Catboy's Quest

by Dapple-ishh

Three Animal Totems comes from a nearby town seeking for the help of Catboy, so he could train their little kids to become PJ Masks. Catboy agrees and eventually endures a journey to find them, though still bleeding from his own battles wounds.

7. Chapter 6: Lost and Found

This is a long one, 15k words!

Disclaimer: PJ Masks doesn't belong to me. The Petit Masks and the Diamond Masks do.

---

Chapter 6: Lost and Found

The same morning...

It was 7:30 AM in Tarabiscoville, where a cold breeze ran through the empty streets. Lina was making her way home after her night shift at the Hospital, she was a nurse and worked once every two days at night. She was hoping that Greg could go to the market with her later today and help her with the monthly shopping, they were only both of them in the house since her daughter Nina left to London, but it was easier for them to have all settled up already.

When she doubled the corner of the street that led to her neighborhood her legs felt heavier and her feet hurt, and she longed to get home and get some sleep. She prepared her keys, which consisted of three keychains and two keys. The first keychain was a golden one with two rings, they were her's and Daniel's wedding rings, she felt safer when she carried them around though most people tend to tell her that it's a sign that she is not moving on from Daniel. The second keychain was a Dove's wing that Nina gifted her before she left, and the third one was a nicely decorated lizard which Greg gifted her last year's summer to show her that he really loved her.

Lina missed dearly her husband, it was an ache she didn't want her children to go through and now that her beloved little girl left she felt she was losing her family. Greg was her only child that remained and she would die if something ever happened to him, he was always a mommy's boy but now that he was growing up, she feared he was gonna finally let go of her and move away. She looked at the two rings and smiled. Greg was so much like his father Daniel, kind-hearted, funny, shy, but what it came to that is that Daniel was also rebellious and independent, and with Greg's sudden decision of looking for Connor in a place far away from home yesterday, she was worried that Greg was going that way, the one where she was left behind.

She sighed and put the keys on the door, she was about to open it until it opened by itself; Lina felt a surge of horror, the lock was on but the door was bad closed. She pushed the door open and hurried upstairs to Greg's room. "Greg!" She looked inside and Old Lionel looked at her sleepy, he moved inside his terrarium and faced her for a moment, Lina stared back; she could swear that that lizard knew more than a normal pet would. Greg's room was messy, the sheets were all over the floor and the closet was open. What happened?

"Greg, sweetie, where are you?!" She hurried outside his room and ran around the house, even looking in her room and Nina's old room. "GREG?!" She hurried downstairs and checked the back of the house and the backyard. She checked inside the empty and dirty pool, in the forest behind her backyard, she even dared to take a look on Alexander's backyard, Amaya's father. She stopped a bit in the doorframe of the back of her house on the verge of tears. Where was her little boy? She hurried inside once more, pleading to her ancestors to not let anything bad happen to Greg wherever he was.

She was gonna check outside, maybe he felt scared and went to Amaya's house, she knew sometimes Greg felt scared of the dark. She walked through the hallway and was about to pick the keys she left beside the fridge when she noticed a note stuck on the door of it. She picked it up and felt relieved to see that it was Greg's handwriting.

I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do this. But I really need to find Connor. You are in your rights to be mad at me when I come back. -Loves you more, Greggy.

Lina was relieved, but she also felt a lot of other stuff, she felt angry that Greg disobeyed her, sad that he needed to sneak out at night to do what he wanted. Someone knocked on the door and shortly after a tall brown-haired man with creamy light skin walked in cautiously. Lina looked at him and noticed that he looked sick worried. "Alexander?"

"Is everything okay?"

She sighed. "Not really... Greg ran away."

Alexander seemed to sigh on relief, he put a hand over his chest. "Then that means Amaya went with him, she's not alone..." He approached her. "I finished my night patrol an hour ago and when I got back I found a note saying that she needed to-"

"Find Connor because it's important." Lina finished. "Greg did the same, it seems that they planned it, do you know if any other of their friends went with them?" Alexander was about to answer when the phone of the house rang, both looked at each other and Lina picked the phone up, then walked back to where he was standing. "Hello, who's talking?"

Alexander watched her talk over the phone, holding it delicately with her soft hands. She nodded every now and then, mentioning names and that she didn't know something, Alexander watched her expectantly, he had a feeling of what she was talking about, and with who, but didn't want to assume things yet.

"Okay, I'll let you know. Goodbye." Lina hanged the phone and put it on its rightful place then looked at Alexander. "It was Federico's father, Marcelo, apparently Federico is missing too. You know what that means, right?"

Alexander nodded. "Yeah, they all went along. Probably Riley and this girl, what was her name? The one with dark hair?"

"Silver."

"Yeah, her! Probably went along with them as well." He let out an exasperated sigh. "Amaya has never done something like this in her life, she never sneaked up at night or do bad stuff, she's not like this! I don't know what's gotten into her!" Lina watched Alexander's tired and freaked out expression, she knew that his wife had divorced him a few years ago and took with her Alexander's youngest daughter, Loana. He's been devastated and Lina thought that if Amaya wasn't around, he would've gotten a severe depression. "She usually tells me where she is going and for how long..."

Lina motioned her head. "Greg is the same, he doesn't like going out without telling me first, he knows I don't like it either." Concluded Lina.

Alexander shook his head. "Where do you think they went? Why does every bad thing happen at night, when we are not there to stop them or keep them safe?" He sighed in defeat, he missed his little girl a lot already and Lina knew it.

Lina looked away, up into the stairs. That question brought her one single memory to her mind, the night someone brought Greg back home at night. She recalled that that night Greg was ill as never before, he was burning up, he had several injuries on his torso and his breathing wasn't steady, he had a strange dark tint on the tip of his finger that as days went by disappeared.

Lina stopped in the door of Greg's room watching the figure standing on the window's edge against the moonlight, someone was outside waiting for him.
"You've brought my son like this, you owe me an explanation!" Lina said angered, no one hurt her baby and got away with it. "And you dare to sneak up on my own house and pretend I didn't see or heard you. Who are you?"

The figure looked at her with fierce blue eyes. Lina didn't recognize him, he had a full-body suit that blended well into the night, the moonlight and the dark of the room didn't help at all. He lifted his head high and looking at her intensely, said. "We didn't do this, and we can't tell you, but we can assure you that as long as we are here, Greg will never be harmed." With that, he jumped out of the window and Lina ran to the window to look outside for him but saw no one there. Where did he go?

"Lina!" Lina looked at Alexander that now was standing in front of her. "Jeez, you froze there for a moment."

"Sorry, I was just thinking." Answered Lina, putting a hand over her forehead. A car seemed to park outside and both of them shared a look. Not many of their neighbors had cars, only three of them had and Katrina was one, but for what both of them knew, they were all parked and inside their garages. They walked to the door and looked. A blue car drove over to Katrina's house and parked in the parking lot, two persons got out of the car and walked over to Katrina's door, and when Katrina showed in there she hugged them tightly, that's when Lina realized who they were. Connor's grandparents!

"After Katrina called them they probably thought it was a good idea to come, their grandson is missing." Alexander put a hand on her shoulder. "Do you think Connor is fine?" He looked at her intensely with his red eyes. "Do you think our babies are gonna be alright?"

Lina sighed. "I hope so." She kept looking at Katrina and her parents, she had an uneasy feeling but didn't want to acknowledge it. Usually, when a mother has a gut feeling about their kid,

it's usually right.

---

Gekko, Gekko!

Lizard, be careful!

Storm of Blood!

Red, tinted water!

Greg woke up again sweating and breathing heavily. He looked around and find himself safely on the bed of his and Riley's bedroom on the hotel. He grunted and punched the bed, scaring Riley, who was just getting out of the bathroom with a towel around his head and fresh clothes. He looked at Riley with heavy eyelids and a tired expression. Riley walked over to his luggage and took one of his sweaters. "Again?"

Greg fell back on the bed with his head hitting comfortably the pillow. "Again." Greg watched Riley do all of his stuff and huffed. "I just don't know why I kept having these weird dreams-"

"Nightmares."

"-nightmares, and they just keep coming and every time they are worst."

Riley closed loudly his suitcase and shaking off some lint from his sweater, replied. "Dear stars, it's been a while since I didn't use this one." He walked over to Greg and held a hand. "Maybe it's because you are, uh, worried about Connor?"

Greg looked at him with a flat expression. "Why would he had to do with red water and a storm of blood? Surely he can't screw it up any more than he already did."

