Little_Cuddles

How can one be sure if it was alive or... having not lived... that it was now deceased?

Normally, it is here that my BF would smile and say something ridiculous like: "Smooth move, exlax!"

But that wouldn't fit this scene or this story. Nice is all I can say. As soon as she had seen the two thugs trying to harrass a guy carrying a sack of food; I knew who held the food.

The ONLY surprise I get... well, actually two.

The first was when Steve fought at all. He odviously knew she needed no help.

The second was when he kicked the pistol away. Did he truly think the brawler with a mere pistol had a chance? I can only figure he didn't want HER to be TOO excited.

She screams. She is full of hate, of pain, of fury.

"HE STOOD THERE SMUGGLY TELLING ME I HAD BEEN WITH CHILD! HE TELLS ME THE CHILD HAS DIED! HE TELLS ME I ONCE COULD HAVE CONCEIVED; BUT he REMOVED THAT CHANCE!"

"I kill him. I snap his neck and drive that silly pencil into his brain. His squirelly assistant turns to run and I drive her spine into her chest. She crashes through the door and to the hall, or maybe lobby."

"There are two guards at my door. As the assistant's body falls slowly to the floor, they reach for their guns. I allow one to bring his psitol up. I remove the weapon, put it under his chin, and empty it."

"As his body still flies through the air, I face the other guard. He is slowly swinging one of those silly oriental clubs. I remove his heart and take the club."

"As I bend over the first guard's body, I hear the panic arise. I hear a voice say I could not move, it was impossible. Another says hilariously to tell ME that."

"I find the guard's club, A standard police truncheon. I discover I am NOT in a hall or lobby. I am in a laboratory. They were going to experiment on me? Cut me apart and put me together to see if it still worked?"

"When I leave the place, there were none living, no flasks or vials unbroken, no tubes still complete. I had found two blades. They were not as long as my swords, but they were enough. They were as sharp as scapals. Not fashioned for battle, they would serve."

"As I walk through the doors, three rush me. They were those silly types... the medical assistants not yet doctors or nurses... interns. I lose not a step as they die."

"The halls are filled with people and noise. They are in a panic. Good."

"I kill as I have ALWAYS killed. Men rise up against me and fall. Women flee slowly and are gutted. Many shield tiny infants with their very lives. Each time, I take both lives. Parents arise to defend children. Parents die, as do the children... if they are slow."

"I enter a room almost empty. A small nurse charges me and I smile. I am surprised. Her fury matches mine. She has no power, but she is enraged... mad. Though of small body, she is a towering pillar of rage. She ignores the cuts I give her and continues to fight. She lasts almost ten seconds."

"I step over her body and discovered what she defended. Row upon row of small cribs... Some with tubes running into them. When I leave, there is only death behind me. Why should others have the hope, the pleasure that has been taken from me?"

As I listen to Lupia rant, I am stunned. Yes, I had heard of her loss, of how my last cut had severed a life as yet unborn. I had grieved when I heard and I had been overjoyed when they had told me where she had been taken.

Lupia did not yet understand. She did not think WHY a laboratory would be beside a maternity ward, why that lab would have its OWN rooms for SPECIAL patients. Rooms with their own SPECIAL cribs for tiny lives.

Why very talented doctors... SPECIAL doctors... would give up extremely well-paying private practices to work a week, or even a day in that lab.

Yet the doctor she had killed in her room... the first to die in her rampage... was the lab's founder.

She continues her tale.

"A taxi waits outside as I leave. The driver dies as he tries to flee. I leave the blades in his back and take the cab."

"I return to the team's base. I find the team has also gotten there. I hurt badly from the cuts of the doctors. Link hugs me dearly and I cring from the pain."

"Ledona and Anthony examine me. They say they can heal me of MOST of my wounds. My sweet Link offers his essence to be their source."

"The two corrupters cast and cast... and cast. He falters and falls to his knees. I scream it is enough... to do no more."

"In the days that will follow, the team will rest. We will rest and try to plan; but there was a fear. A fear of those who had met us in Founder's Falls. We had been defeated before. It was a rare thing; but it had happened. We could shake THAT; but there was more."

"While I had lain unaware in a laboratory, the team had gathered and watched the media tear them apart once again. The team knew it would happen, they did not expect otherwise..."

"...but this time was different. Though the cameras had focussed on two towering cats who challenged blades; the editors had not."

"On every channel were two shining, golden beings challenging robotic menaces. They dodged beams and projectiles. They stood mightily as massive robots raised heavy arms of destruction against them. But there was one scene played over and over on every channel, every 'cast. A scene no editor could ignore... or wanted to. A scene no veiwer could forget."

"A scene where two shining, golden beings PICKED UP two multi-ton assault robots and SMASHED THEM TOGETHER."

"I saw this. I watched it but once before scenes of my escape joined the golden heroes. I watched in glee as hardened police blanched and fled the scene in the halls."

"I was still watching when a tall golden form was seen rushing to the hospital. The so-called unbiased camera's eye found she was panic-strickened, terror-driven. She saw not the crowds, no camera attracted her... tho the camera often LOVED her and she it."

