Cat and Mouse: Part 2 by Domoviye

Whateley
October, 2016

Shisa watching an H1! event on her computer screen, a particular event from 2 years ago.

“You only watch that H1 stuff when you're upset or angry. And you only watch that girl when you've had a really bad day. You know her?” Nyx asked.

Shisa won't say who she is at first, but finally opens up.

“Jeanette Shepard. She's gone now.”

Hhm, is that who Shisa was before, a former friend who is dead, or is something else going on here? Okay, it was her and she wonders if other students would gun for her for being in H1! in the past.

'There, you have the perfect chance at trying to kill me again, you asshole. Get it right this time or leave me the hell alone. I'm sick and tired of your games,' she thought at the remorseless sky.

Ouch, angry at God, or did something happening in bad weather involve her manifesting?

August 23rd, 2014

Oh boy, Jeanette was in deep with her local H1!, the press and everything involved showing off the youth wing.

“Finally, I just want to remind you all that if mutants are allowed to remain in our schools how will that affect our sports teams, our science competitions, our classrooms?” Jeannette asked

This reminds me of some of the excuses for trying to keep segregation. The rest of her speech sounds similar to propaganda used to 'other' any minority and keep them out of schools, businesses, etc.

Okay, nice to see her mindset doesn't match her words, sees the real threat baselines are to each other and how few in number mutants are, let alone the number of crimes they do compare to baselines. *cringes at Brad and everything he says* Trying to push Jeanette into doing what she doesn't want to do just because she is the president of the local youth wing, not cool.

Oh great, he does a thug act and charges at people for being pro-mutant, Brad better not pull something on Jeanette. Grabbing her shoulder and bringing up her father, too far!

“Like I care. Unless she sees me lighting an H in someones yard, she isn't going to be happy with much of anything I do. See ya,”

Not this kind of mother, I'm surprised Jeanette hasn't run away from home at this point.

A few stops later she came to a small comic book store that was also the unofficial meeting place for Evolution Rocks.

Okay, I like Jeanette now.

Got them this morning, Jeannette. Heroes Monthly, Mutant Heroes Annual, and the usual Marvel mutant comics,” Doug said, stretching a long arm under the counter to grab her order. “Your Mom still hasn't disowned you for getting this stuff?”

“Nope,” she replied with a grin. “Got anything I can use to really push her over the edge?”

Bwahaha, Jeanette, you deserve a better mother than you got. A poster of Mouser and Tink in bikinis, if that doesn't push her mother over the edge nothing will. Aww, cut off as we are learning what has happened to Tink since G1.

Man in a business suit, Clint, pissed off Jeanette is there after being at the H1! meeting so recently, and her being anti-mutant. Jeanette has practice talking to people with Clint's assumptions, it seems.

It's a common mistake to think we all want the same thing, since many uninformed individuals see H1 as monolithic when really it's more like herding cats.

from what we've seen of different H1 branches in different states I believe her, though it seems more like herding kittens than full-grown cats to me.

Her mother rubbed her temples, taking a deep breath before saying anything. “OK, it's your room. If you want it there, you can keep it. But I still don't understand what your fascination with mutants is, or why you seem to want to make me angry.”

Her mom has a lot more restrained response than I was expecting. Jeanette's response, oh god, she is Loophole Gen 2! Oh boy, telling her mother she is going to drop out of the H1 youth wing. Do some real good...*roll eyes*

Pushing her daughter to be a role model for anti-mutant bigots, Jeanette just wants to be a normal teenage girl, let her have this!

“You know how vital this work is to keeping the world safe for baselines. You're father died-”

“Yeah he died!” she interrupted, losing her temper. “He could have died in a car crash, cancer, falling down the goddamn stairs, or getting shot by a normal everyday criminal. If he'd been hit by a falling tree branch while out hunting would you have joined an anti-tree group?”

No, Jeanette has a point. If he has been killed by a different minority using a gun would she be bigoted towards them over the actions of an individual? And her mom tries to guilt-trip her about everything her father did, that she has done, that is emotionally abusive, imo.

Grounded for a week, her mother expects her to be mature and a role model, yet if Jeanette blows up from the pressure she gets punished.

"They're not that bad, even if most of them are way too uncanny valley to want to meet in real life. And remember tormenting our parents is the job, no, the duty of all children. I'm simply doing my part to keep this grand tradition going."

