Chimera Time 6 (Patreon)

We’d been living in this new house for a little over a week. Most of that time was spent either christening different parts of the house (and the basement, the backyard, the pool, and the hot tub) or getting the hang of this power of mine. Of the forms I’d already discovered, the first one (the one I’m calling Ravager) was the only one I turned back into during the week. The Inferno one was too great a risk inside, and the Razortail was just too big. Plus I didn’t know if Siberian removing the tail would still be present when I changed back.

So I’d focused on Ravager as well as trying to discover new forms. So far I’d found ones I’d dubbed Rath, Snarl, and Prowl. Rath was a big humanoid tiger with a single Wolverine claw in each arm. Snarl a somewhat gangly werewolf. While Prowl had a better nose than a bloodhound, no eyes, and came pretty damn close to knuckle walking.

The basement was big enough for Kori and I to engage in some hand to hand sparring, both in my surprisingly capable human form as well as various alien forms. Rath I didn’t, as even just standing still I struggled to contain the alien’s urge to throw a punch, but Ravager, Snarl, and Prowl I did, to both our delight. Kori got to practice against several different body types, I got to get some practice in different bodies. The fact that sparring always resulted in the two of us fucking in the basement had absolutely nothing to do with our enjoyment of it. Honest.

Still, eventually all good things must come to an end, in this case our honeymoon period ended with a guest that kept ringing the doorbell at five in the morning. Barely bothering to throw on a robe, I made my way to the front door, promises of gruesome murder that would give Jack Slash ideas muttered under my breath.

Throwing it open, I stared at our visitor with a growled, “What?”

“Hola Stud!”

Of-fucking-course it was Sombra. Who else did we know that would be this much of an ass to wake us up an hour before our alarm clock?

“What do you want, Sombra?” I asked, rubbing at my eyes with the hand that wasn’t holding the door.

“What, you aren’t going to invite me in? How rude! You’re lucky you’re cute.”

“If the next words out of your mouth aren’t why you’re here, I’m closing the door on you and locking the deadbolt.”

“Oh fine! Remember that job I said you’d like?” she held up a trio of odd looking tickets. “I finally managed to talk someone into giving you an audition.”

I tried to focus on the words on the tickets, but it was too damn early and I hadn’t had any caffeine yet. The embarrassed squeak from Sombra was enough to draw my attention from the tickets to see that she was looking past me with a furious blush on her face and an embarrassed, almost hungry look in her eyes.

“Dios Mio, and I thought I was shameless,” she muttered, finally prompting me to turn around to see what she was looking at.

Turns out that Kori had come down as well, without bothering to put on anything but what she’d gone to bed in. Thus everything was on full display, her breasts, the hickeys I’d left, her glorious abs, her still puffy and dripping pussy from when he’d finally run out of steam maybe an hour or two ago.

“Sombra? Is something wrong?” Kori asked with a stretch and a yawn, treating both of us to the sight of her massive melons being pushed out.

“I want to taste her so bad,” I barely heard Sombra whisper.

“Nothing’s wrong, she just can’t pick a more considerate time to share a potential job opening,” I told Kori before turning back to the petite latina. “Next time come at a more reasonable time. Good night.”

With that I closed the door and locked it, then turning to Kori and picking her up in my arms. The bed called. If Sombra wanted to talk, she could wait until a decent hour.

[hr][/hr]

“So now that you’re both decent,” Sombra opened from the dining table several hours later, despite neither Kori nor I having let her in. “I mentioned having lined up a job I think you’ll enjoy.”

“Does it have anything to do with you entering uninvited?” I asked as I got the coffee maker started.

“That’s just part of my charm, Stud. Anyway, the job. There’s an organization of people with super-tech, Tinkers, that run an unofficial fight club for capes. The gambling that goes on over these fights are more than the yearly budget of some small countries. Fighters get a flat payment for each fight plus a small cut from the bets on the fight.”

While the coffee percolated, I considered what Sombra told me. It certainly sounded like fun, but I needed a lot more information before I committed one way or the other.

