Rise of the Feline Society Chapter 11 - Animorph Troubles
The two of them kept walking heading towards a bus stop because the location was too far away if they wished to walk. William and Amelia just exited the back of the school heading down some stairs taking the path that would lead them to the bus stop. The two of them were wondering what Felix was planning on having the gang do tonight.
"So," William said nervously. "How long have you known Felix for."
She tilted her head to look at William before looking forward again.
"I joined yesterday," She began. "I went to Felix to ask for a recommendation to join the Shadowfire gang. He countered offered by giving me two options. The first was my request to get a recommendation to join the Shadowfire gang or to join him and help grow a new gang being one of its core members. The second option looked more valuable especially since I'm an Animorph."
She gasped as her eyes widened placing both of her hands over her mouth. William's entire body turned ninety degrees facing Amelia as both of them had stopped walking.
"You're an Animorph!" William blurted out loudly and he could feel a hand connect with his face.
William's entire body spun crashing on the ground twisting his ankle and he could feel his arm twisting out of place.
"You have sustained minor injuries," the system announced but before the system could heal him Amelia had grabbed him propping William on his feet.
"Are you o…"
She didn't finish as William had begun to fall again. Amelia steadied him and his right leg was hovering above the ground.
"Agh sh*t," She gasped. "I injured you. Felix is going to get mad."
The system continued. "2 energy will be used to correct your body."
Like all the other times William could feel energy flow through him putting his arm back in place and healing his twisted ankle. Amelia noticed his shoulder moving back into place and his slightly pained expression softened. She stopped holding him and stepped back. She was questioning what she just saw but her curiosity got the better of her.
"Are you an Animorph?" She asked.
"No," William immediately said. "I just have low pain tolerance.
"No, no, nah," she said. "Your arm was out of place and it just doesn't correct itself on its own. William tell me."
"I don't know what you want me to say," William said his hands raised in surrender to his chest. "You're an Animorph and I'm not."
"Well," she said as she looked toward the ground. "We'll see."
Her right fingers up to her forearm began to grow and short brown fur covered her skin. She looked up, her eyes a dark mixture of pink and red as she swiped toward William.
She is attacking me, William thought. Is she trying to kill me?
He was to stunned to think properly calling upon the system and raising his left arm in the air. His hand began to change as his fingers grew out and orange fur with black stripes covered his skin. He caught her arm mid swing. He could feel that his hand was stronger than it normally was due to the limited controlled transformation skill.
Amelia looked stunned as she looked at William. "You're an Animorph. I was just trying to sc…"
She didn't finish as something in William took hold. An instinct to survive and she was threatening that. His pupils dimly glowed orange, his face changing slightly as small patches of orange fur covered his face. He hissed at her as he pulled Amilia in and thrusted his right fist toward her face.
Amelia's eyes showed that of fear as her left hand to her forearm began to grow and short brown fur covered her skin. She raised it up blocking William's strike with her arm shaking from the impact. At that moment William snapped out of his daze and Amelia took the opportunity to break out of his grasp shoving him away. His left arm and part of his face were still transformed.
"I'm sorry," Amelia immediately stated. "My bad, I wasn't even going to hit you I was just going to try and scare you so you wouldn't tell anybody."
William's transformation receded, his hand and face returning to normal.
"Why do you need to scare me?" William questioned. "Why are you hiding it."
"Why are you?" she snapped back. "Don't go acting like your innocent here."
William paused as he realized she had a fair point.
"Why are you hiding it?" She asked.
"I want you to tell me first," William retorted. "You attacked me first."
She stopped to think about the moment as her transformation receded. "Fine," she finally said. "We both seem to be in the same situation. I'll tell you if you tell me. I don't need fine details but just the basics."
William didn't say anything as he looked at her up and down studying her.
She is an Animorph too, he thought. Why could she be hiding it? From all the Animorphs I've seen, she is not that strong. Well, I guess I'm not that strong either. She could be new to it. The question is, did she buy the serum and is just hiding it until she gets stronger or did something happen like what happened to me to get her in this situation?
William pondered for a moment longer before he agreed to hear her out. Amelia sighed in relieve as the two of them continued to the bus stop.
"Well, my story isn't very long," she said. "About a month ago my parents worked for the gang known as the Ironclad gang. You know, the gang that shares its borders between the Shadowfire and the Darklash gangs?"
