A New Age

Hyrushia

Salem, Massachusetts, 2576:
A large crowd gathers at the edge of the city, news reporters are scrambling in a very disorganized fashion, the military is trying to keep order, prices are being called out at amazing speeds, auctioneers would have been jealous. A hovercopter joins the scene, it has been called to take the spectacle which has called so many people to gather. A diamond block, weighing 150 lbs. has been discovered, the largest diamond ever found. The hovercopter’s orders are to take it to a museum in Boston. As it lifts the diamond block, the crowd begins muttering in disappointment, the military begins to disperse the crowd in an orderly fashion, the news reporters try to interview the discoverers. All this has been recorded on all television stations, the news would be around the world in a few seconds.
The television flicks on in almost every house, and unfortunately for the world, in most gang houses. The 26th century is a century riddled with gangs. The police catch many of them, but the gangs blend in well with the current society. Daily street battles in small cities are signs of territory wars between gangs. Each gang specializes in a subject, very rarely do they specialize in two or more. Most gangs specialize in drug dealing, that is a very common specialty. Others specialize in eliminating other gangs. Some, however, specialize in collecting, or stealing as non-gangsters would say. They target objects according to the size and skill of their team, only a few would dare steal from anything larger than a convenience store.
Unfortunately, the better gangs tune in for this announcement, the diamond would prove how good, or not, a gang truly was. With people to be going in and out of the room continuously, a gang would have to be very good to get it out in the day. There were five formidable gangs, three of them world-wide, one of them American-wide, and the last, barely state-wide. All three would be targeting the diamond, which would be placed in a position where all five would be able to grab it. It would, in part, be decided on who got there first.

Quincy, Massachusetts, a small house in the suburbs:
A small woman, barely out of her teens, is sitting on the couch. She is wearing many rings on her fingers, most of them were free, with very valuable jet stones. Her skin is very dark, and she matches her skin with dark clothes. Her long black hair shined in the dim light of the small room. She is watching the gigantic diamond being transported to the museum, she is very fascinated, but who wouldn’t be?
Her brother, who had a lighter shade of skin walks in to the room. He looks at the television screen and looks to his sister. She looks at him with a half-smile on her face, her eyes glinting with pleasure. Her brother rolls his eyes, “Should I call them over?”
“Yes, please do,” she replied. She watched her muscular brother as he walked back out of the room.
Five minutes later there was a knock on the door. The dark-skinned woman walks over and opens the door. Two men are standing there. One, who was about middle aged with very smooth red hair, speaks first, “You called?”
“No, my brother did, but it’s pretty much the same thing, seeing as I told him to.”
The younger man, a blond man who looked barely out of his teens, smiled at the thought of the small, younger sister ordering the large, strong man he knew around. He shook the smile off when he saw the large man walking up.
“Are you going to let them in, or are you going to give your plans out in the open where anyone can hear them?” The large man demanded in a deep voice. The woman nodded, and opened the door wide, allowing the two men in.
They all gathered at a small round table in the kitchen, the red haired man got up and began looking through the fridge. The young woman looked at him in amusement, “You don’t have to cook something every time you come here you know. Although I won’t complain, it is much better than what we usually have around here.” She shot an amused glance at her brother who scowled. “Anyway, you all can probably figure out what I called for.”
The blond man smiled and said in a very sarcastic voice, “No, I thought it was a surprise mission, you just love those.”
The older man just looked at him, “It’s about the diamond, isn’t it? I might have the right thing to get us out of there in a hurry.”
The young woman looked at him, “I don’t doubt it, but that’s not our concern right now. We first need a plan. Our gang is not even close to the size of the others, and you all know how large Sirius is. We have to get there first, so let’s go with a speed plan, we can get away from the police fast if we have to, but let’s at least get our hands on the diamond.” She turned to the older man, “You already know your parts, help carry out the diamond and calculate the slow down time on the escape vehicle.” She turned to the yellow haired man, “You won’t be helping carry the diamond because we need someone to have a fast gun at hand when we try to leave.” The yellow man nodded as she turned to her brother, “You will also be carrying the diamond, you will also probably need to break any barriers around it.”
“And what will you be doing?” Her brother asked in a mocking tone. “Sitting there as we break our backs lifting the diamond, drinking your cup of tea while Matt holds off the security guards and other gangs.”
“You know what I do, and you know how important it is, unless you want to switch jobs. I could attempt to drag the diamond as you attempt to shut down security and alarms. Even better, with my sniper rifle I could hold off the security guards and other gangs as Matt tries to shut down security and alarms.”
