Forced Growth

Grabbing the bars of the rickshaw, Mateus did his best to turn it in the confined alley. Although every beat of his heart was begging him to run, leaving the supplies was not an option. Dragging the harness back out of the tray, he forcefully pulled the Roobit out of the tattoo.

"We don't have time for you to be tired! Get up! We have to go - NOW!"

The arrogant beast lay on the ground panting - these few minutes rest were far from enough. Mateus quietly pulled a thick rope of essence and used it like a hose, flooding the Roobit without care for himself.

The reaction was stunning! The Roobit twitched and jittered on the filthy alley ground like he'd been hit by an electric shock. From his face, it was clear he was in pain. As more essence filled his flesh, first the creature became see-through, then he started growing. All the dust and impurities fell away under the tide of essence, and the beast left the juvenile stage, swiftly becoming an adult beast.

Mateus withdrew his essence rope back into his core, and gasped in shock at how drained he felt - but there was no time to rest, those Mutant Beasts were getting closer every second.

The now adult Arrogant Roobit shook himself and pushed himself back onto his hind feet. Where he used to be smaller than Mateus, now he was almost three meters tall. His ears had grown larger - from being comparable with a rabbit to looking closer to satellite dishes. His front tiger paws were now tipped with wicked barbed claws, and his wolf eyes burned with a dominating light. Through his forced growth and close contact with the pack Alpha, this Roobit has also awakened his Alpha potential.

But, the part Mateus was pleased with most was how thick, curling, and shimmering his Angora coat was now. Previously the Roobit was a grey and brown patchwork creature that didn't look remarkable. Now his Angora coat was a burnished silver-white, glowing beautifully even in the dimness of the small alley.

Mateus wanted to stare at the grown Roobit forever - there was this amazing mesmerising feeling to looking at him, but the chittering was getting closer and there was no time.

Swiftly Mateus started following the steps to affix the harness to the Roobit. Although he'd only tried it the first time a few hours ago, Mateus had kept the process clear in his memory. He adjusted the buckles to accommodate the Roobit's new growth as he went, and ten minutes later it was done.

Behind him echoed the sound of fighting - the pack were protecting him from the vanguard monsters, but it wasn't an easy fight.

Leaping back onto the Rickshaw, Mateus called the pack back from the battle. They quickly disengaged from the fight and leaped into the tattoo.

"Right, the pack are all accounted for! Hurry up and RUN!" Mateus yelled, and the Roobit took off running like a shot.

"Bastard! I can't believe you did this to me! When this is over, I'm going to smack your stupid face!" The Roobit snorted, easily dashing into the road and rejoining the stampede. Where the laden rickshaw was once a heavy burden to him, now it was easy as a following breeze.

A Mutant Beast appeared suddenly from the dust on the road, trying to attack all passers. Where once the Roobit would have swerved to avoid confrontation, now he casually swung his tiger paw and divided the thing in twain. Passing feet and wheels finished the job of grinding it into dust.

Like a monster Motorcycle, the Arrogant Roobit ruled the road, progressing ever closer to the breaking walls.