1. A Little Monster

It was deep night over Juniper City. All townspeople were still in turmoil. There were rumors everywhere that the chameleon had left the world. Some people cheered, visibly happy to have been freed from the tyrant, who had been a thorn in everyone's side with her unlimited arrogance and sadistic quirks. Many people were in a celebratory mood and no one thought of anything bad anymore. So it came as no surprise that no one noticed the small figure sneaking through the dark alleys. She quickly took cover at every passer-by who crossed her path. Then she started running again. She kept running until she reached the city limits. There she climbed up a hill that led into a forest. She quickly forced her way through the dense undergrowth. Her horns partially caught in the branches. She scurried out of the undergrowth in a clearing. The moon shone brightly down on the chameleon's small body, casting a long shadow over the meadow. Still a little out of breath, she gasped for air. Then she sank to the ground and felt the grass under her hands. After a while, she raised her head and looked around. She was on a small hill. From here, she could catch a glimpse of the nighttime of Juniper City, in whose palace she had once lived. From the distance, she could still see the partially destroyed roof. The chameleon stood up and stared at the former battle place. Then she breathed a sigh of relief.

She had done it! Her plan had worked when she had realized at the crucial moment that she had no chance against the greatest hero in the world. Shortly after the panda gave her the big blow and she lost all of her kung fu powers, which she had previously stolen from the other masters, she had to admit defeat and, in her time of need, she had produced a duplicate of herself to sneak away without anyone had noticed her. For the first time in her life, she was grateful that she wasn't big. She had seen how Tai Lung had taken her "living" body copy with him. "Do something, Zhen!" was all what her duplicate could say. Only Zhen had coldly rejected her.

At this memory, she felt a surge of anger again. This bitch! And she was also angry with herself. How could this happen? Everything had been perfect. Everything was going great until that bitch and that fat guy ruined everything.

She let out a derogatory snort. Well, at least, she managed to escape.

She lifted her chin in satisfaction. She was and remained the "Master of Deception". And yet, she had exerted a lot of strength to create a perfect reproduction of her body. She had never spent so much power before. No wonder that she felt so exhausted.

She narrowed her eyes and glared down at the city. She would come back, she was sure of it. As soon as she had enough power again.

A satisfied smile played around her mouth. "I am and will remain invincible." She let out a spiteful laugh. "Let them just think that they're rid of me." She looked up at the sky. It wouldn't be long before her duplicate would dissolve. She rubbed her hands in pleasant anticipation. "I will think themselves safe until I can ambush them at the first opportunity." She closed her eyes and slowly clenched her hands into fists. "My destiny will return to me." She took a deep, determined breath. "And then I will rule the whole world!"

But first, she had to go into hiding.

She looked around. No one was around, not even a house. She thought for a moment. The best thing would be to fly away from here, then she would have a good head start. She took position, spread her arms and was ready to transform into a bird. She closed her eyes and concentrated.

But then…

"What the…?"

She tried again. This time with more concentration. But to her surprise... nothing happened. She stared at her reptilian hands, which still hadn't formed into wings.

"What… what…" She stared into space, stunned. "What happened to me?"

She tried to transform into something else. But no matter what she imagined, her body remained a chameleon.

After countless attempts, she gave up. Frustrated, she sat down on a stone and pondered. Why couldn't she transform anymore? Then she jerked her head up. Her duplicate! "It must have happened when I duplicated my body," she murmured. She couldn't explain it any other way. Although she had to admit that she had never tried anything like that before, she only read about it. Had she used up all of her shapeshifting ability in this process?

She jumped up. "Damn, this has to be reversible! Or I can start from scratch!"

She slumped her shoulders in defeat. First this defeat, now something like this. How should she deal with this? She didn't know a life without her shapeshifting anymore.

Sighing, she walked through the dark forest. Staying in one place all the time and sinking into self-pity didn't do her any good either. Nobody should discover her. While she was racking her brains over the mishap, she paid no attention to where she was stepping. Not even the rope that her foot touched in the grass and triggered a net trap. In the next moment, she was pulled up and hung in the net almost two meters above the ground.

