My 2nd Chance Finale p2 - Alex, She Loved You! (Patreon)

Well, sorry this has taken me so long to get around to doing, but here's the penultimate part of this story. Thoughts welcome on this one and I hope you enjoyMy Second Chance Part 13

Luke takes hold of Alex’s shaking hand. As fear takes hold of her, his grasp is a grounding moment.

“Alex,” he says with purpose. “I don’t know what’s going on, but you can’t think things like that. You don’t know. What we should do is head to safety, as I’m sure your parents have done too.”

His eyes dart to the top of her head and down to her backside. “We should try to hide those cat ears and that cat tail until we’re off the streets.”

Blushing, Alex looks around at her tail, wildly flicking out of control.

“I-I….I can’t grab it. It’s got a mind of its own!” Alex says.

Luke releases Alex’s hand and steps behind her. For a moment, he watches her tail flicking restlessly. Then, in a swift motion, he reaches out and grabs it.

“Ouch!” Alex jumps, trying to turn her body enough to look at him. “That hurt.”

“S-Sorry,” he chuckles, softening his grip. “So, you can feel that, huh?”

“Y-Yeah…” Alex grits her teeth. “Look, just try and tuck it into my jean leg or something.

A moment of awkwardness follows.

“L-Luke?” Alex mumbles as he hesitates.  

“S-Sorry….” Luke shakes his head. “I’m just very aware that you’re actually asking me to stuff something into your jeans.”

“So what…?”

Still holding the tail, Luke leans in just enough to look Alex in the eyes. “Have you forgotten that you’re a girl and I’m a boy. I might see your underwear or touch something I shouldn't in the process. I don’t want you to think I’m being a perv.”

“O-Oh?” Alex blushes. “I’m not going to think that. Just s-stuff it in, already. We’ve got bigger things to worry about!”

Luke hesitates, then carefully starts to guide the twitching tail into the back waistband of Alex’s jeans. His fingers brush against her lower back and then accidentally graze her bum.

Alex stiffens. “Yup. That’s my ass.”

Luke pulls his hands back like he touched something hot. “S-Sorry! That was fully unintentional. I swear!”

She glances over her shoulder, her face red. “Just…hurry up.”

He clears his throat, nodding. “Right, right.”

Again, he slowly threads the tail down, doing his best not to look, but her underwear is right there, colorful and as plain as day.

“Urgh,” Alex groans as he lets go. “It’s uncomfortable all scrunched up like that.”

“A-Alex….?” He looks away, but continues to stuff her tail down her pants leg. “W-What should we do? Should we head back to my place, as my father said, and go down to the basement?”

“Umm….” Alex goes rigid.

Luke then realizes he has finished tucking the tail away and that his hand, inside her pants, now rests on her backside. The back of his hand fully pressed onto one cheek, and Alex grits her teeth in surprise at the sensation his touch stirs within her.

“I-I….” Luke gasps as he realizes what he’s doing.

“Umm..…” Alex remains as stiff as a board, hand over her mouth.

Out of nowhere, a voice shouts down the break between the buildings. The person's shout drowns out the sirens around them, making both Alex and Luke jump in fright.

“What the hell, Luke!” Alice screams with piercing force. “Get your hands off her! You dirty boy!” Alice raises both hands to push Luke away. “Take my girl into a dark alley and start feeling her up! That’s gross!”

As Alice barrels toward Luke with violent intent, Alex spins around, yanking him to the floor in the process, his hand still caught in her jeans. There’s no time to react. Alice slams into Alex at full force, only for her to be hurled backward and knocked to the ground, much to both her and Alex’s astonishment.

“Ouch!” Alice looks up from the floor at Alex. “What the heck. When did you get so strong!?”

“I don’t know,” Alex awkwardly laughs and then spins around to help Luke up. “S-Sorry about that, Luke.”

“What do you mean? Sorry!” Alice hisses, getting to her feet. “That perv had his hands all over you!”

“It’s a long story,” Alex says with a glance.  

That’s when Alice notices the ears on Alex’s head. She stares at them ages before her blood drains from her face.

“I-It can’t be…” Lia jumps onto Alice, climbing to her shoulder to stare Alex directly in the eyes. “A-Are you a…a…a…hybrid now, Alex!?”