"Look, I-" Riley put his hand down and took a breath, he sat by Greg's side. "I know that you are upset with him, but surely you don't want anything bad to happen to him, right? I am too, but that doesn't mean I want him to be harmed or anything."

Greg put his hands on his chest. "No, I don't want to..." There were several moments of silence until he sat up and rubbed his eyes. "But still, I don't think he has to do with the nightmares." Hopefully.

Riley looked a little bit off now. "I had a couple of nightmares too, not so long ago. They were all related to somebody I know." He looked down at his hands and Greg noticed he had a mysterious gleam on his eyes. "Somebody I know too well." He closed them and looked again at Greg with his eyes a little bit cloudy, but pulling out a fake smile. "They weren't related to that person at all, but they were about them. Maybe that's what happens to you, too."

Greg felt uneasy by just looking into Riley's eyes, they were different, so he looked away; he shook his head. "Or maybe not, it's just a mystery." He avoided Riley's glare for several moments then changed the subject. "You've been talking with Federico this morning, right?" He looked at the hour: 2 PM.
"Talking about me."

"W-What? N-No. It wasn't about you." Greg looked at Riley with a boring expression. "Well, maybe a little, but it wasn't from me!"

Greg scoffed. "Figured." This time he stood up from the bed and walked over to his own luggage, taking some clothes and his teeth brush, he said. "Gonna take a quick bath, then we'll go searching for Connor."

"Alright, but hurry up, Amaya and Silver left already. Federico is waiting for us." Greg nodded and went inside the bathroom.

---

Amaya and Silver made their way through the wave of people in the center of the city. They left early that morning to search for Connor... and had a nice breakfast away from the other boys, now they were back with their search. They had started with asking other people if they've seen Connor pass by or anything, then they went looking into nearby hotels if Connor was a client in there, with no luck of finding him.

Now they were making their way to other stores, maybe Connor had been in them, either buying something or searching for whatever he came here to.
Amaya pondered that, why did he come here for? Since he wanted to ask for their help that day it surely was something important, right? She scoffed and tried to get rid of the feeling inside her. Why did she listen to Greg?

"This is gonna take ages if we don't hurry up, Amaya." She realized that Silver was waiting for her on the door of a children's store, she looked up and read the big and colorful letters: Les Enfants Coeur! She looked down at Silver and asked:

"Why would Connor be here?" She followed Silver inside and hurried up to walk by her side.

Silver took out her phone while she walked towards the cashier. "I don't know, Connor's weird sometimes." She looked up from her phone when Amaya was about to reply. "You can't deny that we've seen him in weird places at some night patrols."

"You... make a point." Was all Amaya said. Now we know what he was doing in those weird places. She stopped in front of the cashier, who looked at them with a strange expression.

"Can I help you with something?"

Silver put her phone in front of the girl and pointed out the photo on the screen. "We are looking for this guy, have you seen him? He went lost two days ago."

Amaya spoke up hurriedly. "We are friends with him." Silver directed her a glare that told a different story, she shrugged and looked hopeful at the cashier,
who looked thoughtfully until she made a distinct sound. Amaya's eyes were hopeful. "Have you?"

"Yes actually, I did!" The cashier put her hands on her hips triumphantly. "Huh, I finally did something right." She put her arms over the counter. "He was here yesterday, he bought some clothes and plushies for some children that were with him."

Silver and Amaya exchanged a glare that shared the same question. Kids? Connor with kids? Amaya looked at the cashier confusedly. "Are you sure he was with... children?" She had her hands together while she waited for an answer.

The cashier nodded. "Yup, though they weren't any kids, they were homeless. I've seen them before." She gasped delightedly. "He was helping them! What a lovely guy." She put her hand under her chin. "I should look for myself someone like him."

Amaya looked at Silver and beckoned her to one side. "Maybe if we can find those kids-"

"We can find Connor, good idea." She looked confused. "Though why would Connor be with kids?" She looked somewhat worried and shocked. "You don't think they are his..."

Amaya raised an eyebrow. "What are you babbling about? Of course not, Connor's too young for that and he knows it. Plus, I don't think he'll engage in that stuff with a girl."

Silver nodded amusedly. "You got a point there." She looked back at the cashier and asked. "Do you know who these kids are?"

The girl seemed lost in Silver for a moment before shaking her head. "No, sorry. But I know someone who does!" She said. The three of them waited a minute in silence while the girl kept looking at Silver.

Silver crossed her arms. "So... are you gonna tell us who this is or...?"

"Oh, right!" She looked into the back of the store and yelled. "Barry! Alguien te est buscando!" Both Amaya and Silver looked rather confused but waited anyway. After a few minutes, they both heard babbling and a tall boy with dark skin, black hair and blue eyes stepped out of the back door, he was carrying two boxes that seemed heavy.

"No tenés claro que este no es mi turno, Izzy?" He said bitterly. The cashier, or Izzy, looked at him amusedly and signaled with her head at Amaya and Silver. Barry left the boxes in one side and approached them. "Can I help you with something?" He asked politely.

"Yeah..." Amaya answered and Silver approached Barry and showed him the picture of Connor in her phone. "We are looking for this guy, your partner here told us that he saw him with a bunch of kids that might be familiar to you."

Barry tilted his head and shrugged. "Honey you gotta be more specific, I see kids very often." He put his arms in the air and looked around.

Izzy spoke up. "The three kids you often go to look after! The ones that live down the city!"

Barry looked confused for a moment then smashed his fist on the palm of his hand. "Oh, you're talking about Hope, Unità, and Vita!" He smiled. "Yes, I know them."

Amaya and Silver exchanged a glare. "Who now?"

"Unità, Vita, and Hope are three kids that live down the city, they have no parents so whenever I can I go and give them some stuff." He sighed. "I haven't seen them in a while now, I've been very busy, but if they were with someone else then they might be fine." He said in relief.

"Can you tell us where they live? We might find our friend if we know where they are." Amaya pleaded.

Barry shook his head. "Honey, I don't think you understand. Here, if you live down the city, it means that you are either homeless or a contrabandist. They don't have a regular home because thieves might steal the less they already have, so-"

"-they move away constantly." Silver finished.

Barry nodded. "Exactly. I go there because I like to help people but I got endangered many times, I don't recommend you go there."

Amaya crossed her arms. "We are gonna take the risk, we've seen worst."

Barry looked shocked. "Are you sure?" Both Silver and Amaya nodded. "Alright..." He walked behind the counter and grabbed a pen and paper. He started sketching out what seemed a map and circled some spots. "As I said, they move along because of the danger, but they always do it near the slope that leads to the Finch Pines forest. Look around carefully, they are really good at hiding, but don't take too long." He signaled a place on the paper and marked with red. "This place right here is known for a lot of killings over the last few years, and the murderers are still out there." He looked up at them with fear in his eyes. "They are a gang, and they are so dangerous that not even the police was able to confront them."

"They weren't?" Silver acquired.

Barry shook his head. "Seven dead and the rest severely injured." Amaya and Silver glared at each other shocked and Barry nodded. "I know. They are a lot, so be sure you're back before sunset." He handed the paper to them and before releasing it, he glared intensely at Amaya. "IF you don't make it before sunset, climb up the slope and hide as fast as you can. They don't tend to cross the slope."

He let go of the paper and Amaya glared at it. There was a small feeling of fear inside her, but faced it and looked at Barry. "Alright, we'll take your advice. Thank you, Barry."

He nodded. "My pleasure. Be careful!" He waved while they left the store.

"Good luck finding your friend!" Amaya heard Izzy said and nodded at her in gratefulness.

Once outside, Amaya looked down at the paper on her hand and crushed it with determination. "Let's go, we don't have too much time." Silver followed her and put a hand over her shoulder.

"Are you sure about that?"

"We have all the afternoon, if Connor is with those kids down there, then they all might be facing a huge danger. We need to find them and warn him." Amaya answered, looking straight up ahead. They kept walking and occasionally stopped to ask for directions. Once at the entrance of the place, Amaya sighed and looked around.

We are gonna find you, Connor, just wait for a little longer.

---

Connor was deeply into sleep. He was dreaming a lot of stuff, about the Petit Masks, his friends, cats, and other stuff that brought him joy. For the past three days, he didn't have any nightmares, and if he didn't know if it was because of Lightning Fur getting rid of them, or because he's been feeling joyful and happy.

