"In case we won't make it out of here alive, white boy", Mercedes said quietly "Thanks you have convinced me to do this. I totally sucked as a heroine, but I have to admit, I kinda liked it."
Kurt smirked knowingly. "Admit it, you only liked it because the guys were staring at your butt while you wore that Catgirl suit."
Mercedes rubbed her neck sheepishly. "Hey, I'm only a woman searching for appreciation too, even if I have to dress up like a slut to turn into a sex godess for all those male perverts out there."
"Hey!", Kurt complained.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
Even though she was faster than any human, Mercedes was aware that Vortex in her puma-form would outrun her in no time, so she quickly turned around the corner and hid behind the counter, holding her breath. Cougar-Vortex ran straight ahead, not looking to the right where her prey was hidden.
"Crap, crap, crap", Mercedes muttered.
She was so screwed.
Unless…Vortex had told her she could turn into a wildcat as well. But how? If she didn't find out anytime soon, she would be mauled by a vengeful cougar, and that would suck.
Focus, Mercedes thought to herself. C'mon, focus. Cause I don't want to die yet. There are so many things I didn't do in life yet. I still didn't meet Beyoncé and I still didn't have sex…
She startled when she suddenly felt the hot breath of someone on her neck, and her heart skipped more than only one beat. Slowly, Mercedes turned around - just to look into the lime eyes of one certain pissed wildcat.
Who attacked her immediately.
Mercedes screamed when she felt how the animal's claws buried deep into her flesh and started wounding her badly. What a déjà-vu, she thought bitterly, just that I will die now.
Suddenly, a gunshot could be heard.
Cougar-Vortex screamed painfully and let go of her prey. Mercedes used that situation to her advantage and freed herself immediately.
When Vortex wanted to lunge at her again, someone said threateningly: "Don't even think about it, I'm serious. I have no inhibitions to shoot again."
Mercedes turned her head when she recognized that voice. "Kurt?"
Kurt was holding a gun in his hands, pointing it at the villain confidently. "I had a bad feeling about letting you fight her alone", he explained with a shrug.
"Since when do you know how to handle a gun? Since when do you own a gun?", Mercedes asked him breathlessly.
Her friend just shrugged. "My grandfather didn't approve of me being gay, like the entire state of Missouri", he muttered, shaking his head sadly. "He was convinced that teaching me manly things like camping, shooting or hunting would wipe all the gayness out of me. I got that gun on my eighteenth birthday."
Mercedes smiled faintly. "Remind me to thank him next time I see him. You know, for teaching you how to shoot not for being such an ignorant douche to you."
Suddenly, the cougar got up again, hissing at the duo and showing them her claws threateningly.
Kurt's eyes widened. "Where the hell is her gunshot wound? I hit her, didn't I?"
Again, he shot at the animal, but to no avail. Instead, Vortex seemed to get more pissed with each bullet. Mercedes quickly got up again. "She seems to have sped up healing powers.", she realized.
"That's it", Kurt stated when he pulled the trigger of his Kimber Micro, and nothing happened. "I ran out of bullets."
"Dammit", Mercedes hissed.
The both of them backed away while Vortex slowly came closer, her eyes were sparkling with lust to kill.
"In case we won't make it out of here alive, white boy", Mercedes said quietly "Thanks you have convinced me to do this. I sucked as a heroine, but I have to admit, it was not that bad."
Kurt looked at her with narrowed eyes. "I don't know about you, but that's not how I want to die." He turned around and grabbed a couple of glittery earrings and bracelets of the counter behind them. "As my dad told me since I was little: No one pushes around an Hummel. Even though I don't know whether he also meant aggressive, shapeshifting super-powered pumas."
Throwing a couple of expensive accessories at the villain, he shouted at the grey wildcat: "Stay away!"
Vortex eyes narrowed more and more with every item he threw at her head, and Mercedes whispered to him anxiously: "Do you think this is a good idea?"
"Do you have a better one?", Kurt whispered back. "We can buy some time and think of a plan to escape."
"The exit is too far away", Mercedes pointed out panickily. "She will tear us to pieces before we could even reach the cash desk."
Suddenly, Vortex stopped hissing and jumped- right to Kurt. "I guess that's the revenge for having shot at her and thrown accesories to her head", he muttered contritely. "Run!", he could shout to her before the animal pulled him to the ground.
"Nooo!", Mercedes screamed when she watched how that beast started scratching him with all she had. She heard Kurt yelp shortly, after that, she saw…blood. So much blood.
Someone screamed, terrified, and she noticed that it had been her who had screamed like that. Mercedes had no idea what it did to her. But seeing her friend getting hurt didn't stay without consequences.
Something happened to her, and she couldn't tell, what. Suddenly, something within her started … changing. "Leave. Him. Alone!", she screeched shrilly, but that was the last sentence she would say in a while.
