Cheetahs Aren't The Only Endangered Species
Chapter One: CURSE OR BLESSING? Wait, wait, wait, wait. I'M A WHAT!
Disclaimer: I own nothing but the OC's
READ THIS AN: Hello again all. Elciram here, telling you what's going on. I apologize for doing this, but I've edited the first chapter by adding around 5000 or so words. The additions are what was going to be the first quarter or so of my second chapter. But as I started editing it I decided to add it to the end of chapter 1, thus getting the intro and back story for my character done in one go. Personally I think this is better and I hope you readers will too. Oh and just so you know, the Hybrid story is on hiatus, and will be rewritten at a later date, thus I am taking it down. Just FYI. Now without further ado lets get this thing started.
AN 2: I'm not sure what the age differences will be but Gina will be only a year younger or the same age as my OC. This is so that their attitudes will match better than if he was quite a bit or older younger than Gina.
"Hello" speech.
'What the...' thoughts/Flashback/Other
Normal POV
It was a normal day in Atlanta, Georgia. Although some people might think of people dressed up in costumes walking around the street to be strange, the fact that it was the last day of the weekend for the first Atlanta DragonCon (this isn't the real year but it works for the story), costumed fan are not that strange. In fact some people might even say that they feel right at home with the large number of costumed people.
Like Christopher for example. A normal looking guy with fairly good looks, Short brown hair and eyes, standing at an even six feet tall, not overweight but not overly muscular, defined would be the adjective to describe his build. He could probably get almost any girl he wanted, but with him not being extremely interested in dating, deciding that he would rather sort out his life first, as well as being a bit of an introvert he wasn't likely to have a serious relationship anytime soon. Chris was currently sitting at the airport having spent a nice amount of time and money on this trip to DragonCon. He now laments over the fact that he is now sitting at an airport waiting for his plane home to Vancouver Canada.
Sigh "I don't want to leave" says Chris while he sits in a chair waiting for the planes passengers to leave the plane so he and those around him can board.
Looking around and watching the people leaving the plane he spots, what he believes is, a tall girl dressed in a very convincing cat-girl costume. Thinking that they are here for the convention he walks over to them.
"Hello, sweet costume miss, can I ask where you got it."
The girl and her companion look at him strangely. "Huh"
" I said that, that's a sweet costume, oh, but if you're here for the convention it's over now so there's really no need to be wearing that."
Looking at him with a questioning eye the girl merely says " You're not from here are you."
"Nope, I'm actually headed home right now, just waiting for my plane" he answers kindly. "But still how'd you get such a cool costume, and seriously why are you all dressed up when the conventions over.""
Sounding fairly angry she answers "Look sir, this isn't a costume and I have no interest in any convention you went to, in any way whatsoever so please leave me alone and go wait for your plane."
As she talks to Chris the girl accompanying her is standing behind her trying to stifle her laughter.
"So what you really are a were-cheetah" he asks with disbelief. "I know that some people can really get into the whole cosplay act, but seriously you can't really believe that you really are a lycanthrope of some sort, can you?"
"I don't believe it I know it, and stop laughing Gina this isn't funny" Turning around to yell at her companion.
"Sorry Brit but it kind of is. I mean really, how often do you think that someone is actually going to come right up to you and just ask you what you are, and then not believe you." Replies the now known Gina to the now known Brit.
Getting exasperated at the fact that there's another person who believes that this costume is real he takes matters into his own hands. Literally.
"Oh come on all I have to do to prove that this is just a costume is pull your tail off."
Trying to do just that he reaches for and grabs Brits tail and gives it a mighty yank.
"YEEEOOOUUUCCHH" Screams Brit.
Letting go of Brits tail in shock Chris is stunned to realize that the tail does indeed appear to be real, and having owned a cat during his childhood, as well as having a cat right now at home, he would certainly recognize the feeling of a real cats around from Gina, Brit grabs her tail and holds it close to her chest while rubbing her sore spine where her tail is connected. Gina is now on the ground laughing.
" Jeezus, I'm sorry. I really thought that was a costume, and that maybe you had just glued it on. I really didn't think it was real, but wow I didn't think freaky mutants like you really existed."
SLAP
Falling over from the sheer force of the slap Brit had just given him all he could do was reach up to his face and feel the warm blood trailing down his cheek from the new cuts he had on his face. Cuts that even he realized he deserved, not that he had meant to call her a freak, it's just that he's a little shocked to find out that cat girls do exist.
"I'm not a mutant you asshole, I'm Brittany Diggers werecheetah, and don't you forget it, jerk" Turning around she starts walking to the exit.
No longer laughing Gina looks at Brit, then back at Chris and glares. Reaching down and grabbing the still shell-shocked boy she give him quite the tongue lashing. Chris just sits there in a daze feeling sorry for what he said.
"Look you big jerk I can get you not believing that she was real, it happens, but calling my sister a mutant freak was completely uncalled for"
"I-I I know I'm sorry can you apologize for me, I swear I didn't mean it, I've just been unhappy with how my weekends been going." Chris tries to explain why he went a bit too far. " First my friends ditch me and I need to come here by myself and then my luggage gets lost so I can't cosplay like I wanted to. Then this. I'm sorry this was just too much. I was just shocked and I said something I didn't mean."
Looking over him, and how he refuses to look her in the eye, Gina decides that he really is sorry.
"Look sir..."
"Chris. My names Chris."
"Alright Chris. I'll try to apologize for you, but she looked pretty upset. I doubt that she'll forgive you easily."
"That's fine it's not like I'll see her again anyway. I mean, I live in Vancouver up in Canada so, yeah, just apologize for me kay"
"Fine now go your flights leaving"
"Alright, thanks miss..."
"It's Gina"
"Okay, thanks Gina"
As he turns and walks back to his bags to board the plane he stops and turns around.
"Hey Gina" he calls.
"Hmm"
"With her being a were-cheetah and all, I'm not gonna contract lycanthrope from these cuts am I" He asks while pointing at his face.
"No, she's no longer enchanted to do that, you'll be fine"
Nodding his head in both thanks and relief he once again turns around to gather his stuff and board the plane. As he is walking down and over the ramp he never once thinks that that this won't be the last he sees either of the two sisters, or that Gina might possibly be wrong.
After arriving at home after his, certainly eventful, weekend Chris really wants to just head up to his room and go to sleep. For some reason or another he had been feeling rather tired and even though he had slept for almost the entire flight he was still tired. Unfortunately the moment he walked through the door his family decided to get in his face and start asking him questions about his trip. Sighing in exasperation he sets his bags down and answers the incoming questions. Knowing that if he just ignores them his mother will be pissed, and she gets scary when she gets mad. That, and his family already doesn't like him, only pretending otherwise.
"Yes I had fun"
"No, I didn't cosplay, I lost my luggage and they only got it back to me when I got to the airport on the way home"
" No I didn't buy anything inappropriate, at least not by my standards"
"Yes I did meet some hot girls, no I didn't get any numbers"
"I live here, they live there, that's why"
After several more questions he was finally had enough and stood up to go up to his room and go to bed. Grabbing his bag from the foot of the stair he trudged upstairs to bed, his family saying goodnight behind him. Entering his room he tosses his bag onto his desk chair and lays on his bed, not even bothering to undress. Looking to his left briefly the last thing he saw before sleeping was the bright full moon just outside his window. The moment he saw it he felt as if his body was burning, and his clothes were shrinking. However, this only lasted for a brief second before the swift, soft, darkness of sleep engulfed him.
