Becoming Monsters: in the Mirror

This is still a story of the Becoming Monsters universe by Ai Loves, setting used with permission. All canonical and mechanical errors are my own. The yarrb is the creation of FelisRandomis, used with permission.

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Chapter 12: Critical Mass

The now-familiar power took hold, and I could feel the world come into sharper focus. It was with that much more clarity that I could watch the half-conscious form of Emily Johnson, Kitsune and latest member of our team, go through her acquisition transformation.

Her already-firm body toned noticeably, her flat chest gaining some small measure of mass, her muscles showing more. The fur covering her body gained some shine, the colors more distinct, the teeth in her maw whitening. I could see her breathing ease as her eyes fluttered open, and as she stirred again her movements were smoother and more precise than before.

Then, something less expected happened. Another status screen appeared with a

*PING*

. "CHA 100%, +1," and the energies turned to me again. I could literally see my Aura expand, my hands and forearms losing some of their blemishes. My wife's gaze was appreciative, so I figured that my other features had gotten more regular and refined. Her breathing was still quick. Behind me, I could hear a light thump coming from our door. I looked, but I already knew what I'd find.

Sarah and Whitney were there, having accidentally touched the door a bit too hard and knocked it open. Sarah was recording us on Whitney's phone. Whitney was staring hard, wings braced against the walls and both hands down her pants, panting. Sarah pushed a button and looked up from her screen. "Glad the new compression format let me get the whole thing, we heard the laughs and had to come look."

"That was over a half hour ago." My voice seemed a touch more resonant to my ears.

"Time flies! Right, Whitney?" Her much taller companion nodded. Emphatically.

Emily, still nude on the ground, chose this moment to try to stand... and topple over. "I don't think I'll be able to fly home tonight... aaaah!" The cause of her startled exclamation became rapidly apparent, as her profile changed once again. Behind her body, there were suddenly four tails instead of three. "Oh my, it looks like I'm going to be a bit more devoted to this than I thought..."

"Care to explain that?" Sarah asked. She pulled out a note pad and pencil from... somewhere. Not quite sure where.

Emily was still breathing hard from everything that had happened, combined with the utterly merciless number of orgasms we had subjected her to. "Kitsune are born or created with one tail. We can have up to nine, theoretically, each one coming with a new Racial Ability and empowering our others. Thing is? We have to earn all of them past the first. Really, we earn the first by surviving being born, couple of ones born since the Change didn't show a tail in the womb."

My significance sense was tingling. "Earn how?"

She looked at me. "It varies, but it is always by doing something life-changing or world-changing. My second tail came when I escaped Japan, my third the first time I was the primary reason a patient healed at the Curse Annex. You gain one by furthering your life's purpose, or by finding major pieces of it. I just gained one by joining your Guild... or, at least, the part of it that matters."

That was exactly as significant as I thought it would be. "So your life's purpose, your cosmic reason for being, is now shown to positively include..."

"Being a part of your harem and working towards this guild's goals, yes. Um. I need to think about this, and I'm still too wobbly to fly home. I work a long shift tomorrow, but I have my scrubs already on my human form. Can I get a... a pillow or something? I need to sleep."

Lucy, still wearing nothing and wearing it VERY well, grabbed one of the pillows she made her little bed nest with and tossed it to the wobbly Kitsune. She, in turn, fluffed it up a bit, placed it in a corner of the room, turned into her fox form, and curled up on it. "Good night!" Her voice sounded incongruous coming from the fox, but it was just something I'd need to get used to. She was a part of the team, now.

The rest of us conked out in short order. I paused only long enough to scrawl some hasty notes in my class binder. I'd have a lot to think about the next day.

I wasn't the first to wake up that morning, a puff sound and brief flutter in the predawn hours indicating a sparrow flying off towards the hospital. I got up and out of bed, stretching out with another series of pops, but feeling significantly better than two days prior. Even considering yesterday's fight. I got to the kitchen and started putting things together, at least two of us would be starving and more likely all five still in the house, plus Nibbles.

Really, things had a way of getting freaking complicated, didn't they?

