Kara flew low over the Alaskan wilderness ignoring the sub-zero cold. Her face was a grim mask of the reality that she new awaited her. Just a few short days ago it seemed like her time in Alaska was going to be just what she had imagined it to be, fun. She had promised her friend, a biologist, who was tracking the migration of polar bears that she would take a census of the population and also change batteries their radio collars. It was going fine for the first few days. Kara loved the animals and they loved her, she had a way about her that could make the fiercest animal beg for her affection like a puppy starved for attention. And that's how it was with the big bruins, she changed the batteries in their collars while they pawed at her like a pup who wanted to be petted, then she sent them on their way, always having to fly off herself to keep them from following her. It was the third day that things started to go wrong. Kara was changing the batteries on a particularly large bear, who wasn't cooperating, he had his mind set on using Kara for a hockey puck Kara couldn't get him to hold still long enough to undo the catch on his collar, he kept rolling onto his back. She was covered with snow from wrestling with the big bruin before finally getting the collar off him. Sticking his big nose in her face, he sat down in front of her and began giving her a tongue bath as she tried to insert the tiny new batteries. It was a difficult job and getting slobbered on by a 1000-pound bruin didn't make it any easier. To make matters even more frustrating; the stupid beast after setting their for five minutes, bugging the hell out of her, as she tried to replace the batteries, suddenly took off the minute she was successful. He sprinted across the ice. Kara, her patience about expired, watched the bear sprinting away from her. She suddenly envisioned herself stretched out in front of her fireplace, enjoying the warmth of the flame; covering her body in scented oil, letting her hands wonder down between her thighs as she lay back on a soft furry rug. A large white one! How would she explain that too her friend! She giggled to herself, dismissing the thought, as she flew along beside him, trying to redo the collar on the fly. It wasn't working so she just landed on his back and rode him like a horse. "Ha, gotcha now." She chided, as she leaned over and prepared to slip the collar around his neck. She was just getting ready to latch it when the bear suddenly stopped. Unfortunately, the laws of inertia being what they are, Kara didn't, she went sailing over the beasts head to land headfirst in a snowdrift. Her muffled curses were barely audible. Pulling herself out of the snowdrift she grabbed the collar, her visions of furry rugs returning. "Ok, big guy no more Ms nice gal!" She said. Her words faded though as she watched the bear, something was wrong. He stood on his hind legs with his nose in the air, sniffing intently. Kara's had a bad feeling; she glanced around canvassing the area for anything unusual. There was nothing, only a couple of young bears playing a couple of hundred yards away. They looked to be having the time of their lives. Kara was very relived to see that they weren't wearing collars. She was all collared out. Kara watched the big bear, he was acting very strangely. He looked out at the two distant bears and roared in anger. He moved close to Kara sitting down right next to her, suddenly all of a sudden he couldn't get to close, he was trembling.

" Its ok, big guy, it's just a couple of your cousins" Kara said, giving him a comforting hug around the neck, while at the same time refastening his collar. "Besides," you big baby," she teased. "Your three times bigger than they are" she said, glancing back towards the two playful bears. Suddenly something caught her eye.

"Shit!" She cursed, rocketing of towards the bears. She had caught the sun glinting off an object behind the drifts, it was the barrel of a high powered rifle. Kara exploded through the sound barrier trying to reach the bears in time, but she was a nano second two late. She heard the loud reports of the rifle and actually felt the two bullets whiz by her. She cried out in frustration as she heard the two sickly splats as the bullets found there marks, dropping both bears. Kara, her eyes ablaze with anger, turned her attention to the poacher. He stood up trying to cock his rifle one more time, only to have it jam so throwing down his weapon he ran.

