"M-m-miss I-"

"-AM GONNA SHUT IT!" The drunken, wart-faced farmer woman bellowed as she grabbed the front door to her homestead. "Get it into ya head ya bloomin' twig bitch, you ain't good fer notin'! You're a dumbass, useless welp, waste o' mah gods damn time! Shoulda known you beaked bumblin' bullshittas were just tryin' to scam me outta mah hard-earned cash! Get your money-grubbin' keester of mah property before I get our guards to throw over the fuckin' fence! BEEEEYATCH!"

And with a door loudly slamming in her face, Dr. Minerva Talos was left standing outside the ramshackle farmhouse she had already spent ages trying to find. Plague doctors within the forest nation of Engrievion functioned in one of four ways: A, working for the Science Guild. B, working as a private medical professional in hospitals or for a specific lord/company. C, applying for positions in the military as battlefield medics. Or D, freelance doctors/scientists that functioned pretty much like bounty hunters, searching up jobs to partake in or patients to visit through letters and bounty boards within town centers like with Mixholme. Minerva didn't like any of the options laid out before her, A was too secretive, restrictive, and morally dubious with too many unwanted loose ends waiting for her in that horrific building. B was too stressful and again not at all in service to her end goals of improving mankind. C was a definite no, a feeble, nerdy coward like her wouldn't last five seconds in armed warfare. And all three options were now definitely closed off given her uh.... recently acquired condition.
So, freelance work was the best option for her skillset, it was by far the most flexible choice with self employment allowing her to conduct pretty much whatever projects she wanted so long as she had enough money to fund it. Hell, despite her intense shyness making her a faceless, speechless ghost to many individuals she worked with, there were numerous clients and several projects throughout her career she genuinely enjoyed working with, and sometimes other people thought that too.

Sadly, this job was not one of those. This job was a real shit storm for the poor lass.

For starters, the patient lived quite a distance from where Minerva normally conducted, a farmstead far from outskirts of Mixholme, one that wasn't even marked on any maps within the area, meaning the whole morning was spent just trying to figure out where the hell she was even supposed to go. Once she eventually triangulated the position, another issue arose: Minerva didn't have any horse or wagon to transport herself, and was far too worried about accidentally damaging a coachman's vehicle to comfortably approach them, meaning that she basically walked wherever she needed to. In other words, Minerva's boot-clad feet were in agony after travelling such a ludicrous distance, and the mere thought of going all the way back again made them only hurt more. Next, it was quite clear that the patient herself was not the one who posted the request for assistance, rather her son. And while the son was a very lovely lad who could tell that Minerva was a bit more emotionally sensitive than other plague doctors and was very much willing to stick with her to help with his mother, an issue with the farm's machinery demanded his attention, so he had little choice but to leave the girls alone with each other.

Next was the most frustrating part. The son had left the money he intended to pay Minerva with inside the house, and adamantly requested his mother to hand it over once the job was complete. Given the context I've stated beforehand, obliviously this also didn't go to plan. Even though Minerva tried her damnedest, examining, diagnosing, and healing to near perfect quality, the mother of course refused to hand over money that wasn't even hers, claiming that "Well AH didn't lak it, so ya don't deserve it!" Or something like that, her accent is hard to write. Point is, the hag was hell-bent on keeping the cash to herself, and to ensure poor little Minnie didn't get penny she basically vomited out all the worst qualities of mankind in but a single argument. First came the scam-artist accusations as Minnie very politely requested the payments, next was the slew of insults about Dr. Talos' lifestyle and suspected hideousness, then some things were thrown, then the woman gulped down an entire beer bottle, glass and all, more insults, more throwing things, a cow was there for some reason, more insults, until finally the farm woman employed physical harassment by forcefully grappling Minerva, thrashing her about, and yelling completely irrelevant and incoherent nonsense about her married life or something before eventually shoving the good doctor out of the house and locking her out, her saint of a son nowhere to be seen.

Minerva was genuinely shocked she was able to keep herself from bursting into tears up to this point, she was pretty impressed with herself. But her professional demeanor had long since crumbled over the course of the conversation, the vitriol of all those words allowed the hag to see every social weakness Minerva struggled with, and was quick to exploit them harshly. The farmer at least didn't seem to take much pleasure in it, rather just her drunken temper and eagerness to make the plague doctor leave made her try every trick she had in quick succession. Deep down, Minerva knew that if the hag was sober, the encounter would at the very least be a little quieter. But for some reason Minerva wasn't very interested in following her logic this time. The harassment burned fresh in her soul, and even though the smart thing to do was to wait for the son to return so they could try again, poor little Minnie didn't want to stay here any longer, she just wanted to go home and scream into her pillow, in any effort to vent all this stress.

