It worked! Black fog mixed with streaks of red started materializing and melding together. After a while they finally turned physical and I was presented with four massive dogs with pitch black coats of fur and dark blood red eyes. When I went up to pet one I discovered that they were not dogs, they were hyenas. I knew quite a bit about my animals and the last time I checked hyenas did not stand at chest height and were not the thickness of two lions combined. I mean, the muscles on these lads were ridiculous, they were like bodybuilders!

To make things worse when I tapped them they felt like rocks! These boys might even be stronger than me!

“Slap me, but not too hard, I’m scared of dying.”

The hyena in front of me lifted its paw up and pushed it into my chest at a moderate speed. The force that entered my chest was significant enough to make me not want to take a full powered hit. If this was the case…

“You must be hungry right? Feel free to eat, not me of course.”

They four of them pounced onto the body and began ravenously tearing it apart while swallowing large chunks of… I don’t even know what they were putting in their mouths anymore. One thing was for certain though, their legendary jaw strength was there and it had been buffed as much as they had been. The one who managed to grab her skull with its mouth easily crushed and swallowed it. These guys would make my life so much more interesting!

I watched in glee as my new friends happily ate. I had always enjoyed watching animals eat other animals, something about it was so intriguing, like seeing a glimpse of the world’s secrets. After watching to my heart's content I went to check out the armor, if I could get the equipment to be secure I would be a lot safer. First, I checked the inside of the helmet for any kind of technology. My main goal was to get rid of any self-destruct devices or trackers. So far I hadn’t seen anything off with the helmet, so I moved on to the suit and searched inside and out.

The inside was made out of some strange fiber that felt like a mix between cloth, rubber, and metal. The outside was entirely plated in what I figured to be some kind of black metal alloy. I smacked it a couple times with the gun and didn’t make a mark of any kind. It was more than likely bulletproof. The entire thing seemed to not contain any kind of electronics, it was simply a suit.

I moved onto the shotfu- shotgun and my oh my was it beautiful, a semi-automatic auto loading model with military configuration. The under barrel had a flashlight which amazingly had a laser in the middle, each controlled with a specific small button on the side. I nearly blinded myself when I accidentally turned on the strobe function trying to turn it off. Then there was-

Crack!

What? I thought they had already finished eating. I turned around and saw all of my companions lying on the floor having seizures. What the fuck man! I had just gotten them!

“What’s going on idiots!? Was she poisoned or something? I thought you guys had indestructible stomachs! I swear to god if you all die on me I’m gonna crawl to hell to kill you again!”

They continued to spasm and I could’ve sworn my eyes were playing tricks on me but their limbs started to elongate with every crack I heard. When they finally stopped transforming they all stood up on their hind legs and towered over me. These fuckers had really decided to just become humanoid all of a sudden huh?

“You all good?”

They all gave me a silent nod… they were smarter now too? Could they talk?

“Can you guys talk?”

A silent no.

“You guys can still do your laugh though, right? We’re gonna need that.”

They immediately opened their mouths and wild high pitched laughter leaked out of their mouths.

“Awesome! This is great.”

How did they become humanoid? The only thing that had happened in between them turning from normal hyenas to were-hyenas was… so they were like me? Would eating other types of animals let them gain their traits too?

“Let’s go catch some cats, you guys should have good noses right?”

One of them walked over and turned their back to me before kneeling.

“Woah, you wanna carry me? Gimme a sec, I need to do something.”

I got out of the costume and into my underclothes then slipped inside the armor and slowly figured out how it worked, the split parts of the armor had magnets that connected them to each other. Once I placed my palms onto the rings and twisted the other way the armor locked into place and I was sealed in. I did the same with the helmet and looked through the visor, it was completely clear and didn’t obscure my vision despite being pitch black on the outside.

I layered the clown costume over the armor to continue my masquerade then went over to check on the tablet that had been dropped. The red dot was still flashing on the screen, I walked around on the rooftop and the red dot moved correspondingly. Was the suit bugged? Were they using the tablet as a map for themselves? I took off the suit and walked around some more and the red dot continued to move. So the tablet was bugged. I should play a few tricks then.

