Warning: This story contains transformation and poor humor.

---

Through Fire and Flames, by DragonMasterX.

Thunder was roaring, the night-sky continued to light up. A storm was coming.

“Useless, yer goddamn useless, Redd!” the rough voice of a male adult tore through the usual quiet suburban home. “The hell do ya go to school for, ya dumb kid! All ya bring is bad news!”

The subject of the verbal attack was Redd ‘Rex’ Phillips, a sixteen year old. This was regular basis to Rex. “It’s just a bad report card. Sign it and get it over with” he groaned.

His mother stood up from the sofa, arms firmly folded. “And a talk with your teachers, which I had to go through last month, and the month before AND the month before that one! It’s not ‘sign it and get it over with’, Redd, this is the third year you’ve had to do over. Is there something wrong at school, dear?”

“I’ll tell ya what’s wrong, Mary, it’s what I’ve been telling you since the slob turned 14. He’s been hanging out with the wrong crowd, getting in trouble, skipping classes, being a bum, why the other day the…”

“Harold, that’s enough!”

“Don’t you tell me what’s enough! I work my ass off, bring the food to the table, and instead of controlling YER son, you get off crit’sizin’ me?”

Rex’s face was a mellow nothing. He’d long since given up with a school that’d never treat him the same as others, given up on a family that would argue day in and out. Both his mother and step-father might in the end love each other, but he was fed up with his life. Maybe being a bum wasn’t such a bad idea. Turning around, he headed for the door.

“Don’t ya turn yer back when I’m talking to ya, kid!” Harold stopped Rex by his arm, “Yer a fop, least pay attention when’n adult’s speakin’!” he yelled.

Harold wasn’t usually as loud as this, but the alcohol in his breath was smacking Rex as hard as every word that came out of his mouth. Perhaps the words were a little softer. “Let go,” the teenager crisply said.

“So ya go where, huh? Yer room’s upstairs last time I checked!”

“I’m heading out, let go.”

Mary was having a hard time dealing with this, as evidenced by her sullen expression. “Harold, let him go. Redd, it’s almost nine. Where will you…?”

“Let me fucking go!” Rex snapped, flinging his arm, surprising the drunk adult holding him, who stumbled over.

“Oh dear, Harold!” Mary rushed over to the grounded man, and Rex used this to make his exit as quietly as he could. He didn’t even make eye contact with his mother.

“Go, go away! Ya ingrate!” Harold shouted as he regained his composure, looking at his step-son with spite as he put on his red hoodie before leaving. “Go hang out with those bums, see if I care when they haul yer ass in prison! Think ya’ll ever be somebody? Yer nobody, ya’ll never be somebody!”

The words rang loud and clear across the house and beyond. What Rex said in reply was left muffled out by the loud cracking thunder right after the last flash of lightning outside, before he left.

The door slammed shut on his way out.

“He’ll be back, Mary. Soon as he realizes he can’t do anything on his own, Redd’ll be back.”

---

A lithe figure crisscrossed the tall buildings of the city, swinging from poles under the windows and bounding off the sturdy brick walls. Powerful legs and incredible agility allowed the inhuman female to cover ground faster than any parkour adept could dream of. Then again, not even parkour experts could stick to walls, or had tails to aid with such fluid movement. Acrobatic yet ungraceful, a bummed out Charlotte Richards perched herself atop St. Michael’s Cathedral as she briefly stopped her trek. “We’re taking this down time to investigate the Light’s whereabouts in California. Take the weekend off, we can move you to your home state. Go have some fun” Charlie mumbled to herself in mocking tone. “Sure, there’s a lot of things to do for a six foot four talking scorpion, Jim. Hardy har har.”

It had been weeks since Charlie’s last job. As happy as she was that the dangerous criminal known as Omega was now behind bars in a special maximum security, there weren’t many jobs out for her special unit in the organization. “Jim has his work, Kim has Beth, and I got a 90s’ retired comedian in my head. Ain’t life grand,” she groaned in her mind, falling off her perch. Her tail quickly grabbed at the cathedral’s top and wrapped around it, keeping her hanging upside down. “Could’ve been worse. I could’ve transformed into a spider. Those scare people the most.”