"The cameras followed her... focussed on her. The camera men angled so the bloody sights she saw would not go on the air again."

"As I and my team watched, the golden heroine known for her passion fell to her knees, already weeping. She crawls to a body, lifts it slightly, and another tiny body is seen."

"The hero's moanful wail fills the room. She inches forward on her knees. The cameras refuse to follow. They watch as she nears each body, touches each, and cries anew. She turns a corner and vanishes from veiw. The cameras do not move as the microphones do their job for them."

"Ten, maybe fifteen minutes later, she appears again. At no time had she been silent. Her cries had been reduced to animal-like shrieks. She comes into veiw at the same corner she vanished through, but from the opposite direction."

Lupia's eyes gleam with madness as she SNARLS wildly. I am appalled that one such as she could once be considered sane. She speaks again.

"The golden hero, she actually crawls towards the cameras. Bloody trails follow her thickly, as she was crawling on all fours. She eventually comes to the same body she had moved before. She sees it. A hand reaches slowly toward it and stops. The hand wavers, then returns to its place in the blood. She looks up, at first with unseeing eyes, then she finally sees the cameras."

"That SILLY LITTLE CATGIRL whispers quietly; but no sound invades, so each word is heard. Each plea for forgiveness is heard. She says she had been assured the villain could not move; that she should leave and let the doctors heal. She had not even put her coat down in her living room when the bloody scenes came on the TV."

"I laugh in glee as the grief-stricken hero offers her card to the camera, declares she is unworthy, that she shall one day find the one who did this and MAKE HER PAY."

"I smirk as the hero collapses. What care I for a being who can not bear to see a little blood? I am amused as a sweet and pretty girl comes into veiw, puts that stupid card in Unia's hand, and closes the unknowing heroine's hand once again on the card. The girl's whispers resound in the quiet room for all my team to hear... 'Yes, Unia, we know you will. God's speed, and God's will.' I roar in glee at the girl's foolishness and leave the room."

"Though I am weak, the girl is dead within an hour."

It was not the first time I have thanked the ritki. I had cursed at them many times as I fought them in the streets of Paragon; but in my heart, I have also thanked those who had created me, who equipped me.

The claws they had given me still defied the best analysis human scientists can devise. They may chip. They may even break, but they always reform... regrow? All I had to do was retract them and redeploy them.

Against the swordswoman of evil incarnate; that was needed... several times. Many times my claws met those incredible human-made swords. Each time I feel one and sometimes two claws snap. Each time I peer closely at the blade I think had taken the claw and saw no notch, no nick to suggest those blades could be defeated.

The voice returns. It sounds like the whisper of a loved one in the dead of night. I hear not the words at first; but the voice speaks again.

"You are not to defeat her blades. That is for others. You must defeat her heart. Remove that which drives her to desire your pain, your suffering, your death. It was given to her so that she may glorify her life; but she has not. She has taken it and abused it. She has twisted it to become that which she already had in great abundance, that which she already had too much. It must now be removed."

I blink at the words. I whisper quietly to the voice. "I do not understand. What is it? What must I remove that she would fall?"

Pain flares across my chest as the voice answers. "What have you that she once had? What have you with Purvia that she wishes to have? What have you that she has promised to take? There are others within the room who have it and still others who desire it. There are two, as well, who believe they have lost it... but they have not."

I cring as a sword creases a thigh. "I still do not understand."

"Think... think of those who cherish you. The one of the greatest heart. Within her lies your answer, though she does not yet know it." The voice falls silent.

I battle silently. I bleed freely, but I continue. I know I have an answer. The blades cut and slash. I feel the pain, but I refuse to cry out. I snarl at my assailant; for I have yet to even touch her.

She draws back and I am tempted to collapse; but again, I refuse.

"HA! The mighty Purvek! The lion of heart they call you. You stand there barely able to move your arms. I could kill you with one stroke. I hope your mate gives me more challenge. Even those ridiculous golden aliens you trapse around with would fight better."

My anger flares uselessly; but I snarl a reply. "You go and TRY to take them on. You would not stand a chance against neither Unia nor T'Pom." I blink as the voice's clues finally come together.

Unia is with child. Lupia has promised to TAKE our child from my mate.

I look at those within the room.

Energy Hog and Grav Lass are married. Do they desire children? Oceladd and Ocelass are odviously inthralled. Anthony has married Ledona and she is now with child. The necromancers are barely visible; but could they be those which I had heard of? If so, they may well believe...

YES! There is my answer. Lupia herself had said it.

I let my arms fall to my sides. The answer is NOW my weapon.

"You cry out in pain because your husband is dead. You call him your beloved; yet you do not know the name he received from his parents. I do know that name. You cry that I have killed not only your husband, but your family. Is not that the same, for you gave him no child."

"No, THAT was for another to do. You and he slaughter a family to get good blades; but he desires the girl and spares her... from death, at least. You keep her two years. She becomes with child and you eject her from your presence. Did HE wish this, or was it you?"

