Tale of Two Kittens: Valor Vs. Shadows

Prologue

My name is Pus in Boots, but you may know me as Kay and I’m here to tell you, we’re in trouble. I’m not sure how they managed to avoid being detained as level 40 threats in the lowest reaches of the Ziggurats solitary confinement Block, but it’s to late to point fingers now. The recent raid on the Zig wasn’t just to sow chaos or to mock and provoke a response from the Freedom Phalanx as we previously believed; there we’re at least 2 criminals that were freed by the Arachnos insurgents and taken directly to the Rouge Isles And I, Pus in Boots, am partially responsible for the existence of both.
When I was in the employ of Crey Industries prior to my career as a hero, I made a number of advances that led to the creation of the technology that these villains use. I like most of the scientists at Crey Industries was only there for a paycheck and the funding they provide and even today the only reason I’m able to function as a hero is because of the loophole I found in their security clause. Technically all Crey personnel are responsible for their own inventions until which point as they’ve been tested and a final mainstream model has been produced, this allows Crey to avoid lawsuits from their products causing damage to property and more seriously the people around them. However, you’re not allowed to breach security with any experimental equipment so there’s not supposed to be a way for tech to get out of Crey hands. The micro tech I created and now use in my costume works in such a way as to supercharge an individual’s nervous system to grant them super human speed, strength and agility. Before I could send the prototypes to testing in the third branch several 5th Column agents broke in and trashed my lab, running off with all my blueprints and my lab assistant Karen. I assume they took Karen on accident because she’s the same height as me and dyed her hair red to match mine for purposes she said were unrelated to me recently. The only choice I had to keep my job (yes I had that much of a one track mind once) was to use the prototypes I had been taking to testing when my lab was raided to hunt down the base they had fled to and to fight my way through it. I was ready, I was psyched, I was overheating 5 seconds after I got through the door. Apparently, I had overlooked just how much heat your body creates when you’re using those chips and it got me beat silly. Luckily for me Mynx had been planning a raid on this facility and arrived about a min after they got tired of slapping around the little 4 ft tall red head in a lab coat that was stupid enough to wander into their base. She not only managed to save me, she also got all the data they had stored in their database AND managed to figure out why I was so sick. It was the least I could do to take her out for diner to say thanks. Who knew someone so revered in the city as such a fierce fighter, was also so shy and sweet. During diner Mynx convinced me not to return the prototypes to Crey because they were evil, and that I should apply for a hero’s license instead. Maybe I would work with the tech department in city hall if nothing else. We talked about everything you could imagine under the category “girl talk” before we decided to go dancing.

We were having a great time when I blurted out, “OMG, we forgot Karen…”

By the time we got back Karen had been interrogated, and hadn’t told them a thing. Needless to say, she had been beaten mercilessly. When we untied her I was so flustered I kept apologizing and accidentally blurted out that not only had I forgot her but that I had just had diner with Mynx. Wrong things to say considering Karen had a crush on me and had only kept quite out of loyalty to me. At the time I hadn’t thought she still had feelings like that for me since we stopped dating, and even if she did its not like it had been a date with Mynx (even though she IS terribly cute.) In any case, Karen was the only other person who knew those designs by heart and I had to convince her not to return to Crey with my findings. At first she agreed, helping me with the overheating problem by creating a spiked choker that projected the illusion of a orange cat in a black hat and cape over the wearer’s skin, this allowed me to use my micro tech in a set boots and wear nothing else to prevent myself from overheating. Once she was convinced that I wasn’t going to take her back as my girlfriend though she decided that nothing else I had said was important either, including the part about Crey being evil. But no matter how much I begged we could still be friends and partners Karen, heartbroken, decided that the only thing left was her work and when she came waltzing back into the building with a set of the prototypes she had snuck away from me as well as the holographic choker we were working on she was rewarded for her loyalty with a lawsuit by Crey for the damages incurred in the lab raid. Because she had never filed a notice to leave employment it appeared that she had been sneaking the tech back in when she was really returning it openly causing her to lose credibility. If you ask me the Countess just wanted to piss me off by hurting a friend of mine. What she hadn’t counted on was that Karen at this point had snapped, and seeing as they never revoked her access card she was able to walk right back in past security and kill the scientists who had been holding it for reverse engineering with a katana they had designed to vibrate at high velocities to slice through metals. After she had the chips and the choker it was a simple matter to take the vibro-blade and go on an unstoppable rampage that I was sent to stop as my first official hero mission, lucky me. Even today it's hard to think back to the smell off blood and the screams I heard walking into that building, knowing I had unleashed the devil herself upon those people. And when I found her and I looked at her, covered in the blood of the guards, she returned my stare with eyes that seemed deep enough to hold the world but were filled to the brim with sorrow not for what she had done but what she still had left to do. She made the first move after what seemed like an eternity and the fight was a blur of blades, my claws I had built into the choker I continued to improve after she had left, and her stolen katana both swiping through the air in continuous misses. Until finally, I connected with her face carving out her right eye causing her to lose her balance then I floored her with a swift knee to the gut. That day she had brutally eviscerated 234 men and women that had come to close during her rage. There was nothing left of the woman I had once loved, there was only the criminal I dubbed Carnage in Boots.
Crey still has some rough versions of the tech I created to increase the output from the central nervous system, I recently found out that in about 42 years they’ll have perfected it to the point of allowing a human to function as a supercomputer. That Tech will be used in the creation of the psychopath calling himself the Time Arsonist. So you see, the technology I use to protect people today is also being used to slay countless others. Therefore, I take it on myself to warn anyone who this report reaches to use extreme caution if you encounter the monsters calling themselves Carnage in Boots or the Time Arsonist until I can apprehend them both or more likely, kill them. Both of these malefactors have no regard for human life and take pleasure in the killing of innocents, or whenever they can manage it, heroes.
If however, you are insistent on fighting them should you come across them I can tell you everything I know about them, starting with:

During the raid I was assigned to the 2nd Incursion into Bloody Bay, I originally fought it claiming that I deserved to be one of the first in to stomp the scum that had taken up residence there. However, the Lt. at the registration desk decided that such a “cute little cat girl” as myself was better suited for babysitting the longbow chumps that were going to be sent in to relieve the main force and take up guarding the beachhead. Those fools had no idea just what was waiting for them in that hell, and of course neither did I. This is exactly why I decided to sneak in and do a little fighting on my own, before all the choice villains were busted. I went in after the first hour of engagement expecting to find the beachhead under control and the heroes pushing their way into the city. What I found was nothing short of a war engaging all around me.
The skies we’re filled with flying supers engaged in combat, and often falling from it. The site of countless heroes, many who I’d fought alongside, plummeting onto the hard ground and rooftops with sickening wet thuds replaced my dreams of glory and light humor I often spouted in combat. I found out later that the emergency teleporters had been reprogrammed by a spy so they would only teleport the recently deceased effectively making all but the most potent healers battle weary to the point where they themselves needed to be healed. After I got over the initial shock from the smell of blood and the screams of pain and fear lingering in the air, I decided to do what I had been waiting all day to do, dispense some justice. Leaping into the air at the first villain I saw to get to close to the rooftops, I used my claws to disable the fool’s jetpack causing him to drop like a stone before he could throw me off and then leapt at his wingman, slicing her face as I sailed past throwing her off balance and sending her spiraling downward towards the throttling longbow chopper blade, I don’t think the security attachment even batted an eyelash when she died. After I finished throwing up, I went back to work at bringing the flyers into range of the earthbound heroes, that is until I leapt up at a fiery looking villain with spiked red hair directing the other squads and hovering with his back to me. Right before I extended my claws to stick them into his back, he twisted his body and pointed a glass lens on his palm at me and I actually froze in midair, my arms stuck out to my sides.
My mind and my mouth seemed to be the only things unaffected by the time pocket he held me in. He ignored me for a few moments longer as he finished signaling to the other death squads. Then as he slowly turned to face me, he spoke. I’ll never forget his voice, It sounded like a clearer version of the guy at the Mc Donald’s drive through if he had lost his mind and the speaker was the in a tunnel

“Here kitty kitty,” He mocked “I’ve been looking for you.”

