Noel vs. The Turtle Monster

"Only a scratch?!" he shouted, after trying to slice the man with a turtle mask. Noel had always been proud of his ability to deal with piercing slices. Thanks to his long, sharp claws, he was always good in close combat. But this thing, my claws are useless with it. It seemed impenetrable. Giving so much thought to his enemy in front of him, a whooshing sound stopped Noel's thoughts and made him take a leap backward.

"Slow, but intensively powerful. The marshland is a scary place." He realized.

If this monster is a humanoid turtle monster, why doesn't it have its big shell on its back? Instead, tattered, greyish clothing, like a typical homeless man.

"Kill…" the monster muttered.

What a shivering voice, Noel thought. The monster continued to step slowly towards the humanoid cat.

"I can't deal with him like this. I need to go back. The battle is one-sided. Good thing the monster is slow. I wouldn't have a hard time running away from it." He whispered to himself.

Noel decided to back away for now and take a leap backward, but he couldn't. The mud started to take Noel's feet downwards, sucking them. It can command the soil? He thought. No, it can't be. That's outrageous. But, nothing's more outrageous than not being able to outrun a slow monster. Noel felt fear again. The slow splashing sound of a walking nightmare flashed before Noel's eyes. With a bloody bludgeon in hand, the turtle-masked monster is ready to hit Noel with a powerful strike.

Noel tried to get off, but the mud continued to suck his feet downwards, immobilizing him. The monster is getting nearer and nearer. An unstoppable beating sound of heartbeat made Noel turn cold with each step. A predator on top of the food chain, cornered by a slow turtle.

The monster raised its hand with a bludgeon, harboring strength by distancing it towards its target. Noel accepted his fate. "Pathetic" was his last word.

The moon started to shine, defeating the sun in its place. The moonlight shined through every inch of the marshland. And Noel started to change.

"What timing."

Noel burst out from the muddy trap and leaped towards a nearby tree just before the monster hit the place where Noel stood. The monster looked at the agile feline on top of the tree. Noel became more prominent and faster. The moon gave him enough strength to get out of the deadly trap.

Noel thought that he could easily pierce the monstrous turtle's defense with his new strength given by the moon. He immediately pounced towards the monster, crossing his arms, slicing the monster. Or so he thought. But the attack did not seem to deal that supposed damage that he was expecting. Dumbfounded, he immediately leaped towards another tree when he felt how the mud tried to suck both his feet again.

"What the—" he said in disbelief.

"Weak." Said the monster in a slow, hoarse voice.

The monster smirked. It knew that no one could penetrate its defense. Not even the fearsome predator of the jungle.

Noel knew that instant. He could not win. Alone. I need to find some allies. This monster can't be dealt with just me. I need help. He thought of Jay, the one that he had given an injection. If that person is still alive, he may be of assistance.

Pouncing from tree to tree, Noel decided to find someone that could help him defeat the monster.

"I will come back to you." He whispered.

A one-sided battle between a turtle and a panther. One could always say that the usual predator always wins, but the fight's ending was not typical.

Noel realized that, in this world, the food chain wasn't discovered yet.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

The new queen bee emerged in the middle of the marshland. With her newly summoned guards, the transfer of her fellow classmates did not become a hassle.

"How?!" everyone was surprised by their classmate's appearance.

"This will become a long story." Kent smiled and started talking. The explanation of the battle was correctly shared by the team who fought hard towards the queen bee. Jay's transformation was also shared, giving the class another shocked expression after witnessing Jay's spiky transformation. Questions of hows and whys were resounding around the crowd. However, in the end, although confused, the class was still able to process it after a hardcore explanation. Everyone was just thankful for their classmates' safety and proud of how brave they were in a situation of life and death just to save all of them trapped inside the hive.

"Therefore, someone was here before us? Our class?" asked Lyka.

Kent nodded and said yes.

"So, besides the queen bee. Other creatures can be used by us to transform?" Jimmy added.

"You wouldn't really say "used," but, yes. You know how horrifying the queen bee was; we almost died fighting. If not for Jay's sudden transformation. We would've died just after exiting our cells. The guard bees were fast and deadly enough, even if they were distant. We're just lucky we survived." Alex said.

"However, with Jay's and Kent's power, defeating all sorts of monsters out there shouldn't be as hard defeating the queen bee. We now have our powers. We would not become some, merely powerless humans fighting an unwinnable fight." Matt explained.

Everyone agreed but was still cautious about the world they lived in. The class is still processing how extraordinary this world was. A world was full of fantasies and dangers, where one wouldn't know how their life would turn out in the end.

