Liam. Can you hear me? Please get up. I need you. I can’t do this without you.

‘’One down. That was easier than expected. Poor fool. Can’t believe that he thought he had a chance.’’ Mary the Demon gloated.

No! I couldn’t let her get away with this. I needed to save us. Our situation was dire, and I didn’t know if Liam was alive or dead.

A steady dose of reality set in.

Live or die.

Live or die.

The words echoed in my mind as adrenalin began to course through my veins. There was no chance I would win without giving it my all. I had to use everything at my exposal, starting with my newest ability.

‘’I won’t go down so easy you half-baked villain.’’ And with that, I activated my newly acquired shape-shifter skill.

In an instant, a white light enveloped me. My mind became calm, as I felt my limbs grow and reform. This was great. The anticipation sent a surge of excitement through me. I had no idea what I would transform into, I could only hope.

Before, I knew it my metamorphosis was over. I had transformed…

Wait. This wasn’t right. Mary looked even bigger now than she had before. What Had I transformed into?

This wasn’t good. How was I going to fight her if I was even smaller than before? Just then, I noticed that my situation was worse than before. I had more legs and a tough exoskeleton. I could no longer move my head freely from side to side. I had to rotate my whole body to look to the left and the right. How was I going to fight now?

‘’Is this some kind of joke.’’ Laughed Mary. ‘’This is no fun. I was looking forward to a fight. This will be no easier than squashing a bug.’’

Unperturbed, by her maniacal cackling, I summoned my interface and located my shapeshifter skill to try once again. Just my luck. There was a cool-down time of two minutes.

Just great, I had to stay alive long enough to pull this off.

I scurried as fast as I could, racing past pebbles and bits of uneven ground.

‘’Come here little bug don’t you want to play’’. Laughed Mary as she took one giant step after another, forcing the ground around me to shake. Her intention was clear; she wanted to squash me like a bug, how original. I wasn’t going to let her though, I just had to make it into a crack in the wall. I scurried along as fast as I could, inching closer every second.

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Two minutes. That’s all I needed.

I felt her presence above me every time she neared and immediately changed direction. Her footsteps narrowly missed me on each occasion. I kept this up for what felt like an eternity, but in reality, it had only been 20 seconds.

‘’Damn you, you little bug. Get back here now.’’ Demanded Mary, quickly growing tired of chasing me around the room.

Suddenly Mary stopped chasing me and I felt the tremors cease. I turned a full 180 to see Mary smirking and letting some kind of energy build up in her hand.

Damn, she had some kind of chi blasts like that one guy from that famous anime. Carrot, that was his name. The guy with blonde hair.

She tried to blast me several times but I continued my narrow escapes. Her frustration began to grow, as did mine. Every time I neared a wall, she blocked my path with a green explosion of energy.

D… Dave … Hang in there, buddy.

What! Liam was alive. The sudden shock blinded me as I noticed an energy ball hurtling straight towards me. I was out of time.

Sorry, Liam. I tried…

I closed my eyes as my life flashed before my eyes again.

This was the end.

The blast hit me straight in the face sending me flying.

I died again.

***************

I died again is what I would have been saying had I not been a cockroach.

‘’I’m invincible baby. I’m a cockroach. I can survive a nuclear bomb!’’

‘’You damn pest, I’ll squash you like the bug you are.’’ Screamed a furious Mary while stomping her feet on the ground.

Just then, the ground where Liam had landed began to rumble. I felt it in my bones.

This was it.

It was time to end this.

I activated Shapeshifter once again. The light engulfed me, but not before I saw Liam jump from the rubble and land a straight right on Mary’s face. Her eyes had been fixed on me so It was kind of a cheap shot, but anyway, I wasn’t one to complain.

My limbs grew bigger, my torso larger and my body began to radiate raw strength. This was different. I felt it now. I was no mouse, I was no cockroach. This time around, I was something far greater. Something far more majestic. I felt it in my bones.

I was awesome.

The light dissipated, to reveal my new form.

I was a majestic …

My wings spread wide filling the entire width of the basement. My neck craned high nearly touching the ceiling. My claws were sharp and my aura was fierce and powerful. So this is how it feels to look down on people, I mused to myself.

‘’Dragon.’’ Shouted Liam. ‘’that is so cool.’’

It sure was, and Mary froze this time. She stammered and began to crawl backwards knowing that she stood no chance against me.

I walked towards her closing the distance. Fear radiated from her face.

‘’you don’t have to do this, I’ll give you anything.’’ She protested. ‘’Anything you want.’’ Throwing jewels and gold towards my feet.

I glanced at Liam to see if he had any input but before he could respond, Mary tried to pull off a sneak attack. A red energy blast flew towards me. It was nothing, and I swatted it to the nearest wall causing a small explosion.

‘’Time to end this.’’ I took a deep breath and let out a roar of fire.

Surprisingly. Mary’s scorched body didn’t remain. It dissipated into dark energy that hovered in the air before disappearing.

Exhausted I fell to the floor and collapsed.

I felt my body shrink and return to its normal size.

I was a mouse again.

Before my eyes shut from exhaustion, I heard Liam’s voice in my head.

That was so cool buddy.

I replied one last time before falling into a deep sleep.

Plot armor.