Chance and Jake were both fairly tired when they opened the garage. They had spent half the night searching for Sarita as well as for any signs of the vampire and her group. Once the Hellcat had been found and brought back, the knowledge of what had happened to her prevented either of them from getting any more sleep that morning. Jake had let her use his room since he would be up the rest of the day and she needed to rest. Sarita of course had refused, but Nakela insisted. It's hard to argue with a dragon, even if she was only in a form the size of a kat.

None of them had any appetite that morning, but around noon the guys finally ordered some pizza. They seemed a bit surprised that the human/dragon seemed to enjoy the tuna topping, but she explained that her animal form was an alligator and that she had grown up on a large peninsula surrounded by ocean, so she was quite preferable to fish and other seafood. The raven it seemed, would eat pretty much anything. Sarita on the other hand completely refused to eat. Nothing Nakela could do would convince her otherwise. Of course, Nak knew that the jaguar, even in human form, was a strict carnivore and actually couldn't digest anything other than meat. Jake even dethawed a bit of raw hamburger meat from the freezer, but she still wouldn't eat.

Both the kats and the Mokole were very worried about the Balam, but there wasn't anything that any of them could do. She had been through a very terrible ordeal that had caused more mental and emotional damage than any of them could understand. The day passed pretty quietly. Even Sawgrass was not his normal chatty self, although when finally asked about what had happened when he and Sarita went out into the city, he spared no details about what they had found, although Nakela had to translate some of the bird's speech for the kats to understand. Jake and Chance were disgusted by the details of the remains and knowing what had happened to them, but it didn't even seem to phase Nakela. They wondered at exactly what sort of horrors these shifters faced in their constant 'war' to make such things second nature to them.

The day grew late, and evening began to approach. Nakela and Sawgrass had left for a short time into what they called the 'Umbra'. The two kats were told that this was the Spirit World which some of the shifting-breeds were able to enter, though the felines, including Sarita, had a much harder time doing so. Chance and Jake were relaxing upstairs, when a Jake caught a movement out of the corner of his eye. Turing around quickly, he saw the jaguar, in her feline form, walking out of the bedroom.

"Hey. How are you feeling?"

There was genuine concern in his voice. Chance, hearing his friend's question, turned around from his video-game to also look at the jaguar. Sarita just glanced over at them, twitched her ears, then turned and walked down the stairs, her head held low. The two kats glanced at each other, then back to the jaguar. When they first met her the previous day, she was a fierce warrior, and even the serious injury from the land mine didn't seem to bother her too much. But now... she was a completely different cat.

Once the jaguar was out of sight, Chance walked over to his partner, still looking at the stairs where the jaguar had gone.

"What do you think? Go after her? With the other two gone, she could end up getting into trouble."

"I don't know, Chance. I don't see her doing much of anything right now. Still, we can't risk anyone spotting a jaguar prowling around here. I'll go."

Jake got up from the sofa where he had been watching the news, and went down the stairs into the garage. The office door had been pushed open, so he knew she had gone outside. Once Jake passed the doorway, he could see the spotted cat laying on the roof of an old junked car nearby, watching the sunset. She flicked her ears back as he approached, obviously having heard him, or at least sensed him somehow.

"Are you gonna be okay?"

He really didn't expect much of an answer. He knew she had some form of language in her feline forms that the other two shifters could understand, but he couldn't. Jake froze in his tracks in surprise at suddenly hearing her voice, in his head!

Why do you care? Why does anyone? I am what I am, and it shouldn't matter what happens to me.

"What you are shouldn't matter that much. You're a living, breathing creature. A person, regardless of what shape you take. Why shouldn't anyone care what happens to you?"

The jaguar huffed, her ears turned back and partially pinned, her tail lashing.

You don't get it. You don't know anything about us. I'm a metis. A deformed, inbred creature that's not even supposed to exist. Yet my breed is becoming more and more common among all of the Folk. Most arn't even fit to be warriors or sorcerers, or even kit-sitters. When we are hurt, no-one cares. When we die, no-one mourns.

