Prayer into the Dark (mantis girl t/f)

[DragonMasterX]

Hi folks! With my metamorph series Codename: Stinger having finished its first season (You can find the extra non-process episodes in my FA), I can now begin planning the second! But meanwhile, I decided to pour some creativity out in the form of an all-new tale of drama, action and sci-fi goodness to fill up the cravings of anybody who's ever wanted to see a young girl transform into an all-kinds-of-kickass praying mantis metamorph... WITH PLOT!

Sit back and enjoy the ride. Here's hoping you'll enjoy it.

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Prayer into the Dark, by DragonMasterX.

Part 1.

June, 1999.

Darkness spread like an endless mantle covering all before her eyes. Nothingness was absolute. Muffled words turned to incomprehensible mutters as her head rung with the pain of a thousand needles embedded into her head. She could not see, she could not properly hear; everything hurt. The horrible feeling of loneliness merged with fear and uncertainty to create a unique breed of despair that her mind could simply not mitigate. She was lost to an eternity of recurring pain.

If at any point her thoughts deviated to the kind of person she used to be, they instantly diluted from the pounding in her head and the stinging of every square inch on her body. Whatever her memories had been composed of mattered little to the physical and psychological damage. One of the few things she had been able to feel were those memories coming undone like a sweater whose thread was being constantly pulled away. Whatever she had been before this point, it was all gone.

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“She’s flat-lining again! We’re going to resuscitate. Stop the procedure!” one of the surgeons cried as the electrocardiogram emitted a drawn-out beep, prompting those present in the operating room to take action.

“Damnit!” Doctor Everett frowned as he quickly pulled back, clinching his forceps around a bloodied membrane which he threw into a tray out of frustration. His assistants handed him defibrillating pads whose voltage he adjusted: “CLEAR!” he shouted. The body on the bed violently shook, but the EKG’s beeping came unchanged. “Again! CLEAR!” The second defibrillation was successful, and the readings returned to normal. One of the nurses took the pads off Dr. Everett’s hands while another used a towel to clean the sweat off his brow.

“Doctor Everett,” his assisting surgeon shook his head with a frown, “I’m afraid it’s too dangerous to continue. There is so much we can do about this patient.”

“That’s the point, Rodriguez. We haven’t been able to do ANYTHING about this patient. I can’t give up on her.”

Rodriguez looked between his partner and the operating table. There lay a sight too revolting for words. A young woman’s body, covered head to toe in serious burns, any identifiable visage gone from a once human form. “She was brought in at the verge of death. As a doctor, no matter how I look at it, I can’t reason out how she still is alive. The burns cover all of her body.”

“I know.”

“The sub-cutaneous burns have torn muscle tissue beyond repair and made it impossible for blood to flow properly due to internal hemorrhage. The only reason she’s still breathing is because we were able to treat those internal wounds, Doctor.”

“I know! But…” Dr. Everett bit down on his teeth, straining his mask, “Nothing we do about the chemical burns will work.”

Rodriguez nodded with a sullen expression. The nurses assisted both of them to carry the patient out of the operating room, constantly checking on the stabilizer fluid and the EKG. “Transplanting skin grafts hasn’t been effectual. We’ve tried three times so far, and each time her body rejected the treatment. Her vitals are too unstable to work with this procedure.”

“Tell me something I don’t know, Rodriguez,” Dr. Everett sighed, his restless baggy eyes never taking off the sight of his disfigured, comatose patient. “I had hope that maybe by treating her injuries, both external and internal, she would wake up. She’s so young. Can’t be a year older than 16. They brought her in like this, no identification, probably burnt, no way to physically identify her.”

“Just what kind of life did she have?” Rodriguez intercepted as they put the unconscious form of the young girl on her bed.

“And will she ever be able to go back to it?” Dr. Everett sat next to the severe burn victim. “It’s a miracle she survived. Hell, that she still is with us. Damnit Rodriguez, she looks like fire victim from the morgue more than a patient!”

“I know, doctor.” The intern groaned as the nurses left. He sat down to the other side of the bed to confront their inevitable reality. “But even if her body has somehow been able to handle all the physical damage, and with her vital organs still functioning, she doesn’t have a lot of time like this. Without regenerating her first layer of protection versus infections she will…”

“…yeah.”

“I’m sorry. I know you’re doing your best, doctor,” Rodriguez added, “But even you have to admit this is hopeless.”

“Hopeless…” Everett repeated inside his head. He solemnly contemplated the patient’s body. The doctor wondered just what circumstance had prompted an event such as this. Two days had already passed since their mysterious patient had been wheeled into the ER. She had been unconscious on arrival, on a deep slumber from which it was looking like she may never recover. It was even more frustrating that all of the hospital’s efforts to operate on their patient had been foiled by the body’s incredible resistance to foreign matter; suturing wounds caused by internal hemorrhage had already been difficult enough. It was perhaps that kind of resistance that was keeping her safe from infections at the same time, for so long. But even in constantly sanitized, sterile environments, their patient would eventually succumb. His thoughts were clouded with sadness. “Worse still, without being able to identify or communicate with her, we can’t find any relatives or guardians. If this keeps up, the hospital will eventually be unable to shelter her…” Dr. Everett regretted the state of the system, but the bills were also a reality they had to fight against.

“Doctor, I will go ahead and write our report. You take it easy, okay?” Rodriguez stood up, leaving the pensive Dr. Everett on his chair. “You’ve already done enough.”

After quietly looking over his patient for what seemed like hours, Everett hung his head and spoke in a whispering tone: “I had a sibling like you. Young and pretty, probably like you. She died because no doctor could find a way to operate on a tumor they had deemed hopeless. That’s why I became a practitioner, so I could save even the most hopeless of cases. I thought I had it. But as a human, I’ve come to realize how limited we truly are. They sent you my way after the paramedics failed to treat your wounds. The research team can’t come up with a way to treat your burns. I’m… I’m useless. But I won’t give up. I’ll find a way. I’ll make whatever calls I need to make. I’m a doctor and I must save your life, even if it will not be my scalpel operating on you.”

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Several weeks later, at the German city of Berlin, the country’s single largest state.

“In other words, your custom-made treatment will truly save the patient?” the voice coming out of the phone sounded firm yet full of inquiry.

A man at his office spoke back at the transceiver on his desk while he tick-tacked away at his keyboard. “That is why you placed her life in my hands, Dr. Everett. Though I must warn you, it is becoming increasingly difficult for me to maintain conversations about this subject on insecure lines. I would appreciate it if you would stop calling every other day.”

“Of course. You don’t know how much this means to me.”

“I really don’t, doctor. You said she isn’t related to you, that you don’t even know who she is. I cannot say I don’t appreciate being supplied critical patients such as this one in order to further my research on regeneration techniques, but are you not taking one too many liberties with this venue?”

“I might be, but I can’t call myself a doctor if I don’t do everything in my power to save even a single life,” Everett responded firmly through the phone, “What about you, Dr. Masters?”

The man at the chair reclined and let out a small sigh, removing his glasses to scrunch his fingers between his eyes. “Seems like I've taught you well, Dr. Everett. Very well. You have my word I will use all of my experience as microbiologist and geneticist to save this life. My team of experienced surgeons and researchers will be ready.”

“Thank you. Do you have any idea when will she arrive at Berlin?”

“Her transportation was scheduled for later today,” Dr. Masters explained, slipping his glasses back on as he opened a presentation under his authorship with the title: “Bacterial DNA recombination.”

“Like I’ve said before, Dr. Everett, you can rest easy. She’s in good hands.”

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Being the spearhead of Germany’s science and technology development, Berlin’s universities and other facultative buildings counted with the backing of both public and private funds in order to bring about advancement with excellent quality. One such building existed in the outskirts of the great city, surrounded by large bodies of water and lush greenery. Equipped with state-of-the-art tech and staffed with some of the greatest minds from around the world, it was said that the Humani Corp. was headed into the new millennium with even greater ambitions: From the tracing of seemingly incurable diseases to the development of supporting technology and treatments to the pioneering of advanced genetic engineering.

Doctor Eugene Masters had joined the fray after he had left America, personally invited to join Humani’s bioengineering and genetics team. Possessing a vast intellect and an easy-going nature, yet the hunger of a whale when it came to research, Dr. Masters quickly became popular to the point of renown among his peers. Now he sat as the head of his own R&D team with the sole purpose of helping a single young woman’s life.

“It is as the charts say, Dr. Masters.” The medical advisor nodded as he flipped through pages a second time, “Whether due to the absorption of the chemicals that caused the burns or some sort of unprecedented immunity, foreign skin grafts, let alone synthetic membranes, are unable to meld with the subject’s tissue, preventing conventional treatments from working. I’m not surprised they deferred this patient: The sheer amount of antibiotics and disinfectants needed to keep potential risks off the exposed flesh… I don’t think we’re properly equipped to take care of her for any prolonged amount of time, either.”

“We won’t be worrying about supplies if we find a way to make her body harmonize with the regeneration serum,” Edgar Schmidt, a grouchy, short statured man raised his voice. Being Dr. Masters’ right hand man, eyes turned to him immediately: “Our top priority is to work Dr. Masters’ recombination bacteria into her body in order to introduce the necessary traits into the patient’s genetic makeup.”

The medical advisor spoke again: “But Doctor Schmidt, we have only tested this on guinea pigs. While results have so far been satisfactory I highly doubt the recombination bacteria is ready to be used on human beings.”

“Then what do you suggest?” Dr. Masters gestured with a hand to go on, so his passionate right-hand man, already standing up, would not spiral the conference into an aimless debate.

“Culture fluid to be injected into the patient in order to test for auto-grafting. At the other hospital, their formula isn’t as potent as what we’ve already certified and is ready to mass produce. I propose we use our new formula to…”

“It will not work.” Dr. Masters shook his head in disappointment, “I’m afraid that auto-grafting is out of the question.”

“But why?”

“It doesn’t matter how potent the culture fluid is made. The patient’s skin will simply fester and make it even harder to treat the external injuries. We can’t afford to conduct a second operation if this fails.”

“I… I understand, doctor.” The medical advisor took a seat back, “But the recombination bacteria…”

“Don’t be fools,” Schmidt interjected, “This is the break we’ve been waiting for. The board isn’t interested in making rats or frogs regenerate peeled off skin. They want something that can be marketable. Where else are we going to find a subject this perfect for the job?”

“She did not volunteer. The patient can hardly breathe without causing further damage to her lungs, and you want to gene-slam her? The large amount of bio-stress this would generate…”

“Gentlemen…” Dr. Masters stood up, cutting the tense atmosphere, “This isn’t about testing, the board, or even human ethics. There is a life at stake here, a human life. Humani stands for the advancement of the human race as a species, for which careful threading into the unknown is necessary but there can be no gain if we do not take action when it is called for. As a doctor, my patient is suffering from a multitude of symptoms we’re seemingly not ready to counteract, but that is precisely why I have been refining my techniques over and over. I believe we are ready to enter the alpha stage of the Regenerative Xteria Project.”

Schmidt’s right hand balled into a fist he silently pumped. The rest of the team appeared to be sold by their leader’s disposition. The medical advisor raised a hand and added: “But even if we wanted to, the Regenerative Xteria is not tailored to work with the human genome. It would just be repelled from the patient’s body like every other non-nutrient object.”

The lead scientist nodded. “I propose we devote all our resources and time to make the necessary adjustments to the existing Regenerative Xteria, then. I hate to pile on even more pressure, but we must hurry gentlemen. It is an understatement to say we only have a little time before our patient’s condition worsens irremediably. Are we all on the same page here?”

“Yes, doctor.”

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Unending days and sleepless nights followed. As predicted, the patient’s condition only worsened with time. To say that having lasted well over a month without her primary immune system and was still kicking was a miracle was no overstatement, but it made the team of scientists’ job no easier. Dr. Masters was already a strict, even if understanding boss to work under, expecting nothing short of 100% precision from his subordinates. But after years of sucking up to Masters, Schmidt had begun to make his presence known in less than tasteful ways, such as bossing over the concurrence whenever Masters was gone. There even were rumors that the greedy man was out to succeed his mentor, but such drivel was of no importance to the good doctor.

Dr. Masters was only focused on his research, and to provide the world with a revolutionary way to look at life. There was so much potential in the innocuous organism he had discovered, that when stimulated in the appropriate way could act as catalyst and recombinator at the same time. Taking the traits of other species and harmlessly coding them inside the human genome in order to treat the harsher afflictions was just the start his dream of helping humanity. The Xteria would give way to super vaccines, cheaper production costs, and all-around better life-style. The unconscious young girl floating in life-preserving fluid before his pained expression was proof that the evolution of medicine was needed now more than ever.

Fortunately, Dr. Masters’ team wasn’t formed by slouches, and in due time their efforts paid handsomely in the form of a new strain of the Regenerative Xteria they had been looking for. Holding the results of hard work in the form of a green vial in his hand, Dr. Masters found himself observing the floating patient in her chamber again. Seeing the vitals on the green betrayed that inhumane appearance and the poor condition of the young girl. “No wonder Everett wanted me to help you. But worry not,” he smiled, “If all goes well, not only will you be saved, but there is a high chance your system will adapt and restore your consciousness. But still, you’re so young… almost the same age as my daughter. I’m sorry that you have to be the first in our experiment, but I assure you…” he softly spoke as he placed a palm on the see-through glass, “…I’ve taken all the necessary precautions. You will heal, in fact, you will be made stronger. There is a very low probability of failure.”

It was then that Dr. Masters’ late night musings was interrupted by his right hand coat pocket vibrating. His cell phone was ringing. He fished it out and his smile couldn’t have been bigger: “Ah, Lexine. How is my pride and joy? Are you and your mother well? Mmhm. Yes. Oh, I am glad to hear about it. You will make your father proud as a psychologist… yes, yes, and as a geneticist as well, haha.” His expression turned sullen as the conversation took on a different direction all of a sudden.

“Oh, miliy,” he said in a badly spoken Russian as the phone on the other side seemed to switch hands, “Hello. Ahem…” he cleared his throat, the sweet doting father in him vanishing all of a sudden, “…we’re at the final stages of our treatment. That’s correct. We will see. It is as I said before, I’m afraid I will not be able to attend to the ceremony. Don’t be like that, miliy. You know our davushka is all I can think about but right now, another girl needs my help. We’ve talked about this. No, I don’t want anybody else operating on her. The name…? We still don’t know. I’m hoping to have her tell me when she wakes up, but from the looks of it, she will probably have trouble remembering things due to the large amount of shock her neural system has suffered. If that’s the case, I was thinking of naming her myself… What do you think about… Avelyn?”

Dr. Masters continued his conversation with a smile after the discussion went light-hearted, unaware that two ears were grudgingly listening on. “Naming guinea pigs, humph. Ever the sentimentalist, Masters.”

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The treatment began the following day without any further ado. The nutrient vat had been refreshed at the request of Dr. Masters, and their patient placed within, a single injector tube lodged in her right arm from outside. “Let us begin administering the Regenerative Xteria.” With that said Dr. Masters attached the vial of his perfected serum to the other side of the injector and proceeded with administration.

“Vitals are stable,” the medical aide said from the monitors that displayed the patient’s data. “Assimilation is occurring!”

Every pair of eyes focused on the sight before them. That poor comatose young girl they had been preparing to treat for the better part of a week hadn’t shown any improvement, much less now, but a glitter of hope remained. The serum had not been rejected; the recombination bacteria was inside the patient’s blood stream, which meant cellular contact wasn’t far away. Soon enough, the aide spoke again. “This can’t be! Vitals are dropping at an alarming pace!”

“That is within our parameters. Remember that proper melding requires the subject’s bio-structure to be rearranged!” Schmidt was more than anyone else focused on their success, but for a completely different motive. He had taken every necessary precaution, they HAD to succeed. But then there was a visible reaction. The burned patient began to squirm rather violently. “She’s moving! Is it working?!”

The medical aide left the monitors to stand beside their leader. “No, her immune system is attempting to reject it…! W-we can’t proceed! It’s tearing her apart! Dr. Masters, we must suspend the treatment!”

The electrocardiogram was beeping wildly, every sensor reacting with the most extreme warning cues. “That… that is impossible,” Dr. Masters grunted, his fists clenching hard, “I already told you. This was her one and last shot. It is up to her body to find a way to harmonize with the Xteria.”

All the scientists could do was stare at the containment chamber as the convulsing woman’s limbs squirmed. They saw her shuddering form twitch and bang against the sides of the reinforced see-through glass walls, air bubbling out of her oxygen mask as she struggled. “My god! Her breathing pattern…! She’s hyperventilating, but she’s doing so without the apparatus’ help!”