The red-haired man looked at the siblings fighting over roles in the heist and sighed, he looked over at Matt for support, but he was too busy searching the fridge for a drink. He looked back at the siblings, “You know whose role is whose, there is no need to argue over it.” The muscular sibling just glared, while the younger one got up to get her equipment. “Now, let’s all meet at nine tomorrow. Be here and ready.” The younger sibling sat back down at the naming of the time. The older man turned to her, “I know it is not my position to give orders Clara, but you were in no fit state to do so.”
The dark woman nodded, “I understand your reasoning Tom, and I am glad for it.” She turned to her brother. “Jim, however, is going to need to learn to stop mocking the leader of the Ensis Felium gang.” Jim just scowled again.
The next day at nine, they were all there and ready. Tom was in a scientist coat, underneath it he had a few explosives. Tom and Clara were the only ones with a set of keys to the getaway vehicle. Matt was dressed as a security guard, an identity card and about fifteen hidden ammo cartridges to go with his two small pistols. Jim was dressed as a tourist, but he had a collapsible machine gun throughout his attire. Clara was dressed in all black, she had a sniper rifle on her back; she would not be going in the museum, she was going to hack into it from the outside, along with keeping guard from a distance from other gangs.
Their gang worked on stealth whenever in any operation, the other gangs would work in force because they had the size to do it. Clara was always on the outside with her sniper rifle, the two older men were always on the inside, while Matt was in or out depending on the mission. Their goal was to get there before any of the other four gangs, otherwise the cause was lost. They did not have the man-power to take on any of the other gangs in combat.
They arrived at the museum at about lunch, when the building would be least crowded. Their vehicle was specially made by Tom to be able to carry large loads while not losing much speed. Clara immediately got out and went out behind the museum to find the security cables, the other three went in the front. Their plan was to get the diamond block out through the window after Clara was done with the wires. Clara would have the car there at this time to make loading easier. During this time, all security guards will have been knocked out, killed only in emergencies.
Clara got to the back of the building and looked for the wires. She found them rather easily, she had expected more of a challenge. She inserted a bit of metal into each wire and pulled out her hand computer. It took her a short time to break the code for security, but that did not stop her. She was now in complete control of what the alarms went off on and what the cameras saw. She gave the okay signal to her partners through her microphone and turned the cameras away from the scene of the crime about to happen. She turned all alarms off so that her brother could break the barriers. She then turned other cameras in a way so that if any unwanted persons arrived, she would know and she would set off the alarm around them.
Tom, hearing the okay signal, watched as the cameras turned away from the display. He looked at the beautiful diamond and began his part of the plan. Pulling out the chemical Clara had given him, he used it to knock out the guards and observers in the room. The gas mask, camouflaged to his face, protected him. After the gas cleared, he called in Jim and Matt. Jim, making sure the cameras were off him, gave the display case a good punch, and winced as it cracked. Jim expected this, it would take another one. The display case shattered, no alarm went off, no guards yelled, no people cried out, no one came in. Tom was surprised no one came in, but then he realized that Clara had also closed the doors. She’s really good at this, he thought as he helped lift the diamond to the window. Just as planned, Clara was in the car at the selected window. She jumped into the back where she would be able to use her sniper rifle at following police cars.
When the diamond was loaded into the car, Tom was sweating, but Jim was barely tired. Tom got into the driver’s seat and started the car. It moved at a decent speed for having a diamond block that large hidden in the back seat. Matt had two pistols out and was watching the two sides for police cars; none were coming, yet. Jim was holding his machine gun at the ready to shoot off police cars who attempted to block them in front. No police cars molested them on their journey back to base, however. This puzzled them all.
When they arrived at Jim and Clara’s house all four of them took out the diamond and brought it in. They placed it on the small round kitchen table where they did their planning. They then took out drinks and settled on the couch to celebrate their victory. They did this by taking out drinks, which they already did, and watching the news on their theft. They flicked on the television. As expected, the news reporters were at the museum. What wasn’t expected, was why.
There were gunshots in the background while a news woman was raising her voice desperately high so she could be heard over the screaming and blasting. She was trying to make it known that the gang calling themselves Sirius was currently in a shoot-out with the police. They had broken in and taken the diamond, but instead of immediately leaving, as they usually do, they went back in and, finding the security guards awake, got into a fight.
When the news reporter finally got it clear to her audience, the four gangsters were rolling on the floor in laughter.


