Disclaimer: I don't own Monsters vs Aliens or any characters or materials taken from the movie, TV series, etc. No copyright infringement intended.
Author's Note: Rewritten, repolished, and hopefully better. Also, this story has elements that were inspired by Wordmangler's work, so be sure to check it out. It's far better than mine.
Chapter 1: New Monster: Part 1.
It was quiet as the group walked into the town. Susan, with her height advantage, scanned the area. The town was dark, dead silent, and she spotted nothing that could be called unusual among the grey concrete and dark brick walls of the buildings. Doctor Cockroach was fiddling with some sort of device he'd whipped up from some odds and ends in his pockets, while Link scouted ahead, ducking behind dumpsters, trees, and other various obstacles. Bob just kind of stayed behind Doctor Cockroach, not really paying any attention to what was going on, getting distracted by a few bits of paper blowing across the ground in a dark alleyway. Looking around once more, Susan narrowed her eyes. Something didn't feel right.
"Guys, keep your eyes and ears open. Something's not right here, so be ready for anything," she said.
No sooner had she spoken, than Susan had to duck as a truck was launched at her head from down the road to her left, accompanied by an angry roar. Susan's head whipped around in the direction of the roar to find a small group of giant praying mantises bearing down on them. Susan looked around for something she could use as a weapon and, grabbing the nearest thing, hurled a van at the group of charging bugs. The mantises scattered and the van crashed down the hill, slamming into a few parked cars at the bottom.
"You want some of this?" Link yelled, leaping onto the nearest mantis from behind a pole.
The mantis screeched and flailed its forelegs, trying to reach Link to throw him off. Susan meanwhile, was busy trying to swat the bugs crawling up her huge body. The mantises' claws hurt and they were biting her as well, making the normally docile Susan quite annoyed. With a cry of pain, the giantess brought her hand down on her left shoulder, squashing the mantis that had decided to latch onto her with its jaws. She swiped and swatted at several more, but they seemed to have picked up on their friend's demise and scurried from place to place faster than Susan's hand could travel.
"Doc! Any time you wanna help with that gadget of yours!" Susan exclaimed as she continued to swipe at the mantises on her body.
"Just a moment, Susan! I've almost got it… There! Ha-ha! Eat anti-mutation matter ray, vile creatures!" the Doc exclaimed, laughing maniacally as he blasted the bugs off of Susan with the mini blaster gun he'd whipped up.
Link meanwhile, was starting to lose his grip on the mantis he had been bronc busting and called out, "Hey, Bob! I could use your help over here!"
"I'm coming, Link!" the blue blob exclaimed, launching himself at Link and taking him clean off the mantis.
Bob then spit his friend up and grinned, looking pleased with himself. Link stood up and shook his head to clear the goop out of his ears. "Ok, that's not exactly what I had in mind, but I guess it works. Now let's finish off these overgrown bugs."
Link and Bob then engaged the remaining mantises before they could reach Susan and squashed them in their various ways. Doctor Cockroach managed to blast most of the bugs before his blaster burned out, but a few still remained on Susan. The giantess, desperate to get the last of the biting insects off, threw herself onto her back, squishing the last of them. Unfortunately, she didn't look behind herself beforehand and crushed a small store building as well. A moment later, Link smashed the last bug and the town began to disintegrate into holo-pixels, revealing a large, white, dome-shaped room with hologram projectors lining its walls and a sixty foot door on one side. Monger flew in a moment later on his jetpack.
"Good work, monsters. You squashed the bugs. Along with several vehicles and a building," the general said, looking up at a blushing Susan on the latter item. "However, I will admit you are getting better. At least this time you didn't take out the apartment building, Ginormica. That's enough training for today. You're getting a new teammate."
"That's today?" Susan asked, remembering Monger's announcement a few days before.
"Yep. We just brought her in last night and she should be waking up by now. Head on out to the common room and get acquainted," Monger said, nodding to the door.
Susan grinned brightly at hearing the newcomer had finally arrived and eagerly ran towards the door. She checked her speed when she remembered that there would be normal-size people out and about in the corridors, but still proceeded at a quick pace. As she hurried through the base, Susan wondered what the new monster would be like. She wondered if she would be more human or more beast-like, if she would be friendly or not so much, if she'd be lonely or scared or… Susan paused a moment as a thought struck her. What if the new monster was just like her when she first arrived at Area 52?