“She’s consciously hitting the walls around her!”

“Her eyes have opened!”

Finally, Dr. Masters could see his patient regaining consciousness. He couldn’t force himself to smile just yet though. “The strong shocks to her systems must be stimulating all of her nerves at once. It’s no wonder her brain receded from its comatose state. But with her being conscious, the process will only be more painful to her…” he bit his lips with a frown. “Just endure this. I promise you will be saved!” he thought to himself as everybody else stared in disbelief at the results before their eyes.

She was in pain again. She could feel her breathing become labored, a strange sensation of enclosing unpleasantness washing her senses over. She had to get out of wherever she was. The surroundings were wet and sticky, as if she was trapped within some sort of gelatin. Whatever situation she had gotten herself into, she wanted to get out of. But her arms felt heavy and her movements sluggish; she could barely swing at the confining walls. Her legs were numb, she couldn’t properly move. She wasn’t just confused and afraid, she was angry. “What is going on here…?! Where am I?!” she wanted to yell, but the mask around her face made her think twice about removing it. Part of her knew that she would drown if she took it off, so she looked for another alternative escape routes.

There was nothing, she was trapped inside a glass prison a little taller and wider than she was. There were men outside, or at least what her blurry vision could identify as human-like silhouettes. Had those people imprisoned her? Was she ever going to get out? Why was she hurting so much? The more she thought about it, the more her entire body hurt. The pain was both external and internal, as if she was being bitten by a wild animal whose fangs had sunk deep into muscle. Looking down, her green eyes nearly popped out of their sockets when she saw her charred, damaged skin which made her look like a dirty damaged anatomic doll for a science class. “What happened to me?!” was the foremost thought in her head. She didn’t want to yell, she wanted to scream. She grabbed her right arm, ignoring the stinging pain, and began to clutch with all of her might, “This is a joke! What happened to my body, it’s like I’m a half-roasted steak!”

The men outside seemed to focus on her behavior like they were studying some sort of specimen, which only served to infuriate her further. The subject of their interest was no doubt her freaky body, which she couldn’t bear to look upon any longer. “Make it stop…!” she growled, “Make it stop!!” But no matter how much she insisted, the mask retained her fruitless attempt to communicate. The pain wasn’t subsiding, and even more discomfort in the form of a tingle was beginning to surface. She looked down and gripped her forearm, scratching at it constantly, “Why won’t it stop itching? It’s… ahhh!” she freaked out as she noticed her blood oozing out from a self-inflicted wound. She made another attempt to call for help and pressed her palms against the glass, bearing through the great pain she was suffering. “Help!” she tried. This time though, the men outside appeared more than concerned. Some of them had even begun to panic and had run to gather with another one. Only one of them remained looking at her inside her gooey prison.

He was staring directly at her, standing firm, unwavering. He wasn’t merely observing her, he was admiring her. She could somewhat tell that he was more than taken in by what was happening, but she still couldn’t understand why. That’s when she realized the bleeding in her forearm hadn’t just stopped, but it had never really added to the pain. In fact, the blood outside didn’t feel like it had come out of her body at all, as if it was simply some sort of slime floating inside the chamber with her. She looked at it for a bit, trying to figure out if she was actually hurting as much as she thought she was. From one moment to the next, she made the attempt to move her arms and legs and, even if the sight of the clingy ooze on her forearm upset her, her limbs did not hurt at all. “This… this isn’t normal. What’s going on…?! I’m… I’m itching again. It doesn’t feel bad, but it feels weird, like I have ants crawling under my skin…!” The unpleasant thought only served to exacerbate her reaction when suddenly her other arm began to ooze, followed by her chest, her shoulders; everywhere she could and could not see. “No! What is this…?! It’s… it’s sticking to me! My blood’s sticking to me?!”

Outside, Dr. Masters watched with a wry smile, “This is what I was afraid of. The melding process…”

“Doctor, her vitals have stabilized, but now she’s exhibiting a rather strange symptom! I have never seen anything quite like it!” the medical aide reported, already monitoring the displays.

“Dr. Masters, what is happening?” questioned a bewildered Schmidt as he stared with equal disbelief, “Was the skin not supposed to instantly shed? Was the nutrient amount insufficient?!”

“Quite the contrary, Dr. Schmidt.” Dr. Masters tilted his glasses with a somber look on his face, “It appears we were wrong. Her immune system was not trying to reject the Xteria. Her body is in fact absorbing it at a much faster rate than our projections indicated.”

“But that can’t be right! Our calculations were perfect…!” the aide shouted, “What’s going to happen next?”

“She’s… she’s going to pupate,” Dr. Masters indicated and then silence took over.

To Be Continued…

[DragonMasterX]

Part 2.

The pain had receded, but her panic had only grown immeasurably. All the young girl could do was flail her limbs in an effort to swat away at the blood-like substance oozing out of her every orifice, coating her like chocolate sauce on a scoop of ice-cream. As if it had a life of its own, the battle against the imprisoning goo was quickly lop-siding in favor of the unthinking entity, slowing its host’s movement down. Sticking to her like glue, it spread over her badly burnt body and soon engulfed her in a tight, form-fitting film of a black-colored shell. As the relentless, hardening ooze advanced towards her neck, the panicked girl began to tear up. “Am I being eaten? I don’t feel hurt anymore; this… this doesn’t hurt at all, in fact, it feels good, too good! Why does it feel good?! Stop it, stop it. No, don’t do that!” she screamed in her head as the mask finally snapped off in favor of the ooze creeping over her mouth and nose, her face and then the rest of her head, sealing her within impregnable darkness once again. But it did not stop there.

One after another, the scientists returned to Dr. Masters’ side as he contemplated the inhumane metamorphosis take place, like a bewildering scene from a B-rated horror movie. They didn’t know that their patient wasn’t in any danger, much less pain, but it was hard to ignore the impression of the second phase of her transformation. More blood-like ooze suddenly spilled out of the immobilized girl’s shape, immediately sticking back to the black shell like a second layer of protection. It went down her legs and up her sternum, covering every inch until it had hardened again, finally snapping the injector tube off her body. A third spurt of the substance happened only to repeat the process, then another, then another, then another one. The shell was starting to lose its human shape, favoring a growing oval shape that was starting to fill the confines of the rich-nutrient vat.

“It’s… fascinating. With every layer of chitin generated, more nutrients are absorbed at an even faster pace, redoubling the process’ efficiency!” Dr. Masters then realized that not only was the biological process forcing his patient into a chrysalis-like state, but that same chrysalis was on the verge of outgrowing the holding chamber. “Step back!” he suddenly raised his voice, gesturing with his arm. “Do not stop the treatment, but don’t stay close. It’s dangerous!”

And the team didn’t need to hear that a second time. Dr. Masters joined them behind the consoles and observed from a safe distance as the large black chrysalis pressed against the glass and began to crack it. It wasn’t a matter of the chrysalis being abundantly heavy; it was more a contest of size vs. capacity. Soon enough, the contest ended in the favor of the shell, which tore through the front and the back of the crystal chamber, causing it to explode violently.

Schmidt couldn’t have been more ecstatic, “This… this is NOT what our projections promised us. What am I going to tell them?!” he thought with a growl as he banged his fist on the desk out of frustration, “It’s over. It’s not going to work, it’s…!”

The aide shouted, “Holy shit, look out! Glass is raining everywhere!”

The electrocardiogram’s readings flat-lined. A large amount of glass flew out in all directions, filling the area with glass shrapnel.

“Dr. Schmidt, keep your head down!” Dr. Masters called out, but his frustrated colleague did not respond. He tried to reach for his arm to pull him down, but Schmidt let out a piercing scream when one of the glass fragments struck his face, falling on his back. “Oh no…! Grab the disinfectant and gauze. We need to operate on him right now! The rest of you, load the patient on a bed and be sure to begin the proper scans. I want to know about her status. Don’t waste any more time!”

“Y-yes sir!” the unanimous acceptance of his entire crew was only muffled by Schmidt’s screams of pure agony. Dr. Masters and his aide had to operate on the spot to lower the risk of infection and stop the blood loss. After anesthesia had been applied and they had finished pin-pointing the exact location of the embedded glass shard, extraction commenced. “He’s lucky; the shard could’ve pierced into the brain.”

“We can’t talk about luck until we’ve finished treating him. Damnit, Schmidt, what were you thinking?” Dr. Masters groaned as his fast hands moved to disinfect the affected area around the right eye. He grit his teeth tightly, “It’s worse than I thought. The glass severed the connection to his receptors.”

“It’s not a complete loss. At least he can still be saved,” said the aide, “It is fortunate you reacted as fast as you did, Doctor. Dr. Schmidt will live.”

“But… he will not be able to use this eye again.”

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Post operation and after Schmidt had been delegated to a specialist, Dr. Masters hurried back to his laboratory, where the rest of his team welcomed him. “How is she?”

“She? What part of this thing resembled a woman anymore?” one of the researchers groaned as the several digital reports were submitted to the lead scientist.

Dr. Masters made no additional commentary, but he did notice a severe lack of concurrence. “Where are the others?”

“They left, Doctor. They resigned their positions. Said they couldn’t believe what you did to the patient.” Another researcher said, “We’re here to witness the truth though, so we’ll stick with you to the end.”

“I see.” Eugene Masters wasn’t the type of man to stop to gauge others’ impressions of his self. He was concerned with seeing his duty through to the end, and he firmly believed he had taken a step forwards in helping his patient. “I thank you for your vote of confidence. Now, let’s review the new charts. It seems our work has only just begun.”

“Doctor, I’m afraid that won’t run for me,” the same aide interrupted Masters, clearly dissatisfied. “I think I speak for everyone who’s left here when I ask what exactly it is that we’ve just witnessed.”

Dr. Masters took a deep breath. He hadn’t planned on hiding anything, but circumstances were looking less than ideal; he needed to calm his men down. He looked over his three remaining team members and nodded in their direction, “This is one of the many outcomes I’d been expecting, Adrian.” He made sure to look at each of them in the eyes, “As you know, the Xteria’s composition allows great versatility when it comes to its combinative functions. Simply put, it acts both as catalyst and recombinator. It is no secret that we have been using animal DNA to carry desired qualities from one organism to another.”

The team leader walked around the table, the gigantic, dark chrysalis like a macroscopic version of an insect pupa. “Praying Mantis DNA, and its ability to molt, in this case.”

“You don’t mean…?” Adrian gasped. Dr. Masters nodded back at his aide.

“What we’re witnessing here is simply what the Xteria’s true nature is about.”

“But this kind of metamorphosis… This did not happen with the other animals!” objected the only female of the group.

“I understand your concern, Jessica. The human genome is more complex, our genetic diversity opens up several chaining paths that a mutagenic organism could take advantage of. It is likely that the Xteria’s harmonized both genetic codes into an entirely new genome that is neither human, nor insect.”

“Doctor, what are you saying?” Adrian interrupted, “What’s happened to the patient? What’s going to happen to her?”

“It should take time, but from what I’m seeing in the charts, she is currently undergoing metamorphosis, an advanced type of it,” Dr. Masters explained, “Her biological systems are adapting to the new constraints within her modified cellular makeup. Since this strand of Xteria was meant to simply cultivate a short-term ability to help with dermic regeneration, it is not adept at what it’s attempting to do; that’s why it’s taking time.”

“What IS it trying to do?” the third team member finally spoke. Dr. Masters took another deep breath and stared at the chrysalis.

“That is what we must find out, Mortimer. At this point, all I’m telling you is what I can deduce from our preliminary scans, but I really haven’t a consolidated idea about the process itself.”

“And you still decided to go through with this?!” Jessica snapped, “Oh my god, never mind killing her, you’re saying you willingly went with the possibility of turning her into a… she’s going to turn into a freak if she ever comes out of this thing!”

The doctor had no counter-argument, but he wasn’t about to let himself be dragged down. “I’m a doctor, first and foremost, Jessica. Saving lives is what I do, and this patient was slowly slipping away from us. I have no intentions of justifying myself with this, but you must understand that whichever the end result is, I am going to save her life.”

“But doctor, she’s right,” Mortimer added, his eyes looking down at the massive chrysalis, “Whenever the patient comes out, if she ever does, there’s no telling if she’ll be back to normal.”

“She’s conscious. She escaped a coma. Is that not enough for you?” Dr. Masters scornfully replied, “Right now, she’s deep asleep. Her arrhythmia is gone, no more hyperventilation. Her skin will regenerate, and she will be able to leave an operating table with her life intact. I call that a victory in my book.”

“But…” Jessica tried, instead being interrupted by Dr. Masters again before she could articulate.

“You may disagree with my decision, and like the others, the choice to go or to remain is yours. But let me tell you this,” he firmly stared at each of the three pairs of eyes looking at him, “This patient entered Humani with a problem, and I am going to take care of it until she leaves here. With, or without you.”

Heavy silence took over the operating room as serious pondering went over the team’s collective thoughts. There was no telling how the metamorphosis would carry on, much less if Dr. Masters’ deductions were headed in the right direction. In the end, it was too much for Jessica and Mortimer. The room was left with only two people in it. Adrian walked to the doctor’s side with a firm expression in his face. “I’m sticking around. I hold only the highest regard for you, doctor. I believe we’re doing the right thing,” he smiled with a nod. Dr. Masters, although showing signs of tiredness, returned the smile. “Well! I was thinking of running some more CT scans and testing for composition. I can’t say this is the most comfortable cottage for a young girl to fall asleep in, haha. …too soon?”

“No, it’s okay, Adrian,” Dr. Masters shook his head with a small laugh, “Please go on. I will review the present charts and cross-reference with the existing Xteria data.” Adrian nodded and went over to the equipment while the tired team leader began to work on a computer.

The truth was, the doctor’s heart weighed heavily. Had he acted rashly? Unthinking of the consequences? The girl was on death bed, but she was now alive, whatever the future held in store. He reached out with a hand to feel the chrysalis’ firm yet warm surface. “Protection from the outside, huh…” he thought as he stroked the tough shell caringly.

------------

She was still alive. Her beating heart was proof of that. But it wasn’t just her heart; all of her body was beating, radiating some sort of heat which she could only compare to standing next to a huge furnace. She still couldn’t move. “How many days has it been already?” the girl asked no one in particular. “It feels like I’ve been trapped in here for my entire life. My life…” she repeated in her head, “What life? Ugh, head hurts…”

What she tried to remember was making her head pound. Thinking of her surreal experience inside the tube ironically made her feel better. “Why do I feel at home? It’s like I’m dreaming. But if this is a dream, why is everything so dark? I have to be awake. But if so, why does this feel so out of place? Like a dream…”

The more she thought about it, the less her situation made sense. It all came back to figuring out who she was, but she couldn’t remember. It’s like that part of her had been taken away, never to be found again. Her only consolation was the constant pleasant tingling running throughout her body. The crawling under her skin had stopped and all that remained was radiant warmth of which she could only compare to a hand massage. She imagined two soft hands caressing her once agonizing body into bliss, every touch sending pleasant jolts through her skin.

What she didn’t know was that a biological miracle was occurring within, and manifesting both internally and externally. Bones, articulations and muscle were shifting and changing in size and density, as well as shape. She could only snooze as the creaking of her old withered skin was pushed away by newly grown tissue. Her pelvic bones were expanding, causing her hips to widen in order to accommodate enlarging thighs and buttocks where muscle and weight concentrated. Her legs turned longer, yet muscular tone that would put professional athletes to shame was gained. The lower body was becoming instrumental, joints and articulations constantly strengthening to be able to support great weight and exert great force. The girl’s feet experienced more pronounced changes, making her quietly squirm as her toes slowly came together and fused into a pair of claw-like digits. Many times she attempted to curl her new toes, but as before, her body would not respond the way she wanted it to. “What’s happening to me…?”

At one point, pressure began to build in her forearms, feeling as if something was sliding within, stretching the insides. Then she felt the object slowly make its way out, right under the elbows. “Am I bleeding again?” the thought made her mind race, before she realized the object had stopped its exit mid-way. “What? Why did it stop like that?” she wasn’t just concerned about the fact something was coming out of her forearms, let alone what it was, but the fact she somehow knew it still had some of it left inside her. “C-can I move it? This is the first time in such a long time that I can move anything in my body. Just what is it?” she wished she could clench her fists and move her arms in order to touch whatever item it was that kept protruding out of the back of her forearms, curious beyond retribution. “These things feel so strange…!” she thought, mentally pulling on them to retract back inside of her, before she willed them back out. With all of her practice, the girl eventually ventured to estimate the curious extensions reached well over the length of her fingers. “If only I could tell what these things are! Nngh… my head feels funny.”

