Tera, still covering her ears, stumbles to her feet and turns to face the Chief, who towers over her. The wendigo points a long, clawed finger at her.
"You, feline—why did you come here? You are quite far from your native home in Asia, little one."
Tera steps back, her ears flattening, and her tail tensing as she stares up at the massive creature. The Chief strokes his chin.
"I see... Most likely, you were a stowaway, or perhaps you hitched a ride on a plane."
Before he can continue, Tera sprints forward and slashes at his face. As she lands, she sees the wounds already closing—his flesh regenerating instantly.
"Or perhaps you ran away from home," the Chief muses, unbothered. "Maybe Mommy and Daddy didn't love you? Perhaps they abandoned you? Though, I'm certain Mommy and Daddy don't love you either, white-haired woman."
Luna, her fists clenched, begins spinning her arm, reshaping her threads into a drill before firing it at the Chief's face. The attack pierces through him, creating a gaping hole in his head that briefly exposes the space behind him. But he simply removes the drill, his body regenerating once more.
"Oh? The second time I struck a nerve?" The Chief chuckles, his tone dripping with amusement. "Which was it—Mommy or Daddy that broke your heart? Did you not meet their expectations? Did you fight with them? Or was one of your siblings better than you?"
Luna grits her teeth, her eyes burning with anger. Without a word, she launches another attack, striking him over and over with her drill. Each attack tears holes through his body, but they close just as quickly, resetting her efforts to zero.
The Chief winds his fist back before striking the ground, creating a shockwave that sends both Tera and Luna flying. Two other wendigos attempt to intervene, but before they can land a strike on either of them, they are instantly defeated by the Chief.
Smiling, he approaches the two. "I don't plan on letting any of my subordinates interfere in our fight."
Luna stands up, still glaring at him. Tera grabs her hand, pulling at her. "Human woman, let's just run!"
Luna shakes her head, her voice cold as ice. "I want to kill him."
The Chief bursts into laughter, clapping his hands. "That's the spirit, woman! Come at me with everything you've got!"
Luna unravels both of her fists, striking the Chief several times at rapid speed. Each hit lands with the sound of gunfire, echoing throughout the building. But the Chief keeps stepping forward through her barrage.
His right leg begins to glow red, psychic energy surging through it. Then, in an instant, he kicks Luna with such force that she is sent flying through multiple walls. She moves so fast that Tera sees her afterimage.
Luna crash-lands, slamming onto a concrete floor. Dazed, she looks around—everything is a blur. She glances at her hands, covered in blood, shaking from the pain.
"W-what h-happened?" she stammers.
Desperate, she tries to unravel and re-ravel herself in an attempt to fix her injuries. But the pain is overwhelming. Then, suddenly, Alter appears beside her.
"Hiya! You look like you could use some help!" Alter grins.
Luna, blood running down her face, looks at her in shock. "H-how…?" Her voice is weak, trembling.
Alter's grin widens. "Let me take over! Just for a bit. Maybe twenty minutes… maybe ten?"
Luna hesitates, knowing she can't even scratch this monster. Gritting her teeth, she nods. "S-sure…"
Hearing those words, Alter's smile grows. As Luna loses control of her body, Alter takes over.
Alter stands up, regenerating the damage Luna had sustained. "I see… I can still do it, even in this body. Interesting—our physiology is the same, it appears." She smirks as she steps out of the rubble. "Hmm, interesting… I can use her technique as well. Can she use mine?"
She saunters toward the Chief Wendigo, taking her time, a smug look plastered across her face. The Chief glares at her. "What the hell? Did something possess her body?"
Alter cracks her knuckles. "Let's have some fun, shall we, big boy?" She winks at the Tribal Chief before dashing toward him, grabbing him, and launching them both skyward.
With rapid speed, she drags him through several floors—smashing through walls, even tearing through the casino floor—until they burst out of the building entirely. Once outside, she hurls him down onto the streets of Las Vegas.
The Chief glares up at her, now fully exposed to the public. Bystanders pull out their flip phones, some already snapping pictures with their cameras, capturing the sight of the strange creature.
Alter giggles. "Oh, you're popular! Well, do you want to go somewhere else, so we can get more comfortable?"
The Chief roars and charges at Alter, striking her and sending her crashing through a nearby building. Rubble falls onto the crowd below—some civilians manage to evade it, but others are not so lucky.
