The stinger dung in hard, the venom of the huge insect pumped into her body. She screamed in pain, kicking and thrashing. The insect was crushed as she rolled over. She let out a blood curdling scream as her skin bulged with green venom filled veins. The sickening sound of flesh tearing could be heard as her back split open. Two insect arms ending in razor sharp claws came forth followed by a hard black shell. The shell split open and two wet insect wings unfolded. Her stomach then split open as well, a long abdominal section uncurled a wicked stinger on it's tip. The useless meat hanging from her torso fell away, revealing a rounded armored thorax. The flesh on her arms split and fell away from a pair of insect arms, identical to the ones that had emerged from her back. The legs followed suit, identical limbs emerging from the tearing flesh. Finally the skin on her head split asunder, the head of a insect emerging. Her new antenna uncurled, set above the silver compound eyes, her sharp mandibles snapping open and shut. Her human mind rather than ceasing to exist or be pushed under was intact, the instincts of a human replaced with that of a giant wasp. She beat her wings, drying them sufficiently.

"Cut!" the director shouted. "Misa my dear that was fantastic. Will some one clean up that fake body?"

Misa scuttled over the the director, then slowly rose to two limbs. The claws on her other two limbs becoming more hand like, those on the ones supporting her getting wider. The armor on the new standing legs expanded to support the new muscle mass. Her long abdomen shrank slightly as her thorax grew larger and took a shape similar to a human female torso. Her mouth parts changed and became capable of speech.

"Thanks CB." Misa said in a clicking voice. "I hope my performance was convincing, I can do another take."

"No no Misa." The director said the the insect morph. "That take was perfect. Now you said your scorpion friend was interested in this too?"

"Yes but I'm afraid he can't morph like I can." Misa said. "He's stuck in fullmorph all the time. But he's giant sized."

"Well I suppose we can use him." The director said. "This film will be big I'm sure."

"The Viral Insect Invasion?" Misa said. "Can't they come up with a better title?"

"It's a working title." The director said. "But your work is going to let be under the budget. We saved so much on special effects thanks to you that we are going to give you more money."

"Great!" Misa said. "Now I can get a new thermal heat suit."

"Misa why is it you spend most of your time in this hybrid form?" The director asked.

"Well CB.." Misa said. "It takes a lot of concentration for me to hold human shape, this shape is easy to hold. I've spend 5 years practicing, and it's almost as easy to be like this as it is for me to be a giant wasp."

"I'm just curious how you.. did the umm." He minced words in his head. "Breast plate?"

"Oh that?" Misa said. "Well I do this to make sure people know I am a female inside this body. It's very painful to be called an it, this just says female more. It's the same way I modified my insect form of the movie."

"Say would you.. like to go out for a drink?" He said.

"Oh sure CB! But where can we go?" Misa asked.

"Please call me Carl." The director said. "And I have just the place.."

"This place?" Misa said. "What's special about this place?"

"It's a SCABs bar Misa." Carl said.

"Does that mean.." Misa started.

"Well yes.." Carl said. "But I'm a cronomorph, I used to be 87, but I morphed back to 30 and now I age normal."

"Sounds like SCABs was good to you." The wasp woman said. "I wish I had only been age regressed. I'm really on the high end of the freak scale."

"Don't worry Misa." Carl said. "You'll fit right in here."

"I'd better undo my thorax alterations." Misa said.

"No, no, leave it." Carl said. "It's nice."

Normally there's a few looks from the patrons at the Blind Pig Gin mill when the door opens. When Misa and Carl came in it was the same. But save for a few everyone gave Misa lingering looks. There where some whispers, as to weather she was in costume, a insect morph, or maybe a inanimorph. The biggest topic of debate was her chest. A human in costume was quickly ruled out, but weather she was insect or an inanimorph in a insect like form was in debate. Actually both where right, Misa really was both, her exoskeleton was composed not of tissue but of a plastic like material, it was smooth and also very shiny. Also the fact her exoskeleton was plastic allowed it to hold the altered shape of the breast plate. Misa sat down and looked about. There where standard animorph scabs, some full morph, anthromorph, or having only altered body parts. Also in the room where inanimorphs, Misa was afraid of them, unaware she was in reality one of them. Being something that was not alive made Misa more afraid than anything.

"Nice place." Misa clicked. "Can I get a glass of water?"

Misa would have blinked had she eyelids when she saw the bartender. He was a nearly fullmorph bull. She waited for him to respond, but then saw him go for a vodor. She raised one of her arms and made a motion of "no" with the clawed hand.

"Just a glass of water, normal water." She said. "No special arrangements."

The bartender nodded and got her a glass of water. Misa made a heart shape with her antenna, her way of smiling. The bartender apparently got the message. She held the glass between her mandibles and opened her mouth. From her mouth a sucking mouth part came out and she sucked up the water. Carl simply watched fascinated.

"So you can do parts of any insect?" He asked.

"Yes I can.. but the wasp is my default form." Misa said. "Some times in summer I give my self butterfly wings. And I can do arachnids too."

"You mean spiders and scorpions?" Carl asked.

"Right." Misa said. "I once got some punks to back off when I turned into a giant scorpion. And Halloween is a fun time, I just put together insect parts."

"I'll bet.. so you've never been here?" Carl asked. "I mean I expected you would be a regular."

"Nope.. being a insect morph is pretty rough, and we giants are rare." Misa said. "Aside from Sting and Widow. I don't know any others."

"Sting and Widow.. are they what I think they are." He asked.

"Yea they are.." Misa gave a clicking chuckel. "But I'm really lucky.. I can go fully human and I can talk in anthroform."

"Anthro?" Carl questioned.

"Yea part human form." Misa said. "I can go full human but it causes me discomfort."

"I noticed your exoskeleton is more like armor." Carl said.

"Yes I've noticed that too." Misa said. "It's not like a normal insect's, it's hard but not really heavy, and the consistency is nothing like a normal arthropod. I've compared it to Widow and Sting's."

"It must be dangerous at your place." Carl said. "A giant wasp, a giant black widow spider, and a giant scorpion."

"Well Sting and I are fully human mentally, Widow how ever." Misa said sighing. "She has been a spider so long that she's starting to think like one.. I'm afraid we might have to send her to a mental hospital for extreme SCABs cases."

"I'm sorry.." Carl said. "I didn't want to bring up something upsetting."

"Don't worry Carl." Misa said. "I've got as much mental armor as I do physical armor. When your a giant bug you kina have to be ready for depressing stuff. Sting has it worse, he's been a SCAB for a year now, he's still getting used to being a giant scorpion."

"You know what.." Misa started.

"What?" Carl asked.

"I kina feel comfortable here." Misa said with a antenna heart/smile. "No one is really staring at me."

"Misa look around carefully." Carl said.

Misa looked around, she noticed more scabs that she had the first time. A woman in the back had the hindquarters of a bear, the waitress was a collie. There was a giant cockroach in the room, a huge plush female porcupine with splotchy fur who was an anatomically correct anthromorph. Misa had always been the weird one, now she was pretty close to normal.

"Thanks Carl." Misa said antenna smiling at him.

"Don't mention it." Carl said smiling back.

Misa smiled inwardly, she actually had a place to belong.

Website Copyright 2004,2005 Michael Bard.  Please send any comments or questions to him at mwbard@transform.com