4.2 Cathouse

Bob Cat blinked his eyes open. His head throbbed but otherwise everything seemed to be in working order. He sat up and ran a hand through his black hair. It took him a few moments to realize he was on the couch of the loft he shared with Death Ray. Ray was in the kitchen making breakfast. The smell of bacon and eggs filled the apartment. Ray gave Bob a nod as he turned back to the frying pan.

Bob struggled up and off the couch. Every part of him ached, but it was better than the alternative. He had already died three times, and he had no plans to suffer through another revival anytime soon. “You got any of that for me?”

Ray looked his way, nodded and waved him over. Bob sat down at the small fold out lodged between the kitchen and the living room to enjoy a breakfast of eggs, bacon, and toast. He was chewing his sixth bite of egg when the buzzer sounded. Someone was downstairs at their door.

Having been unconscious for several hours, Bob doubted highly it was any of his lady friends which meant it was almost certainly a client. He couldn’t remember the last time they had a paying gig. All this freelance “helping out” as Ray liked to call it wasn’t paying the bills. Bob leapt from the chair and ran down the stairs to the first floor.

He threw a smile on his face as he yanked the door at the bottom of the stairs open. “Hi, can I help you?”

A tall man, thin but well muscled, stood in the door. He wore his hair short and as brown as his eyes. He stood up straight, government-issue straight. Bob wondered which government.

“My name is Conrad Thierry,” the man said. “I’m looking for Bob Cat and Death Ray.”

“Well you found us. I’m the Cat.” He gestured past him. “I assume you’re not here for breakfast, so come inside and tell me how we can be of assistance.”

“Good.” Thierry pushed past Bob and in to the small hallway opposite of the stairway. He continued in to the small room Ray and Bob used as an office and sat down at the vacant secretary’s desk. He promptly threw his feet up on it and looked at Bob.

“Please make yourself comfortable,” Bob said.

“Is your partner available, Mr. Cat?”

Bob nodded before he turned to call Death Ray down the stairs. Ray was already at the top of the stairs and on his way down. “Here he comes,” Bob said. Ray reached the bottom of the stairs, and he and Bob went in to the office and took two of the remaining seats. “Now what can we do for you?”

“First, I would like to put in on record that you two are not my first choices for this mission, but my superiors seem to think considering your past history that you are the best choices for the task at hand.”

Thierry pulled a thick envelope from inside his jacket pocket and threw it on the table. “My superiors at ACTION have come across information that another so-called Norn Stone has been located in the northern areas of the city, in a region called Pisa. Are you familiar with the Stones?”

Bob nodded. He tried not to salivate at the very thought of the Stone. The Norn Stones first appeared shortly after the Devastation. They could be used to channel massive amounts of energy, but prolonged skin contact would cause them to absorb in to the human body. Anyone who absorbed one would then become a metahuman. If a metahuman did the absorbing, his powers would increase several times over. Only a few of the longest residents of the Divide ever came to possess them, people like Mister Mayor and Antagonist. Though dozens existed none had been seen in months.

“Everyone in the Divide knows of the Stones, Mister Thierry. Everyone here dreams of getting one for themselves.”

“Our information within the Divide is limited but we believe it may be in the hands of one of your fellow metahumans, a Venus de Milo. We know little beyond what our satellite scanners can read.” Thierry gestured to the envelope on the table. It was stretched in the middle by what could be nothing other than several bundles of cash. “In that envelope you will find one hundred thousand dollars for each of you, Mister Cat, Mister Ray. I am here to hire you as unofficial agents of the United States government in this endeavor. I want you to enter the so-called Pisa region, locate the artifact, and return it to me. If you do so, we will quadruple the money found in that envelope. Each. As well as another artifact which you will certainly be interested in, Mister Cat.”

Bob reached down and opened the envelope. He found several bundles of hundred dollar bills inside. He showed the envelope’s contents to Death Ray. Ray just nodded.

“What is this artifact you’re talking about, Agent Thierry?”

“It’s a certain sword. A Japanese-made katana. No known name exists for it, but it possesses innate magical abilities. You should be familiar with it, as I believe it’s the missing part of that ensemble you wear, Mr. Cat?”

A greater man might wonder how the United States government had uncovered so much of his history, but Bob could only think of the sword. He spent months looking for that sword after he recovered the rest of the costume, but never found it. Now he could feel it within his reach.

