Mayor: Mr. Tim Buckets
City Motto: "Welcome to the Great Place!"
City Bird: Pigeon
City Baseball Team: Lakewood Pigeons
City Basketball Team: Lakewood Pigeons
City Soccer Team: Lakewood...Pigeons...
City Hockey Team: Lakewood Ice Pigeons
Famous City Food: The Lakewood Colossal Burger - The Burger of Champions!
Currency: Technos






The mall is the number 1 hero supply store and in fact, the ONLY hero supply store in the world for there aren't too many men and women in this world who would come up with such a brilliant idea. Mr. Gar is the level 11 bad-ass who runs this store, hiring mostly high schoolers to give them a chance to actually learn how to earn money than how to live in their mother's basement until 35! Mr. Gar is a legendary hero who is kind and very assertive when it comes to work. "GET BACK TO WORK!" is one of his most favorite and common phrases.




This mall is a rival shopping center. It is a villain supply store, the only villain supply store in the entire world. Mr. Poe competes with Mr. Gar's and he's always concocting evil plots to sabotage the hero's operations. Mr. Poe is a brilliant level -10 scientist who likes to create employees, ie. villains and death robots who he will send on missions to destroy Lakewood Plaza. What Mr. Poe doesn't have in physical strength, he has in intelligence.

Other Locations

• Lakewood Residential - this is where most of the characters live - good or bad. You may even be neighbors.
• Lakewood Bus Stop - this is where potential action can happen. A lot of things can happen when you're waiting for the bus, minding your own business. I mean, things like random ninja attacks, death robots, fighting other villains who want to sabotage your chance to get to school on time. What that's not normal?
• Lakewood High - this is the school where all the characters in this game attend except for those characters obviously too old to attend.

1. Consistency. I am allowing you guys to select a day that you guys want to have plot events specifically for your characters and others. However, you have to make sure that the date AND time you are holding the event doesn't conflict with another date or time you are having another plot. If your character is out fishing when the GM is dropping a GM event on the same day at the same time, then oh well. Your character will not be there.
2. Villains. If the villain is named, then I will be the only one (the GM) allowed to control him/her/it. I will not allow other characters to control villains unless they go to my PM box and run the plot by me first. Do not expect at the start of the game to get to control you own villain. I do not want 10 villain plots all running on different days at the same time because it can overwhelm our players, especially those with busy schedules so we'll have these events in moderation.
3. Minions. Players are allowed control of minions. These are just villains who allow you to flavor up your post. For our villain characters, you can fight some small-time heroes. We'll call them "Peons." Whatever amuses you.
4. Bright Font Colors/Dark Font Colors. Avoid these. We want to be able to read your posts without adjusting the settings on our screens. If I see it, I'm going to tell you to change the font or ban colors from this game all together.
5. Picture Sizes. Shrink down those damn pics. There is no reason why your pic should take up the entire screen. I WILL tell you to get rid of it.
6. Interact. You can't be socially awkward on the internet, especially not in a role playing game where the purpose is to interact with others. So please interact it will make this game more entertaining for you, I promise.


Use this code as a guidance for what the header of each of your posts should have.

Morning went as usual for a typical family in Tatsumaki’s house. White and Tatsumaki got up early, White to prepare Black’s coffee, and Tatsumaki to prepare for school and what a better way to start a morning than with a bowl of one’s favorite cereal. The hero was seated at the round kitchen table with a big bowl of Lucky Gems cereal—a cereal that was more sugar than cereal. The cereal was pure marshmallow sugar gems so there was nothing lucky about finding them!

“Maki honey, will you take the trash out before you go?” White asked.

Tatsumaki uttered a grunt, while he fed a spoonful of the gems into his mouth and read over the back of the cereal box. He was never good at the word puzzles. What was a BIBART supposed to be any way? He had never heard of such an animal, and people could keep it as a pet? His father wouldn’t have let him have a BIBART even if he asked. As he continued to read, his brows immediately crashed together at the mention of a Power Ring. Not just any Power Ring, it was a Power Ring of Phenomenal Cosmic Power (which made it stronger than any other plastic toy ring)! He brought the box closer, reading over the instructions on how to acquire it. The power ring would appear to the chosen kid who managed to eat enough of the Lucky Gem cereal.

“I could become the strongest hero in the world,” Tatsumaki muttered in awe.

White turned a pointed ear over her shoulder while she continued to clean last night’s dishes. “What was that dear?”

Smiling, Tatsumaki exclaimed, “I could become stronger than Mr. Gar with this ring!”

“Yes, dear, you can do whatever you want if you put your heart in it!” she giggled.

Tatsumaki rose from the kitchen table and walked over to the food cabinet, gazing at the walls upon walls of Lucky Gem cereal. Frowning in determination, he smirked. We have more than enough cereal. The power ring has to appear! Grabbing a few boxes, Tatsumaki returned to the table and sat with the confidence of a grand master. He closed his eyes, resting his hands at his hips and inhaled a deep meditative breath. He then exhaled deeply. Opening his eyes, there was a fire in them as he grabbed his cereal bowl, raised it before his face and started chowing down. Bowl after bowl was devoured, box after box, until Black finally woke for work.

The shadow man stretched out his arms and yawned before he threw back the covers and rolled out of bed. Sliding on his fuzzy bear slippers, he shuffled over to his lounging robe and slipped it on (not like there was anything to see besides opaque blackness). Opening the bedroom door, he paused when a sea of boxes dumped into his bedroom. Peering down at the cereal boxes, he muttered in confusion, “What the…”

Wading through the pool of boxes, Black rubbed at his nonexistent eyes. He walked over to the food cabinet and opened it finding only cobwebs. Peering down at the cereal boxes that flooded the house, Black yelled irritably, “Honey!”

White turned her head, the boxes that were piled on top of her falling away to reveal her still at the sink cleaning. “Yes, my gorgeous husband?”

“Tatsumaki ate all the cereal!” he growled.

He then waded over to a pile where the refrigerator was supposed to be. Smacking the boxes aside, he opened the fridge and frowned at the missing milk. “He drank all the milk!”

Facing the kitchen, Black hollered, “I can’t find anything with these boxes everywhere. I’m gonna fix this!”

Black spread his robes like a flasher, and all the boxes were sucked into his abyssal body like into the mouth of a black hole. Once the house was clean of the cereal boxes, he gazed over at his passed out blob of a son.

“Honey, Tatsumaki has gotten fat! No son of mine is fat. This is all because of your coddling!”

“Tatsumaki is a growing boy!”

“I’m not even sure he’s my son anymore. Isn’t he supposed to be gray? I mean, White and Black when mixed together make gray and not…not this!”

