Chapter 7: Cobra

Ferral had been living with Ms. Clare for about two weeks, and he’s enjoying it. She was usually at her work, but whenever she had the time, Ms. Clare would teach him things like math, science, and English. Things she learned when she went to school. He never went to school, and the only form of education Ferral got was from Dr. Amber, so he loved to continue learning new things. He was even given a chance to learn how her phone worked. It was rather hard because of my claws, so she taught me how to use the phone that was inside the apartment. “Most people don’t use land lines anymore,” She told Ferral, “But it’s good to have around the house. Just in case.” He liked this one more; it was easier to use.

It was Saturday, and Ms. Clare asked Ferral to join her for shopping. “We need to get you new clothes,” She said, “Because I don’t think you wanna keep wearing the same outfit, right?” He was excited to be able to go outside again; it had felt like forever since he went out the first time. Before they left, Ms. Calre went into the kitchen, grabbed a large bandage roll, and told Ferral to come over. “What’s that?” He asked. “It’s a bandage roll,” She responded, “I’m gonna wrap it around your hands so that no one will see them.” Once she finished wrapping his hands, she went over to the closet and grabbed a large sunhat and a pair of galoshes. rubber shoes. She handed them to Ferral. “The hat is to hide your ears, and the galoshes are for your feet. I know they’re for rain, but they’re the only shoes I have that might be big enough.” He put them on; they were tight, but worked fine. “As for that tail…I think you might just have to hide it in your pants?”

Afterward, they left in Ms. Clare’s car. It was smaller than the one Ferral came here in and was red instead of gray. As they drove through the streets, Ferral felt a weird feeling in his stomach after what happened last time, but Ms. Clare reassured him that everything would be fine as long as they stuck together. He wasn’t going to make the same mistake again.

As we walked around the store, Ferral looked at all the shelves of food and racks of clothes that were there. There were quite a lot of people who were also shopping. Some would eye Ferral, giving him confused looks. He tucked his hands under his arms. After what happened before, being around lots of people made him nervous. Once they were done, Ferral carried all the bags of stuff. Ms. Clare offered to help, but he told her the weight is good for training. He was always told to train to keep getting stronger, so whenever Ms. Clare was gone, Ferral would often train by lifting the heaviest things in her apartment.

As they were approaching the car, the two noticed a man leaning against it. “Who’s that?” Ferral asked. “I don’t know,” Ms. Clare responded. “Hey!” She called out to the man, but he didn’t respond. They could barely see his face. He wore a long black cloak that covered his entire body. “Can I help you, sir?” Ms. Clare asked as they got closer. The man lifted his head, revealing his dust brown eyes. “Well, if it isn’t The Failure.” The man spoke. There was a weird hiss to his words. Ms. Clare looked on, confused, while Ferral’s body tensed. This man was trouble. He put down all the bags and narrowed his eyes at the man, “Ms. Clare, please leave.” He said, ripping off the bandages on his hands with his teeth. She looked at Ferral’s serious expression, “Huh? What’s wrong? Is this guy bad news?”

The hooded man chuckled, “You tell me...” He lunged at Ms. Clare with lightning speed, shooting his left arm out. Ferral grabbed his wrist before he could grab her. She yelped, falling back. Ferral glared at the hooded man, “How dare you try and hurt Ms. Clare?” He sneered. The man laughed, “Well, well, it seems they weren’t kidding! You’re pretty good!” The man pulled back his hand and removed his cloak, revealing his serpent underbody. It was long, black, with gray rings around it. His human upper half was muscular, and tattoos of scales were etched all throughout. Even on his face. “I am Experiment 3485: King Cobra. But, you may call me Dante.” Ferral’s eyes widened with surprise, “Y-You have a name?” “Only the elite of experiments have them.” Ferral growled, “So, you’re from the Organization just like me?” Dante nodded, “Uh-huh. And I’m on a mission to take you back….by any means.”

Ferral got into a fighting stance. “I don’t want to go back,” He said, “I like it here.” Dante flicked his forked tongue, “Well, that’s not really up to you, Failure.” “My name is Ferral.” Dante scoffed, “What a ridiculous name.” Ferral looked at Ms. Clare, “Ms. Clare, please find somewhere to hide. I don’t want you getting hurt.” She shook her head, “What about you? I can’t just leave you!” Ferral smiled, giving her a thumbs-up. “I’ll be fine, don’t worry.” Before anything else could be said, Dante slithered at Ferral. He blocked a punch; the force of it sent him sliding back. Dante charged again, trying to slash his long nails at Ferral. He was fast; Ferral barely had any time to dodge them. His foot slipped, distracting him for a second, and he was socked in the face. Ferral was sent flying back, hitting a nearby car.

He groaned, looking down to see he was still wearing the goloshes. As Dante charged at him, Ferral had an idea and kicked the boots off toward his attacker. Dante blocked each one, leaving him open for Ferral to attack. He sprang forward, throwing a punch at him. He grabbed the punch, then Ferral threw another, but was also intercepted. Ferral grinned, kicking his right foot up, smacking Dante under his chin. His head went back, letting go of Ferral’s hands. Ferral crouched, uppercutting Dante’s stomach and sending him back into a truck. He fell to the floor, lying still. Ferral thought he had knocked him out, so he slowly moved forward. He got closer, Dante’s eyes shot open, springing off the ground and sinking his fangs into Ferral’s left arm.

Ferral winced in pain, going to smack him off. Dante let go of his arm and avoided the attack. Ferral looked at the wound, blood running down the bite area. Dante laughed hardily, “In mere minutes, my venom will paralyze you, and then I’ll drag your pathetic ass back.” Ferral needed to think of a solution, and fast. Suddenly, he remembered something! He remembered watching that guy with the funny accent talking about what to do when you’re bitten by a snake. He quickly placed his mouth over the bite, sucking up the venom and spitting it out. Dante was taken aback by this. Once he got all the venom out, Ferral stared down at the cobra experiment. Dante was still in disbelief. “H-How?! They told me you didn’t have much intelligence.” Ferral grinned, “I learned from Mr. Steve Irwin!” He pointed at Dante, “Your venom won’t work. Fight me fair and square!”

Dante growled, “Fine then, I’ll beat your ass then!” He tackled Ferral, dragging him into the street. Cars swerved out of the way, and two even crashed. Ferral grabbed Dante and threw him to a nearby cafe. He crashed through the glass, people jumping back in shock. Some ran out as the two fought. Ms. Clare ran over to the cafe. “Ferral, stop!” She yelled. He looked back. “You’re going to hurt innocent people! Take the fight somewhere else!” He nodded, “OKAY!” Ferral grabbed Dante up by his tail and spirited out of the cafe and toward the park, where Dr. Amber took him. It doesn’t have a lot of people, so it was a great spot!