Song-

A New Soul; An Old Soul

~Disclaimer! Corrector Yui, Kingdom Hearts, Maximum Ride, Hatsune Miku, Okage: Shadow King, Ouji boards, Legos, Billy the Exterminator, Harvest Moon, Rune Factory, Natsume, Ouran High School Host Club, Youtube, Axe, Bosley, or any of the songs in this story do not belong to me.

1: Secrets Unbeared

"Never!" IR yelled.

I was astonished. According to only what I had heard, I would do anything to get rid of that dingy of a body IR had for a muscular, sexy one. God.

See, I'm not all nicey-nicey goody-goody, so no recapping. If you don't flipping understand, either read the first Song or just flipping don't read this! God.

Sorry. Mood swingy here.

Anyway- "Fine, have it your way." The Eraser sneered. "I'll be in the School for a week before I'm killed, too. So you have a week to decide what you'd rather have: your old body back, or a useless Expiriment that will be killed soon. Your choice. Just come when you decide not to be stupid." He jumped through the ceiling with a crunch. That's gotta hurt.

I grabbed IR's ear. "Little , you've got some 'splainin to do!" I said with a Jamaincan accent.

Xemnas poked a pen into IR's face. "You weren't here. Why weren't you here?"

I explained.

"Explain." I said, and crossed my arms.

IR sighed. "It's nothing big."

"Really? A curse, yeah, no biggie. Some crap about two flipping bodies, I go through that all the time! And a talking shadow. That's perfectly normal." I said sarcasticaly.

"Fine. But this is a long story."

"IR, a long story would be how I've got wings. Okay, carry on."

He sighed. "I wasn't like this before." He gestured to himself. "I was a human, not a computer program come to life. When I was, I was a warrior. I fought all the things that threatened the peace of my hometown. One time, I was sent on a mission to destroy a shadow, which is techinally impossible." He hit himself in the head. "Augh, I'm doing it again!...

"So, I went to it's lair, and the only thing I found was a lamp. I didn't even rub it, just tapped it with my sword, and the shadow came out. He was the Evil King Stanley the Fifth. He wanted to take over my shadow and use me for his own purposes, and I refused.

"He was furious and set a curse on me. he said, 'Let you be turned into a program, forget your identity, and your personality shall be switched. You must not feel love, compassion, or joy.' And most of his spell didn't work.

"So I searched a role and pretended to be 'created' by the Professor Inukai. After my adventures with Yui were mostly over, I searched another. I was found as a virus on Xemnas's computer, and he created a system where in which I can enter the real world.

"With him, we tried to train a Singer to save us from Grosser again, which he has gone bad. But because of the effects of myself entering the real world, I cannot stop him. We created a system of Singers, and each one failed. And next on the list was an Expiriment."

He looked at me. "That is you, Cat."

I shook my head in frustration. "No, I can't be responsible for that. Just as you said, IR, I'm an Expiriment. I belong back at the School, not in a fantasy world where everything is screwed up." I held my head. "I think I'm going crazy, everyone is trying to kill me, and now I have to worry about you! I can't do this anymore!" I screamed.

I took out the window and flew down to the trees and landed. I leaned against one of them and searched the dirt for something sharp enough.

There. A really pointy rock.

Perfect.

I grabbed it and started slashing at my wrists, feeling bloode ooze from my cuts. It poured down my lower arm and fell onto the ground, making a red puddle.
I kept it up, until you could bearly see any skin left. Then I started doing my ankles.

If I kept slashing, I would eventually bleed to death and wouldn't have to deal with this anymore. Suicide. Simple enough.

Then I remembered: head wounds bleed a lot. I started slashing at my cheeks.

"What are you doing?" IR found me.

I burst into tears. "I don't wanna do this anymore... Don't... wanna!..."

"Are you trying to kill yourself?"

I nodded, even though I knew that it wasn't really a question. More like a statement.

"Are you crazy?"

I nodded again.

All of a sudded, bells rang. From the church.

Christmas bells.

Xemnas and 21 and Hawkdream had gathered around me, and now their eyes were to the sky, listening. Everything was silent.

Everything seemed slow motion, heavenly. Then it hit me.

I knew what IR's Christmas present was going to be.

2: Best Present, Worst Present?

I put the note on my bed. Off to sacrifice myself. See you later.

More like writing a lover's suicide note.

It's really fun, I recommend it.

I pushed open the patio doors silently. Everyone was asleep. Christmas night. I stepped onto the patio and one of the strips of bandages from my suicide attempt got stuck in the doorway.

A good-bye gift. Just bloody.

Stretching my wings, feeling power surge through them, I jumped off the railing and caught myself in the air.

"Goodbye." I murmured, without looking back.

That morning I went to check on her in her room. She hadn't been down for breakfast.

That was when I found the suicide note on her bed.

Most of it was misspelled, but I made it out. It read:

Hiya. If you found this, it must mean that I'm already off to the School.

You heard me. I'm turning myself in for you, IR. It's your late Christmas present. Don't cry, okay? I'm probably dead now, I'm watching over you. In maybe a couple hours or so, you should come to the School, too, so Stan can give you your body back.

Don't cry for me, and this isn't your fault. It's mine. I never should have come with you. I caused so much trouble and put all of you guys in danger. I don't belong here anymore.

If they don't kill me, I ,myself, will. I don't want you guys to be in danger anymore. Tell Angel that she was like my daughter, okay? Xemnas- you're such a pervert but I love you that way. And Hawkdream, I thought that you were the perfect match for me, and I still do. But I have to do this for IR.

IR, I love you. If you don't come and get your body, I'll come as a spirit and strangle you in your sleep.

Goodbye, everybody. At least I won't suffer anymore. I love you all.

Cat

"Xe-Xemnas!" I screamed, tears in my eyes. "Look at what she did! She's dead! She killed herself!"

He ran to her room and read the note. He didn't say anything.

"Didn't you read it? She turned herself in! She's dead! They've killed her!" I was hysterical.

"You better go there. Look, the patio's open."

"No, Xemnas! I can't! I ca-"

He grabbed me. "Look, stupid! She killed herself for you! And your just going to stay here and cry? She says not to!"

They didn't kill me right away. Apparently more tests, first.

They threw me in the same cave I met IR in. I started to cry.

No, stupid, stop. This is for him. I thought.

Shuffling disturbed my thoughts. Ari came into my cave.

"I'm being terminated, too." He sounded solemn, not evil. "We all are."

I actually felt bad for him. "Ari- what are they doing?"

"They're replacing all of us with robots. And no- no more tests."

"Then why are they waiting to kill me?"

He looked at me, like I was his role model or something. "You turned yourself in for that thing- IR, right?"

"Yeah."

"They're going to kill you right in front of him. I can't beleive that you are that brave to sacrifice yourself."

"Why aren't they keeping you, since you're Jeb's son?"

"I'm going to Expire soon, anyway." That was why he was so sad.

"I-I'm sorry, Ari."

"It can't be helped. We all would Expire eventually. Or- me and you. We're the only ones left. Besides 21 and 8. They don't care about them."

It finally registered into me: I was going to die. Soon.

Actually, very soon.

Ari said, "It' time, I'm so sorry, Cat. I've always sort of liked you."

Wait-what?

He unshackled me from the wall and took my hand in his furry paw. He pretty much dragged me upstairs and through blinding, white hallways. Into a room that looked like a doctor's office. Except everything was made out of sterilized silver and metal.

It was really big, too.

What a happy room to get murdered in. Whoo.

This is it. I'm dead.

Many scientists were bustling around. One made me sit on an examination table and he started putting some sort of substance in a needle, muttering to himself.

The liquid was clear, with dots of silver in it. It went well with the room.

Just then, two scientists came in with something in the middle.

IR!

3: The End

"Cat! Why'd you do this?" Tears were in his eyes, pain in his voice. He tried to reach for me, but the scientists held him back.

"You get to watch her be terminated. Then you will receive your body back." A scientist said to him.

IR just looked down, defeated.

"It's for your own good." I whispered.

The scientist with the needle came over to me and, without hesitation, plunged the needle into my arm.

Time for a breakout.

I punched him upside the head and ripped the needle from my skin. About half had gone in.

Was that enough to kill me?

Well, it was enough to make me seriously dizzy. I toppled over scientists, punching and kicking blindly. Most of them ran and screamed. I was almost to IR when something grabbed my wings and pulled them out to their full size.

It was Ari, and he was about to snap them off me clean. "Don't go thinking I'm all goody-goody 'cause I'm a dead man." He sneered.

I kicked him in the stomach, making him clutch his gut. "You're not even a man, Frankenstein!"
Running to IR, I hastily looked around.

Wait, the principle had had it, and he was terminated...

So it had to be in the lamp!

But where was the flipping lamp?

Grabbing IR's hand, I ran through hallways and doorways until I saw a large table in an office.

On it was Stan's lamp.

I tried to open the doorknob. Scientists were swarming around like mad bees.

Locked.

So I bashed it with my shoulder and I thought I broke it. The door fell, and I ran inside, grabbed the lamp, and jumped out of the window.

I was home-free.

"Did they get you with it?" Xemnas questioned, worried.

"About half went in. And I think my shoulder's broken." I answered.

"Good God! Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

"I just crashed through the window!" I put IR down on the couch and followed Xemnas to the infirmary.

IR had fainted when I jumped out the window.

