Adventurous Anthros
Beware the Mark of Malevolence (Season 2 Chapter 1)
Story by TheAnnonymousKat on Furaffinity
All characters belong to their respective owners, this fanfiction is a nonprofit project for fun, please support the official release of the respective series shown.

“Nice and quiet today,” Kat thought to himself as he approached the swing in the backyard before casually sitting on it, even after all these years it still supported his weight, his father had built it well. It was a quiet afternoon for the hybrid the day after he had a thorough training session with Leomon, ever since defeating Von Bloot and rescuing Zero, Kat and the rest of the Anthros of Justice found that they had just a bit more time to relax, likely because word of one of the members of the Syndicate being taken down had scared lesser villain teams into inactivity. Kat had decided for his offtime he’d visit his mother, though she wasn’t home when he got there, so he decided to enjoy the serenity of the backyard of his old home. Since Kat was alone he decided to talk to his ancestor,
“Hey Elster? Since you started watching over me when I first got my powers, you don’t have any memories of this place, do you?” Kat asked,
“I mean I have memories of the times you came here recently, but I don’t have any memories of when you were growing up here if that’s what you’re asking,” Elster explained,
“Yeah, that’s what I was asking, though don’t worry, you didn’t miss much,” Kat explained,
“I know, I was there with you when you told Panthro your whole backstory remember? Including the part where you talked about your super early life,” Elster explained,
“Oh yeah.. Though y’know, you probably know all sorts of things about me, but I don’t think I know that much about you aside from the fact that my powers came from you. Do you think you could tell me more about yourself?” Kat asked,
“Sure, what do you want to know?” Elster asked,
“Well for starters, when I first met you I think you introduced yourself as “The king of theives”, and I’ve been wondering what that’s meant ever since,” Kat explained,
“It’s just like how you call yourself “The thief of darkness””, Elster explained,
“Yeah, though admittedly I’ve forgotten why I say that,” Kat explained,
“Geez you’re hopeless sometimes, the bearers of the gems of the suits are all endowed with a title that defines their power and destiny,” Elster explained,
“Wait.. gems of the suit?” Kat questioned as he got his good luck charm out of his pocket and looked at it intently. While the hybrid usually wore it around his neck, he decided to instead wear the collar that Panthro gave to him on his birthday around his neck while keeping his gem in his pocket,
“You got it, gemstones with mysterious shapes that are indicative of their bearer’s power, you got the one I wore a long time ago, the Benitoite Clover,” Elster explained,
“Oh! That’s the kind of gemstone it is, I thought it was like a sapphire or something,” said Kat admittedly,
“Haven’t you stolen dozens of gemstones in the past?” Elster asked rhetorically,
“You don’t always have to have an expertise in something to steal it, I’m sure not every run of the mill burglar knows the history of the dollar bill,” said Kat defensively, causing Elster to laugh within Kat’s head,
“That’s true, but yeah, the Benitoite Clover, like all the gems of the suits, it’s indestructible, it will always find a way back to it’s bearer’s side, and it glows whenever its bearer uses a great amount of power,” Elster explained. Kat looked over his good luck charm thoughtfully, as if finally learning of its purpose had turned the gemstone that Kat had with him for so many years into a completely foreign object,
“My dad gave me this when I was very young, I guess your gemstone is like a family heirloom,” Kat commented,
“It would seem so, it’s good to know that it’s made it all the way to my most recent descendant, though back to the titles, there are many titles one can be destined to that can imply many different things- Knights and Paladins protect things, Witches and Warlocks manipulate things, Mages and Sages understand things, Scouts discover things, Bards, Maidens and Apprentices are like wildcards with incredible potential, Angels are very rare and powerful, and live to serve their goddess, Thieves and Rogues are super straightforward, they steal things, but Kings, Queens, Princes and Princesses are the most powerful titles of all, especially Kings and Queens,” Elster explained,
“How so?” Kat asked,
“Don’t you know anything? It’s like a monarchy thing, Kings and Queens are at the top of the pyramid,” Elster explained,
“And you’re.. A king of thieves?” Kat asked,
“Yep, countless years ago, I used to be a thief just like you, though unlike you, I had a crew of other thieves as my comrades, and as I got older and stronger, I eventually earned a promotion to the title of king after going through this whole ordeal, though I still kept my thief powers.. Well, at least I kept them until they were passed down to you,” Elster explained,
“I see,” Kat replied,
“Yeah, though I should explain, my title- The King of thieves, like all titles it has a deep meaning to it, it means that I am destined to lead those who walk down the thief’s path and guide them towards happiness,” Elster explained,
“Wow, that’s amazing.. What deep meaning does my title have?” Kat asked,
“I can’t tell you just yet, matter of fact, I think that’s enough info from me for one day,” Elster replied with a smugness to his tone,
“What? Aw come on El, you can’t just leave me in the dark now, I need to know!” said Kat,
“Sorry Kat, you only get a little mystic info per day, maybe this’ll give you motivation to keep talking to me,” Elster informed Kat with continued smugness,
“Elster please… even if you tell me everything about you I’ll still want to talk to you, I promise..” said Kat with his ears drooped,
“Nice try Kat, those sad kitten ears aren’t going to sway me, if you want to know more you’ll have to talk to me tomorrow, that’s my condition,” said Elster with normality to his tone that helped with the firmness he was going for.

