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Building an Armored Tiger

By Chris Gilman

"Cars 2493, 4932, and 5932 proceed, code 3, to a 211 in progress at the Megalopolis National Bank, shots fired, suspected Meta involvement. Cordon off the area and await the arrival of the Marshalls."

Anthony Stripeback takes the mic off its hook and flips the sirens on, "This is car 4932, we copy, ETA five minutes." Returning the radio's mic to the hook he nods to the white wolf male at the wheel, "Step on it partner."

James hunches his back and grins, "You got it Stripey."

As the car starts to weave its way through the traffic the tiger riding shotgun grabs ahold of the door frame and braces to keep from being thrown around the front seat of the patrol car despite the seatbelts.

In less than five minutes the car squeals to a halt at one end of the block while other cars skid to a halt at the other end, blocking traffic as shots ring out from the tall structure.

Grabbing the shotgun from its rack between the seats the white tiger opens the door of the patrol car and takes cover behind the car, pumping the slide to chamber a round. His partner grabs the mic, "This is car 4932, on scene, north end of Walker Blvd." He ducks his head as bullets tear through the air around their car and spark off the armored windows. He ducks out the passenger door putting more steel between him and the bullets as he peeks over to count the muzzle flashes firing at them, "Looks like they got a small army in there.

"DOWN!" shouts Anthony as a rocket roars from the bank and hits one of the other patrol cars blocking traffic flipping it through the air end over end. "You have got to be kidding me!" he growls as the machineguns open up again, tearing up the street and peppering the patrol cars with the pock marks of bullet strikes. "Jason, please tell me the Force coughed up the cash for something bigger than this," he indicates the shotgun in his hands, "Maybe a tank, a bazooka, or even a recoilless rifle in the trunk maybe?"

The white wolf shakes his head as he peeks from behind the cover of the patrol car, "Sorry partner, that's what we got. The Marshalls are supposed to be the ones to handle this sort of thing, not us. They've got the talent and tech to handle situations like this."

Bullets tear up the street on either side of the patrol car and rain asphalt on the two officers as they huddle behind their car. The wolf looks up with shock, his ear twitching as a loud roaring, "Shit, INCOMING!"

"AAAAAHHHHH!!!" They scream as they dive away from their car as another rocket flies from the bank's front windows and strikes just under their patrol car's engine. Time slows down as Anthony dives for cover and is caught by the blast, the shockwave carrying him to impact a mailbox and a pair of newspaper machines with a loud crash. He opens his eyes to see the flaming wreckage of the car closing on him. "Oh shit," he mumbles as the flaming wreckage lands on top of him and the world goes black.

***

Anthony opens his eyes to bright light and a sense of peace, "I'm dead aren't I?" He looks around to find himself in a peaceful field of green grass, a gentle breeze caressing the fur of his face and waving the longer strands of grass.

"Not yet lad, but you're on the edge of life and death."

The deep voice makes him jump in surprise and turning his head he finds an older black feline carving a small figure with a pocket knife, "Who are you?"

"Just a guide lad," the old feline says as he blows the shavings from the wooden figure and admires it for a minute before returning to his whittling. "And before you ask, no I'm not an angel. A friend asked me to come down and talk to you before you've made your decision, and I couldn't refuse the chance to speak to such a strong young male."

"You look familiar though," the tiger says as he sits up and studies the feline, his eyes squinting as if that is going to change his appearance. "There's a certain cast of your features, wait..." Standing slowly, his jaw drops as the sunlight falling on the older feline shows that he's not solid black as first thought. The slight difference shows as dark tiger stripes against a slightly lighter base only visible when the light is just right. "You're great uncle Aergos aren't you? You were the first of the family to join the police force. I remember dad showing me pictures of you and telling me how you were a rare black tiger."

A smile creases the old male's features, "Sure am lad."

"But, you're dead..."

The black tiger gives a gruff laugh as he brushes wood chips from his lap, "That I am lad, I see all those years in the police force have taught you to recognize the obvious when it's right before your whiskers." He chuckles again, "Your family has been watching over you with pride in your chosen career and the way you've lived your life, but you've got quite a choice coming lad."

"You mean," he gulps, "I have to decide if I'll live or die?"

He shakes his head, "No lad, you're going to live. That choice has already been made. The Marshalls arrived moments after the car landed on you and were able to pull you free before you were burned too severely. Your partner is about to resuscitate you before it is too late and take you from this peace."

The older feline looks around the green field and lets the gentle breeze ruffle his fur, "Don't be mad at him from taking you from this place, it is not yet your time to join the rest of your ancestors."

Lowering his gaze to the younger tiger his eyes show a hint of pride in his young descendant, "But the choice of what you're going to do is still to be made." He holds up the small figure he's been carving, a feline wearing a strange armor, "Do you cave under the stress of the days to come and give-in to weakness? Or do you use that amazing intellect of yours to do more good than a hundred police officers?" The older black tiger grins as he prods the young male on his forehead, "You always were the brightest member of the family, smarter than most of the eggheads out there. Use that talent lad, change the world, and make it a safer place for all."

"Arrgghh!" Anthony cries out, doubling over and clutching his chest before he can respond to the old feline. Falling to his knees, the feeling of someone stabbing him in the heart tearing through his chest, he wonders if the vision before him is wrong and he really is about to die.

***

His eyes fly open in shock, the peace and calm of the sunlit meadow is gone, replaced by sirens, shouts, and flashing emergency lights as gunshots continue to ring out in the background. Jason sets the pads of the defibrillator aside and shakes his partner, "Anthony! It'll be ok, the ambulance is going to be here any second." The white wolf looks up and waves his arm over his head, "Over here, get that stretcher over here damnit! I've got an officer down!"

A couple of paramedics roll over a stretcher as Anthony's voice creaks out, a tear rolling down his blood and soot smeared cheek, "Jason... "

His partner looks down at him and takes the tiger's hand in his, "Yeah bud, they'll get you to the hospital and you'll be right as rain in a few days."

"Jason... I can't feel my legs..."

***

There is a brief knock before the door opens and a white wolf's head pops into the hospital room, "Hey Anthony, how you doing?" He enters the room at the tiger's slight smile, a large bouquet of flowers in his hands, "From everyone at the office, with hopes you'll be back on the streets with us soon."

Anthony stares at the flowers for a moment before turning his head away, the smile replaced by a disappointed frown, "Thanks, but we both know that won't be possible."

The wolf's smile droops, "Hey now partner, the doctors said..."

The young tiger's head whips around to glare at his friend, "I know what they said; I was there. Remember? Permanent nerve damage to both legs, the odds are I'll never walk again and be lucky if I ever have any sensation again," he snaps. "I'm a god damn cripple!"

"Only if you let yourself be one," James says as he puts the flowers in a vase before he sits in the chair next to his partner. He reaches for the tiger's hand, careful of the tubes connected to him, and squeezes firmly. "Has Kimberly been by?"

Anthony nods, "She was here from the moment they brought me in from surgery I've been told. She looked so tired when I woke up, I asked her to get some rest. She's in the other room," he nods towards the closed door.

"Have you talked to her about how you can overcome this?"

He shakes his head slowly, "I don't see too many options right now."

Jason tightens him mouth into a thin line of determination, "Look, so what if you've suffered this little setback. You're a genius with a doctorate from MIT in mechanical and electrical engineering. Your girlfriend is a tenured physicist at the university. Between the two of you, I'm sure you can overcome any challenge."

Anthony turns his head from Jason and closes his eyes, "Brains can only do so much without a working nervous system."

"You know the saying bud, brains over brawn. Now you just need to prove it, and if anyone can, you can." A mischievous grin crosses his lips, "Especially with Kimberly's help."

The tiger sighs and a hot tear runs from his eye, "I'm tired Jason, thank the guys back at the station for me, but I just want to sleep right now." With a deep sigh he closes his eyes and drifts to sleep.

Jason pats his hand as he releases it, "Alright partner, I'll check in with you later."