I think he's afraid of heights.

Xemnas made me drink all sorts of weird things, but I trusted him. He then put a little medical tape on my shoulder and claimed that I wouldn't die because of all the things he gave me.

I was still a little worried, though.

"Guess what I grabbed..." I asked Xemnas.

"What?"

I pulled the lamp out of my pocket. "This!"

"IR's gonna be so happy." He said casually.

"Mistress! !" IR yelled repeatedly.

"My name is Cat."

"Where are you?"

"At grandmother's house, delivering sweets. Where else would I be after almost dying?" I said sarcastically.

"She's down here! In the infirmary." Xemnas answered.

I laid down and pretended to be dead. IR came down very fast and started flipping out.

"Oh my God, you killed her!" He screamed and started attacking Xemnas.

I sat up. "No, I'm fine! God, IR!"

He looked the most relieved his eyes would show.

"Get ahold of yourself, mister!" I mimiced him.

"I'm just happy you're not dead." He said, calming down.

"I'm just happy I'm not dead, too." I said. "Guess what I got?"

Xemnas clapped his hands. "Sponge candy!"

"No, stupid." I held up the lamp. "Show yourself, um, shadow thingy!"

It started shaking and fell on the floor. As I predicted, the shadow thingy popped out. "What now, Dr. Au- Oh, God! It's you again!"

"Give IR his body!"

"Can't." It simply said.

I tried to punch it, but I went right through and fell on IR. "Missed." it said.

"Flip you!" I picked up the lamp and threw it across the room. "There. That better?"

"No! And, FYI, I am Evil King Stanley the Fifth." He puffed out his chest the best a shadow could.

"Why can't you? I went through dying for nothing, then?" I yelled.

"No, I just need the actual body. Then I can do it."

"I thought the School had the body!"

He shook his head. "No, they just used me as a prop to get you. I do know where it might be, though. I hid it somewhere secret, safe."

"Where, then, jerk?"

"The ruins."

4: Creepy

"Really? Why can't life be easy?" I said.

I stormed off to my room without saying a thing. Between the stupid bells and all this crap I was going to explode. Literally.

Like, literally.

No, not really. I might try to make myself bleed to death, but I ain't sticking myself into a giant microwave anytime soon.

"Spider!" I screamed and kicked the wall across from my bed. I had taken a nice nap. Not that I'm little. I actually don't know how old I am, but I think around 13. FYI.

"!" I screamed again and whacked the baby daddy-long-leg with a piece of paper. It fell onto my carpet and crawled towards me.

"!" I shrieked even louder. I fled to all corners of my room and it just followed me.

You know what's sad? I've met death itself, faced years of torture, and am on the run with something orange that I still do not know what species he is. And yet I'm screaming like I'm being stabbed slowly and painfully with a dagger when there is a baby spider following me.

Yup. That's me.

I climbed up my bookcase, knocking tons of books down. 'Genetic DNA Recombinats for Dummies', 'How to Build a Large Biostructer of Excellence' and 'Mexican Food History'. Hm. I didn't know Xemnas liked tacos.

I was all the way up the bookcase when Xemnas came into my room. "What? What's wrong?"

I pointed to the spider that had been squished by 'Mexican Food History'. Tacos must have had something against it.

"A spider? That's what you made me worry about?" Xemnas sighed. "Are we still going to the mall or are you paralyzed in fear forever?"

I nodded.

"Pick this up and let's go." I saw what I had knocked down. Books, papers, and the lamp were scattered around.

I jumped off the bookcase with ease, not even landing with a slight thump. "Wait, what? I thought we were going to the ruins." I asked.

"We have to go to the mall, first. Do you see any flashlights around here?" Xemnas said.

"No."

"Then let's go." He said. "Sheesh, you think a teenager would want to be at the mall every second of her life."

"Is IR going, too?" I asked.

He smiled. "I told him he can come as long as he disguises himself and doesn't look like an idiot."

IR and I hadn't talked much since yesterday. I guess my note was a little too much for him.

He was always so jittery, too.

I shooed Xemnas out of my room. "Get out, lemme get dressed. Make pancakes today, okay?"

It had been about five seconds before Cat ran to a toystore. You'd think she'd would have run to clothes or something.

That just proves that she has a childish demeanor.

"Come on, Xemnas!" She tugged at me, leaving IR behind. He looked idiotic, but was close enough to disguised by wearing a long detectives' coat and a hat.

Not much of a fashion sense, am I right?

I grabbed the sleeve of IR's coat, and it was kinda a domino effect. Once we were in the toystore, Cat zoomed around, oohing and aahing. She held up at least 52 things saying, "Xemnas! Can I pleeeeeeeeaaaaaaase get this?" and then ran to another type of toy, doing the same.

"I'm looking at the Legos." IR said simply.

I wandered over to where Cat was. Apparently she was entranced by a Ouji board. "Xemnas, look at this! Can I ge-" and then she gasped. I did, too.

The little cup thingy was moving to the letter S. And we weren't touching it. No one was.

We watched as it formed sentences. S.T.A.N. It paused. I.S. Pause. L.Y.I.N.G.

Cat looked at me. "Stan is lying?"

I shrugged. It started moving again.

T.H.E. Pause. B.O.D.Y. Pause. I.S. Pause. N.O.T. Pause. I.N. Pause. R.U.I.N.S.

"The body is not in the ruins..." I recited.

Y.O.U. M.U.S.T. G.I.V.E. E.M.O.T.I.O.N.

"You must give emotion..." Cat whispered.

It stopped moving.

"Huh?" I said.

All of a sudden, a cashier walked hurriedly up to Cat and shoved something in her hands. His head was shadowed by a hat. Then he just kinda faded into the air.

"Ohmigod. That was creepy." Cat stated. Then she held up a piece of paper. "It says something."

Jeolousy leads to anger,

anger leads to forgivness.

Forgivness leads to joy,

then the true form will appear.

"What the..." I said.

"This day is so whacked." Cat said.

All of a sudden IR whirred past us. "Help me!"

A little kid was chasing him. "Stop! Mommy, I want that toy!"

Cat grabbed IR. "Sorry, I just bought this one. There are other ones over there. And in different colors." She said sweetly.

"But I want that one!" The little kid screamed and plopped on the ground, pouting.

Cat pointed at the ceiling. "Ohmigod, look!" and then we ran out of that creepy place.

5: True Form

"So you think that if we make IR feel all these things, his body will just magically appear in the air?"

"No, stupid. Not appear in the air. It'll probably be on the roof or something." I explained to Xemnas.

IR was off destroying my room looking for a non-existent 'purple spotted box'. I had made a big fit saying that I couldn't find it, and he said he would.

Just so we could get him outta the way.

"It's worth a try." Xemnas said.

"Okay... first is 'jeolousy'... I'm already stuck." I said.

"Just make him covet." Hawkdream said.

I shook my head. "Nooooo! You made me even more confused!"

21 had decided to name herself 'Angel'. So Angel said, "Umm. Doesn't IR have a crush on you?"

I blushed furiously. "How am I supposed to know?"

Angel shrugged. "You're just always on his mind and stuff. Oh my gosh, I got it!"

"What?" I asked.

"Couldn't you just make a big deal of like, kissing Xemnas or something?" she said.

"Whaaaat?" I yelled.

Hawkdream nodded. "It is a good idea."

"Xemnas!" I yelled.

"I have no problem with it. I mean, heck, who wouldn't want to kiss a catgirl with wings?"

"Oh my God, you pervert!" I hung my head. "Am I the only one with feelings?"

"Shouldn't that cause anger, too?" Angel asked.

"Yeah, my anger!" I snapped.

"Yep. And then IR will have to forgive 'em, and then it'll be a happy ending." Hawkdream said.

I stopped yelling. "Wait... That seems too easy."

"Whatever. Let's just try it." Hawkdream said.

"Nonononoo! Uh, Cat!" IR yelled as I chased him.

"I told you to find it! Why didn't you find it?" I screamed.

"It's not there! It's not real! There is no purple box! Nooooooo!"

I grabbed his hand and he screamed. "How do you know?" I said quietly.

He held up a finger. "First of all, you just confirmed what I stated. Second, you are not smart enough to trick me."

"Oh, I'll show you flipping smart!"

"Aaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!"

Xemnas grabbed my shirt. "What the-" I said.

He motioned.
"Oh my gosh, Xemnas! Thank you, thank you... She was chasing me and she was going to get me and-"

And the plan was put into place. At first I hit his chest because I wasn't expecting it to happen now. And then I realized IR was watching us and blushed, and just embraced Xemnas more so.

Don't nag me, okay? I don't wanna describe it! It's to hard to describe... kissing... Xemnas...

"This is just acting..." I whispered when Xemnas was getting a little too into it.

"M-hmm." He replied and didn't stop at all.

Someone pushed Xemnas.

"What the heck, Xemnas! What is malfunctioning with your head?"

I blushed furiously and ran to my room. I slammed the door and punched the wall...

And put a gigantorism hole into it shaped like a fist. Whoops.

Putting my face into a pillow, I tuned into the argument.

"What is wrong with you? Have you turned even more perverted? Why- what- what has-"

"I have never heard you say that word. Are you sweaty?"

"Why are you changing the subject? What did you do to her- besides making out randomly? She ran to her room for some reason!"

