Chapter 4

"I mean it! Show yourselves!" Gibson growled as his fur began to puff out.

"Hey hey…take it easy…" A female voice said.

"Who are you?" Gibson asked.

"Relax buddy…" Out of the shadows walked a white cat with blue eyes and a blue diamond mark on her forehead and blue fur at the tip of her tail. "We're friends…"

More and more alley cats began to walk out, each of them examining the blue feline from head to toe. Two male cats, one a dusty gray color and very big, and one small and skinny with stripes and a chipped ear, stood next to the white cat like body guards.

"My name is Frost." The white cat said. "…Leader of the Shuggazoom Cat Clan. These are my partners and best friends Fur Ball and Tiger."

Fur Ball, the big gray cat, nodded in greeting, and Tiger, with the stripes, waved a paw.

"So…uh…what's your name?"

"Mine?" Gibson twitched his whiskers, uncertain if he should trust these cats. "Um…I am Mr. Hal Gibson. But…do not call me mister, or Hal, just Gibson please."

"Nice to meet you Gibson." Frost walked over and waved her tail in his face. "So…what's a fancy guy like you doing here?"

"Well…I was the scientist of the Super Robot Monkey Team Hyper Force…"

Gibson was interrupted when Tiger burst out laughing.

"A cat…on the MONKEY team? That's a good one! Right Fur Ball?" He snickered. Fur Ball and the other cats began to laugh as well.

"But in a lab accident I was turned into a cat…" Gibson growled.

"Hey! You two! Knock it off!" Frost glared at them. The two stayed quiet but snickered to themselves.

"Then we were attacked by an old enemy and I ended up lost in the city." The blue feline finished his story.

"Interesting…well, don't worry, Gibson! We'll help you get back home, but it won't be easy."

"You mean you believe this guy, Frost?" Tiger exclaimed. A bunch of the other cats standing by murmured to one another.

"Uh…yeah boss…" Fur Ball said. "He sounds like an underage kitten on his first dose of nip!"

"First of all, he is not underage. It is clear he is an older gentle feline. And second of all, my nose never lies and he has never touched cat nip once in any of his nine lives." The white cat said after sniffing the newcomer to the alley. "Also…he has robotic parts. Now, the streets of Shuggazoom are dangerous. And judging from this area and the quickest safe path to get to that giant robot place…it'll take a while. You took a quick route to get here, but if you took just the wrong step, you would've been dead."

Gibson winced at that statement.

"So, Gibbs, we'll take you to our alleyway and plan out the best path back to your home." Frost winked one of her glossy blue eyes. "Alright, kitties, let's move!"

Gibson started following the alley cats back to their hideout. Frost seemed very nice, but her friends were annoying and untrustworthy.

"Hey…hey Fur Ball…" Tiger chuckled. "Gibby over there needs a different nickname…I mean, just because you got the name Gibson doesn't mean you deserve to be called ordinary nicknames like Gibbs!"

"Uh…yeah!"

"And with his fancy shmancy metal parts, he deserves somethin' special…let's think for a moment, and more thinking than you usually do, Fur Ball."

"Hmm…how about…Muffin Top!"

"Hey, I like that!" Tiger laughed. "Hey, Muffin Top! We got a new nickname for ya!"

Gibson growled.

"Hey Muffin Top!" Fur Ball chuckled. Soon all the cats around except for Frost were laughing and repeating muffin top.

"Want some milk muffin top?"

"Nice fur coat Muffin Top!"

"Wanna chase some mice with me Muffin Top?"

"WOULD YOU ALL BE QUIET?" Frost hissed. "Sheesh, you all sound like that annoying Pluto Parrot at the pet store!"

All the cats were silent for the next few minutes and finally they all arrived at one small alleyway in the back of the city that nobody ever explored. It was lit up by old street lights that surprisingly hadn't burned out yet, a bunch of cardboard boxes, flower pots, leaky tires, and other things were stacked up like a tall building with thousands of different rooms, each occupying a cat or two.

"Here we are…" Frost sat down. "Home sweet home. You'll be staying here with us for the next couple days."

"It's certainly…different." Gibson smiled. "But it'll do…"

Frost walked over to a cardboard box that had some fluffy mixture of bubble wrap, feathers, and packing peanuts inside.

"This'll be your room. The stuffing stuff in there makes a great bed."

"Alright."

"Up there at the top of the big tower…" She gestured toward a box at the top that had a beautiful light blue pillow at the top. "…is my room. If you need me, just hop on up. Don't worry about bothering anybody. Everyone is used to having someone jump on the roof every now and then."

Gibson nodded and followed Frost to a humongous room in the center. Of course, it was a cardboard box, but it was help up by tires positioned to stand tall, and a bunch of cats could fit in at once.

"This is the meeting room. I'll go get some more of our clan's experts and we'll plan our path to your home. I'll call you when we're ready."

The blue feline nodded again and went over to the box that was to be his room. He sat down on his bed and thought for a moment.

Well…this is quite the predicament. Thanks to Mandarin I'm lost out here. My only choice for now is to trust these alley cats and hope they really will help me get home. Still…I hope the rest of the team is okay. They were probably able to defeat Mandarin…but…I don't know that for sure…

Gibson curled up and closed his eyes...they had to be okay. He could feel it…


"MROOOW!" Someone yowled. Gibson woke up, startled, and watched as a bunch of cats came out of the tower and huddled toward the opening of the alley. He climbed up some of the boxes and leaped around until he maneuvered to where Frost was standing.

"What's going on?" He asked.

"Trouble…" Frost replied. The blue feline looked up and saw that another group of cats were coming their way…and they didn't look very friendly.


Alrighty. Yes, I have added some OCs here, but they're all CATS! :D And I like cats! Anyways, REVIEW PLEASE! The more reviews I get, the sooner I put up the next chapter!