Xander vol.1 Transmutation (17 page)

“
The hell was
that
?” he shouted. And
when he asked, the flickering stopped, leaving the group in
darkness.

There was a stillness that
fell among them, as they awaited the lights to come back on. Jared
flinched when hearing a low growl, which immediately registered as
a lion in his mind. Slowly, his eyes trailed up Loni’s body,
speechless when meeting her illuminated, golden feline
eyes.

********

“Hang on, hang on,” urged
Elba, with one hand raised submissively towards the fuming Xander.
“Calm down. She’s fine,” he assured.

“
Where is she?!” he
bellowed, moving towards him.

Elba took a step back,
raising his other hand. He was admittedly surprised by the sudden
switch. Though really he shouldn’t have been, given the
circumstances. He had grown accustomed to Saphora’s reluctance. He
now realized he had taken it for granted. Before he had the chance
to give up the lion’s whereabouts, his thoughts were scrambled by
the sound of screaming men – and a roaring beast.

Both men stopped their
interaction to listen, Xander more intensely than Elba. His eyes
squinted as Elba slowly turned towards the metal door. He then
snapped back towards Xander when hearing him laugh.

“
You kept us in the
same building
?” he
laughed wholeheartedly.

Elba jumped when hearing
the pounding come to the interrogation room. The roaring was
prominent now, and he was realizing how quickly his situation was
spiraling. He glanced up at the gun that Xander had magnetized to
the ceiling as he continued to step back away from the door, which
was growing weaker by the moment.

Xander couldn’t help but
grin as he patiently waited for Loni to make scrap metal out of the
door, coming to his rescue. But looking at Elba, Nora words rang in
his head. Immediately, he frowned, the realization that his death
was not practical, coming into play.

Nora needed him, and
surely whomever he was associated with. Xander looked back and
forth from the creaking and thudding door to the anticipating Elba
before scowling and hurrying to move in front of him as the door
was broken down.

Immediately, Loni went
charging for Elba, oblivious to Xander’s position until she
collided with him. Xander’s arms locked around Loni’s torso as she
snarled in disbelief. She clawed around his body as Elba stumbled
over himself, falling to the floor and immediately crawling
backwards towards the wall.

“
Loni!” Xander growled
through the force he was fighting against.

He dug his heels into the
floor, using his magnetic pull to plant his feet firmly as he
pushed Loni back. She back-stepped, glaring past him at the shocked
Elba. She darted in his direction, only to be caught in a headlock
from Xander and tossed onto the ground.

Loni rolled back onto her
feet, her glared now directed at Xander, who was also on his feet,
crouching low in preparation. He was still standing protectively in
front of Elba, who was still shuffling nervously about. Realizing
that Xander was protecting him, he spoke up.

“
Control your pet,” he
urged, making Loni’s eyes snap back in his direction. Xander
groaned in frustration as Loni charged again.

“
Not helping,” he grunted
as he moved up to collide with her again.

Again, Xander’s arms came
wrapping around her, this time applying force to bodyslam her onto
the metal table, causing it to bend downwards as they landed on the
floor. Loni gave a low growl as Xander gave a groan of pain,
hurriedly sitting up to watch her.

“
Loni,” he breathed.
“Stop.”

Morphing, Loni stood up,
her hands in fists by her sides as she looked into Xander’s eyes.
Elba looked on with amazement, seeing the transformation up close
and personal.

“
Have you got a death
wish? Because I’m starting to think
I
should grant it,” Loni spat, fed
up with his cries of wolf.

“
They had you somewhere. I
was trying to scare them into giving you up,” Xander explained as
Loni stepped closer.

“
Well, now I’m here,” she
huffed, glancing down at Xander’s torso, which she noticed had also
been bandaged. Her eyes narrowed. “And we’re both injured.” Their
eyes met. “And you’re
protecting
them.”

“
Nora needs –“

“
Nora
?” Loni scowled. “This planet’s quarrels are
not
of our
concern.”

Xander frowned.

“
I made a
promise.”

Just then, a group of
three men came into the door way. The one in the middle was
carrying the weapon used to stun and capture them, while the other
two were standing on either side of him, ready for action. Elba
held up a hand to them, signaling them to hold off on firing as he
waiting for Xander and Loni’s conversation to continue. Loni turned
to look at the weapon with cautious and enraged eyes.

“
You protect them
even
while
they
attack us?” Loni scolded, looking back at Xander.

“
You came in here to
protect me. Is it so direct for them to protect him?” Xander
answered. Loni scoffed. “Loni. You know as well as I do that that
is not their technology. Would it not be beneficial to us to study
their adjustments and alterations to the weaponry?”

Loni was hesitant to
answer as she looked back once again at the altered Athenian
technology. She grimaced at the point that was presented to
her.

“
And what if they’re not
the only ones who have it? What if it has something to do with
Nora’s condition?”

Again, Loni looked at
Xander. She grumbled, glancing over at Elba, who had slowly made
his way to his feet, still wary to the situation. Loni frowned,
narrowing her eyes at him as he straightened his suit. She stepped
towards Xander, her index finger jabbing into her companion’s
chest.

“
I’m doing this for
science
,” she
clarified.

Xander smiled, giving half
a nod.

Chapter 15

“You expect me to
believe
that? That
you’re a mutant and he’s an alien.”

Nora grimaced at the
condescending tone in Nani’s voice. Her shoulders slumped as she
turned away from Nani’s skeptical gaze. She sighed, raising her
hand to wipe it down her face in exhaustion. She’d been trying to
get Nani to believe the story of her situation for the past several
hours, and Nani was only becoming more and more unconvinced. Nora
was becoming aggravated. She had wanted to hurry and leave to
attempt helping Xander, and possibly Loni.

