Warning: This story contains transformation and poor humor.
-------------------
Through Fire and Flames, by DragonMasterX.
Thunder was roaring, the night-sky continued to light up. A storm was coming.
“Useless, yer goddamn useless, Redd!” the rough voice of a male adult tore through the usual quiet suburban home. “The hell do ya go to school for, ya dumb kid! All ya bring is bad news!”
The subject of the verbal attack was Redd ‘Rex’ Phillips, a sixteen year old. This was regular basis to Rex. “It’s just a bad report card. Sign it and get it over with” he groaned.
His mother stood up from the sofa, arms firmly folded. “And a talk with your teachers, which I had to go through last month, and the month before AND the month before that one! It’s not ‘sign it and get it over with’, Redd, this is the third year you’ve had to do over. Is there something wrong at school, dear?”
“I’ll tell ya what’s wrong, Mary, it’s what I’ve been telling you since the slob turned 14. He’s been hanging out with the wrong crowd, getting in trouble, skipping classes, being a bum, why the other day the…”
“Harold, that’s enough!”
“Don’t you tell me what’s enough! I work my ass off, bring the food to the table, and instead of controlling YER son, you get off crit’sizin’ me?”
Rex’s face was a mellow nothing. He’d long since given up with a school that’d never treat him the same as others, given up on a family that would argue day in and out. Both his mother and step-father might in the end love each other, but he was fed up with his life. Maybe being a bum wasn’t such a bad idea. Turning around, he headed for the door.
“Don’t ya turn yer back when I’m talking to ya, kid!” Harold stopped Rex by his arm, “Yer a fop, least pay attention when’n adult’s speakin’!” he yelled.
Harold wasn’t usually as loud as this, but the alcohol in his breath was smacking Rex as hard as every word that came out of his mouth. Perhaps the words were a little softer. “Let go,” the teenager crisply said.
“So ya go where, huh? Yer room’s upstairs last time I checked!”
“I’m heading out, let go.”
Mary was having a hard time dealing with this, as evidenced by her sullen expression. “Harold, let him go. Redd, it’s almost nine. Where will you…?”
“Let me fucking go!” Rex snapped, flinging his arm, surprising the drunk adult holding him, who stumbled over.
“Oh dear, Harold!” Mary rushed over to the grounded man, and Rex used this to make his exit as quietly as he could. He didn’t even make eye contact with his mother.
“Go, go away! Ya ingrate!” Harold shouted as he regained his composure, looking at his step-son with spite as he put on his red hoodie before leaving. “Go hang out with those bums, see if I care when they haul yer ass in prison! Think ya’ll ever be somebody? Yer nobody, ya’ll never be somebody!”
The words rang loud and clear across the house and beyond. What Rex said in reply was left muffled out by the loud cracking thunder right after the last flash of lightning outside, before he left.
The door slammed shut on his way out.
“He’ll be back, Mary. Soon as he realizes he can’t do anything on his own, Redd’ll be back.”
---------------------
A lithe figure crisscrossed the tall buildings of the city, swinging from poles under the windows and bounding off the sturdy brick walls. Powerful legs and incredible agility allowed the inhuman female to cover ground faster than any parkour adept could dream of. Then again, not even parkour experts could stick to walls, or had tails to aid with such fluid movement. Acrobatic yet ungraceful, a bummed out Charlotte Richards perched herself atop St. Michael’s Cathedral as she briefly stopped her trek. “We’re taking this down time to investigate the Light’s whereabouts in California. Take the weekend off, we can move you to your home state. Go have some fun” Charlie mumbled to herself in mocking tone. “Sure, there’s a lot of things to do for a six foot four talking scorpion, Jim. Hardy har har.”
It had been weeks since Charlie’s last job. As happy as she was that the dangerous criminal known as Omega was now behind bars in a special maximum security, there weren’t many jobs out for her special unit in the organization. “Jim has his work, Kim has Beth, and I got a 90s’ retired comedian in my head. Ain’t life grand,” she groaned in her mind, falling off her perch. Her tail quickly grabbed at the cathedral’s top and wrapped around it, keeping her hanging upside down. “Could’ve been worse. I could’ve transformed into a spider. Those scare people the most.”
“It was one of those nights, one of those nights when the wheels started turning…” the pre-recorded version of Last Train to London by ELO began to play, and Charlie fished her cellphone out of her ample cleavage to answer the incoming call. Before she touched ‘Answer’ though, she sighed again. “Just what I needed.”
“Charlotte? Oh hi! How are you, dear?” a joyous, exuberant voice spoke to her. Charlie forced herself to smile as her chitin protective face-guard slid off to allow her free speech.
“H-hey mom, I’m fine. What’s up?”
“Don’t “I’m fine. What’s up?” me, young miss! It’s been months since you last called. Is everything alright?”
“Sure, you could say everything’s the opposite of upside down,” Charlie laughed nervously, then decided to swing herself back up top so her redundant answer wouldn’t technically be a lie. The church bell began to chime loudly, muffling even the sound of the impending storm. It was probably time to move.
“Oh, is that right? Well, when are you next getting a break? Your father could use a visit from his favorite daughter.”
“Only daughter,” corrected Charlie with a small giggle, “You know I keep bouncing between jobs, right?”
“Of course. But Interpol can let me see my daughter every once a while, right?”
“Y-yeah, about that, I… I don’t really know when I’m going to be home. Things happened and… well I doubt you want to see me…”
“What?! Dios mio, did something happen, are you hurt, estas bien?!” Charlie’s mother, Consuelo, seemed two kinds of concerned so far, and it was escalating.
“Gotta stop before she learns how to worry herself to death in chinese,” Charlie quickly thought, trying to come up with an excuse to ease off Consuelo’s worries. “Relax, it’s just that I uh… I’ve put on some weight,” she looked down at her generous chest. Technically, she wasn’t lying. “Let’s just say it’s not easy on the eyes.”
“Oh, you silly… tonta! Worrying me like that. What kind of excuse is that though? I’ve always wanted you to eat more, you’ve always been so thin and frail!”
“Trust me mom, I’m not the same weak little Charlie that used to have trouble with the heavy boxes,” she rolled her eyes up a bit, trying to remember her last training session to test her limits. “Except anything heavier than 40 tons. I still have trouble with those,” she quietly thought. “I could also tell her I’m a mutant scorpion now, and that I fight mad scientists with wings. That’d really add some points.”
“Alright then, power girl. When are you coming home? You don’t sound like you’re busy.”
Charlie jumped off the top of the cathedral and swung by one of the flagpoles, launching herself in the air while still talking. “It’s complicated mom. And I AM busy, it’s not that I don’t want to see either of you. I could actually use a bit of company from the family…” she said as she landed atop a water tank, rushing off and clearing a three story jump. The night provided excellent cover, not that people used to look up for giant scorpions in the night,“…I miss you and dad, really. It’s just… h-how is dad?”
“Monty’s been getting better. The medico won’t let him go yet, but that’s understandable when you’re recovering from his condition. El pobrecito…”
“We told him to quit working at the mines. He’s too old to be a copper miner,” Charlie had fond memories of her father, Montgomery Richards, but most of them involved his stubborn and impatient nature making things harder for everybody.
“This has been a mining city for decades, Charlotte. Even to this day, the economy here largely depends on it, querida. He has a lot of pride on the line.”
“Maybe, but it’s not worth his life,” Charlie argued.
“And is your job worth yours?”
Silence took hold over the anthropomorphic scorpion’s tongue, before she uttered a quiet: “It’s not the same…”
“I’m glad we agree. I’ll tell him you’ll visit soon then!” Consuelo’s words made Charlie widen her eyes.
“Wait, mom, I’m nowhere near Arizona!” Charlie tried as she landed on one of the city entrance’s signs, using her powers to stick to its surface and crawl about it as she tried to think up another excuse and defied the laws of gravity at the same time.
“Hija, do you know how many times I go to pray for your father’s health lately?”
Charlie blinked a bit in surprise at the unexpected question, “I dunno.”
“Enough to know the St. Michael’s church has a cracked bell,” Consuelo’s dry response made Charlie almost fall over her new perch. “Dear, where are you? It’s stormy out there, why don’t you come home to spend the night? We’ll catch a movie.”
“I’m sorry. I promise I’ll show up soon, really. I just arrived and wanted to meet up with the gang before I surprised you two! Yeah, that’s it. They don’t allow visits this late in the hospital anyway, right?” she giggled too nervously for comfort.
“Great!” Charlie could almost tell Consuelo was smiling. “I’ll tell him you’ll be visiting tomorrow, then. He’ll be so happy,” Charlie’s stomach began to turn. “Take care of yourself, Charlotte. Te quiero mucho, we’ll talk later.”
As the phone went into the hang-up tone, Charlie let go and fell. Her tail once again helped keep her aloft by wrapping around one of the sign’s support beams. She sighed, “Ain’t life grand.” Looking up past her bountiful chest, she noticed the sign above her which read:
“Welcome to Phoenix, Arizona.”
---------------------
Quiet as they were, the suburbs of Phoenix were a contrast to its lightened up downtown. Friday was Lady’s Night-Out, so two-for-ones and other similar offers were available at most bars and night clubs, where tourists and locals in general went to take a load off from the week.
Not everyone was as carefree that night however. The noisy music and nightly storm provided excellent distraction for many denizens of the dark streets. As a result, it was very easy for anybody to eyeball the large truck headed for a remote building over Lincoln street, passing it over as a late night transporter.
They would’ve been correct in assuming the truck to be transport, though nobody could’ve imagined what it held inside.
“Easy down there! You’re gonna wake it up!” one of the grunts pushing the payload down the ramp said.
“Pipe down Mick,” his partner said, “They gave this thing enough tranq to knock an elephant out. Now hurry it up, it’s gonna be a messy job if it starts raining with this cage outside.”
“Got’cha. Heave…ho!”
