A rainy day in the city of angels (Shifter)

When Artemis woke, the day had just seemed off. Although she just pushed it off to the fact they her, Salone, Penny and Hanna had just moved a few days ago. There where still boxes all over the new house, A lot of them in Artemis' room since she really didn't have much and didn't mind the enclosed space. Heck most of the strange furs known as clothes she wore where either Penny's or Salone's. Artemis stole some of Penny's clothes of a box in her room and walked into the house's kitchen, which was probably the only room in the house that was fully unpacked because of how used it was. Artemis sat on a bar-stool and debated on what to eat. She had also notice the lack of her children around. Even though she rarely saw Fera, Shael was usually here every other day or so and she hadn't seen him in a while. She sighed, well at least one of her two children liked her. Although she still had some doubts considering she never actually carried the twins but Salone seemed to back up the claims and Artemis trusted her. And then she heard a voice she wasn't expecting.

"Artemis..." said a voice. Artemis quickly turning around, recognizing it as Fera's voice. Artemis was surprised to see her here, let alone without Shael or Mike. Her face was red a puffy like she had been crying for a while.

"Fera what's-" said Artemis. Although Fera didn't let her finish.

"S-Shael... he's dead." said Fera bluntly. Saying it must of been hard because it looked like she was about break down in tears. Artemis felt a lump in her throat. It couldn't be true... but then again Fera wasn't the one to make jokes. Artemis tried to speak but her voice failed her. She got and a went to go and try to pull Fera into a hug or some but Fera just move out of the way.

"Don't touch me!" yelled Fera. There was a fire in her eyes that Artemis wasn't to keen on. But the look she gave her reminded Artemis of prey that would do anything to try and live.

"Why do you care. It's not like you thought we were actually yours! Hell, from what Dad told us you laughed when he first told you! I wish you would of died instead of Shael!" Fera was now screeching at Artemis, but it wasn't much longer until she stormed out and Artemis was left alone.

---

After that Artemis couldn't remember what had happened. She couldn't remembered if Penny or Salone had come to check to see what the yelling was about or if she even had run into anyone else. All she new was that she was currently flying in a hawk form. She wanted to get away. Shael just couldn't be dead... he couldn't. Artemis landed she couldn't go on. Her wings didn't want to work. Turning back into a human form she wandered the streets of LA. But to Artemis it was just a blur. She eventually made it to a park and sat down on a bench. But then a man approached her. His salt and pepper hair was wild and his beard was unkempt. He stunk to high heavens with clothes that looked like they have seen better days.

"I know that look." He chuckled. "You have lost someone huh?"

Artemis simply nodded, not even bothering to look at the man. For some reason she could only look up at the sky. It was full a clouds and Artemis remembered something about rainy weather in the next few days.

"Well it's not a solution but it looks like you need one." croaked the man. He pulled out a bottle. It was filled with a strange caramel covered liquid and looked unopened. But it wasn't for long because the man opened it and took a swig before holding the bottle out towards Artemis. "Here, we can share."

Artemis took a drink and her face crinkled up. It tasted horrible, but the man kept insisting to drink and Artemis didn't feel the will to fight back. Hours past and a bottle of rum later Artemis was flat out drunk. The man opened a new bottle and offered it to Artemis. But when she reached for it he pulled it away.

"Sorry but my kindness is out for today, you are going to have to pay for this one some how. I'm thinking maybe we could go somewhere more private." The man reached out and touched Artemis on the upper arm. Artemis quickly shifted into a wolf and bit at the man, her fangs sinking into his skin. The man yelled and ran away, yelling something about a Meta. At least he left the awful tasting liquid. Artemis picked it up and walked off.

---

Days pasts, and the weather had become worse and worse. Artemis never returned to Salone's house. She just sat in an alley and stared up into the sky. Rain drops splashed against her face as the people in the city hurried by to get to their destinations while hiding under umbrella's. All Artemis had was a bottle of liquor that barely had an 8th of it left. The bottle hung loosely out of her hand. She hadn't drank as much as she did a few days ago, she had been working on this bottle for a few days. She hated the taste and smell of it, but it made her feel numb and for at least a few hours it felt like Shael wasn't dead at all.

Tires screeched on the rainy, grey day, as a Dodge Viper ran a red light, flying around a corner. People on the sidewalk glared disapprovingly at the vehicle, but their looks of wistful annoyance turned into abject fear when they noticed a little boy chasing his ball into the street.

"WATCH OUT!" A man dropped his umbrella, calling out to the unattended child, alerting his mother.

The woman sprang to action, but slipped, unable to rescue the boy. "JEREMY!!!" She wailed in anguish, as the car hurled obliviously towards the boy.

