Just a heads up, this chapter is long, and it gets really weird.
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Adventurous Anthros
Uni’s trials (Season 1 Chapter 10)
Story by TheAnnonymousKat on Furaffinity
Characters belong to their respective owners

Lord Van Bloot flew onto the roof of the castle belonging to the Syndicate of Malevolence and took a minute to catch his breath. Hours ago he had a fight with Kat and Winston which he had completely lost, even with the help of Mumm-Ra’s magic, the very thought caused Lord Van Bloot to clench his fist as he attempted to suppress his anger,
“That feline… I swear, I’ll get back at him, I’m gonna kill him!” Van Bloot said to himself quietly as he recalled the battle, though he was caught off guard when he heard a familiar voice behind him,
“Oh? Which feline are you referring to?”, Van Bloot turned around to see Mumm-Ra, he was in his weaker form as he usually was around the castle,
“M-Mumm-Ra! Why uh, it’s a pleasure to see you again, how have you-?” Van Bloot tried asking nervously before Mumm-Ra cut him off,
“The power I gave you, it’s gone…” Mumm-Ra commented, Van Bloot gulped in fear from Mumm-Ra’s observation. Van Bloot took a moment to think of a suitable story to tell Mumm-Ra that would make him look better than what had actually happened,
“Um… yes, it is, see, I used it all up destroying a village,” Van Bloot lied, Mumm-Ra glared at the underworlder,
“Do not lie to me, there are many things in this world that I despise, the Thundercats, the Anthros of Justice, though I especially loath liars,” Mumm-Ra explained as a dark aura flowed around him, Van Bloot began to sweat,
“Mumm-Ra, come now there’s no need to-” Van Bloot attempted to say before Mumm-Ra once again cut him off,
“I believe I asked you which feline you were referring to earlier…” Mumm-Ra commented,
“Ah yes, see, I have reason to believe the Anthros have gained a new member, and-” Van Bloot tried explaining,
“The hybrid? I’m well aware of this, of course if you actually attended the meeting, you’d know that I ordered the rest of the members to avoid killing the hybrid, and instead try and find new information on him and his abilities as he may be able to help with my plans…” Mumm-Ra explained, Van Bloot trembled and gulped,
“O-Oh, w-well see the thing about that is-” Van Bloot attempted to explain,
“What was so important that you had to leave the castle in such a hurry?” Mumm-Ra asked,
“Th-The Soul Stone! One of my most trustworthy scouts had reason to believe that the Soul Stone was in the theater that I visited earlier, thus I went to retrieve it!” Van Bloot explained,
“You went to retrieve it because you wish to harness its power…” Mumm-Ra commented, Van Bloot gulped nervously,
“N-No! Of course not, I went to retrieve it for you of course, as thanks for lending me your power!” Van Bloot lied,
“What did I just say about lying to me?” Mumm-Ra asked, as his dark aura continued to flow around him. Mumm-Ra glared at Van Bloot for a moment before he looked off into the distance from the castle, the pocket dimension the castle was in, housed a dark wasteland where dark ominous clouds were always in the sky, the sight of the castle’s surroundings would fill most with dread and despair, but it was a comforting sight for the dark sorcerer, though Mumm-Ra would often think about his dark pyramid where he resided for so long. Mumm-Ra took a deep breath before he spoke,
“Van Bloot… I’m beginning to think recruiting you was a mistake, you manage to lose the power I lended you in such a short time, you constantly lie to me, and overall you’re simply incompetent, I have much temptation to end your pathetic life right where you stand…” Mumm-Ra explained before he reached out one of his hands to Van Bloot,
“W-Wait! I can be of use to you, you said you wanted more information about the hybrid correct? Well during our battle I learned a few things about him!” Van Bloot explained, Mumm-Ra slowly lowered his hand, allowing it to return to his side beneath his red cloak,
“Oh? Tell me then, and remember, no lying,” Mumm-Ra warned,
“His primary ability is to create vortexes of dark energy that he can take weapons from, he mentioned it was luck based, and he can also steal dark energy from others, that’s how I lost the energy you lended me!” Van Bloot explained desperately, Mumm-Ra pondered for a bit,
“The ability is luck based? That is an important detail I hadn’t known about…. Very well, I’ll spare your life for now, though know that you’re on thin ice, now away with you, I have things to plan” Mumm-Ra instructed, Van Bloot obediently went down the stairs to go into the castle from the roof. After walking around for a few minutes Van Bloot had very angry and bitter thoughts to himself
‘Who does that old fool think he is?! I swear, one of these days I’m gonna gain way more power than that decaying corpse and rule all these worlds on my own!’ Van Bloot thought to himself as he walked.

