Fox(girl)ificated 2 - Ch.9 - Capes & Lies (& Coming Clean) (Patreon)

** content warning: misgendering, deadnaming, queermisia, misogyny, violence **

"Special Investigator Peck," Rachel spoke up first. Her ears were angled forward and her tail flicked in irritation as she addressed the MaR-AID agent, "Unless you've managed to get yourself a warrant this time, you'll have to book an appointment like everyone else."

Instead of the cop it was the cape who responded. His eyes were on Doctor Fawkes as he asked the agent in a low dangerous voice, "That's the mastermind?"

Peck looked almost smug as he nodded, "That's the one. I don't know who the other two furry weirdos are, but the redhead's our traitor. The one in the clown suit's probably compromised too, considering he's associating with the rest of these creeps."

Hannah's fists clenched when the cop misgendered her enbyfriend. Her eyes were on the cape though as she stated, "You're a long way from home, Unstoppable. I don't know what Peck's told you, but -"

Mr. Unstoppable growled, "Shut it, Flaming Fist. You freaks are all completely outclassed here. Give up right now, and maybe I won't pound you punks into paste."

For the next second or so everyone was completely silent. Rachel's and Luna's tails both drooped down, while Hannah and Athene looked shocked. It hit me a moment later. Hannah's fiery red hair, athletic physique, the black and red style of her clothes, it all suddenly made sense.

She was the cape who swooped in and rushed me to safety when MaR-AID raided the clinic on Wednesday. Hannah was Fiery Femme Fatale. And Unstoppable just outed her. With her deadname too, which seemed like a real dick move.

"What the fuck Unstoppable?!" the tall redhead demanded a moment later. "You just broke the golden rule! Heroes don't reveal other heroes' identities!"

Luna added through gritted teeth, "And decent human beings don't deadname or misgender folks either."

The cop-themed cape just sneered, "As far as I'm concerned you lost your hero privileges when you sided with that freakshow behind you."

"And what's that make you?" the redhead glared back at the S-rank hero. "Peck's acting without a warrant, he's already been reprimanded once for harassing private citizens without cause. If he's got you here under lies and false pretences -"

"I said shut it!" Mr. Unstoppable barked. "Last chance to give up without anybody getting hurt. You know you can't take me. You might have been an A-rank hero when you were Flaming Fist, but I doubt you're even a B now. Bitch."

Luna whispered, "Kit stay behind me. Athene, Rachel, you keep back as well."

By that point my heart was racing a mile a minute. My ears were folded back, and my tail was tucked firmly between my legs. I knew the gorgeous catgirl was a meta, and I knew my sparks didn't hurt her. But Unstoppable was, well, unstoppable. Even an A-rank hero like Fiery Femme Fatale didn't stand a chance against the guy. I'd seen him fight on the news, and he was a favourite of that stupid conspiracy streamer my coworker watched. According to Capes Crooks and Creeps, Mr. Unstoppable was undefeated.

Peck was still acting smug as he chimed in again, "You heard the man. I want to see all five of you on your knees, ankles crossed, and hands behind your head. Now. Or you'll find out first-hand what an unstoppable force really feels like."

Hannah shook her head, "You're making a huge mistake Peck. Nobody's broken any laws here, other than you. Unless you have a warrant?"

"I don't need one," the cop gloated. "Not once I've exposed you freaks, and uncovered whatever influence you have over the local MaR-AID office. That's why I asked Mr. Unstoppable to come and help, because I knew I couldn't trust any of the locals."

At that point Peck glanced at the tall muscular man next to him and added, "Enough talk, let's do this."

"Damn straight!" Mr. Unstoppable grinned.

Then everything seemed to happen at once.

My eyes could barely follow the action as Unstoppable launched himself towards Hannah with a burst of metahuman speed. His right arm was pulled back ready to deliver a potentially lethal punch, while the tall redhead barely had a chance to raise her arms up in self-defence.

Except the blow never landed.

Somehow Luna got herself in between Hannah and Unstoppable before the juggernaut was even halfway to the A-rank heroine. And even more unbelievable, the petite delicate catgirl stopped the cape in his tracks with a solid clothesline blow across his gut.