Because suddenly, she felt how her entire body started tingling. Her hands turned numb; her nails turned into sharp claws. She fell to her knees when her bones started changing their form as well. But actually, it didn't hurt that much, it felt...odd, that was true, but it didn't feel painful. In the end, a beautiful snow-white lynx with black flecks and cyan blue eyes was standing in front of them, hissing at Vortex dangerously.
Kurt's eyes widened, and so did Vortex'. "Oh my gosh", was the only thing he could whisper.
Vortex let go of him and lunged to her other opponent with a hostile hiss, so did Mercedes. It was hard to follow the fight as both creatures were moving supernaturally fast, but one thing was clear: The fighters were both on a par.
"That's amazing", Kurt gasped, awe-struck, while he was leaning against the wall, wiping off all the blood on his face and limbs. Luckily, he was not that hurt badly, he merely had a few scratches all over his body.
Suddenly, the lights went on in the entire building, and the two wildcats hissed in pain as their eyes were more sensitive than the ones of humans.
"NYPD!", someone shouted from afar, and Kurt looked up, panicked. "Don't move!"
"We need to get out of here", he hissed to Mercedes who had turned to him with a questioning glance. "Now!"
Mercedes nodded slowly, perking her ears up.
"What is it?", Kurt asked her, following her glance. "Do you think someone is trying to sneak over?"
Again, she nodded and nodded to the opposite direction.
Kurt seemed to understand. "Okay, let's go." He turned to Vortex and pointed at her. "And what about her?"
Suddenly, Mercedes pushed him to the wall around the corner and he fell. "Hey! What the…?"
Before he could end his sentence, however, they heard how someone came over to the spot where they had been a couple of seconds ago. "Motherfucker!", this someone shouted, aghast. "I just found a fucking puma!"
Kurt looked over to Mercedes, panicked when they heard Vortex hiss at the cop, but they didn't dare coming over to her.
And then…a gunshot.
And another one.
And a third.
Mercedes flinched, so did Kurt who held his mouth to suppress a scream. Did that cop just…?
"What if her sped-up healing powers are only limited?", he whispered, having paled "That cop could kill her!"
The both of them exchanged glances. It was crystal clear what they were thinking now: They needed to help Vortex despite of them being enemies. She was hurt and not in the shape to defend herself.
"I will go distract the cop while you get out of here", Kurt whispered. Even though Mercedes didn't look thrilled about his plan, he quickly got up and turned around the corner, pretending he just got in.
"What are you doing here, son?", Mercedes heard the cop's surprised voice.
"So this is not the pub?" Kurt gasped overdramatically. "You know, I moved to New York not long ago and tend to get lost all the time."
The cop groaned. "This ain't the pub, kid. Get lost before you get into trouble."
In the meanwhile, Mercedes tried to figure out how to change back. To be honest, she had no idea how she changed intowhat she was now in the first place. But at the moment, they had bigger fish to fry. So she grabbed Vortex by the collar and started dragging her towards the window which was the closest to her.
It took her a lot of force to hoist the other wildcat out of the window, but in the end, they somehow made it out of the building, she and Vortex fell landed on the lawn with a loud thud.
"What was that?", the cop asked and turned his head to the direction the noise came from, not noticing how Kurt paled.
"I didn't hear anything", Kurt said quickly, but the man had already rushed over to the window – and looked out of it.
Kurt's eyes widened in shock.
The cop looked around and turned around again. "I think I just imagined things.", he explained, not noticing how Kurt relaxed. "But now, go home, kid, and I will continue my patrol. Maybe, it was only a false alarm." He checked the racks with the jewelry and accessories. "Nothing has been stolen."
"Yes, that's right." With his right foot, Kurt tossed the jewels he had thrown at Vortex earlier that night under the table next to him. "Everything is how it's supposed to be."
…
"Catgirl?" Kurt was sneaking around at the lawn behind the jewelry store, shouting her name. "Mercedes! Where are you?"
He heard a groan right next to the bushes and rushed over to where it came from. And was surprised to see her lie next to a big bush, holding her head and groaning, she had turned back in the meantime, don't ask her, how. "Feels worse than hangover", she complained.
"Are you okay?", Kurt asked her.
Mercedes nodded. "I am" She pointed at Vortex who was still in her wildcat-form and lying on the ground, unconscious. "But am afraid she ain't."
…
Santana blinked confusedly when she came to.
What the hell had happened? Where was she?
"You are at our dorm", someone answered for her, and Santana irritatedly noticed that this someone was none other than Catgirl.
She hissed at her, but Catgirl just lifted her hands in surrender. "I'm not your enemy, Vortex."
"Or shall we say Santana Lopez?", another voice added amusedly.
Santana froze and stared at that baby-face that freaking shot at her back then in the jewelry store. He grimaced when he noticed her hostile glance.
