"Undertake a quest or any long, challenging project, and you won't come out of it the same."

― Chris Guillebeau, The Happiness of Pursuit: Finding the Quest That Will Bring Purpose to Your Life

Chapter 13: Catboy's Quest

The Moon, or what was left of it, shone brightly on the sky, the menacing rain clouds of before already moved away, giving the night sky a chance to show itself for the first time in a week. Dawn was only a few hours away, and to Greg, it would be the first dawn he'll ever remember. The light of the day would come and will shine brightly again over his best friend as if nothing happened, when in fact, a lot happened within one night.

"What are you doing here all on your own?" Greg spun around with a smile when he heard that voice, meeting with vivid blue eyes again, blue eyes that he thought he'll never saw again.

"Enjoying the view this totem gives. Better than the one ours give, Connor." He laughed and watched Connor sat beside him on top of the totem pole.

Connor laughed. "I didn't get the chance to be here yet." He was about to put a hand on the patch of flowers that grew there, but Greg stopped his hand on time. Connor looked confused.

Greg smiled. "If it wasn't for those flowers, you were gonna come back to earth in your lungs. They are special, at least to me."

Connor smiled at him and put his hand on his lap instead. With an amused expression, he said. "So you stole my body, huh?" Both of them laughed and then Connor proceeded. "How did you knew what the animals said to you was true?"

Greg sighed and for a moment he seemed sad. "They told me you were going to die, but they used expressions I didn't understand until it was too late." He kept quiet for a moment, looking down at his hands, but then he looked back up to Connor. "Then they came here telling me that you were coming back, and at first I had trouble understanding, I even thought it was only a hallucination for losing you." He looked back at the flowers. "Until those flowers, dead and only a few remaining, grew up again into a whole new and healthy patch. That's how I knew it was real." He played with the sleeve of his sweater. "Grief helped a bit too..."

Connor suddenly hugged Greg, catching him by surprise. "Thanks, for believing..."

Greg hugged back instantly. He didn't get to hug his friend in a good while, and last night proved that was one of the worst decisions he's ever made, he wasn't letting it happen again, with anybody. "I wasn't letting you go that easily."

Both of them parted away, and Greg saw how something occupied Connor's mind. It was evident with his gaze. Connor spoke up. "Earlier when... you know, when Bleeder's man was here..." Greg flinched a bit at the thought, but it was something he didn't want to think about anymore. He decided only to listen to Connor. "You said you tried to forgive me, is that true?"

Greg thought about the dream in which he saw both younger versions of himself and Connor, and how Green Fang talked to him. "Yeah, Green Fang put a little bit of sense into my head..." He rolled his eyes amusedly. "About time someone did." Both laughed and then Greg, with a sly smile, said. "He showed me that time when we were younger when I won you on a race back home. Remember? As Gekko and Catboy."

"I'm sure I was just clumsy that time," Connor opened his eyes big and looked at Greg accusingly. "And you cheated that time! You took a shortcut!"

Greg put his hand over his mouth to avoid laughing. "You never said we couldn't."

"Uh, yes, I did!"

Both laughed at the memory and looked at each other before looking ahead, where the slope was located and the top of some abandoned buildings could be seen. After a few moments of silence, Greg quietly said. "Sorry, for being a jerk to you."

Connor sighed. "I'm sorry too, I shouldn't have worked with her, no matter the circumstances..."

Greg looked down at his feet, hanging in the air a few feets away from the ground. "Why did you, though?" Greg looked at Connor sadly. "I always wanted to ask, but I didn't want to talk to you... I was afraid that if I did, and you answered me with something that I would think about, we would go back to being friends and-"

Connor took Greg by surprise when he finished his sentence. "I would stab you in the back again, I get it." He looked at Greg. "I would've probably reacted the same way."

Greg shook his head. "Nah, you wouldn't have. You're a better person than I'll ever be." He diverted his gaze from Connor. "I didn't have the guts to say sorry until you died." He laughed in sadness. "That says a lot about who I am." Greg felt a hand on his shoulder and looked at Connor's eyes with a blurry vision.

"That doesn't say anything about you, Greg. You were hurt, that's understandable, anyone who's human would've reacted to pain in the same way you did," He intensely looked at Greg. "Believe me when I say that I would've reacted the same, maybe even worst." Greg smiled sadly at Connor and looked ahead once more. Connor shifted beside him and he felt Connor closer than before, which brought him a sense of peace and relief.

Connor's voice came from beside him. "You asked me why I helped her, didn't you?" He heard Connor sigh and then the taller boy proceeded. "I was afraid, just like you." Greg looked at him surprised and Connor nodded. "See? I told you, I would've reacted the same way." Connor giggled grimly and then his face became dark. "She said that if I didn't help her, she was going to hurt you, all of you."

"You don't surrender that easily to anybody, any less her," Greg said, worriedly this time.

"That's true, and I didn't want to work with her, I refused at first, but then..." He looked down at his fingers playing with each other, pain in his eyes. "She used me to hurt you and Luna. She messed with my emotions, with my head. She-"

Greg looked blankly. "She tortured you." Connor looked up at him. "She tortured you into doing so."

