Here it is! The one chapter I was waiting for the most! I hope you will have as much fun reading it as I had writing it!
I'm so exited for you to get started that I don't even want to do a long Author's Note, so let's just get to it!
Chapter 9: Cat Burglar
Here it was. The all too familiar building of the PJ Masks HQ towering in front of him as a proud reminder of the heroes watching over the city during the night and a warning to every fiendish villain out there that of they want to mess with the day of others, they will be there to stop them. Just yesterday, Connor used to be part of this legacy. But now, he stared up at the structure with blazing fury. To him the PJ Masks were nothing more than failures. Failures who caused him to become what he is in just one day.
But on the other hand, he couldn't help but feel grateful to the so called 'heroes' they opened his eyes and made him see that the city needs to be cleansed of them. They made him something that was better than them. They made him realize the hero he must become and this city really needs. And maybe, by coming here tonight, he was taking another step to becoming one by facing his past as a PJ Mask and closing it down behind himself. Either way, he came here for salvaging parts for the wrecked lab so maybe it would be better to just get this over with.
Not wanting to waste anymore time, he headed straight for the entrance. The heroes used to have a palmprint scanner on the entrance at the side of HQ, but the villains managed to get past that way too many times with copies of the heroes' prints. So they replaced it with a more simple security code based lock. Catboy suggested that they change the code every Monday and since tonight was a Friday night, chances are the code was still the same. Though, after Romeo's kidnapping of him, they might have changed it, just to be safe. He hoped not because in that case, he would trigger HQ's alarm system and then not only could he kiss those spare parts goodbye, but also would have to face his former teammates a lot sooner then he would have preferred.
"Well, here goes nothing." Mad Cat said as he typed in the code, "1127". It was the date of Amaya's birthday, which was coming up this weekend. He knew this all too well, he prepared like crazy for it, looking for a gift and even helping her parents with organizing the party before the... accident that lead to this whole madness. Mad Cat shook his head in a vain attempt to get that suddenly re-emerged memory out of it. That wasn't important anymore. What was important was that the code worked and the entrance door was open.
Mad Cat was relieved by this at first, but upon entrance the first thing he saw was the Gekko-Mobile, which triggered even more memories within him. He grasped his to try and get his mind straight. Honestly, this shouldn't have come as a surprise. Just one day ago, he was still Catboy, the leader of the PJ Masks. It was only natural he would get overwhelmed by memories by coming back here so soon. But that was in the past and this is the present he should be focusing on. With one last glance at the vehicle, he managed to clear his head - at least for the time being - and instead, headed for the elevators and made his way up to the middle level where his old baseroom was. He should be able to get all the components he needed there.
On his way up, he started thinking about a way to stop these memories from coming back and messing with his head. He was no longer a PJ Mask. He hated the PJ Masks. The time he spent with them shouldn't affect him like this. But in the end, he knew that the time he spent as the heroes' leader won't be just forgotten with a snap of fingers. And being sentimental was the last thing he needed right now. His brainstorming came to an end when reached the room of the former Catboy and he was greeted with a sight that not only caught by total surprise, but also messed up all of his plans for tonight. In front of him, about to enter the elevator he just walked out of was a PJ Drone that looked just as surprised as him when it saw him. Mad Cat could barely restrain himself from smacking his forehead. How could he have forgotten about the PJ Drones?
The drone in question analyzed Mad Cat and due to the mask that covered the whole of his face, it did not recognize him. It's expression of white eyed blank stare turned into one of red eyed anger as it gazed upon the intruder and triggered the alarm system that all drones had remote access to.
'Aww, shoot.'
Greg was still in Amaya's room, sitting on her friend's bed who has finally fallen asleep. She was leaning against his shoulder and snoring slightly as he was staring out the window at the nighttime sky. Their parents have already allowed him to spend the night there as they all saw how positively Greg's presence affected Amaya, which she greatly needed after the events of last week.
Glancing down at the girl, Greg smiled upon noticing how peaceful she looked while she slept. A welcome change compared to her behavior from today. He knew it will take a terrible amount of time for both of them to cope with what happened to Connor, but at least they have taken the first step.
