Becoming Monsters: Nine Lives Ch. 3

Becoming Monsters is the creation of AiLovesToGrow, setting used with permission

This idea comes from RetroLeopard.

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Chapter 3: Who is This?

Leo stood outside of the bathroom door, sounding concerned. "Come on, Amanda, I said I was sorry!"

"Not good enough!" Amanda, by contrast, sounded really, really angry.

"How was I supposed to know?"

"I'M A FREAKING CANINE, you furball-brained dunce!" This exclamation trailed off into sounds that weren't necessarily dangerous, but definitely gross. Something was exiting Amanda's body, though what and from where was hard to say.

Leo's native British accent was a bit thicker than usual. He was a bit worried, and a lot confused. "I didn't even know you could get enough chocolate from kissing me after I ate truffles! I didn't mean to hurt you."

"Ugh!" There were more sounds that could be transcribed, but probably shouldn't be. "The allergy isn't even the worst part. I haven't been able to taste the greatest thing on Earth in four years, and you have to go and remind me!"

Lola came walking around the corner, wearing a bathrobe and wearing it well, then flicked one large ear. "I hear things aren't going too well. Amanda, do you need healing?"

"Not you, too... no. We have a Delve tomorrow, remember? I'll get through this, but your mana bar could be life or death." The three of them were ahead on their progress, cash reserves, and reputation... but the only way to make sure they stayed that way was to keep going Underground whenever they could. Neither Leo nor Amanda had any good prospects coming for contracted runs and Pantheon didn't do any themselves so Lola wasn't able to get them one. The solution was obvious, they needed to do small-team operations. Tomorrow was the day. And that meant that a lot of today had been getting ready.

Proper rest was crucial. Three people was a small team, so all three needed to go in with all of their meters as close to 100% as they could. That was on top of making sure their equipment was properly maintained and set up, ammunition and one-time-use items stocked up, and their plan set. All of these were presently being interfered with by an unwise kiss and a food allergy, but Amanda would recover.

She got out, eventually, allowing Lola to get her shower. Nothing for her mood but to cuddle on the couch. Leo might technically be Lola's boyfriend, but the fact that Amanda had been Lola's long-time friend with benefits and the fact that neither of them wanted to stop meant that Leo had a very shiny permanent hall pass. Which Amanda took advantage of frequently, but for now meant that he was available for the cuddles. If he hadn't been saving his mana, this would be about when he'd use his Shifting abilities to become even more comfortable, but for now she'd have to settle for her girlfriend's boyfriend in his normal form as they put something brainless on the television to have a bit of background noise. Lola joined them before long, leaning on him from the other side.

It was comfortable there. They could just snuggle. In Leo's opinion, his position was the best one, sandwiched between the two. Alas, such things couldn't last forever. Lola's ear twitched again, and she sharply looked at the balcony door. "Guys! Cars engines approaching fast, sounds like four of them!"

The three of them were all very agile types, Leo supernaturally so. They got out to the balcony with a speed just shy of outright teleportation. They looked out at the road, and four cars were speedily approaching.

Lola's ears twitched again. "None of those engines are stock, I can hear them going nuts from here. Sounds like one of the cars is getting ready to burn out."

Leo squinted at them. "I don't recognize any of them, looks like a gray Delorean up front, something on a Porsche chassis right on its bumper, then a red Honda Civic that looks like it's struggling." They passed the apartments with a titanic engine roar, the doppler sound shift dramatic. "Black Escalade V in the back has plates, but they're either custom or fake. Wrong format for Washington. Whoever's in it is driving like they're just following, not trying to catch anything."

Amanda stared off at them. "That Escalade is the only one I don't know. Freaking Jeff... I don't know what he's doing there, but it's probably his that's about to kick the bucket." She sniffed the air, the breeze carrying the faintest whiffs of scent to them from the road. "Three burning nitrous, one's burning oil. Yep, that's Jeff. I'll have to talk to him... tomorrow. He should be at the race meet if his car doesn't blow up tonight."