"Why? Why should your breed matter so much? I'm sorry, but you're right. I don't know much about you, and maybe that's why I don't see why you should matter any less than anyone else."

The jaguar suddenly turned her head around to face the kat with a deep-throated growl, her ears pinned and her sharp fangs showing in a fierce snarl. Her strong claws dug into the metal of the old car.

It matters because it's WRONG! It's against the Karoush! The Litany! The more of us there are, the more proof of how much we've been corrupted! We ARE the products of corruption! That's why we are born deformed in the half-breed forms! My parents sinned, and for it I now suffer! I was abandoned as a kit, forced to fend for myself or die at such a young age in the deadly jungles! My parents never cared about me! Why should anyone else? Just let me be!

The jaguar jumped off the car and was about to run off.

Now Jake understand what was wrong. He'd heard about it before when he was an Enforcer. A 'problem' that rape victims faced, that made their ordeal affect them even worse.

'Holy Kats! She blames herself!'

"What about Waterhawk? Or Sawgrass!"

Sarita had only taken three strides when she skidded to a stop. She stood hunched up, her ears pinned, but she didn't turn around or respond. The sun had now gone down and the sky was growing dark. The crescent moon hung low overhead. Sarita could feel her rage again building under Seline's gaze.

"They're your friends, arn't they? They do know, and yet they still care about you!"

That was it. The Two-Hearts were always full of rage, and with her willpower drained, Sarita couldn't contain it. She spun around, and roared. In an instant, she was now the half-ton saber-tooth, and she charged the smaller kat in blind fury. Jake had never meant to upset her, but he knew nothing about the Balam's notorious fits of rage.

"OH CRUD!"

Jake had extremely fast reflexes, but so did Sarita. He couldn't get over the shock fast enough to jump out of the angry Hellcat's way. But thankfully, he didn't have to. Jake never even saw the dragon until her powerful clawed hands grabbed the large cat in mid-jump. Sarita roared out and struggled against the feathered dragon and slashed with her powerful jaws and sharp claws. Nakela knew how strong Sarita's jaw-strength was, and that she couldn't allow the cat to get a grip on her, so she did the only thing she could. Nak threw the Hellcat, causing her to crash hard into a large pile of scrap over fifteen yards away.

Having heard the loud roaring, Chance ran quickly out to see what happened, just in time to see the raging saber-tooth get thrown by the dragon.

"What the heck is going on?"

Nakela turned to look down at the pair of kats, snarling with her foot-long teeth bared. The raven, who'd been flying in circles just above the two female shifters, swooped down to yell at them.

"Inside! Now! Inside!"

Chance batted at the bird with the back of his hand and glared up at the dragon.

"What's happening with you guys?"

Jake however, turned to run back inside.

"Come on, Chance! This is something we don't need to get involved in!"

Chance was shocked at his friend's response. Jake never ran unless there was damned good reason. Looking back to where the jaguar had been thrown, he could see that she was already back on her paws, and snarling viciously at them, a hateful fire in her violet-blue eyes. Maybe Jake was right. Both kats ran back inside the garage, locking the door.

Nakela roared out at the chatro jaguar All Mokole could fight, but she was a Midnight Sun. She was NOT a warrior, and knew that the jaguar could cause some serious damage to her, and to anything or anyone else that got too close until her regained control of her rage. Taking a few steps to the side, she raked her claws down the side of the large piece of metal, honing them to razor-sharpness. She didn't want to, but she knew there was only one possible way to stop the cat.

