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The next part of MGtS. Enjoy!

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As it turns out, being a hero is exhausting.

After the police showed up and hauled away the rat away, they asked me about what happened. Since I couldn't tell them the truth about Katie and her girls backing me up, I kept the story as simple as possible. The guy pulled a gun, and I reacted; that was it. The eyewitnesses heard the rat screaming in pain after I bought him to the ground, but nothing prior. The cops were content to write it off as a simple case of self defense, and for all intents and purposes wrapped up with me within an hour.

They left just in time for the local news media to show up. Apparently somebody had tipped them off to a hot story about a local hero at the mall comic store, and a few stations were all over it. With all the superheroes making headlines in Sapphire City, a normal guy taking out a criminal was an oddity, and they jumped all over it. Someone also posted a video on ViewTube shortly before the media's arrival of the whole incident. Judging by the poster's username of, "SuperLoyalMinion4125", I didn't have to think too hard about who might have been behind it.

The media grilled me worse than the cops did about the whole incident. Did I fear for my life? Did I recognize the guy? Did I feel like I had a duty to protect my customers? I just answered as best as I could and wondered if maybe the rat had gotten off easier than I did in the whole exchange.

After hours of questioning, reshoots, and way more public attention than I'd ever seen in my life before, they finally began to disperse. Even Eric noted how exhausted I looked after everything, and told me to head home early to rest. Clara rejoined me at the bus station outside the mall, but the now crowded bus prevented us from talking much about what happened. At least we made it back to my apartment without further incident.

I had more than enough surprises for one day, so of course there was one more waiting for me when I unlocked the door and stepped into my apartment. Katie was sitting on my couch, hunched over a laptop in a simple white t-shirt and jeans. That part I wasn't ready for was her decision to be in her super villain(ess) form of the Mewstress. Considering I'm still getting used to the idea of my human girlfriend Katie and the wanted criminal being the same person, I nearly jumped out of my fur when I saw the panther morph sitting calmly in my room.

"Hey there, my hero." Katie purred softly as my heart dropped out of my throat and settled back into my chest where it belonged. She stood up and crossed the room almost instantly, wrapping her paws tightly around me. My return hug may not have been as firm as it would be if she'd been in her normal form, though I had to admit the slight vibration caused by her purring did feel kinda nice.

"Clara, dear? Could you start dinner, please? Master and I need to discuss some things." Clara bowed slightly in response before bounding off into the kitchen.

"Did you want to talk about what I said earlier?" I asked as I looked down at Katie. "Listen, I do want to go through that, but I'm pretty beat right now. We can wait till another time."

Katie sighed and shook her head, slowly pulling away. Taking a seat on the couch, she motioned for me to sit next to her.

"Unfortunately, Xavier, we do need to talk, and it's not about what you think." I tilted my head in confusion as I sat down next to Katie as she began to use the laptop. "And it really can't wait, either. Take a look at this."

Katie pulled up a video and began to fast forward through it. I quickly realized it must have been the security tape she had me copy and send to her earlier. She paused on a certain point and poked at the screen at a familiar face.

"Recognize anybody?" Of course I did, it was the rat who attacked me, and I told her as much.

"Yeah, that part didn't strike me as strange. What did catch my attention was this." Katie's clawed finger lightly tapped the bottom corner of the screen. It was the date and time stamp of the video.

"...Wait; this can't be right." I rubbed my eyes, making sure what I was reading was correct. "The timestamp... this video was taken over a week ago!"

"Exactly. I thought maybe, MAYBE somebody might have made the connection between you, Katie Felid and the Mewstress and came after you in retaliation, but the day after you find out about me, after how long I hid it from you?" Katie shook her head. "That seemed like way too huge of a coincidence, so I had my girls help me review the video. That rat's been on your tail for at least the past two weeks."

"Wait, what?!" So I wasn't co-lateral damage as part of some revenge scheme against Katie? Was I the target the whole time?!

"That's not all." Katie grabbed a piece of metal that had been sitting near the laptop. "Here's the clip from his gun my girls stole. Notice anything strange about it?"

"No..." I turned it over a couple of times, failing to see anything out of place. "I mean, there aren't any bullets in it, but Clara probably got rid of them after she stole the clip."

Katie shook her head in the negative again. "It was empty when my girls got to it. It just doesn't add up; you were clearly a target, yet he was planning to threaten you with an empty weapon? With the number of superheroes in this city, you either commit and be ready to go down shooting, or don't even bother with the gun in the first place."

"So, as best I can tell, he wanted something out of you, and something he needed you alive for. As to what that thing is..." Katie shrugged. "I haven't a clue. Once we started getting serious, I did a through background check on you to make sure there was no skeletons or superhero costumes in your closet. You're as clean as any other average citizen."

That was true; prior to yesterday, the most valuable secret I had was the code to the safe at the Secret Lair. I had decent savings and some nice things, but nothing that'd be worth threatening me over. Not to sound too cheesy, but my relationship with Katie was the most valuable thing I had.

"Xavier..." Katie gently took my paws into hers, her bright green eyes looking into mine. "I don't know what's going on, but whatever it is, we'll solve it together. I've already got my best information gathers finding out everything they can about the guy who attacked you, and I'm making doubly sure somebody's watching you 24/7. You stole my pride the day we met, and soon after, my heart. No one, and I mean NO ONE, is stealing you away from me."

"Thank you, Katie." I smiled and hugged her back, a little more earnestly this time. Someone was after me, for reasons unknown. I couldn't go to a superhero or anybody in law enforcement. In fact, my only resources were on the opposite side of the law; a girlfriend who'd hidden her super villain past from me and her army of minions. I'd be an idiot not to have some doubts and concerns, but her words were sincere, and while she lied about a lot, her love for me had the ring of truth.

And besides, I thought as Clara called us to let us know salads were ready, who'd be better at developing a security system for me than someone who had spent a large portion of time beating them?