Mable: Unfortunately, home troubles led to this chapter being a few hours late, so I'm sorry it's counted on 'Monday' instead of 'Sunday'. XD I hope you enjoy the chapter none the less! I don't own 9, Enjoy!

Our Inner Beasts

Chapter Twenty: The Cat Came Back

Nine didn't know how to approach Six. The Artist had retreated to his room shortly after Five and Seven had left. It was obvious that he was quite distraught. Though the others were too distracted to notice. Two and One were whispering to each other while the twins had followed Eight to his room to get his weapons. The zippered male tugged open the curtain and looked in at the striped Stitchpunk, who was now studying his sketches on the wall. He could hear Six muttering to himself as he looked over the pictures.

"Something must be wrong. No, no. Something- Something is wrong. I thought I saw it, but it wasn't like this!" Six murmured as he tried to understand why he had been wrong. Though he had not been wrong. Nine was beginning to suspect that the artist had anticipated exactly what happened.

"Six, try to calm down," Nine encouraged as he stepped in and approached the male. He stood behind him and laid his hands on his shoulders. "We're safe for the moment, and we're going to figure out what to do."

"Not enough, we- we're going to lose. The trench, I can't see the bottom," Six started to babble as he clutched his key and trembled in fear. "Why didn't I see it?"

"…It's not your fault, Six," Nine started hesitantly. He had to tell him the truth. "It's mine. I took the Talisman to the factory."

There was a brief moment of silence. Then Six slowly turned his head, "…What?"

"I just wanted to keep it nearby. I didn't plan on doing anything, but the beast got it away from me… It's my fault." Nine didn't anticipate what was coming next. The shorter male spun around abruptly and stared him down. The zippered male didn't expect the anger that flashed in the mismatched optics.

"I told you not to go! I told you to watch the source!" Six blurted out with fury in his voice. "Why- What were you thinking?!"

"I didn't know what was going to happen," Nine began, but Six interrupted him.

"I told you what was going to happen!" He raised his arms into the air. "But you didn't listen to me! Everyone thinks I'm crazy, nobody listens to me, and then stuff like- like this happens!" Six was very lucid and very angry, beginning to pace in frustration as the taller stood there in a remarkably submissive display. "I should've seen it coming! You, Two, Five, you all pretend to listen, but you don't! You just indulge my hope!" He turned on Nine again with clenching fists. "After I tried so hard to tell you- I thought you trusted me."

"I do trust you!" Nine insisted as he reached forward. Six looked away, but Nine was able to take his arm. "I just needed to see it, but I didn't have any intention to wake the Machine. I didn't even think the Talisman would wake it!... And when we went in, Cat didn't want to wake him either." The artist still refused to look at him as he continued pouting. "You have to believe me, Six. I might have caused this, but I would've never willingly awoke it!" He almost needed the confirmation that Six believed him. "Do you… Do you understand?"

"…Yes," Six's face fell and his anger was replaced with worry. "I'm not angry at you… Okay, maybe a little, but I'm angrier at me." He turned, moving out of Nine's grasp as he wandered over to the wall. He blankly stared at his many drawings. "How could I not see this coming?"

Nine moved in closer and put a hand back on the striped male's shoulder. "You warned me numerous times, Six. It's not your fault that I snuck out and let myself make a mistake. Just… Don't blame yourself." The artist looked back to him, sorrow in his optics, and moved in to hug the taller around the middle.

"I'm… I'm just glad you and Two were okay…" Six admitted to him. Nine noticed he didn't mention Five and Seven and just assumed that the artist doubted they could get hurt. It made sense as they had actual weapons. He gently pet over the striped male's yarn in soft patterns, trying to comfort him as he tucked his head under his chin. It felt good to hold him close and feel like he was somewhat safe, but in reality, they weren't safe. They wouldn't be safe until the Machine was somehow stopped.

He could only hope that Cat wasn't telling the Machine too much.

Meanwhile, in the watchtower, Five and Seven had settled in for a long wait. They took turns between watching through the telescope and doing other things. Five tended to keep busy and was constantly either moving things, fiddling with his harpoon and the telescope, or writing down changes he noticed in the factory. It had started to spill out more smoke over the day, but there hadn't been massive changes. Some of the oil derricks had sprung to life, but the rest of the land lay dormant.

Seven felt a sense of dread every time she scanned the nearby city with the telescope. She awaited seeing him, but never found the male in her line of sight. She would then switch out from Five and sit to the side. Usually active, Seven had gone into a surprisingly quiet mood. She sat there lost in thoughts awaiting their next exchange. Eventually this pattern came to an abrupt halt.

"I see Cat!" Five forewarned as he tried to follow the male. Seven sprung to her feet and rushed in.

"What is he doing? Is he alone?" Seven demanded answers and Five scrambled to give them.