“We’ll do it,” Bob said.

Death Ray reached out and turned Bob back towards him. He gave his friend and partner a glare. Bob could tell he was in no way pleased.

“What? We need the money.”

Death Ray just shook his head in frustration. He snatched the money out of Bob’s hands, turned, and started back up the stairs. He slammed the door shut at the top.

“Don’t worry about him,” Bob said to Thierry. “I’m not sure why he’s so moody right now, but once we take a down payment, we guarantee we finish the job. He and I will be a team when we go in to Pisa. We’re partners and all that even with all his anger management issues.”

“I don’t want excuses, Mister Cat. I want results. Can you deliver me the Norn Stone and do it within the next week?”

“You can count on us, Agent Thierry.”

“You’d better hope so. Because if you fail in this, Mr. Cat, you will find yourself with a powerful enemy in the United States government.” Thierry suddenly smiled, which only served to make him look even creepier. “But that’s not going to happen, is it?”

Thierry patted Bob Cat on the shoulder. He placed a card in Bob’s hand before he continued on his way to the door. “I expect a status report in forty-eight hours. Do not disappoint me, Mister Cat.”

Thierry whisked through the door and out in to the street. Bob watched him go until Thierry turned. The sun’s glare caught Bob’s eyes. He blinked and turned away for a moment, but when his eyes returned to the street, Thierry was gone. Bob pocketed the card and rushed up the stairs to find Ray.

2.3 Death Ray's Return

The din from inside suddenly turned to screams, and Death Ray knew that, like it or not, it was time to bail Bob’s ass out of the fire again.

He rushed back through the kitchen door just in time to see a massive cyborg raise his weapon to strike. At blindingly fast speed, he whipped the ray-gun from his belt and fired.

The blast caught the cyborg’s left wrist and sheered straight through it. Off balance the axe tilted away and sliced through the air just inches from Bob’s skull.

Someone grabbed Ray from behind. He whipped around to see his foe but saw nothing, even as the grip tightened on his shoulders. He suddenly choked as he felt Venus de Milo’s touch burn in to his skin.

He dropped to the floor and gasped at the pain. He let the ray-gun fall from his hand as he reached to his back. He yanked one of Venus’ detached arms from his back and slammed it down against the floor. Across the room, Venus cried out. Ray felt the other hand’s grip loosen and fall away.

His back still burned, but Ray retrieved his gun and climbed back to his feet. Ray shoved his way through the crowd, trying his best to get to Venus before she reached the exit.

A metal fist struck him alongside the head. The blow took Ray off his feet and he fell hard on his hip. His gun fell from his hand and slid several feet away as Wargod moved in for the kill.

Ray swept a foot out but instead of tripping the cyborg, he only managed to bruise his foot against its solid steel leg. Wargod reached down with his remaining hand and grabbed Ray by the throat.

Wargod lifted Ray up by the neck, and at the same time began to crush the life out of him.

Ray silently cursed as he raised his hands up and clawed at Wargod’s face. His fingers caught against Wargod’s raised right optic sensor. Ignoring the pain it caused him, Ray drove his fingers in to Wargod’s fleshy forehead and ripped the bionic eye away.

Wargod roared in pain and confusion. Ray felt the grip loosen around his neck. He took the distraction as an opportunity to bring his legs up. He drove them in to Wargod’s chest and pushed away. He felt his collarbone snap as he yanked free of the cyborg’s grip.

Ray tumbled to the ground and rolled up on to his knees. He reached down beside him and picked up the ray-gun from the floor.

Wargod turned towards him just in time to take the blast from the ray-gun in his remaining optical unit. The cyborg roared in confusion as it lost all vision.

Ray stood up and scanned the room for Venus. He knew she wouldn’t leave without her servant, but he could not see her anywhere.

“Over here!” At the sound of her voice, Ray turned back towards the bar. She stood atop it, but she was not alone. She held an unconscious Bob Cat by the hair, as she stroked his face with her free hand.

“If you don’t want to see your friend’s skin melt from his face, I suggest you drop your weapon.”

Ray grimaced as he lowered his weapon to the ground. Despite all the dumb shit Bob pulled, Ray still loved the kid like a brother. He couldn’t just stand by and let him die.