Suddenly, Greg felt Amaya twitch against his shoulder and heard her slightly whimper. He looked at her and quickly figured out she must be having a bad dream. Unsure of what to do, he reached around her head and started gently stroking her hair while holding her tightly. That seemed to do the trick as Amaya instantly calmed down and snuggled into his shoulder, causing Greg to slightly blush. This was something he should have seen coming. Last night's events are going to haunt their dreams for a while, but before he could contemplate this further, his wristband started beeping.
Greg's eyes widened. Someone was breaking into HQ again? Just one night later? He looked back down at Amaya. He wasn't sure if he should wake her up, but the sharp sound of the alarm was followed Amaya's device following suit, which did it for him.
"Hmmm..." Amaya groaned as she woke up and rubbed her eyes. "What's going on?" Greg sighed. The timing was really bad. Amaya looked down at her wristband and gasped in shock. "Greg someone is breaking into HQ!" she exclaimed. Greg wasn't sure what to think. But maybe Amaya rested enough and some work will get their minds off of the tragedy that plagued their lives.
"PJ Masks, we're on our way..."
"INTO THE NIGHT TO SAVE THE DAY!"
Gekko didn't envy any nighttime villain who was so shameful to invade HQ just one night after losing Catboy, because he knew Owlette won't go easy on them. Good thing she didn't have his strength, otherwise this night would end pretty ugly. Little did he know at the time, that was going to happen anyway.
"Who do you think it is this time?" Owlette asked when they finally arrived at HQ.
"Definitely not Romeo. I doubt he'll show his face again for a while after... last night." Gekko answered after a small halt, he had to choose his words carefully. Owlette looked down in sorrow for a moment, before nodding.
"Right. It could be Night Ninja. His successful heist of the painting could have made him bolder." Owlette theorized once they reached the elevators.
"If that's the case, this won't take long." Gekko replied with a small smile. "He's not that good." Owlette gave him a small glare, reminding him this wasn't the time. Gekko just turned away and decided to just enter his elevator and go up to the central room, but when he arrived, he realized that his last statement was not accurate.
The room was littered with the remains of the security PJ Drones which have been completely dismantled. None of their known villains was so skilled. In fact, the only time they've seen something like this was when they came back to check on Connor and saw him practicing in the same manner.
Suddenly, they heard noises from the left side of the room and turned to see a figure rummaging in a closet, throwing smaller things out as if looking for something specific. He apparently found it as he pulled out the parts of a transmitter antenna that they were planning to install into one of HQ's ears for wider computer access over the town. He then put the parts into a sports bag hanging on his shoulder. Apparently, he didn't notice them.
"Hey!" Owlette shouted to him. The figure froze for a moment, but then he slowly turned around to face the two heroes. Gekko and Owlette stepped back in horror. The figure staring back at them was like a ghost came back to haunt them. Because he was looking exactly like Catboy. He had the Super Cat Suit on, but it was slightly modified with a full-face mask with blue lens over is eyes. The tail was missing and the costume had red lines all over it.
Owlette had no idea how to react. Here was a boy wearing the Catboy costume, apparently robbing HQ. But she soon found the feeling fitting the situation: anger. Not even 24 hours after Connor's death and someone is already misusing the Catboy identity. It angered her beyond all reasons. Whoever this guy was, he is going to pay.
"Gekko, get more drones up here!" she ordered and her tone told him he better comply. Be pressed a button on his wristband and immediately more security drones emerged from the floor and surrendered the burglar.
"We've got you surrounded. Give us those components back and take that costume off!" Owlette ordered. Mad Cat of course had other things in mind. Given his powers, his mind worked faster than other people's and he quickly figured something out. He started vibrating his limbs at super speed and the heroes noticed electricity forming around his body. Owlette's eyes widened as he realized what he was up to.
Mad Cat jumped into the air and landed on all fours, stomping and punching the floor, sending a huge wave of electricity all throughout HQ. Owlette could barely grab Gekko in time to raise him into the air and help him avoid the electric shock, which caused the drones around them overload and explode and the whole HQ to go dark.
