Anja glanced over at Estella and Arika coming down the stairs. She and Natalia were sitting down at the kitchen table, Agent Yang sitting opposite them. She really didn’t want to know exactly what they were up to, and frankly she didn’t care.

Estella sat down at the table with a sigh, “sorry, Arika was helping me fix a… Problem. Long story.”

Arika just giggled and waved, leaning against a wall and watching. Leigh was also present, but mainly observing for the time being. Sonia, Jay and Florrie were also in the room, off to the side.

“Probably involving the evil witches, I believe. I’m not going to pry, that’s not why I’m here,” said Yang, as he leaned forward. “Let’s get down to brass tacks and resume where we left off. As I said before, the Commissioner isn’t interested in charging you for vigilantism, and considering the circumstances, we’ll overlook the fact that your identities were exposed, if temporarily. But from now on, the Commissioner requests that you maintain contact with the Commission and cooperate with us.”

Estella shrugged. “Sounds reasonable, as long as we’re allowed a decent degree of autonomy. Is that reasonable?”

“I believe the Commissioner is likely amenable to that concession,” Yang said, putting his hands together. “Though he wants to maintain some accountability over your actions. Otherwise, we don’t plan on putting you ladies on a leash, especially considering the oversight of your mentors and benefactors.”

Natalia looked at her sisters, and nodded. “Yeah, I think that’s a pretty reasonable arrangement.”

Anja frowned, tapping her finger on the tabletop. “I suppose I can’t really complain about this, but… As long as you give us good reasons to trust you, we’ll keep up our end of the deal. This is a two-way street, after all. We didn’t go to you guys in the first place because we weren’t sure if you could be trusted to act in good faith.”

“Perfectly understandable, and I’ll be damned if I let my superiors violate that implicit trust,” Yang said, before gesturing towards Sonia, Jay and Florrie, “as for your three friends over here… Same goes with them, especially since Mr. Hayward and Miss Ashworth have means of self-defence against paranormal elements now. That being said, Miss Mata is a potential vulnerability, and I’m surprised neither the Emperor or the witches have gone after her yet.”

“Even if they did, I’ve still got that device that’ll alert everyone if some paranormal thing comes in my vicinity,” Sonia said, holding up one of the devices Tharen had distributed to the group. “So I guess I’m not completely fucked if something happens. Right now I’m mostly on assistant duty on the ship when things get spicy.”

“Even then, I don’t think the Commissioner would consider that to be acceptable,” said Yang, crossing his arms. “We’ll work something out. Until then, I suggest Miss Mata be accompanied by someone able to protect her in any area where she might be vulnerable and where adversaries are more likely to strike.”

Anja looked at Sonia, who was staring daggers at Yang. Anja gave her a look that said ‘just go with it’, and Sonia calmed down, though Anja could still see the undercurrent of anger in her posture. “Fine.” She was a fiercely independent woman, and Anja knew this pissed her off something fierce.

“That should mostly be it, then,” Yang said as he got up. “I need to talk to the aliens and the Gaians, but that should be all as far as you six are concerned. Also, Miss Alkawari, the Commissioner wishes to speak with you personally. I’ll take you to him when I’m done here.”

Arika sighed. “Arright, fiiiiiinnneeee…”

As Yang walked off, Anja went up to Sonia, “you okay? I know that’s not what you wanted-”

“No, it’s fine, its the smart thing to do,” Sonia said through gritted teeth, “I don’t like it, but it… Makes sense. I’ll be fine.”

Anja figured she was very much not fine, but she also knew Sonia could be stubborn, especially when mad, so it was best not to argue until she calmed down. “If you say so.”

“Florrie and I can escort you to and from campus if you’d like,” Jay offered. “Might as well, would be nice to talk more outside of, you know, this whole town-saving thing.”

“Yeah, the B-Team, hanging out! Would be fun!” Florrie giggled.

Sonia sighed, but cracked a smile. “Eh, why not. I guess it could be a lot worse.”