"GOT IT!!!"

A dark skinned young man in a black hoodie bounded into view, and swung his arm. The arm reached and streched across the street, and wrapped around the boy like a python. It lifted him straight up, and out of harm's way, the hand supporting his head to keep the kid from getting whiplash.

The arm reeled the boy in, and John Jaramillo, also known as The Shifter (Shift, for short), rested the young child on his shoulder.

"You gave your mom quite a scare, Jeremy." John spoke in a light, cheerful tone, handing the boy to his mother. "You be careful now. Don't play in the road." John adjusted his shades and put up his hood to protect him from the rain.

"...Thank you. I should have never taken my eyes off him."

Shift simply tipped his hat. "Hey, that's what meta-human neighbors are for. I may not be a cop, but The Shifter never stops working his Shift. Take it easy, ma'am!" With that, the young man sprinted away. He turned into an alleyway, wall jumping and leaping up onto the roof. "YAHOOOOOO!!! I'm on a ROLL today! May not have clocked a supervillain, but man, I sure helped out back there. My catchphrase needs work though..."

Before he could continue talking to himself, John slipped on the wet roof, and plummeted into the alley below. He landed on a dumpster, denting it and thudding on the pavement. "...OOOOOOF..." Not one to stay down, Shift got up, and looked across the alley, noticing a figure.

A woman. Striking in appearance. She was laying in the alleyway with a bottle in her hand.

This wasn't exactly superhero stuff, but John couldn't help but offer some aid.

"...Excuse me, miss? I don't know why you're out here, but it isn't safe to be alone in an alley." He rubbed the back of his neck, and added, "I know a decent Women's Shelter nearby. I can give you the address, or walk you there."

Shift swallowed, looking away as he spoke. He reached out carefully to take the bottle away from the despondent, pretty Artemis, unaware of her meta-human powers.

Artemis heard a crash, just just ignored it and took another sip. Artemis' eyes darted to the hooded figure who was addressing her. A dark skin boy with a hood drawn over his head stood over her maybe a few feet away. Artemis wondered if he was the one who crashed. He started to talk to her. Something about a shelter and walking her to it. She just snorted and took another sip from the liquor. She held on to the bottle, keeping the boy from taking the bottle.

"I don't need your help, I can take care of myself." said Artemis, her words slightly slurred. She took another sip from the liquor. "If someone want to try and mess with me they are more then welcome. But for now I'm not ready to feel... not anymore..." Artemis had starred to speak softer and softer as she went on. She shifted her body around to face away from the boy. It wasn't just Shael that was making her depressed. It was the second time someone she cared for died because she wasn't there to protect them. First Jake and now Shael.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm sure you have this covered." John knelt down to her eye level. "Listen to me. Taking care of yourself isn't just about self defense. It's raining. You're alone, and drunk, and...obviously depressed, frankly. You need to REALLY take care of yourself."

He resisted the urge to brush her cheek. Chances are she wanted him to keep his distance.  "Maybe you can tell me what's wrong. That'd be a good start, miss."

Shift unzipped his hoodie, and offered it to her, sporting only his tee shirt and hat against the rain. Taking off his sunglasses, he gave her a friendly smile. "Liquor ain't gonna keep the rain from giving you a cold. Here. Put this on."

"I've survived worse..." said Artemis, her mind obviously some where else now. The rain had started to pick up and Artemis stared at the hoodie the was being held out to her. She reached up for a moment before deciding not to take the hoodie. Even if she was uncomfortable, this was her punishment. Although the question about what happened did catch her off-guard a bit.

"My son died..." said Artemis. She couldn't help but tear up when saying it. "My son died... and I never told him that I loved him... I even doubted he was mine."

Her voice began to crack. She couldn't help it. It wasn't long that she was full out crying. "This is the second time someone I cared for died because I wasn't there to protect them!" yelled Artemis. She threw the bottle of liquor at the man but it missed horribly and just shattered against the apposite brick wall.

"Fera's right... it should of been me..." whimpered Artemis, bringing her knees up to her shoulders and rest her head in between them, tears flowing down her face.

"I'm so sorry." Taking off his hat, John lowered his head. It was a lot to take in. He shut his eyes for a moment, saying a brief prayer. "...But being out here isn't going to do anything for him. You should get yourself up, and respect his memory."

For a moment, Shift thought, trying to find the right words. "Punishing yourself can be...addictive. The moment someone lets themself, or even worse, someone else down, they want to think that every bad thing is penance. But the best thing you can do for your son now is be the best of yourself, and remember him. He's gone now...but you're not."

John offered his hoodie once again. "No matter what you or Fera wants, you're still here. Put the bottle down, and live your life for your absent friends. Prove to him, and to yourself, and to the other person you lost, that you did love him. That's how you make it up to him."