"Maybe she's tired. Why are you making a big deal out of it, anyway? She's single, as far as I know."

"We- um-... Isn't she with Hawkdream? See- what would Hawkdream think, huh?"

"Nothin'."

"Reeeeeaaaaaaally? I find that increasingly suprising. Why don't I tell him now- you know what-"

"What are you gonna do? Call some of your raccoon friends and have them come get me? I'll call Billy the Exterminator! Uh, hey Billy! I have an odd type of raccoon in my house- could you come relocate it?"

"H-how dare you! I'll have you exiled for-"

"Excuse me? Exiled? And how are you going to do that, so called 'warrior'?"

"... By order of Mephisto Prism!"

"..."

"..."

"Is that really your name?"

"... Why should you know, jerk?"

And then everything went silent.

Mephisto Prism, huh?

It was about midnight when I walked into her room. And when I saw the huge fist-shape punched into the wall. Beautiful.

I moved her hair off her shoulder and tapped on it.

She rolled off the bed and looked up at me blankly. "'Sup?"

I pulled her up off the floor. "Guess what?"

"... I was sleeping, you know."

"Yeah. So- IR and I fought- and guess what?"

"... I heard you, you know."

"Yeah. So- he forgave me! And you know what happens next?"

"... Dunno." Cat slurred.

"Oh my God." I said and shook her. "Come on, let's go look on the roof!"

"... I'm tired, you know. Can't we go look for leprachans on the roof tomarrow? I wanna go back to sleep. I am not a morning hybrid." she slurred again.

I shook her harder. "We aren't looking for leprachans, you doof! We. Are. Looking. For IR's body!" I said each word as I shook her.

"What is all the racket?" IR murmered, in front of the doorway.

Cat patted his head. "We are just devising to invest all of your cash into taking over the world and killing all the people because it's fun."

"Oh. Okay." he murmered again and went back to his room.

"We havn't made him happy yet. Go back to bed." Cat said and collapsed on her bed.

Oh. Right.

I stumbled down the stairs to eat.

Why hadn't Erasers come in a while?... Wait. All of the old Expiriments were beinng terminated. So- that means all of the Erasers, too.

But how were they going to replace them? I knew that they'd keep chasing me, but for now they must be making some other sort of... thing.

I should just enjoy the peace and quiet for now.

I sighed, sitting at the dining room table. Then I gasped.

There was no food on it.

"Xemnas!" I screamed.

He came rushing down the stairs in his normal attire: pajama pants. That's all. "Sorry! I just felt like sleeping in!"

"Pancakes." I stated.

"'Kay."

Hawkdream came down with Angel in hand. "I want food." she said.

"Xemnas decided to sleep in." I said.

They sat at the table and Hawkdream told me how last night he fell off his bed and almost got bombarded by books and Angel said that she dreamed that she had a pony. That was rainbow.

Regular day. Ahh.

"Where's IR? He's usually down first." Hawkdream asked after getting me orange juice.

"Maybe he decided to sleep in, too." I answered. "Does IR even sleep?"

"I don't know. Sometimes he scares me." Angel said and shivered.

"I'll go look." I said and got up.

I went down the hallway and halfway down it I saw something that rocked my world. "Ohmigod!"

6: Done... Or not?

"What? What's wrong?" the person said.

"Xemnas! There is a person in the castle!" I screamed and lunged at the person.

I have to admit, he was really hot. His bangs were moved to one side and his hair was black except a third of it was orange. He didn't have a shirt on, but was extremely muscular. His beautiful eyes were orange and he had jeans on. And shoes.

And he wore an odd neckalace that looked very familiar...

"Noooo! Not again!" yelled the person. "What did I do?"

I knew that phrase. "Who are you?" I sneered.

"What is wrong with you this time, mistress Cat? I didn't do anything?"

"How do you know my name?"

"Stop it. This is no time to play games, mistress."

Could it be... "Who the heck are you?"

"I'm IR! What, did you forget my name?"

I looked at him. "You're not IR."

"Yes, I am!"

Xemnas came running with a fork with a pancake on it. "What?"

"Tell her that I am IR, Xemnas!"

Xemnas and I looked at each other. "Is it him?" I asked.

"No... we havn't made him happy yet." He answered.

"Oh my... Okay, I am happy! What is wrong with you two?"

"Go look in a mirror!" I pushed him to the vanity in my room. "Xemnas, go get Stan, okay?"

IR- er- the person was observing himself in the mirror and murmering.

I jumped on his back. "Ohmigod it is you!"

"Ack! What the-"

I rubbed his hair. "Ohmigod omigod omigod..."

"What are you doing, you crazy chick?"

"Whoo hoo! I'm a crazy chick! You're not boring anymore, Mephisto!"

"What? How do you know that?"

"You know that you should be quieter when you argue."

"Wha-"

Xemnas came in. "What are you doing?"

"He's hot! He's hot! He's hot he's hot he's hot!" I giggled hysterically and resumed ruffling his hair.

"I am glad that I am hot, okay? Can you get off me?"

I jumped off him. "Okay, now it's okay to date me, okay?"

"What? Um-"

"I'm glad that it's a happy ending for IR- er- Mephisto, but your duty as that Singer hasn't even started yet, Cat." Xemnas said. "And the lamp's not on the cabinet anymore."

"Whatever. We don't need Stan no more." I said.

So... All that was not even the beginning, I guess. All that had nothing to do with what needs to be done.

Heck, I don't even know what has to flipping be done!

"It escaped... I plead for forgivness, Executive. 13 had a plan, just like alwa-"

"Plan? Plan? So you are supposing that Expiriment 13 thinks? It is just an Expiriment! A project! But most of all, a mistake! That Expiriment is one of the last Expiriments that need to be terminated!" The Executive almost seemed to have raibies.

"Well- um- what about 8, 21, and the first-made clone of 13, and-" The scientist stammered.

He knew his fate. No matter what, he failed. He was selected, of great honor, to be the one to terminate Expiriment 13. His hand had shakily held the needle, the one to start over with 13. And then that- that orange thing, came in for really no reason, and while he was distracted, 13 escaped.

Adding onto that, earlier he had dropped the flask of blood samples from Expiriment 13. So they could not continue with the cloning process.

"That is it. I am done with you." The Executive said sternly. "Ari. You know what to do."

The scientist begged for mercy, but Ari grabbed him into a headlock. His days were numbered, anyway, so he was basically secrurity.

He tightened his grip around the scientist's neck until he felt a snap and went limp.

"So this is where Yui and all that stuff come in?" I asked.

The day after we had a totally new breakfast.

That's right.

Blueberry pancakes.

"Yes." IR muffled through a facefull of food. I guess if you havn't eaten ('Cause you don't have a mouth) for a really long time you would snarfle blueberry pancakes, too. Escpecially Xemnas's.

"You are not very civilized, warrior." I teased.

He looked at me innocently and actually started using his fork.

"Totally changing the subject- but has anyone seen Venus? I havn't seen her in at least a couple weeks." Xemnas asked a horrifying question. Why? You'll see later.

"Nope." I said. "Can you make more?"

"I need more!" IR yelled and thrust his plate into the air.

"How old are you? Can't you get yourself more?" Xemnas didn't even look up from his plate.

I waved my hand. "I'm- um... older than the pancake mix!"

IR shrugged and got up. "16, um... 17? It's hard to remember when you're orange."

I followed him into the kitchen. "Really? You look older." I grabbed his arm. "You're so... muscle-y." I flirted.

He was hot, okay?

He yanked his arm away and blushed. "Of course, I was a warrior."

I ruffled his hair. "Was? You still are." I did the little-man-walky-thing on his shoulder. "... To me."

"Would you stop doing that?"

I B-Slapped him- hard. "Fine! I thought you liked me!" And walked out of the room in a huff.

"Whoa, what did you do to her?" Xemnas asked as soon as he saw the handprint on the side of my face.

"She's too young to be flirting with me."

"So you slapped yourself?"

"No, she slapped me." I fumbled with the fork.

"Who said she was flirting with you?"

"Me, okay!"

Cat came screaming from the hall and hid behind Xemnas. "It's him. It'shimit'shimit'shim! T-they sent him!"

Hawkdream was silent the whole time, and Angel was probably reading everyone's minds.

She is very scary sometimes.

"Who's him?" Xemnas said.

She pointed out the dining room window, next to the cupboard. "Him!"

I just looked out that window, and Xemnas grabbed her by the wrists and yelled, "What. Is. There!"

She just stared out the window blankly, shaking with terror.

"Xemnas." I said. "Come look."

He came to the window to see a very large UFO-like device with handles. Holding the handles were a person. A person with a whitecoat. And he had another person with him, too.

He shot the window with a gun, shattering glass everywhere.

"Get outside!" Xemnas yelled.

I was shivering, not much from the cold, but because he was here.

Jeb brought Nightmare.

Nightmare, with long jet black hair and the deepest, darkest eyes you could imangine, jumped off the little floaty-thingy. He didn't bother to pull his jet black wings in.

"Who is he?" Xemnas whispered.

I brought back a little of my courage, and said, "Get back. This is going to be really, really ugly."

I stepped forward and puffed out as much as I could, trying to look unafraid. He strutted slowly towards me.

"Hi Neko. Don't you remember me?"

I shook my head. "No- no! You're dead, they killed you."

"I was told that they killed you." Now he was in front of me.

"Then why are you here?"

