---

Laura couldn't believe how easy it was! She'd pretended to be unconscious and they'd loaded her on a gurney and wheeled her out without any guards or anything. She cracked an eye open and saw they were taking her to a different cell, so she knocked out the two pushing the gurney and ran for it. She was getting all kinds of odd impressions from some sense she didn't have before. She could only guess it was because of her antennae. It proved useful, anyway, as she was somehow able to tell where the outer wall was.

She was looking for a door when an alarm sounded. No time for doors I guess! she thought. She didn't know if she was strong enough anymore, but she slammed into the wall as hard as she could. To her surprise the metal bent outwards with ease. Some seams in the metal split under the pressure and she was able to get her fingernails in between and pull them apart. She marveled a moment at the strength of her iridescent purple fingernails. No time for that now. I've got to get out of here! she thought.

In moments she had a hole in the wall and saw another wall just beyond it. The metal plates making up this wall were quite thick, but once she got a handhold on them she was still able to pull them apart without too much difficulty. As she made a hole in the steel wall she saw sunlight streaming through. Emboldened, she quickly expanded the hole until it was large enough for her to squeeze through. Whoa, where am I?! she thought when she saw the water a long ways below her. She poked her head out and realized this wasn't a building, it was a ship!

She looked for handholds on the outside of the ship, but didn't see any. Duh, super strong fingernails! I should be able to hold on okay. she thought. With that she gave it a try. Her fingernails didn't dig in that far, but it was far enough. She slowly inched her way up the side of the ship. It was slow going, but she eventually reached the top and climbed onto the deck.

"There she is! Shoot her!" someone yelled out. She ducked behind some crates and looked for a way out. The ship seemed to be surrounded by some kind of clear barrier, like a bubble. Oh yeah, I know where I am! I saw this on TV. This must be the place where they're trying to figure out how the mutations work.

There were machines all around the ship, but there was only one way out of the Bubble. There was a floating walkway that went from the ship out to a platform on the other side of the dome. Now I just have to find it. she thought. And not get shot!

She knew she couldn't hide very well with the huge wings on her back. Even folded up as they were they were still too big. And they were still wet, so she probably couldn't fly yet, even if she knew how. She decided she didn't want to risk jumping in the ocean as she didn't know how it would affect her new wings. Lacking any better ideas, she ran.

She never heard the shots she was expecting, but a softer sound followed by the sound of metal on metal as a tranquilizer dart hit the ground right behind her. She glanced back for only a moment before pouring on more speed and trying to put as many obstacles between her and the men with the guns as possible.

Soon the gunmen were lost to sight, so she decided to jump up on a nearby crane so she could get a better look around. She managed to spot her exit just before something hit her arm. She looked down in time to see the dart fall away from her with a blunted tip. There was a single drop of blood, but no pain. Or drowsiness, for that matter. That's weird. Uh oh, more guns. Better get out of here and find out what's going on with me later! Laura thought, jumping down from the crane.

She hadn't even thought about the height, but she'd jumped something like twenty feet up in the air onto the crane. But she came down without any problems and kept running. Once more she pushed her thoughts about how much she'd changed aside and kept running. She was hit three more times before she got to the other side of the ship, but each dart stopped as if it had hit a bone or something and fell out.

Laura was still some distance away from the walkway, so she ran along the side of the ship until she was as close as she could get. She stopped and wondered if she could make the jump, it was very far to fall. Three more darts hit her in the back, but she didn't pay any attention to them. But then she heard a normal gunshot and jumped before she realized what she was doing.

I hope I'm tough enough to survive this! she thought as she watched the walkway rush up at her. She hit hard and fell to her hands and knees. The walkway bucked at the impact and cracked badly, but held.

"Ow." Laura said as she got to her feet. It had hurt, but not nearly as much as she expected. Shrugging it off, she started running down the walkway. There weren't any more gunshots, but she didn't expect them. She was too far away for the guns she'd seen to be very effective. Besides, she was expecting the real threat to be waiting for her at the exit.

She wasn't disappointed. There were two guards on the same side of the Bubble as she was, and two more on the other side. There was a sort of airlock arrangement in between them. Well, it can't be any tougher than the hull of a ship, right? Laura thought. She jumped over the guards and slashed into the plastic barrier. It was thicker than she'd expected, but her fingernails were long and surprisingly sharp. She ripped through it in moments and jumped free on the other side.