Meanwhile Kat rode in the back of a car that the otherworldly police drove, he wore handcuffs as a safety precaution even though he didn’t have any intentions to try anything funny. What was supposed to be a fun and relaxing night that he spent with Winston, turned into him and Winston fighting off a villain and Kat getting apprehended by some policemen. They had been driving for so long that it was morning time, unfortunately Kat hadn’t gotten any sleep the night before, though the police did allow him to change out of his torn suit and into his casual clothes he brought with him for an emergency. Kat wondered what they were bringing him in for, he knew in his heart that he committed several acts of theft before he joined the Anthros of Justice, though he thought that he had covered his tracks so well that no one knew that he was the one who committed the theft, his latest heist where he nearly got away with stealing the blue ruby but got apprehended by Panthro being an obvious outlier. Kat looked out the window of the car, he could see that the they were driving in the direction of a gate, though to Kat’s surprise he saw the policeman driving the car press a few buttons on the panel that was on the car’s dashboard, and the gate they were heading towards changed color, turning blue. Kat had heard about otherworldly policemen having technology to manipulate the gates of light that led to other worlds, though it was the first time Kat had seen it happen. Within moments the police car was driven into the blue gate, and upon exiting the other side, Kat saw that the world he was now in was like a futuristic city that wouldn’t be out of place in a time travel movie, there were tall buildings with very sleek designs and constructed with fine materials all over the city, and as they drove down the road Kat could see that the city was bustling with activity. The policeman in the passenger seat turned towards Kat,
“You ever been to this city before?” he asked,
“No,” Kat replied,
“Didn’t think so, this is Hikari City, the city of heroes, every bit of hero business is processed through this city, from troubling news, to missions that need to be posted to the hero site, to filing paperwork to obtain a license, and even dealing with those who try doing hero work without a license,” the officer explained,
“Why do I need a license anyway? Isn’t it enough that I risk my life for the sake of others?” Kat asked,
“It used to be, but thanks to people in the past abusing their self proclaimed hero status to get away with property damage and even murder, laws were passed that necessitated obtaining a license and even then following certain rules in order to perform hero work,” the officer explained,
“So where are you two taking me? Am I going to jail for fighting a bad guy without permission?” Kat asked with a shrug,
“You’ll see when we get there,” one of the policemen replied vaguely, Kat then went silent, and continued to look out the window at the pristine city. After driving around for several minutes the policemen parked their car in a parking lot of what looked like a large skyscraper that was so tall it extended into the clouds, the policemen got out of the car then got Kat out of the car and led him along towards the building,
“What is this place? Kat asked,
“The building doesn’t have an official name, though the best name I’ve heard some people call it is, ‘The tower of trials’” one of the cops explained,
‘What is this? A cheesy kung fu movie?’ Kat thought to himself as they walked,
“It’s amazing that he wants to see you” one of the cops commented,
“Who? Why are we playing the pronoun game?” Kat asked,
“You’ll see” the cop replied, Kat sighed,
‘Ugh, so much vagueness today’ Kat thought to himself as they walked.

Once inside the building Kat felt the cool air hit his skin, and looked around to see a gigantic lobby the size of a football field, there were several desks with people on their computers or talking on the phone, and along the walls Kat could see the doors for stairs and elevators, Kat certainly got a vibe of productivity and organization from the building. The policeman lead Kat to the other side of the room, a walk that legitimately took five minutes, then once the policemen entered the elevator with Kat, one of them inserted a strange key into a keyhole on the panel, then pressed about thirty numbers on the number pad before taking the key out and putting it back in his pocket, Kat had never before seen someone use an elevator in such a fashion, it was as if the officer was entering a password. The doors to the elevator closed, then Kat immediately felt a very odd and uncomfortable sensation in his body, it wasn’t like the regular feeling he’d feel in his stomach when the elevator first started moving, it felt as though the gravity in the elevator was steadily increasing. Kat looked to his sides to find that the officers weren’t reacting to the strange gravity in the elevator, as if it wasn’t actually getting more intense, for a moment Kat wondered if he was perhaps imagining the strange sensation, but he knew that it felt all too real.

