My Werepanther System: Starting with Nine Lives

After getting properly suited up and briefed on the functions of their Martial-Skins, Specialist Sunder and Corporal Green lead them out deep into the jungles. As soon as the air touched Rex, things changed.

DING!

(Night-Hunter: Active)

(Your hunters instincts are in overdrive. When lying still in pockets of shadows, Mana and Stamina regenerates at double speed. Accuracy and Perception based abilities +15% when on points of elevated ground.)

It was midnight. As a nocturnal shifter, he was at his strongest.

Rex thought he'd be having to play off his night vision as a Werepanther, but everyone could see just fine. For the most part.

The moon was out— near full, reminding Rex of its affect on him to come. Flowers bloomed in the shadows and flowed with glowing pollen that twisted in their air like smoke. Massive bugs charged by the flowery essence fed and transformed as they mixed and matched with flowers.

Vines and tree roots pulsed with power derived from the rivers full of dead things better left undescribed.

The Box loomed behind them in booming silence. Breathtaking and boring in its size and simplicity.

They formed up between two giant trees and a river so thin it couldn't hold two snakes. It reminded Rex of the Panther Domains.

"Alright ladies, allow me to fill you in." Corporal Green started as she stood with the river at her back beside Specialist Sunder, "New Recruit Kalico Rex got into a fight with damn near all of the upper classmen Spot-Back Boys and one Hunter Hyde. He blew up the boys berrics as you all saw. One half of the reason why you all find yourselves out here past your bed time about to do combatives."

Rex hesitated, no longer bothered by the stares he felt on his back. "One half?"

"Young men." Specialist Sunder started, "You were not the only ones to get rowdy on your first day. New Recruit Imani Price got into a scuffle with New Recruits Leah Stark and Marina Gold. Nothing nearly as bad as a whole Berrics top floor going up in flames but still. All of you failed today. So now you're going to work."

"And bleed."

Specialist Sunder clapped his hands suddenly, "Alright. With that out of the way, let's begin! Tonight we'll be running a game of Capture the Flag... only the flags are the three highest rated New Recruits in your class, and each team formed around them must protect and hunt for the others."

"So I either win the game for my team or lose it." Victor mumbled.

"To make things a little more fun tonight, each team will also have Lieutenants in the form of Inheritence Ability users. Capture them and you'll get another chance to win, or win with high honors if you already have a— quote unquote, flag. There's sixty Inheritence Ability users here out of the two-hundred of you. All you need to capture or defeat is three to earn a flag point by three in the morning. Everyone understand?"

"Yes, Specialist!" The class shouted into the glowing dark of the jungles.

"Good. Your three flags are as follows, Victor Fauve, Hunter Hyde, and Natasha Bloom. Now for each team built around them….."

Ten minutes passed before all the teams were made up and had their starting positions in the jungle.

Rex— now an Inheritence Ability user, was a target. Even without the unique purple glow of the veins in his Martial-Skin suit. People had questions. Even his own team. He could see it in their eyes as he stretched and bounced on the balls of his feet in preparation.

His teams flag and captain was Victor. A welcome change. In Primary School, they were always pitted against eachother. He guessed now that so many people were super powered, nobody was worried about what chemistry they might've had.

He hoped it was enough to overcome what he felt on the horizon. What he felt within.

DING

(Warriors Authority: Active)

Rex looked over the system notification briefly in the dark jungles.

"Oh yea, I forgot I earned that skill in the panthers domain. After passing the war-god Tezcatlipoca's challenge. Now I have some sway over warriors. Aka Drift Soldiers— and in their presence I get a stat boost. Plus the Night-Hunter skill. I'm more than I've ever been right now. Let's take advantage—" Rex's thoughts were cut short by someone easy on the eyes….

"Alright guys, let's adress the elephant in the room." Imani said as she waved the team over of sixty plus members. All the while she tried and failed not to stare at Rex.

Everyone joined her, she stood at the center of the group circle, "Even though we're all being punished. Our team is the focal point. Both rule-breakers on the girls and boys side being put on the same team was on purpose. Then you add in Victor and anyone else looking to prove themselves has a reason to focus all their offensive efforts on us."

