Chapter One: The Brand New Days
The young tabby waited alone for his train to arrive. After talking to his mother a couple days before, he had finally felt he was ready to move back to the city and move one with his life. The dirty blond tabby knew his mother would be against the idea, but nevertheless he was allowed out of trust. Leon promised he'd be alright and would stay with his uncle until he can live fully on his own.
Leon made sure to call his uncle when he arrived and made a note of the shop's number in a piece of paper. It had been several years since he had left the city after his father's death; a memory that burned and haunted his dreams every night after that first year. Time had left him wounded. Leon secluded himself from anyone in the private school he was attending and got into fights with anyone who had an issue with him.
The spring semester was about to end soon, but Leon didn't mind that he had to transfer schools. In fact, he told ahead of time in the counselor's office that he planned on moving to Megakat and thought transferring would have been a much easier solution than just waiting for the year to end. His junior year in the private school was a bit of a drag. Most of the students there were either snobby rich kats or kats lucky enough to pay for their education.
But Leon had found peace and solace in a class he'd never thought he'd be good on, great even. The others had thought of him as some natural at acting and performing, but in reality, Leon found an escape from the pain of being himself and the guilt he carried from time to time.
"The train heading to Megakat City will be arriving in a few minutes. Passengers heading toward Megakat, please stay behind the yellow line until the train has come to a full stop."
Leon grabbed his bag and backpack then started walking down toward his platform. The train finally came to a stop and the doors opened enough for him to walk in quickly. In the corner of his eye, he spotted a girl getting on the train at the same moment as him. Ignoring it for the moment, Leon went inside and took his seat near the window.
More kats and canines filled the rows rather quick. Leon didn't want to sit to anyone and grabbed his things looking for a spot further back. Lucky for him, there were fewer passengers two cabins back taking a whole new empty seat for himself. The tabby sighed with relief when the train whistled and motioned to move on its way toward the city. After several minutes of looking out the window, Leon pulled out his mp3 to pass the time listening to some music to hopefully fall asleep throughout the ride.
He saw her again from the corner of his eye. This time he could make her out better from her white fur, but her dark short hair blocked a bit of her face. She wore long boots that reached almost to her knees, a black and white striped stocking, red and black checkered skirt, and a white blouse with a black neck tie. The red collar around her neck had a gold lock ornament and long black with red and yellow thin stripes arm stockings.
Leon looked away quickly when she turned around to look toward his direction. The tabby had not realized he had been staring at her for quite a while that he felt a bit guilty. She was cute, but didn't feel like getting to know anyone just yet. Especially since he had just barely left town to head to Megakat.
Thoughts of returning to the city really made the tabby nervous. Many memories flowed back to mind the longer he had kept thinking about his father and times they had spent together. Even when Leon's father had to go to work, in some occasion the young tabby would be brought along to keep the man company. Leon's family had money to support themselves even with his father gone. His father was a rocket scientist in Pumadyne and did research on ways to perfect the use of rocket powered engines for a much safer use.
The young tabby was nudged that it had startled him out of his daydream. A tom in business attire had been standing in front of him holding out a backpack, "I believe you had left this behind."
"Oh, thanks." Leon took back his bag setting it beside him near the window.
"Don't mention it. You wouldn't want to lose that again, dear boy." The tom nodded and went on his way back to the other car. Leon didn't think twice about the good gesture then went back to listening to his music.
The vast fields of lush green stretched throughout the fields and hills. Several trees dotted the landscape, but there was a large forested area just into few at the horizon. The train made its way over the lake. The sun shining made the lake shine and glitter with the waves. Then everything went dark outside of view.
All the young tabby could hear was the rush of air against the thin space between the tunnel wall and the train. The trains gentle shifting was making it hard for Leon to stay awake a little bit longer. The darkness made it seem like they were lost in an endless tunnel, forced to see their reflection looking in or into the same darkness.
The quick shine of light bursting in made Leon stagger a bit and slowly opened his eyes to see the city just in reach. It was quickly blocked from view as the train traveled into the forest with shadows dancing in different patterns when passing through. The usual suburban homes welcomed the passengers as they exited the forest.
The announcement spoke to its riders of the arriving stop. Leon grabbed his belongings and making sure he had all of his bags. When the train finally came to a stop, he made his way out looking for a phone to use in the busy station.
It was a lot more crowded. Leon could barely get passed through the pedestrians, bumping into others that gave him rude remarks or apologizing. When Leon finally found the phones, there was not a single open one available for him and a long line waited for others to use.
