[GearRyu]

Glad you guys are continuing to enjoy it. Also, yay, over 1200 views! There are threads with attachments that do not have that many! This is partially how I judge success. Almost any thread with an attachment is going to pass 1K. People will usually click just to see if the thread has any pretty (and, admittedly, very pretty at times) pictures. It takes a lot of effort to support something based entirely on text. But, hey, Incubusted is the most-viewed story thread ever written here, so I feel confident I can pull off another big one.

Guys, really, thank you a lot for continuing to read the story. It means a lot to me that you are enjoying this.

Now, have at it with Chapter 6. The adventure continues! (And the growth... that continues too).

Chapter 6
?I was only having fun
Wasn?t hurting anyone
And we all enjoyed the weekend for a change?
You may be right
I may be crazy
But it just may be a lunatic you?re lookin? for?
-Billy Joel, ?You May be Right?

Rags and Riches
Somewhere within the dilapidated mansion?s passages, a shattering noise dully rang out upon aged tile. The faces of the mansion, weathered by time?s passing, had long since fallen into disrepair. Bits of wire and pipeline hung out between splintering warped pieces of wood. Roof tiling had been crushed or removed, or had grown over with so much vinery as to be lost in the tangling veinous confusion. One more hole in the wall would hardly deserve more than a passing comment of curious interest ? the look a passerby gives to a pile of stones that may have once been a statue or to a heap of junky parts that may have been a vehicle.

The smoke had practically settled by the time they regained consciousness. They were sweating as they came to, the dull throbbing heat of an engine still chugging away pounding on their bodies. Somewhere off to the side, a suitcase was flung open, its contents mercifully undamaged. Together, the two dazed figures pulled themselves free of the wreckage in silence as they tried to recall just what happened.

As Cranberry pulled herself together, she recalled the last moment of the race. The other woman had been shouting something? pointing ahead(?), distracting her. There was the mansion wall. Did she swing into the motorcycle or did the motorcycle swing into her? Wait, was the driver alive? Yes, Cranberry saw her rising from the debris, seemingly unfazed. Incredible. Cranberry turned to notice her suitcase? still there. Everything seemed to be in order. She brushed off her jacket, adjusted her fedora (thank God it somehow stayed on) and tugged at the collar of her shirt, which ripped as she vented it. Cranberry suppressed a snarl of frustration as she examined her clothing. Her running shoes had peeled apart, exposing her large footpads; her jeans had broken the seams in several places; her shirt likewise. It was more than that her chest or her hips might have swollen (if they did?). Looking down at the ground, looking at a tree, she realized that she cared more for the obvious fact that she had just suddenly grown several centimeters again. She felt vigorous, too. The run hadn?t worn her out a bit. Beneath the fur, she was rippling with hidden strength. It felt wonderful and a little scary. And frustrating. Her claws dug into the shirt, threatening to tear it asunder, and beginning to rip it, when-

?Well, that was fun!? The strange woman removed her helmet and laughed. Cranberry slipped her arms behind her back and gripped the wrist of the hand that had been busy. Her shirt tore a little more and her breasts bounced. She took a deep breath and immediately regretted it. ?You?re the first person to keep up with me in, heh, I don?t remember how long. Well, thank God for expensive safety devices. Anyway, the point is we?re both still alive, mm?? The woman was athletically toned, but not bulky. If anything, she was a little skinny and short, at least from Cranberry?s perspective.

The woman?s fair-skinned face wore a smile of good cheer supporting at least a modicum of haughtiness. Her golden-blonde hair was a wild mess; frazzled and falling across her shoulders. She looked a little tired but her blue eyes gleamed with a fervent spark of energy. As she assessed the damage to the motorcycle and the mansion, she brushed her hands through her hair. Then she slipped her arms behind her head and interlaced her fingers. ?Not bad?? She grinned. She sounded a bit rough, but her voice was educated. ?Not bad at all? a little bit of destruction is pretty artistic if you ask me. Well,? she turned sharply and faced Cranberry. ?I didn?t think you?d really be able to even keep up with me, but a deal?s a deal. Welcome to my home sweet home. Come inside. I?ll show you around the place. You?ll love it.? She started to walk through the wreckage.