"I and my team finally catch up to you and you arrive in prison. While you are there, the girl gives birth to a son and a daughter."

"You both escape. You renew your ties and become once again the Couple of Darkness . But he wants more. He wants more and you do not give him that which another has already."

"Your infamy grows. You grow powerful in reputation and legend. Once again, you gather your team and you are all feared by those who should not have to. Yet, does he desire more?"

She staggers backward. She gasps as if I have landed mighty blows upon her. I am astounded as I see tears well into her eyes. She whispers. In the quiet room, that whisper seems to echo off the walls as if from a siren.

"Yes. I did as well. We had tried... we had tried so very many times. I go to the clinic. I am told they can help. I am told it will take time, but it can happen."

"Then we try to take out that bank, the one in Founder's Fall. You remember?"

I nod. That battle had been a crowning achievement for my team.

Ailia and Thomas had worked their best in the battle, dropping Anthony and Ledona.

Unia and T'Pom had taken out Tech-Lass' and Tech-Ladd's many robots; then the mastermind robots themselves.

Shock Lass and Radd Ladd downed their own brother and sister... Energy Hog and Grav Lass.

But the media focused on one battle in particular. The Lion and Lioness of Heart were facing the Couple of Darkness .

"Yes, you damn heroes won that day. You did much worse than just take me down with that last strike. I felt your damn claws cut too deep. I felt that which must remain whole fall apart."

"I wake up in that damn hospital that cares not who you are. The one that cares ONLY of your need. That one they call SAM. They tell me they tried to save it, but it was not to be."

"I ask what they meant. They are surprised. They ask how I could not have known I was with child."

"Oh, I was incredulous. I was happy that it had happened. Of course; I also tell them, I was sad that I had lost it, but this meant I can try again... I can give my husband that which he desires so much."

"That was when they told me. No, I can not. The cuts were too deep, too destroying. There was not enough to even repair. It was removed."

edit= colors

PURVIA!!!

She is going after my mate!?!

Why? I am here, helpless. She can slaughter me at her leasure. She can torture me as she had so many others... burning off fingers and toes, hands and feet, arms and legs.

Why should this truly evil one wish to go after my blessed one, my love, the reason I live?

I hear a small voice in my mind, like a dove's feather caught in the strength of an artic blizzard. 'Purvia is safe, safe. You should help yourself.'

'rise up... RISE UP! TAKE ON the evil you face!'

I peer at the woman standing before me. My arms are anchored to the floor, useless. The power of my legs is negated by the throttle about my throat. I have no means to reach her, to tear the life from her as she prepares to leave and kill the one for whom I would willingly offer my life for. I am helpless.

The voice returns, as weak as before, but with more authority. 'You have never been helpless. You have friends. You have love. You have done so many great things. you have saved the lives of many you have not known, of many you will never know, of each one you love, of each one you cherish. They cherish you and they seek you now. They will find you. They will come to you as you have come to their aid so many, many times before.'

Then the voice gets stronger. It is as a distant whisper on a windswept bluff. 'Purvia is safe. She is surrounded by many devoted to her safety. She is in a place where the very ground would arise in her defence.'

The voice gets angry. 'ARISE! ARISE! REMOVE THE GREAT EVIL YOU FACE! AN EVIL THAT SO FEARS YOUR WRATH IT SOUGHT TO CONVINCE YOU OF ITS DEATH!'

My blood grows hot in my veins. I feel it heat quickly. My fur stands on end as I get angrier and angrier. I snarl. It comes and I can't stop it, I won't stop it.

I feel power coursing through my frame, through my muscles, through my very being. My fury mounts as I dwell more on the deeds of the one before me, the plans she has for the ones of my heart, of my life.

I...... roar.

"WHY DO YOU DO THIS? WHY ALL THE PAIN? WHY THE SUFFERING? YOU SHALL NOT CAUSE ANY MORE! I SHALL NOT ALLOW IT!"

The evil one staggers back. She looks surprised by the voice I give. She recovers and smiles.

"Because I can. Because I NOW can. Because in my greatest hour of need... OUR greatest hour of need, no one came. NO ONE came as the rats came out of the holes. No one came as they attacked, as they took down man and boy, father and son, mother and child."

"I was four years old. My mother was my world. I was hers. When the rats came, she fought. She screamed for help, but we could hear so many others also screaming."

"She picked me up. As rats came from all directions, she ran. She ran throughout our tiny home searching for some safety, some sanctuary from the biting teeth, the tearing claws; but the rats were everywhere."

Shaking from my frustration, I listen. I vibrate with the power of my fury. I glance down at my hands, at the cutting wires that hold me. I see the small circles the wires are tied to... I recognize a flaw in my trap, a weakness in the snare that binds me.

She continues. Her eyes are closed as she once again sees the horror no one else can.

"Finally, she runs into the kitchen. The rats chase. They are there before us. They leap upon her legs, upon her arms, on me. She throws me on the counter, tears the rats off me. She opens the metal bread box of her long-dead grandmother, throws the bread out, and throws me in. She closes the door and yells at me to not open it, never open it."