“It was one of those nights, one of those nights when the wheels started turning…” the pre-recorded version of Last Train to London by ELO began to play, and Charlie fished her cellphone out of her ample cleavage to answer the incoming call. Before she touched ‘Answer’ though, she sighed again. “Just what I needed.”

“Charlotte? Oh hi! How are you, dear?” a joyous, exuberant voice spoke to her. Charlie forced herself to smile as her chitin protective face-guard slid off to allow her free speech.

“H-hey mom, I’m fine. What’s up?”

“Don’t “I’m fine. What’s up?” me, young miss! It’s been months since you last called. Is everything alright?”

“Sure, you could say everything’s the opposite of upside down,” Charlie laughed nervously, then decided to swing herself back up top so her redundant answer wouldn’t technically be a lie. The church bell began to chime loudly, muffling even the sound of the impending storm. It was probably time to move.

“Oh, is that right? Well, when are you next getting a break? Your father could use a visit from his favorite daughter.”

“Only daughter,” corrected Charlie with a small giggle, “You know I keep bouncing between jobs, right?”

“Of course. But Interpol can let me see my daughter every once a while, right?”

“Y-yeah, about that, I… I don’t really know when I’m going to be home. Things happened and… well I doubt you want to see me…”

“What?! Dios mio, did something happen, are you hurt, estas bien?!” Charlie’s mother, Consuelo, seemed two kinds of concerned so far, and it was escalating.

“Gotta stop before she learns how to worry herself to death in chinese,” Charlie quickly thought, trying to come up with an excuse to ease off Consuelo’s worries. “Relax, it’s just that I uh… I’ve put on some weight,” she looked down at her generous chest. Technically, she wasn’t lying. “Let’s just say it’s not easy on the eyes.”

“Oh, you silly… tonta! Worrying me like that. What kind of excuse is that though? I’ve always wanted you to eat more, you’ve always been so thin and frail!”

“Trust me mom, I’m not the same weak little Charlie that used to have trouble with the heavy boxes,” she rolled her eyes up a bit, trying to remember her last training session to test her limits. “Except anything heavier than 40 tons. I still have trouble with those,” she quietly thought. “I could also tell her I’m a mutant scorpion now, and that I fight mad scientists with wings. That’d really add some points.”

“Alright then, power girl. When are you coming home? You don’t sound like you’re busy.”

Charlie jumped off the top of the cathedral and swung by one of the flagpoles, launching herself in the air while still talking. “It’s complicated mom. And I AM busy, it’s not that I don’t want to see either of you. I could actually use a bit of company from the family…” she said as she landed atop a water tank, rushing off and clearing a three story jump. The night provided excellent cover, not that people used to look up for giant scorpions in the night,“…I miss you and dad, really. It’s just… h-how is dad?”

“Monty’s been getting better. The medico won’t let him go yet, but that’s understandable when you’re recovering from his condition. El pobrecito…”

“We told him to quit working at the mines. He’s too old to be a copper miner,” Charlie had fond memories of her father, Montgomery Richards, but most of them involved his stubborn and impatient nature making things harder for everybody.

“This has been a mining city for decades, Charlotte. Even to this day, the economy here largely depends on it, querida. He has a lot of pride on the line.”

“Maybe, but it’s not worth his life,” Charlie argued.

“And is your job worth yours?”

Silence took hold over the anthropomorphic scorpion’s tongue, before she uttered a quiet: “It’s not the same…”

“I’m glad we agree. I’ll tell him you’ll visit soon then!” Consuelo’s words made Charlie widen her eyes.

“Wait, mom, I’m nowhere near Arizona!” Charlie tried as she landed on one of the city entrance’s signs, using her powers to stick to its surface and crawl about it as she tried to think up another excuse and defied the laws of gravity at the same time.

“Hija, do you know how many times I go to pray for your father’s health lately?”

Charlie blinked a bit in surprise at the unexpected question, “I dunno.”

“Enough to know the St. Michael’s church has a cracked bell,” Consuelo’s dry response made Charlie almost fall over her new perch. “Dear, where are you? It’s stormy out there, why don’t you come home to spend the night? We’ll catch a movie.”