Kat sighed and dug through his pocket before pulling out Kuriboh’s card,
“Fine, if you won’t talk to me, I’ll just talk to Kuriboh in the meantime,” Kat explained, though Elster simply made himself comfortable on Kat’s station. In a flash of light, Kuriboh appeared next to Kat in his monster form and greeted the hybrid with his usual “Kuri Kuri”,
“Hey pal, how are you doing?” Kat asked with a smile as Kuriboh floated around him,
“Kuri Kuri!” said Kuriboh happily, Kat chuckled a bit and gestured towards his lap. Kuriboh then laid in Kat’s lap as the hybrid proceeded to pet him for a bit, causing the little monster to purr happily. After a bit of petting Kat got the idea to poke Kuriboh in his belly, or at least the part of the monster that was most likely his belly, the action enticed some giggling from Kuriboh. Upon hearing the cute giggling from Kuriboh, Kat gained a mischievous grin, before he proceeded to start vigorously tickling Kuriboh, causing the little monster to start laughing uncontrollably. After tickling Kuriboh for a short while, Kat stopped when he heard what sounded like a wing flap behind him. Kat’s eyes widened, and he looked over his shoulder to see a pair of small white feathers gently descend to the ground, the hybrid’s gaze shifted higher to see that nothing loomed above him and Kuriboh. Just when Kat was about to stand up to get a better look at the tree he heard Elster’s voice in his mind,
“Kat! Your left!” said Elster to alert Kat. Kat then immediately flipped backwards to get off the swing, holding a very surprised Kuriboh close to him all the while, and when he landed back on his feet, he looked to see a cloaked figure standing in front of the swing but slightly to the left of it with one of their legs between the swing’s ropes, strongly implying they were attempting to kick Kat. Upon seeing the figure Kuriboh growled at them, but his angered expression quickly changed to one of surprise when Kat moved Kuriboh from in front if him in his arms to behind him and carefully letting go of him when Kuriboh was floating once again,
“I’ve got this one buddy,” Kat informed Kuriboh, after a moment of contemplation Kuriboh nodded and floated a bit further away from Kat and the figure to give them some space. Kat cracked his knuckles as the figure returned their leg to the ground under them, not a moment later Kat and the stranger moved so fast that Kuriboh couldn’t see them for a short while. Kuriboh’s eyes widened and he searched around frantically to find his friend, but he couldn’t see a trace of them as the wind blew around furiously from their hyperspeed battle, he could however hear the impact from the blows being exchanged between the two fighters.