He looked straight into my eyes with eye sockets that were empty aside from the cluster of tiny lenses at the back of them. His face had the appearance of a lipless grinning jester with a mouth that reached from ear to ear, colored black and red 50/50 down the middle.

“You’ve proven quite a nuisance to Recluse’s Air Raiders little one” He said frowning at me, yet never actually opening his mouth to speak.

I burst into a short lived giggle “I never get tired of hearing you [censored] fools state the obvious when you have the opportunity to finish me off” I managed to fake confidence as his face, which seriously creped me out, leaned in close to me as his grin grew wider.

“If I did that I wouldn’t be able to enjoy your screams while I cremate you” He said with a quick twitch of his neck.

For all of you who haven’t been in this situation, remember one thing, keep them talking. Your only hope is for either another hero to come along or for you stall long enough to break free, your wit is the only thing keeping you alive at this point.

“What’s the matter big boy” I mocked “Got a faulty connection in that head of yours?”

He frowned at me “Actually,” he said “I get interference from this damn chip Arachnos has implanted in my central nervous system.” His smile crept back onto him face “Apparently, I’m unstable”

In my bravest and most sympathetic tone I could muster “Awww, I’ve got a minor in Psych, we have a couch down there you can lay on while you tell me all about it”

The look on his face, well the metallic mask that made up his face anyways, was one of pure shock.

“You mean, you’d actually listen to me?” His voice had lost its frightening tone and he sounded like he wanted to cry as he placed his hand on my shoulder

“You’re the only person whose ever shown any concern”
*twitch*
”Maybe if I had someone like you to talk to me when I was younger I’d still be entirely human”
*twitch*
“And I wouldn’t be here melting your skin off”

I suddenly became aware of the smell of burning flesh and the smoke curling up from my shoulder and wafting past the corner of my eye.

“There’s only one problem, I can’t feel a thing so long as your have me trapped like this” I smirked at him, hiding the fact that I wanted to scream for someone to help me.

His laugh sounded like a rusted screen door “

Since when has the pain been the only thing that makes people beg for mercy?” He said as he opened his mouth, the sound that came out made me cry out in both shock and fear.

It could only have been the recorded voice of every person he tortured in this manor all weeping at once, some begging for their lives, some pleading for their appendages, others for their families, and the most desperate just to have God forgive them and to let Death take them.
At that moment the back up I was counting on came flying out of the sky at the back of the freaks head, and it came in the form of an 80 pound slab of concrete striking him square in the back, he was still laughing as it made him cartwheel past me. At that moment the pocket in time he was holding me in was broken and the momentum I had previously used to hurl myself at him returned sending me towards the roof I had planed on landing on should I have missed him. However, my exclusion from the time stream was the only thing keeping the immense pain from my shoulder in check, and when it returned I was completely unable to handle my speed or my landing. Oddly enough at that moment I remembered deciding not to format my costume for extra shielding from impacts due to the extra 2 pounds it would have cost me, I would have kicked myself if I didn’t think that hitting a roof going 65 mph then careening to the ground below was bad enough. Then, as I connected with the concrete, I herd something snap. Before I blacked out I saw a sheriff dressed in a black jacket and black leather pants with skin like gravel rush over after issuing the command to the golem he had created to continue the assault at the flying monster. A muddled voice hit my ears, and I knew I recognized it but I was so tired

“Boots?! Oh God, hang in thare darlin. I ’ l l ... h a v e ... y o u ... f i ... ... ...”

So tired…

Very nice, really like it alot. One thing though... is Puss in Boots a lesbian? Sorry, had to be done, couldn't get it out of my head. I just kept thinking about it. At least you know I now have a clear consciecne. (Spelling error awknoledged. I couldn't figure out how to spell, LOL.

Thx for the compliment, I like your dancing GIR. Yes she is a lesbian, I sorta thought I made that clear but didn't want disrupt the story to say it. But now that there are no doubts, on to chapter 2

Chapter Two
Life Sucks and
Then You Die


White tile ceiling, I hate waking up in the hospital… Especially when they have to turn off my costume projector to work on me. Sitting in bed in my thong and my bra and my boots, while other heroes get right up as they get ported in and stare as they pass on the way to the elevator, yeah that’s what I became a city protector for. Cue the annoying star struck nurse who’s always reluctant to give me the bill without an autograph, any moment now. I started to sit up when a jolt of pain shot through my ribs, a firm stony hand was pressed down on my breast to keep me down.

“I swear these doctors take long enough when they can get away with coping a feel and I never even get a discount.” I managed to chuckle.

At that moment, an impact shook the building and it all came back, Bloody Bay, the fight, the freak…

“Well shoot, thare is a war outside and you never make it easy to get you back on your feet, Boots”

The first living person I recognized since I arrived was standing over me. A healer named Country Rock, although he prefers to think of himself as a Gravedigger class of controller. Using his earth moving powers to crush the life out of his enemies is more his pace, he prefers to use his ability to draw energy from the planet to aid his comrades only when it’s necessary. I noticed his leather jacket was marked in the Red Cross uniform of a medic as he continued to run a small smooth stone across my bare skin; it was so soothing to the touch, like that warm, safe, feeling of curling up next to someone special on the couch with a good book. I would have teased him for being cooped up inside healing incoming fatalities instead of outside breaking faces, but if I knew Rock he’d give me a poke in my sore ribs and say that I looked like I was having enough fun for the both of us.

“Glad you woke up, girl.” The Texan said as he worked “I can only do so much to heal you. Your mind is dangerous territory for me to tangle with, and you took a nasty spill off that roof, broke your little neck. That brings you down to what, 4 lives left?”

“A lady never tells,” I smiled, “and shame on you for asking”

I reached up with my left hand, the other was numb, and felt my throat. It was caked in drying mud with the same soothing warmth as the stone eradiating from it, spreading to my fingertips as I felt it.

“Mmmmm, you know just how to make a girl feel special Rocky.” I purred, “My right arm still feels numb though…”

Just then I reached further over to my shoulder, and felt nothing. My arm was gone, that monster had burned it off.

“Oh God,” I started to sob from panic and shock, “Rocky, what did he do to me?!” I think I went a bit hysterical right then, because the next thing I remember Rock’s golem Stonewall Jackson was holding me down, and tears were streaming down my face.

“Don’t cry darlin, I can fix it.” Rock said wiping my tears away,”Just please don’t cry. I’ll make you good as new I promise”

I tried to stop right then, I really did, I thought of how strong I always am when I’m Boots and about how confident I always feel. I tried thinking about all those heroes and criminals I mocked from behind the holographic kitty suit, knowing they can’t lay a finger on me. None of it mattered, not when I was sitting here a gimp. Even the promise of it all going away couldn’t make me feel better.

Rock had stopped his work and had taken me in his arms, whispering in my ear “I’ll fix it darlin, please stop cryin”

He couldn’t understand though, it wasn’t entirely the fact that my arm was gone now. It was the fact that the monster had made me sit there as he had tortured, no as he violated me, because there’s no other way to put it. And all those people I had heard, how close I was to winding up just like them, begging for death in the end.


“Shhhhhh,” Rocky was repeating again, as another explosion rocked the building. “It’ll be OK, I’ll fix you. I promise good as new.”

The hanging lights continued to swing and flicker from the last impact. I wept for some time there, held in Rock’s arms, he had never stopped telling me it would be OK. Even so talented a healer as he couldn’t erase that grinning face from my mind though, and that laugh that told you he so utterly enjoyed what he was doing. Finally, I was able to calm down enough that Rock let me go and started working again, this time breaking off chunks from the golem and making them melt into mud he began caking onto my empty shoulder.

“Jackson, hold her down.” came the command from Rock.

I didn’t resist, I knew why. When I was first trying to get on my feet as a hero Rock had joined a team with me to help me clear out an infestation of Lost from a warehouse, while we were fighting I broke a nail and like a baby insisted Rock do something about it. So he caked mud around my finger and told me to brace myself when he got sick of hearing it. The pain was indescribable, just to have a nail grow back. Afterwards, he made fun of me by asking if I had wanted it painted too. He’s a real sensitive guy right? As I braced myself for what was to come I noticed a group of guys had gathered outside my curtain looking in at my nakedness, but what caught my eye was the little orange cat girl almost completely blending into the shadows standing behind them seemingly unnoticed. I knew her face, it was the same one I put on whenever I get into my costume except she had an eye patch over her right eye. Only one person could possibly have recreated my projector tech, but I personally locked her in the Zig at the start of my career.