He started opening his eyes when he felt discomfort on his face, something was itchy and disturbed his dreams. He passed a hand over his face to get rid of it, but after a few more minutes, it was there again. He opened lazily his eyes and heard giggles, then when he fully opened them, he distinguished the figures of Unità, Hope, and Vita there. They all had their hands over their mouths and were giggling.

Connor sighed and closed his eyes, without lifting his head, he asked. "What did you do?" Then all of them burst laughing and Connor knew he had to get up and see whatever the kids did to him. He sat up on the bed while the kids watched him intently, waiting for something. He stood up and walked over the Picture Player and tapped a button, which opened the door of the bathroom.

With sleepy steps, he entered and watched himself on the mirror. He stood there silently for a few minutes, not processing anything until he realized what they did to him. "WHAT DID YOU DO?!" He splashed his face with water several times and rubbed it furiously when he looked up in the mirror and saw that the marker on his face didn't go away yet, he used soap and rubbed his face.

"We noticed you like kitties." That was Vita.

"So we transformed you into one!" Unit said. They all laughed again and Connor put his face under the water, but under the water of the bathtub.

Once he turned the water down, he looked at them, angry. "Where did you get the marker? Give it to me."

"It was on the ground," Hope answered and handed it to Connor.

Connor read the marker and facepalmed angrily. "This is a long-lasting marker, kids! What have you done?!" He washed his face a few more times, each time with soap, hoping that at some point it was going to wash away. When it didn't, Connor became more annoyed. He faced them and angrily pointed at his face. "This is wrong! What were you thinking?!"

Unità played with her hands sadly at Connor scolding them. "We were bored..."

Vita and hope looked at their feet. "We were just having fun..." Hope said delusional. Connor calmed down once he saw their sad faces and wanted to punch himself at the remainder that they were only kids. He sighed.

"Sorry, but this is not okay." He said, putting up the marker they previously had. When none of them looked at him and kept looking away, he sighed. I can't get angry at them. "Look, you said you were bored, right? Wanna go out and play something?"

They slowly looked at him, and after exchanging glares, they nodded. "Okay. Sorry." Unit said.

"Sorry, Connor." Hope apologized.

"Sorry." Vita followed.

"It's alright. Get prepared, this kitty will keep washing his face." He joked. They nodded eagerly and went outside. He splashes his face with water several times before there were no hints of the marker, only faded ones, but not noticeable at all. This little mischief made him remember the time he and Amaya painted Greg's face with paint while he was asleep. Greg turned colors that morning, and it wasn't because of the paint.

Thinking about them, he looked at his cellphone, which was beside the soap because he took a shower last night and left it there. He turned it on back on Courant City, but after that, he didn't even touch it. Did his friends worried about him? Did his mother found out that he wasn't with his grandmother? Hopefully not, she was alike Greg's mother on the topic of their beloved ones leaving them. He did hate lying and leaving her behind, but part of him felt it was right what he did.

He went outside for a bit to get some clothes and get prepared for the day, he wasn't sure what they were gonna do, but something will eventually pop in his mind. He looked at the hour, 3 PM in the afternoon. He decided to take a shower then eat some lunch with the kids, he was going to take them outside for a bit before sundown.

After an hour, he and the kids left HQ with some beach balls and a long rope. Vita was carrying a little Robot toy while Hope carried the long rope and Unità the Beach Balls. He decided not to take them to the central city because it was already late, and wandering there at night was dangerous, as alleged by Unità. Instead, he decided to search in HQ for some toys and other stuff that might entertain the kids.

He looked up at the sky and had to cover his eyes with his forearm to prevent the sunlight to damage his eyes. It was hot outside, so he was using a fresh turquoise tank top with blue cargo shorts. The short grass brushed the sides of his feet as he wore some comfortable black sandals. He looked at the kids who seemed as fresh as him with their new pair of clothes.

Unità was using a nice pastel yellow tank top as well and some white shorts with a pair of yellow slip-on shoes that had white stripes on the side. She had loved them when the compartment of their HQ stored them and tried them on. Bouncing around with the Beach balls, Connor could tell she was really happy.

Hope and Vita were trying to jump the rope together while one on the extreme jumped inside while swinging it. Vita was the one to jump inside, the lilac ribbon on her hair motioned thanks to the wind the rope provoked. Her white spotted lilac skirt flew as well, though she didn't worry as she had a white short under it.

Hope had the orange tank top he had bought back on the store and blue cargo shorts as well, which made Connor giggle because Hope specifically chose them to 'Look exactly like him!', as he told his sisters. Even though it was hot outside, Hope still wore the black scarf he had the first time he met him. His black converse got stuck with the rope and he fell to the ground with an audible thud, Vita looked at him and Connor was about to rush in when they both started laughing.

Connor stopped himself and smiled, they could also handle themselves, they didn't need him for everything. He sat on the ground and watched them play when Unità shyly approached him. Connor arched an eyebrow, he knew she wanted something, and he did have an idea of what. "Want to play?"

She smiled and nodded eagerly, sitting on the ground. "I'll throw it and you catch it, got it?"

He chuckled; once she got confidence she did order everyone around. He nodded and prepared himself to catch the ball when he felt something jump on his back. He shrieked at the thought of being a bug, a really big bug, and jumped.

"Woah!" He heard the kids exclaim, he spun around and saw two little grey fluff balls, only to realize they were rodents. They ran around each other and playfully ran around the kids, especially Vita.

They seemed harmless, so when one got close enough, he caught it and pulled it up. The kids ran close to him and admire it. Vita petted it when the other one, a male Connor could tell, jumped on Vita's shoulder and watched for his mate. "They look like-" Vita started.

"Cotton Tail, your animal totem." Connor finished. The female Chinchilla jumped from his grip into Vita's hair and fooled with her ribbon, her mate following shortly after. "They probably have their den near." Connor watched the two Chinchillas play with Vita's ribbon. "You probably attracted them with your animal totem."

"That can happen?" Hope asked curiously.

Connor nodded. "Yeah, I attract a lot of cats back home." Hope smiled and then kept admiring the two rodents fool around.

"Can we keep them?" Unit asked. Connor looked at her and considered her proposal, he put a hand on his chin. The little ones seemed really fond of Vita already, and he thought that having pets would make the Petit Masks more responsible on the future, but that was also a problem; a pet was a huge responsibility, he out of anyone knew it better, and the kids barely knew the concept of 'responsible'. Not that they were stupid, but they weren't careful either. Like any kid, they looked more ahead for the fun and excitement of a new adventure more than the consequences that it might cause. Once he left they had to learn how to take care of them without him around, and Connor wasn't sure that was going to be a success. He opened his eyes in realization.

Once he left.

Eventually, he'll have to leave them to go back home. He grimaced. How was he going to tell them? Tell them that he eventually will need to leave them so he can go back home with his family. He looked at them, they were his family too, like the little siblings he never had. He knew it wasn't a long time since he met them, but he felt as if they were really special, and he didn't have a single doubt that they felt that way about him too.

"Connor?" He shook his head and focused. Vita had spoken. "Why are you sad?" She asked worriedly.

"I'm not sad, I was just-" He grimaced. "Uh, missing home, that's all. I have a pet back there and they reminded me of her." He lied. He needed a better time to tell them he was eventually going to leave.

"Do you have a cat? What's her name?" Hope asked. "Are we going to meet her?" Connor opened his eyes in surprise at that question. Did they think he was going to take them with him back to Tarabiscoville?

He avoided the question. "Yes, I do. Her name is Titina, she's missing a leg due to a car accident when she was a kitten." He smiled proudly. "I adopted her."

"She must be really cool!" Hope said.

Connor nodded. "She is." He noticed that the sun was going down. "Let's play for a bit before training, sunset is not so far. Let's make the time worth it." The kids nodded and they all went back to their activities.

---

When Greg stepped out of the bathroom, he found himself alone in the hotel room, Riley was nowhere to be seen. Had he left without him? He picked his phone and noticed he had some texts from him.

[15:30, 18/4/2024] Riley:P: Look, you didn't hurry up, so I'm leaving. I'm not in the mood to be waiting for you.
[15:31, 18/4/2024] Riley:P: Federico said he would, so go searching for Connor with him. I don't care.

Greg opened his eyes in surprise; Riley was oddly angry at him for no reason and technically snapped at him. He didn't deny that he took a lot of time to do his stuff, but it wasn't a reason either to be that upset. What happened? What did Riley so upset?

