The Bats, the Cat, and the Wolf
Disclaimer: Darkstalkers belongs to Capcom. If it belonged to me, I'd make Felicia beyond God-tier.
Chapter 3: A Catwoman's Freedom
Demitri was surprised at the demonic guitar being swung towards him, but quickly reacted from his years of fighting. Pulling his hands back, which glowed with power, he throws them forward.
"Try my… CHAOS FLARE!" Demitri launched a searing ball of flame towards Raptor. The fireball reduced Raptor's guitar to ashes in an instant. Raptor was shocked but quickly and barely managed to dodge the attack to avoid a similar fate. Jumping back towards the alleyway wall, he looked down at Demitri in anger.
"That was my best axe, you blood-sucking bastard!" shouted Raptor. He kicks off the wall towards Demitri for his counter attack. His body contorts into a strange shape as he spins rapidly. "DEATH HURRICANE!"
Demitri quickly dodges to the side just before the ground he was standing on was torn up from Raptor's attack. Unfortunately for him, since he had committed to his attack, his speed decreased, giving Demitri a window of opportunity. The vampire lashes out with his leg, kicking Raptor hard in the face. The force of the kick was great enough to smash Raptor into the wall of a nearby derelict building.
"Don't think just by working under Ozomu would make you great. In my eyes, you are just a piece of trash!" said Demitri.
Demitri was quickly upon Raptor, giving the zombie no time to recover. Focusing his power into his fists, Demitri smashed Raptor through the wall and inside the building. Not ending his assault, Demitri landed a hard uppercut to Raptor's chin, slamming him upwards into the ceiling where Demitri then flew upwards, launching a barrage of punches into him, smashing through all the floors above until they wound up on the rooftop.
Raptor crashed pitifully upon the rooftop, coughing up blood as Demitri stood on the rooftop ledge looking down on him. Angrily, he gets back up while emitting electricity from his body. Demitri just meets Raptor's angry expression with a cold smirk.
"What the hell are you smiling about!?" asked Raptor.
"You are still a pathetic zombie." Said Demitri. "When I came to this world, you were just a little scum. What makes you think you can defeat me? You will always lose to me even if you are working under Ozomu."
"So... so what?"
Despite his defiance, Raptor knew he was losing this fight.
On the rooftop of a shorter adjacent building, Morrigan looks up towards where the fight was happening. "Demitri…" Her head perked up when she felt a presence behind her. Turning around, she saw Demitri's servant, Denial. "It's you."
Denial nodded as he stood a short distance away from Morrigan. "How is everything, Miss Aensland? Seeing how concerned you are, are you still in love with master? Haha..."
Morrigan felt a bit angry at what was said, but it was soon replaced with sadness. "Denial, don't you know Demitri only has 'Felicia' on his mind?"
Flashback, Romania ten years ago…
Demitri belongs to the vampire clan, and Morrigan belongs to the succubus clan. Both clans survived by blood sucking, they belong to the same species. Different from other demons, the blood sucking species are so powerful that they have the ability to take human forms.
One day, a circus was having freak shows in Demitri's area.
Demitri and Morrigan took human form posing as tourists and went to the circus. Many sideshow freaks were on display, deformed humans: a cyclopean man, a heavyset man with a huge hanging nose, a three-headed green-skinned baby, a short fat man who looked to be nothing but fat, a man with 4 arms, and others. The two disguised Darkstalkers didn't find it at all interesting. None of these misfits were real Darktalkers like themselves.
Upon leaving, there was one last display in a small cage outside, catching Demitri's attention. Inside was a female, and the most beautiful creature he ever laid eyes upon. She was humanoid with a voluptuous figure. Her distinguishing feature was that she was also part cat. Her arms and legs from the elbows and knees down were covered in white fur, and her hands and feet were oversized paws where three-inch magenta claws protruded from each digit. White fur stripes lined her naked body like a skimpy thong bikini, just barely covering her privates and satisfying the bare minimum. A long tail came out from the small of her back, and cat ears protruded from her mane of waist-length blue hair. She was a vision of exotic and unparalleled beauty that seemed otherworldly. She stood out from the rest of the sideshow attractions like a sore thumb.