William nodded as they reached the bus stop.
"Anyways my parents used to work for them. They did deliveries and a bunch of other things. Well, one day my parents got into trouble with a delivery."
Amelia paused as the bus arrived and she walked on handing the driver $7 and told him the address. The bus driver took her money placing it in a drawer.
"That'll be enough miss," the bus driver said.
William came forward handing him a 100-dollar bill. "It's supposed to last for a while," he quickly said.
The bus driver just took the bill putting it into the same drawer and took out William's $93 in change. William placed it in his pocket and followed Amelia to the back of the bus sitting down.
Amelia continued, "Well, before I explain the delivery let's just say my parents weren't exactly mentally stable. They wanted to end it all but tried to stay for my sake. They had a therapist but it just wasn't working for them. One day they just had enough and wanted to move on from this life but they didn't want to leave me defenseless. So, they waited for a delivery where they suspected they were transporting an Animorph serum. The two of them carrying the briefcase acting like just any other couple walking down the street. The perfect disguise. Instead of delivering it like they should have, my parents brought the briefcase to the apartment where I was. They broke it open and injected the serum into me."
She stopped as her eyes began to water but she hardened herself and continued.
"I begged them not to go but my parents said it was too late and that the Ironclad gang would be searching for them. They briefly told me what they did and proceeded to tie me up loosely so it would take me awhile before I could get out, but by the time I broke free it was too late. My parents had jumped off the roof of my apartment building."
Something hit William hard when she said that. He couldn't imagine anyone of his family members ending their own life.
"I didn't know what to do," Amelia said as the water in her eyes came back and she quickly wiped it away. "I ransacked the mini safe that they had and left the apartment building. The police eventually arrived but not before the Ironclad gang arrived ransacking the apartment. The police didn't put out a report on the incident and I've been living inside a small abandoned barn that's right outside of town. I come in to go to school, the laundromat, and to get food. My parents didn't have much money and I'm running low so here I am, trusting that I can count on Felix."
She turned to face William with a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "The Animorph serum apparently wasn't a strong one and I'm still not even sure what animal it is based off of," she said giving out a big sigh. She rubbed her eyes again getting rid of the tears. "Well, I told my story so how about you?"
"Um," William said as he began his version of the tale. William told the basics of the story which was similar to Amelia's parents. He told her about getting ambushed but changed the story slightly saying that the briefcase broke open and in desperation he injected himself with the serum. William described that he must've been in so much fear that he forcefully transformed his arm dealing with four men and leaving the scene.
Amelia's face went white like a realization had hit her.
"The four men…on the…news?" She asked slowly.
William's heart began to panic. Sht, sht, sht, sht, William thought in a panic. I knew I should have rephrased it better.
He placed his left hand to the side activating his transformation preparing to do whatever it takes to make sure that he can stay out there to help his family. But before he could decide what to do Amelia began to laugh quietly.
"Ha, ha, ha," She laughed. "So back when I attacked you, you were ready to kill me. Makes me wonder what else you did for the Shadowfire gang. You will be useful in the gang if you're willing to kill.
The truth was that William didn't have any intention of killing Amelia. The park construction site was an accident and him attacking her back was an instinct he couldn't quite understand. The truth was that William was a kind hearted person compared to most but that didn't mean he wasn't willing to do what it takes to survive. That included joining a gang.
"I'll keep your secret," Amelia said. "I hope you do the same for me. At least I know who I can trust to have my back when the situation calls for it." She tilted her head slightly as a question appeared in her mind. "During the fight did you hiss at me?"
William recalled the short interaction and remembered that he did in fact hiss at her.
"I think I did," William said.
Amelia's face immediately brightened up. "Aww, who's my favorite cat." She said as she began to pet and scratch William's head.
William was completely dumbfounded but a vibration started to build up in his body.
Am I seriously about to start purring like a cat.
Just before the vibrations could break out, William grabbed her hand placing it down. "All right that's enough."
Amelia giggled showing off her dimples.
"Next stop," the bus driver said as the bus came to a stop.
"We're here," Amelia stated as she and William got up leaving the bus.
When they exited, they were standing next to what looked like an abandoned building. The pair looked around but couldn't see anything.
"Did we get pranked?" William asked.
"No, you did not," A familiar voice said that came from the shadows.
William and Amelia looked to the side of the building as someone walked out of the shadow and it was Felix.
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