Fjodor Anisimova, The Bloody Lion of Ural

Running with two people on his shoulders, even if one of them was almost a full cyborg, was something that he could do easily without it impacting his speed or balance.

If he was in his top,that is. He had to consciously focus on breathing through his nose, each time he did the smell of blood filled the air. His face glistened from all the sweat that was going down from his face to the ground; his drenched clothes a testament to how hard he had been pushing his body.

He was able to sprint outside of the Polis when the shockwave passed through his body; the strength of it was enough to make him cough blood. His eyes glanced at the two ladies he was holding, but they showed no sign of being in pain, at least not the cyborg one.

“Wow…” Spoke to the cyborg named Chiyome, her head hanging back to look at the explosion.

Spitting some blood, Fjodor continued his run with Chiyome on his right shoulder telling him where to go. He hoped they would not meet any of the natives during their journey. His legs had lost all sensation a few kilometers ago, it was he who was running with stiff wooden sticks instead of his superhumanly strong and agile lower body. When they refused to move any further, that was when he decided to rest close to the city’s outskirts.

It was dangerous. Staying outside was one sure way to get killed by the wild, mutated beast of the wastelands or, if you got unlucky, you would get kidnapped by some low ranking Unknowns and sold as a slave somewhere in the Black Hand’s territory.

Fjodor gently laid both Chiyome and the unconscious masked Unknown beside him. The cramps in his legs forcing him to use the strength of his grip to keep them from falling apart. Once he too slided down one of the boulders near the two Unknowns,his leg started spasming uncontrollably and flares of pain caused his brown to furrow and even more sweat to be formed on it.

In this state he had doubts that he could deal with even one wolf. Looking at the two women, he was sure he would not be able to help them fend off any would-be aggressor, not until his legs stopped spasming.

“Блядь!” He cursed as he punched the boulder he was leaning on; the cracks spreading on it like that of a spider web. He had to get back to his daughter. An impulse to punch his legs flashed in his mind.

“Hey,hey now big man, no need to be so alarmed.” Chided in the cyborg, on her dirty face a tiny, tired smile.

Rage builded up in his heart. His breathing slowed down, in an effort to keep his murderous intent under control. Yet he could hardly hide the anger in his voice.

“I don’t want to hear any more words from the Devil’s pawn.”

“Devil’s what? I think you got it all wrong big man.” - she began explaining - “I am someone the Khutulun rescued, I have no relation to that 傻屄!”

He was confused. It was during these moments that he missed Hakon by his side. The man had an encyclopedic knowledge about the various members of the other factions in Ural Polis; he would have surely been able to identify who this woman was. However Hakon was not by his side… and would never be again.

Fjodor spat on the side.

“So you were a sort of double agent inside the Iron Dragon?”

Her clearly asian facial traits were an easy tell to where they had rescued from. The question is that he had never heard of a female cyborg in that faction, at least not a fully sentient one like Chiyome. Hakon would have surely brought it up if he had known it…right?

Doubts began to fill his mind, was Hakon truly his trusted right hand man? Or was he bought off by someone else? The image of that grinning mask made him clench his teeth in anger.

“Sorta…I have something that they needed…” She stopped holding eye contact and turned her attention to the other Unknown unmoving body.

"She a friend…?" Offhandedly asked Fjodor after seeing the way the cyborg looked at the other woman.

"Much more… she is like… no she is family." Her hand gently caressed the mask of the Unknown, some pieces of it crumbling just from the touch.

"Family uh…" His mind pictured his daughter, waiting in some dark cell for him to come and rescue her.

He tried to get up, mustering all the strength he could but to no avail. He was running dangerously low on nutrients to keep his body in working conditions. It was a bit of a blessing that the vials of ACE he had on him had been destroyed while he was on fire; the fear of going Cannibal was close to null now.

"You have one big man?"

"...a daughter?"