Kara immediately recognized the fleeing man as Deter Macrey, the most wanted man in the states, he had killed his family, two sons and his wife, in staged holdup for their insurance money. He had escaped a chain gang in Seattle and had somehow made his way to Alaska where he was apparently getting by as a poacher. She streaked after him, and was about to catch him when he tripped and plummeted into an ice chasm, Kara listened to the long scream, counting off seconds in her head, until the screams came to an abrupt halt. Wincing as she heard the splat as he hit bottom she estimated, by the length of his scream, that he must have fell about 1000 feet. More than enough,  to do a job that it would have taken the courts years too, she thought.  Not giving Deter's misfortune a second thought she streaked back to the bears. One had been killed instantly; the other was huddled up against his dead sibling trembling. Kara knew his wound was fatal also. The bear looked up at her his eyes full of confusion and fear. She knelt beside him releasing her pheromones as she stroked his nose for a second. The air was suddenly flooded with the sweet smell of wildflowers and honey. The dying bear forgot his pain, relaxing as Kara's pheromones took their effect on him. Then standing, in a flash of violet Kara ended his life in the single greatest moment of pleasure that he had ever known.

The incident with the two bears was only a harbinger of things to come. Two days later an ice fisherman had been found, covered in blood. He was wondering the tundra hysterical. His eyes were frozen open in horror. His mind had been totally erased by the shock of   whatever horror he witnessed. He kept repeating the same blood chilling phrase, as he laughed hysterically. The phrase echoed in Kara's mind over and over, making the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. "They were all torn apart. They were all torn apart THEY WERE ALL TORN APART. HAHAHAHAAAAAAA!"

The authorities knew he had to be talking about the people of the Inukuk village. Their village was the only inhabited place even close to where he had been found and since because of the high winds it would be at least twenty four hours before they could get a chopper out there Kara had decided to go herself. Her fun was officially over.

Kara cut through the gale force winds a blur of red and blue. Dropping even lower to the ground the air around her exploded as she accelerated through the sound barrier. She blazed across the snow-covered tundra, throwing up in her wake a fifty-foot rooster tail of snow and ice. The hairs on the back of her neck rose as she spotted the village. She scanned the area with her infra red vision looking for something she knew she would not find, life.

Kara, the wind whipping through her golden locks, strode through the village; it was now a village of the dead. The snow was stained red with the blood of the villagers, whose dismembered bodies were strewn about the crimson drifts in an orgy of death. Kara was not unfamiliar with death, she had seen more than her share but nothing ever like this. She stood looking down at the body, what was left of it, of a young girl, a young girl in pigtails. She was about the same age as Xara, so young, much to young to die. The girl's face was a mask of horror. Kara could only imagine what her fear must have been like in her last moments, what unimaginable terror she must have came face to face with. Kara felt an overwhelming rage building inside her, a rage she did not think she was capable of feeling. She wanted to find whatever did this, not only to kill it but to make it suffer as the people here suffered, to make it feel the fear of death. Kara swore to herself that if whatever was responsible for this horror was to find death at her hands it would not be a quick one.

Kara floated through the village, her feet a few inches above the blood stained snow. She suddenly glanced to her left as her eye caught a glint of something. It was some kind of animal; it was strung up between two poles. It was the approximate size of a small bear but Kara really couldn't tell what it was, its head was missing and it had been skinned. A shiver passed through her body as she looked at it. It was a mystery, this was the village of the Inukuk, they were not hunters they lived solely off the sea. They would have never killed an animal as small and unthreatening as this one appeared to be.

Kara, seeing all she needed to see in the village, turned to leave; it was then that she saw it, a huge bloody track, over a foot square. The track was much to big to be that of a bear it almost looked feline but Kara knew that was impossible, the only dangerous animals around here were polar bears and Kara had enough experience with bears to know that this track was definitely not made by a bear. Kara followed the track to the edge of the village and made a discovery that sent a chill, one that had nothing to do with the icy temperatures, through her body. It seemed there was not one track but two and they led out into the tundra. Kara, had no choice, determined to put an end to these beasts whatever they were, she followed.