The catwoman sat in the cage, hugging herself. Although being trapped inside the cage and has to endure everybody's look, she doesn't feel scared nor confused. Her blue-green eyes are so deep like she is looking at a different world, reflecting a deep sadness that contradicted her angelic features. The catwoman's sad expression heavily touch Demitri's heart.
Demitri didn't need supernatural senses to tell the catwoman was different from the other sideshow freaks. He could also sense that she, too, is a Darkstalker. But how did she get there in the first place?
Thedisguised vampire heads for the circus exit.
"Demitri, are we leaving so soon?" asked Morrigan.
"Is there anything worth seeing here?" replied Demitri.
Demitri leaves the circus in disgust. 'Maybe there isn't anything worth seeing, but there is someone worth visiting…'
Later that night, after the circus closed up, the catwoman was still outside in her cage sleeping. The wind howled as the full moon shone in the night sky. The catwoman's eyes suddenly snapped open when she sensed someone nearby. Sitting up, she looked about.
"He-hello…? Is anyone out there…?" She was taken by surprise when Demitri in his vampire form suddenly appeared before her. Failing to ignore his feeling, the vampire came back to the circus. "A vampire? Who are you? What do you want?"
Actually, even Demitri himself is not sure why he came back. Surprisingly, he wanted to give some hope to the catwoman. "Calm yourself. My name is Demitri Maximoff. What is your name, my dear?"
"I-I'm Felicia…"
"Felicia… a beautiful name. Would you like to change your fate?"
Felicia looked confused, but nodded. Freedom is a dream that almost anyone trapped inside a cage would want. In less than a second, Felicia's wish came true. Demitri easily destroyed the steel bars of the cage. Getting Felicia out, Demitri grabs her around her waist and jumped away. They both land on top of the big circus tent.
"Am I free now?" asked Felicia.
"Not yet. If you don't have enough power to hold it tight, freedom will disappear in seconds." Replied Demitri. He holds his hand out to Felicia. "Let me give you true power."
"True… power?" Felicia looked at Demitri's hand then at his face. "No!"
"But why?"
"I'm sorry, I really am grateful you helped me. Although I want power, I can't stand the feeling of being pitied by others…"
"At first I thought I pitied you, but that's wrong." Demitri beckons to Felicia, who then slowly walked up to him. She didn't know why, but she couldn't turn away from the vampire. "Because vampires don't pity."
Demitri placed his hands on Felicia's shoulders, who trembled at his touch. Slowly, Demitri's vampic side emerged as he bared his fangs. Next thing Felicia knew, Demitri sunk his fangs into her delicate neck, drawing blood. Felicia could only softly moan at the sudden bite.
'This is something even I can't explain. Maybe that is what they call 'love'.' Thought Demitri.
"De… Demi… tri…?" said Felicia before her eyes whited out and fell unconscious in Demitri's arms.
"Do not worry." Demitri uses his powers to levitate Felicia's unconscious body before him. Holding his hands out, Demitri envelopes Felicia with an energy aura, filling her body with his power. "Under the name of Maximoff, I will give you eternal life and huge power." Felicia's form soon began to crackle with supernatural energy. "Now, reincarnate! Felicia!"
"MMEEEEEOOOOOOOWW!"
Power flows through the catwoman's body, raising her from her stasis. With a yowl and a slight explosion of ki, Felicia's rebirth is complete. She is no more defenseless, from now on, she is a powerful beast as her fighting instinct has been awakened.
Felicia jumped off of the circus tent and landed on the ground. She turned around to see thugs serving as the circus security coming out armed with clubs, having heard the commotion.
"Hey! The cat monster has escaped her cage!"
"Get her!"
"It's time you learned discipline again, cat!"
The thugs, twenty in all, surrounded Felicia on all sides. These men and the higher ups had often mistreated and humiliated her while she was in captivity. Even the circus freaks ousted her for being different from them. This whole time, Felicia was forced to endure it all, but this time, things were different.