Leo shook his head, more to get himself re-centered than anything. "Almost forgot about that. Alright. I'm hitting the gym in the morning, then the Delve, we come back and relax a while, then the meet."

Lola looked over and down at him. "Take it easy, okay? No going five rounds against that Red Panda again. You need to warm up, loosen out, and that's about it. No using mana, and no taking your stamina too far down. Got it?"

Leo put up his hands in a sign of surrender. "I'll take it easy, don't worry." He paused, then dropped his hands. "I guess that means we aren't having sex tonight, then."

"No, it means you need to do me before dinner so that I have time to recover. Now come on, let's get back inside."

The next morning, Leo was definitely the first to get up. Lola had, in fact, gotten tired out. She could sleep in, though, and decided it was worth doing. Leo never had been the greatest at that, even before the Change. After the Change? He could catnap with the best of them and go strong. That's why he left the house even before Amanda went off to her Gate House guard shift, and pulled up to the gym bright and early. Almost dark and early, to be honest, but most of the people around here liked to take care of their bodies first thing in the morning. Let them get it out of the way before doing what they wanted for the day. As a result, the place was fairly crowded.

Wanting to do light weights meant he didn't need to go to the special rack that could challenge him. The crowd meant that the regular racks, weights, and machines were full. Special rack it was. There wasn't nearly as much of a line in this area, but it wasn't nothing. There was a woman already there. Another feline like him, looked like a tall and powerful Lioness Beastkin, wearing a sports bra and athletic shorts. She was under the heavy bar with a load on it that would kill or require class abilities for an unenhanced Human to move, knocking out smooth repetitions at a precise pace that showed she could go much heavier. She saw him walking up and just as smoothly reracked the bar. "How much are you going for?"

"Keeping it light today. Mind taking it down to four hundred?"

The Lioness shrugged. "Seems like a waste of the bar, but then again you're here anyway." She looked at him a bit more closely as she took a couple of the larger weight plates off. "Do I know you from somewhere?"

Leo worked on the other side of the bar. "I don't believe so. Pretty sure I'd recognize you if I did." He shrugged, but given that he was getting under the bar as he did so it was hard to tell if it was part of that or expressing that he wasn't sure. Ten reps later, deliberately slow and steady, Leo reracked and helped the Lioness put her weights back on. To be honest, it didn't do much for him, but he knew he had to keep it like that.

"Hey, Leo! How're ya doing?" Dave the gym owner had managed to sneak up on him while he was distracted. The shock almost made him jump out of his fur, but it was momentary.

"Doing well. Busy morning, but I have to get my sets in. Even if I'm on light weights today."

"You, running light?" Dave looked at what the Lioness was adding and did some mental math. "Huh, no kidding. Haven't seen you push that little since the scorpion thing. You okay?"

"Yeah, I am." The Lioness finished up her set and helped Leo reset the bar for him, and he got back under the bar. "Just have a Delve later today. Lola's on me not to take any unnecessary risks, you know?"

"Hah, only she could manage that."

The Lioness's ear flicked in an oddly familiar way. She looked at Leo sharply as he did his ten. "Wait, you're THAT Leo?"

Leo paused, hands still on the bar but with it back on the rack. "I'm afraid I still do not recognize you."

"I'd be surprised if you did, but I know you, now. My name's Andrea, and Lola's my sister. I hear you are the type to intervene when a girl's got persistent creeps, so thank you."

"Oh!" Leo looked at her more closely. Andrea's coloration was pretty standard for her Beastkin type, but her build wasn't. She was tall, yes, but those muscles looked VERY functional. If she was thanking him for that, it was something she couldn't do herself. "I hope she said all good things, but yes. I couldn't let that stand."

