Chapter 47: The Tiger God

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Ava Ayala has been a part of their little group for over a few weeks now. So her sudden leaving left a gap in the residents—namely on the two other girls.

However, over time, as the day grew, the two girls came to realize and accept that it was better for her to leave. For Greer, she would rather have Ava away than force her on staying here. More so since her plans have failed once already. It was better for her to approach life in a more casual manner, attend her college and all that.

Anna too felt guilty since it was she who received the Amulet from Ava. Was this the right thing to do?—a part of her asked.

At this point, she had come to accept that Enrique wasn’t your typical ‘Hero’ and some might not even consider him a hero at all. So asking if this was the right thing to do may not be the smartest question to ask. Anna accepted in the end, that yes, Ava was better away from here, for both parties, and that she will use the Amulet in a more responsible way.

That day much didn’t happen in the house. It was a silent day. Enrique focused on his computer work while the two girls spent their time doing mostly nothing.

Then the next day came, and Enrique woke them up in the early morning. It was time for them to train.

“Alright, you two have to stop with this depressed air around you. We need to get stronger, and fast. An unimaginable force is approaching, I believe, and it might just kill us if we aren’t ready.” Enrique let them know as he stood in his gym clothes in front of them.

Greer and Anna both were wearing their sports bras, and they frowned upon hearing him. Both girls were aware that his source of worries was always reliable, so he mustn’t be joking here. Something was coming?

“Let’s start with Anna,” Enrique turned to her. “Now that you have the Amulet, it should be easy to spar with us since our strength level is much closer than before. Tell me, how does the Amulet feel?”

“It feels great, actually,” Anna told truthfully. “It’s as if I am full of energy, which is a good feeling. I feel similar when I suck powers out of people, but that lasts momentarily while this is lingering and stasis.”

“Huh. Is that so?” Enrique reached out a hand. “Here, let me take a look.”

“Sure,” Anna took it off and reached out her hand to give it to Enrique. “You never touched it before, right? I am curious how it would react with you since you have White Tiger powers-”

Anna’s words were caught in her throat when the Amulet touched Enrique’s hand and, in the next instant, he was thrown flying with a burst of explosion. His back hit the wall, and as he fell down, he was already transformed into his full beast form.

“W-what? I- I am sorry! Enrique, are you alright?!” Anna yelled and ran to the unconscious Enrique, followed by an equally worried Greer, as they crouched down beside him and shook his body.

However, Enrique didn’t move a muscle.

* * *

First, it was The Great Weaver, and now this. Enrique was getting tired of being pulled into these dark realms.

“…A human? No, not exactly, it seems.” An ethereal voice said, belonging to this huge glimmering white tiger looking down on him as if he were some bug. “I see why you’re here. An accident, it seems.”

The white tiger was a few times bigger than Enrique himself, even as he was transformed into his 7”3 beast form. Its appearance wasn't like the normal white tiger either. It had two large teeth like a Sabretooth.

Who the fuck was this?

“Humans and their profanity,” the Tiger chuckled deeply. “I am the Tiger God, the one who created the White-Tiger Amulet.”

“Ah-huh,” Enrique hummed, noting it might not be such a big shot.

The Tiger chuckled as if hearing his thoughts, but then its voice went serious.

“When humanity first looked into the night, my eyes looked back. When they learned to fear darkness, it was me they feared. When they learned to fight for their lives and their children—I was their first enemy.” The Tiger’s earlier chuckle was nowhere to be seen as it glared dangerously at Enrique. “Lay your claim to a thousand worlds, for I am the arch nemesis of The Phoenix, FOR I AM THE TIGER!”

…Oh for fuck’s sake. That weak Amulet was made by one of the Four Directional Beasts of the universe? [1] No, right, Reid said something about Chi. It wasn't really weak; he had just not seen its true powers yet.

For some reason though, Enrique didn’t feel fear. Unlike with the Phoenix, this one didn’t feel so dangerous—or even unfamiliar, really.