"I know you are all scared and much more cautious about this world upon witnessing our transformations and even curious about the place beyond the horizon. But, this time, what we need to do is rest. Let's discuss about this tomorrow. Let's go back to the hive, where we can sleep at ease. The guard bees will be on the lookout just in case a calamity would breakthrough, but hopefully not." Kent said calmly, trying to ease her classmates' anxiety.

The guard bees started exporting their queen's classmates back to the hive and into the quarters where they could sleep. Together with Jay and her guard bees, Kent looked for food for their dinner and breakfast. With Jay's spikes and the queen's ability to locate targets from a distance, they didn't have a hard time looking for one.

They enjoyed the fresh foods from the marshland. They talked and laughed with each other, forgetting the dangerous situation for a moment. In a case full of despair, there is hope in the face of happiness.

The night full of laughter and joy was done in an instant. The class decided to gather in a crowd, discussing the future plans for the survival of this world.

"What are we going to do now?" asked Darline.

"Yeah, are we going to hunt down those creatures who possess extraordinary powers?" asked Angel.

"Let's hear what others think first," Alex said.

"Knowledge, that's what we lack in here. Without knowledge of this world, we don't know what lies within this great marshland. Remember the queen bee? Because we still don't know that such a creature exists, we were captured easily and were even sentenced to death. Luckily, the cells were full of nectars that can sustain us for the meantime." Gloyd said.

Everyone nodded.

"We're just lucky that the queen bee just kept us in prison and did not slaughter us immediately. What will happen to us if we encounter a carnivorous monster like a tiger or a snake. We wouldn't stand a chance. Death is the only thing that could come for us." He added.

The class continued to give out unending possible occurrences, all that resulted in dangerous situations. Alex decided to step out.

"Listen, everyone," Alex said calmly. The class stopped and put their attention to Alex, who also fought hard for their freedom in the hands of the queen bee. "I know you are terrified to go out there. I am, too. But, aren't we dealing with the same problems in our past world? We may not notice it, but slowly, we are already killing ourselves by being a pollutant to our world. The past world may not be as barbaric as this one. This world may be primitive, you may say. But survival is both present in that and this world. The difference is, the type of solution differs in both worlds. We have to be brave physically and mentally, train and engage in combat to survive in this world. In the past, we had to be academically competent to become someone who would rise to compete in a fast-changing world, full of technologies and different ways of living—"

Alex sighed. "Adapt. We have to adapt. Our lives are on the line. We can't stay here forever. If other people were already there and were using extraordinary creatures to defeat one another, we wouldn't stand a chance against them. Let's use our strength both in mind and physique to adapt to this change and work hard to strategize plans - to defeat such creatures. We know how useful those powers could become. To survive, it is a must." Alex ended.

Alex knew that living in this type of world was extremely hard. They wouldn't know what kind of creatures were lurking outside and inside the marshland. But what they need is the ability to fight and successfully defeat those. Some may not do it, but he would, to survive.

The air turned cold, and there was silence as they heard what Alex said. The class realized that fighting was the only way to survive in the world they were currently living in. Some are excited, and some are afraid, but witnessing the bravery of their other classmates, the willingness to fight started to materialize inside them. They put out a shout, ready to fight in this vast battleground.

"That was good." An unfamiliar voice stopped everyone from cheering themselves.

"Noel?" Jay said, looking at almost everything around him. No one could find him; the voice was there, but there was no person besides them inside the hive. Suddenly, a humanoid cat started to materialize before them, a person with sharp claws and furry feet. His body was covered in a tattered black cloak along with his black hood.

"Hi, everyone." He greeted with a cheerful smile.

"Invisibility?" Matt asked.

"Yes. My power's unique trait. I can only use it during the night." He answered.

"But it's morning now." Jessie.

"Dawn. As long as there's still a moon. I could make myself invisible. However, yeah. It's about to be morning now, and I already snuck here at night. That's why I was able to pass through the guards. I was impressed, I thought the queen bee was undefeatable, but you successfully defeated it. Jay's power came in handy, right?"

Jay smiled, "thanks, man. It wouldn't be a victory without your help."

Noel smiled, "don't worry. My classmates would've had done the same if they were still alive."

Noel's expression turned to sadness. A horrible experience would've happened to his class in the past. But the class knew that it was not worth asking.

Noel went back to his original facial expression and stated his motives when he went to the class.

Noel walked towards the front. His black paws almost did not make any sound as he walked by. "I need your help. There's a monster that needs to be defeated." He said.