“What’s the specifics of the fights? How widely known is it? Do people die in them? How’s the medical and dental?” I asked while impatiently waiting for the coffee to finish brewing.

“Two capes walk in, they fight until knockout or surrender. It’s televised and streamed worldwide, it’s easily the single biggest ‘franchise’ in the world. On rare occasions accidents happen, but the arena’s loaded with so much tinkertech that actual deaths are extremely rare. Not sure about insurance, but they’ve got three different capes with healing powers on hand at any one time,” Sombra easily answered as Kori floated into the kitchen.

Now, don’t get me wrong, the last week plus with Kori was easily the best of my life. But the only downside in our relationship this far was the fact that Kori isn’t just a morning person. Morning people think Kori’s too energetic in the morning. Me? While I’m not dead without it, I’m not going to be very productive until I’ve had a cup of coffee in me.

“Buenos dias, Hotstuff,” Sombra greeted Kori.

“Good morning Sombra. How are you doing?” Kori asked, all but bouncing on her toes despite hovering an inch off the ground.

“I’m doing good,” Sombra said, though I could see the hints of a blush on her face. Apparently despite Kori not saying anything, Sombra was still remembering the show she got when she showed up on our doorstep that morning.

Forcing back a smirk as I poured myself a cup of the close enough to finished coffee, I drank it down both to give myself more time to get my amusement under control and to offer the same courtesy to Sombra.

“Would you like some breakfast? I could make something,” Kori offered.

“Well, if you’re offering-”

“It’s okay, Kori. I’ll make some omelets,” I interrupted. Kori might have meant well, but her cooking did not mix well with human taste buds. I speak from experience.

Pulling out a pack of mushrooms, some andouille sausage, and a carton of eggs, I set a skillet to heat while I prepped the mushrooms and sausage. Listening to the discussion between Kori and Sombra (the latter of whom was trying to quietly ask about our bedroom activities and the former answered without bothering to lower her voice) with half an ear, I couldn’t help the amused smile at the increasing frustration in Sombra’s voice.

I’m not the best chef/cook, but even I can handle three omelets. Placing the plates in front of the girls, I sat down with my own and asked, “So what else can you tell us about this fight club? Assuming that’s not breaking the first rule.”

“What?” Sombra asked, looking at me in confusion.

“Apparently that movie didn’t make it here,” I muttered to myself, “There was a movie about an illegal fight club back home. The first rule: don’t talk about fight club. The second rule: do not. Talk about fight club.”

Sombra nodded before swallowing her mouthful of omelete, “Nothing like that. They started out as a group of Tinkers selling their goods called Toybox. On a whim one of them recorded a cape fight and streamed it on the internet and they started making serious money. Now while they still sell tinkertech, it’s mostly up as possible rewards for fighters or gambling on the outcome of fights.

“So my recommendation: take the chance, fight some matches, see how you do. If the crowd likes you enough, you could make more in a few fights than most people make in a year.”

Well… that was certainly a very compelling argument. Plus it wasn’t like I had any other jobs lined up unless I wanted to join Magneto’s posse.

[hr][/hr]

“Ah, you must be Felix,” the balding fat man said as I walked into the office.

“Yeah, you the organizer Sombra said’ll be interviewing me?” I asked, trying to keep my emotions out of my voice. The man huffing and puffing as he got out of his office chair was an extreme disappointment. He looked like a chunky potato in a suit.

“Yes, please follow me. I’m Daniel Brown, I’m in charge of making sure that all potential fighters have the right kind of mindset. We don’t want anyone who will take a loss badly enough to cause actual harm. A bit of a show in the ring is fine, but actually attacking your opponent after the victory has been declared will get you dropped faster than a speedster doing the hundred meter dash.”

I nodded in understanding as I followed him to a gym with what looked like a boxing ring if it had come out of Star Trek in the far corner. Glancing at my interviewer, I waited as he waddled over to a chair and waved to one a short ways over. Taking the offered seat, I waited for him to catch his breath and ask his questions.

“So, Sombra never said what your power is,” he opened.

