Rise of the planet of the Friends (Worm/Kemono Friends)

Taylor triggers with the power to transform samples of DNA into girls with the powers of the animal their DNA came from. With the power to simply make Capes, she finds herself in a very awkward and potentially powerful position. And by god she's gonna make the most of it.

(This is silly and self-indulgent.)

---

"If we want money, aren't there places we can get it easier?" Gull asked, kicking her legs out from where she was sitting. The wings attached to the sides of her head occasionally shifting as the wind changes bit by bit, "I mean, Salty could just waltz into the bank, rip the vault door off its hinges, and we could have as much as we want, without needing to do this kind of thing so often."

"We aren't going to do that because stealing is wrong." I reply, looking out through the binoculars on the meeting spot Chameleon picked up on.

"...you lost me."

I sigh, "Look, just... trust me." I say, "Stealing from people will get you labeled as being just like the people we're tracking down."

"People we are tracking down, in order to take things from them." she says slowly, "Things we will be using for ourselves, and not giving back."

I sigh, "Its- its different when stealing from bad guys." although even as I say it I know the logic doesn't really hold.

"Suuuuuuure Taylor." she says, grinning.

"I could go get Corvus to do this instead." I mutter, "Just saying."

"Y'know, you'd think that by now we'd have gotten some birds that are really good at fighting. Crow, woodpecker, seagull, pigeon, chicken- One of these days we should really get around to scoping out a bald eagle nest. I'm sure I could snatch a feather or something. They're like, the biggest baddest bird in the state." she said casually, "Now that would be a superhero! Unless she actually ended up being bald. You don't think a bald eagle Friend would actually end up bald, do you?"

"Probably not. Besides, messing with bald eagles is a federal crime." I mutter. Ever since figuring out and really coming to terms with my power, I had been running into a lot of laws about what animal parts can and can't be sold or pass over state lines. I consider it, "Maybe a golden eagle."

I see movement. Finally. "They're making the trade."

"Cool." she stands up, and takes a step off the building, before spreading the tiny wings on her head, and flaring the feathers poking out from her skirt, she somehow catches the air, and soars down at speed towards the Merchants and their suppliers a few streets away.

Spoiler: Gull

Species: Common Seagull
Source: Roadkill

She lets out a cackling laugh that's audible even from here, and kicks one of the Merchants in the head. She snatches up the briefcase of money, cracking it open, making sure it's actually there, before flapping up to the nearest roof, and setting it down. Then, she leaps back down, and begins to lash out with more swooping kicks, even summoning her weapon- a long pole with a small yellow hook in the shape of a seagull beak.

Meanwhile, I take care of my side of things. "This is Anima." I say over the specialist line, "I've got a group of Merchants and some suppliers trying to make a deal." I glance down at the street sign, and chatter off the approximate location, "They shouldn't be especially injured."

Gull lets out another cackle as she picks up one of them, before throwing him into one of his compatriots.

"Besides some bruising." I amend.

"We'll be on our way."

I close the cell phone- its still weird having one of these -and turn to watch Gull have her fun.

There's surprisingly not a lot someone can do against someone who can fly and is way stronger than you. Probably why Glory Girl is considered one of the stronger Capes in the bay, despite her age and position on her team.

They try to get a few shots off, but when the gun comes out, Gull gets a bit nastier, lashing out with her weapon with sharper, more precise strikes. She's gotten to the point where she's practically an expert of getting anyone in range to let go of anything they're holding. She scoops up their weapons, and flings them towards the roof with the money.

Its not long before the police show up, and Gull assists the officers in bringing down each one.

Unfortunately, quick, easy, painless takedowns, or even holding people in place, is something that none of the Friends are good at yet. It would be so much easier if some types of animals weren't simply off-limits. The material my body produces, the Sandstar, just doesn't have any effect on arthropods. No fish either. The only things that work are reptiles, birds (which, technically, are also reptiles), and mammals. But for the most part, there aren't any reptiles or mammals that produce natural thread for easy capture and containment like a spider-girl might have been able to.

