by Kory Shen
"Why didn't we start this sooner, then?" Kayla asked.
"We could have used the recovery charges earlier," I said. "When Staccato—"
"Listen up," Dr. Hill said. "I know everyone's on edge with what happened. But we're all on the same side. I'm not the boogeyman. And neither is Drake."
Julie was still glaring at Drake. She looked away but didn't say anything. Drake grunted and stepped back.
What's with those two?
I overheard Drake talking to Dr. Hill the other day. Drake knew her sister. She was a Beastmaster.
Was?
Gone now, from what I could tell.
Damn.
I watched Drake move away. He was trying to hide it, but he was definitely favoring his left leg. Julie pointedly ignored him.
Everyone here was hurting. Everyone was hiding something. Were we really going to win the War?
We have to!
Zoe's urgency jolted me.
I know, Zoe.
"Pair up," Drake barked, pulling me out of my thoughts.
"Again? I thought we only needed to draw blood once a week?" Claire asked.
Dr. Hill opened up a large briefcase. It was filled with syringes containing an iridescent, crimson fluid. "We're injecting today. Your first recovery charges are ready." She motioned to the syringes. "Make sure you pick the one with your name on it."
The others paired up like before, while I had to inject myself. This time, we were quick and efficient. Afterwards, Dr. Hill went around to collect the used syringes.
"See me after today's training session," she said as she took my syringe.
I nodded as she moved on.
Crap, I haven't had time to decide what I'm going to do.
Isn't it obvious? Drain your life force or make little baby Dustins. That does sound fun, doesn't it?
It's not that simple. What happens to them? What happened to Staccato? Aren't you the one who said we should be careful?
Zoe was being a bit too carefree about the whole thing. Something was up.
What about the Second Strain? I asked. The Mekanics? The traitors?
Imagine a team of Dustins. It might be just what we need to tackle those problems.
I shook my head. Zoe had some explaining to do. I had passed out immediately last night after getting back to my room. We still need to talk.
Someone touched my arm. It was Mia. "Dustin?"
I looked around. The others were lining up against the wall. Dr. Hill had left. "Right. Thanks, Mia."
Drake was watching me. "Hurry up, Hunter. The War's not going to wait for you." He beckoned to the girls.
Something about the way he said that was strange. Did he know what Dr. Hill and Dr. Preston had in mind? I moved to join the others.
"Listen up, boys and girls!" Drake shouted. "Today, we'll be working on something you all in particular need to learn. How to handle to a superior threat."
I breathed a sigh of relief. Our punishment was over, then. The other girls had relieved looks.
Drake must have noticed. He laughed. "I ain't going easy on you. Today you'll be fighting a threat that's better than you in every way. An unstoppable, overwhelming force. Where your only goal will be to survive."
Another captured Mekanic? A hoard of training bots?
I'm guessing, no.
Drake's grin grew wider. He jerked his thumb at himself.
"Me. And if you're wondering, yeah." He cracked the knuckles of one meaty fist, then the other. "This is going to be personal."
CHAPTER 6
Drake melded and flew to the ceiling of the training room, a good hundred feet above us. He hovered, beating down strong enough with his wings to force us to huddle.
I melded, as did all of the others.
An eight-legged form scurried up the wall towards Drake.
"Julie!" I shouted.
Julie's Beastform shot a gob of sticky webbing at Drake, but he sent an extra strong gust of wind that threw the webbing off course. It stuck harmlessly to an empty spot on the transparent ceiling above. I spotted someone on the observation deck. Probably Dr. Hill.
"Stupid and reckless," Drake growled. He dove at Julie, but before he collided, a red streak smashed into Drake from below, knocking him away. Claire.
The silvery dragon spun in mid-air, swiping at the fiery bird with the sharp leading edge of his huge wing.
Claire screamed as Drake pelted her to the ground.
He's going to use his Dragon's Breath!
Drake was rearing up, raising his head as if taking a deep breath.
"Dragon's Breath!" I shouted. "Spread out!"