Finally unloaded, the cage was carried over to the entrance exit of the seemingly abandoned building. “Hey Bob, this doesn’t weigh as much as I thought. Most of it is the cage. Why do they need two of us to work this job huh?”
“The client is very important it seems. VIP, all the shiny cards and words. Seems like they were on the run from the lam though, or something like that. Wanted this pet project moved somewhere safe since they raided their lab in Colorado.”
“What IS it, anyway?” asked Mick as they gently set the cage down by the door and punched in the access code by the metal gate’s panel. “You say they knocked it out with elephant tranq. Doesn’t seem like it’s big enough to warrant that much trouble…”
“It’s not the size that matters, Mick, it’s what it can do.”
“You’re scaring me a little there, pal. We’re not transporting a mini-Frankenstein are we?”
“Don’t be ridiculous. This is just one of those animals they experiment on and stuff,” Bob reassured, though he wasn’t convinced it stopped at that. “Actually… why don’t we take a peek?”
“You sure?”
“Hell, nobody’s gonna see. And you made me curious.”
“Well don’t go blaming me if a werewolf or something comes out wanting blood.”
The mantle was lifted, revealing a thick barred prison made of very resistant material, a padlock holding the cage closed. A curious smell caught Bob’s attention almost instantly. “Do you smell asbestos, Mick?”
“Huh? Come to think of it, the mantle kinda… whoa!” Mick fell down on his butt as he realized what was inside was no Frankenstein or werewolf, but instead a rather large reptile. Peacefully resting, the abnormally big scaly creature seemed to be as sedated as Bob had claimed. “Wh-what the hell is this?”
“Calm down, dumbass! It’s asleep… But holy hell, I’m from these parts, and I’ve never seen an iguana THAT big.”
“You sure it’s not a pet alligator?” Mick looked over the sleek creature dubiously. It was a brightly red scaled, yellow under the muzzle, probably its lower region. The color pallete was very odd, but its sheer size was what caught their attention the most. “I mean, it’s not that huge really, but damn. You think it bites?”
“You think it bites?” Bob mocked, “What kind of question is that? It’s an animal. If it has claws, it scratches, if it has a tail, it smacks, if it has fangs, it’ll bite. Anything for survival.”
“So what do you think it does? Other than sleeping I mean.”
“No idea. I just was told to keep the mantle over the cage and drop it by the center of the warehouse.”
“Yeah about that. Lots of test-tubes to be a warehouse, Bob.” Mick seemed awestruck as the skies flashed white, briefly showing what appeared to be a chemistry lab chock full of expensive equipment and experiments. The lightning that struck was very well on its way to complementing the dark atmosphere that turned a harmless, empty laboratory into one picture straight from a sci-fi nightmare. “I think we should just leave this overfed iguana here and go.”
“Seconded,” distracted, Bob couldn’t notice the creature inside had begun to stir, the loud sound outside plus the moisture from the humid night reactivating its vigor. Although still paralyzed, its eyes could move. The captive creature realized its situation and acted on its own instinct. It wanted to be free, and its thoughts focused on its prison as it opened its eyes. The padlock in front of it was beginning to get hot, its temperature quickly raising to the point the metal was starting to silently sizzle and melt away… until the mantle fell over it. The flame the creature had begun to conjure was instantly put out. “In you go, freak of nature.” Said an oblivious Bob as the two transporters heaved the cargo in and set it where the contract had specified.
Its chance for freedom had once again been denied. It didn’t have much longer, it felt weak, and it wasn’t the sedatives the humans had hit it with. The creature felt it, it was going to die. It had to be free, whatever it took. But with its current strength, the iguana would have to wait for another chance.
--------------------
“Yeah, Dash? It’s Charlie, I’m back in town and was wondering if you guys doing anything tonight? O-oh, game night. Okay.”
“Heeey, Tina! How are you? I’m back in town. I’d like to catch up, you headed out? Wait, you’re out of the states? New York? That’s great, hey, uh, yeah, still working for… yeah, dad’s getting better, I actually… look, I’ll call you later, alright?!”
“Liz? Hey, it’s Charlie Richards. Remember me? Wait, this isn’t Liz’s home anymore? Manny’s Pizza? No, no I don’t want a pizza. Unless it’s free. It’s not free, is it? Hello?”
“Damn, I really need to hit the booze and dance all this night away. Then I can at least play the irresponsible daughter game tomorrow when mom wonders where I am,” Charlie winced a bit, “But even if I go in my civvies, I don’t want to draw attention. I need to find a group…”
Dialing her phone one last time, Charlie tried: “Hi Cassie, long time no talk.”
“Charlie? Charlie Richards? Heeey! Oh my god, it’s been ages since I’ve talked to you. How ARE you, girl?”
“I’m fine. Actually, I’m back in town for the weekend. Was trying to get a load off from work,” Charlie chirped, “Haven’t really been myself lately if you catch my drift. Are you and the girls hanging out tonight?”
“Are we? We’re going to dance aaaaall the night away tonight at the Nilo! Sarah and Julia are almost done with their makeup actually, heh. Yeah, it’s Charlie! What do you say girls, wanna bring ‘lil Richards out with us fine damsels tonight?”
Charlie laughed a bit, finally a bit more comfortable. “That was a positive squeal I hope. Nobody had a heart attack, right?”
“Oh, we’re going to break a lot of hearts tonight, sweetheart. Just come over to my apartment, you remember where it is, right?”
“Between Main and the Sixth, right?”
“You got it! Hurry it up!”
Click. “Alright… they won’t have trouble breaking hearts I bet. Me on the other hand?” Charlie swung herself around the flagpole she was using as a perch and launched herself back to the roof of the building where she had left her bag with her clothes. “I just hope I don’t break anyone when I start dancing.”
---------------------
“And that’s why it’ll be a good thing for the Crib, Jason. We hit the other joint, the people see how dangerous it is, they move in to the Boss’s.”
“And we got enough people for the job? Enough guns for them all? How’re we getting in? And out?”
“We got all of the gang, man. Relax. The bouncer’s one of our guys, he’ll fake a body check before we go in. Get into position, wait a while, then put a scare on the patrons. We get our share by collecting from them, and then we blow the joint before it gets hot. Place’s rep’s gonna be dirt low by the time the feds show up.”
“Sound good. You totally didn’t come up with that plan.”
“Shaddup, Jason! Don’t know why they all listen to you, you’ve got a brain the size of a pea. Go get the newbies their masks and equipment. We hit the joint in an hour. Operation starts in 15 minutes after that. Go over the plan with them, I’ll give a call to the boss.”
“It’s the charisma, man,” Jason chuckled as moved over to the group of people in his garage. Males and females of various ages were there. From as little as 13, all the way up to 30. After the plan’s explanation and the payment was discussed, the final questions were answered. Jason looked over his gang with a proud smirk at their organization. “We’re gonna milk the rich bastards for all they got, then the boss’ll probably take us in as his personal hit team. We’re gonna be earning the big bucks soon, boys and girls! No more being looked down on, no more neglect from the bigwigs of society. We’re gonna earn our place just as we deserve.”
The small but present crowd roared in cheer. Satisfied, Jason began looking over his allies, noticing an especially quiet one. He approached the red hoodie and placed a friendly hand on his shoulder, “Right, Rex?”
“Yeah,” the boy looked past his hood and cocked an uzi that he probably had never held in his life before. “We’re gonna go big after this, aren’t we Jason?”
“’course. Bigger than you can probably imagine, kiddo. Let’s go now, we’re gonna be driving around the Nilo for a while, before we go crash their party.”
---------------
“Ohmigod, look at you! You’ve… grown!” Cassie almost yelped in surprise as she opened the door to her apartment.
“That’s why I’m stuck with desk work lately, heh,” Charlie smiled back at her old friend. They’d known each other since childhood, but no one had expected ‘lil Richards to return so… round. “I can’t wait for mom’s reaction to this outfit either,” she thought sarcastically. Julia and Sarah, as well as Cassie swarmed Charlie with questions as they sized her appearance up. Thankfully, she had managed to cover most of everything.
“Put on some extra pounds, been working hard at burning the excess though! Though not so hard…” Charlie looked very fat in the sweater she was wearing. In order to hide her tail, she had to tie it around her waist, which created some bulk under her garments, allowing her to present a staunch belly that was unlike her actual, small and fit, curvy waist. Her wide hips and breasts helped with the illusion that she was actually a bad case of overweight. She had received specially tailored footwear that didn’t rip easily with her new feet. It didn’t allow them to stick to surfaces unfortunately.
“Yeah, the sunglasses are actually necessary. I came into contact with a noxious chemical during one case. I thought I was going to be blind forever! Turns out my eyes are super sensitive to light now though,” she explained, never getting used to the amount of lies she had to spout in order to lead a ‘somewhat’ normal social life. Her eyes, being two large completely dark spheres, did stand out. The only thing Charlie considered comfortable was the fact her exoskeleton made of protective black chitin could dissolve and reappear at will.
“Hmm, well, you know what, I’m a fitness coach now,” said Sarah, “Bet I can give you a few tips on some exercises to help you, maybe some cardio too?”
“It’s okay Sarah, really, I get plenty exercise already!” Charlie tried to laugh, but it came off as a kind of ironic giggle. “Not even I can convince myself of that one,” she cursed herself. Cassie dismissed the chat though.
“Aw c’mon girls, give Charlie some room. She’s been through a lot!” Charlie felt safe once again. “I can get pounded into the wall and ceilings AND the ground by Omega, but I can’t take much more of this!” she thought with a wry smile.
The girls pouted, but eventually agreed. “So, how is your dad? I spoke to Consuelo the other day at the pharmacy. She said he isn’t doing too well.”
Charlie’s eyes widened, not that they could see with her sunnies on. “She told you that, when was this?” Cassie shrugged.
“Maybe ah… five days ago? I dunno.”