The smell of eggs frying and coffee brewing drew a new face to the Kitchen. The emaciated Hispanic woman was there, her Aura flickering as she breathed in the smells of what I was working on. She said something in Spanish that I didn't catch, sitting down tiredly at the table.

"I'm sorry, my Spanish is very weak.

Hablas Inglés?

" If those two words weren't enough, the rest would be MUCH harder.

She gave herself a little shake. "Sorry... where am I?" Nibbles wandered in, hopping onto her lap contentedly. I was a bit jealous.

Her voice had a distinct Mexican accent, and I tried to break the news of what had happened as gently as possible. Like all the others, she had gone under months ago, in her case in Juaréz, and somehow ended up here. Despite the accent, though, her English was very good, so the conversation was easy enough. At least, until I put an omelet in front of her.

She dove into it, ignoring her utensils and heedless of the burning heat. Nibbles leapt to the side, startled. Seconds later, it was gone, and the plate was showing gouges from her fangs. To be frank, it was slightly disturbing. At least it answered what kind of demoness I was dealing with. She looked utterly ashamed as soon as she finished, backing up into a corner and seeming to cower. Almost like she expected me to attack her. She was going to be one of

those

Demons, wasn't she?

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry... I was so hungry..."

I poured a glass of raw milk and stirred in some chocolate syrup plus a scoop of protein powder, and handed it over. "I'm going to make a few wild guesses, feel free to tell me if I'm wrong. You're a Babau, with Demonic Feeding for Gluttony. You come from a deeply religious family, and they did not approve of their daughter suddenly becoming an actual, literal demon? Probably involved attempts at faith healing?"

She had finished chugging the milk almost before the guesses started. "Yes. You missed the part where I ate us out of house and home, they disowned me, and I was homeless for a couple of months before I fell asleep and woke up here." Nibbles was rubbing against her leg again. She knelt down and scratched his back, between the quills. "Mama and Papa did their best, I know they did, but I was a problem they could not handle. Not with how our home city turned into a battlefield."

"Sorry to hear it, truly. Happens to far, far too many of our kind. You can probably tell we don't have much, but since I don't think you want to go back we need to come up with another solution for you. Nibbles likes you, though, so we can work with that. Just a standard precaution, I do need to Scan you in order to make sure we make no mistakes or have an undue danger in our home".

"If... if you must." I, in fact, must, so I did.

Gloria Santos-Cruces. The name alone would have confirmed a chunk of my assumptions. Painfully thin, high Perception with good Health and Agility despite her condition. Hunter 5? Not exactly a champion, but that suggested more than just occasional use. The showing ability was called Elemental Traps. Given what I had seen out of her while in demon form, that would be a truly nasty set of abilities.

"Ah, been in a few fights, I see. While we would appreciate your help along those lines, I'm not going to require it unless you want to go through immigration and get a license."

The others were trickling in as I was talking. Lucy noticed the gouges in the ceramic plate and immediately started putting more food together on the pan I had distractedly left on. Kind of glad I didn't mind some char, that was all my bad.

Gloria was

bottomless

. I entirely believed her that she had eaten her family out of house and home. Thing is? As she kept eating, I could see her improving, bite by bite. After a dozen eggs, her fangs withdrew a bit. Her skin tone evened slightly as she bit into her fourth slice of toast. She slowed herself down after a second dozen, along with two more glasses of bulked-up milk, though I got the sense that more absolutely could have gone down. Her Aura, at least, was shimmering like a pool someone was pouring water into.

She looked around, taking in details as if able to think clearly for the first time. "You are helping me, you don't need to hide the nature of this apartment. I will not report you. I have no status here, that would not go well even if I wanted to."

Lucy quirked an eyebrow. "I know what you think this is. Jay and I have worked in that kind of place, but this isn't it. Call it a Guild House for now." The others were rummaging for breakfast now, pouring coffee, milk, and cocoa.

"You are a Guild? I heard of them in

Ciudad Juarez

, we had gamers too, but I didn't expect to be picked up by one. This apartment seems small for it. The smell of sex too strong for it."

I facepalmed. Again. Much more and I'd be giving myself a concussion to go along with my other injuries. "We didn't say none of that happened. This Guild is a bit more... tight-knit... than its peers. That is a part of it. It helps empower us."