The woman reliving the horror shivers. "Oh, how she fought. I hear her screams. I hear the squeals of rats she kills. I hear a strange sound and the sound is ALWAYS joined by the squalling of a rat, sometimes more. A sound I now hear and enjoy each time I weild my blades, as I cut those who did not come."

I grasp the eyelets the wires hold to. I bunch my legs under me. I hear her tale even as I strive to escape my bonds.

"I listen to the fight a long time. minutes? hours? days? I do not know. Children of that age can not measure time. They know only WHEN the time for a event... a daily event... draws nigh."

"I know only the noise stops."

"I listen longer, hear nothing. I call to my mother. I call louder, and louder. I hear the squealing of more rats and I fall silent. In fear and terror I fall silent. Soon, I fall asleep."

I am ready to test my strength against the metal not designed to hold one of my power. But I cannot do so if she watches me. I speak again. I goad her to relive the horror I have only heard of... that my mate read to me about.

"I know of that terror... of how sewer rats were brought into your building to remove the families... for the landlord's greed. The rats didn't do as normal rats... street rats... would. They gathered, they reproduced, they grew. They swarmed the families they were supposed to frighten. Fifty-six people died... all consumed by the rats."

"Only two survive... a five year old boy on the 5th floor and a four year old girl on the 7th."

She gazes upward, seeing sights no one else could. "Yes. I finally got hungry. I was scared. I wanted my mother. I wanted... I wanted to potty."

"I disobeyed her. I knew she would be angry, but I did. I opened the door of that bread box."

"I saw a knife on the counter in front of me. It was covered in blood, dried blood. I did not see my mother."

She screams. Her fists are clenched in fury. The blade is held in a hand, forgotten.

"I did not know my mother was still there, on the floor! The rats had eaten her. They had stripped her bones of meat and of sinew. They had cracked every bone and sucked the marrow from within. They had broken into her head and removed all within."

I am ready. Just one pulse of power. Just one burst of strength. The eyelets are leash anchors. Designed to hold canine pets by leashes attached to collars around their necks. To hold creatures weighing no more than 100 pounds... not an intelligent feline of 600 pounds who can grasp the anchors and twist. I just need a couple seconds.

I speak once more. "I do not understand. The report I read said you survived 3 days without your mother, with no one to look after you."

Unseeing, she answers. "Yes, I did. I went out when I got hungry. I looked for food. the rats took everything I could reach... everything except the rats themselves. I learned to hunt them. I killed then with the knife my mother fought them with, the knife she put on the counter for me when she knew she could no longer fight."

"They killed my mother. I killed them. I ATE them. Now I kill those who would not come and save us. I wear them to show I have triumphed where they wished me to die."

She stops as she hears two distinct 'snaps'.

I reach for my collar as she watches me.

"You said there was a five year old boy. I never knew his given name. I only knew him as 'LINK'. We stayed together. He never allowed them to pull us apart. He became my life as my mother was before. He became my guardian, my mentor, and even my husband. I loved him as I could love no one else..."

She glares at me as I stand. She walks casually to the chair she had sat in. She tosses the small blade aside and pulls two longer blades into veiw.

"... and you killed him. You killed my only love, my husband, the father of my now never-to-be-born child. You killed the child. My husband and my child. You have killed my family."

"I shall go to your Purvia. She shall die; but your child shall live. I shall tear the child from her body and carry it away as your Purvia gasps and watches."

"You have lain there on that floor three days. No food, no water. You can not fight. Your death shall be slow, and very painfull."

She faces me and readies her swords. "Now we begin."

The thing that torks me most about this doc is I have met quite a few folks of his... 'bent'. Usually, the ONLY thing holding them back is the fear of reprissals.

I can understand the fealing of 'power' it gives them. Mankind seeks power instinctively. Most of the time, each individual has his or her own idea of what power is.

Mine: power is the most addictive drug known to man. The ONLY cure is something the drug NEVER provides... happiness.

[ QUOTE ]
Dr. Giacomo is rather nasty, I must admit.

He's been writing himself at this point.

I found out about the Manx cat while researching "Minx." For those of you who don' tknow, Manx cats don't have a tail ... also the cross between a Manx cat and a sphinx cat, at least according to one website I found, is called a minx.

So the name seemed appropriate.

[/ QUOTE ]

Oh, that is slick. Yes, the "breed" of egyption cat the pharohs liked is called the "sphinx". Yes, the manx is a valid species of wildcat... as is the mynx. I have no doubt of the of the 'mix' you are talking about. The "sphinx" and the manx are of the same approximate size and the pharohs did have the idea of 'selective breeding' (they did the same for their favorite hunting cat, the cheetah).

