My Werepanther System: Starting with Nine Lives

They moved at a brisk pace. Ever since Imani's harrowing revelation, Rex found himself uncomfortable surrounded by so many shadows. Even as his powers multiplied there. The powers of his enemies existed worlds above. Looming. Much like the shadows, dark and unknown.

He didn't even have time to feel relief at not having the classic— age old, dramatized and violent meeting with the first human to discover him.

What he'd learned on the streets as an orphan told him not to trust her. He didn't. But he didn't completely distrust her.

To say he feigned stupidity at points wouldn't have been wrong.

He knew he couldn't escape the Sky-Screamers and Mech-Men. He'd wanted to be in both positions at points in his childhood once he'd come to terms with never getting an Inheritence Ability. He knew their upper functional limits. He knew with his jungle fire abilities and assumedly unique mama he'd probably stand out on every visual scanning device known to man.

He was screwed.

But he wasn't alone.

At least in theory.

It was still midnight as they walked through the jungles.

Rex stumbled along beside Imani. It should've been an easy trek since they weren't too far out, but every few steps, she was taking them across rivers and around jungle willows.

"Damn, Imani! What now?"

"Echinacea five." Imani replied as she ripped through bushes and began plucking small glowing pink flowers.

"I don't know what that is." Rex huffed.

"It's a relative species of the echinacea flower. It's medicinal properties are boosted— thanks to Botanist Guilds on my mothers payroll."

"How convenien—ouch!" Rex grunted as Imani got up, crushing the flower and slathering the greasy petals across his wounds that didn't heal.

Her hands felt good on his chest. They lingered there, watching his bronze skin absorb the plant matter with magical steam and fiery spurts of energy.

"Every academic military training zone has enhanced foraging capabilities to allow for longer combat-missions in the wild— and in case anyone gets lost. As unlikely as that is. It also allows the Drift-Spawn to get stronger— make us have to work harder as combatants." Imani explained.

"Uh-huh…."

Imani continued to touch his chest, running her fingers over the individual fibers now visible due to his dangerously low bodyfat percentage.

"Hey, specs." Rex said. "If I wasnt so tired—"

"Anyway, let's move." Imani quickly took off, marching ahead of him smelling of new hormone releases.

"Yea." Rex followed with a smirk.

The sirens stopped finally, meaning the bulk of trainees and staff were up and being accounted for. Meaning they were next.

They walked another couple miles. Every few dozen steps, Imani took off and returned with new consumable substances.

Green-mash. Genetically modified avocados. They were the size of his head. She came with two. He didn't realize how hungry he was until he caught himself crushing the seeded core between his jaws. It was full of salty fluids. Electrolytes and liquid proteins.

"Interesting." Imani said as she watched him from a distance.

"What?" Rex crunched loudly.

"Your actions here support my initial observation."

"Which is?" Rex wiped the green-mash core fluid on his pant legs.

"You're a sort of Jaguar-shifter." Imani said. "Jaguars are one of very few big cats can eat avocados without it being toxic. Green-mash is even more potent. If you weren't Jaguar adjacent, you would've probably died."

"I WHAT?—"

"I'm confident in my guesses."

"I'm confident I'll slap the shit out of you if you try me like that again." Rex licked the juice off his fingers. "Also, I'm a Werepanther."

"Panthers are jaguars. Sort of…" Imani checked the dirt under her nails.

"They are…?"

"A panther is either a melanistic Jaguar or leopard. I sense a mixture of both. Or more." Imani said.

"And how did you get there?" Rex asked.

"Visual analysis of your combat-form."

"Please don't give it a name…." Rex sighed and accidentally let out a snarling burp.

Imani blinked emotionalessly before continuing onward, "I see aspects of the prehistoric smilodon, lion, Jaguar and or panther."

Rex itched his buzzed head, "If this is true— I need to speak to Panther again. She left out SO many important details. Wait…. It is true. Dart asked me how many forms I have control over. And something about stripes..."

A mechanical groan erupted from the midnight clouds.

Both of their heads went upward just in time to see a black metal shell with a glowing hot orb of an engine that pulsed like a heart fly overhead. In its wake, three more Sky-Screamer jets followed.

Suddenly, the ground began to quake.

"Mech-Men." Rex surmised. "They know I'm out here."

Imani turned to Rex— seemingly on the same mindset, "Get on the ground."

Finally, Rex stopped fighting and plopped down on the grass. Imani kneeled over him with her healing salves and fruits.

"This is some next level method acting." Rex replied.

"Shut-up, they have sonar." Imani said as she looked down at him. Her braids dangled in his face. If his predatory urges were any harder, he'd swat them like a cat.

If other things were any h—

The Mech-Men arrived with a dusty crash and squeal of freshly greased hydraulics as the mechanical legs absorbed the impact of their massive leaps.

"Identify yourselves." The Mech-Men said with enhanced voices.

"Imani Price and Kalico Rex." Imani answered.

Rex looked up at the trio of men in robotic combat-suits. It looked like armor made for giants with black flowy metal skin and wires for veins . Inside, he knew their legs and arms only made it to the second joints where turnbuckles and pulleys gave them the ability to maneuver the fingers and wrists. Pilots had to have an IQ of one hundred and fifty and be completely ambidextrous. Dangerous in and out of suit.

The leader held a massive rocket launcher at the ready as he contacted his higher-ups. His teammates scanned the two of them from their faceless helmets.

"Cool." Rex mumbled.

"Clear." The scanner replied.

The leader lowered his weapon, "Alright. You'll be getting a lift back to The Box where medics will run your diagnostics and handle your injuries before taking a report of tonight's events."

The Mech-Men lifted them up and ran back to base. It was a few minute travel and they arrived to chaos.

Drift-Soldiers, Sargeant's and other specialized units were running around while trainees were shuffled through tents with the medical cross brandished on its surface.

"The Box has never been…."

"Unboxed?" Rex asked.

Imani nodded, "My mother will hear of this."

"How much of this…?" Rex eyed her.

Imani continued watching as the Mech-Men ventured back out into the jungle. "Not much. I was asleep remember?"

"Right. How did you wake up by the way?"

"My retinal scanners elicit electrical shocks when my pulse gets too low outside the bounds of my sleep schedule. Whoever did this, knew that. They almost timed it perfectly with our bed times. They just didn't account for me staying up an hour later than everyone else for personal studies."

"You think Remulus is one of the gear heads? An engineer?" Rex asked.

"I don't know. We have thirty days to find out."

Rex growled in agitation.

"First Combat-School project and it fucking sucks."

"Is that because you can't wrestle it or tear it apart?" Imani asked.

"Don't get smart." Rex smiled— and cringed because the expression hurt his cracked orbital bone.

"Already am. Now let's go blend in, shifter."

Rex felt a weird semblance of relaxation as he saw Victor, Tyson, Syrus and Natasha entering a medical tent.

"Already am."

He failed to notice the solitary camoflauged jungle-monkey in the trees above watching him through the sights of his sniper rifle.