Anja decided that would satisfy her enough for now. She just hoped her mood would improve over the weekend…

❖

Dr. Lea Dunbar stared inquisitively at the symbiotic entity that emerged from Anja’s flesh. She was expecting a slightly unusual therapy session today, but Anja immediately disclosing that she was the heroine ‘Prometheus’ was surprising. That said, it also demonstrated a significant amount of trust between them, which she appreciated.

Dr. Dunbar was a doctor of psychiatry, and also Anja’s therapist - smart-looking woman in a suit and glasses, brown hair in a bun, blue eyes. Anja had been her patient since shortly after the accident that had caused the death of her boyfriend, and the immediate decline in her mental health. When they had started a few years ago, Anja was borderline catatonic, and potentially suicidal. Now, however, while she was still suffering from chronic depression, she had made enormous strides in improving her mental health.

She had diligently listened to Anja’s story about how she came to encounter Prometheus and ended up in her current situation. Of course, Dr. Dunbar was sworn to confidentiality, that was simply the professional thing to do as Anja’s therapist.

Her office was a simple room, some nice comfortable chairs and a sofa (because more than a few patients expected there to be a couch or a sofa because of its omnipresence in popular culture thanks to Sigmund Freud, so Lea kept it around as an option for patients to use), a varnished wooden floor, Lea’s desk, a cabinet, and a few diplomas hanging from the tastefully red wall. Lea and Anja were both sitting in the chairs, only about a meter apart.

When Anja concluded her story, Lea began to get to work. “Is it fine if I pry into more specific details about what happened and how you felt about it?”

“Sure, no problem,” Anja said.

Excellent. “When you first encountered Prometheus, how did you feel?”

“I nearly had a goddamn panic attack, obviously. It was a stressful situation already and then suddenly this organic goop starts dripping down on me? I almost completely freaked out,” Anja said.

“I did have to calm her down directly so she could hear me out with a clear head,” Prometheus admitted. Hearing such a normal voice from such an inhuman entity was admittedly somewhat surreal. Lea was wondering how he was making such vocals without an actual mouth, but she decided that was irrelevant to the discussion at hand as Prometheus continued speaking, “I can’t influence her mind directly, but I can do biological stuff to adjust her stress levels and stuff like that. Like, make endorphins and stuff.”

It made sense, biological chemicals had a large impact on how a person felt and their stress levels. Still, Lea wasn’t entirely convinced. “And how can I know you’re being honest with both me and your host?”

“Lady, if I couldn’t be trusted the aliens wouldn’t have let me loose to do my thing with her,” Prometheus said flatly. “The Miama couple are hundreds of years old, they know their stuff, and they’d know if I was too much of a risk to let out.”

Anja nodded. “Yeah, verified that with the other aliens that are planetside. Prometheus is pretty alright in my book.”

That at least somewhat alleviated Lea’s concerns. “A fair point. And you’ve been willingly putting yourself in harm’s way to fight these monsters, Anja?”

“If I didn’t, people would get hurt,” Anja said, looking up at the ceiling. “That Namorrodor was going after a baby in its crib the first time I encountered it. I couldn’t let that happen. Not again.”

Those words spoke a lot about where the source of her drive to as a superhero came from. “Is this all down to a personal sense of responsibility, or your survivor’s guilt?”

Anja bit her lower lip, not answering for several seconds. “I’d be lying if I said if Matt’s death had nothing to do with it. But I think the old me would’ve done the same thing in my place.”

“A bit of both, then,” Lea said, as she jotted down notes. So far so good, but there were potential concerns that needed addressing. “I do hope you’re mindful of your own safety and well-being too, of course. It’s not entirely out of the question that someone in your situation might disregard their own health out of hopes of a ‘heroic death’ in order to gain what they’d feel is some kind of redemption.”

“After being ambushed by that pack of Namorrodor and nearly getting killed? Not in my case. I wouldn’t do that to my sisters or my parents,” said Anja, shaking her head. “You showed me I have way too much to live for already. I wouldn’t put myself in that situation again if I can help it.”

“So you’ve learned from that experience and looking to avoid a repeat of it, then?”

