Chapter 3: Settling In.
As she entered her room, Dragonis noticed the changes. The walls were anodized a soothing light forest green, there was a desk against the back wall, a dresser on the wall to the left of that, some floor-to-ceiling shelves filling the wall opposite the dresser, and an oblong metal basket-like structure in the back corner opposite the desk. She smiled. So the general had been listening when she said she preferred a nest over a bed. She curled up in the soft, comfy, fire-resistant material her nest was lined with and fell asleep.
The next morning, Dragonis woke early. She wasn't quite sure what time it was as she looked around her dark and peacefully quiet room. Then she noticed the clock on her dresser.
"5:45am. Hmm. Typical," she muttered crawling out of her warm nest.
Dragonis stretched and yawned like a cat. She popped her spine from the base of her skull to the tip of her tail, arching her back and sighing in pleasure. She also cracked her wing joints and rolled her shoulders. She then headed out to the dark, quiet common room and grabbed her mug from the table. She walked over to the bathroom she shared with Susan and filled her mug from the sink, moving as quietly as possible to avoid waking the others.
Monger was up and happened to glance at the monitor viewing the monsters' common room. "Hmm. Seems Dragonis is an early riser. Or it could just be she's gettin' used to the changes in her life. We'll see," the general muttered to himself.
Susan woke up to the sound of an explosion. She sighed. "Doc's up early again. If he even slept at all. Oh, well. No use trying to go back to sleep," the white haired giantess muttered, crawling out of her nice warm bed.
As she entered the still dark common room, hair tussled and sleep-sand still in her eyes, Susan heard Dragonis say, "You alright, Doctor? That explosion sounded bad."
Dr. Cockroach's somewhat muffled voice soon answered. "Perfectly alright, my dear. Just a slight miscalculation on the amount of gel-igniter. Not to worry."
"The Doc typically blows something up multiple times a day. The rest of us pretty much ignore it, unless he blows something important up," Susan said with a yawn, rubbing her eyes.
"Morning, Susan. I take it the explosion woke you?" Dragonis asked.
"Yeah. I would have been woken up in half an hour anyway. Breakfast is at 07:00 hours on the dot, and Monger seldom lets us sleep in. Not that I'm complaining," Susan replied, yawning again.
"Okay. I've always been an early riser, so I woke up about fifteen minutes ago," Dragonis stated, stretching.
"Good for you. I'm gonna go do something about this hair and take a cold shower. Best way to finish waking up." Susan moved towards the bathroom to start her morning routine.
Soon, the monsters were all gathered around the table, with the exception of Insectosaurus, since she was so big she seldom left her habitat. At 07:00 precisely, they were served their respective meals. Dragonis looked around from one face to the next, a happy, contented smile on her face. She could get used to this place. Here, life seemed pretty good.
In all honesty, Dragonis and the other monsters' needs were simple and few. They knew that this was their home, freedom or no freedom. Here, they were cared for and they were safe. Even Susan had, some time ago, come to realize that she was really just content to have a warm place to sleep and regular meals. She knew there was no way she could care for herself anymore due to her size and was content to rely on Monger for her needs, for though gruff, the old general had earned the monsters' trust.
Monger watched as his monsters went through their morning routine. He knew that even though he was no longer their prison warden, he was responsible for their well-being. In a way, he saw them to be like his kids. He knew they were really harmless creatures, who just wanted to live and let live.
"General Monger, sir! Are you sure those monsters won't attack? They're pretty fearsome," a new young cadet asked.
Monger sighed. "Son, I've been caring for these monsters for a long time. They're harmless. Take a good look at them and what do you see?"
"Um… I see fangs, claws, huge size, mad science, scales…"
Monger cut the cadet off. "No, no, no! I mean look past all that surface stuff to the stuff underneath. What would you say their general mood is right now? Just take a guess."
"Um… I'd say they look… happy," the young man replied.
"And do you know why they're happy?" Monger asked, looking directly at the cadet.
The cadet gulped, afraid of getting the answer wrong, but taking a stab at it anyway. "Um… I guess it's 'cause they just ate?"
"Not really. They're happy, because they feel safe, loved, and cared for here. We do feed 'em, water 'em, house 'em, and clothe 'em where applicable, but also, and more importantly, me and several of the base personnel have become rather friendly with them. We talk with 'em, play cards, and do other things with 'em. It helps 'em feel like part of the family, and they are. Each and every one of 'em'd lay down their life for any of us if they had to," Monger affirmed.
The cadet stared at the general with wide eyes, unable to really bring himself to fully believe his words. Monger shook his head as he dismissed the cadet. Rookies. They always took some breaking in before they could really trust the monsters.
Meanwhile, the monsters were all gathered around their new friend. Dragonis recounted her life story for them; how she was born a mutant freak, abandoned at the age of six, her struggle to survive in a world that feared and hated her for what she could do, and finally, meeting Monger.
