Chapter 12

"…and we were on our way here when we were shot down in our plane. We escaped with the parachutes-that thing you saw me in when you found me." Catwoman continued as she and Tygrus moved through jungle. They walked at a leisurely pace, with Tygrus occasionally stopping to scan and listen, not completely at ease. It had been a few hours since they started, and the sun was nearing the peak of its arc. She had recounted her ordeal in great detail, with Tygrus stopping her several times to ask questions. He was interested to hear her talk about the Cheetah, though not as much as she had expected. Selina seemed to think the idea of a third cat person, one now on this island even, would have almost sent him into shock, but he merely asked a few questions about her and why she continued his father's work. Tygrus showed more curiosity in human technology. He had seen planes fly over the island, but he couldn't see how they could work. Selina seemed at a loss explaining these machines. Of course, he thought, not every human builds every machine. He noticed she seemed reluctant to speak much about her life before her change, Tygrus noticed. After a bit of prodding, he couldn't help himself from asking, she opened up some and began to speak about her love of cats, and her work in preserving endangered wild animals. She spoke about her company, and how she had always imagined Rachel, her secretary, taking it over eventually. She even spoke of her pet cat, Isis, and how she worried about her.

Tygrus eyed her carefully as she spoke. She moved her hands expressively, her tail swaying without care, her ears pointed at the top of head when she was describing the beautiful cats at the preserve she had helped establish, then laying sharply back, as she spoke with venom about the terrorists and businessmen who sought to turn into a resort as a cover to their illegal activities. As she spoke, her face became contorted with anger, her teeth fully born, her voice turning to a hiss. Not used to seeing her angry, the expression actually created a tinge of alarm in the seven foot feline. Catwoman seemed to notice this, and tried to calm herself down, though she let a small snicker escape her. She apparently found Tygrus' concern amusing.

"Keep going" Tygrus said. And so she continued. Truth be told, though he enjoyed her stories, he also wanted to wait until they met up with the others at their destination before explaining his story. There were too many holes he could not fill without their help. So he simply listened. Strangely, he couldn't break the feeling that she was deliberately leaving out something. Then he remembered…

"You have not mentioned the Batman."

Selina's body seemed to stiffen, the tip of her tail twitching.

"It's…complex. He's a friend, but we're…often on other sides of the law"

"The law…" One of Tygrus' ears perked up as he tilted his head, looking thoughtful. "The Batman mentioned that Father had broken the law, or two laws…"

"Yes…" she stopped walking and turned to Tygrus. She was close enough to have to look almost straight up to him; she spoke as if she were uncertain of what she was saying. "Where I come from we have rules to follow. And if we don't follow them we are punished. Batman pursues people who break these rules…" Her gaze began to wander to the side.

"And you…break these rules as well." Tygrus said.

Selina nodded, looking down "I take things that don't belong to me, in a nutshell."

Tygrus put a hand to his chest, "I have taken things from the men who attacked us. Is that the same?"

Selina looked up, smiling, "In a way, though I think these men are breaking a few "rules" of their own. Shooting down planes for instance." She raised a hand to Tygrus cheek. He felt a strong warmth rise in his chest. "Besides," she said reassuringly, "You're trying to survive."

"So you steal…to survive?" Tygrus said. Selina's face became uncomfortable, and she removed the hand on his face; she began to wring them together. Tygrus' face read confusion, "Why else would you steal, if not for food…or to hurt your enemy?"

She looked down for several seconds. Tygrus began to wish he had never asked her the question. He said, "Let us keep walking," in a low whisper, and turned away.

He had walked several feet when suddenly Selina blurted out "That feeling…when we ran yesterday?" Tygrus turned to acknowledge her. "It's sort of like that."

Tygrus was silent for several seconds. He then asked, "Is it like…making a swift kill on a hunt?"

Selina laughed, "Maybe…yes…I suppose it would be. I've never done it myself."

Tygrus walked back, crouching slightly as his immense hand cupped the back of Catwoman's head gently. "Perhaps I can show you sometime."

Selina didn't answer, but continued. "I stole the first time to get back something someone stole from me. But it felt so good, and my life was so boring. I guess I don't fit in too well in the world. I needed something more."

At these words Tygrus' eyes widened slightly, but Selina gently moved out of his hand and began to walk again. Tygrus followed alongside her.

"Of course, Batman chasing me was even more exciting. Sometimes I think he liked to chase me too. But in the end, he was out to stop me from stealing."

Tygrus' confused look returned, "So he was…is…your enemy."

Selina's face became conflicted, "Sometimes it's more…complicated than that Tygrus." She continued, "When I wasn't stealing, we would sometimes help each other. He tried to help a lot in fact."

"Why?" Tygrus asked, his voice was slightly raspy, as if his throat had run dry.