It was subtle at first, but she could swear the pounding had returned to her head. The reason for that was due to a pair of little lumps which had appeared at the middle of her cranium, slowly yet progressively growing longer. They were different to her hair, slightly thicker and definitely less articulate, but they were definitely there. “Wait, my hair? My hair?! I had no hair…” her memory quickly flashed back to the tube. Her entire body’s skin was missing, there was no hair either, but she was sure she felt it there! For some reason, those two thin twig-like objects let her feel the mane of hair which had grown over her head.

Her eyes had darkened over down to the sclera, and she could definitely feel something over her mouth and nose, like a mask had been placed over. It didn’t impede her breathing, much less make her uncomfortable, but the suddenness with which hardening material had once more started covering her body alarmed her. “What is happening? I feel so different… I feel… stronger. I feel like I can…” her arms then began to finally twitch ever so slightly. Her eyes widened larger than she had ever been able to do. Her hips had begun to twist, toes scratching at her prison as the feelers above her head twitched.

The clock was about to run its final tick.

-------------

December, 1999.

Dr. Masters and Adrian were in the middle of running tests when they were visited by an eye-patched Schmidt, who looked grouchier than ever. “Ah, Dr. Schmidt. How goes rehabilitation?” Adrian was the first to greet him.

“Splendid,” the short man sarcastically replied, walking towards their test subject. “Do I take it we still haven’t made any progress with this hunk of useless chitin?”

“We’ve been observing some great changes under the last few months, Dr. Schmidt,” Dr. Masters informed, “Unfortunately, just like before, we are unable to use echography to draw any conclusions just yet.”

“”Just yet.”?!” Schmidt growled, outraged. “This thing took one of my eyes, Masters. The least it could do is hurry up with whatever it’s doing in there.”

“Patience, my good man. She’s alive and well, her vitals have never been more stable.”

“Who cares about that meaningless data? The board wants to know why we’re playing around with an oversized cocoon instead of bringing them results with the Regenerative Xteria project,” Schmidt groaned, bopping the side of the chrysalis with his hand. Something within stirred, but nobody took notice of it.

Adrian felt the need to intervene, “Now look here. We’ve already submitted our report to the board of directors and explained the situation. They have approved an extra month of examination. It’s not like it’s draining any resource just by lying down on an observation table.”

Schmidt didn’t even look at the medical aide, instead directing his glare at Dr. Masters. He was about to continue on with his complaint, when suddenly a resounding crack buried the laboratory in a seemingly endless mute. Like a busy nut-cracker, the loud sound emanating from the table only served to draw the three scientists to the shaking chrysalis. The black shell was beginning to tear apart, and whatever had been inside for all those months was now starting to come out.

“Avelyn…” Dr. Masters thought as he took his reading glasses off. Adrian and Schmidt were speechless as well.

The girl within the chrysalis had finally had enough. “I finally am breaking out. Can’t believe how easy to break this stuff is!” she thought as she waved her arm around as if she was striking Styrofoam. “Hmm, maybe these things will help me get rid of this shell faster!” focusing a little, the extension on her right forearm protruded out and, after bringing her arm back, she thrust it forwards.

“Holy mother of god!” Schmidt cried as he nearly jumped out of his skin when the chrysalis’s top burst apart with what seemed to be a widely serrated blade coming out of it.

“Is that what I think it is, doctor?” Adrian asked, prompting a nod from Dr. Masters.

The lead scientist observed the sleek design of the object in question, finding it rather peculiar since it did not adhere to the usual design of a praying mantis’s raptorial legs. “But it’s like an extension. A raptorial extension, if you will.”

“Who cares what it’s called, Masters?! Is it safe to come out?!” Schmidt cried from under Adrian’s desk, his black eye patch denoting his past bad experience with sudden structural collapse.

The girl inside the chrysalis pulled her extension back and was overjoyed when light began to filter. “I can’t believe it; I’m going to make it out! Let’s use the other one.” She pulled both of her arms at once, shifting on her rump as she aimed both fists towards the light while her left forearm produced its extension as well. “Let me OUT!” she cried out in her voice, finally. It came out muffled due to her mask, but with the kick of her legs and the thrust of her arms, her freedom was secured.

And with a final, loudest crunch, the chrysalis split down the middle, bursting apart as the creature within pushed her legs back and sprang herself right out of the makeshift hole. She shot outside like a cannonball, but didn’t measure the power in her legs correctly, misjudging the amount of necessary strength. As a result, she bashed herself against the ceiling on accident and then fell down on top of Adrian, the younger researcher stifling a scream that came out as a little shriek instead.

“Adrian, Avelyn! Are you two okay?!” Dr. Masters approached them with a shout. He crouched besides them and gently pulled the young, chitin-armored girl off his medical aide.

Adrian quickly recovered. “I-I’m okay, doctor. But more importantly, is she…?”

“What did you call me?” the brown-skinned mantis asked with her antennae twitching up to attention. Dr. Masters was relieved to hear her speak and shook his head with a smile, deciding to use English instead of German since that’s what the girl had spoken.

The curious appearance of the young female didn’t seem to disturb Dr. Masters as they had all initially prepared for. Aside the dangerous looking raptorial extensions and certain anatomical differences, his patient looked very much human. “No. Pay me no mind. What’s your name? Are you feeling well?”

“I’m outside that blasted thing, I don’t think I’ve ever felt this good and my name is…” the girl paused. “My name is…” she repeated and stopped again, her head suddenly hurting again. “Ugh.” The raptorial extension on her right forearm receded and hid itself under her skin as if it had never been there. She brought her hand up to hold her head, “I… I can’t remember.”

“Just like I feared…” Dr. Masters thought to himself. He had been expecting the patient to show amnesia, but the suddenness of her appearance had taken him by surprise; and by extension, his softened heart was causing him to choke up on his words. Adrian understood it and also was at a loss for words.

“Who am I?” the mantis hybrid asked, her black eyes showing almost palpable concern detectable even with half her expression covered by the chitin face-guard. “Who are you?” she asked next, “Where is this? Just…”

“Shh.” Dr. Masters whispered, “You will be alright. I am Eugene. You were a victim of severe full-body burns, and you were brought here for treatment. In order to save you we… I had to implement a new procedure.”

“Eugene? Are you a doctor?” the female insect asked with a frown. Dr. Masters nodded and gave her a soft smile, “Do you know who I am?”

“You’re my patient.”

“What is my name?”

“I’m afraid we don’t know. I don’t wish to lie to you, my dear. It seems you were involved in a big fire, where you came into contact with the chemicals that burned all of your skin off. Unfortunately, you were disfigured during the accident, and your rescuers were unable to identify you. Whoever it is that you were, I cannot say.”

The young girl looked down, the antennae drooping backwards at the middle. Adrian quietly crawled towards the doctor and the young female. “Doctor, she looks…”

“Beautiful, I must say,” Dr. Masters nodded to himself as he stood up, hoisting the girl in his arms. Adrian was flabbergasted, but he decided not to say a thing. It was true, however, that the patient’s appearance had drastically forgone her human vestiges in favor of insect-like features. Light brown skin, almost tan-like, covered her entire body. Black chitin armor, her exoskeleton, had grown over her hips and down her thighs and buttocks. It had also covered her upper chest, upper arms, neck and half of her face in the shape of a mask. The somber-like dark eyes looked unsettling the most. Somehow, however, the sight of Dr. Masters holding that scared, sad girl was endearing to Adrian. “Here, we have to get you somewhere warm. Are you hungry?”

The girl nodded slowly as Dr. Masters turned to his assistant, “I’m sorry, Adrian, but could you fix something up for our patient? I’m sure her stomach would appreciate a sandwich or two.”

Adrian left his reservations at the door and stood beside his mentor. “Right away, doctor. But will she be able to eat with that… uhm, mask… on?”

Dr. Masters looked down at his patient with a concerned stare. Having been hearing the two talk, the masked mantis’s chitin suddenly receded to reveal a very human-looking pair of young lips and row of pearly white teeth. “You’re absolutely fascinating, dear.”

Soon enough, the two scientists went out to their meeting room, with Adrian leaving towards the kitchen in order to prepare a snack and some coffee. The sole person in the office that remained crawled out quickly after they all had gone out. “My god, what was that? It was hideous!” Schmidt held by the side of his head as he quickly processed all that had just happened, and all that he had heard. “No, this works in my favor. That blade looked dangerous, and it tore through the cocoon like paper,” he said as he looked at the remains of the subject’s chrysalis, “Interesting… very interesting!”

----------

“Here you go uhm…” Adrian approached Dr. Masters and his patient, both seated next to one another while the doctor used his stethoscope to check her lungs and heart, setting the plate with a pair of simple ham and cheese sandwiches. “Wh-what should I call her?” he whispered to the doctor once he had removed the stethoscope.

Dr. Masters looked down at the teenager and gave her an encouraging nudge, “His name is Adrian. He’s my assistant, and he helped you through this.” She nodded and shyly grabbed a sandwich, starting to devour it like the meal her stomach had been waiting for months. “Hmm, what should we call you?” She looked up with the almost entirely eaten snack, and she found herself shrugging.

“You called me Avelyn before, Eugene. Should that be my name?” the patient asked.

“Until you remember your true name, if you like it, it’s yours,” Dr. Masters laughed heartily, eliciting a small chuckle from the less wary Adrian. “It’s nice to meet you, Avelyn.”

“I’m glad you’re back with us, Avelyn.” Adrian nodded as he handed the doctor a mug with black coffee. Dr. Masters calmly drank it as he put his glasses back on and titled them over the bridge of his nose.

“Where am I?” Avelyn asked after hastily finishing her second sandwich. “What should I do now, Eugene?”

“You’re at the corporation we work for, Avelyn. This is Humani. We devote ourselves to research and development all sorts of things related to the field of science,” Dr. Masters explained, “You were brought to Germany from Spain.”

“Spain? I…” Avelyn groaned as she held by her aching head. “Oww…”

“Shh. It’s okay. Don’t try to remember anything too complicated just yet. You suffered through a lot, and you’re not ready to begin recollecting. As for your other question…” Dr. Masters looked over to Adrian and then down at his patient, “We’ll figure it out as we go from here. I promise we will help you.”

“That’s right, Avelyn, you can count on us. Uh, sorry my English isn’t that good,” Adrian apologized with a goofy grin.

“Haha, that’s right. We’ll have to teach you a bit of German, Avelyn. But don’t worry, like I said, you’re in good hands.” Dr. Masters gave the mantis girl a reassuring smile.

“R-right!” Avelyn finally smiled, her antennae perking up at the same time. Already she was starting to grow to trust the two kind strangers. Whatever her past had been, she wasn’t alone anymore at least, and she wasn’t in pain. She evidently owed it to them. After her alien experience all those months ago inside the tube, Avelyn was relieved to finally be breathing unfiltered air again. She looked down at her open hands, contemplating her body in silence.

“Does your appearance scare you?” Adrian curiously asked before he saw Dr. Masters’ piercing glare, “Ah! I’m sorry. I didn’t mean anything by it, Avelyn.”

But Avelyn shook her head, “This actually looks kind of cool. Am I a mutant?”

“Well,” Dr. Masters rubbed under his chin, “Not quite. It may be complicated to understand at first, but let us say you are a metamorph, Avelyn.”

“A metamorph?” Avelyn repeated, raising an eyebrow. “I liked mutant better.”

“What kind of teenager are we dealing with?” Adrian asked in his head, fighting not to laugh out of amusement as he finally saw a disconcerted look on Dr. Masters’ face.

“If you like it better, Avelyn. But mutant isn’t a pretty name for a pretty young lady like you, haha!”

“Fine. Metamorph it is.”

The three laughed a bit, unaware that Schmidt was taking notes, peeking through the crack between a door and its frame. “Metamorphs, eh? That’s most interesting. A promise to help it, Masters? What drabble. You have no idea how much help IT will be to ME!” he thought to himself with a malicious grin.

To Be Continued…

[DragonMasterX]

Part 3.

May, 2000.

“Very good, Avelyn. That’ll be all for today,” said Adrian from a bench he was sitting on while he jotted down notes. Avelyn, who had been using the facility’s gymnasium on a daily basis for the last five months, landed under the overhead pull bar and grabbed her towel. A couple of female researchers that had just left the treadmills passed by Avelyn as she walked towards Adrian, whispering about the metamorph’s antennae and eyes while giggling to themselves. Avelyn frowned a little, but didn’t turn around. She also ignored those whose reaction in her proximity was to back off in fear, even if she had been given permission to be there. Adrian noticed it however and gave her a comforting smile, “It’s like living in a big city, huh?”

“Quite so,” Avelyn said in a mispronounced, but understandable German. “But I’m not bothered by it,” she murmured with irony in her voice. Adrian gave her a wry smile in return.

“Well, Dr. Masters said you should speak your mind, Avelyn. If anybody’s making you uncomfortable…” but before Adrian could finish, Avelyn shook her head and sat beside him, her chitin mask disappearing so she could quietly have a drink. “Thoughtful and reserved as always… Well, I can’t blame her,” Adrian thought with a small sigh, “Of the few people that have seen her; nobody has dared to approach her without reservation. They think of Avelyn as a freak experiment by Dr. Masters gone wrong. Doesn’t help that Dr. Schmidt is so eager to present her as an item with monetary value to the directive board, either. There hasn’t been progress in the investigation for her identity either… Who knew that researching a person could be so hard? If this keeps up, it’ll be hard to justify keeping Avelyn around just for recurring follow-up fitness and routine check-ups. She’s healthy as healthy can be, maybe even more so than your everyday girl, and she still is developing and growing as if she hadn’t turned into a metamorph at all. Other than her appearance and enhanced abilities, there really is no reason to keep her inside Humani anymore… I hope Dr. Masters knows what he’s doing.”

Adrian looked down at Avelyn’s long black hair, watching her swing her long legs over the bench anxiously. It had been long enough between gym sessions for Adrian to understand when the mantis was ready to go. “Have you stretched? We don’t want you getting cramps, Avelyn.”

With a nod, the female insect set her towel and drink down before she willed her mask back on and began to stretch her legs, followed by her arms. Meanwhile, Adrian consulted his schedule for later in the day. “Dr. Masters says he’s not going to be available for lunch after all. Would you like us to grab something together instead, Avelyn?”

“Thanks Adrian, I’d like that,” she nodded and put her towel around her neck and shoulders. “Is it time to go?”

Adrian nodded back and stood by Avelyn before they left the gymnasium together. It had been five months since Avelyn’s rebirth as a metamorph. Without her memories and without a way to stimulate her without causing her great pain in the process, the teenager looked to be heading into her adult years as nothing more than an observation subject for Humani. Adrian, while passionate about medical research and a diligent pupil of Dr. Masters, was feeling the moral pressure of keeping somebody so pitiful segregated from the rest of the world, and inside a building where she was only seen as a genetic aberration. The young doctor often wondered if his mentor had the same doubts and concerns as he, or if he eventually would go down the same road as the others.

Masters had delegated the monitoring of Avelyn’s day-to-day progression to Adrian, while he pursued the furthering of his Xteria research by using the samples they have collected from Avelyn and the remains of her chrysalis. “The doctor’s growing obsessed with his research; he barely has shown himself to Avelyn in the last month. It’s getting even harder for me to defend her in front of the others…” Adrian sighed to himself as he and Avelyn made a turn towards their own kitchen, “And poor Avelyn. Just how strong willed is she to be going through all of this?” he looked down at the walking mantis girl with a frown. She was incredible to him, just pushing forwards as if nothing was happening. Avelyn trusted in Dr. Masters’ promise, but Adrian was becoming the skeptical one. “Maybe we should just set her free.”

“Adrian? Are you coming?” Avelyn called from the door-frame towards their kitchen, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, sorry.” Adrian shook his head and returned to Avelyn with a smile, “Now, how about some mashed potatoes and frankfurters?”

“We had that yesterday. Isn’t there anymore chicken?”

“Ah, let me check the fridge then.” Adrian laughed a bit at her immediate response, and then he thought: “At least her appetite makes her thoughts very clear for me to read!”

-----------

Dr. Masters had been spending the last month making corrections and hard at work with his new iteration of the Xteria. “This is the problem,” he erased part of his graphics before redrawing them with slight alterations. He erased part of his equations and rewrote them differently as well. The blackboard looked severely abused, as if someone had been writing and erasing on it for dozens upon dozens of hours per week. “Now to solve the ATP synthesis…”

“Dr. Eugene Masters, Director Mullen would like to see you in his office.” His chalk snapped. The sound of the intercom bugged him. Dr. Masters wanted to have it uninstalled, as it interrupted his delicate work at the worst possible times. Looking at the clock, Dr. Masters decided to send a message to his assistant, putting off lunch with his patient yet again. He briefly looked over at his incomplete calculations and graphics before dusting his hands off and leaving his office.