The armed men all converged on Felicia to subdue her, but she bared her claws and lashed out. She slashed at a man's chest, causing him to scream in agony, then swung her leg around in a roundhouse kick at another's head. A thug swung his club at Felicia's head, but she quickly ducked and countered with an upperslash, knocking him back. A man who tried to blindside Felicia was met with a scratch to the gut from the catwoman. Felicia turned to see a thug coming fown on her with an overhead smash from his club, but she swiped her claws at the club, reducing it to kindling. The man gulped seeing his weapon destroyed before getting kicked in his face, breaking his jaw. Felicia's tail then lashed out to ensnare an unfortunate thug's neck, then swung him around before throwing him into more of them. As another group of thugs ran towards her, Felicia crouched down, focusing her power into her leg before kicking out, releasing a wave of ki that smashed into and knocked the thugs over.
From on top of the circus tent, Demitri observed the fight. Felicia had effectively and systematically defeated all the armed thugs. They all laid out sprawled around her seriously injured and out cold. Felicia looked at her pawed hands in shock, not believing she was able to do that. She looked up to see Demitri on the circus tent, who gives a slight smile and nods. Felicia didn't know why, but she felt happy at the way Demitri was looking at her. In her mind, the vampire had indeed saved her.
"Thank you, Demitri, for the gift you've bestowed upon me. There is something I must do, so I promise I will find you again!" The catwoman runs off into the night.
"And you will soon." Said Demitri. Once Felicia was gone, Demitri flew a few feet upwards above the circus tent. "Before I go…"
Some of the thugs who have been beaten managed to get up. They looked up to see Demitri emitting a flaming aura.
"Huh? What is-"
Demitri fired a huge Chaos Flare attack down at the circus tent, causing a huge flaming explosion that engulfed the whole area, including the thugs who instantly got incinerated by the blast. Everything and everyone in the circus area was reduced to nothing but ashes once the flames died down.
Demitri looked off in the direction Felicia left. Not even he knows where she had gone, but he is sure that eventually the two would meet again. She had something to do once she had been freed. No one knows what kind of burden the catwoman carried in her past.
In the nearby trees, Morrigan is shown to have watched the entire spectacle.
End flashback…
Under the same moonlight, while Morrigan is thinking about her past, Demitri is in a battle. He looks at Raptor with disdain.
"What's the problem, Raptor? Didn't you said you will give me pain?" Demitri asked mockingly.
The only choice Raptor has, is to try his best to see whether he has a chance to survive.
"Damn you!" shouted Raptor. He was next to a tall metal silo chimney and hits it with his fist, breaking it. "Take this, old man!"
Raptor throws the broken metal chimney at Demitri. In Demitri's eyes, that is nothing. He simply punches it into the air then jumps after it.
"Raptor, you are powerful, but your intelligence is too low. What makes you think this junk can harm me? Who do you take me for?" Demitri dives down towards Raptor using the chimney as a make-shift spear. 'Seems like Raptor has almost used up his energy. He can now only rely on weak attacks.'
Raptor thrusts his elbow forward, where a long bone shot out to stab through and destroy the chimney. Just as it was completely destroyed, Demitri managed to get behind Raptor and delivered a hard kick to the back of the zombie's head. Raptor skidded forward a good distance before coming to a stop. Propping himself back up, he coughs out a good amount of blood. He looked up to see Demitri standing over him.
"Raptor, tonight you will disappear in this human realm." Demitri raised his fist, charging it with power and punches at Raptor with the intent of shattering him to pieces.
Raptor made no attempt to dodge, but he smirked deviously. Before the punch could connect, Raptor suddenly vanished into the ground. A moment later, a Makai beast appeared on the ground behind Demitri, which spat Raptor up out its mouth.
"Gotcha, sucker!" said Raptor.
Demitri turned to see Raptor about to impale him with his rib bones. Before Raptor's attack could hit its target, he is hit in the face by a bat-shaped fireball, knocking him back.
"This move…" said Demitri. He looked up to see Morrigan standing on a swarm of bats.
"Demitri, long time no see." Said Morrigan.
"Morrigan, this does not concern you. Please stay put." Said Demitri.
Although the vampire gave her the cold shoulder, Morrigan still cares for him.
