Curious eyes landed on him as he stared at the normal-sized bear that was one of the cubs, peeking its head from what he assumed was their den. It was tiny compared to its mother. An instant later, his view was obscured by a huge figure; the creature had moved so fast it flashed out of his vision for a moment. Yeah, it had moved as expected. It was trying to intercept him, to protect its cubs. It would try to eliminate the threat to its offsprings as swiftly as it could.

He barely ducked under a frontal swipe that leveled four trees behind him. The distance between them was shrinking by the second. After it wasn't able to eliminate the threat, it would then use its own body to protect its cubs. He clenched his fist, a blazing inferno within, and punched. A direct hit, right hook against its torso. The impact zone bulged as his fist connected. The gigantic creature was pushed out of his way.

A loud, grinding noise echoed through the forest as it dug its claws deep into the ground in order to stay close. That was perfect. He continued to run towards the two cubs which were watching cluelessly.

As soon as the noise stopped, he abruptly halted his advance. He was a few feet away from their den. A second after, the ground in front of him erupted in a shower of rocks. He leaned back to avoid an upward swing of the mother bear's arm. That was too close. The destructive force was nothing short of impressive, but something about it bothered him. However, he didn't have the time to think about it. He delivered a straight punch to the part closest to him, its right shoulder. He drove it with all the strength he could muster. A series of cracks followed, yet he didn't falter. The thing was sent crashing straight into a small mound of dirt above their den, leaving the cubs completely exposed.

A sudden jolt of pain traveled from his left hand, but he kept his eyes on his prey. He tried to move one finger, but it remained unresponsive. He went overboard on that last strike and broke something. Fuck. Could he still win this fight? Would it be wise to run- no, that wasn't an option. He needed this. 'But this is enough. I already proved what I came to prove. I'm no longer scared-'

He was pulled out of his thoughts by a shriek, courtesy of one of the cubs. He counted them once more. Three? He had counted two… that meant that it was probably hiding under its brothers. Their fur was a light-brown that seemed to shine under what was left of the sunlight. They seemed to be restless, probably because their home was destroyed. As soon as one spotted its mother, it ran to hide behind it, and the others followed close behind. He widened his eyes. That wouldn't do. If they managed to get behind it, he would lose his advantage. He needed to act.

The call from its cub had made the mother bear change its focus. For the first time, its eyes wandered away from him and instead watched its cubs running towards it. He had to take this chance in order to win. No hesitation.

"HEY!" he roared as loud as possible, making every creature turn to him. A shiver ran down his spine, "Where you looking at, you piece of shit? This ain't over yet." Amidst the pain, blood, and sweat, he grinned. The smoldering heat concentrated on his chest instead of coursing through his body. Intoxicating. He truly felt alive. This was the most exciting thing he had ever done. Why didn't he enjoy it the first time? Well, perhaps so much time in the cave had messed with his mind. He moved to attack the cubs, which were weirdly enough frozen in place and staring at him.

Evidently, he was forced to evade the mother bear's strike, but he promptly struck back with lightning-fast punches before he circled around the creature and pursued its offspring once more.

This sequence of events occurred several times, yet he never managed to strike a finishing blow. After a while, the superbear was beginning to slow down somewhat. At the same time, however, exhaustion was getting to him as well. He had to finish this soon.

He saw his chance after he pummelled the bear with a rather heavy strike that forced it to embed its arms into the ground to stop it from giving away too much distance. One of the cubs shrieked and it shifted its gaze towards the sound. The creature's huge head was close to the forest floor as it panted, its long tongue hanging out of its mouth. It groaned pitifully in response.

The cubs had somehow stayed together through all of it. They tried to approach their mother and hide behind it one more time. At this point, he would move and feint an attack in their direction in order to bait their mother. However, this time around he allowed them to get close. He judged the distance as best as he could and then began to run behind them. The little ones quickly noticed and hurried their pace. The one that was at the front, which had noticed its mother first, was the smallest and slowest of the three. Soon, its two brothers had overtaken it.

He braced himself as he entered striking distance, but the superbear didn't move. He relaxed slightly. As expected. It didn't want to risk injuring one of its offsprings. This was a golden opportunity. Although, he had to attack before it raised its head out of his reach… he quickly concluded that the best timing would be between the moment the second cub arrived to hide behind it, and the third. Even so, he still had to take it by surprise. He slowed down. When the time was near he would launch at full speed.

As he waited, he began to think. At some point during their fight, he had found some respect for the creature. It was using its body to protect its children, how could he not? After countless heavy hits, it didn't hesitate to launch itself in front of him. It wasn't like the brute, emotionless and unintelligent superbear that attacked him the first time. It had purpose. He knew he was playing cheap by using its children to his advantage, but he wouldn't be able to keep up if it weren't for them. He had to win, no matter what, or the nightmares would never stop.

Another bad day inside of that dark place and he would not be able to survive. He clenched his fists. He wanted to live. That was the thing, that was the whole problem. His desire to live was too strong. He narrowed his eyes. The first cub had just arrived next to its mother.