"Bravo. Very dramatic," Vicki said, her voice completely deadpan.

Jeanette, that isn't the job, nor duty of children, you only do that to bad parents. Yikes, Jeanette has to deal with all that being the president of the H1 youth wing, sounds like torture to me and being used by adults for their agenda and tossed aside when not needed.

This local H1 young wing is either going to fall apart or go rogue and try to attack suspected mutants and pro-mutant individuals with Brad as president. Forced to clean the house when grounded, Vicki has it rough. Oh boy, goes to take the bubble bath and spots her eyes have changed to vibrant green.

Going to Doug for help, good call with the sunglasses. I can guess why she is crying, her friends, her own mother, might try to kill her now. Doug's response, you should know to do what you can to calm her down, seesh.

"That's all you can say! My friends are going to kill me! My Mom is going to light me on fire! I've read about what they do to mutants when they get really angry!”

I wish I could clobber the lot of them for making a girl this young fear for her life from those who should care for her no matter what.

Finding all that on the private H1 forums, no wonder she wanted to start backing out of H1, they are monsters for treating fellow humans this way, acting like they aren't human. A week or two to get her to someone who can protect her, this is going to get a whole lot worse before it gets even a little better, isn't it?

Doug is right, Jeanette, low-level Exemplars are easier to hide than other mutants. Hair is changing, Jeanette is terrified she is becoming a monster, and what will happen to her to the point she throws up, I really hate H1 right now. Grounded in her room and throw away the key, so doing a makeover so big her mother will get pissed off big time, but not notice Jeanette's mutant traits, good.

Okay, Doug has a good reason for having a picture of Jeanette, needs to delete that security camera footage more often from the sounds of it. Colored contacts to see what Jeanette would look like as a mutant, nice cover story.

“Decide what?”

“What colour would you like your hair?”

“WHAT?”

Bwahahaha, too good, sides starting to hurt.

Nice hairstyle and good choice of color. Noooo! Trust Doug, he won't sell you out over your past actions. Talking to your mother, with her mindset she wouldn't see being a mutant as something you didn't have a choice in, but something you chose just to lash out at her. Mom was worried and runs to give Jeanette a hug before even taking a look at her. And now Mom is ticked off, at least it is because of the hair cut, the plan is working.

Sleep mask so her mom won't see her eyes, good idea. A long list of chores, ouch. Brad, Vicki, and 3 other H1 youth members are there to see Jeanette, eep. Mom said they could visit for an hour and this is sounding like an intervention, not good. Vicki makes a good point that the others agree with.

“No, this is about keeping the city safe. If we don't help out we could have a rager here just like they did in San Francisco last year,” Brad said, glaring at her. “But I don't care about that, I want to know why you're hanging around with the E.R. Morons.”

Brad is coming across as a control freak right now. His response to Jeanette's response comes across as a bully trying to keep people doing things his way or no way.

Brad, she doesn't want you going into her room, her private space, back off! Good, got Jeanette's mom on the phone and Brad to back off, though his jaw tightening in anger has me worried about future actions by him.

“I'm sorry, honey. I asked Brad to go over with some friends and talk with you. I thought that they'd be able to help you see that your friends are all here and supporting you. I did not tell them to pressure you and I certainly didn't want them going through your things,” her Mom said.

In other words Brad went way over the line he was given and kept pushing until made to back off. I don't like creeps like him.

Mother-daughter shopping spree to get ready for school, why do I feel this isn't going to happen and I'm sad it won't now.

Her Mom advocated for segregation, keeping dangerous mutants away from baselines, interacting through carefully controlled avenues for limited trade and movement. If the family wanted to go with the mutants, that was fine, even preferable, to reduce the chances of other siblings and children from manifesting.

Segregation always leads to the minority resenting those who forced them to live separately which leads to trouble later on, have they learned nothing from history. Jeanette, it is when you have to see the consequences of a plan for a minority yourself you see how bad a plan it is. I hope contacting her mom once she is safe doesn't blow up in Jeanette's or anyone else's faces.

Oh, good, they got to do the shopping spree together.

"I've thought about it. Quite a lot actually, especially after your father died. That's why I stopped the burning of H's in peoples yards and got rid of the most violent members. I don't want a child's blood on my hands. Most of them didn't ask for it, and many of them are frightened by their powers. But that is why they're so dangerous. They haven't thought about how to be responsible, and frightened people do stupid things. We can't let them run lose when a simple accident or temper tantrum could destroy a classroom or a city."

