Becoming Monsters Nine Lives Ch 2

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

This idea comes from RetroLeopard.

--

Chapter 2: How Much?

"We have talked around the point a bit too long, sir. I need to hear

Golden Age

's offer so that I know if we can make a deal or if I need to talk to the other Majors." Leo did not normally wear full armor and carry his weapons to sit-down discussions about selling components. This was not a normal discussion.

The man sitting across from him stood out even in a place like the Seattle Guild Hall. Insectoid green chitin, clear wings held down against his back. And two large blades where his arms should be. Oh, and a badge indicating that he was an officer of the largest and most powerful Guild in the state of Washington. Vish, of

Golden Age

, knew what Leo had. He wanted it, and had access to the resources to make it worth the gray cat's while. His voice buzzed and clicked heavily despite the obvious care he was putting into speaking clearly. "

Golden Age

has authorized me to pay you the sum of 400 Golds for this shard. I cannot negotiate on this point."

It took a lot for Leo to hold in his excitement at that number. Four hundred Gold represented more than six MONTHS of earnings for a low-tier Delver, closer to seven. That kind of score gave many the ability to instantly up their game by re-gearing and preparing for the big leagues. Others would see that and decide to cash out of the business of dealing with things that were trying to kill them back. However, Leo had done his research before coming here.

"Four hundred is less than a Lair Key Shard is worth normally, and I know that your Guild is gearing up to attempt more Lair runs. The number should have been much higher." It felt odd for someone whose breakfast had been chicken nuggets to be saying that.

"Given that we are the

only

Guild regularly doing those runs, the value has dropped somewhat. I did say that I could not increase that number." Vish's buzz sounded like there might be other considerations possible, but he didn't want to tip his wing to it.

Thankfully, Leo knew the score. "Then we can add a different benefit to this. Let's say... two of them, if you are willing to hear them."

"Go on."

""First, I pulled this out of the Labyrinth solo. That should be sufficient to place my name high among your go-to list for contracts, and good physical Strikers are always needed no matter their quirks."

"I cannot guarantee this long-term if you do not join us officially, but I can at least put you in the pool to try out. You said there were two?"

Leo nodded. "I want access to your crafters, at in-house rates."

"As long as you understand that you do not get access to our materials closet with that, I'm sure this can be arranged."

"Four hundred Gold and both considerations and we have a deal." Leo held his breath. What he was asking for was a very valuable kind of thing, and there was every possibility that Vish would decide it was not worth the effort.

It didn't take much thinking. Vish nodded. "Deal." He turned to the scribe also at the table, a slight Human man. "Please record this and provide him a copy for his records, under my seal."

"Yes, sir. Four hundred Gold, crafter access without stores access, and placement in the contracting pool for Physical Strikers." Upon Vish's confirmation, he started writing.

The insectoid officer looked back at Leo. "You drive a hard bargain, but i do look forward to any business we may have in the future." He hooked a weighty-looking pouch off of his belt to place onto the table. "And speaking as a melee Striker myself, I would like to trade some stories to figure out how you took down a Steel Scorpion."

Leo took the bag and tied it to his own belt. The weight felt right for the amount of coinage it was supposed to contain, but he did not do anything so crass as to open it and count. That would come later. "And I look forward to trading those stories. I know you don't have hands to shake, but perhaps we can improvise." Leo pulled out one of his scimitars and raised it over the table. Vish got the point, and crossed it with his own arm-blade.

"Creative. I like it. Michael will bring our copy back to us, but I must be off. Run preparations, you understand."

"Of course." Vish left, and before long Leo was walking back to his car with the seal-imprinted receipt in one hand.

It was a good feeling, that. Almost as good as knowing where he was going. He hopped into the driver's seat of the VW Rabbit he'd spent so much time tuning up, zipped home to the apartments, got changed into gym clothes, and drove over to the gym. Most people didn't actually like working out between runs. It wasn't cool, it wasn't fashionable, and to be frank it wasn't nearly as fun as getting into a friendly bout in the dueling circles. Not nearly as many opportunities for bets (though not zero, it should be noted). Most people barely tolerated it as a necessity, a prerequisite they had to obey in order to be able to go do what they actually wanted. Most people weren't Leo. And most people didn't have the company he did since last week.

