Janet ran out of the alley quickly. She knew had to hurry. She only had a little over an hour before the serum wore off and she would return to her pitiful human form. But when Janet caught sight of her first enemy, she wasn't too worried.
A tiny calico kitten stood atop a tank. It wore a small black beret on its head. The kitten held a small bullhorn up to its mouth and balanced a handgun in its other hand. It was shouting at the buildings as the tank slowly lumbered down the street.
"Humans! Surrender to your superiors! No longer will we be forced to endure the systemic oppression of our people. Submit to your new rightful masters and you will be spared! You will be given privileged status as our pets. Resist and you will suffer! Submit or be destroyed!"
The WildKats..... thought Janet with annoyance.
Although they looked like cute, adorable, anthropomorphic kittens, they could be very deadly, especially in large numbers. Not to mention they were diabolically cunning with the morals of a cat.
Everyone knew their story. Some foolish scientist was trying to create the next pet fad by adding some human genes into the genome of a common housecat. Although the process was successful, creating a cat that could walk and talk like a human, the resultant creature was equal parts wild and intelligent, proving to be useless as a pet. The abominations should have been destroyed, but the scientist insisted on continuing their work, stubbornly believing that their disobedient nature could be controlled and eliminated with more experimentation. Inevitably, a few of the test subjects escaped, either through negligence or with deliberate aid from a sympathetic lab worker. In the wild, the creatures bred like rabbits, increasing their numbers exponentially. They began to call themselves the WildKats and soon set their sights on punishing their former human masters and world domination, not necessarily in that order.
The WildKats were not too difficult to manage. They were small and physically weak so their rebellions were usually put down fairly quickly. But the authorities could never seem to round all of them up at once. A new herd was always popping up somewhere to cause trouble with one of their ridiculous schemes.
"Shedra!"
Janet cringed as she heard that name - Shedra. She hated it with a passion. Janet had never decided on a name for her hero persona. She was still mulling over her choices when she made her crime fighting debut. She had hoped to be dubbed with a cool name like 'the Dragon' or 'the Mighty Lizard Queen' or even 'Queen Rex'. But some foolish reporter had labeled her 'the She-Dragon' shortly after she made her first appearance. The public shortened it to Shedra and it just kind of stuck.
Janet turned towards the source of the voice, a scowl plastered on her face. But her anger quickly dissipated when she saw the little girl looking up at her with wonder and excitement. Janet didn't become a superhero for fame or fortune, but she had to admit that she did enjoy the adoration of her admiring fans.
The WildKat standing on the tank turned and glared in her direction, alerted to Janet's presence by the little girl's introduction.
"Shedra! This is not your battle. We have no quarrel with fellow oppressed animals. Why do you defend the very people that enslave you? Join us or stand aside!" hissed the cat.
The expression on the little girl's face suddenly shifted, morphing into something Janet had rarely seen when she mingled with the public in her altered form - fear. Why was the girl afraid? Janet had proved herself a hero time and again, saving the city on countless occasions ... why should today be any different? Did she really think that Janet would betray her own people and side with some freakish escaped lab animal? Did she have such little faith in her hero?
Janet bent down and gently ruffled the girl's mousey hair.
"Don't worry, little girl. Shedra will save you! But you need to head home or get somewhere safe while I take care of these pests," said Janet.
The little girl gave Janet a weak smile, then ran away, heading for the same alley that Janet had used earlier.
The cat hissed.
"You allowed one of our enemy to escape justice?! Traitor! Comrades, to arms! Shedra is here!" yelled the cat as she rallied her forces. She glared angrily at Janet. "If you refuse to side with your sisters in arms, you will be crushed with the rest of the proletariat!"
The cat fired her gun in Janet's direction. Janet easily evaded the shot, despite her large size, thanks to her enhanced reflexes. Not that she really needed to. That weapon was much too small to do anything more than give Janet a bruise. But it was better to keep your enemies on their toes.
Janet looked around.
More WildKats were rapidly appearing, seemingly coming from everywhere at once: standing on rooftops, creeping out of alleys, peaking from beneath the cars on the streets. She even saw one poking its head out of the sewer.
Janet could feel her heart race, the adrenaline rushing through her body. Her muscles tensed, ready to fight. The prey may have been small, but she thought their numbers would at least make the fight interesting.
Janet paused just a moment before leaping across the street with lightening-like speed towards her first victim. The small surprised cat on top of the tank never saw her coming.