Thing is, Minnie's had days like this before, this wasn't anything particularly new, just a tad more emotional than usual. But things have....changed recently.
Before, she would've broke down into a skittish humiliated mess, sobbing all the way back to homestead as she added that to the pile of psychological traumas stuffing her poor brain.
But now? Now she was feeling something else. Something she wasn't quite used to. Not sadness. Not despair. But frustration. Irritation.

Boiling.

Savage.

Rage.

"Ooookay. J-j-just s-suck it up Minnie." The good doctor seethed through gritted teeth, her body shaking and quivering in ways she never experienced before. "This isn't the f-first time a patient's b-bb-been rr-r-rrrrRUDE, tt-t-t-to you! P-p-plenty of people don't like hearing b-bad n-news, she was just stressed, she was a single mother, she was just drrrunk because she's to full of herself to give a toss abOUT PUBLIC DECENCY- Grrk! Hooo....hoooo...No....nooooo...I'm ok, I'm ok. She just reacted badly to my diagnosis....which wasn't EVEN THAT FRICKING BAD, WHILE SHE COULD'VE AT LEAST GIVEN ME A BLOODY TIP- rrrgh! It's fine, i-i-it's FINE, everything she said about me was right, I am a wuss, I am a bit of a cheapskate at times, and I'm for sure ugly....well, I mean, her wart-ridden, pimple-littered, greasy-skinned, sweat-stinking, monkey-HAIRED, EGG-BURPING, BOOZE-SHOVELING, BUBBLE-BLOWING, MOLD-SUCKING, LICE-INFESTED, WRINKLE-PATTERNED, HAG OF A FACE, IS WAY UGLIER THAN ANYTHING I'VE SEEN MY ENTIRE FFFFFFUCKING- GAAAAH! NOOOO! NOOOoooo! No! No! I'm better than that, those were just words, sh-sh-she didn't MEAN IT! I'm calm, I'm calm, I'M COMPLETELY CALM-"

Obviously, she wasn't.
Dr Talos found herself uncharacteristically energetic as her meek shuffle turned to furious stomping as she forced herself further and further away from this wretched shack, the gate at the end of the path seeming to take ages to get to. While she was too heated to probably think about what she was doing, she was very faintly aware about how strange she was feeling. Never had she gotten this frustrated, this agitated, this...angry, and the intense red-faced warmth flowing through her body was a something she had always seen as completely alien in her life as a sniveling coward.

This conflict was unresolved, ending in an manner that made no sense and left everyone but that farm woman miserable, and Minnie couldn't stand having it that way. She didn't deserve any of that shit, she just wanted to help people, yet those people spat in her face, they always spat in her face. Called her a freak. Called her weak. Everyone hated her because of her unfortunate circumstances in life, circumstances she had no control over. And before she always agreed, always just sucked it up, always just accepted it and tried to move on. But that wasn't happening this time....the Mutation, her newfound experiences, the bestial power swirling inside her, it all disagreed. Minerva, disagreed. Sure she was ugly, sure she was a coward, sure she was a social outcast....but now she could choose not to be. Now she could choose to be beautiful, brave, powerful. Minerva was a mutant now, and she could very well just turn around and rip that bitch's head right off her fucking neck-

"NO!" Minerva yelled, thrashing her head to shake the intrusive thoughts within it. "Nononono-no-no! I'm not like that, that's what a monster would do, and I'm not a monster, I'm...n-n-nice, kind, happy cute little plague doctor girl who...s-s-sometimes turns into a big bird. I-I-I-I....I'm n-n-not a...monster...."
Minerva could've believe such ideas had entered her head. Never, never had she ever wanted to kill someone before. Sure she had some fantasies about making super cool and logical speeches to win completely fictional arguments against an imaginary bully, but Minerva was not the type of person to throw a punch in any situation, she always ran away or surrendered in fights, not once had she ever stood up for herself. But the thing is...she knows what it's like to be that kind of person now. When she transforms into her raven self, when her inhibitions and anxieties fall away, every little flaw she always believed she had would seem completely ridiculous, she instead found things she actually liked about herself. And to have those things insulted and told are false...well, that made her angry. Angrier than what she was used to. Hell, she even constantly avoided cursing throughout her whole life, and before it seemed easy, yet now she was actively trying to reign herself in when getting too passionate. As someone trained in biology and medicine, Minerva knew that it was pretty much impossible for someone to literally explode from overwhelming emotions alone, but she could swear that if she didn't try to soothe herself soon, she just might....

...Pebble....there was a pebble in her boot.