“…I see,” Charlie fell into a deep silence, before she replied, “I uh… I was actually thinking of paying him a visit tomorrow.”
“That’s nice of you, Charlie. Want us to come with you?” Julia offered, but Charlie politely declined.
“Thanks, but it’ll probably be better if he only sees so many girls in the same room,” she joked, “Now, enough talk. Wasn’t there something about dancing all the night away?”
---------------
Nilo was one of the biggest, and definitely one of the most popular night clubs in Phoenix’s downtown, and a block away its competition, The Crib. Charlie, Cassie, Sarah and Julia were waiting in line to get in. “Nilo’s really gone up since I last was here,” observed an impressed Charlie. The neon was bright enough to blind someone looking directly at it. The lines went all over to the corner and turned to still go on and on, and there were at least three different hotdog stands by the exit, ready to profit from the hungry teenagers coming out and looking for a snack to go on.
“Geesh, our turn Ms. Richards. You’re going to make us all look like tourists!” Julia joked, pushing Charlie as they advanced to the bouncer, who OK’d Cassie instantly, followed by Sarah. Julia went in without a hitch, but then he lowered his own sunglasses as he noticed Charlie. He barely had to look down thanks to her height, but her appearance was throwing him off. “Hey, what’s the problem Barney?” asked a suspicious Julia.
“Your friend isn’t on the list,” Barney pointed out, tapping his paper holder. Charlie frowned and swiped the list off his hands and peered at it faster than one could see.
“Nobody is by the looks of it. Or are you afraid to let on you don’t know English?” Charlie mocked, pissing Barney off.
“Give that back. I’m not asking, lady.”
“Hey, that’s not nice, Barney. C’mon, let her in!”
“Rules of the house, Julia.”
“What’s going on here?” asked Cassie as she and Sarah came to see what the holdup was about.
“Barney’s giving Charlie a hard time.”
“Oh, I’m going to show him a hard time he doesn’t move,” Charlie said, about to pull her sleeve up, but reconsidered after realizing they would see the chitin bracers that kept her pincers hidden in her forearms.
“Hmph. I don’t want any trouble. Get in or get out. Now. And give that list back!”
“Thank you, stud.” Charlie gave him a bright, albeit fake smile, and pushed the list against his chest really fast, with too much strength. Charlie didn’t even pay attention to his reaction as she knocked the wind out of him before heading in with Julia, giggling about their girl power or something like that.
“F-fuck… what was that?” the bouncer seemed rattled, trying to recover from the force of the smack.
“Hey Barney, wanna switch with me? I’ll actually get to work.”
“Sh-shut up, you… Oh, it’s you.”
--------------
“Holy guacamole, look at this place! It’s gotten so damn big,” Charlie stood in the middle of the club, the reflected lights and electronic music almost deafening her. Groups of people seemed to be separated by three levels; all of them accessible, they each had a different bar catering to specific drink and cocktails.
“And so have the guys from high-school, heh,” Sarah stuck her tongue out as she put a hand on Charlie’s shoulder, directing her attention to some guys at the level one bar. “Garret’s over there.”
“Garret?” Charlie suddenly was at a loss for words. She blushed a bit, “Oh crap, I can’t let him see me like this!”
“Aw c’mon, I did your hair, silly. I mean, sure, you pack a few extra pounds but otherwise your body’s rockin’!”
“Actually, do you have any tips to get your hair to be as silky as yours? What do you use?” Julia added.
“Uh, just rinse with soap and a bit of shampoo.”
“What, no conditioner?”
“Yeah, I don’t- Wait a minute, girls! It’s Garret, Garret Thompson, over there. Hello-oh?” Charlie almost hiccupped, and she could swear she was starting to sweat from nerves alone. Her high-school crush.
“Oh relax. You didn’t ditch him because he was ugly, you had to go off to complete your training. Bet he’s still into you!” Cassie reassured, “You’re gorgeous tonight, Charlie. C’mon, go get ‘im, scorpion!”
“Whu-what?”
“I said go get ‘im, tigress.”
“Oh, right, uh… n-nah, I think, uh… I think I’ve got to step into the restroom for a bit!” Charlie rushed off with no idea of where to actually go, leaving her three friends giggling to one another.
“Wow, they don’t teach you how to deal with urges overseas, do they?” Julia casually joked. Cassie hit her playfully with her elbow.
“Just leave her be. I’m sure she’s just excited, it’s been years since she saw him. Heh, let’s get some guys to get us some drinks and then convince her to talk to him!”
Sarah agreed, “Yeah, she’s too tense. Bet she could use a good night.”
“Sarah!” both her friends squealed in unison, leaving Sarah dumbfounded, but then they all laughed again. She was then bumped on by a shorter person, which made her turn around angrily.
“Hey, watch it!” Sarah shouted, which was normal in such a loud place. The red hoodie didn’t seem to listen. He was too busy listening to the conversation on his concealed ear-piece.
“Everyone in position? Alright. Like we practiced. Barney’s gonna set it up as full. Carter gets the alternate exits. Joey hits up the men’s restroom and Sandy the girl’s. Everyone else? Go for the shinies.”
“Operation is Go.”
------------
“Stupid, stupid, stupid. How come I can face off against five Betas at once but one look at Garret Thompson and I’m ready hump his face off?” a deflated Charlie thought as she took her glasses off and washed her face by the sinks. She had made sure nobody was inside, which she thanked for as a break. “Ugh, maybe this wasn’t such a good idea. I just wanted to have a friendly chat and maybe get one, or a dozen tequila shots. A girl’s night out” frustrated, she head-butted her crossed arms on the marble.
“Freeze.” A crisp voice came from nearby. If Charlie had had any hairs on her back they would’ve stood on their ends. Quickly, she pulled her sunglasses and put them on, then turned on to see a gun facing her way.
“Actually, it’s 30 celcius. It’s going to be hard for me to comply, miss.”
“Shut up, comedian. Give up your valuables, and don’t pull any tricks.”
“Oh you’ve got to be kidding me,” Charlie rolled her eyes as she thought of many ways to insult her luck. With uncanny agility and impressive speed, the concealed scorpion jumped and somersaulted in mid-air, landing behind the shocked robber. “Sorry, what was number two?”
With a light back-handed blow, Charlie managed to quickly subdue her attacker. After months of high-risk missions and brutal training, this was more than simple to her. “Let’s see…” she checked the female’s face, I’ve never seen you before…” she removed the hideous mask she was wearing and widened her eyes, “…You’re… you can’t be older than sixteen,” the scorpion blinked in surprise as she registered the unconscious female. “Who let you in here, kid…? And why are you carrying this?” she reached for the uzi the woman had used, finding it chock full of bullets.”
“What the hell is going on here? Nngh, not much I can do about this right now. Better call the actual police to take care of…” she said to herself, reaching for her cellphone before her internal ears picked up an unusual static. Charlie looked down, realizing that on the girl’s right ear was a receiver. Picking it up, she gently neared it to the side of her head to listen in as quietly as she could.
“You got all the hostages? Music stopped? Good. Keep them quiet, Barney was successful. Now get all their stuff, it’s all going clean so far. Radio-check for exit teams. Green. Check for upper floor. Green. Check for middle floor. Green…”
“What the hell is this?” thought a disbelieving Charlie as she looked down at the uzi she had left by the sleeping form of her ex-assailant, “You didn’t just get this, you were issued this. For a hold-up…”
“…Girl’s bathroom. Girl’s bathroom, Sandy, you alright? Hey, respond!”
Shook up, Charlie took a small gulp and slid her face-guard on so her voice would distort itself a bit. “Only one in this bathroom, do I join the others?” she quickly asked.
“No. Keep that girl in there, we’ll tell you right before we leave. Make sure you milk her for all she’s got if that’s the only one!”
“…I hate Fridays.” Charlie groaned in her head, dropping the ear-piece to the floor. She quickly pondered the facts as she knew them: Nilo was closed off, nobody suspecting anything outside. Cell phones were probably taken and everyone had been alerted by the shots, at least those that could hear them past the loud music inside. Bathrooms were seized, and exits blocked. Calling the police with this much organization and hostages was going to take time. “They have weapons, but they are saving them for the police I bet. They don’t want to shoot up people, they want it clean, that’s why there’s so much organization,” she deduced, “But something’s bothering me. She’s just a kid…” she said as she looked over Sandy’s unconscious form once more, “Nngh, the leader’s probably not even here. Fucker’s sending kids to do the dirty work!”
Angered, Charlie took out a special communicator reserved for emergency calls. “This is Agent Richards. Nilo Bar in Phoenix, Arizona. Organized hold-up in progress, need support, contact the local authorities. Multiple hostiles, all armed. More than a hundred potential hostages. Bring protection.”
“Understood,” said the Interpol operator, “What is your current location, Agent Richards?”
“Inside the bar. Bring psychologists or whatever we’re going to need for the under-aged perps. I’m going for the ones of age.”
“Negative Agent Richards. You are to remain incognito at all times for public- fzzzt…”
“Oops,” Charlie half-heartedly said as she crushed her communicator in her hand, “These guys are stirring trouble in my city, threatening my friends, and they think they can get away with using kids for their little robberies? Picked the wrong day and place for it.”
Getting rid of her civvies in a bathroom stall, Charlie quickly willed her chitin armor on. It formed around her back, shoulders, chest and underbelly, covering all of her sensitive spots. Clenching her hands, her thick pincers protruded from her forearms, the two appendages snapping violently as if channeling her rage. “You guys and I…” she took her sunglasses off, her entirely black eyes almost invisible in the darkness, “…are going to have a serious chat about manners.”
Outside, everyone was with their face and hands to the floor while the masked robbers pilfered their pockets. The plan was going smoothly. “Third floor’s empty,” one of the older robbers said via ear-piece.
“Acknowledged. Move on and help the lower floors, they’re bigger.”