"Gasping Gekkos!" Gekko exclaimed as Owlette lowered him back on the ground. "He fried the electric systems of the whole HQ!" Mad Cat smirked under his mask in satisfaction. A smile which quickly left his face, when he realized this meant that he also sealed the exit of HQ. Shoot, he didn't think this through. He had to find another way out. He's already collected most off the equipment he needed anyway. Except for the monitor, the heroes didn't have a spare one that fitted Romeo's computer and he had no idea where he was supposed to get that bloody thing.
Nevertheless, it was now time to get out of here. And he already had an idea how, he remembered that they used to have a backup generator at the bottom floor. He activated his Super Cat Speed and tried to rush downstairs. Unknown to him, Owlette managed to see him move with her Owl Eyes and stopped him from leaving with a wave of Owl Wing Wind. Mad Cat got back to his feet and growled when he saw Owlette blocking his way. With no other way, he headed upstairs to Olwette's baseroom instead. Owlette watched him leave with a glare than headed to the closet he looted and pulled out a flashlight which she then tossed to Gekko.
"Go downstairs and power up the backup generator! I'll keep him busy." she said, then took after Mad Cat without even waiting for Gekko to reply.
Upon arriving to the top floor, the first thing he saw was a few more wrecked PJ Drones, around the badly damaged Owl Glider. Since their sole task was to repair the vehicle, they didn't join in HQ's defense when he first got in and must have been caught in the electric shock he caused earlier. That meant that the PJ Drones have all been neutralized too. Ine less problem to worry about. But that relief was short lived when Owlette caught up with him.
He looked behind himself and saw the bird themed heroine reaching for his shoulder. She clearly thought she had the upper hand with her Owl Eyes. Mad Cat smirked to himself. She was in for a surprise because his lens were not just for show. One of the nifty things he found in Romeo's blueprints was night goggles. LIA only found enough components in the wreckage for the lens but this were more than enough. He reached for Owlette's arm and threw her over his shoulder.
If she was stunned by this even momentarily, she did not show it. She got back on her feet only to find Mad Cat gone. She couldn't spot him as she looked around even with her Owl Eyes. But he made his presence known when he rushed into her at full speed, sending her on the ground. When she tried to get up, Mad Cat grabbed her from behind and put her in a headlock. Owlette collected all her strength and managed to bend forward enough to launch him over her shoulder, then pushed him away from herself with Owl Wing Wind.
Just then her communicator beeped.
"Owlette, good news! I've started up the backup generator!" and just when he said that, the whole HQ was lightened just as it was before.
"Nice work!" Owlette praised. "Now get to the computer and shut down all escape rou..." but before she could finish, Mad Cat rushed into her again, sending her back on the ground. He then looked up and saw that the electric systems must be malfunctioning after the restart, because a small, circular door leading up to the top of the totem pole was open. Knowing that Gekko guarded the exit at the bottom, he decided to take his chances and jumped through it with Super Cat Jump.
"Owlette, are you there?!" Gekko panicked upon hearing the strange noises. Owlette got up and answered.
"I'm fine. Go to the computer and keep in touch." she ordered and followed Mad Cat to the top.
'Great!' Mad Cat fumed in his head. 'How will I get out of this?!' He couldn't help but curse himself. He knew it was a mistake coming here after such a short time. Not only had he revealed his existence to the PJ Masks, but by breaking into their base, stealing valuable equipment and possessing the super cat powers, he had almost certainly put himself at the top of the heroes' hit list.
This theory have been seemed to be correct, when he saw Owlette emerge from the gate that led to the top of HQ. Though, he probably shouldn't jump into conclusions. It was obvious they won't let someone get away with their stolen equipments. Regardless, she seemed pretty pissed off. He let out a slight, almost inaudible chuckle. Even though he preferred running, since he had a talent for it, looks like was no longer an option. It was highly unlikely he will get out of this without a fight.