"Bye!" she said to the guards as she fell to the platform beyond them and ran for the nearest boat. It looked like a tugboat and she hoped she'd be able to get it moving. She had no idea how long it might be before her wings were dry enough to fly, and she'd still have to learn how!

Laura heard gunshots behind her, but the bullets missed by inches. There was nobody on board the boat so she ran to the controls and tried to get the thing running. She got lucky and had the engine started quickly. Then she remembered that boats are always tied up!

Cursing her stupidity, Laura ran back out of the boat. The guards hadn't moved from the exit, except that the other two had joined them. They all opened fire on her. She dodged as best she could, but was hit in the side twice before she'd severed the first rope. Luckily there was some machinery between the second rope and the guards, so she was able to get some cover as she cut the boat loose.

As soon as the last rope was cut she jumped back on board and tried to get the boat moving. She tried buttons and levers at random until she finally got it moving...backwards. The boat lurched into motion and smashed into another boat at anchor. She was knocked off her feet and quickly got up and tried to figure out what she did wrong. At last, she got the boat moving in the right direction and watched as the platform slowly receded. The guards shot at her whenever she came out where they could see her, so she stayed hidden until the platform was lost to sight entirely.

Now what? she thought. I don't really know how to drive this thing, or how long it can go without getting gas, either. And where will I go? She thought back to what she'd seen on television about the Bubble. It's in the Pacific Ocean, so if I go east I should run into North America, or at least South America. Then I can get on solid land, at least! Maybe then I can see if I can fly. That would sure make it easier to get home.

There was a compass right next to the controls, so she had no trouble figuring out which direction to go. Managing to get the boat turned in the right direction was another matter!

---

A few days later her boat did make it to land, though exactly where she had no idea. She ran it straight up onto the beach before jumping off. I'm starving! I hope there's something to eat around here. she thought as she looked around her for some kind of landmark. All she could see in any direction was cliffs and sand. She wandered along the beach until she found a small path up the side of the cliff. It looked rather precarious to her, but she managed it fairly easily.

This body is great! I'm so strong and tough now, yet don't look like it. Even those bullets didn't do much damage to me! Laura thought. She'd finally checked herself for injuries once she had the boat moving in the right direction. Her clothes were torn where she'd felt the impact, and there was a little blood, but that's it. She couldn't find any injury at all.

There was dense growth at the top of the cliff, so she couldn't see much beyond the edge of the forest. Maybe I can find some mushrooms or something. she thought as she started off into the forest. She was immediately assaulted by a plethora of delicious smells. What smells so good?! She followed her nose and found herself smelling a large pink flower. Without thinking she plucked a petal off of it and popped it in her mouth.

Why am I eating a flower? she thought. It tasted wonderful, though, so she kept eating. After finishing that flower she tried another, and then another. Before she knew it she'd tried half a dozen different variety of flowers and eaten several of each.

---

"What's going on here?!" Dr. Milner exclaimed as soldiers began streaming out of the elevator. Admiral Clay stepped out after them.

"What do you think? Did you think there would be no consequences for that escape? I'm taking over this operation directly. But don't worry, you'll still get to conduct your experiments. We've been quite impressed with your progress. But we can't risk another security breach." Admiral Clay replied.

Dr. Milner knew better than to argue. He could only hope that Admiral Clay wouldn't interfere too much.

"Oh, and one more thing doctor." Admiral Clay said as Dr. Milner was walking back towards his office. "I need some hunters. Contact your superiors at Genarm. We need strong mutants that can move quickly. Preferably flyers."

Dr. Milner stared at him in shock. "You aren't going after it, are you?!" he said.

Admiral Clay snorted in amusement, "Of course we are! If it talks to the wrong people it could cause us a great deal of trouble."

Dr. Milner shook his head, "You don't understand what you're dealing with!"

"I've hunted mutants before, doctor." Admiral Clay replied coldly.

---

That was strangely satisfying. Laura thought as she moved deeper into the forest. She didn't understand why she'd wanted to eat the flowers in the first place, but she was no longer hungry. Now if I can just find a clearing maybe I can try to fly. She was eager to try flying, though she didn't expect to be able to fly on the first try. But her wings felt much stronger than when she'd first left the cocoon.

The forest wasn't like the kind Laura was familiar with. The trees didn't create a solid canopy, so there was plenty of sunlight for smaller plants to fill in the gaps. But there were still enough trees to keep her from wanting to risk trying to fly. Hours of walking later and she still hadn't found somewhere clear enough for her to feel comfortable. At least food isn't a problem. she thought as she snacked on another flower she'd picked up on the way. Flowers of many types were abundant in the forest, so there was no shortage of food.