Tatsumaki’s eyes cracked open. He had passed out. Squinting up at the bright kitchen lamps, his body felt heavy and his heart was racing from the sugar overload. Failure…he failed. He wasn’t the chosen one. His thoughts depressed him. The ring never appeared to him. His stomach growled and a wave of gas entered his mouth, causing his cheeks to swell. A heavy belch erupted from the hero, flying from his throat to land between his moobs was a yellow plastic ring with a large purple P emblem. Tatsumaki’s eyes grew to the size of saucers upon seeing it. He picked up the ring between his index finger and thumb and held it before his eyes.

“I…I did it! I’m the chosen one! The Power Ring chose me!” he exclaimed.

Black walked over to Tatsumaki, sipped his cup of coffee and sighed in exasperation, “That’s a plastic toy ring, son…don’t tell me you ate all of those boxes just to get it.”

White whirled around and frowned at her husband. “No, Black! It’s the POWER RING! The ring that will grant one…the uh…um…power of the universe!”

“Don’t encourage him! See? You always do this and this is why he’s…” Black glanced back at Tatsumaki, biting back the word he wanted to say to describe him but he didn’t want to be a bad father. “…he’s the way he is. He doesn’t get it from me! He doesn’t get it from anyone. Where does this come from? Are you sure he’s…”

White crossed her arms beneath her breasts and glared at her husband. “Am I sure what, Black?” She already had an idea of what he was trying to say.

“Well, when you and I…we uh…are you sure? I mean…was there possiblee~someone else?”

“Black, how could you? That’s so awful!”

“What? I was just asking. He should be Gray right? Because Black and White makes Gray!”

Tatsumaki was trying to slide the ring on his finger, but his fingers were too fat for it. He stared at the ring in panic. NO; he wouldn’t be able to properly wield its power. White saw her son struggling and removed the necklace from about her neck. She crouched next to him and took the ring from him. Sliding it through the hole, she hooked her necklace about Tatsumaki’s neck and gave his cheek a kiss.

“There baby it’s the same thing as wearing it,” she stated.

Tatsumaki peered down at the ring and grinned in excitement. With a grunt, he sat up and curled his arms, flexing his puffy arms.

“I can feel it! The power coursing through me!”

Black just stared at his son for a silent moment and then walked off back to the bedroom. “I’m gonna get ready for work.”



Ten students were seated on their knees in white gis before their chubby master who was seated similarly on a pillow facing them. Kevin was gawking at how Tatsumaki had suddenly let himself go. Had it happened overnight? Did Mr. Poe make a fat-o-ray or something? His students were muttering among themselves in confusion.

“Sensei’s gotten bigger…”

“Is he on a new diet?”

“What? He didn’t tell us!”

Kevin scowled—the other students were so stupid. “He’s fat, you fools! He’s lost his touch!”

“Shut up Kevin! Sensei is the best!”

One of the students raced over to drop to his knees before Tatsumaki in a low bow. He pleaded, “Sensei, we are impressed by your power! Please, teach us how we can become strong like you too!”

Kevin stood and held his hand out in Tatsumaki’s direction. “For god’s sake people, he is fat! Chubby! Morbidly obese! Rotund! Horizontally challenged! You want to get like that then go to McGronals and devour some Mega Macs! I’m sure that’s what he did!”

“Shut it Kevin!”

“Sensei, Kevin has always lacked faith in you, but we-”

The student heard a low snoring sound and glanced up at Tatsumaki to see him hunched over sleeping like a baby. His chin was resting comfortably against his chest and his round belly was keeping him from dumping over on his face. A stream of drool was rolling down his chest from his mouth. The run to school that morning had used up all his sugar rush and he was no longer feeling the high. The bus driver had been too impressed by his power to let him on (it was actually more like he didn’t want his brand new wheels to go out).

“Sensei is meditating…”

“WHAT? He’s freakin’ asleep!” Kevin clapped his palm against his forehead in a loud face-palm. “Enough of this nonsense. It’s about time the real master of this club steps forth!”

Kevin walked over to Tatsumaki and pivoted on the ball of his right foot. With a cry, he twisted his body, swinging his right foot around in a roundhouse kick meant for Tatsumaki’s face. Suddenly, Tatsumaki’s right forearm rose, blocking Kevin’s kick. Kevin’s face paled and quickly he stepped back in fright. Silence fell over the room as the students gawked.

Zzzz…

“Ah! Sensei blocked your kick in his sleep!” the student exclaimed.

Several of the students gasped in awe.

“WHAT? Are you serious?” Kevin snarled. He walked over and simply rested his hands on Tatsumaki’s shoulders and pushed him over off the master’s pillow. Kevin then sat on the pillow, easing back his head as a diabolical laugh bubbled from him.

The students gasped in shock.

“No; Kevin can’t be our master! Quick, someone wake sensei from his meditation!”

“HE’S ASLEEP!” Kevin yelled.

One of the students raced over to Tatsumaki and shook him. “Sensei! Kevin is trying to steal your position!”

Tatsumaki’s eyes groggily opened and he dragged the back of his hand across his mouth to gather up the drool. With the student’s help, he sat up and gazed over at Kevin who was seated comfortably on such a sacred pillow. His eyes widened in shock. Kevin grinned over at him as he rubbed his tush into it.

“What’s the matter Tatsu? A true master is sitting on this pillow now,” Kevin declared with a wicked smirk.

“A true master, huh?” said Tatsumaki as he rose to his feet. “A true master would fight me for it. Fight me Kevin, prove to me that you deserve to sit there.”

Kevin narrowed his eyes at Tatsumaki in disbelief before he burst with laughter. The fighter rolled about on the pillow, holding his sides and kicking his feet. “Fight you? I’d be surprised if you could even throw a kick!”

Tatsumaki confidently smirked. “You should be afraid, Kevin for I am the possessor of the Power Ring.”

He flicked the ring about his tire-neck. The students rushed over to gawk at the ring. Kevin sat up and arched a brow.

“You mean that plastic ring that comes randomly inside a Lucky Gems cereal box?”

A female student fell weakly to her knees, her hands posting out to catch herself. “I…I feel it’s power! I…I’m too weak. It’s power is too great!”

She then fainted.

“Oh no! Karen! She was overwhelmed by the ring’s power!”

“KAREN IS NARCOLEPTIC! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE? WHY DO I EVEN COME TO THIS CLUB?” Kevin screamed.

“That’s not how you talk to a lady,” Tatsumaki growled.

“WHAT?” Kevin swore he was about to get an aneurysm.

“Come Kevin, we fight now. I will avenge Karen’s honor.”