She's not wrong, but hasn't thought how they would feel about her plans for them, how it would make them scared and lash out. Never mind, using the more militant members to drive mutants out of town, is acting out of fear and doing something stupid.

She has been keeping a lot of secrets from Jeanette about the darker side of H1 and her actions.

"I can't say I blame you. There are times when I wish we could just wipe them all off the face of the earth, but," she paused, sipping her wine with her eyes closed, hiding her feelings. "But I try to remind myself that many of them are children, and they have families. If only we could limit their powers, or shut them off with a real device or medicine, I could happily retire. But until then, we have to look at the greater good. I look at you and your friends and my brain can't help thinking what would happen to you if you were caught in one of their rampages, or a devise that shouldn't exist."

There is no one scarier than someone who believes they are doing something for the greater good even when it is at the cost of others' lives and safety.

"The safety of the many outweigh the desires of the few. I'd tell your aunt Maria that she should get him far away from humans, and I'll keep pushing for a community to be created far away from the continental US where we can transport them. This can't be personal. There is too much at risk. We've both read about the communities that have had the heart ripped out of them. I've personally visited some of them, you can't imagine how terrifying it is."

Okay, her mindset is twisted and now I see it clearly. She didn't say get him far away from baselines, she said far away from humans. She doesn't even consider mutants to be humans anymore.

At least her mother is listening and being more reasonable, even if Jeanette is probably terrified to tell her mom she is a mutant now. Jeanette tearing up again, this really tears me up, how a mother can say it couldn't be personal, no exceptions when dealing with mutants.

Yeowch! Having to wax off the hair, knowing all those things and that she is turning into something hairy, how much longer can she keep her changes secret from her mother? Doesn't wish to be a hero, her week's grounding is over and Doug hasn't called her back yet, uh oh.

D'oh, the short scare about turning into a boy, those sites know about Changelings. Brad calls her a mutant just because of how strong her grip on his arm was, fragile male ego hurt and lashing out. I don't like that is Goodkind, but the pepper spray ring is a good idea, Brad deserved that. Jeanette tells her mom about what Brad said and did, I hope Brad gets in trouble for all this. On the bus to the comic shop, why do I get the strange feeling this might be the last time Jeanette can safely see her mom?

Iris tattooed or inked to trick them, happened to a group of ER in Atlanta, dang. Powers testing time, whee. Ouch, Jeanette needs emotional support right now and no one to really go to.

“Smarten up, brain. I can handle this. I'm a survivor and a winner. Nothing is going to happen that I can't handle. It may not be pretty and I may get knocked down, but nothing is going to keep me down. I'll just keep getting back up until I'm strong enough to break whatever is in front of me.”

Good, keep that attitude, you are going to need it.

No Exemplar physical traits, just a physically fit teenage girl. Stun gun set to low, yikes. No idea of what her powers are still, just great. The local MCO has at least 3 who are friends of H1 members, things just keep getting worse.

Jeanette keeps having to lie to her mother about nothing being wrong, the stress of keeping up this lie is going to start getting to her, I fear.

Late that night, Mrs. Shepard sat in her home office staring at the photos of her late husband and her daughter that lined the office walls. Picking up the phone, she dialed a number, her fingers trembling. When the person picked up, she could only say a single sentence, before breaking down in tears.

“She lied to me.”

Crud, her mom knows and just outed Jeanette, this just went from bad to nightmare level if Jeanette doesn't get out of there now.

Vicki wants to be a cheerleader, and test if Jeanette is listening with a sentence that should have gotten a different response. Having to defend herself against Brad's accusation of being a mutant, Vicki brings up how she stopped Brad from going into her room. Something stopped his whole body, sounds like a form of PK or TK to me. Chatting about boys, changing hair colors and styles, normal teenage girl stuff, just what Jeanette needs.

A man shoves Jeanette into the fountain and she is saved from hitting her head.

It felt like a smooth hand had encircled her body, stopping her in midair.

Interesting. H1 creep and he is filming her with his phone, Jeanette freaks out and runs away, some friend. Screaming for security and the MCO even though she did nothing, a bunch of bigots.

Placed in a safe house in the city until they can get her out, at least Jeanette is safe for now.