The Arctic Circle:
A heavily cloaked man walks over an icy hill, his face is covered in a thick cloth and his eyes have large ski goggles. He turns and signals to those behind him. A large vehicle, built for the slippery terrain moves slowly uphill. Other explorers and scientists in the same gear walk up behind it. They had been trekking for days their target was just now in sight. A large meteor, newly fallen, not even 12 days ago. The public was not informed because of the lack of danger. These men had been summoned by the government to research the meteor.
One of the other men, who had a heavy beard sticking out of his own cloth, walked up close. “Why do you think the government thought this was important?” His deep voice was very much muffled through the thick cloth and beard. “It’s just another meteor, they fall once in a while.”
“You know this meteor was an anomaly because of how it was falling. The government wants to know what materials it is made out of.” The first man had removed his facial cloth in order to speak easier and clearer.
Another man walked up, behind him the vehicle thudded to a stop, this man also had his cloth removed. His build was small, he wasn‘t very muscular or tall. “It’s still just a meteor, I don’t see what’s so important about it.”
The first man hesitated, this was a man who had powerful contacts, he would have to keep his own friends close. He looked around at his three friends, a meager number considering they had 20 on the trip. He would just have to play along, for now. “We’ll do our job, although I myself am curious about it.”
“I don’t care, as long as I get my money. This place is cold, why did it have to land here?” He began to dance around to keep himself warm.
The first gave him an amused look. “You’re getting paid, why do you care?” He immediately widened his eyes. That joke was past the line, he was in for it now. He reached for his beam pistol underneath his coat. He had to do this secretly to avoid detection.
The short man, however, was too busy contorting his face in an angry fashion to see the hand go to the gun. He signaled to the men in the vehicle. “You forget, I don’t have to bring you back. Now I won’t, I have dealt with your insolence for too long. When we get back, I’ll say that you and anyone who stands up for you died along the trail. We’ll make a story up about the meteor, something along the lines of it having been destroyed on impact and it was not locatable.” He smiled at this. “We’ll just take a small bit of it back with us to make our story believable.”
The first man sighed, he released his grip on the gun. He looked up in time to see a ring flash on the short man’s finger. He furrowed his eyebrows at the familiarity of the ring. He nearly fell back in realization, his archenemy was part of Sirius. He then realized how dangerous his position was, he had less of a chance now that he knew this.
“You know John, you never were all that good at hiding your emotions. Now that you know this, I will have to kill you.” The short man glared at John.
Meanwhile, one of John’s few companions had just managed to pull out enough gear for them to survive for a few days. He signaled towards John that they were clear. John nodded and turned back to his betrayer. “You are going to leave us here aren’t you, Samuel?”
Samuel took a moment to put his hands in his pockets. “No, you see John, you know too much for me to leave you alone with your friends. So it looks like me and my friends will have to eliminate you.”
While he was drawing his beam pistol, John looked frantically at his friends. He was afraid of this. He saw that Samuel’s men were also drawing their guns. He gulped at the variety they had brought along. He turned back to Samuel, “We were college friends, would you really do this?” He began to edge towards the meteor, he would only be able to accomplish this if he could talk long enough.
“Yes, I would. Sirius is the perfect organization. Unfortunately, Ensis Felium has continually beaten us to the prize, but only in one area. We are very close to crushing them, we believe to have found their base. Now, with that knowledge, you can die...FIRE!”
At that moment, a bunch of things happened. Bullets and energy beams flew everywhere, John and his friends leaped behind the meteor, and the vehicle started up. Samuel’s friends did not have good aim at all, but Samuel was perfect. He pulled out his own pistol, took aim, and fired straight at the meteor. He leapt into the vehicle, which was picking up speed rapidly.
The beam hit the meteor, and an explosion occurred at that moment. All four of the outcasts were thrown to the ground, cold and unmoving. John did not go immediately. He saw Samuel safely in the vehicle, speeding away. He flicked his eyes towards where the meteor was supposed to be, or still was. The shock nearly jolted him awake, the meteor should have been vaporized. The weariness of shock slipped over him, making him even weaker than before. Just before he slipped out of the world, he noticed something on the large rock. He thought to himself, isn’t that interesting, it has a large dragon coiling all over it. And all went black.

Genetic lab, Chicago:
A scientist looks over the equation he just wrote out. He twisted his ring nervously as he looked around. He had to keep this project secret from other scientists. It was an assignment for his organization. Any other scientist who found out would immediately turn him in. He looked at the dog pattern on his ring, he was lucky enough to get a fox on it. It showed that he specialized in secrecy and thievery to his gang. He smiled, this secrecy had been completed, time to call the Alpha Fox.
