He was finally back to work! Two months plus of vacation had taken it's toll on Saphirus. He hadn't gone on vacation once in his whole career as an X-Man; that included when he sorta gotten married, though only because they never made it to the honeymoon. Because of this, he simply didn't know how to be on vacation, or really how to come back. So what did he do? He grabbed the closest mission posting, and jumped right back in, not even paying attention to what it was!

In this case, it was a stake out... At a museum... For three days. This was day three.

Apparently there had been a standing rumor that a priceless exhibit, the world's first Mouse Trap, miiiiight be the target of an honest to goodness cat burglar. You couldn't make this @#$^ up. Even so, he figured they would at least run into something interesting before the end of the exhibit, but...

NOTHING had happened.

He wasn't sure if the endless waiting was taking a toll on his partner this time around, but it was without a doubt affecting him. The restless mutant tapped away at his shoulder, checked the time again, 7:30PM, and then looked out at the sky through the window. He shifted in his seat, and waited... Then shifted again.

He slowly looked over to Becca, his fellow would-be cat-catcher.

"Uhh... So, uhh... You hungry? I could get some burgers... There's a shawarma place nearby... Never had that before. Sounds... interesting, eh?"

Meanwhile, the normal flow entered in an out of the museum across the way. It was a fairly slow early history show, Anytime something new came through the first two days were crazy, and the last was a bit of a trickle. There had been no noticeable repeat visitors, no one obviously casing the place, and no alarms or missing items from the exhibits.

This was boring.

She was finally back to work! Toward the tail end of what she would refer to as The Agnes Clusterf**k™, Rebecca was barely available as an X-Man. It was hard to respond to calls for assistance when she was trained to be at someone’s beck and call, and between the neglect of the silent treatment and the shattering of her image of Agnes, Rebecca was dead to the world emotionally for over a month. Recovery had been slow, though admittedly, finally working things out with Mirror helped move along the process. She did not want to rush back into things, being potentially out of practice, so Rebecca eagerly picked up a low-impact assignment: a stake out.

The idea had sounded manageable and almost novel, like old fashioned police work rather than superhero work.

The novelty was wearing off by day three.

There was some novelty; they were after a cat burglar threatening an antique mousetrap, and Rebecca was not so dead inside she could ignore the humor of that. It was hard to be excited about a job when you spent most of it trapped in a car doing nothing.

Saphirus was not bad company in the car, and he was significantly less ornery than their last major mission together in Atlantis. The two did not spend much one-on-one time with each other, so Rebecca was actually excited about getting to know her teammate, and they certainly did that!

Saphirus explained some of what was going on with his life: the news that he would soon be a dad, being proposed to by his girlfriend—well, fiancée now, his favorite fast food places, what happened to Juka, his crowbar collection, and his reasons for liking spandex.

Becca returned the favor by giving a (somewhat censored) explanation of what happened with Agnes becoming a sadistic and manipulative ex, how her and Mirror were now a couple, teaching at the Mansion, bring an “internet celebrity” on ViewTube, her affinity for her new shield, and her evolving stance on materials that did what spandex did but better.

The two X-Men did a great job getting to know one another! And by halfway through day one, they had more or less talked each other out. Becca was probably the chattier of the two, but even she was starting to feel it when conversation topics dwindled and nothing was happening on the Museum front.

By day three, Becca was sitting in the passenger side seat sitting atop it with folded legs, an earbud in one ear as she tried not to let the video on her phone distract her too much from the Museum. You know, the building where nothing was happening.

>> "Uhh... So, uhh... You hungry? I could get some burgers... There's a shawarma place nearby... Never had that before. Sounds... interesting, eh?"

Becca hit pause on her video and popped out the earbud. ”Hmm?” It took her a second to piece together what she heard over the video so she could properly feel stunned. ”Are ye serious? Hoo lang hae ye been in New York 'at yoo've ne'er hud shawarma? We're absolutely daein' 'at,” she affirmed. ”It's overdue an' Ah dornt think mah stomach is ready fur mair MacDronalds.”

