Hey, readers! Sorry it took so long for me to upload this chapter. Excuses: I had writer's block, I was busy, and I got lazy. Anyway, this is a pretty important chapter, so pay close attention. :). But most of all, enjoy.

El Ch. 7

The purple vest the pudgy owner of the Laundromat held in front of him was nothing special. Although you could tell it had been cleaned and pressed and fixed up, there was still a tattered look to it. It seemed like a jacket an older sibling would donate to a younger one when the parent didn't want to spend money on unnecessary clothing. And yet Mr. Pedge brandished it in front of Dave like it was the best suit money could buy.

"Well, TC, what do you think?" Mr. Pedge had not stopped grinning since Dave, accompanied by Dibble and the gang, strolled into his Laundromat on 3rd Street as casually as if they were picking up yesterday's dry-cleaning. To Dave, the reason they were here was definitely not casual—according to Brain's plan, he would "get his memory back, duh, like he never lost it" if he "wore the clothes he used to."

The only problem was that, naturally, Top Cat's clothes disappeared along with Top Cat. (Except for his hat, which Dave was surprised to find out Dibble had kept. Even more surprising was the fact that, apparently, Top Cat's hat basically embodied his whole personality—according to the gang he was never seen without it. Dave had never been a hat person.) Luckily, Top Cat always kept an extra vest at Mr. Pedge's, although Mr. Pedge himself hadn't known this until he finally got around to cleaning his back storage room. Nobody knew how Top Cat managed to get his vest in there, but Mr. Pedge, embracing his sentimental side, kept it after hearing the 'bad news.'

The 'bad news' a year ago apparently affected everyone within a mile's radius of the Alley, probably more. To Dave, this didn't make a whole lot of sense. From the countless stories and descriptions he had been forced to listen to, Top Cat seemed like a tyrannical, controlling presence who tried to scam pretty much everyone he met, including Dibble, a police officer. How was it that someone so…well, criminal could touch the lives of so many people like that? Just walking the block to the Laundromat had taken almost an hour because of all the people who stopped and demanded explanations of Dave's presence. A lot of them, to Dave's amusement, seemed almost on the verge of happy tears. He would never understand it.

"It's…uh…well, it's…I've never seen one like it before…" Dave tried his best to mask his true feelings about the suit. Mr. Pedge's crestfallen expression told him he had failed miserably.

"Eh, Mr. Pedge…Top Cat here's not himself, remember," Dibble said, rather sadly.

"I know…I know. Will you just try it on, TC?" Mr. Pedge asked hopefully.

Dave wanted to resist, mostly because yet another person had called him TC. But the flicker of hopeful recognition in the Laundromat owner's dark eyes wouldn't let him. Sighing, he reached for the suit.

Why am I still here? The thought had been running through his mind for the last few hours. Actually, ever since he arrived at The Alley. And the frustrating thing about the question was that he couldn't find the answer. The only explanation that came anywhere near the truth was that there was something nagging at the back of his mind, and it seemed to grow stronger with every story the gang and Dibble told. Every name, every place, even every trick…they all added up and Dave couldn't get rid of the feeling that any moment now something was going to trigger a huge reaction. What, he didn't know, but…

Wait. That was it.

His paw had just touched the worn purple suit. At the touch of the surprisingly familiar material, he felt a jolt of memory, and a fuzzy scene formed in his mind.



He was angry. A shape in front of him, a person, was making him angry…he moved forward to confront the shape…then the world shifted, the shape grew smaller, he was falling…wet…?

"DAVE!"

The shout from Dibble tore Dave from his memory.

"Snap out of it, Dave, what got into you?"

"I…I…don't know…"

Something was holding Dave back from letting them know about the memory. Maybe it was logic, it wasn't like anyone was going to believe him. After all, the scene had come in fuzzy and incomplete, like an old TV with bad reception.

Great. He was now comparing his brain to an old television set.

There was that sarcasm again. When had he used so much of that?

"Are you alright?" Oddly enough, Dibble sounded genuinely concerned.

"Yeah…I'm fine…I'll go try on the suit now…"

Shaking his head, Dave walked through the door to the back storage room that Mr. Pedge held open for him.

The mirror had to be rigged. It so had to be.

Dave was definitely not looking at himself.



Instead, he was looking at a yellow cat wearing an old purple vest. A matching hat sat on top of his head, showing his ears and giving off a vibe of confident suaveness. He felt like he could persuade someone to jump off a bridge with no problem if he felt like it.

Dave didn't feel like Dave Smith anymore.

But he certainly didn't feel like Top Cat. Who everyone suddenly expected him to be.

"You're sure you don't feel any different?" Fancy asked, disbelief still in his voice.

"Fancy, if I felt any different, I would've told you the second I put it on."

Half-true. Wasn't like anyone would understand the feeling he had.

Benny laughed. "Aw, come on, ya sounded just like TC right then, TC. I mean Dave…"

Normally Dave would have fixed a death glare on Benny right then, or anyone else who called him TC, but right now his reflection was all he could focus on. Seriously, the mirror had to be rigged.

But maybe not.

Another fuzzy memory was forcing its way back into the forefront of his brain. This one, however, was much fuzzier than the previous one.

Curled up in the perfect position for a good night's sleep…dozing off…the space around him was shaking…a loud clanging sound…he was fully awake now…dark shape…surprise, then anger, then just plain curiosity…

The confusing memory might have gone on longer if that infernal bell rigged to the front door hadn't gone off.

Turning around to stare angrily at whoever had screwed up a possibly important memory by simply walking into the laundromat, Dave saw he was staring only at a swinging door.

"Huh…" Mr. Pedge mused. "Wonder why a customer would come all the way to the Laundromat and leave so quickly…"

He and Dibble shook their heads and muttered to themselves about the impropriety of today's youth while Dave tried to remember where he had seen the cat who had just darted around the corner before.

BUM BUM BUM!! Who IS the mysterious cat who came into the laundromat and then left? And why did he/she leave? What are Dave's memories trying to say? Ch. 8 might have some answers :). And then again, it might not. It's very possible that it'll just make things more confusing.

Review, please!!