The path outside the farm was a dirt path, so there was only a few little rocks strewn about. But they were still there, and Minerva had been walking on difficult terrain for so long this morning that a few cracks had formed on the bottoms of her boots, one of which must've allowed the accursed tiny rock to slip inside.

It was okay, she'll live-despite the pebble. Dr Minerva Talos is nothing if not-there's a pebble- an intelligent, logical-pebble-woman. This-pebble- day is just a bad day with-Pebble, in boot- bad luck, all she really endured was a -pebble- string of -pebbles- mean words, nothing life threatening. She'll live, she'll recover, she would get over all of this bull-pebble, Pebble, PEBBLE- crap, and look back on this day like just a funny little memory ....or least she would be thinking that if not for the the motherfucking pebble in her motherfucking boot.

Minerva was pretty much never seen without some type of fancy buckled up boots or other type of fully enclosed footwear covering up her human feet, but whether or not she wore socks or tights underneath them purely depended on her bothering to do so on a particular day. And today was unfortunately a sockless day, meaning that the stupid little pebble was prodding right at the bare skin of her sole, taking it from uncomfortable to almost painful, something the good doctor was certainly not in the mood for tonight.
For most people in the nation, other plague doctors especially, this kind of shitty luck was just an average Monday. But Minerva was not a normal Engrievion resident, stress didn't pass over her or spark her motivation. It stuck to her, congealed in her, and gummed up her mind. Today was not an "average Monday" for Minerva, it was tedious, stressful, piece of shit day, that wasn't even a god damn Monday. It was a Tuesday, and it was getting to her.

She spent all morning just trying to find this stupid house, gave all she could to help this stupid woman, had to endure every single one of her stupid unfair insults, and this stupid. Fucking. Pebble. Was driving her up the wall. Her heart was throbbing, her body was throbbing too. She was getting a headache from all the overwhelming emotions. A headache that brought more pain, therefore more frustration. And the frustration fueled her anger, and her anger fueled her body. Her body then fueled a further aching, which was more pain, which prompted more frustration, bringing more anger, more chaos in her body. Some gurgling in her stomach brought some pain, frustration, anger, and then more aching. A ringing in her ears brought some annoyance, bringing frustration, anger, more aching. And that godammed pebble was now digging into the ball of her foot, and it hurt. Hurt enough to make her angrier, and angrier, and angrier. X brings pain, which equals frustration, which equals anger, which then allows for another X to surface. Therefore X=X

Allow this loop to conduct enough times, and the result is a very, very upset little bird.

"Nnnnnn..." The good doctor whined as her eyes glared down at the offending foot, feeling it start to bubble and pump with meaty, agitated throbs. Soon, Minerva was forced to suddenly stop in her tracks as the boot that contained both her foot and the offending pebble became very, very snug and tight, as Minerva's desire to briefly take off her boot to get the pebble out sparked a sudden pulse of power within her aching foot....a foot that then started to swell, and swell, and swell, until with a ripping 'POP!', huge, grey-skinned, black-clawed, meaty raven talon toes burst right through the front, ripping the leather wide open, the rapidly expanding flesh sending the pebble flying away as the cold air brushed against the bubbling skin.

"GnNnnNnnnnNNNN!" Brief panic washed through Minerva's mind as her eyes widened and her cheeks reddened at sight of her toes growing and ballooning huge as they ripped through her footwear, but her anger, her pride, and now even her lust pushed it away, and Dr. Talos' gave into the change quickly.

Having a subconscious desire for something she enjoyed to ease some of her stress, the mutation boiling inside her blood opted to begin this transformation with the good doctor's favorite part, and as such her feet were the first to change, her boots quickly bulging. Toe after toe erupted from both of her boots with a quick succession of "POP-POP-POP-POP-POP!" popping, until with rapid throbs and swells her bare feet bulged big enough to rupture both items of footwear entirely, causing them to burst apart into scraps and expose the meaty talons to elements as they began to grow and grow and grow.
The rest of Minnie then started to grow and swell soon after, her ears assaulted by the cacophony of rips, snaps and tears let out by her too tight uniform, sleeves and trouser legs wrenched open by her expanding limbs. She even had to hunch over drastically as her wings and tail aggressivley exploded from her back, showering her in feathers and cloth/leather confetti.
The fingers of her gloves then burst across her clawed digits, and while usually the entire items of clothing would burst of her hands completely during a change, today she had worn ones that were slightly stretchy, at least enough so that they still remained around her palms, forming a pair of fingerless gloves tightly wrapped around thick taloned hands.
That was probably more that what could be said about her coat, which in contrast usually stayed on her decently enough every transformation, but due to the chaos of this particular one, it simply snapped and fell off her back and onto the ground, leaving her body covered only by her shirt and trousers, which due to her excessive growing had been ripped so much that they now closely resembled a sports bra and short-shorts, neither of which were actual items of clothing that existed yet in this kinda sci-fi but not really dark medieval fantasy setting.
Of course though, Minerva didn't really care about any of this. Once again, she usually relished the euphoric bliss her transformation into her beast form gave, almost always drowning in its ecstasy. But this time around, she wasn't changing for pleasure.
She was changing for vengeance.

"nnnnnnnnNNNNNNNRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!" Was the harpy like screech that erupted from Dr. Talos' now fully formed raven beak as her mask exploded open and tumbled off her head, a head that then turned its furious, golden gaze right to the door that was slammed in her face. Snarling with bestial fury, the bloated, swollen, throbbing talons that had erupted from the good doctor's boots churned up the dirt path with their bulky claws as they stomped towards the front porch, swelling larger and puffier with each meaty step...

BANG-BANG-BANG.

"Eh?" The farmer woman grunted at the sudden, violent knocking at her door. "Wassat? Whossat? Is that you boy?"

"No." Came a distorted, snarling voice that sounded quite a lot like that Plague doctor the woman just kicked out. Too drunk to question why the voice didn't sound as squeaky as it was before, the angered hag snorted as she stood up and stormed over to the door.

"Oh?! Ready fer round two eh?!" The mother belched angrily as she reached for the handle. "Y'know I've had it up to HERE with ya money-grubbin' leather-fuckin' bird-watchin', book-readin', short-stack-twig-bone-havin' ASS!" The dirty sausage fingers then gripped the doorknob and swung it open with emboldened fury. "I've got half a mind ta SUPLEX YA MAHSELF, YA WORTHLESS LIL' SHIIIIiIiIiIiIiIIiiiiiiiiiioooooooooo......"

The hag then found her words faltering and fading from her lips as her eyes gazed upon the bloated, swollen, muscular form of an enraged Raven-based mutant humanoid draped in the shredded rags of that plague doctor's uniform, her glowing yellow eyes glaring down at the ugly farmer as her huge body had squeeze itself through the normal sized doorframe.

"Oh no-no, don't let me interrupt you." The feathered beast hissed with sarcastic reassurance. "Please, finish that vulgar sentence and make me even angrier."

"WHu..." The gob smacked farmer spluttered. "Whatthefu-GOORK!" Right before the mutant's muscular leg swung upwards to kick her hard, launching her across the room and landing on the sofa. Before the wench had time to register what happened the raven quickly closed the distance with her huge strides, before raising up one of her huge, monstrous, talon-like bare feet and stomping right onto the woman. The flesh of the talon's underside and toes was soft, squishy, and perhaps even cuddly, too much to cause any proper damage, meaning that the impact was like having a big lump of smooth warm meat fall onto the woman. But crushing was not the good doctor's intention, for as the foot "bmmphed" right into the farmer's fact, the swollen bulky toes adorning it flexed open before wrapping themselves around the hag's torso, clamping down onto the woman and pinning her in place, the massive, shiny black claws catching and tearing into the cloth of the sofa.

As the woman squirmed and stared up at her assailant, Minerva took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, trying to calm herself before her yellow eyes opened back up and glared down at her patient.

"....Alright." The raven beast sighed. "Shall we try this again?"

"Yu....whu-" The woman tried to say before the mutated toes squeezed tighter

"Dah-ah-ah!" Minerva interrupted. "I've heard more than enough of your opinions today ma'am! It's your turn to hear mine, and frankly I think what I have to say is far too nice for what you deserve!"

"You were so small eali-"

"YEAH! I WAS! Then I grew bigger, and bigger, so big my uniform's all RIPPED! Not really much of a short-stack now am I?!"

"I mean now you're even uglier-"

"NOW YOU LISTEN HERE!" Minerva roared, spittle splattering onto the farmer's face. "Do you have any idea how much nonsense I went through today just for your sake?! Piece of advice: Register your establishment on official maps, it'd make business much easier. Unless this is an illegal operation I suppose, would certainly explain your behavior and that atrocious outfit you have!"

"WHA-"

"YOU HEARD ME 'DEAR'! You have NO bloody right insulting my custom tailored uniform with those grimy, muddy, peasant buckle shoes you've decided were an acceptable choice of footwear!"

"Mate they're just shoes-GRRK" The toes squeezed harder.

"And that's just the surface level nonsense! My parents aren't exactly the gold standard of human decency either, but at least they knew how to teach a child such basic concepts as MANNERS. I mean what kind of psychologically defecating MORON thinks it's a good idea to verbally AND PHSYICALLY harass someone who's trying to fix their medical issues! Oh wait, I'm talking to such a rare specimen right now!"