“Yeah. There are a few folks who are gonna shadow me when I’m out and about.”

“That’s good. I know you like you fashion yourself as being ‘independent’, but there’s no shame in relying on others to watch your back,” Lea nodded.

“See, I keep tellin’ her that!” Prometheus said. “If somethin’ happens to her, I’m in big trouble too, ya know?”

Lea couldn’t help but crack a smile. “Anja, what would Matt say to you about all of this if he was here?”

Anja pouted. Lea knew she wasn’t keen on Matt being brought up in terms of what he’d say in certain situations, but it still worked regardless. “He’d… He’d say I shouldn’t try to go it alone and let other people help and back me up. Happy?”

“Why do you dislike it when I ask such questions? You loved him and trusted his judgement. You told me that yourself.”

“Because it makes me feel like a shitty person. Or that I’m not who I should be.”

“Perhaps you are correct about the second part. I’d disagree on the first,” said Lea, tapping her notepad with her pen. “But helping you return to at least some semblance of the bright young woman you used to be is why we have these sessions in the first place. Being reminded of that should encourage you to try and push towards that goal. That’s not saying you haven’t, but sometimes we need reminders every now and again.”

“You’ve told me this before, doc. What’s the point you’re trying to make?”

“Actually, we kind of have veered away from the point I was trying to make - that having Prometheus with you is good for your mental health,” Lea said. “He’s like your conscience. Pushing you to do better. Be better. And besides, he may not be human, but do you consider him a friend?”

Anja smiled softly. “I guess you could call him that.”

“Aw, babe, you’re making me blush,” said Prometheus.

“You don’t have a face or cheeks. Also you aren’t changing colour,” said Anja.

“Well, my advice is to keep developing your friendship. And be more willing to consider what he has to say in the future, because it might just save your life,” Lea said.

She had to admit, the added element of the symbiote was already making these sessions somewhat more interesting.

❖

Anja was walking with Sonia to their usual lunch spot on campus that Monday when they noticed that Jay was talking to Harlan. Their tones indicated that the conversation was heated, and they immediately backed around a corner before they were noticed, and carefully peeked.

The two young men were glaring at each other fiercely. Which was odd because normally Jay got around fairly well with Harlan, so Anja’s curiosity was instantly piqued. What could possibly have gotten them angry at each other?

“You do not have any proof, Jay,” Harlan snapped, “for someone who wants to be a prosecutor, you are startlingly willing to dive right into accusations without substantive evidence.”

“You’re not wrong, but I know what I heard. And I’ve been asking around. You went conspicuously missing around the time both attacks started, and you weren’t among the people who got cocooned, either,” said Jay sternly. “I refuse to believe you were lucky enough to find good hiding spots when shit hit the fan both times.”

Harlan’s glare didn’t waver. “Maybe I was. You’re grasping, Jay. Besides, even if it was true, why would it matter? It’s not like you could arrest me. You honestly think, if I was the Emperor, I’d be walking around as my real self than some body that I could easily dispose of? The only way to know would be to stab me. But you wouldn’t take that chance, would you? You’re not that ruthless.”

Anja took a deep breath. Jay suspected the same thing she did. And the frustrating part was, Harlan was right. If Harlan was the Emperor, he could just be walking around with yet another clone body. There was only one way to verify, but Anja also didn’t want to show her hand, either - Harlan could just expose her identity. Again.

Jay grit his teeth. “You’re right, I’m not. But I’m also not afraid to call out my friends, either. If I’m right? What you’re doing is reprehensible.”

“If I was the Emperor, Jay, I’d be doing it to make the world a better place for everyone,” Harlan snapped, as he walked away, “at least I wouldn’t be afraid to upend the status quo to do that, rather than perpetuate it.”

As he did, he came around the corner Anja and Sonia were hiding behind, and bolted back a bit, startled, “JESUS, YOU TWO! Were you eavesdropping?!”

“Yep,” they both said. Anja had been a little startled herself, and so had Sonia.

Harlan glared back at where Jay had been, and looked at the two ladies again, straightening up. “I… Ugh, fine. You want to go somewhere to eat?”