"Damn it!" she cursed.

How bad could it get today?

Luckily, the mesh was just wide enough for her to squeeze through with her slim, nimble body. As soon as she was outside, she flopped down on the grass. She was about to continue on her way when suddenly several figures jumped out of the thicket towards her.

The chameleon opened her eyes in shock.

The Haosha Clan!

"Stay the way you are!" she ordered.

Amazingly, the figures actually stopped dead in their tracks when they realized who had previously fallen into their trap. There was silence for a moment. The chameleon directed her eyes in all directions. The gang consisted of two red dogs, three wolves and a big Asian black bear who carried a spike mace weapon in one paw and in the other, he held a leash with a civet cat that hissed aggressively at her. But she knew one person was still missing.

In the next moment, a tall, slender figure jumped out of the bush.

The chameleon backed away. "Taonga."

Taonga was a serval cat. The big cat with large ears and leopard-like fur narrowed his eyes suspiciously and stared down at the chameleon.

"It's... the... chameleon," the Asian black bear stuttered, his spiked mace weapon shaking in his paw.

"What are you doing here?" Taonga asked with a threatening undertone.

The chameleon was about to run away, but then she shook her head. She was allowed to show no insecurity. She had to exude self-confidence as much as possible.

As long as they don't know that my shapeshifting isn't working at the moment, nothing can happen to me, she thought.

She lifted the corners of her mouth into a malicious grin and lifted her chin defiantly. "Gentlemen," she began in a mocking voice. "Long time no see. But you won't be so foolish as to fight me." She turned to the leader Taonga. "Will you?" She raised her arms threateningly. The bystanders ducked their heads. "Or do you want to end up like you did many years ago?"

Taonga took a step back, but he kept his angry look on his face. Everyone could see he wanted to pounce on her and tear her apart.

The chameleon turned away. "I thought so. - I see that each of you is still present." Her gaze wandered over the rest of the gang. "You haven't changed, you're still just as run-down as you were back then." She made a dismissive gesture with her hand. "But I'm in a too good mood instead to teach you a lesson for your rowdy behavior today. - Farewell."

She turned to leave, but one of them, the civet cat, which was still on the black bear's leash, didn't think about simply to chicken out like the others. Since the black bear was still paralyzed with fright, he broke free and jumped at the chameleon.

"Bizi, you idiot!" Taonga shouted at him.

The chameleon was able to save herself just in time by jumping to the side. When she realized that the disturbed civet cat was still after her, she quickly jumped up on the nearest tree.

Luckily, the black bear finally got a hold of the leash again and was able to prevent the civet cat Bizi from following her upwards.

The chameleon looked down at them angrily. "You miserable fools!" But in the next second, she remembered that she couldn't transform, which is why she quickly put on a composed expression again. "Well, I don't want to be awkward. I'll let you run today."

She jumped down from the tree and wanted to hurry away.

"Wait a minute!" Taonga's voice petrified her. "I know you well enough. You never keep your temper otherwise."

The chameleon stood still there frozen in shock.

"Or can't you transform anymore?"

The chameleon turned to him with an angry look. "I can still do it!" She raised her arms threateningly. "Don't make me destroy you!"

They stared at each other with anger.

"Then prove it," was Taonga's demand, which greatly frightened the chameleon. She did everything she could to transform herself into something scary, preferably an elephant. She tensed her muscles, but as much as she wanted to...

Taonga raised his eyebrows. "Well, what is it?"

Now the chameleon had inadvertently lost her courage, but she still tried to excuse herself. "That's... I don't feel like it today." She turned to leave again. In the next moment, she heard something rushing behind her. Quickly, she dodged the thrown spiked mace. The round heavy weapon landed on the damp grass with a huge clatter. The chameleon stared at it, heart pounding. "Are you crazy?!" she scolded in a shaky voice.

"What do you say," Taonga murmured, now much more confident. The other gang members no longer seemed so reserved. On the contrary. They even came closer now.

The chameleon tilted her body into a fighting pose. "Don't come any closer to me!"

