CHAPTER 7: A SLUMBERING DRAGON HAS AWOKEN

A/N: Dun dun dun duuuunnnnnn!!! A old enemy arrives!!!

-------------------

There where flashes of different things.

Shekats he had mated with...shekats he had killed....sons and daughters he had spawned and raised....

And trained them into Marekats.

Syphon the MareKat was in a deep sleep. He was naked, and curled up into a ball, floating in a bubble-prison of crystal.

Dreaming.

He was with his loved one, Milai once again. His true mate. The Gods had created them in a way so female Marekats couldn´t get children. So Syphon had to do it in other ways.

He would trick a she-kat into mating with him, and keep her captured for the 9 months a pregnancy takes. Then kill her the second the shekat was born.

In the dark ages, it had been easy to tell that the "poor darling" had died from the birth. But as time went by, things got tougher. The mortals invented new machines. And most of them could help tell the reason for the death of a person, so Syphon had to work in secret.

Then he had met her, Samantha. It had been easy to trick her. Later they had "married" as the mortals called it. And everything seemed to go perfect as the foolish shekat had gotten pregnant. But he had underestimated her. She had grown up, knowing about fantasy-creatures as Syphons kind was called. She had fled along with her brother, to seek help from....

Viper

The name itself made Syphon turn in his sleep. The reptilian kat had at first not been anything serious to worry about. That was.....until Viper contacted the Pastmaster, a old enemy of The Master of Past and Present.

The 800 year old sorceror had helped Viper protect the she-kat, and it hadn´t gone better when he told the mortals how to protect themselfs. Milai had gone to stop them from getting the Colbratech sword...

And it had been fatal for her.

When she had been away too long, Syphon had gone to seek after her, and had found that Viper had killed her with the sword. Burning of anger and revenge, he had gotten another chance from his old master to get the child Samantha Purvis had given birth to. Viper had been taking care of it, and since he was an enemy of the socalled SWATKATS, it had been easy to fool the 2 into getting the child from Viper. Espeacially since the larger one, T-bone seemed to have a score to settle with Viper.

Everything had went fine with the ceremony until Viper had showed up. The snakekat had gotten the child away from Syphon and managed to escape with the help from the ghosts of departed family members. When the clock struck midnight, it was too late to get the child, and Syphon had to return to his own realm.

Destiny took care of some things through years which where seconds for a creature of Syphons kind. 3 years, and Samantha Purvis, her husbond and her brother (sadly not Viper) crashed in what among the mortals where known as the Bermuda Triangle, leaving Viper to take care of child....for 6 years, Syphon watched the child grow, and he too grew more and more frustrated....that was, until he met Shadow-whip. The form-changer was a servant for Aquilla, the ancient god of chaos and destruction, who was in need of an Avatar, a shelter for him to stay in when he entered the mortal realm. And since Syphon wanted revenge, and Aquilla a body, Shadow-whip gave Syphon the offer of being able to handle both.

It had been a piece of cake. The ceremony that would connect Viper and Aquilla went successfully until Syphons old master, the Master of Past and Present broke in and smashed Aquillas old home, a orb, seeming to have ended the ceremony...though the mage was wrong. The ceremony had went perfectly, and Aquilla had come to the mortal world.

After the child, that called itself Vipers nephew had killed Aquilla, Viper had come to the realm of Nightmares...Syphons realm...Syphons domain.

The Marekat had attacked, but hadn´t counted on Viper to have that cursed Colbratech Sword on him, but thanks to his agility and speed, Syphon had dodged the sword everytime the pathetic mortal had tried to attack.

Then the shantu had come. The panther-creature was sent by the Master of Past and Present, to kill Syphon. And it had almost seemed like it....but another god had come as Syphon had been dying.

The gods name was Hei Ying*...and she was of the ancient ones. One of the true gods. Not some mortal that years ago had done a spell so powerful that, that he or she had gotten their powers raised to a god-like status.....

Hei Ying had followed Syphons moves for a long time, and she had found him a worthy servant. She promised him the necessary healing, and the true gift of revenge if he would become her servant.

He had striked at once.

And now, here he was, asleep and on his health being fully restored. Hei Ying had even given him back his missing eye, that he had lost many years ago, when he had been young and naive in the eyes of a God, and ancient and dangerous in the eyes of a mortal.

The memories flashed past him in his mind, over and over and over again.....

Then he heard her voice.

"My servant...the time has come." The silky and gentle voice with a sharp poisonous undertone awaked Syphon. He opened his eyes slightly and stretched out in the crystalbubble he was in. Hei Yings voice sounded once more.

