(Chapter Thirty-Three: Bright light, Cat city)

Julia had fumbled into the kitchen real quick, her thoughts almost made her hit the door on her way in. She knew Bonnie was making sandwiches or something, but she wasn't expecting the bowed child to be using the stove.

Bonnie, the hot-headed, gung ho child, to be calmly making a rice dish for their mission. She was exceptionally quick maneuvering around on the steps so that she could reach.

Bonnie quickly turned around when she noticed Julia and then turned back to see what she was doing, unfazed that the woman was looking at her with popped out eyes.

"Hey, Juli! Sorry, I uh- I was making sandwiches and then thought," she quickly tapped her finger to her chin "'man, some rice would be nice too!' And now I'm kind of here." She gestured to the fried rice with beef.

"I- wha-" Julia grabbed her head and swung her arms out "you can cook!?"

Bonnie chuckled at Julia's confusion "well, not everyone is a prodigy captain like Melody." She said, continuing to work "I only got the space gig because my parents were chefs on Melody's parent's ship."

"I'm... guessing... that's how you two met?" Julia inquired

"Yup! Been friends ever since! And before you ask, no, I'm not as skilled as my parents; the only hot dishes I know how to prepare are rice-based."

"Well That's clearly not true," Julia points out "you know how to cook beef-" she gestured to the meat that was getting cooked with the rice. She wasn't entirely sure if that counts, or if Julia should be afraid of the meat that was chopped into the rice.

Bonnie gave a thoughtful look as Julia backed out of the kitchen so she wouldn't get in the girl's way. "I'll be... uh, talking with Snatcher then."

"Alright! I'll be done soon, Promise!" Bonnie called out.

Julia exhaled a breath she didn't even know she was holding. That was definitely a surprise to see and was the last thing she would have thought Bonnie would be. "...A chef." She muttered to herself with wonder, then she thought Bonnie and Cc would be good friends.

Julia wondered if the two were able to hang out after the cruise incident.

While in her thinking, Julia found her way to Melody's room without hitting any walls thankfully. Once she glanced out the hallway window and passed the door, she looked into the room to find Melody fast asleep on her bed and Snatcher reading a book that Julia had seen many times before.

"I can't believe you still have that book." Julia quietly called out, making the specter look up surprised. "And here I thought we were making a dent in that dark heart of yours." She joked.

Snatcher scoffed, he closed the book as quietly as he could and looked at Julia "Well if it isn't the pumpkin child. Back so soon?" He asked.

"Only because we're on our last mission, you dumb purple noodle." She smirked at him, loosely crossing her arms.

Snatcher gazed at Melody for a moment then back at Julia as if he just realized something. Then he went back to his normal expression and gave Julia a look "so, what does that have to do with you talking to me?"

"Oh, nothing, if you don't want it to." The woman shook her head at him "though, there is a reason why I'm here. There's something I want to discuss with you quickly while the kid is asleep." Julia pulled the book out of her vest, then slid a page out from it and handed it to the ghost.

Snatcher grabbed hold of it and gave it a look over, he then raised a non-existent brow at her "what the heck is this for?" He asked.

"that there is a design for a new body. A backup body..." Julia pointed out "My contingency plan."

"For...?" He motioned for her to give out more information with his hand.

"Can't you feel it? I know you can." Julia whispered, looking at the ground "I haven't told MoonJumper yet, and I know he doesn't have the aptitude for soul magic like you... just control."

The large ghost froze when he heard and realized what she was saying, he felt it. It was a vague feeling, but it was there. Snatcher wasn't expecting that kind of dour tone or answer. After all this time he was trying to get rid of them... they were actually... leaving. In their own ways. Potentially for good.

"But that's why I'm asking this of you." Julia looked up at him, with a made-up mind. "I want you to make me this new body. I don't want to kick the bucket and leave someday... leave everything I worked hard to keep. I want to be with you guys."

"You... want to stay." Snatcher finished.

"You're sometimes infuriating, and you do stupid things." Julia looked away, holding herself "and I never actually wanted to be close to you after everything..." Snatcher gave her an undefinable looked "but thanks to that contract the kid highjacked from you... I find our bantering and fights to be... fun."