"And that's why she's dating you. Yes, sisters talk. No, I'm not going to try to take a piece. You're not my type, but you're apparently hers. This is for rescuing her from the creeps." Andrea held out one powerful hand, and Leo took it to shake. Her grip was remarkably powerful, Leo had to focus to both be firm about returning it and to not Shift and crush her back.

Leo shook out his hand once she let go. "Just as direct as she is, too. I see the resemblance. Mind if I get another set in? Need to warm up my arms next, but legs are first."

"Go ahead." She watched as he took this set. "Alright, if this is warming up for use later, plus that handshake? You'll do."

Leo felt his gray fur try to rustle at that. "And what might that mean?"

"I mean I don't have to challenge you for my sister's honor and kick your balls up between your ears. You can do the defending."

"If you're her sister, you should probably know by now she doesn't need me to defend her. Still happy to, but it isn't a need." He turned his head a bit sideways. "It's odd, though. Been in her apartment every day for the last couple of weeks. Why don't I remember seeing a picture of you?"

Andrea snorted a laugh. "I stole her doll when we were pre-teens on vacation and accidentally dropped it off a cliff. She swore she'd never hang up a picture of me when she finally got a home of her own until I replaced it. I might get around to it eventually, but I suggest you don't hold your breath."

Leo gave a laugh of his own. "Used to have a couple of friends like that, back in Britain. Wonder whatever happened to them, they were still alive when I came here a bit after the Change." he got serious again. "You understand that I can't just take your word for it until I ask Lola, right?"

"I'd be disappointed if you did." She stretched out a bit more. "Bit of a pity you're not my type, you're cute."

Leo was perplexed. "Not your type? Color me curious. What's your type?"

From behind them, there was a sudden series of loud thumps. Turning to look, they saw Ruby the Red Panda standing over her latest fallen opponent. "Loser out, who's next?"

Andrea simply said "That."

"Can't even blame you. If that's all, though, I do need to finish up so that I can go on that Delve. With Lola."

"Have fun. Sounds like a romantic date." Andrea's smile was slightly more fanged and feral than her last few, but nothing followed.

True to his word, Leo did take things easy. Barely broke a sweat, even if it was at a weight that would have taken three people who weren't physical Strikers to put away. Quick trip home, quicker shower, change into Delving clothes and bring the gear out to the car, then off to the Dungeon Gate. As Andrea said, he had a date to get to. The field before the Gate was mostly clear, so when he came jogging up in full kit he could clearly see the handoff taking place at the guard house. A couple of Humans were talking to a much-more familiar pair of Beastkin, a rather attractive Ocelot and her English Setter friend, making sure everything was straight as they got ready to take their shift.

"Lola! Amanda! You two about ready?"

Lola's giant smile was worth everything. "You bet! Nobody had to be rescued from Steel Scorpions this time, so Amanda and I are in top form." This was accompanied by a sly tongue stuck out at Leo.

"Good to hear. Strap on your gear, I'm good to go and have the route plan." Leo saw Lola's ear flick as Amanda muttered something under her breath. He was too far away to hear clearly and lacked Lola's particular enhanced sense, but thought she said something about her own strap on not being used enough anymore. It should be said that Leo felt no guilt about this whatsoever. The three went into the Dungeon at a brisk walk.

It was cool and quiet inside, the area this close to the Gate rarely holding monsters. Lola adjusted her light steel breastplate as they walked. "So, what's the route, Leo?"

Leo reached into a pocket and pulled out a paper he'd taken some notes on. "There's an area of the Labyrinth about thirty minutes walk in that warped a bit recently. A bit of wall melted away between what looks like two hallways that used to be parallel. Camp isn't sure what's behind it yet, the place is usually boring so Delvers usually avoid it. The way I see it, we have a small window before real expeditions hit it to find anything interesting past that gap. We get there, take an hour or two to poke around if nothing goes wrong, then come back with what we can find."