Anthony waits for the door to close before he opens his eyes again and lets the tears flow freely, "Uncle Aergos, I don't know what choice is going to bring me back from this."

He suddenly notices something on the table next to his bed. Sitting there among all the cards and flowers is a small hand carved figure of a feline male, wearing a strange suit of armor. It's the very figure he saw his great uncle carving in his dream, and it hadn't been there before. "How..." he starts to ask but is cut off as an idea flashes through his mind, "Of course..." A smile crosses half his muzzle as the ideas start to take root and grow. "Thanks Uncle Aergos, I know what I need to do now."

***

Anthony wheels his chair across his workshop and examines the blueprints on the large screen. Taking a light pen from the desk he makes a few minor changes and notations. Chewing lightly on the end of the pen he nods, "Now just to build it."

An orange and black striped arm encircles his shoulders as an athletic tigress leans in to nuzzle his cheek, "Have you solved the power situation yet?"

He returns her nuzzle, "Not yet, if this works I'll only be able to use it for a few hours at a time under full mobility, but a single charge should restore sensation for at least twenty-four hours." He taps the screen with his light pen and an exploded design for the power-pack enlarges on the screen. "I'm close to a breakthrough, but something is still evading me." His brows wrinkle as a frown creases his features, "It won't let me return to the streets, but the Chief has already offered me a job working for the Police Department down in the new R&D department at HQ. Meta cases are on the rise, and sometimes the cops get there long before the Marshalls. They need new and better equipment to handle the situations. I don't want another officer to get injured as I was."

She nods and takes his light pen to make a slight change in one of the equations, "You missed this dear."

He smiles and gives her a peck on the cheek, his nose lingering there to inhale her intoxicating scent, "Thanks hun, I knew something looked wrong there." He taps a few keys and several detail shots appear on the screen, "Now, we just have to make it."

***

Kimberly secures the rig to Anthony's legs and waist with tugs of the straps. "Are you sure the rig is ready for a full test?" she says as the last of the straps is secured.

"As ready as I can be Kim, and how else can we do a full test other than by trying it out?" He gives her a sheepish smile, "Besides, it's not like it can hurt my legs any more than they already are." Taking the glowing power-pack from the charging rack he stares at it, the bluish glow reflecting in his eyes, "Let's do this." Shifting his gaze to Kimberly he holds out the palm sized cartridge.

With a deep sigh she nods in understanding and taking the power-pack she slots it into the harness near the base of his spine, "Alright, let's give it a live trial." She walks over to a computer and taps in a series of commands as Anthony stretches out face down on the padded table. Looking over at him she bites her lip, "Ready?"

Lifting an arm he gives her a thumb up, "Hit me."

She taps the activation code and he winces as hair thin flexible needles are inserted to connect the rig directly to his nervous system. He gives a full body convulsion as the ends of the probes find their neural points and latch into his body's damaged system. "Ant, you ok?" she asks, worries filling her voice as she watches her lover twitch for a few more moments.

Nodding he pants for breath, "The connection shock is painful, but I'm fine now. Activate the power coupling. Please, I want to walk again." Closing his eyes he whispers, "I want to just feel something again."

Watching him without hiding her worry she triggers the last piece of the program and his legs give an involuntary twitch along their length.

Anthony's eyes widen in surprise, "I felt that," he says, his voice so soft, Kimberly can barely hear it.

Kimberly runs over and reaches a hand towards his bare legs but pulls back in fear that he still won't feel her touch.

He looks over his shoulder at her, "Please, I want to feel your touch on my legs again. I want to know it's real and not some phantom sensory input."

With a shaky hand she pets the striped fur of his legs and he closes his eyes, a soft purr of pleasure escaping his throat, "Thank all the gods, I can feel..."

Kimberly grips his thigh, "You can feel that?" a quiver in her voice the only indication that she is afraid to ask in fear that he won't feel it.

Smiling at her he twists his body to look at her, "Each and every touch babe, my legs can feel again."

He looks down at his legs and with a deep breath his legs move on their own for the first time in six months, "I can move..."

Kimberly takes his arm and helps steady him as he puts his bare feet to the floor on his own and with an unsteady lurch lifts himself under his own power again. "It's a miracle," whispers Kimberly as she smiles, a tear of joy rolling down her cheek.

He tentatively takes a single step and wobbles a little, "My legs are a little weak, despite the exercises I've done. But I can walk again, I'll get stronger." He holds Kimberly in his arms and buries his face in her hair, his voice a whisper, "Thank the gods, it is a miracle."

***

"Hey Chief Marchek, what can I do for you," Anthony asks as he walks into the office.

"Anthony!" the buff polar bear behind the desk shouts in pleasure as he stands and shakes his hand. "Good to see you walking son, but how?"

Releasing the big bear's hand Anthony pulls up a leg of his pants enough to show the thin harness strapped to his leg, "A prototype, but it lets me walk around for short periods and returns a sense of feeling to my legs for longer. I'm still working on the power-packs to try and extend the system's duration."

Gregory Marchek whistles in amazement, "Jason said you had a degree in engineering and that you'd be an asset to the new R&D program. Now I can definitely see the proof," he indicates a chair, "please sit."

Anthony takes the indicated seat as the Chief passes a folder to him, "As the head engineer of the new R&D team, we've got your first major project here. The officers need new uniforms."

Anthony flips through the folder, "The guidelines are a bit slim 'sexier with more protection' is a little vague."

The Chief nods and gives him a shrug, "Yeah, I know. That description comes down from city hall. You don't need to worry about the aesthetics, just the protection part. They found some fancy pants designer to draw out the latest in fashion."

With a flip he closes the folder and nods, "I'll see what I can do Chief." Standing he holds out his hand, "Thanks again for letting me at least help the force in this small way," he indicates the folder.

The polar bear gives him a toothy smile and shakes his hand, "Hey Anthony, you're still a member of our family. Getting injured in the line of duty isn't about to change that."

***

Anthony looks slack jawed at the designs on the screen in front of him. "Amazing isn't it officer," asks the feminine male vulpine standing next to him. "These are the latest designs and all the rage in Europe."

He looks over to the designer and growls, his claws digging into the edge of his desk as he grips it hard, "What kind of protection do you expect that to give our officers?"

The fox just waves a hand dismissively, "That is your concern officer, and I am merely the designer of the outfit. You get to figure out how to protect your people while wearing it without destroying the aesthetics of such an amazing garment. But as you can see, this uniform shows off an amazing amount of fur, any villain should immediately stop their evil doing to ogle the fine physique of the officer wearing one of these. And of course, the built in cock-sheath will keep the men hard as rock and ready for constant use." He sniffs critically, "Of course, the females will have no such proud appendage, but the ladies will get a skimpy g-string and the harness will emphasize their breasts more."

Trying to suppress his anger and keep his fur from fluffing in agitation he leans back in his chair and crosses his arms across his chest, his hands clenched into fists, "This is going to get my fellow officers killed!"

"Oh contraire, this is going to distract the hooligans so much, they won't be able to think straight. When they see the beautiful officers in this, they will give up just so they can get closer to such beauty."

"You're assuming they don't just die laughing, these outfits look like the police are staring in a porno!"

The fox is taken aback at the insult, "Now, there is no need to be rude just because you can't understand my genius officer." He turns and saunters out of the laboratory, his hips swaying like a runway model, "These designs have already been approved by City Hall, so I would recommend that you do your job quickly officer, you don't want to leave the public waiting for the chance to see their police force in such lovely outfits."

As the fox leaves Anthony steeples his fingers as he looks over the skimpy outfits. 'This is little more than a jock-strap and a bondage harness with boots and gloves. One that will let the males and females of the force get it on at any time. He closes his eyes and pinches the bridge of his nose to grunt, "I hope the old man can change this order." He pokes at the speed dial on his office phone and rubbing his forehead waits for the response as a shudder runs down his spine.

"Chief Marchek here," responds the ursine's voice.

"Chief, please tell me I can fire the designer of the uniforms?"

