Astral Hoarder: Embrace of Malevolence

The Beast sniffed the air, its head swivelling toward a pile of supplies in the corner. Everyone watched as it approached the pile, pausing for a moment before finally moving. 

With a single swipe of its paw, it scattered the pile, revealing a bag of catnip. In the next moment, although it became clear to everyone that catnip, it was still impressive to witness.

So this cat had come all the way there for the catnip?

The Beast growled low in its throat before tearing into the bag, the dried leaves spilling everywhere. And then as it began to eat, everyone on the other side of the room, who had been huddling together in preparation for some crazy attack, began to feel pretty stupid.

"Is this seriously happening right now?" Rob muttered, watching in disbelief as the monstrous cat devoured the catnip with almost comical enthusiasm. 

Suddenly, Maya stepped her eyes and her expression. She murmured to herself that no one else could hear, it was a matter of concern for. What mattered was that she was walking away from the group and advancing towards the Beast.

What the fuck was she doing?!

"Maya, what the hell are you doing?" Jacques hissed, walking out after her and grabbing her arm. "Are you insane?"

By now he knew that she and Rob were in a thing, and he did not want to sour things between him and his uncle, who had helped him out ever so slightly in all this time. This was why he then turned to Rob, looking at him in a somewhat victorious manner and when he did, he shook his head, after all, Rob had allowed this girl to leave, while he stayed there, looking at them and them with a dazed fearful look.

She shook him off, her gaze fixed on the Beast. "Phoebe," she whispered. "It's... it's Phoebe. It's my cat! She left a while back! I've been searching everywhere! I even put up wanted papers. But now I found her!"

What?! The room soon erupted into protests.

Phoebe?

How is it even possible?

So her cat was as big as a car?

Are you kidding? That's not Phoebe anymore, that's a dangerous Beast!

You'll kill us all!!! 

"Phoebe?" Rob shouted as he came forward to also grab onto Maya, holding her back from making a really big mistake. "That thing is not your pet! It's a freaking demon!"

Jacques let her go, almost reluctantly as Rob practically stepped in between them. Even Felix had come forward at that moment and Jacques thought of an idea. "Felix, what are the attributes of that Beast?" 

Felix did not waste a moment. "[Beast Eye]!"

But... unfortunately, Felix found out something else at that moment. "Fuck... I dont have Mana." Everyone turned to the two of them with odd looks, and even Rob was lost in the incredulity of that moment, just enough to the extent that she had lost contact with Maya, who began running forward again in the next moment. 

"Fuck! Rob! Stop her!"

"Oh no, she'll get us all killed!!!"

"Shh!! Stop being so loud!!"

"Maya please come back, you'll die!"

People were shouting behind her, but Maya ignored them, quickly approaching the Beast. The creature paused its feast, lifting its head to regard her with an almost curious tilt.

"Phoebe," Maya said again, her voice trembling in fear now that she was close. She used to be able to pick this girl up with one hand. And now it could squash her underfoot. But she still pressed on. "It's me. It's Maya."

Felix spoke up at that moment, saying, "I'm sorry. Is anyone level 1? If you are then you'll have mana and you might try to tame the Beast. Beasts are the only way for us to get stronger or at least protect ourselves. If one of us had one, then that would be great."

Jacques heard that and sighed. He was not level 1. Not since Maya stole his kill. It was supposed to be him though... Wait... Maya was level 1. She had killed one of those things, and she had even bragged about the fact that she had BC now but didn't even know how to use it.

She could tame that Beast!!

If only they were of the same attribute that would help out even more. If not then that was fine... But at the same time, something about the situation told the man all he needed to know about all this. Maya and Phoebe were already connected. And even while in her Beast form, there seemed to be some recognition in her eyes. Maybe... 

Maybe it might work...

Jacques immediately sprang into action, arriving next to Maya and pulling her back without a word. He was met by a frantic Maya, tears in her eyes as she struggled against him. Everyone watched as the Beast suddenly reacted. It let out a low growl, its tail swishing dangerously as it stepped forward with unsettling speed.

"Grahh!!"

"It's Phoebe!" Maya said emotionally. Jacques who stood beside her nodded. She was irrational at that moment. He had to make sure that whatever he did, he took her in the right direction. He had to be the one. If they did things right, they might finally have a chance in this shitty place, and he might be the man who made it all happen.

"I understand… It's your Beast, Phoebe. But right now, Phoebe has been overtaken by something. That oily stuff. It's affected her mind, making her wild. You need to Tame her again," Jacques said, his voice hypnotic.

"Tame?" Maya said, turning her body.

Jacques nodded, continuing to drag her back. "That's right. Tame. You have to activate the Skill. And then Phoebe will come back to you. Just try it. Believe in yourself and I swear you will see it happen." The group tensed, ready to intervene, but before they could, Maya raised her hand and uttered a single word:

"[Tame]"

And then as she said that, to everyone's amazement, a bright light burst from her palm, enveloping both her and the Beast. The room was bathed in an ethereal glow as the light pulsed and twisted, forming a golden thread that connected Maya to the creature.

Everyone watched in stunned silence as the Beast's growling subsided. Its massive body relaxed, and it slowly approached Maya, nuzzling its head against her chest and pushing her to the floor. She smiled, tears streaming down her face.

Even more interestingly, there was a mark on her skin now. A tattoo of some sort. How funny. What was this word turning into?