He hurried to clean up his mess then hurried outside the room. He walked down the hallway of the Hotel and into the lobby, where he saw Federico seating on a table not so far away. When Greg walked up to him, he noticed that he had an upset expression and knew he had to do with whatever stung Riley. He cleared his throat and Federico looked up with somewhat puffy red eyes.

Greg had to keep himself from asking what happened and instead, said. "Sorry for taking long, let's go. Riley said you've waited for me."

Federico murmured something before standing up and walking past him without even looking at him. Greg felt somewhat guilty and he didn't know why, but shook his head and followed. Once outside, they both met the chaos of the city. "Amaya texted me, she said that Connor might be on the lower part of the city."

Greg looked at him confused. "Why would he be there?"

Federico shrugged with a grimace. "What would I know?" He snapped. Greg rolled his eyes. Geez, everyone's moody today. Federico sighed. "Let's just take a taxi or bus or something and get there, we are wasting time standing here like idiots."

Greg looked at him unsure of what to say. "Alright..."

They made their way through the wave of people and eventually got some directions on how to get there. They had been told that no buses took them there, so their only option was a taxi. After thanking the person who told them, they kept their way and then waited for a taxi in a corner, though the minutes they spent waiting were uncomfortable to Greg. Federico didn't even look at him and watching him stomping his feet on the ground rhythmically,
he decided it was best not to bother him. The nightmares kept bothering him all morning, he was afraid that if Federico and he argued, they were going to end on top of each other.

Federico fastly shook his head and raised an arm, and Greg noticed he was stopping a taxi. He approached and Federico put his head inside after opening the door, clearly talking to the driver. He poked his head out and looked at him. "He says he can take us, but asked if we are sure we want to go there."
Greg nodded and Federico went inside, not so long after he followed.

The driver was an adult between the 22 and 25 years old, blonde haired Greg noticed, and they looked at them through the mirror. "You surely have the guts to go there." Was all they said before turning on the fare meter and driving. Everything was fairly quiet, with the driver focusing ahead and Federico looking out the window.

Greg noticed Federico's leg shaking up and down in a nervous manner and didn't know if he needed to say something or shut up because he might make things worse. Federico was playing with his ring and at the same time bitting his nails, a bad habit he had, and Greg reached a hand out to him doubtfully. He stopped before touching his shoulder and looked at the mirror. The driver was looking at him with an approval expression and nodded before looking ahead.

Greg patted Federico's shoulder, making the other jump and look at him. Federico raised an eyebrow with a serious expression that made Greg nervous. For a moment he didn't find the words for what he wanted to say, then he decided to go for the most usual question for this kind of situations. "Are you okay?"

Federico looked at him doleful and shook his head. "Do I look like it?"

Greg lowered his head after a few minutes of silence. "So... what happened?" He acquired.

Federico had a doubtful expression as if he was questioning himself if he needed to answer that or if he wanted. In the end, he sighed in defeat and said. "I fought with Riley over Connor, that's all." Greg knew he was hiding more, but he didn't lure him into telling him even though he wanted. He didn't want to push anyone around anymore, he wanted to stop doing that...

Greg looked down at his hands. "He'll forgive you eventually."

Federico looked at him from his peripheral vision. "I think you are the last person fit to say that."

Greg wanted to erase from existence. "I was just trying to cheer you up. I know that Riley can be hard on people sometimes, but I also know he doesn't mean it." Greg said and looked away. He didn't want to discuss anymore, it was a bad idea to talk at all.

It was 16:40 PM now and Greg and Federico were making their way through downtown. They were fairly quiet except for some small discussions to choose a way to go.

Greg started to wonder if they were gonna find Connor today, or even find him at all. What was he gonna do once he met with him again? Apologize? It was on his mind. Was he gonna let go of those bad feelings? He was going to try, but even thinking about the whole situation made him mad. But with himself or Connor?

"You're doing that again." Federico brought him back to reality in which they were standing beside a small and damaged house beside the big slope.

Greg blinked a few times confused and looked around. When did they get so far? And then he drifted his attention to the pink-eyed boy who was about to get inside the small house. "Don't get in there, you don't know if someone lives there." Federico looked back at him with a serious expression, Greg shook it off. "Also, stop what?"

Federico stretched tiredly and walked past him. "You think a lot and get lost in your own mind then don't do any searching."

Greg turned around and trotted over the other. "I don't do that."

Federico stopped and looked at him. "Yes, you do." Then he kept walking in the dirty and muddy streets. It was fairly quiet where they were, and that made Greg feel uneasy as if someone was watching him... It seemed as if he wasn't the only one as Federico stopped and started looking around, he wasn't imagining it!

There was someone.

They cautiously started walking, being alert of every corner. Greg was really close to Federico and Federico had his hand on Greg's arm protective, that was a habit and Greg definitely didn't mind. Greg fixed his gaze ahead when he thought he saw someone drive past, but in the corner of his eye something shone and he didn't have time to process what was happening until Federico pushed him away.

Greg fell on the ground and shortly after Federico fell hard on his side, then he grabbed his leg with an agonizing expression. Greg noticed how Federico's light blue jeans started to turn crimson red on the right leg, where on the side had a bullet hole. Greg gasped horrified and ran to help Federico. "We gotta go, NOW!"

Greg lifted Federico and ran as fast as he could away from the place, he didn't know where, but he had to get out of there. The taller boy was agonizing on his arms and Greg's heart ached when he whined. "I-It wasn't this painful... l-last time..." He complained.

"Last time?!"

Federico looked at him horrified. "I-I got shot before, a long time ago..." He started to breathe heavily, as if scared. "I don't know how, but this bullet is different. This bullet has something in it!"

His grip on Greg intensified and Greg found the strength to ran faster, turning around the corner and then running behind a house to short cut, then getting out on another street. In the place, other voices were heard, and Greg's heart started running faster.

"Keep looking! Those sissies have valuable stuff with them, they couldn't get far!"

"Greg, Greg, they are gonna find us!" Federico blurted out scared.

"Hush!" Greg whispered. "If we talk out loud then they'll find us." Federico nodded and looked behind Greg. Greg was running ahead until Federico started patting his back hurriedly. "What?!" Greg asked desperately.

"It's Riley!" Federico exclaimed.

Greg stopped and out of breath, looked behind, where Riley was running up to them. When he reached them, Greg noticed that he had several bruises on the face and he was grabbing one of his shoulders. "What happened to you?!" Riley asked when he saw Federico's leg.

"It's a long story, now we need to run, or hide, or anything but staying here!" Greg said and started running with Riley on his side.

Riley stopped them before they could reach an old factory in the place and shook his head in terror. "You don't want to go that way, trust me." He ran to the left side to where the slope was and then went back a few streets to hide on a semi-buried house. Brilliant. Greg thought. They won't suspect we are here if the house is in this condition.

Greg sat Federico down and the boy groaned in pain, some tears streamed down his face. "I can't feel the leg..." He cried.

Riley calmed him down. "It's gonna be okay, just you wait."

Greg removed his sweater and was only on his white tank top now. He tore it apart with a piece of metal on the extreme and then pulled it with his hands. "We have to get the bullet out someway, but if we touch the wound we might infect it." He told Riley.

"J-Just wrap it!" Riley said frantically.

Greg nodded and before wrapping the leg, he gave Federico a small piece of cloth that was left. "Put it in your mouth, this will hurt." Federico did as told and when he nodded at Greg, Greg wrapped Federico's leg then tied strongly. When he did that, Federico screamed in pain into the clothe and laid his head on Riley's shoulder.

Riley grimaced and moved, Greg looked at him confused and Riley sighed. "Guess you want a backstory on this, huh?" Greg nodded. "I was looking around that old factory because I thought Connor's might be hiding there, but someone hit me on the face and then a bunch of people started coming out from the dark. They stole my cellphone and tried to steal my money, but I fought back and that's when my shoulder got dislocated." He grunted in pain when he moved it. "Gosh, I wish Amaya was here so she can put it in its place."

The three of them stood quiet and looked at each other, then yelled in unison. "Amaya and Silver!"

"We need to find them and warn them!" Riley said.

Greg thought about what to do then remembered that he also brought along his cellphone. "I'll call them, watch outside for anything" He ordered Riley. Riley nodded and walked over to the side in which they got in.

Greg called Amaya's number and waited for her to answer. Federico was looking apprehensive and was trying to hold back more tears while he also looked back and forth between his leg and Riley. Is he looking out for Riley? Greg wondered.