He put his hand under my chin and made me look at him. His beautiful face, full of pain. "I want to bring you back. I want you to be with me, I need you."

I slapped him. I'm getting good at that. "No, I'm not going back! You're not anything to me anymore!"

"But don't you remember?" His dark eyes looked into mine.

*!*

"I hope this project works." The scientist muttered as he tossed the Expiriment in and left.

I sat up and rubbed my eyes, full of tears.

Something whirred by me.

Again.

He put a hand on my shoulder. "Hiya. I'm calling you Sakura Neko!"

I whacked it away. "Who are you?"

He stepped out of the shadows, long jet black hair and eyes. "I'm Nightmare, and I'm 8 today! I think."

I laughed. "Cool! I'm Expiriment 13! I think I'm 6!" We laughed again.

He was next to me in the corner, wings around each other, still 8 and 6.

"You do know that out there, there's stars and a moon. And there's this thing called sunlight and a sun, whatever that is." Nightmare said.

"Really? How do you know that?" I looked at him with huge, trusting eyes.

"I'm smart like that. And there's big things of water called seas. And fishes and seals and whales and sharks live in them. And there's trees, and people go to shops and get stuff and they eat food in resteraunts and it's really cool."

"You're so smart, Nightmare. Someday can we go there?"

"Yup! And we can drive cars and live in a house and we can get married!" We giggled at the thought.

We just thought about the world for a moment. "Nightmare?"

"Yeah?"

"Why'd you name yourself that?"

He thought. "Because it sounds magic. Why don't you name yourself something? I already named you Sakura Neko, but you can change it. I think."

"But I don't know what a name is. I thought my name was Expiriment 13." I shifted so my head was on his shoulder.

"Nah, that's a stupid name. It has to sound magic. Like Sakura Neko. It's Japanese for 'Cherry Cat'."

"What's Japanese, Nightmare?"

He rubbed my head. "It's a language. People talk different sometimes."

"Oh. My name does sound magic. So does yours."

He grinned. "That's 'cause you're my nekomi mi!"

I giggled. "I love you, Nightmare!"

I was 13. Nightmare, 15.

"Nightmare, where are you going?" I grabbed his hand.

"They're just taking me for a minute, like usual. I'll be back, Sakura Neko." He kissed my hand and went with the whitecoat.

An hour later whitecoats came down to get another Expiriment.

"It's a shame that they had to kill the feline-human-avian hybrid." One said.

"Yeah, I know. They're getting rid of all of 'em." The other said.

I knew it.

They killed Nightmare.

And that was when IR came. An hour after Nightmare died.

I snapped out of my flashback and whispered, "Nightmare. You're n-not dead."

"Nope. I just want to get you back." He ruffled my hair. "Sakura Neko."

A snowball hit him upside the head, and he fell down.

"Hey! Whoever you are, get your hands off of her!" IR yelled.

He was behind me. "How'd you sneak-?"

Nighmare got up and rubbed his head. "Wha-?"

Jeb screamed from up ahead. "Get on with it, 9!"

"With what?" Nightmare mumbled.

Blood?

I whacked IR. "You hit him with a rock, idiot!"

"Whoops. Sorry." He said like he did it on purpose.

"Oh- I oughtta-" I screamed.

Jeb pointed a gun at me. "Get up here, or I'll shoot!"

An old man was behind him suddenly. "Guns are violent. Especially pointed at young ladies." And he took it away while Jeb looked at him like, WHAT THE FRENCH TOAST.

"Peace!" IR yelled.

"Peace? When did you get hip?" I whacked him again.

Someone tapped me. I whirrled around to see a blonde. "Hi! Are you okay?" She asked.

"Who are you?" I said.

"Hello! Who are you, might I ask?" Xemnas said to another woman with teal hair. "And you?" to a handsome purple-haired guy.

"Oh my God! I've lost it! Xemnas has gone gay, and IR is insane." I yelled.

"Kay, anyone see him? Leave the story alone, if the chick's supposed to die, let her! Look people, look! Gosh!" said a blonde chick.

"I'm out of here." Jeb said and transported. I know, I'm insane, okay?

I rushed over to Blonde Chick #2. "It's not polite to let me die, okay?"

"Whatever. Have you seen this?" She held up a picture of IR. In little raccoon-thingy form.

"Yeah, about 4 days ago." I said.

"Where?"

I pointed to where IR was looking around wildly.

"Are you pulling my leg?"

"No, I am not! IR, come here!"

He looked at me. "Oh, Mistress Yui!" He said and ran to her.

"Excuse me, who the heck are you?"

He blinked. "Um- never mind!" He turned to run.

She grabbed his arm. "Your neckalace... You know him!"

IR looked at his neckalace that looked like his raccoon-thingy face. "Um- oh, yes. He is my best friend."

"Where is he? I need him!"

He pointed at me. "Don't worry, Mistress Yui. I'm taking care of it."

"Of what? Who are you?"

I pointed to Nightmare. "Um, guys, I'd love to be confused some more, but he's probably bleeding to death, so..."

"Come on, help me! I really need to transform-" she said.

"Allow me." IR interupted and- well- in a puff of smoke- turned into IR. Like raccoon-thingy IR. "Download Element Suit!"

LASERS OUT OF EYES TIME! WHHHEEEEEE!

Sorry.

"Oh my God IR..." she said after fashioned in a pink dress thingy. "I missed you!"

"I know! Me too!"

I seperated them. "He's MINE! MY ORANGE AND ONLY MY ORANGE!"

She pushed me. "Who the heck are you?"

I pushed her back. "More important then you, God knows!"

"Girls! Can we explain this in the castle?"

"Ohmigod IR you have a castle!"

"I want an Element Suit too, IR!" I yelled.

"Me too!" Angel yelled.

"Me three!" Xemnas yelled.

IR was a human again. Aparrently he can switch back and forth like magic.

Whoo hoo.

"Me four!" Eco said.

"Eco, that's impossible. You're already a Corrector." IR explained.

"That's no fair!"

"Eco is a hippie." I whispered to Nightmare and he laughed.

He just needed a whiddle band-aid. All bedder!

Xemnas was down in the infirmarary doing research on what was wrong with him. So far he found out that they were mind-controlling him.

That sounds way too sci-fi.

"IR looks like a murderer." He whispered to me. I burst out laughing.

IR looked at us questionly.

"Um- Rescue, Anti! Your first jobs are to bake cookies with me! Nightmare, you stay here and try to keep IR from murdering anyone else!" I yelled.

"Wha- what! I do not murder people!"

As IR explained all the stuff that has happened so far and how not to anger me because I tend to throw knives, I beat the eggs like a pro.

I made up the best recipie ever.

Except when I beat the eggs, one flew at me.

I threw the bowl on the floor and it shattered. "Stupid! It's not nice to spill! Don't spill ever again or I'll break the whisk, too!" I lectured it.

Anti whispered to me, "It can't hear you."

I grinned and asked for 2 more eggs.

I slid the cookies into the oven and set the timer.

"There." Rescue said. "They should be ready in 10 minutes."

"What?" I, the Executive said. "Even Batchelder couldn't get it?"

"H-he lost Expiriment 9, too." The scientist cowered before me. He didn't want to be killed for Jeb's fault.

Jeb barged into the room. "It has allies. A bunch of people with odd clothing appeared and seemed to be with the orange thing. One took my gun-"

"Wait. Orange thing?" I was interested.

"Yes, round head, black stripe. It turns human to the other form, we found out." Jeb stated.

Could it be... "Allies?"

"An old man, a-"

"Okay. Get out. I have an idea."

Since I was newly appointed, I could easily get 13 by using IR and the Correctors, and then I would be respected by this group, since Grosser wasn't evil anymore, I had nothing to do.

Besides take over Com-Net myself.

Jeb and the scientist bowed. "Yes, Master Virus."

"Why are they like this? They're like... like... pancakes." I stared at the cookies.

They were like a film spread across the pan.

"Did you add sugar?" Anti asked.

"Yup."

"Flour?"

I glanced at the wall. "Umm... flour? I don't think so."

"If you don't add flour, they don't stay consistent. They liquify." Anti said matter-of-factly.

"Oh. Maybe I should have listened more in Home and Careers in the one day that I went to school. Oops."

They sighed.

"Cat!"

"Wait! Do you want pancake cookies or not?" I grabbed a spoon and started scraping off the pancake cookies.

They came off in little bits, and I shouldv'e let them cool because they melted together and looked like a lump.

Not very gourmet.

I walked out into the dining room like I was a fashion model on the red carpet.

With a Failed Dish. (There ya go, Harvest Moon+Rune Factory lovers!)

7: Flashback Central

"Nightmare, do you know what the moon is?" A curious 6-year-old asked me.

"Sakura Neko, the moon is a form of magic. I havn't heard much about it, but I believe that it is the most magical thing in the Universe."

"What's the Universe?"

I tried to come up with another story. "Um... The Universe is this big Milky Way. And it's filled with caramel. And all the worlds live inside it." I answered.

She was silent for a couple minutes. Thank God.

"Nightmare? I had a weird dream once."

"Yeah?"

"I saw this orange thing, and a guy that didn't wear a shirt. They were at a really big box, except it was flat."

"A computer?"

"Yeah. I guess. And they were murmering about me. And then a picture was on the comp-tery thing's screen. Of me. And it scared me."

