Chapter Text
Some time had passed by, feeling much longer than it actually was, and where Stephanie Kim last stood, the cocoon containing her drifting and levitating foetal body still remained, almost silent and almost pulsating. Surrounding the green chrysalis were torn bits of clothing, shredded and scattered all about, along with that dropped bag of hers. Any other citizen may have already fled the areas, whether hiding within their homes or elsewhere, while the strange cloud itself that passed through the streets had seemingly carried on spreading throughout the rest of the city, if not beyond its boundaries.
Within the cocoon itself, the dormant form of Stephanie continued to float against gravity, submerged deep in the inner fluid like a child yet to be born, and rolled backwards slowly and continually. While the curiousness of any naked eye wouldn't be able to notice and tell for sure, something within Stephanie was already changing, growing and evolving, something that had been latent within her ever since she was born, something that was awakened by the otherworldly mist. Before any further longer, the chrysalis began to shake and harden, subtle at first before becoming more noticeable. The human within even started to stir and flinch, as if reacting and preparing for the hatching. The more the chrysalis hardened, the more cracks started to appear across its wrinkling surface while a deep rumbling could be heard as the cracks increased in pressure, oozing and hissing.
Finally, the cocoon cracked open, revealing the form of Stephanie Kim herself, rudely awakened, drenched in what seemed like amniotic fluid, and gasping for any ounce of air. Opening her eyes, she could hardly see anything with the liquid running down her face like syrup, yet she could still freshly remember what had happened almost right up to this. She could remember that green vapour passing through her mouth and throat and into her lungs and body like smoke, how she coughed in reaction to such inhalation. She could remember the enticing smell of the vapour, like the unnaturally sweet fumes of petrol. She could remember feeling her insides churn and convulse as soon as she inadvertently consumed such mist, as if it were eating her organs from the inside outward. And she could remember those bulbous tendrils tearing through her clothes and wrapping around her helpless body, like a snake coiling around its latest prey, until it all sealed completely around her like the cocoon it would be.
Weakly raising her shaken arms, Stephanie soon wiped her eyes clear of any fluid potentially blinding her. She was able to look at her current surroundings again as well as even look down at herself. Stephanie could see that nothing physically had really changed to her body, at first, but she could also see that the clothes she was wearing had been ripped away from her, resulting in her being bare, undraped, and exposed. She soon immediately covered herself as much as she could with her arms as she limped her way out of the decayed cocoon beneath her aching feet. Moreover, Stephanie could feel something different inside herself, cold and nauseous, as if all of her organs had been congested into her head, still faintly pulsing. She knew there was something about her, something even she was never aware of, a part of her had just been unlocked.
Looking down just behind her on the left beside the remains of her cocoon, her schoolbag still laid exactly where it last fell not too long ago. Hastily, Stephanie picked it up and held it close to her chest and torso and tightly with her arms, using it to cover up at least a bit more of herself. She looked around to see if anyone else was potentially nearby and seeing her, of which there weren't for the moment, much to her brief fortune and convenience. Seeing far behind her, she could spot the odd glimpse or two of the strange green cloud that passed over her and changed her, wondering where it even came from and if it affected any others the same way it did her.
Once she was able to keep a good stance even with her somewhat shaky legs, Stephanie then carried on her way home, or at least the closest thing she could even call home. As Stephane continued her walk down the street, she turned around a corner and spotted at least one or two other cocoons mostly similar to hers, standing still and stuck upon the pavement ahead, confirming her suspicion. Just then, Stephanie suddenly felt one of her tightly-gripped hands around her bag lessen in strength, almost becoming numb even. She looked at her left hand, only to see it slowly dissolve into concentrated haze, finger by finger before her palm and then down and up her arm, watching with widened eyes and shuddered open lips. Her right arm, feet and legs began to dissolve as well, until she became entirely haze shaped like her.