“Karen…” I started to say before being abruptly cut off by Rocky hitting me with all the energy he could muster, all I could see after was red.

I’m pretty sure I was screaming for awhile too, my voice was horse when I came to my senses. I was sat up in bed and something was wrapped around my neck by forceful yet delicate cold, stubby, fingers and I heard the hum that my costume makes when I click it on or change outfits. It took me a few more moments to regain my composure, and my sight for that matter, but when I came to I saw Stonewall had fallen to pieces and Rocky was on the ground panting, his right shoulder was bleeding through the cracks in his gravely skin. Apparently, when he heals you that thoroughly, he feels it too. The guys that had been leering at me were gone from the hall, but there were several puddles of vomit where they had been. I guess they didn’t like seeing what it looks like to regenerate a human limb, serves them right. There was no sign of Karen though, and I prayed that it had been my imagination. God I wish I had been right.

Chapter Three
Level 50 Scrapper
LFT…


Karen, if she was ever there, was gone and getting Rock up onto the bed was what was most important right then, and even though he only stands at about 5’1” that man is HEAVY, it might possibly have something to do with his skin being made of stone.

“Thank you Rocky,” I whispered giving him a kiss on his cheek “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some unfinished business to take care of”

“Boots, wait I can help you I just need…” He managed before I cut him off

“You’ve already helped enough Rocky, and I don’t want you to see what I’m going to have to do.” I shouted back as I headed out the window “Stay safe big guy”

As I hit the ground I spotted a group of Longbow Lt. on break heading out of the mess hall. By the looks of them they must have arrived after the fighting over the island had died down, they still seemed lighthearted and even bored.

“You.” “You.” “You.” I said walking up to them and pointing at the three of them individually after flashing my level 50 clearance rank at them “Name rank and combat role”

The first was a big guy, his arms were almost comically large compared to his body. I would have poked fun at him if I weren’t so upset.

“They call me Boxin Joe Brown” He said with a grin “Level 25 clearance, and I’m classified as a Tank mam’”

“They who, soldier?” I asked not waiting for an answer “And wipe that stupid smile off your face. If I wanted a joke I and this clown right here.” I jabbed my thumb at the woman standing next to him. “Speaking of which, your turn”

The woman was in every sense a knockout, at least D cups, blond hair, pouty lips. She was the stereotype for someone you’d find in a modeling agency with a cell phone pressed up against her head prattling on with someone about absolutely nothing for hours on end. I expected her idea of a diner conversation to be letting her date sit across from her complimenting her and staring at her cleavage.

“Names Hot-Wire mam” she said surprising me with a professional tone as she saluted “Level 26 clearance, I’ve been classified as an electric blaster and if I could say it’s an honor meeting the legendary Pus in Boots mam”

OK, so everyone’s wrong once in a while. Sue me.

“I’m sure it is, maybe I’ll get you an autograph after this…” I said shaking my head and moving to the third who seemed to grow more and more nervous as I approached.

This guy was something else; greenish yellow light pouring from his eyes, no hair, and the air around his breath fogged as if it was extremely cold out, or more likely his breath was extremely hot. I’ve fought more powerful things than him on a daily basis but this guy just intimidated me, or he would have if he weren’t sweating due to the presence of a four foot tall cat girl.

“Um, my names… um,” this guy was clearly either new or there was something about me that threw him off his game “My names Gary-Gamma. Its stupid I know, but it’s an old nickname that sorta just stuck ever since…”

“Gary?” I asked in a sweet tone

“Um…Yes mam?” he said still sweating

“Shut up with the personal history, I don’t care” I said flatly “Rank and Role”

“Level 24 clearance mam, I’m classified as a Radiation Defender” He spat out blushing a hue of light green.

It was becoming increasingly obvious what this guys problem was with me, if I wasn’t so flustered I’d give him the whole I think ‘Your sweet but my ‘type’ happens to be tall, thin, non-super and female.’ And in any case I wanted to get out of range before Rock got back on his feet. I really didn’t want to have him around when I killed that freak on accident. Plus there was the possible threat of Karen out there, if she could actually get inside the hospital without being seen she could get right up behind him in the open. If I know how she thinks she’ll want to take out anyone she thinks might be the reason I rejected her.

“Alright, we’ve got a high profile villain out there that’s already taken me out once in a bad way.” I said pacing back and forth, “I’m prepared to commission the three of you to aid me in an immediate hunt of said villain before he flees the island”

“Um… mam?” Gamma said actually raising his hand, I know, what a goon right? “How do you know he’s still on the island?”

“Simple, I can hear him” I said narrowing my eyes as I looked out onto the mainland, ”He’s not more than 200 yards away and he’s giving off the same low hum I herd when he used his time manipulation powers on me”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, time manipulation?” Brown asked, “How do you expect to fight someone who controls time?”

“He was only able to hold me in place so long as he was concentrating, I’m guessing that also means he can’t use it against more than one target at a time.” I said with a grin, “Even if he does have backup, he only got me because he caught me off guard before. He won’t be able to hold me so long as I’m focused squarely on him. So, are you guys in or do I need to brief another group of heroes that aren’t total chumps?”

The three looked at each other for a few moments, then Hot-Wire spoke,”I’d follow you to the gates of Hell to fight the Devil himself mam” Both of the others began nodding.

“That’s good” I smiled,” because that’s the mission, grab whatever supplies you need we leave immediately. Meet me at the Dock”

With that I took a running leap and left the 3 aspiring heroes to prepare themselves against the most terrible foe they’ve likely ever seen let alone faced, one that had already killed me once. When I think back I was no better than that freak, I only wanted them to use as a distraction to get my revenge. I also suspected Karen was still out there somewhere, watching me and hating everyone I came into contact with. Just because I’m paranoid doesn’t mean I’m not being stalked right?

Brown was the last to arrive at the docks, he came jumping in and landed right on top of a number of crates, crushing them under his massive weight before he tumbled right into the water with a thunderous splash. Naturally I, embarrassed, never turned to look at him as he pulled himself back onto the dock.

“First time using that strength of yours to do more than just sprint Joe?” I asked knowing full well his answer was yes.

“I just saw you do it and I…” He began sheepishly, “You make it look so easy”

“That’s because I’m not a lumbering oaf” I shot at him in no mood for phony compliments “He’s on the move, I’m just not sure what he’s planning but it works to our advantage. When we assault him, he’ll be distracted.”

As I looked out onto that island, watching the light from the occasional random explosion dance off the water like a short lived sunset, every sense in my body told me he knew I was coming. But either because of arrogance or out of sheer spite I didn’t care.

“That bastards already killed me once” I said under my breath, “Time to return the favor…”

Chapter Four
Morons and Murderers,
What Else Could a Girl Ask For

The water itself seemed calm enough but there was something I didn’t trust about it. No telling what kind of mines Arachnos might have planted under its waves. I was fine of course, I could make the jump from beach to beach no problem. But the problem with sidekicks is they never quite are up to the task at hand, especially when that means thinking for themselves. Trust me, I have some SK horror stories that would make you die laughing, a few about my own side kicked experiences even. Looking at the set I had picked up this time I had to wonder how many of them would even survive the trip over to the structure our target had stopped at. Imagine my surprise when I was lifted right off the ground.

“Wha...” I stammered as I noticed the updraft that was holding me coming from Hot-Wire, “you coulda given me some warning” I said as I struggled to keep my balance.

“My apologies mam” she said trying to hide a smile, “but I didn’t think cats liked water”

“I can jump across just fine, it can’t be more than a few hundred yards” I said through my teeth as I swung my arms trying to stay upright.

I felt my face turn hot as I looked over at the other two floating there like it was the easiest thing in the world, Gary was snickering under his breath and Brown was in a full out gut chuckle as I continued to drift off balance. This was going to be a long mission.

