KISS in Paradise
Part 22A
By Kori/Jessi

19 years Pre-Paradise

Simone Leone watched as Doctor Moreau injected 
another drug into her body. She had been part of 
this 'experiment' for the last year.  She was 
thinking of quitting.  The Doctor in fact was 
planning on moving the unapproved experiments to a 
set of Islands he had bought with his inheritance.  
Simone and her two friends would not be going.

The eldest of the three sat on the bench across from 
Simone.  She sat nursing her 17-month-old baby girl, 
whom she had named Krista.  Moreau had asked her to 
come to see if the mutations had affected her child 
any.  It turned out it had.  Krista had inherited 
the 'Song Bird' genetic code her mother had been 
mutated with.  The change was natural in her 
daughter so no health problems had arose like it had 
in the women herself.  The "Song Bird" was a mixture 
of DNA codes (kept secret from them by the doctor) 
that cause the altered person to have a special 
singing voice that could actually kill.

It depended on emotion.  Anger was the worst for the 
Song Bird.  It could cause death or fire.  The voice 
picked up on the emotions and deployed it sound to 
make the emotions come out.  They also could sing in 
notes that no normal person could.  The Doctor had 
actually said that he had secret rooms being built 
in his Island Lab that only the notes that Krista 
had been born with could open.  In there would be 
secret documents, which would protect him and his 
subjects from any harm.

Simone was told she was to tell Krista on her 
eighteenth birthday and no sooner.  Until then she 
was to teach Krista how to use the gift properly 
without her knowing Simone herself was injected with 
the DNA of a Leopardess.  She could flex in the way 
of the cat and had night vision.  She had to have a 
certain drug injected into her to keep her from 
uncontrollably changing into her leopard form.  
Apparently her children would have the alternations 
as well, and most likely she would have 'litters' 
now instead of the normal one at a time.

The last person in the room was a shy individual.  
She was injected with the combination of DNA that 
the doctor called his Star child.  She was altered 
to be stronger and could fly.  Her wings were those 
of a butterfly and were kept under her shirt where 
no one could notice.  She was quite beautiful and 
the wings only enhanced it.  The Doctor suspected 
that if her children would inherit her alterations, 
it would only come in to place either by someone 
they love being in danger, stress or highly 
passionate actions.

Simone gave into the luxury of thinking of the man 
she loved and then turned back to business.  She was 
to meet him at a party later that night.  She had a 
vision that she would have a life-changing event 
that night.  Peter was taking her out to dinner and 
then they had the night to themselves.  She didn't 
know how he would take it when she told him she was 
leaving him. 

She sighed.  She had to.  He couldn't know she was a 
mutant.

Present time

Krista was upset.  Ok, more then just upset.  For 
the first time in her short, pointless existence, 
she wanted to kick some serious Gene Simmons ass.  
She had no idea why she was so pointlessly angry 
with him.

Well...besides the fact that she now knew that he 
had known about all four of the children since they 
were born, yet never told anyone.  She also knew by 
this point in time that despite Simone telling him 
to do so, he had still not told her father about her 
or the other members of the band.

Krista now sat in the waterfall, taking the first 
shower she had in weeks.  The cold water felt good 
and she was glad to have it.  Gene had lent her some 
soap so she and the others could wash.  Liz and 
Katie had already bathed and were now dressed in 
some clothes that the fans had lent them.

"Anger leads to the dark side," she told herself.  
Actually it was much worse then Luca's idea of the 
dark side.  With her voice she could kill people.  
She could curse them as well.  It all depended on 
her emotions.

Ever since she was eighteen she had wondered what 
animal the doctor had used for her.  She also 
wondered if it had to do with her mother's death.  
Kayla Anderson, her mother, had been the test 
subject.  Krista had been born shortly after the 
alterations and therefore had been born with it.  
When you were born with it, it was stronger then 
being altered.  Altered was painful.

Krista remembered her mother having moments when she 
nearly died singing onstage because the alterations 
hurt her.  She had to keep the Songbird qualities in 
check, so no damage was done to the audience.  She 
had used her voice to sing and please them, but 
otherwise had to detach her emotions. 

Kayla had killed.  She had gotten mad with one of 
the crew of her last opera and had started yelling.  
The yelling had started to sound like singing and 
the boy had what seemed like a heart attack.  Kayla 
had not meant to do it, but it had happened anyway.  
Krista had an easier time handling her 'gift' 
because of it coming to her naturally and by the 
help of the genes she had received from Ace.

Liz's alterations had come from her mother as well.  
Sheri Stanley (oddly that was in fact her maiden 
name) had also become an experiment for Moreau.  She 
had been transmitted the genes for a monarch 
butterfly, oddly enough Liz could fly and was very 
strong.  If she kicked you, you could get a broken 
bone sometimes even shattered.

Simone had told her that she had been part of the 
experiment as well.  She had been altered with the 
genes of a leopardess, and so had Katie and Jeren.  
Jeren had known slightly how to use his gift but 
Katie didn't know she had one.  Jeren and his mother 
were planning on training her after the cruise 
ended.  Unfortunately it seemed it never would.

Krista cursed to herself when she slipped on the 
slippery rocks, falling into the water and getting 
the towel she had wrapped around her body soaked.  
She stood up again and then walked over to the 
clothes that Tiger had left her and put them on.  It 
actually fit her a little snuggly but she didn't 
mind.  It wasn't too tight.

"Krista?" came a voice from behind a bush.

"What do you want Gene?"

"I just wanted to talk to you.  How is your mother?"

"She is dead, if you cared to follow up on her you 
would know."

"I'm sorry.  I really am.  I just couldn't find the 
right time to tell the guys."

"How about now Gene.  Why don't you tell them now?  
Do you really expect them to believe you?  What else 
have you been hiding from them Gene?  They will want 
to know that."  

Gene sighed.  This was not going very well.  "I am 
holding a meeting tonight and I will tell them."

"What about us being altered?"

"What are you talking about?"

"You mean you didn't know that our parents signed up 
for an experiment with a guy named Moreau and 
therefore we are altered."  

Gene's eyes became thoughtful.  "And how exactly are 
you altered?

"Liz is what Moreau called the Star child.  She has 
a mix of unidentified genes.  She is stronger than 
that Minotaur you told me about and she can fly.  
Katie is a Leopardess and Jeren is a Leopard.  They 
have the reflexes of a feline as well as the night 
vision, since of smell and Cheetah speed."

"And you?"

"I'm the songbird."