It wasn’t long before Kat and the figure returned to sight, Kuriboh could see them exchanging swift blows, though they had moved from fighting near the swing to a more spacious part of the backyard. Kuriboh had noticed that the figure was slightly taller than Kat, though they still hid their body well so that he couldn’t tell what they looked like, even while moving so fast to keep up with Kat’s fighting speed. Time seemed to disappear as Kuriboh watched with anticipation as Kat and the stranger continued throwing punches at each other. Even though their exchanges wouldn’t even go on to last a minute before Kat and the stranger simultaneously put it to an end. Kat summoned a dark vortex and quickly retrieved a kunai from it and held it close to the stranger’s neck, only to find the stranger had also pressed a sniper rifle up to his head. Kat’s eyes widened with surprise when he saw the rifle, instantly recognizing who it belonged it,
“Wolfe…” said Kat, almost instinctively with a tone mixed with surprise and disheartenment,
“You haven’t gotten rusty, that’s good”, said the cloaked stranger, revealing themself to have a female voice. The cloaked woman then withdrew her rifle, causing Kat to do the same and withdraw his kunai. The woman then moved aside her hood to reveal that she was a wolf hybrid with long dark hair, her canine ears being ash grey, and her silver eyes being sharp, even though only one was visible, the other was covered in gauze along with the right side of her face, the lower half of the woman’s face was also covered with a dark veil. Kat clenched his fist when he saw the woman as he looked away from her to look at his feet,
“Wolfe… what are you doing here?” Kat asked,
“I was sent to find you,” The woman named Wolfe replied,
“I thought…” Kat tried to say, though he couldn’t quite get the words out,
“You thought what? That you could run from the animauls? That you could run from Lyon?” Wolfe asked, an icy casualness lined her words,
“Well I managed to do it for seven years!” Kat replied angrily,
“Sorry to rain on your parade Kat, but you’re wrong,” Wolfe replied coldly,
“What do you mean?” Kat asked,
“You never escaped as you thought, you leaving the group and wandering around multiple worlds was all part of Lyon’s plan, it was essential for you to start to tap into your power, I could’ve come to get you any time Lyon asked, it’s just that he never did,” Wolfe explained,
“You’re lying…” said Kat angrily through clenched teeth,
“Am I? How do you explain the fact that I managed to find you?” Wolfe asked,
“You’ve been searching for a long time! You only say it hasn’t been long to mess with me!” said Kat angrily,
“Kat, be real, do you honestly think Lyon would have me waste seven years of his time by searching for you? Not that you aren’t worth it of course, simply commenting on how.. Inefficient, and very unlike Lyon that notion is”. After contemplating for a moment Kat’s expression shifted from angered to troubled,
“You’re right, that doesn’t sound like something Lyon would do, but if that was the case how did you find me so fast?” Kat asked,
“I’m afraid I can’t reveal that yet, a good fighter always leaves room for a plan B,” Wolfe explained,
“Well if you’re here to take me back to the animauls, you might as well give up! I’d rather die than return to Lyon!” said Kat angrily,
“You misunderstand me Kat, I never said that was my goal,” said Wolfe casually,
“Well then what do you want? Out with it!” said Kat angrily. Kat then looked towards Wolfe to see her gesture by putting a gloved hand to her heart,
“I came to deliver a message to you, and it had to be done in person. Kat.. you must realize your destiny as the thief of darkness and awaken your hidden potential,” Wolfe explained.