"Anthony? Sorry lad, no can do, his appointment came down from on high and they want his uniform to be the standard. I'm not sure what's going on lately, but I know they've suddenly decided sexy is good and the skimpier the better. I did get them to relent and put it in writing that any detective or can continue to wear civilian clothes while on the job. That means you're safe lad."

Anthony sighs, "Alright sir, but this is going to be awfully hard to armor, hell, there's too little fabric to put armor on. I'll have to change a few systems around, maybe a force field of some sort. Yeah, that might just work; the field wouldn't suffer from the degradation of something irregular like cloth flapping into the fields."

"Do what you can Anthony, I didn't know what I was throwing you into with this project. For what it's worth, I'm sorry, but I'm glad you're on the job."

Anthony grunts into the phone, "Don't worry, sir. I'm hard at work right now. I should have a prototype for you soon."

"Good lad. I'll leave you to it, let me know when everything comes-together," the chief says as he hangs up his end or the line.

Peeking under his desk he watches Kimberly licking the last few drops of his seed from her feline muzzle and lips, "Whatever has gotten into everyone else lately sure has affected you too dear."

"Hehe," she giggles and nuzzles his slowly fading erection she'd been sucking on the whole time the fox was in the office describing his latest and greatest style. "Why, did my big bad tiger not enjoy his lunchtime treat?"

Pressing a button on his desk to seal the labs from all outsiders he pulls her out from under the desk and sets her on top. "Oh contraire my sweet girl, I want my desert now," he says as he pulls the crotch of her daisy-duke shorts out of the way and starts to lap at the hidden oasis underneath.

She gasps as his rough tongue explores her hidden depths and grips his short hair in one hand as her other reaches back to support her, knocking the monitor with its erotic uniform to the floor. Their mutual purrs fill the room with a rumble of pleasure.

***

Anthony triggers his harness to full power and stands up, "Chief, I think we've got the first part of the protection issue resolved."

The large bear shakes his hand and smiles at the young tiger, "Lad, it still amazes me knowing you're paralyzed from the waist down yet I watch you stand and walk around here every day."

"Heh, it's still got its glitches Chief."

He steps over to a table and picks up a large caliber pistol and inserts a book sized magazine into the chamber, "This is a Deadly Dragon Mark IV, one of the most powerful handguns in the world. It uses a .75 caliber round accelerated to supersonic velocity by the time it leaves the twelve inch barrel." He points towards a mannequin wearing one of the fetish harnesses that have been designed for the beat officers to wear, "There we have an officer wearing the newest and greatest uniform commissioned by city hall to cover as little fur as possible."

Holding up the gun he thumbs the slide shut and points the muzzle at the target painted over where the heart would be. The Chief puts his fingers in his ears as Anthony flattens his own ears to his head and pulls the trigger. With an ear ringing eruption, sixteen inches of flare erupt from the muzzle and there is a ping as the now mushroomed bullet drops to the ground in front of the mannequin.

Lowering the smoking hand-cannon he smiles at the results. "As you can see, the shield integrated into the harness is more than a match for this man-killer which could punch its way through an armored plate."

The bear nods, his eyes wide in amazement, "Impressive lad." He tilts his head to one side and raises an eyebrow, "What issues are there if it can stop a monster like that already? Our officers don't usually face anti-tank rounds, but anything smaller can't be an issue after that."

With a grimace the tiger unloads the pistol and sets it down to pick up a compact SMG. "This is the problem, sir." Without another word he snaps the firearm to his shoulder and empties the thirty round magazine in under three seconds.

The mannequin's shield stops about a third of the rounds before it fails and the rest turn the target into Swiss-cheese.

The smile on the Chief's face falls at the quite simple demonstration. "Let me guess. The same failure as that fancy harness that lets you walk son?"

Clearing the SMG he nods, "Yes, sir. The shield's capacitors and energy cells can only maintain the field so long under a continuous onslaught. Single rounds, even from an anti-tank rifle are no risk, but a machine gun or even a small SGM like this," he hefts the gun to indicate, "can punch through quickly."

The big polar bear claps the smaller male on the back, "Keep at it son, I'm sure you'll solve the problem soon. You've got one of the top minds in the country."

***

The darkness of his home office is broken only by the light of his screen as Anthony taps away at his keyboard. His eyes flick to a secondary monitor and he winces in disappointment and closes his eyes as he thinks to himself, 'Still unable to sustain the power levels. There has to be an answer.'

His eyes open and search the dim light to find the outline of a board against one wall where he has posted notes about many strange happenings in the city and a large map with push pins covering it. 'I don't know what's causing the rash of changes in the inhibitions of the people of this city, but something is. Every time I smell Kimberly's scent, or see her fine ass in a tight skirt or jeans, I can't help but...' he stops his mental ruminations and looks down to find his pants tented by a throbbing erection. "You're not making it any easier," he mumbles to himself. 'There must be a solution to all problems, but I'm jstu missing it somehow.'

A pair of strong feminine arms wrap themselves around Anthony's neck and a whiff of Kimberly's perfume entices his nose as she nuzzles into his neck, "Come to bed honey, you've been at this for hours. You need your sleep to think."

Turning his head he nuzzles her back, a pleased smile crossing his muzzle, "I will soon dear, I'm so close to solving the power cell to capacitor problem with the shields. Every day I don't get this done, is another day one of my brother and sister officers could end up like me."

She raises her eyes from his neck to look over his notes on the screen, "The high capacity power cells still melting after a few minutes of use? Have you tried to split the cells so they feed multiple capacitors?"

He nods and leans back with a sigh, "Yeah, to store enough power and still put out the required amount for such durations is beyond the capacity of the normal materials, at least if we want to be able to mount them in those harnesses they call a uniform." He signs and closes his eyes, "I may have to go back to the drawing board and start from scratch."

His computer dings and Kimberly shakes his shoulders to get his attention, "Ant..."

"Hmmm?" he mutters as he opens his eyes and looks to the screen.

His eyes open wide at the message box that has appeared on his monitor. 'I hear you need help with a power source not only for your own miraculous device, but to assist the MPD.'

His eyes dart over the screen to find the program this message is reaching him through. When his eyes return to the small text window the message has changed, 'Don't try to understand how I'm talking to you. Just accept that I want to help. You're close to the breakthrough you've been looking for, and I see no reason to keep such an important piece of information from the hands of our loyal police officers.' A file folder appears on his desktop and he watches a progress bar fill as files are dumped to his computer.

He quickly types, 'Who are you?'

The answer is a long time coming but finally the words appear, 'I am a friend of the citizens of Megalopolis, and I know how to keep secrets when necessary, I know what else you are working on and what these files will mean for your own goals. Remember that you take on a great burden by exposing yourself and joining our ranks. There are some who would not want me to give you this technology, but I trust you will use it wisely.'

As the progress bar finishes the message box blinks out of existence. Kimberly continues to stare at the screen with wide eyes, her arms clutching him tightly to her. "I'd heard tell of a meta that could infiltrate any computer. We've had research data go missing at the lab only to be replaced with the message that it is too dangerous for us to currently know and it will be returned when the time is right. But this might be more than one meta, these messages were far from being a warning. It would seem they really want to help you, and through you, the MPD."

He nods and with a shaking hand moves the pointer to the file and clicks it. Screens pop open on his screen, blueprints, pages of calculations, and notes that look to have been hand scrawled.

"It's all here," he says as he taps one of the notes, "This is the key, it's the lattice of ceramic metal that keeps the cells at a room temperature." He looks at her, his eyes gleaming with excitement, "I can finally make it."

She moves his hand and picks a different file with the mouse, "And this... it'll provide ten times the protection of titanium alloy. That will stop an anti-tank rocket. I don't know who gave us this information, but they are trying to help, and with far more than the MPD project. They must know what you've been building on the side."

Anthony starts to type on the keyboard with fingers well practiced in the art of speed typing. He access the fabricators in the lab at MPD are starts to define the programs to build the new components.