The next day Chriss awoke to the strange feeling that he was bound in some way. Or wearing very small clothes at the least. Which was strange because he always wore clothes that ver a little bit large for him. He liked wearing loose clothing, made it easy to hide his two wooden... sticks, for lack of a better term, he made his self defense class. Being a black belt in Aikido, Jujitsu, and and Tae-kwon-do had its perks, especially in teaching himself how to use his... sticks. But back to the strange tightness of his clothes. Rolling out of bed he stood up, only to quickly crouch down after banging his head on the ceiling, fairly hard as well, making flakes of plaster fall on his head. The room also filled with the sound of clothes ripping.
Having crouched down, more out of reflex than extreme pain, he reached up to touch his head and in doing so saw his arm. Specifically the black rosette spots on white blue sheened fur, fur that was not there last night before he went to bed. After taking several deep breaths and trying his best to not freak out, he quickly stood up, wincing slightly at the sound of more ripping. This time he hunched slightly so as to not bang his head, and quickly, and silently, went to the bathroom to check out what happened to him. Not noticing that his pet cat Smoky, named for his silvery hair, was currently using his litter box that was in the bathroom.
Examining himself in the mirror, and standing up straight since the ceiling was higher, he notices that he's two feet taller putting him at around eight feet tall, his muscle are even more defined than before, with there simply being more, but most importantly he is covered head to toe in white fur with black rosette spots everywhere but on his front torso, as well as having a tail that is at least five feet long curling around him and waving around. Looking closely at his hand he flexes and out pop five two inch long claws that look like they could cut through steel with little resistance.
"Oh god what's going on, this can't be happening, this...this"
"Who the heck are you?"
"Who's there" Turning quickly and knocking over several cups on the counter, Chris looks around frantically for whoever or whatever was in the bathroom with him.
"Down here big guy"
Looking down he sees his cat Smoky sitting next to his litter box. "Well, are you gonna answer my question, or are you gonna just stand there looking like a fool with your jaw hanging open. I doubt I can take ya, but that doesn't mean I won't try."
Pausing to process the fact that his CAT was now TALKING, he took several deep breaths to once again calm down and not have a panic attack. (He's good at not freaking out, isn't he.)
"Okay, Smoky's talking, no big deal, not as bad as turning into an anthropomorphic feline" muttering under his breath he looks at Smoky again and states bluntly. "Hey Smoky, I am Chris, your owner"
"That's not possible, my owner was most certainly not a were creature of any sort, now seriously, who..."
Deciding he'd rather not get into an argument with a cat, Chris reached down and quickly scratches under his chin in the place that he knows Smoky loves being scratched. The place no one else knows where to scratch. Needless to say Smoky was convinced.
"Oh, oh yeah...right there, right there, ooohhhh that feels good, real good" Smoky, now convinced this person was his human, was now lying on his back spread eagle just loving the attention.
"Alright Smoky, now that I've convinced you I am who I say I am, what were you saying about being a were-creature."
Having stopped scratching his chin Chris now sits on the edge of the bathtub waiting for an answer.
"Okay it's a bit of a long story, more of a legend passed down through the ages by all felines, rodents, and canines to but we're not concerned about them, so be ready to sit for a while"
Chris listens to Smoky as he tells him what he knows of the ancient were-creatures. Smoky talks about how thousands of years ago, the ancient mage Iceron had first made the were-cats to hunt down and kill the were-rats that had betrayed him and left his employ. As well as combat the were-wolves that had abandoned him. He told Chris about how before he could get his revenge, Iceron disappeared. The were-cats then left, the were-lions, jaguars, and tigers left to who knows where, possibly another world, but the cheetahs stayed here, they had been fighting a war with the werewolves and couldn't leave.
"And that's the legend of the were-creatures"
"Wait, what? That's it!"
"That's it."
"But... what happened to to the cheetahs, and what type of were-cat am I. I'm certainly not any of the were-cats you mentioned. I'm more of a were- snow leopard by the looks of it."
"Unfortunately I don't know what happened to the were-cheetahs, or where they might be," explained Smoky. "And Iceron made many were-cat species, the ones I mentioned are just the one that we know he for sure didn't consider failures, and just kill off. Maybe another species managed to get away from Iceron before he killed them."
Thinking it over in his head Chris couldn't see why Iceron would consider were-snow leopard to be failures. They have both the longest and the highest jump of all felines, perfect for assassinating, and ambushing targets.
"Alright, unknown factors aside, why am I a were-cat, and how do I change back to normal"
"Well the legends say that all were-creatures can inflict other with their species lycanthrope, any weres scratch, or bite you recently"
"Well, yes, yesterday at the airport, but she was a cheetah not a leopard, (an:for the sake of ease all reference to leopard with specifically mean snow leopards unless otherwise explained) and her ability to pass it on was removed"
"Then maybe you have an ancestor that was stuck in human for, some weres did that so they could fit in with humans and not have were-creature children"
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK
"Get out of there now Chris, you've spent far too much time in there for it to be normal" yelled Chris' mom from outside the door.
"Oh shit" mutters Chris. "Yeah mom I know, sorry. I'll be out in a second". "Well hurry up". Quickly he turns, looking back at Smoky, "Speaking of humans and human form how do I change back"
"Well the legends say that all weres had to focus on the form they wished to take, animal, human, or hybrid, as well as the moon, since you gain power from it, it helps, but there's also stuff about focusing your body in a certain way that I don't really know much about"
Closing his eyes to focus better Chris quickly thought of his human form with the moon hanging behind him. Focusing on that image he tried his best to take that form, Suddenly a tingly feeling goes through his body and his ripped clothes feel far too big and fall off of him. Opening his eye he looks down at himself and sees that he is once again human, naked, but human.
"Oh I'm so happy I'm not furry anymore" he said as he grabbed a towel from the rack. If his mother saw him like that she would probably freak. She was very set in her ways and really didn't like anything that was different from her definition of ordinary. Especially if she hasn't taken her meds.
"Yeah, well, you be furry again in a month when the moons full again" said Smoky.
"WHAT"
"Yeah, you'll also not feel as comfortable as a human, all weres are more comfortable in their hybrid forms"
"Perfect, just perfect, and to think I was worried about starting college in a week"
Journal Entries Chris POV.
September Seventh:
Chris here, I've decided to start keeping a journal to keep track of whatever weird shit happens from here on out. Starting with the fact that barely a week ago I was scratched by a were-cheetah and turned into a were-leopard. Yes, a were-leopard. From what I can tell either her curse was not so removed as I had been told, or, more likely, I am a descendant of a were-leopard that was sealed in human form, and from what my cat, Smoky, has told me, the latter is more probable, since if it was the former then I would have become a were-cheetah.
That's another thing, I have discovered that I am a beast master and can talk with all manner of animals that are intelligent enough to understand me. So far all I've spoken to are the neighborhood cats, dogs and a variety of rodents, primarily squirrels, though all they've said is how much they like nuts, and they say it a lot.
Other than that I've started my classes in college, and am hoping I'll get my degree faster than usual by applying to the Compressed English Program. If I get invited to it I'll manage to get my degree in a year. Which is awesome. It also has an ancient language portion as well, so I can act as a translator for ruins too.
September Twenty Fifth:
I GOT IN. I will now have my degree in only a year. YES!
I also managed to sell my novel for a hefty sum of money, and got asked to do a guest speaking at my school as a part of the colleges Fiction Writing: How To, program. I had to keep this a secret from my mom however, since she really doesn't like the fact that I'm going for "something as useless as an arts degree". Yeah, she's not too happy about my choices in life.
