Chapter 7:

Chapter 7: Cobra

Howl


I had been living with Ms. Clare for about two weeks, and it’s been good. She usually was at her work, but whenever she had the time she would teach me things like math, science, and English. Things she learned when she went to school. I had never been to school, and the only form of education I got was from Mother, so it was nice to continue learning new things. I 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. That one was easier to use. It was Saturday, and she asked if I’d like to go shopping with her. “We need to get you new clothes,” She said, “Because I don’t think you wanna keep wearing the same outfit, right?” I was excited to be able to go outside again, it had felt like forever since I went out the first time. She went into the kitchen, grabbed a white circle, and told me to come over. “What’s that?” I asked. “It’s a bandage roll,” She responded, “I’m gonna wrap it around your hands so that way no one will see them.” I nodded. Once she finished wrapping my hands, she went over to her closet and grabbed a hat and these rubber shoes, and handed them to me. “The hat for your ears, and the galoshes for your feet. I know they’re for rain, but they’re the only shoe I had that are big enough.” I put on the “gol-osh-is” and while they didn’t feel like normal shoes, I still liked them. “As for that tail….eh, think you can just hide it in your pants?” Ms. Clare asked. I nodded, “Yes, that is what I did when I first came here.” Afterward, we left in her car (it was smaller than the one I came here in and red instead of gray) and headed into the town. I weird feeling in my stomach after what happened last time, but Ms. Clare reassured me that everything will be fine as long as I stick with her. And I don’t plan to make the same mistake again…

As we walked out of the mall, I carried all the bags of stuff we got. Ms. Clare offered to help, but I told her the weight is good for training. I was always told to train to keep getting stronger, so whenever Ms. Clare was gone, I would often train by lifting the heaviest things in her apartment. As we were approaching her car, we noticed a man leaning against it. “Who’s that?” I asked. “I don’t know,” She responded, “Hey!” She called out to the man, but he didn’t respond. He was a skinny man, wearing jeans and a black hoodie with a large snake on it. “Can I help you, sir?” Clare asked as we got closer. The man lifted his head, revealing his dust brown eyes. “Well, if it isn’t The Failure.” The man said in a hissing tone. Ms. Clare looked confused and my body tensed….this man was not good. I put down all the bags and narrowed my eyes at the man, “Ms. Clare, please leave.” I said, ripping off the bandages on my hands with my teeth. “Huh? What’s wrong?” She asked, “Is this guy bad news?” “I don’t know, you tell me….” The name pulled out a knife and lunged at Ms. Clare with lighting speed, but I grabbed his wrist before the knife could hit her head. She yelped, stepping back. I looked at him and bared my teeth, “How dare you try and hurt Ms. Clare.” “Well well, seems they weren’t kidding. You’re pretty good.” The man pulled back his hand and threw the knife, “I’m 3485: King Cobra. And you’re 9320: The Failure, right?” The man asked, and my eyes widened. “You’re from the Organization just like me?” He took off his hood, revealing the scales on his skin, “Uh-huh. And I’m on a mission to take you back….by any means.” I got into the fighting stance I was told to go into when facing someone. “I don’t wanna go back. I like it here.” He chuckled, “Well, unfortunately….” His pupils became slits, “That’s not up to you.” He lunged at me, trying to slash me with his claws, but I dodged it. When I did, I slipped a little…my footing felt off. We went for another slash that came close to my face, but I dodged it, but he knocked off my hat. I jumped back to get distance. I looked down to see what was happening, and I noticed I was still wearing the “gol-osh-is” “Oh yeah.” I quickly took them off as he bolted for his next attack. This time, I could dodge and defend better. I ducked one of his attacks and smacked him into one of the cars in the parking lot. He fell to the ground and didn't get back up. Did I hit THAT hard? I slowly walked up to him, and without warning, he shot up and bit down hard on my left arm. “Ngh!” I growled as he let go and I pushed him away. I looked at my hand which was bleeding from the bite. He laughed, “Now I’ve got you. In a matter of minutes, my venom will course through your veins and you’ll be paralyzed.” I looked down at the wound again to think about what to do, then I remembered watching something like this on the animal channel…YEAH! Mr. Crikey, the guy with the funny voice: “Steve Irwin here to give a bit of advice. If you ever encounter a poisonous snake, the first thing you should do is stay calm and try and suck and spit out as much of the venom as you can. It won’t get everything out, but it’ll at least take some of the venom out.”

“YES! Thank you, Mr. Crikey!” I started sucking on the bite and spitting out whatever venom I could…and it worked! But the cobra guy stopped me before I could try ad get everything out. “How the hell do you know how to do that?!” He exclaimed, “They said you were an idiot.” “Heh, the guy with the funny voice on the T.V. told me!” I charged at him and kicked him into the street. I rushed after him and before he could get up, I slammed him back down and kicked him into a cafe. He smashed through the window, causing lots of people to scream and run out. “Ferral, stop!” Ms. Clare shouted. I looked back to see what she needed, “You’re gonna hurt innocent people! Take the fight somewhere else!” I nodded, “OKAY!” I ran toward the cafe and found the cobra guy straining to get up. So, I picked him up by his right leg and spirited toward the park where Mother took me. That doesn’t have a lot of people, so it’s a great spot. I’m ready to keep this fight going!

Liber Mercury
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