“Move, go downstairs,” the adult robber motioned the younger ones with his weapon, but a racket coming from above made him look up. “What the heck?”
“Ugh, stuck stuck stuck!” cried a voice from inside the ventilation shaft. “I just had to say yes to that cheeseburger!” the whining continued, making the robber smirk as he pulled over a stool and climbed to begin removing the grate.
“I’ll help you down, don’t worry,” before he could bring his arms up, however, a long, segmented tail rushed down and wrapped around his neck. He didn’t have time to grab at it that the extremity forced him into the darkness.
“No, let me help YOU up,” Charlie smirked, squeezing around her prey’s neck as he squirmed, “Go to sleep,” she ordered right before her cheek pouches opened and two big mandibles came out, snapping an inch short of the guy’s face, “Now.”
Shortly afterwards, the muffled sounds in the ventilation ceased, and Charlie silently dropped to the floor. The patrons couldn’t believe their eyes, so she turned to them with a sassy expression on her face, “Cheeseburgers. They always fall for that one,” she said, pointing up at the third floor ventilation.
The dim lighting couldn’t really allow anybody to see what Charlie was, other than she must be a nut wearing a costume. One of the women that saw her actual appearance realized the costume idea worked too realistically and prepared to scream her lungs out, before Charlie knelt down and quickly put a palm over her mouth, “Shh. I know, a friend did my hair. Can you believe it? Now keep it down while I kick some keister.”
Sneaking about the third floor proved fruitless. The rest of the robbers had moved on to the lower floors already. The scorpion pondered moving into the network of ventilation shafts again, but she figured it would take too long. “Have to keep groups as small as possible, and the fewer the shots fired, the better my chances of keeping them from ricocheting and hitting someone.”
Decided on her cunning strategy, Charlie took a deep breath, slid her face-guard off and suddenly screamed at the top of her lungs: “AHH! MONSTER!”
It didn’t take long before a couple of robbers climbed up to the third floor, both flashing lights and pointing their guns. Fortunately for Charlie, only the grown ups had come up. Fortunately for her, they didn’t bother to look up at the ceiling. She dropped between them, then crossed her arms to poke their shoulders to draw their attention before jumping back at the ceiling.
The two gasped and nearly pulled their triggers, “What the hell do you want?” they both asked in unison, “What, you didn’t…?”
“Wow, you could be twins,” said a mischievous voice from above. Both flashlights pointed at the ceiling, where the scorpion was standing upside down, arms folded under her prominent bust. “On that topic, I got a quick physics question that is bothering me: If I knock A down, will B fall too?”
“OPEN FIRE ON THE FREAK!”
The guns went off at the ceiling, piercing holes on the surface just as Charlie had predicted from walking along it. The metamorph bounded off the ceiling with stunning speed and agility, and swept the one to her left off his feet with a quick kick. Before the other robber could react, she palm-thrust her quarry and sent him crashing into his partner, knocking both out instantly. “Well whaddayaknow.”
“Freeze!” commanded a voice from the stairs. Charlie frowned a bit.
“Guys, we’ve been over this, it’s 30 degrees…” the robber opened fire, prompting Charlie to pounce in the direction of a column, “Oh wait, silly me. Spent a few weeks in Asia, stuff you can do when you’re not, like, robbing and stuff?” the robber aimed and began to shoot a barrage of bullets again, all of them absorbed by the concrete fortunately for the hostages. “Okay, okay! It’s 86 degrees in Fahrenheit!” she said as she bounded off and used her momentum to crash into the robber.
Both tumbled over the stairs. Charlie was alright due to her organic armor, but the robber, not so much. He ended up unconscious after they arrived with her on top. “Oh silly you, you didn’t have to point your gun at me just to get my boobs on your face.”
Click. Click click click clicka click.
“Okay, I’m starting to think you all want something from me, but there are better ways to ask!” Charlie straddled her attacker and raised her hands in defense as his four companions all pointed their uzis at her at once, apparently having been in wait for her. “Hey kids,” she said to the minors holding guns, “Shouldn’t you be at home, say, watching cartoons or something? There’s this really good one about a cat and mouse, it’s hilarious let me tell you…”
“God-damnit, shut her up! Whatever she is!” the adult leading them shouted, but the fifteen-something seemed as awe-struck and helpless as he was. Whoever, whatever this thing talking to them was, it had taken out a fourth of their team already! Charlie, already aware of the helplessness they were feeling, decided to take it as an advantage.
“That’s right, kiddies and kiddo in adult’s pants,” she stood up, glaring at them as her pincers and mandibles came out all at once, her tail stinging at the air as it dripped pink liquid that fizzled loudly and fell to the floor where it evaporated with an even louder sizzling sound. “I can be nice, but the Stinger doesn’t hit twice. It’s just once and you’re dead. Do you want to test if I’m bullet-proof, too?” she offered, snapping her pincers threateningly. As expected, three of the four dropped their guns and hurried to hug the floor with their faces. “What about you?” she said to the remaining one. To Charlie’s surprise, the brave one was one of the minors, with his face concealed by both mask and a red hood. His grip and form were wrong, but he was tightly holding onto his gun like a symbol of strength and foolish bravado.
“You don’t scare me none, bug,” the boy said, “I’m gonna pump you full of lead, and I’ll be a man. You’ll see!”
“Cute, but I want to hear more. Surely that’s not your only pick-up line, is it?” Charlie rebutted, making the kid growl with aggravation.
“Grr, shut up! Shut up, just shut up!” he shouted, ready to pull the trigger, when his ear-piece buzzed.
“Team 2, downstairs! The heat is on, we gotta bail! Jamal, bring the guys downstairs! …Jamal?!”
“He’s down,” the boy quietly said, keeping his eyes on Charlie. “The freak got him and the others.”
“Rex?! Get downstairs and bring all you can carry, we’re leaving, now!”
“Freak? Hey, is this what it’s boiled down to? A name calling fight?!” Charlie snapped, taking a step towards the boy in red, but then he pulled his gun to one of the females on the ground. To Charlie’s horror, it was Cassie, who had been brought up along some of the other patrons for better organization. “Cassie…!” she thought, stopping dead in her tracks.
“Maybe you’re bullet-proof, maybe you ain’t,” the teenager cocked his head to the side, “But is she?”
“Look, Rex right? Rex, lower your weapon. She hasn’t done anything to you. You said you were gonna be a man, right? This is between you and me!” Charlie tried.
“It’s not between you and me, it’s between me and the feds. You keep away from me. You don’t, and you’re going to make me a murderer. I may not be a good shot, but there are dozens of targets to pick from.”
Charlie growled, feeling helpless for the first time in the entire night.
Rex slowly stepped downstairs, keeping his sights on any potential target in case the scorpion decided to approach him. When he was a good distance away, Rex joined his partners and vacated. Charlie groaned out of the helplessness of the situation and rushed over to her friend after they were gone. “Hey, are you okay? Did they do anything to you?” she asked, holding by Cassie’s arm, “It’s okay, they’re gone now.”
Cassie looked up, the brunette’s eyes tearful as she looked at her savior, but instantly let out a whimper and went back to hiding. “H-hey, come now, I’m supposed to be one of the good guys!” Charlie tried, but then decided to drop it. She didn’t even want to try to reveal her identity, it would just make things worse for everybody.
Standing up, Charlie looked over at all of the scared patrons. Some of them couldn’t help but avert their gaze away from her. Without their cell phones, even the braver or more obsessed ones couldn’t take pictures, which she thanked God for. Either way, none of them were going to have them take a bow in a row of applause. “J-just stay put, help is coming, I’ll go get the fleeing ones!”
She jumped onto the handrail and slid down on it, kicking off in the direction she saw Rex leave with the others. Charlie trusted the police had probably set a perimeter up already, but she didn’t want to leave anything to chance. Especially that boy, “To them… they did something to them!” she kept thinking, “That boy was ready to blow Cassie’s brains out. I can’t let them run free!”
A blur in the darkness, the scorpion that nearly nobody had seen fight it up with half of the robbers’ team left as unnoticed as she had appeared.
It was thundering ever so loudly outside. The rain had begun to pour down. “We gotta split! Police are everywhere, Rex, you take down that alley. Mordecai, go with Sally, I’ll go the other way. Meet up at Jason’s!”
Rex’s heart was beating fast. His hands were still shaking. Whatever he had just faced off with, he felt stupid. He had threatened to shoot someone, that wasn’t the plan. That wasn’t anybody’s plan. This was supposed to be a clean job, and he had nearly botched it all up. “REX, what are you doing?! SKIP!”
He was greedy. His step-father had always told him he would be nobody. Who was he anyway? He was merely a pencil pusher, regular salary, and nobody. That wasn’t his fate, but neither was this one. Rex knew he was destined for greater things, and he would have none of he got captured. Filled with rage and pain, he hid his tears and began to run for his life, stopping for nothing, not even to check if it was safe. He didn’t know how, but he was running block after block with no police after him. Rex had been lucky, perhaps.
The predator jumping from building to building after him knew he had not been lucky at all.
Eventually, he had to stop to catch his breath. Unlike any other P.E. class where his limits had been tested, he had run for nearly half a mile in less than twenty minutes. Rex panted, taking generous gulps of air, “Chest burning… damnit, I’ve never had to run this much. Didn’t even look where I was going…” he gasped, dragging himself over to the street to catch a sign, anything to tell him where the hell he was. “I know that market. God, I’m so far away from that place…”
The hunter after him knew what place he spoke of. She had to tail him if she hoped to get the ones responsible for this. The sky lit up, which startled the distracted Rex. The boy looked up and by chance, noticed the perched Charlie. “Crap!” he panicked, but then looked away, panting again, “She… she doesn’t know?” he mumbled to himself, then desperately looked for a way, any way, to confuse her. There were another set of alleyways, no, she had followed him this far. He had to move to somewhere with less mobility for his chaser. A warehouse to his right looked promising. Rex had nothing to lose by this point.