Kat lost track of time, with each passing moment his body got heavier and heavier, after two minutes passed, he fell to his knees, even then neither of the policemen seemed to pay him any mind, Kat’s breathing became labored overtime as he struggled against the strange properties of the elevator. After what felt like several minutes one of the officers actually turned towards him, though he spoke in a very monotone voice, almost like a robot,
“Do you plan on failing the first trial?” the officer asked, Kat’s eyes were wide at the sound of the officer’s strange question,
“What?! What are you talking about?” Kat asked as he continued struggling against the gravity, the other officer turned towards him, and also spoke in a monotone voice,
“You really don’t know? We were sent to retrieve you so you could attempt to get your hero license. To get your license you will need to pass a few trials, this is the first, you must be on your feet when the elevator stops,” the policeman explained,
“What?! When is it going to stop?!” Kat asked,
“That is irrelevant, you must be on your feet for as long as you are able to, your determination and resolve, that is what makes you a hero,” the policeman replied. Kat took a deep breath, then after struggling for a bit, he managed to get back on his feet with his amazing leg strength, though it only got harder from there, fighting against the intense gravity while standing was much harder than fighting against it while kneeling. For several minutes Kat fought against the ever-increasing gravity, as time passed it was getting harder and harder to breath, but Kat wasn’t going to give up, he figured that if enduring the elevator was what it took to become a hero, then he’d do it. Kat had no idea how much time had passed, though it felt like half an hour, and by now it felt as though his body weighed a ton, he simply clenched his eyes, and did his best to stay standing, though by now his legs wobbled as he attempted to stay on them. One of the policeman once again spoke to him,
“Don’t you want to give up? It’s only going to get more intense as time goes on,” the policeman explained, Kat ignored him and kept focusing on staying standing,
“No one would blame you, not everyone can handle the pressure,” the other policeman explained, Kat once again ignored him and kept focusing on standing. A full agonizing minute passed before one of the policemen spoke again,
“What motivates you?” he asked, Kat was caught off guard by the strange question,
“What… motivates me?” Kat repeated,
“Yes, surely you have a motivation, after all, motivations are what cause us to go about our everyday lives, something motivates us to get out of bed, something motivates us to do a good job at work, something motivates us to keep living, something motivates us to do good things, something motivates us to do bad things… what is your motivation for wanting to be a hero? Be honest” the policeman inquired with the same monotone voice he had been using the past few minutes. Kat took a moment to think about it,
‘What’s motivating me?... hm, what is motivating me? Why did I decide to become a hero in the first place? It wasn’t too long ago when my only motivations to keep going was money and the desire to live… but… why do I want to be a hero so badly?’ Kat thought to himself as he kept struggling to stay standing and breathe. After another minute passed and Kat felt as though his legs were going to give out on him at any moment, Kat finally remembered what motivated him, though before he could say it aloud, Kat suddenly felt the intense gravity around his body disappear all at once. Kat thought he was imagining things, but sure enough he could once again breath just fine, he opened his eyes , and looked around to find that he was no longer in the elevator, nor were the two policemen beside him, and the handcuffs were no longer on his wrists, he was alone in a lengthy hallway that only had one door, which was at the other end of the hallway, there wasn’t even a door behind him that would lead into the hallway. Kat thought that his situation became very odd the moment he stepped into the odd elevator, but he knew there was no turning back now, he decided to embrace the odd aspects of his situation and move towards the door.
With each step closer to the door, Kat could feel his heartbeat in his chest as he wasn’t sure what awaited him beyond the door, Kat then stopped walking in the middle of the hallway, and realized he could simply use his ‘eyes of a thief’ technique to see what was beyond the door, though when he used his technique and his eyes started glowing, what he saw caused his heart to skip a beat. He couldn’t see through the walls, but instead he could now see writing all over the walls and door, almost like someone used a special marker on the walls then turned on a blacklight. On all the walls in the hallway “no peeking” was written over and over, covering most of the walls, while the writing on the door read, “come on Kat, your next trial awaits”, Kat thought it was unusual as his technique had never before failed him, though he remembered how odd his situation was in general, so after deactivating his ability and sighing, he kept moving towards the door.

On the other side of the door, Kat saw he was in some sort of office space, the room was about as large as his room back at the Anthros of Justice base, though the only thing in the room was a large desk and a desk sign on top of it. Kat walked over to the desk, and examined it, it read “Mr.Universe”, Kat put the sign back on the desk where he found it, then looked around the small and bare room, no one was here except him. Though Kat was surprised to suddenly hear a voice call out to him,
