Cats, Bats and Snakes, oh my...

“Such a strange city…” Mused Bassett as she tip-toed gracefully over the ledge of an abandoned apartment overlooking the city. The were-cat combing her clawed fingers through her long hair while keeping perfectly balanced on her toes. “A ring of fire surrounds this large city and a gothic castle looms over what used to be Wayne Tower, most of the population fled in terror and yet the rest of the city remained nonplus, as if life simply goes on. Hoe amusing.”

“IT’S BORING!” Cried Pride, huffing with a hand at her hip and tossing her hair over her shoulders. The rest of the werecats had joined their leader in exploring the city. Having mixed emotions treading out at night while the city had become progressively far worse. “Yeah… When are we going to find something fun?” Asked Lust, pouting with the rest of her sisters as they followed their Pride leader down to the ground levels of the city. Even with most of the population gone or in hiding, Gotham was still an active city… For now. It had been weeks since Dracula had set his fiery embargo around the city and Gotham was still trying to trudge forward as if nothing had really changed. With people still going to work or selling out in the streets in the late hour. The prospect made Bassett purr to herself.

“They rely far too much on their saviour to keep them safe.” She knew better than anyone, sense more than others was aware that the city was running on a half life. If Dracula did not let up his hold over the city, the people will eventually starve or worse. “They are totally unaware of the dangers that loom among them.”

“Honestly Bassett, why are we out here?!” Snapped Wrath, her tail swishing back and forth as the eight werecats made their way through an alley and hid out of sight from the public.

“To find new additions Wrath, WE cannot turn others… But our dear Umbra CAN.” Eyeing a few people as they hurried past the dark alley, Basset licked her lips. “Can you not feel it? There is a war brewing in this city, and if we are to survive, we must have the numbers to do so.”

“So, who caught your eye then? I’m hungry!” Complained Gluttony, leaning in close and nuzzling against Basset’s shoulder, and getting a scratched under her chin as a reward. Looking across the alleyway into the open street where people crossed or vehicles drove down the roads, the werecat’s eyes wide and observant. Then something caught her attention. Across the street in another alley, Basset spotted what looked like a pale woman wearing a ruined blanket, her demeanor that of a lost woman looking for help but she stood just far enough to be seen if witnessed by any onlookers but deep enough in the adjacent alley to disappear if she so chose to. Then for a moment, the two caught each other eye to eye, staring at each other while the rest of the city were oblivious to the two predators catching each other in their own hunting ground. With a hiss, the alabaster woman disappeared into the darkness of the alley.

“FOLLOW HER!”

Leaping out of hiding and practically dancing off the roofs of moving vehicles to the other end of the street, Basset and her pride of werecats moved with inhuman speed to give chase, leaving shocked onlookers in their wake running through the darkened alleys. They had covered over three blocks worth of alleyway in the dead of night until Basset came to stop, her teeth bared, and her claws brandished like knives.

“ABERATION! DO NOT THINK YOU CAN HIDE FROM ME!” She screamed out into the night, her eyes darting back and forth through the alley. “SHOW YOURSELF!” Unsure of what to do or where to look, the eight werecats soon found the human they had been chasing revealed herself from the shadows. Now that they were closer, the group found that the woman appeared stark naked or at least wearing something like spandex that covered her breasts and waist, her legs obscured in the dark. It was only when she took a ‘step’ forward to reveal a length of serpentine coils that began where the woman’s legs would be slither into view, sporting bands of white, red and black.

“Bad kitty…” Hissed the serpentine woman, her mass taking up most of the alleyway in front of the werecats. “Bad kitty ruined chance for food.”

Turning to look behind them, the werecats find two more snake women slither into view, blocking their escape. The two new were snakes are different colours than the one they had been chasing. One having a smooth mocha scale colour with black bands matching what looks like hair over her scalp, and the other having cream and gold stripes and diamonds over her scales. The two hissing angrily at the cats in their clutches.