Yeah everything seems to be looking up, but the full moons in a couple of days, and even though I haven't changed once since the initial transformation, I'm apparently going to change regardless.
September Thirtieth:
Smoky was right, I did change into my hybrid form again, but this time I managed to stay awake and feel everything that was happening. I've decided that I should just accept this as is and will be experimenting with my transformations starting this weekend.
October Fourth:
It's Friday afternoon the start of the weekend. I've told my mother that I'm going to a friends house for a few days to study for a test on Monday she really doesn't want me to go but I really need to do this. In reality I'm going out to the large nature park not too far away. I've already prepped all my camping gear as well as stuck Smoky into my backpack. Hopefully this weekend will show some results.
October Sixth:
The weekend is over, and with the help of Smoky, I've discovered that, for now anyways, that I can only shift forms every twenty four hours. However, I'm certain that there's a trick to this shifting forms thing that I'm missing. I'll have it figured out in a month. I"m certain.
I have also discovered true pain in the form of my silver necklace. I had kept it in a bag via picking it up with pliers. Didn't want to tempt fate at home after all. Needless to say silver burns. Badly. That was also just from me picking it up, I can't imagine what it would feel like if I actually got cut.
October Thirteenth:
Another week come and gone. I did a repeat of last weekend, no Smoky this time however, mom freaked when she couldn't find him last week, she hates it when either of us leave home for any amount of time. Still can't break the twenty four hour time constraint. I'm getting there, I know I am, but man this is frustrating.
Nothing going on in school so far but the squirrels won't leave me alone. You'd think they'd be fearful of a cat person.
I was also by each my martial arts instructors, all of them, if I wanted to do any competition fighting. Since it seems like some things, like my reflexes and so on, have now made me better than my instructors. Not that I wasn't nearly there any way, but still. I said no, not now, still need to sort out several things in my life. That and my mother would kill me. Obviously.
October Thirtieth:
Full moon again, gonna try and meditate, get another feel for the transformation, turns out on the nights of a full moon I can shift as much as I want. Having had no luck last weekend I hope to figure out something soon.
Smoky tells me that maybe just focusing on the moon and the form I want to take isn't enough. So I'll be testing something new this weekend.
November Second:
Weekend again, and guess what. I DID IT. I can transform at will at any time now. Smoky was right in his assumption that just focusing on the moon and the form weren't enough. I also have to focus on my body itself, and picture myself shifting forms, while tensing, and then immediately relaxing my body. If I hadn't trained so hard in martial arts, in order to have complete control of my body, this might have taken longer to learn.
Now that I've learned how to transform at will, I have decided that my family, or at least my mom, needs to know about what I am. She's been getting anxious about my weekend trips.
November Fifth:
I told my mother about what happened to me. She freaked. Told me that we need to go see a doctor, a priest, an exorcist. Anyone that might be able to turn me back to normal. When I told her that I was fine, and that nothing was wrong with me, she told me that I was delusional. I told her that I like what I am, and that I wasn't going to a specialist of any sort, just because she doesn't like it. She got really angry after that, said that so long as I lived under her roof I would do as she said. I've decided to no longer live under her roof, and seeing as how I'm of age, I can leave whenever I want.
I called the school and asked if there were any vacancies at the dormitory. Since I sold my novel, and it's sequel, I've just had a whole bunch of money just sitting in my bank account. Now I could use it, since my mother decided that she would no longer finance me in any way.
When I told my uncle about what was happening, excluding the lycanthrope, he was much more helpful than my mom ever was. I also got him to take care of Smoky, since I didn't trust my mom with him anymore, and the dorms don't allow pets.
November Nineteenth:
A couple of guys visited me after school at the dorms today. They asked me several questions about my mother. Apparently she's been missing for a few days now, after what appears to be a break in at her house, and I'm a suspect for it since several neighbors know that I left home under some...unpleasant circumstances. Luckily I had witnesses, proving that I was in several study groups and classes that week, so they couldn't pin anything on me.
Now I have to ask myself this. Is it wrong that I don't care. I mean she's my mom sure but shes never been that...encouraging, towards me, and really, she hasn't helped me much in the past. I found out that all that money I was getting for my tuition was from my dads life insurance. So it really never came from her.
I don't know, maybe I'm worrying about it too much. I think I'm a good person, my friends think I'm a good person. Maybe it's not me maybe it was always her.
On an unrelated note, I now have a family of squirrels living outside my window that won't shut up. I miss Smoky, his conversations are at least somewhat interesting. Oh, I've also started dating too. A nice girl named Mio, hopefully I can keep my secrets and not screw anything up.
December Twenty Fifth:
Been awhile hasn't it. Well with exams and everything I've been quite busy, but with no one else to talk to, especially after what's just happened I need to talk to someone. Even if it is just a book.
My uncle is dead. Along with Smoky.
My mother is the prime suspect for their murder, but the cops can't question her, since she seems to have hung herself in the same room as my uncle and Smoky. It appears as though she decided to stop taking her meds, and slowly went insane. She never was the same after dad died, I'm surprised she kept as much sanity as she did. Though this does make sense as to why I care about my uncle, and Smokys death more than my mothers. Maybe I always knew she just wasn't there anymore. That she wasn't the same person that I really thought of as my mom.
Other than the bad stuff, I'm still keeping up with my form changing. But after this, I don't know what to do anymore. I mean. I'm still gonna finish school, but with no one else out there that I really call family, I don't know what to do. Hopefully I'll figure something out.
Merry Christmas to me right.
December Thirtieth:
With my uncle dead, the only family I have left now are from my moms side, and they all blame me for her descent into madness. They want nothing to do with me. Which is just fine in my opinion, never liked them that much anyway. However, because of this, I've been cut out from the family registry. That's fine I wanted to get a new last name anyways. I'm thinking Climbers. Yeah. Christopher Climbers. Catchy.
After the funeral I went back to school, but I've made a few changes in my life. First change, is that I've started to do research on all the Ginas there are in Atlanta Georgia, to try and find the were-cheetah again. I don't know why I didn't do this earlier, but anyways, I think if I want to know anymore about what I don't already know, then I need to find them. Second change, I took up my senseis offer to start competition fighting. With no one really stopping me, I don't have a reason not to. I have my first match January Tenth. Third, I plan on spending as much time in my hybrid form as possible. It's just more comfortable for me.
January Tenth:
Okay first match might have been a bit... incorrect. Apparently since I managed to beat all of my teachers in combat, I was immediately put into the world wide rankings as an unofficial A-Rank fighter among the Ultimate Fighters Federation. My teachers also apparently took me seriously, when I said "just get me a fight, I don't care who or how many" since they got me a one vs nine match up, against nine other A-Ranks in a Rank Up Battle Royale, with each person trying to win the S-Rank, but only one person getting it.
I was not happy. Not happy at all. If this was a weapons match I would be, since I love using my stick-staff, but no, it isn't.
Luckily I won. By the skin of my teeth no less. As well as with a large number of bruises, a twisted ankle, three cracked ribs, and a broken arm. They're calling me "The Shadow" since I wear all black , jump around so much in the ring, and hit from as many blind spots as I can, but hey, I'm now an S-Rank fighter, and I got my masteries in my martial arts. WOO-HOO.
However the broken ribs, arm, jaw, and concussion, are things I could do without.
I also don't have to fight too much, lucky me if I did my school would get screwed up. As an S-Rank, I just need to make two challenges, and accept two challenges, for a total of four fights a month to keep my rank. Oh, and I have to win at least three of those fights of course. Or I start to lose too many points, and will go down in rank.