Gull does her best, basically herding each of the criminals to the police, and knocking them over and holding them down for the officers to get a grip of. She does it quickly, though, and is good at keeping the other criminals in the same general area even as she takes them down.

And then, when all the Merchants are away, and she gives her report- something we always rehearse ahead of time, she flies up to the roof she stashed the weapons and money at, and we wait for the police to leave. Only then does she carry the items over to me, letting me stuff the weapons in my own carrying case, and carry the money in a free hand. Then, she wraps her arms around me, sticking her arms under my own, and lifting me up into the air.

We soar over the buildings of Brockton Bay, and glide inland, towards the mountains, and the forests that surround them. Our territory.

We sink below the canopy, and Friends are waiting for us.

I pass the money on to Percy who gives a whistle of appreciation when she opens it. "Good going, boss." she says happily, "This'll go a long way towards our food budget."

Spoiler: Percy

Species: Homo Sapien
Source: One of Taylor's hairs.

"How has the gardening stuff been going, by the way?" I ask, following her deeper into the woods. Soon, wooden dwellings start popping up among the trees. All of them built by Beaver and Woodpecker, over the course of several days.

"The Farm Trio has really taken command on that end. Mostly Pig and Chicken, but Holstein definitely makes things go by faster as an extra pair of hands." Percy reports, amused, "And Chipmunk's been doing a lot of general foraging, which has been turning up some results."

"Taylor! Welcome back!" Husky shouts, rushing out to me as we approach my own dwelling. She half-collides with me, holding back just enough so I'm not bowled over, and quickly begins sniffing at my hair, "Did you do any of the fighting today?"

Spoiler: Husky

Species: Domestic Dog (Siberian Husky)
Source: Shed hair.

"That was all me." Gull said casually.

As we went inside, I greeted more of my Friends. Its one of the largest dwellings, and one of the only ones we've rigged up with electricity, so it's kind of become a general meeting spot. But even with everyone here, it isn't too crowded. There's only eighteen Friends, nineteen counting myself.

I tussle the hair on Husky's head, and her tail rapidly wags back and forth, "Gull's really been pulling her weight lately. How have things been while I was gone?"

She pulled away, looking serious, "The border patrol hasn't reported any human intruders, or even people toeing the line today, although Coyote told me she's gotten the scent of a bobcat in the woods."

I grin, "We'll have to grab a few hairs. Could you get her on that? Maybe help her out?" more predators was never a bad thing, since they tended towards more offensive-based powers.

"Right away!" she said, before rushing off for the woods.

"Speaking of potential new Friends," I say, "Gull brought up that there are eagles in these woods. I was thinking of asking her and Corvus to try and find some feathers for me. What do you think?"

"...Our numbers are honestly getting a little big." Percy said, frowning, "It's a lot of work, feeding so many girls. Especially considering just how much Friends eat. I mean, we could get by with less money, feed a couple more people, if we sacrificed some nutrition and variety, but that won't make too many people happy."

"There's always my bank idea." Gull said with a shrug.

Percy frowned, "Bank idea?"

"She means robbing one." I say, "I know you're only half-serious about this, but we're under enough pressure as it is as a vigilante group. If we become outright villains, Director Piggot is going to pull out all the stops to try and get rid of us."

"You're probably right." Percy admitted, "But that doesn't change things. We still only have three options: we stop creating new Friends, we tighten our belts, or we find new ways to get more money."

I sit down in a chair, closing my eyes. It's not like this is something new. Percy's been keeping track of our budget since the beginning. And in fact, our current strategy of having Chameleon spy on the merchants to find out when and where they'll be doing their drug exchanges was our last big innovation in making money as Parahumans.

"Why not bring everyone in together? We could all discuss our ideas." a new voice says, stepping inside.

"Aries!" I say, smiling wide.

Spoiler: Aries

Species: Domestic Sheep
Source: Wool Sock

"How did being a super-hero treat you today, Taylor?" she asked, sitting down next to me and leaning into me. I begin softly stroking her head as well, the sheer fluffiness of her hair almost addicting.