As he climbed over the fence, the predator looked intently at his moves. Unaware her quarry was already wise to her chase, she carefully jumped from building to building until she saw him sneaking in through one of the windows on the far right. She thought it odd at first. No alarms? It had to be the place. Charlie was ready to storm it, when suddenly the ear-piece she had taken earlier began to buzz.
“The cops, the cops followed us to Jason’s, damnit! Anyone left? I’m not going to go down like this, not like this! YAAAAHH!” the screams were followed by loud gunfire. Charlie’s eyes widened before she crushed the ear-piece in her hand. Thunder roared after a brief flash of lightning filled the skies. She wasn’t amused as the hunter in her was.
Inside of the warehouse, Rex did his best to scour the place for a hiding spot. Before he could get very far, he had to force himself under one of the mantled tables as he heard a loud crash, it smelled odd, but it had to do. The freak was inside, and she didn’t sound happy. He carefully moved from place to place. This time, there were no quips, no chat, no idle banter. This time, he knew she was mad. Mad at him. Rex had to keep his breath in, he somehow knew that anything, just even the simplest of moves would give him away. He could leave nothing to chance.
She was approaching him. She was going to get him. She was going to turn him over to the cops, then everything his step-father had said about him would become true. Rex didn’t want that, he needed a chance to make a name for himself first! That’s when he noticed it. She wasn’t there anymore. Could she have gotten bored? Given up on him maybe? Legs nowhere to be found, steps couldn’t be heard no matter how much he strained his ears. Had he finally beat her?
He had to know. Rex quietly poked his head out from hiding, unable to find the so called Stinger. He darted his eyes left and right and got rid of his mask for once, to allow himself a greater field of view. “Am… Am I off the hook…?” he asked no one in particular.
“Not even close.” The crisp voice coming from above made him look up just as the sky lit up again. Every window filtered the light inside. Charlie was perched atop the mantled table and the container on top of it, her tail tip almost staring right at him.
“F-fuck! Get away from me!” Rex swung his arm holding his weapon as hard as he could. Charlie bent backwards to avoid the blow and acrobatically spun around, kicking him off his feet. Rex landed on his butt and began to let loose a barrage of bullets that could’ve woken the dead up. In fact, a certain someone in the room was beginning to stir awake once more. Charlie jumped off the container, her feet kicking the mantle off as she began to bounce around, making a display of excellent reflexes and speed to avoid every single incoming bullet. Rex stood up and backed himself to the cage for support and prepared to let loose a final bullet as she stood right in front of him, her eyes piercing his very soul.
“50. Game Over, kid,” Charlie growled, then put a hand on his shoulder gripping tightly. “Give it up. You didn’t get me with a full mag, you’re not going to get me with anything…”
Before Charlie was allowed to finish that sentence though, something came from within the darkness of the cage she had backed the kid to. Something she couldn’t have foreseen. The creature within had been stirred awake. It head-butted its prison in its clumsy path to freedom, which startled the scorpion. That shock was all it needed to tear the weakened padlock holding it closed apart; with Charlie letting go, a scared Rex turned around and shoulder-bumped her away.
Right at that moment when she landed on the ground, her arm outstretched as she tried to grab the kid before whatever was inside that cage got to him, but it was too late. The door flung open and out came the creature, a desperate captive seeking only to be free from its prison. Rex was too slow, the reptile too fast.
But the creature was too weak, as well. It knew that. It knew its origin had not been natural, it knew it did not belong in the world as it was. It had not a lot of time left in the world. Nature would not have something that had been brought to life via synthesis, much else something so unstable. In the end, the creature was forever bond by the shackles of a twisted, cruel existence.
But something had changed in that grand scheme. A new element had appeared in the equation. The boy underneath it, the boy changed it all. It didn’t have to die. The creature did not have to disappear. Its maw opened to reveal rows of sharp teeth. Rex opened his eyes at the wrong time.
“GYAAAAAAAAAAH!” one bite was all it took. A crunch. Violent, swift, almost murderous in intent, if not deadly. Several fangs sunk inside Rex’s neck, tearing through the flimsy fabric of his hoodie, rending skin, flesh and bone without quarter.
In the span of a few seconds, a scene so gratifying to the hunter had become a gruesome display of unfairness. Charlie, unwilling to see this go through anymore, jumped to her feet and rushed over to the oversized animal. “Get off, off! Damnit!” she cursed and pulled. Thanks to her strength, even the creature lost the battle and had to let go. Charlie hurled it aside and held Rex in her arms. “No, no! This can’t be happening…!” she groaned, looking at the unconscious boy’s bleeding neck. Blood was gushing out too fast! “Damnit, at this rate, he’s going to… No. I can get him some help. The Santa Esperanza Hospital ward is five blocks from here. I can make it!! I… I have to!”
Doing her best to apply pressure with available cloth from Rex’s shirt, Charlie covered the wound and began to carry the sixteen year old on her back. “Wait, that creature…” Charlie didn’t want anyone to fall victim of this, whatever it was. She looked over where she had knocked the creature over and saw witnessed a bizarre spectacle: Over the time she had applied first-aid, the creature had caught on fire, and now was slowly vaporizing into nothingness. “That… that’s convenient.”
“Ugh…” came the moans of pain from an almost bled-out adolescent. Charlie’s eyes widened.
“Hospitalherewego!”
-----------
Fortunately, Charlie was able to make it in time. Not wanting to raise a panic, she made sure to yelp for help at the top of her lungs as she arrived and left Rex by the entrance of the hospital before sticking to the walls and crawling over to a safe spot; even the rain couldn’t do much against her powers. The nurses and doctors wasted no time in wheeling their newest patient in. Charlie cared little about her run-in with criminals either, this boy needed attention; she was just glad she had apparently made it on time; all she wanted was for the boy to receive proper treatment.
She followed them by peering into any window that allowed her to see him being wheeled around the complex until he was left in a room. Operation went under away almost immediately. Charlie sighed in relief and wearily put a hand over her forehead. “That was so close… so damn close. Why the heck do I have to be like this? I should’ve just grabbed him and come out, turn him over to the authorities. But no, I have to play big fucking hero and get the kid nearly killed!” she lamented, truly embarrassed and angry at the same time. “Ngh… hope he has parents. I don’t think most of those kids back there did. Back there… crap! Cassie and the others!”
Quickly, Charlie got her cellphone out and dialed Cassie’s phone number. “Cassie, Cassie! You guys alright?”
“Charlie, oh my god I’ve been calling you for ages. Where are you? We were so worried!” Cassie sounded as sad as Charlie could almost see her being.
“O-oh, uhh… y’see, I was actually stuck in the girl’s bathroom all that while. A team made it in and got me out before they went in for the big groups. They sent me on their way…”
“Oh god, god… you’re alright, thank god,” Cassie repeated, truly horrified from the earlier events. “I thought the robbers, or… or maybe the monster had kidnapped you.”
“Monster…?” Charlie frowned in disappointment.
“Yeah! There was a horrible monster back at the club, I’m glad you didn’t see it. I think it was aiding the robbers; I was so scared, I can’t believe there are things like that out there! Hope you’re at home, I don’t think I’m leaving mine anytime soon! I’ll talk to you tomorrow and let the girls know you’re okay, alright? See you soon!”
Click.
Inside Rex’s operating room, a miracle seemingly had occurred. The doctors hadn’t been able to begin surgery that the patient’s wound had already mended. “What is this?” the head surgeon growled, “What nurse filed this report? This patient doesn’t have a deep bite mark on his neck; sure, there’s a lot of blood but otherwise he’s clean as a whistle!”
“He’s still unconscious, though,” one of his aides spoke, steadily monitoring the heart rate with the equipment beside the unconscious teenager.
“Kid seems to have gone through a lot. Just keep his vitals stable and notify me if anything out of the ordinary happens. I have to go have a chat with the nurse. We have enough emergency cases as it is!” One by one, the specialists left.
She looked at the emptiness of her screen. “But… Cassie…” defeated, Charlie let her head hung under the rain. Saddened, she looked at her cellphone and clutched it firmly in her grip, but not too roughly. She had broken enough things for the day. “Monsters, they… they don’t exist.”
Back in Rex’s empty room, the beeping of the pulse oximeter had begun to run wild. His body was stirring, his fingers twitching. At one point, they snapped together, and a spark lit up like a firecracker from the tip of his digits.
-----------
“Good morning, cielo.”
“Consuelo? Best hospital wake up call ever,” Monty Richards was usually cranky to every and all nurses that walked in his room, but he always had a smile for his wife.
Consuelo giggled, “Tonto. Stop treating nurses badly, okay? They’re just looking out for you.”
“Yeah yeah. Speak to the doctor yet? Those young girls won’t let me. I can go home soon right?”
“Not quite, Monty. But I have some good news, guess who is in town?”
“Please don’t tell me it’s Ozzy Osbourne or I’m definitely staying under covers.”
“Charlotte is. Honey, she said she’s going to pay you a visit soon.”
“Really? But wasn’t she busy with a job all the way out in China or something? I swear, that girl should’ve just stayed here and worked the family business.”
Consuelo laughed heartily and handed her husband a mug with green tea. “Her job in south Korea ended months ago, querido. And I doubt mining is a job for a frail girl like her. I’m happy they had the sense to give her desk work, it’s a lot less risky.”
“Desk work? You mean she’s a pencil pusher now?” Monty seemed especially flustered.
“Monty, we’ve talked about this before. You couldn’t hold Charlotte down when she joined Interpol for those dangerous missions, I doubt you’ll be able to hold her down now. So don’t criticize her job when she comes to visit, entiendes?”
“Fine, fine, just don’t make a federal case out of it. She’ll probably have more papers to push that way, hah.”
“She’s Interpol, honey, not FBI.”
“Whatever, all’s the same. Now please tell me you snuck in some pancakes; I swear if this lung infection doesn’t kill me, the hospital food will!”