"He's coming this way it looks like. It's just him." The one-eyed male looked to her in concern, "Do you want to look? I need to go tell the others."

"A quick look. He won't get here that quickly." Seven stood behind the spyglass as Five aimed it, then looked through to see the male. Cat was in the process of slowly running back. She assumed that he was either tired from the long run or trying to keep a slower pace so that he didn't get tired. She couldn't see his expression under his helmet, but his body language didn't give away too much either. Except that he clearly wasn't sneaking around or hiding. He was making no attempt to discreetly cross the Emptiness.

"Let's go," Seven commanded curtly as she headed to the lift. They lowered together and, as soon as they reached the bottom, Seven sprung out of lift and hurried into the throne room. "Cat's on his way." She announced to the Stitchpunks. By now, One had returned to his throne with Two sitting on the armrest. Shockingly enough, One hadn't scolded Two for sitting as he was. Eight was sitting at his 'post' and sharpening his knife, a few others sitting alongside him. The twins sat cross legged on the steps that led to One's throne.

Nine bounded out of Six's corner the moment Seven announced this. Six peeked out of the curtain after him, but didn't leave the safety of his room. "Where is he?"

"Almost at the Cathedral!" Five called down the steps as he entered the throne room again. "We don't have long."

Two sent a worried look to One before sliding off the armrest. As he and One approached the steps, the twins darted out of the way to stand beside Eight, who was standing with his knife.

"Let him come up here, where we can all confront him at once," One suggested with a firm glare at the bucket lift. "That way, we can make sure he doesn't flee."

"Let's not jump to conclusions now," Two volunteered and looked directly to One. "He's coming back willingly, so we should hear what he has to say… More than likely, he's coming to tell us about the Machine's progress." Silence filled the room as they stood around and waited. Eventually the lift lowered down and, sometime later, it rose again, now carrying Cat inside. The sanctuary was eerily silent as he stopped the lift and looked over the room full of staring Stitchpunks. He glanced over each one before stepping out. Then he was bombarded.

"And where have you been?" Seven stepped in and immediately demanded answers. Somehow, she had beaten One to the punch.

"At the factory," Cat responded as normally as could be. Maybe even a little confused by her behavior. It was as though what happened earlier never happened.

"I know that much. What's going on down there?" Seven firmly continued. "What were you offering that Machine- which, might I add, you didn't ask us whether or not you could offer?" Cat looked over at Nine, the closest Stitchpunk to him, before looking back to Seven.

"We were talking," Cat began, "and planning some things." One was about the butt in, mouth open, when Seven's words filled his space.

"About becoming a Stitchpunk. We already know, Cat. Two understood you," Seven pointed out before physically pointing at Two. Two gave a slight nod. "How could you do this, Cat?" Seven asked, voice growing in volume slightly. "How could you betray us like this?"

"Hey, I didn't wake him up!" Cat shifted course and began to defend himself, raising his claws in a defense posture. "It was the Rat. He's always waited, wanted me gone, wanted to move into the factory. The second my body fell he took over the place." He started to growl as he vented about this 'Rat'. "I didn't betray you, or them," he gestured to the Stitchpunks, "or he would've come after you."

"Excuse me?" Seven asked with a suspicious look.

"He thinks there's only you four. He thinks I had you all captured before you escaped. He doesn't think you know how to fight," Cat listed off on his claws, finishing by flexing them. "He would've sent something here to seek you all out… But I got him not too. I talked him back." He gestured towards the clock face and the sky past it. "Now he's in there working on a body like mine."

"There's a difference between you and it, Cat," Seven scowled and turned away, approaching the cauldron. "We know you followed his orders, but how are we supposed to sympathize with the leader who sent the humans to their deaths? Even if we say it was a war, it doesn't have a line. It will destroy everything!"

It was around now when One straightened to speak again. Instead, Six stepped out of his room and chimed in. "He doesn't know about us?"

Cat looked to him, visibly upset by Seven's accusations, and gave a nod. "The only ones he knows about are these four." He quickly pointed out the four as he still looked to Six. "He doesn't know anything about… His creator being your creator. Couldn't risk it."

"Then what was the point of telling him to become a Stitchpunk?!" One finally blurted out to get a word in edgewise. It managed to work and he rested a hand on his forehead. "I'm trying to give you the benefit of a doubt, but I am having immense trouble doing so when your logic makes no sense!" Cat started to kneel. "And don't think doing that will make me sympathetic, Cat. You have cursed us all to be trapped in the same war that we were in all those years ago!"

"He knows how to make a body like mine now…" Cat explained slowly, head bowed to the leader. Though he tilted it a little to look upwards to Two. He would be much more ready to bow in submission to him, pleading for his trust. The inventor's look held both worry and curiosity. "I told him that with the world free of threats, I could take him away from the confines of the factory in his new body. I could show him our- 'his' world, I said… And once his body is done, I will lead him here."