Anja nodded, “sure, I suppose.”

“We haven’t talked in a while, so I don’t see why not,” Sonia said.

They went over to an unoccupied table some distance away, and got their lunch out. As Harlan sat down, he noted, “and before you ask, no, you didn’t mishear. Jay accused me of being the Emperor, because the Emperor addressed him by name, and he thinks the Emperor’s style of speech is similar to my own. But he doesn’t have any other evidence to back up his claim, and it wouldn’t matter, anyway. If I was the Emperor, I wouldn’t be to concerned about my identity being exposed. His powers theoretically allow him to go anywhere in any disguise using disposable bodies.”

Anja sat down opposite him. “You’re right, it wouldn’t matter. But you know how Jay is.”

Harlan sighed, and nodded. “Yes, I do. Jay has a strong sense of justice, and I do not blame all that much for trying to guilt-trip me into a confession. He believes if one of his friends were the Emperor, well, that is a violation of trust, considering the campus was attacked twice, already.”

He looked between Anja and Sonia. “Do you honestly believe that his claim might actually be true?”

Anja and Sonia looked at each other, and Anja looked back at Harlan. “I’d be lying if I said I didn’t suspect it. I sure as hell don’t want it to be true, but I can’t throw out the possibility. And I’d be more than disappointed if he’s right.”

Sonia nodded, “Matt would absolutely wouldn’t approve if he was still alive-”

Harlan slammed the table with his hand. “Matt’s dead because asshole street racers disregarded the law and people’s safety purely for their own damn thrills! If the Emperor was in charge, that sort of thing wouldn’t have happened!”

And there’s the motive, Anja thought to herself. She could sympathise with his point of view on some level - both of them suffered from survivor’s guilt, and a chance to potentially prevent another tragedy like Matt’s might be extremely tempting to someone like Harlan. Still, she couldn’t in good conscience approve of it, either. ‘The ends justify the means’ as a way of thinking was simply too vulnerable to a slippery slope in terms of morals.

Sonia voiced her concerns before she did. “So you’d be some kind of so-called benevolent dictator, restricting everyone’s actions and free will?”

“Free will is a privilege, Sonia,” Harlan said, in-between eating his sandwich, “we take it away when people do bad things. Why do you think we have prisons?”

“Yeah, except we have a justice system for figuring out who deserves to be punished for violating the law, we don’t literally just restrict what people can do before they’ve violated the social contract,” Sonia snapped back.

Harlan snorted. “You can’t seriously claim you trust the justice system to be fair, impartial and consistently correct. Or have you stopped being a conspiracy theorist?”

“I’m not that big of a conspiracy theorist, and you’re not wrong, but it’s still better than what you’re suggesting!”

“We have democracies with checks and balances because we don’t trust one person with absolute power, even if they think they have everyone’s best interests in mind,” Anja said, interjecting. “Even benevolent dictators can become tyrants. ‘Dictator Disease’ is a thing, and in a world where the dictator controls minds, sycophantic behaviour and advice the dictator only wants to hear emerges pretty quickly. I’m pretty sure Hitler thought he was doing the right thing, too.”

Harlan took a deep breath, briefly glaring at Anja. That comment definitely got under his skin - he wasn’t as good as hiding his feelings as he thought he was.

“And even if you’re not the Emperor, what if he’s in it just for his own lust for power?” Sonia asked.

“Then he can go fuck himself,” Harlan said. “I think we’ve exhausted this discussion. It’s obvious we’re not going to agree on this specific point.” Anja knew his patience was running thin when he started using more casual language.

“Fair enough,” Sonia sighed. “How’ve you been, Harlan?”

“Good. Still doing biology with Anja?” Harlan asked, finally calming down.

“Yep. How’s your law and civics stuff going?”

“I’d definitely consider myself to be doing quite well, thank you.”

“Good to hear, I guess. I wish I could be more positive, it’s just that we never really connected again after… Well…”

Anja sighed. Matt really had been the glue that held the whole drama group together. Sure, everyone still kept in touch to some degree even after that tragedy, but for the most part, none of them were really as close as they used to be. Anja herself might’ve been the one to do it had she not completely broken down mentally.