“Hehe. I brought you some in a Tupperware, but no syrup, and diet butter. Eat them quick; I’m going to check up on your daughter, she said she’d come today.”
Happy with his ‘healthy’ pancakes, Monty went through his little relief while his wife quietly exited his room, where she wasn’t allowed to make calls. One in the hallway, she dialed Charlie’s number.
“Mom?” yawned a drowsy voice through the speaker, “It’s seven in the morning, and it’s Saturday… Give me five more minutes?”
“Charlotte, you sound terrible. Did you spend the night outside?”
“Nope.” Charlie had to lie about it; she actually had nowhere to stay in for the night, so she had to spend all the night at the roof of the hospital, under cover. “So how are you?”
“I’m fine. Your father woke up with a smile for a change,” Consuelo giggled, “When are you coming, hija? I already told him you were coming.”
“Y-you did, huh. Uh, mom, see, last night something happened and I can’t…”
“Charlotte? Your voice’s trembling. Oh my, you were out with your friends last night weren’t you? You weren’t involved in the…”
“Yes,” Charlie interrupted, “But I’m okay. So are Sarah, Julia and Cassie. Seems like the police showed up at the right time. I actually was one of the first to get saved.”
“Gracias a dios… I can’t believe how dangerous the neighborhood has become. So many terrible criminals are loose, I wish the law would get to work! Hmm, are you sure you’re okay, Charlotte?”
“Yeah, guess I’ve gotten sorta sloppy with my training.”
“Nonsense. You’re on your day off, they can’t expect you to always give your all. Now how about paying a visit to your dear father? El pobrecito esta esperandote…”
“Lo se, yo tambien quiero verlo,” Charlie responded slowly, though her Spanish was less articulate even with the simplest of phrases. “Mom, actually, there’s something I…”
KRA-KOOOM! Suddenly, the entire building shook violently. “Dios santo!” Consuelo’s voice resonated through the phone, Charlie almost lost her footing. “Mom?! Are you in…” her eyes went wide, she realized this was no coincidence. Whatever had just gone off, they were in the same building: Santa Esperanza Hospital. “…are you okay?!” she instantly yelped. “I heard an explosion from here!”
“There’s smoke everywhere, hay dios, hay dios! Monty!”
“Mom! Talk to me, what’s…” she stopped as she heard static, the phone must’ve been dropped. “Damnit!” Charlie jumped off her cover and ran around the hospital’s roof access. She charged through the door, uncaring of the consequences.
-------------
“Hahahaha, AH-HAHAHA!” wicked laughter combined with the thick smoke coming from Rex’s room. A silhouette inside was flailing its arms wildly as the fire spread further, eating away at every wall and surface it could reach. Rex was back up, and he seemed happy about it. “Oh, oh man, is this sweet or what?! I feel… I feel so good, so great, so damn strong!” he roared triumphantly as his hands tore through the thick smokescreen and revealed his entire form had caught on fire.
“D-Doctor, what do we do? This is unprecedented!” the nurse was hiding behind the surgeon in charge of Rex. The poor doctor wasn’t in the mood to argue with the nurse this time.
“S-son, you have to stop this madness! You’re going to set the entire building on fire at this rate!”
“Oh yes, I can do that if I want, can’t I?” Rex grinned, fists clenching as he lifted his right arm. Looking up, he focused and suddenly projected flame directly at the ceiling, melting a hole clean through. “I can do whatever I want, and you, no, nobody can stop me!”
The firefighter department’s siren began blaring, and in no time the firefighting team arrived with no less than a dozen professionals. The fire had been reported as unprecedented after all. “Did you call those chumps just for little old me? Good, I have to give these sweet powers a try!” Rex laughed, approaching his window before he blasted it right off with a concentrated burst of fire right before jumping off and landing with the falling concrete as a platform to cushion his descent. “You came to battle the fire, right guys?”
As Rex approached, the firefighting team aimed their hoses in defense at him. “Thompson, what the hell is this? Is that guy suffering or am I just seeing things, ‘cause I swear he’s smirking and taunting at us!”
“I don’t care if he’s a fired comedian or insane, put him out! We have a hospital to save!” Garret Thompson yelled, directing his team with loud and clear orders.
“You don’t understand, do you?” Rex chuckled, then smirked again, then burst out into maniacal laughter, “Well that’s fine. Let’s see how you deal with things when the FIRE battles BACK!” he yelled, hurling a ball of fire at the hoses the two designated firefighters had been aiming at him. The nozzles melting almost instantly, they became clogged, and the pressure caused the hoses to explode, sending rain down over the parking lot. Rex smiled as the rain simply evaporated on his flaming body, lifting a thick cloud of steam.
“Look, it’s putting him out! Did he just trounce himself?” one of the firefighters asked, but Thompson was a lot less optimistic.
“Duck!” Garret yelled as he tackled his partner to save him from another incoming fireball, which impacted a car and caused it to explode.
As the steam cleared, the human of flame walked forwards wearing his best arrogant smirk. “Water’s so overrated, isn’t it?”
Garret grit his teeth, “I hate Saturday mornings.”
------------
“Dad! Mom! Where are you?!” Charlie yelled through the smoke, running past swiftly as she thoroughly checked room after room, “C’mon, pick up, pick up! MOM!” she screamed at her cellphone, until eventually a weak voice came through.
“Ch-Charlotte… hija…” Consuelo was doing her best to speak, but was coughing.
“Mom, where are you? What room are you in?!” Charlie desperately barked at the phone, careful not to squeeze is into scrap metal.
“We’re… we’re in 3C…”
“Mom? Mom don’t you go unconscious on me, MOM!” the scorpion yelled out loud as she kicked into a mad dash. Fortunately, most of the patients and staff had already made it out by now; most of the screams were coming from outside. Once she was down to the third floor, Charlie began to search every room; most of them had been buried under flaming rubble, and then she discovered why Consuelo had been talking from her dad’s room instead of having evacuated with everybody else. The fourth floor had caved in after the fire had eaten at it, causing equipment to fall through and block the entrance, and in Consuelo and Monty’s case, their only exit.
“Hang on! I’m coming in!” Charlie shouted, literally charging through the debris, which shattered apart thanks to her bestial strength. Fortunately, her armor coating was enough to hold back some of the infernal heat that was consuming it all inside the room. Eyes wide, Charlie stopped as she realized there was the family she hadn’t seen for months, trapped in a fire.
Consuelo was kneeling by the bed with her head on Monty’s chest, hands over his body as if she was protecting him with her own life. Thanks to Monty’s weak lungs, the smoke had knocked him out first. Charlie couldn’t help but let herself cry. “Why did this happen?!” she screamed, but fought her uncertainties and braved the hot flames to approach her unconscious parents. Once she was next to them, she grabbed both under her arms, which was no problem thanks to her scorpion strength.
Approaching the window, Charlie opted for a fast exit. “YAAAH!” she shouted, spinning and striking at the wall with her tail. Demolished, a hole opened to make her exit. After she was sure they both were safe under her arms, Charlie jumped out.
She landed without a hitch, then without even caring about her appearance anymore she rushed around the corner. The smoke was still thick, the heat was unbearable, her body ached from the minor burns along her body; it would’ve been a lot worse without her chitin exoskeleton. “Please help! These two have inhaled a lot of smoke!” she helplessly screamed at the coated men near the stretchers; she guessed the medics had to move out all the patients they could.
“Oh my lord, what manner of creature…?”
“It doesn’t matter! Please help them! They’re… they’re really important to me!” Charlie whimpered helplessly. The doctor looked over her again, but then straightened himself.
“It’s okay. I’m sorry, please come over here and put them on these stretchers, quick!”
Charlie nodded and hurried to the stretchers and gently, with the aid of the doctor and a frightened nurse, put Monty and Consuelo atop the makeshift beds for treatment. “Please, you have to save them doctor. My fa- this man has a condition! I don’t know how breathing the smoke might’ve affected him!”
“Give me some room, you’ve already done your part!” the doctor said to the worried scorpion, “Now please, you’re upsetting my colleagues. I promise we will do our best to save them!”
Saddened, but understanding the situation, Charlie nodded and jumped at the hospital wall, then began to crawl up to the second floor.
“What are you doing?! The building’s about to collapse!”
“You said I’ve done my part, but that’s not nearly enough,” Charlie rebutted, “Something’s keeping the firefighters; if we wait anymore, then there won’t be anyone else to save, like them!” With that, she punched a window open and threw herself in.
“You’re crazy!” the doctor yelled with worry.
“You have no idea,” Charlie mumbled to herself as she began to scour the second floor for more helpless victims.
----------
“Holy shit, you guys are pussies. Bravest men in Phoenix my ass, look at you run away like ants out of a burning anthill!” The living flame boomed with laughter as he hurled fireball after fireball, “Dance, dance, dance!” his hysterical laughter was proving to be more irritating than anything.
“Damnit!” Thompson rolled away from the blasts, “Enough!” he growled, patience gone. “You guys, go around us, you have to get inside the hospital no matter what! I’ll take him!”
“Are you nuts? This isn’t football Thomspon, you’re gonna get burned, literally!”
“Just go! There’s no time to argue!” Garret wasn’t going to wait any longer. He got rid of his impermeable clothes and reached for a hose, before evading another incoming fireball. He pointed the hose at himself and began to douse his body in water.
“Really? I’m fighting wet pussies now?” Rex grinned, bouncing fireballs in his palms like toys.
“I’m going to make you eat your words about the Firemen Department, junior,” Thompson narrowed his eyes, ready to attack. The final word seemed to have touched a sensitive spot for Rex, who growled and combined both fireballs into a bigger one.
“You’re gonna regret sending off your groupies, homes.”
---------
“Everyone okay?!” The fireman leading the rest of the group asked the doctors, “How many more are still inside?”
