The time vortex spat Nikki out onto the cold metal platform with a sizzling crackle of energy. She stumbled, nearly losing her balance, but kept her grip on the crushed cube that had once been the cyborg fish monster. The acrid smell of ozone filled her nostrils as the swirling portal behind her collapsed with a last flash of light.

Nikki's eyes darted around the dimly lit laboratory, taking in the blinking consoles and hulking machinery. Same old dump. At least some things never changed.

"Ah, Nikki! You've returned!" Professor Hamlet's nasal voice rang out as he scurried over from a nearby workstation. His white lab coat flapped around his scrawny frame. "And I see you were successful in your mission. Excellent work!"

Nikki tossed the mangled cube of metal and flesh onto a nearby examination table with a resounding clang. "Yeah, I got your little science experiment. Wasn't easy."

The professor's eyes gleamed as he picked up the crushed remains, turning them over in his hands. "Fascinating. Fascinating. To think, this creature traveled through time itself! The data we'll be able to extract—"

"Save it, doc," Nikki cut him off. "That thing is dangerous. It's not some toy for you to play with."

Hamlet waved a dismissive hand. "Yes, yes, most unfortunate. But surely you can appreciate the scientific value—"

"I said drop it." Nikki's voice held a growl of warning.

The professor pursed his lips but set the cube back down. "Very well. I suppose we should alert the proper authorities to dispose of the remains. I'll make the call right away."

"No." Nikki's purple eyes bored into him. "You're going to destroy that thing. The time machine too."

Hamlet's bushy eyebrows shot up. "Destroy it? My dear girl, you can't be serious! Do you know the breakthrough this represents?"

"I don't care," Nikki snapped. "That machine is too dangerous. If Pandora Corp gets their hands on it—"

"Pandora Corp?" The professor scoffed. "You're being paranoid. They have no interest in my work."

Nikki barked out a harsh laugh. "Shows what you know, old man. They've had their eye on you for months. One whiff of a working time machine and they'll be all over this place."

"Preposterous!" Hamlet sputtered. "I would never allow my research to fall into their hands. You're letting your vendetta against them cloud your judgment."

"It's not up for debate." Nikki's tone was flat. "Either you destroy everything right now, or I do it for you."

The professor's face flushed an ugly shade of red. "Now see here! I will not be threatened in my laboratory. This time machine is my life's work!"

"Your 'life's work' nearly ripped a hole in the space-time continuum," Nikki snarled. "All because you couldn't resist playing God."

"How dare you!" Hamlet's jowls quivered with indignation. "Everything I've done has been in the name of scientific progress. Without my research, I'll never be able to provide for my family. You have no right—"

"Your family?" Nikki's laugh was bitter. "Don't pretend you give a damn about them. When's the last time you even saw your wife and kids? Too busy chasing glory to remember you have a home to go back to."

The professor recoiled as if slapped. For a moment, genuine hurt flashed in his watery eyes. Then his face hardened.

"I've had quite enough of your sanctimonious nonsense, young lady." He turned and strode toward a nearby console. "I'm calling security to have you removed at once."

Nikki tensed, muscles coiling. "Don't do it, doc. I’m warning you."

But Hamlet was already reaching for the comm panel. With a snarl of frustration, Nikki sprang into action. She vaulted over a lab table, scattering beakers and instruments in her wake. The professor's eyes widened in alarm as she closed the distance between them in a heartbeat.

Just as her fingers grazed the back of his lab coat, Hamlet whirled around. There was a metallic glint, and Nikki stared down the barrel of a compact laser pistol.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

"Back! Get back, you insolent child!" The professor's hand trembled, but his grip on the weapon was white-knuckled. "I won't allow you to destroy my life's work!"

Nikki raised her hands slowly, purple eyes narrowing. "You really want to do this, old man? Put the gun down before someone gets hurt."

"The only one getting hurt will be you if you take another step," Hamlet hissed. Sweat beaded on his wrinkled brow. "Now then. You're going to turn around and walk out of here. Forget about destroying anything. In fact, forget you were ever here at all. Understood?"

A low growl bubbled up from Nikki's throat. The professor's eyes widened as he saw a flash of fang.

"I really wish you hadn't done that," Nikki said.

Before Hamlet could react, she dropped into a crouch and sprang to the side. The laser blast sizzled past her ear, leaving an acrid smell of burnt hair in its wake. Nikki rolled behind a bank of machinery as more shots peppered the surrounding air.

"You ungrateful brat!" the professor shrieked, firing wildly. "I should have never asked you for help!”

Nikki's lips peeled back in a feral grin. "Sorry, doc. Playtime's over."

She closed her eyes, reaching deep inside herself to the pulsing core of primal energy that always lurked just beneath the surface. With a mental push, she embraced it fully.

Power surged through her veins like liquid fire. Nikki's bones cracked and reshaped themselves as coarse white fur erupted across her skin. Her face elongated into a lupine muzzle filled with razor-sharp fangs. Muscles rippled and swelled beneath her purple leather jacket and pants. Her bare feet grew large, spawning her toe nails into sharp claws.

Where a young woman had crouched moments before, an athletic werewolf now rose to its full height. Nikki's yellow eyes blazed as she fixed her gaze on the trembling professor.

Hamlet stumbled back, laser pistol clattering to the floor from nerveless fingers. "Good lord," he whispered.