Doug is pissed, he has been in contact with Whateley, and their protocols in place to keep many people and children safe could end up getting Jeanette killed. They better get her out of there now.

Clint was told by an informant about Jeanette being in safehouse 5, and he has plans to 'deal' with it, Clint needs an attitude adjustment. He is sending people who would hurt a child after Jeanette, Clint, you just screwed up because when Doug finds out your life will be measured in minutes.

Tiffany Shepard, Jeanette's mother, is furious at her 2nd in command.

“Seth, I told you to watch my daughter. I didn't know if she was a mutant, hiding a boyfriend or was doing drugs. I wanted to learn what was wrong, so I could deal with it. We have rules, we're not the butchers or vigilantes in other cities. I don't want blood on my hands, especially my daughters blood. What did they think they were doing attacking my daughter?”

Seth, you screwed up royally. Especially from Tiffany's next response. This scum wants to kill mutants, he is lucky Tiffany didn't end him right then and there.

Supplies to bolt just in case, yet the office is supposed to be safe. Ouch, not being let in a theater again, no one wants to be a friends with a mutant, she has been brainwashed by H1. 6 men in a van suddenly show up, Jeanette has the right idea, run! Running towards the roof only to get pulled backward by her backpack, these creeps deserve a beatdown. Avoiding their attacks that tumble down the stairs was rough, please let Doug show up soon.

Three-story jump with an injured shoulder and useless left arm to show for it, better than facing the guns. *eyes bug out* Jeanette's power is a lot more dangerous than first suspected, that gunman if he survives will probably have to have that hand amputated. Baseball bat to the chest and it is Brad, gun in hand and he tries to kill her but fails.

The bullet stopped less than an inch from her forehead.

And a lot more powerful as well, dang. Biting Brad like that, whoa, Shisa looks so unassuming you never think she was this dangerous. Good, run, Jeanette, run and survive.

Mrs. Shepard is there and pissed off at Seth for trying to kill her daughter.

“She blinded Brad and crushed Louis' arm, when we were just going in to see if the report of a mutant hiding in the building was accurate. She's a fucking danger! If you'd done your job, this wouldn't have happened.”

Sure you were, coming in armed to the teeth and attacking her when she tries to run, you were here to kill her and claim self-defense, you bunch of psychos. I hope Mrs. Shepard gets to do something about Seth before this is all over.

H1 or police watching the comic shop in case Jeanette shows up there, a bunch of scumbags. Ugh, the guy from Whateley is here for Jeanette, if you had come sooner this whole mess could have been avoided.

Jeanette hitchhiking to Seattle, this is a recipe for trouble.

A blue car came to a stop and a middle aged man wearing casual travelling clothes leaned over to get a look at her. “Where ya heading?” he asked, smiling pleasantly.

I got a bad feeling about him. John, and Jeanette says her name is Vicki, please don't let John be the kind of creep I think he is. Left shoulder, uh oh, don't tell me the more injured she gets the faster her transformation will happen as the body part heals.

She reclined the chair a little, falling asleep almost immediately, while John began to whistle a happy little tune.

I hope him whistling a happy tune isn't any kind of foreshadowing.

- Shisa has some issues with god. You'll see why soon.

-Brad is the perfect foot soldier, devoted, brutal, and if you tell him to do something he'll not only do it but go the extra mile.

-While I don't think her mother would disown Jeanette, she would follow her own 'twisted' code and move them both away from baselines.
Jeanette's initial comments about her mother are more from a rebellious teen, who wants to piss her mom and Brad off.

-With H1! knowing about changelings, in any successful organization you have to have some people who know what they're doing. While the majority of a group can be good little soldiers following the slogans, you'll have a core group who know the details. This lets them manipulate their followers better.
So I'd guess that some H1 members are quite knowledgeable and observant, sharing info, and letting other members know what they might face.

-Jeannette had a bag ready to run, because she was taught a fair bit of self defence. Not so much how to fight, although she does have some training, but how to run, and a good rule is to always have a bug out bag ready to go. This is even more important when you're in danger.

-She knows she could to go to a movie theatre, she just doesn't think anyone will want to go with her. A mutant who was a former speaker for H1, it's going to be hard making friends with that kind of reputation. Also remember, this is the lowest moment of her life, so far, if she wasn't depressed, there would be something wrong with her.