“Hey shut up you two, I remember first time I air lifted both of you too,” Hot-Wire snapped,”you ran into and through the ceiling of the yellow line Joe and you Gary kept barfing glowing green bile at the civilians that waved up at you”

It was becoming increasingly obvious that she was the leader of the three, and if I wanted to get anything done right I was going to have to rely on her to keep the other two in line. By this point I had turned completely upside down, had drifted about 5 feet up and my cape was getting caught around my face, I hate flying. The only time I want to float through the air under anyone’s propulsion other than my own two legs is on an airplane.

“Wire,” I said trying to remain calm and while speaking clearly through my cape, “Put, Me, Down. Right about nowish, please.” I crossed my arms trying to keep my bra on straight without anything popping out, even if they couldn’t see anything under the projector I’d still have to turn off my suit to put everything back in place if I wasn’t careful.

“Alright, you’re the boss…” she said clearly expecting me to land on the top of my head

As she dropped me I shot my new right arm out and caught myself on my palm easily flipping forward onto my feet then unwrapping my face. Good to know Rock still does good work regenerating, I had to use a power vice to clip the nail he had grown back way back when.

“Alright, now that we’re done messing around,” I said with a roll of my eyes, “Wire your in charge, set a waypoint on my transponder and follow it to my position, I’ll scout ahead to make sure he hasn’t moved since the last time I heard him.”

“Yes, mam” she said saluting, “I won’t let you down”

“I’m sure you won’t…” I said taking a running leap off the end of the dock aiming my landing at the beach across the bay into neutral territory.

When I hit the beach sand I almost fell on my face trying to keep my boots from digging in. It was better than getting my gear all wet though, the fur (though fake) retains water surprisingly well. People wonder why cats don’t like being wet, I wonder how those people can stand all that extra weight from the water. Outside of a warm bath or a cool drink, water is an evil maneuverability sapper. Although, I do remember some good times back near the fountains in Atlas where Rocky kept porting me into water to cool me off after I went nuts on a Hellion boss for pulling my tail, man I really calmed down since then… No time to reminisce about good times though, I’m off the leash now and off the radar. I was fast approaching a building that had several demolished automated turrets around it. If I wasn’t late my target would be inside, time to be bad.

As I approached the bunker door I heard a computer humming and a computerized voice from inside “Meteor analysis complete” “6 specific required elements present” “Project ‘Leash’ commencing” Whatever was going on inside I didn’t like the sound of whatever power that experiment hoped to leash. There was no proof as of yet as to whether or not that freak was inside and I didn’t find him to be the type to run experiments, one thing I know about the Freakshow is that the most lethal of them usually aren’t very bright. Then again I’ve never known them to use fire, or to have access to anything high-tech enough to replace their faces and actually function to show expressions. There was also the matter of his manipulation of the time stream seemingly at will. It hit me at that moment that I hadn’t really thought about what this guy was capable of. He was clearly Freakshow, in origin at least, but given what I’ve seen him do so far that was only an indicator of his mindset. Speaking of that mindset, if he was up to something in that bunker, you can bet it wasn’t anything short of a potent weapon. Just as I started to peak into one of the windows on the upper part of the wall I heard something that gave me chills and flared my temper at the same time.

“Common you primitive piece of crap, keep up!” the freaks voice came from inside followed by a loud clang of a heavy boot hitting equipment at first I thought he had seen me and had slide back down the wall but when I didn’t hear him move towards the door I started to scoot back up to the window, “This thing is so slow it’s hard to keep from overloading it with a direct interface.” He growled

“We’ll then maybe you shouldn’t try interfacing with it with equipment from 60 years in the future,” a woman’s voice I didn’t recognize scoffed at him, “just a thought though, besides it’s not like Arachnos is going to give you access to this power your just a pathetic errand boy”

As I peaked inside I saw the Freak with a cord plugged into his neck from the massive computer that made up the center of the bunker. This computer had to be state of the art, it even had a synthesis unit on one end. It had said something about meteors, and I would have bet my tail that’s what the glowing hunks of rock inside the machine were.

“Watch your tongue woman, I already have what I need from you and no amount of pain from this stupid chip your boss has in my neck could stop me from giving you a napalm bath!” He shouted at an intelligent looking woman in a lab coat, “And if you weren’t so incredibly dense you’d remember my tech is from 40 years from now, you stupid monkeys just haven’t been able to make proper cerebral interfaces. Now, not another word caveman…”

She took a moment appearing to think about whether or not he was serious, then decided she was to stupid to keep her mouth shut “Don’t threaten ME Time Arsonist, if you even try to lay a finger on me I just need to flip this one little switch and you’ll beAAAAAAAHHHHHHHhhh” she never even had the chance to put her finger on the device she had been holding’s switch before he turned on his heel and pumped a chemical from the tips of his fingers over her causing her to burst into flames and liquefy the flesh on her bones almost instantly.

He began shouting inaudible gibberish that passed as a scream as a pulse of electricity, large enough to jump to the metal in the bunker around him, ran through his body “wELl, tHeN” he said as he regained his composure, his voice still shaky, “I bETTer make suRE yoU dOn’t FliP that sWITch.” With that he crushed the skeletal hand of the woman under his foot, along with the device.

I sank back down the wall holding my hand over my mouth to keep myself from screaming at what I had just seen. I could taste the bile at the back of my throat and I couldn’t stop thinking of the look on that woman’s face when she had died.

“T-minus 30 minutes until synthesis completion.” The machine chimed in bringing me back to my senses.

Time Arsonist, that’s what she had called him and something about him being from the future? That would explain why he’s not like the other Freakshow, but it confirmed he was a freak nevertheless. When I regained my composure, I decided that whatever he was after I couldn’t let him have it. I had to strike now, before he was back to full strength.

“Your people skills really need some work Arsonist, even still, I think she’s hot for you” I said motioning towards the smoldering corpse as I stepped through the door, “Maybe it’s whatever you’re cooking over there for her.”

“Kitten…” the Arsonist grinned, “and here I thought you went to pieces when you hit that roof. Silly me, where are my manors” He said with a suddenly Russian accent, “Welcome to the site of my evil plan, and in effect, my evil lair.”

“No more talking time freak, whatever plan your cooking up I’m not giving you time to finish it” I said drawing my claws, I could hear the hum of his time manipulation starting up “You caught me off guard last time, but you’ll never catch me with that same stupid trick”

“Stupid trick?” He said seemingly offended, “Honestly, I’m in the mood for a fight this time, I just want to see what this thing does first.”

As he unplugged the wire from his neck a surge ran through his hand into the machine, the hum grew louder and the computer beeped like it was going to explode, “T-minus 15 minutes, T-minus 10 minutes, T-minus 5 minutes, T-minus 1 minute, Item Synthesis Complete” The compartment on the end flashed a bright hue of every color I knew existed, blinding my heightened sense of sight for a moment. When I could see him again he was holding a strange glowing lump dripping with nasty blue goo.

“Congratulations,” I mocked still trying to blink the floating dots from my eyes, “you’ve created the booger, Paragon City’s in trouble now”

There’s that screen door laugh of his again, I’m going to keep his voice box after I rip it out his throat. If nothing else it’ll help scare off those creepy middle aged men who just won’t get the idea of NO.

“You never fail to make killing you all the more lighthearted with that sense of humor of yours. If you survive it’ll be altogether more enjoyable” He laughed as he jammed the gooey rock into the chest cavity of skeletal woman. “But chances are my new pet is going to have the pleasure of making you scream first”

It finally made sense, took me long enough right? As the goo from the rock enveloped the skeleton it began to rise up off the ground, the remaining flesh and clothes dissolving into the goo with a hiss. It looked to the arsonist with a wail as if it was waiting for something.

He responded by grinding his teeth and lowering a finger at me, “Kill her.”

