Gold Digger the Insertion Chapter 13: The cheetahs aren't sleeping tonight

By Alex McLean

This is a fanfiction based on Fred Perry's great work Gold Digger. I use characters, concepts, and artifacts from DC, Marvel, 343, Star Wars, Mass Effect, God of War, Masters of the Universe, Mortal Kombat, Darkstalkers, Street Fighter, King of Fighters, Fox Media, ETC. I don't own these characters I use and I am not making a cent on this so don't sue me.

The party was amazing. Drinks and barbecued zebra filled our stomachs while everyone cheered as Britanny was constantly hounded with questions and it was like every single kid in the village wanted to meet her and wanted to know if she was going to stay.

"Are you sure you can't stay forever?" One kid said as he looked up at Britanny with the "I have a crush on the cute older girl but am way too young for her" feeling going through his mind. Britanny rubbed the kid on his head and smiled at him.

"Sorry kiddo, but I can't. I will visit as often as I can but I have a family in America and someone has to keep my sister safe on her adventures." Britanny said as he looked at Gina who smirked back at Brit. "For all her inherent geekiness she does a lot of good work so someone needs to watch her back. But I promise I'll make sure to visit as often as I can."

"Awe okay." The young one looked a bit broken hearted, but he nodded in understanding. It was nice to finally have an expedition where we weren't currently having to defend our lives. Plus Gina was able to finally do a detailed study on the culture of a lycathrope tribe, and finally get some answers we all had been wanting.

"So not to just cut to the chase here, but could you please tell me how it was that this structure was built and how is it that you aren't all…well dead?" The oldest of the Diggers sisters asked to the group as she recorded everything she saw.

"Isn't that a little blunt super nerd?" Britanny chided her sister, but had to admit it was a question we all were wondering about. The copious amount of food was affecting Britanny's temperament a bit and she seemed to have this relaxed feel to her as she cozied up to me a bit and started to rub up to me affectionately as her chin caressed mine. To anyone who wants to image what a werecat's fur feels like next to you, imagine if you will the most silky and luxurious fur ever brushing your skin and behind that silky feeling was the firmness of Britanny's fantastic muscles. Now when said girl is cozining up to you and lays her rather impressive figure on you it is sort of like having a giant stuffed toy laying on you…if that stuffed toy had the density of a valkarie and vibrated a lot as Britanny was purring with contentment as I wrapped my arm around her waist. Her attention was focused on me for a bit, but then then turned her ears and face towards her sister.

"Yes, but an important one." Gina pointed out. "Till we met Sean earlier, no one else knew that there was a clan of werecheetahs still here in Africa. Heck we didn't know if there was any others in the world. And this hidden covered artificial valley? Where did it come from? Is it a lycanthrope version of Rivendall or did you find it from some sort of lost civilization? How can you not want to know how your people survived Britanny?" Gina was very excited and her very peppy self was filled with all the usual lust for knowledge that she had shown going back all the way to the Time Raft incident and wanting to find Merlin's time machine.

"Yeah I get yea." Britanny admitted as she cuddled next to me. "So Captain would you please be willing to answer my sister numerous questions?" Once again Britanny shifted her ears as they twitched back and forth before focusing on the Captain as he was became the focus in the room.

The old officer smiled a bit and began to spin his story.

"Well my dear lady, that story begins a few years after I was turned into a werecheetah." The whole room became focused on the speaker and all eyes and ears quickly turn to the acting head of the clan. "Now at that time the werecheetahs covered this land in the hundreds. Life was good and food was plentiful. However for all our prosperity the werecheetah clan had the constant problem of securing the one element that is in constant flux in our territory: fresh water."

As the older lycan continued, Gina pressed a button on the side of her glasses and not only recorded the audio but also the video for her research.

"Wait if water is such an issue, how is it that our people numbered in the hundreds?" Britanny asked as she scratched her chin. "Could you filter water or boil it to make it clean enough to drink?"

"A good question my princess." Was her response. "See while humans had clay jars, most werecheetahs subsisted their lack of constant fresh water by consuming another fluid: the blood of their prey."

"You drank blood?" Gina asked as she shivered a bit learning that.

"My dear child I am not a vampire, but yes to prevent the loss of fluid it was our way to drain the blood of our prey and drink it during the dry season. If we didn't then likely would have dehydrated or had to migrate and risk exposure to humans who would endanger our survival…it was always a delicate balance between the good times and the dry seasons where we would have population blooms and struggles to survive. The wild is not an easy place to live child and we do what we had to. We also were a far more migratory group back then as we had to follow our prey and would often break the main group into smaller family units each with their own traditional watering holes that they held as territories that held remaining pockets of food and limited water."

The captain took a moment to collect his thoughts.

"Which is why even a prolonged drought was potentially so dangerous to us, and why your father would be so quick to accept a peace offering from one who had been his life-long enemy: Brendan. Thankfully though the story of this shelter has a far better ending as you see among you." He smiled at this thought and looked at Britanny hoping that this news was not too unsettling to her. My love's response was to smile back and then she tore into the zebra meat in front of her again. While Britanny's near addiction to tuna is very well known, she wasn't about to pass up a free meal. I made sure to enjoy the food as well, but wasn't as enthusiastic as Britanny who ate faster than the rest of us by a wide margin.

"So how did this place come to be and how does this relate to the struggle with water your people have?" Gina asked, becoming more and more curious.

"Well child, during another serious drought back when as I said I had been just turned there appeared to the tribe what for all purposed seemed to be a wised and ancient wizard robbed in white. I was in shock at this one as I barely could gaze upon him due to the radiant white light that radiated like a blazing star came from him. Even his voice was obscured as he spoke that the drought was not as bad as it seemed and with a wave of his hand the gorge you see before you was dug into the ground and this covered ravine appeared. The mystic runes that run throughout these walls actually keep us hidden and in the center of this underground structure was the key to our survival."