"Is she as good-looking as you?" Her mischievous smile was able to draw a chuckle from the big Russian.

"She takes more after her mother…although she has my temper…" The only thing that he did not want her to have. Genetics can be a bitch.

"A feisty lady then, like my sister here!"

"Maybe. I do not know her."

"But surely you have heard of the great Khutulun?!"

"Nope."

Fjodor had never read or heard such a nickname before.

"Maybe the name Blue Oni is more familiar?"

Now that was able to bring all of Fjodor's attention to the cyborg's words.

"The twin of the Red Oni?"

Everybody knew of the Red Oni, a legend renowned world-wide for what he did against the Chinese war over all of mainland China. In Asia he was revered as a hero by most, but a minority was appalled at what he did in Hong Kong and thought of him as a monster, although a necessary one. They were very happy once news of his death reached their ears.

Even Fjodor was somewhat in awe when he had heard of him, but being part of the military allowed him to have more information on the subject. The Asiatic states embellished the story of the Red Oni as a solo Unknown, but that was not the truth. He traveled with a small band of Unknown that helped him in his endeavors. Amongst them, a person wearing a blue mask with the same design as the Red Oni was the most common sighting.

"The one and only!" Chiyome puffed her chest, as if the pride was hers to begin with.

That was interesting to say the least. But a question appeared in his mind.

"How's the Grinning Devil related to her?"

"Uhhh… it is a bit complicated." She scratched her head while looking at him.

"Sure, complicated." His eyes turned to look up at the sky.

Not like he cared that much honestly. He just wanted to talk as a way to keep his brain working. The moment silence fell,it would be when he would pass out and go into a recovery coma. Thankfully Chiyome was quite the chatterbox.

"Soooo… how are you related to the Grinning Bastard?" Questioned the cyborg with a suspicious glance.

"I only knew of his legendary status as Unknown and his battle against the Red Oni in Hong Kong."

"You Europeans do not know of his entanglement with the Black Widow? Or of the time he blew up one of Churches of Redemption's headquarters?"

Of course he had, everyone knew. Fjodor just did not want to seem like a Grinning Devil fanboy.

"For someone that seems to hate the guy, you know quite a lot about him." Countered the Lion.

Chiyome clicked her tongue.

"Tsk, as much as I hate him, he is very good at being an Unknown." Admitted the cyborg through her clenched teeths.

"If he only had a better personality…"

"If he only had a better personality!"

They both said in unison. After a quick glance at each other, they both began laughing.

"Are you able to defend yourself Chiyome?" Asked Fjodor after he stopped laughing, his face now sporting a deep frown.

"Somewhat, my lasers are off the table but I still have this metallic fist." She said, pumping her arms up.

"What about your sister? Any sign of waking up?"

"None… her wounds have healed but the bullet has most likely penetrated through her brain."

At that, Fjodor looked up at the darkening sky and sighed. A headshot was not fatal for an enhanced human, but it could cause problems with their memories or even mental faculties in some rare cases. They just had to wait until she, if she ever does, wake up and then do a full check up.

"I just hope no wild beast comes for us…" Muttered Fjodor under his breath.

At least an hour had passed since they decided to stop here. Khutulun showed no sign of waking up and Fjodor himself was one step away from falling asleep. He alternated closing one eye then keeping the other open, doing all of these in a 1 minute interval. For now it was keeping him awake but his numbering started to slow down after the first hour.

"You can sleep, you know?" Chiyome's voice pierced through the fog in his mind.

"No…not yet…I have… I have to…" Even forming a cohesive sentence was too hard for him.

“Trust the beautiful ninja to defend you from the ugly monsters of the wild!” She boasted with a wink and a toothy smile.

“...”

The man was far too tired to even fake a reaction. Noticing that, Chiyome's expression turned solemn and looked hard into his eyes.

"Sleep soldier, I can keep on looking out all night no problem." She showed him another toothy smile, one that oozed confidence from every pore of her dirty face. It reminded him of his daughter's, in a way.