Wargod moved past him and straight towards Venus as she continued to talk. “We’ve got what we came for, and despite my hatred for both your asses, I really don’t feel like fighting to the death today. So if you let me and Wargod teleport out of here, I will let your little friend here go. Agreed?”

Ray nodded.

Wargod reached Venus’ side. Venus pushed Bob Cat in to Wargod’s free hand. She began to gyrate her hips on stage. A few drunken stragglers began to cheer at the free show.

After several seconds of dancing, a blue glow began to radiate from her skin. It coalesced in to hundreds of particles of floating light. The particles floated away from her and formed a ring. After a few more moments, the ring flashed to life and formed an iridescent blue rift in space/time.

Venus stepped towards the warp, but she stopped short before entering it. “By the way,” Venus said as she turned back towards Ray. “I’m a liar.”

Wargod threw Bob Cat’s limp form through the warp hole. Ray cursed. He reached down and yanked the gun from the floor as he sprinted towards his opponents.

Venus walked through the portal, followed two steps behind by Wargod. Ray pushed himself forward and dove towards the warp-hole.

It closed just as he reached it and Ray found himself hurtling in to the bar. He crashed down hard and felt his arm and several ribs break on the impact.

Ray pulled himself upright. He reached down, grabbed his arm, and shoved the bone back in to place. Damn it, he thought. Why does every night out with Bob have to end up like this?

He dragged himself towards the door. It was going to be a long night. He had a rescue effort to mount.

1.3 Celebration's End

Bob Cat laughed as he wrapped his arms around the shoulders of two beautiful women. As the redhead to his left laughed, she swayed against him obviously very drunk. The black girl to his right rubbed her hands all over his chest and arm, obviously high on something much stronger. Bob didn’t much care. Between the drink, the drugs, and his horde of fans around him, Bob was feeling no pain either.

Death Ray sat in the corner. The silent vigilante didn’t quite understand his partner’s “unwinding”. This frivolity left them opens for any kind of attack and therefore put the people of the Steelworks in even more danger of attack at the hands of any rogue metas. The more he thought about it, the angrier it made him. His rage slowly burning higher, he decided the best course of action was simply to leave. He nodded in farewell to the bartender and took his leave of the club.

Bob didn’t even notice. He was ready to call it a night himself. He pulled the women towards the back room. Like all the clubs in the Steelworks, this one had a private room set up in back just for his use. Well, mine and the ladies, he thought.

The two young women followed him gladly, but even if they hadn’t, he really didn’t have any worries. Any of the women in the club would be ready for him at any time. And I’ll get to all them soon enough.

A low rumble from somewhere outside the front of the club built to a level that drowned out even the grinding beat of the industrial music blaring through the club. Through the haze in his head, Bob couldn’t quite figure out what the noise meant. Was someone doing construction work at two a.m.?

The front wall of the building exploded inward, sending shards of concrete in to the packed crowd. Light radiated from the street and in the midst of it, a nearly seven foot tall man stood in the shattered remains of the wall. All but the lower right half of his face was covered in solid steel as was the entire left half of his body and his right arm.

Bob Cat, even through his stupor, recognized the bioengineered super-warrior known as Wargod, even as Wargod brandished his vibro-axe against the nearest drunken reveler. And where Wargod was, Venus de Milo won’t be far behind.

As if on cue, the light from the street flashed and disappeared. An olive-skinned woman stood just behind the savage cyborg. She wore nothing more than a wispy cover-up. Draped over her shoulders, the wrap barely covered her breasts and fell down to wrap around her torso. But the cover-up was a thin white cloth which allowed anyone who wanted to see anything they wanted.

Bob Cat gaped for a moment like he always did when he first saw Venus, but he focused as the supposed goddess raised her arms. The limbs suddenly detached at the shoulders and shot in to the crowd. The hands of the flying limbs quickly wrapped around the throats of two panicking partiers. Almost immediately, her two victim’s skin began to decay as her very touch drained the life from them.

That’s more than enough, Bob Cat thought. He released his two dates and shoved them in to the back room. Without losing a beat, he continued forward at high speed and pushed himself up and over the first club-goer he met. He spring-boarded up and off the confused man and pushed himself up and over the rest of the crowd. He came down straight at Wargod, his claws bared.