The captain then pointed his finger out from the tent to a stone structure with a few buckets around it. Just an old well made of grey stone which was wore by constant use with a simple pully over it without a roof on top. Kind of a quaint water source, but more than enough for the people living here.

"That well you mean?" Brianna asked as she looked to see the stone structure.

"Yes my dear. That well always allow and allowed for a small population to permanently survive here in this covered secret valley. Now it would never support the whole of our tribe as it is too small a resource for everyone to try and draw from, but it was at least the more reliable spot those living here."

"Are there other werecheetah groups Captain?" Britanny asked a she smiled, hoping for a positive answer from the aged soldier.

"Sadly my lady, the answer is no." The words hit Britanny hard, and she squeezed me seeking reassurance. I held her hand and gripped it with love. Her hand oversized mine by a wide margin, but I held her firm as I could. "As the drought that nearly brought our end was so great that every other well and watering hole dried up, and we took in as many as we could, it was clear that there was simply not enough room to house or prey to support the whole clan. Your father knew this and took just everyone else to Ireland with him after Brendan offered to take them in."

"Well, at least you survived, that's more than we knew were alive 72 hours ago." I point out as I continued to try and comfort Britanny. She smiled and kissed me.

"Indeed my good man, which leads me to a question I have for you and my princess." The captain leaned in close. "So when is the wedding?" He smirked at Britanny and I.

I was completely blind-sided by this and Britanny chuckled and giggled as I had no idea how to respond.

"It has been very clear young man that you and our princess are very close and I can smell the two of you have been very intimate and yet neither one of you are wearing wedding rings." He said in a low growl. "Now I don't doubt your love, but I will not have the daughter of my alpha not given the honor and dignity of being bound to her lover before to be their mutual one and only. Now there are two choices before you young man. Either you are going to quickly going to make clear you intend to marry my princess, or you are going to fight me."

I looked the man dead in the eye, smirked, and placed my hand on Britanny's side.

"This is my girl, and I will go through hell and high water for her. The fact I am not yet engaged to her is not because I do not hold her in the highest of esteems and love her with all my heart, but because we only started dating a couple of months ago and I damn sure haven't put her into any position she didn't make clear was mutually desired. So if you want to fight for her honor then by all means, but I will die if needed to protect her and uphold her honor. Are we clear?"

The captain was taken back by me not backing down at his stance on Britanny's sake and it took him a few seconds to relax and smile, then to chuckle and eventually leading to a heart-felt laugh.

"Young man I may not like your mannerisms, and I may very well think you are brash and not at all who I would have picked as the royal consort, but I can't say you don't have the heart and bullocks needed to be worthy of her hand. But I wonder just how far you actually are going to actually follow up your bravado?"

"Uh are we going to have to stop a fight here or make a quick exit?" Gina said as she watched the conversation between myself, Britanny, and the captain with concern.

"Oh there is going to be a fight, but you don't have to worry yourself. See it's not you that is going to be in a fight." One of the women of the werecheetah clan said as she refilled Gina's chalice.

"Huh?" Gina inquired as she leaned closer to hear more.

"The old goat of a captain is pushing your sister's lover into one of our most ancient and important rights of passage and the young man doesn't know it yet." The werecat woman smirked at Gina while blushing.

"So what exactly are you trying to do pal?" I said looking the captain dead in the eye.

"Well young man, while you probably are following whatever rules modern society has between men and women, you are not in your world and here we take honor very seriously and if you don't demonstrate how highly you do honor Britanny, not just love her, then we will not be so willing to accept that you are truly the royal consort and things will become very….difficult for you and you friends."

"Alex it's okay you don't have to prove anything right now." Britanny said as she put her hand on my leg and squeezed firmly enough to let me know she wanted me to stop. "You didn't do anything that you should feel ashamed of and the last thing I want is to have another fight on our hands like we did with the werewolves." Britanny pleaded. "These are my people and the first time I felt like a part of myself that was missing has been found…I don't want to ruin this muffin."

"My lady, if I may speak….while your love together may not be in question, and the young man you love seems to respect you greatly…werecheetahs must survive in the harsh wild and as such he must be willing to prove his martial prowess. Your father had to do the same when he wanted to marry your mother. Do you not have your own set of requirements before an engagement is recognized?"

"Suddenly I feel like I'm playing the role of Lion-O in that one story arch of Thundercats." I mumble to myself. "So what exactly am I supposed to do and is Britanny expected to join on this or am I on my own?

"Sorry kid, but she will have to watch as you get your butt kicked." One of the male werecheetahs said as he got up and cracked his knuckles as he tried to size me up. "So ready to lose in front of your woman?"

"Ready to eat those words raw?" I answered as Britanny slapped me on the back and I shifted my form into one more than able to take this guy on. Who? Well I'm going to let you figure that out.

"Oh this is going to be too easy you slow…poke." The werecheetah's words were cut short as I cleared the distance between us, grabbed him by the shoulders, kicked him right in the chest, and flipped him right out of the house. He landed busted in a twisted position, but got up rather quickly.

"Bub stop talking and start fighting." I said as he recovered and started running at me at super speed. You already figured out who I decided to use and may be wondering why. Aren't werecheetah's the fastest of lycans and should be able to take down just about everyone based on that speed? Well fans that isn't always the case as Britanny couldn't lay a punch on Stripe when she fought him in the comics as he was able to dodge her moves, and when Britanny hit Thabian in the comics when the comic version of Tanya tried to use the werewolves to kill Brit (comics not the one sitting politely at the table with the werecheetahs and Brianna's friend) she dang near broke her foot. So what happened when this werecheetah male in front of me tried to lay a punch on me?