Using the offspring of a colossal bear in order to take it down and survive wasn't above him. He didn't hesitate one moment to use them. That was the sole reason he was able to keep up until now. Also, it had been a monumental gamble to face it just a day after getting a rough grasp of how his strength worked. Alas, it paid off. His theory seemed to be correct. The burning-like feeling inside of him functioned similarly to adrenaline; as long as he was in a life or death situation, it surged and kind of obeyed his will. Sort of. It was hard to describe, but he was getting the gist of it, or so he thought. The second cub reached its mother and snuggled behind it.

He halted his thoughts and focused. Five seconds until the third cub made contact, and he was at least four feet away from the little one. Its mother remained unmoving, with its front paws borrowed underneath the ground and its head low. The strange but familiar burn concentrated on his legs. He exhaled.

He appeared in front of the creature, prepared to strike it down.

'Give it no time to react!'

Before his punch could land, however, he was suddenly flying through the air.

'W-What!? How…?'

The thing had lifted its arms that were buried in the dirt and sent him soaring. He braced for impact. His first contact with the forest floor drove the air out of his lungs. He rolled while protecting his head. There was no telling if he was facing up or down. Finally, he stopped.

He opened his eyes and saw orange clouds. He was facing up, it seemed. He tried to stand, but his arms were too tired and sore to bear with his weight. That was when he realized that there was a warm feeling spreading through his chest as his extremities grew numb and cold. He placed a palm on his abdomen and some kind of liquid stuck to it. He brought the hand to his face to study it and he saw that it was painted a deep crimson. His blood. He was wounded. That thing had managed to reach him with its claws.

'B-But… the cub… did it give... a signal beforehand?' Could it be that they were able to communicate their intentions? Laying on the ground, he turned his head to the side. His breath hitched on his throat at what he saw. At that moment, he understood. Next to him laid a mangled, mutilated corpse of what once was the smallest cub. The one that was beside him as he was about to attack.

'Two were enough, huh?...' he laughed. He laughed at his own stupidity. 'You reckless idiot. Fucking dumbass. Of course! It knows how to count better than you! Two is more than one!'

He gripped his head with both hands and desperately tried to sit down, but he wasn't able to. A pitiful struggle. Again. Just like last time. Tears were streaming down his eyes.

'It sacrificed its own child to get to you! Clearly, it wants to live more than you do! Fuck!' he allowed himself to fall down on his back. It was his fault. That little one died because of him. If he hadn't done this stupid exploration, he would be safe in his home and the cub would've survived another day at the very least. He lowered his arms. 'I'm sorry…'

The ground shook as the superbear approached. He had been in a similar situation when he arrived here. To him, it seemed like so long ago. He was bleeding out as one of these shitheads took its time as it came closer to finish him off. Somehow he had survived that encounter. Protagonist luck? Right. He tried to laugh, but a painful set of coughs interrupted him. He tasted blood at the back of his throat. This place was hell. He hated everything about it.

An intense fury overrode his sadness. It wasn't his fault. None of it was his fault. It wasn't this disgusting thing's fault either. The cub had died for no reason, a casualty that was nobody's fault. Nobody knew what was happening or their struggle. This world didn't care. It didn't matter if you struggled or if you lowered your head and accepted it. It didn't matter. Was it like this back on Earth? Was nature so… cruel?

He lifted his head with extreme difficulty and glared at the incoming figure, which stepped over its lifeless cub without a single glance. This world and everything about it… he hated it.

Alexander's expression morphed. It warped and distorted until nothing but rage remained. An anger so hot that it threatened to melt his organs, but he didn't care. At that instant, he didn't want to survive. His only desire was to destroy what stood in front of him. He wanted to rip it to pieces and eat it down to its bones, leaving nothing behind.

'DIE!'

He roared.

The creature whimpered and flinched, twisting its body around. What... was it doing? It was shaking uncontrollably. Almost like it was trying to get something off. The thing fell to all fours and seemed frantic, turning its head from left to right. There were some bizarre movements going on at its hind legs. In a panic, the superbear began to attack his surroundings indiscriminately, reducing the wooded area to a barren land in a few seconds. Somehow not a single tree fell on top of him.

The mother bear became a dark figure against a sea of orange, red, blue and purple. Its movements were erratic, as it tried to understand what was happening to it. Alexander managed to get a glimpse of what was happening and immediately gasped, his anger forgotten. The cubs were viciously attacking their mother, scrapping the flesh on its hind legs and forcing it to the ground. They tore through it with reckless abandon. The painful cries of their mother did nothing to stall the carnage.

He watched the scene in shock. Even if he wanted to look away, he wasn't able to. Such a straightforward display of brutality and violence… it was…

The mother bear realized what was happening and raised one of its arms, claws at full view, in order to defend itself, but it paused. After a few seconds, it lowered its arm and collapsed on the ground.

Its eyes focused on him. There was something behind them. Something he couldn't recognize. It breathed its last as the sun settled in the horizon, and as one of the cubs ripped the back of its neck open.

'What was that…? What did just happen?' his mind immediately went into overdrive as he tried to find an explanation. Before he could find the answer, a noise pulled him away from his thoughts. A noise he dreaded to hear, yet for some reason, he wasn't expecting.

The two cubs were confused as they stared into the corpse of their mother. They called again and again, unable to understand why they weren't receiving an answer or why their mother wasn't moving.

Alexander watched with a lump in his throat.

The little ones snuggled into the carcass, enjoying its warmth for the last time, as they continued to call every few seconds just in case they got an answer.

'It seems like I won.'