“I’m sorry. I promise I’ll show up soon, really. I just arrived and wanted to meet up with the gang before I surprised you two! Yeah, that’s it. They don’t allow visits this late in the hospital anyway, right?” she giggled too nervously for comfort.

“Great!” Charlie could almost tell Consuelo was smiling. “I’ll tell him you’ll be visiting tomorrow, then. He’ll be so happy,” Charlie’s stomach began to turn. “Take care of yourself, Charlotte. Te quiero mucho, we’ll talk later.”

As the phone went into the hang-up tone, Charlie let go and fell. Her tail once again helped keep her aloft by wrapping around one of the sign’s support beams. She sighed, “Ain’t life grand.” Looking up past her bountiful chest, she noticed the sign above her which read:

“Welcome to Phoenix, Arizona.”

---

Quiet as they were, the suburbs of Phoenix were a contrast to its lightened up downtown. Friday was Lady’s Night-Out, so two-for-ones and other similar offers were available at most bars and night clubs, where tourists and locals in general went to take a load off from the week.

Not everyone was as carefree that night however. The noisy music and nightly storm provided excellent distraction for many denizens of the dark streets. As a result, it was very easy for anybody to eyeball the large truck headed for a remote building over Lincoln street, passing it over as a late night transporter.

They would’ve been correct in assuming the truck to be transport, though nobody could’ve imagined what it held inside.

“Easy down there! You’re gonna wake it up!” one of the grunts pushing the payload down the ramp said.

“Pipe down Mick,” his partner said, “They gave this thing enough tranq to knock an elephant out. Now hurry it up, it’s gonna be a messy job if it starts raining with this cage outside.”

“Got’cha. Heave…ho!”

Finally unloaded, the cage was carried over to the entrance exit of the seemingly abandoned building. “Hey Bob, this doesn’t weigh as much as I thought. Most of it is the cage. Why do they need two of us to work this job huh?”

“The client is very important it seems. VIP, all the shiny cards and words. Seems like they were on the run from the lam though, or something like that. Wanted this pet project moved somewhere safe since they raided their lab in Colorado.”

“What IS it, anyway?” asked Mick as they gently set the cage down by the door and punched in the access code by the metal gate’s panel. “You say they knocked it out with elephant tranq. Doesn’t seem like it’s big enough to warrant that much trouble…”

“It’s not the size that matters, Mick, it’s what it can do.”

“You’re scaring me a little there, pal. We’re not transporting a mini-Frankenstein are we?”

“Don’t be ridiculous. This is just one of those animals they experiment on and stuff,” Bob reassured, though he wasn’t convinced it stopped at that. “Actually… why don’t we take a peek?”

“You sure?”

“Hell, nobody’s gonna see. And you made me curious.”

“Well don’t go blaming me if a werewolf or something comes out wanting blood.”

The mantle was lifted, revealing a thick barred prison made of very resistant material, a padlock holding the cage closed. A curious smell caught Bob’s attention almost instantly. “Do you smell asbestos, Mick?”

“Huh? Come to think of it, the mantle kinda… whoa!” Mick fell down on his butt as he realized what was inside was no Frankenstein or werewolf, but instead a rather large reptile. Peacefully resting, the abnormally big scaly creature seemed to be as sedated as Bob had claimed. “Wh-what the hell is this?”

“Calm down, dumbass! It’s asleep… But holy hell, I’m from these parts, and I’ve never seen an iguana THAT big.”

“You sure it’s not a pet alligator?” Mick looked over the sleek creature dubiously. It was a brightly red scaled, yellow under the muzzle, probably its lower region. The color pallete was very odd, but its sheer size was what caught their attention the most. “I mean, it’s not that huge really, but damn. You think it bites?”

“You think it bites?” Bob mocked, “What kind of question is that? It’s an animal. If it has claws, it scratches, if it has a tail, it smacks, if it has fangs, it’ll bite. Anything for survival.”

“So what do you think it does? Other than sleeping I mean.”

“No idea. I just was told to keep the mantle over the cage and drop it by the center of the warehouse.”

“Yeah about that. Lots of test-tubes to be a warehouse, Bob.” Mick seemed awestruck as the skies flashed white, briefly showing what appeared to be a chemistry lab chock full of expensive equipment and experiments. The lightning that struck was very well on its way to complementing the dark atmosphere that turned a harmless, empty laboratory into one picture straight from a sci-fi nightmare. “I think we should just leave this overfed iguana here and go.”