Chrunch!

"Yeaooooww!" He screamed as his fist connected with my skull and I could feel his bones shatter in his hand. The force of the blow hit hard and I could feel my brain rattle a bit, but my own inhuman regeneration was instantly repairing any damage I received and only my head was knocked to the side a bit. Thank goodness for adamantium skeletons as the metal helped keep everything in place rather than have my head go blasting off into Britanny's hands.

"Alex what are you doing?" Britanny said as she jumped from the table and ran to see the two of us in a fight. The lycan male's healing was working well, but his hand looked like rawmeat still and his fingers were crushed.

"Bub just didn't know how hard-headed I am." I smirked as I waited to see what the guy did next. The werecheetah didn't disappoint as he shook off the pain and tried again. Hey if wanted to keep busting parts of his body up while I just kept going then who was I to stop him?

"Yea but a hard head isn't going to save you from the fastest lycan in the world." The guy tried to distract me by running around in circles through the encampment and in-between houses without pattern. Missing every single house and item, the fur covered man was skillfully able to weave and dodge as he ran with ever increasing speed just outside my reach. I waited to see what this guy was going to do. Britanny was faster than him by a wide margin, and the punch I got wasn't the hardest I had been hit by both Jetta and Julia harder than I was by that one punch I just healed from. Still I didn't let my guard down as I kept my sensitive ears and nose focused on getting a read on this guy. Why would the werecheetah be considered equal to the werewolves if even their best in their natural habitat were no physical match when combat was up-close and personal?

"Hey new guy, wanna see the secret of how the werecheetahs got to be Iceron's most favored lycan?" The man sarcastically smirked as he finally lashed out at me and with one moment

SHINKT

That was it. That was the secret all along. Six razor sharp blades extended from his forearms and he tried to slice me with them. I saw that he was aiming for my clothing rather than try to actually bleed me, but one problem with his attack. Going up against someone like Logan with his centuries of experience and hand to hand skill while trying to use his own tools against him? I wanted to see just how good his blades were against the originals, but not quite yet.

He had learned that a direct attack probably wouldn't work so well for him and started his assault by trying to use his claws to deal flesh wounds to me. The guy was moving like he had a rocket strapped to his back, and was careful to avoid getting his claws caught on bone. I could feel his bladed dig into my flesh as he sliced into leg and my gut. I could hear his smirking voice as I had to keep pulling myself up from the ground. My healing factor easily repairing the scratches that would have killed a normal man. Heck the damage to my gut would have splayed my guts all over the ground and probably been a rather unpleasant way to die. You may be asking yourself: Why on earth would you just take the damage rather than attack this catguy? First is that the damage I was being dealt wasn't anything worth worrying about as Logan, and I was too busy learning this guy's pattern. He was fast, but he was very much predictable. For all that speed the guy wasn't apparently adaptive, and this is where experience was a far more valuable gift than just foot speed.

I moved into the path of the werecat and surprised him by rolling right into his legs. He jumped to avoid hitting me and in so doing tried to spread his arms to stabilize himself. This meant that his forward momentum was still going forward and he was going to have to quickly recover by landing and trying to pivot or roll to drop that momentum and come at me again. He tried for the roll into a ball to recover method. Perfect.

As the werecheetah brought his arm together he still had his claws out and he was going to fold his arms together, he found me rise up and…

SHINKTT

Twelve blades met each other as his keratin and bone was stopped dead in it's tracks by my six adamantium. I trapped the lycan's weaker blades between my own and sliced them apart. Bits and pieces of the unnamed werecheetah's claws went flying as he went sprawling onto the ground rolling onto the ground in a heap. The ends of his blades were bleeding slightly as I had cut into bone as I had torn his blade apart, but the flow of blood had stopped quickly afterwards.

"Hey babe watch the body parts." Britanny yelled as Captain Savemore stopped her from interfering. "Hey there, we don't want people's limbs flying into a kid's face or something do we?"

"My princess, you have a part to play in this as well." The Captain said as he placed his hand on her shoulder. "This test is more than just martial skills after all."

My foe stumbled to his feet and cleared his head. "What in the heck are you?" He asked as he took a second to look over me carefully. "And are those metal?"

"Yeah bub whole skeleton's laced with the stuff." I smirked back at him as his healing factor finally repaired all the damage to his fist and his sliced up claws. "Now I don't want to hurt you anymore than you want to be hurt, so how about we end this quickly?"

"Well I would, but since it I have to make sure that you're the best so you would be worthy of Britanny's hand I can't really do that." He smiled as he retracted his blade and I did the same. "But as speed and claws won't do, then how about we settle this man to man?"

"Works for me bub." I smile as we both crack our knuckles and we had another go at each other. He had greater reach, but I had experience and was still too hard for him to try and land body blows on. Our healing factors repaired the damage we inflicted on eachother and I could feel his bones crack from time to time when he tried to land a blow on bone. I tried to grab his injured arm and pin him, but even with his injuries I still wasn't quite strong enough to do that. Instead I got thrown to the ground myself and pinned as lycan super-strength was far greater than I expected. Britanny throwing me? That would make sense as she tossed Colossus no problem, but this guy wasn't as big or as bulky and I wasn't ready to get slammed into the ground as hard as I was.

"So got any more tricks to share?" The male werecheetah asked as I saw his skin and fur heal before my eyes and he smirked thinking he one.

"Just this." I said as I smashed me head into his nose. Instantly blood sprayed out of his nose and my foe bolted back and covered his face. My head stung a bit as my rattled mind started healing and my antagonist was knocked out as the front of his skull was temporarily crushed. While his body was repairing the damage I gave him quickly, as his frontal lobe was smashed the brain damage and bleeding rendered him completely unconscious.

