Intelligent Design: A Monster Evolution LitRPG

David perched on a crumbling billboard, watching with mild amusement as a group of scavengers picked through the remains of what had probably been a luxury car dealership. Their methodical approach spoke of experience - no wasted movement, no unnecessary noise, just the quiet efficiency of people who'd turned urban archaeology into an art form.

"You know," he mused to Captain, who was currently using his ear as a swing, "I keep expecting everyone to be... stabby? But folks out here are weirdly civil." He gestured vaguely at the scavengers below. "Like, that's the third Pack I've seen, and not one of them has tried to murder me even a little bit."

The tiny creature chirped thoughtfully, possibly agreeing or possibly just commenting on David's ear hygiene. The rest of his depleted Cuddlebug squad had spread out in a loose patrol pattern, their tiny forms barely visible against the waterlogged urban landscape.

His conversation with Doc earlier still played on his mind. It had been... refreshingly normal? Well, as normal as chatting about murder-chemistry with a giant spider could be. But after recent events - murderous owls, eccentric elves, and whatever the hell was going on with the Dark Star - having someone new just... talk to him? That was novel.

The local community setup was fascinating too, in a "how has nobody killed each other yet" kind of way. Small Packs dotted the coastline like particularly territorial hermit crabs, each claiming their little slice of semi-submerged paradise. But instead of the usual post-apocalyptic murder-hobo routine, they'd somehow achieved a sort of weighted peace.

"Probably helps that the ocean's trying to eat everyone equally," David muttered, watching a distant splash that was definitely too big to be natural. "Nothing builds community spirit like shared trauma."

The sun was getting lower, painting the flooded streets in shades of amber and gold. David squinted suspiciously out over the waves, marveling at how quickly the ocean had seemed to change. He could almost feel the ‘fuck around and find out’ radiating from it like a living thing.

Time to head back to the waiting spot before Doc’s mysterious friend shows up.

David spread his wings, earning an indignant squeak from Captain as their swing set suddenly became airborne.

The hotel loomed ahead like a half-sunken monument to better days, its upper floors jutting from the water stoically despite the missing roof. David landed gracefully on what remained of a third-floor balcony, taking in the view of the flooded lobby below.

"Right," David cracked his neck, immediately regretting it as something popped that definitely wasn't supposed to. "Time to get the band back together."

Summoning the rest of his Cuddlebug contingent was easier with Metabolic Surge, though the drain still made his head spin. The new arrivals fluttered in from the shadows in neat formation, looking about as militant as something that cute could manage. Their beady eyes locked onto him with an intensity that bordered on concerning.

"At ease, soldiers," David snorted, watching as they maintained their perfect line-up. "Seriously, you're making the veterans look bad."

Captain took one look at the newcomers' rigid stance and made a sound that could only be described as the Cuddlebug equivalent of an exasperated sigh. The summon hopped down from David's shoulder, strutting toward the fresh recruits like a drill sergeant who'd had enough of this shit.

What followed was possibly the most adorable display of dominance David had ever witnessed. The newcomers barely came up to Captain’s shoulders - a quirk that never failed to amuse him since Captain’s ‘Rank up’ - but size clearly didn't matter. One ear twitch from the commander had the entire squad relaxing their stance, though they still watched David like he might start giving pop quizzes on proper murder-fluff protocol.

"Ah, Royal Bloodline," David grinned, watching Captain coordinate their new siblings with practiced ease. "Because nothing says 'authority' like having a tiny but confident right hand...right wing bat?"

David began to prowl along the balcony's edge, his talons leaving tiny score marks in the marble as he moved. The fading sunlight caught his striped fur in ways that made him look more like living shadow than flesh and blood, each movement a fluid reminder that evolution had crafted him for the hunt.

"Thirty more minutes of this and I'm going to lose my mind," he muttered, wings half-spread for balance as he casually navigated a section where the railing had completely given way. The short drop to the deep water of the lobby below didn't concern him, but something about the stillness of it set his fur on edge.

Captain apparently shared his restlessness. The tiny creature had taken to scratching patterns in the dust coating the floor, though 'patterns' might have been generous. David's ears swiveled forward with interest as he noticed the marks becoming more deliberate.

