Heated Debate
Needless to say that day in Wufei and Sally's office Sassy officially made a name for herself at Preventers. After that there wasn't a single person who didn't know that the Gundam Pilots had a cat that put a pitbull to shame. No matter how Quatre and Mariemaia tried to tell people Sassy really was a nice cat the comments fell on death ears, especially since the other pilots didn't agree. Not that they were mad at her or anything. It was just that facts were facts. Sassy could be meaner then any rabid pitbull if you got her mad enough and they saw no reason to pretend otherwise. Soon people were stopping by where ever Mariemaia and the cat were just to look at the savage fluffy ball and they all went away shaking their heads in confusion. How could something so cute be so vicious? Of course Dorothy tried to use the attack to get the animal put down but as Lady Une had pointed out the cat was simply protecting its master and no one would put down an animal for protecting its master from serious harm. Of course Wufei hadn't taken kindly to the fact that that made it sound like he'd needed the cat's help but had kept his mouth shut for Sassy's protection. The cat meanwhile was pleased with herself and for the next few days walked around with her tail in the air and a purr in her throat. The only shadow in the whole thing was that Sally had been hurt but she was okay now though she still wouldn't explain what it had all been about. Sally had refused to press charges and since the guy hadn't gotten any punches in Wufei couldn't really charge him either. Duo had suggested charging him with animal abuse since he'd jerked the cat around but Relena pointed out that she doubted a judge would rule that abuse since the cat had attached herself to the man's face with her claws and teeth.
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By the end of the week Sassy hadn't caused any trouble to Lady Une's relief and Mariemaia was thrilled the cat seemed to be making an effort to behave. Heero was of the opinion that she was saving up for some big chaos causing incident but everyone else preferred to remain optimistic that the cat was mellowing. Of course that talk had made Cat think so of course she was planning some big, possibly explosive incidents though she had yet to pick her favorite. She liked the idea somehow getting a bomb and blowing it up under Dorothy's chair while she was sitting there but hadn't figured out how she could light it without getting blown up herself or caught before the boom. Or maybe a car bomb would be cool too. Ding dong the bitch is dead. Which old bitch? The blonde haired witch. Ding dong the wicked bitch is dead, Cat sang in her head as she and Mariemaia walked down the hallway at a slow pass since traffic was moving slowly. Getting bumped the two almost went flying but Mariemaia just caught herself and after accepting the soldiers apology Mariemaia continued on their way with Cat trying to crane her neck out far enough to get a good look at the idiot for future reference. As though she could hear what Cat was thinking Mariemaia looked down with warning in her voice. "And don't you even think about it, Sassy. He said he was sorry and it WAS an accident. Now behave until we get to Relena's office so that I can hand you over to Heero and truthfully say you didn't cause any trouble today at all."
You're no fun, Cat thought looking up at her with as close to a pout as she could manage before settling back into Mariemaia's arms. Probably the only good thing about being a cat was that people were always carrying her and she never had to walk. Well unless it was Wufei or Trowa who both insisted that she needed to exercise her legs more. Then again they were carrying her more now then when she was hurt so technically they weren't practicing what they were preaching either. They were nearly there when they heard alarms going off everywhere, the lights flashing on and off with a voice coming from the speakers saying there was a fire and for everyone to clear the floor.
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Clutching Sassy tight Mariemaia turned on her heels and took off at a fast walk to the nearest stairs along with everyone else. Squirming in Mariemaia's arms since the girl was holding her way too tight Cat looked around her and wondered who had beat her to her big explosion. But hey maybe they'd blame this on her and then she would have gotten her way without having to raise a paw. Hearing someone rap her smartly on the head Cat hissed and looked over to see Colin beside her. What are you doing here? Cat asked him mentally.
"You need to go back the way you are, Cat. There are two people who were knocked unconscious and they need to get help immediately or they might die." Colin said with a serious look on his face. "This is your chance to earn some brownie points."
You didn't set the fire did you? Cat asked with a curious look as she considered the fact that her sorta guardian angel might be an arsonist or some pyro maniac. It would figure that God would do that to her given all the terrible things she'd said about him over the years. After all there was nothing God was better at then making something simple into a huge mess. So tell me, wannabe angel boy. Did you pull this to get me into heaven and an A on your assignment?
"Of course not! I'm a servant of God, Cat! I would never deliberately harm a living thing and I'm insulted that you would think that of me." Colin said looking thoroughly insulted and more then a little red in the face. "It's my job to help people and spread God's word not to cause chaos and havoc which is something YOU excel at."