“Glad you people showed up. We have at least five more people trapped inside! Also, a giant talking scorpion showed up and went inside!”
“A… what? Oh this day just keeps getting better and better. First that fire freak, and now a giant scorpion?”
“No, you don’t understand, the scorpion is an ally. She’s trying to help!”
“Well, I’m not going to say no to that. You heard the man!” the firefighter yelled to his team, “We go in, we’re looking for at least five people! Go go go!”
“Man, what the hell caused a fire this big?!” Charlie groaned as she used her amazing strength to move piles of rubble and debris to check the patient rooms. Fortunately, the evacuation had been thorough and organized for the most part. “Second floor’s clear… I’m sure. Better go down and… Huh?!”
Charlie blinked her eyes. She thought perhaps her mask hadn’t allowed her to breathe through the smoke as well as she had always believed, but as she approached one of the windows peering out at the parking lot she noticed it. “That… that guy… that guy’s fighting the fire. No, he’s literally fighting it!” she gasped, “What the hell is going on here?!”
“Yeah, was going to ask you the same.”
“AHH!” Charlie almost jumped out of her skin.
“So the doctor down there wasn’t nuts. Brave thing you’re doing here. You aren’t going to eat us though, are you?” the fireman smiled.
Charlie shook her head, “I’m here to help. What’s going on out there though?”
“Hell if I know. We were told one of the recent patient’s room caught on fire and it spread to the rest of the building fast, almost too fast. Then we arrive and next thing we know, that guy’s throwing fireballs at us like it was going out of style.”
“That’s… that’s a person?!” Charlie’s eyes widened.
“Yeah, and he doesn’t like the firefighter department it seems; hard to believe eh?” the fireman allowed himself a small laugh; it was very hard to continue otherwise. “Our Captain’s fighting ‘em. Let us come here to help rescue the remaining patients and staff.”
“You don’t mind if I step out to help him, do you?”
“Was kinda hoping you did. Maybe he’ll understand you, since you’re two are well, ah…”
“Thanks,” Charlie boldly interrupted without even making eye contact. “Good luck. And… you’re the brave ones. Keep up the good work!” she waved and ran to the window, then braced herself as she burst out with a jump.
“We got them all, Smith! Was that the scorpion the doctor was talking about?”
“Hell, Jimmy. Never seen a scorpion working double Ds before. Let’s just hope she’s luckier than us against that freak!”
-----------
Thompson wasn’t going to last much longer. He had been keeping a steady combo of dashes and leaps to evade the incoming projectiles, but his stamina wasn’t going to hold for much longer. Rex seemed to be enjoying his little game though. “Oh man, glad I didn’t burn your hose, c’mon! Douse yourself, have a drink, I got all day man!” he laughed.
“What’s so funny, you freak?! Haven’t got to be a genius to be able to tell you’re the one that set that hospital on fire! What did they ever do to you?!” Thompson yelled, but took a bit of time to douse himself again, keeping himself moist and cold.
“It’s not what they did to me. It’s what they were going to do after they found out I had no money. Plus these buildings are insured, aren’t they? Let’s just say this is my way of saying… thank you for having me around,” Rex grinned.
Thompson wasn’t going to be able to take this much longer, “You’re insane! A menace!”
“And explosive, and hot. Like a Firecracker… Hey, Fire Cracker? I like that.”
“Hey, let me introduce you to my little friend!” a cry caught Fire Cracker’s attention before he turned around. He widened his eyes as a blur rushed him faster than he was able to tell, and before he knew it the figure stopped in front of him, made a split, and punched his groin.
Thompson winced and averted his gaze as Charlie grinned under her mask and sweetly said: “The Nut Cracker.”
Fire Cracker doubled over and winced, holding by his crotch in sheer pain. “Ahhh! Ohh fuck, you bitch!” he screamed. Satisfied, Charlie stood up and dusted her hands off.
“Teach you to set fire to a hospital, asshole,” the scorpion groaned a bit, waving her singed hand a bit. “Oww, burn.”
“Charlie?” Thompson slowly blinked his eyes open, his vision slightly blurry thanks to the dripping water and sweat from his forehead. The silhouette in front of the momentarily pacified Fire Cracker was very familiar.
Charlie’s eyes widened in surprise, then she looked at the fireman captain and nearly froze. “Wh-wha, Garret?!” flustered, Charlie’s cheeks began to flush full of color. “I mean uh- Nice saving you from danger, brave stranger I couldn’t possibly know!” she said looking elsewhere while giving the captain a thumbs up.
“Is it over?” Thompson asked with a small wince as he was panting from the heat and exhaustion. “Look out!” Charlie blinked a bit and looked down, but then to her surprise, Fire Cracker made a sudden recovery and grabbed her by the ankles, singing her hardened skin.
“Ahh! Let go!” she shouted as the pain made her lose her balance, which Fire Cracker used to sweep her down to her butt before he jumped on top and tightly hugged his flaming body around her.
“You’re the Stinger, aren’t you?” Fire Cracker panted, still hurting but otherwise mobile. “Guess it’s you I have to thank for these awesome powers. Let me to teach you how to cook Charred Scorpion!” he laughed, tightening his grip as Charlie moaned out from pain.
“HEY, FREAK!”
“Huh?” Fire Cracker looked back to meet face to face with a water nozzle. Thompson knew this wasn’t going to be near enough, but he had to buy Stinger some time!
“Kitchen’s got a leak here!” the brave firefighter shouted as he pulled on the nozzle and let out a highly pressurized torrent of water that literally smacked Fire Cracker across the face. Unfortunately, even the hose’s output lost against his flaming body as the water evaporated too quick to hit with its intended strength. Fire Cracker growled, but then he stopped as he felt a prick followed by sharp pain.
“GAH!” the villain screamed out loudly, turning his head to be greeted by the tip of Charlie’s tail, its stinger embedded on neck. He could feel liquid being pumped inside of him. His body quickly became numb, his skin returning to normal as the fire died out.
Charlie felt the release in his bear hug and gave one last groan before pushing him off her singed body. “That was… that was reckless of you, stranger,” Charlie gasped as she looked up at a smiling Garret; he was so handsome.
The red-headed firefighter knelt down and offered Charlie a hand. “Hey, right back at you. Not even I am crazy enough to give a freak like this a ballbuster,” he laughed a bit.
Charlie giggled back and stood up, dusting herself off as she looked directly into the Garret’s eyes. “You know he was asking for it, right?”
“I wasn’t complaining,” Thompson looked down at the boy, then his eyes went wide as plates, “What the heck?!”
Charlie looked down at Fire Cracker, but her eyes grew wide for a different reason. This boy, the so called Fire Cracker. He was Rex, the kid she had brought in the night before! A lot of conflicting emotions suddenly swept Charlie away. Rage was one of them, what an ingrate! But how had he come to possess such power? The conclusion was that weird creature that had bit him, which had combusted, probably had had to do with it. If that was the case, then Charlie, in her carelessness, had been partly responsible for this! No, she was definitely responsible for what had happened. “The bite, the power, it’s all my fault. He probably went nuts because of it, damnit!” she cursed herself, holding by the side of her head.
“Something’s happening to him!” Thompson yelped again, then Charlie noticed something beside the recognizable face. Rex’s body was red, crimson red. Not even a badly sunburnt bad was supposed to look like that. “What’s…?” Thompson gently approached and knelt down to try to touch the boy, but his hands couldn’t get near enough to touch that red skin that he hissed in pain. “It burned me!”
Charlie was helpless, and couldn’t stop staring at Rex. The boy was starting to get back up on his feet. But that wasn’t possible; the scorpion’s neurotoxin had to keep him paralyzed for at least a few hours! Then she noticed his neck’s wound had healed again and not just that, his neck was full of little flakes, hard little flakes. “He’s… he’s growing scales!”
As Rex stood up, he suddenly let out a painful roar as he arched over. His tailbone had begun to stretch and grow longer and longer, covered in thick flesh that was quickly growing the same red scales on his back. Sharp spikes began to protrude alongside the growing tail, running all the way up to his spine and finishing at the base of his neck.
“No, no, this can’t be happening!” Charlie stood up and tried to reach over to Rex, but the heat he was emanating was like a barrier! It was unlike anything she’d ever felt before.
Rex was on similar grounds, feeling sensations alien to him. His tail twitched and swished about, knocking Thompson away, with Charlie going after him in concern. “Ugh! What the hell’s happening to him, why did he grow a tail?”
“He’s transforming, he was bitten by something, a huge iguana with fire powers. I think… I think he’s turning into one himself!” Charlie said, horrified. This wasn’t the first time she’d witnessed such a change in human beings, with herself having gone through a very similar scenario in the past, but she could never get used to it.
Meanwhile, Rex had finished growing his appendage and the rest of his back had completely grown scales, the skin now thick and armored. His muscles had begun to gain some definition, most noticeably in his triceps and lats, his shoulders broadening to support his bigger, stronger arms. Fingers curled and grew tougher, sharper nails that took on claw-like appearance. His toes went through the same changes as his legs lengthened, allowing him greater height. Once a runt under 6 feet, Rex quickly amounted inch after inch until he stood two full inches taller than Charlie herself!
He held by his head as he leaned forwards, his muscles growing some more as he swelled thicker and fitter, with a swimmer’s build bordering on lean body-builder. Rex’s face was next; bone was stretching, his skull was reshaping. It hurt at first, but his brain quickly absorbed the pain, spreading the very same tingling sensation that allowed him to feel the rush of power from earlier. Rex let out a moan of satisfaction as his face lengthened and his teeth became sharp fangs that decorated his new muzzle, his human vestiges all but gone, replaced by a red salamander’s muzzle. His ears had become internal, his eyes’ pupils had become intense, black slits, and his nose had melted down, leaving only a couple of round crevices on his snout. With his transformation complete, the rush finally came to a stop.