Chapter Five
We come in Peace,
Now Surrender your Brains

Brilliant Kay, chat with the super villain, what’s the worst that could happen? Duck. It’s not like he has a trump card he can just pull out. I mean, I would know if he had a secret plan, right? Dodge left. Oh wait, I forgot to take the fact that I’m a pompous idiot into consideration. Back-flip. Sigh, this is one of the downsides to having microchips increase your thought processes to superhuman speeds, you have plenty of time to beat yourself up during a fight in between times when your avoiding having your enemy do it too. Opening, counter with a kick. WAIT! That would be bad, that goo melted the skin and fabric around the skeleton it’s now using as a host, whose to say it won’t melt my boots off my feet, or my feet off my ankles for that matter. Whatever this thing was, I knew I was in trouble. It moved slow at first but the Arsonist had been zapping it constantly to increase its speed and even when I’m far enough back that it cant swing its arms at me to cover me in that blue acidic gunk dripping from it, it can still fire volleys of some kind of concentrated radiation that were making anything they hit glow briefly. There was no way I was going to test out whether or not my costume would hold up by sticking my claws in it either, last thing I needed was for that crap to crawl up my arm.

“Think, Boots. Think!” I practically screamed at myself not meaning to say it out loud, “there’s no way I survived fighting a 5 story tall assassin courtesy of the Malta Group to be killed by a creepy JELLO mold!”

The Arsonist, true to his Freakshow heritage, was cackling like a sadist until he heard me talking to myself, “Think? Your time for thinking is over you primitive monkey. If you had charged in as I was being electrocuted you could have taken my remote and killed me in an instant. As it is you were probably out there gasping in shock at the fate of that mouthy [censored]. I believe you said it best just a short while ago, I never get tired of hearing you [censored] fools state the obvious when you have the opportunity to finish me off”

His voice had changed to sound just like my own for that last part, but it wasn’t quite a playback as he continued to mock me. “Defiantly going to keep that voice box” I thought to myself. Just as I did I heard something that put a smile on my face, problem solved.

“Well this has all been very entertaining T. A., but I think it’s time for you to lose now” I said smugly at him

“Oh goody, I love that delicious sense of arrogance. What are you going to do? You can’t even touch my pet let alone get past him to me.” He said still imitating me, “Your sharp wit doesn’t seem to be affecting him either, so pray tell what exactly…”

Oh yeah, he heard it now too. That almost undetectable sound from the rush of air, followed by a solid thump of something very heavy hitting the ground, then doing so again closer and closer in rapid succession. It sorta sounded like a train on Nike’s.

“ROUND ONE!!!” Came the battle cry from outside the bunker, just before Boxin Joe Brown came smashing right through the wall into the creature knocking it through the computer and out the other side of the cramped room. “You said you were scouting! For a level 50 you sure have a lousy grasp of combat terms…” He shouted over his shoulder as he followed the creature out the hole it left.

“You brought backup,” the Arsonist sneered, “and here I was hoping that little blow to your head from the roof affected your logic. Nevermind, I’m still more than a match for you and when I’m finished I’ll hold that muscle headed clown in place so my baby can get a taste for heroes”

“Not likely” Hot-Wire said floating down into bombardment range, “Let’s see what kind of surge protection you have in that ugly head of yours.”

Remember what I said earlier about being wrong for thinking she was just another pretty face over an empty head? I take it back. What she had failed to notice as she unleashed a flurry of electrical blasts at the freak, was that I was not only standing not 5 feet from him but also that we were in a room made mostly out of conductors.

“Wire you trigger happy bubble brain!” I shouted as I dove out the nearest opening “Your current isn’t strong enough so long as he’s protected by all those lightning rods and you’re just as likely to hit anyone in the room with him!”

Just as I hit the ground and rolled away from the building the ball lightning she sent connected with a piece of machinery discharging electricity every which way right where I had been standing, even though it missed the static current from the trail it left caught my tail and made all it’s fur stand on end. What little that did hit the arsonist he simply avoided by creating a barrier of slowed time-space between him and it causing it to fold up on itself and dissipate as he forced it out in every direction but towards himself. OK, so maybe it wasn’t simple, but he didn’t break a sweat doing it.

“Oopsy,” Hot-Wire grinned, “I don’t suppose you’d take an ‘I knew you’d get out in time’ would ya?”

“We’ll discuss it later,” I said dodging a slipstream of energy Arsonist shot at me between blocks, “Don’t let him touch you with that, there’s no telling what it’ll do”

I looked over and could see Brown on the other side of the building still had his hands full, literally, with the zombie-alien… thingy. His costume was melted away from his hands but his skin was doing just fine against the blue gobs of acid that clung to them after each punch, still he was nowhere near finishing the beast off. If Hot-Wire couldn’t get the Arsonist away from that room and Joe was still preoccupied with the boogerman, my only hope to bring him into a larger area so I could lay into him was Gary.

“Gary!” I called, “Get him outta that room!”

“Sure thing mam, I’ve got this chump under control” He said with a little flex, I remember thinking ‘he’s hopeless’ as I watched him power up.

Gary charged in glowing like a neon light bulb firing every color of radiation beams and bolts he could muster, I assume he like myself expected Arsonist to move away to avoid the radiation or counterattack him or SOMETHING. But there was nothing at all, he stood there and let it all hit him weakening him to the point where he fell to his knees.

“Finish him off quick!” I shouted a little disappointed it would end so anti-climactically

“Gary don’t! It’s me! It’s a trick!” Arsonist shouted in my voice as Gamma held a ball of concentrated radiation above his head.

“Wha… I don’t...” Gamma stammered as his glow stopped and the ball dissipated he turned to look back at me confused by what he had heard

“NO DON”T LET HIM UP…” I shouted, but it was to late.

As the Arsonist darted forward grabbing Gary by the throat he smiled at me and growled, “Die, fool.”

I tried to dart in to free him from the grip of the madman, but even with all my enhanced speed I was seconds to late. I’ll never forget the wail that escaped Gary’s lips as the youth was sucked out of him dimming the glow in his eyes and the vitality from his skin, leaving him a withered old man. The radiation burns he had inflicted on the Arsonist had all faded as if they had never happened. For a moment I sensed a distortion coming from the freak, or at least his general vicinity, but whatever it was it wasn’t effecting my equipment negatively and if he was counting on it slowing me down I’d thought it better not to show any signs of my awareness of it.

“Who’s next?” he laughed tossing Gary at me before I got anywhere near enough to lay into him.

I reached out to cushion his fall, and surprised myself by catching him no problem. Even with my enhanced strength Gary was easily 6’1” and should have weighed at least 210, just outside of my range to carry let alone catch. But the man I caught couldn’t have been more than 120 pounds, he was nothing but skin and bones. His face was wrinkled his teeth were loose and his skin was peeling, he looked at least 90 years old. I backpedaled over the Hot-Wire keeping as eye on the Arsonist who seemed to be content watching us freaking out over our fallen comrade.

“Oh God…” I whispered almost dropping him from shock, “I’m so sorry Gary I wasn’t fast enough”

“It’s not your fault, either of you.” He gasped barely able to focus his eyes on me or Hot-Wire “I knew the risks coming in, and I’m the one who messed up.”

I realized if the attack was rejoined I wouldn’t be able to keep either of us from getting hit so I looked for somewhere to put him down, deciding on a flat rock that jutted out of the ground. “Hang in there GG,” I said trying to keep a brave face as Hot-Wire joined me, “we’ll find some way to fix this”

“There’s……no time” He said as his eyes began to drift shut, “I’m just…….s…sorry I didn’t have the courage to tell you sooner… I’ve always admired your strength, Puss. You….you remind me of my mother, she died so long ago because of the radiation poisoning from when I was in her womb… But you……..you have her kind eyes hidden under the same tough exterior… People like you are a gift to this world… but you don’t need to always do everything alone…Don’t let your pride crush your spirit… Hot-Wire, Jessica….Please……..tell my wife………I love……….”

“Gary, hold on it’ll be OK. Just don’t die.” Hot-Wire sobbed frantically mashing the emergency hospital teleportation button on his suit “WHY WONT THIS [censored] THING WORK?!”

“It’s him,” I said looking back to the freak who was chuckling to himself, “He’s distorting the signal, he has been ever sense he had Gary by his throat. I thought it was some attempt to slow us down, but it’s to prevent us from escaping.”

I had been wrong again, I was that mans hero. Not his crush. And I let my blind hatred for the Arsonist get him killed. I had widowed his wife, and let him down. At yet even as he died he only wanted to tell me how great I was. He certainly wasn’t the first the die by that monsters hand, but I was prepared now more than ever to make perfectly sure he was the last.

