San Fransisco

All he had heard was the horrible howling. The rain muted everything else. It muted the snuffling of the creatures. It muted the creatures walking through the bushes. It muted their growls as they neared him. It muted the sound of their steps.

He didn't hear them until they were on top of him.

The rain muted his screams.

 

---

 

Greer Grant Nelson had always hated taking showers. The layer of fur that covered her body had made the once pleasant activity unbearable. That is why the Avenger reservist also known as Tigra also avoided the rain. And why Greer was spending that particular night inside. She would admit that the city of San Fransisco was beautiful in the falling rain, even with the ruin the city was in, but she refused to go outside. Instead, she sat nude on the carpet in front of the fire in her large apartment, savoring the heat and twitching her tail contentedly.

Greer felt she had a right to relax. Shortly after the devastation that had ruined the city, she returned. The Avengers were busy. She knew it. San Fransisco needed someone to protect it. Her old apartment had remained in her name for some time, and she was glad to see it still felt like home.

Eventually Greer sat up onto her elbows, grabbed the remote and turned the TV on, starting to grow bored with the fire. She flipped through channels, until she heard the squawk of the emergency alert system. After several seconds an anchorman appeared and Greer knew something was wrong.

"This is not a test ladies and gentlemen," the anchor said. "Residents of San Fransisco are warned to evacuate Golden Gate Park and the area around it. A maimed corpse was just found by police. The attack seemed to have been made by some sort of big cat..." Greer sneered at the screen. It just had to happen tonight. Something this terrible. She jumped to her feet and looked out at the rain again.

“Ugh,” she muttered. These things were never good. Never. She slunk into her bedroom to get dressed. Tigra was in her costume and out of her apartment, headed for Golden Gate Park, before the newscast concluded.

---

 

Tigra was thankful for the Avengers leather jacket that she had put on over her uniform of a spandex tank top and briefs. The jacket was a throwback to the days that such a thing was cool. She chuckled as she thought of all the heroes who wore leather jackets back in the day. A trend she was glad had died.

The rainfall had worsened in the time it took for her to travel between her apartment and Golden Gate Park. The remaining rubble made the trip difficult. She hated to see the city in this condition. She saw the flashing red lights of police cars and saw a coroner and an assistant carrying a body-bag to a black van.

Tigra sniffed the air. She could smell the coppery scent of blood. She followed it into the park. She jumped from tree to tree until she caught sight of the police at the site of death. Knowing acceptance of her help would be unlikely, Tigra stopped, and smelled the air again. What was in the air…? She smelled something that was very cat-like, but also very human. She knew the human smell wasn't the deceased, nor the police. She growled in anger.

"Weres," she muttered. Greer had only encountered were-creatures a few times before. Their scent was difficult to discern in those few times. It often was a mixture of scents, and with magic frequently involved, things became even more muddy.

She dropped to the ground and started following that scent. The werecat was headed straight into the city of San Fransisco. Tigra didn't need to follow the scent for long, thankfully. If the were-creature had made it into the ruin of the city, tracking him (it?) would be difficult. The trail was fresh.

A scream ripped through the rain. Tigra dropped to all fours and bounded forward, ignoring the puddles she jumped through. The rain didn't matter to her anymore. There were lives at stake. She grinned inwardly. She was so indoctrinated in the hero thing.

She followed the continued, terrified screams, and found herself in front of what looked to be a pet shop that had survived the destruction. The front window had been shattered, and she could see bloody pawprints inside. The size and shape of the pawprints confirmed her fears of a werecat. Tigra climbed inside the store The glass crunched beneath her feet, and she was grateful she had worn the modified sandals that covered all but her toes. There were dead pets all over the ground, from maimed puppies to aphixiating fish whose tanks had been shattered.

Tigra sniffed the air. The screaming had ceased, and she smelled fresh blood over the scent of the were. The creature had made its kill. She nearly retched, and a pang of guilt struck her. Too late. She continued forward to where the smell of blood was strongest, the door to a back storeroom. Deciding against surprising the were, Greer threw the door open. The werecat turned from its kill, a young lady in her twenties.

"Excuse me," Tigra said, lowering her body into a pouncing position, "but do you have a license for that?"