Rex was left trembling on his spot, holding his new claws in disbelief, staring at their new shapes in fear. “What…? What happened? What happened to me?!” he smashed the ground with his new tail, cracking the hard concrete. His fists clenched, burning with renewed fire. Rex’s body didn’t catch on fire this time, but his control over the element had not dwindled at all.
Charlie quickly stood in front of Thompson to protect him, which alerted the salamander. He turned around, revealing his muscled front. His chest and abdominal section, as well as his underbelly were a bright yellow instead of red. Set on the scorpion female, the villain’s eyes narrowed, “YOU!”
Like a madman, or rather, a mad lizard, Rex stomped forwards, holding his claws out at her, “You did this to me!” he yelled, making Charlie wince and narrow her eyes. “You changed me into this, this monster…! You undo it right now! What are you doing, undo it! Make me like before, god-damnit!” he roared.
Charlie, for once, was left speechless. Rex continued to approach, but then he stopped as the firefighter captain stood in front of Charlie, surprising both. Thompson glared at Rex, “You don’t get to make demands, kid. Get off your fucking high horse.”
“What?!”
“I don’t know what story you two have, but she’s the one that came to stop you while you were burning down a hospital,” Garret grit his teeth and pointed at the fire reptile, “In my book, that makes you the bad guy. Far as I’m concerned, you did this to yourself!”
“Shut up! I’m going to burn you down to a crisp!” Rex growled, “I’m going to burn everyone, everyone’s gonna burn, y’hear me?! EVERYONE!”
“No.” Charlie stood beside Garret; she was glaring right at Rex as well now. “You’re not going to burn anybody anymore. You want a cure for that? You got to stop. Turn yourself in, we can get you help!”
“Help? You don’t want to get me help; you want to put me away. You think I’m stupid or somethin’?!” Fire Cracker snarled. Charlie prepared herself.
“You know the answer to that one,” the scorpion hissed, “If you don’t stop, then I swear to you, Rex, I’m going to stop you.”
“You? Stop ME? You can’t stop me! Your tricks don’t work on me, bug!” Fire Cracker laughed hysterically.
“Maybe, but I’m sure as hell I’m gonna try.”
“Grrr… BURN IN HELL!” With a scream, the super-villain hurled a fast fireball at Charlie, who pushed Thompson off before she jumped off to the lot’s fence.
“Right here, buster! Don’t tell me I got a small target on me, ‘cause I’m not gonna believe you!” the scorpion teased, shaking her buns at him provokingly.
“You’re gonna regret making me mad. Nobody angers Fire Cracker and lives to tell the tale!”
“Bo-oring! Hey, did that name occur to you because of girls?” Charlie jumped off towards a building to avoid an incoming fireball and quickly crawled up to its roof. She took in a generous gulp of air and slid her mask off before she yelled: “Because a firecracker’s only a few seconds of fun, didja know?!”
Blushing, the reptile had had enough. “I’m going to eviscerate you!!” he shouted, rushing through the fence, the flimsy metal melting as he blasted it. Approaching the building, he quickly began to scale it using his powerful claws. Sure of her strategy, Charlie dashed off while Fire Cracker gave chase.
“STOP RUNNING SO I CAN KILL YOU!”
“What? And interrupt this excellent cardio? C’mon, you could stand to lose a few pounds, right?”
“SHUT UP AND STAND STILL!”
“Damn, he’s fast, maybe as fast as I am!” Charlie thought as she jumped from rooftop to rooftop, avoiding all the fireballs that fortunately dissipated in the air after they flew for too long. “At least he’s far away from causing anymore harm to innocents. But now… how DO I stop him?!”
Enraged, the salamander continued his assault by launching volley after volley of piping hot flames at his opponent. He went at it for so long that he didn’t notice his attacks were starting to lose potency and speed, and that he was starting to slow down himself.
“What’s this? He CAN get tired!” Charlie deduced almost instantly after she noticed the break she was getting. “Alright, now I just need a way to stop him for good, while he’s weak… Water doesn’t seem to work. But he’s a lizard now, lizards don’t like cold! That’s it!”
“Stop… ahh… stop running!” Fire Cracker panted, hurling tiny sparks of fire by now. “You… ahh… I’ll burn you…!”
Charlie skidded to a halt and turned around. She had to hide the fact the long runs and jumps had drained some of her stamina, “C’mon handsome, it’s a few more minutes. Don’t tell me you’re already SPENT?”
“RAWR!” Fire Cracker let out a dangerous roar and pounced forwards, then kicked himself towards Charlie, tackling her over the edge.
“Okay, maybe I should quit it with the innuendos…!” gasping, the heroine tried to get the reptilian off herself, but then they crashed past a skylight and into a deserted building. As they impacted, Charlie managed to kick the salamander off of herself. Fortunately, her scorpion strength and chitin armor had cushioned most of the landing, but in her weak state, it had done some damage to her. Holding by her mid-section, she panted and looked at Fire Cracker with a growl. “So, you still got some fight in you, huh…?”
As he got up, Fire Cracker smirked, “That’s my line. You’re getting sloppy, Stinger.”
“Don’t be so sure, we’re exactly where I want you,” Charlie thought, narrowing her eyes. She wasn’t sure if he had noticed, but the building they had crashed into was the same where the creature had bit Rex earlier. If they had stashed such a dangerous creature in the building, there was sure to be a counter-measure for it somewhere! “Let’s dance,” she adopted a battle stance and let her pincers out, which she used to beckon.
“You’re stupid, really stupid. You got the advantage outside when I’m chasing you, but you got nowhere to run inside here! You’re toast!”
“Toast? Why can’t I be cereal? Or wait, can I be a graham cracker instead? I really like s’mores. Do you like s’mores?” Charlie jumped over Fire Cracker, and after a spinning somersault kicked his back, sending him flying into a wall. “No biting by the way.”
“Nngh! Where the hell do you get so much strength from? You’re smaller than me!”
“I’m a scorpion, did you pay attention to your biology lessons? I’ve got the proportional strength to, I dunno, lift a couple of trailers above my head?” she grinned.
“Shut up! You’re nothing more than a bug and I’m going to squash you like one!” Fire Cracker groaned, getting up to his feet before attempting to tackle Charlie again; this time, she jumped and stuck to the ceiling.
“Wrong, I’m an arachnid. Guess that answers my question. You’re not very smart, are you? Did you flunk a grade, or two?”
“RRRRAAAAAH!” the villain’s anger was reaching its limits. He was flailing his arms, trying to get them to catch on fire, while his tail smacked the chairs and tables around him. Meanwhile, Charlie looked around for anything she could use, until she was able to notice a canister of specialized cooler. That’s what she needed.
“Soft spot? Aww, poor widdle lizawd. Want me to be your study partner? I’m kinda good at maths. One!” she jumped off her perch and landed a good kick across Fire Cracker’s face, sending him spinning onto a table. She quickly followed that up with a swift one two to his kidneys, “Two!” then she spun around and hit him square with a round-house kick, “Three!”
As she sent the powerful villain flying into a wall, she rushed over to the box she had noticed earlier and quickly extracted a canister of the spray-type coolant she needed. “Lesson’s over,” she said, using her pincer to gash the container before she threw it at Fire Cracker.
Jumping away before he tried to set her on fire, the canister exposed to the immense heat emanating from Fire Cracker caused a big explosion.
When the gas cleared, Charlie poked her head out from under a table and looked at the result of her plan. “Reptiles are cold-blooded, and they go to hibernation if their body temperature decreases,” she resumed in her head, reminding her early biology lessons, “Guess I’m a boring teacher. Don’t blame ya, kiddo.”
Unable to fight his natural weakness, Rex had fallen into a deep slumber, his body too cold to keep his energies up, much less produce the necessary fire to heat up.
--------------
I had to call Jim immediately. These were the cases we worked for in tag with Interpol after all. He isn’t a normal reptile, I don’t know how long this state will hold up, but I told Jim to get this guy to a special holding cell. If there’s anything I learned today about this, is that guys can get really sensitive about their bits if you speak bad about them.
Had to contact his parents. It was a phone talk, but I had to at least let them know what had gone on. It had to be me, too, because I wouldn’t have anyone else take responsibility for what had happened to Redd Phillips. His mother was out, so I spoke to his alleged step-father; it was a short chat. He was drunk, and he used so many insults, and so few of them had to do with Redd being a super-powered criminal now that I hung up in five minutes.
On the parent thing for my side, well… Mom and dad were both tended to immediately. Fortunately, I had gotten them both out in time before any serious damage to their lungs was done. Dad will have to spend some more weeks in the hospital for rehab, but mom will come out sooner. I’m not sure I’m ready to tell them they nearly got killed in a fire caused by a giant salamander I helped create. Or that I’ve a six foot long tail.
One thing is for sure… my superiors aren’t going to be happy about this. They’d done a good job hiding the existence of metamorphs so far. It’s all going to get a lot more complicated from now on. There’s just one thing I keep thinking to myself.
Where did that salamander that bit Redd come from…?
-------------
Los Angeles, California. S.M.S.P. (Specialized Maximum Security Prison)
“Roll him in quietly. Better if he doesn’t wake up,” a guard instructed as they rolled in Fire Cracker within a fully oxygenated chamber constantly kept at a low temperature. “Whatever this kid went through, I’m sure it didn’t warrant him going psycho and burning down that hospital.”
“Sick though. Fire powers? Sign me up.”
“Looking like a lizard? You kiddin’ me?”
“Heh, yeah, but would be awesome to control fire anyways, right?”
“Keep to your comic books, pal. Now roll him in.”
As they passed by the chambers, a pair of sensitive ears picked up the conversation in great detail. Harmless as this ability was, it provided no end of satisfaction to the prisoner within the ultra-sonics rigged holding cell. Blonde and nine feet tall, her graceful beauty incomparable; a silver bat metamorph known as Omega. “Firre Crracker? Dah, he will do.”
The End.