"Hold up," he said, dropping into a crouch that would have looked sinister to any observers. His wings naturally compensated for the awkward position, talons flexing slightly to maintain perfect balance. "Are you trying to write something?"

Captain's response was to make another mark that looked suspiciously like a drunken triangle having an identity crisis. David's fangs glinted in the dying light as he grinned making Captain chirp excitedly.

"No, no, like this." David reached out with one wing-talon, carefully drawing an 'A' in the debris. "See? Simple. Well, simpler than whatever interpretive art you were going for."

What followed was possibly the most determined display of academic pursuit David had ever witnessed. Captain attacked the task of copying his letter with the same intensity they usually reserved for murder, leaving a trail of increasingly less abstract shapes across the floor. The rest of the Cuddlebugs watched with varying degrees of interest, though the newer ones maintained their overly attentive poses.

Time slipped away as David found himself genuinely invested in Captain's progress. The tiny creature had gone from creating what looked like ancient cave paintings to something that might, if you squinted and had recently suffered a concussion, resemble the letter A.

"You're getting it!" David encouraged, choosing to relish how his supposedly terrifying presence had been reduced to elementary school teacher. "Though maybe we should work on making them all the same size? Unless you're going for some kind of ransom note aesthetic..."

It wasn't until he noticed his own shadow had completely disappeared that David realized how dark it had gotten. His ears immediately snapped to attention, pivoting to track a sound that wasn't quite there. Something about the water below had changed, though he couldn't immediately place what.

Then he saw them.

The water's surface broke in perfect silence as dozens of pale tentacles rose into the air. Each one moved with liquid grace, swaying gently as feathery structures unfurled from their tips like living flowers. The delicate organs pulsed and flexed, extending outward before drawing back into specialized sheaths at the ends of each appendage, only to emerge again moments later in an endless dance.

David's muscles locked as the tentacles oriented on his position, those bizarre feathered tips rippling in ways that gave him the ick. His ears swiveled rapidly, tracking their movement as they wove through the air like curious snakes. The dying light caught the feathery structures as they telescoped in and out, revealing patterns that belonged in the deepest trenches of the ocean, not in what remained of a hotel lobby.

Well, I guess Doc wasn't kidding about the tentacles.

The tentacles oriented on his position, those alien feathers dancing at their tips, when David finally remembered how to speak. "Webb sent me," he managed, the words barely a whisper.

The effect was instant. Every feathered tip snapped toward his face like compass needles finding north, and a dozen more tentacles breached the water's surface to join their siblings. The new arrivals moved with that same impossible grace, their own feathery organs extending to full length as they reached toward him.

David held perfectly still as the appendages drew closer, close enough that he could see the intricate structures within each feather-like organ pulsing and shifting. The air grew thick with the scent of deep water and something else, something that reminded him of tide pools and creatures that had never seen sunlight.

Then the real emergence began.

The water erupted in slow motion as something massive rose from below. More tentacles than David could count unfurled like living ribbons, each one larger than the last. They spread throughout the submerged lobby in an ever-expanding web of motion that seemed specifically designed to occupy every last inch of space.

What surfaced in their midst defied easy description. The creature's body resembled a jellyfish that had decided to mate with a cuttlefish, then gotten creative with the results. Translucent tissue rippled with patterns of light that shouldn't have been possible in the growing darkness, while patterns that resembled eyes - or might have been something else entirely - shifted and realigned across its surface.

David's breath caught in his throat. He'd seen some shit since the Wave hit, but this? This was something else entirely. His Cuddlebugs huddled closer, their tiny forms pressed against his fur as they watched the impossible thing below arrange itself into something approaching stability.

Then it spoke, and David's world tilted sideways.

"Hi there!" The voice vibrated the water into perfect geometric patterns, cheerful as a summer morning. "Don't freak out, I know I look a bit intense!"

David couldn't help it. The laugh burst out before he could stop it, earning him a worried chirp from Captain. "I'm sorry," he managed, trying to get himself under control. "It's just... that's literally my line. Like, word for word what I tell people when they see me."

The creature's tentacles rippled in what might have been amusement. "Oh thank fuck," it replied, the water dancing to its words. "You would not believe how many people just shit themselves and run. Gets old, you know?"

