The Ultimate Cat – Part 4

Written by Rick Powers :: [Wednesday, 17 October 2007 14:04] Last updated by :: [Saturday, 21 June 2014 09:33]

The Ultimate Cat – Part 4

by Rick Powers (a.k.a. The Power Company)

“Quite an impressive fighter, eh Cat?” Kingpin gloated as he hefted his bulk up to a standing position, still covering his broken rib. “My team has been working on her for the last four years.”

As if in response to the Kingpin’s gloats, Defender blocked one more punch and seeing an opening, slammed her open palm into Cat’s chest sending her flying backwards.

“As pleasurable as it would be to witness your final demise, my dear Cat, I must be going to attend to my own wounds.” He winced as he tried to lift his dislocated arm, “And before our activities tonight bring the authorities. Defender! Alert!”

The black clad Defender stood still upon his vocal command as she had been hypnotically programmed to do, ready to receive an order.

“Power up now. And eliminate the Black Cat. Then … have Gloria get someone in here to clean up this mess.”

The Cat watched as Defender touched a code into a series of buttons on her right gauntlet and walked to the nearest light switch. She placed her hand on the wall above the switch.

“You see Cat,” Fisk was moving toward the shattered opening to his huge office, “I try not to put all of my apples into one basket. As part of the Defender Project we developed a way to syphon the energy from an electromagnetic field and transform it into muscular power. She is my perfect weapon. A skilled fighter, fast, strong and getting stronger by the second, totally under my control, and best of all, she will recall none of this in the morning. Even under hypnosis this will all appear to be merely a fantasy of hers.”

The Black Cat watched in horror as the skin tight costume on her opponent began to show signs of expansion.

As he stood in the doorway, nearly filling the doorway with his massive size, Fisk turned back to the room, “You on the other hand, I’m afraid I will have to count as a failed experiment. A set back. But just a minor set back. By the way, I wasn’t exactly honest with you – but then such is the nature of our trade. There is no antidote for the virus and so far the longest anyone has survived with it in them is only three days. So even if you manage to defeat my Defender, which is highly doubtful, you die anyway. Good night, my dear. I’ll be sure to comfort your mother at your funeral.” With that, the big man was gone.

Defender pulled her hand away from the wall. Her muscles had clearly grown in size. From the toned, shapely look of a fitness competitor to the bulkier, thicker look of a large female bodybuilder. She stretched her neck and then brought her hands up into a ready position. Her tensed biceps bulged larger than Cat’s.

“Holy crap,” Felicia grimaced, “this might take a while. And me with a hot date waiting upstairs.” She vaulted over the large conference table which was broken from the previous scuffle, and landed both feet on Defender’s chest.

Defender gabbed the Cat’s feet and pushed her away, tossing her into the wall on the far side of the spacious office. Cat scrambled to her feet and flung a large leather chair at her opponent. Defender caught the chair by two legs and pulled it apart like she was pulling apart a wishbone. She tossed the demolished chair aside and leapt toward the dark one. Felicia dodged her attack and continued to duck and weave, trying desperately to stay out of reach of her lethal hands and feet. And trying to buy herself some time to figure out a counter attack.

Defender finally landed a kick to the Black Cat’s shoulder which spun her around. Cat could feel her arm go numb immediately. Damn, this was one of those times she sure wished some spiderkid would show up. Defender was practically on top of her before she knew it, thrusting her big boot towards her neck. Cat fired her Cat Cable at the tall woman’s face. The attacker dodged away and the cable continued upward, smashing into one of the overhead lights. Glass and plastic shards showered down on the pair and suddenly Cat had an idea.

Felicia rolled away and began to use the Cat Cable as a whip, shattering the remaining lights in the room. She knew that she could see in the dark better than a cat. Let’s see if muscle woman can, she thought as she slipped into the shadows.

Defender stopped. She peered into the darkness and tuned in to all of her senses, like Electra had taught her. Suddenly she heard the sound of the cable being shot at her head. She moved slightly to avoid it only to be stunned by the Black Cat’s foot smashing into the base of her neck. Lights exploded in her brain. She swung to meet the attack. Cat came up from underneath her to plant a powerful uppercut on her jaw that sent her reeling backwards.

Meanwhile, the spider teens were gathering up the downloaded material and preparing to find their partner. Suddenly, a Rhino dropped out of the sky. He had finally managed to dislodge himself from the ceiling and fell to the floor inches in front of the intrepid teens. He shook his head groggily and slowly got to his feet. No sooner had he turned around then he was smacked once more by the lovely new supergirl who sent him sailing unconscious across the room and straight at Doctor Octopus.

The good doctor had just managed to remove Spiderman’s webbing from his face. Fortunately, he did it just in time to see a rhino’s horn flying right for his crotch. Frantically, Otto Octavius pulled himself up just enough to avoid being impaled.