I shook my head as I rose to my feet. It was a desperate and stupid move, but it payed off. Britanny mentioned to me how only silver, magic, or another lycan could kill her or any lycanthrope and so getting literally brained wasn't going to kill the guy, probably have the world's biggest headache though. Oh and why wasn't I worried about all the lycan blood and such? Wolverine's healing factor as a natural X-gene mutation easily could counteract the supernatural infectious nature of lycanthropy and I knew this as in his comics he already had been infected with a werewolf's and even Dracula's fangs drained him of his blood and neither infected him with a supernatural affliction. So it was a pretty safe bet that even with the blood that was spilt and the tissue on the ground I wasn't going to turn furry soon and the werecheetahs seemed to clean the battlefield quickly to prevent infection.

"Alex what in the world did you just do?" Britanny asked almost horrified as she saw the bleeding man on the ground lying there.

"He'll live." I said as I took a few moments to recover my senses. "Probably have the worse sense of hang-over in the world, but he'll live."

Captain Savemore walked up to the man, placed his hand on his head, and smiled as he patted the undamaged back of the man's head. "Well I must say I am completely surprised that you rendered my son unconscious, poor Ben, but you have passed the first test splendidly…although I think my boy will probably be out for a day or two."

"Jinkies, his forehead looks completely crushed…is he alive?" Gina said in awe of the blood all over the place.

"He has had to recover from worst." The captain said as he picked up his son who was coming around. "Hey boy how are you doing?"

The younger man was moving his head from side to side while the front of his head started to pop back into place. His eyes started to open again, even caked in drying blood. "No more for me thanks, I'm driving…." At that point the guy's head popped back and his eyes snapped shut and his muscles went limp again as his tissues were still repairing themselves.

"Well at least he's okay." Brianna said as she pulled out the same med-kit that she used to help treat Britanny earlier. A few seconds later Bri had cleared the blood from the guy's eyes. "Still what was all of that about?"

"Well since the cat is out of the bag, so to speak, I may as well tell you." Savemore. "As it was perfectly clear that Britanny and Alex had been sleeping together, our society has a series of tests that both have to pass to demonstrate they are ready to be married. The first was a fight to demonstrate survival skills and ability to lead in battle as the Alphas are the head of the clan and lead from the front."

"So why did your son, who we still don't know the name of, have to get his head bashed in?" Tanya asked as she took careful mental notes of the whole event.

"Well my boy Brian was the best fighter of our clan, and as such was the best to give the first part of the man on man fighting part of the test. Now we have to get on with the next part of the test, which you are needed for Britanny."

"What am I supposed to do?" Britanny asked as she stood back for a moment and placed her hands over her chest in confusion.

"Well simply put, you are the next challenge."

"I beg your pardon." Britanny said as she looked the captain like he had just grown a second head on his shoulder.

"The first challenge is how he will fight against a foe, the next is how he takes on someone he loves."

This hit me like a lead fist to my stomach. I mean yea Brit and I play wrestled a few times, but that was less about us becoming better fighters and more of a form of foreplay where we could get to know each other more closely. I also was extremely hesitant to fight Britanny as I couldn't not give my best, but I didn't want her to lose face in front of her people.

"So what just wrestle each other to the ground and tease him till he gives up?" Britanny smirks as she placed her arm on my shoulder as I became my normal self once more. Brit pinched my cheek and tried to overwhelm me a bit with her dominating height and her far bigger frame. "Great idea but wouldn't it kind of be shameful of me to put someone I love in such a bad situation."

"Sorry but your father had the same issue and the rules are rules." One of the other werecats said. "And if a human thinks they can hold their own against a lycanthrope then they are sorely…."

In a flash of smoke and a bright light everyone was left speechless and the one werecheetah which dismissed me found his legs instantly tied together with a carbon reinforced wire with a stylized metal bat at the end as the sound of compressed gas releasing was followed by my dark form pushed Britanny to the side as I rose to the top of the face night sky in a woosh.

"Hey let me down ye tosser." The werecat cried as he hung from the rafters like a piece of meat. I then launched myself from one holding brace to another as I wanted to distance myself from the now screaming guy and do the best I could to avoid contact.

"Oh this is going to be FUNNN!" Britanny smiled as she placed her hands together and her eyes went super-wide. She started looking all over the fake skyline and attempted to find me.

"What did he just do?" Said Sean, completely in awe of what had happened.

"He's just proving that a human is just as good as we are." Britanny smirked with delight. I hid and activated detective vision to get a clear indication as to how many noticed I was up here and if Britanny was headed my way.

"Wait let me pull him up." Brianna said as she was about to pull up her visor.

"Nah Bri, this is between him and me and I'm going to have to prove I'm just as good as he is." Britanny was smiling at this chance to push yourself and I saw her run up to where I was hiding, but not knowing exactly where I was. I knew that any contrast between the night's sky and me would instantly get me found and so focused on changing the costume from the classic black that was a great fit for Gotham City, to one of the blue hued ones that made me almost invisible.

"Hey muffin, here comes the Cheetah train." She said as she jumped up almost completely blind to where I was and just attempted to jump up toe the ceiling covering the village. She reached out and grabbed the same structures I had been holding onto.

"Did she just jump over 40 feet into the air?" the very same female werecheetah that was talking to Gina earlier said in awe.

"Yea so?" Gina said recording everything. "I know cheetahs are known for speed over agility, but aren't all lycans far superior to humans in all physical abilities?"

"Well yes, but none of us can do anything close to what our princess just did." The whole tribe was in awe of Britanny's agility.

