Gideon stared at the screen of his sister’s computer, tapping his index finger on the mouse without clicking it.

He had been searching for data regarding Chimera, and his technomancy was working well with his sister’s kit.

Sadly, he wasn’t finding much of anything about the heroine.

“Someone like that doesn’t just appear, there’s an accident, or a death, something.”

It was the same with all those hero types, a galvanizing moment that pushed them into herodom.

Yet, one little girl with the power to shapeshift appeared out of nowhere and no one did a story about it at least?

He recalled her talking about a girl that she knew that motivated her to become a hero, but nothing about a girl’s death or an experiment was found in any file.

Gideon thought back on his fight with the monster girl.

She displayed none of the signs of someone who was adolescent. She fought and reacted much better than someone who simply started hero work.

Maybe she was like me?

A spy, an agent for another organization, maybe even a supervillain.

Not that foolish doctor though, even his hairbrained schemes wouldn’t create something like her.

Either way, the search on the net would prove fruitless, if she simply didn’t exist beforehand.

He felt his arms retreat back into his body, no longer connected to the machinery in front of him.

She only beat me because there was no tech to use, and even that television was only equipped with that launcher.

Next time though, it’ll be different. I won’t underestimate her, and I’ll be sure to make her fight on my battlefield.

He grinned, a snarl from his wolf side growling along with him.

She’s my prey, and I'll make her pay for what she did!

…

Sarah felt a shiver as she dodged another speedy punch from Chase.

It became a regular thing for their group after the meeting with Elastiman.

Training with each other, training with robots and other heroes, even training with the big league members like Ms Magica and Captain Asta.

Those days ended rather painfully, but it was still good training.

Couldn’t get a damn hit in, and his gloves blocked me from getting his DNA.

Chimera had tried to get even a sample of the planet’s strongest, yet she only got close enough to shake his hand.

And his damn suit was skin tight.

Still, the training helped, and she even got to use more of her gifts in actual combat.

She still didn’t have a use for the ‘gift’ that Gideon was so kind to give, but she figured Meghan would be able to help her figure that out.

It was pretty amazing from what she glanced at though.

Technomancy, the ability to manipulate and speak with machines.

How did someone even gain power like that?

She knew that Gideon’s DNA was a mess of a number of different things, but this power.

It felt natural, not forced like his lycanthropy.

That though, was a nice gift.

It seemed to fit her body like a glove, probably due to her ability to shift anyway.

The power it gave when she went wolfy was exponential, and it got a bit stronger as she fought.

It was actually the one power that got her close enough to almost touch the Captain.

Still, no skin or hair to grab.

Such a shame.

The fur felt nice though, and she couldn't help but pet her own ears after some down time between fights.

How does it feel this good?!

She finally got how dogs and cats loved this feeling, it was almost hypnotic.

Then Glow started doing it for her and it felt angelic.

“Mmm, right there.”

“I’m surprised you’re keeping your wolf ears.”

Glow tilted her head as Chimera moved closer to her hands.

“They’re better than human ears and they feel great, why wouldn’t I?”

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

“Because of this.”

Bullet sat down with a dog whistle in his hand.

“I wanted to test this and see if it works, so sorry for this.”

He blew the whistle and Chimera felt herself yelp from the pain.

“Ouch! The hell! Stop it!”

He did, and the blessed silence that followed was magical.

“Okay, good to know this will work on Gideon, thanks for the test Chimera.”

“Damnit Bullet, a little warning next time!”

He waved back at her without looking as he joined Chase in her jogging.

“Jeez, that guy is kind of an ass.”

“Only to you though.”

“Why?!”

“Got no clue for that answer. Anyway, It’s getting to the end of our training time, and our next mission starts tomorrow.”

Chimera got up as she rubbed her ears one last time.

“I’ll see you guys later then.”

“Chimera.”

Sarah turned to look at Glow.

“Do you need someone to walk you home?”

Chimera smiled back.

“I live somewhere nearby, so not really.”