Placing the hoodie on her lap, he offered his hand to help her up. "My dad died when I was a kid. He never said it, but I don't doubt for a second that he loved me. Your son felt the same way, so get up, and get something to eat. If he were here, he'd be helping you onto your feet too."

"You don't know anything..." said Artemis, staring at the shattered bottle that now littered the other side of the alley way. The venom that was now in Artemis' voice was apparent.

"You're just a pup who thinks they know everything. The world you think you know is only a lie. It's better if someone as weak as you just hid under a rock." growled Artemis. She went back to just staring at the sky. Ignoring the boy's out stretched hand.

"You should just leave her alone." said a new voice from the end of the alley. The voice originated from a girl, who looked like she was around 15-16 years old. You could tell by the way she held herself she was a straightforward person.

"Why the hell are you here Fera. I know that you hate me." said Artemis not even bothering to turn and face her daughter.

"You're right, I do. But as much as I hate to admit it. Shael would hate to see you like this." stated Fera. She ignored the man standing over Artemis.

"I don't understand why though. You attacked him and and hurt him badly. Yet every other day he always trotted over to Salone's house to visit you." growled Fera.

"I told you I didn't know he was mine. He was hunting on my grounds!" retorted Artemis, her voice starting to fill with anger.

"Dad told you! And you didn't believe him!" stated Fera, starting to sound angry herself.

"What your Dad told me was impossible!" growled Artemis standing up and now facing Fera.

"Obviously not! I'm standing here aren't I? Shael was alive to! Heck even now while we are talking you doubt that we were your children! You can see it right in your eyes you stupid animal! The only reason you haven't kill yourself by now is because dead isn't a release for you!" said Fera, raising her voice.

After that Artemis felt hurt. She tried to think of a retort to say to Fera, but her words failed her again. But what could Artemis say? Fera was right, she was nothing more then a dumb animal. She wasn't as wise as the original Fera, the one her daughter was named after. And if she did kill her mortal self she would just live on a spirit.

"J-Just go away Fera." That was all Artemis was able to say before slumping back down against the wall.

John was taken aback by Artemis's anger at him, but now he was just confused. He stood there, awkwardly, before re-asserting himself in the situation. "Hunting grounds...? You hurt your son?"

The Astounding Shifter was fairly stumped, but with no idea that the girls had any powers they could use, or even the context in which the things were being said, he simply made the best choice he could.

John reached into his pocket, and pulled out his phone. Calling child protective services was never the most glamorous of super-heroic jobs, but he'd done it before. "Alrighty. You look rather...underage, and your mom needs help, so I'm going to call child services to pick you up, and a cab to take your mother to a nice rehab clinic where she'll get some help. That sounds nice, right?" Shift faked a smile, then relinquished his optimism and turned away. "Kid, you stay there. In a few years, you'll thank me."

Dialing the number, he kept an eye on both of them, leaning against the wall casually.

"Yeah right, good luck with that. If you think Child services can take me away you really are an idiot." Laughed Fera. Heck she took care of herself most days anyway. Fera grabbed John's phone out of his hand and tossed it against the wall as hard as she could. The phone fell to the ground, broken. Although what she said didn't fall on deaf ears. When Artemis heard the words take and away, something felt strange.

"Come on think about it. But you seem a bit slow so I'll spell it out for you." said Fera, taking to John like he was a little kid.

"This pathetic pile of a drunken mess is my mother. Now it maybe hard to tell in her current state but how old does she look? 24, 25 at the max? Now look at me. You obviously can tell that I am under aged, but how old do I look? 16? 15? That would of meant at the latest she would of had to of had me and my brother when she was 10 and my Dad would of been 2 years old. Doesn't that seem odd to you? Yet here you are not even questioning it. Just think about it. If she is my mother how come she doubts that my brother and I were hers?" Ranted Fera.

"Y-You're going to take Fera away..." said Artemis, her breathing uneasy. The anger Artemis was still there, but it seemed more calm. Instead of just being blind anger it was focused.

"Y-You are going to take away my daughter... the last thing that is mine." said Artemis. This time she stood up and faced John. The look on her face had glazed over look to it despite her obvious anger.

"You dare try to take her from me! You dare you try and take my pack!" shouted Artemis.

"Then then you will die!" Shouted Artemis. After that she shifted. Her form grew, wing sprung from her back and scales formed on her body. The form that now stood in front of Fera and was now a 20 foot tall dragon (Spirit-Shifting all 15 points, current grid in spoilers before) with shining bronze scales. Artemis snorted fire from her nostrils. She spread her wings in and let out a roar.