Kevin shook his head and stood. “Whatever. I’ll fight you. Somebody has to beat you and turn this club back into what it was meant to be and not this club of numbskulls!”

Kevin struck a pose. His right arm was bent with his right hand, palm up toward the ceiling. His left arm was extended diagonally toward the floor with the palm of his left hand down. His right foot was forward and left to the side with his knees slightly bent for spring. Behind his glasses was a stern and determined scowl. He was going to show them how much of an idiot Tatsumaki was.

The Karate students fled away from the two fighters giving them space. Tatsumaki was glaring across the distance at Kevin, and Kevin noticed that he wasn’t even using a stance.

What sort of trick does he have up his sleeve? Kevin mused. Wait…what? Tatsumaki is an idiot. What am I nervous about?

Kevin broke into a sprint toward Tatsumaki and when he was a few feet away, he sprang into the air and extended his foot into a flying kick.

“HA!” he cried. His foot connected with Tatsumaki’s gut feeling the warm, malleable flesh give against the sole of his foot, swallowing it up before it sent a painful shock through his leg. Tatsumaki had bent over slightly to absorb the kick and thrusting out his hips, his belly repelled the other fighter. Kevin gasped as he went flying backwards.

“Now to finish you off,” Tatsumaki declared. Tatsumaki stepped, bent at the knees, and sprang into the air TATSUMAKIKJHKDJGKJH (nobody ever understood what he said in the arcade and not now either). The kick hadn’t been as graceful. The shift in his weight, threw off his balance, sending the fat boy flipping haphazardly through the air. Kevin’s face paled when it looked like a massive boulder was hurtling toward him. Tatsumaki’s ass met Kevin’s face.

“NOOO!” Kevin shrieked as he felt the weight of his opponent crashing down on him. His back struck the wooden floor and Tatsumaki’s weight bore down on him, crushing the very soul out of him. The floor shattered from the impact, dropping the two six inches deep as a green ring of flatulence expanded outwards like the aftershock of a nuke. The fall had been great enough to also knock Tatsumaki out. Kevin’s soul had popped out of his mouth from his body being flattened and his mouth foamed over from the stench of having been farted on.



The karate students jumped and cheered in praise.

“Sensei has never showed us this technique before!”

“I don’t think I’m big enough to be able to pull it off. I need to go eat some mega macs!”

“Hey guys, let’s go to McGronals and get big like sensei!”

“YEAH!”

The karate students left the dojo, cutting out the lights. It wasn’t until an hour later that Tatsumaki’s cell phone started to ring You’re the best! A-rou~nd! No one’s gonna ever keep you down! Tatsumaki groaned and reached a hand into his pants pocket to remove his cell phone. Raising the cell phone to his ear, he muttered, “Ah..”

“Am I going to have a late worker today?” Mr. Gar’s voice ominously passed through the phone.

Tatsumaki immediately sat up-right in a frightful start. He glanced at the time and his face paled. Oh shit, he only had fifteen minutes.

“I’m-I'm on my way!” he exclaimed.

“You better get here. Don’t make me hafta’ find you!”

Mr. Gar hung up and Tatsumaki rose to his feet, swatting a few splinters off his bottom.

“Power Ring grant me speed!” he commanded the ring, and believing it had granted his wish, he started running.



Mr. Gar’s voice squealed over the intercom. “So I’ve been receivin’ complaints about a road block, blocking the entrance to my store…TATSUMAKI! Get your big fat butt out of the way!”

The fighter had passed out in the entrance and had been laying there ever since. He had made it on time. Thanks to the Power Ring. If it hadn’t been for the plastic toy, then he would have never made it on time.

“Hai…” Tatsumaki replied and sluggishly crawled into the store and over into a corner where he could finish dying in.

Name: Viki Woods
Alias: N/A
Level: 3
Date/Time: September 1st, 6 AM, 5 PM
Location: Apartment, Work
Tag: @Holy Soldier - Gut punching Tatsumaki

---

The fun thing about waking up to the sound of silence was the serenity of it all, a blonde haired woman yawned and sat up in her bed and gazed out the window and at the rising sun. Unfortunately, the door to her room was kicked open to reveal a smaller, muscular version of the blonde woman in bed. “Sis, get up! We got school!” The smaller girl shouted before running forward and grasping the sister and throwing her through the door. The girl who had been up for almost two hours already was Viki Woods, the very excitable younger sister to Bianca Woods.

The two lived on the second story of an apartment complex, finding the two bedroom one bathroom being perfect enough to accommodate the both of them. It was a messy abode, even though Viki tried her best to clean up after her older, messier sister. In fact the house was already halfway cleaned with Viki’s hair going everywhere and grabbing things that were out of place and sweeping. The younger one could be seen inhaling some toast and eggs that she had prepared before she had violently tossed her sister out of her bed.

“Get up! I have a busy day today!,” Viki announced, her voice speaking with the same amount of authority that Mr. Gar had.

“Your days are always busy,” countered the sister, slowly walking into the kitchen and grabbing a cup of coffee that Viki had prepared. She sat down next to her hardcore sister, “You need to try and relax a bit more.”

“Relaxation means laziness! Laziness means nothing gets done! Besides, as assistant manager of Mr. Gar’s Hero Supply & Bodega, I simply have too much work to oversee,”

The older blonde rolled her eyes at the remark and continued to counter with her level two wisdom, “Shut up and go to school, you might be late to being early to school!”

“Oh snap! You're right!”

With that, Viki dived out the window and swung her hair down, elongating four strands to act as legs that would walk her to school. Everything was going according to plan until something cut a connection of two legs, causing Viki to fall into the ground. With an angered look, the blonde brought her head up off of the ground and looked up to see the figure of JK-11 standing in front of her. “Well oh well, if it isn't my favorite annoyance. Good thing I managed to cut you off, I don't want you being early to school.” She turned away from the blonde and crossed her arms,”Have fun dealing with the mini robos, nerd!”

Before Viki had a chance to respond ten different robots jumped from their hiding places to beset her on all sides, luckily their programming trapped them in an area with one of the most ruthless heroes on the block. The blonde rolled out of the way, the robots colliding with the ground and creating a crater in their wake. They all turned to see Viki on her feet and the end of her braid a very bright green. “Oh now y'all done messed up!”

With a whip of her head, a green blob was launched at the group, only five of them were fast enough to jump out the way while the others were dissolved into a puddle of acid. The five tried their same tactic of pouncing her at the same time, only to be met with her grasping four of them while the last one had a fist go through its chest. Simple level one robots could never beat her, but that had done their job in distracting Viki. A smile grew on her face as the bots fell apart on the ground, “Looks like Poe really did have to scrap some of his work!”