But this time none of them let buffalo, and the chameleon realized that she had lost. She quickly turned around and ran away. But she had barely taken a few steps before the others surrounded her and cut off her escape route.

"Where do you want to go?" she heard Taonga behind her. "Since you're here, we could continue the whole thing from back then - but on a more neutral level."

For a moment, the chameleon was unable to move. But then she threw herself on the ground and quickly crawled through the gang members and fled through the thicket.

"Let go of Bizi!" she heard Taonga shout.

She quickened her pace. But she didn't get far. In the next moment, she felt sharp teeth on the end of her tail, holding her in place. She screamed. She turned around in a flash and kicked the civet cat in the face. The kick threw the cat backwards, but then the chameleon was surrounded by the clan again.

Her eyes went to Taonga, who grinned victoriously at her. But she didn't want to give in so easily. She darted her tongue out at him. Taonga reacted quickly. The tongue wrapped around his wrist, but then he grabbed the tongue and held on to a tree with his other clawed hand. And no matter how hard the chameleon pulled, she couldn't knock him down or move him. He was also heavier than her.

Taonga grinned. "Is that all you've got?" With a powerful tug, he pulled her tongue. The chameleon lost contact with the ground and was jerked forward. As she flew, she could only watch as Taonga greeted her with violent fists and kicks. The others thought he wanted to break every bone in her body. Then he flung her to the ground and threw himself on top of her. The chameleon screamed as he brutally smashed his elbow into her ribs. She lay on the ground, panting and convulsing, while Taonga loomed over her menacingly. "So many years and haven't learned anything, or do you want to impress me with your soft kung fu?"

At these words, Chameleon's eyes glowed with anger. She stood up and this time attacked him with her tail. But Taonga had been prepared. However, this time he pulled out a knife and stabbed her. In pain, the chameleon let go of him and backed away. The wound immediately began to bleed. Quickly, she covered the cut with her hands.

"You bastard!" she shouted at him.

Taonga twirled the knife in his paw, unfazed. "In my battles, everything is allowed." He walked towards her. The chameleon backed away. "Have you lost your desire now? Are you surrendering voluntarily?"

The chameleon's eyes narrowed. "Never!" She jumped at him, determined to incapacitate him with all possible blows to the face. But Taonga made a huge jump and the chameleon missed his target. She flew uncontrollably into the arms of the other gang members. All paws immediately held her tight. Someone held her hands together behind her back.

"How dare you?!" she scolded.

"On your knees with you."

One of the wolves holding her, kicked her legs away, causing her to buckle and fall to her knees.

"Let me go!" she hissed through gritted teeth. "I can still do it." She tried to concentrate again, but no matter what she did, her body remained the same.

"It doesn't look like it," Taonga said mockingly.

The chameleon heard the others approaching. Now she was completely surrounded by the gang. She hadn't felt so powerless in forever. Up until now she had been able to tower over and frighten anyone, but here she was as helpless as a small child, completely unable to defend herself.

"Seems the boot is on the other foot," Taonga commented on the situation.

Once again, the chameleon tried to break free. Someone had started tightening ropes around her wrists. That made it clear to her that they wouldn't just let her go anymore.

"Let me go! Or I will…!"

"Cover her mouth," Taonga instructed one of the wolves. "I couldn't stand her babbling mouth even back then."

In the next second, the chameleon felt a paw over her mouth and almost suffocate her because it was also covering her nostrils. Then she was picked up by the wolf after the other one had tied her hands behind her back. In vain, she tried to free herself. Finally, she saw only one option. She lifted her legs, clasped the paw, and pulled it down. This didn't completely free her face, but enough so that she could bite on the paw finger at full power. The wolf yelped and dropped her. With her hands tied behind her back, she immediately ran, but not fast enough. Suddenly, she felt somebody grabbed her dress. Someone picked her up and she looked into the black look of Taonga.

"That will be the last mistake you will make." He raised his fist. The force of his blow threw her full force against a tree. The chameleon gasped as her spine hit so brutally. Her small body sank to the ground in the soft grass. She lay there in a daze.

