[Issue 11] The Hunted

[Narrator]

"If it wasn't for you people, I would not even be here!" The Rhino protested.

[Nailah Weaver]

Nailah feels the fur running up along her spine bristle as Steph shifts and she just barely manages to hold back a hiss that seems to want to built in her throat.

"Oh shut up. You robbed a bank." she instead goes off on The Rhino as a welcome target.

[John Hino]

"You're also assuming you'd have won against this guy anyway," John said.

[Ryan Gabriel]

"Hey, we sent you to jail, not Crazy Hunter's Playland," Ryan shot back. "It's kind of what happens when you do a crappy job of robbing a bank. You should be used to that by now. Now can we stop bickering and maybe be constructive here?"

[Narrator]

"If I had been out in the open..." the Rhino muttered.

"Well you weren't, you blubbering nitwit." The Vulture shot back before turning to look at Ryan.

"There's an explosive charge potent enough to blow even that buffoon's head off. It can also deliver an electrical shock if you're getting fresh with it. And for the record..."

He glanced down the row of pens into the mist.

"...Grizzly was still talking when I arrived."

[John Hino]

That final bit gave John a chill.

"You mean... he's somehow affecting our minds?"

[Ryan Gabriel]

"Hell," Ryan muttered. "Don't suppose you know what kind of explosive we're talking about here?" he asked, trying not to think too hard about that last bit. Now... this all makes too MUCH sense...

[Narrator]

"I haven't exactly gotten to take it apart. Still, knowing what his suit can withstand, I'd imagine it's fairly potent."

[Nailah Weaver]

Is that what this is? Shit shit shit, this is not good.

"Miss Kaltiera, you probably know this better than most of us. Think you can give them some advice to keeping it under control?" she says, sitting down on her folded legs and closing her eyes.

[Stephanie Kaltiera]

Steph hadn't intended to shift, but as she felt her wolf start to take over, she didn't fight how...good it felt. "How do we get the hell out of here?" she snarled.

[Nailah Weaver]

"Miss Kaltiera." she repeats herself, her tone making it obvious that she's trying hard to not sound annoyed. "You know how to keep this under control. That's why we asked you to be a tutor. Now pull yourself together and try to help them do the same." she hisses, before starting to mumble to herself in some kind of mantra or prayer.

[Stephanie Kaltiera]

Stephanie snarled in frustration and shook the bars of her cell, gripping them tightly and forcing herself back to her human form. She took a long, deep breath and exhaled slowly. "Sorry Professor..."

[Nailah Weaver]

Nailah just nods absentmindedly, trying to stay focused on her meditation.

"Behold how I have kept the vigil in the shrine of Sekhmet... Behold, I am the child of Sekhmet, the lady of the east... I am Sekhmet's and the flames of all those who praise her... I am Sekhmet's who cometh forth in the dawn..."

[Chloe Grant]

"Don't try to fight it." Chloe said "Let it be yooooou. Just a different shape."

[Narrator]

The meditation didn't seem to calm things much. If anything, it brought into acute focus the offense that Kraven had committed. Hunted her? Abducted her? Oh, he didn't know who he was dealing with... or what.

[Nailah Weaver]

"Miss Grant if I we let this take hold I am going to eat you and not in the fun way!" Nailah snaps out of her mantra.

[Stephanie Kaltiera]

"Let's keep calm and work together to get out of here," Stephanie grit her teeth, her fangs pronounced, and gripped the bars tightly.

I'm not an animal. I'm not an animal. I'm in control. We can let everything out when we're out of here, and able to get our fangs on whoever did this. .

[Chloe Grant]

"Then doon't bee a bloody cat!" Chloe snapped "You aren't even a cat anyway."

[Stephanie Kaltiera]

"I SAID KEEP FUCKING CALM," she roared.

[Nailah Weaver]

"You really want to find out?" she hisses at Chloe with a sharp-toothed grin, resisting the urge to start pacing up and down along the bars of the cage.