"Hello?"

Greg smiled. "Amaya! You are fine!" He exclaimed. Riley looked back and Federico seemed relieved.

"Yes, I'm fine... why?" She asked carefully.

"Where are you? Quick." He acquired.

Amaya seemed even more strange. "Uh, near a huge factory, we were gonna check the place with Silver."

"NO!" The three of them yelled then covered their mouths, Riley looked outside for any sign of activity but shook his head to Greg.

"Why not?"

"Listen, we were attacked, Riley has a dislocated shoulder and Federico was shot."

"Oh my stars, are they okay? Are you okay?"

"Yes, yes, I'm fine. Listen, walk two blocks behind the factory then follow the edge of the slope until you find a buried house, alright? We are hiding in there, but be careful! Who attacked us are still looking for us, and they were no little group." Greg glanced at Federico's leg quickly.

"It's the group Barry talked me about..." She told Silver on the other side of the phone. "We'll meet you there, stay safe."

"You too." Greg hung up and meet Riley's glare. "What?"

"How did he get shot?" He motioned his head to Federico.

Greg sighed and sat on the ground, coughing because of the dust and debris. "We were searching around an old damaged house and we made the mistake to take an open path. We both felt like we were being watched, and when we stepped into an open neighborhood, I almost got shot." He lowered his head.
"If it weren't for Federico, it would've been me instead."

"Wait, wait, wait." Riley shook his head confused and stunned at the last part. "You took a bullet for him?!" When he noticed he worded that wrong, he looked at Greg. "Not that he shouldn't have." Then he looked at Federico again. "But you took a bullet for him?! Are you nuts?!"

"I couldn't just let him be shot now could I?" Federico answered annoyed.

Riley's mouth hung open and he spread his arms in disbelief. "You were shot!" He said frantically.

Federico scoffed. "Thanks for clarifying." He rolled his eyes and Riley grunted.

"You don't get my point, you could've died if the bullet hadn't been aimed wrong." Riley glared.

"You wouldn't have thought about it a second time if it was you with him!" Federico accused.

Greg opened his eyes in surprise and annoyedly rolled them, throwing his head back in defeat. Did they ever stop arguing? It was cold inside the house, probably because of how dark was inside, Greg took a look around while hearing the other two argue about him and Connor. Some sun rays shone between the pieces of the house. Debris fell occasionally and some grass was growing on the borders.

Greg noticed some old ragged clothes laying on a patch of grass beside a broken window in which light peered in. He wondered if the owner of those clothes had left, or worst died. Greg looked above. Have they died when this collapsed? Greg looked outside through a crack on a wall. Or have they been killed? Both options were very plausible.

He noticed the quiet around the place and realized that the other two stopped arguing. He didn't want to get involved any more than he already was, so he kept quiet and decided to mess around with some dust on the ground, either making shapes or writing his name. After five minutes of silence, rocks falling from the top of the entrance startled them and Greg ran beside Federico to be ready to lift him up if they needed to get away.

They all sighed in relief to see Amaya and Silver peering through the open and hidden hole on the wall. Amaya ran up to him and Riley and hugged both of them,
she looked worriedly at them. "Are you two okay?" Then she kneeled down Federico. "Does it feel better?" She asked when she saw the clothe around the wound.

Federico shook his head. "I can't feel the leg, and it slightly burns." He sighed. "Riley's shoulder is dislocated, you should look at it."

Riley glared at him then diverted his gaze to Amaya. "Do you think you can put it in place?" He asked.

Amaya nodded and approached him. "You know how this goes." She said and he nodded. "One, two..." She put his shoulder in place before saying three and Riley grunted in pain. "You knew it was coming." She shrugged.

He kept his eyes closed in pain while caressing his shoulder. "Yes, and it's exactly why it hurts so much." He used his sweater to tie his arm and keep it in place.

Amaya looked at Greg worriedly. "You didn't get anything?"

He closed his eyes and shook his head. "No, thanks to Federico." He looked outside and noticed the sky was turning orange. "We need to leave."

"How?" Silver spoke up after examining Federico's leg. "He has a wounded leg," She signaled Riley. "He has a decaying arm and bruises." And then she pointed at him. "And you are clearly more than just exhausted." She looked outside. "You even said they were still out there looking for you three, how are we supposed to get back to the city like this?"

"Silver's right," Amaya agreed. "We are at the end of the town, there's no way we are gonna make it back." Crickets sounded around the place and a small wind ran inside. Amaya coughed when the wind rose up the dust. "That slope really diverts the wind, no wonder these streets are full of dirt."

Silver opened her eyes in realization. "Wait, didn't Barry say that if we didn't make back in time to climb up the slope?"

Amaya punched the palm of her hand glared at her. "Yes, you are right!"

Greg looked to both sides. "Uh, who's Barry?"

"Long story, now we need to get up that thing before it's too late." Amaya said, helping Silver get Federico up.

Riley walked over to Silver. "You said we were on agonizing conditions to walk back over to the city, do you think we can climb up that thing in this condition either?"

"It's better than staying here and be prey for whoever attacked you three. Besides, it's only climbing up, maybe we can find a place on the other side to spend the night." Silver answered.

Riley narrowed his eyes. "Alright..." He sighed and sat on the ground. "Let's wait until we are sure they are gone, if we leave now, we are risking getting caught, or worse..." He shivered. "Killed..." The others nodded and settled around the place, Amaya sitting by his side.

Greg shivered and worriedly looked through the crack on the ceiling, where the sky was turning slightly orange. Were they gonna find Connor and get out of there, or will they get caught and never return home? Greg didn't want to think about it.

A black and white tom cat with amber eyes leaped inside, meowing at him and rubbing on his sides. Greg picked him up and petted him. He had a patch of black in one of his eyes and Greg thought that a good name for him would be Patch. He smiled; Connor would definitely name him that.

He kept petting him until he drifted into sleep.

---

It was late at night already and Catboy and the Petit Masks were heading outside HQ happily chatting and bouncing around. They had spent all afternoon playing outside HQ so they felt joyful, especially Connor. He hadn't played like that since he was nine years old, to say the least. Back on HQ, the two little chinchillas they found were playing around playfully in Vita's HQ Room, Catboy purred; not like the chinchillas gave them the option to leave them.
The two little creatures had followed Vita back when they returned and had stayed with her since then.

Cotton bounced up to him. "We'll discover my powers tonight, right?" She puppy-eyed Connor, and he smiled calmly.

"I'm sure we will, I have a lot of stuff I want to teach you tonight." He said. They were heading to the forest that now he knew, thanks to the picture player, it was called Finch Pines Forest. He was carrying two blindfolds and several bowling pins in a small bag over his shoulder, he was planning to teach Crash and Black Ear how to be attentive and precise while, at the same time, he was gonna attack them.

Well, not exactly attack them, he was just gonna make it a little bit harder for them to actually achieve their goals. He looked at Cotton, who was walking ahead of him now and chattering animatedly with Crash; he felt pity for her. She has been trying all afternoon to think of a way she can figure out her powers, or activate them, since saying random powers didn't help her find any of them at all.

He stopped beside some tall and flat rocks alongside some weirdly twisted pines and called the Petit Masks to stop. "Come, we are practicing here." He said and put the stuff down on the grass. Today was windy and the soft breeze of last night was now a slightly strong wind. The wind carried different smells and sounds with it and Catboy had to shook his head to ignore them.

He could hear the sounds of the river down the ravine and how the current seemed to be strong, as the water splashed against the rocks that popped out on the surface. The pines cracked and the leaves crunched on the forest floor as different animals walked over them. He felt on the wind a gust of water and thought that rain must be on the watch, clouds passed the moon occasionally.

But Catboy wrinkled his nose; alongside the watery smell of rain, he could also smell something sour and it was definitely strong, but it wasn't near them. What was it? Catboy kept looking at the forest as the wind blew, but then he smelled nothing. He looked back to the slope afar; the wind was also coming from that way, so he figured that tonight's rain was gonna be more like a storm.

Then there was that smell again. Sour, strong, and it smelled like death. He had smelled it before, he was sure he did, but he couldn't click on what the smell was.

"Catboy, come on! We want to train before it rains!" Crash exclaimed behind him. He ignored the smell and went back to the kids, no smell was more important than them.

He placed the bowling pins on the rock and alleged Black Ear forward. He looked up once he finished and examined the area, what could he use to distract Black Ear? He then saw a branch with some pine cones hanging; he smiled mischievously. "Black Ear, you will start." He walked over to a certain spot not so far from the rocks. "Come and stand right here." Black Ear nodded and walked over to him.