“Are you finished playing with the ragdoll?” Time Arsonist asked, “Or do you just enjoy his new old person smell?”

“Wire, help Joe” I ordered as I stood to face my adversary, “I can’t let anyone else fall before this monster”

“No, he went out of his way to kill my friend in the most horrible way he could think of” She said whipping away her tears, “I’m going to…”

“You’re going to do exactly as I say,” I barked, “Get moving before our tank is toast too. We can’t both hit him at once and he’ll just hit you with some kind of distortion as you float there.”

“But…” She began taking a look back at her deceased friend, “Yes, mam. You can count on me”

“Just you and me now freak,” I said through my teeth as I drew my claws, “Take your eyes off me for a second and I’ll have you dead before you hit the ground.”

“It’s about time,” He sneered, “I was wondering when you’d stop playing ‘hero’ and come at me. After all, gambling is so much more fun when there are lives on the line.”

To tell you the truth, the way he moved there was no way I could prevent any of his quicker attacks from hitting either Hot-Wire or Brown unless I was practically on top of him but I was hoping that so long as his attention was focused on me he wouldn’t think to look for an opening to kill either of them. That’s what I had been reduced to, banking on hope. He had known I’d come, and he had known I’d bring backup. He had me right where he wanted me, all to himself. And even if I managed to beat him, there’s no guarantee I’d escape the figure that I continued to see out of the corner of my eye. Karen was watching us, she had been for some time. How long I’m not sure, but she was watching me and the Arsonist specifically. So long as the others stayed away I believed she would leave them alone. So I made up my mind to accept it, once I had the Arsonist in a position he couldn’t attack from I’d tell the others to run and then by fire or time or katana I would die, for the last time.

Chapter Six
Don’t Fear the Reaper
Two arch-villains on my hands, two sidekicks lives hang in the balance. If I was going to get them out of here alive I knew I’d have to manipulate the events of our encounter just right. I assessed my options and found them wanting, but I knew I couldn’t give up. I had already turned on my distress beacon in the hopes that a longbow attachment might pick it up but Arsonist was still disrupting all local frequencies. Then it came to me, ‘I have two arch-villains on my hands. I might live through this yet.’

“Why were you waiting for me? I said breaking the tense silence between the two of us.

“Kitten, I have a very busy schedule,” he said in a matter of fact tone, “What makes you think I was waiting for you?”

“You were giving off a buzz I could hear across the island,” I shot at him as I began to circle around him making sure to keep my distance, “you wanted me to come, and when you saw me above the longbow base you seemed to look at me like you knew me. Again you had wanted me specifically, there were other heroes clipping your troops out of the air, but you took time out of your ‘very busy schedule’ just to torture me.”

“You’re even smarter than the records indicated you were!” He said with another burst of that horrible laughter, “In the year 2045, when I was granted these magnificent powers, you were long retired and dead according to the records I stole from Crey’s main computer. I came specifically to this time period because I knew it would give me the opportunity to face you, one of paragons most recognized heroines long after she had passed, in a setting like the one we’re in now. Private and while your in your prime. Of course there was also the matter of the possible disruption of the time stream, so I had to jump to a dimension similar enough to my own to find you while not preventing my own creation.”

“You’re not telling me everything again,” I said coming to a stop once I had gotten into position, “You’re not the type to rifle through old data, and no matter what kind of equipment you have in that head of yours there’s no way you could store all of Crey’s records. Why were you looking for me?”

I shot a quick glance at the sidekicks who were laying into the monster. It wouldn’t be much longer before they had it down for the count. I had to hurry, if they interfered now it would be all over.

“You’re almost to clever,” The Arsonist said furling his brow, “but if it’ll make you fight I’ll tell you. You’re the one attributed with creating the jump in tech that leads to my creation; your micro technology was used in both the enhancement of my updated body and mind by the ‘Freakshow’ and Crey industries when they experimented on me giving me the total control over flame that I’ve come to love. I wanted to thank you personally, well a parallel you at least. What I hadn’t counted on was Arachnos detecting my arrival and capturing me, weakened from my trip though time and dimensional borders. Now I’m anchored here, in this dank monkey pit of an era, by this infernal device in my spine. No matter though, I’ve enlisted the aid of one of Arachnos own favored ones, and soon enough she’ll help free me, along with my full unbridled power.”

There was my opening, I still couldn’t get closer to him without him blasting me but now I didn’t have to. Time for some acting, I had hoped all that time I spent in school plays to pay off. I had planned originally to use it in a theater or a movie on the greatest hero in Paragon city (hint hint), but I’m not complaining.

“So, you’re saying you’re a product of my work?” I said putting on the sweetest tone I could muster and retracting my claws, “It all makes sense now, my work was always everything to me and it was the reason I could never be truly close to anyone, and it must be the reason I’ve be so attracted to you. It’s why I couldn’t bring myself to hurt you. It’s … It’s because I love you.”

It was working like a charm, the Arsonist was so confused he never heard the soft tap of the boots on the concrete behind him, or the sword being drawn from its sheath.

“What in God’s name are yo…” He was cut off abruptly as a katana pierced outwards from his chest. It’s about time someone shut him up. As it slid back out I noticed Gary’s body vanish into the teleportation stream, to late I’m afraid. No amount of healing could bring him back now.

“She’s MINE!” came the voice barely above a whisper from behind the Arsonist, “It’s your fault damn you, and now your nothing but scrap. It’s always been your fault, I knew it all along. You’re not to be trusted.”

As he fell forwards with a surprisingly loud thud Karen, dressed in the same costume as I with a little black eye patch over her right eye, looked up at me with the same look in her eye as the first time I cut her down. So sad, yet so angry. If she hadn’t lost what remained of her sanity when she heard me ‘confess my true love’ to the arsonist she might have noticed that I had deliberately moved around the freak so she had been directly behind him. Now I just had her to worry about, the way she walked betrayed the fact that she was even faster than I was at the moment. As she walked towards me she began to fade from view, which explains why no one saw her in the hospital. I hadn’t noticed at the time but she hadn’t been blending into the shadows, I could see right through her to he shadows on the wall. It’s likely I only saw the little that I did because my gear enhancing my sense of sight. There was no running and in a head on battle I could barely keep an eye on her body as a whole let alone the katana she was holding. She was easy enough to manipulate when she didn’t know I knew she was there but now I had to look her in the eye as I spoke. So long as they stayed back my sidekicks would be fine, but there was no way to be sure I could make the same claim.

“Karen,” I began, “what have you done?”

When she heard her name, her real name, cross my lips she seemed to grow agitated. “He’s gone,” she said motioning to the corpse, “There’s nothing left between us now… we can continue new work now… Just us! I can get us plenty of money, no problem. We can be together, like we used to be!”

“I know Karen,” again she seemed uneasy as I said her name, “How did you get out of jail, and how did you find me?”

“That doesn’t matter anymore,” she started to sound angry, “Why aren’t you happy to see me?!” She shot a look over to Joe and Wire as Joe was breaking the bones away from the creatures clear blue arms.

“I am, I am.” I quickly said starting towards her, “But you did try to kill me last time we met.”

“That wasn’t my fault!” She said waving her sword at me, “The Countess needs to pay for what she did to me, and she was on the upper floor of that building! I wouldn’t have hurt you…”

“OK, but there was no way you could have stopped her elite security guard.” I protested, “I couldn’t let you try or she would have had them rip you apart, one limb at a time. I couldn’t have that happen to you, and I knew they couldn’t get to you in jail. I just wanted to keep you safe Karen…”

“DON’T YOU LIE TO ME!” she shouted at me suddenly infuriated, “AND DON’T CALL ME THAT ANYMORE! It’s not my name, not since you dubbed me otherwise. Carnage in Boots wasn’t it? Friends call me Boots for short.”

I can remember a few times I’ve said that last sentence myself before, never recently. I shuddered thinking about just how long she must have been following me, about what she may have seen me doing or who I cam into contact with. I knew right then that I couldn’t let her kill me, if I did she would hunt down everyone she blamed for making her do it. Everyone but herself. She never understood that’s why I couldn’t be with her, she wanted to be around me all the time and never wanted to accept it was her smothering me that made me want to spend less and less time with her outside of work.