“Shapeshifter, I’ve got a bunch of different forms I can turn into, I’ve found…” I paused to count the forms I’d managed, “six so far.”

“Describe them.”

So I did, I went over the basics of each of my forms, what they were capable of and how they affected my mindset when I was in them. He had me turn into a couple, though I told him the Razortail wasn’t really suited for the room, because it was much too big and not that I was still afraid that if I turned into it I’d start bleeding out.

“Well, from what you’ve shown me you certainly have potential to be a crowd pleaser. Before I have one of our regulars give you a test run, do you already have a cape name?” he asked.

“No, I’ve had my powers for less than three weeks. I’ve been considering either Chimera or Legion, but haven’t settled on either,” I answered as we stood up.

“Well it’s good that you’ve given it some thought. I’ll bring it up with my bosses, and they’ll see if either are already taken. Anyway, before you go, I’m going to want to see you in action. So that ring over there, you’re going to spar with a couple guys in three of your forms.”

I nodded before heading over to the ring as from the opposite end a caucasian guy with a tattered trenchcoat and a manhole cover strapped to his left arm like a shield came out a door I hadn’t noticed.

“You the new guy?” Manhole Shield asked.

“Yup. You going to be testing me? Anything I should know?”

“Chunky’ll declare when the fight’s over, nothing lethal, basic bitch stuff like that. So show me what ya got!”

Reaching into the reservoir of power within me, I grabbed one of my forms and pulled it to the forefront. I fell forward as my body became immensely top heavy, my feet stretching out to become digitigrade, my vision disappearing as my senses of smell and hearing took over. The change finished, I rolled my neck as my now alien brain took over, the sounds and smells forming a three dimensional map of my surroundings.

Turning into Prowl was always weird the first few seconds, shifting from almost exclusively visual to a mix of audio/olfactory means of perceiving the world a bit jarring.

Wow, and I thought Cheetah’s transformation was weird, the man that smelled of old, faint sewage on his arm said.

Alright, both of you ready? The man that smelled of salt, exhaustion, and nicotine called from outside the ring.

I gave an exaggerated nod, the gesture not natural to this form, as the other man replied, Yup.

As soon as the permission was given, I leapt across the ring, clawed hands outstretched to grab my opponent and hurl him out of the ring. Instead, he lifted the makeshift shield, catching my claws, before bringing his free arm up in an uppercut. The amount of force in that punch knocked me onto my back, and I quickly rolled back onto my front, now far more cautious.

Dayum, you got quite a jaw there. I actually felt that.

In retrospect, I should have expected someone who was using a manhole cover for a shield to have enhanced strength. Still, as he kept his makeshift shield between us, I considered alternate attack plans. He was clearly strong enough that trying to beat through the shield wasn’t going to work, not with this form anyway.

Pacing back and forth, I waited until his muscles tensed in preparation to make a move. When they did, I leapt. Not for him, but for the edge of the ring behind him. Landing on the mat, I immediately turned around and leapt for hi…

He’d moved faster than I anticipated, the flat of his shield slamming into my face as he spun around. Landing on the ground, I shook my head to chase away the dizziness, only to quickly roll away as he brought his foot down where my head had been.

Good tactic. Basic and predictable, but good.

Rising to my feet, I reconsidered my approach. He was faster than I’d anticipated, and he was certainly strong enough to knock me around while in Prowl’s form. Hell he hit even harder than Kori did when we’d sparred. Much as it ate at me, I wasn’t going to win as Prowl.

With a snarl that had both men tensing slightly, I pushed down Prowl’s form. Shifting back into human form, I blinked and rubbed at my eyes as I got used to having them again.

“Fuck that’s always weird,” I groaned.

“Calling it so soon?” my sparring partner asked, slightly surprised.

“To be honest, that’s not my best combat form, it’s real talents lie elsewhere. But I figured it would be best to start small.”

“I’m going to take a guess, whatever it does instead of seeing makes it good for tracking? You made a buncha noises like my hunting dog when he’s trying to find pheasants. Either way, got anything else?”

I just smirked, reaching for Rath. “I think you’ll like this one.”