The reason I put "sphinx" in quotation marks is the pharohs and their followers were VERY enthusiastic in 'mixxing' their pets' genetics. The cats which now carry that 'tag' vary extremely from individual to individual. During my time in the region (in by-gone military sevice) I had seen half-grown cats which were at least 15 inches at the shouldier and FULL-grown cats less than 6. Both were called "sphinx". Interestingly, I never saw the full-grown cat of the larger version.

edit>> I might be mixxing my own species and breeds here. From what I understand, the only difference between the manx and the bobcat is location. The bobcat is north america, the manx is europe/mediterain region. Sheesh, I wish I wasn't working on thirty-year-old memories.

[ QUOTE ]


Pain.

It writhes. It shakes. If it could, it would scream.

But it has no words. It can understand them—why it can understand them, it does not know—but it cannot speak. It can hurt, it can hate—but it cannot say a word.

Its maker prefers it that way.

“Lovely, isn’t she, Paul?”

“Dr. Giacomo, I’m not sure that Mr. Hopkins would approve of this. Project Revenant has barely begun. Dr. Friedken’s process is still in the experimental stage. So many things can go wrong …”

“The Countess applauds initiative, Paul. You’ll never get anywhere in this organization if you’re not willing to take a few chances. She’s beautiful, isn’t she?”

“She?” The one called Paul looks at it—and it realizes that it is not an “it.” It’s a “she”.

“Yes. My dear little creation here. She’s going to make sure that my pain is repaid in kind.” She cannot see all of the other’s face. It is half-concealed by bandages. “When the time is right, Manx will be sent to recapture her errant template … and the suffering I have known will pale in comparison to what Ms. Stevens will experience.”

Manx. Her name. She has a name. Manx is her. And she was a purpose. She is to bring pain.

But if she is to bring pain, why does she know it?

“Why do you call her Manx, sir?”

“Because she lacks a tail, of course.” The other presses the button on a small remote he holds in his hand and Manx’s head explodes in pain.

Again she writhes. Again she tries to scream.

But she can’t.

The one called Paul looks slightly ill. “Sir … is that necessary?”

“I have to make sure the implant is working, Paul. We can’t have Manx running wild on us, can we? One wildcat is enough.” The other smiles an unpleasant smile. “Though I confess that I love to see that particular face suffer. It eases my pain somewhat.”

“I still don’t understand how she’s going to find the girl, Dr. Giacomo.”

“In a sense, they are one being, Paul. Mynx is her progenitor. Manx will find her. She won’t be able to help finding her. And when she does … when she does, the pain will end for both of us. Do you hear me, my little cat?”

Manx stares at him through the green glass that surrounds her.

“When you find Mynx, your pain will end. She will take your place in torment. You will be free to assume your new role as a protector of Paragon City. Find Mynx, Manx. Find her, and your suffering will be over.”

Her name is Manx. She has a purpose. She is to bring pain. She is to bring pain to Mynx.

“But until then, the pain will belong solely to you.”

And she dances in agony for her maker once more.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ouch!

And I thought I knew where this was going. Sheesh. I don't care what others think. To me, that doc is the true evil.

LUPIA!!!

The evil behind the name, the terror of the victums she had slaughtered, the pitieous mewing of those she had purposely left alive in conditions worse than death come from my memory and vie for my attention.

Dispite the thrubbing in my abused head, I jump to my feet in anger and my own panic, for I know my own life hung by the slenderest of threads. That is, I TRIED to jump to my feet.

I am stopped not even half-way to upright by the collar around my neck. It is attached by a chain in back. The other end of the chain is fastened to the floor between my feet.

I feel pain in my wrists. I look and see my wrists are also bound to the floor; but they are bound separately with thin wires. If I were to pull again, I could easily amputate both hands.

I hear Lupia's silken voice and look at her. She is arising out of a comfortable lounge chair and speaking directly to me. She knows I do not understand the language of the 'umans around us; but she talks on, gloating. I hear her husband's name (Link) mentioned several times... always softly and with much tenderness. As she speaks, I look at the rest of the room.

I see the stalkers, Ocelass and Oceladd, nestled together in an overstuffed chair. Even with the two of them in it, the chair still had much room to spare. Ritki science had created them just as it had created me and Purvia. They were from ocelots (a small, south american jungle cat) while Purvia and I were of lion stock. They were no less deadly, though, as I found out painfully in our last encounter.

A flying being I first think is Simon is hovering near the ceiling in a far corner. It is Anthony, Simon's erstwhile brother, powerful and experianced corruptor, and a father-to-be.

At a counter I see two huge figures whom I quickly identify as Energy Hog and Grav Lass... powerful dominators, brother and sister to Anita and Radd Ladd of my own missing team. I almost don't note Grav Lass is wearing almost the same outfit I gave Anita grief for. Grav Lass' was purple and replaced the bikini bottom with a pleated miniskirt. I realize it was not strange that the two women had simular fashion tastes. They had grown up as neighbors... outcasts with their brothers as their size and powers marked them as mutants. Their size and powers had made most people in their home town wonder if they WERE truly nieghbors and not actually blood-relatives. Energy Hog and Grav Lass are now married, as Anita and Radd Ladd had not yet done so.

