"Who the hell do you think you are?"
Scott turned and stared at Cathy in disbelief. "I'm sorry I don't think I heard you right."
Cathy barred her teeth at him. "I said, who the hell do you think you are?"
Scott's face turned red as a ripe tomato. "Who do I think I am? Who do you think you are, talking to me like you're a tough guy. You realize what I could do to you?" He cracked his knuckles threateningly.
Cathy scoffed. "I don't care what you can do to me anymore, Scott. For months, you've treated me like shit. Well, guess what? I'm done." She began to storm out of the bar when Scott grabbed her collar.
"So you think you can just get up and go? That you can just leave me like that? You won't last a day with out me!" He pinned her to a wall.
"I'm sick of your shit, Scott. I don't care if I die, I never wanna see you again. I'm going to go back to my apartment, clean myself up, and meet with Katie, after which I'm going to spend the night studying for college. And you can't stop me."
Scott smiled. "Oh, really? Is that your grand plan?" He slapped her across the face. "You aren't gonna leave this bar without paying me first." He threw her to the ground, and kicked her hard in the ribs. "Bet you liked that, huh?"
He stood her up and socked her in the stomach, followed by a kick to the face. "Afraid of me now, aren't ya?"
And suddenly, Cathy remembered her dream. She remembered the lion, the voice telling her to be brave, to become something greater. She held the medallion in her hand. The engraving of the lion glowed red.
She lookef up at Scott. "I'm not afraid of you. I swear, to god, or whatever created the universe, i'll never fear you again. Because..."
She kneeled on the ground, and her body began to ache. "Because... I'm stronger than you are..."
She flung her head backwards. Her mouth opened wide to release an ear-shattering roar that made the whole bar go quiet. Scott's jaw hung open, unbelieving of what he just heard.
Cathy slowly got up. As she did, golden patches of fur appeared all over her body. It quickly formed a fine coat that enveloped her body. Her ears moved up her head, growing large and somewhat pointed. Cathy found that her hearing had improved dramatically.
Her hand changed shape, as her pinky melded with her ring finger, and long, black claws grew from where she once had nail. Her feet lost two toes each, and thick pads grew on them, as the grew longer and she began to stand on her toes.
A long tail came from behind her, and she swished it about a few times. Her blonde ponytail turned red, and grew longer, until the band snapped, letting her majestiv mane fall around her shoulders. She had grown by at least 2 feet, and her clothes tore as her arms and legs grew larger with the formation of new muscles.
Her nose flattened against her face, and she smiled as it pushed out into a lion's muzzle. Long whisker grew above her lip, and her eyes changed, her formerly round pupils becoming slits.
Cathy stood upright, a seven foot tall lioness with beautiful, long, red hair.
She smiled, showing off her new fangs to Scott, who cringed in fear.
She reached into her purse, and pulled out a quarter. "You said you wanted payment?" She chucked the coin at his face. "Here. Go buy yourself a gumball. And choke on it."
She turned around, and slapped him in the face with her tail. Then, she strode over to the entrance, opened the door, and left Scott forever.