-Shisa's powers are quite powerful, they're also rather unique. Why they're unique will take a bit of time to get to. This is only August 2014, and she won't get to Whateley until August 2016. And there are important reasons to not to show off her powers at Whateley without a good reason.

-John is going to be fun to write. He's one of the most critical parts of Shisa's story, without him, everything would be different.

Whitman Community Room
Late September

Silvertongue insulted the Defense of Humanity spokesman on TV, Shisa says they are just scared, and Silvertongue verbally bashes her for it. Snarks back and gets called a stupid animal, I don't like Silvertongue. Shisa demonstrates her powers on the nearby wall to the shock of others.

"Fear is smart."

Yes it is, she is scary when she has a point to make.

August 16th, 2014, Late evening

Jeanette's bones aching, almost no strength in her muscles, all these symptoms of her furthering transformations, this is brutal. Can't go home and thinks her only hope is to reach Seattle and tell the police a story instead of the truth. How does John have so much energy despite driving for that long?

Great, in the mountains with no towns for hours so no hospitals. Ouch, at least she healed from the worst of it. Are her powers not working right, or does she not understand the full nature of her power yet and what it is capable of doing? She actually called forth the healing power, an interesting way to do it. And in the process accelerated her physical changes, d'oh.

John still driving, that big grin on his face, I'm starting to suspect he is a mutant and some kind of parasite who is sapping Jeanette's energy to replenish his own. She shouldn't be sick like this, so that is the only explanation I can think of. *eyes bug out* Those are John's previous victims all fused into one conglomerate being! A humanoid insect sucking the very lifeblood right out of her, John is a true monster in all senses of the word.

Jeanette escapes the monster and goes crashing out of the truck down a cliff, but she wills her power to protect her. She goes smashing through tree after tree, the ground, rocks, and bushes, and finally stops. She is banged up but flees from the road and whatever John is. I knew there were monsters in the WA Universe, but nothing like that.

John has fed on a mutant before, he gains even more strength from them than baselines it seems. And he didn't care that he almost killed Jeanette multiple times, just that she just kept finding renewed strength and survived. He has to die to prevent any more victims. Wait, so what Jeanette saw was the remains of his victims trapped and unable to pass onto the afterlife, that is even worse. And he is a mutant, but the way Jeanette saw him, was that his spirit or soul she was seeing?

Crud, he is still feeding from Jeanette, but less so than before, and knows the direction she is in now. Great, the creep gained super strength from feeding on Jeanette. And now he is chasing Jeanette, he is so twisted by his power I think Jeanette was right, he isn't human anymore.

Jeanette gets beat up more as she rushes through the forest in the dark, and falls down another cliff. desperate and overwhelmed.

“Please god,” she sobbed, “I don't want to die. Please, let me get out of this.”

She is going to need a lot of therapy after this, but she is a survivor. Willing her healing power to activate, she falls asleep, noo, John might catch her now.

Waking up with a blanket covering her, crud, he found her. And now she has whiskers on her face, at least she is healed as I see a fight coming. The way John is talking to Jeanette if you didn't know about his powers you would think he is a child predator. Tries to attack with the same power she used on the H1! creeps, but it doesn't work, but somehow launches her up into the air like a superhuman leap to escape John. Her right arm is broken that severely, and she calls on the healing energy to make the bone snap back into place. Changes once more, and her will to live drives her to keep moving.

At least Jeanette knows John is still feeding from her and tracking her. Cattails are edible, huh, learned something new. Jeanette thinks she is becoming a cat girl, dang. Talking to god about her powers, yeah, I don't think that is going to work. And making a deal with god, heh, well, she will learn for herself.

Jeanette cries and wishes she could just go home, she talks to her father who died when she was a baby. Tearing up, she wishes her father was still alive so things would be different. And just then John finds her and interrupts a private conversation, he is rude as well. Baiting her with food only to attack her, Jeanette, you need to kill this monster or you will die and he will keep killing people.

Trying to tie Jeanette up, but she triggers her safety ring and he gets a face full of pepper spray. About to punch her, but Jeanette calls upon her power and sends him flying into a tree hard, too much to hope that killed him already. He drains her again and she wills her regeneration to become stronger.

Her skin became hot and she desperately needed a drink, but she was able to stay on her feet.

She isn't having a burnout, is she? At least she escapes John again.

Too little to eat and still burning up, this is very bad. Talking to god and thinking all of this is a punishment for her past action. Everything has a bluish-silver hue to it, ah, her night vision is starting to activate. Begging god, not wishing to die, and in so much pain as her claws grow in on her hands at least.