"Really Mom? This is your Dragon form? My uncle has a better dragon form then that." sighed Fera, putting her head in the palm of her hand like this was embarrassing. Artemis quickly just shot Fera a look before turning her attention back to John.

""You probably should run." said Fera, turning her attention to John.

Dragon Artemis:

Shift turned to talk to the disrespectful, mean little girl, failing to notice the dragon for a moment. "THAT PHONE WAS TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS!!! I've had just about enough outta you, you little...trouble...maker..."

John noticed the shadow behind him, and turned to face Artemis, who was now a massive dragon all up in his face.

"Holy Mary Mother of God it's a dragon." In a hushed, terrified tone, the vigilante looked up at the immense creature, and glanced at the dragon's daughter. She urged him to flee, however flippantly.

"...But in the grand scheme of things, money isn't that important. I'd be happy to let y'all keep the busted phone, and I'm just glad that we're all willing to solve this NONVIOLENTLY. After all, we're...all just trying to help...right...?"

Slowly moving away, and backing down from the situation, John grinned nervously, shuffling slowly backwards, his eyes fixed on the dragon. Beads of sweat dripped from his jawline, as he desperately added muscle mass to his legs to prepare them to retreat.

"...You see, ma'am, the thing about alchoholism...is that it's completely irrelevant since you're a dragon, so hey, this is a judgement free zone that I'm going to IMMEDIATELY RUN AWAY FROM." Turning on his heels, Shift sprinted as fast as his legs could carry him, turning left and running down the street away from the alleyway.

Artemis took off into the sky and let out another roar. Others who somehow missed the now 20 foot dragon could get a clear look at her. People screamed and ran. Artemis scanned over the crowd, she spotted John running away, faster then Artemis could probably catch up to for now. But that didn't matter. She had his scent and she had tracked harder to catch prey. She took off in the direction that John took off in. There where sirens sounding below her but Artemis just ignored them. She had her target. She let out a roar and shot fire into the air. The rain causing steam to raises from the stream of fire. Regardless how far away ahead John got she was going to let him know she was right behind him. Back at the alley Fera just stood there, her head in her hand, shaking it back and forth.

"Well I probably should go after them... nah." said Fera, heading back home, a small smile on her face.

GET YOUR HEAD IN THE GAME, JOHN. Shift looked around, noticing the startling amount of people panicking and running. The smell of evaporating rain, and the sudden heat snapped him out of his blind fear. This is all your fault, so there's no reason for anyone else to take the fall. I gotta lead her away from the main roads, then I'll find some way to calm her down.

John leaped on top of a speeding truck bed, the driver panicked and speeding. He looked around for a sturdy telephone pole and found one, swinging out his arm. "Stay calm and clear the streets, people!!! I'll lead it away!!!" His arm stretched into a long tendril, and snagged the pole. Shift swung off of the truck, picking up speed and launching up and into the air, retracting his arm as he prepared to take flight..

In an instant, he transformed, his body thinning slightly, and his arms changing into long, thin, featherless wings, like a bat. He glided over the streets like a makeshift harpy, knowing he wouldn't have much time before his pursuer would catch him.

Artemis was sadly mostly chasing John through scent alone. Although when he stopped it did give Artemis a chance to catch up to him. Although he wasn't on the ground. He launched himself into the air and turned his arms into a kind of wings, gliding through the air. At this point Artemis collected a fireball and shot it towards John, immediately creating a new one and shooting it. She continued to do this for the next 5 fireballs. The rain cause steam to rise from the fire. Artemis was going to catch this boy. He could only run so far before he had to stop.

Noticing the heat, John looked back in time to notice a ball of fire. With a shout of surprise, he evaded the burst of flame. The steam was stifling, and keeping the rain out of his eyes was difficult, but he weaved through the air, avoiding the other three.

The fifth, unfortunately, passed too close to him. The sudden heat dulled his senses, and singed his right wing, forcing it to return to normal. He dropped like a bullet, his stomach hitting a hanging streetlight. Spinning downwards, he slammed into the hood of a car, rolling into the street, dazed.

He'd succeeded in leading the dragon to a fairly evacuated street, but he was dazed, and didn't have the momentum to take off again. It was fair to assume that if the dragon intended to kill him even if he fought back, this would be his last stand.

Artemis had missed every shot. The annoying boy dodged them all. But the last was still close enough where it affected him. Or at least it seemed. The boy plummeted down into the ground and after recovering. Although she seemed to be off. But to be fair after a fall like that most would. Artemis hovered about 15 feet off the ground, smoke bellowing from her nostrils. She let out another roar and embers flew from her mouth. She gathered up fire in her mouth and fired it off as a steam towards John. She would make quick work of this boy.