"I've always wanted to do that," she heard a voice fade away in her head. Then everything around her went black.

The first thing she felt was coldness. She trembled in pain as the headache pounded at her. She was still too deep in her unconsciousness and automatically felt the ground. It was hard and smooth. A brief stabbing pain in her head made her gasp for air. Only when the pain had subsided, she dared to move again and opened her eyes for the first time. Everything around her was in semi-darkness. She was in an old room with wooden walls. There was only a lantern burning in a corner.

She felt the coldness again, particularly concentrated on her wrists.

"What…?"

Finally, she managed to keep her eyes open. Although everything was still ringing in her head. In horror, she stared at her hands, which were in chains.

She lifted her upper body.

"Well," a mocking voice said above her. "Has the little monster woken up?"

Startled, she looked up and saw Taonga's mocking grin. Now the rest of the gang came out of the darkness.

She staggered to her feet. The chains on her hands made a clanging, eerie rattling that echoed throughout the room. To her horror, she noticed that there was even a chain attached to her tail.

"What does that mean?!" she spat angrily to Taonga, who was standing in front of her with his arms crossed.

"How do you like your new robe, your highness?" he replied.

She looked down at herself. She was only wearing an old, thin, long shirt and her headdress was also gone.

The leader laughed spitefully. "It's appropriate for a little monster like you."

The chameleon looked at him angrily. "Don't call me 'little'!"

"Oh, and what are you going to do about it?"

He snapped his fingers. The others grabbed the chains. The chameleon was stretched apart by her arms and lifted so that she hung several centimeters above the ground.

Taonga walked to a closed shutter. "You can admire the view of your new home from this height." He opened a window.

The chameleon's eyes widened in horror. Snow-capped mountains appeared outside. This wasn't Juniper City anymore.

"It's pointless to run away," Taonga commented unmoved. "We're many miles away from Juniper City and if you want to get out..." He scooped a handful of snow into his paw from the windowsill and formed it into a snowball. "…it could be the death of you."

He reached out and threw the snowball right into the chameleon's face.

Trembling with anger, she spat the snow out of her mouth.

"Reptiles can't tolerate cold for long. Especially not a little toad like you. You live in the perfect prison."

"What do you want from me?!" she snapped at him.

"Not only lost the face change, but also your brain, huh? You know exactly why I broke into your fancy home back then - to get you to tell me what I want to hear."

The chameleon's back stiffened. "I won't say anything, you won't get anything out of me."

Taonga laughed. "How long have we been playing this cat-and-mouse game? Or rather, cat-and-lizard game? I'll make you talk."

The chameleon narrowed her eyes. "Then you have to kill me."

At first, there was silence, then Taonga raised the corners of his mouth in a nasty grin. "Now listen to this. But she was such a mean brat even as a little child."

The chameleon looked at him angrily. "How long... How long are you going to pursue me?!" She lifted her chin rebelliously. "What I have in mind is much bigger than the small piece of land you are interested in."

Taonga scratched his head, unimpressed. "Probably true. Otherwise you would have returned to your homeland long time ago – our homeland. Back then you could escape from me. You've surprised me with your clown art over the years - but that's probably gone now. Now we start again where we left off many, many years ago."

He reached to his belt and pulled out a whip. The chameleon tensed her muscles and she sensed that he was up to begin his torture. And he didn't wait long. He waved the whip briefly in the air as a test, then struck. The blow hit the chameleon hard in the leg. She flinched, but the next one followed shortly afterwards and hit her hard on the cheek. She felt the blood from the fresh wound. At least, Taonga paused his flogging for a moment. He walked towards her with loud steps. The chameleon stared at him, intimidated but angry. She didn't take her eyes off him. Not even when he wiped the bleeding welt on her cheek and then he rubbed the blood between his fingertips.

Taonga grinned. "Who would have ever thought that a demon like you could bleed." He wiped the blood on her shirt, turned away and pointed to a wall. "Chain her over there."