3 fish for breakfast, cold, but still good to keep up her strength. Still uncomfortably hot, please let it just be the fur she is growing. No time to appreciate nature, another of John's crimes. Ouch, the drain being stronger means John is getting closer. Jeanette talking to god again and thinking about what her regen rating is. She is annoyed at becoming a cat girl, any more dangerous animal type to deal with John would be better right now.

"I'm not going to die," she gasped. "Screw you god, and the horse you rode in on."

That's right, you are too stubborn to die.

Yikes, that many more changes, how long has she been running from John now? Dam it! John caught up, dodges a TK blast from Jeanette, and strikes her in the chest sending her flying. And now resorting to cruel taunts, use her claws on John and finish this, Jeanette! Forced to run again, and John laughing in the distance, this can't go on much longer.

Her feet are no longer human, in that much pain and exhausted but forcing herself to keep moving, Jeanette needs a miracle. Eating a bird due to hunger, talking to god, and wanting to know where she went wrong to suffer all this so she avoids doing it again. Finding her new enhanced hearing, Jeanette is pissed at god and refuses to die here no matter what. And yells a threat to John that he better heed.

John is sick, taking this much pleasure out of draining Jeanette's energy. And he is purposefully limiting his feeding so she will last longer, this is toying with her and it is going to cost him.

Jeanette eats any small animal she can catch while on the run, and she is starting to imagine things. Like Vicki complimenting her on her hair and cat ears, then imagining how her mother would react to her changes, what she would say. Jeanette doesn't know how many days it has been since she escaped John's car, seeing and hearing Doug now and responding to her hallucination. Taunted by Brad and Doug as she keeps moving, ignoring it. This is scary to watch.

Walking along, needing food, drink, and rest, she finally hallucinates her father.

“Nah, just a rough patch. Just keep fighting and you'll eventually get past it.”

“I hope so. Got any advice?”

“Go for the throat, don't hold back.”

Good advice, could this one not be a hallucination like the others? Got rid of the Brad hallucination for Jeanette, one less thing to worry about. Crying like that, sleep deprivation can play horrible tricks on the mind.

Her eyes fully changed now and give her night vision, good, she is going to need it. An audience of faceless robed figures, oh boy, she is getting worse. Oh, good, a long drink helped a lot and the water on her face helped clear her mind.

Woken up by John trying to sneak up on her, Jeanette claws him on the arm and draws blood, keep going! Darting past John, she pounced on him and slashed his stomach, moving past to climb a pine tree. Darn it, dives to try and ambush John, but he spins around and punches Jeanette in the jaw, then stomps on her stomach.

Thinking she is going to die, Jeanette taps into her rage and hatred causing her power to explode outward sending John flying and snapping weaker trees under the force, dang. Jeanette is in bad shape, vomiting up blood, and John staggering away with his own injuries to worry about. Seeing her father and her old self disappear in a cloud of golden light like that, that is beyond painful.

Thinking of herself as a monster that won't die now, no, Jeanette, you are still human no matter your form. And now she has all cat-like teeth. And even angrier at god for all that has happened to her, still wanting to know why, but not caring anymore if god answers. Just surviving and taking down John.

A grizzly picks up the scent of Jeanette and goes to check her out, she raises her arms to show her claws to get it to back off, but the grizzly takes this as a challenge. It tries to intimidate her only to get TK slashed through its belly, then its neck, and becomes another meal for her.

Stalking through the woods and John is still alive, on all fours and knowing instinctively how to move. Picking up all those sounds, scents, and the sensations of wind blowing through her whiskers, she has a lot to adapt to. Goes to hide and waits to ambush him, but he turns his drain up to the full force and she is sapped within seconds, darn it.

Forced to charge him, she gets in the first hit with a claw slash into his side. Moving around him while avoiding blows, she gets onto his back with her claws digging in and her fangs dug into his neck, finish him! A slash across the face and John slams his head back, then drove his elbow into Jeanette's ribs, gah! She tries to get away and gets an arm broken, only for her to come back and gut his stomach open with her feet claws. John is dead and the poor girl collapses unconscious from the ordeal.

Wakes up with her wounds mostly healed, but no longer bipedal, and thinks she looks like a monster. And a short rant at god about how he couldn't kill her, live just to spite god and whatever challenges he might throw at her, I like her.

