Big Yellow drifted through the halls of Cape Corporation, flying past dozens of the city's most elite superheroes before coming to a stop outside of the newest trainee's door. Only when he pressed himself against the wood could he hear the muffled sobs coming from inside. "Everything okay in there, Chimera?"

A series of faint popping sounds echoed through the door, each one accompanied by a hiccupping gasp. "Nothing will ever be okay again."

Now more than ever, Big Yellow wished he had arms so he could hug his friend, but maybe there was something else he could do to cheer her up. "Mind if I come in?"

The door cracked open, leaving a space so small only the ironically named Big Yellow could squeeze through. Chimera was barely recognizable not because of the scales speckling her face or the nubby antlers sprouting from her head, but because of the tears running down her cheeks. A chorus of pops echoed through the room as another row of scales pushed through her pores, winding a bright green trail across her forehead. "I thought I had it all under control, but..." Chimera sniffed, gesturing wordlessly to the effects of her out of control powers.

"That's nothing to be ashamed of," Big Yellow said as he nudged a box of tissues toward her. "Lots of teens have to deal with breakouts. Yours are just a little extra special, like you."

Chimera's laugh was half bark and half snort. "Special. That's one word for it. You should have seen me at the tryouts, looking like someone threw a flamingo, a bald musk ox, and a camel into a blender. I'll be lucky if they let me be a sidekick after that!"

"No matter what happens, I think you're a star." Big Yellow popped open his lid, offering Chimera a sheet of hydro-stars.

Chimera gingerly peeled off the hydro-stars and stuck them to her scales, sighing with relief as her greenness disappeared beneath a galaxy. As her stress decreased, so too did the antlers sprouting from her head until they were only just visible beneath her long blond curls. "Thanks, Big Yellow. I needed that."

"No problem! Anytime you're feeling a little blue, I'll be right here for you."

Filled with determination thanks to Big Yellow's kind words, Chimera took a deep breath. A faint crackling filled the room as her antlers shrank into nothing, but she wasn't done yet. Her skin rippled as she transformed once again. Where there had once been a dejected girl there now stood a tiger, her fanged smile as bright as the hydro-stars clinging to her fur.