Kat was taken aback by Wolfe'e words and looked at the other hybrid with confusion,
"What are you talking about?" Kat asked, in response Wolfe took off her cloak to reveal that she wore a white halter top dress that went up to her neck and extended down to her knees, her upper and lower halves disconnected by a thin deep sky blue belt, on her hands were thin sky blue gloves with sport wrap around her forearms and going into her gloves, a pair of tight navy blue sport shorts was visible between the openings within the halter top, Wolfe's beautifully thick and fluffy tail could now be seen behind her, protruding just above her rear, and around her feet were a pair of small azure boots. Wolfe crossed her arms as she continued speaking,
"Kat, you recently unlocked the first part of your hidden potential, Act 1 as you called it, yes?" Wolfe asked,
"Yes.. how do you know about that?" Kat asked,
"You forget that your power and Lyon's have a connection, he can feel when you've unlocked a good deal of your power, and he assumes you can do the same with him," Wolfe explained. Kat put his hands in his pockets,
"Ok, so what about it?" Kat asked,
"Unlocking the power of your full potential, Act 4: GodKat, is essential for Lyon to realize his goals, so I am here to help you," Wolfe explained,
"You can help me in my further acts?" Kat asked,
"Yes.. do you recall playing the Zelda games when you were much younger?" Wolfe asked, Kat nodded,
"Think of me kind of like Sheik, making you something like Link, I'm here to point you in the right direction and give you what you need to make progress, however whether you succeed or not is dependent on you," Wolfe explained,
"What do I need to do?" Kat asked as he retrieved one of his hands from his pocket and scratched his chin in contemplation,
"During your time as a hero, you've helped girls and received special abilities from them upon visiting their station, correct?" Wolfe asked,
"Yeah.. though how do you know that?" Kat asked,
"That's unimportant, what is important however is that those girls were maidens of power, ladies destined to give you abilities to help you on your quest, there are thirteen maidens total, you've helped two of them, and still have to officially help the third for her to give you her other maiden gift. Gathering the maiden gifts is imperative to unlocking the remainder of your hidden power, you could train the rest of your natural life, but without helping the rest of the maidens, you'd never be able to unlock and master acts 2,3, and 4," Wolfe explained,
"So my hidden potential is connected to helping out girls?" Kat asked,
"Well helping out people in general, think of it like a video game, using your further acts takes up a lot of your power, basically you use up your magic meter too quickly. Though each time you help a maiden and receive her gift, it increases the limit of your base power, basically increasing your magic meter," Wolfe explained,
"So… helping all thirteen maidens will increase my meter as far as it will go?" Kat asked,
"Yes, so to speak," Wolfe replied, Kat crossed his arms
"Well what if I don't want to unlock Act 4 anymore?" Kat asked,
"Don't you?" Wolfe asked as she raised her only visible brow,
"Well.. maybe I do, but not if it's to help Lyon!" Said Kat angrily,
"I'm afraid what you want is irrelevant Kat, you will go on to help the rest of the maidens, gain their gifts, and eventually unlock and master Act 4, such is fate," Wolfe explained casually. Kat rolled his eyes in disgust,
"You and Lyon are too obsessed with fate! Life isn't as predictable as you two might think!" Kat replied,
"We've never been wrong about events to come," Wolfe stated,
"Yet," Kat added,
"Kat…" said Wolfe as she looked to the ground, Kat looked at her with a puzzled expression,
"The people you're with.. The Anthros of Justice…" Wolfe started, though Kat attempted to cut her off,
"You stay away from them! I'll never-!" Said Kat angrily though Wolfe cut him off in return and finished her comment,
"They bring out the best in you, especially the pantherman," Wolfe commented with a surprising tenderness to her voice, causing Kat's anger to subside, and a slight blush to form on his face. Wolfe then turned away from Kat,
"As a result, Lyon has decided that it will be best if you stayed with them for the time being, as doing so would guarantee that you master your powers at the most efficient rate, though after you unlock Act 4, you must return to the animauls" Wolfe explained, her casual coldness returning to her tone,
"Of course that's what she's worried about…" Kat thought mentally with mild annoyance,
"Classic Wolfe," Elster commented within Kat's mind.

