AN: Dang. A few days late on posting. Sorry guys, last week was way crazier than I'd been anticipating. I'm still working on the next chapter, so I thought I'd drop this short, bonus act break. Hope you enjoy.

And please, any and all reviews are much needed and deeply appreciated. Thanks!

She woke to a dog licking the melting snowflakes off her face. Sitting up, she gathered the powder snow had only recently begun and that it was unlikely to grow strong enough to collect on the ground. She patted the dog with one hand while pulling tighter the oversized jacket draped over her shoulder that had doubled as a blanket. There was a half asleep memory from the morning when the inhabitant in the alley she'd curled up into had tucked her in.

She heard before saw the man sitting on the ground at the alleyways opening. Selina shuddered. Assuming from his appearance, he'd gone longer without a shower or washing his clothes than she had. After every insane thing that had happened since Strange's surgery on her, the absence of a shower had been the hardest blow to her psyche. Her brain had obviously been tampered with in some weird ways, but going so long feeling perpetually dirty was the biggest threat to her sanity.

Her head darted around to check every angle of the alley way. They were in Upper Gotham, which had meant fewer unused alleys and places where the homeless could live and sleep undisturbed, but it was still Gotham. There was always someplace dirty and abandoned nearby. Crowds ebbed and flowed on the major street, every footfall catching Selina's attention as a potential Gothamite that might walk her way. She remembered why she hated leaving the Narrows, as there was double the amount of activity at the least.

Why had she come to the Upper city to begin with? Had she really believed she would find any viable information about Strange's experiments from either the protests or the charity event? It was a stretch, at best. The last thing she'd expected was the Joker's attack and the chaos breaking out with the deranged zoo animals. The gas had mostly dissipated when she'd jumped into the fray. She'd only noticed the slightest increase of her viciousness, which meant it probably wasn't the drugs influence compelling her to kill all those animals.

She'd snuck into the event after hearing the commotion inside. From afar she'd spotted Bruce attacked by a tiger. Her initial desire was to go save him, but he'd been able to get the upper hand and snap its neck before she approached. He'd sprinted away without noticing her.

It was hard to believe only hours ago she'd killed an elephant rampaging in Upper Gotham. It was impossible to suss out her feelings, whether the better feeling was having gone apeshit violent like she had, fighting and succeeding to kill so many of the animals, or if having saved human lives was rewarding enough in and of itself.

There was a wad of cash in one of her pockets. Some was stolen from the event attendees she'd rescued the night before. None had been counted. She'd been stealing on occasion when and where she could ever since her change, but the numbers and values of money had become such a small concern to her, she wasn't sure if her brain was simply incapable of comprehending monetary values anymore.

Now, when paying for food, she would throw a handful of money at the register and dash out. It was always more than enough so she wouldn't chased for not doing it correctly, and it saved her from interacting with cashiers. No one cared too much to stop a customer when they over paid.

She dropped the wad at the homeless man's feet.

"For the jacket," she said, and left.

Cops were everywhere. The investigation of the night's excitement was ongoing. Less than a block away from where she'd slept, Selina found a cordoned off scene. The smell of blood was strong enough in the air her hairs involuntarily raised.

She scaled the building and peered down into the blood reeking alley, wanting to see who she'd failed to rescue. She could clearly distinguish the scents of two different bodies. One human, one big animal, probably feline.

All her new, over developed, survival instincts blared in her head, clarifying her vision to the point of needing to squint them almost closed. Her pupils could grow twice as large as they used to, making even overcast Gotham days near unbearable whn she became agitated.

What shocked her was the message scrawled in blood against the alley wall.

"Send Batman to come find me before things get worse!

-The FOURTH."

Selina licked her lips. One of the other experiments had been here. She'd been so close without her ever noticing. And it was dangerous.

She vocalized the rage that flared within her with an unladylike snarl. Strange had been responsible for so much death and violence.

After escaping Arkham's bowels, finding herself altered in ways she still barely understood, being naked and confused, she broke into a clothing outlet. A worried employee came over to her. Her new instincts could only translate the potential threat the man imposed. She scratched his head with claws folding out of her finger tips.

With her new senses, especially strong as the claws sprang out and neared a person, she could feel the heat in bodies emanating from blood and its flow through the veins.

She'd intentionally missed slashing anything major in the employee that would hurt him too bad or kill him, but he'd bled more than anyone she'd ever witnessed.

Since that time, she'd kept her run-ins with other people to a minimum. Loneliness could be crushing at times, but she couldn't drown out all the tells of danger or threat people posed. The ways people could attack her were the only things she was allowed to notice about them.

Strange had altered her into a weapon and a danger to others. He had done so by violating her, operating on her against her will. She'd seen him as a friend, a potential mentor, even. And he'd promised to help her change the world to make it more survivable. She'd listened to him, confided in him, all because he told her he didn't want to change who she was. No, she was too good for the world, he'd confided.

How in the fuck had changing her into this not changed her? It was the same world, just one she saw in a completely different way. Not to mention, she was even less accepted, even more relegated to the periphery of society and hobbled from integrating ever again.

His other experiments, his "beast men," hadn't even hidden themselves and their inherent threat they posed. All of them had become ruthless murderers, and this "Fourth" had proven itself no different.

The Fourth was an extension of Strange's spreading disease. While the man himself rotted away in Blackgate, his legacy was living strong in the Fourth.

Fuck Batman. She'd sniff out the Fourth first. Then, she'd make it answer for the stain it was leaving behind as it enacted Strange's will.