He opened his cell phone. Then he hesitated, maybe he should test it on himself first, he closes the phone. He puts some of the liquid, the solution of the formula, into a needle and prepared himself for the injection. He began to shake in the knowledge of what he was doing. He brought the needle up and brought it down into his arm. He pushed the release button, the liquid began streaming through his veins. His body, unused to this liquid, began convulsing immediately, trying to force it back out. But the scientist already had a bandage on, and he didn’t like vomiting, so he held it down.
The convulsing stopped, the scientist gasped for breath. He opens his phone again and dials the number. There was ringing on the other side. Finally someone answered in a quiet voice. “Hello?”
Still gasping for breath, the scientist answered, “Greetings my lady, the formula has been completed. I have injected myself with it first. Convulsing is a reaction, other than that, I have yet to discover, I shall keep you updated. Fortunately, I calculated it so that only one injection is required.”
The feminine voice replied more cheerily, “Very good, I shall come over immediately.”
“As you wish.” The scientist hung up. He began to get very dizzy, he swooned and fell over.

Quincy, Massachusetts:
Tom and Matt had slept over, the celebration having taken all night, and woke up on the floor. The were originally on the couch and recliner, but something happened while they slept and they got restless in their sleep. When he woke up, Tom, who slept on the recliner, which was closer to the kitchen, went towards the bathroom. On his way he looked at the sleeping figure in the kitchen, Clara had fallen asleep on the floor next to the diamond, face down and hair sprawling everywhere, her brother had taken the liberty to get her a blanket at least. Tom smiled and continued his quest for the bathroom. Jim, who was the only one who made it to his room, walked out with a strong air of alertness for someone in the morning. He went to the kitchen, which was the room next to his because of his habit for midnight snacks, and, seeing Clara there, decided to see how the other two were doing.
Matt was awake, but he did not want to get up, the floor had very thick carpeting. He rolled on the floor and reached for the remote. Not finding it through his sense of touch, he lifted himself to look at the table. First he saw his nails, which were a considerable length, Hmmm, it looks like it is time to cut them. He then found the remote and flicked the television on. Jim walked in, Matt looked at him, He’s looking a bit more muscular than usual.
Tom walked out of the bathroom. He saw Jim’s door open, but there was a large dent where he had pushed it open. That boy needs to watch his strength. Thinking about a large equation, that was severely flawed due to the sleep factor, he walked through the kitchen again, Clara still lying on the floor. She worked hard yesterday, she needs it. Tom walked into the living room, where Matt had chosen a Greek mythology, action movie and Jim was reading some fantasy book where beings were half animal. He sat down on the couch to join Matt.
Clara woke up moments after Tom left. Throwing the blanket off of herself, which was really strange for her seeing as she didn’t have one when she fell asleep, she began to walk towards the bathroom. While she was walking, she tried to organize her thoughts about how she fell asleep. She was studying the diamond when she found a pattern on the inside. She had almost figured the pattern, but something happened with the light and flashed momentarily blinding her. It made her very dizzy, and she fell on the floor, asleep.
By this time she had made it to the bathroom and was staring off into space in the direction of the mirror. Bringing her eyes back into focus, she looked into the mirror, but at that moment she yawned, very widely so she had a clear view of her teeth. She stopped in mid-yawn, she looked at the way her teeth were shaped. Her incisors were very sharp for a humans, her fangs had seemed to have grown a few centimeters, and had very sharp points. The same had happened to her bottom teeth. She closed her mouth and looked at herself in the mirror. Her face was fuzzy and whiskers resembled cat’s. But what shocked her the most, after looking at all this, were her slitted eyes. They were as yellow as a panther’s, even though a panther did not have slitted eyes. Confused, she reached up to scratch her cheek. She stopped midway, her arm was furry and her nails were very long, and sharp. She winced as she scratched her cheek harder than she expected. After taking all this in, she stepped back and shrieked.
The three men who were in the living room jumped up at the sound. Jim put his book down and rushed towards the bathroom, Tom and Matt close behind. Jim slipped on the blanket in the kitchen, Tom and Matt stopped momentarily to help him up. The door to the bathroom opened up right before they got there. All three men stopped in shock, staring at the new Clara. Clara, seeing this, narrowed her pupils while she glared at them. “Yeah, that’s right, just stare, don’t do anything about it.”