Leon then took out his cell then groaned remembering he had no service. With a sigh, the tabby made his way out of the station with his uncle's shop number in hand. He hoped a shop nearby could let him use a phone to make a quick call to his uncle. Several kats made their way inside and some out. In the corner of the street, he spotted a phone booth and quickly made his way in the small cubical picking up the phone. Leon dialed the number and waited several seconds to hear the click.
"Jake and Chance's Garage and Salvage. What can I do for you?" The voice on the other end was a bit unfamiliar and assumed it was Jake.
"Is Chance there? I need to talk to him."
"Chance? He is hear, but who is this?"
"Um... I'm Leon Furlong. I'm near the train station in Megakat." The guy named Jake made a strange sound when Leon told him his name. The young tabby heard the commotion as he waited for a while and then heard Jake again.
"Okay, kid, how do I know you're not lying me?"
"My uncle watches Scaredy Kat at approximately seven in the morning and at two thirty in the afternoon." Leon was a bit ticked off that they didn't believe him, but his answer tested perfect to the tom on the other end. The phone was shuffled around and a gruff sound cleared its throat.
"Leon, what the hell are you doing here in Megakat? I thought you were going to live with your mom." Chance sounded concerned and very surprised.
"I decided to come back on my own. I promised my mom I'd stay with you until I can take care of myself and move on."
"That's great and all, but... Look, Leon, I'm not sure there's any place for you to stay here. We barely have sizable rooms to ourselves and-" Chance was cut off and started to argue with Jake. The two didn't take long since the family card was played just in time to Leon's defense. "Fine, I'll pick you up. We can think about the rest later."
Leon thanked his uncle and Jake before hanging up. A smile formed on his face after putting up the phone back to its holster. Coming out of the phone booth, a rushing car made his stagger back and fall. Leon glared and cursed at the speeding vehicle that showed no sign of slowing down at all. His eyes landed on the girl standing on the sidewalk looking right at him.
It was the same girl from the train he was on. She walked up to him with her hand held out to help him up. Her light emerald eyes shone in the light and seemed a lot brighter against her white fur. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, thanks."
"Whatever. All I did was pull you up." Her tone was rude, but she did mind well enough to help him. She kept on walking passed him without making a second glance. Leon wanted to follow right behind her, but he knew he had to wait for his uncle to pick him up.
Something was off about her in many ways that Leon could think of. He wondered where she was heading or IF she had anywhere to go. The girl had no luggage with her or even a bag. Leon couldn't callback if the girl had any bags in the train, but remembered her just sitting there looking out the window. Was she robbed, Leon thought. The car that passed by earlier was in a hurry, so he didn't rule it out.
"Who are you...?"
"Welcome to our little home." Chance smiled as best as he could when he brought Leon to the garage. The young tabby was confused at first to why he was brought to their shop and not to an apartment or something. "It's a long story. I will tell you when we have the time."
"Did you quit the enforcers?" Both Jake and Chance looked at each other with a little pain on their face.
"Later, Leon. Right now we have to talk about where you'll be staying. Plus all the things you might need while you're here." Chance tried to keep his smile around Leon to make things awkward. The two gave Leon a quick tour around the house since everything was usually in one place. At the balcony of the garage, Leon could barely see how big and wide the salvage yard was from where he stood. There was a ladder that lead to the roof where the satellite stood pointing toward the sky.
"What's that for? I noticed a TV dish just outside, so why have that there?"
"That satellite? It doesn't do anything. It's used to be used for...uh..." Jake had a pensive panicked look on his face.
"It was to detect enemy fighter planes during the Megakat Wars! Yeah, that's it..." Chance blurted out. Jake agreed along with the older tabby and looked a bit relieved with the quick thinking. Leon, however, didn't buy into the lie, but decided to leave it be. "So now we showed you around our comfy home."
"Comfy? I could see that you guys made some fixes here and there. How long have you guys been living here?" Chance gave up trying to avoid the question and told Leon everything.
The day both were chasing down Dark Kat to finally put the psychotic bastard behind bars; Feral's greed to take credit of capturing Dark Kat caused them to lose control of their plane to have it crash to the Enforcer Building. Feral blamed the accident on Jake and Chance and also blamed for having Dark Kat escape. Their punishment was the lose of their title as Enforcers and made to work in the Enforcer owned garage and salvage yard until their debt for the damages had been paid in full.
"I guess you could say we were here for about ten months now. The pay isn't fair and we rarely get costumers down here. The only time it's ever been busy is when the city gets attacked or during the summer." Jake said.
"Yeah, but it has given us plenty of time to stay in shape and relax for when duty calls." Leon was confused by what his uncle meant. The two didn't get much business, so the young tabby pondered on what else they do around here.
