Rise of the Feline Society Chapter 6 - Saving a Girl
William kept running and running for what he thought was hours. His thoughts were interrupted when the robotic male voice entered his head.
"The skill Agile Reflexes has ended. Energy 75 of 100."
William slowly stopped running as he began walking again toward his school.
My energy is lower than I want it to be William thought. He couldn't do anything about it at the moment and he had money to purchase meat after school. I'll just get some meat after… He paused thinking about the word "meat." Does it have to be…raw?
His body shuttered slightly.
I don't think I could do it he thought tensing and rubbing his arms in disgust.
He kept on walking. He was only a few blocks away from his school and he was determined to get there, but like most things in life something always gets in his way.
"Warning. Warning." The robotic voice of the system said. "The system is going through a forced update. Estimated time is 1 minute. You will be able to remain conscious during this update."
"Conscious?" William wondered out loud in confusion.
As soon as he finished saying that one word his eyesight went red like a lens had been applied. A system screen popped up displaying the words "System Updating" along with a bar being shown below it and unfortunately for William it didn't end there. What sounded like a continuous lockdown alarm blared to what felt like within his very brain itself. William immediately jumped into a nearby alleyway clutching his ears in agonizing pain. That's when another variable was added into the chaos, an indescribable rage filled his thoughts. A rage that only people that had lost everything should feel. Everything that had made him angry in the past surfaced to the center of his attention. The continues alarm that was blaring his head only accelerated his feeling of absolute rage. That's when something else happened, a notification that he could barely hear in his mind melting moment.
"System Updating forced transformation," The robotic male voice said that was barely audible to William.
William could feel pain shoot across his body as his ligaments felt like they were stretching. Orange and black fur started to cover his face, forearms, and legs. His libs stretched, his muscles bulging with strength. His face was almost covered now, a small snout like that of a cat emerged. Whiskers grew out of his cheeks. In the middle of his transformation at random parts you could see colors of moving parts that was not organic but inorganic, something that looked technological. His clothes were stretched to the limit about to tear at any second. That's when a sent entered his nose. The smell of a human. Something that he could eat. His consciousness began to slip as his fully transformed Animorph body like that of a humanoid orange and black striped cat barely bigger than his normal body began to move toward the sent of something delicious. His body got into a sneaky cat-like stance hidden behind a pile of boxes peaking out looking at a pool middle age woman that was taking a walk. The body tensed about to jump out but at the last second he heard a notification.
"The System update is complete," the robotic male voice announced.
Immediately his vision returned to normal and the continuous blaring alarm stopped. He regained control of his body back and his Animorph transformation began to revert itself back to normal. His clothes resting back on his body like it should be. William slammed his back against the wall feeling himself up and down to see if there was any part of his body that had stayed changed. After confirming that he was back to being in his…human form, he began to question what the situation was.
What happened William thought panicking. He looked around trying to see if anyone could see him but besides the middle-aged woman who wasn't even looking at his direction there was no one else around. What was the update that this system did? What did it do to me? Luckily for William the system had an answer for him.
"System update and synchronization complete," The robotic male voice said. "The system has fully synchronized with your body. The features of this special system Animorph can be unlocked now. Next system update is in 30 days. Please be warned that during the regular update the same situation will occur but your mostly natural instincts will be applied and all you want to do is ensure your survival and eat. Regular updates start at midnight and will end in around 5 hours. After your first update the full transformation feature of your Animorph should be available to be used on command."
System update William thought. Just when I thought this could be handled, I get thrown this ridiculous feature. William clawed his fingers so hard on the ground that he torn the skin off of two of his fingers.
"Ow." William said flinching his harms as he looked at it.
"You have been injured," the system said. "Minus 1 HP. 49 of 50 HP."
Energy will be used for emergency healing. Minus 2 Energy."
Infront of William's very eyes the skin on his hand began to heal. After a moment or two it was completely healed.
Whoa He thought amazed at what just happened. An ability he never thought he would have.
"I have super healing," William muttered in excitement.
"During the update," the system began. "The full transformation skill was forcefully used. The skill takes 20 energy for every minute used. Emergency healing was also used taking two energy. Energy 53 of 100."
Great William thought sarcastically. As long as nothing else happens maybe I can make it through the day.