"..."

He passed out shortly after, oblivious to what was going to happen to him.

Fjodor woke up an undetermined amount of time later. His eyes opened and jumped back on his feet, at least that’s what he wanted to do. A wave of weakness made him faint, but before he could hit the ground, someone grabbed him.

“Hey, big man, you should at least ask for my name before leaning so much over me…” The mischievous voice of Chiyome brought back some peace in his heart.

He looked down on his left, seeing the female cyborg holding his body. Her feet had talons penetrating the ground to give her a more robust position. Looking around, he noticed the nondescript white wall, the seemingly hospital bed he was in just a few moments ago and a huge metal machine by its side. In the inside of his right forearm there were some cables going through his skin that were connected to said machine. He did not hesitate in ripping it off, the thin purple-ish liquid painting the gray floor.

“Cough Cough”

Fjodor put one of his arms against the wall and did not put any more of his weight on the cyborg.

“Fiuuuu, damn, you are even heavier than you look!” She teased with a smile.

“Where are we?”

The Lion of Ural felt like a caged beast in an unknown place; he did not like the sensation one bit.

“The bunker!” She said casually.

Did he sleep walk here with both of the Unknowns on his shoulder?

“How did we reach it?”

“Well, you can thank the Bastard for that… but I believe you want to meet someone else first…” Her head pointed toward the door behind them.

“Papa!”

Dashing through the room, came his sunshine, his reason to live… his little princess: Anoushka. She crashed into him full speed, making him stumble against the wall he was leaning on. Chiyome sneakily excused herself as Anoushka began wholeheartedly crying on her father’s chest.

Fjodor gently patted her hand, then he returned her hug with a single arm. That made her cry even louder. He kissed her on top of her head; for some reason when he did so, he was reminded of a lullaby, one that he used to sing when his daughter was younger and more prone to crying. After humming the first few lines, the sobbing began to quiet down and Anoushka just stood there against him closer.

“It was from when she was born…”

Anoushka’s mother was a musician, a voice so otherworldly suave that nothing could be compared to it. Before the Great Last War it was said that she would have traveled all over the world to entertain thousands with her talent. When she was diagnosed with stage III larynx cancer, bordering on metastatic, she decided to stop her musical career and focus on making a family.

Fjodor could clearly remember his rage, at his wife for keeping her condition hidden for so long, at himself for not catching her sooner and at the world for making his love suffer so much. Being a Sergeant in the Russian army, had allowed him to get extra welfare treatments for his family and so his wife was able to live much longer thanks to experimental treatments.

A few years later, Anoushka was born. All the troubles they went through during the pregnancy flashed in his mind, the potential side effect of her meds affection their child kept him up at night. It was a problematic pregnancy, but when he held his daughter in his arms, he felt like something that could not be described in words. He could almost hold all of her tiny body in one of his hands. He was terrified of accidentally hurting her, so he gave her to a nurse close by and went to check on his wife.

The whole ordeal had taken a lot out of her. Yet on her face there was this pure, untainted smile that Fjodor could only smile back at.

“Papa…” She said while looking at his hand, her voice rough and coarse.

He clasped her hands into his and kissed them.

“Our little grace…” He muttered under his breath, not daring to look his wife in the eye.

For the first time since she retired as a musician, she hummed a little tune that somehow stuck itself in his mind. It was a blissful moment, something that he would give everything to be in that moment again. Alas…

She died a few days later. Fjodor could clearly remember when they told him the news; he had been holding Anoushka in his arms while trying to hum the lullaby that his wife had imprinted in his mind… key word being trying. He was not blessed with any musical talent.

Nevertheless, the baby did not seem to mind it… not even when the humming stopped and muffled cries took its place. In that instant, while looking at Anoushka grabbing his thumb with her tiny little fingers, he made a promise to himself and her.