Seven tensed and Cat's optics shifted to the floor. "Then… He will be completely at your mercy."

Seven's optics widened and she spun around, looking at the kneeling Stitchpunk. One also looked confused, "What?"

"In his body, he is powerful. He can create, he dwarfs us all, and he is unstoppable… But as a Stitchpunk, he will lose that power. If I bring him here, away from his body, you can overtake him easily." Cat's voice was dripping with sadness, as though every word hurt him when he spoke them. "But… I do ask for mercy for my creator. You may know what he did to the humans, but you don't know what the humans did to us."

The silence was back again. One looked at Two in alarm, Two exchanged the look, Seven looked surprised, One looked to Eight and received confusion, and everyone else mostly shared surprise at this reveal. Cat was offering the Machine on a silver platter. It could've been a trick, but it could also be the ultimate act of loyalty to them.

"We… We will have to discuss this…" One forced out in a completely flustered tone. He looked to Two. "Can we go discuss this somewhere? I need a few moments of sanity." Two agreed and One beckoned Eight along with them. The three started off with Nine following behind. This left Five, Six, the twins, Seven, and Cat alone. Cat was still kneeling as he had been before, but now left his head hanging. It was obvious that he was distraught from betraying his creator. Five wandered closer and laid a hand on his shoulder.

"If the Machine is anything like you, then I would be happy to let him stay," Five encouraged. He less said it because he meant it and more said it because he thought it would make Cat happy. The twins then stood before him and gave comforting flickers from their optics. He looked upwards to them, glancing over the three, then four as Six wandered closer.

"It's One and Two's decision now. I can't change them…" Cat quietly added in. "…But I did this for all of you. If you know that then I did my job right." He didn't seem satisfied, but he did drag himself to his feet and now stood above all the Stitchpunks. "I need to return to him. He'll get suspicious is I stay away too long."

"Maybe, just a suggestion, but I think you should at least wait until One and Two get back," Five offered in concern. "If you don't, One might get suspicious. You know how he is." Everyone knew how One was. Cat somewhat reluctantly decided to go along with it and glanced over to the cauldron. Seven was now entirely missing from the throne room. The board with his old image on it was pushed to the side and a passage could be seen behind it. He could only assume that she had gone through the passage and disappeared wherever it led.

Deciding to give no explanation to the four, he walked over and dipped into the passage, leaving them alone and staring blankly after him. The passage climbed down some ways into the wall of the Cathedral's tower before opening again at the rooftop. Cat stepped out, looked around, and soon noticed Seven staring out at the Emptiness. Cat carefully headed over to her, stalking along the edge of the Cathedral and started to sit down beside her. The warrior noticed him, but only looked at him out of the corner of her optic.

He said nothing at first. Instead he just sat beside her, staring out at the view. Then, randomly, he made a suggestion. "You're angry." Almost a question but more of a statement.

"…I'm not angry," Seven clarified, weariness in her voice. "I'm just… Very confused. I know better than to trust you." She looked away and closed her optics. "I know better than to believe stories."

"But you know this isn't a story," Cat pointed out and Seven responded with a huff, dropping her head more. She didn't want to see the factory, or Cat. The male looked out over the Emptiness before adding in. "I don't want to hurt him."

"Then why are you?" Seven inquired

"Because I don't want to hurt you more," Cat admitted. "I don't want to hurt you again."

"Cat…" Seven felt embarrassment hit her. He hoped that it wouldn't be brought up. "Cat, that was different. You were a beast."

"If I follow my creator's commands…" Cat began in a sluggish fashion. "Then I'll be mindless again. This is my choice, to protect you at the cost of my creator's trust and love… If he even feels that anymore." He shook his head and tightened his grip on the roof beneath him. "…He was too aggressive with you before. He'll just be dangerous."

So that was it. Cat was upset about the Machine's reaction to the Stitchpunks and that was why he was doing what he was doing. It all clicked into place at that point. It was as though he had suspected the Machine would be kinder, or at least less aggressive towards the Stitchpunks, and when he wasn't it had snapped Cat out of his blinded loyalty. He saw what leaders could truly be like.

Seven felt her sympathy towards Cat return and she reached out to lay a hand on his lower back, beneath his armor. "You're doing the right thing… I know you don't want to betray him, but he will have no qualms against killing us. If we give him the chance, then he easily could." This didn't seem to comfort Cat very much. Deciding to take it a little further, the warrior leaned closer and let her helmet clunk against his. It wasn't quite the same as fabric upon fabric contact, but she hoped that he understood how awkward that would be for her while trying to keep from sliding off the roof.