The system continued. "All stats plus 1. Host Name: William Carter. Species: Felkin. Title: None. Rank: None. HP: 49 of 50. Energy: 53 of 100. Strength 7. Speed: 8. Dexterity: 4. Endurance: 5. Exp: 0 of 100."
"Hey," William grumbled. "Why isn't my heath 50 out of 50? The wound is literally healed. It probably will say 50 in a moment or I'm to hungry and need energy for it to go up naturally."
William shrugged pulling himself onto his feet and was dusting off his new clothes.
I should probably get to school now he thought but just before he took a step, he heard a scream which sounded like it was from a girl down the same alleyway.
He tensed his face in irritation as he looked down the alleyway to see two people holding up a girl against the wall. William was looking at the two apparent gang members of the Darklash gang. The two men were wearing the all-black uniform with a small red emblem of a whip on their left chest which notified others that they were in fact in the Darklash gang. William took a look at the girl. He recognized her as someone who went the same high school and was in the same year as him but he didn't know her. Her name is Penny Gardner, William recalled. She was pretty but he was scrawny and didn't have the heart or confidence to ask her out.
One of the gang members noticed him and pointed at his direction. "Hey kid, get out of here unless you want trouble. This exchange has nothing to do with you." The gang member said as he turned back to face the girl.
Instead of William fleeing like he usually would he just stood there like a stature. He didn't like this king of behavior from gangs but what could he do about it before? Well, now he had something he didn't have before and he was going to use it.
William looked down picking up a hoodie on the ground. He picked it up putting it on and raised the hood which draped over his face to protect his identity and began to walk forward towards the gang members. It was slow at first but then he went into a full-on sprint. About the time that the gang member had noticed William there was a fist already planted in his face. The gang fell on his back clutching his face. The shorter gang member faced William as he threw out a punch toward him. The short Darklash member easily avoided the attack slamming his fist into William's chest.
William could feel a rib of two break as he went flying back.
"Oh!" The gang member shouted. "I think I broke one of your ribs."
William made eye contact with Penney and muttered the word run. That snapped her out of her daze and she took off running."
"Hey, get back here!" The short Darklash gang member shouted but Penny was already gone.
By this time the taller member had gotten back up.
"Why you little brat," He shouted. "You're going to receive a beating for making us lose her."
"You have sustained a grave injury, two of your ribs have been broken," the system notified William. "Emergency healing will be used to repair your ribs. Minus 10 energy. 43 of 100 energy."
William could feel a warmth flow through his chest and after only a brief moment the pain dispersed, his injury no more.
Just in time as the tall gang member went to stomp on William. He rolled which allowed the foot smash on the ground. William kicked the back of the gang member's knee causing him to fall over. William then thrusted his body forward punching the gang member in the face knowing him out.
"You have knocked out an opponent," The system announced. "Plus 20 exp. 20 of 100 exp."
Whoa, I get exp for knocking out someone William thought. His couldn't focus on that matter as the short Darklash member seeing his friend get knocked out seethed in anger.
"I am a member of the Darklash gang and we not be bullied by the likes of you!" The short gang member declared as he ran forward jumping into the air throwing out a sidekick toward William who was on the ground.
William rolled to his feet dodging the attack and he threw out a fist smashing into the gang member's face. You could see a few teeth fly as he was knocked to the ground unconscious.
"You have knocked out another opponent," The system announced. "Plus 20 exp. 40 of 100 exp."
William looked at his hand surprised at his newfound power. He now knew the potential that he could become. In his moment he realized that he should get out of there before more trouble arrived.
William took off running out of the alleyway toward his school which was only a few blocks away. He was excited about the new opportunities that he that now he was an Animorph that was called a Felkin.
Unbeknownst to William, Penny didn't run far from the fight and had peaked around a corner and was watching everything play out.
He claimed he broke your ribs, Penny thought, yet you got back up. How resilient are you? Penny kept thinking about the fight that William had fought for her sake as she began to walk a different route to her school. She didn't know him but from this fight she knew deep down that he was extraordinary.
*******
Thank you for reading this far. Don't forget to follow my socials Draxber Faber for updates. If you haven't already please become a free member of my account. Please visit my website DraxberFaber.com for Daily updates and news about my work. Thank you for your support.