Once the sky began to darken Laura started looking for a good place to sleep for the night. She'd hoped to find some kind of shelter, but she had no luck with that. She could only hope that it didn't get too cold at night. She hadn't thought to look for a blanket on the ship and her clothes were little more than rags. The best she could manage was to gather up leaves and moss into a pile and use that as bedding and her wings as a blanket.

---

Dr. Milner watched with mixed feelings as Admiral Clay briefed the team of mutants Genarm had sent over from its private security force. He was hoping they would bring the butterfly mutant back alive, but he doubted they would. At least I'll be able to examine its body. Maybe I can figure out why it developed the way it did. None of the others worked out nearly as well. he thought.

"Let me introduce you to Dr. Milner." Admiral Clay said as he led the mutants over to him. "He'll tell you what he knows about your target." With that the admiral left without bothering to introduce the mutants to Dr. Milner.

"Hey Doc, I remember you. The guys call me Spike now. So what's this mutant we're hunting call himself?" one of the mutants said. He was the shortest of the group, and had long sharp looking quills growing out of the backs of his arms.

Dr. Milner shook his head, "I don't know. The mutant was a transgendered male before mutation by the name of Larry Paulson. It is now female, but I didn't have a chance to find out what it would call itself."

"So, what, is it a boy or a girl?" a tall mutant with bat wings asked. She was rather voluptuous and was wearing tight black shorts and a black halter top.

"Female, I'm certain. It is very strong; the strongest I've seen so far with the exception of Kittyhawk. It will have likely learned to fly by the time you find it. From the reports of our security team, it is also very tough. I know it can shake off the effects of strong sedatives. I don't really know any more about its abilities yet." Dr. Milner replied.

"Pity." the bat winged woman said with a sexy pout. Then she shrugged her shoulders and wrapped herself around the largest mutant of the group. He was a tall, muscular man, but showed no outward signs of mutation.

"Doesn't sound too tough." he said said dismissively.

---

Laura was surprised to find she wasn't the least bit cold when she woke, and that she slept quite well. After stretching she grabbed a few flowers for a snack and started off again. She sensed a difference in the forest before she could actually see it. Only a couple of hours after she woke she found herself on the edge of the forest. A road separated it from large open fields. They had been plowed recently. This is perfect! I hope the farmers don't get too upset if I make a mess of the field when I fall. For that matter, I hope I don't make a mess of myself! she thought.

She eagerly ran out into the field and started flapping her wings. She was amazed at how quickly she could flap them, and how much lift she could generate. In moments her feet were off the ground. But she had some trouble coordinating her two sets of wings, and crashed down after only a few moments flight. Several attempts later, she was able to get some altitude and get her first good look at the surrounding area.

The forest extended in both directions as far as she could see. The road bordered it the entire way, and the fields covered most of the rest that she could see. There was a small town near the limit of her vision, but she couldn't get any idea of where she might be from that. That's as good a destination as any, I guess. I hope they speak English! she thought as she turned in that direction.

Her flight was erratic, but she managed to stay aloft. She was only a few minutes away from the town when she heard gunshots. Laura was so startled she completely lost control and plummeted to the ground. Ow. What happened? she thought as she picked herself back up. When she did she found herself surrounded by several armed men. Two of them had rifles, and the rest had various farm implements. They were yelling at her in a language that sounded like it might be Spanish. Laura tried speaking to them, but that just seemed to make them more angry. When they pointed their guns at her she took off again, but crashed to the ground when she was hit in the back by a bullet.

"Stop it!" she wailed as they stalked closer, their weapons still pointed at her. I can't die now! I just got the body I was supposed to have all this time! she thought, tears streaming from her eyes.

The men paused and looked at each other in confusion. They began arguing with each other, but Laura had no idea about what. Then one of the men with the rifles pointed his gun at Laura again, and another man brained him with his shovel. More arguing ensued. Confused, Laura just stared for a moment before realizing this was her chance to escape. She crept away as quietly as she could until there was some distance between them, and then took to the air. What was that about?! she thought.

No gunshots rang out as she flew away. She didn't dare look back, but kept flying as quickly as she could for the town.

---

"Well?!" Bull asked impatiently.

"I found her boat." Dragon replied with a growl.

