The A/C was O-U-T

 The A/C was O-U-T

Katya narrowed her eyes.

This was not a minor inconvenience.
This was a full-scale feline emergency.

A cat, after all, was never meant to be slow-roasted at 102°F.

Something had to be done.
And F-A-S-T.

Her current kingdom—temporarily known as Rosendale—had become a convection oven with windows.

Honestly.

Why was the Creator always testing her?

Did she have some strange hobby involving lightly toasted house cats?

Was this another cosmic experiment?
"Let's see what happens when we remove the air conditioning and observe the tiny furry empress."

Rude.

People underestimated her.

They assumed cats were dramatic, aloof, incapable of communicating anything beyond the occasional judgmental blink.

A tragic misunderstanding.

Oh, she could communicate.

With precision.

With poetry.
With strategic levels of chaos.

Well...

We shall see about that, won't we?

Katya had more than one ace tucked beneath her velvet paw.

She had simply been quiet for far too long.

And every great heroine knows the moment before she saves the day is often the hottest.

Literally.

A faint hum rippled through the shimmering air.

Then came a familiar whir.

Out of nowhere, zigzagging through time itself, came Tiki at the controls of the time machine—grinning like a raccoon who'd just stolen the moon.

Right on schedule.

Exactly as Katya had planned.

Of course she'd planned it.

Heroes always have a backup plan.

Cats have at least nine.

The Creator thought she was writing the story.

Katya merely smiled.

Sometimes the author forgets...

...the heroine has already read the next chapter.