Amanda nodded. "Makes sense. So, what, once we're there I'm scouting and add prevention, you're muscle, and Lola's making sure nothing that's trying to kill us succeeds?"

"I know how to shoot things, too. And I have some perfectly serviceable claws." Lola sounded slightly annoyed, but only slightly.

"All three of us also need to take notes about the area." Leo paused to look around as they approached a branching path, looked at his notes, and picked the path towards where he wanted to go. "We don't know if this is a new tunnel or if it's a known one that just connects elsewhere. The archivists can figure that out if we don't."

Amanda held up a hand to tell the others to stop. She sniffed the air twice. "Smells like four or five Gormor up the hall. One of them's different from the others."

Leo grinned. "You wanna do this your way or mine?"

"You go ahead, no idea if I'll need all of my charges later. I'll shoot them if they try to get behind you." Amanda loaded her crossbow.

"Sounds good. Let's go." The three moved forward much more quietly, weapons ready. As soon as the greenskins became visible, Leo dashed forward to take them by ambush. It took about a minute and a half to slay the six targets, but that was mostly since the sixth one was an Orc and came better armed and armored than the Goblins accompanying it. Amanda was tempted to try to shoot one, but figured it wasn't worth wasting a quarrel. Plus the spectacle of watching Leo dismember the enemy pack was not something that you could just see anywhere.

The rest of the trip to the target zone was uneventful... but Leo's intel was slightly flawed. What he'd called "a bit of a gap" was not quite two feet wide. All three of them could fit through the crack in that wall, but most Tanks and many frontline Strikers wouldn't be so fortunate. It also went unsaid that if any of them got injured past Lola's ability to patch them up, they might not be able to get back out. The hallway on the other side was about the same size as the one they just came from, the oddly ambient light the same as everywhere else in the Dungeon.

Lola muttered a brief incantation under her breath and laid a hand on the wall. "Alright. This spot will now attract all three of us for... it feels like two or three hours. Plenty. If you get lost, just find a quiet place and follow the tug."

"Thanks, Lola. Amanda, your turn. Smell anything?" Leo was looking around, but didn't find anything in easy view.

Amanda shook her head. "Nothing but us. Let's head that way," she pointed in the direction their shadows pointed. "It'll help us get back if we can go away from the shadows, and the other direction hooks."

Lola focused. "Something's moving, but it's a long way away. Doesn't sound very big."

In the end, their hour there wasn't entirely fruitless, but there were no incredible discoveries. A couple of packs of enemies, one of which found tripwire-activated firebombs from Amanda before they even got close. A couple of tiny bags of copper and silver coins, some reagents, and three sets of notes were what they put together. Not a ton, but enough to make the trip worthwhile. Especially when combined with the experience gain from those fights. The way back was uneventful, the spawns they'd cleared on the way in hadn't had enough time to come back. Leo was the one to say it. "Not the greatest, but we can probably go back there sometime if you two are up for it. Lots left to explore."

Lola shrugged. "I'm down. Just not tonight. There's a race meet up tonight and I know you two both want to go as badly as I do."

Amanda perked up, then looked at her watch. "Shoot! Forgot that's tonight, gotta run!" The fact that she was Armored did nothing at all to slow her down as she dashed off to her car.

Lola looked off in her wake. "Not like her to run off before we look at the loot." She thought for a second. "Leo, mind driving me back? We carpooled, but I think she forgot."

"My pleasure."

By the time they checked what they got and returned home, Amanda was already gone. Lola reported that she'd just dropped her gear on her bed. Or, at least, Lola reported it after she and Leo got through a couple of rounds of post-adventure sex and a shower of their own.

Several miles away and some time later, Amanda pulled up to what was normally an unremarkable stretch of field. The place wasn't particularly suitable for farming and too far from most civilization for development just yet, so when several people of the car club decided to pool resources to buy the bare lot they got it for dirt cheap. Since then, it served as a location for car shows and a staging ground for races, none of which took any more construction than occasional flattening and some spray paint on the ground. It was still early for the meetup, but several people were already there trying to get good spots to observe the coming races.