“Seconded,” distracted, Bob couldn’t notice the creature inside had begun to stir, the loud sound outside plus the moisture from the humid night reactivating its vigor. Although still paralyzed, its eyes could move. The captive creature realized its situation and acted on its own instinct. It wanted to be free, and its thoughts focused on its prison as it opened its eyes. The padlock in front of it was beginning to get hot, its temperature quickly raising to the point the metal was starting to silently sizzle and melt away… until the mantle fell over it. The flame the creature had begun to conjure was instantly put out. “In you go, freak of nature.” Said an oblivious Bob as the two transporters heaved the cargo in and set it where the contract had specified.

Its chance for freedom had once again been denied. It didn’t have much longer, it felt weak, and it wasn’t the sedatives the humans had hit it with. The creature felt it, it was going to die. It had to be free, whatever it took. But with its current strength, the iguana would have to wait for another chance.

---

“Yeah, Dash? It’s Charlie, I’m back in town and was wondering if you guys doing anything tonight? O-oh, game night. Okay.”

“Heeey, Tina! How are you? I’m back in town. I’d like to catch up, you headed out? Wait, you’re out of the states? New York? That’s great, hey, uh, yeah, still working for… yeah, dad’s getting better, I actually… look, I’ll call you later, alright?!”

“Liz? Hey, it’s Charlie Richards. Remember me? Wait, this isn’t Liz’s home anymore? Manny’s Pizza? No, no I don’t want a pizza. Unless it’s free. It’s not free, is it? Hello?”

“Damn, I really need to hit the booze and dance all this night away. Then I can at least play the irresponsible daughter game tomorrow when mom wonders where I am,” Charlie winced a bit, “But even if I go in my civvies, I don’t want to draw attention. I need to find a group…”

Dialing her phone one last time, Charlie tried: “Hi Cassie, long time no talk.”

“Charlie? Charlie Richards? Heeey! Oh my god, it’s been ages since I’ve talked to you. How ARE you, girl?”

“I’m fine. Actually, I’m back in town for the weekend. Was trying to get a load off from work,” Charlie chirped, “Haven’t really been myself lately if you catch my drift. Are you and the girls hanging out tonight?”

“Are we? We’re going to dance aaaaall the night away tonight at the Nilo! Sarah and Julia are almost done with their makeup actually, heh. Yeah, it’s Charlie! What do you say girls, wanna bring ‘lil Richards out with us fine damsels tonight?”

Charlie laughed a bit, finally a bit more comfortable. “That was a positive squeal I hope. Nobody had a heart attack, right?”

“Oh, we’re going to break a lot of hearts tonight, sweetheart. Just come over to my apartment, you remember where it is, right?”

“Between Main and the Sixth, right?”

“You got it! Hurry it up!”

Click. “Alright… they won’t have trouble breaking hearts I bet. Me on the other hand?” Charlie swung herself around the flagpole she was using as a perch and launched herself back to the roof of the building where she had left her bag with her clothes. “I just hope I don’t break anyone when I start dancing.”

---

“And that’s why it’ll be a good thing for the Crib, Jason. We hit the other joint, the people see how dangerous it is, they move in to the Boss’s.”

“And we got enough people for the job? Enough guns for them all? How’re we getting in? And out?”

“We got all of the gang, man. Relax. The bouncer’s one of our guys, he’ll fake a body check before we go in. Get into position, wait a while, then put a scare on the patrons. We get our share by collecting from them, and then we blow the joint before it gets hot. Place’s rep’s gonna be dirt low by the time the feds show up.”

“Sound good. You totally didn’t come up with that plan.”

“Shaddup, Jason! Don’t know why they all listen to you, you’ve got a brain the size of a pea. Go get the newbies their masks and equipment. We hit the joint in an hour. Operation starts in 15 minutes after that. Go over the plan with them, I’ll give a call to the boss.”