With a roar that shook dust from the rafters, Nikki launched herself at the terrified scientist. Her paw swatted the gun away as she bore him to the ground. Curved claws pressed against his throat as Hamlet gazed up at her in wide-eyed terror.

For a long moment, the only sound was the professor's ragged breathing. Then Nikki pulled back her lips, revealing a mouthful of dagger-like teeth.

"P-please," Hamlet whimpered. "Don't kill me. I have a family."

Nikki growled, hot breath washing over the man's face. Every instinct screamed at her to rip out his throat, to crush his fragile human bones between her jaws. It would be so easy. One quick bite and it would all be over.

But even as the beast raged inside her, demanding blood, another part of Nikki held firm. She wasn't a monster. She wouldn't become the very thing she fought against.

If she killed another human being, she wouldn’t differ from Pandora Corp. The company of death and no respect with human life.

With a final snarl of frustration, Nikki reared back. Her paw connected with the side of Hamlet's head, and his eyes rolled back as he slumped into unconsciousness.

Nikki's form rippled, fur receding as she shifted back to human. She stood over the professor's prone body, chest heaving.

"Dammit," she muttered. Now what?

She couldn't just leave him here. Even if he didn't remember what happened when he woke up, the evidence of their fight was all around them. And she still needed to destroy the time machine and monster remains.

An idea sparked in Nikki's mind. It wasn't perfect, but it would have to do.

Twenty minutes later, Nikki emerged from the lab's rear exit, Professor Hamlet's limp form slung over her shoulder in a fireman's carry. Rain pelted down, quickly soaking through her suit. In the distance, neon signs and holographic billboards cast a kaleidoscope of colors across the wet pavement.

Nikki moved swiftly through back alleys and side streets, sticking to the shadows. The weight of the unconscious scientist barely slowed her enhanced strength. Still, she was relieved when the towering spire of Chicago General Hospital came into view.

The entrance to the emergency room was bustling with hovercars and medpods, with doctors and nurses moving quickly in every direction.Nikki circled around to a less busy side door. When no one was looking, she gently laid Hamlet's body on an empty gurney.

"Sleep it off, doc," she murmured. "With any luck, you'll think this was all a bad dream."

Nikki rapped sharply on the door before melting back into the shadows. She watched long enough to see a startled orderly wheel the professor inside, then turned and sprinted back the way she'd come.

By the time she reached the lab again, she decided. There was only one way to ensure all evidence of the time machine—and her own involvement—destroyed.

Nikki methodically made her way through the facility, gathering flammable chemicals and scattering them liberally. She piled papers and computer components into a heap in the center of the main lab. The crushed remains of the cyborg fish monster went on top.

For a moment, Nikki hesitated. Was she really going to do this? Destroy years of research, however misguided? And never see Jessica and Salina again?

Then she remembered the terror on the faces of those kids at the summer camp. The devastation it could have caused if let loose in the past.

Her resolve hardened. This had to be done.

Nikki struck a plasma torch and touched it to the pile. Flames roared to life, quickly spreading to engulf the lab equipment. Acrid smoke filled the air as circuits and wiring melted.

She watched for a few seconds to ensure the blaze was well and truly started. Then she turned and sprinted for the exit. No sense in sticking around to get blown up herself.

Nikki was two blocks away when the first explosion rocked the night. She paused on a rooftop, turning to watch as secondary detonations sent showers of sparks and debris into the air. In minutes, the flames engulfed the entire block.

Sirens wailed in the distance as emergency responders rushed to the scene. But it was too late. By morning, there would be nothing left of Professor Hamlet's lab but a smoking ruin.

Nikki allowed herself a grim smile of satisfaction. Mission accomplished.

She turned away from the inferno, bounding across rooftops with inhuman speed and grace. The adrenaline rush of the night's events still thrummed through her veins. Sleep was out of the question.

Besides, the criminals and monsters that plagued this city never rested. Neither could she.

Nikki came to a halt atop one of the tallest skyscrapers in the downtown core. From here, she had a panoramic view of the sprawling metropolis. Hovercars zipped between buildings like schools of metallic fish. Holographic advertisements hundreds of feet tall hawked the latest tech and fashion. Neon signs in a rainbow of colors vied for attention.

It was a far cry from the quaint summer camp where she'd battled the fish monster. For a moment, Nikki felt a pang of nostalgia. Things had seemed so much simpler back then. Jessica and Salina had been good kids. She hoped they were doing alright, whatever time period they were in now.

But she couldn't afford to dwell on the past. This was her world, her time. And it needed protecting.

In an alley far below, she spotted a group of thugs menacing a young couple. Even from this distance, she could make out the telltale glow of cybernetic implants. Probably Razor Gang members looking to harvest some fresh tech.

Nikki's lips peeled back in a feral grin. Looks like her night wasn't over just yet.

She took a running start and launched herself off the edge of the building. Wind whipped through her short white hair as she plummeted toward the street below. At the last second, Nikki's body shifted and twisted.

Where a young woman had leapt, a massive white wolf landed on all fours with a resounding thud. Razor Gang members scattered in panic as 250 pounds of snarling fury landed in their midst.

Nikki's yellow eyes blazed as she fixed her gaze on the lead thug. This was what she lived for. No convoluted time travel schemes or mad science experiments. Just her against the scum of the city.

With a bone-chilling howl that echoed off the surrounding buildings, Nikki sprang into action. Criminals and monsters beware. The city still has its own protector.