"Come on now, boys, don't fight." Succubus chided. As usual she had draped herself around one of the men, this time Spike.

"So how far out is it?" Spike asked.

Dragon shrugged, folding his insectoid wings behind him, "Hard to say. It took me about four hours to fly back. Probably will take us another day or two to get there in this tub." They were using another of the tugboats used to guide supply ships into the dock at the Bubble. Dragon had flown ahead to spot their target, since he was a stronger flyer than Succubus.

"If that's the case then we have plenty of time to have some fun before we get there!" Succubus purred happily as she wrapped an arm and a wing around Dragon. He grinned back and let her lead him into the cabin.

---

"Please don't be scared, I just want to know where I am! Does anyone here speak English?" Laura asked. As soon as she'd landed in town people had started running from her. Some returned with guns, but never fired them. She kept her distance, and that seemed to satisfy them. A few even lowered their guns, but still no one had spoken a word of English.

"I speak English." a young man said, approaching cautiously.

"Thank goodness!" Laura said with a relieved sigh. "Can you tell me where I am?"

"You are in the Piura region of Peru." he said.

"Peru, huh?" Laura replied absently as she tried to remember exactly where it was. Geography was never her best subject, but she was pretty sure that Peru was towards the northern end of South America. That means I'm still a long ways from home. she thought. "Where in Peru is the Piura region?" she asked.

"Northwest. Only Tumbes and Loreto are farther north than Piura, and none are farther west." he replied.

"Good, I was worried I'd end up at the southern most tip of South America. It's going to take me long enough to get home as it is." Laura said.

"If I may ask, how did you come to be here without knowing where you are?" he asked curiously. His fear seemed to have evaporated, as had that of several people nearby. And nobody was pointing guns at her anymore, which made Laura a lot happier.

"I was kidnapped. I just escaped from the Bubble, where I was held and mutated." she explained.

He blinked in surprise, "The Bubble? The ship where the UN set up the lab to figure out what caused the mutations and how to reverse them? Why would kidnappers take you there?"

Laura shrugged, "I don't know much about what was going on there. I just know some people claimed they could help me, and when I went to meet with them they knocked me out with something and I woke up in a cell in the Bubble. I was mutated, and after being held there for a while I managed to escape. I didn't even know where I was until I got outside the ship."

"If this is true, then the Bubble is not what we have been told it is! You must talk to someone about this!" he exclaimed.

Laura thought about that for a moment and shook her head, "Who would I talk to? If the UN is in on it, that probably means a lot of governments are, too. Besides, my parents must be worried about me. I have to get back to them before I do anything else. After that, maybe I'll go back and try to free the other mutants I saw there." She hadn't seen much of the inside of the ship before her escape, but she did notice that there were quite a few other cells, and some were occupied.

The English speaking man looked over Laura's shoulder and his eyes widened in alarm, "You must go! Now!"

"Huh, why?" Laura asked, glancing over her shoulder. All she saw was a truck approaching. There were a bunch of men in the back of the truck, along with three or four in the cab.

"Those men are part of a gang. They hate all mutants. They will kill you if you stay!" he said, fearfully backing away from Laura. The truck screeched to a stop and the men piled out. Some of them grabbed rifles and shotguns from the bed of the truck, while others pulled pistols or knives.

"Not again!" Laura said. She started running and flapping her wings. She had gained a few feet of altitude when the impact of several bullets, mostly against her wings, knocked her down. She landed hard, face first, but was surprised that she wasn't in much pain. And that pain passed quickly. She checked herself for injuries, but only found quickly healing scratches and cuts.

Everyone else had run away when the shooting started, so the street was empty except for her and the gang. The gang members seemed surprised that she was still moving. When she got back to her feet several of them fired again, knocking her back down. She looked down at her stomach where she'd felt one of the bullets impact and found it sitting there. But when she picked it up it had flattened like it hit a wall or something, and the wound underneath was very shallow and healed as she watched.

Wow, am I bullet proof? she thought as she picked herself back up. The men were getting nervous now, seeing her shake off several direct hits without more than a few drops of blood here and there. One of the men yelled at the others and they all drew knives. The others seemed hesitant, but at another yell from the man they all rushed her.

Laura tried to fly away again, but she was too late. They grabbed a hold of her and dragged her back down to the ground and began stabbing her with their knives. The blades didn't bite deep, but they often slid aside from the point of impact, cutting long thin lines all over her.I have to get out of here! she thought fearfully. She started thrashing around wildly, and several men were thrown off. She was almost loose when several men grabbed her arms and legs. They weren't strong enough to hold her down by strength, so they threw their entire weight into it. She could still move, but not very well.