"I just realized something. Where will I be sleeping?"
"I thought about it, but you could take the sofa. It's not in the best condition, but it is pretty comfortable." Leon stared at the questionable sofa in great discomfort. Some areas of the couch were torn and had stains on it from who-knows-what. "There really isn't any other place, so make yourself at home."
"Jeez... Thanks, Chance."
"I was going to cook tonight, but I could save that for tomorrow. Why not just order a pizza and celebrate Leon being here. We could always use a third pair of hands around the garage."
"Good idea, Jake. Pizzas on me!"
Leon was a little curious about the school he had chosen to attend for the semester. The folder he had brought with him were filled with the information he needed to make his transfer smoothly. The counselors were kind and patient with him when they asked why he decided to attend a public school rather then a city public school, but the young tabby easily avoided answering too much than what anyone needed to know.
Before long, Leon had his schedule ready and a map of the school in hand to use for tomorrow. He hesitated for a moment when leaving the office and turned around to speak with the counselor, "Is it okay if I can start today?"
"Today? I don't know. You are registered, so I think it would be fine. Take this note with you and show it to your teachers. Don't want them getting confused to why you suddenly showed up." Leon agreed, taking the note in his hand and quickly telling his uncle he will be starting class. Chance was very surprised that the kid decided to stay, but also a little awed. A quick goodbye, Leon went down the hall looking into the map he was given to see what his class would be.
It took him a while to find the classroom and opened the door getting everyone's attention on him. "Uh... Hey." Leon had a faint warmth on his cheeks.
"Can I help you, sir?" Leon quickly explained himself to the teacher and showing the note he was to hand. "You registered here today and now you're starting classes. Let me see your schedule. Hmm... I see why you started today. Though I will let you know that my class won't be so easy."
"Not a problem, sir." The teacher gave the young tabby a grin and sent him to sit in any seat he'd like. The back was mostly taken and was made to pick a seat near the front. Just as he sat down, copy paper and a pen was placed on his desk as the teacher continued on with the lecture.
Looking at the schedule to learn his teacher's name, it would seem that Mr. Bickford was in the middle of discussing electrical currents and resistance. Leon remembered his class discussing it before getting the chance to transfer and didn't have to fear being left behind a little. Even though he had been paying attention, he overheard some of the girls behind him talking about him.
"He's a lot cuter up close." "Shut up... He'll hear you." "You know you're interested too." "Please... Stop it." "Look, you made her blush."
Leon didn't mind the attention he got since he was new to the school. The girls didn't say anything negative about him, but the some of the guys also overheard making them a bit jealous. The whispers became too noticeable that the class was warned with extra homework.
The one thing the tabby didn't like was that he was the main focus again by people that are curious about him. Since I'll be living here, it wouldn't hurt to have some friends, Leon thought. Rechecking his schedule, he noticed the next class is half an hour apart. He thanked his luck for the lunch break and cursing himself for missing out on breakfast.
No sooner, the bell rang for the class to be released. The tabby grabbed his papers and returned the pen handed to him back to Mr. Bickford. "Thanks."
"You'll be needed it, Furlong. One less pen isn't going to hurt me. I do have an extra folder you can use too. Carrying all those papers can get annoying fast." Mr. Bickford flashed the folder to Leon after finding the extra. Leon thanked the teacher again, still very thrown off by the kind gesture.
The hallways were a lot more crowded than Leon was used to. The private school did have many students, but not so much that it covered the halls. Lockers slammed, chatter carried all over, and Leon tried his best to maneuver through like a fish going upstream. Someone pulled on his jacket out of the hoard of students, almost forcefully.
"I told you it was him!"
"I can't... It really is him!"
Leon looked up at the two faces in midst awe and suspense. The tabby quickly remembered the two, embarrassed that they had to rescue him in that mess. "If it isn't Trey and Jackie. Never thought I'd see you guys again. How have you two been?"
"Pretty good. Jackie here has been acting weird all day." Trey, a brown lean tom who the tabby had met in his childhood. Not exactly the smartest kat Leon had ever met, but did look out for him when the need arrived.
"I knew there was a reason for my good vibes. Today is a good day!" Jacqueline, a white feline that Leon had met a year before moving away. She had been by Trey's side since then and the tabby was glad to see that the two were still together. "Things were boring without you."
"Haha! I didn't exactly have a great time on my own either." Leon confessed. The three talked as they caught up during their lunch break. Leon never realized how much he missed his old friends. The solitude he forced himself in really blocked out anyone he knew or dealt with. Trey and Jackie were cheerful and excited that it made Leon smile a lot more than he had in months.