Wolfe reached down to grab her cloak off the ground and slung it over her shoulder before she began to walk away,
"Farewell Kat, do your part, we shall meet again," Wolfe instructed before she disappeared in a flash of light before Kat even had time to reply. Kuriboh then floated over to Kat and nuzzled against him,
"Who was that?" Kuriboh asked through his kuri noises,
"An old friend," Kat replied,
"Kat… you aren't gonna leave us, are you?" Kuriboh asked,
"No, despite what she says, I never plan on leaving," Kat replied. Kuriboh then floated around Kat and nuzzled against his chest,
"Ok good, because if there came a day where I couldn't see you, I think that'd make me sad," Kuriboh explained, causing a faint smile to appear on Kat's face before he held Kuriboh close to him.

It wasn't long after the abrupt reunion with Wolfe that Kat decided to walk into Orion City with Kuriboh floating close to him. Kat found it refreshing to take a leisurely stroll around the city he held dear, getting nostalgic from seeing businesses he had seen when he was young, and more recent businesses alike. Kat had hoped that his encounter with Wolfe would be the worst of what happened to him today, but he was proven wrong when he heard a noise that sounded like something swiftly flying through the air, immediately followed by a wet stinging sensation on his cheek. Kuriboh cried out in surprise and looked at Kat with a horrified expression, and Kat responded by wiping his index finger against his inexplicably injured cheek and examining it to see that blood was on it. The blood in Kat’s veins then felt cold when he heard a woman’s voice,
“Mark acquired…” said a female voice casually. Kat quickly turned around to see a woman with dark hair dressed in a green ninja garb standing behind him with a lightly bloody kunai in her hand,
“Huh?” Kat inquired, caught off guard from the woman’s sudden appearance. Then without warning the woman lunged at Kat with a jump kick, which Kat narrowly dodged. After landing next to Kat, he and the woman proceeded to exchange swift strikes, before Kat grabbed ahold of one of her arms and forced it behind her back to hold her in place as he put her in a chokehold with his other arm,
“Who are you?” Kat demanded,
“I am Akali, and in the name of the Syndicate I will take you and your team down,” said the woman coldly as she struggled against Kat’s hold, though Kat clicked his tongue,
“Of course the syndicate has something to do with this..” said Kat in annoyance. Akali then stomped on one of Kat’s feet from her position, causing the hybrid to loosen his grip on her enough to where she can free her arm and turn around to punch Kat away from her. Not a moment after getting knocked away from Akali, Kat looked at her to see her throw down a smoke bomb which quickly obscured the surrounding areas in a thick veil of black smoke.

Kat quickly tried running through the smoke, though found a clearing in the middle, giving the smoke cover a sort of donut shape to it. Kuriboh quickly appeared beside Kat and made multiplications of himself to surround Kat just as some kunai and shuriken were thrown at the hybrid. As the Kuriboh duplicates disappeared in puffs of smoke and the duel monster created more to hold off the onslaught of ninja weapons coming at them from every direction, Kat and the real Kuriboh stayed low behind the barrier of Kuribohs and Kat took the time to examine one of the kunai that fell to the ground,
"Kunai as a weapon of choice, if nothing else this woman has good taste in weapons," said Kat with a smile, though Kuriboh gave Kat an annoyed look,
"Kat, I don't think now is the time…" said Kuriboh with half lidded eyes. After a while the smoke screen cleared, revealing Akali standing before Kat with a Kama blade in each hand, the hybrid signalled Kuriboh to get back before summoning a dark vortex and retrieving two kama blades from it himself. Kat and Akali then approached each other before parrying strikes with their kama blades for a while. Eventually Akali kicked Kat away from her before quickly throwing a few kunai at him, though to the surprise of both fighters, Winston dropped down next to Kat and deployed a barrier to protect them both from the incoming kunai, the dome of energy had cracked and made crackling noises upon being hit by the weapons.