“Indeed,” Harlan nodded. “We all miss Matt. Some more than others. He did not deserve to die so young. Or like that.”

“Shit happens,” Sonia said. “But you two still can’t get over the fact that it wasn’t your fault. Either of you.”

“I wish the human mind was as rational as that, but that’s not the case,” Harlan said, finishing his sandwich, and standing up, packing his stuff, “I have places I need to be. Sorry for cutting this short, and… Thank you for hanging out, even for such a short time.” He then walked off.

That left Anja and Sonia sitting there silently as they ate.

“I hate that I can’t do shit,” Sonia said. “I can’t help either of you with your mental problems, I’m useless in a fight… What the hell am I good for aside from being a walking fucking paranormal detector?”

Shit. She hadn’t gotten over that after all. “You’re still not happy about not being as helpful as you’d like, huh?”

Sonia nodded. “The best I can be is an assistant on the ship. Which is fine, I guess? But when I see Jay and Florrie helping you guys out on the field, and I can’t do jack shit… You’re my best friend, Anja. And the fact that I can’t be with you out there without being a liability is frustrating to me. This isn’t about me potentially being in danger either, even if I’m not happy with being baby-sat, but considering how reckless you and Estella can be, and how that pack nearly killed you because you were stuck out there by yourself…”

Anja genuinely felt bad for Sonia. She’d love to have her helping out in a meaningful way in fights, but right now even the spare GDF equipment wouldn’t be all that helpful. “We’ll do our best to work something out. Somehow. I promise.”

Sonia chuckled. “Right, you better figure something out, otherwise I’ll just be grumbling on the sidelines. And that’s not fun for anyone.”

“Figured,” Anja chuckled, as they fist-bumped each other.

Still… Where would she even start with that?

❖

Another dream in the palace, with the bathing pool and the naked blonde. Hoo boy. Anja was just inclined to relax on the other side of the pool rather than chat. She had enough problems to deal with as of late.

“You look troubled,” said the mysterious woman. “Would you like to talk about it?”

“I’d have to keep it vague so you don’t suss out my identity,” Anja said, leaning against the side of the pool and looking upwards.

“That should be fine.”

“So one of my friends is potentially a supernatural villain who’s been kidnapping people and creating slave monsters from them, my best friend has inadequacy issues because she can’t be of much help, I’ve got family members who are being targeted for brainwashing by a witch and a kitsune, and there’s this one monster who I’ve fought twice who is pretty damn hard to kill and I’m pretty sure I’ll have to figure out a way to take it down.”

“What kind of monster? I doubt naming it will help me narrow things down much.”

“A Namorrodor.”

The woman tapped her chin. “That’s an Australian spirit creature. A shooting star beast. Fascinating creature. According to legend, only a witch-doctor or medicine man as strong or stronger than the creature can kill it, at a certain time of night and with a spear that’s been shaped over a fire while singing a particular song. It’s not quite as hard to kill in reality, but it is difficult without fulfilling those specific requirements.”

“So you’re saying my best chance is to become a witch-doctor or something.”

“I’m more inclined to say you should find one. Even some of the greatest heroes had aid from time to time. Heracles, as part of his second labour, had the aid of his nephew when it came to slaying the Lernaean Hydra. Perseus had the aid of multiple treasures from the gods when he went to slay Medusa and her sisters. Gilgamesh had the aid of his best friend, Enkidu, when he defeated the Bull of Heaven. And so on. Would finding such help be challenging for you?”

Anja recalled who the Commissioner was, and answered, “probably not, actually. I’ve got connections. I’ll see what I can figure out.”

“And your other problems… Do you have any more insight into this ‘villain’ you speak of?”

Anja sighed. “Calls himself a ‘Dark Emperor’ in Latin. Considering how much of a dork he is, that tracks. But supposedly he’s working with some kind of evil spirit giving him his powers. And we can’t just arrest him and figure it out from there, because he’s probably walking around in some clone body. And if it is him, he’s doing it because he wants to control the world and restrict free will so nobody will die tragically.”