"Are you going to bring it back?" Jackie whispered as she leaned in. Leon lost most of his smile and ears flattened.
"Haven't really-"
"I need that!" The three looked over to the commotion happening just a few feet from them. A larger tom pushed the kid back hard enough to knock him on his back.
"Sit your ass down! I'm only borrowing some money. Jocks need to eat too, ya know." The tom snickered taking all the cash in the wallet.
"That's all I had!"
"Are you yelling back at me, punk?"
"Hey, dumbass," The larger tom growled as he made eye contact with Leon who was walking right up to him, "give the money back. I don't appreciate anyone stealing."
"What are you gonna do? Snitch like a worthless bitch?" The tom and his friends laughed then surrounded Leon.
"Oh, please, fighting you all would be unfair. At least let me tie my arms to my back." The four growled quietly, glaring at the tabby who stood unmoving. The one behind made a lunge for him, which Leon easily stepped away from. The tom to his right made for a punch against the tabby as he got close enough. Leon ducked when he spotted the swing heading toward him. The other tried to grab Leon from behind, but didn't act fast enough on that duck and swift punch.
The bigger tom growled louder and ran up to Leon with his fist ready to make a landing. Again Leon stepped aside, tripped the tom, and had them collide against each other. The large tom got up fast without caring for his friends and stopped as Leon held out a wallet.
"This so called jock had ten dollars to spend. Talk about having no shame. And I bet your mom would be pretty disappointed too. Now, you can return the money or have this adorable note from your mom read out loud. It's up to you, really." The large tom stopped growling and huffed as he gave the wallet back to the kid he had been bullying. Leon threw the wallet back at the jock who managed to catch it like his whole life depended on it. "I knew you'd make the right choice, Shelly-belly."
The lunch room peaked in laughter after hearing the motherly pet name being said aloud. The large tom glared at Leon, expecting to get attacked again, but he stormed off as everyone called him by the embarrassing name and making crying sounds. Leon felt a little bad about putting him out on the spot like that, but the guy was stealing from the kid.
"Thanks," The kid came to him looking a little annoyed, "but you didn't have to go that far."
"You needed help and everyone was just watching. It pissed me off. If I really wanted to embarrass him, I would have said the real name on the note." The tom looked surprised that the name he heard was made up on the spot. "What's your name?"
"Nathan."
"Nice to meet you, Nathan. I hope you and I can get along." Leon shook the tom's hand firmly. The blond tom seemed a bit shy or maybe still flustered from the what just happened. "Say, are you free after school?"
"Me? Yeah..."
"We get to hang out with Leon again!" Jackie cheered as she came up to them. Trey was just behind her heels patting Leon on the back for doing another great job. Nathan didn't know what the tom meant by it, but wondered if he made a good choice going with them.
After lunch, classes went by quick for Leon as each one kept him busy enough. As the final bell rang, the young tabby made a phone call to his uncle to tell him he will be out with old friends. Chance was arguing about the idea, but then decided to let the kid have some fun. The teens already had a place in mind and told his uncle he'd be picked up there within two hours. The older tabby chuckled a bit in relief seeing that his nephew was doing okay and adjusting well. "Be careful, alright. See ya soon."
"Come on, Leon!" Jackie called out as they walked down the road. Nathan lagged behind them as the three talked to each other. Leon was surprised that the two were still into mangas and anime. Because of them, Leon was a little against the idea of reading them, let alone watching it animated. "What? But anime makes you embrace the story a lot more!"
"I just don't like the idea of watching a silly cartoon for teenagers and adults."
"Watch it, Furlong!" Trey playfully punched the tabby on his arm. "What about you, Nathan?"
"Huh!?" The blond tom snapped out of his world when his name was called, "I... I don't know." Jackie and Trey chuckled at the tom, causing Nathan to blush.
"Don't be so shy. We're not going to bite. Besides, Leon is more the type you have to watch out of." Jackie teased.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Leon gave the feline a soft glare before she broke into a laughing fit. "Don't listen to her. She has this odd fantasy of pairing others together."
"Oh, it's not a fantasy. I've seen the way He looks at you."
"Have you kept in touch with Him?" Trey asked. Leon shook his head getting sad looks from the two. "I wonder how He's doing."
"Who?" Nathan was getting more confused and didn't like that he was left out for a moment.
"Oh, my bad, Nathan." Leon apologized.
"Yes. Who is He, I wonder." The four turned to a tom who had been walking up their way. His sly grin gave Leon a bad vibe. "Better question would be, where is He now?"