Kimberly reaches past Anthony to turn off his monitor, "It can wait Ant. You need your sleep to use all that information correctly."

He looks her in the eyes and she can tell the excitement is overpowering the call of sleep. "You're either coming to bed with me now, or I'm pulling your power pack and carrying your limp ass with me."

The excitement in his green eyes changes as a lecherous grin crosses his face, "I got a better idea." He stands and sweeps her into his arms. Their lips locked in a deep kiss he carries her to their bedroom and deposits her on their bed.

She shrugs out of his oversized shirt she is wearing, there being no underwear to get in the way of her scent or his ministrations. Lifting her rump, tail held high, she looks over her shoulder as he discards his shorts, her intoxicating scent already having the desired effect as his maleness stands rigid at attention for her. With a lick of her lips she arcs her tail over her back and wiggles her sweet smelling sex at him, "Come claim your tigress my strong mate."

He growls, advancing on her with the gleam of lust in his pale green eyes. Climbing onto the bed he cups her mound with one hand while he bends over her and takes the thick scruff of her neck into his jaws with a low rumbling growl. She purrs as her head lowers and her sex presses back against his probing hand. Her tail wraps around his waist and tries to pull him closer to her, to force him to take her and make her his.

"Mmmmmmrrrrrrr..." she purrs as he slowly slips one digit between her folds and teases the entrance of her passage while another probes slightly further forward to play with her little nub of a clitoris. "AH!" she gasps as he flicks a finger over the sensitive nub.

Closing his eyes he takes in her intoxicating scent and lets it fog his mind, gone are the worries about the work yet to do or the challenges to overcome. Only the female under him, in his hands, and in his jaws is of importance at this time as her overwhelming pheromones flood his system with a burning desire and need, the need, to breed.

Releasing her neck to kneel behind her he releases her sex to rub her slippery juice along his leaking length and lubricate the tight flesh. She turns her head to watch him, a smile on her muzzle, "Oh yes..." she reaches a hand between her legs to spread her vulva invitingly for him. "Your tigress needs this, as I think you do too," she purrs at him.

His shaft in his hand he moves closer, his weapon aimed right at her willing target. "Mmmmrrrrr," she purrs as the blunt tip rubs against her dripping entrance. "Please," she whimpers and is rewarded by a slow and steady thrust of maleness deep into her passage.

"Ah!" she gasps in pleasure as his girth stretches her tight canal. Finally hilted in her he grips her ass cheeks with his claws barely expressed to tease her flesh. "Meeewl," she whines as he holds himself deep in her silken chamber.

Using one thumb to tease the tight little rosebud of her anus he makes her whine louder, "Aaah!" as her tight canal clenches momentarily then relaxes slightly as more wetness slickens their joining.

He chuffs and his lips curl in a smile as she wiggles under him, trying to move him as she wills but with little success. His greater strength holds her hips tightly to his and his member deep inside her. Lubricating his thumb with some of her dripping juice he probes her anus gently until it relaxes enough to let the thick digit ease inside as she moans, "Ooooooooh! That's not fair; you know what that does to me. I need it..." she wines as she continues to try to force him faster.

With this he starts to slowly give short thrusts into her eager sex with his thick piston. "Faster," she begs but he holds the pace slow and steady, purring as he teases her eager body with his own. Not moving more than an inch in either way he gently coaxes her body along, his digit wiggling in her tailhole as his member explores her hidden cavern.

"Grrrrrr," she growls and suddenly he feels his legs go weak as her tail deactivates his neural harness' movement controls but leaves his legs able to feel.

"Ack!" he cries as she swings her legs around and slams his back onto the bed without removing him from her passage.

She sits tall over him, straddling his hips, his length still buried inside her. "That's more like it," she purrs down at him, her back ached and breasts thrust out as he looks up at her with a startled look. She pulls her hips up till only his tip is inside her and with a grin on her muzzle slams herself down on his achingly hard member with a wet squelch.

Mutual, "Oooohs," of pleasure escape their mouths as they gasp at the feelings coursing through their bodies. She doesn't stop to enjoy it though, her need has grown from all his teasing, and now she intends to take what she needs from her willing mate's body. Without pause she raises her hips again and starts to bounce hard in his lap, her breasts rising and falling with the rhythm of her body's motions and the gasping of her breath. Wet slaps mingle with their grunts and growls of passion.

His hands reach up to cup those mounds of woman flesh, his fingers finding the nipples in her soft fur and gently pinching them. She covers his hands with her own, pulling his hands into her mounds, forcing him to clutch her firm flesh, a demand he is more than willing to fulfill.

"Aaaah!" she screams as she finally slams down on him and stays down, her legs and hips quivering as her inner muscles clench and spasm around his length. "Now!" she cries as she arches her back, grinding her spasming sex into his loins as waves of passion roll thought her making her body quiver in orgasmic bliss.

"RRRRRAAARRRRGGGGGG!" he roars, his hands clenching on her mounds as her flesh seems to momentarily swell inside her and thick gushes of his seed floods her womb. His own hips thrust up to keep himself as deep in her as he can as his cubmakers empty stream after stream of hot tiger semen into her.

Finally spent she collapses forward to lie on his sweaty chest, them both gasping for breath after such intense orgasms. She nuzzles her head into his chest, enjoying the mixed scents of their sweat and sex on the air. His arms encircle her and he holds her gently to his chest. As their breathing slowly eases they drift into the restful sleep they both were seeking, still joined at the loins.

***

"Chief, can you come down to the lab, I think I've got the solution to the shield," Anthony asks over the phone.

"You do?!" asks the surprised voice of the ursine on the other end of the line.

"Yes, sir, and I've got something special I want to show you while you're down here."

"I'll clear my schedule and be there in fifteen minutes," he responds and the line goes dead.

Anthony turns and smiles at the covered table to one side of the small laboratory. "I really got something to show you boss."

True to his word the big polar bear badges through the door to the labs fifteen minutes later and walks quickly towards the smiling tiger. "How'd you do it lad? Are you sure it's going to work?"

Anthony shakes his head as he extends his hand to his boss, "Sir, I'd like to keep it proprietary for now. The theories behind some of this can't be allowed beyond these walls. We don't want a villain like Nightmare to get his hands on this technology. That little helper of his Technophile has enough high tech in her body without giving them access to this power source. With a few of these power cells she'd be a bigger threat than half the villains of the city combined."

Chief Marcheck nods as he shakes the tiger's offered hand, "I understand lad, and as long as we can use them to power our protective fields I don't care if you want to keep the secrets in that brilliant head of yours, as long as they work for us."

Anthony hands him some earplugs and puts in a pair of his own before he waves to the heavy machine gun set on a tripod and the target mannequin ten yards in front of it, "If you would do the honors, sir. I've already loaded a five-hundred round belt; all you have to do is fire it."

Stepping up to the heavy machine gun he takes the handles in his massive hands and with a careful application of pressure presses his thumbs down on the butterfly trigger.

The gun bucks and vibrates as it eats through the five-hundred round belt of ammo in less than a minute and clicks as the bolt slams on an empty chamber.

Taking a remote from his pocket Anthony activates exhaust fans to clear the smoke from the area of the machine gun and the target. As it clears the mannequin is still standing there perfectly intact, the tiniest shimmer of the personal shield visible in the hazy air. A mound of mushroomed bullets litters the floor at the feet of the target and not a one has pierced the field.

The polar bear picks his jaw up off the floor, "Amazing, that would have turned a person into hamburger. Hell that would have turned an armored car into swiss-cheese."

"We can't extend the field to cover something as big as a car without losing a large percentage of the effects strength. But this creates a personal field that will protect our officers from anything up to and including a rocket. With no cloth or other material to get in the way, there is nothing to disrupt the field's integrity. With a nearly perfect field it is virtually impenetrable."

The Chief turns to smile at the younger male, "I never doubted you Anthony. You have given us the best form of protection against the goons out there on the streets. If you ever need anything, just ask. It's yours."

Anthony takes the proffered hand and looks sheepish, "Sir, I've got a personal project to show you too if you have the time?"