I put the suit back on and recalled the hyenas then got down from the building and ran in an erratic pattern until I got a couple blocks away. I entered a dark alleyway and punched the walls as if I was fighting an invisible demon. After that I dropped the tablet and crushed it with the heel of my foot. I scurried away and kept moving until I felt like I was at least a mile away before summoning the hyenas again.

“Let’s go.”

I climbed onto the back of one of the hyenas and they took off into a wild sprint. I was nearly tossed off by the sheer speed they were moving at, how were these guys even faster than me? They had reverted to running using all four of their limbs and I had to admit that the mechanics of their bodies were beautiful in design. Their legs propelled them forwards in large hops with a trajectory nearly parallel to the ground and their arms pulled them forwards and gave them a momentary boost of speed.

They then pulled their legs forward and repeated all those motions again. It was a perfect visual representation of the ideal method of locomotion I had imagined predators having, using every ounce of their strength and every piece of their body to pull themselves towards their prey. I couldn’t put the speed we were moving at into numbers but I could count us flashing by at least five cars every second and that was with my perception of time slowed down. To everyone else we probably just looked like a blur of darkness.

After a few sharp turns all the hyenas suddenly braked and formed a circle around something. I looked inside the center and saw a brown cat scrunched up and hissing at us.

“Do you guys all need to eat or does it just have to be one of you?”

They all shrugged.

“Fine, one of you eat a leg, the rest of you wait.”

One of the hyenas swatted the cat and grabbed it then ripped off a leg and ate it.

“Let's wait then I guess.”

The cat continued to screech in pain while we sat around and waited. It would be more convenient if Elaine was here right now. When we reached the forty-seven second mark all the hyenas collapsed again, the spasms only occurred in their paws though. Their hands stretched and contracted violently until a set of claws emerged from the tips of their fingers.

“Very cool. Finish off that cat and go bring some cats back to me, they should be alive. If they die, just eat them and bring a new one.”

They all dispersed into different directions and bolted away, unfortunately I immediately felt my connection with them get broken and the thuds of their footsteps ceased. Why would this skill even have a range limit? I summoned them again and climbed onto one of their backs.

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“We’ll just do it together then. Let's skedaddle.”

I leaned into the soft fur and closed my eyes to rest for a moment.

***

Thud! Thud! Thud!

“This is the LAPD! Open the door!”

Thud! Thud! Thud!

“If you don’t open the door in three seconds I’m busting it down.”

“Three!”

The door split ajar and the girl from this evening slid her head through the gap. Elaine, that was her name.

“Where’s Vaun?”

“In his room.”

“Are you sure? Do you mind if I check?”

“Uh… I’ll go check.”

“Are you aware that helping a criminal in any manner can land you the same charges as them?”

“Is Vaun a criminal?”

“As of right now there is no evidence to prove so, but-”

“Do you have a warrant?”

“You don’t understa-!”

Slam!

The door was shut in her face and she was left standing there fuming.

“What's up?”

She quickly spun around and found Vaun mere inches away from her face. She hopped backwards and crashed into the door before realizing she had nowhere to run.

“Why are you always so jumpy? Are you even a real cop?”

“Why are you outside?”

“Is it illegal to be outside? Maybe you should arrest these guys too then.”

He lifted his arms and in his hands were two cats.

“Want one?”

“Have you been out all night looking for cats?”

“No, I went and had some fun with my girlfriend first, do you want to see a reenactment?”

“Are you trying to get arrested?”

“Sure, put me in handcuffs, I don’t mind.”

He held his hands out with the cats still in them and urged her to slap handcuffs on his wrist. It was tempting but she pulled herself back to earth and pushed his hands back down.

“You got any weapons on you?”

“Wanna check? You have my consent.”

“Just tell me.”

“Uh uh, you have to check if you want to find out.”

She gritted her teeth and began to pat him down. At least if she died here someone would be able to figure out that the killer was Vaun. She briskly patted around his body and yanked her hands away as soon as she finished lest he suddenly try to kill her.

