Cat

 

Easiest job in the business. A mansion located close to the center of the city, near the pig pen, err, police station. It makes them think they’re completely safe. No need to hire guards when the police are so close by and who would target somewhere with so many people around? Us, that’s who. Honestly, we had to stop ourselves from targeting the place too much otherwise we’d be noticed way too easily, but it’s hard to resist such an easy money grab! Doesn’t help that the place is themed like a cloudy paradise. Imagine how an orphanage might paint their walls to make it look nice and sunny and pretty and friendly. Now imagine that slapped onto a place that’s so vast and empty while completely denying any of that space to the thousands of homeless folk in this city. I’m not sure if I’d be angrier if they get the irony or if it is completely lost on them. Either way, it just makes us feel all the better for seizing the opportunity, especially in such a highly populated area! It’s a bit of a run there, but with how fast we are now, getting there in no time is not a problem. What IS a problem is the new security installed, clear as day once we get close, stopping in an alleyway facing the manor’s front door, witnessing a horrid swarm of small, humanoid shapes beating their tiny angelic wings to and fro.

“Are…are those…flying babies…?” Fox asks. Clueless cutie.

“Cupids, or cherubs if we’re going with a more biblical interpretation.” My partner looks up at me in surprise, eyes wide at my mythological trivia.

“First of all, you really remember all of this stuff? And second, definitely cupids then. I’ll take hell over heaven any day of the week.” 

I can’t help but chuckle at her, though I’m in complete agreement.

“There were lots of pretty ladies in those mythology books! And they tend to have some cross over with religion and stuff, I just kind of absorbed it all in my journey of realizing I’m a girl who wants to be hot and not entirely human.” She waves me off with a smile before we focusing back on the threat at hand. “Anyways, what exactly are we supposed to do about this? The place is absolutely teeming with the winged bastards, can we really sneak past that? There must be a hundred of them…”

The manor is settled between two much smaller buildings, though with significant distance between them, more room for the angel statues and fountains and the like. The cupids are flying around it in a swarm, playing with one another and giggling and laughing and, oh, it makes me kinda sick. Just how can that woman summon these things and not get reported for it? Of course, just as I ask myself that, Fox taps my shoulder and points towards the sidewalk, where some random fella is walking. The bystander looks almost like a mirage as they get closer, paying no attention to the peanut gallery in front of them.

“That must be how the witch keeps everything under wraps,” Fox begins, eyes still glued to the terrible sight before us. “Normal people must not be able to see them, or at least that Inkton person made it so. As for why they look like that…maybe because we’re also magical? We did some pretty oddly magical things the other night, similar to these… Uhm...”

“Radiants? Yombroila said they’re from the Radiant World, and these are Radiant forces Inkton is summoning.” 

Fox nods at me in understanding. “These Radiants. That must mean whatever ‘spell’ the witch cast is affecting an area around here, so at the very least, we shouldn’t have to worry about bystanders noticing anything.”

“Makes about as much sense as everything else, but that doesn’t give us a good way around them,” I grumble. I would really prefer to not draw attention to us, but…

“Then I think it’s time we learn more about these ‘gifts’ the goddess granted us. Can you do something like you did the other night? At the very least it would take out a chunk of them before we’re noticed.” 

Thinking about it… Can I? I close my eyes for a moment… How did I do that last night? I panicked, and suddenly a firework descended from the sky and caused an intense gas explosion. I panicked… Maybe it’s about being in danger? That wouldn’t help too much here, though… Perhaps it’s more about a feeling. When I think back to it, there’s a distinct feeling calling out to me. We were in danger. Fox was in danger. Even the thought of that makes me… mad.

“Cat?”

I open my eyes, looking down to Fox and blinking before seeing--

“M-my paws?!” I cry out, staring down at my now glowing hands, but as soon as I lose focus, they begin to die down. Ugh, I really don’t like what this is implying. I hang my head and sigh, “Yeah, I think I can do it…”

Fox looks at me with a concerned expression. “If it’s going to hurt you to do it, don’t worry about it, Cat, we have other ways.” 

But I shake my head. “No, no it won’t hurt. Physically anyways.” 

With that, I begin my ascent, leaping from wall to wall between the buildings making up the alleyway. I reach the roof which, while not nearly as tall as the manor itself, will suffice. I close my eyes once more. What I need…is anger. Righteous, furious anger. These damn chicken wing assholes protecting some snooty rich asshole, flaunting their wealth in the middle of town? Honestly, the anger has been in me all along, but I’ve always held it back, not wanting to seem brutish. It’s time to say goodbye to those feelings for now. My hind paws begin to feel warmer, and opening my eyes, I see them glowing just as my fore paws had done before. I clench said paws as I feel my tail straighten out and my fur begin to bristle. One, two, three steps back. With a running start, I leap off the building, pulling a leg back as a glowing, sun-like orb manifests before me!
“GET THE HELL OUTTA THE WAAAAAAAYYYYYYYY!!”