She was looking for one in particular, and found him pretty quickly. He was a canine Beastkin like her, an Australian Shepherd with blue eyes and gray-blue fur. One who was looking a bit dejected as he leaned on his red Honda Civic in a non-competing parking spot. The licence plate said B0W-0W, a joke Amanda had made when she gave it to him. She parked in the next spot and hopped out. "Jeff! Thought I'd find you here early!"

"Amanda! Hi!" His tail started wagging a bit. "How did you know I'd be here?"

She walked over to her trunk, opened it, and pulled out a bottle of high-performance engine oil. "We saw you blaze past the Camp apartments in that pack and you left the smell of oil in your wake. Figured you'd need this, so I picked it up on the way here." She tossed it at him.

Jeff managed to catch it, though he bobbled it a couple of times along the way. "Thanks. I'll change out what I burnt up once I get home."

"Just make sure to use all the jacks this time. Trying to go for one centered doesn't work." The sun was starting to set, and that meant that the time frame the Sheriff gave them a permit for was upon them. "Looks like it's time for the first race. Come on, let's go watch. Leo's in the VW Rabbit."

"Who?"

"My boy toy, now let's go." The two jogged over to the start line. The VW Rabbit was pulling up, and next to it was a Delorean.

Leo was in fact inside the Rabbit and looked to his right. One thing he liked to see, Lola was standing in the lane between the cars. She had put on a rather scant outfit. Daisy dukes and a bikini top really showed her curves off in a way that made Leo's Inner Beast want to roar, but since she'd JUST made sure that was taken care of he could hold himself back enough for her to wave the starting flag. What he didn't like was seeing his opponent. That was obviously the same Delorean from last night, and given the lack of real capability that model had it meant that whomever was there had a lot of work hidden by the chassis. He thought he recognized the outline of the driver through the window, too, but the window tint combined with the lights and noise meant he couldn't be sure.

Lola raised her flag, signalling they only had a couple of seconds to get ready. The course was a street race, not an enclosed track. One mile long and square, four sprints interspersed with turns that were way too sharp to take at full speed, so they had to be ready for agility. Leo got his head in the game, revved his engine once, and got ready to rapidly shift gears. He heard a similar roar coming from the Delorean. They were ready.

The flag fell, and the racers took off. Leo took an early lead as his lighter vehicle got its speed more quickly, but his opponent was right on his tail. Close enough that braking for the first turn was a risky proposition. He had to swing wide, and the course almost let them pass before he got oriented again and took off. By the time the second turn came they were further back, but to his shock the Delorean took a MUCH riskier and faster turn than he was willing to and closed a lot of the gap. The third turn repeated this, and the last, but the bare amount of lead coming out of it was enough when he threw open all the gas he could for the last leg.

Leo was barely a second ahead when he crossed the line, Lola waving the checkered flag joyously. He pulled off to the right, letting the dirt there help him slow to a stop more quickly and with less harm to his brakes than just staying on the road. The Delorean went much further, coasting its speed down more slowly than the Rabbit. Leo leapt out of his car almost before he was fully stopped and ran back to the starting line.

Lola waved, Amanda right behind her. "Good job, Leo! Great race!"

Leo shook his head. "Thanks, but that's not important right now. Do you know who was in that Delorean? Their style's familiar, but I couldn't recognize them through the tint."

Amanda chuckled. "Why would you care, kitten? You won by daylight!"

There was a sound from behind him, and he turned to face it. Two women were there. Both were Clouded Lynxes, unusual to find together. The first was average height and trim of build, dressed in cooling clothes with her ears perked up. The other was closer to seven feet than six and wildly muscular. "Caoilainn? Emma?" The first sounded like "Kaylinn" to the others.

The shorter one looked back in astonishment. "Leo?"