Snatcher was taken aback by that, he did have to admit, he loved making her mad.

"not only that... but... you're also apart of my family. You and MoonJumper... you're like my uncle." Julia looked back up at him "You're apart of that thing I want to keep holding onto."

Julia then held out the notebook to him. "This book has all my thoughts and stories in it, from how it all started to how my life has changed for the better..." Snatcher reached out to take it and looked at it. It read contingency plan on it, at the bottom, it says 'from Julia' and to a name he didn't quite recognize.

"Zephyr helped design that ribbon." She pointed out "its magic is tied to my life; when that ribbon becomes undone... I want you to find someone named 'the badge seller' he'll deliver that for me..."

"But... why give it to me? Why not deliver it now?" Snatcher asked quietly, looking at the green book.

"Well, you're good at hiding things." Julia smiled at him "and I don't want anyone to open that book. Not yet at least. Think of it like... a time capsule." The woman readjusted her hat and looked at him "and that only leaves your side when that ribbon opens... because there's a goodbye message in there somewhere."

"...When will you tell Moon?" He asked her still looking at the book.

Julia just sighed, she wasn't entirely sure if she should "as for MoonJumper... I've already yelled at him enough for his mistakes..."

"Do you... see yourself as a mistake?" The purple ghost asked her

"No! No... I don't." Julia smiled kindly "I don't see his course of action as a mistake. It was meant to happen, right? It's made me into me." She held her arms out. "And I'm happy with that. Happy I was able to meet all of you."

It was either be alone forever and be raised by people who never cared, or die with the ones who always do. To her it seemed like a fair trade-off, she got to live a full life, still living it!

"When I come back, I'm going to spend so much time with my family." She smiled and pointed out at Snatcher "and that means you too, big guy." She chuckled just as she was about to walk away "just wait for me, okay?"

At that moment, Snatcher reached out and grabbed her in a hug. It was sudden and it surprised Julia, though she didn't yelp or jump. She just stood there without words as he held her a little tighter.

"We don't speak about this to anyone. Got it?" He let go and spun her around to give her a stern gaze "or I'll... I'll-"

"You got it." She just patted his hand and finally walked out. Happy with completing one of her goals.

After her confrontation with the ghost, Julia had made her way to find out what exactly Kero and Zephyr have been up to. When she entered the door the led to the engine room, she stopped short in front of the laundry room.

Julia was surprised, shocked really, because in front of her wasn't what she expected to see. Kero and Zephyr, who both looked... alive turned to look at her.

The dark-skinned boy with adorable freckles peppering his face hopped in a hurry after Julia "Mama, Look! Look what uncle Zephyr did!" As he grabbed onto her.

"It's only a visual illusion..." Zephyr announced, making his way up "and it's Allen right now. Zephyr has given me some time to... take in the sights."

"Allen- this is an awfully realistic illusion," Julia said as she pushed down Kero's messy fluffed up hair. She was at a loss for words after that.

"That it may be, but we still don't feel anything just like before." He had a sad look as he monitored his hands and then his eye had an X shaped scar. "I wasn't sure I was able to do this until your boy, Kero, gave me the idea of a disguise."

Julia looked down at him with a questioning glance.

"It's true! We still don't know anything about this new place; what if they get scared of walking dolls? We gotta look less intimidating!" Kero held up his hands while he explained.

"Do you think we look less intimidating?" Allen asked Julia as the two adults stared at each other.

One adult was wearing magical robes and gold with a large scar, while the other adult was wearing mafia-related clothing and an eye patch.

"Hmm, what's your definition of 'not scary'?" She asked putting her hands together.

"Perhaps we could match then?" Allen, in a flash, changed to identical clothing, losing the gold jewelry and anything that seemed flashy. "We were quite curious to see how we looked in your attire-"

"Now we really look like we're in a group..." Julia smirked but shook her head.

"No good?" Allen deflated.

"No, no- you look good!" Julia quickly rose her hands "it's just, Now I'm not sure I should wear what I'm wearing." She said, "kero is right about not wanting to stand out."