PING!! 

The sound my foot makes upon colliding with the orb sounds like a pinball machine and, like a pinball machine, I watch the orb bounce between surprised cupid after surprised cupid, scorching each before ricocheting towards the center and--

BOOM!!

At the moment of impact, something magical happens; the silent rhythm of an unheard song drums to the beat of my heart. I land on all fours, watching the explosion sending dozens of winged babies careening away, charred and totally unconsciousness. Looking back to Fox, I see a very surprised but impressed girl quickly joining me by my side. I don’t even notice at first that I’m gently swinging my hips from side to side, the melody in my heart carrying my body. Fox swishes her tail back and forth to the same tempo and I can tell she feels it too.

“That was terrifying and amazing, good job! Let’s clear out the latter half!” 

Watching her run ahead, I assume she must have her own powers figured out by now. What were they? It was like…a wind hammer? I watch and learn, Fox leaping up towards the site of the explosion where the building has a decently sized hole in it. Now, however, a translucent image of the intact wall covers the hole. Fox passes right through this image, so the real manor must be different than the one in this magical zone, and my partner takes full advantage of that, getting her feet on the second floor without even having to grab the ledge. I begin to worry as fewer cupids move in to attack me, the majority of them flying in to swarm Fox. Dammit, I don’t think I have enough in me for another bomb, what else can I do…? It’s been light based powers for sure with…explosions? No, the orb scorched the cupids, it’s fire! Light and fire! I point a finger gun at the nearest flying fiend and watch as a bright laser of heat zaps them down to the ground. Looking crispy! I aim from foe to foe, backing up slowly and stepping from side to side as they ready their arrows and shoot to kill. Once a decent amount of them are down, I look back up to Fox, only to see a mass of--

 

WHACK!!

I witness a giant racket made of wind formed around Fox’s tail launching most of the cupids into the side of another building. Fox herself leaps into the air after them, slashing from side to side at each remaining cupid. Each swipe of her claw is followed by the sound of a sword slashing and said sword manifesting out of wind. Wind and sound look to be her powers! She takes aim at the remaining enemy she’s falling towards, raising both claws with a wicked grin and slashing both down at the same time. The sound of scissors snipping echoes through the air along as a windy pair of blades slices at the flying foe from either side. These creatures don’t seem to be physically harmed much by our magic, but it really takes the wind out of ‘em! Heh. Heheh. Oh shit! I leap back and zap the last fiend flying my way, breathing a sigh of relief as Fox regroups with me.

“Well, I can’t deny that it feels good to use these powers,” Fox says walking up to me, and we both snicker before congratulating each other with a firm handshake.

“Figuring out what we can do with them is really fun, actually! Wonder if there are any practical uses for them…” I ponder, tapping my chin before shaking my head. “We’ll try that another night. Especially since using them is kinda tiring…” 

Fox nods in agreement, heaving her head forward and sighing. “We can run for miles without running out of breath, so I guess magic exhaustion is the trade off. At least it feels like it comes back pretty quickly?” 

I nod at her, and we both stand up straight, stretching before the sound of bird-like shrieking takes us by surprise. 

“Couldn’t be that easy, could it…” my partner groans, the both of us turning around and looking up as the sound of wings flapping descends upon us. The approaching creature is strange yet beautiful. Long green hair that fades to blue at the tips, flowing like wind in the sky, with plumage of the same colour laid atop their curvaceous body, until the yellow starting midway between their knees and talons. Their wings are spread wide, almost as wide as the house behind them, and all of that is topped with a sharp, beautiful human face with eyes like daggers made of aquamarine.

“A… A harpy…” I whisper to myself, eyes wide in awe. My trance only lasts until Fox’s tail comes swinging down at my back, at which point I begin to realize the danger we’re in. “S-sorry, you know how I am…”

“Yeah, yeah, we’ll get her number after we’ve done our job here,” Fox grumbles, one hand on the ground as she assumes the crouched stance that typically indicates she’s about to dive head first into danger.

“Oh? Cat wants to catch the bird, do they?” the giant woman muses, standing a solid two or three feet over me. “I’ll have to check with Quetzalcoatl after we’re done here, but for now, I’m on a contract, dear~. So sorry about this!”

Fox has already begun dashing in towards the massive bird, leaping at her as she raises her wings. In a single flap she sends what feels like an entire storm condensed into a single city block hurtling towards us, throwing me backwards off my feet and easily catching Fox midair. This sends us hurtling back towards the building we came from, our backs crashing into the wall with enough force to leave a crater upon impact. We fall forward onto the hard pavement below.

“Ough… F-Fox…? Are you okay…?” I pull myself up with a groan and see my partner doing the same, dusting herself off and grinning.

“An actual challenge now? Finally.”

God she’s hot when she’s confident.