Lola, and by extension Amanda, went to the same gym he did. It made sense, they worked at Camp and this gym was one of relatively few that was both positioned and equipped for this particular crowd. Four hundred kilograms used to be a record-shattering load for a deadlift. Nowadays, that was a light warmup for Leo and those who shared his particular bent for combat, so adjustments had to be made to the facilities. But that wasn't important. What WAS important was that not only did Leo enjoy pushing his body's limits, it also meant that he got to watch Lola on the squat rack like before he almost died from poison. And, moreover, she both enjoyed it when he did and told him so during the wide-ranging conversations they'd been having.

Definitely made him stop feeling like a creep for when he'd accidentally lingered on that view before she said that.

The gym doors swung open at his arrival, and the place welcomed him like an old friend. The smells of metal and foam rubber and sweat and cleaning solution wafted over him. The sound of metal striking metal or mats. And, of course, the sight of Lola at the squat rack, the curvy Ocelot looking like she was giving this one immense and dedicated effort. She trained to be able to spring to full speed while wearing armor at no notice, so she did a lot of them. Leo appreciated the effect, especially this last week. He of course walked right over, waving at Amanda as the smaller Dog-kin acted as spotter. She didn't wave back, being focused on Lola's... form.

As he walked over, some of the rest of the people entered his awareness. A Human man and a Red Panda woman were sparring slowly in the fighting ring. A Gargoyle was on a rowing machine. Walking towards his group from the back room was a more familiar pair. One was a human man, looking like the very definition of the word "nondescript." He was medium of build, his hair and eyes were both unremarkable brown. His skin not quite pale enough to be called pale, but not quite tanned enough to be called tanned. His clothes were plain black athletic shorts and a white tee, showing moderate amounts of muscle. If you didn't know any better, you wouldn't realize that Dave owned the place. Next to him was a much more noticeable woman. Mary was a snowy white Rabbit Beastfolk, significantly larger and more shapely than her husband. She, unlike him, did not make frequent use of the machines and weights here. Just enough to keep healthy.

Thing is, all of this was a bit hard to see for a casual observer. Somehow, in the infinite possibilities of the Status, she had drawn a kin type of Angora Rabbit. Her fluff was soft and voluminous to the point that she often resembled a cloud with legs and ears. It was also dense enough that she had to order stiff brushes in bulk.

"Leo! Good to see you back at it! I was getting worried, you haven't been around in a week, now." Dave was all smiles as he walked towards the rack Leo wanted to use. The one with the mithril bar, and the GOOD weights. Steel bends under the kinds of weight Leo needed in order to get a workout.

"Steel Scorpion venom. Lola and Amanda could have told you about it, they were on shift at the Guard House and rescued me. I'm on lighter weight for recovery today" Leo got to the rack, set the height, and started loading up weight.

Lola racked her own bar, looked over at Leo's weight, and gave him a glare the likes of which could cause the Marshal to cower.

Leo, rather sheepishly, took about a quarter of the weight off. "Okay, a bit lighter than that." He started knocking out a few slow and careful reps under Lola's intense gaze.

Dave started laughing hard enough that he actually fell to the mat for a moment before recovering. Mary's fluffy fur wiggled dramatically with her laughter, and Amanda joined them in getting some chuckles. Then she remembered something. Tail wagging furiously, she walked over to the barely-recovered Dave. "I won. Pay up."

"Worth it." Dave reached into his pocket, pulled out a wallet, and handed over a $20 bill. Leo had frankly almost forgotten what those looked like.

Lola's head quirked to the side, her tall ears emphasizing the movement. "Why did I just see a bet get resolved, and how did you never mention this to me before?"

Amanda's tail was wagging FURIOUSLY. "You two have been pining over each other for

months

! Dave and I just made a wager on if we could get you two to at least go out by the end of the year. I obviously won."

Lola looked between the two of them. "And the wager was twenty bucks? That's it?"

Mary laughed again, her fluffy fur waving around. "They both agreed it was inevitable, just a question of when."

