Ch. 23
Selina and Tygrus slowed their pace as they closed in toward the camp. Still on all fours, they came to a full stop, and began arcing their heads, ears twisting, eyes scanning, searching for any sign that they were being followed. They turned to each other, exchanged a confirming nod, and dashed away again at full speed.
Their voyeuristic friend had either lost them or given up the chase. Selina still wasn't sure who are what they had sensed, and she felt that Tygrus didn't know either. It had been strange, she couldn't pin it down as a smell or sound…more like a feeling. Perhaps they were both becoming too tense, but she'd been certain they were in danger. And so had he.
As they neared the clearing Selina suddenly felt chilled as she realized how well lit and open their camp was, even at night. A moment later she remembered she was looking at it with cat eyes. Selina searched her memory to recall how dark night was to human eyes, but she couldn't really visualize it.
As they came through the trees, they found Paul and Dorothy embracing each other by a tree. The Cheetah scientists, the army brat Cougar, the young Panther, and Jaguar girls were gathered a rough circle at the top of the hill. She could hear the old veteran and big tiger lady speaking down by the stream. The lynxes must be on guard, Selina thought. Coming on the young couple, Dorothy suddenly broke from Paul and ran to Selina, hugging her exuberantly.
"Oh, there you are! It's wonderful Selina! Just…"
She suddenly stopped and sniffed Selina's shoulder, which she had buried her face into. "I knew you and Tygrus were going to get together." She said in a sly whisper. "Good luck, he's a catch!" It took a moment for Selina to recover, and another to catch onto what Dorothy had said. Her scent! Or more precisely, it was Tygrus' scent on her. There would be no hiding from anyone, especially Cheetah, that they had been in a passionate embrace that evening. That could make things awkward.
She looked down at Dorothy somewhat apologetically, "Me and Tygrus are…exploring our options. But what did you want to tell me?"
Dorothy beamed again, her dots seemed ready to leap off of her fur. "Oh Yes! I'm pregnant!"
Catwoman did her best to mask the shock of this news and act warmly. If Dorothy noticed, she didn't show it. "That's wonderful Dot, congratulations to you both. I thought you couldn't have children?"
"We couldn't. Not before…this happend." She hugged Tygrus next, who seemed more taken aback by her hug than the news. "I knew there was a reason for all this. I knew it!" Her voice sounded almost relieved.
Paul touched her shoulder, and took her back into his arms. "Dr. Minerva diagnosed her. Yolanda is pregnant too. Hector, the other lynx, is the father." He caressed his wife's head, rubbing behind her ears while she nuzzled his chest. He looked up to Tygrus, "This is going to make things complicated, I know."
"Do not worry," Tygrus said. "We will adjust to make sure both her and Yolanda are safe. Does the rest of the camp know?"
"Everyone but Hector. He was on watch. Yolanda went to tell him alone." His voice suddenly slowed, as if he was contemplating something he did not care to ponder. "Actually, she really should have been back by now…I suppose they're celebrating together."
"Probably," Dorothy interrupted, "It's our shift to watch isn't it? We should relieve them."
Suddenly an all too human sounding scream came from the forest.
"That's her!" Tygrus bellowed. "Move!"
"One sudden move and I put one bullet through your head, then go to the girl's cell and put one through hers."
Batman stared past the rifle aimed at his head, through the visor, and into the mercenary's eyes. The two other armed guards both noticed his knees seemed to buckle, but kept their own weapons aimed and ready. Two more men quietly secured his hands behind his back.
"You might know these locks! They use them in Arkham Asylum!" The younger one joked nervously as he snapped the hulking hand braces firmly into place.
"Shut up." The older guard barked. He turned to Batman, "Alright, the doctor wants to see you. Come with us."
"Doctor who?" Batman said, but he got no answer. With three guns still aimed at him, he began his escort down the dungeon hallway.
Without making it too obvious, Batman made mental notes of the various guards here. They seemed to a fairly diverse group of hired guns. The older one was a black man, whose accent seemed to come from Quebec. The younger was definitely American, southern, maybe north Florida. The three armed guards had visors covering there faces, but one who spoke had a well hidden Paris dialect. Even more surprising, one of them was definitely a woman. Over the past few days he'd noticed a similar diversity in his watchers, including another woman, who he swore sounded Israeli. They were all professional mercenaries, but they seemed to be hand picked from around the world. Who had the resources to do that? And why?
They began to ascend a flight of spiraling stairs, out of the dungeon. Muffled cries of pain could be heard from the floor above. They echoed off the walls, mingling with the dancing shadows cast by the blinking electric lights.
Tygrus had shouted a few quick orders to the others, asking for Cheetah to come with them, and telling the rest to stay and be ready to move. They, along with Catwoman and Paul followed Tygrus into the forest. The scream had definitely come from her. It wasn't far from their camp. "Not now," Tygrus thought, "We are not ready yet."
They were closing in on her, blasting through brush and by trees at top speed. He couldn't hear anyone else. It was difficult to pick up a scent; the wind was blowing hard to their backs. There could well have been a large force quietly waiting for them in ambush, but they couldn't take the time to be cautious.
He could hear her screams more clearly now. They were screams of agony…but he still couldn't hear anything else near her. Were they torturing her? The trees opened before them, and Yolanda came into view. She was kneeling on the ground…alone.
Tygrus skidded to a halt before her. He looked above her in the trees and saw immediately why she was screaming. He turned away, grimacing with hateful revulsion. The others caught up with him. Catwoman gaped in shock briefly, then lowered her head, whispering curses. Paul sat open mouthed, almost catatonic. Cheetah merely stared. She was the first to speak.