“Oh, pardon me for being late, I’ll be there in just a moment,” the voice explained, it sounded raspy and slightly shrill. Kat looked around the room to see where the voice could have come from, then noticed that the door he took to enter the room was no longer there, Kat approached the wall the door used to be on, and felt along the wall, sure enough, it was just a solid wall. Kat then jumped as he heard the same voice behind him,
“Sorry about that, welcome to my office” said the voice politely, Kat turned around to see an anthro turtle that was larger than him sitting at the desk, the turtle had glowing white eyes, a small white beard, and countless small white spots all over his shell. Kat paused for a moment to look at the turtle, then asked,
“Are you… Mr.Universe?”, the turtle smiled,
“Yep, thats me, though some people call me Uni for short,” the turtle explained,
“Ok, Uni, what’s been happening to me lately? Why was I brought to your office?” Kat asked,
“Because I asked for you to come here,” Uni explained,
“But… I was escorted by policemen,” Kat explained,
“Who do you think created the policemen?” Uni asked,
“Huh?” Kat inquired,
“I’ll explain everything in due time, for now how about you take a seat?” Uni suggested, Kat was confused considering there were no other chairs in the room, but as soon as he blinked he saw a chair appear in front of Uni’s desk, Kat rubbed his eyes, but the chair was still there, Kat sighed and simply took a seat before he got frustrated. Uni went through a few drawers in his desk, eventually pulling out a few papers,
“So all the weird stuff that I’m going through… that’s part of my test to see if I’m worthy of a hero license?” Kat asked,
“Yes,” Uni replied,
“Do all heroes go through a test like this?” Kat asked,
“No, tests are different for each hero, though you’re something of a special case,” Uni explained,
“You have the potential to become as powerful as a god, though that entirely depends on the path you choose to follow,” Uni explained,
“Huh?” Kat replied, clearly confused,
“You really don’t know? You’re a gemstone bearer,” Uni tried explaining,
“A what?” Kat replied, Uni shrugged,
“Meh nevermind, I’m sure you’ll understand at some point in the future, but for now, let’s move on to the next trial!” said Uni excitedly,
“Which is?” Kat inquired,
“The first trial you faced was the trial of resolve, this next trial, is the trial of honesty,” Uni explained, Kat tilted his head,
“Honesty?” Kat inquired,
“Tell me, if I told you I was the one who created the universe you live in, with all the worlds that you can visit, all the citizens, all the heroes, all the villains… would you believe me?” Uni asked,
“Of course I wouldn’t, that’s ridiculous,” Kat replied,
“Ah see, you’ll do good in this trial, you’re surprisingly honest for a former thief, basically for this trial I’ll ask you a number of questions, and for each question you must be completely honest, and answer within a minute, or else you will fail your trial, and I get to decide a punishment for you,” Uni explained,
“What? What do you mean? Also how did you know I used to be a thief?” Kat attempted to inquire but was ignored, Uni looked down at his papers as he began asking questions,
“Favorite color?” Uni asked, after hesitating for a moment Kat answered,
“Blue,” Kat replied,
“Favorite food?” Uni asked,
“Pizza,” Kat replied. For the next several minutes Uni proceeded to ask Kat several more questions that were similar in nature, which Kat promptly answered,

“Alright! We’re onto the final question, this one is a fun one- what’s your real name?” Uni asked, Kat felt his heart stop for a moment when he heard Uni’s question,
“M-my name?” Kat repeated to make sure he heard the question correctly, Uni nodded,
“Your real name, what is it? Oh and fair warning, simply saying “it’s a secret” won’t cut it,” Uni explained, Kat gulped and felt a tightness in his chest. Kat trembled as he thought about what would happen to him if he ever revealed his name to anyone, moments passed in a flash as Kat tried to think of how he’d respond as his heart pounded in his chest,
“Better hurry, clock is ticking,” Uni explained,
‘Dammit I know that… come on Kat, think think, if I reveal my name to him I’ll die, but if don’t and lose this challenge, who knows what will happen to me?’ Kat thought to himself. More heart pounding moments passed as Kat kept straining his brain thinking about how he would get out of his predicament,
“Ten seconds remain,” Uni explained,
‘What?! Fifty seconds have already passed? Oh no this is a nightmare, what should I do?’ Kat thought to himself,
“Nine, eight, seven, six,” said Uni as his eyes progressively started glowing more intensely and the room around them started getting darker,
‘Dammit it can’t end like this! Think of something you worthless feline!’ said Kat to himself mentally,
“Five, four, three, two-” said Uni before Kat finally responded,
“I can’t say my real name! A curse was put on me long ago that kills me if I ever reveal it to anyone!” Kat explained desperately as sweat ran down his face, Uni looked at him for a moment, then the lighting returned to the room, and Uni’s eyes glowed at their normal brightness,
“Good, you pass the second trial,” Uni explained, Kat looked at the turtle with a very confused expression,
“Huh?! I don’t understand, I didn’t tell you my name,” Kat commented,