"What was the orange thing? A fruit?"

"No, it looked like a raccoon. And it scared me."

I thought. Should I tell her... "You know, I had a dream like that once." I made up. "Except the orange thing was on a screen. And it was talking. It scared me, too."

"That's odd..." Neko said. "I'm tired."

"Me too. I'm always tired."

"Me too."

"What if... What if we dreampt all the time, Neko? What would you think of that?" I asked her.

"Mmmm... I would dream of food. And rainbows and suns and Milky Wayses." She murmered.

"Yeah. That would be cool."

Her breathing slowed, and she fell asleep on my lap.

"What'd you do that for? Havn't you destroyed enough of the castle already?"

I shook my head. "What?"

"What do you mean, what?"

I looked at the floor. I dropped the plate with the cookie crap on it.

"When did that happen?" I drearily asked.

"When you were daydreaming!" IR yelled at me.

Nightmare swept him aside calmly. "Leave her alone. It's not her fault."

"What do you mean, not her fault? She dropped that! It shattered! Or was it Angel, who can now suddenly move objects? No, she can't!"

"I still scare you, though." she said quietly.

IR shivered.

Nightmare thunked IR in the head and said, "Back off, dude. Watch."

"That's your special power? You can transmit memories?" Sakura Neko looked at me wide-eyed.

"Yup!" I puffed out proudly.

She pouted and scuffled the dust. "That sucks. I can't."

I ruffled her hair. "Yes, you're special, too.

"You can fly and humans can't. You have the dyniamics of a cat, humans suck. And your way much more stronger than a stupid human."

"Really?" Only 6 years of expirience in life looked at me.

"Yup. And the best thing is that your the most beautiful person I've ever seen."

"Nightmare. Do you have memories of Milky Wayses?"

"No. I've never been out there, like you or any other Expiriment, you nut!" I said with much affection.

IR shook his head and said, "What was that?"

"It was Cat when she was 6. Wasn't she cute?"

"No, I meant what you did."

"I just sent a memory to you. That's all." Nightmare shrugged. "I haven't perfected it yet, though."

Xemnas said, "What? You havn't perfected it?" He looked worried. "Nightmare, that could do a lot of damage!"

"I wanna grow a second head! Yay!" I yelled.

"Noooo..." IR whined.

Xemnas rubbed his temples. "No, I meant you could faint. Or get amnesia."

"That sucks!" I whined.

"Yay!" IR yelled.

Nightmare shrugged. "Whoops."

A lot of damage? Amnesia is a lot of damage? I don't think so.

Oh well.

"Cat-" Yui said.

"No. I'm too dazed to talk."

Sakura Neko stared up at the ceiling.

"What are you doing?" I asked her.

"I've decided to develop X-ray vision." She stated.

"Would you stop trying to make special powers?" I sighed.

"No! I wanna be special too, Nightmare! I don't have no special power thingy and I want one!"

"But you are special."

"No, I meant besides physical. I want a cool magic like telepathy or something." she plopped on the floor and pouted.

But you do, Sakura Neko. You do.

Trust me.

"Would you get out of my flipping head? I don't have none!" I screamed.

"Come on, we need to discuss." The old man said.

"I'm too light-headed." IR stated and lent on the table.

He was sleeping.

Xemnas blinked. "Um- okay."

"Are you sure that's IR?" A round guy asked.

"I'm positive. Maybe he was tired."

I lent on the table and fell asleep, too.

Suddenly.

I shrugged. Again. "Sorry. I told you I havn't perfected it yet."
Xemnas hung his head. "Ugh. Discussion over."

I walked to the kitchen and searched the cupboards for food.

What if I hadn't perfected it? At least I actually have a cool power. The little chick can read minds, I'm not sure what the other one could do.

Hey, I can send memories.

I pretty much know what's still screwed up with it, though. I stole a paper that fell off a clipboard at the School.

I pulled it out of my pocket.

1. Causes fatigue/sleep

2. Must touch to send memory

3. One organism that does not need to touch

4. Still in progress

5. 5th surgery planned: no pain when sent memory

I knew what the whole thing meant. Unlike Sakura Neko, I was taught to read.

And Sakura Neko was the one that I didn't need to touch.

Xemnas walked in and I shoved the paper back into my pocket. "'Sup?"

"Sky."

He laughed. "What you do isn't a problem, you know. I didn't really know what to say. I was going to put all the pressure on IR."

"Hah." I faked laughed. "Is she still sleeping on the table?"

"Dunno. It's only been like, a couple minutes, though. Why are you rushed?"

I shook my head. "Not."

"So, like, you've been friends with Cat since you guys were back at the School?"

"Yeah."

"You don't wanna talk about it, do you? Strong and silent type, right?" he laughed again.

I nodded.

He held up a glass of- alcohol? "Hah! Cheers before we get down to business!"

We clinked with my water. "Cheers." I mumbled.

The middle of nowhere? How'd I get here?

"Heeeellllllllooooooo?" I yelled.

A voice echoed from nowhere. "Hahahahaaa..."

"What do you want?"

"You'll know soon enough. In the mean while, though,-"

"I want a flipping answer!"

"Hm. You are quite edgy." It said, fading. "Well, I'll see you. In a matter of minutes. I'll give you a hint. You will need IR."

"How do you know him?" I screamed, suddenly furious. "Who are you!"

"Virus."

I fell with a thump. "Wagh!"

Jumping up, I scanned the room. "Come out, Virus!"

Yui's head popped out from the computer room. "Virus?"

"You know him?" I looked at her. It was a dream.

Or maybe I've lost it. Dunno.

She walked in. "Yeah. Evil, mean person. He has spiky hair. Like, you could make kabobs on it."

"I want kabobs."

"How do you know him?"

I thought. "I just had a weird dream and-"

"Hahahaa! Your dream was right!"

"Nooooo! I'm so sick of people! Every time one crisis ends, and we actually try to discuss something, some evil person always pops up and kidnaps me, IR, or some other person, or blows up a ton of crap! I'm so sick of it!" I screamed.

"You have a point."

Someone grabbed one of my cat ears. I whirled around to find a spiky, green haired guy with those glasses things that, like, are straight. Or something. I don't know!

I punched him, but he jumped behind IR, who was still out cold.

Yui gasped. "No!"

I jumped and whacked him with my hand in the face, knocking him over.

"Hah." He said. "I guess your putting my advice to use."

Xemnas and Nightmare ran out of the kitchen. All the Corrector thingies came from the living room.

I smirked. "Why don't we take this outside? We are making a mess."

Yui shook IR's shoulders. "C'mon! Wake up! How can you sleep through this?"

"Leave him alone, I can handle this." I said, blocking punches with my forearms.

"No, actually you can't." Anti said. "Virus is a computer program. You can't defeat him unless you are one, too. Just like, if you wanted to, you can't hurt IR."

Xemnas puffed his chest. "Actally, she can." He huddled with the Correctors while they had confused looks.

Oh, God. Who knows what he was up to?

My stamina was decreasing and I noticed that Virus hadn't even broken into a sweat. I smashed through a window and jumped.

Virus followed me, only to get whacked with a beautiful wing.

His expression wasn't even worth a million bucks.

I flew into the air while he yelled, "Foul play! Foul play!"

I stuck my tougue out at him. "Should've known!"

He smiled and whipped out a gun. "I did."

I gasped, and then whiped it off to reveal my famous 'I'm Better Then You' smirk. "Just try, then."

Nightmare, Hawkdream, and Angel jumped out the window. Nightmare and Hawkdream jumped into the air after yelling at Angel to get back in the castle.

Black feathers collided up into the air next to me.

Virus kept the smile plastered on his face. "Your no match for me. You can't hurt me."

Nightmare looked at him blankly. "You're the Exectutive!"

Virus nodded. "What, you just noticed that?"

Hawkdream looked furious.

Trust me, it's not a good idea to get a catgirl and two catboys- with wings- mad. Reeeaaaallly bad idea.

"Do you think that I came here to blindly point a gun at Expiriments? No, I'm smarter than that." He- like- floated. Well, I guess.

Maybe computer programs are special. Maybe they can float.

Wheeee.

I side kicked him. After that it was a huge flurry of punches, kicks, and bullets.

I was suddenly aware of a sherp pain in my left wing.

He got me.

He got me good.

'Cause I fell like a rock.

8: Finally Gettin' to it. Sort of.

Nightmare reached a hand out to me, but missed. Virus had Hawkdream in a headlock.

I wanted to help them all. I really did.

I just couldn't.

I kept falling. And falling. Finally I could see the ground.

A large dot was falling from the sky.

I rubbed my eyes, since I was just informed that Cat was in a fight to the death with Virus.

A lot can happen when you're asleep for 15 minutes.

I couldn't do anything to help her until she was actually on the ground, though. I could make an Element Suit, like Mistress Yui's, and she could transform. I had it all planned out.

Except she was in the sky.

Grea-!

The dot in the sky was-!

I ran toward it and held out my arms. It flew by me- by almost a foot- and fell on the ground with an audible crack.

"Oh my God? What is it?" Xemnas yelled.

I just stared blankly into the sky.

All the Correctors gasped, because they knew why bullet shells were dropping from the sky.

Xemnas picked her up. "I'm gonna let that Virus know what happens when he screws with my stuff!"

His stuff?