The were bared its bloody teeth. "So, the tiger comes out to play," it growled. "About time. Been looking for a challenge." Greer was slightly taken aback. In her experience, werecreatures were unable to speak. She could tell by its smell that it wasn't one of the Cat People, because their smell was all cat. Perhaps the transformation was a mystic enchantment of some sort, different from a standard were-transformation.

The were set down the dead girl, and started towards her. Tigra kept low, ready to strike against the werecat. The creature growled and she loosed a feral roar at it. She pounced.

Tigra raked her claws down the were's chest. It cried out and backhanded her. She jumped over the were's arm and punched the were as hard as she could. The were stumbled back, then regained its footing and pounced at Greer. She dropped to the ground, rolled underneath the were, then kicked upwards, striking the were in the genitals. The creature cried out in pain, and landed flat on its face with a thump. The were pushed itself up, and clutched its crotch.

"I least I know you're a tomcat now," Tigra taunted. The were growled, but it knew that she was a match for it, and would most likely best him. He used the better part of valor and ran. Greer bounded after it, then stopped. Her jaw dropped.

“Unbelievable.”

Outside, a pack of werecreatures ran by. The werecat joined the pack and kept running. She didn't follow. She knew she'd be able to track the scent. Instead she turned to the werecat's victim. She found an apron and used it to cover the body, then found the phone and called the police.

"Hello," Tigra said when the dispatcher picked up. "I've found another victim of the creature that killed the person in the park." She rattled off the address of the pet store. "I've got to warn you that I saw what did this, and it's not an animal of any kind. I think it's a were."

"As in a werewolf, ma'am?" the dispatcher asked.

"As in a were-anything," Tigra said, then hung up.

---

 

The pack's scent led to the bay and stopped at the end of a pier. Tigra looked across the water and saw one of the city's most famous landmarks- the now-abandoned Alcatraz. She knew that the creatures were on the Rock. She looked at the water between the prison and where she stood and narrowed her eyes. She hated water. She shed her leather jacket, stood at the water's edge and took several deep breaths. She was a good swimmer, and the cat instincts she had made her an even better one, but those same instincts, as well as the disgusting feeling of her wet fur, made her hate the water.

Greer took another deep breath and jumped. The water was no colder than the rain, but having it fall on her, and being completely submersed in it were two completely different things. She came up gasping, then began to swim. The water was rough, but she was able to continue on until she reached the shore of Alcatraz. She saw the glow of a fire from one of the windows in the building. That's where the werecreatures were. Tigra dug her claws into the wall and started climbing.

---

There were several different types of werecreatures gathered around the fire that their leader stood before. There were cats, wolves, lizards, frogs, bats, and even a spider. Each one was very different, but the different types separated themselves from the others, giving the whole gathering a cliquish feel.

Their leader stood before them in a hood and cloak, masking his appearance from his followers completely. All the werecreatures could see was his glowing eyes, which was more than enough for all of them. Those eyes glared at them now, anger very much evident in them.

"You ssspent hoursss across the bay," his voice echoed from under the cloak. His voice was deep, but possesed an undeniable hiss. "What did you have to show for it?! Nothing! You brought back not one new member for our sssociety. Instead, you went on a feeding frenzy, sssending the police after usss. Not only that, but one of our membersss encountered a genuine sssuperhero, and an Avenger at that! No doubt she'sss tracking usss now, trying to find where the weresss went." The leader looked at his followers, drawing a deep breath, and noticed someone missing. "Where isss the fifth lizard?!"

---

The werelizard pulled up the shreds of its pants after relieving itself in one of the cells. Hygiene didn't matter to them, and as long as this December rain continued, there would be no serious smell. As the were left the cell, he was tackled by someone. His attacker turned him around. He found himself staring into the face of the Avenger named Tigra.
"Doing that causes disease you know," she said. The were started to cry out, but Tigra silenced it with a swift punch to the jaw. "I'd rather announce myself, thank you very much." She lept off the were and bounded down the corridor to where she'd seen the fire.

The weres all stood sniffing the air. One of their companions had disappeared and not come back. Tigra was here. The werewolves had dropped to all fours, growling too much to even begin to smell for her. The cats, on the other hand, paced around the room sniffing the air. The other creatures just tried their best to find their new opponent.