Well that's true enough and so what if you're an angel, pal. You don't fool me I did go to Sunday school for a while and I remember quite well that Lucifer, Hell's ruler was your boss's favorite and most beautiful angel before he decided he didn't like harp music, Cat thought with a smirk on her face. So who knows, maybe you would cause a little fire to get me some brownie points as you put it.
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"Oh that's it, young lady." Colin said with a dark look on his handsome face. "Now you march your furry behind down that hallway or I'll see to it that you spend what time you have left on earth as a flea on some mangy cat's back."
You wouldn't dare, Cat shot back though she wasn't totally sure that he wasn't telling the truth. After all God never played fair and was a real jerk when it came to his treatment of his creations. She could see the old geezer going along with Colin's suggestion just for the fun of it. Never mind the fact that it would likely make her remaining time on earth a living hell when she was already headed towards an eternity there anyway. When he gave her the look that said he wasn't joking Cat stuck her tongue out then catching Mariemaia by surprise jumped out of the girl's arms and started sprinting after Colin who was leading the way. Calling out Sassy's name in a tone close to a scream Mariemaia fought her way out of the crowd and ran after the cat who wasn't too hard to catch up to but not making it easy for her to be caught. A soldier catching sight of the two out of the corner of his eyes cursed and ran after them as well to grab the girl before she got herself killed over the stupid cat.
Arriving in front of the door Cat was all set to get in once Colin opened the door when she was scooped up by Mariemaia who took several steps back from the huge force of the flames coming from within the room Colin had opened up. Coughing hard from the smoke Mariemaia tried to get Sassy to stay still but the cat seemed determined to get out and Mariemaia started to cry in fear. Feeling a hand on her shoulder Mariemaia bit back a scream as she looked into the face of a young solider who was holding his handkerchief over his nose then handed it to her. Cat, taking advantage of this as the soldier tried to steer them away managed to get away again and ran into the room. Luckily she was so small she didn't have to crouch down and following Colin's voice found him kneeling beside two unconscious figures laying there on the ground, one bleeding from the head. How the Hell am I supposed to get them out of here? Cat demanded to know as her eyes watered from the heat and smoke around her. I can't even drag their heads if I decapitated them!
"Mariemaia." Colin said simply and as if on cue Cat could hear the girl's voice calling to her. Meowing as loud as she could Cat saw the girl crawling towards her, the girls face stained with soot and the girl looked scared out of her wits. Close behind was the soldier who'd followed after Mariemaia after the girl had kicked him in the shins when he'd tried to make her leave without the cat.
"Sassy there you..oh no!" Mariemaia said when she realized that the cat was sitting in front of two unconscious bodies. "That's why you ran in..you knew they were in there!"
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"Incredible." The soldier said as he stopped beside Maia on his hands and knees as well. If it weren't for the cat and the girls persistence in coming back up here the two would have been goners by the time they were found. "That she could smell them through the smoke. How strong are you, kiddo?"
"I'm strong enough when I need to be. Sassy you're going to have to lead the way..I know you can do it." Mariemaia said with a thumbs up and nodding her furry soot covered head Cat waited till they'd each grabbed one of the fallen soldiers then following Colin out made as much noise as she could in case they couldn't see her clearly enough. Finally reaching the door Cat hopped out then turned around to see the soldier coming out first and dropping the unconscious soldier on the ground went back in and returned shortly with Mariemaia and the other soldier. Together the two dragged their charges away from the door with Cat not far behind and getting to the nearest phone the soldier radioed down that they required assistance. When he was done that he and Maia grabbed the nearest fire extinguishers and let the foam loose into the still open doorway. Using the whole thing up spraying at everything they could before giving up they closed the door on the room before heading back to where they'd left the soldiers and the cat who was keeping guard.
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"You're Mariemaia Une right? Lady Une's daughter?" The soldier asked after a moment or two as they waited for the help since neither had the strength to move themselves much less anyone else any further. Coughing a bit from the smoke she'd inhaled Mariemaia nodded back weakly and smiled down at Cat who was resting peacefully in her lap though the cat kept hissing at the wall in front of them for some reason. "And that's the cat isn't it? The one everyone talks about?" The soldier added turning Maia's attention back to him and away from the cat.
