Complete CATaclysm: The mass of energy-cats conjoins into a singular cat-like aura that enshrouds the woman. The power of this giant energy-cat is greater than the sum of its parts, enhancing her offense and defense. The woman must actively control it.
The naked woman sprinted from the wall of flame, charging straight at the two.
Marcello's ring began to glow again, and the area heated up even more than Zoe thought possible.
He put his fist in the air, blasting a hole into the ceiling above.
Fiery debris rained down on top of the woman. Furniture and rubble collapsed in a pile, leaving a gaping, searing hole on the floor above. Smoke rose from the hallway, a dark haze billowing into the place above.
"Hold your breath and follow," Marcello instructed. Sweat drenched his face, and he panted, the two consecutive fireballs exhausting him. He jumped on top of the flaming debris and hopped into the hole, disappearing in under a second.
'There's no way.' Zoe's eyes stung fiercely from the haze; she could barely open them. The air, thick with smoke, disrupted any attempt to find a steady breath. She pressed forward, cautiously planting her foot on the burning heap, ensuring each step avoided the dancing flames.
She maneuvered her way up the fiery hill.
Suddenly, a shift beneath her caused her hand to slip, and she slid perilously downward, halting just above a roaring blaze. A surge of panic gripped her as she leaped back, frantically patting herself down to extinguish any potential flames that might have clung to her.
Zoe wiped the sweat from her eyes, a revelation settling in—she remained untouched by the fire's wrath. With a raspy inhale, she resumed her ascent, meticulously navigating the debris. Reaching the summit, she leaped, seizing the ledge of the floor above and hauling herself up.
Beneath her, the mound of wreckage crumbled as the woman burst through the apex, tearing herself free from the flaming heap with a piercing scream.
The above floor was the same layout as the apartment below; it would've been a bright, wholesome type of home, but the sky-blue wallpaper with painted clouds had been scorched black. Soot clung to the walls and furnishings, while smoke and heat billowed from the sizable hole torn in the floor.
In the living room, Zoe turned the corner and saw Marcello walking along the edge of the room, glancing out of each window. Every step he took left a black footprint on the fluffy white carpet.
Zoe quickly followed once Marcello spotted the fire escape, sliding open the window and sticking his foot outside, stepping carefully on the metal platform.
Zoe turned, hearing a loud crash come deep from the heart of the apartment. Beyond her, Marcello's eyes widened, peering past Zoe as she clambered out of the window.
The window overhead fractured upon their descent to the alley floor. Shards of glass cascaded, sprinkling atop the concrete.
The arm of the woman's Cataclysm reached from the window, stretching across the alleyway and grabbing a metal pipe, pulling her out of the building. She hung suspended above them, staring down as both the kids scattered, sprinting deeper into the maze of alleyways. Zoe went left, following the pipes that lined the multicolored brick walls; sprinting quickly past several shady characters. Marcello went straight, flashing past several civilians who couldn't even react to him running past them.
'I won't be able to get both like this,' The woman thought, climbing up to the roof, running above Marcello as he weaved and ducked along his path.
Marcello barely had time to react, throwing his hands up for protection. A glowing blur appeared in front of him, and the next thing he knew, he was slammed through the nearest brick wall.
Atop the mound of fractured bricks, he cradled his chest in pain.
Zoe stopped running, hearing a loud bang echoing through the tunnels of the alleyway. "That has to be them. But how can I even get to him? I can't even tell which direction it truly came from." She took deep breaths, slowing her heart rate, focusing on every sound she heard.
Marcello scrambled backward, seeing the thing that now stood in front of him.
'Blessings of Bastet: the aura of Cataclysm changes, giving me a tail, a coat of fur, whiskers, as well as cat-like claws and teeth. Much like my other ability, it increases my power and defense. I also gain slight power increases for each energy-cat that has been killed so far. The longer my ability is active, the more cat-like things I must do afterwards—clawing posts, walking on all-fours, licking myself…things like that. If I have this ability activated for any longer than five minutes, I will basically be feral for over one hour; no control over what I can do.' The woman bared her teeth in a cruel smile; her orange tail swished back and forth with glee.
She stepped through the hole into the quickly scattering bakery. Dust from the broken brick spun and swirled around her feet as she moved toward him, her hips swaying with every step.
The emerald diamond ring on Marcello's right hand began to glow; he shoved his fist toward her. It was as if an invisible semi-truck slammed into her; she flew back, making another hole in the wall as it launched her back into the alleyway. Instinctively, she landed on her feet, the claws on her toes digging into the dirty concrete, making deep scars.
'It's close!' Zoe thought, hearing another noise echo through the labyrinth of buildings. 'It was a bit hard to hear over the traffic, but if I go around these next set of buildings, he should be right over there.' She closed her eyes, the hum of her energy bouncing from the walls. Zoe sprinted forward out of the alleyway, ducking and dodging civilians on the sidewalk, running down the street until she saw a crowd in front of a bakery store.
With a powerful leap, she soared above the crowd, shielding her face as she crashed through the shop's painted window. Ignoring the yells of those behind her, she pulled several cards from her pocket, flinging them wildly at the woman, who was about to bite into Marcello's torso.