The two eyed each other for a few moments. Owlette had a hard time proceeding what she saw. Mad Cat on the other hand had the upper hand, because while Owlette was simply brainstorming about who he could be, he was already preparing himself for the confrontation mentally.
Finally, Owlette broke the silence. "You have something that belongs to us." she firmly stated. Mad Cat remained silent for a while, before taking the bag off of his shoulder and tossing it to the ground.
"You want it back?" he asked in a soft, whispering, taunting manner. "Come get it back." he challenged. Owlette narrowed her eyes. So much for diplomacy. She wasn't actually referring to the stolen equipment, but the Super Cat Costume, but in the end she decided to get everything back.
She flew for the bag, but before she could reach it, Mad Cat grabbed her legs and used his super speed to spin her around in the air, before tossing her away. She landed roughly on her side and slid back against the edge of the totem pole. Mad Cat tried to take advantage of the situation, grabbed the bag and made a run for the entrance back to HQ, but Owlette managed to stop him. While she was still very dizzy from the spinning, she saw the boy and sent a huge wave of Owl Wing Wind towards his direction, which blew him away from the door. She then reached for her communicator.
"Gekko, seal the door to the roof of HQ." she ordered. The green hero replied with a "got it" before fulfilling the order. As Owlette's sight returned to normal, she saw Mad Cat getting back to his feet. "No escape now." Mad Cat growled and put the bag down.
"The hard way, it is." he said as he activated his super cat speed and charged at the bird themed heroine. Owlette dodged, by launching herself into the air with Owl Wing Wind.
"Super Owl Feathers!" she cried as she launched the solid feathers at the boy with the intention of trapping him, but he was faster.
"Super Cat Jump!" he used his jump powers to jump across the giant feathers that flew towards him and reached Owlette up in the air. He then managed to grab one of the feathers and swung it towards the heroine. Owlette didn't have time to react before the heavy feather hit her with enough force to send her crashing towards the roof.
Mad Cat then turned towards the spot where she was lying and placed his feet together for a heavy blow as he descended towards her. Owlette saw what he was about to do, and managed to roll out of his way just in time to avoid him landing in her stomach with both of his feet. Mad Cat growled and raised his left foot to step down on Owlette's head, but she grabbed his foot before it struck.
She then got an idea, she flew up in the air and took him up with her. Mad Cat was momentarily shocked by this, but he soon regained his composure. He activated his Super Cat Stripes and shoot them towards the ear of the owl head which served as the top floor of HQ. He wrapped them around it and tried to pull himself away from Owlette, but the girl was stronger than she seemed. He then got another idea. He unwrapped some of his stripes from the building and shot them towards Owlette. The stripes wrapped around the girl's neck, who choked and let go of his leg to try and get the stripes off of her. In full control of his body once more, Mad Cat pulled himself back to HQ's roof. As he landed, he turned all of his stripes towards Owlette, wrapping her up completely and pulling her towards the roof. The girl, who was still busy trying to get out of the stripes wasn't prepared for this, Mad Cat pulled her down with ease.
The next thing, Owlette knew, she crashed hard against HQ's roof again. Mad Cat felt some strange satisfaction from the sight of seeing her crashing like this for the first time since he could remember. The only thing that ruined it was that he knew this didn't hurt as much as what he went through. He pulled back his stripes and walked up to Owlette who was still lying on the ground, moaning in pain.
With one last, dark smile towards her, he picked up the bag containing the stolen electronics and started thinking of a way to get down from the pole. He quickly theorized that using the same trick he used for frying HQ's electric systems earlier would work on the sealed door that lead back inside the totem pole. He headed for the door, but to his surprise, Owlette wasn't done yet.
The winged heroine somehow managed to get back on her feet and launched a Super Owl Feather that struck into the roof right in front of Mad Cat, just before he reached the door. Huffing in annoyance, he turned around to face her once more.
"Up for round 2?" he snarled through his mask, to which Owlette replied with a furious scowl. She had never felt so angry before and she wanted to teach this insolent intruder a lesson. If her powers aren't enough against him, then skill will have to do it.