Connor nodded slowly. "She knew it, she knew how I felt back then, about my family, about my friends," Connor looked away with a small blush on his face. "About you..."

Greg had to look up at him when he said that. What did he mean with that? About you... Greg kept silent until an idea came to his mind, an idea that made his heart skip a beat. Connor still didn't look at him. "Did you- did you like me? Like," Greg motioned his hands. "Did you like me? In more than just a friendly way?"

It took Connor a few minutes to answer. "Yeah... I did." He looked Greg in the eyes and Greg felt completely lost. "She used my feelings towards you against me. She knew how jealous I was of Luna-"

"You were jealous of Luna?" Greg asked, though curiously this time.

Connor nodded. "Of course I was! She did everything I couldn't, she had everything I couldn't. When your father died-" Connor lowered his voice. "When your father died, I tried to be there for you, many times, but I didn't make it there and you became- and you became Drakko."

Greg reached a hand to him. "Connor..."

"And- And in that battle, she also had to rush in to help! She was always there and I was so goddamn jealous because she did the things I couldn't." Greg looked at how Connor's hand opened and closed each time. "I wanted to make you feel like you weren't alone during that time, I wanted to make you feel loved," He lowered his voice. "Like you did when my father disowned me... but I failed, I failed and she didn't." He looked down at his hands. "She made you feel everything I wanted to make you feel." His voice became even lower. "Of course I was jealous."

"You never told me that..." Greg wasn't sure how to react to all that Connor just said.

"Not like I could, she was your girlfriend at the moment, I couldn't just... jump in and say all those things, now, could I?" Connor asked. Greg shook his head in silence, while also trying to sort out the feelings of confusion inside him.

"Miss Masquerade used that against me, everything I told you." Connor shut his eyes. "Sometimes I can still feel the pain of her spells in my head, how she would enter my mind and torture me with all of you." Connor opened his eyes and Greg could see a hint of fear in them. "Her voice is still there, I don't think it will ever go away. It haunts me each and every day, even in my dreams."

Greg moved to Connor's side and both of their arms brushed, causing Greg to feel even more confused when he felt chills run down his spine. He ignored that and said. "There's no need to explain further if it hurts you, I got enough information." Greg looked up at Connor, and for some reason, their height difference felt even more obvious now. "Sorry for bringing it up..."

"You didn't know, there's nothing to apologize for." They kept looking at each other and curiousness sparked Connor's eyes. Greg was about to say something until their communicators rang. Connor was the first to answer. "What is it?"

"We need to discuss something important, come down." It was Amaya.

"We are on our way." He clicked the communicator to shut it off and with a smile said. "Well, you heard her. We better head off." He stood up and walked to the trap door they used to get up there in the first place.

Greg had to ask, though, his curiousness was too strong to be held back. Nervously, he spat. "Do you- Do you still like me?"

Connor stopped and looked at him, a small blush on his face. He nodded. "I do, but I don't mind anymore if you are something else to me or not, I just want us to at least remain friends... I can't imagine my life without the presence of my best friend." Was all Connor said before heading down. Greg sat there for a few moments, confusion took over his body as a bubbling feeling inside made him feel strange. He shook it off and shortly after he followed Connor down.

Connor walked over to Amaya, who was standing in the middle of Unità's Room. The Petit Masks were sleeping on a nearby bed; it seems that everything had tired them heavily. When Amaya heard him she spun around a faced him. "Good, you're here." Shortly after Greg walked into the room as well. "You too, great."

"What's all this about?" Greg asked, standing closely next to Connor. Connor shrugged, he had no idea.

Amaya proceeded. "I guess after all that happened, we are leaving this cursed place, right?"

Connor replied quickly this time. "Yes, we are. We are not staying anymore here, it's not safe, not for us, or the kids."

Amaya nodded. "And that's what I wanted to talk about." Connor and Greg shared a confused glance. "What are we gonna do with the kids? They can't stay here, but we cannot stay here forever either." She looked at Connor. "It's your call."

Connor had decided what would happen to the kids long ago when he came to the conclusion that they needed to leave that place as fast as possible. "We are taking them with us," Connor said. "I'll take them with me and train them there in Tarabiscoville, away from danger and this cursed city."

Greg spoke up, putting his hand on Connor's arm. "We'll help you with them. They are our responsibility as much as they are yours." Connor smiled at him and then both looked at Amaya, who was smiling weirdly at the two of them, though Connor knew exactly what that smile meant.

Amaya giggled when Connor glared at her. "Alright, let's pack then. We'll leave in the morning." She walked over the picture player. "I'll get bus passes."

Connor stopped her. "Don't make one for me, I'll go back on my PJ Rover."

Greg looked at him. "But the rest of us are underage, we can't take the kids with us even if we wanted to."

Riley walked into the room beside Federico. "And that, I suppose, is where I come in." All of them laughed and Connor nodded amusedly. Riley sighed in defeat. "Figured."