There was a sudden thump from the ring, and a man's voice emitted something of a groan. All four looked over, and without a second's thought Mary took several bounding leaps up to retrieve him, checking his pulse while the man's opponent stood in the other corner. Dave walked swiftly over, though nowhere near as fast as his wife. "Ruby! What happened?"

The woman was a Red Panda Beastkin, fairly short and broad, standing with her arms crossed. Her clothing was nondescript athletic wear, revealing modest curves. "He thought much more highly of himself than his skills did. This one fights like he's used to being invisible."

Dave looked at the man on the ground, his wife now passing her hands over his body as she called upon minor healing magics. "That's because he's used to being invisible. That's one of the skirmishers from

Onslaught

."

"He could have at least had the decency to give me a workout."

Dave got an idea. "Actually, let's solve a few problems at once. Leo?"

"Yes?"

"Mind sparring with Ruby?"

He looked over at the woman. She really did not look like much, even with how she'd laid out her previous opponent. "If you think that's a good idea, Dave."

"Good! Ruby, he's presently recovering from injury, so please don't go a hundred percent, but Leo goes solo into the Labyrinth a lot so he should be more suitable."

"I'm willing if he is. Leo, you want weapons or bare-handed?"

Leo was a bit nonplussed, but the decision was easy. "No weapons this time." He didn't want to risk cratering her skull with even a practice sword, after all, and he felt Lola nod approvingly at the safer choice. He racked his bar, walked over, and leapt lightly up into the fighting ring. "I'll put away my weights after this."

Dave shrugged. "I can manage it. It just takes me a bit longer, that's all. You two have fun."

Leo turned to face the Red Panda, stretching a bit then dropped into a fighting stance. "Half-speed?"

Ruby the Red panda shrugged, then got into a fighting stance of her own. "And leave powers alone for now, no need to go crazy."

"Sounds good." Leo extended one fist, she accepted the bumped knuckles, and the round was on. Leo took a moment to look at how she was moving around the ring, watching him as closely as he did her. He knew his steps were slow and smooth, keeping balanced. She seemed to be very comfortable fighting bare-fisted from the casual way she was holding her arms, and combined with making a mockery of an

Onslaught

Guild striker that meant a combatant Class that could use it. He had both a reach and weight advantage, though, so it only made sense for him to be the aggressor in this first exchange.

The attack wasn't subtle. Leo stepped in and threw a couple of tightly-controlled punches to test her reaction speed and the strength of her blocks. What he got was one of the two. Ruby didn't exactly seem to speed up, but she just wasn't where his punches happened to be. Her return jabs flicked out quickly, but he caught them on the outside of his arms before backing up. If that was half speed, he had to focus a bit. The next couple of exchanges went about the same way, over and over. Leo was making no headway, and Ruby did not seem to even be sweating. The frustration was real, and Leo's self-control started to slip.

His fur started to darken, his muscles bulged ever so slightly. Next time around, he didn't step forward. That was thinking like a boxer. Instead, he

lunged

in to take her off guard with a sweeping tackle that would catch where she liked to dodge towards. Hopefully, this one would get them into close quarters, where his mass would give a critical advantage to let him tire her out. That was thinking like a

predator

. That was the idea, anyway. The execution didn't quite turn out like that.

She had a few ways she could have reacted. The one she chose had nothing to do with evasion. She jumped high, over his lunge, and with a sudden lashing kick to the center of his back drove the lunging Cat down onto the floor of the ring. He did not land softly. She did. The round was pretty clearly over. As he skidded to a stop, slightly dazed, Leo reasserted control over himself, if barely. His fur lightened again, his muscles smoothed back out.

"Better than the other guy, at least. You have some potential." Rube turned to face Leo, a smile on her face. "I honestly can't wait to see what you can do with your Class Abilities online."

"Ugh, okay, I'll take the compliment." Leo stood up once more, if slowly. Still frustrated, but less so than when he was actively taking hits. He looked over towards Lola, seeing her with her arms crossed and observing closely but not too obviously mad. Despite the loss, apparently he'd taken it easy enough for her. Amanda was next to her.

So was Dave, using his own Class Abilities to put away the weights. He didn't appear Human at the moment. His average-sized frame had been encased in what appeared to be living metal armor, his helmet a head of what looked like a highland bull. Dave was an Aegis, someone who summoned mystic armor onto himself and drew power from it, and in this form he was lifting nearly as much as Leo could in full health.