In a distant shadow I see two others. Again male and female, they appear quite disturbed to be here. Their heads are bald but not unadorned. Huge horns sprout from the sides of their heads and curve to almost meet inches in front of their mouthes. It takes little imagination to see the flesh of some victum being torn off those horns to be feasted upon by the visible fangs.

Their skin is a dark grey, as if it was in the process of decomposing. Their fingers end with black, jagged, and sharp nails which would serve well as claws. Their legs look quite like goat legs, even to the cloven hooves.

The only pleasant thing about their appearance are their faces. They have the faces of 'uman teenagers, the kind of face one would expect to be planning for their next dance. I shudder when I realized the shadows MOVED around these two figures.

The most evil of the group approaches me steadily. Lupia has not stopped speaking. Her words mean little to me, but the tone says much. She was enjoying my predicament, my helplessness. She snears several times at me and cackles often, paying little heed that her mirth is not shared by any others in the room.

She displays a small blade. Though only the length of her forearm, it shows the distinctive marking of her other, more often used swords. I remember the breifing I had received (through my mate, Purvia). The traditional blades with those markings were sharp enough to separate paper if it were simply layed upon their edge. Surgeons' scaples could arguably be considered DULL in comparision. The blades were legended to NEVER dull.

The blades Lupia and Link had acquired were from a swordsmith of those traditions. He had found MODERN methods of even bettering both the sharpness and the resistance to dulling.

Twirling that menacing blade, she walks behind me where I can not turn to watch her. She grabs my tail.

I panic. She was going to amputate my balance. As I try to turn and face her, she laughes and releases my treasured member.

She moves to kneel in front of me, well within death range if my claws were free. She snears meaningfully. She starts talking carefully and slowly. Though I do not understand her, her meaning became very clear. I may not understand words; but I had acquired some understanding of 'uman numbers.

"... one Purvia". The blade stabs downward. "...two Purvias..." the blade cuts a deep furrow in the tile. "...three Purvias..." another deep cut crossing the first. "...Four..."

She cackles evilly and stands as her meaning becomes clear to me.

I apoligize to those who expected some bloodsoaked and gory fighting. This forum IS supposed to be PG13, after all.

I know the invasion of the skull base could have used some more detailing, but remember Purvek is simply a 'member of the team' in the incident (a position he was not used to). To be completely taken 'out of the loop' near the end made his details even more scarce.

I am humbly and anxiously awaiting any comments on the story, thus far.

Purvek's story now continues.

The best thing about this, we already knew SHE survived because of the first posts. We also have some idea of the pleasure she is now enjoying.

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I got some goosebumps!

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Dang, rip. I'm bumping into you all over the place.

dang. With stories like this to compare to, I feel like I should just give up writing.

I can not say the right words to express my feelings about this story... and I speak three languages.

I must leave it to others.

WOW!

I like this conversation. Why do I see a maturation occuring? I'm not really surprised at the psionic's understanding of the situation.

I waiting anxiously for the next post.

We fight our way down two more floors discusing how the skulls were tracking us. Long-term exhaustion was starting to become a worry.

Finally, Ailia and Thomas decide they could discover the skulls' secret by trying something they had heard about... a gestalt. getting isolated in a small room, they removed their psi-shields and commos, grasped hands, and sat down to meditate. The team closed the door and guarded it.

30 seconds later, Ailia and Thomas came out staggering from exhaustion and supporting each other. Thomas spoke verbally and the team removed their commos... smashing them? Realizing the skulls must have been tracking our communications, I also smash my commo.

Ailia staggers to me. I pick her up as she collaspes into my arms. She graspes one of my fingers for some touch-psi.

We are still three floors from street level. Fourteen children are being held in a basement. Thomas and I found a stairway leading to their level. She fell asleep.

I glance up. I see Thomas had stayed awake long enough to also hold hands with Shock Lass; but he was now sleeping calmly. Unia picked him up gently.

Shock Lass at me questioningly. Without the commo, I was completely out of communications. I could not speak to the team and none of them (except maybe the now sleeping 'psionics') could communicate with me. I wave dismissively to her; hoping it was understood... the team was now hers. She nods and seems to swallow. She barks a command verbally.

I feel a presense beside me. Unia hands me Thomas. I understand. We have lost our controllers to exhaustion and my effectiveness had been reduced. We could not afford to lose our only remaining scrapper's effectiveness should we have to fight.

We fought a patrol on our way to the stairs. The stairs seemed to me to go far too deep to be just a basement level.

Arriving at the level Thomas had given Shock Lass, we walked out onto a catwalk. Below us was a cobbled-together command station. I saw the monitor operator and most of the bosses were wearing psi-shields. One boss had put his to a side, though. I reason it was through THAT boss Ailia and Thomas had discovered the skulls' secret. I look around. I don't see Lupia or her team.

I DO SEE the children. They are chained to the far wall, their hands suspended above their heads. I see they are all looking at the team exitting the stairway. I recognize at least five from my day care center.