“See, I don’t bite. I’m gonna go settle these cats down and go to sleep, care to join me?”

“Just go home.”

“Yes ma’am!”

He slinked inside his home and she was once again left outside fuming. She had no evidence to prove that it was him, but she was sure that it was him. How many people who drove red sedans, had inhuman strength, and were insane could there be in Los Angeles?

Ring Ring! Ring Ring! Ring Ring!

She picked up the phone and was immediately berated by her mother.

“Where are you? You’ve been up for too long! Come home and have some rest!”

“Mom-”

“Come home right this instant! You’ll thank me in the morning!”

***

“Hey Elaine where are you!”

Her head popped out from the kitchen and we locked gazes.

“Where-”

“Look at these cats! Aren’t they cool? Here, hold them for me.”

I handed the cats to her and rushed into my room. When I entered my clown costume and new gear lay on the floor along with four cats. I packed everything into my closet then picked up the cats and went back to Elaine. She was now sitting on the couch gently cuddling the cats.

“Don’t get too comfortable, we’re going to be using them as power boosts.”

“What! Didn’t I tell you that I don’t want to?”

“Oh, that sucks, too bad I don’t care. Now choose, which one do you want to start with? I’d recommend the scrawny one.”

“I’m not killing any of them! Let them go!”

“Why? Why won’t you kill them? Does being weak make you happy?”

“You wouldn’t understand!”

“You’re right, I don’t. Come on, just kill them, not like Satan's gonna crawl out of hell to punish you.”

“Just let them go!”

“I mean, if you don’t kill them I will.”

I slowly increased the strength of my grip on the necks of the cats in my hands and they began to yowl and screech.

“Don’t you dare!”

Elaine leaped out of the couch and cat ears, a tail, and claws abruptly popped out of her body. I didn’t know she could do that. I lifted my foot and placed it on her chest then gently pinned her to the ground.

“Are you kidding me? Why would you risk your life for a worthless cat? I could understand if it was a human, but a cat?”

I crushed the necks of the cats in my hand and they went limp. I grabbed the ones under my armpits and crushed them as well.

“No! Stop! Please!”

“It’s hard for me to understand people like you. When will you guys realize that you need power to protect those you love? Why do you guys always have to let those you love suffer before deciding to stop being idiots? To be honest you guys are worse than I am, in a sense, you purposely allow those you love to be harmed. You guys don’t love others, you deceive yourself by using their suffering as an excuse to justify what you do in order to avenge them.”

“…”

“There’s still two cats, do you want to wake up to reality or shall I allow you to keep dreaming? I’ll just keep killing cats everyday until you can stop me, or maybe you won’t do anything to stop me at all. It shouldn’t be that hard for you to become strong enough to overpower a human, I’m guessing it’ll only take around twenty to thirty cats, it’s your choice.”

I lifted my foot from her chest and stepped back. She lay there silently for a while before getting up and grabbing both the cats.

“I’m not stupid Elaine, you can’t outrun me. Plus, running away won’t stop me. Of course, I wouldn’t expect someone like you to care. Out of sight out of mind right?”

“Argh! Why are you doing this to me! Don’t you have anything better to do than torture me?”

“To be fair, I could be doing far worse to you but I just want to see how strong I can make you. It’d be a lot easier for both of us if you could just tell me why you want to protect these cats so badly.”

“I can feel their emotions! Ok!? I don't know why you wanted to know so badly but that's it!”

“What the hell? Are you scared of hurting a cat's feelings? Of all the things I was expecting this never crossed my mind.”

“I knew you wouldn’t understand.”

“What don’t I understand?”

“I feel exactly what they feel.”

“And you’ve lived for nineteen years without figuring out how to control it?”

“One year, I’ve spent one year without figuring out how to control it.”

“You’re one years old? Good thing I didn’t try the other method, that would’ve been very… distasteful.”

“I am nineteen, I only started to feel their emotions when I turned eighteen, and what was the other thing?”

“Oh that, I can show you right now if you want.”