"What do you want from me?", Santana demanded to know and sat up jerkily.
Catgirl alias Mercedes threw her a scrutinizing glance. "As we already told you, we are not your enemies. Why else should we save your life? We could have let that cop shoot you to death."
"You…you saved my life?", Santana stuttered. She eyed the duo skeptically. "What do you want in return? Money? Gold? A lap-dance?"
"Why do you think we want something in return?", Mercedes asked her with a frown. "How did you even get those powers?"
The Latina narrowed her eyes. "I don't want to talk about it", she snapped. "That's none of your fucking business."
Kurt gasped for air. "And that's the thanks for having saved you?"
"Kurt!"
He crossed his arms and looked at Mercedes with a reproachful way. "She knows more about what happened to you when that cat scratched you. Don't tell me you don't want to find out what it is!"
Santana looked up and threw Kurt a confused glance. "You…got scratched?"
"Yes", Mercedes admitted. "There was that lynx-like wildcat that scratched me for no apparent reason, turning me into one as well."
The Latina suddenly looked thoughtful. "I…I didn't get scratched. I was in the wrong place at the wrong time."
Mercedes pulled back a chair and sat down next to the bed. "What happened?", she asked softly.
When Santana still looked skeptical as if she wasn't sure whether she could trust her, Mercedes took a deep breath – and put down her mask. "See? Sometimes, it's better to disburden your heart to someone who is not anonymous."
"You are Catgirl?" Santana seemed to be surprised. "What a small world…" She cleared her throat, suddenly insecure. "I was eighteen and just arrived here in New York. Some of my friends and I wanted to go to that new nightclub that opened not long ago. I somehow wrote down the wrong address and went to the wrong place, a deserted storehouse far away from any human civilization. As soon as I noticed my mistake, I wanted to leave, but it was already too late. I got knocked down from behind.
When I came to, I noticed that I my hands have been tied up. I was in a room with all kinds of animals in cages such as cats, foxes, dogs…I even saw some rabbits.
And a bunch of scientists with lab coats, for some reason, all of them wore masks as well. It was creepy as hell. Those scientists started…experimenting with me as well, as if I was some kind of test-object, threatening to kill or harm those who are close to me if I didn't cooperate. So I was trapped there for days, or even months... I have no idea for how long.
All I still know is that I woke up in a cage one day, no one else was around. I don't know what they did to me, but suddenly, I felt…stronger and faster than ever before. I was so strong I could break free from that cage and get the hell out of that place. Just at that moment, I realized that I have actually turned into a puma. But not just any puma. I was extraordinary…and still am."
For a while, nobody dared saying anything.
"Did you find out who did that to you?", Kurt asked her tentatively. "Did you at least tell the cops what happened to you?"
Santana shook her head and balled her hands to fists. "No, I didn't tell the cops, they wouldn't have believed me anyway with no proofs, and who knows in what institution I would have landed if they had found out about me being not 100% human anymore. I didn't tell anyone because I didn't want to endanger anyone else. No, I wanted to sort this out alone. When I returned the next day, that place was empty. They must have packed their things and left. But one day, I will find those douchebags. I will demand answers. Since I don't know who they are, I try getting their attention…"
"…so that you can draw them out, right?", Kurt ended her sentence.
"Cats feel attracted to jewels, that's why you chose the jewelry stores. You wanted to send them a message", Mercedes reasoned, still shocked about the Latina had just told them. Poor Santana. "That's actually smart of you."
"But until now, they didn't take the bait." Santana frustratedly slumped down on the bed again.
"And what if you join us?", Mercedes suggested.
Both, Kurt and Santana looked at her skeptically. "What?"
"Join us. Instead of causing crime, you could fight crime with Catgirl. And we will help you find those people that tortured you and turned you to a part-cat, and bring them to jail. One hand washes the other, you know."
Santana still looked doubtful. "But Vortex is supposed to be a villain…"
"Not anymore", Mercedes answered her back. "This is your chance to whitewash your reputation." She furrowed her eyebrows displeasedly. "Gosh, that word sucks so much…"
"Fine!" Santana threw her hands up exasperatedly, and Mercedes' eyes lit up. "But only until we caught those sons of bitches I'm after, capish? I don't want to become a softie like the two of you and live in a world full of pink glitter and rainbows, like Lady Lips over there."
"How did you just call me, Satan?", Kurt said sharply.
The only one who looked thrilled was Mercedes. She triumphantly laid her arms around Kurt and Santana who both looked at each other in distrust. "This is the beginning of a great friendship, isn't it?"
"Earlier that evening, you were looking forward to wiping the floor with Vortex", Kurt pointed out dryly, cocking his perfectly shaped eyebrows. "And now, you declare her your new best friend? Funny how fast things can change."