Wait. Why was I giving a random curse victim the elevator pitch for joining? This was not like me at all, but it felt... correct? There was a kind of weight to this. She had nowhere and nothing. Even more so than the others. No identity here, no income, no means to acquire either. She'd be taking up residence in Nibbles's old trash can if she was lucky. By the same token, with nearly nothing to go on, I just had a feeling that she would end up a good match to both the Guild and the Family. It felt like a face-down puzzle, and her edges were matching up despite not being able to see the colors.

Gloria smiled. "I've done worse things for worse reasons. How do you say it... when are try-outs?"

There was a lot of laughter from the ladies, much to Gloria's confusion. As Whitney and Sarah did their best to explain, my phone chimed at me. Deposits had come in, the OPP apparently having enough proof from others that me interviewing was not necessary. Also one from my last coding job, almost forgot about that in the chaos. Put together with the coinage we had, and even with recent expenditures we were further ahead than we basically ever had been. Two or three months of food and rent, perhaps less if we kept on having accelerated consumption.

Or... I could try something less safe, but way more effective. I stood. Everyone got quiet. "Lucy, quick change of plans. Take Whitney, Sarah, and Gloria with you, but we need a shopping trip. Bulk up portable and dense foods, get Gloria at least a basic weapon and some clothing, armor if she needs it. She can't carry anything significant for now unless we're headed to the Guild Hall, but I just have a feeling about this. If there's time, take her by Immigrations to get her papers started. Tell them she was a human trafficking rescue, use our Guild name. It is close enough, and there are very few questions they can ask to follow up with it. We also need four... no, six... three-ring binders. One inch will do, but I'd prefer three. Paper and tabs with them, the usual. I'm instituting some paperwork and research requirements for this Guild, ASAP. Get to know Gloria as well as you can, but I have a different target. Nibbles is coming with me."

Lucy was taking notes on the refrigerator pad we usually used for grocery lists. "What are you doing?"

"Getting updated papers for him, then dropping by to see Emily. I have a thought, and I'm going to need her help with it."

"Care to let me know what you're thinking? I might be able to make it easier."

"This apartment is too small for the team, so we need space. Emily lives next to the Hospital. If her place is as tiny as ours, it's still a place for some of us to sleep. If it's bigger, or if we can arrange adjacent apartments..."

Lucy's eyes lit up. "Then we can stop dealing with a landlord that wants favors every month?"

I paused. "... you hadn't told me that."

"Thought you knew. He hasn't gotten any further than flirting, or I would have tossed him out the window."

"Glad to hear it. Everyone, carry gear. Anything you can easily hide. Batons, shield charms, wands, I'll have the battery, sword, and shield. What we dumped into it last night would be meaningless for Lucy. Speaking of, Lucy, you have a decision to make today, what do you want that Mithril used on? I recommend a really good wand, or making a combat staff. Maybe armor. Sarah, start thinking on how to make my shield more portable and concealable, preferably tougher as well."

Whitney got very focused. "You sound like you're expecting trouble."

"I... I'm not sure. Too much is happening, too fast. We have too many threats coming at us from too many directions. What I

want

is to get us into a residence by the Guild Hall, but that's not going to work for us if we want to do our duties as Surface Hunters. Too far from the population centers. Any questions? Alright, ready, break!"

The tiny apartment became a chaotic flurry of activity as we all downed breakfast and got ready. I was the first ready by a long shot, and with Nibbles in my arms I took to the skies.

I was running exceedingly heavy (for me) on Hunger energies, and was not at all worried about burning it in order to hit the locations I'd need. I paused on one roof at a chime, a message from Lucy asking whether to get phones for Sarah and Gloria. I gave the thumbs-up to Sarah as long as she agreed to keep shopping apps off of it. Gloria, we would need to wait. If she was in our Guild, we could pull paperwork shenanigans to make it work, but that was not true yet. That reminded me, I needed to warn Emily that I was coming, and could she please send me her address and meet me there during lunch?

She responded so fast I hadn't even gotten the chance to take off again.