Tom, who was the first to get over the shock, reached up to scratch his newly pointed ears. He stopped, a dumbstruck look on his face, and felt his ears. Clara smiled, but stopped when she felt her own ears, and immediately the glare came back. Tom decided to speak, “What is there to do?”
Clara replied coldly, “You’re the scientist, I’m the techno thief, you should know what to do, tuft-ears.”
Tom looked away embarrassed at the new name, for his ears were indeed tufted. “I’ll work on trying to find out what did it. Otherwise, my efforts will be useless.”
Jim, completely oblivious to the attempt to sympathize with her, spoke up, “What made you scream?”
Clara’s eyes immediately widened, in both eyelids and pupils, and she leapt with cat-like grace towards him. She did not think about his strength, only about the fact that he did not care about her situation. Jim, who was indeed looking stronger, grabbed her and threw her at a wall without thinking and his jaw dropped at the realization on what he just did. But the horror was not needed, because, with a reflex Clara did not control, she flipped in the air and landed on the ground in front of the wall, a look of shock on her eyes.
Tom had his head in his left hand. He looked up at the shocking end of the sibling feud. “If we are done destroying the gang that has evaded police, avoided Sirius, and broken into about sixteen different government controlled properties twelve times each, then let us sit down and work this out.”
Matt, who was rolling on the floor in laughter at the whole scene, laughed harder at the accomplishments Tom listed. Jim and Clara looked sheepishly at each other and followed Tom into the kitchen.

The Arctic Circle:
John woke up to the smell of smoke. He opened his eyes and closed them again with a groan, he remembered where he was. He opened them again to see what was burning. Adam, one of his companions, was kneeling in front of a fire with a horrified look. John was a little confused at that. He looked over at his other companions, both were still out cold. He turned back to the flame, he realized he was unusually warm for being in a place covered in ice. He removed his outer coat. Adam looked up at him, “I didn’t know that it really made you breath fire.”
John nearly fainted at the statement. “Do you mean to tell me you breathed fire? And what do you mean it really makes you breath fire?”
Adam was still very shocked. “I was just very angry at Samuel for betraying us like that and I let it all out. I yelled and stamped the ground, but instead of sound, fire burst out of my mouth. I am completely unharmed, but the fire hasn’t gone out, even on the ice.”
John looked at the small flame that was indeed looking healthy. He removed the cloth that was around his mouth. “Along with that, I am unusually warm.”
Adam smiled at that, but his smile widened when he saw David getting up. David stood up and stretched his shoulders, it looked as if he had something between them that didn’t feel natural. The thought was confirmed when a small pair of wings ripped out from beneath his coat. David paused, also shocked. “Whatever happened, I have no idea.”
John replied grimly, wondering what his last companion would say, or breath, when he woke up. “I believe you, Adam has a fire going.” David looked gratefully at the small flame, then he looked confused.
“How did you get that going?” David asked with all sincerity. Adam explained to him carefully. When he finished, the last companion woke.
Carl looked around, he was clearly energetic despite having just woken up. “What’s the party for? And how in the world is that fire alive?” Adam just sighed and explained it all over again.
John spoke when he was done. “Now that we are all awake, and utterly confused, let’s begin walking towards home. We should be able to find a boat passing, but while you guys get ready to leave, I am going to remove a few layers of clothing, because otherwise I will melt.”
His companions looked at each other, but John had already begun to remove his coats. They all packed up what Carl had salvaged from the vehicle, along with the coats, and footwear, John had taken off. John, who was now barefoot, led the trek.
On the trek, John studied his feet intently. They had taken on a light blue tint from something, and they were considerably thicker, he did not feel the sharp ice at all.
Adam stopped, “Okay, just a moment guys, I have to remove some layers also.”
On saying this, he proceeded to remove some jackets and all his footwear. Putting his stuff in his sack, he continued walking. Carl and David, followed behind him, carefully studying the heated footprints of water he left behind.

Genetic lab, Chicago:
The scientist woke up on a couch, he was covered in a ton of blankets. He looked around himself, there was a tray of food within his reach and it was covered with many delicacies. He picked one out that resembled a bone and began to nibble at it.
A tall woman walks in, seeing him, she smiled. “You have done very well, you have accomplished the task assigned. It came at a great cost to your physical appearance, but I think that it does not matter anymore.”
The scientist, who was utterly confused at his leader‘s words, looked around for a mirror. His leader pulled one out of her pocket and handed it to him. He took the mirror and, taking a deep breath, looked.