Pretty sure that's a woman, her voice is so bassy it's hard to tell…yeah, no, definitely. Took me a second, usually you can just tell somehow. Maybe it's the shock? I should take some of the growl out of my voice when I meet people. Wait, do I sound snarly too? …Yeah, probably. Hrm

Her voice resonated through the water again, sending ripples dancing across the surface in perfect circles. "Most people take one look and decide today's not their day to meet whatever the hell I am."

"Tell me about it," David snorted, relaxing his posture slightly. "I overheard a dwar- stranger say I was, and I quote, 'definitely some kind of death omen.' I mean, they weren't entirely wrong, but still."

The massive creature shifted closer, her translucent tissues catching what little light remained in ways that made reality seem questionable. One of her larger tentacles lifted from the water to gesture expressively, somehow managing to convey exasperation through movement alone.

"Oh that's nothing," she replied, her voice carrying both amusement and weary understanding. "Try explaining to people that you're just trying to run a transportation service, do something useful right? When you look like someone threw the entire deep sea into a blender. The screaming gets real old, real fast."

"Transportation service?" David's ears perked forward with desperate hope. "That's actually why I'm here. I need to cross the ocean. My best friend, she..." He trailed off, suddenly uncertain how to explain everything that had happened.

The creature's feathered sensory organs oriented on him again, reading something in his tone or scent that made several of her eyes - or whatever they were - shift focus. "Let me guess. Someone important went missing, and you've tracked them across half the continent only to hit the ocean and realize that swimming isn't exactly in your skill set?"

"More like flying," David admitted, his wings shifting restlessly. "I mean, I could probably make it a decent way out, but Doc mentioned something about rifle-fish? And I'm pretty sure anything else out there would love to add 'flying nightmare bat' to their diet."

"Rifle-fish would be the least of your problems," she said, a ripple of bioluminescence running through her flesh that somehow conveyed a shudder. "There's things out there that make me look positively cuddly. Speaking of which..." Her feathered sensors flicked toward the Cuddlebugs still pressed against David's fur. "Interesting entourage you've got there."

"They're part of the package," David said quickly, one wing curling protectively around his tiny squad. "Non-negotiable traveling companions."

"Relax. I'm not about to separate anyone from their family." Several of her tentacles waved dismissively, the motion causing complex patterns in the water below. "But I need more details before I agree to cart your spiky ass across the ocean. Anyone chasing you? Because I really don't want to come back to find an angry mob waiting with pitchforks and torches."

David's ears swiveled back slightly. "No one's chasing me. Well, probably no one. Actually..." He paused, considering recent events. "Look, if anyone comes asking about me, just ask them who's on the hunt team at Riverport. If they don't mention Kai, Dallas, Ezra, or Leo, they're either lying or up to something."

"Oddly specific," she mused, more of those strange eye-structures focusing on him. "How far are we talking here? And more importantly, how long? Because despite appearances, I do run an actual business here."

"I..." David's wings drooped slightly. "I honestly don't know. The directional sense from my Pack System didn't clear up until I'd flown for a day or two, but it's pointing somewhere out there." He gestured vaguely toward the horizon. "Probably an island? Maybe? I just know she's alive, and I have to find her."

The desperation in his voice must have carried through, because the creature's tentacles stilled their constant motion for a moment. Several of her feathered sensors extended to their full length, waving gently as they seemed to taste his sincerity on the air.

"You really care about this…friend of yours, don't you?" Her voice had softened, though it still sent ripples dancing across the water's surface.

"She's all I've got," David admitted quietly, missing the stress she put on the word entirely. "Well, besides these little murder-puffs." He scratched Captain's head absently. "Please. I'll... I'll figure out some way to pay you back, I swear. I’ve learned a lot of…high level stuff. I'm sure we can work something out."

"Well shit," she sighed slowly, the sound making the water vibrate. "I'm going to help you, aren't I? Damn my soft spots." Several tentacles performed what might have been the cephalopod equivalent of throwing hands up in surrender. "I'm Marina, by the way. Yes, I know it's on the nose. No, I didn't pick it."

"David," he offered, relief flooding through him. "And thank you. Seriously. So how does this work? Do I just..." He gestured vaguely at her massive form. "Ride on top like a really weird raft?"