Alter pushes the debris off of her with a grin. "Oh, poor baby—can't handle a woman flirting with you?" She facepalms and sighs. "Alright, maybe I should get to know you first!"
She lifts a finger, stopping the Chief in his tracks, then snaps her fingers—suddenly, several cars are yanked off the streets and hurled toward him at impressive speed, slamming into his massive frame.
The Chief crashes to the ground, letting out a massive roar. The sound is so intense that several civilians drop to their knees, some bleeding from their ears. The Chief then glares at Alter. "Who the hell are you? You're clearly different from the woman before!"
Alter chuckles. "I'm her conscience! The voice in her head! Nah, I'm just messing with you—I'm someone that's attached to her."
The Chief tilts his head. "Interesting. Answer me this, woman—why were you using psychic abilities despite the previous woman's psychic receptors not working?"
Alter smiles and shrugs. "I know a few tricks, that's all. I can draw in psychic energy around me, but I won't say how!" She winks at him, placing a finger over her lips.
She walks over to the Chief and flicks him on the nose, sending him back a few feet. "Well, I know you're about to start trying!" She smiles as she begins amping up her resistance with her psychic abilities. And sure enough, she's right—as the Chief charges at full speed, tackling her to the ground.
He strikes her once in the face and then lands another blow to Alter's midsection. Alter kicks the Chief off of her and swings her hand to the right, ripping off a chunk of the building they're in and sending it flying toward him. She smirks, watching as the Chief powers up—his veins glowing red, his muscles swelling as he charges again, tackling Alter and sending her through a building.
He then points at the building she's flying toward and uses his psychic might to crumble it down on top of her.
Alter, already leaping out of the rubble, regenerates her injuries. As she lands, she hears a howl and spots several small demons with wings flying toward a group of people. She sighs, then points her fingers at the demons, using her psychic prowess to crush them—splattering them into a red mist.
The Chief Wendigo glares up at the sky. "I see... I told my people not to trust these filthy cretins of Hell. And now, they're attacking the humans of this city."
Alter smiles while cracking her neck. "Why do you care? You're not human."
The Chief shakes his head. "I don't. However, if these humans die, then my whole tribe will be discovered by more wretched humans."
He points his finger as he spots Sunny, who has finally caught up to join the fight. "Female hunter with yellow hair, we must cease our fight for now to deal with the demons here. I can sense your fear of them; however, simply get over your worthless fear and fight them."
Sunny points her sword at him. "Listen here, why should I work with you?"
The Chief shakes his head. "Humans and their pride... far more prideful than I. How about this, then? If you don't help, those demons will kill more people. Besides, I heard you were willing to run from some lowly, pathetic demons, yet you're willing to stand and fight me. Your priorities should be reevaluated, woman. Listen, my people were making contracts with demons against my wishes. That is why you saw those two wendigos dead at my feet—I was already planning on dealing with this whole mess."
Sunny, confused, narrows her eyes. "Why would you care about saving anyone or stopping your own people? You're a Chief Wendigo—why wouldn't your people listen to you?!"
The Chief sighs. "Simply put, because I care more about honor. However, don't get me wrong—I am no saint. But if these demons get out of hand, then all of Vegas and the rest of Nevada will discover this whole mess. Let us try to contain it."
Sunny shouts, "No! You were just fighting in the streets! No… you are a rather gifted psychic user—you would have mind-wiped everyone who saw you. And you even went out of your way to minimize casualties for whatever reason. Wait... this doesn't make sense! None of this does! Why the hell would you even care to save humans?! Aren't wendigos supposed to fuck off when their tribe gets discovered?!"
Sunny looks at the demons with pure fear, watching how quickly they rise from the ground. She wants to run, but then she sees Father Frederick appear, carrying Jamal and JJ, with the Nun and Tera quickly running up behind him.
Father Frederick gives the Wendigo a stern look. "I heard most of your conversation, Wendigo. You seem smarter than your brethren," he says with a glare.
The Chief's expression remains unchanged. "Regardless of your opinions of me—"
Before he can finish, the ground begins to shake. A powerful-looking demon emerges with a wicked smile, gazing at the group. "You all will make for fine entertainment," it says, its voice dripping with malice.