“Nice shot,” Spiderman complimented his girlfriend, “but we’ve got to work on your control a little bit. You almost skewered ol” Doc Ock.”

“I thought my control was pretty good,” Mary Jane replied, hands on hips and surveying the scene. “I put him just where I wanted him to go. Kind of like throwing darts … only easier.”

Spiderman gulped, “Umm, remind me to never make you mad.”

The pair continued making their way through the Kingpin’s building. “Any idea where we’re headed?” Spiderman asked his super powered girlfriend.

“I had a quick opportunity to study some of the plans for this building while they were flashing by on the screen,” Mary Jane answered. “I”d say that we need to drop two levels and head to the east side.”

“That is so cool, you were able to memorize the entire layout of this huge building as it flashed in front of you in a matter of microseconds?”

“Do honestly think I could do that? I didn’t turn into a cyborg or something.”

“Then … how do you know where we’re going?” asked the incredulous boy.

“That’s where all the noise is coming from, duh!” Mary Jane couldn’t resist a little put down. “And unless the International Wrestling Federation is holding try outs, I’ll bet that’s our little lab partner mixing it up with some baddies – maybe even the Kingpin. Let’s go!”

Well, mixing it up would be a nice way of putting it. Getting her butt kicked was more like it. Defender had adjusted to the dark and was now scoring most of the points in this round. She was standing above the wounded and beaten girl, ready to strike what would probably be the last blow needed.

Cat hatched one last ditch plan. She shot her Cat’s Cable toward Defender’s face once more. The tall, seemingly inexhaustible woman easily caught it. “I have had enough of your bothersome cable,” she muttered and wrapped it around her hand preparing to pull it out of the Black Cat’s grasp

While holding onto the leather wrappings on the handle, Cat quickly smashed the metallic butt end of the handle into an electric socket next to her and leapt out of the way. Immediately the electricity surged through the cable and overloaded Defender’s gauntlet. Instead of the steady pulse of an electromagnetic field supplying power to her muscles, she was now hooked up to 110 volts.

Defender’s body began to swell from the influx of so much raw power, the chemicals in her system attempting to turn the energy into muscle and strength. Black Cat could only hope that her strategy would work and that her body would shut down from that much electricity. On the other hand, she might just suck up all that power and turn into another Hulk; in which case, this little kitty may have used up her ninth life.

It seemed, to Cat’s dismay, that the second option was happening. Defender’s muscles began growing at an astonishing rate, like they were being filled with air. Her chest and biceps tore through her bodysuit as inch upon powerful inch of muscle was forced on her. Her thighs exploded outward shredding her shorts, while her boots were split open from calves the size of cantaloupes. All of this growth was illuminated by the sparks flying about the room which gave it a strobe light effect. Every time a light flashed, the Defender was bigger than before. The Black Cat was really hating her plan about the time that the power finally went out.

In the darkness once more, Cat could clearly see the Defender standing in the middle of the room, the shreds of her costume fell from her gigantic physique. Her now naked body was totally tensed, muscles flexed to their maximum, shaking from the infusion of so much power. The massively muscled woman tried to turn to the demolished doorway, as if she were going to seek help. But before she could take a step, her knees gave out and she collapsed on the floor.

“See,” the Black Cat smiled to herself, “I knew that would work. Never doubted for a second.”

Just then, Spiderman and Spiderwoman found the room. Spiderman switched on his spider belt light. They were amazed at the destruction and even more amazed at the size of the woman laying on her back on the floor.

“Oh my god,” Peter said, “she’s huge!”

“You better be talking about her muscles, bugboy, or you’re in serious trouble,” Mary Jane shot back.

“The bigger they are,” Cat said as she turned her attention to the safe, “the harder it is to knock “em out. Listen kids, we’ve got to do things in the next few seconds. First, check on the girl. She just had a real shock to her system and she might need some special medical attention. And I’ve got to open this … safe …” Cat’s nimble and sensitive fingers felt for the correct combination.

Spiderwoman checked on the fallen girl. “She’s breathing but her heart is racing. She may be going into shock.”

“We’re not far away from the Baxter Building,” Spiderman said. “Reed Richards would know what to do for her. Besides, I don’t think she’s going to fit into one of the beds at General Hospital.”

“Damn!” Black Cat shouted. “Damn him! There’s nothing in here! Kingpin’s crossed me up again!”

“If you’re looking for imcriminating eveidence, we downloaded all sorts of dates and places and names that the Kingpin left in his computers. This should be enough to send him away for the next five decades,” Mary Jane said, patting the web encased dics attached to her hip.

“If not that, what were you hoping to find, Cat? A diamond? Stocks and Bonds? A little black book?” Peter was still not sure this whole thing had been on the up and up.