His claws scraped against the bigger man’s armored face but only left superficial damage. Bob flipped away again just in time to avoid a sweep by Wargod’s vibro-axe. But when he landed, the drink and drugs took their toll as his feet wobbled under him. Wargod raised his free hand and fired a pair of slugs in to Bob’s chest. His cat-suit absorbed some of the damage, but Bob could feel the fire in his chest at the sudden shots.

Wargod kicked Bob Cat in the side of the head. Bob fell back to the floor as Wargod hovered over him.

The massive cyborg raised the vibro-axe. “My lady commands your death,” Wargod said in his mechanical voice. “Prepare to die.”

Bob cringed and closed his eyes as the axe swept down towards his head.

Bob Cat

Bob Cat

Dex: 09	Str: 05	Bod: 06	Motivation: Anti-Hero Thrill of Adventure
Int: 06	Wil: 07	Min: 07	Occupation: Vigilante
Inf: 07	Aur: 06	Spi: 08	Resources {or Wealth}: 006
Init: 026		HP: 055

Powers: Danger Sense: 5, Mystic Sense: 5

Bonuses and Limitations: none

Skills: Acrobatics: 10, Charisma: 7, Martial Artist: 8, Military Science (tracking): 6, Occultist (occult knowledge, ritual magic): 4, Thief (escape artist): 9, Weaponry (melee, missile): 9

Bonuses and Limitations: none

Advantages: Attractive, Gift of Gab, Lightning Reflexes, Local Hero

Connections: Death Ray (high), Gena Rator (high), Mystic Community (low)

Drawbacks: Dark Secret (*CLASSIFIED*), Enemy (*CLASSIFIED*), Limelight, MIA to being center of attention

Equipment: Cat’s Claws [Body: 12, Claws: 8, Clinging: 2, Spritual Drain: 4] Limitations: Spiritual Drain has a range of touch

Catsuit [Body: 12, Invulnerability: 18, Regeneration: 6, Running: 6, Speak With Animals: 7] Limitations: Invulnerability only works when reach max negative body; Invulnerability only has 9 uses per person (Bob has used up 3); Speak With Animals only works on felines.

Background:
Real name: Robert Luna
Marital status: Presumed Single
Known relatives: none
Group affiliation: sometimes partner of Death Ray, ally of Gena Rator
Base Of Operations: Steelworks district of The Divide
Height: 6' 2" Weight: 195 lbs.
Eyes: Blue Hair: Dark Brown

Powers and Abilities:
Bob Cat possesses a pair of cat talismans which have granted him several abilities. His Catsuit grants him regenerative abilities, as well as literally giving him 9 lives, 3 of which Bob has already used. The suit also allows him to run faster than any human, at speeds equivalent to the cheetah. He can also communicate with any feline while wearing the suit.

His Cat’s Claws work mainly as an offensive slashing weapon, but can also be used to dig in to walls and climb. At his command, the Claws can also work to literally drain the spirit from his foes, although Bob fears this attack almost as much as its victims.

Bob possesses an inherent tie with the mystic which gives him both the ability to sense the usage of magic nearby him as well as to read when attacks towards him will occur. This serves to make it very hard to suprise Bob Cat in battle.

Bob is an accomplished fighter, equal to if not greater than his partner Death Ray. He possesses a wide variety of training in fields such as tracking, escapology, weapons, and the occult. The origins of these abilities are still shrouded in mystery.

History:
Robert Luna’s history between his childhood growing up in nearby Battle Creek, Michigan, and his arrival in the Divide remains a mystery. A seemingly normal child, Luna left home after graduating high school and did not return to the area for over a decade.

When he did, Robert Luna was gone and the bombastic vigilante Bob Cat stood in his place. Bob initially harassed the local gang populations, including both the Dogpack and the Great Question. After only a few weeks, he met Gena Rator. Gena kept him focused on actually trying to help the people of the Divide and also set up the partnership between Bob & Death Ray. Bob & Ray have since become good friends and staunch allies and work to carve their own destiny in the Divide.

Personality:
While his partner is grim as all get out, Bob Cat is a hyper-active, over-excited metahuman who can never quite be quiet. he stays in good cheer almost constantly, and is obsessed with being the center of attention in public. His attitude has made him something of a local celebrity, and even the metahuman rag sheets report on his life despite his current location. Privately, Bob is a little less happy as he constantly worries that his actions of the past will come back to haunt him....

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