Greg and Victor spent the next few hours playing pool and catching up. Greg told Victor about the ferals he'd been dealing with, complaining about how the inconsistent intelligence level made it difficult to tell whether they were assholes or just idiots, while Victor told him about the early days of the safe zone, back when things were actually a struggle. “It's really gone downhill, man.” Victor sighed. “Nowadays, everything is so political. If you aren't a top squad, you're stuck running around doing shit work, which means you have no chance to ever be a top squad. Things are just too stable.”

Greg raised an eyebrow. “You're really complaining about things being safe?”

Victor rolled his eyes. “I'm complaining about things being boring. Everything has gotten too… settled, and no one wants to actually do anything because they're too afraid of things getting worse again. I mean, I get it, don't get me wrong. It's just boring.”

“Fair.” Greg agreed. “Speaking of, it's probably about time for me to head out… who knows, maybe I'll start a war while I'm out there.”

Victor chuckled. “One can only hope.”

Greg snorted, rolling his eyes and waving goodbye as he headed out, making his way to the edge of the buildings before transforming into a cloud of smoke and flying out into the city. He got a good mile or so in before he stopped, landing on a random roof, partially because he didn't want to start too close to the safe zone, and partially because he'd been enjoying flying and hadn't noticed how far he'd gotten until he was already there. He shifted into the sharkman form, activating his heat vision as he leapt off the roof and landed in a cloud of smoke, belatedly realizing he could have just flown down in the first place, before dismissing it. Landing on roofs just felt right, and jumping off them was actually kind of fun. He looked around a bit before finding a trail and following it to a small, ratlike feral that was creeping through an alley. His form shifted into the scorpocroc and his tail flashed out, wrapping around the feral's waist. "Can you talk?" Greg asked, lifting the now terrified rat man up.

"Y-yes, mighty one! H-how may I serve you?!?" The rat man stammered, immediately going servile, knowing the only way he was going to survive this was by appeasing this terrifying person.

"Good. I need to find an asshole." Greg stated, as if this was a normal thing to say.

The rat man's eyes widened, hands flying to cover his own ass. "I-I-I know of a few female's th-that may be appealing to you, mighty one!" The rat man stammered in a panic.

Greg frowned. "Not those assholes! The ones who like to kill, maim, and torture others! The jerks, the bastards, the monsters! Do you know anyone like that?"

The rat man looked stunned for a moment, then nodded hesitantly. “I- I think I know someone who fits that description perfectly.”

*

"So, what's this guy's deal then? How is he an asshole?" Greg asked the rat man as he observed the lair he'd been brought to. It was a smallish apartment building, only a few stories tall, with barred windows and doors.

"He captures females, forcing them to serve him, imprisoning them in his lair! He forces them to perform sick deeds to please him!" The rat man explained with an expression of rage and bitterness.

Greg nodded along. "Right, ri- wait, that's it? He doesn't beat them or torture them at all?"

"N-no? But are not his deeds bad enough?" The rat man asked.

"Well, yeah, they're bad, but that's at the 'I need to talk some common sense into you' level, not the 'you deserve to die' level." Greg explained with a frown, before sighing and walking to the door. "Damn it! I really wanted to kill something." He grumbled bitterly, before pausing. "Shit, do I have a problem?" He frowned, considering it carefully, before sighing and continuing to make his way towards the building. Problem or not, it wasn't like he was killing anyone who didn't deserve it.

Greg knocked hard on the front door and a few moments later, a large mass of tentacles burst out with a roar. "Who are you!?! Why do you call upon this mighty one!?!" He exclaimed, tentacles wriggling menacingly.

Greg grimaced in disgust. "Gross. Uh, I hear you've captured a bunch of females, forcing them to be your… let's say servants." Greg winced at the image that entered his mind when he thought about what this tentacle man would force females to do. "That isn't acceptable."

"Who are you to tell me how I should act?!?" The tentacle man roared.