Selina looked up toward the tree tops, seeming to watch the patterns emerge from the light leaking through the leafy canopy above them. The light beams danced across her face, reflecting brightly off her golden fur. Finally she responded, still looking up, "He helps me because he thinks he can get me to stop stealing. And I guess I like having him around to be give me a challenge." She paused for several seconds before also saying, "And I respect what he does. I steal, but I…there's other people who do more than that; who will kill, who live to hurt other people. And at times, I'm convinced only he can stop them."

Selina continued to stare up into space. Tygrus continued to stare at her. He took a deep breath and then said: "Is that all?"

Selina now looked straight ahead, her face becoming expressionless. She seemed deep in thought. "Yes…I suppose. What else could there be?" She spoke in almost a monotone.

Tygrus looked straight ahead as well. "I can think of nothing…" he said vacantly.

They walked quietly for several minutes. It was Tygrus who broke the silence.

"We are almost there," he said. "The others should just be over this hill."

Selina turned her head sharply, "Yes, I've been meaning to ask, who are they?"


"Who are they?" Batgirl thought to herself. It was a worthwhile question. For all she knew, the missile was just a big misunderstanding, and the people she was running from just wanted to make amends. She wasn't ready to throw herself at the mercy of her pursuers just yet though.

She knew she wouldn't be able to lose them easily. The thick jungle provided cover, but it was difficult to avoid "blazing a trail" of bent branches. Adding to the problem was how moist the ground was; she was leaving fresh footprints as she traveled. Running was a losing cause. She needed to slow them down.

Noticing a small tree sapling at her feet, she leaned down, and quickly fastened a small stinging gas bomb to it. She took a vine and secured it to the ground. She then took off running. Barely a minute later, she heard a snap and a chorus of coughing and profanity. Bullseye, she thought. They'd be ok, but they would almost certainly have to stop and clean the irritants from their eyes, perhaps turn back. She could only hope.


Ross slapped Smith across the face.

"Snap out of it!" he yelled. Smith just sat there, quivering. He had been jelly since he'd come back to base. He'd stumbled away from the massacre that happened just as Ross had left, told another search party he happened to run into to through blubbering lips about the return of the giant grey cat creature, killing four men and rescuing the blond cat woman. And they'd escaped. Smith could barely do anything but mumble in coherently. Ross' persistence got the rough story of what happened out, though from what he heard, the dismembered bodies told the story well enough. This one man, one creature had killed four of his brothers in arms, and left his best friend a shell of his former self. And the last thing he had told them was not to kill one of them. He could barely think. The only thing he could think of was how he was going to kill that son of a-

"Corporal Ross!"

He turned and answered coarsely, "Yeah?"

A middle aged man in a grey suit and tie stood before him. "Please maintain your professional demeanor, Corporal Ross. I have new word from our superiors. Firstly, in case you have not heard, many of the other search parties have suffered failure in their search, though none of them have suffered casualties as your party did. Secondly, we've identified the ship we shot down. It's hard to believe, but the plane is believed to be the vehicle used by the notorious Batman."

Ross' mouth dropped open, then clinched in anger, "You've got us out there, not only searching for blood thirsty monsters with nothing but dart guns and maybe the occasional pistol, with orders not to kill, but now we've got the $& Batman running around out there? This is it. You can either give us more firepower, and I mean a lot more firepower, or me and my entire outfit are going to say "Screw your contract" and go home."

The man's eyes narrowed, "Please remember that our benefactor does not tolerate breach of contract. He will see that any person who breaches his contract will compensate their failure to provide their promised services, by whatever means necessary. These measures include extending our compensation measures to the breachee's family and associates."

Ross stood there, speechless.

The man in the suit's demeanor now lightened a bit, "But such measures should be unnecessary as our benefactor has, over our local administrator's protests, fully authorized the use of deadly force on all personnel trespassing on the island and on test subjects who will not return to the lab. Furthermore, you will be outfitted with new arms, which should arrive within the next five hours. One final note: the administrator's request to our benefactor for more substantial aid which he made in light of the break-in two weeks ago has finally been answered. These new personnel answer directly to our benefactor and arrived by boat within the last hour. They are two professional mercenaries like yourself, with a worldwide reputation. Their assignment, again against administrator protests, will be to pursue the search and elimination of our unwanted guests and faulty test subjects independently. I must inform you, these men have been given clearance to take whatever measures are needed to preserve this project's security, so please stay out of their way. You should receive word on your next assignment in five hours. Be ready."

The man then abruptly turned and left. Ross looked at the ceiling, then at Smith, still drooling on himself. What had he got himself into? He stared at Smith. He hadn't even wiped the blood off of himself. He didn't know what he'd do when this thing was over, but for now, the path was clear.

He had to kill that thing.