He kneeled beside her and pointed the bowling pins. "You see those bowling pins?" She nodded curiously. "Aim your Caracal Roar and throw them down,
one by one."

He seemed doubtful for a few moments before standing confidently and concentrating on them. She was ready to start roaring, but Catboy sped up to the branch and sat there, looking at her intensely. Black Ear drifted her eyes to him and the pins several times before complaining. "Why are you looking at me like that?!" She stumped her paw on the ground furiously.

Catboy's tail swashed to one side to another elegantly under the branch while he put his hand under his chin. "I'm just observing what you do, that's all."
He said, motioning his hand in a deliberate manner.

Black Ear scoffed. "Can you stop it? You are distracting me!" The tuft on her ears was all mated now and her fur was a little fluffed on the back. Catboy chuckled and nodded, looking away falsely. Black Ear aimed her Caracal Roar, but as soon as she used it, all the pins flew a few feet away. Her ears pinned down on defeat and she looked at Catboy.

"I failed..." She said sadly.

"Just keep trying," He moved around on the branch. "Failure is the key to success."

Cotton giggled and whispered to Crash. "Sometimes he talks funny." Crash nodded and both laughed quietly. Catboy smiled tenderly and fixed his gaze on Black Ear again as she prepared to aim her Caracal Roar.

"Target the bowling pin, concentrate on the actual object." He yelled from the branch. Black Ear narrowed her eyes, standing still for a few minutes before yelling:

"Super Caracal Roar!" And only the two first bowling pins flew away. Crash and Cotton clapped behind her and she showed an air of sufficiency. She looked with gleamy eyes at Catboy. "I almost got it!" She exclaimed joyfully.

"Almost! Keep trying and you'll get it!" He encouraged her. She nodded and kept trying a few more times.

While she did, Catboy sat calmly on the branch, feeling the wind against his ears again. It was relaxing, there were no other sounds besides of Black Ear's roar and the sounds of crickets on the forest eased the shaky feeling he had. He still could smell the sour and deathly scented smell, which triggered his stomach a bit, but it wasn't as strong as it was on the ground.

After a few minutes, he decided Black Ear needed to step up. He stood up on the branch and put his paw in front of him while Black Ear was concentrating again on her target. He pressed his paw against the bark and rhythmically shook his leg on the branch, making the leaves fall and crack and the pine cones hit against each other.

Black Ear used her Caracal Roar, but when Catboy moved the branch, she diverted her gaze from the bowling pin for a second and her power aimed for a pine instead. She clenched her mouth shut and shook her head. She focused again on the bowling pin and aimed her Caracal Roar at it, but Catboy shook the branch and she missed her aim again, this time throwing off other bowling pins.

She lowered her ears in annoyance and looked at Catboy. Catboy looked back amusedly and raised a finger. "You learned to aim to your objective, now learn to keep focused on it." Black Ear scoffed and looked back at the bowling pin and while she still threw them off with her Caracal Roar, Catboy kept jumping on the branch, each time finding something different to make sounds with.

At some point, Cotton and Crash started laughing at the whole situation and the sounds on the place were high enough to deconcentrate Black Ear from the bowling pin. She stopped for a few moments before positioning herself and keep a straight look on the bowling pin. Catboy hadn't stopped, not even for a second, and when Black Ear used her Caracal Roar, she threw away the last bowling pin, leaving there none.

Catboy stopped and looked at her proudly and satisfied. When she looked at him with gleamy eyes, he nodded in approval and climbed down the pine, trotting up to her. She bounced around him happily. "Have you seen that?! I did it!" She exclaimed proudly.

Catboy chuckled. "Yes, you did." The other two joined Black Ear in her cheering and the three of them shared a few laughs before Catboy caught their attention. "You'll practice this at least once each night, so you can become better at it." He looked at Crash. "Your turn now, Bandicoot." He walked past Crash and ruffled his hair in a friendly manner and he followed close behind.

Catboy stopped beside the bag he used to carry the training elements and took from it a blindfold. Crash tilted his head confused and asked. "How is a blindfold gonna help my jumps?"

Catboy faced him with the blindfold in hand. "They won't, but I think they might help with something else." If his assumption was right, then Crash had hearing powers like his. Crash looked confused and Catboy handed him the blindfold. "I hadn't been able to communicate with Lightning Fur, my animal totem, but I thought about a few powers you," He looked at Crash. "And you," He looked at Cotton. "Might have."

Cotton smiled widely. "Really? I will discover my powers tonight?" She put her hands together hopeful.

Catboy smiled while he put the blindfold on Crash. "Hopefully." Once Crash had the blindfold over his eyes, he looked around and moved his head each time Catboy moved to one side to another. "I think you might have hearing powers, Crash. Last night you had trouble walking on the dark path of the forest, but you could hear as well as I that there was a river near, which your companions couldn't hear."

"I thought I just had good hearing..." Crash said shyly.

Catboy approached him. "And you do, thanks to your powers. Try Super Bandicoot Ears, let's see what happens."

Crash nodded and then exclaimed. "Super Bandicoot Ears!" As expected, the markings on his suit, especially the long orange stripe on his back, glowed and then he found himself covering his ears. "Ah! Too many sounds!" He said.

Catboy kneeled in front of him and talked. "I know, so listen to my voice, alright? Don't pay attention to anything but my voice." Catboy started humming a song and little by little, Crash started uncovering his ears until they only kept focused to where Catboy was. "Better?" He asked.

Crash nodded and then his markings stopped glowing. "Yeah, they were really loud, your voice slowed them down." He slightly pulled the blindfold over his eyes. "But I still don't understand why am I using a blindfold."

"Because," Catboy pulled the blindfold down once more. "You'll learn how to use your ears first." He walked over to Cotton and said. "Cotton will be carrying with her a small object that has a distinctive sound than the other objects Black Ear and I'll play. Focus on it and follow it, if you fail and end up with me or Black Ear, you go back to your starting spot until you find which one it is."

Crash nodded. "Okay."

Catboy looked at the girls and winked at them. The two girls smiled and put their thumbs up before running inside the forest while Catboy climbed up the nearest pine to keep an eye on Crash. He looked at the objects on his hands: claves, maracas, and castanets. He was gonna make them sound each time Crash would get near Cotton as her object, a paper ball, was the one Crash was supposed to be hearing. Black Ear had with her a triangle and a small silver bell.

He jumped to the next branch using his Cat Jump and spotted Black Ear. She looked at him questioningly and he nodded, giving her the approval to start making any of the objects rings. She started using the bell and as soon as she did, Cotton started to dent the paper ball on her hand and he played the maracas very loudly near Cotton.

From his spot near Cotton, he could see Crash doubtfully stepping into the forest, motioning his ears to the different places the sounds came from. Catboy leaped from the branch to the nearest rock to Cotton and sat there, playing the maracas happily.

Crash was following the sound of the paper ball being dented, but stopped and with a doubtful expression, followed the bell Black Ear was making ring. Once he reached Black Ear, he took his blindfold off and sighed with an annoyed expression. He walked back to his starting spot and after a minute, everyone started making sounds again, this time different.

Crash looked to Cotton first, curiously, then at Black Ear and finally Catboy. Catboy leaped to another rock and changed instruments, now playing the castanets, whose sound made Crash flinch. Crash decided to follow those ones and when he took his blindfold off and discover it was Catboy, he shook his head in defeat and walked tiredly back to the starting spot.

Crash was waiting for the others to make the instruments sound. It's been 20 minutes now since they started and he was getting really annoyed at ending with Catboy or Black Ear. These time they were gonna change their sounds and play completely new ones.

He heard a flute sound not so far ahead and then the other noises started. His ears kinda hurt of hearing so many noises two times louder, but he needed to keep going so he could be better with them. He needed to make Catboy proud as Black Ear did.

He avoided the first sound, which was the flute, it wasn't there before and therefore it was a new sound that Catboy or Black Ear were making. He trotted to a different sound: a branch cracking and leaves falling. He stopped for a few seconds to think; it wasn't the sound he was looking for, Catboy had been on branches before, maybe it was him on the pines distracting him.

He kept walking concentrated. There were only two sounds that remained: the paper ball and the maracas. Both had been making noise since he started, but only one of them did it every time. He thought. The Maracas was the first noise I heard when we started... He smiled in realization. Then that means that the paper ball is the sound I'm looking for!