"Uh, well, this is more of a basic decency thing, you know? You can't force people to do things they don't want to do. It's immoral." Greg explained.

The tentacle man frowned. "I do not follow."

"I know." Greg sighed. "Look, how would you feel if someone forced you to do something you didn't want to do?"

"I would not let them!" The tentacle man growled.

"Okay, yes, but what if someone did?" Greg asked again, rolling his eyes.

"I… would be unhappy?" The tentacle man offered hesitantly.

"Yes! So, how do you think those females feel when you force them to do things against their will?" Greg continued.

"Unhappy?" The tentacle man replied.

Greg nodded, smiling. "Right, and you don't want that, do you?"

The tentacle man shrugged. "I do not care how they feel."

"So- er, what?" Greg fumbled, frowning as he processed the unexpected answer.

"They are weak. I am strong. Anything I do to them is acceptable because they cannot stop me." The tentacle man explained with a grotesque grin.

Greg raised his eyebrows. "Oh."

*

Greg sighed in satisfaction as he pulled his arm out of the tentacled man's chest. "Much better." He sighed in satisfaction, before pausing and frowning again. "Okay, I seriously need to keep an eye on that." He muttered as he sent a cloud of smoke to cover the feral's head, turning it to dirt and back. "Not sure when I'll ever actually use that form…"

The rat man approached hesitantly from where he'd been hiding. "Y-y-you actually killed him!" He exclaimed in wonder. He then let out a joyous squeak, rushing into the now dead feral's lair, opening the various rooms as he searched for something desperately. Not much later, he let out another delighted, but strangely sad, squeak as he rushed into a room.

Greg followed curiously, noticing each room had at least one female inside, all in various states of fear, confusion, hopefulness, or even just sitting there dazed, not even aware of the world around them. Once he reached the room the rat man had entered, he peeked in to see him hugging a bird woman as she clutched back at him, both sobbing pitifully. "Huh… interesting." Greg muttered appreciatively, before backing away to check the other rooms, giving them some privacy.

Greg checked out the next room, freezing in shock at what he saw. Inside the room was yet another woman, but she didn't seem to be a feral. She didn't have fur, scales, feathers, or anything, just normal human skin. There weren't any claws, fangs, or tails either. Overall, she looked just like a normal woman, except for a few distinct differences: her ears were pointed, she was only about six inches tall, and she had wings! The tentacle man had her trapped in what looked like a bird cage, the tiny woman swinging sadly on the little bird stand inside. “Uh… hello?” Greg called out tentatively, wondering if someone that small could even be intelligent, or if she was more like a human shaped bird.

The tiny woman jumped, turning to stare at Greg, her eyes wide as she took him in. “Who- who are you?” She asked with a cautious curiosity, confirming that she was in fact intelligent.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

"Uh… my name is Greg?" Greg replied hesitantly. "I'm sorry, you're just… really small. Uh, let me get you out of there." He coughed awkwardly, changing into his human form and opening the cage for her. Her wings buzzed as she shot out of the cage, flitting around the room in excitement, before landing on his shoulder.

"Thank you, Greg!" She exclaimed, planting a tiny kiss on his cheek. "What are you doing here?"

"I just defeated that tentacle dude." Greg explained awkwardly, trying not to look at her too much. Just like every other feral he'd met so far, this one didn't seem to have any concept of clothing. Normally not an issue, but since this one looked so much like a human…

"You did?!? Wow, you must be really strong! Is that why you can transform like that? Can you transform to be like me?" The small woman asked excitedly.

Greg frowned. "Er, probably? I'd just need a hair or something I think…"

"Oooh, do it! Doitdoitdoit!" She pressed him, plucking a hair and waving it at him.

Greg took the hair, frowning for a bit, before shrugging and complying, dissolving the hair and transforming into the form of the tiny woman. "There, happy?" He, or technically she at this point, asked.

She paced around him, examining him closely. "Why are you a girl now?" She asked, sounding a little disappointed.