“I will always be with you, my little princess…”

“I will always be with you, my little princess…”

Fjodor spoke out loud, his mouth voicing his inner thoughts.

After a few minutes, they sat on the side of the bed and talked about what had happened these past few days. About how Anoushka had been deceived by the Black Hand in uploading a virus into the Lion’s Share building; how Hakon and her lover fought with their life on the line to protect her, but that paid the ultimate price in the end.

The Lion of Ural closed his eyes when he heard the news of Hakon’s death, grief was strong in his heart, but in it there was gratitude too. His mind thought of Legion too, and of how he had now lost both his right and left hand men.

“Not that it would matter anymore…”

The Lion Share was no more… Ural Polis was no more. Now he had nothing more to fight for, no man behind him… the legendary Bloody Lion of Ural had been swept away from the blast. He was now just Fjodor Anisimova, ex-military, enhanced human variant III but more importantly… father of Anoushka Anisimova.

An unfamiliar cough made him open his eyes and look at the source of the noise.

“Hello there, sir.” Said Hakon holding his left arm up. Lion could not hide his frown when he noticed the clear lack of a hand attached to it.

“Hakon!” Fjodor jumped up on his feet and rushed to bear hug the one handed man.

“UHG!” The strength of the grab almost threatened to break his spine. But Fjodor managed to stop himself before that happened.

“How did you survive!?” He gently put the man back on the floor.

“Ughh… same as you, Fjodor; the Grinning Devil brought me here.” Hakon said after taking a few deep breaths.

Now that surprised the big russian man. How they had gotten here had gone over his mind when he saw his daughter. Now he knew he had to “thank” the Devil for it, the thought of saying thank you to that bastard was already leaving a bad taste in his mouth.

“It was quite the spectacle watching him carry you over his shoulder all the while holding in each one his arms the other two ladies. The troops found it awe-inspiring in a way.”

“Wait… troops? There are other survivors?” Fjodor had his hand covering most of his face while looking at his feet, his mind was thinking about the Devil but when Hakon said that he turned to look at the Nordic man with one eye.

“Yes, we were not able to save all of the Lion’s Share members however…” Hakon bit lower lip and looked at the side.

Fjodor put his hands on both of the man’s shoulders.

“Once this is all over, we will hold a grand ceremony for them all.”

“Yes, sir…”

Now that he knew that the Lion’s Share was still up, Fjodor found himself at an impasse. To either try again and make something out of himself and the Lion’s Share or for once since the damn world went to shits be the father that he was supposed to be.

He looked back at Anoushka, her face a mess from all the crying she had been doing till a few minutes ago. Yet, in that face he saw a younger Ana, the one that he had abandoned and left for others to care for, using the weak excuse of keeping her sheltered and making the world around her safe.

“What a pathetic father I have been.”

“I am sorry Anoushka… I will be better.”

She just weakly smiled back at him.

“I know you will, papa.”

“I know you will, Fjodor.”

The voice of his late wife echoed in his mind, the same words she spoke to him before departing.

After a few minutes of awkward silence, Hakon coughed into his hand and asked:

“So what is the plan now, sir?”

Fjodor glanced at Hakon, then to Anoushka and finally settled his eyes on the ceiling.

“I have no clue.”

That drew a chuckle out of Hakon.

“I knew you’d say that… that’s why I have thought of some possible course of action.”

From his belt, he pulled out a little notebook.

That is why the Lion held the man for the North, the foreigner, in such a high regard.

“I wrote down some possible plans but I think you already have in mind the best one out of them all.”

“Ugh… fucking Vatutin.” Fjodor could not withhold his groan.

He had one unpleasant call ahead of him. But he did not care. Using his arms, he grabbed both Anoushka and Hakon and hugged them close to its chest. A big smile was on his face.

“I love the both of you.”

“I love you too, papa!”

“I-I… likewise…sir…”

This would be a new beginning for them. For a better future too, hopefully.