The chameleon struggled in the chains as the others carried her to the wall. "GET ME DOWN, YOU DIRTY BASTARDS!" she screamed in anger. But all her ranting and cursing was of no use to her at all. As soon as they had reached the wall, the chains were thrown over a beam so that her arms were pulled up and her feet barely touched the floor. She hung there helplessly, with the head showing to the wall. She heard the serval cat coming towards her from behind. Then she felt his paws in her collar. He tore the back of her shirt open and she knew what he was planning to do.

Taonga took a few steps back. The chameleon tried to keep him in view as best as possible with her moving pupils.

"You don't have to tell me right away what I want to hear from you," Taonga said calmly. "First of all, I'm going to give you some punishment for throwing us in jail back in Juniper City."

The chameleon hissed at him. "You deserved it! Especially you...!"

She let out a strangled cry as the first stroke of the whip hit her bare back.

"Count!" Taonga growled irritably.

The chameleon tensed her muscles again. "Go to hell!"

Another blow hit her back.

"If you don't count, you will get more beatings," Taonga threatened.

The chameleon sucked in a sharp breath. "You Basta…!"

This time, the serval cat didn't let her finish and struck again. "For every insult, you get five more."

The chameleon turned her head completely to the wall, a clear sign that she didn't care what he did to her. She wouldn't make a sound.

Taonga rolled up the whip. "All right." Then he unrolled it again and struck several times without interruption. The chameleon's small body kept twitching, but she gritted her teeth. She didn't want to complain. After x more lashes, she hung asleep in the chains.

Taonga also had enough for now. "Get her to her new quarters."

The other gang members removed the chains from the beam and dragged the limp chameleon across the floor to a large cage. There they attached the ends of the chains to the bars and then threw the chameleon into the barred prison. She remained lying there, somewhat dazed, until she slowly came to again. She carefully straightened her upper body. She could barely feel her back, but the cold blood which covered slightly her back. Her next attention went to the animals that had gathered in front of the cage.

Taonga leaned calmly against the bars. "You locked us up back then. Now it is your turn."

The chameleon stood up with a start and narrowed her eyes, inflamed with rage. "You're all a bunch of cowards!" she complained. "Don't you dare fight me?!"

Taonga tapped his forehead. "You really just seem to say nonsense when you're scared, don't you?"

"I'm not afraid of anything!" she screamed. "Neither of you nor of death! You're welcome to continue bullying me if you want!"

Taonga's mouth twisted mockingly. "As your Highness wishes."

In a flash, he grabbed the chains and pulled the chameleon towards him. The chameleon put her feet on the ground, but she couldn't stop Taonga from pulling her further towards the bars. In distress, she darted out her tongue to hit him in the face. But Taonga reacted again and grasped her tongue. At the same moment, he pulled out a knife and held it over her tongue. The chameleon's eyes widened in panic as she felt the blade on her soft skin.

"Do that again," Taonga threatened, "and I'll cut off your tongue. I don't necessarily need your voice. I can also force you to write it down on paper."

The chameleon was still frozen. Everything could be taken from her, but not her tongue! She reluctantly shook her head and waved her arms frantically.

At least, Taonga let go of her tongue, but in the same second, he pulled her chains and she slammed against the bars. At the same time, he wrapped the chain around her neck and began to choke her. The chameleon gasped for air as the chain tightened around her throat. She kicked her legs, trying unsuccessfully to loosen the chain around her neck.

Only shortly before she was about to faint, Taonga loosened the chain a little so that she could breathe a little again.

"Your back looks so worn out," he whispered to her.

The chameleon shivered as he stroked the fresh bleeding welts on her back.

"We should do something about that."

His paw briefly left her back until he stroked it again. Her eyes widened and her mouth opened to scream. But there was just a rattle in her throat, she couldn't get anything out of it. Her back burned like fire! Finally, he let her go. The chameleon fell forward onto the floor of the cage, but the agonizing, burning pain on her back didn't stop. Quickly, she touched her back. She looked at her hand in disbelief. Taonga had put pepper on her wounds! Tears automatically welled up from her eyes and dripped onto the dry wooden floor.