The image was temporarily frozen in my mind's eye. Mr. Unstoppable was sort of hanging in mid air with both feet and both hands out in front of him, while his body was folded over at the gut by Luna's outstretched right arm. The cape's eyes were bulging in surprise, and his cheeks had puffed out due to all the air being forced from his lungs.

The shockwave hit a moment later, and next thing I knew Unstoppable was on his back in a hero-shaped dent in the parking lot pavement. Luna was crouched over him, the petite catgirl held the six-foot-two muscle-bound cape pinned to the ground with a single hand on his chest.

My head was spinning as I tried to make sense of what just happened when Athene smirked and whispered, "Unstoppable force meet immovable object."

"What...?" I started to ask, when Peck made his move.

The cop pulled out some sort of fancy silver gun from under his jacket and raised it towards Luna. And for once in my life I was glad Clayton made me watch all those stupid CC&C episodes, because I knew what it was. MaR-AID's secret weapon was an anti-meta gun. Nobody knew for sure what it actually did, only that it was specially designed by one of their R&D science teams. And it was supposed to be devastating to metahumans.

"No!" I shouted as I lunged forward, but without super speed I wasn't fast enough to reach him.

The best I could manage was to put myself in between Peck and the beautiful amazing gorgeous catgirl. And the last thought to cross my mind before he pulled the trigger was at least I got a chance to be the real me before I died.

Then a loud buzzing noise seemed to fill the air from somewhere behind me, and everything went black.

• • • • •

"Wha-?!" I gasped as consciousness returned just as suddenly as it left earlier.

My ears were folded back and my tail started thumping against the back of the sofa I found myself laying on. I glanced around in nervous confusion at the unfamiliar surroundings, while my heart rate quickly ramped up to racing speed again.

I appeared to be in the living-room of someone's house, laying on a big plush navy blue sofa. There was a matching love seat to my right, while a set of sliding glass doors on the left opened onto a small but well-maintained backyard. A large easy chair in the corner across from me completed the furniture set, and on the wall next to that was a fireplace that looked so clean I doubted it had ever been used. In fact the whole room looked almost spotless.

The floor was a dark polished hardwood, while the walls were painted a spotless off-white. There weren't any pictures or other decorations anywhere I could see them. Not even a TV for that matter. And the only things ontop of the coffee table in front of the sofa were mine. My wallet, phone, and keys all sat there like someone wanted to make sure I'd see them when I woke.

A few seconds later my ears twitched to the sound of movement further away on the right. I turned to look in time to see Luna as she scooted right up to me.

The gorgeous catgirl looked relieved as she smiled, "You're awake! Welcome back cutie!"

"Rachel asked me to apologize for her," she added with a little grimace. "Her security measures aren't very discerning, and you got knocked out along with Peck and Unstoppable."

I blinked a few times as I slowly pulled myself upright, while my tail wrapped around my right hip. That's when I was hit with another wave of euphoria, as my brain finally registered a few more details. Not only was I still alive, but I hadn't dreamed any of that other stuff. I really was a small cute foxgirl, wearing a cute top and tight leggings.

Suddenly Luna's arms were around me as she leaned closer and pulled me into a hug, "You brave silly foxgirl, you could have gotten yourself hurt! I told you to stay back, remember?"

My heart started pounding again while my cheeks coloured. My tail was thumping against the back of the sofa again though. I tentatively reached up to return the hug as I mumbled, "That cop was going to shoot you. It was an anti-meta gun, and I couldn't let him get you."

Luna gave me a gentle squeeze as she replied, "Thank you Kit. You're brave and selfless and amazing, and I'm grateful. But there's nothing that man could ever do to hurt me. Unless he hurt you."

My tail was still trying to wag up a storm, until my brain caught up with everything she just said. The first and last parts were really nice, but the bit in the middle left me with questions.

I frowned and my ears folded back as I responded, "Oh. Um, there's something I don't understand."

"Actually there's a few things I'm confused about," I added as I remembered her very brief fight with Mr. Unstoppable.