"Yeah likely." Mariemaia said with a small smirk as she stroked Sassy's head, pleased when Sassy stopped spitting at the wall to look up at her. "Though now everyone's going to have to believe Quatre and I when we tell them that she's really a good cat..just missunderstood..and a bit temperamental. Okay so she can have the personality of a rabid porcupine but she's got a good heart." Mariemaia said defensively, prepared to give the soldier a tongue lashing if he dared to make some smart remark about her cat. Well not hers exactly but Sassy was her friend cat or not and she wasn't going to let anyone bad mouth her.
"Well whatever she is she's also a hero. I'm Alex by the way. Cadet Alex Branson." The soldier said as he reached over to pat the cat's head once before moving it away when the cat gave him a look through narrowed eyes that said plainly hands off. "And you were very brave back there, risking your life for her and for those soldiers. My sisters would have been scared spitless."
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For the first time Mariemaia really looked at the soldier and blinked when she realized he looked to be in his late teens and was actually pretty cute or would be if he was filthy which odds were she was too. Blushing at his words Mariemaia hesitantly smiled at him and when he smiled back Mariemaia felt a burst of happiness. "Well I was scared but I couldn't leave Sassy in there..she's my friend." Maia admitted with a shrug. "And my mom says that when you're scared you have to face what's scaring you or it will never leave you alone."
"Sounds like good advice to me." Alex said with a friendly grin then hearing the sound of footsteps looked over to see several soldiers coming at them at a run. Glad that they'd hurried Alex was looking forward to getting himself and his charges out of there before some other disaster struck. "Looks like the calvary is here to finish the job."
"Maia are you okay?" Trowa asked breathing hard from his race up the stairs as he came to a stop in front of them along with the medical team and Duo who was also breathing hard. "Sassy?"
"We're both okay." Maia said weakly as she got to her feet with Sassy's secure in her arms. Watching the fire fighters rushing by Maia yelled at them that they'd gotten it under control for the most part but she wasn't sure they'd heard her. Turning back to the guys Maia smiled weakly as one of the medics asked if she required medical attention. "No I'm fine though I have to say we've been better Inhaled just a little smoke and a few scratches from crawling around on the ground."
"What I want to know is how the hell she managed to set several rooms on fire all at once and on different floors too." Duo said with a shake of his head as he stared at the cat who blinked back at him in surprise having no idea what the braided baka was talking about. "I mean you're a cat for Christ sakes so how the hell did you do it? Especially right under Maia's nose. How the hell does a cat light a match anyway?"
Realizing that Duo thought Sassy had caused the fire Maia gapped at him for a moment then laughed as she shook her head at him. "Sassy didn't start the fire, Duo. We weren't even in this area today until the alarms started going off. Sassy got away from me and lead us straight to those soldiers."
"Maybe she had an accomplice." Duo muttered then yelped slightly when Trowa whacked him upside the head. "Oww hey that hurt, Trowa."
"Lets get you all out of here." Trowa said quietly thinking that Duo had to have inhaled too many fumes to be thinking the cat could have pulled this off. Not even the cat from hell could have pulled this one off . "Duo, help Maia. Maia, give me Sassy." When the girl reluctantly handed Sassy over Trowa took the cat into his arms then ordering another soldier to help Cadet Branson out as well.
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As they walked away towards the stairs to get out Cat continued to call Colin every foul name she could think of for risking Mariemaia's life like that. How dare he use her like that and when Cat was in hell she was going to overthrow it, become Queen of Hell and then do everything in her power to pay Colin back. In fact she just might force the man into marriage to Dorothy when the bitch finally died.
"Now that's just cruel and unusual punishment." Colin complained as he shuddered at the thought of being chained to that harpy for all of eternity. Being trapped in Hell would be more appealing then stuck with that woman. "And like you pointed out there was no way you could have gotten them out by yourself. And Maia's fine, look at her."
That's beside the point you idiot prick, Cat thought with a furious look on her furry face. She could have died in there and there would have been nothing I could have done! If I could I'd rip your face off right now with my claws and wear it like a Halloween mask.
"Well at least then you'd have a human face instead of a cat's." Colin shot back with a smug smile on his face before disappearing into thin air leaving Cat fuming.
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A nervous wreck Lady Une rushed forward as soon as she saw Duo coming out with Maia and practically throwing people out of her way to get to her daughter gathered Mariemaia up in a tight hug and couldn't seem to let go. Understanding Duo followed Trowa over to where Quatre was standing looking equally worried and without needing to be asked Trowa promptly handed the cat over to his best friend. Hugging Sassy tight Duo and Trowa were surprised the cat could breath but for once Sassy made no attempt to cause physical harm.