Leo sighed. "Ladies, I'm assuming you two finished your workout while you watched the fight?"

Amanda grinned. "You getting your tail beat did pass the time." She took an openly appreciative look at him. "No matter how nice a piece of tail it is."

Lola laughed and lightly smacked her friend's arm as Leo exited the ring. "Amanda! If you're not careful about that teasing you might get more than you bargained for."

Amanda laughed right back, then gave a sniff. "Smells as good as he looks, too."

"And that tells me I need a shower. Let's get back to the apartments." Leo helped put away the last couple of weights from his station before wiping it off. "What's Ruby's deal, anyway? She's good."

Lola shrugged. "Not sure. I know she isn't Guilded, but she lives on Dungeon proceeds like you do. Some solo runs, some contracting."

Leo put the last weight on the rack. "A mystery for another time, I guess."

"I guess. Actually, mind stopping by our apartment before you go to yours? I think you left a couple of pouches over the last time you visited." Lola started walking out, Amanda and Leo followed.

The drive home was short, though it took a bit longer than the trip out. A combination of traffic and post-workout fatigue slowed both vehicles down. The drive passed without incident, thankfully, though the stairs up to the apartment were a bit more painful than usual given that Lola and Amanda did enough squats to matter. The girls' apartment felt familiar as they entered, safe and welcoming. Even Leo had spent enough time here this week that the smell put him at ease. Leo could see Amanda sniffing in his direction and felt a bit self-conscious about it. "What was it you said I left here?"

Lola shook herself a bit, seeming to come out of a distracted daze herself. "Amanda said she found a pouch or two she thinks belongs to you. Mind if I strip and get in the shower?"

"Go right ahead!" Leo had seen her nude enough times this week, as well, that she felt no shame about it. He'd managed to acquire enough self-control to not shift out at the sight of her

delicious

boobs bouncing free of the athletic bra or her hips swaying as she stepped into the shower, but it was a close thing. Especially following the frustrations in the fighting ring. She stepped into the bathroom, closed the door, and they heard the water start. Leo sighed, then turned.

And found that Amanda was both standing MUCH closer than he anticipated and was also just as naked. The latter should not have been a surprise, while she was at home she preferred to wear nothing but her fur. The former, though, put her close enough for his very-much-still-erect manhood to brush against her belly. Much to her amusement as she stepped in. "Oooo, she has the same effect on you as me."

"Ah, yeah, she does. Kind of hard not to, anyone who likes women is probably going to like a body like hers..."

Amanda's hand came up to feel what was rubbing against her body. "You must be good, though. She's no virgin, and every time you're together she comes back starry-eyed. I only get that out of her when I take a lot of time and effort to do her right."

Leo took a breath. Amanda's hand felt... good. Really, really good. "You could say that, yes." If these sensations kept going, she might find out the hard way.

"She tells me that you lose control, and you do her like an absolute animal when you really get going. You know she doesn't expect exclusivity from you yet, either. Never did from me." Amanda was not stopping.

Leo nodded. "She... she told me. That feels good, Amanda. Way too good."

The canine girl grinned, showing lots of canine. "And what if I wanna see what you're like? I'm also bi, and you're hot. So come on, big boy, let's see what you got while she's in the shower."

The fact that this was almost exactly the same line that Lola used on him last week... and two days later, and the night after that, and last night... was not lost on Leo. "Are you sure about this?"

"Oh, yes."

Leo felt the transformation come for him. This time, he made no further effort to keep the Werecat within from coming out. In moments, he enlarged. His fur darkened as he burst through his clothes, and Amanda's face went from lusty teasing to absolute shock in moments. He was suddenly nearly twice her size, the equipment she'd been feeling having gone from "modest" to "intimidating." The entity that now looked down upon her was strapped with massive muscles, yellow eyes and shining white teeth standing out against the black fur. One hand came forward and seized her by the neck to pull her close. The Werecat sniffed her deeply. A large tongue emerged from the creature's maw to lick her face. His voice was deep and growling when it emerged from his throat. "Fear... and arousal. Your friend isn't here to banish me this time. You are mine."