I grabbed a rock from the snowy ground and crushed it in my fist. "That's it!" I yelled.

With a poof, I was floatable again. Is that the technical term? Floatable?

Maybe I could get to that altitude, and then...

"'Sup, Xemnas?" I said and then gritted my teeth when the pain came back. Even more this time.

He stared into the clouds.

"Xemnas? Xemnas? Lemme down."

He shook his head and went into the castle again. I looked at all the astonished faces and wondered where IR was.

"Xeeeemmmmnaaas? Tell me what happened!" I said as he speed-walked through several halls to the infirmary. All I remembered was getting shot and falling.

"IR went all mad and went up to get Virus."

"No! He can't hurt 'im! What's the point?"

"Yes, he can. After..." He set me down on a table and rummaged through drawers.

He held up a fingerless glove with a circle thingy on it. "He gets touched with this!"

"What does it do?"

"It's kinda the same thing I used for IR, except it's little and portable now. I'm like, magic."

"I gotta do it!" I tried to jump off the table and fell back on the floor after a high-pitched scream.

"Cat, you probably broke many bones. That, and the gunshot." He put me back on it.

I hate tables.

"No- I gotta help him!"

"I'll let Nightmare or Hawkdream do it. They can handle it."

I crossed my arms. Thank God they probably weren't broken. "I hate being like this. Pathetic. I also hate sympathy."

He ruffled my hair and said, "I'll be back." And ran out with the glove thingy.

I ran out and shoved the glove at the first Corrector I saw. "Here. Float and give it to Nightmare. Now! Hurry!"

Anti nodded and went up there. No, she didn't die. I meant float.

Yui called after her, "Tell IR to get down here!"

I ran back into the castle without glancing anymore.

I had to do X-rays, set them, and then...

I couldn't beleive what he did.

He used to be meager, and I thought it was over when we defeated Grosser.

Anti tapped me. "IR, Yui wants you. I don't think you're safe up here. You weren't made for combat."

I sighed.

Returning, Yui yelled after me.

"No, Xemnas has it taken care of!"

I transformed and collided into Xemnas.

"Cat wandered off somehow!" He yelled.

I sighed again.

"Not so fast. She didn't run off."

From down the hall, a person stood.

A familiar person.

"V-Venus?" I said.

"And your beloved!" She kicked another person next to her, bound in rope.

"Cat?" Xemnas said.

"What do you want?" I asked.

She smiled. "Revenge. All this time you were oblivious to me. I want attention. I want to be part of this group."

Virus came running past us to Venus. "They got me with some sort of device! They can get me!"

Xemnas smirked.

"That's why I joined the School, to get back at Cat. I've never liked her."

Xemnas stepped forward.

Venus pulled out a knife. "Nuh-uh. You don't wanna do that. You move, she dies. I don't know what you'd want with her, anyway. She's an Expiriment. A mistake. And right now, she's broken and useless. She only has a 20% chance of living, anyway. Her injuries are far too intense."

I transformed again and said, "You've left me no choice."

LASERS OUT OF EYES TIME! YAAAAAAAAAAYYYYY!

Sorry.

My Elemental Suit is awesome.

And the best thing is, is that all my injuries were gone.

Lacy dress, like a dream, and really cute high boots.

"Now-" IR said.

"Waitwaitwait!" I said. "I know!"

Pointing the sword-like staff at Virus and Venus, I yelled, "Corrector Initialize!"

They disappeared in a star yelling, "We'll be back!"

Xemnas pumped his fist into the air. "Victory!"

"Nope." IR and I said. He laughed. "He'll be back."

"I can't wait to kill him!" I said.

"That's not necessary." IR said.

"Now I want to learn how to golf." I stated. "Because golfing is what old people do, and I have to learn before I get old."

IR waggled a finger. "Nope. Your status is only temporary, Cat. When you transform again, you'll be back to what you were before. Broken. You'll have to wait a while, even with your incredible fast regeneration."

"Dang it." I said.

Xemnas laughed. "I still can't believe Venus is with the School now."

We went back outside to find gasping people.

"What happened?" Follow asked.

We explained to the gasping people.

I was bombarded by Nightmare. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. A little. I guess." I glanced around to see Hawkdream standing there with a jeolous look.

Angel was reading everyone's minds. Creepy little chick.

"I am not creepy!" She yelled.

"Sorry." I said.

Maybe a little bit.

Maybe I should be happy. Patheticly happy.

I mean, I got all sorts of odd, weird characters and are one step closer to killing all the evil peeps and kicking back for a while.

I am so sappy.

IR glared at me. "We are not killing people."

I winced. No, thank God, he can't read minds.

I guess he just sort of knows me.

As for romance- I'm getting there.

At least trying.

I mean, who thought that an orange tanuki would ship-shift into a reeaaaalllly hot guy.

That's how twisted my world is.

I hate how I'm doing this summary-kind-of thing.

"C'mon Mori! You can do it, Mori!" I screamed while punching the laptop with my good hand.

"Mori?" Xemnas asked. "What color do you want?"

"Periwinkle!" I said. "Hunny! Where the heck were you?"

"I don't have periwinkle."

"Beat the crap outta 'em, Hunny!" I punched the laptop again.

"Okay, you're having blue." He wrapped the weird gauze around the other weird stuff.

"Ow! Softer!" I hit Xemnas. "Mori is soooo cute!"

"Can we watch something else? Like hockey?"

"I don't think hockey's on Youtube. I thought you liked Ouran High School Host Club."

"Yeah, but Haruhi creeps me out. And the twins."

I tsked. "Haruhi scares me, too, but the twins are cute."

"There."

I stared at the blue cast on my left wrist. "I don't like it. I don't need it anyway."

"Would you like one over your mouth?"

"No." I said and hastily jumped off the table, leaving Hunny to beat up the guys with guns by himself.

I limped into the kitchen and grabbed a cup.

IR was in there, too. "You look so pathe-"

That was all he said before he got thwacked on the head with the cast.

"What was that for?"
"For being a jerk!" I threw the cup at him, too.

Forget milk.

9: Ari...

"Are you ready yet?" Xemnas called.

I weighed the hammer in my hand. "I told you yeah."

"Then get down here!"

He had told me that I could get my cast off. So I found the hammer.

And I pounded at it until it cracked.

"Yay." I rubbed my wrist and walked into my room in search of something to do.

Nightmare was in it.

"'Sup?" I asked.

He grabbed my shoulders and threw me against the wall, breathless. "I've been waiting for you."

"What are you doing?"

He stroked my head. "Weren't you created to crave romance?"

I pushed against him with no luck. "No! Molester! Raper! Get off me, pervert!" I screamed.

I wanted him... I knew I did.

But I'm only flipping 13!

"Just a kiss..." He kept pushing my chin up, trying to lock his lips with mine.

"No!" I pushed him away.

He didn't make another attempt. "Okay, I get it. Not right now."

"No. Not right now. I'm too busy."

"We need to stop lounging around and do something." Xemnas said.

"We need to track Virus, and see what he knows about Grosser." IR said.

"How do we track him?" Peace asked.

I started laughing evilly. "And that is where I come in!"

"And us!" Hawkdream, Angel, and Nightmare agreed.

IR's face was a question mark.

I shrugged. "We can smell him out. What do you think being nekoboys and catgirls are for? The ears?"

Still.

I counted on my fingers. "He smelled like Axe. And flour, salt... Kind of like bread. He must've cooked. Spaghetti, too. And hair gel. How else could he get his hair all spiked up like that? And-"

"We get the point." Yui crossed her arms.

"Wanna try me?" I challenged.

"Yeah!" She yelled.

I punched her and she fell. "Moving on."

"Okay. We'll need two teams, each with a Corrector, an Expiriment, and support." IR pointed at Hawkdream and Angel. "You two with Eco, Anti, and Rescue." He pointed at Nightmare and I. "You're with me, Control, and Syncro."

Xemnas shrugged. "What about me?"

"Castle. They might come again. You'll have Peace, Follow, and Yui."

I grabbed his arm. "Before we go, I actually NEED to flipping know what a Singer is!"

He sighed an started talking really fast.

I shook him. "Slow down, baka!"

"Baka?"

"Baka is Japanese for idiot, stupid, ect." Nightmare said.

"Let the arguing commence!" Xemnas yelled.

"I am not an idiot!"

"Yes you are!"

"Not as much as you!"

"You're still saying you are, tanuki!"

"T-tanuki?"

"You do shape-shift!"

"Shape-shift means to turn into another shape! I transform!"

"What's the difference?"

Xemnas said, "Shut up!" He pushed IR away. "A Singer is a person who is selected to Sing, the voice is so powerful and adds so much Spirit to the Song that it rids of evil nearby. Spirit is like your magic points in a video game, courage!" He crossed his arms. "There."

I think he was all pouty because of not being able to come with us.

Hee hee.

"Like Yui, you, too, have the power to transform into a Corrector." He continued. "So you can enter Com-Net, which is where Venus, Virus, and probaby Grosser are at."

"I don't wanna go yet." I walked to my room while they all stared at me, like, I was supposed to encourage them like a cheesy anime show.

I pulled out a wing and rubbed around the hole in it. From the gunshot.

He made a flipping hole in my wing.

MY WING.

Rage poured through me.

I couldn't go with them. I just remembered.

And they were talking like I could.

I'm useless.

Unless I walked...

