The World of Talents should remind you of many other fantasy worlds with superheroes, magic, and cosmic powers, except with a Krosis twist...

The dark-haired woman, her lithe body held perfectly immobile within the coffin-like procedure booth, screamed as ten-inch needles punctured into her spinal column, while other, smaller needles pierced into muscle tissue all through her body. She screamed again as those needles injected something that felt like battery acid into her all at once. She wouldn’t pass out, she told herself, she wouldn’t...

She woke up as her restraints were removed. Her doctor, who hadn’t given her name and wore a full-face black mask and black doctor’s lab coat, asked her, “How do you feel?”

“Like ... shit,” the woman replied raggedly.

The doctor nodded. The assistants wrapped the woman in a hospital gown and wheeled her back to the changing room. She was impressed at the technology and professionalism at Shadows Inc. If she hadn’t been there for an illegal gene therapy procedure, she would have just thought that it was like any other high-end medical clinic. Well, one where they all wore black masks, anyway.

The doctor examined the injection sites and then let her get dressed. She consulted a clipboard. “So, you’ve agreed to give us 50% of the gross of what you ‘earn’ until you’ve paid us back for this, plus the lease of some standard muscle you’ll need until you hire your own crew, which should be easy enough once you’ve made a name for yourself. Have you chosen a name?”

The woman nodded. “The Queen.”

The doctor paused. “Oh, I see ... yes.”

“You don’t approve?” The Queen asked as she pulled her shirt back on. Her body felt so stiff!

The doctor shrugged. “It’s your brand. We just supply the technology and manpower. Remember, it’ll take some time for the changes to take effect, and there may be side effects.”

The Queen nodded. The shadowy technology company hadn’t put feline genes into a human before, so no one knew what to expect. But she had already been a cat burglar by trade, so this just seemed like the obvious next step. She was looking forward to seeing what she’d get out of this ... improved senses, agility, maybe claws?

She woke to a loud knocking at the door of her apartment. Ugh, she fumed, who was it, so early in the morning? She turned to look at the clock, but it said 10:00 ... she had slept in! She threw off her covers and leapt to her feet...

She turned, amazed. She had actually bounded to her bedroom door and landed lightly on her feet! She felt fantastic.

Bam bam bam!

“Coming!” She threw on a sheer robe and raced to the door, also impressed with her new speed. She opened the door to find three well-built men standing there. “Yes?”

“Miss, ah, Queen?” the blond one asked. “We’re your new crew.”

“What are you doing here?” she asked indignantly. “We’re supposed to meet up at the warehouse tomorrow.”

The dark-skinned man spoke up, looking uncomfortable, “It ... IS tomorrow, Miss Queen. Tomorrow night, actually.”

“What?!” She angled herself back to have a look out the window, which gave the men a gander at her shapely legs as her short robe slipped up. It was night outside... 10:00 PM! She had been asleep for 2 days?! “Shit!” She turned back to them, and they snapped their eyes back up to hers. “Just ... give me a few minutes, okay?” Then she slammed the door in their faces.

A few minutes later, they left her apartment building, her in a long trenchcoat. They piled into the van the men had brought and headed off.

The brown-haired man was driving. “So, Miss Queen?”

“Just Queen, or The Queen ... what’s your name?” These men were really quite built, she noticed.

“It’s whatever you want to call us, Queen, to fit in with your brand.”

She thought for a moment and pointed, “Okay, so you will be Brown Tom...” Then she pointed at the blond, “ ... and you Blond Tom, and you Black Tom,” she said as her finger ended up pointing at the Black henchman. He gave her an incredulous look, which she didn’t seem to notice.

Brown Tom continued, “Oookay ... may I ask what Tom has to do with The Queen of England? Is there a Prince Thomas or something?”

She looked at him as if he’d grown a second head. “England? No ... a male cat is called a tom, and a female cat is called a queen, you...!” She looked around at the men’s confused looks. “Ugh ... your employers gave me cat powers! They didn’t tell you?”

Blond Tom spoke up. “Yeah, they mentioned ... we thought you’d call yourself Catwom--”

“I don’t want to get sued! Fighting superheroes is one thing, but lawyers? No thank you.”

Once at their hideout, she gave them their new outfits: form-fitting Tyt-Weave(tm) uniforms that gave the men a sleek, cat-like look, along with full-head masks with cat ears. Then she doffed her trenchcoat and one of the men gave a low whistle at her tight tortoiseshell colored bodysuit as she put on a domino mask with high peaks that made it seem like she had cat ears as well.

“All right, boys, let’s train!”

As the Toms got used to their weapons, which were like brass knuckles, except with spiky claws, The Queen explored her new agility and speed. She was disappointed to find that she didn’t get real claws herself, finding that out the hard way as she broke a nail slashing at one of the dangling punching bags. She licked at the blood and felt her stomach complain. “Stop! Time to order some food ... who’s up for barbeque?”

“Oh, hell yeah!” Blond Tom responded. “Um, ma’am.”

They made Blond Tom pick it up. Having food delivered to your secret hideout was a rookie mistake! The Queen devoured her portion, and then some of theirs, mostly meat. The men looked at each other, uncertain.

When they were done, she stood in between them. “Okay, now come at me, all of you!” The men looked at each other. “C’mon!” she yelled, her body coiled like a spring.

Brown Tom rushed forward to grab her from behind. She sensed his movement and jumped up and over his head, slammed her feet into his back, and neatly landed on the tips of her toes. Blond Tom and Black Tom rushed her from opposite sides, and she ducked. The two men managed to stop before they ran headlong into each other, but she swung her legs out and knocked both of them on their asses.

She easily flipped back up onto her feet and held out a hand to Blond Tom and Black Tom. They looked at each other for a moment and then accepted the help up. Then they both grabbed her, each taking an arm.

“Ack! Well, that’s what I get for being nice,” she grunted, struggling. Her agility didn’t help when it was purely a contest of strength! She waited for them to release her, but then they got closer, uncomfortably close. “Boys?”

Then they let go. “Um, sorry, Queen!” Blond Tom offered, looking sheepish.

The Queen took a second to cool down. There had been a moment there where she thought ... But no, the boys had just been full of adrenaline, she figured.

Then the night came, a week later. Their training was going well, and they were moving like a well-oiled machine. They planned out their heist and headed off to the home of Theon Marks, the owner of Edison Electric Automobiles. The businessman lived at the top of the thirty story Marks Tower, though the top 5 floors were closed to anyone but him. She and her Toms were able to infiltrate the building easily enough, and then she used her old cat burglar suction cup equipment to climb the last 5 floors along the outside of the building. She didn’t look down ... not that she was afraid of heights, but she knew that she wouldn’t fall; this was like riding a bike for her.

Once on the roof, she secured three ropes and threw them down to her Toms. A few minutes later, they were ready. They secured one more line and then all four of them balanced on the edge of the building. “One ... two ... three!” she called out, and then they pushed off. She made sure to delay so that the men hit the glass first, and then she rolled through the smashed-in window.