“I’d rather not.”

“Understandable, let's figure out this problem of yours then. Have you ever considered just fighting through the emotions?”

“Of course I have, it’s quite difficult to fight when your body is screaming at you to turn around and flee.”

“Maybe if you can feel their emotions they can feel yours as well, if no one else in your family can do it then it’s probably a special ability. Which means the link between you and cats should go both ways, and if that’s the case then we should make the cats so mad that they forget to be scared.”

“How are we going to do that?”

“I have a good idea, but first let’s move to the basement so we don’t have to chase the cats around.”

“Ok?”

Wow, at this rate I could probably sell her and she would still help me count the money. Did she not have any suspicions about me at all? I brought her and the cats into the spare bedroom downstairs then locked the door.

“I guess we can start now. What makes you mad?”

“Uh-”

The moment she opened her mouth I pushed her onto the spare bed, hopped onto her waist and pinned her arms down.

“What the fuck are you doing!”

“This is the other thing.”

I opened her jaw with one hand and locked my lips onto hers. I could feel her mouth trembling from the effort she was putting in to bite my tongue. After toying with her for a little bit I parted our lips and gauged her levels of anger.

“On a scale of one to ten how mad are you right now?”

“You’re going too far Vaun, I’ll seriously kill you if you don’t stop.”

“Oh really? How scary.”

“Do- Mmf!”

I resumed my exploration of the anatomy of a human mouth and carefully monitored the concentration of oxygen entering and exiting the specimen's nostrils. Unlike Lena I couldn’t have her lose consciousness, I wanted her to be mad, not in love. After her tongue simply fell limp and she stopped trying to escape I released our interlocked lips.

“Giving up that easily? It’s almost like you want me to do this.”

“You brought whatever happens to you on yourself Vaun, don’t blame me for not warning you.”

“Hearing that actually spooked me a bit, are you protected by the cat goddess or something? I’m sure she’s just as beautiful as you are.”

My free hand dove under her shirt and clasped onto the wonderful bundle of nerves and fat that was commonly referred to as breasts. Like playing with clay I molded and pinched it into various shapes.

“Vaun!”

“Elaine!”

“I’m not kidding!”

“I am!”

Time to recall the instincts of a baby. My mouth pulled itself towards her nipple and unleashed a suction that could scare even an octopus. From the outer layer of her skin I could taste an intense heat scorching me from the deep recesses of her chest.

“Va- un! Don’t-don’t…”

Her body began to wriggle and twist and I knew I fucked up. What kind of weirdo gets horny when they are being forced against their will? In any case I should stop before things enter a strange territory, I was tempted to go all the way but I had a sneaking suspicion I would lose out on something way cooler if I did.

“Hey idiot, wake up, stop being so horny.”

“Un… Uh.”

She was completely out of it. I checked on the cats and wished I hadn’t, one of them had taken the opportunity to mount the other and they were going at it doggy style? Catty style? Catty didn’t really sound right but it described the situation. I moved to carry Elaine out of the room but as soon as I released her hands she pounced towards me and tried to kiss me. I held her head away from and she switched targets and began sucking on my fingers.

“Elaine! If you’re still in there somewhere, you’re really gonna regret doing this!”

I took her to the basement bathroom and dunked her head under cold water. After a short while I pulled her out and we stared at each other. Her cheeks blushed and she averted her gaze.

“I’ll take full responsibility for whatever happened, it was entirely my fault. But if you still plan to have me killed you should at least let me fuck you once before I die, as thanks for me not going all the way this time.”

“…”

“Understandable, I’m gonna go get rid of the cats. It’ll be quick.”

I left her sight momentarily and summoned a hyena into the bedroom and had it swallow both cats in a single bite. While playing around earlier I had discovered that I could summon the hyenas anywhere within a certain range, that same range was the one they would disappear at if they crossed it. After leaving her sight for less than a second I reappeared.

“All done. You can leave if you want or stay if you want, I won’t talk or do anything to you unless you ask me to from now on.”

I ran back up the stairs and dived into bed.