I also get the next month off from fighting, since I was injured. They expect me to sit in the hospital in pain, but I'll just shift forms when I get back home at the dorms, and use my healing to speed things up.
On another note, I've yet to find the Gina I'm looking for. I also won't be making any more entries for a while, in order to focus more on all the other things that are going on in my life.
April Twenty First:
First, I want to say Happy Birthday to me, and wow, its been a long time since my last entry.
Alright, first things first, I found her. I found the Gina I'm looking for. Her full name is Gina Diggers and, honestly don't know why I didn't find her earlier, I mean she's the up and coming Chairwoman for The Explorers Society for Christs sake. She's still in university, but she's constantly making new discoveries. You'd think that she'd have been easier to find, or recognize. Anyways, along with the fact that I found Gina, I have also kept my rank in the UFF, and gotten better too. As well as finished my degree in English, with a minor in several other languages, mostly ancient ones. Not only that, but with the majority of fighters in the UFF moving to the headquarters, which happens to be in Atlanta, I can now go to Atlanta for free, and get my chance to look for Gina, and hopefully get to know her and her sister a bit better. It'd be nice to know some other weres.
Other than that I've applied for U.S. citizenship, and since I'm a part of the UFFs northern branch, I should be getting it pretty soon. I guess they really do like their fighting down in the states, huh. My match is in a few weeks, giving me time to move down there and adjust to the new area. As well as look for the Diggers.
I've also started to train my hybrid form and animal form for fighting as well. Through this I've learned that my Hybrid form can jump, from standing position, ten times better than a regular snow leopard. I can hold my breath for several minutes as well. I think that's because of the large nasal cavities that I have, allowing me to breathe more oxygen. My eyesight is also better than perfect, with zoom features and the ability to see better, regardless of visibility. Hopefully after I meet the Diggers, properly this time, they'll be able to help me figure even more things out. Like why I was able to change into an even better, and more powerful, hybrid form on the day of that eclipse not too long ago.
Which reminds me. I need to apologize to that Brit girl properly this time. I really had no right to call her that, especially after finding out that I'm similar to her. I hope she accepts the apology.
Journal Entries Finished
Normal POV
Chris had been in Atlanta for roughly three days now, and unfortunately, he had yet to go out and find the Diggers family. Due to an unfortunate accident with one of the other fighters in the UFF, he would be filling in for the injured party, this was primarily due to the fact that he needed to debut as a fighter at headquarters. Since all the fights he had been in were fights at the branch buildings, he had yet to truly enter into the public spotlight. Why has he been waiting for three days, you might ask. Simply put, after heading to headquarters, he was informed that he needed to wait until his opponent, some guy named Ryan or something, arrived from his travels. Apparently, since he was new he had to wait for the higher ranking, and more senior fighters, when it came to match-ups. Why this Ryan Tabbot dude was three days late however was a mystery.
"How much longer do I have to wait, seriously, it's been three days since I got here, and this Ryan dude has yet to show up. I do have stuff to do you know." Chris complained noisily at the headquarters building waiting for his fight. "I'm tempted to just leave and not come back at this rate."
"Well that would be unfortunate since you'll finally be fighting today" said the secretary.
"Really, you mean this guy's finally here, I can finally fight and get out of here."
"Yes, your match is in a few minutes actually, so head to the entrance and get ready to fight, you'll be entering at the south door, just down that hall."
Ugh"Finally"
After hearing what entrance he needed to go to he started walking over, no need to go to a change room, since his fight clothes were similar enough to street clothes that he didn't need to wear something else in public, else he risk several funny looks. His outfit consisted of a tight gray sleeveless t-shirt under a pure black form fitting hoodie, with a pair of normal, if slightly loose, black jeans and black sneakers with gray outlines. Naming him "The Shadow" certainly fit his description.
Arriving at the entrance, he saw a man who he assumed was his opponent. He was same age as him, with long red hair tied back with a simple elastic band. Walking up to him he greeted this person in a very relaxed manner.
"So I guess you must be Ryan"
"Yeah, that's me. You must be that newbie, Chris, the guy who had connections and rose to S-Rank in one match. The association must really be scraping the bottom of the barrel if they let guys like you in here."
"Hey man, that's uncalled for, I earned my rank and I'll be damned if I just let you walk all over it."
"Whatever dude. Prove it in the ring first before you start talking big."
"Fine, I will." The curtains over the entrance start to rise.
"Well then, get in there." Ryan suddenly grabs Chris and tries to throw him through the entrance into the ring, but Chris reacts instantly and turns. This not only breaks Ryans hold, but also puts him off balance. Seeing this, Chris then grabs Ryan and throws him over his shoulder. Ryan is certainly surprised, to say the least.
"What the..."
After flying through the curtains, Ryan lands in a roll glaring back at the entrance. Chris calmly walks out staring directly at Ryan.
"Told you I earned my rank. Now no more tricks, let's get in the ring and fight properly."
heh "You don't get it, do you. At headquarters the fighting starts the moments the fighters meet and enter the arena area unless otherwise stated beforehand. The match has already started." Immediately after hearing this Chris looked around only to see that, indeed the area around him was set up in a way for the spectators to watch all around them, without interference, and that the timer had already started, and the fight had begun. In doing so however, he didn't see the flying kick Ryan aimed at his face.
(AN: I'm just gonna say it straight up. I am new at still this so forgive me if the fight scene is less than perfect. It also won't be the longest fight either, but if you read the comics the fights are only like three pages long.)
CRACK
His head snapping to the side, and the feeling of his body flying through the air, was enough for Chris to get his head in the game. Landing not to far off to the side, he looked at his opponent, only to see him smirking, and performing the age old 'come on' gesture with his hand. Refusing to fall for such obvious taunts, Chris simply stood, and took his stance, deciding to wait for his opponent to come and strike again. He didn't wait long. Realizing his taunts weren't going to work, Ryan charged forwards at almost unseen speeds, preparing to give Chris a straight punch to the chest. Chris then took a step back and to the left at the last moment, while leaning even further. Ryans punch sailed above Chris' shoulder. Chris then went for a punch to Ryan's stomach. Ryan blocked with his free hand, but Chris, prepared for a block just in case, changed his center of balance to hit Ryan with a snap kick to the side. Connecting with his kick, Chris sent Ryan flying into a heap not far away. Jumping into the air Chris raised his leg high, to deliver a crushing stomp to his downed opponent. Unfortunately, Ryan managed to roll out of the way in time. Being unable to stop his move, Chris landed his foot right into the floor. Ryan, seeing his opponent strike the floor, winced slightly when he saw that it was not Chris' foot that broke, but rather, it was the floor the floor.
'Well shit, I guess this guy does deserve his title' was all Ryan could think of after seeing this display of power. 'Better turn up the heat'
Turning his head, Chris had to suddenly lean back to avoid the flying tackle Ryan performed, only to receive a knee to the face. As Ryan continued to fly over Chris, Chris' face went into the ground. Stunned from being hit on his temples, he was unable to recover in time to block or dodge Ryan's elbow strike, and was hit directly in his stomach. Taking the hit Chris couldn't stop himself from coughing up a little blood, and swing his arm at Ryan, before clutching his stomach and ribs in pain. He had probably broken something. Jumping back to avoid the hit, Ryan landed a few feet away, but not wanting Chris to recover, he immediately jumped up to perform the same stomp move Chris had tried against him. Chris, having recovered, was a little upset that this guy thought he could use his own move against him. Tensing the arm he was using to hold his stomach he waited, until Ryan's foot was just the right distance from him, before he lashed out with his arm as hard as he could, connecting with, and snapping, Ryan's leg sideways. This had two effects for Ryan. The first, was that he missed his target. The second, since he was not prepared for it, was that his leg met with the floor at a very bad angle, snapping his leg into a very unnatural angle.