"Anything lad, anything at all!" the big polar bear bellows with a laugh and a slap on his back.

He directs him towards the covered table and at the curious look on the bear's face he whisks the cover off with a flourish to reveal a collection of intricate armor pieces fitted together into one sleek piece of hardware.

Chief Marcheck whistles in appreciation, "What have you got here lad? I've been on the force over 20 years, and I know meta-tech when I see it, this is meta-tech."

"It's a creation working off the same system that lets me walk. With the refinements made to the power cells I can now walk unhindered for a week without recharging on my current system." He picks up a small glowing power cell about the size of a D-cell battery, "This is three times the size of the cells used to power the shields, and it will run this suit at battle condition for twenty-four hours without a hitch. The suit carries four of them for backups."

"How many of these can you make, they will be a great addition to the force. These are much better than those fetish uniforms city hall is saddling us with."

Anthony sets the power cell down and looks at the armor, "One sir," he says with a flat voice.

The ursine looks at him with surprise, "One? Explain."

"Sir, the shields are one thing, a simple adaptation of technology that is pretty well understood, but this," he waves a hand at the armor. "This is years beyond even what the military has. Hell, I bet it's at least an equal to anything the Marshals might have in their arsenal. I have designed every bolt and every wire. Each plate of armor alloy took hours to craft and would stop a main battle-tank's main gun." He reaches out to run a fingertip across the visor of the helmet, "I was given a second chance so I could build this. This is something I need, sir." His gaze rises to the large ursine, "I need to be on the streets again, not just sitting here in the basement making toys for the big boys to play with."

"Lad, you know you're treading a fine line between the MPD and the Marshals. This is meta-tech, and soon as they see you using it, they'll know you're a meta."

Anthony shakes his head, "I'm no meta, I can't outrun a bullet to crush a tank with my bare hands."

Chief Marcheck grips Anthony's shoulders and turns him to look him square in the eyes, "Lad, I want you to listen to me. As I said, I know meta-tech when I've seen it. And no, you're not a physical meta, you're something far stronger." He taps him on the forehead, "You're an intelligence meta. With your brain there is almost nothing you can't do. You're fortunate that with your upbringing in a police family that you were instilled with the virtues to protect and serve, so you've not let your knowledge drive you mad. I think your family would be proud son."

The tiger nods, "I know, and I can't explain all the reasons I made this before I talked to you about it, but I have been given a calling. I can't allow the technology of this suit to become common enough for any officer to wear; this one is programed to respond only to my neural system and no one else's."

"Your neural system?" the polar bear asks in shock.

Anthony nods, "Sir, as I said, its controls operate on the same principles as my harness that lets me walk. You have to tie your nervous system directly into the suit; I will feel it like it is part of my body. The armored plates my skin, the sensors my senses, and the damage my own."

"Lad," the chief rests a hand on his shoulder, "Do you really intend to use this? If you took too severe of damage it could kill you, and you're not going to be going after some punk with a knife, you're going to be facing the worst villains the city has seen."

"We built safeguards into the feedback; nothing harmful will be felt as harm to my person. I'll be perfectly safe as any other officer out there with the new shields," the tiger reassures.

Anthony reaches into his pocket and takes out two items. One, his badge, still scratched and charred from the incident that paralyzed him. The other is a small rough carved wooden figure of a tiger in an armored suit. "Sir, I will do this, not for myself, not for revenge, but if I can save even one life, I feel the outcome is worth the risks." He looks up to his boss, "Sir, I ask to be reinstated for street duty as 'Armored Tiger'. I will report only to you in this role, not the Marshals. I don't want them to know who I really am. They would want to take the suit and learn its secrets then probably lock me and Kimberly in some weapons lab of theirs. Sir, I'm a police officer, I want to stay with my brothers in the war on crime. I want to be free to do the good I have been raised to do."

The polar bear lowers his gaze and nods, "Hmm... Alright!" he looks up into the tiger's pale green eyes, "Son, you're going to be the first meta to officially be on the MPD. I'll have to issue you another badge for your use while you're using the armor, but that's not a big issue. I'm the Chief of Police after all. You'll be our heavy hitter in meta response, but you need to continue your cover here as our lead R&D tech."

Anthony nods in agreement, "I understand, sir. What will you do about the Marshals, what about Inquisitor, he won't stand for an unlicensed meta running around with a badge."

The big bear grins, "You leave that over stuffed peacock to me lad, he's got no power over me or you. The MPD is expressly outside his control and he can bluster all he wants, but as long as Armored Tiger is on the roster as a police officer, then you aren't unlicensed in the legal sense."

He takes a data tablet out of a pocket and looks down at it, "Sir, we both know about the increase in the rates of sexual crimes and the weird actions of the inhabitants of the city. It's even impacting me personally. My girlfriend has been suffering from an almost constant arousal. I can't even be in the same room as my girlfriend without getting a boner, and my mind swimming with the thoughts of ripping her clothes off and fucking her brains out. The other night at a public restaurant we almost did it on the table in from of the other patrons, not that we would have been the only ones." He hands the tablet to the bear, "Sir, I know I might be jumping the gun, but I've noticed something," he points to the map on the screen. "The easiest way to inflict some mood altering drug would be the water treatment plant. I think I know my first mission."

The bear looks over the tablet and nods, "Lad, you're not the first to bring the situation to my attention, or the attention of the Marshals, but I think you've given us the first solid lead on it." He looks towards the armor, "I'll get your new shield lad, get your fancy suit there on. You've got a meta to bust. I'll make some calls."

***

Anthony lies back on the cradle of the table and connects his harness to the main interface of the suit with a loud clack. As the needles slip in to connect the armor to his nervous system he grits his teeth, "Ugh! I'm never going to get used to that."

Kimberly looks at him from the remote screen next to the table, "Are you sure this is a good idea? You haven't tested the system under battle conditions. Shouldn't you maybe call in some Marshals to back you up? Or at least call for the SWAT team and their heavy weapons?"

He shakes his head, "The Marshals would insist on knowing everything about me, including that you know almost as much about this system as I do. I don't want them to suspect anyone from within their ranks gave us the knowledge to finish this. Who knows what Inquisitor would do to them?"

She nods and looks off screen at her own readouts, "Your pulse is high, you need to relax."

"I'm trying, but honestly whatever it is they've been infecting the city with it's affecting me even now, seeing you is turning me on like hell," he chuckles. Looking down at his groin he finds his member starting to rise to the occasion it's not going to get for a while yet. "Let's button up the armor before I can change my mind, consider this the test run Kim. Every new piece of technology has to be tested by a real person, and I'm that person this time."

She nods and focuses on her own monitors, the clicking of keys coming over the speakers as she enters the commands for the table to start sealing him in the armor. From under and around the table the pieces of armor are extended to mesh together like the intricate puzzle they are. With clicks and hisses the pieces interlock and hermetically seal him into their cocoon of metal and polymers. He grunts as the waste receptacles attach to the proper orifices and intravenous lines connect to monitor his metabolism and apply nutrients and medications as needed.

He feels his legs and loins quickly sealed and armored as the mechanical arms reach for more and more parts. Soon the breastplates attach and the power cells in their armored casings start to provide the suit's systems with the power they need.

With a last whirr the opened helmet slides down over his head and closes about his head like a clamp. The darkness inside comes to life as holographic readouts show him the systems' booting and a small window appears in one corner with Kimberly smiling reassuringly at him, "You're doing better. Never knew you liked tight enclosed spaces."

"Why not hon, I love yours and eagerly dive into it every chance I get," he teases and the insides of her ears turn a deeper pink with blush.

"You dirty young man," she laughs back at him as his vision comes online and he turns his head to look around the lab. The suit's readouts and targeting projected directly onto his eyes rather than hovering before him. "I'm showing your systems are booted and everything is reading at one-hundred percent. Are you ready to try to stand?"

"Yeah, let's see how she works," he says as the arms retract into the table and there is the clicking of several clamps unlocking, he can actually feel them releasing his armor as if they had been holding his skin rather than a ton of armor to its cradle.