?Wait, hold on a minute?? Cranberry tried to hold her with her gaze, but the crazy woman kept walking. Cranberry ran over to her suitcase, rapidly put up all of her clothes, and started following the woman again. ?Your home? Who are you??

At that question, the other girl turned her head to look at Cranberry and slowed her pace. ?My name?s Sandra. The Speed Freak.? She was grinning. ?You might have heard about me on the news??

?On the news?? Cranberry tried to recall. She was a little out of touch with reality sometimes. After studying for the entire day, she usually went home and crashed. She had taken a course on Current Events a couple semesters ago, but that didn?t really cover entertainment, which is what she figured this probably was about. ?I am sorry, no. Are you involved in competitions?? If she did, Cranberry thought, she probably did not make much. This entire place looked horrible. Did the woman seriously live here? She should probably leave but her curiosity was piqued and, beside the fact she realized she was probably strong and fast enough to take the woman out if need be, Cranberry didn?t have a good excuse.

?Ah? sort of. I guess you could say I?m, heh, an internationally famous professional world traveler? okay, that?s a mouthful. I like to travel. China, the Americas, European Union, Africa ? I?ve seen it all. But Germany will always be my home sweet home. Now, lemme show you around. S?cuse the mess. I usually don?t do much with this part of the place.?

Now that she was inside, Cranberry saw that the mansion seemed purposely organized toward chaos. There was no illumination, save for what sunlight poured through the bayview windows. Vermin were afoot, scurrying through the place as if they owned it. Cranberry could hear them, even if she didn?t see any around here. There were tables and chairs set up in one of the rooms she passed along the hallway they were walking down. They looked like antiques and were, in fact, covered in dust tarps. Many of the things here were in likewise condition. The most peculiar thing was that not all the antiques matched. There were urns from China, paintings from Europe, a number of tribal statues. It seemed as if some collector had thought to store all her goods here and then simply forgot about them.

?So, you?re a sphinx, huh? Hm? you know, you look kind of peculiar. You?re a cheetah sphinx, right??

?? Yes?? Cranberry hated it when people brought this up. She hated being dissected like something out of a text book.

?Aren?t you a ?little? tall though? I mean? really, y?know? Not that I?m complaining. You look amazing. In better shape than me, I bet.? She laughed. They turned a corner, past a part where the hallway had collapsed.

?Yes, that is right. I am a little bit different from most of my kind,? Cranberry admitted with a bit of frustration. ?I do not like to dwell on it?? She kicked aside a broken crystalline glass that had somehow wandered into the hallway.

?Oh, yes, I understand completely.? Sandra stopped at what appeared to be a dead end. ?Anyway, you really were impressive. You?re cool with staying the night, right? I don?t often get to sit and chat with someone, heh.? She leaned against the back wall.

?I suppose so,? Cranberry acknowledged. ?I am on Winter Break from my studies. I have nothing else planned.?

?Wonderful!? Sandra pressed against the back panel of the wall and pressed her index finger against some hidden cranny. There was a little click and the door slid away from one of the adjacent walls and slipped into the other, revealing a hidden passageway with a set of wooden stairs leading down. It looked a little cramped to Cranberry. ?Hey, you?re going to be able to fit all right??

?Yes,? which was a bit of a lie. She would be bending her head, tilting her shoulders. ?I will not have a problem. But what is down there? I do not visit too many mansions with sliding panel doors, strange furniture, and world-renowned hosts?? She tried a little laugh. Well, her humor was pathetic, so maybe the transformation was over. And maybe she?d magically develop a new set of clothes.

