numbah on the fuckerr. Good kill tho.” Miller scratched his jaw while he looked at the tiger’s body.

“Tha settles it. Ah'm gonna get me a huntin pardner.” He nodded.

“It’s your funeral.” Rogers shrugged at Miller.

“How about the other hunters? Did you guys saw them coming up here?”

“Thay all ovher thuh place! It’ll take 'em awhile t' fahnd us. Hehehe.” His eyes glinted and walked to the tiger’s body.

“Wha you guys waitin' for?” He looked us and grinned. He took out his monoblade from storage and started dressing the tiger’s body.