Dr. Masters opened the door to Director Mullen’s office and inched forwards, “Did you want to see me, director?” he asked while stepping in.

“Come in, Eugene. Sit down, please.” Director Mullen was one of the five representatives of the Humani Corporation, an ex-career politician with silver tongue for business and a deep-pocketed interest in biotechnology. He was a robust and large man, one whose image intimidated everyone as he towered over even the tallest men Dr. Masters had ever seen. Unlike most of his peers however, Dr. Masters only legitimated Mullen for his rank, and definitely not for his scientific prowess. After the doctor had sat down on the chair in front of Mullen’s expensive-looking mahogany desk, the director was the one to stand up, hands tied behind his enormous back. “I imagine you know what you’re here for.”

Dr. Masters hardly needed any reminder, especially when he could see Schmidt standing by the wall, wearing an Armani suit instead of his usual lab coat. “Does this make it the third time this month, Eugene?”

“Fourth I believe, director,” Dr. Masters answered matter-of-factly. Mullen turned his head around after having peered through the blinds outside of his office.

“And do you think you’re in any position to be so casual about it, Eugene?” Dr. Masters cringed at his superior’s ill-displayed familiarity with him. He never remembered buddying with the director, and yet he called him by first name as if he had earned such a right. “Frankly, I’m disappointed in you. I was the one the notice your ability. I gave you a full team of the most capable researchers Humani could offer. You trained many of them well over the years, I admit, but you lost 90% of them over the course of two days, Eugene. And you continuously reject the introduction of new members to your team to top it off. I can’t say I care for such poor leadership skills.”

“New people would only hinder the patient’s reception and make her uncomfortable. Adrian is more than capable of standing in for five people, director.”

“Is that so? Well, then,” Mullen approached Schmidt, who handed the former a couple of document folders the director summarily hit the desk with, “What’s the use for these?”

“Progress reports written by Adrian. I had him write those about my patient.”

“Yes, your “Avelyn”. I’m afraid that months of physicals and fitness checkups don’t amount to much “progress” for us, Eugene.”

“In order for me to properly implement the data we recover to my Xteria research, I must have day-to-day updates, director. I made that clear in the last general meeting.” Dr. Masters defended himself without even making eye-contact.

“And I am a patient man, Eugene. But patience has its limits, and I’m about to cross mine here,” Mullen walked over to his subordinate, a heavy hand falling onto the desk right in front of Dr. Masters’, whose hair was blown slightly from the sudden blow to the desk. “Edgar’s project has been reportedly rejected by you, and I believe it is a much more efficient method of achieving the results we want.”

Dr. Masters didn’t want to show any weakness in front of the burly director, so he made sure to grip his thighs tightly, where they couldn’t be seen. He had come to hate the word “results” when spoken by these two men. It was no secret to Dr. Masters or Adrian that Avelyn’s unique physiology opened the door to an entirely new species whose characteristics could be implanted in human soldiers and operatives, allowing them to gain the upper hand in any physical based conflict. To Dr. Masters, that was an utter perversion of his research, whose goal was to create a catalyst powerful enough to more than half the time of medicine production.

“Ah, don’t give me that look, Eugene. The medical field is very important to you, and I would hate to hinder your discoveries, but this is a company! The biotech market is a place full of hungry beasts, desperate people that would pay the highest bid for only a fraction of what your initial research can offer. That is why we protect it. Can you imagine what your friends back in America would do to your family if they learned of your “Avelyn”? …I hear your genius child is well on her way to follow in your footsteps. Lexine, was it?”

“Don’t you talk about my family Mullen.”

“Haha, of course. But Eugene; I do believe Edgar’s idea has its merits, and you should give him more credit too. Imagine the amount of data we could gain and in such a short amount of time! Your research would be done in under a five years!”

“I won’t butcher my patient for you.” Dr. Masters stammered, getting a chuckle from Schmidt, who approached the table with an arrogant smile.

“Masters, I’m afraid you’re misplacing your affections. This isn’t your patient anymore,” the short man’s smile curled into a grin once he saw he had made Dr. Master’s glare at him, “It is but a mere insect with the face of a woman. Honestly, I can’t believe a personage of your caliber would forget his place. We scientists dissect insects to learn from them, we don’t babysit them.”

“Agreed. Now, Eugene, I don’t want to repeat myself more than necessary,” Mullen sat back on his tall office chair, elbows on the desk and hands joined. His fake smiles disappeared in favor of a sullen expression. “I don’t want to see another report about how the subject is growing into healthy adulthood.”

“I believe I’m done here,” Dr. Masters stood up suddenly, unable to take Mullen’s pressure and Schmidt’s cockiness anymore. He turned to leave while Mullen simply smirked.

“I was about to give you another chance if you would’ve opened your eyes, but ah, finally we agree, Eugene.” Mullen flicked his lighter open to light his Cuban cigarette, “You are done. Edgar will be taking over as the Xteria project leader. I hope you will provide the necessary assistance to him.”

“What?!” outraged, Dr. Masters turned around, ready to lash out. “You can’t…!”

Mullen immediately interjected, “I can, and I have. The board agrees with me. You’re simply not producing the necessary results, and Edgar here promises me what you cannot, Eugene,” a ring of smoke blew out of Mullen’s mouth while a sickened Dr. Masters averted his gaze from the disgusting director’s yellowish teeth. Everything had suddenly spiraled out of control. How had Mullen gotten approval so fast? The board had agreed with him on taking it slow with sample collection while he fed them the Regenerative Xteria updates regularly. Someone had betrayed him, sold his idea out, and hinted at the possibility of using his contributions as nothing more than warmongering efforts!

“Like you just said, Masters,” Schmidt stood by the director’s chair, a malicious glint in his one eye. “You are done.”

------------

“Your German is coming along fine,” Adrian complimented as he and Avelyn washed their plates together.

“Danka,” Avelyn’s antennae twitched three times. Her expression remained unchanged, but Adrian was amused as he had picked up that reaction was when she was pleased with herself.

“We have some more scans scheduled for the day, but after that, you’re free. Is there something you’d like to do, Avelyn?” Adrian asked, “How about computer games? It came out a while ago, but there’s this American title called Quarter-Life I’ve been wanting to try. Last year was so busy though, so I still have it in my backlog.”

“Sounds like a weird title.” Avelyn raised an eyebrow. She nodded with a small shrug. “But sure.”

Upon leaving the kitchen, Adrian and Avelyn headed towards the screening room, passing by Dr. Masters’ office. The door was cracked-open, which attracted the mantis girl’s attention. “Can I say hello to Eugene first?”

“Oh? Dr. Masters is in there now? Alright then. You know the way to the screening room, so I’ll go ahead and fire the machine up, okay?” After getting a nod from Avelyn, Adrian walked out. The metamorph was forbidden from entering the office if it was closed, she had to knock first. But since it was cracked open, she decided to open the door with a simple knock.

“Eugene, are you there?”

“Silence, you fool!” Dr. Masters shouted startling Avelyn who found herself in an office turned upside down. He turned around with bitter rage showing in his eyes and prepared to spout more venom: “You’re not welcome in this…!” but he stopped himself when he saw his creation standing before him with a bewildered, confused stare. Dr. Masters’ glare softened and he rushed towards Avelyn to embrace her tightly, “Avelyn, I thought you were someone else.”

“Eugene, are you okay?” Avelyn didn’t understand what the circumstance was, but clearly she had asked a rhetorical question. Dr. Masters was holding her tightly, like someone who does not want to let go.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you my dear. How was lunch with Adrian? I apologize for not making it, again. I will make it up to you though, I promise.” Avelyn could notice the strain in the man’s voice, his fingers almost digging into her chitin shoulder pads as he broke the hug.

“It’s like a storm hit your office, Eugene. Do you need help?” Avelyn asked, again surprised by the scattered and torn pages and thrashed hard drives and other peripherals.

“No no. It’s quite fine this way, Avelyn. I… I assume you have a few more scans to do with Adrian, is that right?” Avelyn nodded her head to the question.

“He says he wants to try a computer game with me too after we’re done with that.”

“Good! Good.” Dr. Masters smiled shakily and let go of his patient, turning his back to her. “Stick with him for the rest of the day, you hear? Do not wander out of the labs on your own.”

“Is there a problem, Eugene? I can tell Adrian I’ll play with him tomorrow. Computers are hard to figure out anyway.”

“No it’s just… I have a surprise for you tonight. I want you to meet me in the kitchen by 7 PM, alright? Just stick with Adrian for now; I need to take care of something. Promise me you’ll tell no one about what you just saw or heard, alright? We don’t want to ruin the… surprise.”

Avelyn was worried about her doctor, he looked distressed and restless. She was concerned about the state of his office, but she couldn’t put her finger on what was going on exactly. This side of Dr. Masters unsettled her, but she couldn’t bring herself to press him for any more details.

“Be a dear and close the door on your way out, Avelyn.”

“Uh huh. Well, I’ll see you later then, Eugene.”

----------------

That night, Avelyn bid good-bye to Adrian after spending some time playing with his computer. The metamorph teen stopped by the restroom to fix her long black hair, “Oww, why are my feelers so sensitive?” she frowned she hissed after getting her right antenna caught between her combing fingers. “I wonder what Eugene wants to show me. He asked to meet by the kitchen, maybe he’s going to make burgers again?” she thought to herself as her tummy rumbled, but then she reminded herself of his emotional state back at the office earlier. “Wish it was that simple. I’ve never seen him so mad; what could’ve happened for him to… ugh, my feelers keep twitching so hard. Wish they’d stop itching so… damn, stop twitching!” she reached up grab her antennae before a sharp pain force her to fall to her knees just as a wire flew above her and hit the small mirror she had been using to fix her hair. “What the?!” she startled.

Avelyn turned her head to the side and saw an unfamiliar man holding a weird-shaped pistol-like weapon in his right hand. She hadn’t been able to hear him enter, much less approach her, but given the electrical current running through the wire embedded on the mirror, Avelyn could conclude this man hadn’t mistaken restroom indicators for genders. Reincorporating herself quickly as she saw the man approach, Avelyn glared at him and took a couple of steps back to put some distance between them. The man was silent, Avelyn couldn’t read him; he was dressed in black and was wearing a pair of tinted glasses, like the special commandos she had seen in one of the movies Adrian had showed her before.

The man dropped his pistol and took out what seemed to be a cattle prod, only much smaller and concealable. The rod extending and cackling as Avelyn was cornered. Avelyn was afraid, but seeing the portable stunner somehow made a spark click in her head; almost immediately the raptorial extensions in the metamorph’s forearms came out with a slight crunching sound, making her attacker stop. “I don’t know who you are,” Avelyn started, “But it’s rude to come onto a girl in the bathroom.”

Her attacker lunged for Avelyn, who used her serrated extensions to block the incoming blow. She shrieked when the electrical current spread from her extensions and shocked her, making her squirm and be blown back against the wall. “Ahh! B-bad idea…” she cursed silently as she tried to get back up to her feet, but she was too slow for her attacker, who rushed her and stepped on her arms, pressing them together while he prodded her again with the rod. Avelyn screamed as searing pain coursed through her muscles, setting her nerves on fire.

“D-damn, my limbs won’t respond. I can barely look around!” Avelyn cursed as she was carried out before violently thrown onto the floor. She widened her eyes once she saw Adrian’s unconscious form sprawled on the ground, bruises and cuts all over his battered body. “No! Adrian…! What’s going on?!”

“Avelyn! Oh my god!” Dr. Masters’ voice alerted all of her senses at once. Avelyn managed to turn her dark eyes to look at her doctor being restrained, blood running down his nose and his glasses missing one of their lenses. He had been beaten up too. “What have they done to you? Are you okay?!”

“Save your breath. All of its nerves have been paralyzed, Masters.” Schmidt popped up from between two of the like-clothed stoic men, wearing a satisfied smile. “Director Mullen will be pleased at my foresight. I’m glad I asked for security’s help for this. Honestly, Dr. Eugene Masters!” he laughed, “Did you think you could do as you pleased, destroy all of your work and MY new laboratory, and then escape with MY test subject?!”

Avelyn was at a loss for words, not that she could speak. “Adrian, Eugene, what’s happening? What’s going to happen to us…?” she could feel her heart racing, her limbs slowly regaining movement as connections reset much faster than in a normal human’s. Avelyn was careful not to let it show, as she didn’t want to be prodded again. Dr. Masters couldn’t bring himself to respond.

“Pfft, and what’s this?” Schmidt made a grimace when he produced some legal documents out of Dr. Masters’ coat pockets, “Adoption papers? Hah! You’re not serious are you? You are?!” he laughed out loud, “Please! Who has ever heard of a man fostering an insect?! I knew you were losing your mind, Masters, but this just takes the cup! Hahahaha!”

The mantis widened her eyes as far as they would go. She couldn’t believe her internal ears, but worse still was that the man with the eye-patch’s laugh made it all irritating. Avelyn was all kinds of confused; she wanted answers, and more than anything, she wanted the man above restraining her to get off her!

Embarrassed at his own mistake, Dr. Masters couldn’t face Schmidt, much less Avelyn. “I should’ve taken her with me the second I saw her. No… this can’t be it…!” he growled in his head.

“Let us go, you assholes!” the sudden cry of Adrian’s voice snapped both Avelyn and Dr. Masters’ attention as they saw the young medical aide get up from the floor and throw himself against Avelyn’s guard.

“Get that impertinent fool. Put him down if you have to!” barked Schmidt as Adrian put on all of his might into subduing the guard he had managed to surprise, but the other two quickly restrained and began to beat Adrian down. Avelyn however took the moment of confusion as her chance and swept both guards off their feet with a quick swing of her long legs. Heeding the twitch of her feelers this time, she bounced herself off the ground and jumped towards Dr. Masters, knocking the taser off the doctor’s guard’s hand before he could fire it at her. “What are you useless fops doing?! Stop the test subject now!”

“Good work, Avelyn!” praised Dr. Masters once he was freed, Avelyn having knocked his restrainer down with a swift blow. “Hurry, follow me!” He took her arm and dragged her towards the kitchen, where they had agreed to meet earlier, before she could say a single but.

Avelyn panted, the rush of adrenaline having taken a toll on her. She had never thought about actually fighting before, but something deep inside of her had given her not only the courage of but the confidence to awesomely dispatch the trained guards rather quickly. The door had been locked behind them with a special code; they seemed to be fine. “Eugene! What is going on? Who are these people?!” she demanded.

“There’s no time for explanations, my dear. We must get out at once!” Dr. Masters was fiercely inputting a code into a hidden panel behind the kitchen’s microwave.

“But Adrian!”

“We can’t go back to him! He’s gone!” Dr. Masters shouted with resounding defeat as he disposed his glasses but not before crushing them in his hand. “Avelyn, listen.” He grabbed her by the shoulders while her frozen eyes stared at him in disbelief, “These are bad people that want to do very bad things to you. I have to get you out of Humani. You have to promise me you will do all I say from now on! Do you understand?” a loud bang at the door and Schmidt’s barking of orders made Dr. Masters shout again, “AVELYN!”

She snapped back to reality. “I-I promise…”

“Through here, we don’t have much time!” Dr. Masters grabbed Avelyn by her wrist and pulled her along again. “I closed all the doors except the one that requires them to go all around,” he thought confidently after having pressed one last button in his remote before discarding it. And with Avelyn in tow and the map of the installations in his head, the scientist knew exactly what routes to take to escape while explosions, panic and chaos ensued. “I’ll be slowing medical Xteria research down by at least a decade… My life’s work. But if this keeps people like Schmidt and Mullen from misusing it, I will gladly start from scratch!”

Avelyn could only watch as people ran past them in the direction of the explosions carrying fire extinguishers. Dr. Masters was taking them away from those though, avoiding to collide or to stand still for too long. They dashed together past winding halls into vacated locations she had never been to during her short stay at the Humani Corporation. Eventually, they found themselves in a dark parking lot.

“We found them!” came the shout of a security guard as Dr. Masters urged Avelyn inside his car.”

“Damn it!” Dr. Masters cursed and slid over the car’s front, hurrying into the vehicle. Panting and exhausted, an extenuated and soot-covered Schmidt ran out while flailing his arm and shouting.

“Stop them! Masters is getting away with my test subject! We don’t have the research data anymore. I MUST have that damn insect!”