Without warning, she used an ounce of Owl Wing Wind to give herself a push, launching herself right at Mad Cat. This managed to catch him off guard, as Owlette grabbed his shoulders and threw him hard against the ear of the totem pole. But that didn't throw him off for long.
He quickly pulled himself together and rushed at her, this time, without his Super Cat Speed. Owlette raised a fist to counter whatever he was planning, but as soon as he reached her and she swung her fist to strike, Mad Cat dropped to his knees and threw his head back. He slid right under Owlette's arm and got behind her, where he grabbed her cape and threw her all the way across the roof.
Owlette landed against the ear on the other side of the pole, but she managed to gain control of herself mid-air, so upon landing, she used another wave of Owl Wing Wind to fly straight at Mad Cat. But this time, he was prepared for this. He jumped into the air and landed straight on the heroine's back, sending her to the ground once more. Due to the velocity of her flight, she didn't have time to react, but she still had some fight left in her.
She used another wave of wind to launch herself away from the roof and throw Mad Cat off of her, which succeeded. She then landed on her feet and turned around, only to see her opponent attacking again. He charged at her and raised his right leg, aiming a kick towards her head. Owlette raised an arm to block, but right after that, he changed the direction of the attacking limb and brought it down on her foot with full force. Owlette couldn't handle the pain anymore and let out a yell as she collapsed to the ground, grasping her agonizing foot after Mad Cat stepped off of it. Then, he spun around on his left leg and delivered a kick to the heroine's head, sending her to the ground right next to where he dropped the bag and it looked like she finally passed out for good.
Mad Cat scoffed at the girl. Did she seriously believe she could take on him on hand-to-hand? Back when he was still Catboy, he organized all of the heroes' training sessions. There was no way she could beat him that way. Her best would not be enough. He walked next to her to take the bag and finally take his leave. But then, he felt something swipe his feet from under him. He hit the ground face first and was about to get up quickly, but then he felt something on the back of his head, which sent it crashing hard against the roof. He growled as he grabbed his head with one hand. That was a cheap move!
Owlette then rolled him on his back and grabbed his neck to force him on the ground. "Who are you?!" she demanded in anger. Even though he struggled to answer due to the firm grip on his throat, he did manage to utter something, but not what she wanted to hear.
"You will find out soon enough." he choked. Owlette's glare hardened, as did her hold on Mad Cat's throat.
"Don't make me madder than I already am!" she warned making the boy glare right back at her under his mask.
"Mad? You don't know the meaning of the word." he then pulled both of his legs up and delivered a powerful kick into Owlette's stomach. This made her let go of his neck and collapse to the ground in pain, but she didn't have time to process that, because she felt something wrapping around her neck, which turned out to be Mad Cat's legs. The boy put her in a headlock, then used his legs to throw Owlette over himself and slam her head hard against the roof.
The pain tolerance in Owlette's head seemed to have been pushed to it's limit by that point, because this proved to be the final blow. Her vision became blurry and she became very dizzy. She almost didn't feel Mad Cat grabbing her by the back of her neck and dragging her across the roof. But she did feel it when he lifted her up in the air. Her vision was still very blurry, but she could make it out that she was hanging over the edge of the totem pole. She saw the bottom of HQ and ground below her. Before she could even fathom what was happening, she heard a cold voice whispering in her ear without the slightest hint of emotion. "Now fly." Mad Cat then let go of her.
Though she was still quite shaken, Owlette managed to spread her cape wide open at halfway between the totem pole's top and the ground, which broke the fall and she safely floated to the ground. She tried getting back up, but all she managed to accomplish was using up the last of her energies. She quickly fell back on the ground and finally succumbed to unconsciousness.
Meanwhile Gekko was trying to get HQ's systems back to normal, when he suddenly heard one of the elevators coming down. This was strange, Owlette didn't report back in a while. If this was her, she probably would have, but if it wasn't...