"AAAAARRRRGGGGG"
Needless to say, Ryan was hurt.
ding ding ding.
The bell rang from somewhere unseen signalling the end of the match due to disabling injury.
Paramedics rushed into the arena putting Ryan on a stretcher, and taking him away. Panting slightly, and still holding his stomach and ribs, Chris limped over to where the paramedics were, so that he could get treated as well. The paramedics took him through the entrance to the first aid room where Ryan had been brought, and sat him down in a chair. Waiting for them to finish their diagnostic of his injuries, Chris couldn't help but think, maybe he had been a bit too rough on Ryan. He could have ended the fight in a different way, a less painful and damaging way, but he really wanted to end the fight quick. At the same time however, he was happy that Ryan had tried to use that particular technique on him. If he hadn't, the match wouldn't have been as short as it had been. In fact, the only reason the match had been so short was because Ryan had just copied his move, and he had countered in the same way he himself had been countered. Resulting in him receiving the same injury in one of his previous losses when he was just starting out. But looking over at Ryan he could see, even though he was hopped up on anesthetics, that he had gained respect from his first opponent at headquarters.
Grinning to himself he started listening to what the doctors were saying. Apparently two of his ribs broke when Ryan landed that elbow slam. Internal bleeding was also a possibility. The medics suggested that he spend some time in the medical wing to recover, but he assured them that it was unnecessary, and managed to convince them to let him leave.
After leaving the UFF headquarters, Chris went straight to his hotel to get a good nights sleep. Before falling onto the bed however, he shifted into his hybrid form. Hopefully he'd be fully healed, before finally heading out in the morning to find the Diggers. Hopefully it wouldn't be too hard to find them.
Waking up early at around nine o'clock Chris showered, changed, and packed up his stuff, before heading downstairs to check out of the hotel. He could always come back later, if he couldn't find a different place closer to the Diggers. Unfortunately he had to be a bit careful with his ribs, since they were still tender even if they were no longer broken. They'd be fully healed if he waited for a bit longer in his hybrid form, but he didn't think that being a giant cat person in the middle of the city was a good idea. Immediately after checking out of his room he went to the nearest phone booth, to try and find the address for the Diggers. Finding it in the phone book, he called for a cab.
"Hey, can you take me to this address here." He asked the driver after getting in the cab.
Looking at the address the drivers eyebrows shoot up in surprise. "You sure you want to go there" he asks.
"Yeah I do. Why?"
"Oh, no reason. It's just that some crazy stuffs been known to happen out there that's all"
"Even if that's the case I still want to go, so lets go"
Feeling a bit bad about his rudeness, Chris promised himself to give a large tip to the driver, who clearly didn't want to take him to his destination. As the taxi drove away from the hotel he decided to put on his headphones, sit back, and relax. It'd be a bit of ride, if he read the map right. Might as well get a few more zzz's in before he got there.
Feeling the car come to a proper stop, as well as hearing the driver tell him they arrived, Chris woke up. Stretching briefly, he got out of the cab, after paying the driver, along with giving him the tip, then went to the trunk and got his bags. A simple backpack filled to the brim, along with a large sports bag filled with other things. He could always get the rest of his stuff later, when he actually had a place of residence. Looking around, he only noticed a driveway, no house. Turning to try and ask the taxi driver where he was, he saw that the driver had already high tailed it outta there. Sighing to himself, he decided that for now he would just walk up the driveway and ask for directions. Hopefully the people living here would be kind enough to answer his questions and point him in the right direction.
Reaching the end of the driveway he finally saw the house, although house was not the right word, since the only word to truly describe the place was mansion. Seriously, the place was huge. Who in the world needed so much space.
'Then again, if there's a were-cheetah living here, a lot of space would be necessary' he thought
As he was walking up to the entrance, he braced himself before knocking. Waiting for a response, he held his breath as he heard someone coming to answer. The door opened, and there stood a man, white hair, likely in his fifties, answering the door while smoking a pipe.
"Hello, how can I help you?" Asked the man.
"Yes, um. Hello, is this the residence of Gina and Brittany Diggers." Asked Chris. What else could he say.
"It is. I am Doctor Theodore Diggers, their father. Why?" As he asked this he crossed his arms in a very, 'what do you want with my daughters', manner.
"Well, I was just wondering if Gina was in. I kinda need her help with something."
"And what would that be."
Pausing for a moment, he thought about whether or not he should tell him. He decided that if this guy had a were-cheetah child he might be able to help as well. Throwing caution to the wing he shifted forms.
As soon as he shifted forms he found himself face to face with Dr. Diggers outstretched hand. A hand which appeared to be glowing. Looking stunned, all Chris could say was. "Um, heh heh. Something Wrong?."
Chris was definitely not expecting the reaction he got from the old man in front of him. Luckily Dr. Diggers didn't seem to be the kind of person to shoot first and ask questions later. If he was then Chris would have been hit by whatever it is Diggers is holding in his hand. " Ummm...sorry, but can you put that down. I have no clue what it is that you are doing, but I think I can explain and alleviate any worries you seem to have." Said Chris with a growing worry.
Pausing for a moment Diggers put down his hand before he responded. "Very well then, but I want to hear the whole story, because as far as I knew the only other were-creatures on earth right now were my daughter, the wererats, and the werewolves in Germany." Said Diggers. "You also don't appear to be any werecat that I've ever seen, and I've seen them all so you understand that I am confused. I also apologize for that reaction, I felt your aura shift and expected an attack."
Now understanding the reason for the slightly threatening response ,Chris no longer felt like he was walking into an execution. "No problem. I honestly expected you to be a bit confused, or weirded out. May I come inside, my story's a bit long, and I don't think it's appropriate for it to be discussed on the front porch."
"Oh, yes, of course, please come in"
As Chris entered the mansion he couldn't help but stare around in awe at the sheer enormity of the house. Dr. Diggers noticing Chris' awe at his home couldn't help but give a slight smile of pride for his home. "Well come along, we can have our discussion in the living room." Said Dr. Diggers.
After going to the living room and sitting down Chris began to tell his story to Dr. Diggers excluding a few of the more personal points. After he finished Dr. Diggers was rubbing his beard in contemplation. Chris couldn't help but feel like he was in class with a teacher that was much more knowledgeable than him.
Finally, after what seemed like an hour, but was really five minutes, of just sitting in silence, Dr. Diggers spoke up. "Well Chris, that is certainly an interesting story, and the spells I cast on you have told me that you are telling the truth. I'm surprised however, that you haven't done anything, or sought out help before this."
"Ah well, you see, I had a few... affairs... to put in order and a few obligations, and goals that I wanted to complete first."
"Yes, yes, getting your degree so soon is fairly impressive. Now the question however, is what do we do now."
" Well I'm not that sure, I was hoping you would be able to help me with that actually, all I really planned on was meeting another were-cat."
"Hmm...I can think of three things we could do for you right now. One, we could lock you in human for..."
"Not happening. This form is apart of who I am now, and I'm not giving up a piece of myself."
"Very well then TWO options, I guess. Option one. we remove your lycanthrope so you can't infect people, and send you on your way, or option two, we still remove the infectious part of your lycanthrope, but instead of you leaving you can stay here and try to integrate yourself into a less than normal life."
"Well there really only one option there and that's option two."
"OH, and why's that."
"Because if it means I'll get to live an interesting life that goes beyond what people call normal, then I'm there."