Following the track was easy in the snow even after the blood trail had disappeared. The animals were incredibly large and their tracks had sunk down into the hard ice leaving a clear trail despite the hard winds, which were just now beginning to let up. Kara followed the tracks for hours until suddenly without warning they vanished. Stunned, she looked around in vain to find where she might have lost the trail. She walked to the edge of the ice and peered into the blue arctic waters. Could it be they went into the sea, she thought to herself. Her anger overwhelmed her at the thought that they got away, she stomped her foot down on the ice, in frustration, opening up fissures for miles around.

" Now, now, Kara, are you quite sure you want to find what made those tracks?"

Kara spun around at hearing the voice from behind

Kara coolly regarded the creature that she saw. It was a Thuvian hunter, a race that was notorious for being the most tenacious and cruel bounty hunters in the galaxy. He was perhaps 7 feet tall, humanoid in form, very muscular and very male. Except for a glowing necklace he was completely nude and apparently oblivious to the cold. His body rippled with muscle. His blue skin was completely hairless and his head while humanish was bulbous and very large, with a pair of freakishly big eyes, that seemed to bulge out of his head. He stood there, grinning at her, wringing his hands together in front of him, as if he was so excited he could hardly stand it.

"Who are you?" Kara demanded.

"That's not important. What is important is you. I take it your eager to meet what's responsible for the deaths of those pathetic creatures back there?"

"Was it you?" Kara asked. Her blue eyes were starting to show her anger.

" I guess you could say I 'm responsible, all be it indirectly. Do you now want to kill me Kara?" He asked.

" Before I do tell me why. I may make your suffering less."

"Hahahaha" The creature laughed. " I allowed them to be killed to get too you. There is a price on your pretty head Kara, a high price, and I intend to collect it."

" You must be out of your blue mind, Thuvian. I am a thousand times more powerful than you. I can snap your pathetic neck with one finger. In fact I think I will," She said, moving toward him.

"You're a muscled brained slut Kara". I'm not stupid. I know of your strength on this planet, that's why I went to great lengths to bring along a couple of friends, friends that are indestructible, especially to a muscled brained piece of fluff like you. Behold Kara" the Thuvian said, pointing out to sea, "the most powerful creatures in the Universe, far more powerful than any big titted muscled bound woman could ever hope to be. If you want to kill me, Velorian slut, you'll have to go through them to do it." He, again, pointed out to sea. Then almost as an after thought of something he hadn't thought of; he added, with more than a little concern. "I just hope theirs enough left of you to take back."

Kara, looking out to sea, watched as out of the icy depths sprung two gigantic creatures. They were cat like with sleek black fur and a bright orange mane their eyes were blood red; they had two massive wings folded back against their bodies. One was the size of a Semi easily weighing four tons it stood over seven feet at the shoulder and was better than thirty feet long. He had a twenty-foot shark in his mouth. Kara watched as it threw it's head back, it's massive jaws closing around the huge fish biting it completely in two, it then quickly devouring both halves. The other monster was a little smaller, both however had bodies that rippled with muscle. The largest cat, noticing Kara for the first time, let out a blood-curdling roar. The hairs on the back of Kara's neck bristled and her body trembled as she realized it was these beasts that had slaughtered the Inukuk. She trembled, but not with fear, with an all-consuming rage.

Kara knew what the creature was. It was a Vuluvian Shadow cat, said to be the most powerful creature in the Universe, so powerful that the Arions aborted their campaign to take over the planet Vuluvia. After losing hundreds of Primes in fierce battles with the cats the Arions decided the cost in lives outweighed the worth of the planet. It was the first time Aria had met a species that could stand up to them. It was a tremendous blow to their ego and if not for the fear of retribution from the elders they would have destroyed the entire planet from space, without so much as a second thought, wiping out the entire species. Kara had found herself suddenly wishing, very un-Kara like, that had been the case.

" What do you think of my two pets, Kara?," laughed the Thuvian.

" I think they'll make extremely nice rugs." Kara answered, rocketing toward the largest cat.