“No, but you were honest with me, I never said you couldn’t give me an honest explanation as to why you couldn’t answer, besides, I already know your real name,” Uni explained,
“What? You do?” Kat asked,
“Of course, I know everything about you, I know why you became a thief, I know who put the curse on you, I know about how you encountered Panthro, and so on,” Uni explained,
“But how?” Kat asked,
“I told you before, I created everything, which includes you, I see all my children as they grow up, the paths they take or might take further down the line, I am the god of this universe,” Uni explained, Kat folded his arms,
“Oh please, that’s a bunch of bull, like the god of the universe is going to give me a hero test” Kat replied,
“Oh? How do you explain all the weird things that happened to you recently?” Uni asked,
“Well I have a feeling you’re behind it, but that doesn’t mean anything, you’re just a reality warper who likes to mess with people,” Kat replied, Uni shrugged his shoulders,
“Well, believe what you will, I think it’s time for your third and final trial,” Uni explained,
“What is it then?” Kat asked,
“You endured the trial of resolve, and the trial of honesty, now you must face your most challenging trial yet, the trial… of justice,” Uni explained,
“Are you just making these up as you go?” Kat asked in annoyance, Uni giggled,
“I might be,” Uni then shook his head, and got out a paper with a large amount of text on it, and a pen,
“But that aside, this may very well be your hardest trial yet… or I could be your easiest, that entirely depends on you,” Uni explained,
“What do I have to do?” Kat asked,
“You see the paper? This paper is the document necessary for me to fill out, for you to get a hero license, the only thing left to do now, is sign it, your next test is to get me to sign it, or alternatively you could sign it, that’s up to you, you have two hours,” Uni explained,
“Two hours? Isn’t that a little excessive?” Kat asked,
“It could be, or perhaps the trial is so hard that you couldn’t pass with ten times that amount of time, I guess we’ll see,” Uni replied. Kat took a deep breath, then attempted to snatch the pen out of Uni’s hand, though was surprised to find that the turtle moved behind him within a split second, when Kat looked behind him, he saw Uni with the biggest grin on his face,
“I see you want to try things the hard way, ok then,” said Uni as the walls around them dissolved into nothingness, revealing what seemed like the middle of space with so many distant stars in view around them, Kat stood up to find that despite being in the middle of an endless void his feet felt as though they were on solid ground. After looking at his surroundings for a bit, Kat looked back at Uni to find his body almost blended in with the surroundings, it seemed to have the appearance of a starry night, save for his body having glowing white outlines that showed the shape of his being, Kat was perplexed by what he was seeing,
“See ya,” said Uni before he took off at a blinding speed away from Kat. Kat was astonished, for a turtle Uni could move extremely fast,
“Hey get back here!,” Kat demanded as he began running after the turtle at his top speed. Kat ran as fast as he could after the turtle, but the turtle was in a league of its own in terms of speed, no matter how hard Kat tried, he couldn’t catch up to the turtle, even at Kat’s top speed he could barely keep the turtle within view, though Kat was determined to pass the final trial, so he kept trying to catch up to the Uni in the strange and seemingly endless void. Kat didn't try and question the logistics of how the office he was in turned into the middle of space, such was par for the course when dealing with a reality warper, Kat just focused on running, thankfully his legs had mysteriously recovered from the first trial.

Time became meaningless during the chase, to Kat there was only running after Uni, and focusing on staying at full speed. After much time passed, Uni slowed down enough so that he was a fair enough distance to converse with Kat, though even with Uni slowing down Kat still couldn't reach the strange turtle at full speed, though Kat did get a good look at what the turtle was doing to move so fast, he wasn't running, but rather flying. Uni turned his head towards Kat as he flew and said-
"Kat, you should know you only have five minutes left," Kat was very surprised to hear this,
'WHAT?! How could a full hour and fifty five minutes already pass?' Kat thought as he began to sweat,
"You should hurry and figure out how you're gonna pass the last trial," Uni suggested,
"This is stupid! What does this have to do with Justice?!" Kat asked in annoyance,
"If you pass the trial I'll tell you," Uni explained,
"What heroes could pass this test?! I'm sure there are heroes faster than me but there are countless heroes who don't have trained speed!" Kat inquired,
"I told you, every hero's test is different, not every hero had to deal with me, and even those I did test, not all of them had the same test as you… though those who passed this trial didn't attempt the hard way," Uni explained, Kat seemed puzzled,
"The hard way?" Kat inquired,
'come to think of it, earlier he said something about the test potentially being my easiest,' Kat thought as they ran,
"By the way, you never answered my question earlier, what's your motivation for becoming a hero?" Uni asked, Kat thought about earlier with the policemen and the elevator, he wondered if perhaps the policemen were constructs created by Uni, that were used to bring Kat to Uni in order to test him. Kat's answer came to him much quicker than before since he had time to think about it earlier,
