[h2][center][color=orange]Archie[/color][/center][/h2][hr]
Archie was almost on top of Bianca now, who remained still- either in shock, or unconscious, he did not know or care. All that mattered was that he could still hear her shallow in and out breathes, and more importantly, her heartbeat. He heaved, his massive chest rising in falling as he breathed in and out, his anger building inside of him. He closed his eyes and with an inhuman bellow he raised his mighty arms, only to bring them down towards his incapacitated quarry like mighty tree trunks- intending to crush her where she lay. He heard the pounding of footsteps behind him, but cared little until he felt [i]resistance[/i] on his arms- preventing him from finishing the job he started.

He opened his eyes, and saw none other that Natalie- pale, petite, standing above Bianca, holding his arms up. Preventing him from crushing the metahuman. The beast had never been stalemated, or even exceeded in strength before. Out of instinct he heaved, putting not only his strength, but his body weight into his arms, causing Natalie to gasp and struggle to hold him back further- the very ground beneath her feet beginning to succumb to the immense pressure. But she did not give in. The beast, becoming more angry, opened its mighty jaws once more and leaned forward- intending to [i]extinguish[/i] the smaller metahuman where she stood.

[color=silver][b]"Archie, stop! I know you don't want to kill! Trust me, I know better than anyone it'll hurt to live with. I'd want you to stop me too, if I was in your shoes. Please, don't kill her!"[/b][/color]

All at once, Archie was brought back to reality, realizing what he was doing- [i]going[/i] to do. His jaws shut like a vice grip inches from Natalie's head. Then he drew his body back, very suddenly removing the what must've felt like the weight of the [i]world[/i] from Natalie's arms. She held on for but a moment but released when her feet left the ground, the speed and suddenness of him rising to his full height allowed him to escape her grasp. As Natalie's feet met the ground, Archie stumbled away, his hands coming up to his reptilian face as he screamed- his voice becoming more and more human. He fell to his haunches, then his hands and knees- his claws gouging deep canyons into his face as his body muscles contracted and tore away. The great reptile curled in on itself in a rabid, jerky motion, and then fell silent. After a moment, there were deep, agonizing cracking sounds, and then his back began to split and tear away at the spinal column.

There was a low hissing sound as the creature began to ash away, as if burning. The tear in it's back burning like paper until Archie, human and nude Archie, stepped from the rapidly degrading husk of of his previous body. With shaky hands he extracted himself from the chest cavity of the creature, and took a step towards Natalie and Bianca. He fell, but caught himself on his hands and knees.

"I-" He began, looking up to Natalie, meeting her gaze. "Sorry you had to- to see that. Sorry about-"

He didn't finish the sentence, not wanting to talk about the fact that had he been a few seconds longer in reigning back control he would have made an attempt at her life. She hopefully knew. He averted his gaze, and after taking a moment to collect himself he slowly but surely rose to his feet. He was confident, despite being nude- he had obviously been through this song and dance before. He walked up to Natalie, gently pushing her aside (it was more of a suggestion than an actual push, given her strength) so he could kneel down beside the still form of Bianca.

"Look to me." He said sternly. Her eyes were open, but she was staring straight ahead, as if in shock. He grabbed her by the neck and shook her head. "You look to me." He repeated, venom seeping into his tone.

Bianca's eyes made an ever so slight movement, and shifted to meet Archie's intense glare. He did not remove his hand from her neck. "You come for Natalie again, lay a finger on her, be in the same general area, so much as [i]look at her in the wrong way...[/i]" he began, leaning close to her face. "and I will [i]kill you all[/i]."

He stood, using her neck to assist him on his way up, roughly shoving her back into the dirt. He approached Natalie, his eyes meeting hers once again and never faltering. He had learned from many unplanned streaking trips that it helped keep the attention away from... other areas. He stopped a few feet from her.

"We need to talk." He said simply. "Dunno where we are. You're wearing next to nothing and I'm [i]wearing nothing[/i]." He observed. He normally hid clothes in parts of the city where he knew his bestial state liked to prowl, but had no idea where he was relative to those hiding places. It could be meters, it could be miles. "I suggest we go back to the building," he explained. "I'm sure some of them will have clothes they wont... need anymore."

This was going to be a long night.
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[@Silver Carrot]