His appearance was alien to him, but he smiled. He had taken the right DNA for himself. He felt very strong in this new form, his sense of smell was amazing. The human-fox face turned to the beaming woman. “Did you want an injection?”
“Yes, and very soon. As will every other member of the Sirius gang, although some will have to be limited because of their public duties. I would also like a fox, if you don’t mind, I would prefer to have an animal that matches my personality. When Samuel gets back, he’s going to want a German shepherd, to match his ring.”
“My lady, no offense, but wouldn’t a cat match your personality better?”
She glared at the innocent looking fox. “Do not talk to me about cats. The gang in Quincy is evil enough. They will pay for the diamond, with their lives.” The fox bowed his head. “Don’t look so down Jones, your time will come. There are a number of them, at least ten by our count. You’ll get your fun.”
“How do you get the count of ten?”
“They could not have broken into half of the government controlled businesses in Massachusetts with any less than ten. Unless one of them is a techno geek, another is a scientist, along with one extra strong person, and a quick-draw who specializes in guns. Oh, and the scientist would have to have quite a bit of strength to get that diamond out with the strong one.”
“I see...” Jones did not look too sure.
“Of course, why wouldn’t you?”
Jones did not have a reply to that, so he changed the topic. “I am going to need to start on your injection, but first I need the supplies, obviously. And I am going to need a lot more help to make a lot.”
“It’s already being done.”

Quincy Massachusetts:
Once they were at the kitchen table, Jim got up and gave everyone something to drink. It was very hard to place anything on the table due to the diamond, so everyone just held their cups or cans. Clara got up and set her drink on the counter, “I don’t know about you guys, but I need meat of some kind fast.” The others just looked at each other.
Tom spoke up, “We need to find out what has made the changes in the three of us, if not four. I say three Matt, because you have not shown any changes in your personality whatsoever.”
Matt gave a wistful look, “It just figures. You guys go through some weird mutation and leave me out.” He smiled at his own joke, Tom just gave a look that had ‘shut up’ written all over it.
Clara shoved a chicken leg into the microwave, grabbed her drink and sat back down. She took a look at what she had before she drank. She glared at Jim, he had given her milk. “You are really enjoying this aren’t you? At least you don’t have the chance of growing a tail. That’s probably what you’re thinking right now. Meanwhile, you sister is no longer human, maybe you’ll be able to take charge of the gang.”
Jim would have protested, but Tom joined in quickly. “I am sure it was an accident, Clara, forgive him this time. The important matter is that we find a way to change back. I promise, right here, that I will not leave this table for any other reason than to help with my research on the problem we are having. Meanwhile, I can only come to the fantastical solution that magic has effected us.”
Jim stared into space, “When a scientist admits to magic, you can begin to expect Diamond-Eye-” He would have continued, but at that moment the diamond on the table flashed.
Tom, still staring at the diamond, turned his head without turning his attention. “What was that name?”
Jim looked confused, “Diamond-Eye.” Another flash. “She was the goddess of the cat-people in the book I was reading.” The diamond began to glow. Clara looked out the window.
“It’s only the sun rising, we were up pretty early for having gone to bed so late.”
Snoring interrupted the conversation, Matt had fallen asleep. They all rolled their eyes and Clara continued, “Point proven. I’ll take him home.”
Tom, who was not about to protest her lack of strength or her strange looks, did the perfect imitation of a fish. Jim, however, was not so smart. “What about your face?”
Clara just glared at him. She went over, picked up Matt, who was surprisingly light. She nearly dropped him, she also had an adjustment of strength to go with her face, she though grimly. Fortunately, the near drop just made her strength look like she wasn’t as strong as she found out, but Matt woke up.
He blinked for a moment, then, realizing where he was, he jumped out of Clara’s arms and rushed to the bathroom. Clara stared as he went. He came back with a disappointed look. “No mutation. Man, I am doomed to stay human forever.”
Clara just gave him an annoyed look. “Be glad about it.”
“Why? You have enhanced features a movie director would die for, increased strength, and a taste for meat and milk.” Clara glared at him for the first bit of his speech, then put her face in her hands for the second.
“I was not planning to say that, nor reveal it until it was time, how did you find out?” Her voice was a bit muffled, but with her rage, clearly understood.
Jim looked astonished. “Does this mean we can arm-wrestle now?”