“Run! C’mon, run!” Ignited and on, the engine of the car roared to life, prompting Dr. Masters to pull back before making a violent swerve that hit one of the leaping security guards before his foot nearly went through the gas pedal. Avelyn still couldn’t believe how beautiful and scary her first night sky in what seemed like years looked like to her.

------------

The ride was fast yet quiet. Fortunately, transit was almost non-existent on the road and it allowed them room for outdoing their pursuers on their way to the city. Dr. Masters gave Avelyn a small glance as she nearly pressed herself to the window, admiring the city lights, the stars and the black sky she had probably been wanting to see for months. Pain gathered at his chest as he rode into the metropolis, knowing that his plans had failed, and that he didn’t have many choices available. None of them had his family in the picture, and they certainly did not have room for Avelyn either.

“I have to get my family protection, fast. Even if they can’t get Avelyn back, they will go to any length to get ME back. Once I get to America, I will need their help,” he put emphasis in the word “their” in his head. He then turned back to Avelyn, “But she can’t come with me. No matter where she goes, it’ll be the same result. Once they learn what’s inside of her they’ll want to…” he bit his lip to make it stop trembling as he drove down to the opposite side of the city. “If she’s to have a chance in this cruel world, she’ll need to learn how to protect herself. There’s only one person I can trust in to do this without any sort of bias…”

As Avelyn settled down, Dr. Masters averted his gaze and paid attention exclusively to the road. He had already lost his pursuers behind, his only saving grace for the day. The scientist tried to calm himself down, “But this will set her on a very dark path. I don’t know if this is the best course of action but… damnit! I wish I had more time!” he banged his fist on the wheel out of frustration. Avelyn, startled and concerned, reached with one of her hands for Dr. Masters’ shoulders.

“Eugene…” she started, but didn’t know what else to say. Avelyn saw Dr. Masters take a deep breath before he finally began to speak again.

“I’m sorry, Avelyn. I’m so sorry,” he said, the glow in his eyes unmistakable as tears began to gather under the rim of his eyes. “I was useless. I could not find any information about you or your past, even though I promised you. I had another plan. I would give you a home, somewhere to go to, Avelyn. But now that that is in shambles… I only have one option left.”

Avelyn couldn’t talk back. For her unchanging expression, she felt a knot at the front of her throat, choking her up. Her train of thought stopped with the car as Dr. Masters pulled over next to a rather old looking yet large house. Avelyn got off at Dr. Masters’ behest, who led her inside the rather precarious looking cottage.

The door slid to the side, appearing to be made of some fancy kind of material the mantis could only relate to cardboard. The ceiling looked just as odd, with cross-sectioned tiles running over wooden beams. The floor made a small rustling sound when stepped on, Avelyn took notice of that. She was at a loss for words, so she looked at her hand which was grabbing Dr. Masters before she looked up at him with a quizzical stare.

“Avelyn, do you like this place?”

“It looks fine,” the mantis said while brushing some of her hair back, “Why are we here though? I thought we were escaping.”

“We’ve reached your destination, Avelyn. We…”

“Eugene Masters. It’s been a while.” Doctor and patient turned around and then looked down to a miniature of a person staring back at them. Avelyn couldn’t believe the small person; the old woman couldn’t have been taller than 4ft.!

“Ren Mao.” Dr. Masters bowed and urged Avelyn to do the same.

---------

After Ren Mao had prepared and served tea, the three sat down on the tatami floor. Avelyn was still uncomfortable and curiously looking around, keeping close to Dr. Masters.

“I am amazed. Is this the girl you want me to train?” Mao put both her index and middle fingers on top of her red lips, her wrinkled face scrounging together as she seemed to squint. “Why, she’s a little cupcake!”

“You promised me, Ren Mao.”

“And I make good on my promises, Eugene Masters. I am still grateful for the successful transplant for my grandson.”

“Please, Ren Mao, take care of Avelyn. Teach her all you know. She needs to be strong in order to defend herself. I just hope she doesn’t have to, but I will not be around to protect her.”

“Wait. Eugene, what are you saying?” Avelyn perked up and looked at her doctor, “What do you mean you will not be around?”

“I’m afraid I must leave for America, Avelyn. And after that… I must disappear,” Dr. Masters closed his eyes as he confessed. “I don’t know when I’ll be able to come back, but until then, I want you to stay with Ren Mao and do whatever she’ll tell you. It’s the only way you…”

“No.” Avelyn sharply cut him off as she seized him by the arm. “No, you can’t do that! Eugene, you can’t tell me that!”

It wasn’t any easier for Dr. Masters, whose eyes had begun watering along with the mantis’s. “Avelyn, listen.”

“No, don’t say it!” Avelyn broke down in tears and tackled him down, displaying the same monstrous strength they had been monitoring until that date. Ren Mao’s eyes opened wide as the mantis held her friend tightly in her brown and chitin covered arms. “Adrian’s gone! Now you’re leaving. I thought you wanted me to be part of your family!”

“Avelyn…” With his wind knocked out, Dr. Masters looked at how Avelyn’s black haired head sank against his chest, her grip not letting him go. “You’re part of my family already. I promise you that. You don’t need my name next to yours to prove it. But my mission with you hasn’t changed since I met you back then. I want to protect you. However, I also have a duty to protect others, and to protect the world as well from the bad people that want to hurt us.”

“Then let me come with you!” Avelyn begged with a cry.

“No, Avelyn. You can’t. I’m afraid that those people will look for you wherever I go. That is why I’m leaving you under Ren Mao’s care,” Dr. Masters explained. “Here you will be safe, and you will grow stronger. Keep growing stronger until you can look after yourself, then maybe one day in the future…”

“This isn’t fair.” Avelyn groaned, her tears streaming down and over her facemask. “You have no right to do this.”

“I know, Avelyn. But this is the only way I can guarantee your safety.” Dr. Masters concluded, hugging Avelyn tightly. He then slowly and gently began to push Avelyn away from him, sitting back up before the shuddering, crying insect metamorph would sit down. He stood up and left her there.

“I hate you.” Avelyn spoke, her voice almost completely broken. “I hate you!” she finally screamed. Dr. Masters however did not reply, and he turned around, ready to leave. “I HATE YOU!” she screamed at the top of her lungs, her mask disappearing as she smashed a fist down on the tatami floor. The doctor slid the door and exited, closing it behind him.

Ren Mao stood up and walked over to Avelyn, silently placing a hand over the praying mantis’s shoulder. “You don’t hate him. You simply can’t understand him right now. But men are often difficult to understand with words, little girl.” Avelyn could only sob, having little mind for a lecture, “They often hide their meaning in their actions instead.”

Bitter, Avelyn shut her eyes tight and clenched her teeth. “His action is to tell me he wanted me to be part of his family and then abandoning me…”

“No, young mantis,” Ren Mao took her hand off Avelyn’s back, the girl looking back at her. “Eugene Masters just saved your life. I am a woman of my word. And I promise you…” Avelyn’s head turned up for a brief moment as Ren Mao’s stare turned steely cold, “…I’ll make you the strongest there is.”

To Be Continued…

[DragonMasterX]

Part 4.

“When are you going to stop mopping around?”

Avelyn’s mind was foggier than usual. Morning had broken in through the blinds of the room Ren Mao had lent her. It was just as precarious as the rest of the old-fashioned home; but for someone stuck in the middle of the woods there wasn’t a lot one could expect. The metamorph wasn’t facing Ren Mao, she didn’t want to. There was something about the old lady that Avelyn did not like, aside her pushy and know-it-all demeanor, but she couldn’t quite yet place her finger on it.

“You already skipped breakfast, but you’re not allowed to miss training. Get up, or else I’ll have to drag you out by your feet, Avelyn.” The short old lady’s threats didn’t seem to reach the mantis, who considered her little more than an annoyance.

“I don’t need to train. I just need to figure how to get out of here and catch up to Eugene,” Avelyn wouldn’t admit that last thought to anybody else but her own mind; she needed a better explanation, not to work out in the forest. Avelyn’s feelers began to itch suddenly as she perceived an aggressive intent when Ren Mao approached her. Avelyn decided to sit up and kick her off, but no sooner than her brain had sent the order for her leg to retract, the mantis found herself crashing chin first against the bed as her body slid down.

“Honestly, you’re more troublesome than you looked like yesterday, cupcake. I must’ve misjudged you.” Casually as one could be, the old lady left the room while two of her fingers pulled on Avelyn’s feet, dragging over the floor.

Avelyn couldn’t believe how she couldn’t force her legs to listen to her. All she could do was squirm as flaring pain ran up her leg as if she had cramped it. “Let go!” she managed to cry out while looking back at the old lady.

“Now now, I already told you yesterday before you went to bed. I’m going to make you strong, and that doesn’t depend on whether you want it or not, Avelyn.” Ren Mao stopped at the middle of her humble abode, gripping Avelyn around the ankle now to prevent her from escaping, “What is up to you is whether it’ll be hell or hellish!”

Avelyn, having had enough, kicked through her pain with her free leg and attempted to break free. Her foot was caught by Ren Mao, who twisted it easily and pushed her off, “Dear me, so that is your problem. You’re still angry.” Avelyn screamed and crawled away before she could bring herself up to her feet. “I’ll also help with that, if you’ll let me.”

“You can’t help,” Avelyn shot an inflamed glare at the china-woman, raising her arms and clenching her fists, “You don’t know anything! You don’t understand!”

“My, how silly of me. Eugene did tell me you were at a rather tender age. This kind of explosiveness is to be expected.” Ren Mao put her hands at her back and elevated her posture to stare straight at the metamorph, “Fine, young lady. I’ll let you go at me if it’ll satisfy you.”

Avelyn, whose heart felt gashed and wounded beyond repair, was unable to judge the situation correctly. This woman was dangerous, no doubt about it, but if she could defeat her then it would be that much easy to plan her escape from Germany. Without something as much as a gesture, the mantis threw herself at Ren Mao in a blind rage.

The old woman’s squinty eyes seemed to open briefly, as if assessing the situation in the split second between the kick-off and the charge. A gentle smile was the last thing Avelyn saw before Ren Mao vanished from her sight, her fist striking air. “What the?!”

“Over here. Come.” Avelyn turned around, eyes widely opening as they saw Ren Mao’s static pose no less than five feet behind her. Humiliated, the metamorph kicked off again and this time she did a sharp turn in an attempt to connect with a low kick, but she struck empty air again instead. “You’ve got an unrefined technique, but it is there. Have you taken self-defense classes before?”

Avelyn didn’t deign that with a response, but it did raise another interrogative. Back at the corporation, Avelyn had exhibited some sort of martial ability she hadn’t been aware she had, and the lightning-fast old lady seemed to know about it. All Avelyn could do was glare at Ren Mao however.

“You’re not going to hit me,” she said after evading a side punch. The old lady did an impressive somersault backwards after Avelyn fiercely produced one of her raptorial extensions to hit her, “Interesting. So that’s what the raptorial legs Eugene Masters mentioned are. But additional reach is superfluous if you don’t know how to use it.”

“Shut up!” Avelyn exploded, making the second extension appear, panting from the physical exertion and hunger, “I thought you said I could go at you!”

“If that would satisfy you, yes,” Ren Mao casually said while ducking under a slash, then ducked again, and again, and every time after halving a phrase: “But satisfaction, my dear. It is not something to be taken lightly. Satisfaction is, put simply, the result to a certain grade of effort. Your want is not enough, because you don’t wish to harm me. There is no intensity in your blows!” Avelyn gasped as her feelers twitched when Ren Mao suddenly began to move strangely, but she did not react at the appropriate time to catch the side-step evasion. Ren Mao followed with an upper that deflected Avelyn’s arm to the side before the old woman stomped forwards and thrust her open palm into Avelyn’s abdomen, knocking the wind out of her.

The mantis fell to her knees, both extensions withdrawing into Avelyn’s forearms as she clutched her stomach. The chitin face mask retracted as well, allowing Avelyn’s bile to escape her mouth. “Oh dear. Did I go too hard on you? I wanted you to learn what a proper blow was.”

“S-screw you…” said Avelyn before collapsing forwards. Not long afterwards, crisp coldness struck the rim of Avelyn’s mouth followed by a cascading amount of ice-cold water that forced her awake.

“Thank you, Hans. Go back to your training outside,” Ren Mao’s command was answered by a shaky yes followed by a strange word Avelyn hadn’t heard before. From what Avelyn could see, a boy dressed in a white Kung-Fu Gi had seen and become terrified of her, which was why the bucket of ice-cold water had been shakily administered.

“Are you awake, Avelyn?” Ren Mao, sitting on her knees, was looking down at the insect with her squinty eyes, the wrinkles on her withered face scrounging up. “Don’t worry about Hans. My disciples all listen to what I say. That’s why they are strong, mind you.”

“Do you knock all your disciples unconscious on their first day, too?” the mantis shakily sat up, still feeling queasy.

Ren Mao smiled, her factions returning to those of a kind old lady. “Hehe, only those that believe my old bones can’t kick their asses if they don’t behave.”

“Wonderful, an old lady ninja with a sense of humor,” Avelyn winced as she put an arm over her stomach.

“Does it hurt?” Ren Mao asked with sarcasm, but Avelyn didn’t respond. “You’re alive because I exerted just enough force to not break your ribs over your vital organs, Avelyn.” Silence was the response Ren Mao received, so she continued: “What do you suppose would have happened if you had been out there?” Silence, again. This time however, Avelyn seemed to avert her gaze, visibly ashamed. “Eugene Masters is a very smart man. He would not have left you here under normal circumstances. But right now, he must protect his other family, and taking you with him would not only put you in danger, but also his family. Do you understand?”

Avelyn was on the verge of venting out again, her teeth clenching as she shook. Ren Mao sighed and stood up, approaching the defeated insect before gently placing a hand on her shoulder. Avelyn stopped shaking, too weak to swat her arm away, much less through the pain in her stomach. “Avelyn, your own body acknowledges that I am not your enemy. Don’t you wish you were able to protect Eugene Masters?” the metamorph girl’s eyes widened and she slowly lifted her chin to look at the smiling old lady, “You clearly have the strength and agility, and the basics to overcome enemies, but you do not have the power to protect yourself. In order to do that, you must first be strong. Then you can help those that need protection. That is why you are here. Do you understand, Avelyn?”

“Strength… How do I…?” Avelyn carefully began to ask, before three fingers appeared in front of her eyes.

“You need three important things before you can be strong. Discipline,” she curled down her ring finger, “Training,” the middle finger was next, “And the most important one of all: Courage. So, are you brave enough to be strong, Avelyn?”

The mantis couldn’t yet admit it to herself that she had completely understood what the old lady was talking about, but a warm sensation in her chest was telling her not to give up. Ren Mao spoke first however: “Well, don’t feel rushed to answer just yet. Sometimes words are meaningless unless action backs them up.”

“No, wait. Ren Mao, I want to be strong,” Avelyn finally said. The old lady looked down at her firmly. “Please, help me be strong.”

“The first step, young mantis, is to admit one very important thing about yourself: You’re weak. You’re weaker still because just like Eugene Masters told me, you have no memories of who you are; you consider yourself an incomplete person.” The mantis looked down in disappointment, but Ren Mao, after turning around, gave Avelyn a reassuring smile. “The past, my dear, can only dictate who you were. It has no hold over who you are, or who you will be.” That’s when something clicked inside Avelyn’s head. Ren Mao continued: “Who you were is no doubt important, because it gives you direction. I don’t disagree with that. Yet, people change, they adapt. Don’t innocent little boys grow to become violent killing machines that fight in meaningless wars? Girls bloom into women one day. Yours I suspect will be a tad different, but you will mature into a woman inevitably. Just what kind of woman will you turn out to be, Avelyn?”

“The kind with serrated blades inside her forearms,” the mantis thought to herself, not wanting to ruin Ren Mao’s moment. “But still, I understand now. All I can do right now is to train myself and grow strong enough to protect Eugene.” Avelyn looked at Ren Mao with firm disposition before declaring: “I can’t say I don’t care about whom I was anymore, but I know I have to put this as a priority. I’m a weak person, but I want to get stronger! Please teach me how.”

Ren Mao grinned, finally satisfied. “I teach those that are willing to learn. I see that you’re ready to do that now, Avelyn. From now on, I will be your master, understood?”

“Yes, Ren Mao.”

“You will not address me by my full name anymore, Avelyn. From now on, you shall address me as Mao-shifu, or Shifu. Is that clear?” Avelyn nodded, “Say it then.”

“Yes, Shifu!”