"I was still in shock from being hit by that meteor and growing to fifty-two-and-a-half feet, so when this swarm of special forces swooped in and pointed guns at me, I just stayed quiet and made myself as small as possible. Then this general came flying in on a jetpack and ordered the men to stand down, seeing as I was clearly frightened. He then offered me a home, where I would be fully cared for. I knew enough to know I had no way of caring for myself now, so I did the only sensible thing and accepted. I think I shocked a few of the soldiers by my submissiveness." Dragonis smiled, leaning back on the giant-size couch.
"Yeah. People always seem so shocked to find out how passive we really are. It's like they think just because we have the power to cause destruction, we inherently want to cause destruction," Susan mused.
Dragonis shrugged. "People inherently fear what they don't understand and cannot control. So, what do you all do for fun around here?"
Susan tucked her legs under her. "Well, you've already been to the gym/battle room, so… there's the library, we've got every channel world wide on the TV, we've got near-unlimited internet access, and we can go topside whenever we want. There's lots of open desert we can run and play around on. You know, really let loose and have some good old-fashioned heart-pounding, adrenaline-pumping, sweat making fun. There's also a huge lake in the oasis we can go swimming in to cool off or just have fun."
"Hmm, topside sounds awful tempting. I could use a good flight and maybe a swim." Dragonis stroked her chin thoughtfully.
"Well, I'm gonna watch the football game," Link said, flipping on the TV.
"Yeah! Go Tigers!" Bob yelled, sliding next to Link.
"Uh, Bob, that's baseball. You're thinking of the Detroit Lions and they don't play today," said Link.
"Oh. Well… go whoever you are!"
Dragonis chuckled. "So, how about you, Doc? Wanna go topside with me?"
"I'm afraid not, my dear. I have some rather delicate experiments I want to get on with. You go ahead and have fun." Doctor Cockroach scurried up to his lab and started fiddling with test tubes and beakers.
"Come on, Dragonis. I'll go with you. I'd like to get out and stretch my legs anyway," Susan smiled, leading the way to the hatch.
Dragonis stepped out onto the desert sands and tilted her head back, closing her eyes, just soaking up the sunshine. A deep rumbling sound resonated in her chest, a sign of pleasure and happiness. She loved this heat and blazing sunlight. It calmed her and made her feel cozy and comfortable. However, she wasn't just out here to enjoy the sunshine and desert heat, she was out here to stretch her wings. Opening her eyes, Dragonis slowly spread her wings.
Susan gasped in surprise and wonder. Dragonis's wings were huge! Her wingspan was twice as long as she was tall, the massive membranes stretched out between long, almost finger-like flight bones. However, unlike a bat's, Dragonis' wings were jointed in a manner like the mythical dragons and gargoyles. This enabled her to fold her wings down her back, rather than having to wrap them around her body, though she could still do that if she wanted.
Susan watched in amazement as Dragonis, with a powerful leap, launched herself sixty feet in the air. Bringing her massive wings down in a powerful stroke, she propelled herself even higher. Several powerful flaps helped her gain altitude, then she leveled off and just soared through the air on her magnificent wine-colored wings. Watching her fly was like watching a track runner run or a dancer dance. It was clear Dragonis loved flying and it was as natural to her as breathing. She swooped and dived and rolled and pulled all sorts of aerial tricks, moving through the sky in a sort of aerial dance. Susan was surprised when she suddenly swooped down and landed in front of her.
"Wanna ride?" the dragon-woman asked with an ear to ear smile.
Susan blinked. "Are you sure I'm not… not too heavy? I weigh twelve tons you know."
"Pshaw! That's nothin'! I can carry ten times that in-fight, easy. Come on!" Dragonis wrapped her arms around Susan from behind and took off.
Susan gasped. The view was incredible! She could see everything from up here. Area 52 spread out in a neat two mile square, with the containment facility on the south side. The desert stretched for miles upon miles in all directions, sealing the base from the outside world. Susan then noticed the feeling of flying. The rush of wind past her face, the adrenaline rush… it was amazing!
"Wanna try some tricks?" Susan could feel Dragonis smiling in those words.
"Sure!" the excited giantess exclaimed.
"Alright! Hold on!" Dragonis tightened her grip ever so slightly, then climbed rapidly.
At the peak of her climb, she tilted downwards and folded her wings, letting gravity pull them back towards the earth. At the last second, she snapped her huge wings open and swooped back up into the sky. She did several twists and turns, pulled a loop-de-loop, and barrel rolled. Susan was amazed by the sensation of flying and her friend's skill. When they landed, she was a little breathless from the exhilaration.
"That was… amazing! How can you stand to land when you clearly enjoy flying so much?" Susan asked.
Dragonis smiled and laughed. "I have to sleep sometime."
Susan blushed a bit in embarrassment. Dragonis smiled and patted her on the back. "So, where's this swimming hole you told me about?"
Susan at once smiled. "Right this way."