The blonde looked at the time on her phone, with a gasp she began sprinting forward, a dust trail now in her wake. Somewhere along the line JK-11 turned her head, internal sensors detecting a fast moving object inbound, however, she was swept along a hand on her throat as Viki swept her away. The disguised robot began screaming before she hit a hard metal object, the object was the raised door of a dumpster, which then firmly closed the robot inside of it.



Such was the morning of Viki Woods.



With wrestling club not being on September 1st, Viki had plenty of time to get to work, being extremely early and doing her job of taking stalk and making sure everyone was working so Mr. Gar wouldn't have to tire out his poor lungs. That was until complaints began rolling in and she couldn't investigate because customers kept coming up to her. Unfortunately, Mr. Gar had beaten her to it, voicing his concern on the intercom. Then she saw what had caused the blockage, a very bloated form of Tatsumaki, waddling into a corner to die.

Dying was laziness of life and work.

Doom

“Tatsumaki, get to work!” Viki yelled, jumping into the air and going to bring the full force of a hair punch down on the bloated fighter’s gut.

Tatsumaki, get to work!

The fighter’s brown eyes cracked open upon hearing the voice. The exclamation of Mini Gar. All she was missing was his mustache. She had descended on him, her hair formed into a fist that she slammed into his stomach. Tatsumaki’s eyes swelled, his cheeks inflating, before a rainbow beam of Lucky Gems cereal shot from his mouth like a massive laser at the little girl. The beam extended across the store to the main entrance, shining over the heads of several customers who stopped to gawk up at it.

“Look Mommy! A rainbow!” a child exclaimed, pointing up at it.

The beam flickered as Tatsumaki coughed, and then slumped over weakly. What had she gone and done that for? He wiped a dribble of rainbow drool from the corner of his mouth and sluggishly rose to his feet. Frowning at Viki, wherever she went or if she had managed to avoid the sudden and unexpected rainbow assault, Tatsumaki growled, “Look, I don’t know how you did it, but the position of Assistant Manager means you’re second to Mr. Gar.”

Tatsumaki then wickedly grinned as he pointed a thumb at himself, “I am the possessor of the Power Ring, the ring that grants phenomenom (he couldn’t say such a big word properly) cosmic power. I will be challenging Mr. Gar for Head Manager of this store.”

Name: Jacuzzi
Alias: The Gangster of Love
Level: 2
Date/Time: September 1st, 5PM
Location: Work
Tag: @Holy Soldier @Lauder [@anyone else]
----------------------------------------------

Jacuzzi opened the door of the store, a little bit of blood on his lip. Otherwise, he seemed to be in fine fettle. "Afternoon, Viki. Tatsumaki." He said, before glancing at the ring. "Does wearing it make you fat?" He asked, glancing at Tatsumaki's new form. He could have sworn Tatsumaki was a lot fitter last time he'd seen him. "On the way here I was hit in the face with some kind of rainbow. Crazy stuff. Knocked me off my bike." He sidled up to Tatsumaki.

"Hey. You'll make me the head of the lingerie section, right?" He asked, resting his hand on Tatsumaki's bicep. "I'm an expert in the field of bra sizes. It would be a sin to let my gift go to waste, no?" He was trying to put something into Tatsumaki's hand. It was a bologna sandwich.

Name: Lyle and Clay McCog.
Alias: N/A
Level: 2 and 1
Date/Time:September 1st, 6AM, & 5PM
Tag:@Holy Soldier@HeroicSociopath@Lauder

---

A loud beeping noise suddenly filled the McCog household at exactly 6:09 AM, just like it had at 6AM. Sadly, this time it couldn't be ignored by the young man who set it, Lyle, who hit the 'off' button with his extendable robot arm, and yawned loudly into his pillow. He hated mornings. He hated mornings somehow even more than he hated the day and the night. Especially when the morning was preceded by a weird dream of your evil sister groping your tail.

But that dream would (hopefully) fade from his memory once his morning routine started. Wiping the sleep from his eyes, he got out of bed and stretched out. Forgetting one of his limbs could stretch a little farther than the others, his extendable robotic arm to shot upwards, right through the roof. For the second time that month. Lyle mumbled a curse, but ignored the problem for now. It probably wasn't going to rain today so, eh.

Lyle grabbed up his clothing, signature bomber jacket included, and hit the shower. This was one part of the morning he actually appreciated, the warm waters waking him. Of course, having to wash his fur was a huge pain in the ass, especially considering he had to do it one handed. He brought his robot arm in the shower once, he wasn't replicating that mistake again.

Either way, after about twenty minutes he managed to scrub himself to a respectable level, even if 5 of those minutes were spent trying to get the damn cap off. He then dried off, put his limbs back on, and clothed himself. With that, he walked downstairs into the kitchen. Waiting at the dining table was his younger brother, Clay, all dressed and ready to go with a bored expression on his face. One couldn’t even tell he had just gotten up.

‘Morning, brother. Dad’s gone to work.’ Clay motioned a greeting to Lyle. ‘Breakfast is ready, just clean up afterward.’ He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone and began scrolling through it absent-mindedly.
‘Looks like it will rain today. The Idaho Ifrits beat the Rhode Island Rhinos. Again. Oh, meteor shower in a couple days. Neat.’

After sitting for a while, Clay sighed. Put his phone back in his pocket, he picked up his empty backpack and headed for the front door. ‘I’ll be waiting outside, come when you’re ready.’

The sky seemed a bit cloudy, but not in such a way that would definitively mean rain. Perhaps the weather forecast was incorrect.

Better safe than sorry, I suppose. he thought. With a couple small coughs, he produced two umbrellas, one for him, one for his brother, and laid them against the wall beside the house entrance. He then perched himself comfortably on the railing to wait. Hope dad didn’t leave his umbrella behind.

All Lyle offered during Clay's greeting was a "Thanks." for the breakfast, but as soon as his little brother left, slammed his head onto the table with an angry grunt. While picking at his pancakes his better arm searched through the cabinets for a bucket, or something large enough to hold the water that would be pouring through the hole in the roof. Somehow, he couldn't find one, but deigned to grab a couple glasses and slap them onto his floor to make up for it. After finishing his breakfast and lightly cleaning off the plate and placing it in the dishwasher, he grabbed some drinking glasses and placed them below his new skylight. Great start to the day. After that fiasco, he equipped his bag and joined his little brother outside. "Sorry for the wait. Had to take care of something." he grumbled.
‘No issue, it’s not started raining yet.’ Clay returned, and hopped down from the railing. Grabbing the two umbrellas, he handed one over to Lyle. ‘Just in case.’
Lyle grunted affirmatively as he accepted the gift. "Right. Don't want to rust or something."