"Good. It was pretty textbook. Gull did wonderfully."

"You feel like you did some good?" she asks.

"...Yeah."

She smiles warmly, "That's good, Taylor."

Percy grins at the two of us, before going into her pack, and drawing out a megaphone. She marched out of the door way, and held it up to her mouth, "Calling all Friends not on patrol! Team meeting time!"

---

A few months ago, I had none of this. No base, no money, and, most importantly, no friends. With or without the capitalization.

I had a realization, coming to an empty home after school one day where Emma had been particularly vicious. It was that besides Dad, I had nobody. And more than that, I barely even had him. There was nothing tying me to the city, and no way for me to improve within it.

So I ran away from home. I ran, and ran, and ran, until I was through the train yards, and through the suburbs, and well into the woods. And there, I sat, having no idea what to do next, or what to try, or whether to go back, when suddenly, I was more than just Taylor Hebert.

Suddenly, I was a Parahuman.

I had the power to grow crystals from my hands at will. At first, I didn't understand anything about them, except that they were alive, and needed to get into contact with more life.

I tried touching plants, bugs, myself, without any effects.

But then, I touched my wool sock, and in a burst of light, there was Aries. She was kind, patient, and warm. She didn't hate me, didn't judge me, she was simply grateful to me for existence, and had enough empathy that she wasn't about to abandon a child alone in the dark woods.

I spent two days in the woods with her, before the need for food drove us back towards Brockton Bay. We went shopping with what little money I had taken with me, and from that, I expanded my circle of friends. Pig, Chicken, and Holstein came next, from me using my power on some bacon, chicken breast, and milk respectively.

Since then, our numbers have only grown. We're not an insignificant force any more. Almost every Friend has some kind of super-strength and the ability to summon weapons based on their animal's natural weapons, and a few have other, more exotic abilities. Gull, Dove, Woodpecker and Corvus can fly. A bunch of the Friends have super-smell or super-hearing. Chameleon can just flat-out turn invisible.

With eighteen Cape-equivalents hanging around, we're also technically the group with the largest number of Parahumans in the Brockton Bay area. And our numbers can keep on growing.

Most of what we need, we can just get from the forest. A lot of their animal instincts passed over, making them excellent foragers, hunters, and general wildlife survivalists. Beaver and Woodpecker were almost supernaturally skilled and speedy carpenters, and their handiwork has probably quintupled the quality of life here in our base.

When we decided we couldn't do without money, though, we ventured back into the city, and began our current strategy of preying on criminals.

Which leads us back to now...

---

"Fools!" she roared, jumping up to stand on the table, "Fools, all of you! Security guards? Selling arts and crafts by the boardwalk? Running a cafe? Joining the Wards? Conquering the city? Opening a theme park? These ideas are all not only stupid, but also dumb!"

"Kitty, please get off the table." I ask.

Spoiler: Kitty

Species: Domestic Cat
Source: Stray feral cat.

"Nyo! I have a point to make!"

"Then make it." Salty said, kicking the table, sending it shaking, although Kitty kept her balance well enough.

Spoiler: Salty

Species: Saltwater Crocodile
Source: Crocodile-leather wallet bought at antique shop.

"H-hey! No kicking! I worked hard on this." Beaver complains.

Spoiler: Beaver

Species: North American Beaver
Source: Wild North American Beaver

"Shit, sorry." Salty mutters.

"Anyway!" Kitty continues, "What we should be doing- is selling pictures of ourselves on the internet!" she exclaimed, "We are adorable, and more than that, the internet exists primarily for exactly that purpose!"

"Kitty?" Aries asked.

"Yes?"

"Get off the table please."

"Fine." she took a careful leap back into her own chair.

Percy began to noisily clack at the keys on the computer, "Actually... a market does exist." she says, "And its a pretty lucrative one too. We could probably sell to Cape groupies, cosplayers, and even the more mild furries."

"Is... that really the best idea?" I ask.