The silence that followed lasted just long enough to become concerning. Then Marina burst into laughter, the sound causing waves to ripple outward from her body. "Oh honey, no. That would get you killed about six different ways." Several larger tentacles, these ones covered in barely visible hooks, rose from the water. "Don't freak out."

David went very still as the appendages gently wrapped around him, lifting him as carefully as someone might handle a particularly spiky piece of crystal. He could feel the raw strength in those tentacles, the thousands of tiny hooks that could have shredded him but remained carefully retracted.

"Um," he managed, as he was smoothly transferred through the air. Captain and the other Cuddlebugs zipped after him, clearly unwilling to be separated from their master.

The tentacles guided him through what looked like the world's most aggressive camera shutter, the muscular ring spreading wide enough for his wings before snapping shut behind him. David found himself deposited into what his brain could only process as…

Definitely some kind of organ, probably not a stomach, please not a stomach.

The walls around him were alive in the most literal sense, pulsing gently with what he really hoped was normal circulation. Blood vessels spread across the membrane's surface like some kind of road map, ranging from tiny capillaries to tubes thick enough to make him very glad they weren't leaking. The chamber itself was huge, probably eight feet across, with a floor that felt weirdly firm under his talons – like someone had lined the bottom with nature's version of rubber.

Every few seconds, what looked like mutant fish gills lining the ceiling would spasm, blasting the space with fresh air that smelled like someone had turned 'eau de squid' into an air freshener. The old air whooshed out through what he could only describe as 'nose holes minus the nose', keeping the pressure stable enough that his ears weren't popping.

"Holy shit," David breathed, watching in fascination as another set of whatever-the-hell-those-were fired off another burst of surprisingly breathable air. His wing talons traced one of the larger blood vessels absently, feeling the steady thrum beneath. "This is... this is incredible. How did you even get something like this?"

"Bloodline," Marina's voice came through slightly muffled but still clear enough to understand. "Really lucked out with that one. Though I've got to warn you - if you need to puke, aim for the corner with the extra vents. And so help me, if you take a shit in there..."

David felt his Cuddlebugs' growing curiosity ripple through their mental link and immediately clamped down with the metaphysical equivalent of a parent catching their toddler reaching for a light socket. The wave of 'absolutely not' he sent through their connection made even Captain's whiskers droop.

"You hear that?" he reinforced verbally, though the message was already crystal clear along their shared consciousness. "No bathroom breaks. None. Zero. This is now officially a Divine Decree from your bat-god." He felt the veterans collective amusement at his tone and doubled down on the seriousness thrumming through their link. "I'm not joking. If any of you so much as think about marking territory in here..." He let the threat hang unfinished, seasoning their connection with just enough doom to make his point without traumatizing anyone.

Captain chirped what might have been acknowledgment or might have been mockery, but the message had clearly landed. The entire squad's previous explorative interest shifted into forming the tightest possible ball of fluff they could in David’s shadow.

The water around them began to shift as Marina submerged, and David's world suddenly exploded into light. Bioluminescence ignited along every tentacle like someone had strung Christmas lights through the ocean, turning the underwater landscape into something from a nature documentary on acid.

"This is your captain speaking," Marina's voice vibrated through the chamber, heavy with amusement. "Please keep your arms and legs inside at all times, or I will be personally offended because that shit stings. Remain seated – you're pokey, by the way." The chamber shifted uncomfortably around him for emphasis.

"If you look to your left, you won't see shit, and that's a good thing. In the event that things go sideways, we'll be running – fold those talons in and curl into a ball or something if I tell you we're going to warp speed. Random ass food will be served if I manage to catch anything you can eat without dying."

David's witty response was cut short as they began to move, the motion sending his stomach into immediate revolt. He pressed himself against the chamber floor, wings tucked tight as the world spun around him.

"You okay in there David?" Marina's voice carried both concern and badly hidden amusement.

"Peachy," David managed, fighting back nausea. "Just... questioning some life choices. You know, the usual." He curled into a tighter ball, muttering, "Claire never made me motion sick."

"Well, Claire isn't here," Marina replied cheerfully. "So you're stuck with the express. Try not to puke on my organs."

As they descended into deeper water, David decided that maybe flying across rifle-fish infested waters wouldn't have been so bad after all. At least then he'd have been the one in control of the spinning.