The large attack would be impossible to avoid on the ground. Claire flew to the opposite corner of the ceiling. Julie climbed onto the ceiling as well, scurrying away from Drake.
"Behind me!" Mia yelled.
Nikki jumped and landed next to Mia, then hid under her, while Mia tried to position herself to block the incoming attack.
Mia or climb?
There's not enough room. Climb!
I latched my claws into the closest wall and ran straight up. I had decent defense with my Phase Shift as well. I glanced down and saw Stella crouching by herself in one corner. Kayla was coiled in another corner.
What are they doing?
Kayla's too big to hide behind Mia. And Stella…she could be trying to dodge.
Drake didn't delay any longer. A torrent of white-hot flame burst forth from his open maw, smothering the ground. Just before it hit, a blue streak shot straight upwards in my direction. Stella was using her attack move to evade the attack, but she'd fall back down into Drake's flames if I didn't do something.
"Stella! Grab me!" I ran to meet her. She crashed into me, and I fell several feet down the walls before regaining my footing. Something hard clamped down on my neck.
ENERGY: 570/600
Her bite had done some damage, but Stella was holding on. I climbed higher to avoid the flames. Meanwhile, Claire was holding Kayla with her feet and hovering halfway up the room. Kayla looked a bit smaller, as if she had just used her molting ability as well.
Mia and Nikki were being cooked alive below us, and the rest of us were mostly sitting ducks. Not a good start.
Julie sent more webbing at Drake, this time a thin stream that she aimed continuously. Kayla wasn't simply waiting in Claire's grasp, either. She spat a green bolt of poison at Drake.
Stella shifted on my back.
"Uh, Stella…"
The weight on my back suddenly vanished. I twisted my head to catch the upside-down sight of a blue streak heading towards Drake.
The flames stopped as Stella's attack reached Drake. Drake whipped his tail around, batting Stella away. He sent a quick puff of flames to his left and right, dissolving Julie's webbing and burning Kayla's incoming poison.
The flames were gone, but the floor was still covered in a thick layer of gray smoke.
"You can't run," Drake said. He clapped his wings together, sending a blast of air at Claire and Kayla. Claire smashed into the wall behind her, dropping Kayla.
"You can't hide." Drake descended in a corkscrew dive, his wings spread wide. The spiral of air pushed the smoke on the ground away, which was when I realized the smoke was from Nikki, not Drake's attack.
Mia and Nikki were hiding in one section of the floor, and Stella had landed in another.
I sent a quick Sonic Screech at Drake's head as a distraction, but Drake ignored it completely and landed with a loud thump. He spun his razor-sharp wings like twin scythes, extended to span almost the entire training room.
One set of wings skittered off Mia's shell in a shower of sparks. Stella threw herself to the ground to avoid the other one.
"What do you do?" Drake thundered.
Julie dropped onto Drake's back. "Attack, motherfucker," she screamed. She started stabbing Drake's back with her legs, while also biting down.
Stella recovered and bit down on one of Drake's back legs. Mia closed in on a fron
t leg. Nikki bounded out past Mia to bite down on Drake's other back leg. Kayla threw herself around Drake's neck and head, winding herself around them.
We had practiced the move before. A full-team takedown. I bounded to the ground and bit into Drake's remaining front leg. Claire hovered above, while Julie skittered under Drake, stabbing his belly. Claire used the opening to begin dive bombing Drake's back, forcing his weight to the ground. Julie slipped to the side to avoid being crushed, then wrapped herself around the leg I was holding.
As the one with the least energy, my job was to harass Drake after everyone was in her final position. I let go of Drake's arm and danced around Drake, slashing him at will with my claws.
Drake's mouth was wrapped up by Kayla, but he managed a garbled laugh. "Wrong." He freed his mouth and roared into the air. Kayla screamed as she struggled to keep him tied up.
Careful. He's likely strong enough to take you on all at once.
Drake brought his limbs closer to his body, his silvery body tensing.
Oh shit! "Run!" I screamed, but it was too late.