"What do those words even mean-"

"Look, it's not MY fault your liver's imploding is it? No, it's all that alcohol you keep pouring down into that disgusting stomach! You have any idea how bloody lucky you are to still be alive?! Cause honestly you are wasting your chance spectacularly!"

"I-I-"

"Shall I simplify it further? I think I should: SOBER. THE. HELL. UP! Quit guzzling down all that-....that-...rrrrgh-grrk-HORSE PISS, AND MAYBE YOU'LL LIVE TO SEE 50!! UNDERSTAND YOU FFFUCKING APE?!"

"Uh....uh-huh..." The woman stuttered in response to the monster's yelling

Clawed fingers then gripped the bridge of Minerva's beak as she realized that her 'no swearing policy' was broken again, and that her throat was getting sore, so she attempted another breathing exercise before continuing "....I don't ask for much y'know, I just want to help people, and earn a little bit of a living wage while doing it. Is that so wrong? Cause it's not. So, I'm going to ask again: May I receive the agreed payment for my service, y'know, the payment your wonderful son-whohonestlydeservessobetterthanyou- assured me you'd hand over once all the papers and discussions were sorted out? "

"I uh-"

"Because if you try to cheat me out of my hard earned payment again, I'll go completely feral. I'll succumb to the beast, I swear, it's really temping right now."

"Uh-"

"I've actually bitten people y'know? I've tasted human flesh, and honestly I'm worried about how good it is. Or least, I would be...if I was capable of experiencing worry."

"Whh-wh-what?"

"That's right. I'm literally unable to consider the consequences of my actions right now. I can't feel regret. So you better hand that money over, before you do."

"....k-....k....kay..." The hag barely managed to squeak as a hand very meekly reached into the sofa cushions and fished out a small pouch of gold coins. In response, Minerva held out her much larger talon hand and let the woman plop it onto her comparatively huge palm. In response, Minnie's beak curled into a satisfied smile as she released her talon's grip and began to walk back towards the door.

"Thank you... Wasn't so hard after all huh?" Minerva cooed, her furious mood cooling back into her politely sassy persona "I'll be taking my leave now, and probably won't ever be coming back, because this place absolutely sucks. Next time, provide actual directions, and don't harass your physician. Any of us could suddenly burst out of our uniforms and turn into a big bird monster just like I did you know."

"What?"

Minerva giggled cheekily as the woman was probably believing whatever lies she was saying "I'm joking, I'm the only one with that gimmick....or at least I think I am, I'm not sure. Whichever keeps you up at night I guess. Tell your son I said goodbye!"

And with her stress fully vented, a much more cheerful Minerva Talos slammed the door shut and happily sauntered away from the homestead, relishing the feeling of the ice cold soil against her lovely bare feet.

"Hoo....almost lost my cool there." Minerva sighed in relief as she approached the ripped up scraps of her boots and clothes and scooped them up. "I suppose I really needed to do that after this crappy day, I feel MUCH better now. In fact, it's kinda fun standing up to bullies honestly. Profitable too!" A giggle escaped her beak as she held up the coin pouch to admire it, before a thought occurred in her head. "Huh....I....I just robbed this woman. In fact I assaulted her in her own home, verbally threatened to eat her, and then took some of her money while not at all considering the fact that I could've very easily killed her....All while using the abilities of....my mutation, a horrifying disease that I intentionally infected myself with and continued to use....for my own benefit....on my quest...ffffor....power..."

Minerva then stared out into space as she pondered everything that just played out. "Am...Am I the bad guy?"

Minerva then blinked, contemplating every single choice she had made throughout her life....before casually shrugging with a nonchalant smirk

"Eh, that's a problem for future Minnie." Minerva beamed, any consideration for the potential consequences shoved to the back of her mind. "Right now, my feet are frickin' killing me, I need some bloody relief...Imma go walk in some mud!"

And with a squeaky little giggle, Minerva's wings flexed and flapped, and in one powerful jump the good doctor launched herself into the air and vanished into the cloudy sky. And just like that, the farm was still, with the mother sobered up and contemplating her entire life, the workers far from view, and the kind-hearted son sitting upon his parked bicycle....mouth agape, after witnessing everything from the moment Minerva's boots pinched her feet all the way to now. All the stunned boy could do, was utter a single phrase....

".....WWWHAT THE FUUUU-"

---

Oh right, Minerva's supposed to be a villainous character, I almost forgor

Artwork by  blacktigerr





......DID I HEAR A ROCK AND STONE?!