I saw her approaching by swinging herself from the connecting struts that bracketed the surface. I could feel the metal and stone of the ceiling, but saw the stars behind me as if they were projected from behind me. I knew that I would be found soon enough at this rate and so tossed a baterang towards one of the metal brackets near Brit. She instantly noticed the flying projectile as her ears moved back and forth as she locked onto woosh of the incoming projectile and took notice when it clanged against the support strut.

"Now what was that?" She smirked as she moved hand over hand and then hung upside down for a moment to try and find me. I guessed her ability to detect infrared was going to be a challenge for me as I too jumped from one holding spot to another ducking out of her line of sight before dropping down to glide a bit and then grapple line to another spot far from her.

As soon as I fired the grapple line Britanny took notice of me and I was sure she could tell about where I was and dropped down to the ground twisting her body with fantastic skill as a mid-air ballerina would and landed in a position where she was already prone to rush again. She smiled again and then bolted towards where I was and jumped up again with the launching force as if a freight train was bounced off the world's strongest trampoline. I couldn't just stay put and dodged again by jumping between bracing bar to bracing bar and swinging myself to get distance. Our competition had become a challenge of wits as Britanny was faster than I, but she could only use that speed on the ground and had the gift of infrared vision and super-hearing. I however was able to keep to the skies and had greater air recoverability and equaled her in agility. My detective vision and acoustic sensors were a good match for her senses, but my grapple wire and cape were probably my best tools for remaining unseen.

To pass the test, to give her the best, and ensure that there was no question as to both of our skills, I became the night slipping silently as I could so as to not give Britanny any chance to find me. Again and again we went through the cycle of me evading and Brit jumping. While I had to desire to prolong Britanny's challenge I was absolutely against harming the woman I loved dearly.

"Okay Alex I get what you are going for, but this shit is getting old." Britanny said as she once more jumped upwards to me.

I selected my line launcher and was able to fire my line to another bracket and instead of gliding I went rushing across the line with my legs up holding the launcher in my right hand. Halfway down the line I pressed the release switch and jumped on top of the line. I then slowly walked the line till I was positioned half-way between the two metal brackets.

"Alright muffin this is game is getting on my nerves and I am not a bouncy ball." Britanny yelled out to me as she tried to find me. My virtual invisibility was working well, but Britanny was getting beyond frustrated at me. I needed to end this unless I wanted my girl to really not like me. See dear reader I could hear Britanny's breath becoming labored and with each continued jump her arms were obviously having to struggle a bit more trying to reach a secure handhold.

"Okay where are you hiding you Batfink knock-off?" Britanny growled as she started feeling around for me. My cloak hid me so well that she hadn't a clue where I had gotten off to, which allowed me to sneak closer to her and attempt to face her up here where she was at a tactical disadvantage.

"Okay muffin this was fun but I seriously am getting tired of this." My love's voice was labored and she kept breathing heavily and she pawed away the sweat from her face as she now gripped the anchor point with enough force I swore I could almost hear the metal bend in her grip. This did need to end fast before something really bad happened.

I followed down the line I shot off and carefully pulled out a baterang while getting close to my love. I slowly and silently pulled it back. Carefully aiming the projectile far from where Britanny was, I let the thing fly out and see as Britanny's super-hearing picked up the sound of the flying bat-shaped classic comic book device headed towards her, and clag against the ceiling. She tried to follow where it came from but I was using her focus on my projectile to cover the sounds of my moving as best I could. This plan seemed to be working as I got closer and closer to Brit without her eyes seeming to focus on me.

I carefully got as near as I could and was going to try and bounce from the line and try to tackle her from below and take her out at her legs. This plan didn't work at all sadly.

"There you are you costumed pest." Britanny smiled as you figured out where I was and barreled at my general direction and with what I will forever call blind luck grabbed at me as I tried to push off of the wire and grapple to another spot. This didn't fair well as I jumped off the guide wire and Britanny didn't see that I was standing on top of a rather strong cord.

"Wait Brit don't…" I tried to yell at her and all the awesome that is the girl I love jumped at me with all her remaining strength and her passing between the ceiling and the wire just a little too low and her cloths catching on the wire which resulted in the unstable molecular clothing getting caught and stretching as Britanny caught my foot.

"Finally I GOT YOU!: Britanny yelled with joy as she clamped down hard and tried to pull me close to her. The massive smile on her face was going to be short lived as her top popped open and her forward momentum was shifted going down and throwing her and me towards the ground.

"Oh shit…" She said and I thought.

"Human form now." I told her as I grabbed my grapple gun and held her close to me. The rush of air as she dropped in height and the sensation of her tight grip around my chest and her legs thrown around my waist. I wasn't going to be able to use the grapple gun with my weight off like it was so I spread my cloak out and allowed the fabric to form the glide surface and started to drift down to the ground gently. Now with not only added weight but also my aerodynamics thrown off with my love tightly holding me caused all the usual balances to be off, I had to focus ever more closely on maintaining our stability least both of us came crashing down hard. Brit probably would be fine, but I was in no mood to have to recover from a huge fall. As such I guided us in wide loops which descended us both without causing the gliding surface to lose stability.

"Well muffin looks like I finally completely caught you." Britanny said as she snuggled me tight. "So much for your plan of winning by not fighting me."

"Did any'a see what happened?" Sean said from below while I focused on the fall and Britanny just hung on tightly.

"No. Just canna see a thing…." Megan said as Cheets and I carefully glided down to the ground where the lack of lights. "Hey there, someone be moving there." The young girl pointed towards me and I was surrounded by everyone as I was still covered by my cape and having bent down to gently absorb the impact of the landing. I rose up, still covered by the cape as everyone surrounded me.