Kara hit the beast at Mach 6! She slammed into its side with tremendous force expecting the cat to give but he did not. Kara fell to the ground knocked senseless by the impact. It was the first time she had encountered something that was stronger than she was. The big cat pounced; Kara flew to her right just barley out of reach of the cats outstretched claws.

" Nice move Kara." The grinning Thuvian laughed. " I heard you were an amazing fighter, for a woman that is."

" I'll show you just how amazing after I finish with these two" yelled Kara.

The smaller cat leapt at Kara; she met its leap with a crushing blow to its snout followed by a vicious roundhouse kick. Both blows would have felled a T-Rex but the cat was hardly stunned. Kara, boxed in, retreated slowly. She suddenly flew upwards, deciding to take the fight to the sky but before she could clear the cats she was met with a vicious paw swipe that sent her crashing back down to earth. She slammed through twelve feet of ice and into the icy waters of the north pacific, where she drifted towards the bottom nearly unconscious. Thoughts rushed through her head; of her daughter, of the people of earth that trusted her to protect them. Maybe she was too die but these cats were going to damn well know that they had been in a fight. She kicked toward the surface bursting upwards through twelve feet of ice. The surface exploded in a shower of ice as Kara crashed through, coming up directly behind the two cats. Before they had a chance to react Kara grabbed their huge tails and began spinning them around her head faster and faster until the cats were just a blur. The wind generated climbed past two hundred miles an hour, then past 3 and then 4. A tornado arced up to the sky sucking up huge icebergs spitting them miles out to sea. Kara screamed as she let the beasts go. The air around the cats exploded as their bodies, rocketing toward the mountain, shattered the sound barrier just before impacting the granite in a tremendous explosion of ice and rock.

Kara, exhausted, blew the hair out of her eyes as she stared at the huge cavern created where the beasts had struck the side of mountain. Figuring nothing could have survive that she turned away to face the Thuvian.

"What do 'you' think of your pets now?" she said, in triumph.

" I think there extremely pissed." He laughed.

Kara heard the roar coming from behind her; turning around she could only stare incredulously as both cats charged.

Kara's energy was almost completely exhausted, she knew if one of the cats got her between its massive jaws it would be all over. She readied herself but was unable to avoid a vicious swipe by the largest cat. Kara, stunned, fell to the ice unable to move. The jaws of the cat arced down toward her. Her hands went up just in time, saving her life. She had her hands on the upper and lower of jaws of the beast, her fingers completely inside its mouth trying to force its jaw's away from her face. Her muscles exploded with all the alien power of her birthright but it wasn't enough. She felt her strength fading; her muscles ached on the verge of collapse. She strained with every fiber of her body but still the cat's fangs pressed closer. Her face burned from the cat's acid like salvia which dripped down from it's jaws completely covering her face. His fangs were now touching Kara's face she could feel his hot breath. He was immensely stronger than she was. Kara knew she couldn't hold the beast's jaws open any longer, that she was seconds away from death. She stared passed the row of gleaming fangs into the cavernous mouth of the beast. Suddenly without even thinking her eyes suddenly flashed violet and a searing beam of light shot down the cat's throat. It yelped in pain leaping away shaking its massive head.

Kara, breathless, smiled, finally a weapon she could use! "So that hurt did it" Kara mocked " Take this." She gave the cat another blast, which consumed the rest of her energy, and watched in crushing disappointment as it merely glanced off his shiny black coat. The cat roared in fury feeling the sting of Kara's heat vision but it was the other cat that Kara felt. A massive swipe of its paw sent Kara rocketing toward the mountain. She struck the granite with tremendous force, a mountain of rock exploded around her as she was driven ten feet into solid granite! Kara sure that this mountain would be her grave lay unable to move encased in a tomb of granite, until a giant paw exploded the rock around her and she was sent sliding across the ice. The cats circled her; Kara tried to rise, to fight but she had nothing left. She collapsed, on the very edge of consciousness, defeated, waiting to feel the jaws of death.