She had been getting progressively closer this whole time, and now she was all but on top of me. There would be no time to see her shift to attack mode at this range, I had to think quickly. I had to calm her down.

“Why do you hate me?” she asked seemingly on the verge of tears all of a sudden, “I love you, I would do anything for you. A-A-And you just threw me in jail! Locked me away with the rest of the monsters! You never gave me the chance to show you just how much I care.”

“Carnage, I don’t hate you.” I said sliding up close to her, “but you were sick, the part of you I loved had been taken away by the evils of this world. I cried every night for a long time after I had to see the way you looked at me in that lab, I would dream that I found some way to protect you from the Countess. And every time I woke up and I remembered where you were…”

With that I reached my arm around her waist, placing my hand on the small of her back pulling her up against me. As I touched her the projector seemed to lose its camouflage effect and she began drifting back into view.

“I’ve missed you so much…” She said lowering her sword as she started kissing my neck, working her way up to my lips, “You’re still just as soft as ever” she said before I felt her tongue in my mouth.

Everything I had known this woman to have done made me want to hurl as I slid my hand into position upwards towards her neck, balling it into a fist. Just a few more seconds and I’d be able to extend my claw directly into her spine, ending her pain and her threat to my friends. So close, every inch felt like an eternity with that psycho in my mouth. So… close…

“I didn’t break you out of the Zig to play kissy face Carnage,” a hollow synthesized voice came from behind her, “I didn’t break you out to stab me in the back either.” With that an explosion of pressure directly between me and Carnage ripped her from my arms and tossed me into a concrete block, which served as the base for a deactivated stationary turret, putting me into a daze while flinging her back towards the waiting hand of the Arsonist who was looking really good for a dead man.

“How?” I asked remembering just how hard it is to keep regular freaks down. Something about the mix of supradyne they use when manipulated by their cyberized life support systems causes them to regenerate rapidly in situations of extreme duress.

“Can you blame me?” Karen said with a grin as the Arsonist caught her by the back of her neck, “Besides, what are you complaining about? Your fine and I got to do something I’ve wanted to do again for years.”

“And if she had really wanted to be with you?” the Arsonist said raising one eyebrow, “I’d have made sure you’d stayed dead, and we’d have lived happily ever after” He answered himself mocking her with her own voice as the wound in his chest finished closing up.

“Look I know she was manipulating me, I’m not stupid.” She protested

“You’re also not an actress,” the Arsonist shot at her, “Did you know you were a second from death jut now? I know exactly what was said and what was meant. You’re not a good enough liar to fool me. Try it again and so help me…”

As the two stood there arguing I struggled to get back up, luckily my back wasn’t broken when I hit the wall. I had to get rid of Karen at least or I’d never know a moment’s peace, I’d have to strike now when they were distracted.

“Since when can you duplicate yourself?” Joe’s voice came from behind me, “Neat trick by the way, and that eye patch is a cute touch too.”

I turned to see both him and Hot-Wire standing there, Joe had most of the front of his costume melted away revealing his curly chest hair and Wire had a minor burn mark across her face. “You guys need to get out of here ASAP!” I whispered at them, “That woman is not what she seems, she’s some kind of invisible assassin.”

“Hmm, a stalker class, nothing special but as to why she looks like you we’ll have to find out later. Your in no condition to take on both of them in any case,” Hot-Wire said taking out a portable med-device and spraying its contents along my sore back, “Besides, me and Joe have a score to settle with that freak.”

Stalker… How appropriate. There was a whole class for Karen’s special frame of mind. These villains never fail to surprise me.

“These foes are beyond you,” I said testing my back for further problems, “If you run now…”

“We don’t run from someone who’s killed a member of our ‘family’” Joe said with a crack of his knuckles, “I’ll take the stalker, you two go after the corrupter. You stand a better chance at avoiding his time manipulations.”

There was no way to stop the two of them from throwing their lives away, I figured I might as well try to make them last long enough for at least one of these monsters to die.

“How do we get them apart though?” Hot-Wire asked in my direction.

“I can get him to put her down. Joe if you’re serious about this, follow me and as soon as she hits the ground I want you to tackle her. Stay in close so she can’t achieve maximum velocity with her sword, that might buy you the time you need to knock her out.” I looked over at Wire, “Try to stay out of his range, and if he’s looking at you at all just focus on avoiding his attacks”

It was time to be heroes, real heroes. I don’t think enough of the costumed crusaders on our streets know what that means now-a-days. Those two that prepared to fight alongside me now knew full well that death likely awaited them, there was be no promise of emergency teleportation to rescue them. We only knew that the two who stood before us needed to fall, hard.

As I charged at the pair still caught up in their argument, I drew my claws and launched myself at full speed at the Arsonist’s head. “Hey, freak!” was the only warning that I gave right before I connected, I wish I could have taken a picture of his face. It was priceless.

Sorry for taking so long to anyone who's flagged this in their favorites, I've had alot of crap going on.


Chapter Seven
Your Psycho Has Performed
An Illegal Operation
And Must Be Shut Down

As nine inches of razor sharp, holographic, steel was forced into Time Arsonist’s face I half expected him to drop dead right there. Of course there was no harm in being sure by using my momentum to cartwheel over his head, and planting my heals into the ground, bend him over backwards then with all the power I could muster heave him head over heals into the nearest tree, freeing Carnage from his grasp. As he, upside-down, connected with the trunk of he tree, it splintered into tiny pieces creating a fog of wood chips. Carnage landed on her feet effortlessly scooping up her sword with her boot into her waiting hand from the spot it hand landed when the Arsonist had caught her. Then with a move so fluid it seemed rehearsed, she slid under the charging Joe Brown between his legs and reached up as he passed grabbing him by the belt. Then she swung upwards onto his back like a flee on a Labrador, poising herself to thrust her sword through his spine and into his heart.

“Joe!” I cried as Carnage took a moment to grin at me, her tail twitched in anticipation. “Quick, jump away!”

Doing as he was told Joe used his momentum to leap into the air, the sudden extra speed was enough to make Carnage stay her sword and hold on for dear life. Staying low above the ground and landing a good 50 yards away, as I expected Joe couldn’t maintain his footing as he landed throwing him into a full out summersault. Not surprisingly, Carnage opted to spring off before he crushed her under the weight of his massive body.

“I think you may have got him,” Hot-Wire said floating down to me as she looked into the pile of splintered wood and the half demolished tree that covered the Arsonist “Your the quick one, go check.”

“No need.” I said listening to the increasing speed of grinding gears and a pacemaker’s heartbeat “Get ready to move.”

As I predicted a moment later the fallen tree burst into flames and the main segment was lifted off the ground and flung at our position. Knowing Wire wouldn’t be able to fly away in time, I leapt up a foot to where she was floating and planted my boots into her using her body to spring away from the trees path and shoving her off in the opposite direction into the dirt. As I landed I saw the Arsonist walking out of the inferno with a look of curious pleasure on his face, he looked so demonic at that moment it sent a shudder down my spine.

“You cats will be the death of me one day,” He said brushing the ash off his face, his wounds had already sealed. “I dare think I’ll laugh myself to death on the pathetic attempts you make on me.”

“I’ll draw his fire, blast him when you see an opening.” I whispered to Wire who, still on the ground behind the burning brush left in the wake of the tree, winked in recognition.

I started towards the Arsonist at full speed looking for any signs of attack, dodging the bolts of time/space distortion he flung at me to keep me at bay. As I neared him his face became worried and his attacks became more frantic using both of the lenses in either palm to distort the air around me often striking the grass and the plants nearby causing them to rip out of the ground and fly straight up into the air. Therein I saw a glimmer of hope, it seemed as invulnerable as he appeared he still didn’t want me anywhere near him. Perfect, all I had to do was move around the side of him and clear a shot for Wire while he was focused on me. If he turned to face her instead it would leave his back exposed and I was to close for him to have any time to do anything serious to her before I tore him open. Simple.