Walked? Ugh. So 13 years ago.

I grabbed my seriously cute, black sweatshirt with the fuzz and plaid buttons off my bed and put it on, covering my head with the hood.

I jumped out the window, that I've jumped out of so many times before, and landed in, not snow, slush. "Yuck." I mumbled to myself and kicked a rock. It's already spring...

Spring. Winter seemed so far away. Way back... Way back... When I gave a shot at school. When I was confused and stupid. When I had no idea what I was meant for, what I was supposed to do. When all I knew was that I had to do my best for the whitecoats, or they'll expiriment again. When I met IR. When I met Nightmare. When I was all on my own.

When I was all on my own.

I still am. The only reason Xemnas and IR are keeping me here is so I can fix all their problems and take care of their little screwed-up Virus, Grosser, whatever the heck it's name is.

Selfish little-!

I punched a tree, suddenly aware that I had wandered into the forest.

North.

"What? Who-?" I yelled.

North, go north, Cat! That's what Virus was thinking! Go north!

Angel.

I told you that she's creepy.

Go north!

"She is always doing that!" IR slammed his head on the table.

"You're too harsh with her. You're trying to be a father figure. Nope! You need to be flirty!" I hit him. "Let's go! We don't need her, we got Yui. We just thought we'd need her because we couldn't find 'em."

He shook my hand off his shoulder. "Xemnas, no. We don't need her!"

"That's right-" I started.

He looked me in the eyes. "I need her."

My boots were covered in slush and I didn't know where the heck I was going.

Inukai. I need Inukai. Professor Inukai, IR told me about him. He could tell me more.

"More about what?" I yelled at myself.

I think I'm losing my mind.

There was a lovely smell in the rainy air.

Spring.

And cookies.

Peanut butter cookies!

"..." I mumbled and walked in a trance toward the peanut goodnees.

"We have to go." Yui crossed her arms and sulked.

I pushed against her. "Not without Sakura Neko!"

"She's useless!"

"I outta kill you!"

IR shook his head, on the table. "Conflict. Every time that girl leaves she causes conflict."

Xemnas tsked. "She probably ran off. Again, leaving a little note."

"Don't say that."

"I'm going without any of you trashy Expiriments!"

I punched her. "Go!"

She straightened up. "Everyone, with me!"

All the Correctors looked solemn. They were doing something all over again.

Stupid Grosser.

"Angel, Hawkdream!" I yelled at them. "Come on, we're going to find Sakura Neko and get Virus and Grosser ourselves! Let's go!"

"Conflict."

Xemnas blocked my way out of the dining room. I shoved him, knocking him to the floor besides his extreme muscle build.

His expression was not worth a million dollars.

"Goodbye." I said, passing by him.

The peanut butter cookie smell led me to an abandoned cottage with air freshener that was cookie scented.

It still had food in it, though.

I broke in through a window, I had to smash it and got shards stuck in my hand and arm.

I flipped cabinets and found cans of things. Corn, green beans, cranberries, pineapple. Squashes.

I banged one on a table. I was famished.

It dented several times, but didn't break. I threw it and corn splattered all over the wall and floor.

"Oops." I said and grabbed a can of green beans. I jumped out the broken window.

And walked again. Wherever Angel told me to go. North.

North, whatever the flip was there... Hmm...

I stormed through the dense woods with Hawkdream and Angel behind me, searching for Cat.

She had to be here somewhere. She wouldn't run off...

Hawkdream caught up to me, Angel in hand. "Can't you communicate with her? With your mind-memory power thing?"

"That's it!" I yelled out loud. "Shut up, lemme focus." I pressed my fingers against my temples.

"Shouldn't we follow them?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"No."

"Huh?"

"No."

I punched IR. "You're so dense."

"No."

"I'm following them."

"No." IR got up and ran down the hall to Cat's room.

"Okay?" I said and ran after him. "Can't we use the front door?"

Suddenly optimistic, he winked at me. "It's not fun that way, Xemnas!" And jumped out the window, following the footprints in the slush. "Come on, let's go!"

I shivered. "It's cold, though! And rainy!"

"That's why people wear shirts, unlike you."

I stared at the helicopter in the sky.

I was still in the dense forest, maybe a couple miles of it surrounded the castle. And a flipping helicopter was landing in a clearing, making slush fly everywhere.

I hid behind a tree 'cause I didn't want to get slush all over me.

I peeked to see a person come out... Ari!

Ari? What was he doing here?

"Come on out, 13!" He yelled, staring at the tree. "I just wanna one-on-one fight! No tricks! Come on, coward!"

I put my determination face on and stepped out. "Hiya. Suprised you aren't dead yet."

He growled at me while we circled each other.

Like a Western fight.

Except with freak animal hybrids.

I jumped up and flipped my wings out, catching air.

Except I had forgotten that my wing was screwed up and fell like a rock. Ari grabed my leg and flung me like a boomerang into a tree with a snap. I crumpled to the ground, astonished by how much his strength had increased. "H-how?..."

I just lay on the ground with my wings out and stared at Ari. He grinned evily.

"You are coming back, no matter what." He kicked me.

I couldn't breathe. "H-how are you... so p-powerful?..."

He grinned again. "Simple, steroids."

ARI'S ON STEROIDS!

"I can't reach her. I don't think she's consious." I murmered.

"That's not good." Angel said. "I can't reach her at all... I used to be able to..." She started jumping up and down. "I know! I know! We gotta go north! I told her to go north, 'cause I told her that Virus's thinking was north! Let's go let's go let's go!"

I stared at her for a second. "Okay. Let's go north."

Hawkdream grabbed her hand again.

I stopped walking.

"Something's not right..."

"Gwaph!"

I whirled to see Xemnas on top of Hawkdream. "'Sup?"

"You followed us?"

IR crossed his arms. "She's mine, anyway."

?

"So what's not right?"

I stared up ahead, into a clearing. "Ari! Get away from her!"

I ran up ahead and slugged him.

Hawkdream joined me with a laugh and Angel looked at us fearfully.

Ari blocked. "Traitor! You are a traitor to the School! Instead of capturing Experiment 13, you are assisting it!" He threw me across the clearing. "Traitor!"

I got up in a fury before IR or Xemnas could get to me. I yelled at them, "You have the nerve to follow me?" and ran to Ari, which took hardly a second for some reason. I just sped up, really, really fast.

Before I could even think, I grabbed his neck and flung his head onto a big rock.

The next thing I saw was blood.

"Huff... Huff... Huff..." I stared at him, blankly, not registering that I had just killed someone that played a role in my life.

I felt attatched to him, somehow. Somehow.

"I killed him... I killed him. I killed him! I killed him!" I backed away slowly.

Everyone was looking at me with horror.

"I killed him!" I screamed running as far away as I could from the scene. I could hardly imangine how hostile I looked, bloodthirsty, vicious. I wasn't even thinking straight.

Sure, I've threatened, tried to commit suicide, and maybe killed a couple whitcoats... but killing someone you've known ever since you were tiny is different. When we were little, we used to talk through the cracks in the walls. He didn't intimidate me at all...

But that's because I was little and stupid. "Stupid, stupid, stupid!" I yelled to myself.

I stopped running and broke into a brisk walk.

As far away as you can get... No responsibilities... Nothing...

New York City!

Food, big lights, food...

I like food.

10: Onward, to Paris!

I kept walking... and walking... and walking...

Where the flip was New York city?

I sat next to a tree and caught my breath... Okay... Re-think...

See, I never knew where the heck the castle was. Just somewhere lush and green.

So all I need to do is keep walking until I find a road...

And then hitch-hike...

And make the person drive me to NYC or I'd kill 'em.

Simple, really.

That's how smart I am. Uh-huh. Yup. I'm the best. Really, really... Thank you, you're too much. Such a loving audience.

Then I'd get a job.

Yes, you heard me.

A job.

"She... killed him. She killed him good."

"I can't beleive she killed him..." Angel shook her head.

I nodded my head. "Sure. Yeah." Then I pressed the little button on the small clear earpiece. "Do you read? X-Mas reporting." I whispered.

There was static and then a gruff voice. "I read. Over."

"13 has killed Ari. Over." I started to wander away from the clearing, leaving the astonished group.

"Killed? Over."
"Yes, Ca- er- Expiriment 13 went up in a fury and attacked Ari. It threw his head on a rock. Over."

"Where did 13 go? Over."

"I- uh... It ran away. Over."

"What?" The voice boomed and made the earpiece screech. "You just let it go? We're still after the others! We don't need to be after that, too!"

"Ow! Come on, my partner can't even get Maximum! Where are they now? Over."

"Paris. The One Light is really getting in our way, it just exploded half of Paris. But-"

"But what?"

"We have Angel, the youngest of Maximum's flock. Over."

"Angel?"

"We have no sightings of it's clone, though. I want 13 found. Now. Over and out."

I stuck the piece into my pocket and turned to go back to them.

"Xemnas! We need to follow her!" IR called. "Where are you?"

I walked back. "I just thought I saw something. I agree, let's follow Cat."

"Th-this is the farthest I-I can g-go..." The guy shivered.

I don't know why, even after I forced him to keep on driving and took his wallet and hit him repeatedly with an ice scraper I found on the car floor.

Maybe he's just paranoid.

I hit him again. "Go! Go, keep going! Drive farther!"