"Now look at her," one of the red dogs sneered, "she can cry."

The chameleon tried to wipe away the tears, but her eyes kept getting wet again. She stood there trembling on all fours, then she straightened up. Angrily, she stared at the group of animals. Especially she aimed all her hate at Taonga.

"YOU DIRTY DESERT RAT! ONE DAY I'LL KILL YOU!"

The other gang members let out a warning murmur. Taonga initially showed no reaction. Then he yanked her forward again by the chains and lifted her up. "You seem to be getting a little too hot. Looks like you need some cold therapy."

He opened the cage door and threw the chameleon on the floor. The chameleon rolled across the floor, but she managed to stand up. The pain on her back spurred her to resist. But as soon as she stood on her feet, the serval cat was there and hit her hard in the stomach. The chameleon couldn't breathe. She collapsed and lay on the floor, panting and convulsing. Taonga showed no pity, but beckoned two of the wolves over, who ruthlessly forced the chameleon onto her stomach and stretched out her arms. Taonga stepped over her and pressed his foot to her sore back. In the meantime, the chameleon could no longer play the strong role. Taonga's punch to the stomach made her feel sick and she could only hope that she didn't already have internal injuries. Anyway, she couldn't help it and let out a few sobs despite herself, still struggling to catch her breath.

Taonga briefly increased his pressure on her back, which made her whine briefly again. "Painful, isn't it?"

She trembled, constantly trying not to show pain. Still, she gasped again as Taonga tied her hands behind her back with a rope, but left the chains on her wrists. Then he let go of her. The others forced her back to her knees, although she had still convulsions.

"Well, you can't think of anything now, can you?" the serval cat mocked.

Trembling, she managed to raise her head and looked at him defiantly. "When I get out of here," she hissed through gritted teeth, "you'll regret it..."

Taonga grabbed her by the shirt and yanked her up. "A few days here and you won't even know what freedom is anymore. – Come with me."

With the chameleon in his grasp, he pushed open the door and marched down stairs. He dragged the loose chains on her hands along the floor behind him. Now the chameleon could see the environment outside the room at least. This wooden hut had almost two floors, probably a former hostel. The walls and floors were bare and there were almost no furnishings. She didn't have any more time to look around, in the next moment, Taonga opened the next door and she was immediately greeted by the cold. But before she could protest, he threw her into the snow.

It was like falling in the cold hands of death. From one second to the next, all of her muscle activity stopped. She twitched a few more times, then she lay motionless in the powdery, cold white.

Taonga let more than 10 seconds pass before he took the chains that were sticking out of the snow in his paws again and pulled the chameleon out like a fish on land.

Still slightly covered in ice crystals, she lay stock still with her eyes half-closed. Even her breathing was barely visible.

Taonga leaned over her. "Well, is your back better?" he asked sarcastically.

The chameleon could hear him, but was unable to move her lips to speak. Taonga, on the other hand, recklessly returned to the hut. He simply dragged the undercooled chameleon behind him. "We're not done with you yet."

The chameleon could do nothing, she could only lie and catch one last glimpse of the cloudy sun, before she disappeared into the darkness of the hut and was dragged over the stairs, back into the torture room and she suspected that this was only the beginning of her ordeal.

I hope the first chapter was okay so far, even if there is a torture scene here. And the chameleon's gold "horns", they looked more like a headdress to me, which is why they are missing at the end of the chapter. But correct me if I'm wrong.

Taonga's fighting style is actually not kung fu, but a mixture of other brutal martial arts such as Krav Maga, Muay Thai, Jeet Kune Do etc. Since I'm not a martial arts expert, I can't go into detail about this. In any case, his fighting aims are not only to incapacitate the opponent, but mainly to kill. In the first chapter he acts relatively harmlessly, but this could become brutal later. Servals can also jump very high, which gives him another advantage in battle. And by the way, Taonga is of course not a Chinese name, but comes from Africa.

"Hàoshā" 好杀[好殺] means something like "loving murder and manslaughter".