Rebecca folded her arms on the dashboard and rested her chin on them, looking at the Museum and sighing heavily. ”Sae Ah dornt dae many stakeouts. Are they aways this dull?” She did not want to sound immature or unappreciative of her role with the X-Men, but she could no longer keep her boredom quiet.

Yeaaaah, He was pretty much done with the this whole stake out thing, too. While he'd gotten a knack for guessing right what Becca was saying at any one point in time, so that wasn't a problem, there really just wasn't much to talk about. I mean, they both had some rather interesting lives. The Agnes stuff was off the walls bonkers, and spandex was incredibly interesting, and clearly superior to any alternative, no matter what anyone might say, but there was only so much you could milk off of those sort of things.

He tilted his head as she replied about the shawarma. He gave a surprised shrug. "Well, dang, I guess I been missing out. Shawarma it is. Only got a few minutes til they close for lunch in there anyway. Still, I could eat Mraccy D's for days... Shely can't keep any good food down on account of the mornin sickness, so I never get to eat the good stuff." Saph and any normal person would probably disagree on what should be called 'the good stuff'. He looked out the window, and shooed away a stray cat that was hanging out right outside the car. Damn things had been lounging around the area all three days, trying to get at their food.

He was more a dog person, so he'd done his best to scare them off. Prolly had parasites.

"Sae Ah dornt dae many stakeouts. Are they aways this dull?" He looked out the window for a few more seconds, and then back slowly. "Eh, sometimes... Usually something happens in the first or second day... Y'know, or nothin at all. You usually don't stake out a place unless you got a good idea something is gonna happen, or someone you wanna follow will be leaving soon. At least in this line of work." He shrugged. "I dunno... If something was gonna happen, I figure it would have... happened... By..." He trailed off as he watched the cat he'd scared off turn and head toward the museum at a sprint. That alone wasn't a big deal, though... It was the hundreds of other cats heading toward the same location from all directions that threw him off.

"No #$%&in way..." The cats gathered at the steps of the museum and started to climb up each other, locking limbs, grasping each other arm to leg, mouth to tail, and building upon a stable base form in a chorus of meows... Soon, they began to shape two small, but thick towers of cats, and then the towers converged, forming legs, a torso, shoulders, arms, and a large catty head, that meowed loudly, and deeply.

"For... for real?" He fumbled for the door of his car as the giant cat Voltron swung its meaty, catty fist at the front of the building, crushing open the front door, and sending meowing cats cascading off to the sides. They landed gracefully and rejoined the body of the massive cat golem. Quickly, a dark figure slipped in as the yowling construct turned directly toward the camping X-Men's ride, and started moving forward aggressively.

"oh no... No, c'mon!" He dove from the car, assuming Becca would as well, as a giant catty arm smashed his beloved fixer-upper into a car pancake. "AAWWWWW @#$^IN WHY!?" He cursed as he pulled out his crowbar, not exactly sure what to do, and upset about the loss of his long-time ride.

"Do we... Like... Hit the cats?!"

The stakeout might have been boring, but at least Becca had shawarma to look forward to. She was no expert on foreign dishes, but she was becoming well versed in the street foods of New York. It would be a nice shakeup in their day, and she could already taste the savory lamb and spices. The day would not be a total loss!

Saphirus had more experience in the field than Rebecca, and he shed some light on what a burgeoning superhero could expect from a stakeout. They were relying on their intel to be good, but so far, it seemed they were lead to await nothing but a silent museum and an oddly impressive population of stray cats.

>> "No #$%&in way..."

As Rebecca was preparing to return her attention to her phone, Saph’s incredulous cursing drew her attention back, and his awe was immediately justified. ”What in th…”

As if Rebecca was watching something out of an anime imported for Saturday morning cartoons, the congregation of cats swarmed together, finding ways to interlock and assume a massive humanoid form. She watched the scene in stunned silence; of the many weird things she had experienced as an X-Man and a mutant, this was immediately making the top ten.

The stunned silence did not last. Rebecca was shaken back to reality as the cat… transformer… golem… thing smashed the front door of the museum. ”Bloody hell,” she muttered, scrambling out of the vehicle.