The apparent leader of the group directed more of his men to grab her limbs and keep her immobile while he approached with a particularly large, sharp looking knife. He held it with both hands and brought it down hard on her chest. The blade hit, and started to dig in. There was something just under her skin that was blocking the blade, but it was slowly cutting through. I'm not going to die! Laura thought angrily. She slapped her legs and one arm against the ground for leverage and swung the other up, dragging the two men holding it along. Her fist connected with the leader's jaw, and the two men holding her arm slammed into him as he fell away from her.

As Laura pulled the knife out of her chest, she used her wings to push herself up into a sitting position. She was filled with fury at these men, especially when she realized that they had done this before, to weaker mutants who were probably dead now. She threw the knife aside and grabbed one of the men holding her other arm by the throat. His eyes bulged as she dragged him off of her and tossed him aside like a rag doll.

The other men holding her suddenly released her and scrambled away. Three of them kept going, running quickly out of sight around a building. Their leader yelled after them, but they ignored him. He turned to face her and froze as he found himself looking her in the eye, as she had gotten to her feet. Laura grabbed the front of his shirt in one fist and threw him aside with ease. The others, seeing this, turned and fled. One of them had the presence of mind to hop in the truck and drive away.

This left only the leader of the gang, but even he had lost his courage. With a fearful look at her he ran after his men.

Laura sighed in relief as she realized she was safe now. Why didn't that knife cut right into me, though? she wondered as she took to the air again.

Now that she knew where she was, Laura knew she had a long ways to go. She didn't know how long it would take, but she was determined to get back to her parents and convince them of who she was. They'd stuck by her when she was an ugly boy trying to be a girl, and she knew they'd be worried sick about her all this time. She worried a little that they wouldn't be able to handle how she looked now, but she was pretty sure they could. After all, they hadn't freaked out when they first saw her wearing a dress!

Her flight quickly took her over the town and beyond into a dry area with little vegetation. This in turn gave way to a lush valley full of green. Maybe I should take a break and get something to eat. she thought. She landed and walked deeper into the valley, snacking on flowers and leaves as she went. Sated, she found a large tree trunk to rest against and sat. Checking herself over, she couldn't find any sign of injury. Except her chest, where she could feel something just under the skin that wasn't quite right.

There was an indention there, but more importantly to Laura, the indention wasn't in her skin, or bones. There was a hard material just under her skin which, she realized after checking elsewhere, seemed to be all over her body. That must be why their knives only cut my skin. And the bullets, too! And that's why those tranquilizer darts didn't stick, they hit that stuff and then fell out. But what is it? she thought.

Laura was amazed that she hadn't noticed it before. Even her fingers seemed to have it. While her skin looked normal, there was definitely a hard material just below it that had protected her from injury several times already. But it's not indestructible. That guy's knife was starting to get through. That's what that indentation is on my chest. So I'm probably not bullet proof. But why would a knife get through where a bullet failed? she wondered.

She couldn't figure that one out, or what was under her skin. But it had probably saved her life, so she wasn't complaining. After relaxing under the tree and drinking in the sounds and smells of the forest for a while she jumped back into the air and continued on her way.

---

"What's the matter Bull, lose her trail already?" Dragon asked with a smirk. Succubus and Spike were keeping their distance from Bull, who had been searching around the field for an hour. His frustration had grown until he was growling and cursing under his breath constantly.

"Shut up Dragon!" Bull snarled.

"Come on, Bull, we all knew she'd take to the air eventually. Admit it, you need us flyers to find her." Dragon said.

Bull kept searching for another fifteen minutes before finally conceding defeat, once again earning his nickname. "All right Dragon, your turn." he finally snarled. He hated hunting flyers because he was the slowest of the group. By the time he caught up with their prey his team had usually already subdued them. Even though he always told them to wait for him before attacking.

"You heard him Succubus. Let's show these grounders how to hunt!" Dragon said, launching himself into the sky. Succubus followed suit. They circled around the plowed field while they gained altitude, and then set off in the direction their prey seemed to be headed. If only Spike weren't so fast; this would be the perfect chance to get away. Dragon thought. But maybe when we catch up with this butterfly I'll get an opportunity...

---

To Be Continued...