Alex smelled the air. She smelled rotten flesh, blood, a hint of nutmeg, and oil. Next to her, Jim-Jam yawned. He had grown so much, the little kitten was now as large as a horse.

"The trail leads here then?" She asked. Mostly to herself.

"Yes Alpha," Jim-Jam answered.

Alex sighed, one day she'd get her cats to call her by her name, but her class brought out the weirdest things. Like Jim-Jam. He used to be a little mutt of a kitten, now her mind said he was a "Cath Palug" or something. Somehow it meant Jim-Jam was now huge and could kill practically anything. Which was very helpful now that the world ended.

"Alpha I smell it too!" A meow came from her bag.

"I'll bet you do Rocket, you're so good at tracking!" Alex cooed. She felt the bag wiggle a little. Rocket was the most hyper of her cats and was always looking to join in. It was unfortunate his changes made him so scary to others.

"Mmm… Alpha, there's a thing coming." Alex heard Kit meowing in her ear. He was always the most elusive of her pets. His evolution, a Cheshire cat, pretty much cemented that fact. Now the striped menace could get absolutely anywhere. She had to pull it out of her shirt nine -- make that ten -- times. "But Alpha that spot's the best for napping!" Kit complained.

"Later, you said something was coming, so we need to be prepared," Alex said.

"Yes Alpha." Kit sulked.

Alex kept her senses sharp, ready for anything that might appear. Beside her, Jim-Jam stood alert, hackles raised. The wind blew. Alex heard the clack of rubble. She turned, in the distance was a flying woman. A shiny flying woman.

"It smells weird Alpha." She heard rocket say. "Like death and metal."

Not friendly then. Absentmindedly, Alex used her hands to pet her babies, calming their nerves. Anything smelling like that was bound to cause trouble. Rocket purred in her bag, less concerned. Death never bothered him that much.

The woman got closer, and Alex saw it flew with metallic wings, shaped like an owl's and made of nails. "Sir Purrsalot, we need you," Alex said to her bag.

A lion jumped out, large and brightly colored. Her mind said Sir Purrsalot was a komainu, though he was definitely more feline than dog. Of course, she had only read about these guardian spirits once. A student had been heavily into those foreign cartoons called anime.

Alex cursed. Her mind was wandering again. She had to stay focused, there was no way this metallic girl wasn't dangerous. She readied herself, Catwalk ready to help her dodge.

The robot swooped down, landing in front of Alex and her cats. "Prepare to be assimilated." It spoke mechanically.

"Jim-Jam, be a dear and help me out." Alex purred.

"Okay!" Jim-Jam jumped at the robot, claws out and ready to maul. The metallic woman stood, confident that it could not be dented.

Jim-Jam swiped down, claws gouging the metal. "Class B threat detected." The machine said. Ports opened at the shoulders and a beam of light shot out at Jim-Jam. Sir Purrsalot jumped in front, a shimmering barrier appearing between him and the laser. The shield rippled as it absorbed the attack.

"Bleh, feels like a hairball." Sir Purrsalot said.

The metallic monster readied another blast, but before it could shoot, Kit appeared on its shoulder. "Meow," He said, and batted an eye. The robot recoiled, laser beam shooting wide. Jim-Jam took the opening, scoring large gashes into the shoulders. The monster fell back, impacting the ground with a heavy Thud.

"Unable to capture for assimilation, permission request to upgrade to class S." The metallic woman said. "Request denied. Request to retreat and regroup. Request accepted."

Suddenly, the robot melted into a puddle and reformed back, leaving no trace of being wounded. It stood up and used its wings to start flying.

"Oh no you don't! Get it!" Alex said.

The three cats pounced, each ready to destroy the monster. Before they could strike, the robot woman flapped her wings, creating a blast of air that knocked everyone to the ground. Taking off, the woman shot into the sky and flew off in the distance.

"Butterwhiskers, are you able to keep it here?" Alex asked the air. A smoky black cat appeared before her. Butterwhiskers was a Cat Sidhe, which was fitting because she was a black cat.

"Hmm, possibly." Butterwhiskers purred. A tendril of smoke appeared, following the path of the fleeing monster. As it caught up, it latched onto the monster. The smoke enveloped the body. And just as it covered the entire frame, it disappeared.

Butterwhiskers went to work, her Cat Sidhe powers looking for any advantage. The misfortunate power ran through the drone, causing faulty code to break, wires shorted, and power packs drained at insane rates. Alex watched as the robot woman fell to the ground, spasming.

Concatulations!!

You and your pets have defeated "Nanomachine Drone."

Experience earned!

Alex dismissed the system screen that appeared in her vision. Once again she was amazed at how dangerous Butterwhiskers was. Sure, the rest of her pets were deadly in the more traditional sense, but she hadn't met anyone who wasn't affected by the Cat Sidhe's powers. Alex scratched under Butterwhiskers' chin, her favorite place.

"Right," She said to the others. "It seems we've been targeted by some nanomachine hive mind."

"What's a nanomachine?" Jim-Jam meowed.

"Oh, oh! I know!" Rocket yelped. "It's one of those machines that opens the tuna cans!"

Alex smiled. "Close enough. But these people want to steal all the tuna."

"NO! They can't do that!" Rocket cried. "I'm going to stop 'em!"

Alex felt her bag tug. "I smell them! They went that way!" Rocket said. He tugged the bag again. "Alpha, they went that way!"

Alex pat the bag, "Alright Rocket, I smell it too. Let's go." Trusting Rocket's nose, Alex pointed in the direction of another drone and Jim-Jam leaped forward.