Amidst the chaos, Rebecca spotted a shadowy figure running into the museum, but that would have to wait; the catzord had noticed them. She was just barely able to close the door and leap away before the cat smashed the car she was in moments earlier. Saph was already mourning.

Becca felt for her shield in the nearby magnetic fields and jerked it free from the corpse of Saph’s car. Even outside of her costume (as it would have been conspicuous stakeout clothing,) she felt more comfortable with her large circular shield between her and the adorably terrifying enemy.

>> "Do we... Like... Hit the cats?!"

Great. F***ing. Question. ”Ah… Ah guess?” The cats from the smashed fist were already reforming into the body, so they had to act quick. ”Ah’m sae sorry, kitties!” Begrudgingly, Rebecca tossed her shield, guiding it magnetically.

The shield made contact with the cat conglomerate’s chest(?) and passed clean through it. There were feelings of success and regret, but they ebbed into frustration and disappointment when she saw cats shaking the hit off and running back to rejoin and fill the space. Becca’s shield returned to her and she nervously asked, ”Any aither suggestions, Saph?”

A quick glance from the experienced mutant told him that physical attacks weren't working, and hitting cats wasn't exactly his favorite pass-time. Could be generate enough force to kill that many cats at once? Probably, given time, but did he want to? Nope!

He used a scrap of energy to dodge back as a giant cat-arm tried to crush him, While in the process, something useful caught his eye.

On the nearby street there was a brush of red paint on the curb. He followed it until he saw what he was looking for; A fire hydrant. "Becca, the hydrant. You follow?" He hobbled forward to get the cat beast's attention, waving about dramatically and diving when it swung again. He repeated this , backing up each time in order to get it to the point where the hydrant was right under the cat's feet.

"Now!" She could do stuff with metal, right? Fire Hydrants were most definitely made of metal, and cats most definitely hated water. He'd run into people that had a sort of hypnotic control of animals in the past, usually a big shock like this would pull them out of it.

Hopefully a geyser of NYC's best tap would shock them out of... being a giant cat monster? Then they could get in after that dark figure in the museum. They would have to hurry, too; the longer they were in there the more likely that mouse trap would be gone.

Being an X-Men often required creative problem-solving. No two situations were alike in most professions, but dealing with mutants and powered criminals, the variables were innumerable. Living skyscrapers, zombie islands, oceanic telepathic tyrants, sewer mutants, and now, a cat golem. This new problem was the most adorable, and for that reason, Becca’s least favorite. She hoped Gavin would forgive her for fighting so many of his cousins, but she was sure she had an excuse; anything achieving Gundam form was too threatening to ignore.

>> "Becca, the hydrant. You follow?"

Becca was watching the golem, not wanting to get surprised and crushed by a cat fist, but she spared a glance to what Saphirus was pointing out. A hydrant! It was not a bad idea; they did not know how cat-like the amalgam would be when faced with things cats hated, but they did not have a wealth of options. ”Worth a shot! Stand clear!” It would defeat the purpose if she just unleashed a torrent of water at her teammate.

Analyzing the magnetic fields around her, Lodestone gave her shield the push and lift to float it quickly in front of the hydrant. She wanted some control over where the water flowed, and Jorge was not around to lend an assist. Focusing, Lodestone applied as much magnetic repulsion against the outlet cap, applying enough pressure to snap the cap off. Without a cap, the water pressure did the rest of the work, flooding out of the hydrant.

Lodestone’s shield had enough of a curve to direct the hydrant’s burst upward and angled. A rush of water sprayed at the cat golem, hitting it full force in the torso. Lodestone looked at the monster, keeping focus on her shield in her magnetic sense so she did not falter and change the course of the water or let the shield get swept up by the water pressure. She watched anxiously, hoping the plan worked like Saph drew it up.

Well, it worked. In a chorus of surprised meows and hisses cats scattered from the golem, which quickly collapsed into a giant pile of cats. Saph let out a whoop of excited celebration, but was cut off when a tidal wave of cats headed his way. The older mutant braced, but they all ran past, scattering among the alleyways behind him. He looked up from his position, and then over to his partner, shrugging, and then hobbling toward the front of the museum once more.