"It worked," she whispered, her voice thick with emotion. "Phoebe... it's you." Turning to Jacques, Maya was beside herself. "Thank you so much for bringing Phoebe back to me. I do not even know how I could thank you,"

Jacques smiled, even though his heart was beating out of his chest. Holy shit. That worked. He couldn't believe it. He had believed in a nerd and a power-hungry bitch and it worked. No.

He had made it work. He was the difference maker. He was the one who was going to be the leader of this new world.

Staring at this thing that was now hugging Maya, he couldn't help but smirk, and then turning his head to the man who was now among the people, having let his "girlfriend" go ahead without him, his smirk got even wider.

Well... Rob was done for. And now that Maya was so powerful... maybe he should take this moment to...

The others stared at all this, their disbelief slowly giving way to awe. What just happened? They couldn't figure it out. But they knew for certain that there was something magical going on. And all of it was done by those two people.

Jacques was the first to break the silence. "You people understand now! Felix was right! This is a new world. Without Beasts we are weak. But with Beasts we are strong. That is the way we will protect ourselves and everything we care about."

Everyone had turned their attention to him, and he felt a need to continue. "Maya here has done exactly that. She had tamed a Beast. As someone with the heart of a Beast, she is now the strongest person here. She is also the person we should look towards for advice and ideas on how to move forward."

"Wow, Maya!" Rob said, suddenly coming forward at that moment and when he finally arrived, he couldn't help but scream as Phoebe pounced towards him, forcing him to stumble backwards to his ass. Everyone watched all this with weird expressions.

Damn... she must be angry. Either that or the Beast did not like Rob.

Rob seemed to have the innate ability to hold back his feelings of shame though, and he spoke up still. "I was just saying… congratulations. I was so worried when you went forward all by yourself. I was too slow to stop you. I'm so glad you were able to make it. Thank you so much, Jacques. Thank you for taking care of my baby."

Jacques stared at this idiot. He had used the company policy to get ahead, and that had forced Maya to be with him to seek benefits, but now in this situation where Maya did not need to be together with him, what was he expecting?

Maya was young and hot, and he was a forty-year-old man. A weak forty-year-old man who had fallen on his ass because of a cat. It was important to be humble. And yet this guy was such an idiot to make himself seem like he was doing her a favour or like everything was a misunderstanding.

What a dumbass.

Maya turned and stood up, with Phoebe coming to her to sit beside her. Rob saw the way he was being stared at by everyone and that forced him to chuckle awkwardly. "Alright," he said, his voice shaking slightly. "So, uh, now we have a giant cat on our side. What's next, Maya?"

Instead of saying anything to this idiot, Maya turned to Jacques. "What do you think, Jacques?"

Jacques stood there with a smile on his face. Hehe… he could see how the executives had frowns on their faces. Well, it made sense. Their building had gotten fucked up. But even more importantly, this superpowered cat was staring at them like she might nibble at them like some catnip.

Keep it up, Maya. Make me look good.

Jacques cleared his throat. "Everyone, please hear me out. Now is not the time for hierarchies based on the past or expecting governmental help. It is very clear to me, and possibly to all of you that the world is not what we thought it was going to be."

"We have not seen any real help from the government or law enforcement which tells me that they too are being overwhelmed at this moment. What does this tell me? We need to take care of ourselves. And to do that we need people like Maya. People who level up and then tame Beasts. And for that, we will need the help of Maya who will make it easier for us to level up."

Everyone heard those words and nodded. That made total sense.

The CEO spoke up at that, moment, coming forward, his belly leading the way for him. "You're right, Jacques. And Maya, I have to say when I saw the cat come in, I was afraid, but you were so brave. Well done for taming this Beast. It just goes to show to trust the words of those who are trustworthy and hardworking. I as the CEO and leader of this place will never forget that again..."

Just as the fat bald man was about to continue yapping his face off about togetherness and hard work, Maya interrupted him.

"Oh shut up! Do you think we don't know that you were using us people as human meat shields? Do you think we didn't see how you took all the food for yourselves? You think we forgot about this company... everything we lost in here..." Maya said, her voice turning haggard as she got a bit more emotional, her expression hardening.

Everyone also turned to the man, their anger visible. That was right. He hogged all the food and turned it into a meat shield. They had all but forgotten the fact that Maya was one of those people who stood there with the Executives. 

Maya didn't even allow the man to speak. "I know what to do now. Jacques is right! Next? We need to make our situation more stable. Stability is all about resources. The most pressing resource on that list is: food security... This brings out attention to that place over there," she said pointing to the distance. "The coffee shop."

"The coffee shop?" Rob echoed, frowning. "What's so important about that?"

Jacques smirked. "Zimo." At the mention of the name, a dark energy seemed to fill the room.

Jacques continued, his voice dripping with malice. "That bastard left us to die. He's probably sitting there right now, hoarding food while we're starving. All because of some grudge he has against us? All because of his hatred for humanity... But not for long. We've got Maya and Phoebe now. Let's see how he likes dealing with her."

Maya hesitated for a moment, glancing down at the massive cat that now sat obediently at her side. Then she nodded.

"Let's do it. Let's go take back everything that belongs to us. And Zimo... we'll teach him a lesson he will never forget," Maya said, her eyes gleaming in a purple that she did not notice.