Clara, finding a way out of her misery, smiled and accepted. If she lost, it would be obvious that it wasn’t a large strength increase, but something that could be done through exercise and training. The four gang members went into the living room and Clara and Jim sat down at the coffee table. Clara decided to do her best and not fake it. They put their arms on the table and began to try to push the other’s hand down. This took a long time, as far as these matches go. After three minutes of pushing, Jim had broken a sweat, Clara got concerned, she was barely breathing hard. She was working hard, no doubt about that, but there was no visible physical strain, her stamina had also increased. Jim’s hand began to lower, Clara pushed harder, his hand touched the table. They both got up, Jim’s arm was soaked by the strain on his muscle.
Tom, who had been taking notes for some weird reason Clara did not understand, closed his notebook and walked back to the kitchen. He called for them all to come in. Clara smiled, she knew there was a reason that she named him second in command. “I have deduced that your strength has increased a lot.”
Clara interrupted during the pause. “Thank you Professor Einstein, any thing else you’d like to add? Perhaps my, INCREASING TEMPER?!”
Matt chortled, Tom just looked away. “I was about to say by how much, but if you want to yell and scream at me, be my guest.”
Clara looked down, she sat down in a chair to get the eyes off of her. She sighed, “I am just getting frustrated with being the only one here with such a large problem. Now anyone on the street is going to recognize my face. And I can’t just stay in here, I need to help you guys with the robberies. I have turned off over 100 alarms for you guys, most of them more than three times, and I have turned away innumerable cameras. What would you do without me?”
Jim looked around in the silence that followed, “Get arrested?”
Even Clara smiled at that. “It’s unarguable, but true.”
Tom cleared his throat and spoke, “Would you like to hear by about how much your strength has increased?” Clara nodded at him. “I have calculated that, by the effort it would have taken for you to lift Matt yesterday, to the effort it took you today, along with the effort of wrestling Jim,” he opened his notebook. “Your original strength has been about tripled.”
Clara’s jaw dropped, she was good at math, but it still would have taken her a while to figure that out. “But that would mean,” she did a quick look-up in her head. “That would mean that I have the proportional strength of a leopard.” She favored cats above anything else, she knew almost everything there was to know about them. She also had a previous evaluation of her strength by Tom, and in her spare time, she did calculations of proportional strengths of what a half-cat of some type would have. This helped her relax before a major robbery. But even with all her fantasies, what was happening to her was still too much. She looked up at Tom, who looked like he was trying to eat an invisible ostrich egg. “Can you reverse it?”
Tom forced his mouth shut. “I do not know.” He gave a confused look at Jim, who was currently trying to lift the diamond. “What in the world are you doing?”
Jim looked up. “There’s a book under here, I want to see what it is.” Clara got up and lifted the diamond with ease, but holding it was wearing her out fast. Jim grabbed the book, while Tom took notes on something else. Clara put the diamond back on the table.
Jim was already looking through the book. “It looks like some sort of family tree. Most of it is in a weird language, but the last four names are clear.”
Tom looked up, but Matt spoke, “Well, what are they?”
Jim looked down at the book, and dropped it, a horrified look on his face. Matt picked the book up. He began reading the names out loud eyes getting wider each name. “Tom Findler, Matt Gorson, and these last two are marked so that they’re brother and sister, Jim and Clara Mozveathys.”

The Arctic circle:
They had been traveling for a few days without rest, this would not be noticeable except for the watch John had, but they were not tired. They had taken off their heavy layers, and some even more, but they were not cold. Adam could breath flames that ate even ice, but he did not burn his mouth. David had wings about four feet long each, and still growing. Carl seemed to have limitless energy, despite the continuous travel. And John didn’t feel cold in any way, shape, or form, and his skin was hardening and turning blue.
John shook his head thinking about this. Samuel must have used a prototype of a mutation gun, John hadn’t heard of these coming out, but it was the only explanation. He looked at Carl, who was completely against setting up camp because he still had plenty of energy. The other two however, were worn down. They had not eaten anything since the beginning of their travels. Water was not a problem, all they needed to do was put some ice over Adam’s flame.
Carl was outvoted, the tents were pulled out and set up. John looked up at the Arctic sun, it would be setting in a few days and he didn’t want to miss it. He set his alarm for the time the sun would be setting, he didn’t want to take any chances. David walked up to him.
“I would like permission to fly around, if it is possible with my wings.”
John looked up at him, “Permission granted, you might as well make use of them.” He watched as David walked off to find a place to take off. Then he went into his tent to sleep.
His dream was interrupted in the middle by another dream. A great golden dragon stood in front of him. John looked away, and saw Carl and Adam right next to him. He looked around for David, but he was no where to be found.