 

The harpy grins right back, pulling back a single wing and swinging it forward, launching a barrage of feathers towards Fox. Each gleams in the moonlight with deadly sharpness. Dammit, why is fighting between two confident and sexy women so hot?! I shake my head and refocus, watching as Fox spins, her tail flinging in front of her like a bat--wait, I’m not that far off! The sound of a bat striking each feather like a baseball echoes through the battle, sending the projectiles scattering as the sly girl leaps and swings and jumps and twirls. She bats away each volley of projectiles with ease, only for the last wave to be shot towards me before the bird woman launches into the sky above! Shit, shit, defense, defense! Nothing protective comes to mind before I simply hold my hand out to the ground as if wielding a flashlight and, with a click, a flurry of rocket fire launches me up and out of the way of the feathers! Way up in the air… I’m almost as high as the harpy herself! I see her preparing to dive bomb, but as I reach maximum altitude, she looks at me in disbelief.

“This isn’t your territory, feline!” she screeches, but I’m already swinging a lantern of light in my paws!

“You don’t like visitors? Well I insist you come DOWN TO VISIT!” 

I hurl the lantern up into the air and watch as the bird lady launches another flurry of feathers towards me. Throwing the lantern has left me too vulnerable to react, but witnessing my plan coming to fruition is more than worth the various cuts I receive from the feathers. The bomb falls directly onto her back and explodes, sending her plummeting to the ground. 

“FOX, FETCH!!”

My partner looks up, having been preparing for an attack from above, but upon my cue, her grin grows even more wicked. She spins once before pointing her tail directly upwards, wind whirling around it as the sound of a power drill begins to threaten the harpy! I land on all fours once again though faltering from the impact. Looking up to watch, I see as the bird woman flaps her wings against my fires, only to be met with a drill straight to the gut! Fox relents as soon as she can tell the job’s done, dispelling her magic, and thus, the harpy falls right on top of Fox with a flump.

The big girl couldn’t take much more than that, and thus, she’s out! I scramble over to Fox as quickly as I can with my injuries, hauling the unconscious bird woman up so she can crawl out from underneath her.

“Now that’s what I call free falling!” I say painfully, both for me and her.

“Shut up, you dork.” Despite the impact of the falling harpy, she smiles up at me while taking my extended paw to let me pull her up. “...Oh my god, Cat, these cuts--!”

“Hey hey hey, I’m okay, I can already feel them getting better. Faster recovery must be part of the improved physical abilities plan, ehe.” She rolls her eyes at me and sighs, looking up at the hole previously left in the house. Looking back up at me, I give her a nod. “If there ain’t any more people to fight, let’s get in and get out--”

“Going so soon?” A sultry voice above calls out to us, along with the flapping of wings, although much lighter than the harpy’s. The both of us groan, looking up once more to see… Something I’ve never quite seen before. “Not before I’ve gotten my hands on you. Oh, you are the most delightfully curious things, aren’t you?”

The dark figure above chuckles, only her eyes and wings visible from where she lands on the roof. Fox and I look to one another and nod. We won’t be getting any loot with whoever that is looming above us, and the distinct smell of ‘boss time’ is unmistakable. The two of us leap to the second floor, then begin to scale the rest of the 5 storey manor, hauling ourselves over the roof’s edge to find a sky above us. It’s different from that of the night, being clear and blue as day despite the moon raining down light upon us from beyond the false sky. And at the far end of what I can only describe as the arena, she stands. Though, ‘stands’ might not be the right way to put it.

“A naga…?” I mutter to myself, looking her over. Her bottom half is all snake, soot black scales and snow white underbelly, but around her waist is a pair of wings forming something of a belt wrapping around her hips. Her torso is much the same as her tail in colour and texture, but is clearly that of a human’s. I-Including chest… “A-a lamia, maybe…?”

Scales cover her whole body and her neck is long and snake-like, and atop that, she wears a hood and collar, each with designs resembling her wing belt. Within that hood is a snake’s head with feathery…hair?...that barely sticks out of it. Her snout most certainly sticks out, along with the third eye atop her forehead. Her forked tongue flickers out playfully, and the woman smirks at us.

“Naga, lamia… No, I am nothing your precious myths might define. Hold on a moment, dear Waywright prepared a speech for me…” 

Huh? Fox and I both stare at each other before turning back to the snake lady with quizzically tilted heads, said snake pulling out a parchment from her belt and clearing her throat before reading it and throwing her arms wide.

“Winds take ye, fiendish furries! Nay, for I am no mere naga, no simple lamia! The sky as my dominion, I shall call upon an endless storm to forever…! Pff, oh my god Waywright, really…? Ahem…to forever rain on your queer parades!!” 

I can’t help but snicker at that. “Oh no she’s gonna ruin Pride…” 

She sticks her tongue out at me playfully before continuing. “Fall before the sky’s might, for I am… Niamh! Winged Serpent Woman Of Wonders And Winds!”

She then tosses the paper away without a second thought.

“Anyways, I’m contractually obligated to beat the stuffing out of you now. No hard feelings, you know how family obligations are, I’m sure.”