Yes, I'm back and with a new chapter of Black Cat - Hooray!
Disclaimer - I own nothing expect the idea. All rights got to the creators of Catwoman and Young Justice.
The currents drifted the corpse of a teenage boy toward the shore and the body washed up on a pile of waste and garbage. All the while, a gray cat with green-misty eyes watched the body float toward land.
The grey cat meowed and mewled calling out to its fellow brethren. Felines from all over came; a variety of cats in all different ranges of sizes and colors crawled out to watch the important event transpire.
The green-misty eyed cat observed the body as if making its final judgment. When its decision was made, it cautiously approached the body, walking on top of it. The grey cat walked slowly and deliberately, not wanting to damage the body more than it already was. The cat settled on the chest and every feline held its breath. The grey cat lowered its head and blew the breath of life into the cold body.
Slowly, the life crawled back into the dead body's eyes and as it did so, the pupil started to convulse and change. It shrunk and elongated into a cat's pupil.
Conner blinked once, twice, three times until he sat himself up from the grime. He could hear the squelching from the movement. He turned to his side and threw up, vomiting disgusting sea-water and bile. He coughed and wheezed until he got his breath back. He locked around, shocked and terrified. Even though he was back, his brain was running on instincts.
He heard the sound of pelicans and turned his head. All of a sudden, his vision altered and it looked as if the birds were about to fly into him.
He threw his hands up and backed away until he saw them pass above his head. Then he heard the pitter-patter of a spider crawling away. When he looked at it, his vision altered again and the arachnid grew big. He tried to catch it, but the boy was too confused and disoriented.
He crawled forward and slowly got up on shaky legs. The boy walked forward and gazed up at the glittering city lights. He instinctively knew that he had to get home somehow.
He shivered as he walked down another alley. He quickly used the Zeta-tube in the out-of-order telephone booth. He quietly said his pass code and was teleported to the base. He collapsed on the floor, with shaky legs and quickly skittered across the ground on all fours. He crawled into the bathroom, got a warm shower, put on a t-shirt and a pair of boxers and went to sleep.
Conner yawned and stretched. He rolled out of bed and was quietly surprised when he landed on his hands and feet from the ceiling. He silently wondered how he fell asleep on one of the high shelves of the kitchen.
He got up in confusion, not remembering how he got home last night. He went to his room and saw the mud-caked clothes on the floor and vaguely wondered what happened yesterday. He got dressed, ate breakfast and checked the security cameras.
He sat in front of the computers and scanned through the video logs until he found the one he was looking for. He played the video from last night and watched it carefully.
Nothing was out of the ordinary until something caught his eye. He played the video again and saw something flash across the screen. Conner narrowed his eyes in suspicion and slowed down the footage.
He carefully observed and watched as someone used the Zeta-tubes to get in. As the video continued to play, Conner paused it when he saw the face of the intruder.
It was him!
He watched as his past-self, wet and covered in mud, crawled across the room and into the bathroom.
Conner didn't understand. That couldn't be him right? After all, he went on that tour of Lex-Corp and went home. But then again, he didn't actually remember doing anything after the tour. Last night was all a blur. Disturbed and confused, Conner saw the time and knew he had to get ready for school. Before he knew it, his hands were moving without him thinking and he was already deleting the video.
As he followed his usual way to school, Conner felt as if he was in a daze. Everything felt so surreal to him, like he was detached from the whole world. He stopped to smell the flowers and chased the birds that flocked around the trees. It was like everything had new meaning. Conner knew he was going to be late, but he honestly didn't care. School wasn't important right now.
He walked past store after store, looking through the display windows when something caught his eye. It was a jewelry shop and on display was the most beautiful necklace Conner had ever seen. It was made up of gold and silver claws with a beautiful stone in the middle.
Something weird bubbled in the pit of Conner's stomach. It spilled over, washing over his entire body. Never before had Conner felt such a way, such a strong desire, a pull toward the enchanting ornament. It was a want; a deep and aching want that bore into his mind, making him focus on that single object.
He didn't notice that he was pressing against the display window, until he felt something watching him. Conner turned around and saw the same grayish-white cat with green eyes. It sat in front of him, observing him with mild curiosity.
Conner cautiously approached him. For some reason, he felt wary of the cat as if it was more than just a common feline. He gingerly picked him up and caressed its head. The boy didn't know why, but he knew that somehow this cat was tied into the strange morning somehow. He searched the collar looking for a tag or any information about the owner of the cat. He felt one of the stones of the collar latch open and Conner picked out the rolled up piece of paper.
Conner knocked on the door anxiously and waited for the person on the other side. He held out the cat in front of him when the person answered.
"Ophelia Powers?" Conner asked. He glanced at the middle aged woman who opened the door. She had strawberry blonde hair that was beginning to grey and warm brown eyes and a kind smile.