Now, Susan would never wish anyone to go through what she went through when she first arrived, but a small part of her did hope the new monster would be similar. As she continued on her way, Susan remembered her first day at Area 52…
It was cold and hard, like a metal shelf, but her mind was half distracted by sleep as she rolled over to hit the snooze button. WHAM! The jolt from the impact with the floor woke her completely and she could see she wasn't in Kansas anymore. Or, well, Fresno. Susan huddled up, scared and confused. That, was but the first of her problems. Next, she was unceremoniously shoved into a large, cold, bare metal room with a bunch of strange creatures, then led around the facility by a general who's preferred mode of transportation was a jetpack, and told she was a monster and a prisoner here by said general.
After that, Susan had felt true and utter humiliation as she was unceremoniously stripped and examined by a group of cold scientists, who only saw her as a subject and not a person. Then she was locked back in her cell and told her name was now Ginormica.
Susan shuddered at the remembrance. That, had been one of the worst days of her life and she had spent most of it in tears. She shuddered again. At least Area 52 had come a long way since those dark days, when she and the other monsters had been mere prisoners. Now, they were treated fairly and kindly and had all kinds of creature comforts. Monger had proven to be a real friend as soon as the President had made their freedom official, and made sure they were comfortable and cared for. Susan smiled as she recalled the day Monger had taken on a monster-hating mob single-handedly to protect them after a mission. That single act had forever sealed the monsters' trust in Monger and they, mostly, followed his orders without question or complaint.
At this point, Susan realized she'd passed the common room while lost in thought. She turned around and eagerly entered, resolving to make the new monster feel at home and help her adjust to her new life. As she entered, Susan was shocked to see a huge, humanoid figure, completely bald, but covered from head to toe in ruby-red scales and wearing a black tank top and shorts. A pair of magnificent, wine-colored wings were folded down her back, and a long tail sprouted from her backside, trailing along the floor behind her and tapering down to a point, where a bone-white spike grew out of it. The only other feature Susan could see, as the figure stood with her back to her, was the top of the pair of bone-white horns that seemed to sweep back over the newcomer's head from the front.
Seeing as the new monster was about her height, Susan approached and laid a friendly hand on her shoulder in greeting. "Hi. I'm Ginormica, but you can just call me Susan."
The new monster turned around and blinked in surprise. She smiled a moment later, revealing a mouthful of razor-sharp fangs. "I'm Dragonis," she said, shaking Susan's hand warmly.
Suddenly, Susan started glowing with an aqua-green aura and Dragonis started glowing with a red-orange one. Both tried to release their hands, but something was holding them together. Both pulled harder, but it was no use. After a few moments, an aqua-green substance flowed out of Susan as a red-orange one flowed out of Dragonis. The substances mixed and intermingled within them before bonding and the glow faded.
"What the heck just happened?! What was that?" Susan exclaimed, feeling over her torso and head for anything out of whack.
Dragonis gave a low whistle. "And I thought all that stuff about Fusonium was a myth."
"Fusonium? What are you talking about? Do you know what just happened to us?" Susan questioned.
"Fusonium is like Quantonium, only red instead of green and apparently, it bonds permanently with Quantonium, so, our power can never be taken from us. At least, according to legend," Dragonis explained.
"Wha… And you're not the slightest bit freaked out about all this?" Susan asked.
Dragonis shook her head. "Nah, not really. A lot of weird things have happened to me in my life."
Susan blinked in surprise, but shook her head a moment later. Taking a good look at Dragonis from the front, Susan saw her horns did indeed sprout from her forehead and sweep gracefully back over her head and up into two very sharp points. However, due to their angle and position, it was obvious the horns were more of a natural defensive helmet than an offensive goring weapon. She also noticed that Dragonis also had bone-white spikes growing out of her shoulders, elbows and knees. These, could possibly be used as weapons if Dragonis chose, though Susan doubted she would do so unless threatened. Overall, despite her dragon-like attributes, Dragonis' face was decidedly human in shape, with high cheekbones, round ruby eyes, a Grecian nose, strong jaw, and an average brow.
