And we have our first PC monster

[nomen_est_numen]

[After hearing about the monsters and witnessing Ran's pyrotechnics, Shen went on to see what all the hubbub was about. He's already encountered civilians screaming and running from horrible slime creatures and another one beating a giant bug senseless with an umbrella. In some ways, it looks like someone took 'normal day in Sirocco' and cranked it up to eleven.]

[He rounds the corner and passes a cafe with a giant hole in the wall and is nearly to the end of the block when the wave of dizziness hits him. He staggers and leans against a lamppost. Panting and nauseous, he has maybe a moment to wonder what the hell is happening to him before he blacks out.]

[Instead of falling to the sidewalk like any normal being, however, his senseless form twitches violently and, with a terrible wet cracking and a tearing of fabric, he changes, transforming into a ten-foot-tall monstrosity. Two pairs of sparse, pointy wings beat the air while a third pair curl inward, the claws at the end twitching. The feet develop foot-long talons, the legs bend unnaturally at two pairs of hips, the tail becomes a thrashing, barbed whip. Three glowing red eyes flick open and the beak opens, displaying row upon row of sharp teeth, emitting a horrific, multitoned squawk.]

[This creature that used to be Shen gouges at the sidewalk with its talons as people flee, screaming. Its wings snap outward and it takes to the air. Is it leaving the city?]

[No such luck. It folds its wings and dives, talons outstretched, into a crowd that attempts to scatter. Its shriek can be heard for nearly a mile.]

Comments

[nomen_est_numen]

WAAAAARK!

[That's really all the creature's got to say for itself. It launches itself with a thunderous snap of its wings, shooting upward before changing direction with another deafening wingbeat and arrowing down again, towards Rex, talons out.]

[third_alternative]

[oh christ, it FLIES? Not good not good not good--

Rex backflips from his position in the rubble pile (although it's a lot more like drunkenly tumbling over backwards, as he's still a bit dazed from that hit earlier) and stumbles backwards, trying to get away from where the monster is about to strike.]

[nomen_est_numen]

[Scrambling away from descending birds always seems to work and to-day is no exception. A heartbeat after Rex leaves the rubble pile the talons strike, sending bits of this and that flying. The bird attached to them makes a disturbingly dinosaur-like snorting sound and pauses, wings outstretched, head swinging about in an attempt to find its escaped prey. It appears its eyesight is less than optimal with those three red, vaguely glowing eyes....]

[third_alternative]

[Why isn't it trying to snatch him up? He's standing right here! It's almost as if it can't...see...him....

Rex glances around. A perfume shop. Maybe that's why it can't smell him right now--he crashed into some perfume and smells like a pungent bouquet!

Might as well take advantage of it then. Rex quietly races out the other way through the rubble of the shop and propels himself into the air with his wings. He quietly brings himself up and back--high above and just slightly behind the monster. He then throws himself down, switching out the wings for the oversized feet as he aims to knock the creature over on its side into the burning wreckage.]

Hey, volante! You're not the only one who can throw down!

[nomen_est_numen]

[The bird sees him coming, but does so too late. The giant metal feet crash into it and send it tumbling into the still-burning remains of the surrounding shops. The smell of singed feathers is everywhere and the creature thrashes mightily in an attempt to get back to its feet. In doing so, it utters a squawk like a peacock in a particle accellerator.]

[third_alternative]

Whoa! Calm down! [Rex grips the feathers as hard as he can as the monster thrashes about and he decides to end this. It takes him a few moments, but he gets a better grip on the thing, gripping to its skin and feathers with one hand and pressing down the other to cure the creature.

Blue Tron lines appear on Rex's arm and the surrounding area of the monster as he begins to draw in its activated nanites. The creature, as a result, grows smaller and smaller, less and less monstrous until there is nothing left but your run of the mill peacock.]

There.

[Satisfied, he climbs off the animal.]

[nomen_est_numen]

[Only it's not your run-of-the-mill peacock, is it? Not when it sits up woozily with a wing to its forehead, swaying slightly, revealing itself to be an individual of a very Shen-like nature. His clothes are gone, his feathers are a mess and all-in-all, he looks like someone ran him over with a truck full of soot.]

Wo hoppen?

[third_alternative]

Nothing much. You just turned into an EVO, no big deal.

[nomen_est_numen]

A what? How did... but...

[He pauses, shaking his head to clear it.]

Is that what you call it? [He hauls himself to his feet, albeit a bit unsteadily.] I'll have you know that becoming a giant monster is just a little bit painful. My joints will be aching...for... weeks.... [He trails off, taking in the wreckage.]

Oh, hells.

[third_alternative]

Yeah, well, you didn't give me much choice when you tried turning me into birdseed.

[nomen_est_numen]

[He wobbles dazedly.] I did? Terribly sorry, old chap, won't happen again... I hope....

[A thought pushes its way into his consciousness.] I... won't end up a giant monster again... will I?

[third_alternative]

[Rex walks over to where the other monster he knocked out earlier is.]

Probably not. At least, I don't remember anyone ever becoming an EVO twice.

[He lays his hands on the other creature's side and cures it as well, all glowing tron lines and grotesque transformation back into something human-looking.]

[not_good_not_wicked]

[Human-looking, but very wobbly. Unlike Shen, All her stuff is torn and battered but still at least covering her up. The only thing that came through unscathed is her hat, which somehow isn't even dirty.]

...The hell happened?

[third_alternative]

Not much, you just turned into some laser monster thing for a while there.

[not_good_not_wicked]

A...laser monster...?

[third_alternative]

Or something. I don't know, all I did was kick it over.

1/2

[not_good_not_wicked]

[She surveys the damage from her monster fight with Shen.]

You mean I could cause all of this?

That is...

[not_good_not_wicked]

SO AWESOME!

[third_alternative]

...Okay yeah it was pretty cool. Watching two EVOs duke it out is way better than any movie!

[not_good_not_wicked]

I bet I was totally kicking that other monster's butt.

[third_alternative]

Actually, you were kicking each other's butts. Until I got there, anyway.

[not_good_not_wicked]

Whaaat? Lame!

I mean I guess it's good that we didn't set the whole town on fire, but...

[third_alternative]

Are you kidding me? The part where I came in was the best part of the whole fight!

[not_good_not_wicked]

Well of course you'd say that. Bet you'd be singing a different tune if it had been YOU as the giant monster.

[third_alternative]

Doubt it. Besides, I wouldn't be a giant monster in the first place!