GS Note: Damn fricking school. I hate it. Damn phsyco teachers can't assign homework that makes sense. Damn gym, I'm not going to need to do pushups if I get a desk job. This chapter is brought to you by the frustrations of the classroom. Please, if you are a teacher, remember that some of your students DO do educational things on the weekends. For one, I write and I'm scheduled for Spanish lessons. Should this multi-talented chick not be granted special rule? I though so ^_^ Just kidding! We all deserve a break! Rally against HMK and all other stupid abbreviations! Boom! Crash! Pow! Zork!

And, ever more to the truly awesome reveiwers, this story would have stopped at chapter one without you! Shnigami195 (^_^ *blushes* you people are too nice!), Whitehorn (I know, I know, kittens won't survive alone at two months. But Solo's trying to be sweet. I'm going to assume a nice lady found them on the side of the road, took them in and gave them to all her little nieces and nephews where they grew to an old age!), Emy (^^ am I good again?), Lev (Thanks! I tend to guess on names, Meiran was one of them. She's spelled right from now on!), Muse (:p), Ivy (It's short again, sorry! But next time it'll be longer. Promise!), seamadian, Lady Icecubes (kinda like a soap opera, huh?), tenshiamanda, x2Angelofdeath (Can't you tell, Doro's my favourite character ^_^) and last but not least (first reveiwer) Jordan!

Read on my little eager friends!

Neko

Chapter 9

Quatre sagged in relief when Hilde left the room empty-handed. It was time to get organized.

He left the room quickly. The small pudgy Persian body might have looked slow and pampered but underneath Quatre was a fighter. His bright coat wasn't even noticed as he found his way into the female's wing. The first room was thankfully almost empty. It would be more trouble if the younger excitable cats had been in there to make a fuss about a tomcat. Wufei sat there, almost as if she was waiting for him.

"Duo and Heero are gone," she stated. Quatre only nodded. "Her friends are visiting." Quatre nodded again. Wufei narrowed her delicate eyes. "Then let's cover their blunder before we all pay."

***

Solo, Duo and Heero waited in the dark tensely. Dekim seemed to be taking a long time finding Alex. Heero sneezed then shifted guiltily. The silence was broken.

"You didn't tell me you had a sister." That was Duo.

"I had three sisters and a brother. Me and Meiran were the only ones to survive."

"Ah."

There was a pause.

"Any more relatives or ex-girlfriends I should know about?"

Solo sighed then smacked Duo upside the head. Heero bristled but didn't say anything. Duo started to curse Solo quietly. The tension grew. Heero could feel himself start to sweat under the grim despite the cool breeze washing over them. Solo shuffled his feet. Heero lashed his tail and glared at the midnight cat. Solo stuck out his tongue. Duo smacked him while Heero settled down smirking. Solo huffed under his breath and they went back to silence. For a few moments at least.

"Would you two quit it!" Duo couldn't take it anymore. "This happens to be a very trying atmosphere with just Dekim alone! I don't need you two acting like kittens!"

Solo muttered an apology under his breath when they heard the soft padding of footsteps. Dekim was back.

It took only a few seconds for them to discover Mueller's form.

"Damn it! Alex, go find that cursed queen! I want her back, now!" there was a pause then one set of footsteps ran off. There was a quiet crunch of gravel before the high, bone-chattering voice began again. "Well, I see you have an ally. No matter, Meiran can't get you out by herself, there is no escape! I've been using this jail for years and no one has ever escaped! I bet you can still find their remains beneath your feet!"

Duo and Heero looked at Solo but the older cat shrugged and whispered, "I haven't seen anything."

"No doubt that pathetic cat is waiting for her chance to strike," they could hear the grating of the ground under his paws as he flexed his claws. "But she never will! No one has ever beaten me! I will always triumph!"

This was far from the cocky tom Duo had been chased by only a few weeks earlier. There was a desperate, crazed edge to his voice. Heero felt his tail puff out at the high-pitched, wailing laugh. His eyes darted wildly to the two cats beside him. Duo looked deeply disturbed by Dekim's actions but Solo narrowed his eyes in a cool calculating way.

"He's crazy," Solo whispered gently, realization making his voice awed. "Totally off the wall. Something's different. Something happened. We have to stall him until Meiran comes back."

"How?" Heero breathed.

"Duo. It has to be Duo," the black cat turned his golden eyes to the shivering chocolate female beside him. "You have to give up."

***

"I still say we should have a bigger part in this."

"Be quiet Auda, these people know what they are doing. We will be wise to listen," Rashid chided softly.

"Don't worry," Meiran gave the cat a toothy grin. Her golden eyes glittered dangerously. "You will have your chance to fight yet. Do you all understand what you have to do?"

"I'll watch them Meiran," Dorothy quirked a small smile and gave a meaningful look at Auda. "We don't want any mistakes. This could end Dekim forever, no one wants to mess up."

"Good," there was another glint over her eyes as they narrowed with a wild edge. "Just let the Dragon Clan handle things."

Dozens of eyes blinked in the dark corners of the alley behind them.

***

A tiny orange cat, barely more then a kitten, dashed down the carpeted hall and took a sharp corner into the Wing. Her emerald eyes flashed excitedly as she failed to stop and plowed into Wufei's tail. The Siamese jumped and whirled to meet her attacker. Mariemaia look at her sheepishly.

"Anything to report?" Wufei sighed and relaxed her claws. She clearly expected a bogus reply, Mariemaia was not known for her common sense but they were forced to use her as a lookout for her small size. Sometimes she took away from the facts and that slowed them down.

"Miss Noin is coming!" she jumped to her feet. Her whiskers flickered as she spoke caught up in the adrenaline. "She's almost passed me but I got away and she didn't see me! She didn't I swear! But she's coming! We gotta do the thing for the thing! Now! Come on, come on! We gotta hurry!"

"Go tell Quatre," Wufei smirked. "And calm down for goodness sake! We need level heads for this to succeed-"

Too late the tiny cat was tumbling in the halls again. Wufei turned to the graceful Russian Blue beside her. "Trieze, go get Abdul and tell him to get ready, Quatre will do the rest."

"Do I get a kiss first?"

"Get out of here you pervert!"

Trieze laughed wickedly as he turned and silently left the room. Wufei glared after him as she was suddenly alone in the room. This plan was risky. There were a thousand and one things that could go wrong. She was nervous. It all depended on whether or not it had rained outside last night. They needed mud. Wufei knew what rain was. She was born in rain, grew up in rain and was captured in rain. Oh, how she knew rain.

But would the other cats?

***

Duo scoffed at the idea.

"I'm not giving up!" she hissed and Solo shushed her. Dekim didn't pause his insane rant.

"You have too!" he said calmly. "He's only really interested in you, you have to keep him busy!"

"There's a damn reason why he's interested in me!" Duo cried. Solo hissed at her to be quiet but Dekim didn't falter. Duo dropped her voice again. "He's a horny bastard! I don't want to deal with him!"

Heero listened quietly as Solo tried his best to convince Duo to go talk with Dekim. He knew there was another way. It was risky, full of mistakes, but it just might work.

It all depended on if it was dark enough. Heero spoke up. "I have an idea."