---

Lyle and Clay entered the story right behind Jacuzzi, encountering a flittering rainbow blast, coming straight out of the idiot bodyguard's mouth. Luckily, the two were holding their umbrellas and easily blocked the vomit until it subsided, revealing that Tatsumaki had lost his only positive trait, his fit body. Apparently in his much weaker state he was going to challenge their boss.

Lyle pinched the bridge of his nose as he shook the Lucky Gems off of his umbrella. Standard work-day idiocy. Maybe with all this happening though, Lyle could sneak off and start tinkering with one of the Lazer Swordz. He quickly signed to his little brother 'Lets just go mess with the lazer swordz. They won't even notice us.'

‘Let me check the Lightning Nachos. They are usually out by the time we get here. Then I will join you.’ Clay motioned back, then opened and closed his umbrella a few times outside, a look of disgust on his face. Funny. Turned out it did rain today.

Heading over to the checkout counter, he saw that, sure enough, they were out. They were out of Power Slushies as well. And Ultimate Diapers. And Holy Hand Grenades. And Hero Gummies. And everything else. With a sigh, Clay headed towards the back. Inventory was such a pain.

While his brother headed off to actually do his job, Lyle attempted to sneak off and slack off. Everyone else was busy arguing about promotions or something, so Lyle slyly snuck to the left, weaving in between shelves and hopping above them to try and get to that sweet, sweet pot of gold opposite the man who produced the vomit rainbow. If only Viki would stay on target and not notice him...

Name: Viki Woods
Alias: N/A
Level: 3
Date/Time: September 1st, 5 PM
Location: Work
Tag: @Holy Soldier @HeroicSociopath @Kafka Komedy

---

Viki had masterly dodged the rainbow of lasers, a smug smile on her face knowing that Tatsumaki would never be able to her with such a predictable thing. She turned away from the bloated form before telling both Jacuzzi and Tatsumaki, “Get to work you two, time is money and I want this place looking great for Mister Gar, that included all of his employees in their stations.” She gave a slightly evil chuckle before her nose smelled something, or rather she had just seen the fox for a brief second but it was cooler if she had smelled what was the pose of productivity.

“Lyle! Get to work or else!,” Viki roared, looking towards the camera to give a smile and thumbs up to Mr. Gar who was likely watching them all. “The freezer is out again and I need you to fix it before the ice cream melts,” the blonde stated before walking into an aisle that contained some weapons, inspecting them and making sure they were all in the right place. Everything had to be perfect, everything had its place, everything had to have a price tag, luckily Clay was doing his job unlike his good for nothing brother.

“Cleanup on Aisle… all of them,” Viki announced, allowing her hair to grow and grab mops and other cleaning supplies to get rid of the rainbow colored vomit. It was almost a subconscious thing, cleaning up messes before customers could get to her and complain, luckily there was no more blockage in the front door. With a sigh, the long haired wonder quickly finished the detailing before everything was put back where it was supposed to be.

“Good job, Viki,” she said to herself in a low voice, imitating Mr. Gar.

“Why thank you boss! I know I'm the best employee here!”

“Have a promotion! One-hundred dollars per hour!”

“Mister Gar, you know I can't accept such money! But thank you!”

Little did she know this was her talking to herself and not a scenario played in her mind.

Tatsumaki frowned when it seemed like Viki wasn’t taking him serious. Did she not believe him? She wasn’t aware of the power of his ring, but she would soon be amazed. Jacuzzi strolled into the store, expressing curiosity concerning his ring. The fighter smirked when he asked if the ring made him fat.

“No; it gives me great power,” Tatsumaki told him. He then gave Jacuzzi a confused expression, his brows turning upwards with uncertainty. “I cannot make you the head of any section. You should ask Viki.”

Just as he mentioned the assistant manager’s name, Tatsumaki winced a little when she blared, Get to work you two, time is money and… blah, blah, blah. She tried too hard to be like Mr. Gar. A hard scowl settled on the fighter’s face as he turned away from Jacuzzi and strode with purpose toward the office of Mr. Gar. His heart was racing. Here, he was about to take on The Man. Tatsumaki’s eyes were shrinking by the second and his pits were spilling hot sweat—he was sweating like a pig. Internally, he was hearing his conscience screaming at him to turn back, but no! He had to have faith. He had the ring!

Tatsumaki stopped before the office door and stared at the black stencil stickers. He raised his hand prepared to knock when all of a sudden the door opened and Tatsumaki was staring face-to-face with a pair of mirror sunglasses. The massive wall of a man stared at him for a minute, looking the boy in his wide-shocked eyes. Mr. Gar inhaled deeply, his barreled chest expanding, and then he sighed deeply through his nostrils.

“Tatsumaki, your father called, and he told me everything,” Mr. Gar said. He then rested his hand on Tatsumaki’s shoulder and explained, “Look; there is no power ring. That’s just a plastic toy ring that you found in a box of Lucky Gems. It’s a toy, son!”

Tatsumaki shook his head. “No; the cereal box…”

“I know, son. This may be a shock to you but…” Mr. Gar removed from his pocket a similar power ring.

Tatsumaki gasped. “No…That’s...that’s impossible.”

“Is it? Lucky Gems cereal is sold on the open market. There are many lucky boys and girls out there with power rings. Now, let’s stop this. If you try to fight me, I told Black I would try not to break your bones.”

Tatsumaki scowled in doubt, staring down at the floor. “I…” He couldn’t even see the floor. All he saw was his fat gut and the ring dangling between his breasts. “I ate so much cereal…”

Mr. Gar patted his shoulder. “I know son. You’re hurting the store’s productivity with your sluggish performance. Get back into shape so you can go back to being one of my stellar security guards.”

Tatsumaki sighed and turned away from Mr. Gar’s office. Just as he turned, everyone would feel a strong tremor pass through the floor, causing Tatsumaki’s fat rolls to quiver. Mr. Gar frowned.

“It sounds like Nevermore just dropped another one of their goons outside,” Mr. Gar grumbled. “VIKI! Round up the workers and go deal with that problem! Try not to wreck the parking lot!”

Outside…

The crate that had dropped from the sky burst open as a tall red cat extended his paws into the air.

“AT LAST! It is now Feliking’s turn to reduce Lakewood Plaza into a bed of kitty litter!” Feliking laughed.