"It may sound stupid, but not even a full week ago, these anthros saw good in me and thought I could use my abilities to help people… well, at least one of them did, though over the past few days I've gotten to know all of them better, they're wonderful people doing good things for good causes, and I realized I want to be like them! You said you know my story right? Well I want to make it to where no one has to go through what I did! I want to make it to where no one has to resort to becoming a thief like me! That's why I refuse to give up! I'm going to pass this trial no matter what!" Kat claimed,
“Well I should warn you, you have less than a minute left, so you better think of something,” Uni replied, Kat sighed and did his best to think of a solution. Kat thought about what Uni told him earlier,
‘Uni said something about the test potentially being easy… and when I tried grabbing the pen from him he claimed I wanted to do things the hard way… I wonder… do I even need to chase Uni at all?’ Kat thought to himself before he finally stopped running and asked,
“Uni, can you sign the document please?” Kat requested, Uni then suddenly appeared before Kat,
“Sure,” Uni replied before he promptly signed the document, then looked at Kat,
“And not a moment too soon, times up now,” Uni explained, Kat let out a deep sigh, then when he opened his eyes he saw that he and Uni were back in the office, and Uni was back to his regular appearance. Kat didn’t feel exhausted from running at his top speed for so long, though he was done trying to make sense of things,
“I still don’t understand, what did that test have to do with justice?” Kat asked,
“Do you know what justice is Kat?” Uni asked,
“I mean… I don’t know the exact definition off the top of my head but-” Kat replied before Uni cut him off,
“Justice is the quality of being fair and reasonable, when you tried taking the pen from me by force, I used enough of my power to stay away from you, but when you asked nicely as you could’ve done right at the beginning, I decided to help you out,” Uni explained,
“But… you said I could sign the document to pass the trial,” Kat replied,
“You could have, but again, you needed to ask for the pen,” Uni explained, Kat groaned, and looked at his feet,
“Well it isn’t so easy and obvious to me! I got through a few years of my life stealing things, I can’t just turn off my instinct to do that within a day or week!” Kat replied, clearly frustrated with himself for making things so difficult, Kat then felt what he thought was the hand of an adult human petting his head. Kat was confused, though the cat part of him enjoyed the petting, as it continued, Kat heard Uni’s voice,
“I know Kat, it’s not easy to break out of a bad habit, but it’s also not impossible, and it’s especially easier when you have caring friends and family helping you, try and overcome it, overcome it for you,” said Uni in a very soothing and encouraging voice, Kat gave a small smile,
“Ok… I will... do I get my hero license now?” Kat asked,
“Not quite,” Uni replied, Kat was surprised to hear the response,
“What do you mean?” Kat asked, finally putting up his head to see that in Uni’s place was now a turtle hybrid, he looked like a bald elderly man wearing a business suit, though he had a turtle beak on his mouth with a small beard hanging from the bottom, and a large shell on his back. Kat was surprised to see the man,
“Uni?” Kat inquired, the man smiled,
“That’s my nickname, do you like this form of mine? Personally it’s one of my favorites, but that’s besides the point right now,” said Uni, Kat shook his head, quickly recovering from the reality warper changing appearances,
“Right, what do you mean “not quite”? Haven’t I earned my license?” Kat asked,
“You did very well, and passed all three trials, though each one you came very close to failing. What this means to me is that you still have room to grow as a person,” Uni explained, Kat sighed,
“So going through all that weirdness was for nothing?” Kat asked, Uni reached into his pocket,
“Now I never said that, I will give you something for today, Kat, I present to you, your hero learner’s permit,” said Uni before he handed Kat a neat laminated card similar to a driver's license. Kat looked over the entire card, it was formatted to have information including the user’s real name, hero name, birth date, hair color, eye color, height, gender, species, and even what team the hero was on. Information about Kat’s real name, birth date, and even hair color was listed as not applicable, his hero name was- “TheAnnonymousKat”, same as what the people close to him used to call him, his eye color was listed as red, his gender listed as male, species listed as “Hybrid(cat)”, and to Kat’s joy the team he was on read- “Anthros Of Justice,” embarrassingly enough, Kat noticed that the photo on the permit was a picture of Kat getting pet by Uni and enjoying it, but Kat didn’t care. Kat trembled with joy as he held the permit in his hand, he was sure that he wasn’t quite an official hero yet, but this certainly meant he was much closer now than he was, Kat looked at Uni, almost ready to cry,
“What’s the difference between a hero’s learner’s permit, and a hero license?” Kat asked
“Well, with a learner’s permit you’ll be on a much tighter leash, you’ll need to get permission from your teammates before you do hero work, or someone needs to do hero work alongside you,” Uni explained, Kat looked at his permit,
“Oh…” Kat replied, slightly disappointed,
