Chapter 3, Transformation
Katheryn sat up with a start and listened, something had woken her up, but she wasn't sure what. There was a strange, mechanical whirring coming from the street below. Looking out of the window Katheryn saw what looked like a domed, metallic brain supported by four crablike legs pacing up and down the street. As she backed away from the window Katheryn caught sight of her reflection, an orange and black fuzz covered her face. Bringing her hand up she noticed it was covered with orange fur, striped with black. Katheryn ran to the bathroom and stared into the mirror, her body was covered with the tiger like fir and her eyes had taken on a green hue. Checking over her body she also found that her muscles seemed better defined. A spasm of pain shot through her back, dropping her to her knees and something seemed to move under her skin, crawling on all fours she made her way to her sofa and tuned on the t.v., the presenter was filming a robot like the one she had seen outside her apartment.
"It is thought that these drones are the work of Brainiac, although it is certain what they are after they do seem to be searching for something and, there a few reports that they have been seen abducting people."
A voice cut in from the T.V. studio. "is it known if these drones have anything to do with the strange ship that seen dropping canisters around the world yesterday?"
"There have been no confirmed connections between the Brainiac drones and the canisters that were dropped although the timing of the two incidents is suspiciously close. We have been trying to get any information on yesterday's incident but all we are getting are the odd rumours that some people who have been in contact with one of the canisters have started to develop meta-human abilities. The rumours say people have developed anything from psychic abilities to physical transformations."
The picture on the T.V. suddenly turned back to the news station.
"We are sorry to interrupt your report, but we have just been handed a statement from the Justice league of America 'The Justice League have recently cone into information that suggests that Brainiac is planning an al out invasion of earth. The current drone activity appears to be an information gathering expedition and we are doing all that we can to disrupt it. A meeting has been called between the top three League members; Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman and three other prominent members of the local society; Lex Luthor, The Joker and Circe.'
The League are also advising anyone who has been in contact with any of the cylinders that were dropped yesterday to report to their nearest S.T.A.R. Lab's or Lex Corp. Centres where they will be checked over. What exactly they will be checked for has not yet been made clear but, if the League are in talks with the likes of Joker and Circe you can bet your life it's quite serious."
Katheryn tuned out the rest of the news report 'just great' she thought 'other people are getting powers and all I get is more hair. Her back spasmed again, the pain knocked her off the sofa but this time it didn't stop, and she screamed as things moved under her skin, pushing themselves through. Another spasm hit her, and Katheryn lost conciseness.
The blackness began to fade as Katheryn began to regain conciseness, the T.V. was still happily chattering to itself and the clacking of the Braniaic drone outside rang through the sill air. Katheryn began to pick herself up, the pain was gone but something still wasn't right. She stood up and stretched, her clothes pulled tight against her and, as she relaxed she found her skirt didn't fall right. Katheryn tried adjusting her short skirt figuring that it had twisted when she had slept but it made no difference. Something moved, she only caught a glimpse of it but something definitely moved. Looking around she caught another glimpse of it, something floating about waist high off to her left. Spinning around Katheryn tried to surprise whatever was there, but it seemed to move, waving in the air and turning with her. She spun again and again until she stumbled with dizziness, as she fell forward the thing disappeared behind her and her balance righted itself. The thing reappeared, and this time Katheryn quickly grabbed at it. It felt like a furry snake and Katheryn squeezed to make sure it' couldn't hurt her, she felt pain and her first thought was that she had been bitten. It dawned on her that the pain wasn't in her hand, she couldn't quite place what part of her body the pain was in. She pulled at the snake, trying to bring it around so she could get a better look but there was a strange resistance and something seemed to be tugging at her back, at the base of her spine. Holding the snake in place Katheryn slowly turned around, the tugging in her back got slightly tighter but now she could see what she was holding. It was a long, soft, orange and black furred length of well, Katheryn didn't quit know what it was but the orange fur with black stripes, that was the same as she had sprouted. A thought crossed her mind and she ran her hand along the thing, it's fur went the wrong way and felt uncomfortable and then her hand came to her back, just above her bottom and the source of the strange tugging sensation. The thing was attached to her, it was a tail, she had a tail. Letting go she laughed and flushed with embarrassment, she had been chasing her own tail just like a dog. As she laughed she felt her blouse tighten across her chest, something moved across her back and she realised that there were still some surprises in line for her. Unbuttoning the blouse Katheryn discarded it on the sofa and stretched her shoulders, something else moved pushing her bra strap down and she glanced behind her to see a pair of wings unfurled. Katheryn sighed, surrendering to situation, whatever was in the canister had transformed her into some kind of winged, tiger woman and, to make matters worse it hadn't affected her mass of red 'floofy' hair, there was only one thing left for her to do now, the news report had said that any one affected by the canisters should report to either S.T.A.R. Labs or Lex Corp. So, she went to see if she could find any clothes that would be more comfortable around her new body parts.