I put down the twins and make hand motions to the children. I put my hands over my eyes and then over my ears. When I look at them, again, the children are turning to face the wall. I see Elizabeth. Tears (of joy? of relief?) are streaming down her face.

The team falls (literally) upon the command center. The skulls didn't stand a chance. Releasing the chains from the children proves no trouble as we found the key on a 'boss' skull.

We wait for Ailia and Thomas to revive. While we waited, two groups of skulls attack ineffectively from another stairway. Seems the stairway we had used was unknown to the skulls (another sign of good work by our 'psi's).

Finally, Ailia and Thomas are awake. Thomas touches an unconsicous 'boss' skull and waves to the group to follow. With Unia and the bots in the lead and I playing rear guard (carrying Elizabeth), the team exits the base into another building. the skulls had left a guard there, But I just saw their unconsicous forms.

The return to the city was uneventful; the standard boomtown 'residents' seemed to realize to stop our progress was suicidal.

Joey lost no time announcing our presense at the gate and arranging transport for the children.

At the police station, I was satisfied to see parents and children being reunited. Elizabeth's mother gave me a thankful look that shook my soul to its core.

Then the station vanished. I felt myself teleported not once, but several times against my will. Correction, it had happened so quickly I had no chance to resist. At the end of the fifth or sixth time, something heavy smashed my jaw. Darkness consumes my awareness and I collapse.

I awake laying on the floor of a dark room. I look up to see... Lupia.

Our progress through the base would have been tedious if not for the violence.

Lupia had set up the skulls very well for combatting us. The skulls knew we were present and they seemed to know where we were. Many times we had to hole up in a small room to allow some members to rest. Even Simon was bloodied several fights.

Only Unia's seemingly endless ferocity seemed to scare the skulls. We had to call her back several times when the skulls ran in panic. Amazingly, she'd return immediately. She seemed to enjoy the combat. Her horns (which no one had ever taught her to use) were turning out to be her most effective weapons. Thanks to her judicious use of them, she was completely covered in dried blood.

'T'Pom, Purvek.'

'Yes! How's our little mother-to-be doing?'

'Dammit, T'Pom. She's frightening! Why didn't you tell us she could go into this mode?'

'Simply because I didn't know WHEN she would. You see, the females of our species STORE and NOURISH their mates' genetic contribution until they are ready to use it. I didn't know when she would conceive. By the way, she is completely unaware of her change of manner. She thinks she is STILL the soft and lovable Unia she has always been.'

'As to her presently violent nature; consider she is a herbivore. There is a reason humans fight bulls, but not cows. The female herbivore is ALWAYS super-violent (even on earth) when her offspring are concerned. Unia just doesn't know about it yet.'

'By the way, when I get close to her, I will also be unaware of my own change. Her phermones will make me super-protective of her. You and the team will see the difference; but you will not be able to convince me or Unia of it... it is THAT all-encompressing.'

'That instinctive over-reaction (by both genders) was one of the ritki's best weapons to disrupt our forces on our home planet. That fact had been drilled into the ship's children relentlessly during our flight for survival.'

After T'Pom signed off; I considered his words.

'Purvek, Shock Lass. I need some advice.'

'Well, you are doing quite well. I don't think I could do any better against what we have been facing.'

'Coming from you, that's praise indeed. I'm begining to worry we haven't faced any of Lupia's team, yet. Is she hoping the skulls could wear us down or even stop us?'

"I've been wondering that myself. We've worked our way down almost to street level. I think the children we seek are at street level... if they're still alive.'

'NO! She wouldn't!'

'Think about who we're discussing. We need to start considering how to LOSE whatever method the skulls are using to track us and get to the children before that option is excercised.'

'understood.'

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It's funny... The way I write Mynx, she's something of a... A... Well, she's not nice.

[/ QUOTE ]

Now that's where we disagree. She hasn't had a chance to be nice or to relax. She is aware of what she needs and who MAY be able to provide for that need; but she is afraid of another betrayal.

We humans are always putting our own standards on other creatures. Cats are an excellent example. Take the 'arrogant and sulking' cat idea. It usually comes up when the human has found the cat has done something the human does not like. The very way the cat turns away and leaves infuriates us.

But hold on, what is the cat doing in its own mind? To a cat meeting another creature's gaze is a challenge. Take a good look at a cat's face and you will see a cat is well-equipped (for its size) for such a challenge. When we get angry at a cat; we want to look it in the eye. That is exactly what the cat DOESN'T want... it doesn't want to challenge you, especially when you're angry. The cat's only alternative... avoid your gaze and leave before your hurt it.

Just because you have a standard, it doesn't mean that standard is shared. That is what this story is saying so far.

OUTSTANDING !!!!

I watch as Shock Lass and Simon approach the skulls' guards. I am somewhat amazed the guards hadn't opened fire, yet.

I see what I was watching for (it was difficult to overlook). Shock Lass' arms spread wide. The entire roof top is flooded with electrical energy. I see a couple dozen flare-ups as electronic devices are overwhelmed and explosions as the electricity detonated the traps. The guards are also caught in the electrical barrage. They were all quivering in the static discharge.