Kat looked at Winston with surprise, the gorilla was wearing his armor that was reminiscent of an astronaut’s suit instead of his usual lab clothes, and his angered expression when he had first dropped next to Kat quickly changed to a softer one when he looked over Kat,
“Are you ok?” Winston asked in concern,
“I’m fine, though how did you know I was in trouble?” Kat asked as Kuriboh joined them in the barrier,
“I’ll explain later, for now, we have an enemy to deal with,” said Winston as his attention returned to Akali. Upon looking back at Akali, Kat could see the grip on her kama blade tighten, causing the hybrid to suspect she was getting ready to dish out another attack, so in response Kat quickly tackled Winston out of the way right as Akali had lunged towards and past the barrier with a mighty swing of her blades, narrowly missing the heroes. Not long after Akali’s attack, Winston witnessed his barrier vanish after the ninja had cut through it and decided to reward Kat with a quick pat on the head for his quick reaction,
“Thanks” said Winston graciously before Kuriboh once again floated over to his allies. Kat then quickly and discreetly instructed Kuriboh to stand aside and wait for a signal to intervene if needed, which the duel monster complied to. Kat and Winston then proceeded to fight Akali, the heroes got the idea to tire her out, while she was swift and nimble, Winson’s tesla cannon did a good job of keeping her from getting too close as its electrifying blast could make short work of even the most evasive of foes, while Kat could retrieve guns and other ranged weapons to keep Akali busy with dodging their fire. Just when Kat thought that Winston was the last of his help for the fight, the hybrid could see Panthro approach Akali from behind and attempt to hit her with his nunchuk, though she dodged his strike with her swift reflexes and attempted strike back, only for Kat to scare her away with a warning shot from a rifle.

Panthro quickly approached Winston and Kat as they were staying on their toes with their weapons,
“You just can’t stop getting into trouble, can you?” Panthro asked,
“I can’t help it! Trouble finds me,” Kat replied,
“No kidding, anything we should know about this woman?” Panthro asked,
“Don’t try to fight her up close, she can give herself cover with a smoke screen and she has a number of weapons at her disposal,” Kat explained. Just as Kat had finished his explanation, Akali threw a few kunai at the trio of heroes, though Panthro quickly deflected them by swinging his nunchuk around,
“Not bad,” Kat complimented with a smile,
“Thanks,” Panthro replied with his own smile, as well as a blush, Kat’s praise clearly meant a lot to the pantherman. Akali then threw down a smoke bomb and the trio of Anthros responded by getting away from the area that smoke had surrounded and observing the smokescreen from a safe distance. Kat gestured for his allies to stay back,
“I think she’s gonna use the swift strike attack next,” Kat explained before he used his Eyes of a thief technique to detect Akali. In the midst of the shadows and smoke, through Kat’s perspective his magical eyes helped him see Akali as a red silhouette waiting patiently near the edge of the smokescreen for someone to come near. Kat then powered up into Act 1 as strands of blue electricity flickered around his body before he zoomed towards the smokescreen at a lightning fast speed and tapped Akali on her shoulder before passing her and directing the smoke away using the wind pressure that followed his running speed. Kat turned to face Akali, though she appeared to be immobilized,
“Sorry ninja girl, but you’re no match for Speed Demon,” said Kat as he approached her, though to his surprise, in a flash of yellow light Akali appeared behind him and attempted to strike Kat with her kama blade. Though out of nowhere came a blast of blue energy that hit Akali and knocked her back, saving Kat from the ninja’s retaliation.