"I see, so you're an adventurer are you."
"Not yet but I've always wanted to be, maybe now I'll finally get the chance to."
"Well after you meet Gina and Brittany I'm sure you will."
"Hehe, yeah, maybe. By the way, when are they going to be back. I was hoping to meet them properly."
"They are on one of their adventure right now actually. Something about a Time Boat or something of the sort."
"I see. Well in that case can I give you my number and have you call me when they get back. It's getting late and I'll need to find a hotel room till I see them."
"Oh no, if you wish to wait for them then you can stay here. I insist."
"Oh, that's very kind of you Dr. Diggers, but I really don't want to be a bother."
"No no, I insist. With Gina and Brittany moving out soon if you are here then you might not meet them before they leave."
"Alright if you insist, where should I go unpack."
"Alright then the guest room is right this way."
Following Dr. Digger to the guest room, Chris couldn't help but continue to marvel at the magnificent architecture he was currently surrounded by. After they reached the guest room Chris was about to enter the room to put his things down and get some sleep when Dr. Diggers stopped him.
"By the way Christopher, just what exactly are your plans regarding my daughters. In particular Brittany."
"Ah well, I really wanted to learn some were-cat history and culture, but I guess I can learn that from you."
"Unfortunately I didn't learn much of the were-cheetahs before they were wiped out, leaving Brittany the only one, so you likely won't find any answers I'm afraid."
Looking down, sheepish and embarrassed, having realized something he hadn't Chris apologized."Oh, she's adopted. I'm sorry I wasn't aware."
"It's fine, but Christopher."
"Yes?"
The moment Chris responded, something he found both amazing and utterly terrifying happened. Dr. Diggers, who had previously had the appearance of a nice middle aged man, had changed into a terrifying black skeleton with flames surrounding it's skull and and ashes falling onto his shoulders. Scared witless, he was utterly petrified.
"I expect you to treat my daughter well, you hear me. If you insult either of my daughter again, like you say you did at the airport, or do anything else to hurt them. You. Will. Regret It. UNDERSTAND!"
Still petrified he could only mutter a quick "yes sir" before he practically dove into the guest room. Dr. Diggers couldn't help but chuckle as he walked away.
"That should stop him from making anymore mistakes regarding my daughters."
Overall, not a bad first introduction for Chris to the Diggers. So long as you weren't Chris that is.
'Oh I hope this was a good idea.' Thought Chris as he fell asleep.
The next morning Chris awoke to the sounds of a car pulling noisily into the driveway. He groggily turned over and in true tired fashion fell out of the bed he was sleeping in. "oof!". Grunting to himself he slowly got up and got dressed to go meet the Diggers sisters for the second time. Hopefully this meeting wouldn't be as bad as the first one they had nearly a year ago.
Walking through the mansion Chris, once again, couldn't help but look around in awe at how big the place was. Clearly adventuring had its perks. So engrossed in his second examination of the mansion, in the daytime too, he didn't even realize that he had already made it to the front entrance, until he heard people talking. Snapping out of his mental wanderings, he turned to the people at the front door, noticing that along with Dr. Diggers, who was dressed in his strange suit, Gina, who was dressed in Daisy Duke styled shorts and top, and Brit, who was in her seven foot tall hybrid form wearing a slightly too small unitard, there also seemed to be two extra people, people with pointed ears of all things, dressed in what could only be described as ancient slave garbs. Deciding that he should wait before asking who they were, he chose to interrupt their conversation, and introduce himself, with a simple "Hello."
The group of five turned to the source of the greeting, Dr. Diggers simply looked at him amused at his extremely casual greeting, the elves looked in confusion, and the two sisters in slight recognition.
"Well hi there handsome, who are you?" asked Gina, with more than a bit of lust in her voice.
"My name's Chris, and we've met before actually, about a year ago at the airport. I said some not so nice things that I really shouldn't have." Said Chris. "Again, I really didn't mean it."
A look of realization passed over the sisters faces, as well as a look of dislike from Brit.
"YOU, you're the one who called me a freak a year ago, aren't you." Brit was growling under her breath as she spoke. Clearly she could hold a grudge.
"Yes I am, sorry about that, I was having a bad week at the time" Chris looked extremely embarrassed for what he had done. "I assure you that I didn't mean anything by what I said. It really just slipped out."
"Tch, whatever." Not really believing him she turned around. "I'm gonna head up stairs and start some packing, kay Gina."
"Okay Brittany, I'll be up in a bit to help" Gina said as her sister walked upstairs, not taking her eyes off of Chris as she looked him up and down.
Still looking towards Chris, she asked the question that was on everybody's mind, excluding Chris and Dr. Diggers of course. "Why are you here."
"Well that's actually a funny story, you see, apparently I'm descended from a were-cat family that had their forms sealed, and when your sister slapped me, and cut me, she woke up my dormant were-cat genes, as you can see." Chris explained, shifting to his hybrid form, ripping his shirt in the process. " And with your sister being the only other were-cat I know of, this was the only place I could go to get some answers."
Shocked at the unexpected transformation she had just witnessed, Gina just stared at Chris not saying anything. Seeing that she wasn't responding, Chris began waving his hands in front of her face as Dr. Diggers and the two elf like people snickered in the background. Finally, Gina snapped out of it when Chris began snapping his fingers in front of her face.
"WHAT THE HECK, YOU'RE A WERE-CAT!" Yelled Gina in surprise. Her yell was loud enough that all the people on the ground floor had to cover their ears. A loud 'THWUMP' from upstairs proved that Brit had also heard her from up there.
WOOOSH
Brittany was a blur as she ran down the stairs at top speed, to see if what her sister had screamed was true.
"HE'S WHAT." Brittany screamed after arriving at the bottom of the stairs. Her previous dislike towards Chris forgotten at finding out that there might be another were-cat on earth besides her.
"He's a were-cat, snow leopard, from what we can tell." Said Dr. Diggers in a much more quiet and indoor tone of voice. "Apparently, when you first met him a year ago and his temporary 'foot in mouth disease' caused you to slap, and in the process scratch, him, he became a were-cat."
"But my lycanthrope's been removed, my scratch shouldn't have done anything." Said a slightly panicky Brit. She really, really, really didn't want to be responsible for possibly ruining someones life due to a slap. Chris didn't deserve to be cursed, even if he did say something really mean. "And besides, you said he's a snow leopard, right. That's not even close to the same species as me."
"Well, we kinda figured that your scratch didn't curse me, so much as it woke up the sealed and dormant were-cat enchantments that were already apart of me." Explained Chris who was picking at the shredded remains of his shirt. 'I really need to remember to wear larger or stretchier clothing. That's the third shirt I've ripped in just as many days.' He thought as an afterthought.
"Yes, right, anyway Gina we were hoping you might be able to help us figure out what happened to Chris with one of your machines. I've already determined with magic that he is not a thrall, and is not cursed, as most people 'afflicted' with lycanthropy are, but rather his enchantment are exactly like what someone born with them should be like." Continued Dr. Diggers picking up where Chris left off. "Oh, and Chris, you should know that most people around here are used to seeing Brittany in her hybrid form, so it should be no trouble at all if you are as well. Being in human form is apparently very formal for were-creatures."
"Really, well that's awesome." Replied Chris, relieved that he no longer had to stay in his human form for most of his time. For some reason even though it was the form he had lived in for his whole life, it just didn't feel as right as his hybrid form.
As Chris and Dr. Diggers finished their explanations Gina and Brittany finally snapped out of their shock, fully, and were now ready to respond, but before they could there was a soft 'ahem' from towards the door.