"Perhaps we'll figure things out along the way," Allen said, not changing back to his original clothing.

"So you gonna change back or..?" Julia looked at him with a raised brow.

"Zephyr says he feel confident... I have to agree with him there." Allen said with a smile as he adjusted his glasses.

Everyone had met back in the main hub, Bonnie was all packed up and it seemed everyone was ready. All that was left to do was jump from the spaceship and head back down to their destination.

"You guys really ready?" Bonnie asked as she turned around to see everyone holding onto temporary umbrellas, nodding "Okay then! Here we go!"

With the group all heading off, Julia was the last to leave. She quickly gave a look back to see Snatcher wave, she smiled at him and finally left. The ghost kept waving back until the woman was gone and out of sight.

It was a city they arrived in, though the city seemed dead at this time of day, giving Subcon a run for its money. Perhaps it was only lively at night? It was possible that was the case. Newspapers blew in the cold wind, as the group kept scanning the area.

"Okay, readings had said to go underground..." Bonnie said, before looking at some papers.

Julia looked around, almost missing her city back home. It was an odd feeling seeing something so familiar in an uncanny way. "If it's underneath a city of this caliber, then there's a chance that there's a subway station nearby." She deduces with a hand to her chin.

It only took her a moment to feel the rumbling of something running underneath, Perhaps echoes of wheels of a track? Rushing over to find some sort of decline, Julia stopped to see a manhole with lights and an ice symbol she was all too familiar with. It played music all the while as she called everyone over.

"Wasn't expecting a manhole entrance at all; maybe a stairway or a ramp..." she scratched her head underneath her hat, feeling like she had forgotten something.

"Maybe it's a secret entrance?" Kero said, getting closer to it and hearing the music at a higher volume.

"Only one way to find out!" Bonnie smiled, taking charge, and slammed down with her equivalent of the ice hat. The manhole was open for the others as they shortly joined her before the cover sealed itself back up. Looked like it was definitely a one-way trip.

However they all found themselves dropping onto an area that had digital ticket booths, a railway map, and miscellaneous ads they couldn't read. It all looked so different.

Not only that but it seemed like there was an electric yellow gate blocking their path. Allen was the first to approach it, captivated but the odd thing. When he placed a hand on it, it made a blaring sound with the X in the middle turning red for a moment.

"Gah! What sorcery is this!? A barrier of some kind?" He backed away from it like a cat that got spooked by a garden hose.

"N-no, Zephyr..." Julia held back a laugh "it just a gate, though I was half expecting it to be electric for some reason..." she mumbled.

Bonnie yelled out "they have electric subway gates where you're from!?" She then smiled "that super crazy!"

Julia stuttered for a moment, she was trying to explain that wasn't actually what she meant "No- no! We just have a normal small gate that anyone can just jump over..."

Meanwhile, Kero looked at the strange but cute familiar rumba cleaning around, everyone else was chatting away about electricity and gate while just...

Accidentally found away over.

A yelp made Julia quickly turn around like a momma bear hearing her cub was in danger; she watched speechless as Kero was lunched over the gate and was successful on the other side.

"Kero are you okay!?" She yelled, looking past the security gate to see her son just shake off the surprise and smile.

"I'm okay!" He held a thumbs up.

Bonnie smiled at him, then looked back at the cat Roomba with an even more growing smile. Cat theme, she loved cats so much. She soon then followed the boy's actions and jumped over the gate with the help of the little fella.

Before anyone knew it she was right there next to Kero.

"So," Julia smiled "funny how I said jump over... right?"

"After you, dear sister," Allen said, motioning to the machine.

With a smirk, Julia was launched over to the others, and after that Allen joined them. The first obstacle cleared and probably a fine for not paying the gate fee, but it didn't seem like anyone cared.

The upper area didn't seem to have much, just a normal platform for trains to come and go. There was a food cart a vending machine and a few... cat-folk. It seems like cat people were in control of this area. Now Julia had seen everything, Birds, Seals, Cats, what other animals were there that walked and/or talked?