"Oi, where be the princess? What ye do to her ye tosser?" Megan asked as I stared her down without a word, which got her to recoil in absolute terror because "Batman" reasons. I then pulled back my cloak to show a very much alive Britanny clinging tightly to me just barely keeping her eyes open from exhaustion.

"Britanny is unharmed, tired but unharmed in the slightest." I said as Brit had a dearthgrip on my chest and would be squeezing the life out of me if not for the whole armor thing.

"And I freaking got you honeybuns." She said laying a series of kisses on me.

"What happened?" Megan was the first to ask.

"And more importantly does this count as a challenge?" Captain Savemore asked as he looked the scene over. "Which depends on what happened."

"Simple really." Britanny said as she turned to look at the crowd. "You said that a human would have no chance that a human being could take on a werecheetah right?" Britanny kinda yawed while saying this. "But at the same time, he had to fight me to prove himself worthy for my hand." She nuzzled me. "So he choose the one perfectly human being who could hold his own."

"Wait he isn't some sort of bat spirit come from the netherworld? But what about?"

"Did you have to say that Britanny?" I groaned as I patted her on the head. My grim disposition did not drop for a moment.

"But I have to brag about you in front of all of my people." Britanny said as she continued to nuzzle me.

"Okay enough." Savemore said as he stepped forward. "I want to hear from you what happened." The head of the werecheetahs clan said pointing towards me.

"Britanny was partially right." I said as I looked Savemore in the eye. "I decided to show you just how capable humans are, but I also couldn't raise my hand against Brit…so I chose to stall for time and try to come up with a plan. What I didn't expect was that she was able to follow me."

"Wait you weren't expecting me to follow you to the ceiling?" Britanny blinked in shock.

"While it was clear that you have fantastic athletic capabilities and I have seen you jump in manners that would be unexpected to say the least, I had no knowledge that you were able to reach where I was by shear force of will. When I saw that you could reach me, I changed my plans to avoid direct conflict and hope to keep Britanny on her toes without direct engagement."

"So in other words?" Savemore said.

"I stalled for time." I answered which received a head nod in response. "When I saw that Britanny was getting exhausted from the constant running and jumping over and over again, I tried to subdue her with stealth and misdirection. I knew that most tricks wouldn't work on her, but she seemed to be even more adaptable than I hoped and I wound up having to save us both from the fall."

"Well I don't think I was in any permanent danger, but you were so worried about me that I could just keep holding you all night." Britanny said, trying to not fall asleep in her deathgrip on me.

"Well dad, what do you think?" the now somewhat more conscious younger Savemore said as he staggered a bit. The blood in his head not yet fully removed by his healing factor.

"The point of these tests are to provide absolute proof as to the character of someone who would be the future Alpha and the hand of the princess. You demonstrated your skills against a foe willing that you thought may be willing to take your life, and I would say passes smashingly…perhaps too literally, as you not only defeated my son but also spared his life when it was clear he no longer was a threat to you. You also choose an extremely unconventionally answer to the second challenge of having to face a loved one in battle and in so doing not only did you pass you test, but you also gave our princess the chance to show her own skills and abilities and passed without laying a hand on her….even if I may say she seems to have bested you in her own way as well." As Captain Savemore said this Britanny stuck out her tongue at me playfully, then licked me.

"Yep I got him alright." Cheets bragged as she finally let her deathgrip on me go and proceeded to just lay at my side.

"And a human doing so no less…." The Captain gave this a deep thought.

"Something wrong with that?" Gina asked him, as she continued to record the whole affair.

"No no child. It is just that never before has a human outlasted a lycanthrope in anything…this is completely unheard of." The captain said in awe. "Not to mention how on earth you landed unhurt from such a fall."

"So I take it that the two of them being a couple is no longer a problem according to your culture?" Tanya asked, taking careful mental notes that equaled Gina's recordings.

"Ma'am them being a couple was never in question, and these tests remove any question as to that validity, but that a human was able to outlast our princess when she demonstrated her own unbelievable agility….It is a shock to say the least…what did they feed you growing up my princess?"

"What? I just work out all the time…can't you all do that anyway?" Britanny asked.

"No my lady. I mean….you through whatever raising or training surpass our own abilities and yet you young man were able to best her.."

"I must correct you. I didn't fully best her." I said, very much still Batman. "She was able to catch me, but in her doing so I couldn't allow her to come to harm and so glided us both to the ground accepting that she got me." I looked down at one very happy werecat attached to my side. "So tell me, how does this play out?"

"Well for one yea gave us one of the biggest demonstration of acrobatics we have ever seen." The same female that had talked with Gina earlier chuckled. "And it was an absolute pleasure to watch m'lady." She addressed Brit.

"It was fun too, but this kitty is seriously tired." Brit said as she did the cutest yawn ever and rubbed her cheek against my leg. This juxtaposition of one of the most feared characters in all of the DC Universe being so blatantly nuzzled shocked Gina…who was trying her hardest to avoid looking at Batman's visage directly. Her fear of bats well known.

I rubbed Brit's head passively while keeping my current form, least anyone who thought that attacking a human who was spent after holding off the most agile werecheetah ever.

"After that I be shocked ifa didn'a conk out." Sean said in shock. "Told yea was too strong for a werecheetah…" This resulted in my glaring at him till he shirked in fear away.

"She is your princess is she not?" I said. At this everyone agreed and nodded their heads. "Then is it so hard to believe that she would not be the best that her people could ask for?"

The candid comment in Batman's stoic voice put an end to any discussion on the topic and made the werecats realize that both the princess and the one who was her champion had passed the culture's test while also showing respect to the werecheetah society we just met.

"Well this is certainly completely unexpected, but then again so was seeing our princess again." The captain said as he took in all that had happened. "I guess that means only one thing."