The beautiful catgirl sighed as she finally let go of me, then she moved back to settle in the easy chair across from me. Her ears were drooping and she wrapped her tail around onto her lap before looking up at me again.

She seemed both nervous and guilty as she began, "I'm sorry Kit. I should have come clean with you earlier, but I was... I'm afraid I might scare you away? You deserve the truth though."

I gulped, "Is this about that nickname Hannah called you? I already said I don't care if you're trans. I mean, it'd be pretty hypocritical if that sort of thing bothered me."

"It's not that," she shook her head. "I mean, yes I'm trans. But it's a lot bigger than that."

My emotions were churning as I looked down at myself, then I took hold of my big poofy tail. The fur was soft and fluffy, and holding it made me feel calm while at the same time my heart surged with joy.

I was still staring down at my petite new figure when I finally responded, "I owe all of this to you. It's only been what, five or six days since I first saw you in the cafe? It feels like ages ago, with everything that's happened since then. Anyways you've been nothing but kind and caring, generous and compassionate."

My cheeks coloured as I added, "I've had a crush on you since that very first moment. Now I've got the body of my dreams, it's everything I ever wanted and more. And I owe it all to you. In fact I think I might be in love with you. So whatever you want to say Luna, it's ok. I don't think it's possible for you to scare me away."

"Thank you Kit," the catgirl mumbled. "I've felt the same way about you since we first met at work on Monday. Athene wasn't wrong when they said you'd stolen my heart."

She grimaced slightly as she added, "So please believe me when I say I won't hold it against you if you change your mind after you hear this."

"I lied when I told you I was friends with a superhero," she confessed. "I mean, it's true that I'm friends with a few heroes. The lie was one of omission. I used to be a hero myself, until I hung up my mask and retired back in February."

I continued hugging my tail while she talked, but I stayed quiet. In a way it wasn't that surprising, not after everything I'd seen today. I probably should have known from the way my sparks didn't bother her, or how easily she overpowered me in the park when I started to panic. Although even if she was a cape I still didn't understand how she beat Unstoppable outside the clinic. Unless...

"Yeah," the beautiful catgirl nodded as I stared at her in shock. "I used to be known as the Masked Man. Rachel's GAMA ray can do some incredible things Kit. She didn't just make me the petite catgirl I'd always wanted, she gave me back my youth, my life."

Her voice was quiet as she elaborated, "See, I never wanted to be a hero. But forty years ago the city didn't have anyone else to defend it. They needed me, so I answered the call. Nowadays there's plenty of heroes. I've even taken a few of them under my wing over the years, to train them and show them the ropes. I made sure the city wouldn't need me anymore. Now they've got Femme and Blondie and plenty of others to rely on."

I looked down at my tail and stroked it a few more times while my expression shifted to a confused frown. "So the beautiful girl I've been crushing on all week is really an S-rank superhero. That still doesn't make sense though? You practically KO'ed Unstoppable. I've seen S-ranks fight on the news, that's the kind of battle that can level a whole city."

By that point Luna was blushing again while she fidgeted with her own tail. With a long deep sigh she explained, "I'm not really an S-rank, Kit. Only one other person knows this, but I always cheated whenever MaR-AID tried to evaluate my abilities."

"What?" I frowned. "If you're not even S-rank then how -?"

Luna shook her head, "By cheated, I mean I held back. I've never let them see my full strength, or my full speed. I've never let any of their staff or agents know the full extent of my abilities."

"MaR-AID's ranking system doesn't have a category high enough to describe what I'm really capable of," she added softly, like she was ashamed to admit it. "I figured maybe SSS-rank? Athene disagrees, they believe I'd qualify as Mythical..."

My eyes widened and my breath caught in my chest, while I found myself staring at the gorgeous catgirl once again. It took another couple seconds for the enormity of her words to fully sink in, and when they did I had no idea what to say. I wasn't even sure what to think, or how to feel.

The petite unassuming young barista I'd fallen in love with was probably the most powerful person on Earth. Luna Seaver was practically a goddess.

** Happy Canada Day! This chapter is brought to you courtesy of our muse, who was too excited about this chapter to wait until someone commissioned it~ **