Glancing at Luke, confused, Alex looks the cat in the eyes. “A talking cat?”

“Wow…” Luke steps closer, making Lia uncomfortable. “So, is this what Grimalkins really look like? I imagined, like, bipedal tigers or something. Y-You’re just a normal house cat.”

“Fuck off.” Lia sneers at him. “I’m not ‘just a cat’. I’m stuck like this because of my parents. Most of our kind are like this because of a faulty intersellar portal.”

A smile from ear to ear, Luke just stares in amazement. “An ‘interstellar portal?’ Does that mean your species doesn’t have FTL technology?”

An explosion, growing closer, makes Lia, Alice, and Alex stare at Luke, unimpressed. He quickly gets the hint and steps back. “S-Sorry. This is all just…really exciting for me.”

Alex shakes her head, also confused. She stares at Lia. “Y-You called me a hybrid. D-Do you know why my Mom’s done this to me?”

Lia looks down, still perched on Alice’s shoulder. “I-I only know what I’ve been told by some of the older Grimalkins back at the factory. Apparently, on Yibixus, our home world, a human hybrid called Green was immensely powerful and led the downfall of our planet.”

“G-Green?” Alex asks, as an explosion rattles the buildings around them.

“Yeah.” Lia nods. “S-Something about a..a… remnant. Unlimited energy. I…” The ground once again shakes, and Lia almost falls from Alice’s shoulders. Luke, for balance, clutches onto Alex’s arm, only to quickly stand back up straight, embarrassed, pushing his glasses up his nose.”

“A…remnant? Unlimited energy.” Alex asks in quick succession. “Cat, what happened to our home planet?! I-I…I don’t understand any of this. M-My….” Tears form in Alex’s eyes. “…family might be dead. “I….”

Screams interrupt the conversation. All four of them look down the alleyway in its direction.

“Basement!” Luke calls out. “Guys. follow me.”

“W-Wait!” Lia screeches out, stopping any of them. “It’s here. It’s here, Alex.”

Alex’s about to question what, but Lia keeps talking, almost shaking in fear. “G-Green. We have to get to the factory. Ursula will protect us!”

“A Fact—” Luke’s instantly interrupted by Alex.

“Ursula!?” Alex looks at Luke. “D-Do you think that’s the same person my Mom was telling us to find?!”

“Umm…” Luke’s like a deer in headlights. “M….Maybe? I-I… mean. I’m just a human. You and the talking cat probably know more.”

“Lia.” Lia corrects with a hiss. “From school.”

“L-Lia?” Alex looks at her, remembering the girl who helped her on her first day. She then shakes it off as not the weirdest thing that’s happening.

“W-What do you think, Alice?” Alex asks, looking up at her silent friend, worried.

She takes a deep breath and glances at Lia on her shoulder. “I trust Lia, Alex. Let’s go with her. If your Mom said find this Ursula, then we have to.”

The ground shakes, and a gust of heated air rushes past them, almost knocking them to the floor.

They all look at each other as they catch themselves from falling. “Factory.” They all agree.

Lia jumps from Alice’s shoulder, leading the way out of the alleyway as they all follow behind. Back onto the streets, things are dire. Cars crashed, blocking the road and paths. Panic and destruction in every direction, and fires raging in the distance as a massive black cloud looms over the city, casting a shadow, slowly leaving the city in darkness.

“This way!” Lia jumps up onto a wrecked car, looking back at the rest of them.

Alex runs ahead, her speed leaving Luke trailing behind, and Alice lagging even further. Just as Alex and Luke scale the wrecked car, blocking the path ahead, Alice screams out, causing them all to stop and look back.

“Skank!” Marissa shouts above the surrounding chaos, seeming to appear out of nowhere as she grabs Alice. “Where are you all going?”

Grabbing hold of her hair, a disheveled Marrisa holds Alice back. The anger in her eyes burning just as much as the sky around them.

“You thought you could all just run off and leave me!?”

“Get off her!” Lia hisses, her tail raised into the air, and her fangs bared.

“Marissa!” Luke shouts as he and Alex peer over the top of the wrecked car. “Stop being stupid already and look what's happening around you. Run, for fuck sake.”

“NO!” she hisses back, dragging Alice back by her hair as she squeals out in pain. “Tell me what’s going on here, you…FREAKS!” Marissa glares with pure hatred in Alex’s direction. “This is something to do with you! You’re running to safety! I demand you take me with you!”