"That's a handy power you got there. Couldn'ta done it better myself." He placed his back against the opening of the building, glancing in quickly. Seemed clear. He started to smack himself in the leg as he went, a motion that charged his power and had earned him the moniker of the Masochist. He heard something, and placed a hand out to warn a pause. What was that?

Purring?

"The f-"

"You're too late, Heroes~ My purrrrfect plan has already born fruit!" The purr morphed into a voice, seemingly emanating from the room around them, a dark room full of glass display cases. His eyes landed on a particular case with the glass cut open, showing a neat, round hole. He assumed this was where that old mousetrap had been.

"We'll stop you... You can't escape!" Saph stated boldly, looking about and trying to pinpoint the direction of the voice. Just then he felt something dropping from the ceiling at them. The figure landed neatly between them, twisting, spinning, and flipping around erratically, and leaping his way to attack. He raised his crowbar to block, which he was able to do, holding the figure still long enough to see it to be a human sized ... well... Cat lady, wearing nothing but her dark fur and a belt with pouches on her hip. She moved forth in a flurry of blows, failing to hit him with any real force, but leaving a tiny scratch on his knuckle. Before a moment was up she disengaged and bounced, slid, and flipped toward Becca, aiming to do the same. Saph tried to get a bead on her, but jesus was she slippery!

"Stop her!" She was trying to escape, right? Maybe after trying to attack him she realized she'd bit of more than she could... chew, was the room getting bigger?

The hydrant had been a gamble, but at least one of the X-Men must have been lucky. The golem dispersed, scattering. Lodestone was ready to jump to Saph’s aid as the cats headed toward them, but they got there first since, well, they were cats. Fortunately, they had no interest in the man now that they were apart from their collective.

They had a moment to breathe and Saph offered Lodestone some praise. She was, at this point, a full-fledged X Team Leader in her own right, but she also acknowledged Saph’s experience with the team. He had been around a while, including Becca’s hiatus from the team for grad school. In a small way, it felt good to impress her teammates now that she was back to stay.

Lodestone ignored Saph’s self-flogging as they entered the museum, remembering how his power worked. She almost spoke before he raised a hand to her. It took her a moment to follow along, but she did hear it: purring.

>> "You're too late, Heroes~ My purrrrfect plan has already born fruit!"

Saph shouted out at the voice coming from the darkness, but Lodestone was muttering to herself. ”Wazzat… a pun? A bad, bad pun?” Wonderful, whoever they were dealing with, they apparently came from the cartoon comic school of supervillainy. (Said the woman who fought crime in a bodysuit, mask, and cape.)

Her incredulousness was interrupted as a figure dropped between her and Saph. He tried to strike, but she(?) was incredibly nimble. Lodestone gave her teammate a wide birth to swing at her, but to no avail. The heroine wanted to focus on finding an opening to throw her shield and not be stunned by her opponent. She was a cat woman. After the golem and the pun, it should not have been a surprise, yet there she was. This was her life.

Lodestone tossed her shield, but it was at that moment the thief lept and twirled away from Saph and toward her. Fast. ”Frick!” She magnetically pushed on the harness beneath her clothing, pressing the metal rings dispersed across the front of her chest an waist. The force flung Lodestone backward until she halted herself, landing on her feet and sliding back on the smooth flooring.

She dodged two clawed swings from the thief before her shield returned to her, letting her block attacks with metal rather than her gauntlets or just dodging. ”Oy! Stop! Bad kitty! Saph, back me… up?”

Lodestone glanced over to her teammate, but it was the damnedest thing. Was he… yes, he was shorter. Like, significantly shorter! Shorter than her, at this point. What—

”Ow!” She pulled her arm back. In her moment of distraction, the cat woman’s claws caught her bicep, leaving a tear on her sleeve and a small line of blood on her skin.

As Lodestone cursed, the thief hopped back. She giggled to herself, flashing a Cheshire grin. What an absolute…

What was suddenly feeling wrong with her? Something felt off. Was her perspective suddenly shifting? ”Whit did ye dae?” she squeaked.