“It’s the charisma, man,” Jason chuckled as moved over to the group of people in his garage. Males and females of various ages were there. From as little as 13, all the way up to 30. After the plan’s explanation and the payment was discussed, the final questions were answered. Jason looked over his gang with a proud smirk at their organization. “We’re gonna milk the rich bastards for all they got, then the boss’ll probably take us in as his personal hit team. We’re gonna be earning the big bucks soon, boys and girls! No more being looked down on, no more neglect from the bigwigs of society. We’re gonna earn our place just as we deserve.”

The small but present crowd roared in cheer. Satisfied, Jason began looking over his allies, noticing an especially quiet one. He approached the red hoodie and placed a friendly hand on his shoulder, “Right, Rex?”

“Yeah,” the boy looked past his hood and cocked an uzi that he probably had never held in his life before. “We’re gonna go big after this, aren’t we Jason?”

“’course. Bigger than you can probably imagine, kiddo. Let’s go now, we’re gonna be driving around the Nilo for a while, before we go crash their party.”

---

“Ohmigod, look at you! You’ve… grown!” Cassie almost yelped in surprise as she opened the door to her apartment.

“That’s why I’m stuck with desk work lately, heh,” Charlie smiled back at her old friend. They’d known each other since childhood, but no one had expected ‘lil Richards to return so… round. “I can’t wait for mom’s reaction to this outfit either,” she thought sarcastically. Julia and Sarah, as well as Cassie swarmed Charlie with questions as they sized her appearance up. Thankfully, she had managed to cover most of everything.

“Put on some extra pounds, been working hard at burning the excess though! Though not so hard…” Charlie looked very fat in the sweater she was wearing. In order to hide her tail, she had to tie it around her waist, which created some bulk under her garments, allowing her to present a staunch belly that was unlike her actual, small and fit, curvy waist. Her wide hips and breasts helped with the illusion that she was actually a bad case of overweight. She had received specially tailored footwear that didn’t rip easily with her new feet. It didn’t allow them to stick to surfaces unfortunately.

“Yeah, the sunglasses are actually necessary. I came into contact with a noxious chemical during one case. I thought I was going to be blind forever! Turns out my eyes are super sensitive to light now though,” she explained, never getting used to the amount of lies she had to spout in order to lead a ‘somewhat’ normal social life. Her eyes, being two large completely dark spheres, did stand out. The only thing Charlie considered comfortable was the fact her exoskeleton made of protective black chitin could dissolve and reappear at will.

“Hmm, well, you know what, I’m a fitness coach now,” said Sarah, “Bet I can give you a few tips on some exercises to help you, maybe some cardio too?”

“It’s okay Sarah, really, I get plenty exercise already!” Charlie tried to laugh, but it came off as a kind of ironic giggle. “Not even I can convince myself of that one,” she cursed herself. Cassie dismissed the chat though.

“Aw c’mon girls, give Charlie some room. She’s been through a lot!” Charlie felt safe once again.

“I can get pounded into the wall and ceilings AND the ground by Omega, but I can’t take much more of this!” she thought with a wry smile.

The girls pouted, but eventually agreed. “So, how is your dad? I spoke to Consuelo the other day at the pharmacy. She said he isn’t doing too well.”

Charlie’s eyes widened, not that they could see with her sunnies on. “She told you that, when was this?” Cassie shrugged.

“Maybe ah… five days ago? I dunno.”

“…I see,” Charlie fell into a deep silence, before she replied, “I uh… I was actually thinking of paying him a visit tomorrow.”

“That’s nice of you, Charlie. Want us to come with you?” Julia offered, but Charlie politely declined.

“Thanks, but it’ll probably be better if he only sees so many girls in the same room,” she joked, “Now, enough talk. Wasn’t there something about dancing all the night away?”

---

Nilo was one of the biggest, and definitely one of the most popular night clubs in Phoenix’s downtown, and a block away its competition, The Crib. Charlie, Cassie, Sarah and Julia were waiting in line to get in. “Nilo’s really gone up since I last was here,” observed an impressed Charlie. The neon was bright enough to blind someone looking directly at it. The lines went all over to the corner and turned to still go on and on, and there were at least three different hotdog stands by the exit, ready to profit from the hungry teenagers coming out and looking for a snack to go on.