The Anthros exchanged confused looks after seeing the blast,
“Whose attack was that?” Panthro asked,
“Not mine,” Winston replied,
“Kuriboh? Did you learn a new attack buddy?” Kat inquired,
“It was me,” an unfamiliar voice replied, it was quite deep and very slightly nasally. The Anthros’ gaze shifted to the direction of the voice to see a large bear-like creature with blue and white fur and orange antlers, strands of electricity flickered around said horns for a bit. Kat decided to look around once more before his attention returned to the creature,
“Did you say that?” Kat asked, the blue furry creature nodded in response,
“I am Furok, and I was told you could help me,” the creature explained,
“Fascinating! I’ve never heard of a Furok before, this trip made for quite the discovery!” said Winston excitedly,
“Before we get too off track, we should probably restrain that ninja girl,” Panthro instructed, clearly referring to Akali. Kat turned to see Akali lying unconscious on the ground, and after very carefully approaching her, Kat finally noticed the strange mark consisting of two intertwined serpents. Kat gestured Panthro to come take a look at the mark, and after a moment of hesitation and giving Kat a puzzled look, the pantherman walked over to Kat and knelt down next to him to see what he was talking about,
“Hey Panth? Do you recognize this symbol?” Kat inquired. Upon seeing the symbol on Akali’s shoulder, Panthro’s eyes widened,
“I don’t believe it...” said Panthro in a state of horror and disbelief,
“What is it?” Kat inquired,
“That symbol.. It’s Mumm-Ra’s symbol,” Panthro explained,
“Really?” Kat asked,
“I’d know it anywhere,” Panthro replied. It wasn’t long before Winston joined his fellow Anthros next to Akali,
“Looks like some of the members of the syndicate get tattoos then,” Winston commented,
“That’s the weird thing, I don’t think this is a tattoo, at least not a normal one, I can sense dark energy coming off of it,” Kat explained,
“Dark energy? From a mark?” Winston inquired, causing Kat to nod in response,
“Well can you absorb it?” Panthro asked. After hesitating for a moment, Kat put a hand over the mark on Akali’s shoulder before absorbing the strange mark with a dark bubbling glow enveloping both his and Akali’s bodies.

After the glow subsided, Akali’s eyes fluttered opened before she sat up and held her head,
“Ugh.. what happened?” Akali asked groggily,
“Akali? Are you feeling better now?” Kat asked, causing the ninja’s gaze to shift to the hybrid,
“Who are you?” Akali inquired,
“Kat, we fought just a bit ago, don’t you remember?” Kat asked,
“No… the last thing I remember was getting caught by those Syndicate guys before they put that mark on my shoulder.. Oh! It’s gone now, that’s a good sign,” Akali explained after quickly examining her shoulder,
“You were face to face with the syndicate?” Winston inquired,
“Yes, in their base,” Akali explained, causing Panthro’s eyes to widen,
“You were in the base of the Syndicate? Please tell me you remember how to get there!” Panthro requested hopefully,
“I’m sorry, the time around getting marked is really fuzzy for me, I just know that I wound up in the castle, and now I’m here in this city,” Akali explained as she got up,
“That being said, I should really get out of here, sorry for attacking you if I really did that, but I’ve got places I need to be,” said Akali, and then without another word, she threw down another smoke bomb, and vanished within an instant.

Furok and Kuriboh finally approached the Anthros, as everyone had gotten back on their feet and exchanged concerned looks. Kat was the first to speak up and break the awkward silence that followed when Akali had left,
“Panthro, what was that mark about?” Kat asked,
“I dunno Kat, I’ve never seen anything like it, though given the high chance that it came from Mumm-Ra, it can’t be good news,” Panthro explained,
“What matters is we were able to take care of it, and hopefully we have time to come up with countermeasures to this should it happen again,” Winston offered,
“Right, though I think Kat makes for a good countermeasure big guy,” said Panthro with a smile. Kat couldn’t help but smile as well, though after Kuriboh returned to his card form and went into Kat’s pocket, the hybrid had remembered something he wanted to ask Winston earlier, though he couldn’t talk about due to being busy,
“Hey so, how did you guys know I needed help?” Kat asked,
“Your bell collar let us know,” Winston explained. Panthro then reached a hand over to Kat’s neck and lightly played with the little bell on his collar as he spoke,
“You kept the collar on you before you decided to wander off somewhere, just like I asked, thanks,” said Panthro casually,
“Uh, you’re welcome? Though how did my collar let you know I was in trouble?” Kat asked,
“Well you see, on top of containing a tracker to let us know where you are, that collar also contains special touch recognition wiring that allows us to know if you’re in a state of distress,” Winston explained,
"Oh cool," Kat commented with a smile,
"Yep, so be sure to always have the collar on you when you go somewhere," Panthro instructed with a sense of authority in his tone,
"I will," Kat replied with a nod.