Turning towards the door Gina, Brit, Chris, and Dr. Diggers all looked towards the two elves, each of them looking a little bit awkward at having just stood there while the others were talking. They gestured towards Gina in a pleading manner.
"Ah yes, sorry about that Tark, Mesha. Please let me introduce you to my father, Dr. Diggers, he's an arch mage, along with being the magic expert of the family because of it." Said Gina, trying to do some introductions. "And the other guy is Chris, someone new and unexpected. Dad, uh Chris, this is Tark and Mesha, they're two elves that we found and rescued from an evil dragon called Dreadwing."
"It's nice to finally meet you Dr. Diggers. Gina wouldn't stop talking about you on our way here." Said the dark skinned, purple haired Mesha. "Isn't that right Tark." She said as she nudged her husband.
"Indeed it is dear, though I don't think he needed to know that his daughter is gossiping about him behind his back." Said light skinned, blonde haired Tark.
"Well it's a pleasure to meet you as well." Said Dr. Diggers as he walked over to greet them with a handshake.
"Same here." Said Chris.
"Alright now that the introduction are out of the way, I think it's time to get Chris here undressed and into my med tank." Said Gina with a more than slightly eager grin. "We have science to do."
"Um, right then, do I really need to be undressed for this." Questioned Chris slightly weary of Gina's now maniacal look.
"Yes, yes you do." Gina replied as she walked towards ste stair to get her equipment. 'Hehehe even though he's furry, and wasn't the most polite guy ever when we first met, getting a nice beefcake like him into one of my medical tanks to scan is going to be soooo sweet.'
Backing away from the now drooling Gina, as she was clearly fantasizing something less than appropriate, Chris couldn't help but have second thoughts regarding his choice to receive help from these people. As he did, however, he heard a loud 'fwoosh' along with a bit of hot air from Dr. Diggers direction. "I have no intention of performing any untoward behavior with either of your daughters, and anything that might happen, I assure, you will not be my fault." Said Chris. Without even looking he knew that Dr. Diggers had activated his 'flaming skull intimidation' technique at seeing his daughters reaction to Chris, now that her surprise had worn off.
Calming down slightly, Dr. Diggers undid his spell. Looking back towards Dr. Diggers and the two elves. he saw that Dr. Diggers still had the look of an overprotective father, while Tark and Mesha had a look of surprise on their faces. Clearly even though they themselves knew magic there were still some things that can surprise anybody.
While this was happening Brit had also snapped out of her stupor and was following Gina up the stairs. "Hey hurry up we don't have all day for you to just stand there doing nothing." She said over her shoulder towards Chris.
"Oh right, coming." Said Chris as he walked away from the three more magically inclined people, as they began to talk about things that he just didn't comprehend. "It's Brittany right?"
"Just call me Cheetah, everybody does." She said over her shoulder. "It's gotten to the point that only family calls me Brittany, and that's only when I'm in trouble, or when it's important."
"Ah, okay, and once again I'm sorry about what I said, I'm wasn't having good back then and I was amazed that there are actually cat people out there." Said Chris trying to start a conversation. "Though I guess that I showed my amazement in a fairly poor manner huh."
"I guess it's okay. What you said was mean, but my sister had explained how you were having a bad week." Said Cheetah as they reached the top of the stairs. "But hey, what about you, turning into a were-cat all of a sudden probably caused you a few problems too I'm guessing."
"Yeah... problems. I guess you could call them that." Said Chris as he remembered all the things that had happened since he had become a were-cat. "A few things were unplanned, but overall I can't say that this is the worst thing that has ever happened to me."
Cheetah stopped in front of one of the doors, behind which came the noises of someone looking for something. Something that was likely difficult to get.
Opening the door, Chris and Cheetah walked into what could only be described as a war zone. There were pieces of metal strewn about on the floor, alongside clothes, blankets, and an assortment of different doodads that Chris simply could not figure out what their use might be. Suddenly a soft grunt from the other side of the bed grabbed their attention.
"Um...is she okay." Chris asked Cheetah in a hushed voice. "She sounds like she's having trouble."
"She's fine, but I don't get why she's in here, the medical equipment is all in another room." Cheetah responded. "Hey Gina, what are you looking for, your equipment's in the other room." She asked her sister in a slightly louder voice.
"Huh, oh... well you see, when I got up here I remembered that I had packed all that stuff up, for when we move in a few weeks, so that I can set it up in my new lab later on." Gina said sheepishly. "I came in here to see if there was anything in here that I could use to try and scan Chris with, but it doesn't look like I do. Sorry Chris, but it looks like you'll have to wait a while before we can do any scans to figure out everything about what happened to you." 'But worst of all, it also means that I won't get to see any bare hot stud skin for a while either.' Gina boy craziness was really starting to affect her priorities.
"Ah, well that's unfortunate, but if we have to wait a while then it's not that big a deal. I mean I waited a year before coming here after all, and I can give you my note on the observations I made. They're not much, but it's still something." Said Chris trying to cheer her up, not realizing that she was upset because she couldn't ogle his bare form for science.
"Oh, well if you have notes that I could read, then I guess I can look through those for now." Said Gina.
"Okay then, I'll just go and get them." Said Chris walking out of the room to go get his notes from his pack.
After Chris had left the room, Cheetah and Gina began discussing how this whole thing was effecting them.
"So sis, what do you think of him." Cheetah asked her sister.
"I think that such a hunk like him needs to be thoroughly examined." Said Gina with a bit of drool coming from her mouth.
"GINA! really girl you need to get your thoughts straightened out. He needs our help, even if he doesn't look like he's having problems he was still human for his entire life up until last year." Said Cheetah, amazed at how perverted her sister was. "Besides, we need to figure out what we're going to do with him before we go on our next expedition."
"Oh c'mon Cheetah, you can't tell me that you don't find him attractive. You're both were-cats after all." Said Gina in response to Cheetahs comments. "It's not like the chances of you finding another man with feline attributes are very high."
"Even so, I don't feel anything towards that guy, besides a bit of... regret that he's no longer human because of me." "Said Cheetah as she looked towards her feet in sorrow. "I mean,...what if his whole life was ruined because of me. Sure he insulted me, but you yourself said that he had been through some trouble. I just slapped him because he deserved it, but this is..."
"Something unintended. Nothing more nothing less." Said Chris as he walked back into Gina's room. "You didn't intend to change me into a were-cat, and I really did deserve that slap." Pausing for a moment, Chris had another thought. "In fact, Dr. Diggers said that you really can't turn anyone into a were-cat, so rather than turning me, you really just gave me an ability that I should have already had, but didn't."
Jumping slightly in surprise at Chris' sudden arrival, the two sisters just shared a look and hoped that he hadn't heard what they were talking about earlier. Luckily it seemed that he had only heard the tail end of their conversation, so it didn't look like he had.
"Here's the notes from my journal, there's not much, but I hope it can help you help me." Said Chris. "But really, I don't have many worries about what happened to me Cheetah. If anything it makes me unique, in a way it's actually pretty cool. So stop worrying about it."
Calming down from her surprise Cheetah nodded in agreement but it could be seen that she was still upset about what happened. Gina however was more focused on the journal in Chris' hands. Seeing her eyeing the journal in his hands, he gave the whole thing over to her. He really didn't care about the more personal things he had written in it. He had gotten over it some time ago so it didn't really matter. Gina gave a quick thank you before she began ready it. Cheetah, noticing that her sister would likely be reading it and making her own conclusions she grabbed Chris and began dragging him downstairs to get something to eat as it was almost noon.