“Don’t feel too bad, within a year, if I find you worthy of being a hero, I’ll test you once more, and you can get your license,” Uni explained,
“That’s so vague! “Within a year” could be like tomorrow or the day after, maybe a month after, you could want to test me again at any time!” Kat replied, Uni chuckled,
“Now you’re thinking like a reality warper! Just keep doing what you were doing and things will be alright, I have faith in you, thief of darkness,” Uni replied, Kat sighed,
“Alright then, so if this whole meeting was about testing me, and I completed the tests, can I return to my friends so I can tell them about my permit?” Kat asked, Uni smiled, causing Kat to raise an eyebrow,
“What is it?” Kat inquired,
“Your friends are right outside my door right now,” Uni explained,
“Huh?” Kat replied in a confused tone. Kat heard a loud crash, and turned around to see most of his Anthros of Justice in a pile in front of the door, which caused Kat to notice that the door he came through was back, as was the hallway he went through, where Kuriboh, Jon and Doggie stood, Jon and Doggie had looks of annoyance, most likely from the Anthros on the floor, which included Panthro, Sulley, Winston and Leomon, with poor Leomon being at the bottom of the pile, likely in a decent amount of pain from all the weight on his back. Kat was so surprised to see his friends, while Uni simply smiled,
"Guys! How long were you right outside the door?" Kat asked,
"Not too long actually, though we did overhear that you got your learner's permit," Sulley explained as he and the other Anthros got off of each other. Panthro was the first one to walk over to Kat, and to Kat's surprise, Panthro bent down and gave him a big hug while he was still sitting,
"Way to go partner! You got a learner's permit within a week! Not everyone can pull that off, It usually takes heroes months to do that," Panthro explained happily while Kat blushed from his partner's sudden affectionate gesture,
"Not to mention you took your test with Mr.Universe, so did I, what are the odds?!" Panthro explained,
"Really? Did you see any weird things happen during your test?" Kat asked,
"Not really, why?" Panthro asked, Kat shrugged,
"Nothing, forget about it," Kat replied, Panthro finally released Kat from the hug and stood up beside him,
"Ah yes, I remember your test well Panthro, it went very smoothly, and before you knew it, he was out the door to start his team, do you like the name I chose for your team by the way?" Uni inquired,
"It's ok," Panthro replied,
"Huh? What do you mean?" Kat inquired,
"You don't know? The guys who do all the paperwork for your license are the ones who determine a team name for you, what?, did you think I was the one who thought of "Anthros of Justice?"" Panthro asked, Kat rubbed the back of his neck,
"Kind of, yeah" Kat replied,
"In any case, nice job getting your learner's permit Kat," said Sulley,
"We've considered you a part of the team since day one, but this makes it official," Winston explained happily,
"You're not quite licensed yet, but you're practically halfway there!" Leomon explained,
"Congratulations Kat, we're all proud," said Doggie with a smile,
"Kuri Kuri!” said Kuriboh happily, Jon crossed his arms,
“you did ok, just don’t let this get to your head,” Jon suggested casually, Kat smiled,
“thanks guys, I appreciate it… but… how did you guys get into Hikari City?” Kat asked, remembering how the policemen needed to use a special code in their car to enter a special gate,
“Every licensed hero has permission to enter the city, I brought everyone here using the gate hopper,” Winston explained,
“ah, I see,” Kat replied,
“speaking of, we should probably head back to base, Kat didn’t give you any trouble did he Mr.Universe?” Panthro asked, Uni shook his head,
“Not at all, it’s never any trouble to put aspiring heroes through my tests, in fact I quite enjoy it,' Uni explained with a smile,
"Well that's good, Winston, can you take us home?" Panthro asked,
"Well not from within the building, I can't get a signal, I think we'll need to go outside," Winston explained,
"Alright then, let's go outside, thanks again Mr.Universe," said Panthro with a wave as the rest of the Anthros followed him out the office door, Uni waved back,
"Take care, strive to make the worlds better places,” Uni replied.

In the hallway, Kat could see that there were several more doors than when he first went through his trials, including two doors at the end of the hallway, one for the elevator, and one for the stairs. Kat looked at the elevator for a moment then decided to use the stairs,
"Kat? Where are you going?" Sulley asked,
"I'm taking the stairs," Kat explained,
"Why? We're several floors up, it'll be a lot less of a hassle to take the elevator," Doggie explained,
"The elevator is really sturdy, you won't exceed the weight limit if you ride with us if that's what you're worried about," Winston explained,
"I don't think I can take an elevator for a while…" Kat commented quietly,
"What's that?" Winston asked,
"I was saying how I was in the office for a long time, and I could use some exercise," Kat lied, thinking about his first trial, without arguing furthur Kat opened the door, and started going down the many stairs. Panthro looked at the rest of the Anthros,
"Actually, I think I'll take the stairs as well, I'd like to talk to Kat for a bit," Panthro explained,
"I'd like to speak to him as well," Winston explained,
"Kuri Kuri," Kuriboh explained,
"Ok then, we'll meet you guys outside," Leomon replied,
"Just don't take too long," Jon requested.