“That would be because you are a part of Darkness, as am I.” The scary attitude vanished into thin air as the Tiger spoke casually. “Your connection to Demiurge makes you similar to me. I am the bringer of dark, the counter to the Phoenix who brings light, so we two are quite similar.”

“Aha,” So the ‘White Tiger’ bought Darkness? He didn’t know that.

“Don’t worry, we may be siblings, but I am not so mentally unstable like that horny bitch.” The Tiger scoffed. “I will return you back to your home since this was a simple accident. I will fix the Amulet to not react so strongly if you touch it next time.”

Enrique just gave the nod.

“Speaking of the Amulet, however,” The Tiger lowered its head further to look at Enrique closely. “It acts as a vessel for my powers and makes the wearer my Avatar. I don’t like choosing a permanent avatar, so having this amulet allows me to change my avatars every once in a while since it gets snatched or stolen by others.”

…It was smart, to be fair. Real slick, too.

“But seeing you has made me change my mind,” the Tiger kept staring down. “I smell the scent of the Phoenix from you. You two clashed not too long ago, it seems? Come, become my Avatar, a permanent one, and we two shall go fight the fire chicken for all it’s worth!”

“Ahm, excuse me,” suddenly, a new voice flowed within the plane and the white form of Mut formed beside Enrique. “Sorry for intruding, but he already has a sponsor. It’s me, Goddess Mut, honorable Tiger.”

“Ugh…” the Tiger tilted his head with a groan before its eyes lit up. “Ah, you’re Bast’s stepmother, Ra’s wife. I see. So you have taken him in already.”

“Say,” the Tiger ignored the Goddess and looked back at Enrique. “You agree to become mine, and I kill her right here—so she won’t bother you after this. How does that sound?”

“Uh…” Mut began to sweat, stiffening in her spot.

Goddess Mut had come here to save Enrique, but this… She recalled what sort of human bastard Enrique was all of a sudden. What were the odds that he would take this offer? The odds were really high; she realized.

“I decline.” Enrique shook his head, looking at Mut for a moment and then back at the Tiger. “This person saved my life. I am obliged to help her. I don’t mean any offense, but I can’t leave her for you, even if I am sure you’d provide me with better powers.”

Goddess Mut sighed in relief as her eyes locked on the back of his head, looking at him in a new light. Maybe he wasn’t so bad after all…?

Unfortunately, Mut had no idea Enrique only did what he did because he wasn’t comfortable being the Avatar of the Phoenix’s counterpart. He didn’t want to live the Jean Grey sorta life, filled with pain and suffering. Enrique only said he was grateful and all that to make the best of this situation and come off as a nicer guy in Mut’s head.

“Eh,” the Tiger shrugged. “That’s boring. But fine, if that’s what you want.” Then it leaned down to rest its chin on its front feet, closing its eyes. “Whatever, it’s not as if I care. Leave.”

“If you don’t mind me suggesting,” Enrique knowingly pushed his luck. “There is this girl, Anna Marie, who is the current wielder of the Amulet. She has the power to absorb other people’s powers. I think that should be a sort of darkness-related thing, so why don’t you take her as your Permanent Avatar?”

Hearing him, one of the Tiger’s eyes slowly opened to peek at Enrique.

Enrique sweated as the silence stretched until the Tiger just scoffed.

“No, I am tired of sponsoring girls—they’re too timid for my liking. I don’t have a preferred gender; my existence is beyond such simpler terms. But I am more used to choosing female Avatars. However, now I miss the male mentality that craves power. Like that Ayala child’s older brother.”

“...I see. Sorry for wasting your time,” Enrique apologized and stood up, while Mut took his hand.

“It’s fine. I am bored anyway, so the talking felt nice. I will put more thoughts into your suggestion, though. Perhaps if she manages to fascinate me, I might just do what you said. For now, leave.” The Tiger closed its eyes again, and Mut sighed in relief before she teleported them away from here. “…Bunch of fools.”

Thus, the lonely Tiger God entered its slumber again, as if this interruption had never even happened.

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[1] Shocked me too when I found out, but this Amulet truly was made by the universal White Tiger; the counter of The Phoenix Force. These two have clashed quite a few times across the comics.

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