Swinging his legs over the side he sits up as naturally as if he was naked and not surrounded by the most advanced piece of hardware to be invented in a century. Setting his feet carefully on the floor he can actually feel the cool tiles beneath his feet and even the slight brush of the air-conditioning in the room blowing on the skin of the suit. "This is amazing, I think we did a better job than I could have imagined. It's as if I'm wearing nothing."

Kimberly nods as she glances over her readouts, "Well, right now I wish you were naked, and then I wouldn't worry about you doing something stupid like fighting in that suit."

The Chief whistles from where he'd been watching Anthony suit up, having re-entered the lab quietly unobserved by the tigers. "That is one intricate piece of technology son." He slowly walks around Anthony and looks the armored figure up and down.

"Yes sir, the Armored Tiger includes both passive and active defenses. It can fly, is invisible to radar, has built in wireless taxer darts and a net launcher that fires a cluster of..."

He comes to a stop with the verbal assault as the Chief holds up his hand, "Woah lad, I'm just an old timer, send me a memo with all the neat little tricks this baby can do and I'll read over it. I trust you not to have put a nuclear bomb in there or anything, so I think you're safe to walk the streets." He stops in front of Anthony again and looks the suit up and down again, "But I do have one nagging question. Lad, I thought the skin of the suit was gunmetal gray?"

The tiger lifts his arm and is surprised to see the armored skin of the suit has taken on a white tiger's markings similar, but not exactly like his own. "Well sir, I think it will help to reinforce the name of Armored Tiger if nothing else. One of the features I hadn't gotten to yet is the suit has an adaptive layer that can mimic most backgrounds, but the suit seems to think I should look like this. Maybe it's something in my subconscious doing it?"

The polar bear nods as he holds out a badge and sidearm, "Indeed lad, well here's your new badge but I'm suspecting you won't need the gun to go with your new identity."

With care Anthony takes the badge and slips it into an armored pouch on the breastplate of the armor. "You're right sir, keep the gun, I won't need it. The suit has enough built in weapons to hold off an army and enough ammo and power to win."

Taking back the gun he looks around the room, "How are you planning to get out of here without anyone knowing it could only be you in that fancy suit?"

"When I designed the suit I also developed a deployment system that will let me out on the roof. From there I fly out. Once I leave this chamber you are the only other one who can get into here besides me or Kimberly." He walks over to one of the walls and triggers the door with a command from the suit. A tube just big enough for the suit is exposed and turning backs into it, "Sir, I'll be in touch."

He tosses a communication headset to the bear that catches it and clips it to one ear, the mic near his lips, "How do you read me?"

"Five by five sir," he stands up straight as the tube closes over him and a pneumatic driven platform lifts him from the basement laboratory to the roof in less than a minute.

Stepping out of the hidden tube and onto the roof he looks out over the lights of the city. Fourty stories up he closes his eyes as the cool wind blows over the armor, and so to his skin. "Watch out villains, there's a new sheriff in town."

"Just keep yourself alive," Kimberly says. "Come back to me alive or I'll never forgive you?"

He smiles at her image, "As you wish, a knight must always do as his fair lady asks." With that he leaps from the edge of the rooftop and lets himself fall for a few stories before engaging the suit's built in flight mechanism. Thrusters on his back and legs propel him at just under the speed of sound towards the city's water treatment plant.

"Eeeek," Kimberly squeaks as he first drops before the thrusters engage. "Don't do that Anthony, I thought your flight system had failed."

"Don't worry my dear; I just wanted to be clear of the roof so the thrusters wouldn't wreck anything." As he streaks through the skies his suit warns of various radars trying to track him and he grins as the suit automatically redirects the waves of radiation around it to return no radar signature. "Yeehaw!" he laughs as he rolls and banks through the city's buildings. A few other flyers in the air pause and watch the new and unidentified suit streak past them on its unknown task. None of them inclined to interfere with the armored meta.

Closing on the treatment plant on the outskirts of Megalopolis he lands in a crouch with a loud roar of his thrusters. As the smoke clears he walks towards the building and two nervous black clad security personnel raising hands, their SMG's gripped tightly in their other hand. "Sir, this is a restricted area. No entrance without prior authorization. Not even Marshals."

Reaching up he takes out his badge and holds it out, "MPD, you will stand aside. I am here on official police business."

"Shit, it's the cops," one of the guards yells as they both raise their weapons and open fire with long bursts of 9mm bullets.

He flinches inside the suit as he starts to feel the bullets impact on his skin, but the impacts aren't painful, only like a warm summer rainstorm. He looks down at the ground and watches the mushroomed slugs dropping to the ground around him like dead bugs. He looks up at the two guards as they stop to reload, dropping smoking magazines to the ground as they reach for spare ones on their belts.

"My turn," he yells as he flings his hands out and wireless tazer darts launch from his hands to strike both men in the chest. They land on their backs twitching as the darts impact with enough force to pierce their skin through their body armor.

"I told you I was here on official police business," he says as he walks over them and punches the door open without unlocking it. He looks down the hall as the lights go out and a series of shouted commends are jumbled in the echoing corridor. The world changes to ghostly greens and grays as the suit's optics automatically switch to night vision and retransmit the data to him. "You can't hide from the eyes of the law!" he shouts into the darkness. He sees a hand fly out to toss a flash bang down the hallway. He snaps his hand up and fires a blast from a small force projector built into his right vambrace.

The blast of ghostly blue energy knocks the cylinder back down the hall to where it was launched from. It explodes in a flash of light and noise and several peons start screaming, their hands holding their ears in pain as they fall out into the corridor.

Armored Tiger snaps his tail around and bolas launch from the end to hurl down the hallway and starting at the feet of the disabled figures and wraps them in an unbreakable filament. As his loud and echoing footfalls pass them they one by one quiet and look up in wide eyed fear at the shadowed figure progressing down the corridor like an unstoppable machine.

The infrared sensors show two figures waiting at an intersecting corridor ready to ambush him as he passes. 'Sorry boys, you're outclassed,' he thinks as he drops a hand to his thigh and removes two small disks from a receptacle there. Slipping one into each hand he lunges and slides them towards the corridor and with a bounce they ricochet off each other and into opposing corridors. With a puff of noxious smoke the two figures fall into the hallway gasping for breath before passing out from the gas.

Armored Tiger steps through the dissipating smoke, the filters of the suit keeping him safe from the effects. A last barrier presents itself to him as a pair of solid steel doors black the end of the corridor. "Now these don't look original," he muses as he runs his hand around the edges, a scanner in the palm testing the alloy of the steel. The readouts finally give him their decision and he raises an eyebrow, "High carbon ferro-plate, this is used to make tanks, not doors."

With a shrug he steps back to clear the distance between him and the doors. Raising his fists he triggers the force projectors to deploy from the vambraces and watches the capacitors build to full charge. "Open says-me," he says as he fires the powerful bolts which plow into the doors and rip them from their frames in a cloud of dust and a squeal of ripping metal.

Lowering his arms he walks slowly into the drifting dust. He notices pallets of barrels stacked around the room first, and more than a few tipped over and obviously empty. As it starts to clear Armored Tiger notices the red lines of laser sights tracking in to focus on him and the systems of the suit automatically track them all back to highlight the adversaries. He looks up to the catwalks to see more than a dozen black clad goons aiming SMG's and assault rifles down at him. The weapons pointed at his person don't bother him though, what does is that every one of the goons is wearing pants without crotches, and each and every one of them has an erection. "What did I just walk into, a gang-bang?"

"No darling, you just broke into our own little den of sin," purrs a voice from the far side of the room. Armored Tiger redirects his gaze to the sound of the voice and notices the masterminds of this little gang.