"C'mon Chris, let's get something to eat I'm starving." Said Cheetah. Chris didn't respond as his stomach did that for him, approving the notion of food quite loudly. Cheetah just laughed as Chris rubbed his head in embarrassment.
A few hours later and Chris was sitting with the two elves, Dr. Diggers, and Cheetah, in kitchen arguing with said cat-girl over what food was better, fish or steak.
"No no no no, tuna is the king of the food groups, not beef or pork, tuna." Said cheetah for the twelfth time in the last hour. "No matter what you say nothing will change that!"
"Tuna's just a fatty fish that tastes nasty, a good rare steak with a nice side of ribs, now that's what's best when it comes to food." Said Chris in response, "I'll admit that most fish does taste very good, but tuna is not one of those fish."
Dr. Diggers and the elves just looked at each other in amusement at the show before them. Just then Gina opened the door and walked in, she did not look happy, in fact, she looked fairly upset. Clearly she had read something in Chris' journal that was related to his family. Hearing her enter the kitchen, the five people already there looked towards her, and immediately noticed that something was wrong. A knowing look passed over Chris' face, and before anyone could ask her what was wrong, he spoke up.
"You got to the parts involving my family didn't you." Chris stated instantly realizing what was wrong. Gina just nodded her head. Chris just sighed before going on. The other occupants of the kitchen listening in.
"You know, I really don't feel sorry about anything that I've done, so you don't need to feel sad Gina, and Cheetah, no matter what you hear now nothing was your fault. Okay?" Cheetah, her argument forgotten, just nodded at Chris, wondering just what was written in that journal.
Chris explained to them how when he was just a kid his dad had been killed, and his mother hurt in the process. He told them that his mother was less than fully sane afterwards, and how his uncle was the only one that really helped him out when he needed help. He talked about his mothers family and how they had never liked his father or him. Along with how his mother died after killing his uncle, and how his mothers family disowned him, as well as how he didn't really care since his maternal family weren't the nicest of people anyway. He explained how he didn't feel that much loss at losing his mother because, in his opinion, his mother had died when his father had. She just wasn't really there anymore. He even told them about his girlfriend, and their eventual break up when she made her claim to fame.
During his story there were few teary eyes from Gina and Cheetah, but he assured them that him becoming a were-leopard wasn't the cause of what happened, things had been wrong in his family for a long time now. It just reached a breaking point a little bit sooner than expected.
"All in all my family has problems, and there's not many, if any, of them that I want to see again. So coming here, and leaving my past where it was, is probably the best I've made for myself." Said Chris after his explanation. "And you guys knowing this doesn't mean much to me either, I mean, if I want to get to know you guys better, then letting you guys know about me is probably for the best."
Surprised at his openness regarding his past, the Diggers just nodded in agreement, they couldn't do much else.
"Anyway, Gina, what did you manage to get from the notes I gave you." Asked Chris, trying to change the topic to something else a little less close to home. "I hope that the information I managed to get was helpful in some way."
"Unfortunately it wasn't as helpful as I had hoped it would be, that's not to say it wasn't, but without the proper equipment I don't think anyone could get much more information about you." Said Gina in a subdued tone of voice.
"Well that sucks." Said Chris in a surprisingly laid back manner.
"'That sucks', that's all you have to say about this. 'That sucks'." Said Cheetah incredulously. "Don't you care about learning everything you can about this."
"Well yeah, but if I have to wait a while then I just have to wait, right. It's no big deal really." Chris responded.
Gina and Cheetah just looked at him, amazed at the amount of patience he seemed to have, along with just how laid back he really was.
"How long will I have to wait anyways." Asked Chris as an afterthought. "Having to wait too long would still be extremely annoying, no offense."
Looking at each other Gina and Cheetah were thinking the same thing. Gina didn't know how long it would take to find the lost temple of gold, but it would probably be a while, and Cheetah only knew that they were going to somewhere in Peru. So however long it would take was anyone's guess. Luckily Dr. Diggers was able to come to the rescue.
"Here's an idea for you three, why doesn't Chris tag along with you two for your next expedition. That way he can help you finish faster, and he can also get to know you all better since that's also one of the things he came here to do." Said Dr. Diggers explaining his idea to the three youngest people there. "Besides, Chris here is among the top ranking fighters in the world, as well as having exceptional skill in ancient languages, he also has an interest in archaeology."
Gina, Chris, and Cheetah just looked at him.
"What? You don't think I wouldn't try my best to find out information regarding an unknown guest in my house did you, you're a nice man Chris, but really, all I knew about you was information that you yourself told me." Said Dr. Diggers, defending himself and his knowledge of Chris' skills.
"I guess that makes sense, looking me up online or something would get you a lot of information on me." Said Chris rubbing his chin as he thought about what Dr. Diggers might know about him. "I am sorta famous right now, aren't I."
"Wait What! You're famous." Exclaimed Gina and Cheetah.
"Indeed he is girls. In the past year Chris here has sold three books, each for their own series, as well as reaching the top of the bestsellers and best in genre lists. Along with being among the most well known martial artists in the world, regardless of the fact that he didn't really step into the spotlight until recently." Explained Dr. Diggers in a very professor like manner. "Not only that, but for his final project for his degree, he actually managed to come up with a new way for translating certain ruins."
"Wow." Was all the sisters could say. "Why haven't I heard about this." Asked Gina.
"Well it's not like I had a pen name or anything. Maybe you didn't find out about it because I never published anything in any of the things you read." Said Chris, also wondering how she didn't know about him. 'Although, I really shouldn't be saying anything. After all it took me a year to find the infamous Gina 'Gold Digger'. So... yeah' Thought Chris.
"I guess so." Said Gina. "Well anyways, my dads idea has merit, do you want to come with us on our next expedition?" She asked. "It would certainly help to have an extra pair of hands around."
"Well I'd like to come, but I still need to find a place for permanent residence not that I'm here. I don't want to be a freeloader or anything so house hunting was next on my list of things to do." Chris stated wishing he could go but know that living arrangements came first.
Gina and Cheetah hummed in disappointment, then Cheetah got an idea.
"Hey Gina, wasn't that lot in front of the property we just bought also for sale." She asked her sister. "If it is then Chris could probably buy and you could have some of you construction bots build him a house. He's gotta have enough money to do that if he's as famous as he says."
"Hey that's true, and depending on how long or trip takes both our houses might be done by the time we get back." Said Gina, agreeing with her sister.
"Girls, I don't think..."
"That's an excellent idea." Said Dr. Diggers. "From what I found out about you Chris, you should have more than enough money to buy that lot."
Looking back and forth between Dr. Diggers and the two sisters Chris just sighed, knowing that he couldn't get out of this, and that this would be expensive. Tark and Mesha, who were now apparently staying with Dr. Diggers, for now, just chuckled in amusement.
"Alright then, lets go get me a house." Said Chris standing up from his seat. 'God I hope this doesn't cost me too much, the houses and lots around here are huge.'
AN: Alright, so that's the first chapter redone. Please let me know what you think of this new and improved Chapter One, and please stand by for new chapters. Once again please note that I have no beta reader, and will not be getting one. I also hadn't written an outline for this chapter, unfortunately. That will change for all later chapters, so the quality of the story will hopefully be much better. Also the original series is something that I saw as a work of art, as such, for this fanfiction, I will be staying as close to canon as I can, while still changing things here and there to work with my OC. If you don't like this, or you think it's not truly fanfiction, then a different page is just a click away. For those of you that like this story, stay tuned for more chapters. Chapter Two should be up roughly a week after this re-post.