“Feck me.” Cillian panics. “Feck you jammin on me now?” he asks the Zip-rifle, half expecting it to answer.

With a grunt and click, he manages to open the rifle. With a shaky hand, he loads another bullet and takes aim.

“Crazy feckin Russian.” he exclaims from his perch atop several crates. His barrel follows the fenriromorph Alpha as it rampages in circles. The beast slams its head into crates to throw Boriss off, but the Russian continues to keep his grip.

Eventually, the monster stops to raise its arms to reach the top of its head, only to fall short as the interlocking scales restrict its arm movements. Using the struggle as an opportunity, Boris lights another shotgun directly into its face.

The beast roars in agony, but still continues seemingly unhindered.

Then, out of nowhere, the beast stops its movement. It spread its legs and seems to brace. Boriss, using this opportunity, retrieves another shotgun and takes aim. At the same time, the fenriromorphs' armored spiked tail rises up.

Slightly panicking, Cillian aims his rifle to the tail. He fires at it, and hits. The bullet loudly pings off the scale. Boriss, hearing the sound, notices the tail. He drops the shotgun and jumps off the head, narrowly dodging the tail strike as it slams into the fenriromorphs head. The strike makes contact and the monster falls face first into the ground.

After the fall, the beast roars in even more pain. When it rises, it is down to only two good eyes. One of the destroyed eyes has an officer sword sticking deep into it.

While it rages and screams, Irmgard rushes away from its feet. The woman had timed the beast's fall perfectly and positioned herself for the stab.

The fenriromorph raises its head and roars loudly. Its two eyes ascertain the battlefield for threats. Then, its eyes fall on Cillian. It roars in his direction and rampages towards him.

“Shite!” he curses. With a struggle, he opens the Zip-rifle and inserts the last bullet. He raises the rifle and aims it at one of the two good eyes. He pulls the trigger… and the bullet bounces off a horn.

Undeterred by the sound, the monstrosity rushes towards him with a vengeance. Just as it is about to reach his position, something large slams into the side of its skull with enough force to veer it into a pile of crates.

Not a moment later, the beast regains its bearing and once again stands fully erect. Cillians gasps as a grinning fenriromorph is latching on the Alphas snout using the bullet holes as leverage. Still gaping, the fenriromorph pulls out the officer's sword with one arm, shoves a lit pipe bomb into the eye, and then pushes the bomb deeper into the skull using the sword before hopping off and landing directly next to cillian.

The fenriromorph then coolly raises both its arms with middle fingers extended.

A muted explosion goes off, followed by the Fenriromorph Alpha finally falling for the last time.

________________________________________________________

Just as the Alpha’s face explodes, the pressure on my noggin completely disappears. The monster's body falls to the floor with a loud whump. Only then do I deign to lower my fingers.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

Well, that takes care of that.

I glance at my new form.

I was kinda hoping I’d turn back with the boss dead. Maybe I’ll get to turn back if I finish the test?

“Q-Quasi. Is that still you?”

I turn to Cillian and nod.

“Grraaagg Greeoggg.”

My attempt to speak is met with garbled nonsense.

I sigh.

I walk up to him and grab him by the arm.

“What are yo-shite!”

Then I hear him curse as I lift him up to my shoulder. I hop off the crates and slow my descent using my claws. When I land, I lower the Scot to the floor.

“Ughhh, my stomach,” Cillian touches his belly, “Warn me next time you’re gonna do somethin like dat.”

I roll my six eyes and start walking to the corpse. Cillian follows after a second.

____________________________________________________

My arrival is met with Panic by both Boriss and Irmgard, but the presence of Cillian walking calmly next to me puts them at ease. Well, as much as ease as my current form allows.

“Comrade Quasi,” Boriss grins, “You have grown taller.”

“Taller he says,” Cillian shakes his head, “He’s turned into a feckin Monster.”

“Bah,” Boriss waves his hand, “is tiny change. You are still Quasi, yes?”

I nod.

“See. Tiny change.”

Cillian groans.

Irmgard steps forward with a dagger drawn.

“We should not be treating such a change lightly.” Irmgard clutches tightly on the dagger, “for all we know, he can lose his mind and become a threat at any moment.”

Cillian shrugs. “True, but he also finished off the Alpha and saved our lives.”

“Da. Is fluffy comrade. Is fine.”

Irmgard frowns as she continues to look at me with her guard up.

Honestly, her reaction is the most normal of them. Boriss I understand. The damn Russian is a weirdo. But Cillian, I would think him to take her side.

Well, it doesn't matter. We’re almost done here. Just one more thing to do.

I growl at Irmgard and then point upwards.

She stares at me for a long moment, and then nods. “I’ll go activate the elevator. You two,” she glances at Cillian and Boriss, “keep an eye on him in case he loses his mind. Scream loudly if he mauls you so I can be warned.”

She turns and starts walking away.

“Damn, she’s a heartless bitch,” Cillian exclaims.

“Da.” Boriss nods. “Very sexy.”

While Irmgard goes to operate the elevator, I take the moment to better assess my body. First, I begin with stretches that test how far I can move my limbs. Surprisingly, my limbs have just as much range of motion as a human. Except for the legs. The digitigrade legs aren't able to move like a human can, but it has far more explosive power and speed. Next, I move the tail, which isn’t actually that useful. Sure, it's long and spiked, but the muscles on it are rather weak. Using it as a weapon would be wasteful. Far better to continue to use the tail for balance.

Next, I flex my hands- with difficulty. Though I have a hand mimicking a human with extendable claws, I do find the movement quite stiff. The hands seem to be designed for clawing and grabbing, and not for dexterity. Still, they do have the full range of motion as humans.

Next, I start to play with my six eyes. Apparently, each and every eye can move independently of each other.

Just as I start to move on to my mouth and teeth, I feel the elevator lurch upward.

I look up and grin towards my approaching freedom.