Kat's gaze then returned to Furok who had been waiting both silently and patiently during the Anthros' discussion,
"Anyway, we should head back to the base to further discuss this mark," Panthro instructed,
"Hang on, before we do, you guys mind if I talk with Furok in private?" Kat requested, Panthro and Winston walked a good distance away in response,
"Sure, just try not to take too long," Panthro requested as he and Winston got out of earshot. Kat then turned his attention to Furok,
"So Furok, earlier you said you wanted my help?" Kat asked,
"Yes, a little doggy told me you could help me," Furok explained,
"Little Doggy? Could he be referring to Wolfe?" Kat asked mentally,
"Wellll.. given that we bumped into her recently, I'd say it's pretty likely," Elster suggested. Kat knelt down slightly so that he and Furok were at eye level,
"What do you need help with?" Kat asked,
"You see, I'm a dream creature, a being with great magical power who originally came from this place called the dream plane, a world connected to the Moonlands, which resides in my homeworld, and trust me, my homeworld is a long way away from this one. Though in order to exist outside of the Dream Plane, I need a Magi, a being of great magical power capable of utilizing dream creatures," Furok explained,
"I see, though why not seek out a magi in the Moonlands?" Kat asked,
"Well truthfully I had a Magi in the Moonlands, we went through many troubling times together and he was very dear to me, though he was a human, and I outlived him," Furok explained with sadness in his tone,
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," Kat replied,
"It's ok, though the reason I seek out a Magi outside of the Moonlands is because Orwin, a wiseman from my world, used his magic to see into the future, and prophesied that I would be needed for a fight much bigger than the ones we had against Agram," Furok explained,
"Agram?" Kat inquired,
"Another guy from my world," Furok explained
"I see, so do you want me to become your magi?" Kat asked
"Yeah, I saw you during your battle, you have an incredible amount of magical power, I'd greatly appreciate it if you could," Furok explained. Kat averted his gaze from Furok and scratched the back of his head,
"I'm sorry Furok, but as things stand I'm already looking after a duel monster and a Pokemon, I don't know if I'd be up to being your magi too," Kat explained. Through the corner of his eye, Kat could see the disappointment in Furok's face from Kat's response,
"Ah, I see," Furok replied, the sadness in his tone was almost tangible, and it caused Kat to quickly come up with an alternative,
"But y'know.. I can probably convince Panthro to let you stay with us, I can be a temporary Magi for you until we find you a more suitable one, and if we can't, I'll be your new Magi," Kat offered, causing Furok to slightly smile and gain a hopeful look in his eyes,
"Sounds good, I'm so tired from travelling," Furok replied. Kat then stood up,
"So.. what do we do to make it official?" Kat asked,
"I give you permission to call on me anytime you need me, though keep in mind that I need rest like any living creature, whenever you need me simply say- "With this animite, I summon- Furok"" Furok explained,
"Got it," Kat replied,
"What's an animite?" Elster asked,
"For now though, I'm gonna return to the Dream plane to restore my energy," Furok explained before Furok turned into bubbly green light and flew into Kat's hands, taking the form of a green gemstone big enough to fit in Kat's palm, and appeared to have an image of Furok on it,
"Ah, so that's an animite," Elster commented. Kat then put Furok’s animite in his pocket before returning to his allies.

Meanwhile in the castle of the Syndicate of Malevolence, Mumm-Ra had been observing the battle between Akali and the anthros through his crystal ball,
“You may think you’ve won today feline, but this is far from the last time you’ve seen the mark of malevolence, in fact the woman was nothing more than a test to see if you could indeed absorb the mark since you can absorb dark energy. It would appear that you can absorb one of the marks just fine, but let’s continue these tests, surely there’s a limit, and when I find that limit, it will be the end of everything good,” Mumm-Ra explained aloud before he chuckled maniacally, the haunting laughter of the dark sorcerer echoing through the walls of the foreboding castle.

End of Chapter 1