“
Yes,” she
groaned.

“
Nora –“

“
I’m not
lying!”

“–
just because you put on
some contacts, doesn’t mean that you can pass as a
mutant.”

“
I am!” Nora
insisted.

“
Just tell me where you
were, Nora. Was it rehab? I know you were in therapy –“

“
Nani, stop it. What
reason would I have to lie to you about being a mutant? Huh? What
possible reason?”

“
How about your
disappearance for nearly a month?” Nani bluntly offered. “I mean,
it’s one hell of an excuse, but –“

“
And what about Xander?
How else do you explain him?”

“
You’ve
been
to comic con! Nora,
honestly. I’ve gone
with
you! Stop this bull and just tell me where you
were.”

Nora gave a groaning sigh
as she gripped the sides of her temple, thrusting her neck back to
look up at the ceiling. She stepped away from Nani again, trying to
compose herself, holding back the tears of frustration and
rejection.

“
Ugh! Nani!” Nora groaned.
Nani shook her head in disapproval.

“
Why are you egging this
on so much? You’re wasting time. Where is he, anyway?”

“
I’m
wasting time?” Nora scoffed, rushing back over to Nani and
shoving her wrists in her face. Vines immediately starting
sprouting from them, bending back and latching onto her arms,
crawling their way up towards her shoulders. Startled, Nani started
crawling backwards up the steps, trying to get away from
her.

“
What the –“

“
Do you believe me
now
? We could be
saving
them! Is this
enough? Huh? Do I have turn into a giant tree for you to
–“

Nora’s rant was cut off by
the sound of the front door opening. She spun around, her eyes wide
and her mouth agape as the door opened, revealing Xander on the
other side. He looked down at Nora, before looking over at Nani
with a raised brow. And after several moments of what seemed like
disbelief, Nora exhaled, her hands slowly reaching towards Xander
as her eyes watered.

“
Xander,” Nora breathed.
Her breathing quickly turned into sobbing as she moved closer to
him. “You’re alive,” she cried. “I thought … I – I was coming to
help you. B -But she wouldn’t … She –“

Xander sighed, placing the
palm of his hand onto Nora’s forehead, stunning her long enough to
get her to stop crying.

“
You’re crying again,” he
mumbled. Nora’s bottom lip quivered.

“
B -But –“

Again, Nora’s whines were
interrupted, this time by Loni’s low growl as she walked in beside
Xander, her head, level with Nora’s thigh, wedged its way between
them. Xander rolled his eyes, nudging his guardian’s neck with his
own outer thigh. Nora breathed a laugh as she knelt down, now
eyelevel with Loni, who took a slight step back in surprise, her
nostrils flaring. Her fangs made an appearance when Nora’s arms
suddenly came wrapping around her neck.

“
I’m even happy to see
you, Loni,” Nora admitted as she nuzzled her head against Loni’s
fur. Loni noticeably stiffened, her jaw closing and her eyes
snapping up to Xander with concern. He couldn’t help but let out a
laugh as he crossed his arms.

“
You thought we were
dead?” he laughed, reveling in the sight of Loni’s discomfort. Nora
pushed herself back onto her feet, wiping her eyes.

“
I saw blood when you
left. I thought –“

Again, Nora was
interrupted by the clearing of Elba’s throat as he stepped around
the lioness.

“
Yes, I believe that was
our fault,” Elba apologized, stepping around Loni and straightening
his suit before looking up. His eyes found Nora’s vine-covered arms
before they found her honey eyes. His movements slowed considerably
as his face scrunched in confusion. “What in the hell …” he mumbled
under his breath.

Realizing, Nora quickly
hid her arms behind her back, her vines immediately retreating as
she stood alert. Elba held a slight frown as he glanced over at
Nani, who had fainted in the mists of all the commotion. What with
the revealing of her mutant ex-girlfriend, the alien prince, his
pet lion, and a government agent, she couldn’t really be held at
fault. Elba sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose with a slight
shake of his head.

“
I’m getting too old for
this crap.”

“
Chimera
,” Elba repeated.

Nora nodded hesitantly,
her hands shifting nervously in her lap. She was finally doing what
she needed to – informing the authorities about what was on the
horizon. And she was doing it without the feared gun to her head.
Xander stood beside her to make sure of that, while Loni roamed the
premises with agent Borges keeping a close eye.

“
How many of you are
there?”

“
What do you
mean?”

“
What do you mean what do
I mean?” Elba grumbled. “Chimera. How many are there?”

“
There are victims and
there are recruitments, agent Elba,” Nora clarified with a stiff
upper lip. “It’s crucial to know the difference.”

Elba paused only briefly
as he exhaled, his lips forming a frown.

“
I asked how many there
are, not whose side they’re on.”

“
Well I don’t know an
exact number. I left. I don’t get newsletters.”

Elba crossed his
arms.

“
That you know
of.”

“
Eight,” Nora sighed.
“Including myself.”

“
And the
‘victims’?”

“
Three.”

“
Including
yourself.”

“
Yes.”

“
And just how many more
Chimera do you think this guy plans on making?”

Nora grimaced.

“
He won’t
stop.”

Elba expression hardened,
silently keeping track of the military force that could possibly be
needed if the numbers got too great.

“
He plans on taking this
nationally?”

“
Globally
,” Nora grimly
corrected.