"And that would be?" Britanny asked as she blinked.

"Da be simple my princess." Megan smiled as Britanny looked at her ruler. "We need to party even more to celebrate you and Alex's engagement."

"Our what?" I said as I shifted back to myself as the shock completely caught me off-guard and I was unable to keep focused on Batman. This shock was met with Britanny smiling and hugging me while kissing my face up one side and down the other.

"Do you now refuse the princess's love young man?"

"Are you nuts? Of course not….I just…well I figured it was the lady's choice who she decided to marry, not a prize to be won." I sad as I held Britanny close to me. "Besides I don't have a ring to give her."

"Oh pish posh young man." The Captain chuckled as many around me smiled. "A ring can be bought later and you think that she could wear anything metal in human and hybrid forms that won't cause her pain or fall off her hand? Now are you a man or not?"

"I am a man." I nearly growled at the captain. "And I am her man, and she already is hit the hay after that performance and my lady has asked me to take her to bed. When she has gotten some rest, I will ask her what her wishes are." I picked Britanny up in my arms and she relaxed as she wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed me again. "Are we going to continue to argue this here, or will you have to explain why the lady's wishes are not being respected?"

"Alex…you okay?" Britanny whispered in my ear as I walked up to the captain.

The captain obliged me by stepping aside and pointing my way to a hut which Brit could use to rest. I laid Britanny on the bed in a similar way that she did for me when I about passed out after the Armeggedon events.

"Could she and I…have some time to talk by ourselves?" I asked Gina directly and she nodded in agreement.

"Okay people let the two have some to themselves. Trust me they earned it." Brianna yelled out to the crowd who were a little let down.

"I hope that we didn't do something wrong." Megan said a little brokenhearted.

"Knowing Alex and Brit? Not at all." Gina said to the kid. "What I really think is going on is that Alex wants the choice to be Britanny's."

"And ye know that how exactly?" Megan asked with her arms under her breasts trying to intimidate Gina.

"Because I've seen how much he cares for her. When the two were getting super-lovey dovey and looked like they may finally do the deed Britanny wasn't ready, and I saw that guy in that tent not only not get upset but 100% respected her limits and wanted her love and respect. For someone like that to not consider Cheetah's desires just isn't him. Heck he had a sparing competition with our mother right after that and still respected Britanny's wants before his own."

"I didn't know that." Brianna said in awe.

"Yep. Mom thought it was one of the sweetest things and why she has never needled Alex about dating Brit….that and she is too busy preparing for the Armsmasters tournimate."

I didn't listen to much after that as I placed Brit on the bed and cupped her hand in mine as I kneeled by her side.

"Hey." I said to her once we had some privacy.

"Hey…you okay babe?" She asked me. Those green within green eyes full of feeling and worry as I gazed into her.

"Well…I had to face down a rampaging werecat afterwards had to try and find a way to face you without bringing myself to harm the woman I love, and then face one of my biggest fears, then get blindsided by an engagement when I never got a chance to get more than a few months of dating with you…."

"So you don't want to…."

"Wha…no no no that wasn't what I meant….I…Brit my fear was that I was going to see you hurt in the fall, not that we may be engaged. I want a relationship with you, and that really is why I…well didn't know what to say and wanted to talk with you about it."

"Awe Alex." She kissed me and hugged me. "You are such a romantic fool, and I love you. So what do you think about being engaged to me?"

"Depends on if you want to be Mrs. Britanny McLean rather than Britanny Diggers…which is why I wanted to….let you decide." I cupped her hands In mine as I was still kneeling and let her situp on her knees on the bed. "This probably isn't how either one of us thought it would turn out…nor how I ever imagined falling in love with someone…" I started.

"What a sweet guy and a sexy girl always fall in love dear." Brit said holding our hands together to her chest. "So what was I your dream girl waifu back home?"

"Yea…you really were, and why I want so much for this to work as you are so special. I mean heck you aren't just physically beautiful, but a very smart, sweet hearted, strong, and kind person who I have genuinely respected for years and years. And I never thought I would meet in real life."

"Well muffin you did. And guess what."

"What?"

"You short-sell yourself too much. Of course I like you. I've seen the person you are on the inside. You're someone blunt, brash, but also kind and brave. You have a jealous streak to you, but then again so do I…and when you tease me sometimes you always do your best to make me happy, plus you make the best cookies I have ever had and help people whenever you can. Heck lesser people of character would use your gifts to rule the world, but you used your talents to help people and even was the first person to be Brianna's friend because she needed one and not because you wanted to have sex with her. You even waited for me and made me feel like the most important girl in your life." Britanny smiled at me.

"Well you are the most important girl in my life." I smiled at her.

"Well thanks. So what do you think of actually getting engaged rather than just teasing eachother about future plans?"

I reached into my pocket and tried to find something, anything I could use, and found in it my college ring. It wasn't ideal and sure wasn't what I thought I was going to use. But heck life isn't about when we are ready but we have to react when we are called.

"Britanny Elin Diggers, will you have me to be your husband for better or worse. In sickness and in health?"

"Those are wedding vows cute stuff not engagement vows." She giggled slightly.

"Okay fine how am I supposed to ask this then?" I smirked back at her.

"Well ask it from your heart. What do you want?"

"Brit, I want to share my life with you…I want you to be part of my world as you have welcomed me into yours…and to have someone who loves me as a fellow person share in the good times and bad…and I want to make you happy."

"Oh muffin." She teared up a bit. "You give the best engagement a girl could ever ask for." She hugged me on and off again during this and was on the verge of tears.

"What?"

"You helped me find all the bits of my family, have been the best boyfriend ever, and are such a gentleman, so of course I'll say yes." She grabbed the ring in my hand, put it on her finger and kissed my lips, and then kissed my bald head. "Awe you are blushing so much. So what am I wearing?"