Outside Seattle
July, 2015

She hitched a ride on a train to Seattle, wearing a collar and she made herself a wooden comb. I hope she finds some friends soon, seeing her that lonely is heartwrenching.

Shisa's story is a tragedy from start to finish. Raised by a mother who hates mutants because of what happened to her husband and Jeanette's father, indoctrinated into a hate group from an early age and taught to hate, finally starting to think for herself and learn the truth with the help of new friends only to have it all ripped away. Her own mother should have thought about how she truly felt about her daughter before calling up any of her H1! contacts, which compounded the whole mess, she should have known they wouldn't try to drive her out, they would try to kill her. Her mother's regret later doesn't fix this, and Jeanette may never know her mom still loves her.

Her manifestation and transformation were rough from start to finish, I've seen some brutal ones and this was at least in the top 5. Her feeling hot had me worried she was going into burnout, that she would be a regular cat girl mutant but the burnout caused her to suffer further changes. I hope that isn't the case or this will be even more tragic. At least her powers made her about to survive against John.

Her trip began with a safe house and H1! trying to kill her, I thought that would be the worst, if not MCO coming after her. I knew when she first met John that I didn't like him, something seemed off. But I never expected that. Was how he appeared to Jeanette how he appears on the spirit plane or something else? I ask because she seems able to see spirits. And did killing him free the tormented souls of his past victims?

I can't wait for Alley Cat, Shisa is such an interesting individual and I love to learn more about her past before she came to Whateley.

Silvertongue insulted the Defense of Humanity spokesman on TV, Shisa says they are just scared, and Silvertongue verbally bashes her for it. Snarks back and gets called a stupid animal, I don't like Silvertongue. Shisa demonstrates her powers on the nearby wall to the shock of others.

"Fear is smart."

Yes it is, she is scary when she has a point to make.

I've had that scene written since 2016. It really helps cement Shisa's sometimes very harsh attitude, and how she uses theatrics to make a point.

Great, in the mountains with no towns for hours so no hospitals. Ouch, at least she healed from the worst of it. Are her powers not working right, or does she not understand the full nature of her power yet and what it is capable of doing? She actually called forth the healing power, an interesting way to do it. And in the process accelerated her physical changes, d'oh.

John still driving, that big grin on his face, I'm starting to suspect he is a mutant and some kind of parasite who is sapping Jeanette's energy to replenish his own. She shouldn't be sick like this, so that is the only explanation I can think of. *eyes bug out* Those are John's previous victims all fused into one conglomerate being! A humanoid insect sucking the very lifeblood right out of her, John is a true monster in all senses of the word.

I knew I needed something brutal to have Shisa change as much as she did and to get her attitude. I wanted her snarky, aloof, yet willing to help others, who could handle almost anything the world threw at her because she has survived worse. Enter John a mutant who normally absorbs heat and bio-energy produced by a living organism. When he gets a mutant, he also sucks up whatever is powering them, in Shisa's case, psychic energy.
And Shisa's powers don't work right. There was a lot of back and forth between Neo and I over Shisa way back when, and Neo discussed her with the other G2 creators. It was eventually decided that her powers are defective, and there is a really neat analogy I'll share when Shisa finally gets power testing at Whateley. Suffice it to say she's a broken PDP who brute forces things with regards to her powers, which causes some pros, and a lot of cons.

He has to die to prevent any more victims. Wait, so what Jeanette saw was the remains of his victims trapped and unable to pass onto the afterlife, that is even worse. And he is a mutant, but the way Jeanette saw him, was that his spirit or soul she was seeing?

Shisa seeing John as a monstrous insect was always going to happen. He isn't a supernatural monster, just a mutant, maybe an avatar, maybe just a F'd up warper. The ghosts in the backseat were a new addition that came after I wrote Helsing and Emiko. Having her see the ghosts of his past victims fit well with her story, and were perfect for her future stories at Whateley.

Waking up with a blanket covering her, crud, he found her. And now she has whiskers on her face, at least she is healed as I see a fight coming. The way John is talking to Jeanette if you didn't know about his powers you would think he is a child predator.

How could I make John even creepier? Give him pedo sex offender vibes.

At least Jeanette knows John is still feeding from her and tracking her. Cattails are edible, huh, learned something new. Jeanette thinks she is becoming a cat girl, dang. Talking to god about her powers, yeah, I don't think that is going to work. And making a deal with god, heh, well, she will learn for herself.