**
Downstairs, the mansion was remarkably different. The air was sterile and the place was well-illuminated by recessed lighting. The flooring was dark red marble tiles and the paneling was a deep cherry wood. They had descended several meters underground and the ceiling here was remarkably vaulted. There were several doors leading off left and right and a single one directly in front of them. Most of the doors were wooden like the paneling, but the one at the far end was a double-set metallic door. Against the wall to the right of it, there was a code key panel. Cranberry could hear something behind the door humming. A generator?

?So, yeah, heh, this is my real home,? Sandra explained. ?It?s kind of small, which is why I keep most of my souvenirs upstairs.?

?You mean to tell me you actually traveled worldwide to gather those objects? Pardon my saying, but you must have some good fortune.?

?Well, sorta.? Sandra?s voice assumed a slightly frustrated tone. ?My bike doesn?t require much to keep it running and it takes a lot to actually damage it, so I can take it across the world. You should see it on ocean travel. Hey, are you fast enough to run on water??

?I never thought about it before.? Cranberry considered. After all she had seen, the answer seemed obvious, incredible as it sounded even to her. ?Yes, I could.?

?Neat. We?ll race across the Atlantic sometime then. It?s a done deal. Anyway, I win prizes in international competitions, sell some of the things I pick up in one place to some other place, run errands for people, that sort of thing.?

Cranberry was examining the room while Sandra was contemplating the doors. Cranberry asked, ?And this place??

Sandra opened one of the doors, revealing a red-carpeted room with similar paneling to the main hallway. Recessed lighting flickered on, revealing a bed, bookshelf, armoire, and another door (bathroom?). ?Well, my ancestors built it and I lived in it with my parents when I was a kid. Heh. We kind of fell on bad times and had to move out to Megafrankfurt for a while?? She gestured for Cranberry to step into the room and examine it.

She did so. ?But this place down here. It is so different from the rest of the mansion. Was it added later??

Hesitation. ?My brother got a well-paying job in the city. When he made enough money, he paid to have this bunker restored. It was built in a war a long time ago. It?s actually really nice. Has a study and a large work area where I can tool with my bike. Couldn?t ask for anything more convenient.?

Cranberry examined the bookshelf. Mostly books on mechanical engineering, cybernetics, history. ?And your brother. Does he live here too??

?There?s a bathroom through the door on the back wall,? Sandra replied, ignoring the question. ?Feel free to look around. I?ve gotta go check the generator and water reservoir. I?ll come by to check on you. Then I?ll have to see about getting my bike.?

Cranberry heard Sandra?s feet quickly retreating. ?I will?? Cranberry turned to look. ?? help.? Was it something about her brother? Why did she use the past tense? Dead? ? Maybe it was best to leave Sandra alone for the moment. Cranberry decided she would examine the bathroom, then unpack her suitcase.

**
The rest of the day proceeded at a leisurely pace. Cranberry got comfortable in her new surroundings. The ceiling in the bedroom was lower than the vaulted ceiling of the atrium, the doorways were almost inexcusably cramped, and the bed was relatively tiny compared to her height, but she couldn?t complain that much. She couldn?t blame her growing problem on anybody but herself (and maybe her father; she still thought it made too little sense and had every intention to keep reviewing that hologram until it really did). At least she had a place to stay the night and was spending it was an agreeable host who didn?t seem to take any offense to her strange appearance; who seemed to have a trouble or two of her own. Together, they later moved Sandra?s bike through a hidden hatch near the mansion (Sandra mostly directed, having found Cranberry possessed an incredible amount of sheer body strength, far more than her appearance suggested, even accounting for her height and race), which led down into a spacious workshop. The shop was metal-plated and filled with many expensive machines, all of them seemingly in pristine condition, and most of them designed for something obviously more grandiose than maintaining a single vehicle, no matter how wondrous it was. Thankfully, on that regard, the bike had actually sustained little damage. They spent some time working on it, Sandra teaching Cranberry a little about maintenance, and Cranberry proving a quick study; a sponge for knowledge. If she hadn?t noticed the symbol etched on the wall, Cranberry may have been able to sleep well that night.