He puffed his chest proudly and walked with confident steps over to where the paper ball was. He heard the other noises around him but knew that Catboy and Black Ear were the ones doing them. Once the denting became louder, he stopped and took his blindfold off and faced Cotton. "This is the sound!" He exclaimed.

Catboy leaped from the branch above and Black Ear approached. Catboy took the blindfold from Crash's head and ruffled his fur. "Well done!" He smiled at Catboy and felt warm on his chest. I made Catboy proud of me! The sensation didn't last long until he heard other voices other than his friend's.

Hurry, through the hole on the back!

What is happening?

They found us, we need to move!

Who found who? Crash was confused. He didn't recognize these voices, but he definitely could make up on his mind that they were on a place near the slope, he could hear the knocking of small rocks on the ground and the distinctive sound of dust.

I told you we needed to move sooner, now we are gonna get caught!

It's not my fault! I just though

Well, you thought wrong, Riley! Whoever was talking, it was a girl, and she definitely didn't sound happy at whoever Riley was. Now we need to climb up that thing with your little boyfriend injured!

He's not my boyfriend!

Hush you two, it's not the time for arguing, help Federico up and let's get out of here! A girl whispered, but it wasn't the same one as before, it was another one. Her voice didn't sound as deep as the other.

Crash was brought back to his reality by Catboy. "Are you okay? You seemed lost for a second." Crash blinked at him before hearing the voices again.

Greg, check the back of the house for trouble, I'll watch their backs. For a moment there was silence until he heard more voices and then the chaos started. They all sounded scared and desperate and were trying to run away from wherever they were and whoever wanted them. Crash shook his head and looked at Catboy on the eyes.

"Someone is in trouble."

---

Greg was punching the face of the huge man that was lifting him by the waist. He had poked his head out to check for the gang that chased them early that afternoon but had been caught by the man that had chased him and Federico, Greg could distinguish his voice. They all had fallen asleep inside the house and were awaken by the sound of debris falling down and deep voices outside.

"You are gonna be a good one for the market." Said the man who was holding him. He had deep blue eyes and three scars in his face, one over the nose, other across the eye and the last one on the cheek.

Amaya and the others fled through another hole as soon as he was caught, he had instructed them several times that if something ever happened to him and they were in grave danger, that they should leave him behind and go away; he didn't want any of his friends to be harmed.

He saw Silver and Riley helping Federico up the slope while Amaya threw rocks from the fallen house to the ones chasing them. The man that was holding him had squished him hard enough that Greg felt breathless. At some point, due to the lack of air, he gave up and the man followed his companions up the slope after his teammates.

He started wiggling again and the man used his hand to squizz Greg's cheeks and keep his head on place. "Watch as how they get annihilated." Then he laughed evilly. "Well, at least the violet-haired one. The other three might be good deals for my costumes." Greg watched in horror how three men huddled around Amaya and grabbed her.

Riley looked back and let go of Federico to ran to Amaya's help, but didn't get far as he got stabbed on the leg and fell to the ground. Other two ran up the slope and caught Silver first then Federico.

The man who had him walked to the sides of his comrades and they all laughed. He talked. "Guys, we got ourselves a good deal. Verina will be very happy with these ones." He looked at Riley and said. "Except for that one, you can kill him the way you want."

The one on top of Riley, a slender and long-faced man with amber eyes grinned. "Finally, some fun." He took from his pocket a dagger and pulled Riley from the hair, exposing his neck. "I think I'm up for some slicing, Bleeder." They all laughed while he teased Riley with the dagger, caressing his exposed skin with the blade.

Greg kicked Bleeder's leg, but the other punched the side of his head. "Keep still!" He grinned and whispered on Greg's ear. "You are a bad one, your owner will very much like you."

Greg felt chills ran down his spine, and out of anger, he spat on Bleeder's face. "I'm nobody's property!"

Bleeder madly looked at him, wrath clear in his eyes. "Oh, you little-"

Bleeder couldn't finish his sentence as a screech of anger filled the place and a blue blur landed on both Greg and Bleeder. Greg rolled down the slope until he stopped himself and confusedly looked up to where Bleeder was being attacked, his heart skipped a beat. On the man's face, there was Catboy, slicing his cheek with his claws furiously and with a spark of rage in his blue electric eyes.

The man that was messing with Riley before looked frightened. "The cat man is back! Let's go!" Two of them fled away, but the other three still hold Amaya and were willing to take her with them. Riley rolled on his side and then jumped down the slope after the three who had Amaya, Greg followed them as well.

The three men had been prepared for them, as they took out guns and daggers and started aiming at them. Greg avoided another bullet for the second time today, and he found himself laying on the ground while the sleek man stood over him, the gun on his forehead. "Bye-bye, blondie."

"Super Caracal Roar!" The man above him flew away after a huge wave of sound shot him and sent him flying. Greg looked at how he rolled down the slope in fear and ran away through the streets. Greg looked at his savior and saw a small and thin girl beside him looking proud, she noticed him and extended a hand.

Greg took it and he stabilized himself enough to stand up. "Thanks..." Confusedly he looked at her. "Who are you?"

She smiled. "The name's Black Ear, I'm a hero." He noticed Riley struggling with the other two while he protected Amaya with a bleeding leg. Two other kids like Black Ear ran up to them and the grey-colored hero, a girl, spun around and covered in dust the face of men. The orange-colored hero ran past her and with his suit lightning up, he powerfully kicked the two standing man down the slope.

They looked at each other amazed and the girl with a fluffy and grey costume jumped happily. "Have you seen that, Crash? I discovered one of my powers! I discovered one of my powers!"

Crash smiled at her too. "I discover a new one too, Cotton!" Greg looked at the three of them confused. Crash? Black Ear? Cotton? Black Ear walked to Crash and Cotton and the three of them cheered. Silver and Federico were watching from the top of the slope and Amaya and Riley looked as confused as him.

Cotton ran up to Catboy and ran around him happily. "Have you seen that, Catboy? I found one of my powers! Now I can be like you, too!" At the mention of Catboy, Amaya ran up to him and hugged him.

"You are okay!"

Catboy smiled and hugged her back. "Of course I am, duh." The other approached him, Riley and Silver with a relaxed expression and happy expression and Federico delighted.

"We thought you were long gone by now." Riley joked. After hearing the jokingly tone Riley used, Catboy smiled and scratched the back of his head, then he met his eyes. Greg tensed for a bit and then looked away, but then said.

"Thanks, for saving me." He looked at Catboy from his peripheral vision, who seemed rather surprised that he was even talking to him, and nodded while he pulled a little smile. The three kids looked at all of them curiously and examined them.

Black Ear walked over to Riley, Silver, and Federico. "Who are you? Do you know Catboy?" She didn't let them answer as she kept questioning them. "Why are you hurt? Have those men do that?" She said, pointing at Riley and Federico's legs.

"Black Ear! Pointing is bad behavior." Catboy scolded. She giggled ashamed and apologized, but he looked at them. "What happened to you two?"

Riley and Federico shared a glare. Riley answered. "I got stabbed, but he got shot."

Catboy nudged the three kids and said. "Let's go then, you need to get that treated."

Greg shared a confused glare with Silver. "Go? Go where?"

Catboy stopped on top of the slope and motioned his ears ahead, he said. "To HQ."

They all opened their eyes in surprise and got the top of the slope. Greg's mouth hung open. "No. Way." On the clearing ahead, standing right there near the forest of pine trees was a tall, with white lines on the sides, Totem Pole with three doors on each level, just like their HQ. He looked at Catboy who was watching the three little heroes run down the slope playfully and said. "Where does that come from?" He pointed at Crash, Black Ear and Cotton. "Where do they come from?" Greg looked around bewildered. "What is happening here?"

Catboy started climbing down, following the kids before they got lost of his sight. "This is what I came here for." Greg helped Riley down the slope while Silver and Amaya helped Federico, whose leg didn't function at all.

Greg looked at him. "You don't feel your leg?"

Federico looked back at him. "Not at all, I think the bullet had something in it."

"They tried to immobilize you, not tried to kill you." Grunted Riley in pain while holding his own leg. He looked at Greg. "If they had shot you somewhere else-"

"Then I would've had passed out and they would've got me." Greg concluded. They quiet down while making their through the clearing and into HQ, ahead,
he could hear the little heroes laughing and playing around. He watched Catboy keeping an eye on them while he cast them a warm glance, he felt warm inside when he thought of how protective he was of the little ones.