"Looking for me?" The weres turned to see Tigra standing on the second-highest level of cells above them. The two werebats flew into the air and towards her. She just smiled and took her first pair of opponents in stride. She climbed onto the railing and pounced. She hit the first werebat directly in the chest and punched it across the face, knocking it out cold. She pushed off it as it fell to the ground and landed on the back of the second bat. She raked her claws across its face, then shoved it towards the wall where the werespider had began to climb towards her. The two weres collided and knocked each other out. Tigra somersaulted through the air and landed on her feet in front of the remaining weres. She was outnumbered twelve to one- three cats, four lizards, two frogs and three wolves- and was surrounded by them.

She bared her teeth at them. "I like these odds," she said. All of the creatures jumped at her at once. Greer loosed a roar, and fell into the dance of combat. She twisted her body, and one of the werewolves charged head first into the frogs, taking them all out of the picture. Next she jumped into the air, and clawed two of the lizards with her feet and took one out with her hands. The injured lizards spun around, and took one of the remaining wolves out with their tails. Tigra wrapped her tail around the neck of the other lizard and pulled him to the ground face-first. She them drove her elbow into the face of the last wolf, knocking him out cold.

Greeg stood tall among her conquests then faced the three werecats who waited to enter the fray. She picked out the cat she had encountered by the blood matted into its fur. It also happened to be the biggest and only male of the three.

"Hello again Avenger," it said, unsheathing its claws. Its companions did the same. Tigra smiled ferally.

"Did I hurt you last time?" Greer said to the male werecat. "If not, I'll make sure to do a better job this time." The two females pounced at her. She took them out with successive roundhouse kicks to their jaws. She bounced on the balls of her feet and held her hands out in a martial arts stance. She smiled at the male and beckoned to him.
"Bring it," she said. The male dropped its head and charged. Tigra jumped into the air, over the male's head, and slammed her elbow into the base of his skull, knocking him unconscious. She landed and spun around.

"Next?"

Her gaze fell on the cloaked leader of the werecreatures. The being reached up and pulled the hood from its face then dropped its cloak to the ground. Greer gagged in disgust at the sight of the being. Its body was covered in patches of scales and fur. Its legs were that of a cat, but they were covered in scales with small patches of fur dotting them. Its hands were a strange combination of wolf, human, and lizard, and its arms were the same way. The most grotesque of the being's features was its face. The bone structure was undeniably human, but the features were part cat, part lizard, part bat, and part human. A long snake-like tongue flicked out of its mouth. Tigra's gaze fell on a large golden amulet which seemed to glow regardless of the light of the fire.

"Something really ugly must have bit you," she said, holding back bile.

"My appearance is the result of years of sssorcery," the being said, walking around the fire to the same side as Tigra. "I am called the Were. I am the lord of all werecreaturesss. I can create them without a bite. My weresss retain their animalistic featuresss constantly. Very much like you, Tigra."

"I'm not a were," Greer said.

"You insissst," the Were replied. He bounded towards her. She jumped up, attempting the same thing she had done with the male werecat. The Were jumped as well, meeting Tigra in the air. He punched her in the stomach, throwing her to the ground. Greer jumped to her feet and charged at the Were. She slammed her shoulder into his gut, and ran into the amulet. A thought hit her, and before the Were fell away from her, she grabbed the amulet. The chain broke, and the Were fell to the ground.

"No!" Were cried. She grinned. She'd guessed right. She held the amulet up in the air, then threw it to the ground. The amulet disappeared in a flash of bright light. The werecreatures around the room transformed back into humans, but the Were did not.

"I will return Avenger!" the Were said. "And when I do, you will pay!" Then the Were vanished into a flash of eldritch energy. Tigra smiled. Stereotypical bad guy. Not bad for a night's work though. Not bad at all.

---

Greer blow-died her fur, praying it wouldn't frizz out like it had the last time she had gotten that wet. Finally done, she turned off the drier, then crossed her living room to her large panoramic window showing the San Fransisco skyline. She liked going solo like she just had. Maybe she'd do it more often...

---

Author's Notes
I swear I’m not just at M2K to recycle old stories! As some old fans of my work (all two of you) might recognize, I wrote a very similar story for Marvel Revolution years ago. This is that story, but it’s gone through some heavy revisions (man, did I ever like using the name Tigra! I don’t think the last half of the story had a single pronoun!). Hopefully this isn’t the last time you’ll see my name connected to the character.