Copper approached a doorway at the end of the corridor before John and Lena.“It’s behind this door!”

"Open it!" John shouted.

The robot typed on the panel. He should have done that already when he reached the door. Who knew how much time they had wasted.

After the door opened with a hiss, John rushed in first but stopped when he spotted a fat shadow, facing a large window above the control panel. It wore a yellow suit, covered in blood and strange green muck.

When it turned around, John saw its disgusting face. "Oh, my god!"

It was the ugliest man John had ever seen. Large bumps grew all over the possessed's green, rotten face while dark green ooze dripped from his mouth. Red eyes burning like fire, and his limbs were chubby like a marshmallow.

John cleared his throat. "You are one ugly mother-"

The possessed screamed like a lion drowning in water, then he charged toward John.

John pointed his mechanic arms out and fired, decorating the ugly fat man's stomach with plasma holes. But the strange possessed kept running until he slammed John against the wall.

While his fat gut pushed against the black man, the possessed squeezed John's throat. John pulled the possessed's arms, but not even his mechanic arms were strong enough to free himself.

The fat, ugly bastard glared closely at John's face. "I'm going to turn you into black pudding!"

Oh, hell no! While John kept pulling the arms, his inner beast pushed out. His face grew narrow as his teeth turned sharp. Brown fur sprouted all over his growing muscles while he grew taller than the possessed.

With his chance, he sunk his fangs into the fat man's neck, tasting his salty toxic flesh. John annoyed the awful taste while tearing the possessed's throat out.

The possessed released the werewolf and wobbled back, holding his bleeding neck.

Lena approached the creature as she pulled out a grenade. "Take a diet pill!"

She shoved the grenade down the possessed's throat and ran back out of the room. John dashed out next and watched the fat man exploded all over the control center.

He instantly vaporized into blood and gore, splattering all over the walls and floor. Indeed, the control center got a new major paint job.

John growled while wiping the green blood off his fur. "This shit smells like poison."

"The radiation leak here could have contaminated him," Lena suggested.

"She's right," Copper stated. "Uranium is so bad, it will fuck up your world body."

John dropped to all fours and shook his body, shaking the blood and green goo off his body.

Lena moved away from him, and Copper shielded his eye.

"Bloody dog!" The robot shouted. "Watch where you're drying off!"

John stopped and brushed his long brown mane. "Sorry."

Copper hovered toward the panels and sighed. Organs and blood laid across the glass keyboard. "Shit, this is a bloody mess!"

John approached the panel and wiped the gore off. "Can we cool it down now?"

Copper typed on the panel and checked the monitors. "Shit, this is bad! We only have five minutes left!"

"Can you stop it?" Lena asked.

"Not up here! The cooling systems can only be activated manually inside the core chamber."

"Attention! Critical mass at seventy percent," the female computer voice shouted. "Attention! Critical mass at seventy percent!"

John growled.

If the planet blows up, he wondered if he could survive it. Since silver was the only thing that could kill him, a nuclear explosion wouldn't. Sure, his entire body will vaporize into tiny particles in space. After the explosion ends, his molecules might drift back together, reforming his body. But Lena, Kara, Alexis, or any other survivor left wouldn’t survive. A zombie cannot live without her brain, and Alexis doesn't have enough power to shield herself. Vampires couldn’t survive if the explosion was hot as the sun. He wouldn't bear to be the only survivor while his squad faced their doom. That was why the core has to return to normal, or else his friends will be gone forever.

"Where is the core chamber?" John asked.

Copper pointed his finger at the window. "It is in there."

Behind the window was an enormous chamber where four mechanic pillars stood around a giant cylinder at the center. Rotating at the center of the cylinder was a metal sphere, burning up in redness. Stream flooded the chamber while red lights flashed like crazy. It was like a storm was forming inside the chamber.

"Those pillars are the cooling systems around the core," Copper explained. "All you have to do is pull down each lever on the pillars. Once you do, the angry mother fucker will cool off and calm the fuck down. But I do suspect the chamber is completely contaminated with uranium radiation. I suggest wearing suits will protect you."

John chuckled. "We don't need suits. Lena and I have regeneration. Radiation will not stop us."

Copper shrugged. "Well, the radiation levels should go down after the core returns to normal. Now hurry the fuck up! We only have bloody four minutes left!"

John and Lena nodded, and then they raced out of the control center.

*****

"Attention! Critical mass at eighty percent! Attention! Critical mass at eighty percent!"

John kicked the elevator wall, hoping the damn thing moved faster. He hated slow elevators, especially when the world was on the brink of destruction.

Lena glanced at him with a little seductive grin. "I like you in your werewolf form. You should stay like that when we ….. Heeheehee, do the devil's tango?"

John punched the door. "Come on!"

"John? Did you hear me-"

"Not now, Lena! I'm losing patience with this slow-moving bullshit!" John punched the wall and stopped to let his fiery breath escape. If they don’t make it, everyone he cares about will be gone. Too many minutes were being wasted.

Lena approached him and rubbed his smooth bareback. "John….. It's okay."

The werewolf moaned as he glanced at her. "I don't want to lose you. Not like this….."

Lena touched his chin. "Do you love me?"

John grunted.

Love was a strong word. He couldn’t tell if the pheromones were messing with Lena's minds, or they were helping her bring out her deepest feelings. He doesn’t know how to answer that. But first thing first.

He placed his metal hand on Lena's shoulder. "If we survive this, I will answer that question."