His car sputtered to a stop and I slammed my fist on the dashboard. "Ggggggoooooooodddd!"

I looked out the window to see an airport. "Gimme your money in your pockets."

"W-what?" The bald guy looked abused in so many ways.

"Gimme!"

He shakily took at least 200 dollars out of his pockets and handed them to me.

Before opening the door I nodded to at him and said, "Hey, thanks. You're decent, for a human."

He looked shocked that some chick that took all his money and forced him to drive until his car died just complimented him.

I hopped out and looked around wearily. Anyone of these guys could be a whitecoat...

All my life I hadn't been out anywhere besides the School and the castle. Nowhere. I had no idea what to do, whether to go inside the airport or wait in a line or something. It scared me.

I tapped on a chick in a business suit talking on a cell phone. "What do you do in an airport?" I asked.

She looked at me like I needed mental help and walked away.

I stared at her as she dissolved into the crowd.

Okay, moving on...

I pushed the door into the airport and squealed when it gave into my weight. I got stuck between two glass doors, and it kept going around and around. I yelled and screamed and some burly guy in a uniform grabbed the side of a door.

"Okay, what are you doing, little girl? This is a revolving door, not a toy, okay? Now, go back to your parents, okay?" He yanked my hand so I stepped into the airport, took a swig of coffee, and waltzed away mumbling "Okay..."

"Now what do I do..." I gazed up to see a huge sign that had a place and 'arriving', 'present', 'delayed, and stuff like that.

I pushed my way to a main desk. "What's here, right now?"

She smiled a perfectly white smile and said, "A flight to Paris, $1, 495.99. Would you like to buy a ticket, or did you buy one online?"

I choked on nothing. "Um... sure..." I took the guy's wallet out of my sweatshirt pocket and fumbled with it.

"Do you have a passport?" She asked sweetly. "You have to have a passport to go out-of-country."

Oh my God, please have a passport and tons of money, wallet! Please!

I yanked out a stack of cash, considering I can only count to ten, and stuck it on the desk. "Count that, please."

The woman looked very confused, but did so anyway.

I tore the wallet up looking for a passport. "Oh, oh no... What does it look like..." I mumbled.

The lady put her hand on my shoulder. "It's okay, this is obviously the first time you've been here." She pointed to a fold of hard plastic. "This is a passport. The money you have here is $1, 823."

"Thank you so much!" I opened the plastic and saw the picture. A bald guy with a beard. Oh, God.

She cashed the money and handed me my change. I, with much discomfort, gave her the passport.

She opened it up and looked at me.

I nodded and studied the tiles on the floor. "I-I had plastic surgery and Bosley."

She laughed nervously and passed a scanner over it. Then gave me a ticket. "H-here you g-go."

"Thanks. What do I do now?..."

"Um... You can board right now, a-actually. The cl-cleaners just came back." She gestured to a door that a line was forming by.

"'Kay. Thanks."

Let's get this party started!

The gruff voice mumbled as he pulled up the tracking device window on his laptop. She was airborne... But X-Mas had reported that her wing had been shot straight through, she wouldn't be able to fly for at least 2 weeks, even with her rapid healing powers.

Plane? Somehow, it could be possible. She was heading toward France. What would she have to do in France...?

Maximum! She was meeting Maximum! With Maximum's flock and her flock, they could finally meet their goal.

How would he get rid of their joined forces...

He shut the laptop off.

He had some scheming to do.

"Paris. Let's check Paris." I said.

"Paris? Why Paris? She can't fly." IR said.

"I-I just know. I know her. She'd go to somewhere with lots of stuff. I... I know her. Trust me." I stuttered.

IR looked at me questionly. "Ooookay. We go to Paris! I'm so happy that we finally get to use that private jet we bought..."

I was looking forward to it, too, actually.

We landed at the aeroportte, in a private jet landing space, but only after drinking a couple bottles of wine.

I swear, there's nothing better than IR drunk.

He fell down the stairs when we were coming down from the silver jet.

From across the field I saw another plane land.

I squinted at the number on the plane as I helped IR get up. 407. Just the number he told me.

"Whaddya lookin' at?"

"Nothing. Let's go, I think I see Cat!"

He fell back down again, one of the butlers came down to help me. "No, she'll critisize everything she's got of me like this." He slirred.

I had to drag him while he flailed and yelled, "Noooooo!"

One of the guards actually came to check and see I wasn't kidnapping him and I wasn't a serial killer.

"He just had a little too much." I explained.

The burly guard looked understanding. "Ah. Do you need help?"

"Nah, I got it."

I dragged him inside the airport, filled with French.

I went to the counter after throwing IR into a chair. "Is the flight from New York here yet?"

"Yes." The women was English. "They're just arriving here, now. Although I wouldn't had of recommended it. A large bomb has exploded yesterday, most of Paris is a mess."

Bomb! He was right...

"Um, hello..." I tried to make conversation with the 13 year old I was forced to sit with.

She continued to stare out the window. "Hi."

She was short, stout. Not fat at all, just stout. She had mid-length brown hair and a mole right next to her left brown eye. She looked like a doll, and was cute.

"Wh-what's your name...?" I'm not good at striking up convirsations, lemme tell you that.

"Sioux. Like, pronounced Sue. But I spell it Sioux. I'm cool like that."

"Sioux. It's pretty. I'm Cat."

She stared out the window.

"Sioux? What's wrong?"

Suddenly a voice came from the speakers. "We are landing. Please prepare yourselves and thank you for riding Ecomicy Airlines." Then it repeated the message in French.

I knew it. I could smell it on her.

The School...

"Sioux, can you tag along with me for a bit?"

She looked at me like, whaaat? "O-okay...?"

I got off and coulda sworn that I saw Xemnas dragging IR.

Sure enough, while dragging Sioux, I found IR in a chair, slouching.

"You are such a stalker. Why can't I kill someone and not be stalked by you when I run off to Paris? Where's Xemnas and the others?"

"Whaat...?" He slirred.

"Do you know him... Cause' he's kinda hot..." Sioux whispered.

"Yeah. Tell me about it."

Xemnas came from the counter. "I knew I saw you."

"You two are stalkers!" I yelled at him. "What's wrong with IR?"

"He had too much wine in the jet."

I almost died of laughter. IR was drunk!

Better then getting high off a marker.

"Who's that?" Xemnas gestured to Sioux.

"First, grab IR, and let's go somewhere else. Wide open." I said.

Which is how we ended up in a stupid hotel. "So much for wide open." I whined. The smell of the School was everywhere, driving me nuts.

I pulled Sioux into the girls' suite and pulled out my wings, trying not to ruin the wall.

She gaped at them. "I-"

Pulling them back in slightly, I grabbed her arm and said, "How did you escape?"

"How do yo know I escaped?"

I crossed my arms. "The smell is all over you. I'm part cat, and bird."

She sighed. "I bit a whitecoat and jumped out a window."

"I got saved by an orange tanuki." I laughed.

She spread out her wings, which were shades from black to grey. I stared at them, they were very similar to Nightmare's... Except his are all black. Duuh.

"Sioux. I feel like I know you. Somewhere. Another life." I said.

"XEMNAS!" I yelled. "DON'T BRING DRUNK IR, JUST YOU!"

Drunk IR. It seems like an oxymoron.

He came into our room, because the boys' room was across from our's. "'Sup?"

"Xemnas, I found Sioux on the plane I took-"

"How'd you get on a plane?"

"Long story. Sioux- this is my perverted friend, Xemnas. He never wears shirts, just so you know."

"Peanut butter." Sioux said.

Xemnas looked at her.

"Um." I said. "The one with the scar is drunk, but he transforms from a orange raccoon thing to an unbeleivibly hot guy."

Just so you know, I hope you have noticed that IR is always in his human form. He can switch, but most the time he's a human. Just in case you weren't paying attention. Gosh.

Like, how could he get drunk if he was in raccoon thingy form? He don't have no mouth. Sorry, but that's just common sense. Gosh.

IR came wobbling into our room, saying, "Where is everyone?" And then slurred, "Who's she?"

"She's a person." I said and pushed him and Xemnas into their own room.

I threw myself onto my bed and said, "I like you, Sioux. I know, because if I didn't I wouldn't have saved you off that plane. You had nowhere to go, right."

"Right. I like you, too."

I fell asleep to her singing random anime openings.

"X-Mas. I want her terminated. Right now. Over."

"Right now? Over." I held the earpiece in place.

"Right now. You have your knife with you. You've killed several people, why can't you kill this one? I expect her dead tomarrow, and I will check. Over and out."

I swore to myself and took my knife out of my pocket. A small survival knife, but sharp enough to kill. The knife that I had killed a total of 12 with.

Soon to be 13.

I snuck out of my room and went over to Cat's bed. I stood at her bedside with the knife risen in my hands, ready to kill.

As it flew down to her, I whispered, "Sorry."

But that couldn't stop me.

And it wouldn't.

End

Next Installment...

Song-

Meeting the Maximum Ride

Fun in France is only part of what happenes in France! Virus makes comebacks and somewhat wins, so could it be the end of Cat? Apparently they're trying to kill her- over and over again! More friends come (and relatives) and a final battle might be in the scene...Now they have nothing to do... but that won't help the group from getting into some sort of trouble! The public media is after them! But, the most important thing... Cat and IR might actually end up as a couple! Is it possible to go from hate to love so dramaticly?