He remembered last year when Connor had talked with him about the thought of having kids, that he was looking for it. Greg knew Connor loved kids and had always desire to have a little brother, or sister, to play with. Katrina had told Connor he had a twin sister, but she died three days after they both were born, and that had made Connor very sad and every now and then he thinks about her and how different his life would've been if she lived.

They went inside HQ once they got to the door, and he saw how Cotton showed her finger to a small lent, even though she didn't have any ring or anything.
Greg took a look inside of each room and tried to spot every difference with his own HQ. Crash's room, he concluded, was rusty and had a more rustic motif to it, he kinda liked it.

They entered the elevators' room and Greg find himself a little closeted in there, and he decided he didn't like it. They went to the main room, which was a yellow one and clearly Black Ear's, and Catboy trotted over to another picture player to tap some buttons. A wall spun and a lot of medical tools were hanging on there, there was a red first aid kit right in the middle and Catboy grabbed it and walked over to Riley while Amaya and Silver grabbed other stuff from the wall too.

Greg took a look around. "Fancy." He said. "This is fancy." He looked at Catboy treating Riley's wounds. "You still need to explain what is happening here."

Catboy, cleaning Riley's leg with povidone, answered. "Lightning Fur came to me four days ago telling me that a group of Animal Totems had asked for my help to train their little ones." He looked quickly at Crash, Cotton and Black Ear and said. "Unstransform, we'll be here for a while." He went back on Riley's leg when the other boy grunted in pain. "When I came here I almost got robbed too, by the same people I believe, but I fought them off as Catboy and they saw me, their Totems gave them their powers after that."

"That's how they knew who you were- Ouch!" Federico said and then looked at Amaya and Silver with the bullet on a forceps.

"We got it out." Silver held the bullet up and smiled triumphantly.

Greg giggled and watched Crash, who now was out of his costume and had ginger and dark skin with light splotches, wrinkled his nose in disgust. "Yucky." Greg shared a quick glance with Connor and both smiled amusedly; they used to be that way when they were younger, now it was completely normal for them to be pulling out weird stuff from their own wounds.

When Greg noticed he was actually sharing something good with Connor, he looked away. What's wrong with me? He didn't know why... it felt normal to be sharing that kind of glares with him, but each time he remembered that Connor lied to them all, it didn't seem real and he felt lied to, hurt. He shook his head though, he was fussing over something that was already over, he needed to move on, but then why?

Why didn't he want to?

---

It was late at night, 2 AM to be precise, and Amaya -or more like Owlette- was watching Catboy train the little heroes, or Petit Masks as Connor told her before. She was hovering on the air above Black Ear and Crash while Catboy tried to figure out ways to help Cotton with her new power: Super Chinchilla Dust.

She flew over to them and Catboy looked thoughtful. "I don't get it, what did she do to dust their faces? When she uses the power all she does is cover the whole area we are standing on with a huge cloud of dust." He said, Cotton looked at her feet and occasionally at Owlette.

Owlette flew to her side. "I think someone's rather shy about my presence." She said in a friendly manner. Cotton looked at her while fidgeting in place, and Catboy looked back and forth between her and Owlette.

"Do you feel uncomfortable with her here, Cotton?" Catboy asked quietly.

Owlette looked at Catboy. "Do you want me to leave?"

Cotton shook her head and both Catboy and Owlette giggled. Owlette flew down to the ground and walked to her side. "I can help you with your powers if you want, I have something similar, it's called Super Owl Feathers!"

Cotton's eyes shone brightly. "Really? And what do they do?"

Owlette smiled proudly. "This!" She used her Owl Feathers and stuck them in a pine tree nearby in a perfect line. "It's mostly aiming, just like your power."

Cotton looked at Catboy. "She is really cool!" Cotton ran to Owlette and begged. "Please, help me with my powers!" Owlette smiled and nodded, she quickly glanced at Catboy and he nodded back at her. He gave his back to her when he walked over to Crash and she focused on Cotton.

"Okay, so your Chinchilla Dust is like my power, alright? You need to aim the dust at something or someone to dust it and avoid something bad from happening." She recalled the events from earlier tonight. "Remember when you dusted those evil guys' faces? What did you think about?"

Cotton looked at her feet again. "I just thought that I needed to do something to help, and I looked at them and I felt angry!" She said, narrowing her eyebrows together. "That's when my Dust shot itself."

"Well, you were thinking of them when your power showed up, if you think about your objective as you did with those bad guys, maybe it will happen again." Owlette reasoned. She flew not so far into the sky and caught Cotton's attention. "I'll be here, focus on me and use the power."

Cotton seemed uncertain. "I don't know... what if I hit you too hard?"

"Don't worry, I'll be fine," Owlette reassured her.

Cotton made a little smile and concentrated on Owlette for a few seconds before shouting: "Super Chinchilla Dust!" A trail of dust flew over to Owlette and soon Owlette found herself not being able to see anything but lilac dust. After two minutes, the dust dispersed and Owlette could see again. The first thing she saw was Catboy looking at her amusedly with Crash and Black Ear while Cotton looked relieved that she got rid of her dust.

Owlette flew down and sighed in relief. "I freaked out for a moment, that dust is powerful!" She stated.

Catboy and the Petit Masks laughed at her commentary and they kept practicing until the watch on Owlette's cellphone told them it was 4 AM in the morning. The Petit Masks were clearly tired, and so were their other teammates. Silver had fetched the kids and took them inside as Catboy and Owlette still weren't tired and decided to take a walk on the forest.

Owlette, flying over Catboy, smiled. "You know? You are really good with kids." She took a glance on the way they came. "Especially those."

Catboy, who was trotting under her, laughed. "I like kids, and Hope, Vita, and Unità are really special." He looked up to her and said. "Maybe you don't understand, but I feel that way about them," He sighed happily. "They make me happy, I would die if something ever happened to them." He arched an eyebrow. "How did you find me anyway?"

"You texted Federico that you were heading to Milennia Town," Owlette replied.

"Oh, I know that I meant-" He leaped on a rock then on a branch, startling a few finches on their nests. "How did you find me here, on the lows of town?"

"There was this boy, Barry, he works on a shop for kids and he told me that he knew the Petit Masks and most of the time took care of them," Owlette explained while she sat on the branch in front of Catboy. "Another worker, Izzy, had seen you in the store with the three of them and I thought that if I knew where the kids were, then we would find you."

"More like I found you," Catboy said amusedly then snorted. "Well, actually it was Crash, he has Super Ears and heard you in trouble. When I used mine I recognized your voices and sped into action."

"I'm glad you did when you did, we were on -serious- trouble." She relaxed. "Thanks." She looked at him for several seconds and the lowered her head.
"I'm sorry, too."

Catboy tilted his head in confusion. "Sorry for what?"

"For... ignoring you, for leaving you alone. I should've said something when you asked for our help." Owlette murmured.

"I don't blame you. Honestly?" Owlette looked at him. "If it was you in my paws, then maybe I would've acted the same." He looked up to the moon while black clouds passed slowly, Owlette followed. "I hurt you, all of you, with my lies and I understand that now... I don't expect you to forgive me that easily." He sighed and closed his eyes. "Heck, I lied to you for almost a year, how are you even talking to me?" He laughed but with a pained expression.

Owlette clearly noticed how bad he felt about that, and she saw that now. He tried several times to apologize, but Greg or Silver, or even Riley, didn't let him. How did she let herself be manipulated into that anyway? She looked at him. "We left you alone half of Fall and all of the Winter, it's time we move on. Don't you think?"

Catboy smiled sadly and nodded, grateful. Owlette chuckled and said. "Also, off topic, but you are gonna be the best father out of all of us."

Catboy laughed. "You are gonna be a great mom yourself, Owlette. I don't doubt that." He grabbed her shoulder and shake her gently. "I can already picture you with your future wife, all happy and with two kids running around you fighting over you."

It was Owlette's turn to laugh. "I picture you with your future husband with more than just two kids." Catboy had an amused spark on his eyes. "Whoever hooks up with you will be tied to seven kids in the future." Owlette joked and both laughed heartedly.

They kept talking and joking around until the sky was fully covered by black clouds and rain started to pour down.

---

Hope you enjoyed and don't forget to review! Reviews mean a lot to me and that way it will be easier to keep writing this and other stories I have planned :) Thanks for reading!

-Dapple