Several customers stopped in the parking lot to gawk at the skinny cat villain with little fear. Feliking’s yellow eyes narrowed as he laughed behind a wicked smirk. He directed his paws at a couple who were pushing an empty cart toward the shopping mall. A pink wavy beam left Feliking’s paws and blasted the two humans, leaving behind a pillar of gray smoke, and as the smoke dissipated, all that was left behind were two housecats. By the times the heroes would assemble outside, they would find cats all over the parking lot, rolling around, yowling, and some were raising their hackles at each other in a cat fight.

Name: Viki Woods
Alias: N/A
Level: 3
Date/Time: September 1st, 5 PM
Location: Work
Tag: @Holy Soldier @HeroicSociopath @Kafka Komedy @jynmi88@Leaves@RubyOwl @Majoras End Feliking (Level 4 boss)

---

“VIKI! Round up the workers and go deal with that problem! Try not to wreck the parking lot!”

There did not need to be another word said for the assistant manager to spring into action, Viki running to the cashier station and grabbing the intercom. “All employees, to the parking lot! Wreck this nerd!,” she practically yelled through the intercom before jumping through the roof, leaving a rather large hole, despite knowing Mr. Gar would not like that one bit. Yet, it was something that they would have to deal with at a later point in time for now it was time to kick butt.

She landed in front of the doors to the Bodega, leaving a small crater as the end of her hair started glowing green as she came to her full average height. A smug smile came to her face as she looked at the villain in front of her, a tall, stupid cat who seemed to have the ability to turn others into cats as well. Nothing that they couldn't deal with as a group, then again they would also have to be careful.

Viki’s hair split into four ends all glowing green and poised to attack the furious feline, crossing her arms before announcing to the villain, “I’ll give you one chance, villain, leave now or face our combine wrath! Also why turn people into cats? Dogs are better.” Her eyes dug into the villain as she restrained herself from attacking the villain, wanting to give him a solid chance of at least running away before she chased him down.

---

"All employees, to the parking lot! Wreck this nerd!"

A startled Iris nearly fell on the floor as the assistant manager called all the workers to deal with a feline fatale in the parking lot. Lucky they made it to work in time, as some of the stock was unorganized. Quickly grabbing small paint cans of their choice, they grabbed Hydrus and ran to the back to get Clay.

"Hey, cmon! We gotta villain to fight!" they told him before running to the others in the entrance. The enemy in question, Feliking was turning people into his own kind. Iris loaded their minigun with cyan ice paint and revved the weapon up as a taunt.

"Ya know, THIS is one of the reasons why I dont have pets." she told no one in particular.

Name: Kokuro Majokko
Alias: N/A
Level: -1
Date/Time: September 1st, 4:45 PM
Location: Outside Mr Gar's
Tag: Feliking (Lv 4. Boss), @Kafka Komedy@jynmi88@Leaves@HolySoldier@Lauder@HeroicSociopath@Majoras End

---

It had been a boring day for Koko. Her day at school was uneventful, there had been no customers at Mr. Poe's, and worst of all she hadn't gotten anything from her cereal this morning! Her chin would rest on the palm of her hand, yawning as she looked out the window. The teenager would watch as her boss ordered a minion around, a strange being placed into a crate. Grumpy, but determined, the magical girl quickly clocked out for lunch.

"Petto, get my bag, we're going to watch this chaos unfold~" She smiled, twirling a tail tip around her finger. With her little fox by her side, the girl would sneak out the back, hoping 30 minutes would be enough time to see it all go down.

15 minutes later...

"Seriously? This is it?" Sitting in a bush, the girl would munch on her tofu pocket. "I could have done better than this." Koko said through a mouthful of rice. Watching the cat showdown was better than nothing, though, so the two continued to chill unless something better happened.

---

Let's see, diapers, diapers, where art though diapers, Clay thought, navigating the storage labyrinth underneath the backroom. It wasn't that he didn't know where they were, just not where they were at this very moment. It seemed like every time he needed them, the Ultimate Diapers were in a different place. A week ago, they were in the far, far back, where light itself dared not go. A couple days ago, they were right by the stairwell down. Today, they were... um...

ALL EMPLOYEES, TO THE PARKING LOT! WRECK THIS NERD! NERD! NERD! NERD!

Clay blew the hair up out of his eyes in annoyance as the assistant manager's voice echoed through the backroom. Jerkface Mr. Poe, always sending those stupid henchmen over and wasting everyone's time. It's not like his villains ever actually accomplished anything. Viki, Iris, and Tatsumaki usually had them begging for mercy before they took more than a few steps out of their delivery boxes. And yet, everyone made it out to be such a huge deal whenever a new henchman appeared. The storage imps that guarded the Holy Hand Grenades? Now they were an actual threat, but most of the other employees acted like they didn't even exist. If it weren't for the fact that they were allergic to canines, Clay would've probably been in big trouble.

"Hey, c'mon! We gotta villain to fight!" Iris's voice bounced down the elevator shaft. Clay sighed. Despite the fact that he couldn't actually fight, she always tried to get him involved. Well, at least he always felt included.

He turned and started to jog back towards the stairs when he spotted something out of the corner of his eye. Target found, objective complete. There, in all their glory, were the beautiful, beautiful diapers. Since he didn't have much time before the other employees tore the limbs off the villain he was supposed to be fighting, he quickly swallowed a whole bunch of boxes and dashed for the exit.

He made his way up the staircase, slid past the mostly empty shelves in the backroom, and slammed into the employee's only door.
That, uh, that opens inward... Clay flinched, rubbing his bruised forehead. Pulling himself back to his feet, he exited the back and grabbed a laser sword off the shelves on his way towards the parking lot.

Cats.

The boy's fox ears began to twitch.

So many Cats.

His tail's sporadic movements became a lot more frequent.

Stop it Clay, what did dad tell you about succumbing to your primal instincts! he warned himself, grabbing a hold of his ears. Keep yourself focused. Neither Lyle nor Kokuro have this problem.
He took a deep breath and turned to face Feliking.

---

Ms. DeVine, the 9th grade English teacher at Lakewood High was just about to head home after a bit of shopping. She had just purchased some meat and vegetables for a stew when suddenly she was a lot more feline than she last checked.
"Oh my, that Feliking character is getting between me and my dinner! I must go and give him a good scolding!" Ms. DeVine flaunted over to him, her tush swishing back and forth.

---

"What? ... What do you mean you're in the hospital? ... You were turned into a cat when out for groceries yesterday? ... Attacked!? By whom!? ... A boy with fox ears and pink hair? ... Yes... Uh huh... I understand, I will get someone to substitute until then... Uh huh... Well, we all wish you well soon, Ms. DeVine... Alright, goodbye."
The principal at Lakewood Highschool sighed, then began dialing a number.