"Yea but Victor is like….. crazy strong!" Someone said defensively.

"And Rex is too!"

Everyone looked at the student who said it.

Tyson raised his hands defensively, "Dude, he fought off a third year and blew up a building. You shouldve seen how he climbed the bunks— he's like a cat in a human body. That's got to mean something."

"Hopefully a little more than something. We've got one-hundred and twenty plus targets in a jungle full of monsters and uniquely evolved animals." Imani said.

Not long after and a flair rose above the canopy signaling the start of their midnight combatives scenario.

"Alright. We don't have weapons. I think that forces us to use our Inheritence Ability users as heavy artillery. The rest of you have to engage in combat— strategically—"

"No." Rex said as he listened to Imani. "Let's hope this authority works. I can't be on the forefront of combat knowing I have eyes on me."

She turned to him— visibly still shaken by his new appearance.

"Our Inheritence Ability users are flags with built in defenses. We also can't forget how many of us are going to die from improper Mana bonding. They need protecting just as much as Victor." Rex said.

Imani put a hand on her hip, "So you're saying the students with no powers or weapons should be the ones protecting everyone else?"

Everyone looked at Rex like he was stupid. He should've lost hope in the skill right then, but it's not like he was given the gift of mind control. It's not like any of his other skills had failed him either.

"Yea. Who says we can't make weapons? And who says we're all without powers? We all have enhanced healing and durability for as long as Victor is protected." Rex explained.

Imani placed a finger on her chin in thought.

The students once watching Rex with hesitation silently considered the idea. His skin tingled as a presence emanated from him— belonging to someone else. The power of the gods. He looked up at the stars as they attained the shape of a roaring panther. He grinned.

"Come on." Rex walked off and ripped a branch from a tree. With his claws in the dark, he sharpened the wooden pole into a spear and handed it to the closest student.

A seven foot tall girl with a bob and black lipstick took the weapon and made it look like a toothpick. "Thanks."

Rex nodded and in time the others followed along.

Imani used her intelligence to devise a formation for them to run after they armed themselves with Rex's help.

"With our lacking weapons and equipment we can't afford to move out in the open. Our defenders of the Inheritence Ability Users and Victor can't be seen with ease. Stick to the trees so people with long range abilities aren't able to pick us off. I'll use my eyes to keep us prepared for whatever's coming. Just stay in range, keep the formation tight, and listen for my call."

They moved through the jungles like they knew they only had a few hours to slim the herd of hunters and get their winning captures.

Rex was amazed as he moved through the foliage. He could see perfectly. With his boosted physical stats, he felt like he was functioning in a new body. A better one that had a deep urge to be limit tested.

He traveled in a low crouch with a wooden spear in one hand and bone dagger in another. His nostrils flared and mapped out the jungle for miles in all directions.

It's that very thing that had him throwing stones to cause a commotion west. A way to get everyone moving towards who he smelled without them knowing he knew.

All the while he traveled beside Imani at the front of the gathered Inheritence Ability users.

"I hope your plan works." She said as they jogged towards the commotion he caused. "On your student report you weren't known to be good in team situations. But I guess things change…." She side eyed him.

"Keep your eyes forward. We need to make full use of your retinal scanners. You're our sniper."

"Without the sniper." Imani provided.

"How good can you throw a spear?"

"Not funny. Actually almost racist."

"Hey, I'm a man of color too. Didn't we beat bigotry anyway when the Drift Dimensions spawned?"

"As we're told." Imani said.

Rex eyed her in the dark. Her skin was radiant even in shadows. Her braids reflected the jungle flowers and starlight cutting through the canopy. She really was beautiful. And….

"Why do you seem mad?" Rex asked.

"I'm not mad. I'm frustrated."

"What?"

"Your vitals are telling me you're a completely different person. Everything except your words are screaming that you aren't you. But I can't explain why. Even in a world of magic. It's too sudden. I've never seen an Inheritence Ability bonding yield such aggressive results. Once again, you're functioning outside the norm. But this time, I don't think it's because you're beneath anyone."