She led the way to a desert oasis a little to the west of the base. Dragonis' jaw dropped. On every side, there were mile-high mountains that kept everything green and considerably cooler. In the center of this valley, was a huge lake. A mile in diameter and a hundred feet deep, it was a perfect swimming hole for the giantesses. This particular oasis was an anomaly. Bearing the name, the 'Dragon's Jaw', as it's shape was rather similar to the lower jaw of a dragon when viewed from above, its exact origin was a mystery. However, it was also one reason Area 52 was built where it was. The lake in the Dragon's Jaw was fed by another huge underground lake about halfway between it and the base. It was this underground reservoir that kept the base supplied with fresh water and made life right smack in the middle of the desert possible.
When they reached the lakeshore, Susan surprised Dragonis by stripping to her bra and panties. Susan caught the surprised look. "What? You don't expect me to swim in my uniform do you?"
Dragonis blinked. "Uh, no. You just surprised me is all. I, on the other hand, have yet to receive a set of undergarments, so I'll just swim like this," she replied, gesturing to her black tank top and shorts.
The water was clear and cool and felt good after the heat of the desert air. If Susan thought Dragonis had been good in the air, she soon revealed she was just as good in the water. The dragon-lady dived deep, twisting and turning through the water like an eel. Her powerful tail helped her maneuver through the water and she could hold her breath for a very long time. Susan followed her, since she too, could hold her breath much longer than she could before her transformation into a giantess.
The two giantesses played for a while, chasing each other around the lake, splashing each other occasionally, and just having fun. After about an hour or so, they waded out of the lake and lay on a nice flat rock in the sun, drying off, enjoying the nice day and the azure sky above. The warm sun and the dry desert air soon dried them and they headed back to the base.
When they arrived, General Monger was in the common room looking displeased. "It's about time you two ladies decided to show up! We've got alien ships inbound to Earth's atmosphere."
"Are they hostile?" Susan asked.
"Unknown. And I hate unknowns. However, it seems they're headed for Asia, so it's out of our jurisdiction. Still, the President has put us on stand-by in case the Chinese or Russians, we still don't know which one the aliens are headed to, call for our assistance. Personally, I'd go up there and wreck the ships, but it's not up to me," Monger frowned.
Just then Dragonis looked at the screen. "Oh, great. Those guys are back?" she moaned.
"What? You know these aliens, Dragonis?" Monger demanded.
"Yeah. Let's just say they're not too bright and are what could be considered indiscriminate eaters," Dragonis crossed her arms, growling in obvious disdain.
"So… they're here to…" Susan gulped. "Eat us?"
"Pretty much. General, I suggest you get China on the phone. Judging by their flightpath, that's where they'll be headed first," Dragonis turned to the general.
Monger balked. "First? You mean they won't just snatch a bunch of Chinese and leave?"
Dragonis shook her head. "Nope. They like a variety."
Within two hours, Monster Force One was headed for China. When the Chinese President learned of the aliens' intentions, he at once demanded that Monster Force be dispatched to handle the threat. They landed a few moments after the aliens did. Dragonis at once took the lead on this one, having apparently dealt with these aliens before.
"Ah! Frectar Lecbun. How nice of you to show up again," she sneered, stalking towards the alien leader.
The alien leader, who was an eight foot tall, four armed, fang faced, dark-blue skinned, bipedal creature, looked shocked. "Dragonis! Wh-what are you doing here? And, uh, how did you get so big?!"
Dragonis grinned, revealing her own fearsome fangs to good effect. "I'm here to put a stop to your dinner plans. You see, I really don't appreciate it when someone kidnaps me and tries to cook me. I get positively livid when said someone comes back for seconds on my planet."
Frectar yelped and jumped back when Dragonis snapped at him, baring her fangs and growling. "I-I can assure you that we have no intentions of cooking anyone! Here! Th-this book proves it! It's called, How To Serve Man. It will help the peoples of Earth better themselves!"
"Oh! You mean that cookbook you're holding? Seriously? Who here hasn't seen The Twilight Zone?" Dragonis asked.
A few people raised their hands, but most looked horrified. Dragonis rolled her eyes. "Seriously, Frectar, you really are not too bright. I mean, every other alien race knows that you never copy something from planetary entertainment. They expect that."
"Well… what if I changed the title to, How To Serve Man And Woman?" Frectar asked.
Dragonis face-palmed. "Ok, enough with the smalltalk. Unless you want to be slow-roasted alive for two-point-seven Earth hours, I suggest you leave. Now."
Frectar gulped and started backing away. Dragonis casually blew a puff of fire at him, causing him to leap ten feet in the air shrieking, then bolt back into the ship. The alien craft soon took off and disappeared. Dragonis chuckled. "We won't be seeing them again. Let's go home."
She was stopped dead in her tracks by a swarm of people rushing up to her to thank her in Chinese and broken English. Seeing Dragonis' look of confusion, Susan stepped up to her side, carefully. "Welcome to being a hero. Seriously, this happens all the time. You get used to it," she smiled.
"Yeah? Well, I just want to go home," Dragonis replied, trying to figure out how to get back to MF1 without crushing anybody.
However, a government official soon walked up to the monsters and declared, "The President has decreed a grand feast in your honor. If you will follow me, I will take you to the place."
Dragonis looked at Susan. "I suppose this happens all the time too?"
Susan grinned and nodded. Dragonis shrugged and carefully followed the official.