Guild Companions did not quite have the same status as therapy or medical pets, but it was close enough. More importantly, yarrbs in general and Nibbles in particular were smart enough that passing the examination commands was a breeze. New ID card in hand, I made sure to get him a Working Yarrb harness. No sense confusing people. Nibbles, for his part, was practically prancing around showing it off.

Turned out to be a good thing I came equipped, too. No greater demons or mob hits today, just a warg in the wrong place, which became a very nice pelt when I literally dropped from the sky and pushed my sword through its skull. The bystanders were suitably impressed. I name dropped the guild. No sense wasting the opportunity. I was right next to the OPP, too, so I brought Nibbles and claimed that at the same time I showed proof of the Babau. No need for a police station trip, still wanted nothing to do with them.

"Kithkin! You never swung by the station!"

Something about tempting fate? "Sergeant Mann, good to see you! Just had to turn in some things on my way to other engagements."

"Other things, like dive-bombing large wolves?"

"It dropped a pelt and coppers, that was a warg. I'm assuming you saw it?"

"Yep. Wasn't disappointed, either. Now, you ever going to actually swing by and chat?"

"Sergeant, you and I both know that is not happening." His face got very hard, very fast. We were in public, in a government building. "I have more things going on than I have hours in the day, and lead the only experienced guild of Surface Hunters at a time when attacks are on the rise. If it's urgent, I need to see a warrant. If it's not, I'll start taking the Fifth and get to my next appointment."

"You have a lot more of a mouth on you when you don't have armed SWAT teams in the vicinity."

"That, Sergeant, is part of the point." I could smell something else was going on, though. His mannerisms were off, even from when he came to my home. I could also smell something new, a sensation I was not wholly ready for. Cat dander. It smelled... familiar. It shouldn't smell familiar. I didn't know anyone who owned a cat. "Nibbles, let's go. We're going to miss our bus."

He stopped me as I brushed past him. "You are making bigger waves in bigger circles than you know. Remember, police have Class Levels, too."

He walked off. So did I, my heart beating fast enough that my watch demanded that I confirm I wasn't having a heart attack. I did so, though I was far from certain of it. That, at least, confirmed I was on the right path. The police station would not be seeing me any time soon.

It was nearly lunch time when I got to the address Emily had sent. The apartment building was rather stark on the outside, and massive. You could not just apply to rent an apartment here, you had to be working at the nearby services or get a recommendation from someone who was. Nibbles signaled that he would be exploring the area until I came out, I let him.

Emily, wearing her Human face and Curse Annex scrubs, met me in the lobby. "I must admit curiosity and some satisfaction when you text me like that. Come on up to my apartment. I'm afraid my view isn't much, but it's home."

Home was on the third floor, as it turned out. It really was not much, as things go, small and austere... but I saw some potential there. Right now, it was a place for one tired nurse to sleep and keep her scrubs. Thing is? It was nicer than the one I maintained with Lucy... and had a door connecting it to the unit next door. On both sides. The place was set up like a hotel, might have once been one.

I turned to see her nude, foxy, and eager, but had to shake my head. "Today was for business, not pleasure, I'm afraid. You're looking a hair low on Hunger. If we get started and we go too far, you won't make it back to work on time and could go into feral mode."

She... didn't like it, but understood. Hunger issues were not something Emily had problems with very often, because her very lifestyle let her passively siphon off of those she interacted with. Combined with her work ethic, she was never short. Except, perhaps, in a situation like now, having just been fed on so hard it was more like being preyed upon.

"Business, then." She still had a bit of a grin on her face. "Guild or family, if there is a difference?"

I smirked right back at her. "Little bit of everything, and some advice afterwards. Are the units to the two sides of yours empty?"

"One is, the other might be soon... oh, I like the way you think. You need me to recommend you for them?"

"Got it in one. Three in a block would let our entire team be comfortable and together. Given the rates here? I think we can manage it, and the area is itself much safer than my apartment."

"I may be able to do you one better, but that will take some research, planning, and luck. Give me a week?"

"Can you put up one or two of the others here in the meantime? Home is getting really crowded with five and a yarrb."

"Yes, but... five? So the other victim is staying with you? Did you already induct her as well?"