Her eyes... The pupils were now slitted and the iris were a bright gold in coloration. Not reptillian or even like any mamal. Possibly something avian in nature.
A second shock. Her hair. Her reddish auburn locks were now the most luminescient silver in hue. She experimentally felt one with her hand. She was relieved to find it still felt like hair, however, in doing so she recieved another shock.
Her hands, while still human in appearance were now more like a pair of claws at the fingertips. Long, pointy fingernails where she had rounded ones before. She experimentally tapped claw onto the desk; the metal easilly giving way to her fingernail. Quite curious indeed.
As Nodoka looked at the mirror, she caught a flash of white. The white moved as she willed it. Moving the mirror more, Nodoka came to a realization as she moves the white around her, so she could see it without the aid of the mirror.
White wings.
Nodoka dropped the mirror, it smashed by her feet on the floor. She had wings as well. She had real wings. A slight thought of flight crossed ehr minf, but she didn't want to try it now. She had better things to do.
Looking down at the remains off the mirror, Nodoka saw that she was not only nude, but that there was another change. Feet which were far too-much like a bird's talons, the same hard skin as any falcon or eagle that went up to mid-shin. There were bits of glass all around her feet on the charred ground.
"Wait a minute..." Nodoka whispered. "The ground is scorched?"
For the first time since waking up, Nodoka took a real good look at the lab. There were flash-burn streaks all across the lab, broken and smoldering equipment was about. There was soot and char everywhere in this room. Like someone had literally whipped fire all about.
Nodoka's ears picked up the sound of an ever so slight groan. Following the sound, Nodoka found her ex-husband. He was unconscious, sweating heavilly and his breathing very shallow. His clothing was scorched, the right breast pocket still on fire even. And his right hand was burned horribly. The remains of the metal syringe were fused to flesh and gone.
But that wasn't the worst of the worthless SOB's condition. The right side of his face was suffering from a severe burn, one that Nodoka could see went right down to the bone, especially since his right cheek was missing.
All in all, Nodoka actually smiled at that monster's condition. It was the least he had earned for himself, experimenting on his son and... Changing her. However, that still didn't explain HOW he ended up in that condition. She didn't think he was dealing with weaponry or anything that dealt with pyrotechnics, so how did...
"Wait..." Nodoka thought. "I was the only thing close to him..." Looking down she saw that all the swirling pattern of the fire was indeed circled around where she had pased out. Holding out her hand, she decided to experiment. Concetrating she tried to will her body, seeing if she could create...
Nodoka was thrown back by a force. She had created a small explosion of fire in the air right before her. She was shaking. She was a bird-like woman AND she had actually created a large burst of flame, which had incinerated the top part of the desk she was standing next to.
"Incredible..." Nodoka thought. "I look like a bird-woman and I have the control over fire... Almost as if..."
A small smile came to Nodoka's lips. "A phoenix..."
Nodoka's smile widened. Walking over to Genma, she took his hand firmly, causing the unconscious prick to moan in pain. Her smile dropped somewhat, as she saw that the syringe either had no label or whatever was on it had either been burnt or melted off.
Oh well. Nodoka had an idea of what she was capable of. Looking at the clock on the wall, Nodoka had an idea that it was probably the evening or possibly even night. She had reached this place around noon, and she couldn't have been out for too long. Her ex-husband would probably died after a few hours.
And so, Nodoka made her wat to a locker. The doors were burnt, but the contents inside weren't. Taking one of her ex-husband's over-sized lab coats she dressed herself as best she could. She made her way to the door of the lab and prepared to enter the world as a Phoenix. After all, she still had to find her son and she had the feeling he wasn't in this lab.
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(Posted Sun, 04 May 2003 00:54)
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