“No! Information. Clearing my father. I know Kingpin has it. From everything I’ve learned over the years, he always wanted to keep it close to him. He never let anyone else see it and he never trusted putting it on a computer. And … he kept it in THIS safe!” In her anger, Cat punched her hand into the wall below the safe and felt it hit something hard.

“Wait a minute,” Cat said as she punched several more holes in the wall.

“There’s something else here.” She ripped apart the wall, exposing part of a larger safe that was integrated into the very structure of the building.

The Black Cat began furiously pulling and tugging at the secret safe, but to no avail. It was going to take someone a lot stronger than she was to get this out.

“Maybe I can help here,” Mary Jane said as she stepped up to the wall. She thrust her arms deep into the wall on both sides of the safe and grasped it from behind. Spiderman and the Black Cat watched in amazement as their friend put everything she had into pulling the safe free. The massive supports screamed in protest as the super girl slowly overpowered mere metal.

Suddenly she stopped, “Wait a minute.” She relaxed and stepped back, thinking about something. “As I recall from the building schematics, if I pull this out, the upper two floors will collapse on top of us.”

“You mean you actually DID memorize those plans as they flashed by?” Spiderman was very confused.

“Yeah,” Mary Jane said, lost in thought, “I just didn’t want to make you feel too bad back there. My brain seems to be functioning on a much higher level now. Hey, there may be a much more simple way to retrieve the documents.” She walked over to the safe and grabbed an edge in her mighty fingers. Slowly she began to deform the metal. The muscles in her forearms were about to burst through the tight costume as they swelled with the effort.

Finally, she was able to start folding the side of the safe back. When she had opened it far enough, the Black Cat stepped up and reached her arm into it.

“I’ll get this,” she said as she fished around for the documents, “You get the girl to the Baxter Building. I’ll meet up with you there.”

Mary Jane webbed the girl’s arms to her sides and covered her naked torso as well, “This will keep her from thrashing about and afford her a little decency.” Then she picked the mammoth girl up as if she weighed nothing, threw her over her shoulder, and leapt out of a broken window into the night.

Spiderman stepped to the window. He saw the approaching NYPD cars. “Hurry Cat, you don’t have much time.”

“Go! I’ll be alright!” After Peter was gone, trying to catch up with Mary Jane, Cat pulled out the documents she had been searching for. “I’m like a cat, Petey,” she murmured to no one in particular as she reached back into the safe and pulled out the diamond, “I always land on my feet!” She smiled as she stuffed everything into her fanny pack and then flew out of the room herself just as the cops were coming down the darkened hallway.

Later that night, Reed Richards, aka Fantastic Man, lead two of the young superheroes out of a special medical unit deep within the magnificent Baxter Building, home of the Fantastic Four. A look of deep concern was etched on his face. Of course, a look of deep concern was probably permanently etched on his face. That was just the way the guy was. On the other hand, if you had saved the world’s keister as many times as this guy had, you”d probably look the same way!

“She seems to be doing fine now,” Richards explained, as he escorted Spiderman and the Black Cat away from the area. “The muscular hypertrophy has diminished considerably, and her pulse and vital signs are normal. I would love to know how they did this to a normal woman. It’s nothing short of phenomenal. I can’t imagine what kind of a psychological mess she will be when she wakes up, though. That’s why I put in a call to my friend, Dr.

Leonard Samson. If anyone can get through those psychic labyrinths they created, I’m sure he can.”

“So, she’s going to be okay?” Felicia asked. Even though the Defender was trying to kill her just a few hours ago. Felicia realized that she was just another of Kingpin’s pawns, like she herself had been.

“Yes, my dear,” Richards reassured her, “she should be fine in a couple of days, although I would guess that a good deal of the muscle and strength that she acquired tonight will stay with her. But if Doc Samson is successful in de-programming her, she might be able to lead a normal life again, or whatever passes for normal in this city.”

“Hey Reed, any idea where Ma … I mean “Spiderwoman” is?” Spiderman asked, “I haven’t seen her for the last couple of hours.”

“We’re almost there,” Reed replied. “Mary Jane has been helping Susan in the biolab. They’re working on isolating the virus that caused her and Cat’s tremendous growth spurt. Viruses are Sue’s area of expertise, not mine.”

“Hey, wait a minute. How did you know her name?”

“Well. She told me,” Reed said, as if it was the most logical thing for her to do.

The trio walked on in silence for a few seconds. Then Reed spoke again, “I’ve never pried into your personal life, Spiderman. I have always assumed that if you want your identity to remain a secret, that’s your prerogative. And I would never divulge that sort of information if I did know it. I suppose that your young friend felt that she could trust me.”

Spiderman mulled Richard’s words over in his mind. He stopped walking and the others stopped with him. Then he slowly took off his mask and extended his hand to the older man. “I guess it is kind of stuffy in here with this mask on. Dr. Richards, my name is Peter Parker. I’m please to meet you.”