-----------

Mao-shifu was a strict teacher. She rarely held back against her students, so many didn’t come back the next day. Avelyn’s regime begun with a few bumps along the road, as putting on a Gi did not make everyone acknowledge, much less incorporate her. Aside the usual weirded out stares and talking behind her back, the mantis was subject to the older students’ trials of acceptance, of which she thought she had no business doing. Mao-shifu did not resolve disputes among students. She encouraged them to take their quarrels out of the dojo and turn them into contests of strength instead. “Only those who can prove their discipline, training and courage with action are those that are allowed to speak down to those who can’t.” It was a tough starting week for Avelyn.

Being the only metamorph was rough enough, but being the only female among young male adults and those her age made it even more awkward. Mao-shifu taught them all equally, sparing no one, boy or insect girl, from the exhausting stamina training in the form of short and long dashes, to muscle flexibility and building. “Since you’re behind everybody’s schedule, you’ll have to repeat this training during the late afternoons to catch up.” Mao-shifu would say; an ear to ear grin on her face. Avelyn was only too grateful to reach her bed in one piece every night.

Every other day, Mao-shifu brought books to Avelyn and tutored her on acupuncture and certain Chinese philosophies, mainly Taoist mantra. The balancing of opposites and the importance of one’s own place in the world. “The little fitness trials they had for you were good, but not good enough. You need to train your body and your mind equally if you’re to achieve the necessary discipline.”

The long days turned to weeks, which soon turned to months. Avelyn’s will was strong, but her impatience was getting the better of her. Every day was largely the same: Morning build-up exercises, afternoon tea and studies and late-afternoon build-up exercises. Since Avelyn had nowhere to go or visit, every Sunday, Mao-shifu would take her out for a hike around the forest and lake, even using nature’s examples to teach Avelyn much to the latter’s dismay.

“Footwork is important for someone with your legs, Avelyn. We will train without your raptorial legs hidden indefinitely, but never forget the proper stance!” Mao-Shifu had instructed Avelyn to keep her elbows sunk into her torso while her index and thumb fingers made a hook-like shape. They had trained her stance for a good while, and how to keep it even while moving and side-stepping. The master had also employed the help of her other disciples in order to keep pressuring Avelyn, having them attack her while she evaded their blows without breaking her poise. “You’re not allowed to deflect or block, only evade! Use your feet! Twist your hips and shift your center of gravity! Don’t let them take advantage of the shift!”

And so, a year passed…

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March, 2001.

It was during one especially chill Sunday afternoon, during tea time, both student and master were gathered by the fireplace, relaxing after a week of intensive training, when Avelyn decided to bring it up.

“When will I be ready to practice what the others are doing, Shifu?”

“When I deem you ready, young mantis. Technique training requires only the highest discipline.”

“If they already know martial arts, why are they training under you, Shifu?”

“Because what these boys are doing is refining what they already know. This isn’t the only dojo in this country.”

Avelyn was most surprised when she realized that the ones picking on her could be considered masters. She was even more impressed with Mao-shifu’s influence however. “I’m surprised there ARE that many dojos in Germany, Shifu.”

“Martial arts are broadly represented as sports these days. But I don’t teach flashy moves meant to be televised, tsk tsk.” Mao-shifu’s complexion seemed to darken every time they spoke about the rest of the dojos, “However, what a martial artist does with his strength is not something I can control. If they prove to me that they deserve it, then I am willing to teach.”

“Why are you teaching me, Shifu? I didn’t exactly prove myself when we first met, did I?”

“You did, and you did not. At first, I was doing this out of responsibility and a debt I owed to Eugene Masters.”

“Right, you mentioned him performing some sort of operation on your grandson.”

“When everyone else had given up on treating my grandson’s sick heart, when no matter how much money was offered and no guarantee of survival was given, one man was recommended to us. That is why we moved here, so that we could get Eugene Masters to operate on my grandson. He gave my grandson’s life back to him, and didn’t even charge one more cent than necessary.”

“In all this time, I haven’t seen your grandson though. Where is he?”

“He lives with his parents in the city. Like me, they decided to remain in this city, but for different reasons. His father, mostly, had decided to bring his business here.”

“I see.” Avelyn found a weird pause at the last sentence, but decided not to press it. “Why did you stay here, anyway? You don’t even seem like you’re comfortable speaking German.”

“I believe in fate, young mantis. That is why I decided to stay in Berlin with my family, to see the promise I made to Eugene Masters through.”

“So, you told him you’d teach mantis fist to an actual praying mantis if he ever needed it?”

“Goodness, no. I was surprised when he brought you in all those months ago. When he explained your situation, I had been expecting a ten foot tall drooling monster right out of a horror movie to come into my dojo.”

“Ugh, it’s not my fault I drool when napping sometimes…”

Mao-shifu reached forwards with a smile and tugged at Avelyn’s hair, cut down to just under her shoulders and tied into a braided tail, “But you know what? Instead of that, he brought me a child. A child afraid for her life, confused about her past, yet unwilling to give up in the face of it all. That is how you proved yourself to me, Avelyn. In this judgmental world with its prejudiced society, facing somebody with your appearance can break a person’s psyche easily. But the truth is, you’re just like anyone else; special, in your own way.”

“So it’s okay that I drool a bit while napping?”

“No. I’ll disallow all naps and triple your training if you continue to stain your pillows.”

“Ahh! You’re horrible, Shifu! It’s not on purpose!”

To Avelyn, everyday felt like a small improvement had been reached. The other students had grown accustomed to her, and she had even on occasion been invited to observe sparring sessions between them. Since Mao-shifu hadn’t allowed her to fight them yet, she couldn’t participate. But just watching both the friendly and competitive battles pumped her on to try her best.

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July, 2002.

Practice had advanced sufficiently that on spring, Mao-Shifu surprised Avelyn with an announcement during a Sunday dinner. “Tomorrow we will be tripling your training regime.”

Nearly choking on the Chow-Mein, Avelyn had to grab a glass of water to calm herself. “But Shifu, I…!”

“We’re beginning technique training tomorrow, young mantis. Be sure to get a good night of sleep.”

“Shifu…” Avelyn was dumbstruck, but this is just what she had been waiting for. Sure, she had just been rewarded for her hard work with even harder work, but to the growing martial artist in her, this was paramount to being recognized as worthy by her master. Mao-shifu got sudden hug from the excited girl. “Thank you!”

Taken by surprise at first, Mao-shifu couldn’t help but admire the mantis’ speed with which she had seized her. “Her body must feel lighter already. I couldn’t see her coming; I must have hit the nail right on the head.” She smiled proudly, but then cleared her throat and gently pushed Avelyn away, knowing that she had to put on the act. “Honestly, young mantis, control yourself. Go straight to bed after washing the dishes, you’re starting at 4 AM. Don’t think you can neglect your stamina and flexibility training from now on either! I’m going to go extra hard on you.”

But Avelyn was that much excited that she simply went back to devour her dinner and skipped away to do the dishes. Mao-shifu sighed to herself, “There’s not a lot life left in these dusty old bones. But if I can at least teach that to somebody like her, then I can…” Mao-shifu’s train of thought was duly interrupted as she heard the phone on the wall ring, making her cringe since she knew of only one person with her number. Setting her mug down, the old woman went to grab the receiver before putting it next to her ear and starting on a fast-paced Chinese. “You troublesome child, what is it now? My answer is still no. My place is with my students, not in a posh mansion that would double as a geriatric. I do not care about your trifling matters; let them come. Do not call unless it is about my grandson. Good-bye.”

“Shifu?” Avelyn’s antennae were twitching as she approached Mao-shifu. The mantis couldn’t help but notice how winded and exhausted the old lady seemed, plus the tone of her Chinese had seriously sounded inflamed. Avelyn had seen this happen before, on Christmas and New Years’ Eve too. She wondered sometimes if the actual reason Mao-shifu didn’t see her family was because they had grown distant with each other. “Are you feeling unwell?” she softly asked out of concern.

“Never mind, young mantis, I am fine.” The china-woman that had been holding by her chest dismissed Avelyn’s hand with hers and headed to her own abode. “I should rest, and so should you.” Mao-shifu slid the door closed and sat down on her bed. “It seems I will have to hurry up with the lesson.”

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On the following day, Avelyn’s new training had officially started. Mao-shifu had stuffed dummies built by her students hung on some of the sturdier trees. Since the “warm-up” as Mao-shifu called it consisted on a compressed version of all Avelyn had so far been doing for the better part of the year, technique training only began later in the day when none of the other students were present.

“Watch.” Avelyn intently focused her black eyes on her master as the old lady adapted the stance she had already practiced over tens of thousands of times. With a short and explosive dash, Mao-shifu demonstrated the double mantis-punch, a technique where one delivers mid-section impact by bending their body sideways while aiding a punishing double palm-thrust. Not only did the dummy’s fabric tear a bit after shaking violently, but a rain of leaves and even the cracking of bark under the dummy could be heard. Mao-shifu returned to her stance and breathed out, “Young mantis, we are aggressive. We are on the offense even while employing defensive tactics. We aim for the opponents’ vitals and strike true.”

Avelyn watched as her master’s hook-like fists flew around the dummy’s head and struck it down. She jumped to the next dummy, whose arm she waved over before she executed an upwards palm thrust. “We do not fear facing our foe in close-quarters. This is where they think they are safe, because this is where distance limits our impact. But this is where you prove them wrong,” in a single graceful move, Mao-shifu’s deflecting hand moved off the dummy’s arm and caught her elbow. On the next fraction of a second, Mao-shifu’s palm pushed her arm up, decapitating the dummy with a double armed uppercut. “We practitioners of the mantis fist are deadly, precise, and most of all fast.”

The third dummy that was still intact was going to be Avelyn’s target, Mao-shifu circling it as she evaluated Avelyn from a distance. “Use your footwork. Your honed lower body should guide your movement, and your arms follow after as with the flow of a river. Be both active and reactive, pile the pressure on, and never stop until the foe before you falls, Avelyn.”

Avelyn did not put out anymore quirky remarks this time; she was very close to being overwhelmed by her master’s almost inhuman prowess. Mao-shifu had demonstrated the techniques she had been looking forwards to learn; now she had to put in the effort to acquire their use. One after another, Avelyn’s attacks were criticized and reexamined, with her master making her disciple retry countless of times.

The days went by, and bit by bit, Avelyn grew accustomed to each and all of the skills Mao-shifu had imparted. One calm day of September, the china-woman had arranged for Avelyn to finally spar against one of her students, Hans, a local dojo owner. After bowing to each other, Avelyn was humbled by how different things looked when after all those months of rigorous training; the man’s blows appeared to be moving slower than she remembered from past spars she had observed.

Even still, Hans was a tiger fist teacher, which meant Avelyn was up against another aggressive, if not much more offensive style than her own, so the blows kept coming, forcing her on the defensive. Every time she ever so glanced at her master, the mantis girl’s mind was assaulted by vivid images and thoughts. “Avelyn! What have I been teaching you?!” Mao-shifu yelled inside her head, “You must pressure the opponent! Be active AND reactive!”

Hans was going for a rather strong combination attack. Just one wrong move and Avelyn would be caught in the chain of blows, but then it clicked in on her mind that his pattern was easily observable, enough to see where it began and where it ended, as well as where his open sides were. Decided to implement her own strategy, Avelyn closed-in on her opponent just as he threw a fist at her. With a side-step dodge and her left hand smacking Hans’ forearm down, she took her chance to grab around his neck with her right hand before he tripped him into a scissor grab with her legs. Hans, caught off guard, ended up on the floor with Avelyn, his legs caught by the insect’s. “I did it…!” Avelyn thought surprised. “It was over so quick, yet there were so many times I almost got roped into his attack!”

Mao-shifu stroked her chin thoughtfully while the point was awarded and nodded in approval. The sparring continued. Ultimately, Avelyn was victorious, and not just that, applause, even from Hans, rewarded the suddenly meek looking mantis. “You’ve grown, Avelyn. I was right about your aptitude. You managed to learn everything I had to teach so fast. I’m so glad for you.”

With sparring added to her diet, Avelyn’s fighting only became better as the year came to a close. She began to participate in battles against all of her peers, testing her style against others and even those similar to her own. Mao-shifu had her own kind of mantis fist which she had devised by combining the strengths of both the northern and southern praying mantis styles, and had finished teaching every available skill, as well as her own. It looked like Avelyn was near graduation too, with her master acknowledging her more and more.

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December, 2002.

Christmas was around the corner. Berlin’s winter was strong in its coming, the usual chilling drizzles replaced by steady snowfall. During these times, the dojo wasn’t as active, but Avelyn continued with her training regardless, and Mao-shifu continued to supervise her. It was during a late Sunday afternoon that a trio of black cars pulled over the old-fashioned forest house, prompting Avelyn to look out the window. Men in suits were escorting a dignified looking tall man; from what Avelyn could tell, their escorted was a middle-aged Asian. “What is the matter, Avelyn? Oh… Please stay inside. I’ll deal with this.”

“Shifu?” Avelyn turned with a worried look as the old woman hurried outside to confront the men in black’s boss. She saw her teacher go out through the window, interrupting the approach to their house. What little Avelyn could interpret seemed to indicate this was an acquaintance of her master, and someone really familiar as well, as Mao-shifu seemed especially miffed and casual to them. “I wonder if that is Mao-shifu’s son. She did say he has a business here in Berlin.”

The conversation was turning heated, with Mao-shifu being held back by the escorts so she wouldn’t hit their boss. “…what did you do this time, you troublesome child?!” was one of the few phrases Avelyn could make out before the equally aggravated china-man snapped and began to yell.

“It’s not safe here anymore, mother!” And that phrase, accompanied with the titillating antennae on Avelyn’s head, was finished with the piercing sound of a gunshot. One of the escorts fell down after Avelyn saw a cloud of red emit from his back, while everyone else followed suit to seek cover.

“Shifu!” the mantis cried as she rushed towards the door.

“Ren Fu! What is the meaning of this?!” Mao-shifu demanded while her son kept her under her arm.

“It’s what I feared. And what I warned you about!” Ren Fu barked some orders in German, to which his bodyguards responded by drawing their 9mms and returning fire, and returned to his mother, “We have to leave now. I miscalculated their sheer numbers, my counter-assassins are holding off their advance, but we don’t have a lot of time!”

“By all that’s holy, child, just who did you piss off this time?!” Mao-shifu growled, pushing her son off, “I can’t leave until I have secured my disciple!”

“Disciple? But I thought the dojo was closed around this time of the year!”

“Uwaa!” a groan coming from the house snapped their attention as one of the surprised gunmen fell off his perch, followed by his partner. There was a brief break in incoming fire, making both Ren Fu and Mao-shifu peek out from one of the cars to inspect the situation. It had become dark and it was hard to see, but someone else was being shot and swung at, judging from the groans and loud strikes. Even the bodyguards slowly crept up from their cover, since suppressing fire didn’t seem necessary. “What is this thing?!” they heard one panicked man shout in Chinese, making Mao-shifu’s eyes pop open. She turned to her son with rage in her eyes.

“You got involved with the triads, again?! Ren Fu, you…!” Mao-shifu’s movements were faster than her voice as she pushed Ren Fu off, “Watch out!”

“Oof!” Ren Fu groaned as he fell onto his back just as a new gunshot was heard.

“Sniper from behind!” one of the bodyguards shouted.

“Shit! One of them must’ve given the counter team the slip!”

“Don’t distract yourselves. Keep firing, keep firing!”

“Mother!” Ren Fu’s voice tore through the cross-fire as the moment he reincorporated himself was when his eyes caught sight of Mao-shifu bent over at the knees, clutching her crimson-soaked chest. “God curse you, Jin Shao!!” he cried out with a shudder, unable to move forwards. Someone else, dressed in grey, was fast-approaching, a hood covering their face. Another assassin, maybe? “You will not lay a hand on her!” Ren Fu attempted to put himself between the incoming person and his mother, but he was flung over aside almost effortlessly.

“Shifu! Mao-shifu!” the voice of a desperate young woman filled the cacophony of violence as Avelyn flung her hood off and knelt by her bleeding master. “Shifu! What’s wrong?! Answer me!” she grabbed the shuddering old lady by the shoulders before she freaked out when she noticed the large amount of blood pouring out of the gun-shot wound.

“A-Avelyn… Wh-what a relief…” blood was pouring Mao-shifu’s mouth, “You’re fine.”

“Wait, no, don’t talk. We have to get you help! Hey, you!” Avelyn yelled at Ren Fu, who she had knocked unconscious by accident, “Get up, no time to sleep! Call an ambulance or something!” she was on the verge of tears.

