[h1][color=crimson]Veronica Marlowe (Red)[/color][/h1]
[hr]
Red was holding Veronica in his arms as he ran through the sewers as fast as he was capable of doing. The Broken Hyena was seconds from catching up. Bullet marks covered his back, cracking his skin and slowing him down some.

Before it came to this, Veronica and Red had attempted to move past the chamber where they encountered the man-dog and his new posse, but the Fiends had begun to split up shortly afterwards, in all directions. It didn’t take long for one of them to stumble upon the hulking Red, getting the call out right before he smashed the Fiend’s head against the wall. The Broken Hyena was on their trail in minutes, beating his underlings and leaving them far behind. It was a wonder why he even recruited them.

Red was coming up on a grated cistern, but before he could make his way through to one of the two runoff tunnels, the Broken Hyena lunged at him. Nails dug into his back, Red stumbled forward and let go of Veronica. She tumbled across the grated floor for a bit before recollecting herself. She stood up and watched as the Broken Hyena stared her down, stepping off of Red. He slowly stepped towards, cackling softly.

Red fidgeted a bit before shooting his hand out and grabbing the Broken Hyena’s leg. He turned his head and barked madly before whining a bit, attempting to pull away. He raised his SMG and attempted to fire, forgetting he’d run out the magazine during the chase. He growled and threw the empty gun down at Red’s head, then began to thrash about, still trying to break free. Veronica began backing away as the Broken Hyena finally managed to get loose, kicking Red’s head repeatedly. He turned and made a quicker pace towards Veronica, but Red was still refusing to surrender. He jumped up and tackled the Broken Hyena, slamming him against the cistern’s grating. He attempted to hold the punches back with his one good arm, but it wasn’t working.

After a few more potential concussions, the Broken Hyena bent his legs and pushed Red back, scrambling to get up. Red moved towards Veronica, acting as the wall between her and the man-dog. But it was evident he was weak, hunched over and riddled with cracks and marks. The two stared at each other, and the Broken Hyena looked as though he was going to make another attempt at Red, even though he was heavily bruised himself. He cackled some more, pacing weakly.

Suddenly, a roar. A loud, piercing, inhuman roar. Much more intense than Red’s. It emanated from the tunnel the three had emerged from. Veronica winced at it, and the Broken Hyena crouched and whined a bit. He turned to look down the tunnel, back to Red, back down the tunnel, back to Red… and whatever he saw heading for the scene, he was obviously not interested in further conflict. It knew when to quit. He turned his head and darted down one of the other runoff tunnels, kicking up sewage water as he made his escape.

Red watched for a moment before turning towards Veronica, stumbling towards her, clutching a wound the Broken Hyena had made with his kicking. His legs gave out, and he keeled over onto the grating. Veronica rushed forward, attempting to focus and get Red back on his feet, but he was just too weak from the damage. Cracks and marks, aching joints, exhaustion… it took its toll. Veronica winced a bit before looking down the tunnel the roar came from. People were coming, two figures, both much bigger than her. Red wasn’t getting up and they were getting closer.

[sub][b]“Hey!”[/b][/sub]

Veronica didn’t listen. She gave Red one last glance before turning and running down the third runoff tunnel. Red just stayed there, breathing heavily for a moment, before slumping onto the grating. As the two figures approached him, he gave a final few breaths, and then he was still. Moments more, and he began to disintegrate, red skin and bones melting off his body and falling through the grating into the cistern below.

Nothing could be salvaged.