"Uh… cause I'm using your form? I can't mix and match, I just straight copy the form of the person I got it from." Greg explained with a shrug, then paused as he wondered if that was actually true. He hadn't exactly tried yet… and he could do partial transformations… huh, he'd need to test that out. Though probably not now… there was only one reason he could think of for why the tiny woman would be disappointed he was a girl, and he didn't think it'd be smart to give her any indication it was possible. For either of them.

"Wow, so you can be anybody?" She asked in wonder, interrupting Greg's train of thought.

"I guess so… I never really thought of it that way." Greg muttered thoughtfully, before shaking his head and turning back to normal. "Well, uh, you're free now, so… enjoy, I guess?"

"Okay!" The small woman exclaimed, immediately flying up and landing on his shoulder, humming happily.

"Uh… aren't you going to leave?" Greg asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Why would I?" The tiny woman asked, cocking her head curiously.

"Because you're free? You can go wherever you want?" Greg explained slowly.

"I know!" The tiny woman chirped cheerfully, remaining firmly seated on his shoulder.

"Okay then." Greg muttered, shaking his head. He exited the room, pausing as he found a line of ferals waiting for him expectantly. "Whoa… uh, hey there?" Greg had never saved a group like this before, so he didn't really know how to react. On the outskirts, even if someone happened to be alive, they were rarely in a condition to remain that way for long. The monsters out there tended to focus their ministrations on a single victim until they got everything they could out of them, before moving on to the next. The only way he'd find someone that would survive would be if they had only recently been caught, and they generally just ran off before he could talk to them.

The rat man stepped forward nervously, looking Greg up and down. "Unformed, where did the mighty one go?"

"What are you- oh, right." Greg remembered, shifting back into his scorpocroc form. "What's up?"

"M-mighty one!" The rat man stepped back in shock.

The rat man's bird girl friend stepped forward. "Mighty one, we wish to know what you will do with us now that you have defeated our previous captor." She asked, shivering nervously.

Greg frowned. "Nothing?"

The bird girl looked stunned. "N-nothing? Nothing at all? Do you not wish to keep even a few of us to wait upon your pleasure?"

Greg's frown deepened. "Wait upon my-" He quickly shook his head. "No, I don't want anything from you guys. You're free to do whatever you want."

The bird girl and the rest looked stunned, not even seeming to comprehend what Greg was saying. A powerful male just… ignoring females? For what reason? Were they not attractive enough? Some of them even felt a bit disappointed. Why would he not want them? Without the fear of being abused, the idea of attaching themselves to a strong individual for safety was attractive to many of them. Without Greg's protection, they'd be on their own again, left at the mercy of those like the tentacle man, or even worse.

"No!" One of the women ran forward, latching onto Greg's leg. "I-I'll do anything! Please, don't abandon me!" She cried. A few others rushed forward, crowding around him with similar pleas.

"Wait- don't- gah!" Greg turned to smoke, escaping the crowd. "Okay, could you guys, just… chill for a second? Just- Why don't you want to be free?"

"We- we are not capable." The bird girl explained, hanging her head. Behind her, the rat man looked ashamed as well, cursing his own weakness. "Without strength such as yours, we would be left vulnerable. Anyone with strength could capture us, doing the same to us as this one had, or even worse."

"Okay… but why would you think being under me would be any better?" Greg asked, confused. These women knew next to nothing about him besides the fact that he'd defeated the other guy. Why would they be so desperate for his protection?

"Have you not already been better to us than our previous captor?" The bird girl asked. "You have not forcefully taken any of us as of yet, you have not hit us or cut us for your own amusement, and you have even let us roam, not restricting our movement. What more could we ask for?"

"Uh… hold on, let me think." Greg muttered. "Well, the obvious is someone who actually cares about you, but… well, that might be a pipedream at the moment. Maybe someone who's actually around consistently? I have other things I need- well, that I want to do, so I really just don't have the time to hang around and protect you all. Maybe eventually I'll have somewhere safe for you to go, but I doubt that's going to happen any time soon… and it definitely isn't going to happen if I'm stuck here protecting you.”