“What’s the matter T A?” I shouted stopping on my heals just short of the swirling vortex of flaming space distortion he had unleashed before I continued to work my way around him, “You seem positively agitated.”

“You no longer amuse me,” He said in a flat tone that confirmed his panicked state. “Now we’re simply dragging out the inevitable, die already!”

A quick glance over at Joe gave me the impression he wasn't fairing particularly well against his invisible foe. As he held his already bloody forearms up to defend his face he seemed to be waiting for the next attack. He wasn’t waiting long though, Carnage charged him tucked low against the ground to unleash an uppercut that was aimed at Joe’s vulnerable main artery in his inner thighs. He dropped his foot back just in time to avoid it, causing the blade to run up his stomach and chest, however he had the opening he needed for a clap of his hands that sent a thunderous shockwave at her pummeling her into the ground followed up by his tremendous foot landing on her chest holding her fast in place.

Time Arsonist had turned most of his back to Wire who was still playing dead from after the tree blew past her. As I moved to his left I darted in towards him for a feint attack flipping backwards when he sent a current of flame at me, watching all the while for an attack from Hot-Wire. I saw her first peaking out from the bush, then as she stood up the current that began to surge through her body lifted her off the ground. I knew there was no way he wouldn’t feel her attack coming, but even so I was practically on top of him. I had begun to lick my lips in anticipation of him turning to face her, and exactly what I was going to do to his exposed spine, when the look of fear on his face faded replaced by his chilling grin.

“You should know I’m always going to be one step ahead of any stupid ambush you plan,” He said spinning to point one palm at Wire hitting her with a constant stream of energy that made the electricity pulsing outwards from her body begin to fall towards the earth. Her face became twisted in effort as she appeared to strain to keep herself airborne. “You really should think about losing some weight little girl, it just might kill you…”

“Oh, no you don’t...” I began to move in as I saw her hit the ground and fall to her knees still struggling to pull away from the earth that was no doubt pressing against her skin like a vice.

But before I could get my claws in him he pointed his free palm at me and a wall of space where time seemed to slow sprang up between us, immediately followed by a torrent of napalm from his finger tips into the slowed pocket creating a wall of standing liquid flame. It was all I could do to stop before careening headfirst into certain death. On the other side the Arsonist began laughing like the lunatic he was. As Wire fell forward I could hear both of her wrists snap like twigs as she attempted to brace her fall with her palms.

“GAAAH,” a moan escaped from her lips followed by a cough along with a mouth full of blood as she fell face down into the dirt. Her chest was starting to collapse and she was struggling to draw breath, it wouldn’t be long before there was nothing left to heal. I could sense the same distortion coming from the Arsonist that he had started when he had killed Gary to prevent him from being rushed to the hospital by the EMT system. I was close enough this time to tell that it was coming from the left half of his abs, but if I didn't do something about it A.S.A.P. death awaited a second member of my team.

"Let her go freak!" I cried trying to move around the shield the Arsonist had put up, but no matter how fast I went around him he kept moving it between us. "Joe, we need help!"

"I'm on it!" the tank said scooping Carnage up from under his shoe and cocking his arm to throw her like a football. His hands were so comically large and when compared to her standing at 4' 1" (same as myself) they seemed even bigger, under different circumstances I would have been laughing myself til I was holding my ribs in pain. He actually had his one hand wrapped all the way around her waist.

"Let me down you oaf!" Carnage cried as she pounded her tiny fists on his forearm, her katana still on the floor where he had stomped the wind out of her. Then as she realized what he was planning her eyes widened and she stopped struggling long enough to look him in the eyes. "I'm going to cut you wide open for this big man."

Time Arsonist seeing the whole event, stopped cackling at Wires pain and furled his brow.

"It's a date my aerodynamic friend...” He said hurling her headfirst at the Arsonist.

“You worthless [censored]…” He seemed to think for a moment as Carnage was flung at him screaming and covering her face with her arms in a vain attempt to protect herself from what was to come when at the last possible moment Arsonist released his hold on Wire and lowered his shield catching her in his arms and taking flight hovering several feet off the ground to absorb the recoil from her momentum. "You’re lucky I still need you." He said with a sneer.

“You’re mine!” I shouted as I leapt at his back before he could move away, unable to wait another second to try and cut him to ribbons. “Time to die you sick freak”

Never in my life have I felt anything like the satisfaction as my claws sank into the “flesh” of his lower back. As they met with resistance I felt whatever he had been using to prevent the Medi-Vac from receiving teleportation requests from dying heroes falter and stop, a moment later Wire disappeared into the teleportation stream gasping to try to fill her crushed lungs with air and coughing up blood. I twisted my claws inside of the Arsonist savoring every second of the pain of someone I hated so much as to want him dead only second to my desire to rip him apart with my bare hands. There was a sadistic laughter coming from somewhere and it took me a few seconds to realize it was me. I was enjoying watching his body jerk in response to every little movement of my claws when I noticed he was still holding a very disturbed Carnage in Boots. My face and my manor must have betrayed the sick pleasure I was deriving as I looked into her eyes, because I noticed that as she watched she couldn’t seem to push away from the Arsonist hard enough and when I returned her gaze she became so frightened she began clawing at him with her nails.

“Lemme go, damit! LET GO!” She began screaming at him. His arms buckled open releasing Carnage as he arched his back in response to the pain I was inflicting. As she fell she couldn’t stop looking into my eyes.

“You’re next.” I said glaring at her, scaring her so bad she completely botched her landing and fell on her rear scrambling backwards to get away from myself and the Arsonist as we slowly descended. Her body went transparent as she climbed to her feet, almost fading from my view but I swear in the primal state I was in I could smell her sweat more than see her.

“Joe she’s making a beeline for her katana!” I said slicing my claws out of the Arsonists sides before replanting them higher into his shoulder blades. Joe waved in recognition and hulked over the sword which was so small compared to him that he made it look like a large dagger.

“It’s about time we saw eye to eye,” the Arsonist managed to stammer as his head twisted entirely around like an owl. His jaw fell open and I felt a wave of heat pour out accompanied by a light flickering in the back of his throat. “How bout a kiss?” He hissed as a torrent of flame began to flow from his mouth singeing my already short hair as I ducked and leapt away.

The Arsonist, barely able to maintain flight, struggled back into the air. His wounds were to serious for whatever healing system he had to handle as quickly as his other minor wounds and they were leaking what smelled like a mixture of napalm, blood, supradyne and something else that reminded me of adrenaline. As it poured down his sides onto the ground it caused small fires to spring up igniting the brush around the puddles it was forming. By the time it stopped he had lost far more of it than any human had the right to lose and not be dead, but there he was floating ever higher to escape my grasp falling a few feet every now and again from jolts of pain. All in all, he wasn’t going anywhere to fast. I began to regain my composure once I saw how weak he had become and I knew I could afford to let him drift for the moment, he was well within my ability to catch in his current state. What I had to worry about was Carnage. Taking a moment to collect myself I saw that her sword was again missing from where it had fallen and in its place Joe was standing stiffly, watching me.

“Joe where’s the sword? Where’s Carnage?” I said running over keep one eye on the Arsonist who was glaring at me as he ascended slowly. “What the hell are you doing standing around?”

“I’m sorry mam, but…” He began.

“Stay the hell away from me!” came a small frightened voice from behind him. “You take one more step and I’ll have him in two pieces!”

It was then that I noticed the semitransparent figure almost entirely hidden behind him, all I could see was a leg and a hip but it didn’t take a genius to realize who it was. There was no doubt she’d follow up on her threat, what I could see of her was trembling like a leaf in a hurricane, and her voice had sounded desperate and cornered. Right about then is when it really hit me just what I must have looked like to her, and that was herself. I had become Carnage in Boots.

To anyone who's been enjoying my story I'm wraping this story up soon, and I need advise. When I go to start my next epic I need to know which of my surviving characters you'd like to hear more about. Theres a complete list of who I have in my signature. Any questions as to what arche any of them are and what each of their bios are will be answered at my earliest available opportunity.

Edit: I have no doubt most of my characters will make an appearance in my next story but I'm looking for who the next one should be told by. Another option is to have a civilian tell it, but if you want that let me know who it should be and from what location.