Limitless Evolution As a Snake

Not for the kill. Just enough to rip the taser out of his hand, and toss it across the room.

The goon behind Cherry tries to grab her again. I whip my tail, catch him across the shins, and he goes down like a bowling pin, his face smashing into the ground with a crunch.

The other orc finally figures out the situation. He drops the energy drink, pulls a telescoping baton, and swings it at my head.

I take the hit, dead centre, it just bounces.

He stares at the dent in the baton. He stares at me.

I show my fangs.

He scrambles for the broken window, but the frame’s too tight for his bulk. He gets stuck halfway, wriggling and howling. I grab him with my tail, drag him back in, and use my Cupid’s Arrow bite. I sink my fangs into his neck. He screams, then goes silent. I flip him around to face the other useless goon.

when he opens his eyes, he’s head over heels in love with the other fucker.

he lunges for his friend, trying to kiss him, who is now freaking the fuck out,

The leader makes a run for the door, but I block him with the hood. He stumbles back, trips, and lands flat on his ass.

I slither over, slow and deliberate.

He pulls out a gun, but his hands are shaking so bad he can’t even aim. I wrap a coil around his wrist, squeeze until the gun clatters to the floor.

"Rent’s due," I hiss, voice low.

He tries to scream, but all that comes out is a squeak.

"Tell your boss," I say, "this girl is under my protection now. This is my territory."

He nods, eyes rolling back in his head.

I let him go. Hmm, that doesn’t seem fun enough. Before he can scramble away, I wrap my tail around his hands and break both of them.

Ahh, music to my ears.

[System: 10 IP, perfect fantastic job!]

He grabs his mangled hands and scrambles to his feet. He screams, swearing and apologising in the same agonised breath, then gets the hell out. The orcs are already gone, leaving a trail of destruction and broken glass all the way down the hall.

She beams, bouncing on her toes. "You’re amazing," she breathes, voice so soft it’s almost a secret.

I brush off the compliment. "Next time, bring a bigger crew, mate," I call, loud enough for the guy outside to hear.

From the stairwell, a weak "Fuck off!" comes echoing back.

Cherry claps, literally claps, then checks the hallway for more threats. None.

I expect her to collapse, or maybe try to patch up the battered goons as she did me. Instead, she turns to me, all business.

"I want to try something."

Before I can answer, she squares up, sets her feet, and puts her hands together over her heart.

Then, the weirdest thing happens: she closes her eyes and starts humming.

At first, I think she’s doing that meditation thing again. But the air goes thick and pink, like some kind of anime power-up sequence is about to drop. Her hair floats, wings flare, and her heart-tipped tail whips back and forth like it’s charging a special attack.

She opens her eyes, and they are neon blue, the kind that could outshine a police siren.

She looks at me. "Prepare yourself." It’s the most serious I’ve ever heard her.

I brace.

She winks, and a bright pink heart floats out of her hands, floats through the air, and smacks me dead in the chest.

I expect pain. I expect... something, anything really.

But all that happens is the heart fizzles out, turns grey, and drops to the floor with a sad little "pop."

Cherry stares at it, then at me, and pouts a little, her hands clench into tiny fists. "Did it-did you feel anything?"

I shake my head.

She stares, mortified, and tries again. Another heart, smaller this time, poofs out, floats toward me, then sputters and dies before it even makes contact.

She’s devastated.

I can’t help myself; I bust out laughing, a real, honest belly laugh that actually kind of hurts. She looks like a puppy that just discovered stairs for the first time and barked at them, and now she’s questioning her entire existence.

I try to pat her on the head, but she dodges, face beet red, tail stuck straight out behind her like an exclamation point.

I pull her in anyway, gently, and rest my chin on her horn.

She’s shivering. "Sorry, i swear it always works on everyone else."

I just grin.

"Not your fault." I tap my chest with the tip of my tail. "I’m just built different."

She snorts, then laughs, the embarrassment breaking just enough for her to catch my eyes.

She’s cute when she’s mortified, but even cuter when she’s trying to murder me with love.

Cherry doesn’t accept defeat. She stands there, fingers steepled at her sternum, wings quivering, every neuron in her skull furiously trying to debug what just happened.

She grabs my wrist. "Wait, wait. It’s not worked before."

I let her. "Try again, love."

She huffs, puffs up her cheeks, and cranks the magic to eleven. Her eyes roll back, hair floating like she’s mid-exorcism, and a second heart, twice as big as the first, practically a neon beachball, materialises and launches at me point-blank.

This one has motion lines. It wobbles through the air, pulsing, then explodes against my chest in a pink cloud.

It’s supposed to make me go slack-jawed, dizzy, weak in the knees.

Instead I just... breathe it in. It’s got a hint of strawberry, maybe some bubblegum; it actually tastes pretty good.

Cherry watches, slack-jawed, as the mist clears and I’m just... standing there; hell I’m not even a little bit horny.

Her tail, which had been coiled in anticipation, sags like a sad noodle.

I savour it; ah i like watching her squirm. "That all you got?"

[System: Absolute drongo. She’s tryin’ to charm a succubus-kin, mate. Pointless.]