After going down a few flights of stairs, Kat saw Kuriboh float down to him to catch up, and nuzzle against his face,
"Hey pal, did you miss me?" Kat asked,
"Kuri Kuri, Kuri Kuri," Kuriboh explained, Kat rubbed the back of his head,
"Oh yeah, sorry for not taking you with us to the theater, I forgot to ask if you wanted to come," Kat explained,
"Kuri Kuri," Kuriboh replied with a nod,
"Thanks for understanding," Kat replied,
"Kat, wait up!" Winston requested as he caught up to Kat and Kuriboh, all the while clutching the hand rail,
"Heh, going down stairs is a little tricky for me," Winston explained,
"Oh, hey Winston, sorry about what happened last night," Kat explained,
"Hm? What do you have to apologise for?" Winston asked,
"The other day I convinced you to leave the base to have some fun, and that night went to hell,” Kat explained,
“Oh that, don't even worry about it, it wasn't your fault that Van Bloot attacked the theater, I'm just glad that you're alright, I thought the other night you were being arrested,” Winston explained,
“Heh, yeah, I thought so too,” Kat replied, Kat looked behind him to see that Panthro was also walking down the stairs with them,
“Hey, so while you two are talking about last night what happened exactly?” Panthro asked,.
“Oh yeah, wasn't there a detail about Van Bloot's attack last night that you meant to tell me before you got apprehended by the police?” Winston inquired,
“Oh, yeah, Panthro, did something called a “soul stone” exist in your world?” Kat asked,
“Hm? Yeah, that's one of the four power stones from my world, each one of those things contain extraordinary power,” Panthro replied,
“Well, when me and Winston were questioning him, he said that the soul stone was in Moon Theater,” Kat explained, Panthro scratched the back of his head,
“You shouldn't worry about that, a group of investigators searched every nook and cranny of the theater, they didn't find the stone, I think Van Bloot was lying to you guys,” Panthro explained,
“But, if he was lying why go out of his way to go to the theater?” Kat asked, Panthro shrugged,
“Dunno, maybe he was just trying to throw you off by giving you a red herring,” Panthro suggested,
“You think so?” Kat asked,
“Of course, villains love to manipulate and hurt people for their own gain,” Panthro explained,
“Well, if you say so… Boss” Kat replied with a smile and a finger gun,
“Not Boss… partner,” Panthro replied with a smile and a finger gun, Winston chuckled,
“You guys are wild” said Winston casually, Kuriboh nodded in agreement.

When Kat, Panthro, Winston and Kuriboh exited the building, the other Anthros were all waiting for them,
“There you four are” said Jon,
“Ready to return to base?” Winston asked,
“Say Panthro, earlier weren’t you talking about how you wanted to konk Kat on the head for ignoring your instructions and leaving base?” Doggie asked,
“Yeah, I was mad about that earlier, but I thought about it, and if Kat hadn’t disobeyed me, there may have been some casualties at the theater, so I’ll let it go… but that being said, Kat, don’t develop a habit of ignoring me, or I will konk you on the head again,” Panthro explained, Kat gave a thumbs up,
“Got it,” Kat replied casually,
“Alright then, Winston, can you send us back?” Panthro asked,
“Wait, before we return to base, I never got to see how Kat’s permit looks,” Sulley explained, Kat then started blushing, all the Anthros turned towards Kat,
“Yeah, come to think of it, Kat, I don’t think you showed anyone your permit,” Panthro commented, Kat looked away as he blushed red as a beet, and twiddled his thumbs,
“Oh haha, it’s nothing special really, let’s just return to base, I’m tired,” Kat explained in a suspicious tone,
“Ah come on Kat, just let us see it real quick,” Doggie requested,
“Nah, I don’t think you guys will want to see it, it’s really boring, my permit will bore you,” Kat lied as he turned his back to his friends, and continued to blush as he looked at his permit, and saw just how embarrassing the picture of him getting pet was,
“Why don’t you want to show us? I thought you were happy to get it?” Sulley asked, as he saw Panthro sneakily approach Kat from behind,
“It’s just…- HEY!” said Kat as Panthro snatched his permit from him from behind, Kat desperately tried getting it back from Panthro, though Panthro was already looking over it with the biggest smile on his face,
“Ah, so THAT'S why you didn’t want to show it!” said Panthro as he kept the permit out of Kat’s reach,
“Hey give it back!” Kat demanded as he continued blushing,
“What is it?” Doggie asked, Panthro showed the permit to the rest of the Anthros while holding Kat back by his face, the rest of the group, including Kuriboh, were stifling laughter upon seeing Kat’s permit picture,
“I had no idea that Kitten enjoyed being pet, I guess I should have known though,” said Panthro in a teasing manner as he pet Kat on his head,
“Very funny! Now give me back my permit!” Kat demanded,
“Nah, I think I’ll hold onto it for you, make sure nothing happens to it,” Panthro replied in a teasing manner, the rest of the Anthros started laughing,
“You better not fall asleep tonight you big oaf, I’m gonna give you a scar over your other eye so they match!” Kat threatened furiously, though Kat knew deep in his heart that Panthro and the rest of the Anthros meant the world to him, even with how little time he knew them, thus he couldn’t wait to go on more adventures with the Anthros.

End of Chapter 10