CHAPTER 1: Just My Luck
Ken (Tigress)
Manhattan NY, Present Day
I saw the rain soaked pavement hazily reflected the lights from passing cars and the street lamps through the window of the car. The smell of smoke thickened the air inside and made it hard to breath. There was an awkward silence as he jolted the car back and forth down the road.
I had just finished what was probably the most awful blind date in all of history and was trying not to throw up the small salad he made me order. I can still remember the way he replied when I said I wanted a cheeseburger, 'Oh come on, you wouldn't want to get fat now, would you?'
I guess I'm just that lucky.
I bolted out of the car after he had barely pulled up into my apartment building. The stench of cigarette smoke still clung to me, but being in the rain helped the smell a little, too bad it wasn't helping my mood. I quickly jumped up the small set stairs to the front door.
"Hey! Ken! Aren't you going to invite me in?" He called after me. Well aren't you just a real charmer. I could barely contain my growl.
"No, I don't think so." I yelled without looking back. I could smell his disappointment and anger from all the way over here. Good.
I punched in the code, careful not to break the buttons in frustration. When I walked in I noticed the elevator was out of service. Again. This time I did growl. "And I thought this night couldn't get any worse." I muttered to myself. I lived in the penthouse, which were only 26 floors above me. Lucky me. It wasn't too bad though, considering it will take me less than two minutes to get up there. Being a class 5 feral has a few advantages. Not a lot, but a few.
I leaped up the stairs five at a time until I was finally I was at my penthouse. I unlocked the door and slammed it shut. I groaned and leaned against the closed door and slid to the ground. I was almost content just to sit there forever, but my stomach growled loudly in protest. "I hear ya..."
I walked into the kitchen and started searing a few steaks I grabbed from the fridge. While they were cooking I thought back to my blind date.
"Soooo, you just got fired from Burger King, you think all mutants should get the cure, and you live with your mother. Great." I muttered sarcastically to myself. I swore to myself I would never go on a blind date that my stupid brother James set up ever again. Heck, the next time I ever see that idiot of a twin I'll break his nose. I glanced at the clock. 11:32. He should be home by twelve from work. Unless he got hurt again, I reminded myself.
There isn't a lot of work for a mutant that is legal now days. I was pretty lucky, I could retract my claws and fangs at will, but for whatever reason, James couldn't. I am a golden tiger, so my hair color is a golden blonde with natural highlights. I still have my tiger ears and tail, but that can be easily covered up with a hat and baggy pants. James isn't as lucky, he's a white tiger so his snow white hair with black streaks, fangs and claws tend to draw some attention. We have been hassled our entire lives for being born with one extra gene. The X gene.
Mutant rights were making strides but there are still a lot of anti -mutant groups around. Prejudice was around every corner, and out of the two of us James took the most of it. My brother is a mechanical engineering genius, but colleges wouldn't accept him because of his obvious mutation. I think he works as a sort of solider for the government, but we have an unofficial don't ask don't tell policy about his jobs. He always comes home with a bunch of weapons in a large black bag slung across his shoulder, and once he came home with a couple bullet holes in him. Nearly gave me a heart attack, but he had healed from it hours before. One of the only pluses of being a class five feral mutant was our enhanced senses and insane healing abilities, but it is also a curse. I'm is convinced that because our cells reproduce so perfectly and quickly that we will never die; We will be stuck in an eternal youth while everyone around us dies.
I shook my head. I really need something to take my mind off of things. I grabbed my steaks and walked into the living room. I put in the first movie I touched and set my steaks on the end table. The stench of cigarettes was still making me gag so I ran to my room to change into some sweats while the trailers were running. I came back and finished my food before the title screen even came on, and wrapped myself in a blanket. The noise from the cars and rain outside was blaring so I cranked the volume. The joys of super hearing.
About half an hour later, I heard James come in. I paused the movie and was about to yell at him about the blind date when the light bulbs in the kitchen and living room exploded and the TV flickered out. Startled, I stood up on high alert. I turned to the window. Weird, everyone else still has power.
James ran into the living room. He always assumes the worst. "Ken? Ken! Are you okay?!" He grabbed my shoulders and checked my up and down to see if I had any injuries. He has always been very protective of me, especially after I disappeared seventy or so years ago and he found me a year later bleeding in a ditch.
I was about to reply that I was fine, but I choked on my words. Suddenly I felt a wave of dizziness pass over me, and as I collapsed, the ground beneath me disappeared, and I fell into oblivion.