“Peter,” Reed shook his hand firmly, “please to meet you at last. I think I’ve heard of you. I’ve read some of your entries on that science blog, haven’t I ?”

“Uh … yeah, I posted a couple of times on the UberGeek blog. Just playing around with some molecular adhesion stuff …”

“Oh please!” the Black Cat interjected. “Can we cut the chit chat? The Kingpin told me that he had no antidote for this virus that he gave me and that I gave to Mary Jane and if I don’t have very much time to live before this bug eats my insides and kills me, I don’t need to listen to this crap!”

“Hey hotshot,” Mary Jane said as she poked her head out of the lab and handed Felicia a beaker with a brown colored liquid, “drink this. And cool your jets. Sue is awesome and I think we’ve got a solution to our problem.”

Felicia sniffed the liquid, “What is it? Will it kill me quickly so I don’t have to put up with the science geeks any more?”

“Drink it, or I’ll hold your nose and force it down your mouth. And you know I could do that.”

“And you”d probably enjoy it, too,” Felicia said, eyeing the beaker. “On the other hand, I might enjoy that, too.”

“Drink!”

“One pill makes you larger,” Cat mumbled to herself, “and one pill makes you small … well, better living through modern chemistry, that’s what I say!” With that, the Black Cat swallowed the potion.

Felicia made a face as she tasted the liquid. “Wwwwow! That’s really, really sweet! I feel like I put a dozen pixie-stix in my mouth all at once if you are unfamiliar with pixie-stix, you’ve led a deprived childhood – look it up on Wikipedia . What is it?”

“Basically,” Sue Richards stepped out of the lab to give the answer, “it’s Braappp Cola.”

“Braappp? Like in “Twice the caffeine and three times the sugar”?” Peter asked.

“That’s right,” Mary Jane smiled as she spoke. “With a little bit of antivirus thrown in. Turns out the sugar and caffeine act as a catalyst. Makes the antivirus work in minutes instead of hours.”

Sue pulled Mr. Fantastic aside and whispered to him, “This girl is amazing, Reed. I could actually watch her understanding of biochemistry grow in the last few hours. She’s probably now functioning at a college graduate level.

And her insights and intuitions are astounding.”

“Hmmm … I see. It seems this young lady bears watching.”

Later that morning, in a simple row house in Queens, Mary Jane rolled over sleepily and smiled. “Then he took me to some special testing room they’ve got there in the Baxter building because he want to see how strong I had become.”

“Yeah?” came a sleepy reply, “How strong are you, anyway?”

“Guess!”

“Strong as a … gorilla.”

“Nope. Stronger.”

“Well you’re the ‘gorilla’ of my dreams,” Peter said as he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her closer. He planted a light kiss on her lips.

“C’mon Pete, guess.”

“I’m no good at guessing games when I’ve been up all night beating up bad guys.”

“Okay I’ll tell you. He said that I’m the strongest person he’s had in there. I guess that doesn’t include the Hulk because well, he’s never been in there. And I guess that wouldn’t include Thor or Hercules because they’re like gods or something.”

“Wait … wait,” Peter was just about asleep when Mary Jane had started talking again, “how does he do that kind of stuff? I mean how can you rate someone’s strength level?”

“Well, I was on this big machine and he lowered this big piston and I pushed up on it,” Mary Jane replied.

“So how much did the machine say you could lift?”

“Almost 200 tons! How about that, huh? Dr. Richards said the Thing could only lift about 80 tons!”

“Okay, that settles it. You’re not only smarter and stronger than me, you’re also a whole lot “more cuter” than me, too. Now can we get some sleep?”

Peter felt two large, firm breasts push into his back. A delicate but strong hand reached around his chest and pulled him slightly away from his gorgeous redhead girlfriend. “And what about me?”

“Yes, Felicia,” Peter sighed was it out of sleep depravation or because of his current position in the bed, “you’re definitely stronger and cuter than me.”

“And a better fighter?”

“Oh now, don’t press your luck little kitty cat.”

“Okay, how about we press a little spiderboy,” Felicia playfully replied as she grabbed hold of Mary Jane’s arms and the two girls began to squeeze Peter between them.

“Girls … girls,” Peter was not really protesting, but he had to at least make it look like he wasn’t loving every bit of the attention they were giving him, “take it easy on my poor skinny body. Besides, if you squashed me to death – and I have to admit if it’s time to go, it would definitely be the way I would choose to go – but what about all of my fans? What would they do without their local, friendly, neighborhood Spiderman?”

“Oh, please!” Mary Jane giggled, “Felicia, I think his head is way too big. That’s what needs to be squeezed!”

Some days, my life sucks, Peter thought to himself as he felt the pleasant pressure of four large breasts surrounding his face, and some days I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.

 

The End