Almost every part where she is talking to God was written around 2016-17, with some editing over the years. I've had this story planned in detail for a long time, it was everything in between that was impossible to write.

Jeanette cries and wishes she could just go home, she talks to her father who died when she was a baby. Tearing up, she wishes her father was still alive so things would be different.

I'd been thinking of having Shisa talk to her father more often, but I found it was mostly just filler. This was a story that demanded it be short and sweet.

He drains her again and she wills her regeneration to become stronger.

Her skin became hot and she desperately needed a drink, but she was able to stay on her feet.

She isn't having a burnout, is she?

Yeah, she should have had multiple burnouts due to how hard she was pushing her power. John actually saved her life by eating the excess power. It SERIOUSLY F'ed up her BIT, but didn't kill her.

She is annoyed at becoming a cat girl, any more dangerous animal type to deal with John would be better right now.

"I'm not going to die," she gasped. "Screw you god, and the horse you rode in on."

That's right, you are too stubborn to die.

And now we see why she looked up at the sky in the intro to Part 1, and cursed at it. She doesn't survive due to hope, she survives everything she does due to spite.

Jeanette eats any small animal she can catch while on the run, and she is starting to imagine things. Like Vicki complimenting her on her hair and cat ears, then imagining how her mother would react to her changes, what she would say. Jeanette doesn't know how many days it has been since she escaped John's car, seeing and hearing Doug now and responding to her hallucination. Taunted by Brad and Doug as she keeps moving, ignoring it. This is scary to watch.

Hadn't planned on her hallucinating, but as I was writing it made sense in her stressed, dehydrated and starving state that she'd be seeing things. It also helped show where her mind is at the moment.

Walking along, needing food, drink, and rest, she finally hallucinates her father.
...
Good advice, could this one not be a hallucination like the others? Got rid of the Brad hallucination for Jeanette, one less thing to worry about. Crying like that, sleep deprivation can play horrible tricks on the mind.

She's still hallucinating. This is just the part of her mind that refuses to die getting its own say in things. Shisa really is stubborn.

Jeanette is in bad shape, vomiting up blood, and John staggering away with his own injuries to worry about. Seeing her father and her old self disappear in a cloud of golden light like that, that is beyond painful.

This was a last second addition. As I was rereading and editing on site, it struck me that making a symbolic break between Shisa and Jeanette would be very appropriate.
This is why she says Jeanette is 'gone' or 'dead' when asked about her. Because as far as Shisa's concerned, Jeanette is a different person that died and went to a better place, while Shisa's the part that remained.

Forced to charge him, she gets in the first hit with a claw slash into his side. Moving around him while avoiding blows, she gets onto his back with her claws digging in and her fangs dug into his neck, finish him! A slash across the face and John slams his head back, then drove his elbow into Jeanette's ribs, gah! She tries to get away and gets an arm broken, only for her to come back and gut his stomach open with her feet claws. John is dead and the poor girl collapses unconscious from the ordeal.

Originally he was going to break her back, and she was going to literally rip his throat out with her teeth. As I was writing the fight, this seemed more realistic. He wouldn't want her claws that close to him.

And a short rant at god about how he couldn't kill her, live just to spite god and whatever challenges he might throw at her, I like her.

And now we know why she won't kill herself or go down easy, she can't let the asshole win.

Her feeling hot had me worried she was going into burnout, that she would be a regular cat girl mutant but the burnout caused her to suffer further changes. I hope that isn't the case or this will be even more tragic.

She was only supposed to be a cat girl, not a girl cat. She'd have been on the more catty side, due to her picturing mutants as unpleasant to look at, and possibly from just buying the poster of Mouser before manifesting, but she'd have still been able to wear clothes and have people thinking she was capable of higher thinking. The not quite burnouts and John eating her seriously F'd her up.

And did killing him free the tormented souls of his past victims?

His victims were probably freed with his death. The thing holding them to the world was gone and their suffering ended.

I can't wait for Alley Cat, Shisa is such an interesting individual and I love to learn more about her past before she came to Whateley.

It's an interesting story. While I'm not going to lie and say it'll be an easy read, it delves deep into the lives of street kids, it will not be as intense or as bleak as Cat And Mouse. There will even be moments of jokes and happiness in the three parts.