He let out a low purr out of reflex and she looked down to notice his hand kneading against his own leg. But the usually confident Cat, or unable to identify the appropriate time for affection Cat, didn't physically reach out for her. This somewhat surprised her, but only inspired her to give him more reassurance. Or maybe it wasn't just his slouched position and clearly distraught behavior, but the fact that he came back.

Cat wasn't obligated to remain loyal to the Stitchpunks. He wasn't required to take their side when his creator returned. However, Cat had sided with them, and was even planning against his own maker to side with them. Seven couldn't believe how relieved she felt knowing that Cat hadn't turned his back on them.

"Thank you," Seven murmured before she could ever think about it. Immediately afterwards she realized what she said, optics flipping back open, but was unable to say anything to erase her reveal. She decided instead to stand by it.

"For what?" Cat asked as he paused in his kneading motion.

"…For coming back," Seven clarified as she moved her head slightly to rest on his shoulder. She closed her optics once again and exhaled smoothly. "I was afraid that you wouldn't come back."

"…I was afraid you wouldn't stay." Cat reached over with his over arm and laid it on Seven's. He gave a light squeeze, barely a rolling knead of his claws, and turned his head to nudge against hers. "Thanks for waiting."

"Don't get too comfortable," Seven playfully remarked as a warm smile settled on her face. She continued to hold onto Cat, allowing herself to simply trust him, and Cat returned this gesture by staying longer. The Machine could wait; he needed this to keep on with his plan.

He needed Seven to remind him why he was turning against his creator, and thankfully she did a good job.

Two stayed silent as One sent Nine and Eight out of the room. Once they were gone, he turned to the shorter Stitchpunk. He inhaled deeply before exhaling curtly, then he spoke. "You're much too trusting, Two." The slightly younger looked to the floor as the taller approached his back. "How can you continue to believe Cat's word when we suspect that the Machine can control him?"

"I believe what he said," Two explained to One. "I could hear it in his voice. This hurts him, turning against his creator. That's all the evidence I have to have." Indeed, Two had no doubt in his choice to trust Cat. "I believe we should go along with trapping the Machine. We'll figure out what to do next once we get there." That was to be his final word.

To his surprise, One's response was a sigh instead of a frustrated flurry of anger at Two's 'insolence'. The leader stepped closer to him and Two noticed when he was standing right behind him. "…One?"

It was at this moment that an arm started to slowly surround him. Two was dumbstruck by the movement and could only gasp when One pulled him back; pressing the inventor against his buckles in a slight embrace. The inventor gave a small inhale, like a slight hiss, and felt his cheeks break into sudden color.

"I hope Cat is being truthful, for your sake. You open your heart to others too quickly, Two. You risk yourself getting hurt," One softly spoke to him. While his words seemed like they could be scolding, his tone was a sharp contrast. It was almost as though One sounded sympathetic or worried. After how worked up he had been, after they had received such life changing news, One was being calm and supportive. It had Two stumped, but he wasn't willing to question it, less the older male suddenly back off.

"I have to… That's just how I am," Two answered One in the most even voice he could muster.

"I know," One responded before sighing and pulling back. "That is what frightens me so much." With those heavy words, One turned and headed to the doorway, briefly pausing before he passed through. "For now, I will go along with this. I don't have much of a choice if the Machine has already been awoke… But if he betrays us, Two, I will not let him make a fool of us. I will not stand aside and forgive… But I think that you already know that."

"I do." Two started to face One. He hoped his soul's light was no longer visible on his face, but he doubted that it wasn't. "And I thank you. It… It's the best plan we have. If it works, we may never need to worry about the Machine again… Depending on what our decision is after we get ahold of him."

"I would prefer to save that until after victory," One spoke back. He looked to the inventor, his optics briefly softening, and finished with, "I will alert the others and then we can begin preparations." Two nodded and the leader stepped out of the room.

The moment he was gone, Two felt the color return in full and let his hand press to his chest. His pulse was racing over such a small gesture and he not only couldn't understand why he was reacting like this, but couldn't understand why One had done something so odd. He had noticed One's change in recent behavior, but physical affection was something that he barely engaged in. Though this wouldn't have been too alarming except for some of his other behavior patterns. Most importantly, the random moments of flirtation.

Flirtation, affection, if Two didn't know better he would believe that One was courting him. However, he doubted this after One's efforts to keep the others for coming after him. None of it added up logically.

Now wasn't the time for dwelling on these things, but Two couldn't help but be left reeling from this continued pattern. He tried to suppress the blush once again as he followed his leader out the door. They had more things to worry about now. They would cross that bridge later and worry about those concerns later.

If One was courting Two then, well, Two would figure out how to deal with it later. For now, he would have to learn how to control this chronic blushing.

Mable: As though the Machine wasn't enough to make these poor punks confused. At least Two seems to be the most level-headed when it comes to One's odd behaviors. XD Anyway, the next chapter will be posted as soon as I can finish it! I hope you enjoyed!