A pair of identical snow white vixens stands there in fur tight catsuits that leave their cleavage almost bursting through the opening in the front from the tight confines. Their high heel thigh boots polished as bright as their outfits are spread to show their crotch-less attire. Their hands rest on the handles of whips coiled at their belts and vicious daggers protrude from the tops of their boots. Black domino masks obscure their true identities, but their piercing blue eyes shine through to lock on the heavy armored suit. Their flame red hair flows behind them as their fluffy tails swish back and forth at their eagerness to face this new challenger.

"Pardon me ladies, but from the sight of things here, you're all under arrest," he says as he once more holds out his badge for them to see.

The goons on the catwalks start to laugh the two vixens chortle their mirth at his statement. "Darling," the first one purrs again, "I think the only ones who'll be wearing handcuffs here is the ones we put them onto." Her sister twirls a pair of cuffs on one finger as her face splits in a wide toothy grin.

"Sorry ladies, I already got a girlfriend," he quips as he flicks his tail quickly and launches bolas towards the females.

With athletic grace the top heavy vixen twins bounce apart to dodge the weapons which slap the far wall with a crack. "Now is that any way to treat a pair of ladies as irresistible as us?" asks the second vixen.

"Wound him a little my pets," the first calls to the goons. With laughs the dozen males open up with their rapid fire weapons, a few firing the loads from their flesh cannons in their excitement.

Armored Tiger hunches his shoulders and curls into a ball, exposing his heavier back armor to the deadly rain of bullets that pile into him. He feels the individual impacts as a warm hail but he can also tell the relatively low powered rounds aren't even scratching the diamond hard alloy of his suit. The hail of bullets seems to go on for hours, but the chronometer in his suit indicates the guns run empty in less than a minute and he hears the sound of giggling goons reloading.

"My turn!" he shouts as he raises his head and spreading his arms engages his thrusters to launch himself at the first vixen.

"Eeeek!" she squeals as she leaps out of his way and escapes only by losing a few hairs from her tail as he grabs for it.

The second vixen pulls her whip and cracks it to life, sending electrical sparks down its length, "Now that's just not fair. In that tin can he's immune to our scent sister. We have to take him out the hard way!"

Her sister squats on top of a pallet of barrels, "Well sister dearest, you know I only like my males hard." She pulls her own whip and with a flick cracks it to electrical life. "Let's shock this cub."

As Armored Tiger stands to face the twin vixens they both lash out at him with arcing whips of electricity. Catching one whip in each hand he watches the arcing bolts coursing down his skin to ground out into the floor. He chuckles softly as the dancing lightning tickles him on its path. "You poor girls never completed school did you?" he mocks as he yanks on the whips.

The first vixen lets hers go, but the second holds on too tight trying to take her weapon of choice back and screams as she flies through the air. The suit's computers indicate her expected landing point and Armored Tiger turns, a nozzle sporting from his left arm to spray a thick green liquid over the area. Within a fraction of a second the green liquid turns to a foam which the vixen lands in, impacting on her hands and knees.

Trying to get up she finds that she is stuck firmly to the green foam, "What is this?! I'm stuck! Help me!" Her thrashing tail gives brief glimpses of her pink sex to all the goons in the room, several of whom jump to aid her, but not to free her as they fight over who gets to help the poor lady.

Armored Tiger turns back to the first vixen to find her within knife range, and using hers with amazing speed and skill. The thin dagger is sparking as it skitters across the surface of his armor but the finely crafted dagger is no match to the thick armored plates with gaps too narrow for even the thin blade to slip in. With lightning reflexes she avoids his punches and kicks, dancing back out of reach to stand there breathing heavily, her chest heaving so much her breasts are threatening to pop out the cleavage opening of the suit. "You are nothing, just a male. We are the Vi-XXX-ens, and all males are our toys!"

She lunges for him and forces him to use his thrusters to back up quickly as he deploys the filament launcher from his shoulder and sprays a cloud of hair-fine fibers into the space immediately in front of him. The vixen runs right into it in her blinded rage and soon finds herself tangled in the unbreakable net.

"Arrrg!" she screams as she struggles to free herself. "Nooooo... We had it all planned out, we would have the whole city licking at our feet in just a few more days!" She growls up at the armored figure, "It's all your fault, you walking tin can!"

Armored Tiger triggers link to the Chief, "Chief, I've got them."

"Good to hear lad, hold tight until the arrest teams get there. I dispatched them as soon as you went up that chute of yours."

Armored Tiger taps into the unsecured cameras in the area and sees a number of vehicles closing, both MPD and Marshal. "Boss, I hope you're in one of them. The Marshals have been attracted to the ruckus."

"Don't worry lad, I'll be there before they are."

He looks over and sees the goon 'helping' the second vixen, by mounting her while another is gagging her with his maleness, their own feet stuck in the green foam and not giving a damn. "Boss, be sure anyone coming in here is wearing a gas mask, these ladies extrude some serious pheromones that drive men into a lust filled orgy." He looks around the room and the stacks of barrels, "It could be from the chemicals stacked in here, but I don't think we should take any chances."

With a crash another figure in powered armor storms into the room and stops to stare at Armored Tiger, "What's the meaning of this?"

Standing seven feet tall and sporting a huge rack of antlers Armored Tiger recognizes the Marshal Inquisitor instantly and reaches for his badge, "MPD, Officer Armored Tiger, I have arrested everyone here for tampering with the city's water supply."

Inquisitor looks the new armor up and down, "That's not police tech, you're a meta aren't you. You should be in the Marshals, not the MPD." The seven-foot tall figure starts to circle the hulking tiger, "I must admit I'm impressed, your creation I take it?"

Armored Tiger nods, "You could say that."

The thudding of combat boots announces the arrival of a squad of SAWT officers coming down the corridor and bursting into the room. Gas masks tight and weapons at the ready they spread out and start to handcuff everyone in the room, totally ignoring the two armored figures.

On the heels of the SWAT team the hulking form of the Chief in a long trench coat, combat boots, body armor, and gas mask. He takes a moment to look around the room before he approaches the two armored figures and addresses Armored Tiger, completely ignoring Inquisitor. Thumping Armored Tiger on the chest he smiles behind his mask, "Good work son. I think we can definitely say you've given your new system there a true trial by fire."

Before he says anything to the Chief he waves an officer over and taking a pair of vials from a small armored pouch he hands them over, "These will dissolve the green foam and the filament wire restraining the two females." The officer takes them without a word and dashed to assist in the cuffing of the two females having been briefed that this strange armored figure is a senior police officer and to do anything he says.

They stand there for several more minutes not saying anything as the males are cuffed and dragged off to the containment vehicles. The two females are still cursing Armored Tiger and kicking at the cops restraining them as they are marched away to more secure vehicles provided by the Marshals.

Finally Inquisitor looks the Chief in the eye, "Look Chief, I know we don't always see eye-to-eye, but what the hell is going on?"

The Chief smiles with satisfaction and turns to Inquisitor, "We've just arrested a pair of minor-league metas who appear to have been leaking a strange chemical into the city's water supply. We suspect this has something to do with the signs of increased arousal and sexual proliferation among the populous."

"I mean him Chief," he says, pointing at Armored Tiger who just tilts his head and seems to glare at him.

The Chief looks at the armored officer and smiles, "Armored Tiger is one of our senior officers. You'll find him on the roll call of MPDHQ and the lynchpin in our new meta-response unit. Hell, he is our meta-response unit," the polar bear laughs.

Inquisitor grunts, "Chief, you know all metas should be registered with the Marshals, he should have come to us before you sent him out on this crusade. I should arrest him as an unregistered meta and let him spend a little time in my cells."

There is a collective growl in the sudden silence and Inquisitor looks around to see the remaining SWAT officers staring at him, their fingers on the triggers of their guns. The Chief taps Inquisitor on the chest with one gloved finger, "I'd like to see you do that big fella. As a uniformed police officer he is registered, you can even check your records. I added the name Armored Tiger to the rolls this evening, we're just not telling you who he is." He takes out a letter from his coat, "I've even got a letter here from a councilman approving the meta known as Armored Tiger to be recognized as a full police officer." The bear grins at the shocked Marshal, "But we're not selfish, he'll help you when he can. But remember he isn't under your jurisdiction, he's under mine."