Level: 2
Date/Time: September 1st, 5 PM
Location: Mr. Gar's ==> Parking Lot
Tag: @Ebil Bunny @Lauder @Holy Soldier

---

Lyle yipped in surprise as one of his many semi-arch nemeses, Viki, bellowed at him to get back to work. Some jerk had managed to break the freezer-- the damn freezer! After just yesterday he had added in all those new functions and managed to overclock it! It was a technical marvel, what he had done! Especially considering he had used products found exclusively from said freezer for the upgrade!! He always had to clean up someone else's messes. He quickly stomped off to the frozen goods section, scrounging around in his backpack for his screwdriver.

Before he could remove the four screws to the icy machine's mechanism, a miniature earthquake rocked the small shop, flinging Lyle's screwdriver square into his face. A small 'ouch' escaped his mouth and he rubbed his muzzle lightly as he got onto his feet. Viki's voice "graced" him again, now commanding him to get outside. That tremor must have been Mr. Poe which meant...

"Oh no, please don't be Kokuro." Lyle silently prayed as he joined his co-workers outside in the parking lot. Thank Gar, it was just another bestial man like Lyle, though he was a cat instead of a fox, ruling out the possibility that the two were related as well. He was turning people into cats, even Clay's English teacher. It seemed, though, everyone was standing around quipping instead of actually stopping the issue, didn't they realize the citizens of Lakewood were--

Oh, Clay seemed to be having an issue. Lyle boosted over to his little brother to see what was going on. He was breathing heavily and holding his ears, stressed obviously. Lyle searched his mind for an explanation and staring at the shaking rump of what used to be a teacher. "Oh yeah, you still have that thing about prey. You wanna, uh, sit this one out Clay?"

Name: Jacuzzi
Alias: The Gangster of Love
Level: 2
Date/Time: September 1st, 5PM
Location: Bushes
Tag: @RubyOwl

Next to Kokuro, Jacuzzi was also in the bushes. He was trying to pet Petto. "Come her often?" The blonde asked the magical girl. He wasn't interested in joining the fray at this point. Out of his pocket, he drew a sandwich and ate it as he watched the bizarre humanoid cat. Dealing with furries just wasn't worth it.

All employees to the parking lot! Wreck this nerd!

Mr. Gar’s brows crashed together and teeth clenched in a frown when he watched Viki launch through the roof of his store.

“That’s coming out of your paycheck!” he roared.

Tatsumaki didn’t run like the others to the front of the store. He walked for he was still bummed about his power ring just being a toy. He couldn’t believe it. He felt too stubborn to get rid of it. He didn’t eat all of that cereal for nothing.

Feliking set his thin pupils on the girl whose hair splayed like venomous snakes. The tall red cat looked hardly afraid or wounded by her gibe. Laughing behind a feline smile, he simply answered, “You’re right. Dogs are a more suitable slave. They’re already servants, and they will serve me and my people once I have built my kitty kingdom.”

The front doors of the store slid open and Tatsumaki stepped up to the line of heroes outside. He stared at the lone red cat that was larger than what cats normally were…he had to be the boss. He gazed around at the cats licking their paws and rolling around in the parking lot and sighed. Stepping forward, the fighter brought his hands together and began cracking his knuckles.

“I got this,” Tatsumaki grumbled to the others.

Feliking’s eyes slid from Viki over to the…his triangular ears perked straight up before a paw clapped over his muzzle. Tears welled in his eyes before a hard snort escaped his nose, and he burst into laughter.

“Who is this fat boy, nya?” Feliking laughed.

Tatsumaki frowned sternly and spread his arms. The sun was blotted out by a sudden overcast of dark clouds. Feliking stopped laughing and gazed up at the storm clouds above. The clouds flashed and rumbled ominously before a bolt of lightning shot down to strike Tatsumaki. His hair splayed from the static as chains of electricity danced up and down his body and across his extended arms. Feliking’s tail swished nervously as he watched and raised his paws, his claws popping free of their sheaths like switch blades.

“Hmph, yes, show me your power,” Feliking growled.

Tatsumaki lowered his stance a little and attempted to cross his left hand over to join his right on his right side when…it got stuck. A wide-eyed confused look flashed on Tatsumaki’s face as he tried to reach his left arm across his stomach…No…He was…he was too fat. A shadow of embarrassment fell over the fighter’s face. This couldn’t be happening. Tatsumaki tried to turn sideways, and then bend over to hopefully bring his hands closer together at chest level, but it wasn’t working. He couldn’t perform the explosive fist attack with incorrect form.

Feliking’s tail stopped swishing as he glanced up to see the clouds dissipating and then scratched the back of his head, watching the chubby hero struggle to perform whatever attack that was. It wasn’t even funny anymore. It was just embarrassing and he felt sorry for Mr. Gar’s store. What a joke.

Tatsumaki stopped struggling and rested his hands on his knees to take a break—as though all that had been any work. Panting, he glared down at the asphalt. The fight couldn’t end like this. Mr. Gar was relying on him and the other heroes to vanquish this baddie. Baring his teeth in determination, Tatsumaki turned and charged Feliking. The red cat just lowered his paw and narrowed his eyes with disturbance at the wall of churning blubber that charged him. Tatsumaki threw himself into one of his chaotic and off-balanced versions of his Whirlwind Kick and Feliking extended a paw to blast the fighter before leaning out of the way of a small black chubby cat with a red headband that went twirling passed him. The cat plopped upon the ground behind him and went rolling across the ground in a daze.

Feliking stared at the rest of the fighter’s with an unimpressed frown. “Please don’t tell me that that was the best you got? Surely the rivals of Nevermore aren’t this great of a jest? If so, then my work here is already done.”

---

"Oh yeah, you still have that thing about prey. You wanna, uh, sit this one out Clay?" his brother asked. Still grasping his ears much too hard, Clay slowly nodded, turned and began walking back towards the store. Each step almost mechanical and rhythmic as he forced himself forward with his tail curled once around one of his legs. Finally, he made it inside and closed the door. Slumping to the floor with his back against the wall, he sighed, partially out of relief, partially out of disappointment. Stupid habit. He rubbed the bruise on his forehead caused from running into the door earlier as he tried to calm down. Ommmm... Ommmm... Ommmm...

SMASH!

One of the front store windows shattered as a blur of pink shot out and towards the nearest cat. Approaching at high velocity, Ms. DeVine couldn't react in time and was slammed with a headbutt. She screeched in surprise, anger, and pain before being grabbed by the tail, swung in the air a couple times, then let go.