Suspicious, Gekko activated his Super Gekko Camouflage and hacked into the elevator system to make it stop at the central baseroom. His suspicions were proven correct when he saw Mad Cat in the elevator, who was immediately alerted when the elevator, which was supposed to take him to the exit on the ground floor just stopped in the middle, seemingly by itself. He narrowed his eyes in suspicion.
"Cat Ears!" apparently, the PJ Masks - even former PJ Masks - all had very good perception skills, because he was also proven correct when he heard footsteps approaching him. 'Oh, Gekko. Ever so predictable.' he mused to himself. His mind started racing again, considering all the possible countermoves against whatever Gekko can throw at him, but ironically enough, this time, this made him too slow, because Gekko simply walked up to him and lifted him into the air by his neck while he was still brainstorming.
Struggling to get out of Gekko's grip has proven vain, so Mad Cat decided to use his other new toy he created from Romeo's plans. He curled up his fingers and two set of glowing, blue claws have been released from his costume, which he then jammed into Gekko's arm. The green suited hero yelled out in pain and released the intruder. Rubbing his wounds, he stared back at Mad Cat and found himself shocked at the new upgrade he made to the Catboy suit.
"Cat claws?" he asked in a mix of horror and wonder. Mad Cat smirked under his mask.
"Neat, huh? Romeo tech. At least that megalomaniacal moron was good for something. And that's not the only thing they can do." he boasted as he knelt down and placed his claws on the floor, then proceeded to pull them across it in Gekko's direction, causing a bunch of sparks to fly towards him. Gekko tried to shield his eyes, but he did exactly what Mad Cat wanted. He gave him time to use his super speed and get out of Gekko's sight. When Gekko looked again, he was nowhere to be seen. He didn't even get the chance to look for him, as he ran across the room and hit him, then proceeded to do the same again and again.
"Super Gekko Shields!" he yelled, summoning the green shields on his arms and raising them to his sides to protect himself. But Mat Cat was smarter than that he ceased his rushing at Gekko and hid instead. Gekko started circling around, trying to find him.
"So you work with Romeo!" he accused. Mad Cat rolled his eyes.
"Oh, please! I don't team up with idiotic villains. I'm the new hero in town! The one this town really needs!" he replied from his hiding spot.
"Oh, yeah? Last time I checked, heroes don't rob other heroes!" Mad Cat didn't respond to this. Technically, the equipment he took was his just as much as theirs, but he decided to play along if they didn't know he was Connor. It might have a few advantages. "What did you do to Owlette?" Gekko demanded. If this guy hurt her, he might just forget he was supposed to be the hero in this situatuion..
"Pretty bird had a flight to catch. But don't worry, she landed safely." Mad Cat taunted. Gekko narrowed his eyes.
"If you so much as..." he tried to threaten, but his opponent interrupted him.
"Thanks for the talk, scaly, that was all I needed." Gekko frowned in confusion, but he soon understood. Mad Cat turned on the Cat Car's remote control on his wristband and turned the vehicle to face Gekko while he was busy talking.
"Super Gekko Shield this." Mad Cat growled as he shot a few hairballs from the car at him. Gekko managed to defect the first one, but it hit his shield with such a force that it knocked him off balance and the others sent him crashing into the wall. He still had enough energy to look up and see Mad Cat approaching him and grabbing his head. "Sweet dreams, scaly." He mused, then slammed his head into the wall, knocking him out cold.
"Well, that was fun, but now I have to go." he said as he walked to the computer and undid Gekko's hacking, making the elevator operational again. He then made his way down to the exit and rushed off into the night, but if he took a few seconds to look back, he might have noticed a familiar looking white insect observing him from behind the totem pole.
So that was it! The big showdown between Mad Cat and Owlette that I have been advertising for a long time now. I hope it met your expectations. I actually had that bit written like two months ago. I just had to write the chapter around it so that's how this was finished so quickly after the last chapter.
Next time, Connor faces another person from his past who finds themselves growing fascinated by his personality change. Who is it? Well, I guess the last bit of this chapter and the title of the next one will make that obvious.
Anyway, keep reading, keep reviewing and keep staying wonderful. :)
See you next time for: Chapter 10: Dance in the Moonlight.