"Please, mighty one, we beg of you, just… please, we will do anything!" The bird girl begged. "We- we don't need much! If- if you just come by a few times a night, we- we would be much safer!" All the other women began to echo her feelings, crawling closer to him, letting out cries for his mercy.

Greg sighed in frustration, not knowing what to do. He knew he had more important things to do. He had to kill the ferals who were truly bad, like the sharkman or the tentacle man, and he had to find strong ferals who could form the foundation of a true, feral society, so these women wouldn't even need his protection. On the other hand, if he didn't protect them, they may not even be alive by the time that happened. He supposed he could do as the bird girl suggested, simply passing by every now and then to make sure they were safe, but… how much would that really help them? Another feral could find them at any time. Even an hour would be enough to do terrible, awful things to these girls. If he did promise them, how could he accept such a thing? Greg sighed. He couldn't just abandon the girls, but he couldn't protect them in any way that would really count without giving up his other plans.

"M-mighty one?" The bird girl hesitantly approached him, noticing his distress.

"Hold on." Greg growled, beginning to pace. "If I'm going to protect you, I need a way to know when you're in danger… we don't have phones, so that's out… maybe… Could I give you something made of smoke? Maybe… maybe if you broke it, I'd notice?" Greg pondered thoughtfully. He was able to sense his smoke when it was outside his body, as if there was a connection between them, but… to the level of knowing if it was broken or not… Greg frowned, producing a small piece of glass out of smoke, staring at it for a second before handing it to the bird girl. "Break this." The bird girl frowned, before snapping the piece of glass. Greg eyebrows raised as he actually felt the glass break through his connection with it, a slow grin spreading across his face. He quickly reformed the glass into a solid piece again, handing it to the bird girl. "Whenever you need me, simply break this, and I'll come."

The bird girl's eyes widened. "Y-you will? Really?"

Greg sighed. "Yeah. I can't just abandon people. I can't stay with you, but… this way you can at least let me know when you're in trouble, and I'll be able to come as fast as I can. It's not much, but… hopefully it'll be enough."

Tears began to pool in her eyes as she jumped forward, wrapping her arms around him as she cried. "Thank you! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" As she did so, the other women also piled around him, latching onto him in any way they could as they professed their gratitude.

"Y-you're welcome. Y-you really don't need to- hey! Whoa! Gah! Don't touch that!" Greg stammered awkwardly before wriggling as the women began to grasp closer to certain sensitive parts of his anatomy.

The bird girl looked up at him with watery eyes, pressing her body against him. "Please, let us express our gratitude."

Greg panicked, turning into smoke, letting the pile collapse in on itself as he escaped. "Okay so just break that glass when you need me bye!" He yelled quickly over his shoulder as he reformed, rushing out of the building. He quickly made his way a few blocks over before stopping, letting out a nervous breath. "Thank god I'm not a furry." He shuddered. He was more than certain that having a harem of women willing to indulge his sexual desires would not be good for him. If he'd let things keep going… he might not even have made it back to the safe zone.

"What's a furry?" The tiny woman asked, landing on his shoulder.

"It's a-" Greg began to answer, before pausing, looking at her in surprise. "Uh… why aren't you staying back with the others?"

"Don't wanna." The tiny woman replied with a shrug.

Greg blinked at her a few times. "Well… can't really argue with that." He muttered. "So… what do you want to do?"

"Follow you!" She chirped cheerfully.

Greg frowned. "For how long?"

"I dunno." The tiny woman shrugged.

Greg's frown deepened. "I see…" He gave her an evaluating look before letting out a sigh and shaking his head. "Just stay safe, alright?"

"Aye-aye, sir!" The tiny woman saluted, before taking a seat on his shoulder, swinging her legs and humming happily.

Greg began walking again, before turning to the woman. "Do you know any really bad guys around here?"