"Its probably the safest and easiest option, with the largest immediate benefit." Percy admitted, "So... we might as well?"

"See!" Kitty says triumphantly.

"I'm going to buy a good camera online." Percy says, "Now, just because we're doing that on the side doesn't mean we can't do a bunch of other stuff too! Lets keep the ideas coming!"

I mostly just stay back as they discuss things. Percy has stuff well in hand, in fact, she has a natural talent for leadership when it comes to the other Friends. Its part of the powers she got, I suppose. She's a Friend as well, someone I created, but rather than from a bit of animal DNA, I made her from one of my own loose hairs, just as an experiment.

The result? A Human Friend with human-based powers. Which mostly meant that she was really smart, good at organizing things, and good at wrangling the other Friends into doing what she wanted.

My attention not on the conversation, I'm the first to notice as Husky leans into the doorway. She notices me looking, and gestures for me to come over, before leaning out of the doorway. Sliding out of my chair quietly, I walk out of my hut, and look over at her, "What's wrong?"

"There was somebody waiting by the edge of our territory." she reported, "But she didn't cross it. She said she wanted to talk to you. I tried to tell her no, and even threaten her, like you said, but she wasn't scared! And then, she gave me something!"

I frowned as Husky reached into her jacket's pocket, bringing out what looked kind of like a metal pencil case. She passed it over, and I opened it.

My eyes shot wide open, staring down at the four glass vials inside. Each was labeled.

"Peregrine Falcon", the bottle held a talon. "Jaguar" a single, sharp, tooth. "Polar Bear" a small strip of pelt, with yellow-white fur attached to it. "Orca" another tooth, larger this time.

These... these were all certainly powerful animals. Powerful predators, too. The fastest flier, the biggest of the big cats, the largest land predator period, and to top it off, probably the most skilled sea hunter. I haven't even considered trying to make Friends out of aquatic animals before now.

Of course, this gift implies that whoever gave it has a pretty damn good idea of how my power works. And that, even knowing that, they aren't afraid to give me reinforcements like this.

"What did she want?"

"To talk to you." Husky said again.

I take a closer look at the letter. A few words of greeting from someone who wished to remain anonymous, expressing a desire for cooperation, and a promise of funding, as well as a continued supply of more 'samples' for me to work with.

All of this sounds extremely shady, honestly.

Whoever this anonymous is, he's obviously been spying on me, something I don't like in the least. To the point where he knows how I create Friends, and that we're having money problems. Maybe he even timed this letter to arrive just as we hit the thick of our meeting.

But the letter does say something that at least makes me want to hear him out. It promises that by working together, he has a plan to remove the Empire, the Bad Boys, and the Merchants from Brockton Bay entirely.

That... at least warrants a single meeting.

Of course, I'm not stupid.

I poke back into the room, "There's someone at the border who I'm going to talk with." I announce, grabbing the attention of just about everyone, "Slider, Salty, you're with me. Corvus, keep an eye on things from above. Husky's going to be leading us there, so she's with us too. Sound good?"

Spoiler: Slider

Species: Red-Eared Slider Turtle
Source: Pet Store

"Got it." Slider said, summoning her shell, "Don't worry everyone. We won't let anything happen."

"Of course we won't." Salty said, standing up, "This meeting was getting annoying anyway."

"Be careful!" Percy said.

"Seems like a bit much for one intruder." said Corvus as she followed us back out.

Spoiler: Corvus

Species: American Crow
Source: Discarded feather

"They work for someone who's been spying on us." I say, frowning, "I want my big guns ready if this turns out to be a trap." I look over to Husky, "Who do you have keeping watch?"

"Shiba." Husky said.

"Nobody else?" I ask.

"I was with her, but then I ran right over here. Although I did call for Coyote before I left, so they should both be there."

"Alright."

Corvus flaps the little black wings attached to her head, and lifted up into the air, reaching down to scoop me up.

"Full speed ahead." I tell Husky, and she grins ferally as she takes off running into the woods as fast as she can, Slider and Salty pushing themselves to keep up, as Corvus flies me after them.