“Oh…”

Glow seemed a bit distraught about that, and Chimera couldn’t help but feel like she kicked a metaphorical puppy.

“W-Well, if you want to walk me back I wouldn’t be against it.”

Glow looked up, her power showing a bit of her turmoil as she tried to both hide her smile and show non-chalance.

“Well, if you insist.”

“I didn’t reall-,”

“-Are you coming?”

Glow took her hand as Chimera felt her smaller body slowly being dragged away.

Until she turned her feet into spheres and twisted around to face the front.

Alright, so my friend wants to walk me home to our lab in an abandoned warehouse.

She smiled up at Glow.

What could possibly go wrong?

…

The walk through New Terra was nice.

Chimera felt the reassuring grip from her friend as she scanned the alleyways and the dark places for signs of trouble.

It was very much a big sister kind of thing.

Never felt this before, it’s actually kind of nice.

Sure, being the big sister was important work, and she knew that for the longest time, she was responsible for her brother’s protection and future.

Leaving that to someone else just felt wrong to her.

But receiving it like this?

Chimera couldn’t call it anything but pleasant.

“Is your home really in such a dangerous place, Chimera? This is usually where we find drug dens and smuggling operations.”

Funny, never heard anything about that from Meghan, or Aden come to think of it.

She thought about the homeless man who lived inside the warehouse with them.

His name was Fred, and by the way he carried himself he seemed to be ex-military.

He seemed nice even.

“I don’t think it’s dangerous here. We even met a nice man named Fred that lives near us.”

“Who is he? Did you know him at all before?”

Chimera shook her head, “nope, he lived in the warehouse with us, he just uses the otherside.”

“...Otherside? Warehouse?”

Hmm, maybe this walk home was a bad idea.

Still, it wouldn’t hurt to have one of her teammates know where she was staying.

Especially if the death children learned about her family.

“Sure, let me show you!”

She started pulling Glow along as they turned a corner in the port district of New Terra.

It was a pretty rusty building all things considered, but Chimera was starting to like the place.

The DNA she would find around the place was always different, and the various bits of weed and plant life around the place gave it a wild feel, like nature was retaking the place that was left by man.

Maybe I could plant some trees, I did get some nice samples from the park.

As Glow was looking over the ruin that was her home, Chimera pulled a bit of biomass into her hand and launched three little seeds into the ground.

It felt like she was connected to them, and a smile crossed her lips at the implications.

Little me's, maybe in the future. Now though, just some nice trees that can hit away some rowdy bad guys will suffice.

She thought of the possibilities of making clones for herself, but she felt like she was missing something for that to happen.

Maybe some hero with a duplicator power… or a magic clone like Ms. Magica makes.

She was getting distracted.

“Here she is! My home!”

She turned to her friend with a grin on her face.

“Wait till you see the inside!”

As she pulled Glow, whose face was a mix with an ‘O’ face and a worried-horrified hybrid, She said hi to their resident hobo as he waved at her with a grandfatherly smile.

“Hey Mr. Fred!”

“Hey there little one, brought a friend this time?”

“Yep, showing her around the place.”

He grinned at her, “it's always good to spend time with friends. Just make sure to be a good host.”

“Will do Mr. Fred.”

He nodded at them as he shuffled his blankets, newer ones by the looks of them.

“Did Meg give you those?”

He nodded, “said she got something called a 3-D Printa or something, and started making me these nice blankets and a coat. She even said she’d make a house for me soon in the corner, you know?”

“Woah, she’s going all out then.”

Fred grinned, a few missing teeth showing through his smile.

“Don’t let me keep you two, kids should enjoy each other’s company.”

“Bye Mr. Fred!”

“Umm… goodbye sir, and thank you.”

He waved back as he settled himself next to the open door of the warehouse, a look in his eyes as he scanned the streets and alleyways.

Like a sentinel, protecting his fort.

It was an odd addition to their house, but Chimera didn’t mind.

He was a nicer man, and they had plenty of space.

“Well, let's meet Meg!”

She could feel Glow’s worry start to spike as she brought her inside the Lab.