The woman sighed. “That, I cannot help you with. I do distrust such spirits - I think your friend, if he is the villain you speak of, is not as in control of himself as he thinks he is. Unless he was a mage from the start, he’s probably no longer his own master, even if he thinks otherwise.”

Then she got up, walking across the pool over to Anja, who glanced at her and blushed at seeing her coming over. She sat down next to her. “I do have an idea for your friend, if she’s willing to take a leap of faith.”

“Alright, can’t hurt, I guess,” Anja said, looking away, still flustered. Damn this woman was hot as fuck.

The woman held her hand out, and a glass bowl appeared on it. Anja glanced towards it, to see five streams of red liquid pour into it - the copper smell was far too familiar. “Listen well - to create this elixir, you need roughly five teaspoon’s worth of blood each from five Monster denizens of the Kingdom of Gaia. Mix it thoroughly with a teaspoon each of cinnabar and mercury, a cup of lamb’s blood and a cup of mixed herbs native to the region where your friend’s bloodline has her roots.”

Cinnabar and mercury were mixed into the broth, followed by unrecognisable herbs, until it became a lighter pink mixture. “Did you get that?”

“Yeah, I think so,” Anja nodded. “And you’re sure this won’t hurt her?”

“I’m sure you have allies who will be able to properly verify that. It’s her choice whether she wishes to take a chance on consuming it, assuming she doesn’t have other options that would allow her to fight by your side,” said the woman. “Just make sure she drinks the entire brew.”

Anja nodded, and kept the instructions in her memory. She just hoped this wouldn’t backfire.

❖

When Anja told the Gaians and both Aurelius and Phi’Scia that morning, they were all a bit alarmed by the fact that she somehow knew about such a potion, but were fine with acquiring the ingredients she was asking for. Logos, Kat and Europa volunteered their own blood, and Europa went to Gaia to find if any of their colleagues would be willing to volunteer as well.

As for the herbs, Anja recalled that Sonia’s family immigrated from South Africa long before she was born.

“The cinnabar and mercury is the easy part, I’ll see if I can source some herbs from South Africa known to have magical and spiritual properties,” Aurelius said. “I’m not an alchemist, but I know some people who are very knowledgeable on the subject. They might have some insight on what this ‘elixir’ might be.”

“With my ship, I might be able to help acquire them. We’ll see,” Phi’Scia said.

❖

The day went by fairly normally, until Sonia accompanied Anja back to her place and the ship. She was more than a little surprised to discover upon arriving at the ship that some of their allies had brewed some kind of potion based on what Anja had instructed them… Based on some blonde bint’s instructions in a dream, apparently.

“Wait, so this weird chick in your dreams who won’t tell you her name told you to brew this for me?” Sonia asked, with some scepticism as she stared down at the bottle filled with the pink brew. She had only just learned about it, and they were seriously expecting her to drink it?!

“I mean, it’s up to you if you want to drink it,” Anja shrugged. “Aurelius, it’s safe, right?”

“We’re fairly sure it is, yes. Whatever its effect is, I’ve already brewed up a potion that’ll undo them if need be, based on the instructions of the Royal Apothecary of Halothine,” Aurelius said, holding up a second bottle, this time more white. “He was a bit surprised to hear the specific ingredients, but it shouldn’t be much trouble.”

“I’ve also done my own analysis. I’m… Not exactly confident this’ll work out, but I’m 99% certain it won’t kill her,” Phi’Scia said nervously.

“The source is a bit suspect as well, but if the mages think it’ll be fine, we’ll let it slide,” Europa said.

“Clara and Mira lent their blood to this concoction, with our leader’s blessing, so this better do something positive,” said Logos, arms crossed.

“Whatever it is, it won’t be boring, at least,” Kat yawned.

Anja turned to Sonia. “Again, if you don’t wanna do it, it’s cool. But it might give you the chance you’ve been wanting. If you do, just… Drink the whole thing in one go.”