Rex was taken out of his hunt as he listened to her explain her dillema in relation to him. "I didnt think she cared that much. Then again, it's not about me. Not really. It's about not being able to figure me out. She has ego tied to her intelligence. Still…."

Imani looked at him.

Rex shrugged, "I'm still figuring it all out."

"That makes two of us."

"AHHHH!!!" Someone screamed to the east of them.

Imani beat her two sticks together in the audial code that signaled them to stop.

The screams continued as lights flashed and blood curdled. Rex only knew the last fact because he could smell it as the winds blew his way.

Somewhere further out, the sounds of fighting grew and another set of screams went off.

He cringed.

Few died.

"Inheritence Ability users. Dying already. Unfit for their given powers. Mistake in the bonding process. Whatever it is, people are dying and more will from this point." Imani explained as her teammates stood listening in the dark behind and around her. "I've got visuals ahead. Let's keep going. Stay silent and keep your eyes peeled. We're less than a click away."

Rex looked ahead as well and caught the scent. Fear and day old body spray full of chemicals that made his nostrils burn.

He tightened the grip on his weapons and pushed with his team. As they ventured closer to their targets, the glowing flowers and bioluminescent creature filled rivers died down until they were in complete blackness.

The recruits surrounding the Inheritence Ability users intercepted them first. Found by a crunch in the grass.

"Flash!" Tyson yelled at the front.

"Finally!" Victor spat from behind Rex and Imani in the center. Then, he exploded with golden lights that flowed like fiery stardust.

The forest went completely visible, bathed in golden lights and dust. It shined on the recruits and gave them a defensive aura while highlighting the enemies.

A group of regulars armed with nothing but their fists.

They didn't have a plan. Or they put all their faith in their ability users and got left behind.

Either way, Tyson closed in on the first and closest target. A male recruit with pale skin and long black hair.

"Lizard-boy! You're in for a rude awak—"

"Shut-up." Tyson's front kicked him into a tree.

The other perimeter guard recruits clashed with the unsuspecting students, now buffed by Victor's elixir-like tiger flame aspect.

As the enemy students went down, Rex found one of them laughing on the floor with a bloody nose.

Imani caught it at the same time. When they two looked at eachother, a flash of green whistled through the air between them.

In the distance, Victor crumbled under the weight of a thousand vines joined together to form a massive green fist.

Rex and Imani turned to find a figure rising in the shadows, being swallowed by the canopy and pulled at by the glowing bushes below. Her suit bubbled and went haywire before melting off her dark skin completely, revealing a woman made natural. Like a dryad in girl form. Vines stabbed into her skin. Flowers bloomed from her pores and barbs split her curly hair.

"Natasha Bloom." Imani said.

"Welcome to my side of the jungle, rule-breakers." She spoke from every flower and tree around them.

"You are way too immersed in this." Rex said.

"And you aren't. That's why you lost."

"I don't think so."

"Really? Wild words from someone who can't move." Natasha said.

Rex tried to ignore how much it hurt to feel the grass and roots coil around his legs and squeeze.

"I won't need to. I know your weakness."

"And what is that?" Natasha sent a vine into his chest, eyes wild with enjoyment.

Rex grabbed the vine before she could pull it out. He didn't have much time. He could feel the chilling warmth of a natural poison entering his bloodstream. His own regeneration rate and Victor's healing waves held off the immediate affects.

In a flash, he began to steam. Inadvertently burning off the poison.

"Run."

His (Warriors Authority) made his voice echo. Majority of his team took off except for Victor, Imani, Tyson and few others. They didn't look his way, making his slow transformation and elemental aggression unnoticed.

Natasha hesitated. The predator dryadic girl lost her step. He could smell her fear. It made his skin tingle as fur sprouted and his muscles expanded with every breath, stretching his Martial-Skin to its limits.

(Predator's Frenzy: 35%….)

"Your weakness is fire."

Purple flames flowed from his nostrils as he let out a feline snarl.