"And who might you be?" Leon had an angry tone in his voice. The tom was really getting on his nerves.
"He's Ezekiel Guile. I have several classes with him." Nathan said looking more worried than ever.
"That's exactly my name, Ezekiel Guile. And it is a pleasure to meet you, Leon Furlong." Ezekiel stuck out his hand to give a handshake, but Leon ignored the gesture and just huffed a 'hey'. "No need to be so sour. After all, you did just get here and making enemies is a really bad idea."
"How'd the fuck you know that, asshole?"
"Oooh! Scary words! Acting all intimidating isn't going to work on me. And fighting me right now would be pointless. Your little performance in the lunch room was enough to bore me to sleep. Don't tell me your forgot how to kill on instinct?" Ezekiel snickered, getting the tabby all flustered. Leon tried real hard to keep his fists from leaving his side and knocking the tom out.
"I'll be seeing you around school, Leon. Don't disappoint me next time you put up a show." Ezekiel walked right in the way of all four with the last laugh. Nathan just watched Leon as the anger just sat there in one look toward the ground in what looked like pain.
The four kept on walking, not saying a word. When they finally reached the burger shop, Jackie went off to order everyone a milkshake while they talked. Leon stood quiet a little while longer before letting out a sigh, "Ezekiel was something else, huh?"
"Leon, you don't have to pretend like that meant nothing." Nathan gave the tabby a concerned look, "I know how Ezekiel is. He does anything to get in your head and mess with you. That guy isn't exactly the whole school's favorite."
"He's right. We've been in that school long enough to know Ezekiel is really messed up and dangerous." Trey placed a hand on Leon's shoulder, "We know about what happened. It's not your fault."
"Don't want to get on that. I just want to enjoy being back after being gone for so long."
"What happened?" Nathan covered his mouth as the tabby gave him a soft smile. Leon started to laugh harder causing Trey to get worried for a while.
"I'll talk about it when I'm ready, you guys. Not yet." Leon turned his attention to the blond tom, "So, what do you like to do fun?"
Jackie had returned in time when the question was asked and gave everyone their shake. The four picked up the mood as they made small talk. When it was almost time to go, the four threw away their trash and went outside to wait with the tabby before they all went their separate ways.
In the corner of his eye, Leon saw someone familiar walk into the alley just up ahead of them. He jogged to the alley, barely catching the person as they turned the corner again. Leon was sure it was the girl from the train ride the other day.
"Leon...? Are you-hey wait!" Leon ran after the girl and saw her again as she turned another corner. Not wasting any moment, he dashed on and couldn't see her anywhere. Trey, Jackie, and Nathan were right behind him when they finally caught up with him. "Don't run off like that!"
"I thought I just..." Leon turned around to face his friends and saw a figure turn a corner just up ahead. Leon made his way passed his friends and running at a much faster pace and following the figure long enough arrive at a locked door in the end of an alley. Leon was panting hard. He was wondering if he made a wrong turn somewhere, but he followed the figure as she showed up.
"You shouldn't be here, kid." A harsh voice startled the tabby out of his thoughts. A lean enforcer stood right behind him and gave him a nasty look. "Might I guess you're a Furlong?"
"How did you guess that?" Does everyone know who I am, Leon thought.
"Your face makes me think of Chance Furlong. It was hard enough to handle one. Now there are two." The enforcer glared down at the young tabby, "Steele. Be sure to send your...relative my regards. Now get going. You're meddling with Enforcer business."
"Leon!" The tabby heard his friends calling out to him and made his way passed the enforcer. Leon wondered why the guy looked familiar, but decided to let it go as it had nothing to do with him. After finding his friends, he apologized again for acting weird. The tabby didn't want to tell them about the girl, and hoped he could meet her again.
When they all emerged out of the alley, Chance was already there waiting on his nephew to go home. His uncle asked why they went into the alley and his friends were wondering why also. Leon just told them he thought he saw someone suspicious, but found no one at all.
"If it was someone suspicious, just leave it to the enforcers." Chance's words made Leon worried and wondered if the girl was caught by that Steele guy he met earlier. Hoping he was wrong, Leon said goodbye to his friends and went on with Chance.
The ride back was lively as the two talked about their day. Chance had been wondering all day why Leon wanted to come back, but he had a feeling what the answer was though asked anyway. Leon was thrown off by his uncle wanting to know, but said nothing. The young tabby just smiled happily and looked out the window as the sun started to set.
"Hey, Boss, it's Steele. We might have gotten a problem on our hands. The kid is back. Want me to take care of it? … Alright. I'll keep an eye on the brat."