“Let go of me!” Alice struggles, trying to break free.

“No!” Marissa howls out, yanking her down. “I’m more important than all of you! Do you know who my daddy is?!”

Lia’s about to jump to Alice’s defense, but Luke stops her, catching her mid-pounce. “N-No, Lia.” He says. “Marissa is psycho, and you’re only little.”

Lia fights Luke’s grasp, legs, and claws, flailing around as he holds her. “I know she is! L-Let go of me! I have to help my friend.”

Blinking like crazy, Alex is silent as something deep inside tells her to run and run fast. Her heart rate rises, and she can feel her muscles tensing. Trying to focus, she bites her bottom lip and takes action. She scales the car, telling Luke and Lia to stay put.

Approaching Marissa, her senses dazed by an unshakable feeling of dread, she reaches out a hand in Marissa’s direction. “P-Please, Marissa. I don’t know what’s happening here. But I can sense we are in danger right now.”

Marissa, threatened as the buildings around them groan and the heat in the air intensifies, steps back, clutching Alice around the neck with her arm. “Back off, freak!”

Alex continues walking towards her, quickening her pace.

“Stop!” Marissa shouts, reaching into her bag to then pull out and brandish a knife to Alice’s neck. “I TOLD YOU I’D GET YOU BACK FOR MAKING ME LOOK A FOOL!” she shouts, as Alice’s eyes grow with fear.

Expecting a reaction from Alex, Marissa is frustrated as Alex stands frozen, looking up at the rapidly darkening sky above them. Confused and enraged, Marissa pushes the knife closer to Alice’s throat.

“Did you hear what I said, freak!”

Alex’s eyes stare straight up into the sky. Her mouth slowly falling open. Slowly, she points up into the air. “W-W-W-W-What is that….?! A person?!”

“GREEEEEN!” Lia shouts from behind the cover of the wrecked car. “RUN!”

A strange buzzing fills the air. Heat, as warm, smoldering flames cascade down from above, and slowly, Marissa looks directly up. A figure, surrounded in bright light, hangs in the air directly above her, floating, completely still.

Alex’s muscles pulse. Her instincts are screaming at her to run for cover, but she focuses on Alice, desperate to save her.

“RUN!” Lia screams out again as Luke drops her to her paws, also staring up in fear at the ghostly figure with both arms reaching for the sky.

A blinding flash erupts, swallowing the world in white-hot light. From the figure, a towering wall of fire crashes outward, roaring with violent force as it consumes everything in its path. Heat ripples through the air, surfaces blister and warp, and anything caught within its reach blackens, melts, and collapses into ruin.

“NO!” Alex reaches for Alice and Marissa, moving so quickly the world seems to slow down; however, her body is not responding to the desires in her mind. She just watches as she moves away from both of them, as the flames engulf her friend and Marissa, just as they disappear into the bright light.

Everything then turns black, and with an intense ringing in her ears and singed fur and skin, Alex is breathing heavily, hidden safely alongside Lia and Luke behind the wrecked car and now ablaze.

“I-I-I….” Alex’s mind tries to catch up with what’s happening, but she’s falling into shock.

“No… ALICE!” Lia cries out. Held back by Luke, whose face is singed black, but not burnt. “W-Why didn’t you save her, Alex!? WHY?!”

Alex raises her hands to her face, utterly in despair. “I-I…I wanted to!” she mutters, unsure what happened. “M-My body didn’t do what I wanted it to do!”

“Nooo…” Lia cries, shoving her face into Luke's side as he holds her. “S-She’s dead, Alex! She’s dead because you let your primal instincts take over and control you!”

Lia continues to howl out in pain as Alex falls to her backside, staring vacant with utter disbelief.

“She loved you, Alex!” Lia shouts. “Every day I’d hear her yearning for you, and you just let her…… die!”

“I-I-I…” tears fall from Alex’s eyes, instantly evaporating with the heat around them. “I…I….” Alex is speechless.

“G-Guys…” Luke shouts above the emotion, looking back over his shoulder at the flames of the wreck car that protected them from the fire blast. “T-T-THAT THING IN THE AIR IS STILL THERE! IT…IT’S GETTING CLOSER! WE NEED TO RUN!”