Inquisitor looks at the still form of Armored Tiger, noticing that despite the number of mushroomed bullets and spent casings there isn't the slightest scratch on the armor. "Alright Chief, you win, but I want to take this young fella to Marshal HQ and show him around at least." He raises his right hand, "I promise he will not be incarcerated. Among other things I don't feel like repairing the building again after that last time."

The Chief nods and waves towards the corridor, "How about we step outside, I need to get this mask off and the goons are all rounded up. We'll let the Crisis Team in here to clean things up and restore the treatment plant to full operation."

Outside a handful of Marshals are helping the police restrain the two metas and the goons are already being taken away in a bus to the city jail.

Finally in the clear air the Chief pulls off his mask and takes a deep breath before he reaches in his jacket to pull out a cigar which he lights with a match he snaps to life with a claw. "Inquisitor, you can talk to the lad for a few hours, but he needs some time off too, so try not to keep him too long." He puffs his cigar to life, "The lad was planning to take some time off this weekend and I think the lad's earned it."

Inquisitor nods and motions towards a large armored transport, "Armored Tiger, if you'll come with me we'll have you back to MPDHQ in a couple of hours. I just want to give you a tour and have a talk."

With some trepidation Armored Tiger follows beside Inquisitor and climbs into the transport. "I want to thank you for agreeing to at least listen to me," says Inquisitor as he studies the new armor. "You made that fancy suit yourself huh? Impressive. Tell me about some of its abilities."

Armored tiger turns his head to look at Inquisitor as the transport lurches into gear and down the road, "It's got lots of gadgets and tools in it. Makes me stronger, and able to resist any known weapon." He smirks inside his helmet, and it comes out in his voice, "And you can give up scanning the suit. It has built in passive countermeasures against scans."

Inquisitor shrugs, "Yes, I see. You can't blame a man for trying though. Truly superb technology you've come up with. I'm not sure any of our own suited Marshals have come up with a way to redirect scans around the suit so it doesn't show up even on the screens." He holds up a vial handed to him by a white coated tech before getting into the transport, "I guess you invented this too?"

Armored Tiger can see it's a sample of the green foam he had used to restrain the ViXXXens, "Yes."

Inquisitor nods, "I don't suppose you'd be willing to give us the formula would you? This has potential for the police as well as the Marshals, a safe and passive way to secure suspects. Though I figure a strong enough meta could break loose, it would at least slow them a little."

Armored Tiger shrugs, "It's a simple compound, the solvent is the real advance, and since I figure you got samples of that too I know you can reverse engineer it." He closes his eyes and with a nod he looks at Inquisitor again, "I just sent the specs to your personal Marshal e-mail. Don't let the villains get a hold of the solvent, or it'll become useless as they'll replicate it and have it to free themselves."

Inquisitor sits back, surprised at the willingness to help them, "Still won't join us? The pay is better, you'll have backup if you run into a meta you can't handle. And while the police are good for common criminals and civil disobedience, let's face it; they can't stand up to ninety percent of the metas in this town even if they outnumbered them a dozen-to-one." He holds his hand out to the tiger, "What would you do then? Who would you call for help from? What if you ran into Nightmare and his companions? Four against one, you'd be in serious trouble on your own."

Armored tiger looks at Inquisitor through the impassive face of his armor, "Sir, if I do run into something like that I guess I would have to call on you and the Marshals to help, just like any other officer who got in over their heads. I figure unlike the average beat officer though, that I could at least stand my own until help got there."

"Well now, we wouldn't just have backup sitting by waiting for your call now. We'd have to divert a team from their regular patrol, like tonight. I just happened to be in the office when we got the call from your Chief saying what you were up to. I was the one to scramble all this figuring you were going to be in way above your head." He laughs at himself, "I guess I was a little wrong."

Armored Tiger nods as they pull up outside Marshal HQ and he looks out the slit window next to him, "Indeed you were."

The two heavily armored individuals step out of the transport making the vehicle rise six inches as the tension of the shocks is released. A few press call out and Inquisitor waves to them but Armored Tiger remains silent and contemplative. He knows that a job with the Marshals might mean more fame, money, and technology, 'But what do I have to give up by joining the Marshals? My true identity, that's what.'

Inquisitor guides him in and waves off the handful of Marshals rushing to meet the new meta, "Later folks, he's one of our Boys in Blue, not a Marshal. At least, not yet," he says with a grin.

Their first stop after the grand entrance chamber is the research labs where Inquisitor waves his arms and points out little tidbits of technology. "See that? It's an anti-gravity generator that could lift a city bus. We've been working on it to let metas without flight keep up with those who can. Imagine what that could do for a heavy suit like yours?"

Armored Tiger looks at him with a glare of disgust, "I can already fly."

Inquisitor waves it off without correcting himself, "Ah, here we have Miss Liberty."

The buxom mare familiar from the news and police reports approaches the pair of armored giants and grins up at Armored Tiger, "Who's this strapping fellow Inquisitor?"

"MPD Officer Armored Tiger ma'am," responds Armored Tiger, extending a hand to her.

She takes his offered hand and looks to Inquisitor, "MPD Officer?"

The other armored figure nods, "Yes, he's actually a police officer. He just caught the ViXXXens slipping some powerful aphrodisiac into the city's water supply. He did a good job of it too. I'm trying to convince him to leave the kiddie pool and join us here with the big boys. I was just showing him around the labs to explain some of the improvements he could make on his armor with our help."

She smiles up at the tiger, "Well, you should consider joining; we can always use another strong meta to keep the villains at bay." With that she walks away, he hips and tail swishing back and forth with more sex appeal than any one mare should be allowed to carry.

Inquisitor smiles at the tiger, "Come on, I'll show you the prison."

Deep under the building they enter the maximum security portion of the Marshal's prison, where only the more powerful prisoners are kept. "This is the Hole, this is where we put the most dangerous villains who have ever threatened Megalopolis."

"The ones you catch anyway," Armored Tiger responds with a flat edge to his voice.

Inquisitor laughs, "Indeed, indeed, there are always those who get away. I still want to get that fiend Nightmare in here, but he's a slippery one and few have been able to resist his mental powers. Even Hyper momentarily fell to his power and gave him and his women just enough time to escape with the only record of the data he stole."

"Ever had anyone escape?"

Inquisitor looks at the ground, "Ah, yes, but we try not to repeat the same mistake twice."

Armored Tiger nods to himself as they walk side by side down the corridor and glance into cells, some occupied and others seeming empty.

As they leave the prison Armored Tiger turns to Inquisitor and holds out his hand, "Thank you for the tour Inquisitor."

The armored Marshal takes the offered hand, "You'll join us then?"

"No," he says as he turns and leaves a small palm sized device in the Marshal's hand. "Consider this a gift."

Inquisitor turns the small disk back and forth before a holo-emiter built into it activates and a set of blueprints hovers in the air before him. "What is this..." he starts to ask but he sees a small description on the bottom and blinks, "How did you, this is even more advanced than what we've come up with?"

"I told you," Armored Tiger says as he heads for the doors, "I can already fly."

As Armored Tiger exits the building, Inquisitor in pursuit, he jumps into the air and activating his flight system roars off into the darkness of the city's night. Inquisitor stands there watching the figure grow distant before disappearing from sight. "Sir," his comm-unit barks, "We saw that armored suit take off, but we are unable to track it with any sensors. Even the IR shows nothing."

Inquisitor looks once more to the holographic plans contained in the device he holds, "We'll see you again Armored Tiger. You'll come to us when you realize that you need us, just as we will need you."

All characters unless otherwise stated are the property of Christopher Gilman.

Story © Copyright Christopher Gilman 2012 all rights reserved

Megalopolis and Chief Marcheck © Copyright Goliath Thunderstep and Emerald Cistern and is used with permission

Inquisitor and Miss Liberty© Copyright Emerald Cistern and is used with permission mail me and tell me what you think at [email protected]