"My college ring. It was all I had to offer." I said as I smiled at my lady who was looking over her new bling.

"Auburn University?" She noticed. "So I guess this cheetah is marrying a tiger huh?" she smirked as she rubbed the ring up and down with her fingertips

"A tiger, bobcat, lion, wildcat mix. All my school mascots have been cats of one sort…" This caused Britanny to giggle a bit. "But really I wanted to have this be what showed my seriousness in my desire to have a relationship with you…and."

"Alex you can stop rattling on now." Britanny said patting my head. "So do you want to ask me something?"

"Well…Britanny do you want to marry me?"

"OF COURSE I DO!" She said as she tackled me to the ground and covered me in kisses. She then shifted into her hybrid form and continued kissing me, and then shifted into her animal form and licked me up and down my face while having me pinned to the ground. Her tail threatened to destroy everything in the room as it was moving back and forth as if she had down five extra large expressos. I just wrapped my arms around her neck, barely able to do so.

"Well I guess that seals it huh?" I said as Britanny laid next to me and shifted back into her hybrid form. I could feel the warmth of her body radiating all over me and her purring was making my whole body vibrate like I was strapped to a massage chair going off in a earthquake. A very nice chair with two large massage gel bulges and a very tight cage of firm muscle that wasn't about to let go of me.

"Most definitely muffin."

"Does this mean that you two are actually formally engaged now?" Brianna asked as she poked her head into the room.

"Yes, but party later, sleep now." Britanny was not letting go of me as she as snuggling next to me on the floor.

"Agreed, but could we do so in bed." I said as Britanny continued to hold onto me like I was her stuffed toy. "I could use a good night's sleep."

The night was a short one as Britanny and my contest had taken a number of hours, far more time than I had thought possible, but both her and I were so out of it that neither one of us could be woken until well after the sun had taken hold of the heavens. I was the first to open my eyes, but was unable to remove my lover from me as she and an extremely strong grip on my torso and her head bumping up against my own. Her soft purrs and mermers, and a bit of drool on my chest, were all that she gave me as I attempted to sit up. She, however, decided that she wanted to stay in bed and that I was too nice a pillow to let go of. As soon as I tried to sit up I felt her incredible arm muscles pin me down to the bed. I kept trying to move but as I tried to slip from under her arm instead of move her arm she just pulled me closer and wrapped her left leg around my hip and pulled her knee back holding me completely trapped in her embrace. Her thick calm and thigh muscles pinned me with little difficulty. It was like I was being snuggled by a furry, supple coated, metal press.

"Dear, sweetie, could you please let me go?" I said as I attempted to free myself from my possessive love interest.

"Never letting you go muffin." She murrmered in her sleep. A little bit of drool coming out of her mouth as she licked me. "I got you and I'm never giving you up."

Well if you can't politely get her to do what you like, then got with embariss her into it.

"We're no strangers to love, you know the rules and so do I…" I started singing, as Britanny was still very much asleep. "A full commitment is what I'm thinking of. You wouldn't get this from any other guy…."

Okay this isn't exactly true as the comics indicated there were still many good men in the world who took the duties of marriage seriously as the women did. But if the internet did exist in any way at this time then it may just be enough for her to focus on laughing and not on cuddling me like a stuffed toy.

"I just want to tell you how I'm feeling. Gotta make you understand. Never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down, never gonna run around, won't desert you. Never gonna make you cry, never gonna say good bye. Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you."

I don't know if I was going to have to do the choir of this as Britanny seemed to be waking up and become more aware.

"We've known eachother for so long. Your hearts been aching, but you're too shy to say it." Shy is not a word I would actually use to describe Britanny. Be it with her opinions or her emotions. She made it clear where we stood as far as intimacy went, she made it clear her feeling to me were, and she was far more blunt about things than I was as I was absolutely worried that I was going to ruin my chances with her. But those were the lyrics and I didn't have the time or the interest in customizing the song.

"Inside we both know what's been going on. We know the game and we're gonna play it." Well if we were officially engaged, then dang well we were going to go through this together as partners. Britanny had by this time awoken and was looking me dead in the eyes as she wondered what on earth I was going with this, and just the hind of a smile on her lips.

"And if you ask me how I'm feeling, don't tell me you're too blind to see..Never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down, never gonna….MUFFF." I was stopped as I had half-way completed the repeated lines and didn't have to do the choir. Why had I stopped? Because a certain werecheetah was kissing me on the lips and trying to pin my tongue while sucking harder that I thought was possible.

"Muffin, what on earth were you doing?" Britanny giggled as she moved on top of me. Pinning me to the bed by my shoulders under her powerful hands. "And what was that you were singing?"

"Well I was trying to get you to wake up and that seemed to work." I honestly told her. "And the song fit both what you said and us….so what do you think of my singing?"

"Honestly, it's probably the most ridiculous love song I've heard and the most mediocre sound to boot." Britanny said as she lowered herself to me so that our noses were touching. "But as a dedication to me and our love then I am impressed." She rubbed her nose to mine and we kissed again as I run my hand across the extremely tight and defined muscles of her lats and abs. Ever wonder how come Britanny has such a tiny waist in comparison to the rest of her body. Well her frame was so tight you could bounce a bowlingball off her tummy. If she did crunches while holding a steel bar, she would bend it as easy as you bend a wire twist-tie.

"Anything that I can do to make you happy." I said to her as I tried to enjoy our private time together.

"Well future husband, lets enjoy our time together and then get breakfast." I agreed with my future wife with a tender kiss and having some practice for our future honeymoon. With how crazy the last few days had been, it was great to get some personal time with the one I love.

To be continued….