Sarita charged, lunging forward with her powerful jaws. Nakela took a step back, bringing her long tail around. She slammed her tail-spikes into the side of the charging cat, but Sarita's thick hide and fast charge caused the damage to be minimal, though it did throw her aside several yards, leaving a pair of puncture wounds from the spikes. Sarita lunged again, and this time her front claws connected to the dragon's chest. Nakela screamed out in pain, but was still able to grasp the massive cat in her claws. The Golden Hellcat ripped at the dragon, but was in turn badly injured as both sets of razor-claws, and the sharp teeth in the long reptilian jaws, tore into her. Nakela pulled the cat off of her and slammed her down, hard. The jolt, along with the injuries, was enough to knock the Hellcat unconscious. Nak stood over her for several moments, until she was sure the cat wouldn't get back up to attack again. She was bleeding badly, and she couldn't hold herself any longer. The damage was too severe. Nakela changed back to her homid form, and collapsed.

Jake and Chance had watched the fight through the window. They had never seen anything so primal and vicious. Once Nakela lost collapsed and it was clear Sarita wouldn't get up anytime soon, they both ran out to check on the pair. The raven landed on the ground beside the unconscious human. Jake looked over at the bird as he checked Nakela's wounds.

"What the heck happened?"

"Rage. Two-Heart is warrior. Rage makes frenzy. Go mad. Not know friend from foe."

Chance, who was checking on the Hellcat, glanced over his shoulder at the bird.

"She just went mad? How?"

"It's the animal. Cats full of pain and hate from past wrongs. Two-Hearts worst of all. Very unpredictable."

.

Viper poured a small amount of the bluish liquid on the rat, then stepped back. The rodent began to squeal loudly as it's body began to grow and mutate. It ripped out of it's own skin, the raw flesh beneath turning a greenish color, then slowly to black. Viper hissed in frustration and annoyance. It still wasn't working right. The rat's screams became louder, more high pitched, then it's flesh burst apart in a black, gooey mess. Viper threw the vial across the room and it crashed against the wall, the glass shattering, leaving the liquid to boil into the ground.

"Cursssse it! I sssstill can't get the formula right! I need that katalysssst!"

"What katalyst?"

The kat-snake spun around to find the vampire standing only a few feet behind him, her tail twitching casually. He flinched away a bit at the sudden sight of the creature. She smiled darkly.

"Are you afraid of me, Viper?"

He narrowed his pupil-less yellow eyes, but didn't say anything in response to her. He didn't have to. She could sense it in him. Viper was certainly wary of the strange creature, and a part of him did fear her. She was small, only a teenager in body. But he knew she was powerful. The shape-changers obeyed her, and the smaller one certainly seemed to fear her. He knew there had to be a reason for that. It wasn't her appearance that was frightening, even he had to admit that the furless, scale-less creature was somewhat attractive. It was her calm, confident personality. She knew how powerful she was, and she knew how to make others nervous around her. In some ways, she reminded him of Dark Kat.

"You really don't have to fear me, you know. I already told you, I will not harm you. So long as you do not attempt to betray me, of course."

"Of courssssse."

He was still wary. He didn't trust her, but he still couldn't figure out what drew him to her. He kept thinking that the vampire had some kind of supernatural ability to sway others to her will. He'd tried to fight it, but couldn't. He didn't even know what it was he was supposed to fight. Ange continued to smile darkly.

"Now then, what exactly were you doing with the rat? And what 'katalyst' were you needing?"

How much did she see? How long had she been there, silently watching. His nervousness increased as he realized this creature could easily sneak up on, and kill him, without him never even realizing it.

"One of my latessst Exsssperimentssss. But it'ssss not working the way I planned. I need a chemical called katalysssst 47."

She merely shrugged.

"And where would you get it?"

"Megakat Biochemical Labsssss... It'ssss near the ssssscenter of the sssscity. And very difficult to break into."

The vampire's smile broadened a bit, and she gave a soft laugh.

"We'll see about that."

The Doctor blinked. She was going to break into the labs for him?

"Are you sssseriousssss?"

"Oh yes. The boys and me could use a bit of fun tonight. And this time, you're coming along."