Now that she'd had a good look at her, Susan wanted to know more about Dragonis herself. Mostly, why she seemed so calm. "Anyway, aren't you scared? Being in a strange place, with strange beings and all that?"
Dragonis shrugged. "I expected sooner or later I'd wind up someplace like this. I was born a dragon-lady, you know."
"Wait, what? You were born like this?" Susan asked, very much surprised.
"Scales, fangs, claws, horns, wings, tail, fire breath, and carnivorous nature, yes. Fifty feet tall, no. The Fusonium did that, as well as increase my already prodigious strength," Dragonis stated.
Just then, Doctor C. walked in and up to Dragonis. "Hello. I'm Doctor Cockroach. Ph.D., not MD," he said in his dignified British accent.
The dragon-lady smiled. "Dragonis. Mad scientist, I take it?"
"Most assuredly." And Doctor Cockroach went off into his signature maniacal laugh.
Dragonis just rolled her eyes and chuckled. Soon Link, Bob and Insectosaurus entered the common room and introduced themselves. Dragonis was amiable and friendly enough, but she also seemed distant and restless. Every so often her left ear would twitch and her head would turn in that direction slightly. Then she'd grunt softly and clench her fists, clenching her teeth as though trying very hard to do something, or not do something.
"Hey, uh, you ok there, Dragonis? What's with the twitching?" Link asked the fourth time it happened.
"Huh? Oh! Sorry. I guess I'm just a little restless is all. New place and all that. Is there someplace I can go to think and be alone?" Dragonis asked, looking around uneasily.
"You can get back in your room anytime you want. But, they're making some changes at the moment. It'll be a while, since they're anodizing the walls. The base doesn't use paint anymore, since they've had problems with it being used for explosives. Don't ask. You can use my room if you like," Susan offered.
"Thanks, but no thanks. Sometimes I can get a little… physical when I'm trying to work something out. I don't wanna wreck your room," Dragonis explained, rubbing the back of her head.
Susan didn't quite know what to make of that, but decided now was not the time to press for answers. Instead she shrugged and suggested the battle room. Dragonis nodded and muttered something that could have been thanks or could have been cussing for all Susan knew, as the dragon-woman headed in the wrong direction in a very distracted manner.
"Um, Dragonis… the battle room's the other way," Susan pointed out.
Dragonis whirled around and reversed course, muttering something under her breath. Doctor Cockroach looked up at Susan, a mildly concerned look on his face. Susan looked back at him, an even more concerned look on her face and shrugged, turning to watch the hulking, red scaled figure walking away, her long tapering tail swaying back and forth in a manner not unlike an agitated cat's.
Monger glanced up as the new monster walked by on her way to the battle room. He sighed when he caught the look on her face. It was the look of one who had much on her mind, but was unwilling to 'burden' anyone with her struggles. Dragonis was an odd case and Monger knew she had issues to work through, so he gave her the space and time she needed. Sighing once more, the old general turned back to the mountain of paperwork on his desk.
Dragonis entered the battle room and at once threw back her head, loosing a roar of frustration and sending a fifty foot jet of flame from her maw. Once she was done, she snorted smoke and surveyed the damage. She sighed in relief to find she hadn't done any damage, as the chamber was nearly two hundred feet high. She then proceeded to do push-ups, hoping to quiet her uneasy mind by physical exertion.
It hadn't been an hour, when Dragonis' workout was interrupted by a scream. Sighing, the dragon-woman ignored the shriek and moved from sit-ups to 'tail-ups', using her prehensile tail to pull her massive body off the ground via a solid light construct of a metal beam. The scream had been courtesy of a new, young lab-tech, who had come in to recalibrate some of the hologram projectors. Having never actually been in the same room as one of the monsters, she was taken off guard and decidedly shaken by the presence of this large, red, scaly, horned, humanoid creature, calmly pulling itself up by its huge tail. The tech-girl stood stock still for a few moments watching, expecting every moment to be attacked, but when the lizard-woman just went on with her workout like she wasn't even there, the girl relaxed enough to quickly duck out and race up the hall to her superior's office.
Dragonis sighed when she saw the girl leave. She had hoped to talk to her, maybe get her to see that she was more than just a beast-like mutant freak. But it seemed that even here, people were scared of monsters. With another sigh, Dragonis left the battle room.