Bonnie had wandered over to the glowing line, she had no idea what it could mean, but Julia could understand enough with the symbols and yellow striped line on the floor.

"Bonnie, wait!" She called out as she watched the child stick her head out to see what was down the glowing blue road. Immediately getting pull back with a green string, Julia huffed as she yanked the girl away before a large cat pulling a train car came speeding by.

Not caring about almost get run over, Bonnie had stars in her eyes as she clapped excitedly in Julia's arms "ohmigosh!"

"Christ, Bonnie!" Julia looked at her, putting on a concerned smile "I hope you're not as much of a handful as Melody was when I first met her..."

"Sorry, sorry! I just got all excited!" She pointed with a smile "I mean, large cats pulling trains! Ah!" She gushed out at the cats.

"We might need to set some ground rules." Julia looked down at her as she was placed back down. Folding her arms she waited for everyone to gather around "we still don't know what's going on down here, but we do know cats roam about." She pointed out

"I distinctly remember cats being extremely unpredictable, so we shouldn't use anything to give them a reason to attack us." Looking at Allen, she stressed "use only passive magic, and away from prying eyes." She whispered as he nodded.

"Always stay in groups of two; don't get separated for too long if you do have to leave each other." She pointed out again looking at the two kids. "I want everyone to stay safe..."

"I believe everything will be fine," Allen said to her, placing a hand on her shoulder "I'll keep watching Bonnie if you wish to stay with your son."

Julia somberly smiled at him, she nodded her thanks to him.

"Now then, shall we be off?" He said with a confident smile, looking at the next train that passed by.

"How... if we don't have tickets?" Bonnie asked him.

"Hasn't Julia told you I'm a renowned bandit back in my time?" He folded his arms studying the trains "I may be a tower wizard, but I've trained hopped a few times with my lovely Delilah, rest her soul."

"Train hopped?" The bow child questioned, getting picked up by the man.

Julia immediately picked up Kero, understanding what was about to happen, but she just couldn't believe he was suggesting it "Allen you sure about this? What if we hit a tunnel that's too small?"

"Fret not, I'm sure a few of the felines have got around somehow without needing to pay a fee." Allen was sure of that "besides, cats are the sliest when it comes to sneaking."

He got ready for the next train, Julia as well but more nervous than he was.

"I still do think this is a good idea-" Julia tried to say before Allen yelled,

"Jump!"

The two jump up and grabbed hold of the roof of the train. Allen had more spring in his step than Julia, who had to use a barrier to get up a little higher. Once on top, the to rode for while aboard the train for quite sometime before needing to jump off.

They were now in an off room and it seemed the only way up was the cleaning bot dressed as a cat. Bouncing up, the two hopped onto another train and rode it for a while before hopping off again into another room.

However, the machine was nowhere near where it needed to be. Looking down at the sludge, Julia made a face.

"Yeah, I don't think so." She placed her son down and formed a stairway up. "Not get that on anyone."

"For the love of the sun, thank you..." Allen whispered.

The train-hopping continued until finally the four jumps onto what would be their last. The last train rolled longer than the rest and time seemed to slow down when they exited the tunnel into a bright shining area. It was all artificial lights from neon signs but it was breathtaking.

As they hopped off, more trains were heard overhead, the place was absolutely massive. Everyone was taking in the sights until Julia noticed Allen fall over with a thud.

"Allen? Allen?!" Julia whispered, hurrying over to him to make sure he was okay.

Sorry for the long wait everyone! I was having some massive demotivation, but here's a long chapter of the four getting into the subway! The next chapter will have the bastard cat lady and her little crew.

OPFan37: Julia is going to ver very cautious here, she knows her history and trains... now that she knows trains are involved. Zypher came along because he knows Julia was the only person who could protect him from Moonjumper, so that was one reason why he wanted to tag along- and personally I just wanted to have some non-villainy time with the boy. Now for time, I think I gave him the personality I think they were gonna give him before he was taken out of the game, but just the way he dresses made me think he was a laid back dude. That's all I can answer for now!

Stealthee125: You're darn right she will!