“Avelyn… I’m so… so sorry…” Mao-shifu’s weakening voice pulled Avelyn back, “I’m sorry, my idiot of a son involved you in this pointless conflict. But p-please, don’t blame him. I was too stubborn too… I always was; with you too.”

“No, Shifu! What are you saying?!” Avelyn sobbed, grabbing Mao-shifu’s hands as the old woman shakily raised them.

“Avelyn. Look at me,” Mao-shifu smiled, “Don’t get involved in his silly world, no matter what he says. Remember, you… y-you…” she coughed, “You’re strong now. There’s… nothing you’ve left to prove to me. Just… to yourself…”

“Shifu…!” Avelyn vociferated. “No, I’m not strong enough yet! Don’t leave me. Please don’t! You can’t… you can’t leave!” she cried louder, tears streaming down the black pearls that were her eyes. “Please stay with me! It’ll be alright. You’ll teach me like every day, you’ll make me strong, you will…!”

But the words did not reach Ren Mao’s cold ears; life had ebbed out of the old lady’s body already. The firm grip in Ren Mao’s hand lost its strength and her arms fell to the side as the martial artist’s eyes closed forever.

“SHIFU!” A lone scream filled the woods, countless thoughts and regrets lost to a single projectile.

To Be Continued…

[Ironhorse]

I liked it. Mantis girls are a very unusual selection.

[DragonMasterX]

Stay tuned for the finale tomorrow!

[DragonMasterX]

Finale.

Tree leaves cradled by the picking up wind were rattled by the flashing cross-fire in the forest. Dark clouds had moved in, brightly illuminating the impromptu battlefield for seconds at a time. The constant falling of icy cold water drops and hail washing freshly spilled blood downhill over the snow covered grass.

Ren Fu’s head was pounding. He could barely think straight, much less sit up. “Just what hit me?” He asked himself as he tried organizing his scrambled thoughts. “Mother was shot. I failed to protect her. Then someone appeared and deflected me without much as a second thought…” Bit by bit, his strength returned to him and he was able to reincorporate himself with the aid of one of his bodyguards.

“Boss! The situation is a stalemate, but we can’t remain here. Please get inside the car!” Ren Fu heard one of his subordinates speak. He was right, he had to leave. But then he heard the thought-stopping scream coming from where the body of his mother lay. “Th-the late boss lady… that woman’s been cradling and crying over her ever since she popped up. We haven’t been able to make her let go, we can’t get close.”

Ren Fu then remembered what his parent had said right before she had saved his life. “This is your disciple. Now it makes sense. She’s the one that took care of the other fire team.” He stood up and brushed back his long black hair before moving next to a broken, crying Avelyn. “Excuse me; I am Ren Mao’s son.”

Avelyn, still sobbing uncontrollably, suddenly snapped back to reality as the word son penetrated her thoughts of regret. Without thinking she turned her head, her dark eyes and brown skin showing under her hood through another flash of lightning. Ren Fu was startled at first, but he steeled through the impression and knelt down in front of the metamorph, “I’m sorry…!”

Ren Fu’s eyes nearly froze over. The young girl’s voice sent a chill down his spine when he heard her apologize. “N-no…” he stuttered, “She was shot because of me, she died protecting me!”

Avelyn couldn’t find words to respond to the revelation. Ren Fu hurried to put a hand over Avelyn’s shoulder.

“Are you my mother’s disciple? She said she wanted to make sure you’re okay,” after Avelyn gave a slow nod, Ren Fu gripped Avelyn’s arm to force her up to her feet, “I’m sorry for being rough. My name is Ren Fu. Please follow me, I will carry my mother and lead you to safety.”

“Boss, we have to leave now!” The metal-clashing sound of bullets hitting cars was making it a pressing argument.

“I-I’m… Avelyn.” The mantis barely put out as Ren Fu cradled her Mao-shifu’s lifeless body in his arms. Avelyn could not even bring herself to object, this was her son, and he had the right to.

“Follow me then, Avelyn!”

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Fortunately, Ren Fu’s drivers were good. It only took them about a minute to lose their pursuers when they got into the city. While inside the car, Avelyn simply could not tear her eyes off Mao-shifu’s body on top of her somber-faced son.

“They will pay.” Ren Fu simply said. Avelyn perked up and looked at him. “I will make them pay. They will rue the day they decided to go for my family.”

“Ren Fu…” Avelyn edged closer on the seat, “Please tell me! Who were those people?”

“The triad. Part of the organized crime network here in Berlin. The Chinese version of the mafia, if you will,” as Ren Fu explained, his expression became colder and colder, tightening his grip on his dead mother.

“What did they want with you? Why did they go after Mao-shifu?”

“My organization used to work with them. But I got fed up with their methods; the risk began to overbalance the pay.”

Avelyn shook, her hands slowly curling into fists, “You… you worked with the mafia. They wanted to kill Mao-shifu because of you…!” every blood vessel in her body felt like it was about to burst at the same time. Her forearms were tingling, and she was slowly losing control over her own body. “She’s dead because of you, her own son!”

“I ask that you do not judge me, Avelyn! I did this for my own son’s sake!” Ren Fu shouted back, making Avelyn stop. “We needed money for an operation. My organization was barely getting off the ground back then. After we found a doctor capable of doing it, the triads of Berlin offered me instant cash for only a few jobs.”

“What kind of jobs? What does your organization do?” Avelyn pressed, but Ren Fu remained silent.

Instead, he diverged. “I was trying to get mother to safety, to get her to live with us. I only wanted to guarantee her safety, but she said she wanted to stay with her students. I told her I would build her a dojo, but she was insistent about remaining where she was. Now I know the reason. It was you.” Ren Fu’s glare felt like a ton of bricks hitting against her. Avelyn’s heart suddenly sunk.

“Shifu…” she returned her eyes to her deceased master. “No… You didn’t want to bring me out of the forest because of your promise!” she began to slide away on the leather seat, putting a head on her head. “If only I hadn’t been there, you would’ve left for safety… It’s my fault! You died because of me, Shifu!” Avelyn said out loud. Ren Fu interjected.

“You’re wrong, Avelyn,” Ren Fu’s words rang hollow, she could only sob. “You can put the blame on everyone, on anyone. But the end result is that the triads executed our loved one. I will not blame you anymore than I will blame myself, especially when we have a common enemy before us.”

It was then, in the middle of Avelyn’s mental crisis that something snapped. The blame and piles of regret began to melt in her head. The wounded heart beating in her chest withdrew into a rocky prison, transforming her feelings into anger. Sadness gave way to seething rage, channeled in the same direction as Ren Fu. Avelyn looked up with fierceness in her eyes and put her hands down in front of the china-man.

“You get it, don’t you? This isn’t an enemy I can deal with on my own, neither one that you have the resources for finding. I saw your prowess firsthand, and you were trained by the strongest master I know,” Ren Fu looked at the silent, hooded metamorph with a steely gaze, “Join me, Avelyn and tonight we shall exact revenge. We will destroy the Berlin triad!”

Avelyn’s chitin mask and her raptorial extensions appeared at the same time, making Ren Fu nod at her. “Just point me in the right direction.”

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Avelyn was impatient. The ride ended when they pulled over by a large building in the uptown area and got inside a garage. It looked smaller from the outside, but it clearly was meant to misdirect. The metamorph followed Ren Fu right until he left his mother in the care of a trusted employee, who would prepare her for a funeral. “I profoundly regret the circumstances under which we met, Avelyn, but after this is over, I would like you to attend to the service.”

Avelyn did not respond, but she readily nodded. Any other day, she would have been moved to tears by the invitation, but right now, she only had one thing in her head. Ren Fu led her into a war room where a crew of no less than twenty men had gathered, all dressed in black, their faces concealed. The mantis girl was offered a similar outfit, and given the privacy to change while the plan of attack was discussed. “What is it your organization did again, Ren Fu?”

“We are hit men, Avelyn.”

Once she was alone, Avelyn discarded the clothes Mao-shifu had gotten her and slipped on the black spandex. Since the outfit hadn’t been made with Avelyn’s body type in mind, her feet tore through the legs and she made holes in the forearms for her raptorial extensions to be able to freely come out. The material was tight but comfortable, hugging every bit of her slim yet curvy body firmly. Avelyn crossed eyes with her image for a brief moment, for some reason thinking back when two years before she had seen her body for the first time in forever. Time had given her better stature and an even shapelier figure, her wide hips sporting thick thighs and meaty buttocks in the form of a heart; further accentuated by the spandex. The curvy ascent was magnified by her chest, which had substantially developed over the years, yet still maintained her sleek figure. Avelyn ran her hands over her black-covered body to make sure the suit had been correctly sealed, and then she grabbed her braid, which Mao-shifu had taught her to do. Avelyn stared at it intently.

Mao-shifu had forced Avelyn to train while ignoring the titillating feeling from her antennae, to forgo the use of her raptorial extensions and to gain control of her exoskeleton so she would not use it during her training. Those limitations had been placed so she would not only have a disadvantage during training, but so when the day came she could use all of her superhuman repertoire, they would synergize and become more than a simple set of advantages. Focused on the now, Avelyn decided that her enemies deserved no quarter from her; this wasn’t training anymore. “These bastards attack with guns, they don’t know what to do up close, and they have no aim at close range. They’re weak. Mao-shifu, I finally get it. I’m strong. I can’t let these weak people run around freely. They need to answer to me because I’m stronger! And I’m going to make sure they never forget that.”

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The storm was only growing worse. The drizzle was mainly composed of sleet now, and there was no one in the streets late at night. Cars were gathered at a plain looking yet large downtown building. Abandoned and needing a renovation job, it was the perfect place for the bad elements of the city to gather together. It was a moment of celebration for the district criminals as their operation had been successful. “We taught that scumbag what happens when you try to leave the triads.”

“I’m just surprised it took us that long to find that old lady. She didn’t even put up that much of a fight. Was she that dangerous?”

“Hah, probably some stupid rumors. But more importantly, the boss will promote us! Who sniped the old lady huh?”

“Jun did, but they got him through the shoulder, so the docs are treating him in the first floor. Well, cheers for us!” they shared a toast with some cheap liquor and a laugh, excited about their upcoming pay as the roaring outside worsened. “Damn, storm’s getting bad out there.”

One of the triad members flinched as he heard thunder, and then calmly walked down the stairs. “I’m going down below. Top floor with all these windows gives me the creeps. Boss should arrive soon, so let’s get ready.”

Agreeing with their cohort, the rest of the members decided to go down a floor, leaving just as a flash of lightning filtered several black silhouettes through the glass.

“Too bad we lost Johnny. Bastard owed me a couple drinks,” the leading triad member quietly murmured as they heard more thunder. The lights were flickering, “Probably a malfunction huh. Hey, why don’t you go check the… holy shit!”

No fewer than five members were down on the floor, three of them beaten down badly while two others had their throats slit. “Hell is going on here?”

“You’re shitting me, WE are being hit?” the rightmost member exclaimed while rushing over to one of his dead partners.

The leftmost member was more reluctant to get near the bodies. “Better hurry down, whoever did this is probably still around… urk!” he felt a pair of hands on his neck before every notion of color, substance and feeling suddenly vanished at once.

The other two heard a loud crunch and turned around to find their partner falling to his knees with a man dressed in black spandex behind him. Their partner’s neck had been snapped. “Fuck is your deal, dude! You’re going down!” the centermost thug pulled out a gun, but before he could even pull the trigger a sharp spike fell down on his arm, piercing flesh. He let out shrilling scream before he was pulled towards someone else who had come from behind the tall man. It was hard to see the other figure, but the thug had no time to react. A swift blow to the solar plexus incapacitated him, and a knee impact to the forehead finished him off.

“How are you holding up, Avelyn?” Ren Fu stepping over the man whose neck he had snapped as the mantis removed her raptorial extensions from the thug’s bleeding arm.

“I’m not satisfied yet.” Avelyn responded coldly, her fists still tightly closed.

“You have done well so far. You can leave their execution to my men.”

“No.” Avelyn stammered, focusing her anger on her defeated foe. She brought her foot down heavily and pressed it against the unconscious thug’s neck before crushing the airway, killing him instantly. “It is my effort.”

Ren Fu had never seen such a transition happen in such short notice, which partly frightened him, but he was all the same pleased about having Avelyn as an ally. “Her fighting style is only enhanced by her natural abilities. For every armed thug one of my men takes down, she takes down three. If only I had been the one to train her, we would’ve been able to do this sooner.”

“Boss,” two of the disguised subordinates approached Ren Fu, “We’ve already interrogated one of the survivors at the parking lot. The boss himself is coming to congratulate his team.”

“You’ve already taken to impersonate their parking lot company, excellent. Yugo’s planning on celebrating his victory over me, no doubt.” Ren Fu grinned under his mask, turning to Avelyn, “He thinks we are broken shells, bawling and useless, unable to act. He’s overconfident, Avelyn.”

The female bumped past Ren Fu as he approached her to pat her on the shoulder. She merely shrugged him off and went downstairs without saying a word before one of Fu’s subordinates went to grab her by the arm, “Don’t be disrespectful to the boss!” was his last phrase before Avelyn reacted to his incoming arm, deflected it, pushed herself against him and then hurled him against the wall, cracking the concrete beneath him. She continued on.

“She’s truly as magnificent as she’s frightening,” Ren Fu thought to himself as his unconscious subordinate received assistance. “At least she knows how to measure her strength. She will not kill unless prompted to. Her discipline is amazing.” With a nod towards one of his shadow operatives, he spoke: “Switch with him. It’ll take a while for him to wake up. We need to make sure the situation is normalized down there.”

“Sir, what about the boss lady’s disciple? She’s uncontrollable!”

“She will not strike until the target is in place, which is what we also want,” Ren Fu explained, “Let her be. It is no overstatement that she will singlehandedly bring this war to an end.”

----------

Gen Yugo was, by birth, the rightful heir of a dynasty of criminals based in Berlin. Not long ago, control of the district’s triad had been passed to him. He was known for his reckless business agreements and violent reprisals to those that angered him, but also because of his arrogance and impatience. “One less enemy to worry about. Soon we will strike, now that he’s crying over his mother’s corpse,” Gen Yugo thought as his driver pulled over into the abandoned building’s garage.

While Yugo lit his cigarette up, he gave his driver a smirk from behind his seat, “What’s the name of the boy that did me the solid, again?” Before the driver could respond however, the car screeched to a stop when the windshield was blood-splattered across. Yugo’s startling made him drop his cigarette as he freaked.

“Y-Yao… J-Jun… s-sir.” The driver gasped as he looked at the lifeless corpse which had been dropped on them and was now sprawled over the windshield.

“It’s an ambush! What are you waiting for, take us out of-” but Yugo could not finish his sentence that the window on the right cracked as a bullet zoomed past and created a hole in his driver’s temple. “Holy shit, what are you doing, imbeciles, protect me!” he cried into his radio, trying to get cover from the surrounding cars, but nobody was responding. The car violently shook all of a sudden. “What…?”

Yugo pulled back against his seat with nowhere to go thanks to his frozen legs. The amount of fear in his heart skyrocketed when his car’s ceiling was removed shortly after two widely serrated blades pierced through. A single hand pulled him out and up by the collar. “Gen Yugo, I presume.” His masked female captor dryly said.

“Let me go! Let me go!” he cried out frantically in fast-spoken Chinese, but the captor did not seem to care.

“I knew you were weak. It’s pathetic,” the dark eyed woman said while glaring at him. “Pathetic how you silly men need guns to settle the discord between yourselves. Killing can be done with a single hand.”

“No, don’t do it! I have money; I have a lot of money! Connections! Slaves! I can make you rich and powerful!”

Avelyn began to clutch her hand against the man’s neck to suffocate him, but mainly to shut him up. “I don’t need your empty, hollow strength. I am stronger than you are. You can’t decide who dies anymore, Gen Yugo.” All of a sudden, Avelyn’s chitin mask parted at the laterals and revealed two mandibles as she hissed at him.

“WHAT… Gak… ARE YOU?!” Yugo, all choked up, screamed while struggling for his life.

“Your final prayer into the dark.” And with a thrust of her free arm, Avelyn punched the triad boss’s bosom. Her fist remained there until her raptorial extension ejected and pierced through his chest cavity, impaling his heart out. It seemed fitting to the metamorph; her mentor’s heart had been shot after all. No longer would this man or his underlings be free to kill innocents again.

Justice had been served.

---------------

“You helped bring a war to an end before it engulfed a city. I am grateful, but… I’m surprised you’re still here,” Ren Fu mentioned, his spandex suit still on, his mask on the desk.

“I have nowhere to go.” Avelyn responded matter-of-factly while she paced around the office, then she looked at her mentor’s son. “Nice office.”