Drake caught Claire dive bombing with his free tail, stabbing her with the point of his tail like a spear fisher hunting prey. Claire shrieked and tumbled to the ground.
He ripped his arm out from Mia grasp, then batted her away before grabbing Kayla with the now free claws. Kayla refused to let go, but Drake tore her off his neck with brute force, tossing her in another direction. He smashed his rear legs together, once, twice, then three times before Stella and Nikki were tossed aside as well.
Julie and I were the only ones left. I backed away slowly.
"And now, your turn," Drake said. He smashed Julie into the ground over and over. She tried to escape, but he caught her with his jaws and continued battering her against the ground.
"Julie!" I ran towards Drake, Phase Shifting through a swipe of his claws. When I was right underneath his neck, I activated a Claw Whirl.
Drake promptly smashed his entire upper body into the ground, trying to smother me. I had no choice but to Phase Shift again and retreat to safety.
ENERGY: 535/600
I still had most of my energy, but I had no illusions about how little that really was. I was sure that a single direct hit from Drake could zero me instantly.
Julie was still caught in Drake's jaws. Stella tried to approach, but Drake's angry tail kept her at bay. We could only watch as Drake smashed her over and over into the ground.
The fuck? He has to stop soon. How much more can she take?
I think he's waiting…
Waiting for what? Oh no. Julie wasn't going to—
Julie unmelded, slipping out of Drake's jaws. Drake smoothly caught her in his claws, then pinned her against the ground, in a display of controlled power. A silver talon pressed against Julie's throat.
"What do you do against overwhelming odds?" Drake asked again. His gleaming silver eyes blinked once. "You die." He pressed his talon into the floor next to Julie's neck, burying the talon at least six inches into the hard surface.
Then, Drake unmelded. He turned to survey our Beastforms. "That's the lesson you still need to learn." He spat on the ground. "I've gone over your records over and over. A bunch of punk kids who got lucky." His eyes returned to Julie. "You should all be dead. All of you."
Julie crawled to her feet. "I'm not afraid of dying."
Drake slammed her back onto the ground. His hand was on her neck, squeezing tightly. Julie's face grew red.
By now the rest of us had unmelded. I rushed forward, but Drake glowered at me. I stopped.
"You don't get it, soldier. Your job isn't to die. It's to die when your commanding officer fucking tells you to." Drake leaned closer to Julie's face and screamed. "Get that into your thick skull! You don't get to decide when you die!" He let go and stood back up.
"Lesson's over," Drake said. He walked out of the training room.
We watched in silence.
Mia moved first, running over to Julie. "Julie, are you okay?"
Julie got up and pushed Mia's hand away. "I'm fine." She glanced around. "What?"
"Uh, anything you want to talk about?" I asked. I gave Stella a prodding look.
"We're here for you," Stella said, "if you need us."
"Yeah!" Nikki said brightly.
Julie shrugged. "Nothing. Just family stuff."
Claire raised an eyebrow. "Drake's related to you?"
"What?" Julie smirked. "No, not like that. My older sister served with Drake." Her smile vanished. "She…she's gone."
"And Drake thinks he's your big brother or something?" Nikki asked. So she wasn't a complete ditz.
"While the rest of us have to suffer his bullshit because of that?" Kayla stomped away.
"He had a point, though," Mia said. "Everything he's done is for a reason, even if it's not always pleasant."
Mia was right. Drake was an asshole, but he wasn't a pure asshole like Staccato. Everything had a purpose. Even those freaking needles.
Julie shook her head. "No, you don't get it. My sister died saving Drake."
None of us knew what to say to that.
Julie shrugged. "Whatever. Loved the bonding time, but I'm out of here." Julie waved to us and left.
The rest of us drifted towards the exit as well. As we were leaving, Mia caught up to me.
"Dustin!" she called out.
I stopped to wait for her to catch up. "Hey, Mia. What's up?"
"How are you coming along with evolutions?"
"One sec." I blinked.
NEXT EVOLUTION: 91%
"Pretty close," I said. We had missed a good chunk of training right after the Staccato incident. Plus, we hadn't done much direct sparring since Drake had taken over. He seemed to prefer running drills and exercises for now.
