Monstrous Gifts

The party was silent for a moment as they stared at Horo's bubbling flesh as it stitched the hole in his hand back together. Lily covered her mouth, unable to find any words that could comfort him. Seeing that, Horo had a conflicted expression on his face. 

"Yeah..I know… I am becoming some sort of gross monster."

"N-No it's not like that at all" 

Lily panicked a bit as she glanced at the knife that was dissolving in Horo's hand. 

"I was just thinking that your ability is convenient…"

"Convenient? Corrosive blood, Reptilian skin and wounds that close in real time is convenient? Are you kidding me? How the hell is any of this 'convenient'? "

Horo scoffed in disbelief at that nonsense. However Luna nodded her head at Lily's words. 

"She's right though. In certain fields, your mutations would help you excel. I bet assassination organizations would love you. Your skin is like a natural armor, your blood can be used for torture and killing…"

Leo was horrified at Luna's remarks. The idea of working for an assassination organization was an appalling idea but he would be a fool to deny that what she said was indeed the truth. Horo did have the potential to become an incredible assassin, both in game and in reality. 

"To be honest. I am kinda jealous of your new talent. If I had Regeneration, I wouldn't have to worry so much about being injured."

Horo's eyes widened at Luna's confession that she was jealous of him. His mouth opened slightly as she shrugged her shoulders in a nonchalant manner. 

"Also I have a feeling that it's not just you who has new 'Talents', yours is just the flashiest one so far."

"What do you mean by that Luna?" 

"Yeah SIs. Are you saying that you have something like that?"

This was the first time Lily and Leo was hearing of this. Had she noticed something that they hadn't? DId she have some sort of inkling on their changes? 

"Haha. Yeah I do. Just watch.."

Luna laughed somewhat jovially before she stood up and approached another table. With a single hand, she gripped the table. 

"Luna I know you are strong bu—-Oh my god…"

Lily was about to dismiss Luna's attempt to show off as just her not wanting to be left out but Luna casually lifted the table that was bigger than her entire body above her head. She knew Luna was naturally strong but this was far more than that: It was superhuman.

Horo's gaze flickered with both shock and awe seeing such a tiny girl lifting a heavy table like it was made of styrofoam. 

"See Snakey. You're not the only one with Monstrous Gifts. Lily probably has something too. Leo too maybe"

Their eyes drifted to Lily and Leo who were equally shocked at Luna's unexpected display. 

"What could I possibly do? Are you telling me to try and use Magic here? That's ridiculous!" 

Lily huffed with exasperation, that seemed impossible but then again, so did the displays that her best friend and Horo had just displayed. 

Leo felt a shiver down his spine as he glanced at his own hands. Was repairing his body with the extra accessories where it ended? 

'No. There must be something else.'

He closed his eyes, trying to concentrate his senses, trying to notice anything else he might have missed. The din of Lily, Luna and Horo talking seemed to fade away as the world became incredibly still. 

His ears twitched as to both his horror and surprise, he felt his heartbeat slow to a crawl while he heard the powerful thumping of the four other hearts in the room. 

'Wait…Four Heartbeats?!'

Leo's head whipped to the side as he stared at an inconspicuous corner of the room. Lily was the first to notice Leo's changes. 

"Leo…your eyes!"

Horo and Luna glanced at Leo and noticed that his eyes had transformed into near vertical slits as he stared at somewhere. Luna was about to ask a question but before she could say anything. 

"It's rude to eavesdrop. Show yourself!"

A growl ripped from Leo's throat, his hood slipping down to reveal that his ears were pressed against the side of his head. He looked like a predator ready to pounce.

Yet there was nothing. No sound nor movement. 

"Are you okay Leo? Do we need to get a doctor to check you out" 

Lily placed a hand on his shoulder, intending to comfort him but she noticed all of his muscles were tensed. 

'What could it be that has him on edge like this?'

"I won't repeat myself again.. Show yourself! I can hear your heartbeat!"

"Well that's just cheating! I was planning to surprise you all~"

The other 3 members of Leo's group eyes all widened in surprise as from the shadows, a young woman with jet black hair sauntered out with her hands raised in surrender. 

She had a pout on her face as she shot a playful glare at Leo. Lily and Horo's gaze fluttered with disbelief

'How long had she been there? How did she get here?'

"Aren't you Miss Rachel? We just met at the Hospital, why are you here?!"

Leo's gaze was defiant as he bared his teeth. 

"What is a crazy bitch like you doing here?! I thought we had a deal!"

"We did have a deal and we both fulfilled our end at that no~? This is different. I was given a different task. But before that, Kitty Boy, I really don't like being called Crazy… A little punishment is needed~".

With a flick of her wrist, a shadow flew in Leo's direction at a speed nearly undetectable to the human eye. 

However, to Leo's surprise, the object seemed to slow to a crawl as it approached him. That shadow was in fact a tiny dagger. 

Leo tried to move his hand to intercept the dagger but it felt like his body was moving through a viscous pool of liquid. His hand wrapped around the handle of the dagger and then time seemed to resume. 

Rachel's eyes widened in surprise. The little Kitty had caught her dagger like he was casually swatting away a fly. She had almost missed seeing him catch it. 

However before she could process it, a large table was hurtling in her direction

'Oh my. Did I make a mistake?'

Rachel lunged to the side to dodge the table, her nimble body barely dodging it before it slammed into the wall with a crunch. 

"That was dangerous. I could have died!"

"Good. Now I am gonna tear your fucking arms off bitch!" 

Luna roared with rage as she launched herself at Rachel. How dare she try to kill her brother in front of her! 

"Wait! Luna! Don't!" 

*Crunch*

Rachel's expression was conflicted as next to her head, there was a crater in the wall from Luna's punch. If she hadn't shifted at the last moment, her head would have burst like a balloon. 

"Why are you stopping me Leo!" 

Luna growled as she glanced back at her brother, Bloodlust wafting from her body. 

"She was aiming to scare me. The dagger would have missed me even if I didn't move.."

"T-That's right. Why would I hurt who I am supposed to protect?!" 

Leo's eyes furrowed at that revelation. 

"What are you talking about?" 

"The Government has taken an interest in your case and I am being paid to protect you…"

Everyone's heart sank, what was happening to them was shaping up to be much worse than they thought.