"Break out of your prison...become free.....and seek your revenge."

The blood-red colored nightmare-creature flexed his muscles, stretched, and the bubble broke with a crash that ecchoed around in the empty darkness that surrounded him.

He roared in bloodthirst and triumph. Bloodthirst after Vipers blood...triumph over that he had beaten death once more. He grinned and looked on his extended claws.

"You will see Viper!! It takes more than a Shantu to beat me! I am comming to get you! And revenge will be sweet as ambrosia!!" He reared back his head and laughed.

Syphon the Marekat was back in action!!

-------------------

In the mortal world, 4 kats where being tormented in their sleep.

Elrod writhered as he in dreams was Viper once again, caught in chains as a dark form was laughing and taunting him, scratching and scarring his body with razor-sharp claws, his green blood trickling down from his wounds and to the floor beneath him, and slowly creeping over the edge of the platform he was chained to. He tried to scream, but the darkness around him only caught the sound and send it back in his face, as if mocking him in his agony.

***************************************

Samantha, Elrods sister was whimpering in her sleep, running through some dark corridors with a bundle clutched to her chest. A distant whimpering from the clothe told her it was a baby that was frightened. Whatever it was that was following her, it was slowing down, and she kept running. Running in order to get her baby to safety.

When reaching around a corner she stopped, gasping for breath. The gasping turned into a horrified scream as she saw the face of Syphon instead of a baby's grinning at her.

"Why so afraid, Samantha? Its only your sons father!" And Syphon pounced.

***************************************

Nicky, Samanthas 6 year old son was afraid. He was trying to run away from a grey mass of clouds which seemed to chase him. Black-colored tentacles reached out to get him, but he managed to dodge them. He screeched as he saw his uncle Elrod being tormented by some red-furred kat which he somehow knew was his real father, who laughed as he turned and looked on Nicky.

"Greetings my son! Why don´t you join the fun?" Instead of doing what the kat said, Nicky ran once more, falling over the edge of a cliff in the process, screaming all the way.

***************************************

David couldn´t move. He was trapped in some tar-like substance and it kept pulling him down and down and down...he screamed and cried for help, tears blinding his eyes, but no matter what, he couldn´t get free....a cruel laughter rang in his ears, and looking up, he saw a red-furred kat stand with his dad in one outstretched hand. The red kat laughed evilly, as Davids father didn´t move. The kat snarled with laughter as Davids father turned into the same kind of creature David had been transformed into because of the stuff in that bottle....Elrod lifted his gaze a second and looked on David with a mournful expression, then went limp once again in the red kats grip. The kat laughed evilly, the sound seeming to scratch in Davids ears.

"Pathetic piece of mortal dirt! At last my revenge will be fulfilled!!" With that, he let go of the limp form of Elrod Purvis, who tumbled downwards into a dark vortex far below.

"DADDYYYYYYYY!!!!" David shrieked.

-------------------

Callie came running into the room where David was asleep, the kitten screaming in his sleep, tears wetting his face. She shook in him to wake him up, but he kept screaming and screaming until he sat straight up, eyes wide and glowing in the dark. He looked around wildly, then began to cry. Callie hugged him gently, soothing him the same way she did when her own kitten had a bad dream.

"Sshhh...shhh...its alright...everything will be fine..." She whispered gently to him. She looked up, hearing running steps, and saw Felina and Chance.

"What happened? We heard screaming." Felina said, her face a mask of worry and confusion. Callie shook her head and looked on the sobbing kitten.

"David was screaming...apparently from a nightmare...you go back to sleep, I´ll be there when he´s calm, OK?" The 2 nodded. Callie sighed. If only Jake had been along with her, but he was out on patrol on his Cyclotron in the city. He wouldn´t return until dawn. She soothed the kitten softly, gently humming to him.

"Its going to be alright David...everything will be fine..."

"D...daddy...I want m...m...my daddy...." David whimpered, soaking Callies nightgown with his tears. She stroked his neck and soothed him softly, slowly making him calm down enough so that he didn´t cry anymore.

"Want me to stay with you?" She asked gently as she tugged David. The snake- kitten nodded mutely, and snuggled close to her as she crawled under the blanket. He hadn´t known her for long, only a few hours, but she was still as caring and like another mother to him.

"I miss my mommy and daddy...." He murmured sleepily as Callie stroked his cheek. She smiled gently at him.

"I know you do....we'll find a cure for you, and then we'll find your mommy and daddy."

David smiled weakly at her in gratitude, then fell asleep.