Bot Lass and Bot Ladd plummet out of the sky. Each bot weighed two and a half tons. They came from almost a half mile up and were helped by their contra-grav drives. The roof didn't stand a chance of stopping them.

Ailia and Thomas are close behind the bots. They enter through the bots' entry holes and the door is soon blasted off its hinges by their combined power.

Unia and I land on the roof and rush to take down the guards. Two are already down and the others don't look like they were ready to fight. Unia flies past me, hooves leading. I cring as the guard she hits seems to fold around her lower legs. I simply bash my target against the wall's remains and watch him collapse.

As we enter the base, I note Unia is leaving bloody hoofprints and I'm pretty sure it isn't her blood. She has gotten quite violent in the weeks since I last talked with her.

Inside the base, I note the bots were taking down skulls who were actively fighting. The majority of the skulls seemed to be asleep on their feet... a result of having two psionic controllers among your foes.

Ailia and Thomas had their bows out, supporting the bots with the various trick arrows they were so good with.

Shock Lass was blasting the skulls the bots were fighting and Simon was watching everyone, ready to heal even the slightest scratch.

Unia flew past the bots, kicking sleeping skulls violently and even ramming her horns into them. I stand stunned. Unia's blood-thirsty nature was never in doubt, but I had never seen it actually in full cry.

Soon, 45+ skulls are lying still on the ground. Quite a few are bleeding badly... or had stopped bleeding.

I was not the only one stunned by Unia's rampage. Only the bots did not appear to be watching her. She stood with blood dripping down her face from her horns and her hands were held wide as if bearing claws. Her teeth were beared in a feirce grimace and her eyes were completely opened. she reminded me of a wild water buffalo fighting for her young.

I call the ONLY person I could think of who would know why she was like this.

'T'Pom, Purvek. We have a situation with Unia.'

'Oh? What is the matter?'

'She has gotten completely violent. She is no longer subduing our opponents. She is tearing them apart. She's even using her horns and revelling in the blood.'

He seemed quite enthused by the report. 'Oh, that's excellent! Don't worry about her bloodthirstiness. She will still follow your lead. She will defend anyone she cares for very violently; but will still be a cuddly bear to those people. Pity the ones she hates, though.'

'On our ship, I had seen Atstar women in her state take on ritki warriors barehanded and win.'

'Atstar?'

'Oh, that's our species name. Rather useless knowledge when there's only two and one can't remember any others.'

'Ok. What is the matter with Unia?' Can it be fixxed?'

'With time, it will fix itself. I just said there are only two of our species? Well, her change of manner tells me there is about to be more. Don't tell her that, though.'

I am stunned by T'Pom's information as much as Unia's activity. T'Pom signed off happily as I turned to the team.

'Seems we are stuck with a more efficient fighter for a while. She will follow our lead as she always has, but she will be MUCH more brutal.'

The rest of the team nod in understanding, but Unia looked confused. 'Uh? Who? I don't understand.'

'Not to worry, Unia. Right now we have some 'uman children to rescue. I suspect we must 'urry.

She brightened. 'Ok.'

I was not the only one to note the change from her normally tenacious personality. I quietly contact each team member to give them T'Pom's analysis and recommendation. Each one understood it was a boon for our present operations.

'Shock Lass, Purvek. This is STILL your team. Lead on.'

'YES, SIR!'

.... had to find SOME way to add to my favorites list

Personally, I like the tale. I liked Mynx even before reading this. I'm kinda partial to human/feline hybrids.

I have a few of my own and I've even started a story about them (A Cat's Night of Skullduggery). looking forward to reading more.

I like it so far. nice.

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When someone takes the time to critique one of my stories, I take as a compliment that they felt inspired to put the energy into doing it. Not everyone feels that way, I know.

I'm looking forward to seeing the conclusion. I do think that what you've got here is the makings of a pretty good fantasy novel, aside from the little niggling fact that one of the protagonists is a superhero. *heh*

Good luck with the nose. My wife had nose surgery several years ago, so I've got some idea what that's like (vicariously, but some).


[/ QUOTE ]

Well, Rip. You will notice I appreciated your comments on my story as well. I'm sure this author will, too. Feedback is important. It gives the author an idea of the author successes and (more importantly) failures. Please don't try to force an author into a mold (which you don't do, thankfully). An author's BEST work comes from following their own heart. They just need guidance on occasion to see if they have left a reader behind.

I am replying to your very first post for a reason. I read a great deal of the story before i decided to log in and give you a reply.

English is THE most difficult language to learn in the world; due to its very versitility. You are doing excellently with this tale. I am an avid reader. I could talk for hours on the Tales of Xanth or the Dragonriders of Pern. Your tale ranks as good as either of them.

Continue with your tale. If it is enjoyable to you, it's good. Too many authors write tales that 'fit' a set formula. Yours is NOT of a formula. Your story is YOURS!!!

Write it and let the rest of us enjoy it as we wish. Believe me, anything else is not satisfying in the least.