“Geesh, our turn Ms. Richards. You’re going to make us all look like tourists!” Julia joked, pushing Charlie as they advanced to the bouncer, who OK’d Cassie instantly, followed by Sarah. Julia went in without a hitch, but then he lowered his own sunglasses as he noticed Charlie. He barely had to look down thanks to her height, but her appearance was throwing him off. “Hey, what’s the problem Barney?” asked a suspicious Julia.

“Your friend isn’t on the list,” Barney pointed out, tapping his paper holder. Charlie frowned and swiped the list off his hands and peered at it faster than one could see.

“Nobody is by the looks of it. Or are you afraid to let on you don’t know English?” Charlie mocked, pissing Barney off.

“Give that back. I’m not asking, lady.”

“Hey, that’s not nice, Barney. C’mon, let her in!”

“Rules of the house, Julia.”

“What’s going on here?” asked Cassie as she and Sarah came to see what the holdup was about.

“Barney’s giving Charlie a hard time.”

“Oh, I’m going to show him a hard time he doesn’t move,” Charlie said, about to pull her sleeve up, but reconsidered after realizing they would see the chitin bracers that kept her pincers hidden in her forearms.

“Hmph. I don’t want any trouble. Get in or get out. Now. And give that list back!”

“Thank you, stud.” Charlie gave him a bright, albeit fake smile, and pushed the list against his chest really fast, with too much strength. Charlie didn’t even pay attention to his reaction as she knocked the wind out of him before heading in with Julia, giggling about their girl power or something like that.

“F-fuck… what was that?” the bouncer seemed rattled, trying to recover from the force of the smack.

“Hey Barney, wanna switch with me? I’ll actually get to work.”

“Sh-shut up, you… Oh, it’s you.”

---

“Holy guacamole, look at this place! It’s gotten so damn big,” Charlie stood in the middle of the club, the reflected lights and electronic music almost deafening her. Groups of people seemed to be separated by three levels; all of them accessible, they each had a different bar catering to specific drink and cocktails.

“And so have the guys from high-school, heh,” Sarah stuck her tongue out as she put a hand on Charlie’s shoulder, directing her attention to some guys at the level one bar. “Garret’s over there.”

“Garret?” Charlie suddenly was at a loss for words. She blushed a bit, “Oh crap, I can’t let him see me like this!”

“Aw c’mon, I did your hair, silly. I mean, sure, you pack a few extra pounds but otherwise your body’s rockin’!”

“Actually, do you have any tips to get your hair to be as silky as yours? What do you use?” Julia added.

“Uh, just rinse with soap and a bit of shampoo.”

“What, no conditioner?”

“Yeah, I don’t- Wait a minute, girls! It’s Garret, Garret Thompson, over there. Hello-oh?” Charlie almost hiccupped, and she could swear she was starting to sweat from nerves alone. Her high-school crush.

“Oh relax. You didn’t ditch him because he was ugly, you had to go off to complete your training. Bet he’s still into you!” Cassie reassured, “You’re gorgeous tonight, Charlie. C’mon, go get ‘im, scorpion!”

“Whu-what?”

“I said go get ‘im, tigress.”

“Oh, right, uh… n-nah, I think, uh… I think I’ve got to step into the restroom for a bit!” Charlie rushed off with no idea of where to actually go, leaving her three friends giggling to one another.

“Wow, they don’t teach you how to deal with urges overseas, do they?” Julia casually joked. Cassie hit her playfully with her elbow.

“Just leave her be. I’m sure she’s just excited, it’s been years since she saw him. Heh, let’s get some guys to get us some drinks and then convince her to talk to him!”

Sarah agreed, “Yeah, she’s too tense. Bet she could use a good night.”

“Sarah!” both her friends squealed in unison, leaving Sarah dumbfounded, but then they all laughed again. She was then bumped on by a shorter person, which made her turn around angrily.

“Hey, watch it!” Sarah shouted, which was normal in such a loud place. The red hoodie didn’t seem to listen. He was too busy listening to the conversation on his concealed ear-piece.

“Everyone in position? Alright. Like we practiced. Barney’s gonna set it up as full. Carter gets the alternate exits. Joey hits up the men’s restroom and Sandy the girl’s. Everyone else? Go for the shinies.”

“Operation is Go.”

To Be Continued...