David is not here, because he is not asleep, until then I cannot reach him till I have reached my full power.
John looked at the golden dragon, he heard him speak in his head. He turned to Carl, “Pinch me please.” Carl did this almost happily, John winced in pain. A laughing broke out in his mind.
This dream is not over till I deem it to be so. So while we are here, I am going to bring you into knowledge of what is happening. I am called Dracopoten, the great god of the dragon beings. I have summoned enough power to bring myself to this planet in order to stop an evil from taking control of this world as it did in ours. In order to do this, I have talked with Diamond-Eye, who has arrived also. Some of the Fallen Ones have arrived in this world, their choice is unknown in the siding of this matter. This has all happened under the authority of The Great One, the One you know as God. Do not doubt his power, he can undo all of the events that have happened, but, like you, he has given us free will.
At this time, David entered the dream. Dracopoten informed him of all that had passed in his absence. David took it all very well. Dracopoten nodded his head and continued.
Diamond-Eye and myself have chosen some among humans, to become our servants. Whom Diamond-Eye has chosen is not my concern, yet. We have limited ourselves on how many chosen, the Fallen Ones will not have such a limit.
Carl interrupted, “Okay, who the heck is Diamond-Eye?”
Dracopoten smiled. She is the goddess of cats, her people are very powerful in magic. You will find that all cats have a knack at magic, along with being natural fighters and hunters along with thieves. She has chosen a number, one of which will be her chosen champion to lead them.
I have done the same, one of you is my chosen champion. You will all have the intelligence of dragons and humans, along with the powers of dragons, as some of you have seen. You shall become very powerful in magic, each in your own specialty. I am going to have to teach you in this, along with speeding up your formation. You left my presence faster than I expected, but as long as you remain in the Frozen Circle, what you know as the Arctic circle, then I will be able to talk to you. But the moment you leave, it will be harder to communicate with you until my full power on this planet is reached.
John was still very confused. The dragon had been using terms he did not understand. “What kind of evil were you talking about previously? If you are a god, then shouldn’t you have been able to take care of it?”
There are some things that ‘a god’ cannot do. The Great One is the only One who is able to do anything. He limited our power in order to keep us under His authority, but it still did not stop some gods and goddesses from turning from Him. We only knew of a few Fallen Ones, but a time ago, a Fallen goddess arrived and darkened the mythic world with a power we did not understand. Her power was of darkness, and she had fallen farther than any we knew. Not even Diamond-Eye in her glorious light could stop her. The Great One had warned us of her, but even we are ignorant once in a while. We discovered however, that there was someone in this world who could make the darkness fall back. But until then, all in our world is frozen in darkness and death. And none are alive, but none are fully dead.
I am sad and ashamed to say also, that the cats are the ones who are most effected by this evil. Diamond-Eye has been weeping because of the draining of power her cats are suffering, along with the loss of many lives.
They had many lives before the coming of this darkness, but when it came, Diamond-Eye’s first resistance caused her people to suffer most, the Fallen One caused the cats to slowly lose their lives, and drain their powers for when they wake up.
My people would have suffered along-side them, but I was afraid of the same punishment. The dragon let a tear fall.
John was now even more confused, but it was better understood. He had always taken cats as self-centered creatures who had no care for any other species. Now that he heard that the cats were the first to resist the destroying power, he was weeping at the end of the story, though he did not know why. There were no cats he knew personally.
That is not the only thing, along with the permanent draining of their powers, cats on this planet will be effected first if the power finds its way here. We came here following two of the Fallen Ones who attempted to flee the darkness and start new in this world, we can only hope that they will help us for the time being. We came for different reasons, we came to find the one who can heal the mythic world.
“What about elves and dwarves and other beings as such?” Carl didn’t like the lack of mention of the well-known creatures of fantasy.
We do not know much about such humanoids. The one who knows the most about humanoids is Diamond-Eye.
“If all the gods and goddesses are animal gods, what power is this Fallen One?” David asked this, he had been trying to figure it out the whole time.
We believe she rules the flying mammals. She knows more of her own powers than we know of ours put together. Her people are not effected in any way by her power, and they search the worlds for our people. We can only hope they have not found any.
Back to the original subject, I am going to finish your transformation, and begin your training in magic. On saying this, the dragon took a deep breath and breathed on them with golden flames.
John fell back in agony, the fire was too hot to bear. When the dragon stopped, John was very relieved and fainted.