She dodged most, but one managed to slice through her tail, severing it halfway up; her face contorted briefly, and a screech of pain caused Zoe to wince, but she reached down and grabbed more cards, aiming them at the cat-lady.
The naked woman flowed onto the wall, her claws helping her stick to it. She moved, scrambling to the ceiling, dodging the playing cards as they flew at her.
"I'm ending this!" Marcello snarled, getting to his feet. 'But how do I do this?' His eyes drifted to Zoe and then the crowd outside. "'I can't really go all out here.'
Zoe tried to jump out of the way, but a kick sent her crashing into a bolted-down table, ripping it off its screws with a scream. Her back was bent backward over the metal table; she let a deep groan as she was picked up with fuzzy hands. Zoe grabbed at her own throat, feeling the woman's hand squeeze tightly, her claws lightly digging into her neck.
She felt herself being lifted effortlessly into the air, and the woman swung her around; still held a firm grasp around her throat; her other hand—its claws, sharp and steely, glinting in the odd bakery light, less than an inch from her neck. The woman held Zoe up, putting herself behind the young girl.
Zoe opened her eyes, seeing Marcello, feet wide and low to the ground; an angry red aura flared around him; his orange ring, the one with flames, glowed violently, his fist punched toward the two. Though Zoe couldn't sense energy, she still felt the malice radiating from around him. The woman's fur instinctively stood on end, prickling all over her body.
"What are you gonna do?" The woman purred, her face splitting into a grin.
Zoe, who had a death grip on the woman's hands trying to pry her arms away from her neck, paused, using one of her hands to dig into her pocket, retrieving a card—seven clubs. "Shoot it at me," she rasped.
The boy's glare didn't waver, though he didn't move either; no one in the bakery did. "I can't kill her," he mumbled. "Or you."
"I know!" Zoe held her card up, "Do it!"
The bakery's temperature rose exponentially; a crackling orange light waved along the walls; an enormous fireball, at least twice as big as the others, formed, flame swirling toward the two.
The woman hissed, letting go and launching back and away from Zoe.
Zoe gripped the card, ensuring its face faced the flames.
The card glowed, the fire slammed into it; disappearing as it touched its surface.
Marcello's energy wavered, his glare melting into an expression of total confusion.
A relieved smile spread across Zoe's face; a small giggle escaped her lips.
"A trick!" The woman screeched, launching herself high, aiming at Zoe, who whirled around.
"Hey, you scabies-infected cryptid! Is this your card?" Zoe screamed, flipping the card to show the woman its face. No longer a seven of clubs, the image was now a clean print drawing of a 'seven of fireball,' large and orange.
The card shined as the woman closed in on Zoe, heat blasting from its surface—a small incendiary glow. She couldn't reverse herself in midair, her face contorting to one of fear. The card expelled the flame, shooting quickly at the woman; the 'whoosh' of the fire drowned her screams, engulfing her.
Zoe approached the smoldering body; the moisture in her blood and fur caused the flame to crackle and pop.
Her wide, dilated blue eyes remained fixated, unable to shift their gaze elsewhere. Even as Marcello shook her by the shoulders, attempting to capture her attention, pointing urgently at the shattered window, the small crowd still gathered, the distant whoops of fast-approaching cop cars growing louder.
She felt dizzy, and her fingers felt tingly; the air that rapidly entered her lungs felt dry, and her breath hollow.
Finally, she focused on him; he'd given up, walking through the hole that led to the back alley; if she wasn't going to move, that'd be her choice, but Marcello couldn't afford to stick around.
"Jeez," he muttered, a smirk briefly playing across his lips as he heard the familiar shuffling footsteps following him. He'd walked the distance of several blocks by that point. He turned, seeing a nervous-looking Zoe; her eyes trained to the sky, looking slightly surprised once she saw him notice her. Her whole front was covered in soot. Strands of orange cat fur stuck to her clothes and hair. "What did you do?" Was all he could think to ask. "You were really positive that I wouldn't be at fault for killing her."
"Uhh," she paused, "Well, I don't know the reason for your refusal to kill; I assume that whatever force is driving that wouldn't have counted that trick as you're doing; it'd be a bit illogical to think otherwise; like if I gave someone a gun or knife and they went out and harmed someone, it would be on them, not me the lender."
"Hm," he muttered, then sighed, "I really didn't like having to kill those cats, though."
"I don't think they were real. I'm pretty sure they were created using energy. They just disappeared when they died. There was no body. Well, I hope so."
Marcello looked relieved, watching as Zoe squirmed around in her shirt, a deep frown crossing her face as she looked at it. "What?"
"This was my favorite shirt," Zoe mumbled, poking her fingers through the several singed holes in her t-shirt.
"It's just a basic orange t-shirt."
"It was my favorite shirt," she repeated.
"Well, you could always-"
"Why can't you kill anyone?" Zoe interrupted a curious look on her face.
"Uh," Marcello glanced around the dirty alleyway, his eyes darting nervously; he'd never told anyone before. "If I kill anyone but the man I'm truly after, I die, and my life is given to the one I murdered."
Zoe gave him an intrigued look; "Do you want help with that? Killing the man, I mean."
"I don't know…"
"The man you're trying to find is with a group of people. What if I and the other bodyguards help you to find them. We'd be technically helping the Parks as they've already attacked an event; we would be preemptively taking care of a problem."