| Her final expedition took her through Africa toward the lost temple of Urzkartaga, home of a legendary tribe who reportedly worshipped a mystic cat-goddess who took the form of a human cheetah. Unbeknownst to Minerva her companion, Dr. Leavens, the native priest who served as her guide had led the expeditionary party into a trap. Minerva’s party was attacked by people of Urzkartaga, who planned to use the explorers as blood sacrifices for the cat-god. Despite overwhelming odds, Minerva and Leavens escaped the ambush and later returned to the temple under cover of darkness. From their vantage point, they saw the sacrificial ceremony that revived and resuscitated Urzkartaga’s cat-god, when, suddenly, another group of natives, a band armed with semi-automatic weapons burst from the jungle to massacre the Urzkartagans, whose sacrifices had taken the lives of many of their own people. In the melee, the cat-god was killed and the temple razed, and Minerva found herself trapped within the temple’s ruins along with the native priest, Chuma and the slain cat-god. |
| At Minerva’s command, Chuma explained the ritual and history of the cat-god. Minerva, wishing to command the cat-god’s power, demanded to be subjected to the ritual herself, even though part of the ritual required her to kill Leavens and drink his blood. Painted with sacred designs and dressed in the skin of the cat-god, she took the potion and became the Cheetah. |