"I can still help you with sparring sessions, if you want." Her smile left two cute dimples on either side of face.
"Oh right!" I had forgotten about the arrangement from so long ago. "Sure. I'll take you up on that. Just not tonight. Dr. Hill wants to meet and…" I really needed to sort things out with Zoe. "I have to take care of some business. Avatar stuff." I pointed to Zoe, who purred.
"No problem," Mia said cheerfully. "They can be fussy sometimes, can't they?"
"Totally," I agreed.
"I'm pretty lucky. Koopie doesn't really give me a hard time."
"You hear that, Zoe?" I asked out loud. "Koopie's a good turtle. Not like you."
Of course not. I'm not a turtle.
Mia giggled. "I'm sure Zoe is wonderful in her own way."
Hm. I approve of this one as a breeding partner, too.
Zoe!
I get a say in the matter, of course.
"Dustin?" Mia gave me a questioning look.
"Right, right. See you later!" I ran down the hallway, not looking back.
Zoe, stop it. It's not funny anymore.
I'm not trying to be funny. I'm excited…but I'm sorry if it upsets you. I can explain.
Hold on until we get back to my room.
Dr. Hill's appointment would have to wait. I reached my room, then plopped myself into my chair. Zoe curled herself in front of the doorway. We stared at each other.
Alright, what is it, Zoe? What's gotten into you?
Zoe hesitated. I told you before that I'm a princess.
I'm lucky, I know.
Yes, you are, but that's not where I'm going. I also told you that only higher Chimerics can reproduce.
Yeah, like bees.
Zoe stared at me with her large eyes. The pupils were circular, like a human's rather than a cat's.
And…? I asked, unsure where Zoe was going.
Do you know how queen bees work?
Only queen bees can make more bees. They make a bunch of workers.
And how do you get new queen bees?
I'm not sure. Some new queen gets born and has to start a new colony.
I'm a princess bee. A queen-bee-in-waiting. Regardless of my upbringing
, my strongest biological urge is to populate a fresh environment.
Populate? Wait, wasn't that what Dr. Hill had said? I looked at the golden cat lounging on my room's floor in horror. Was she going to lay eggs in me like some alien queen? Use me to incubate her spawn? Oh fuck. I scrambled to get away, putting the chair between us. What had I gotten into?
Calm down, Dustin. No one's laying eggs inside you. At least, not any Chimeric.
I took a deep breath. Okay. So how does it work, then?
It usually doesn't. Bonded Chimerics lose the ability to reproduce. For ordinary Chimerics, it doesn't make a difference. For higher Chimerics, though…
I got it. Zoe hadn't just given up her homeworld. She hadn't just gone through the social stigma of bonding as a higher Chimeric. She had given up her chance to reproduce.
All for her people's sake. It would be like if I had cut off my own balls to save the planet.
Or donated them to the War effort, like Dr. Hill wanted. Same thing.
Damn.
Zoe blinked, not saying anything.
And that was why Zoe was so excited about Dr. Hill's breeding program. A chance to regain what was lost. But it wasn't that simple.
We don't know what happened to Staccato. Look how he turned out. Twice a traitor, a bug living in his ass. What did they do to him?
I had hoped Staccato was dead, and we hadn't heard anything about him. But now, I had a slight hint of regret at what he must have gone through. Like what was ahead of me.
I know. I'm just explaining my situation.
Or what about Cody? Is every kid going to turn out like him in their hands? No way I let that happen.
You're right. We don't know enough about the situation.
I need to talk to Dr. Hill, then.
Agreed.
Everyone wanted a piece of me. That sounded nice at first, but I could see it quickly becoming overwhelming. And I hadn't even really started yet.
Wait, so does that mean other Beastmasters can't have kids?
Generally, no. This is uncharted territory, even for me.
It wasn't the type of thing you thought about at nineteen. But I had basically given up all chances of starting a family? Except as a military project? I didn't exactly have a good history with families, but I had hardly known what I was getting into. At all.