“Bad kitties yessss, we’re hungry…”

“Yesss… Hungry…” Darting forward and lunging for the nearest werecat, the dark scaled serpent woman’s mouth opened impossibly wide, revealing long fangs and razor-sharp teeth. But the serpents weren’t the only ones who were nimble. Candy had attempted to attack Envy, only for the werecat to simply duck and cartwheel out of the way. Tracey had done the same and received an uppercut from Wrath, the werecat roaring out in rage as she took a swipe at the serpent and managing to cut deep into her scales and force the were snake to recoil with a hiss.

The lead were snake attempted to strike Basset in the same way, brandishing her own clawed fingers to catch Basset’s in a grapple that saw them glaring at each other eye to eye again. “BAD KITTY!” She hissed, her eyes flowing into different colours that were hypnotic to the werecat mystic. “We’re hungry, why do you not let ussss eat?”

“Eat, eat!” Parroted Candy and Tracey, circling the pride of werecats while their respective leaders grappled together.

“We want only to eat, like you, stop fighting us, we can eat together, yes?” Cooed the she-serpent, her eyes having a trance like effect on Basset as her arms grew slack and her struggling ebbed away. “Yes… No more fighting, only eat.” Opening her mouth wide enough to envelop the cat’s head, the creature made to do just that until she turned away with a hiss of pain when Basset swiped her claws across her face. Sending her reeling back in pain and glaring back at the lead werecat.

“YOUR TRICKS DO NOT WORK ON ME, SNAKE!”

Sneering in anger, the claw marks across the snake’s face rapidly healed, shedding flaked scales that were replaced with new skin underneath. “BAD KITTY SHOULD HAVE STAYED AWAY! BAD KITTY COULD HAVE BEEN TASTY TREAT, NO YOU DEAD KITTY!!!” Poised to lunge out again to strike, the snake felt something strange stick itself to her side, looking down at a small disk connected to her hip, she screamed when a current of 10000 volts coursed through her, stunning the massive snake and sending her to the ground.

Watching on in confusion, the werecats didn’t understand what was happening, even when the other two were snakes fell to the ground in pain as well, the same small disks latched onto their shoulders. “What the hell?” Looking up when they heard something large descend from above, unfurling a cloak that allowed him to glide safely to the ground, the cats stood ready to fight when Batman stood up to his feet, standing between the cats and the lead serpent.

“That’s enough.” Narrowing his eyes at the group of cat people glaring back at him, Batman reached into his belt for a bundle of batarangs if things escalated. “You’re all coming with me!”

Basset’s demeanor changed when she finally got to see the Dark Knight that Selina kept talking about, sensing his aura with a purr while she crossed her arms under her bare breasts with a coy stance. “So… You are the king of wolves, yet you dress as a bat?”

“Don’t call me that.” Replied Batman, with a sneer that was hard to hold back. “You’re a mistake I allowed to escape; I won’t let you turn my city into a plague of murderous animals.”

Her smile growing wider, Basset dared to step closer to the Dark Knight, coiling strands of her long hair through her clawed fingers. “Do you know who I am? Wolf who dresses as a bat.”

“You’re the cat that escaped Dr. Langstrum’s lab that night, same as the snake woman behind me.”

“Wrong…” The confused reaction Batman gave was too perfect, giving her the fuel to keep going. Turning to pose and toss her long wavy hair behind her, Basset continued “I am not an experiment, I am Basset; Goddess of the cats, I am not a plague, and neither are my sisters.”

“We can’t turn people, wish we could though....” Answered Envy, crossing her own arms in mock offense.

“We live in harmony with the Umbra… Just like the red wolfess you sleep with every night.” Seeing his reaction, Basset was nearly giggling to herself. “Oh yes, I can sense her off you… A deadly flower that wishes to be a wolf, a wolf that wishes to be a bat… You two were MADE for each other!”

“You’re coming with me; you are ALL coming with me!” Ducking out of the way when Basset took a fierce swipe where his face would have been, Batman had his batarang at the ready only to find the werecat summersault back to her pride, who then had decided to scatter into 7 different directions to escape.

“You cannot chase us all ‘Bat Man’, what will it be? Chase us through the night, or contain the sleeping serpents, even I know they have done more harm tonight than I ever will.” Leaping up and climbing the rafters of the side wall to escape the alley, Batman lost sight of them all. Looking down at the three prone were snakes, Bruce took a deep breath and signalled for a batwing to arrive to pick up his position.