Even though Raptor is badly injured, he still would not let go any chance to attack. Seeing Demitri distracted, Raptor charged at his back.
"Watch out!" shouted Morrigan.
Demitri whips around and punches Raptor away with a backfist.
"You are getting on my nerves! I will give you the pain of your life!" Demitri's hands emitted flames and thrust them forward.
"GET MY RAGE!"
Demitri fires off his EX Chaos Flare. Unlike his normal one, this fireball was at least five times larger, and in the shape of a demonic head.
"OH CRAP!" said Raptor.
A huge flaming explosion enveloped the rooftop once the attack met its mark, obscuring it from view. The EX Chaos Flare completely incinerated the entire building rooftop. There was nothing left. Raptor had already been badly injured, why did Demitri need to use such huge power to finish him off? What made the usual calm Demitri get so emotional all of a sudden? Is it because of Morrigan's care of him? Only Demitri himself knows the answer.
Demitri looked about to see Morrigan gone. "Morrigan... she left. What was she doing here?" Denial suddenly dropped down near his master.
"Master, let's head back to the castle."
"Agreed, Denial. I've had enough action for one night."
On top of another building, Morrigan watched as Demitri and Denial left the area. Her original goal was to kill Demitri, but she ended up saving him instead. What does she has in mind?
In a sewer…
It was revealed Raptor just barely managed to avoid taking the full force of the EX Chaos Flare by escaping with his Hell Gate teleport maneuver. The zombie hides in the sewer to recover. He never thought he would lose in such a pathetic way.
"Damn it all! I thought I had him…" said Raptor.
"Raptor!"
Raptor nearly jumped out of his undead skin when he heard the voice. He had a bone chilling feeling as he recognized who the voice belonged to. Slowly turning around, the air before him distorted as a figure appeared before him.
"Er… Ozomu-sama… eh heheh…" Raptor quickly dropped to his knees bowing to Ozomu. "I already sent my whole army into Romania. Demitri is under our monitor…" said Raptor shakily.
Ozomu wasn't convinced, however. "Do you know the price of lying to me?" A stream of fire shoots straight to Raptor, engulfing him in flame. Raptor screams out in pain. "Seems like you didn't pay attention to my order. I just ordered you to monitor Demitri, and you went all out and fought him without my permission. Now Demitri is alerted. For your punishment, you will be burned for three days and three nights. After that, wait for my order."
Ozomu disappears to leave Raptor in his agony.
"Demitri... I will take my revenge!" said Raptor.
Away from the capital of Romania…
Inside a forest by the bay stands the biggest castle of the country. This is Zeltzereich Castle, where Demitri resides in.
In a secret underground room resembling a lab, Demitri and Denial are focusing on an object. In the middle of the secret room is a huge circle-shaped stone. The stone is fully carved with unknown mysterious symbols and runes. There were five points on its outer edge that glowed orange, four of them had a sort of emblem set into them while the fifth remained empty.
"Master, there's only one key left. With the final key, you can open the royal power hidden by our ancestors in the Satan Dimension'." Said Denial. "After that, you can fulfill the destiny you have waited for one hundred years..."
Demitri nodded. "Denial, I've located the last key. I will go retrieve it myself." He turns to leave.
"That's wonderful! And... Master, Morrigan mentioned about the catwoman, Felicia. Where is she?"
The vampire lord stopped to look at his servant. "Felicia... she is taking her revenge right now."
This surprised Denial. "Revenge?!"
Northern regions of Japan…
In the cold, snowy regions of a mountain forest was an abandoned area consisting of a shrine and a pagoda tower. On top of the snow covered pagoda stood Felicia. What is she doing there? What is it that brought her to such a foreign place?
Catwoman: Felicia
Birthplace: America
Birth year: 1967
Right now Felicia is waiting for a chance, her eyes staring at the temple across from her like arrows. Within the temple, a red armor and katana covers the whole structure with a heavy stink of blood. Is this evil armor Felicia's target?
To be continued…
Done with this chapter. Demitri had curb-stomped Raptor, and his history with Felicia is revealed. Next, Felicia goes against a certain spirit. Who is Ozomu and what is he planning?
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