Ren Fu smirked and folded his arms, “You’re still here because you want something from me, then.”

“Yes,” the mantis sat down on a chair. “I have unfinished business in this city and I noticed I did not do as well as I thought I would today,” she produced her right extension and looked at from side to side, mainly the spikes.

“You did excellent for a first timer. You’re a natural in fact. “Your final prayer into the dark”?” Ren Fu smirked, “Flashy, even.”

“That’s not what I’m talking about, Ren Fu. I want to learn how to kill. And I want you to teach me.” Ren Fu raised an eyebrow, taken by surprise.

“I don’t take apprentices, I’ll have you know,” Ren Fu tentatively responded, although in his mind he was curious to see just how far he could take the girl.

“Then employ me. You expect excellency from your hit men, don’t you?” Avelyn sharply stared at the taller man, “Train me so I can be an assassin.”

“Hmm, fair enough. But Avelyn, are you sure you’re ready to undertake the path of an assassin? What you do to quell your wrath is not what this is about. Meaningless killing, or the killing of innocents, is not what we’re about. That is why I severed my ties to Gen Yugo in the first place.”

“There are two targets in my mind, and I assure you they are not innocent at all.”

Ren Fu sat down on his desk. He looked pensive, but Avelyn’s sincere and determined stare were enough to convince him in the end. “You do realize that you will be busy with other contracts until your training is done.”

Avelyn nodded, not a single shred of doubt left in her stone-cold heart.

“Then… welcome to the organization. But Avelyn, we won’t begin until the day after tomorrow, I’m afraid. I’ve been putting on a brave face, but the truth is I…”

“I know.” Avelyn felt the same way. It felt strangely weird that Ren Fu would display weakness in front of her all of a sudden, but even stranger still was that she couldn’t bring herself to cry again, no matter how much she wanted to. “The service is tomorrow, right?”

“Yes,” Ren Fu breathed deeply before responding, “Feel free to stay over. You will be treated as family until this is over, but after that, you will be an employee.”

An Assassin.

------------

She was considered close to an undefeatable opponent. Even those that tied against her during spars admitted that there lay a monster within the small insect, making them hesitant about drawing it out. After the service for Mao-shifu had concluded, Ren Fu had quickly become something close to a second mentor to Avelyn, even if he had initially been against to taking a disciple. But Avelyn had no mind for that kind of relationship anymore.

Weapons. To be able to fight against them, one had to learn about them. Killing blows and tools, the bread and butter of any assassin. Every contract she took part in incorporated one or the other, and there was no rest for her training. The more exhausted she seemed, the more Avelyn demanded for her regime to be upped. With every month that passed, Ren Fu came to respect the metamorph more and more, not just as a simple employee but as a peer in his line of work.

She had turned into an efficient, precise and deadly hunter. A lethal weapon with no hesitation or second thoughts about her job. By the year under Ren Fu’s employment, Avelyn had forgotten all about mercy; even her sparring partners continued to constantly leave in stretchers, even if she had purposefully missed their vitals. Her targets, however, had not been so lucky.

When Ren Fu had decided to give Avelyn a raise, she simply opted to tell him to begin researching her targets. One of them was Edgar Schmidt, a Humani Corporation researcher. The other was his direct superior, as she had long been convinced that funny looking short-stack had been working under someone’s specific orders. When Ren Fu confirmed her doubts, Avelyn approached him with the idea that she had to infiltrate Humani and take care of the ones who had truly been at fault for everything.

No matter how she thought about it, Avelyn could only conclude that the two people she hated the most were those who were the source of her misery. They were the reason for Eugene leaving her. If he had not left her in Mao-shifu’s care, the old lady would not have had to die. “They have to pay,” became the resolution that carried her through until one fateful day…

----------

June, 2005.

“I trust that you’re producing results with your new project, Edgar. As you know, I’m a patient man, but even my patience has its limits…” Director Mullen was sitting at his posh office. No one could say the man had no aesthetic sense, with tall art masterpieces hung on the walls and his crystal bottles holding pricey whiskey he enjoyed every so often.

“Yes sir! The last five years have been rough without the data Masters destroyed, but we’re picking up the slack!” the voice rang from the intercom, making Mullen smile as he tipped his Cuban cigar.

“We’re currently on phase 3 of alpha testing. It will be some time before we’re able to reconstruct all the research, but I will have a tentative prototype ready by next month!”

Mullen stood up, carrying his cigar with him as he began to peer through the window. “I want it done in two weeks. The market’s hungry for an influx of bio-weapons and the Xteria is the only agent capable of synthetizing them fast enough.” He turned around with a smirk, the perfectionist in him catching a glance of his slightly opened door before he went to close it.

“Y-yes sir! B-but I doubt the actual body can be finished with the existing techniques. If only we had some of Masters’ notes!”

Mullen sighed and returned to his office chair. “You let me worry about that. Get in contact with my secretary later and ask her to keep you up to date with the investigation on Eugene’s whereabouts. I have a good idea of the organization he hired to protect his family; his daughter’s working for it. Girl’s becoming quite the personage, that one.” Mullen grinned as he slid through a presentation of images of a long-blonde haired woman on his laptop.

“Thank you, sir. Now with your permission, I’ll get back to my work.”

“Make sure you do, Edgar. Keep it up and I can see a juicy promotion in your future.”

No longer than the intercom shut off, Mullen’s cigar was split in two before he could tilt it down on his ash tray. The director looked down at the remains of his cigar and looked around in wonder. He dropped the cigar and was about to reach for the intercom again before a short blade fell short of his index finger, between him and the button. “What in the…?” Mullen’s eyes looked at the small throwing knife embedded on his table and followed the likely trajectory back at his wall where the Victorian picture he usually admired was hung. He stood up and approached it, thinking it a bad idea to try the intercom again.

“How much did that cost?” a voice came from behind the director, who turned around but found nobody in sight. “A stolen liver? Someone’s daughter? An entire city worth of war casualties?” the cynicism in the voice was starting to wear Mullen’s patience thin. He zeroed in on the source, which he did not initially believe, until his office chair spun around to reveal a 5’6’’ figure clad in black spandex wearing a mask and with two of the blackest eyes Mullen had ever seen. Sitting on his chair, the female had her cheek boringly rested against her knuckles, as if goading him to approach her.

“You, those feelers… The insect?” Mullen let out a small chuckle as he approached the woman in black. “Where’s your daddy? You know, don’t you?” he asked gently as he cornered her.

Avelyn immediately lost her taste for talking. Her muscles tensed up all together as she gripped the armrest and spun herself on the chair, delivering a kick to the man’s chin before she jumped off. Blown backwards by the impact, Mullen growled and steadied himself before facing Avelyn. He was a huge man, even taller than Ren Fu, and at least two times as muscular.

“Alright, girlie. I think we got off on the wrong foot here,” the director chuckled again, rubbing the back of his hand against his bleeding lips before he undid the cuffs of his suit and got rid of his tie. “But I believe I asked you a QUESTION!” Mullen shouted as he charged forwards, arms opening for a bear hug. Able to see through his simple tactic, Avelyn merely jumped overhead and double-kicked his back, flipping herself back down as the director crashed against his bookshelf. “Heh…” he laughed after emerging from a pile of scattered books, “You think you got me figured out. Don’t you, little Avelyn? Find me; make me pay for having your daddy beat up all those years ago?” Or wait; are you maybe angry because it’s my fault you didn’t get to visit the swings together with him?”

Avelyn’s response was standing straight up. She put her closed left fist against her open right hand and gave a light bow forwards. For some reason, Mao-shifu’s teachings seemed to flash back into her head back then: “Don’t be a fool! That kind of ready stance means your restraints are off; some people will interpret it as an invitation to a duel to the death! That is why your right fist is closed and your left palm catches it, Avelyn!” she would say. But Avelyn thought it was rather apt to use that in the face of who her opponent was.

“Hmph, you’re funny. Oh where are my manners,” Mullen laughed as he dusted himself off, “I’m just an angry kid at heart, you know?” Avelyn blinked, but her poise did not break after entering the mantis stance. “We could fight, yes. I can show you why I almost made it to the top of the MMA before I started careering in politics! But Avelyn, we can be friends too, you know?” Avelyn strode forwards and delivered a back-handed smack across his face before she leaped back. “I guess not. Well, they can’t say I have no patience for the sciences!” he laughed, clenching his fists before he went at Avelyn with the intent of delivering a solid one-two.

Avelyn deflected both blows and anticipated a low kick which she deflected with her own leg, but the director’s fourth blow came out of nowhere when he smacked their heads together with a heavy head-butt. Avelyn, caught off guard for the first time, slid back with a groan. “See, Avelyn, the reason I had to have you dissected was in the name of progress. I didn’t necessarily want to kill you; heck, I could’ve made a few arrangements with Edgar if I’d gotten to know you better back then! Haha.”

“Damnit! I got cocky.” Avelyn’s internal ears kept ringing, the blow having had quite the concussive effect. She tried to keep her distance, but unable to judge the situation properly, she relied on what her antennae could pick up to avoid Director Mullen’s strikes.

“You. Could’ve made me. So. Much. Money!” Mullen grunted between blows, getting Avelyn with some, but her footwork enabled her to evade the others.

“Pile the pressure on! Don’t let him dictate the flow of the fight!” Avelyn told herself, slowly regaining her balance as she sank her elbows under her chest and adapted her stance once more. A heavy right came, which she captured. Mullen groaned as Avelyn forced him down before she brought her elbow down, delivering a heavy blow to his arm.

“Gahh!” the director cried out in pain, pulling away in time so Avelyn would not break his arm. “Bitch. You got me good,” he groaned as another backhand forced him back, followed by a series of upper and low kicks that quickly changed the tide of the fight. “Fucking, little…!”

Avelyn thought to finish it off with a double mantis punch, so she went for a deflecting swat. Mullen’s fighter instinct however caught on and he stepped forwards the moment his blow was intercepted. After a sudden exchange of moves, the director had ended with Avelyn’s palm under his chin, his hand gripping her upper arm to prevent it from striking. Their other arms were tangled with each other, so they were in close-quarters. Mullen knew he had the advantage, as her little distance meant her blows would not carry as much momentum; he could finish it with another one of his head-butts, he thought.

Mullen pulled his head back with a grin, “It’s over!” he growled at the smaller mantis, who simply glared at him. Avelyn, recalling her lessons, untangled her arms and had it flow directly under her other one. Her free palm nestled under her elbow, Avelyn pushed with both of her arms. The double-arm uppercut struck Mullen back just as he was bringing his head back, doubling the impact force against his chin. The man, caught completely off-guard, was sent flying into the air from the sheer force of the blow, effectively knocking him out cold.

Avelyn panted. She had never had to fight somebody like this person: Huge, ruthless and unpredictable. Not even her feelers had been able to give her an easy victory, but her job was done. After the counter-attack, Mullen had dropped back down on his head, the impact cracking the back of his skull. “You’re right.” She said while holding one of her arms and turning around to leave, “It’s over.”

But before Avelyn could chalk up one victory, the door to the office opened with three security guards rushing in. The mantis cursed her luck. “I took too long!” the realization that she had just blown her chance to get to Schmidt without arising a commotion made her quickly think about charging through. Taking the guards by surprise, she bowled them over with little effort and set to run down the halls.

“I-it’s the metamorph! She’s back!” one of the guards yelled as he stood back up.

“She’s killed director Mullen! Put the whole building in alert!”

“Damnit!” Avelyn cursed, “He’s going to get away…!”

--------------

Unfortunately for Avelyn’s plans, Schmidt had been evacuated along with the rest of the researchers and employees by the time she had reached the laboratories, reducing her options to a quick retreat. She soon found herself being chased after by special interception squads with orders to take her down. Thanks to her training with Ren Fu, slipping away from their notice was easy enough, but not before one of her arms was reached by a stray bullet just as she exited to the city.

She had lost them after using buildings and their roofs to make her escape. Running and jumping were hard with her bleeding wound; Avelyn had to keep a hand pressuring it. “It seems to have gone clean through; thankfully...” she winced as she wobbled slightly from the blood loss. “I may have just made it…” the assassin groaned as she lost consciousness on top of a building.

----------

When Avelyn opened her eyes, the strong smell of antiseptic filled her nostrils even with her mask. She slid the chitin mask off to cough.

“Well, that seems to be handy! No wonder I couldn’t peel it off by myself though” someone observed, making Avelyn wince a bit as she turned to look at the person but pressed her body against her wound; her right leg also hurt. She looked down to find it mended and bandaged, but nowhere near recovered yet; there was a makeshift brace around her foot too. “Ahh, please don’t move, miss. It appears you sprained your ankle when you fell down through the roof of my church!”

“A church? The roof?” Avelyn repeated in her head, realizing that she had collapsed on top of some fragile flooring.

“But praise the lord; I’m so glad that’s all that happened.” Avelyn finally looked up at the man dressed in a black cassock wearing one of the most comforting and honest smiles she had seen in a while. “God must have some plan for you, my dear. I had just enough of what I needed to treat your injuries; I’m just glad my suturing skills haven’t rusted over the years, haha!”

“You’re not bothered by how I look?” Avelyn asked in a rather brusque tone, making the priest smile.

“All of God’s children are welcome to this church, my dear. You did not choose your appearance, did you?” Avelyn shook her head no. “Then I choose not to judge. Oh, where are my manners. I am Father Hartmann. What is your grace, dear?”

“Avelyn.”

“Oh! Are you a catholic then? What a nice coincidence!” Father Hartmann laughed at Avelyn’s quizzical expression, “Hmm, could it be that you don’t know? Ah, well that is fine. Yours is a name given to roman-Catholics, forgive me for making such a brash assumption. Now please, Avelyn, do rest and recover. I must go help the nuns tend to the children.”

Avelyn looked at the man close the door behind him, turning her expression into a confused mellow. Seeing and listening to such a selfless fellow made her briefly forget Schmidt and think about the word “Choice”, which the priest had used. “Did I really choose to become strong?” she asked herself, “Have I chosen correctly…? Shifu?”

-------------

Avelyn’s recovery was faster than Father Hartmann had anticipated, but he was even more pleasantly surprised when the metamorph asked if she could stay and help in some way. “These children are weak,” she said after having observed their day to day lives, “But they live their lives to their fullest with your help. And that helps to make them stronger,” she explained, “I… I would like to contribute to that.”

Avelyn realized she had become tired. At some point, the killing and the revenge, the training, the strength she had gained; all she had achieved so far felt empty and worthless. She remembered Mao-shifu’s words when she told her that the past was only as important as her standing ground, but not as the limit of her being.

“I… think I might have a spare nun habit around, if you’ll have it.” Father Hartmann agreed with a smile. Avelyn was pleased to hear him.

“Thank you. I know you’re alright with me how I am, but that will help if I stay covered up as much as possible. I don’t want those kids to think a praying mantis is taking care of them,” Avelyn gave a small grin, already decided on her path.

Avelyn had put her quest for vengeance on a halt, as she wanted to gather a different resolve, another way to see justice. She started to see strength in a different light, and she planned to strengthen her heart with that light from then on. After notifying Ren Fu of her choice and receiving a positive answer for a change, Avelyn felt like she was ready. One day in the future, she would meet with Eugene again and show him she had kept her promise to him about becoming stronger. One day in the future, she would resume the search for her true identity. But as for the present, she had already made her choice.

“Well then,” Father Hartmann eased the nun’s cowl on top of Avelyn’s head, careful not to hurt her antennae. “Allow me to officially welcome you to our numbers here, Sister Avelyn.”

The End.

--------------

Hope you've enjoyed the ride peeps. I plan on adding Avelyn to the Codename: Stinger present universe in the future, so I'll be glad if I get any more positives out of this as I wasn't too sure how a mantis woman would do in front of the t/f scene. Let's just hope I didn't do too badly!

As always, happy to entertain you if I did, comment down here please!

[DragonMasterX]

o:

I suppose insect transformations do not hit a note as far as the majority is concerned!

[geneticks]

I have put it in my list of stuff to read, I haven't had the time sadly. I do love insect TFs! I'll post again after I read it!

[DragonMasterX]

I look forwards to your post then! Worked really hard to make a kickass yet likable new character, so it'd be neat to receive any kind of feedback whatsoever.

[geneticks]

That was a good read! My favorite part was the beginning/process but I'm biased...

[DragonMasterX]

Yeah, I figured too late that the rest of the story would be hit'n'miss for everybody here; they understandably just click on the story to have all process and a lil' plot, not the other way around. That's why I'm not studying market speculation I suppose lol

Oh well, at least I learned my lesson! Glad you liked it anyway.