"We can't stay here. This could be a trap. I'll help take them down."
Tygrus nodded. "Selina, help her with the…remains. Don't take them into camp yet. Leave them on the outside rim of our camp until we decide whether to let anyone else see this. I'll carry her." He nodded toward the sobbing lynx.
"It's just…" Paul stammered, "It's just the skins…"
"Paul…" Tygrus' voice was surprisingly stern.
"I'm…fine"
Catwoman at last gained the nerve to lift her gaze from the ground. "I don't recognize the tigress…"
"It's no one special. Just an unlucky one they're using to scare us." Cheetah's calm was beginning to leave Catwoman uneasy.
Tygrus walked up to the lynx, whose cries had settled down. Now she was laying face first on ground below her lover's effigy. She didn't respond as Tygrus took her up in her arms.
"Bring her near the river. Have Ballestros look at her. I'll be right behind. Just be gentle with her." Cheetah said as she climbed the trees toward the two trophies.
"He never knew he was a father…" Selina said sadly.
"We'll have time for mourning later. Help me here."
Much as she despised Cheetah's callousness, she was right. She sunk her claws into the brittle tree bark and ascended toward the gruesome display.
"By the way…" Cheetah said, "Nice fragrance you're wearing these days…"
Batgirl browsed the shelves, examining the various rows of books. These guards had a strange choice in prisons. Leaving her mask on was odd enough, but why lock her in the castle library? It was in a high tower with no means of escape, but she had heard them talking about Batman being locked in the dungeon. Did they run out of rooms? Perhaps they wished to keep them as far apart as possible.
Despite her circumstances, she couldn't help laughing at the fact that they'd locked a part time librarian in a library. At least she wasn't bored. Most of the books were various science journals and notes of Dorian's. The sort of material they had originally come to retrieve in the first place, but that would have to wait. There was also a large collection of classic literature as well. Dorian had been well read. She pulled an especially well worn book from the shelf, Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley.
An appropriate choice for a mad scientist she thought. It had been read several times through, and in fact the pages were torn. Strange, it was almost like someone had been turning the pages with a sharpened needle.
The pride had simply sat in dead silence as Tygrus had broken the news. Even when he chose to have Cheetah bring out the skins, there were no shouts of horror. Catwoman had feared the Cougar would blame Tygrus for letting her die, and leave. Or that some of the others would crack under the stress. But they all seemed attuned to Tygrus as his voice boomed over there heads. Except for Yolanda, who silently stared at the ground.
"They are coming for us, and will not show mercy. Our only option is to fight together here, where we have some protection with the rocks. Or die apart, taken one by one in the forest."
He surveyed the pride slowly, his gaze never blinking. "Follow my words, and we may yet live. Each of you will have missions. Not all of you will fight; but those who do…must do so without holding anything back. Do you understand? Either we must die or they must die. There is no in between. I have attempted to warn them myself many times. They did not listen. We will establish a watch of no less than two people together at a time. Those not on watch will spend every moment when they do not rest preparing for the upcoming battle."
There were no questions, no comments. They simply nodded. Finally the older Gray cat spoke up, a wry smile on his maw. "Well? Your first orders commander?"
After Tygrus had divided them into four groups, he pulled Selina to the side. "Catwoman, I need to speak with you."
"Yes Tygrus?"
"Selina, you are an able fighter. But I have seen you, and know you are not a killer. Not like Cheetah. Or even the former soldiers…nor like me. But I meant what I said. We cannot hold back in this upcoming fight. Can you fight without any reserve?"
Selina let his words sink in. She thought of the smell of human blood she had sensed on Tygrus' hands covering her. She thought of dead men, and whether she would hesitate at the thought of truly ending another life. Then she thought of the skinned people. She thought of the crying mother, of a child not yet born, but fatherless.
Batman would find a way to avoid killing. Or else he would just refuse to kill. He wouldn't cross that line.
She wasn't Batman.
"Yes Tygrus. God help me, I'll do what is necessary to save all these people. Whatever you ask of me, I can do it."
Then they embraced, holding each other tightly for several seconds. Finally Tygrus kissed her lightly on the head. "Thank you Selina. I am sorry for this. But I cannot think of any other way."
"There are none. Don't worry about me or anyone else. Just make your choice and do it. Second guessing will kill us all." She smiled. "But you won't second guess. You'll lead us all, and we'll win." She gently pushed them apart.
"I'm fine now Tygrus. Take care of everyone else."
The doors opened and Batman was shoved forward through them. The lights came on, illuminating a massive glassed in prison. It was filled with well developed jungle foliage. Behind the glass cat people of all colors shot from tree to tree. Some chewed on what appeared to be a slain antelope. A few turned there heads, acknowledging the new arrivals from the other side of the glass briefly, then turned away, disinterested.
Before Batman, centered before the viewing glass, was a man with red hair and a hooked nose. He wore a an unblemished white lab coat and a dignified smile, holding back an almost childlike glee. He stood tall and straight, though clearly secured by the black cane with a cat's head handle he held in his right hand.
"Ah, so good to see again Batman."
Batman stood stunned for a moment, and then gritted his teeth.
"Dorian…"
"Neither caged nor dead. A delightful surprise, don't you agree? I hope you will forgive my accommodations. Not to mention my past rudeness. The last few years have given me time to reflect, and despite our philosophical differences I now see I have more reason to respect you than ever before. In fact your arrival has presented me with a most welcome opportunity to complete my perfect project."
