Though the sun was rasing higher in the late morning sky, it couldn't be seen though the dark storm clouds that cast Megakat City into deep twilight. The winds had grown even more dangerous, blowing at hurricane force as a hard rain fell to lash fiercely across the city. Many businesses closed due to the extreme storm, including the garage in the old salvage yard at the southern end of the city.
Chance and Jake spent most of the day down in the hanger, doing repairs to the Turbokat and working on making more flashbulb and spider missiles to replace the many they had used on the vast hordes of flying demons the past few nights. Jake had modified the spider missiles, calling the newer ones 'snare missiles', so that they no longer connected to the jet via a long cable, and instead of closing in on their target they instead spread out even wider, the steel mesh covered in a sticky film and numerous sharp barbs to further hinder and damage the demons.
Around noon, Chance called the phone in the girl's motel room to check on them, having seen the numerous injuries that they had taken the night before. However, when he called, the phone was instead answered by the hotel manager in the main office, who informed the tabby that the two she-kats had already checked out and left earlier that morning.
Jake's ears went back when Chance told him that the girls had left. He remembered Star telling him the day before of how she and Elena always leave before letting themselves get too involved, and now he feared that they had done just that. Both toms wondered if they would ever see the pair of shape-shifters again. But they both knew that they had to put it aside for now, and focus on preparing for what was still to come. There was still one more night before the portal was supposed to open, and for all Hell to literally break loose.
As the dim remnants of daylight began to fade, Chance looked out at the raging storm and howling winds. He knew that with a storm that fierce, most of the Enforcer choppers and jets would most likely be grounded, and even his flying skills in the Turbokat would still be a real challenge. He hoped that if there was any good to come of the gale force winds, it would make it difficult for the demons as well.
Thankfully he was right as far as the flying ones were concerned, seeing none of them at all that night. Unfortunately, they encountered new threats instead. Hundreds of small imp-like creatures and several dozen horse-sized beasts resembling emaciated panthers or wolves with no true skin, spines down their backs and writhing tentacles coming from the burnt black muscles of their sides were wreaking havoc on the streets below. Razor had to use the cyclotron to deal with the beasts on the ground more than he helped from the jet.
The Enforcers were mostly grounded, their choppers unable to cope with the fierce storm. Unfortunately the rain flooded many of the streets as well, so that they also had a very difficult time with their ground units. This time though, the demons weren't spread out across the city, but centered in a ten square mile radius on the western side of the city.
The entire night proved to be very long and difficult for everyone involved, though not once was there any sign of the Pastmaster, or of the two werewolves. It was nearing 3am when the Turbokat finally returned to the hanger. The two Swat Kats were quite exhausted, but knew that they still had work to do in preparation, since the actual event that all of this chaos was leading up to was supposed to happen at mid-day, less than 10 hours away now. They didn't know if they'd be able to continue using the jet though if the storm continued to worsen, and worried about what would happen on the ground when the portal did finally open.
It was a little after 8am when the pair finally managed to rest a bit, hoping to get at least a few hours of sleep. No longer under the influence of the werewolves' spell, Chance's sleep was dreamless. Jake's however way not. In his mind he saw Star, though it was nothing like the dreams that she had previously created for him. The slim tom tossed restlessly in his sleep as the dream continued.
.
Star was in her werewolf form, knelt down in the center of a pentagram carved into the floor of a massive, elaborate stone temple. The floor, walls, and ceiling were all carved of reddish-gold stone, and in front of her a pair of giant stone doors stood open, a Hellish red glow emanating from within them. The portal to Malfeas had opened.
Dozens of the smaller bat-like demons flew from the portal, swirling around the werewolf and attacking her with thier claws and spiked tails. Star's pelt was slick and matted down with her own blood from many gashes covering her body, but still she continued trying to cast her spell to close the portal again, ignoring the beasts that swarmed around her trying to stop her.
Then a massive form began to emerge from the portal. An enormous cloven hoof stepped out, , followed by a second as the monster stepped through into the mortal world. His size was emensce, nearly as large at the Kachu Pichu mummies had been. Te beast's form resembled that of a werewolf, with pitch black fur covered over from head to hoofed feet in strange ash-grey glyphs. His eyes glowed a deep red, his claws extremely long and shiny black, and from his head protruded a pair of massive black ram's horns that curled around behind and under his lupine ears.
Blood pooled on the stone floor around Star, who was now growing very weak from the damage and bloodloss at the claws of the lesser demons. Arawn laughed, a deep bone-shattering sound that resonated throughout the entire stone temple. "Cease your chanting, daughter. It is too late. You have failed this time."
Kneeled down on the floor, Star's breath came in ragged gasps, yet she still defied the demon lord. "N... never... I'll... send you back... to Hell... where you belong..."
"That is where you'll find yourself if you do not give up now. Your blood stains the floor of my temple, and it's very essence feeds me. Join with me, as you should have long ago. Or suffer for all eternity in Malfeas."
"No!"
The massive demon was now fully out of the portal. A strong wind whipped through the temple, and the lesser demons swarmed around him on it's currents like thousands of bats. The beast towered above the smaller female now on her hands and knees, back in her she-kat form and fighting just to remain conscious.
"Then die, my daughter. Your time on this world is over. And mine now begins."
He raised his hands high, and the long black claws began to glow with a dark unnatural light. The deadly energy then shot down from then like bolts of lightning into the she-kat Star screamed out in pure agony as she collapsed onto the ground in the pool of her own blood. As the dark power surged through her body, her fur was charred completely off, her skin blackened. Moments later, her screaming fell away to silence as her body crumbled to ash.
The demon lord laughed, his soul-less voice echoing beyond the temple to carry across the entire city as the ground began to tremble and quake, shaking the many huge skyscrapers to their very foundations as the storm continued to rage even more deadly than ever before.
.
"NOOOO!"
Jake shot straight up in bed, his heart pounding in his chest, his breathing fast and heavy. His fur was completely matted down with sweat as he stared wide-eyed straight ahead of him, focusing on nothing but the images he had seen in his mind. A moment later, Chance ran in wearing only a pair of boxers, having been awoken from his own sleep by his friend's scream.
"Jake! What happened?!"
It took the smaller tom several moments to catch his breath enough to speak, his voice and body both still trembling in shock and fear. He explained to Chance the best he could of what he had seen in his dream. Of the temple, and the demon lord Arawn coming out of the portal, killing Star and beginning to lay waste to the city with storm and earthquake.
Chance sighed and did his best to assure his friend that it was only a nightmare, and that things wouldn't happen that way.
"Star isn't alone. Elena will be with her to help fight the demons that come out of the portal. We'll take care of the ones above ground, and they'll stop the ones in that temple, wherever it is."
Jake still wasn't convinced though, insisting that somehow they needed to find that temple. To be able to help. The tabby tried to convince him otherwise, but knew inside that Jake was partly right, and that the smaller tom wouldn't give up either.