Clay watched the cat fly in an arc across the parking lot with a smug look that quickly turned to horror.
No! I mustn't! I have to get out of here! He took off towards an alleyway beside the store and covered his eyes with his hands. There's nothing here, there's nothing here, there's nothing here, there's nothing here...

Level: 2
Date/Time: September 1st, 5 PM
Location: Mr. Gar's ==> Parking Lot
Tag: @Ebil Bunny @Lauder @Holy Soldier

---

As Clay began slowly walking away, Lyle nodded. Okay, it seemed the team could now go on the attack! Lyle stretched out as Tatsumaki took the lead, his round form jiggling as he took his stance to launch a fireball or something. He really wasn't paying attention honestly, but the distraction was well appreciated as Lyle's cannon dropped down onto his shoulder and the sight flipped out. 'Feliking, Level 4' it read. Dang, Tatsumaki was occupied with being fat and Clay couldn't pitch in, so they'd have to go all out here.

"Alright Feliking!" Lyle shouted, stepping forward to replace the cat-ified bouncer. "No more distractions, no more playing around, and no more-- what in the Gar is that sound?"

Turning around to face that shrill shriek, Lyle saw his lil' bro, manhandling Ms.DeVine! "That should be me!" Lyle shouted, unintentionally. As Clay chucked her, Lyle's extendable arm shot forward, going slightly past the cat-woman before wrapping around her lightly and pulling her back in. "Sorry about my brother Miss, he has some trouble with his inner predator. Not that I'm a predator! I've never had that problem it's just, yaknow he never knew our mom I guess she was the fox in the family and--"

Lyle continued rambling, cat in hand, leaving him wide open for an attack.

---

"Initializing built-in alarm clock...Commencing annoying sounds in a repeated pattern. Buzz. Buzz. Victor woke up from his slumber; his eyes immediately opened as he let out a monotone yawn. Most likely, he yawned only because the action resembled humanity. "Yawn. What a glorious slumber I have conquered." VR-17 turned off the alarm clock inside his chest.

His voice emanated a cold, visible mist. VR-17 did not exactly sleep at his home today. A few problems emerged concerning his tardiness in the morning. Without upsetting Mr. Gars, Victor took the liberty of sleeping at work. Preferably, he placed himself in the frozen department. His giant feet squashed a few frozen peas.

His breath did leave a considerable amount of condensation on the glass door. VR-17 blinked a few times to look past the frozen door. He focused on the clock hanging on the wall. Victor became extremely disappointed once he could see the minute and hour hand clearly. "Hmm, this must be what disappointment feels like,"

The android had set his alarm clock for 5 am, but must have accidentally inserted 5 pm. VR-17 did not wish to become late in the morning; however, now he became more than a few hours late. He twitched at the thought of Mr. Gars reprimanding him. "I blame the economy of this situation."

VR-17 then noticed a slight change in the people inside the store. In the freezer, his ears did pick up a faint cry. It sounded like trouble was brewing in the parking lot. Victor acknowledged his job involved guarding the store and he needed to spring into action. VR-17 stepped through the freezer glass without opening the door. The glass shattered against his massive body and fell to the floor.

Victor Ristore walked through the side of the building. His body left a concrete outline on the wall. "Have no fear. My shift has started. The hole in the wall behind him began crumbling a bit.

---

Things werent going smoothly. First Tatsumi was too fat to fight, then Jacuzzi ditched the group to who-knows-where, and now Clay had attacked one of the cat/teachers, leaving both him and Lyle exposed to Feliking. "After this im hitting these people with my broomstick.." Iris said, Gritting her teeth. They charged up their minigun and turned to Viki and the just arrived VR-17. "Unless you got cat alergies, let's get this over with!"

Getting a running start, they shot a few units of ice paint onto the ground, and dove into the splattered paint in their squid form. Iris went behind Feliking and shifted back to normal, firing at the red cat.

Alright Feliking! No more distractions, no more playing around, and no more—what in the Gar is that sound?

Feliking’s head followed the arcing blur of a cat that was thrown by one of the heroes…heroes? Could that pink dog really be called a hero for attacking a civilian? Feliking’s eyes lowered to the group of fools that stood before him. The second robo-mutt (or was it a fox) reached out to save the cat with an impressive arm. The fox was distracted…what a contradiction.

“Nice arm,” Feliking complemented facetiously before he thrust his paw out to tag the fox with a beam that reduced him to a machine furball.

Feliking laughed. He couldn’t believe how easy it was to take down Mr. Gar’s employees. Was this really Lakewood Plaza? A fang-filled grin stretched across the red cat’s face. “I must be at the wrong place. This is a store full of wimps.”

The robot that marched straight through the wall of the building caught Feliking’s attention. The heroes were doing more damage to the mall than he was.

Have no fear. My shift has started.

“Your shift has just ended,” Feliking quipped before he fired two cat paw beams at the robot. A sudden splatter of cyan-blue paint caught the red cat’s attention. He narrowed his yellow eyes suspiciously at it until a creature suddenly emerged, transforming from a squid into a girl.

Feliking dove to his right out of the way of the girl’s …paint gun? He landed on all fours and continued to run in a circle around her, grinning. “A paint gun? How are you supposed to stop me with that?”

The cat’s grin morphed into a sneer. “I have a weapon of my own!”

His yellow eyes suddenly grew large and his cheeks inflated until with a great hack, a cannonball sphere of fur went flying toward Iris. If she managed to dodge the projectile, it would explode and cover her paint splatters in a blanket of disgusting cat hair. With her method of vanishing blocked by fish-smelling hair, Feliking sought to take advantage of the opportunity by rising to his feetpaws and firing two beams at her.

Meanwhile, Tatsumaki opened his feline eyes. He laid there dazed on his side, watching the combat in slow motion like a soldier recovering from a sudden strike. He groaned softly, “Ugh…I…I missed.”

He felt something at his rear swishing on the ground and his red cat eyes widened in alarm. He raised his head and couldn’t see it passed his fluff and round flank. Fluff? He raised his paws before his face and yowled in alarm. He rose onto his paws and gazed at his house cat-sized body.

“Oh no!” he exclaimed. He watched Feliking battle Iris and VR-17 before he saw Lyle and Ms. Devine. He raced across the parking lot over to them and was already out of breath by the time he reached them. The cat sluggishly walked up to Lyle, and then had the strange impulse to flop onto his side and reach out with his paws to tag the former fox’s face. A purr rumbled from Tatsumaki until his eyes widened with realization.

“Sorry. I don’t know why I did that,” he rose back to his paws and hung his head in shame. “I’m sorry. I let the team down. First the power ring and now this…if we fail, it’s my fault. Mr. Gar and my parents are going to be upset.”