"Yes?"
"I got your cat from a tree branch and it's been following me ever since." Conner said bluntly. The middle-aged women gave a smile.
"My goodness Midnight, you've never brought home a stranger before." She turned her attention to Conner. "Do please come in." He hesitantly followed the woman inside. The whole house was surrounded by cats. They came out of every knock and cranny as if they were greeting Conner. They walked between his legs and rubbed their fur against his jeans.
"Please take a seat." The women gestured to the couch and walked into the kitchen. Conner sat down and instantly he was surrounded by more felines. It was like they were drawn to him. The women came back with a tray of tea and cookies. She placed one cup in front of Conner and kept one for herself. They drank the hot beverage in silence. Well Ophelia drank the beverage, Conner just held the cup awkwardly, not knowing how to respond in social situations like these.
"Midnight." Ophelia Powers said.
"What?"
"Her name." She gestured to the gray-white cat Conner came in with. "It's Midnight. She's an Egyptian Mau, the rarest of breeds; temple cats." She explained. "It's said that Mau's have special powers."
"Like coming out of nowhere?" The woman gave a small laugh.
"Among other things." Conner saw one of the cats drinking out of his cup. Ophelia carried the black cat away. "Salem, no caffeine." She scolded. "It makes him irritable." She mentioned. "You look a little bit out of sorts yourself my dear. The cats have taken an unusual shine to you."
"It's been a stressful day." Conner said truthfully. He didn't know why, but he felt like he could trust this person. "I can't even remember most of yesterday."
"Maybe I can help you." Conner looked at her strangely and remembered that he still had to go to school. Even though he missed most of third period, Black Canary would still be notified that he wasn't there for rest of the school day.
"No thank you, I have to go to school. I'm already late as it is." He explained and walked toward the door.
"You can tell me, please." She insisted and Conner had the strange urge to comply.
"No, I really have to go." He said firmly.
"Come back anytime." The women got up and threw a small object at him. Instinctively, he snatched it out of the air and looked down at it. It was a ball of shredded leaves wrapped around thread. The smell hit him like a ton of bricks. It was enticing with a sweet aroma. He rubbed it around his face, sniffing, trying to get more of the scent. It wrapped around his brain like a fog of ecstasy until he was pulled away from it when Ophelia tugged the ball out of his hands.
"Catnip." She said quietly. Conner looked at her in confusion. The boy ran off startled and confused, not knowing what to make of the weird encounter. He didn't notice when the women slipped the catnip in his pocket.
Conner played with the ball of catnip throwing and tossing it into the air. It was just so fun to play with and it was very distracting. The way it smelled, the way it rustled every time it moved, even the way it looked; Conner couldn't get enough of it. It was literally a ball of fun.
"Conner, what are you doing?" Robin asked as he and the rest of his teammates walked in. Conner quickly hid the ball and sat still.
"Nothing." He said gruffly and got up. As he walked out of the den, Wolf passed him and growled. Conner cautiously backed away and hissed like a threatened cat. The clone quickly went into his room, trying to avoid touching Wolf.
Robin looked worriedly to his other teammates, not knowing how to make of the weird spectacle. They had taken notice of their friend's weird behavior for the past week. How he would stay in his room for hours on end and not come out, and how he would take lots of naps on the couch or in the kitchen. He didn't even hang out with Wolf like he used too anymore. However, they ultimately decided not to report his behavior to Canary. After all, it was just Conner acting funny. It's not like he would hide anything important from them.
Oh Robin, you don't know how much Conner is not telling you. :)
You're all probably wondered why I made Conner act so weird because of his new enhanced hearing and vision. He already had super-hearing and super-vision so, it seems kind of redundant. But then I thought, when Conner came back, he came back as part cat. So instead of having the enhanced senses of a human like he had before, instead he has the enhanced senses of a cat which is most likely totally different from humans and kryptonians.
Anyway, so I brought Conner back from the dead and now he's met a weird cat lady who may or may not know what happened to him last night. Not to mention his crazy obsession with the claw necklace. But then again, who wouldn't. I mean that necklace is so beautiful!
And a shout-out to blue-hart's review - I really like the idea of basing Conner's outfit off of Cat Noir. I don't know about letting Conner morph into an older, muscular Conner but I'll definitely look into the Cat Noir outfit and see if I can get a friend to commission it on Deviant-Art.
Tune in for the next chapter - Hint: Conner has a run-in with the big boy in blue and let's just say it gets ugly.
And don't forget to review and favorite this story if you like it. Also which pairing do you like better?
Cedric Diggery x Jacob Black
Paul Lahote x Cedric Diggery
That's the poll on profile which is still open, so please participate.