Sonia took a deep breath, and took up the bottle in her hands. As much as this alarmed her, her curiosity and her desire to be helpful was winning out. And well, this was her own choice. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

She uncorked it, and after some mental preparation while reeling a bit from the smell of of copper and other unrecognisable scents mixed in, she tipped the whole thing down her throat, drinking it in one go, desperately trying to ignore the almost medicine-like taste heavily tinged with copper on her tongue. Once the whole thing was gone, she took deep breaths, trying to hold back her gag reflex from making her throw up.

“You alright?” asked Anja, coming to her side.

“Yeah, I think so-”

Then something inside hit Sonia like a truck as she doubled over onto all fours, gasping. Anja was still by her side, but Aurelius and Phi’Scia also rushed to check on her, their hands glowing. She had no idea what spells they were casting. Aurelius gestured for the others to step back. “Give her space. I think I know what the effect is, now… We just need to let it play out.”

As the others began to give her space, Sonia grit her teeth. It was like something was inside her, trying to tear its way out, and yet not literally. She was growing in height, musculature and size in multiple areas. Her body hair was growing all over. Her fingernails were changing in shape. Her ears were moving upwards along her head and changing shape. Something was growing out of her read end. And her face was elongating forwards. It was all too much to process at once.

When the process settled, she finally took a look at her hands - still humanoid, but had noticeable feline claws. Across her hands and arms were yellow fur. Her clothes were ruined, but fortunately not enough to render her totally immodest. She could partly see the change in her face, which she felt with her hands - she had a snout. And whiskers.

“I didn’t ever think to consider that this might actually be possible,” Europa said, her eyes widening.

Aurelius created a magic mirror in front of Sonia, “you should see this for yourself.”

Sonia’s eyes widened as she registered the person reflected in the mirror as she stood up, her shoes also ruined and forcing her to step out of them. In the mirror was a two-metre tall anthropomorphic lioness, with visible, firm muscles, wide hips and a bust to match Anja’s. Her long, thick tail was moving from side to side on its own, and she only began to control it once she was actually aware it existed. What made her recognise herself were her hair and eyes, which she touched to make sure she wasn’t hallucinating. “Holy crap.”

“You’ve turned into a Gaian,” Logos said with astonishment.

“The question is, can she turn back?” Kat pointed out.

Sonia didn’t wait to answer that question. She just focused on changing back to her original human form. This time the transformation was much less stressful, happening over the course of only a few seconds. After making sure she had really changed back, she focused on changing into a lioness once more, and much to her relief, this was also much faster and easier. And now that the worst had passed? She felt incredible. Like she could smash through a wall and take a car head-on and be no worse for wear.

She swung her fist right through the mirror, shattering it violently, causing it to fade away quickly, and out of newfound instinct, unleashed a mighty roar that echoed through the interior of the ship.

“Whoa, settle down, I think you’re getting a little too excited!” Kat giggled as she pat Sonia on the back. “You’re one of us now! Sorta! How’s it feel?”

“I feel fucking incredible,” Sonia said, grinning as she bared her newly sharpened teeth while looking over her shoulder.

“And if you are a Gaian, then you likely have a ‘gift’ of your own. We’ll have to figure out what it is,” Logos said. “Alongside your general training to get used to this new form of yours. I imagine aside from your new power, you also possess significantly increased strength, speed and durability.”

“I swear, this group is introducing all sorts of fascinating research opportunities!” Phi’Scia said, giggling like a schoolgirl as she looked over Sonia with fascination in her eyes.

“All I can really say is… You’re welcome,” Anja said.

Sonia smirked, and spun around to swing a mighty punch at her. Anja responded by suiting up immediately and swung back, their punches colliding in mid-air and creating a shockwave that nearly knocked everyone else down.

Yeah, she needed to work off this adrenaline. But Sonia wanted to savour this feeling as much as possible before it subsided. She punched her furry palm, grinning, “once I’m ready, that Namorrodor isn’t gonna know what hit it. I wanna start training right away.”

“Hells yeah,” Anja grinned back as her helmet melted away, and the two fist-bumped.