"You are a legal adult, you can take them," Connor nodded and amusedly added. "All of us if you want."

"I'll do it," He said, and the murmured. "Not like I have other option." All of them laughed and Amaya proceeded to use the Picture Players to get their bus passes. Everyone around the room moved for a few moments, putting everything in place until she ran with a problem.

"We have a small problem." All of them, including Silver who just walked into the room, looked at her. "Next bus leaves at 8 AM but not all of us can go in it. It's almost full already."

"One of you can come with me if you want." Connor offered.

"I'll go with him," Greg added. "You take the kids with you."

Amaya nodded with a little smile. "Alright. Let's get ready then." Everything around the room became noisy as everyone got a hold of their stuff and put it in its rightful place. Connor looked at the kids sleeping, and even though he hated to wake them up, it was 5 AM and they needed to get prepared. He walked over to them and shook them gently.

Vita rolled on her side and sleepy faced Connor. She yawned. "What's happening?"

Hope rubbed his eyes tiredly. "Why is everybody still awake?" Unità sat up on the bed, scratching her head confused and tired.

"We are leaving," Connor said. That seemed to wake them up and they stared at him confused. "I'm taking you back home with me."

Their eyes shone brightly. "Really?!" They seemed excited and instantly forgot about their sleep.

Connor nodded and they stood up. "Get some of your stuff and pack them in your luggage." Connor pointed at three bags not so far away from his. "Then get ready to leave. You are gonna go with Amaya and the others, okay? I have to take my Rover with me, so I won't be on the bus with you." They nodded and eagerly jumped from the bed and started packing stuff they considered necessary.

Connor looked around. It was gonna be time before he was coming back to this place, and he wished it was gonna be a long time. This place was both mysterious and cursed, and Connor didn't want to do anything with it ever again. Everything went down here, and he feared if the kids stayed, something bad would happen to them. He walked around and grabbed his own stuff.

This was hopefully the last time he was gonna be here.

The bus station was crowded with people. Greg had to make his way through the wave of people, often pushing them aside gently, or if the person required it, harshly. He was carrying alongside Connor the kids' luggage while Hope clung to his arms nervously. He could understand the kid, it was too crowded for his taste. Unità walked confidently beside Amaya ahead and Vita walked calmly beside Connor with her cuddly on arms.

Connor was carrying one of the luggage alongside a small metal cage with two Chinchillas inside. Greg giggled at the sight, Connor looked so done of the little animals. "Guess you didn't come back to life to handle two furballs," Greg said while his lips trembled and his eyes shone with a spark of amusement.

"Thinking about it, I might leave you behind," Connor said.

Greg burst laughing and Connor looked amusedly at him. They kept walking ahead until Amaya stopped. "Well, this should be our stop." She said and looked at Connor. "The men on the tickets stand said you have to take them in another bus." She said pointing at the two Chinchillas. Connor nodded and handed Greg the luggage he was carrying.

"I'll be right back."

Greg nodded and Amaya stared at him as he looked Connor walk away. When he noticed her, he asked. "What is it?"

"Oh, nothing..." She giggled and when Greg was gonna ask her what was the deal, Connor got back.

"They are boarding them into another bus." He put a hand under his chin. "We gotta give them credit for being so organized though." They all looked amused at Connor's commentary for a little while until Amaya spoke up.

"You can leave if you want, you have a longer trip than we do." Amaya signaled at the others behind her. "We can handle this."

Connor walked to her. "Are you sure?" She nodded. "Okay..." He looked uncertain but Greg put a hand on his shoulder and looked reassuringly at him, which seemed to ease his anxious feelings for a bit. Connor kneeled in front of the kids to say goodbye to them and tell them to behave and then, stood up and looked at Greg. He spoke up. "We'll meet you back home. Wait for us, I don't think our parents will be happy about us leaving..." He laughed nervously.

"Alright, and I agree, we'll be grounded forever." Amaya agreed. They all laughed and waved their goodbyes to Connor and Greg as they left the bus station. They walked outside, exactly where the Rover was parked. Connor paid the man who was watching over it while they were gone and both got on it, using helmets to avoid anything from happening.

Greg put his arms around Connor's waist and Connor asked. "Ready to go back home?"

"I've never been more ready in my life." With that said, Connor started the Rover and drove away from the Station. They drove onto a street surrounded by the Finch Pines forest and Greg looked at it. What a wild place this forest was. The Spring sun shone between the leaves of the trees on the side of the road and gave the whole place more of a summery ambient. When they left the forestry road, Greg got a tighter hold onto Connor and watched how Milennia Town faded away on the distance.

He hoped this was the last time he was coming here. The place, even though it had its beauty, was cursed and Greg didn't want to do anything with it.

Far in the distance, the sun was hiding behind the shape of the mountain trail. Greg admired the sunset view for a few more moments before Connor said.
"We are almost there." And he was right, Greg could see the shapes of the familiar buildings of the Tarabiscoville. It had taken them all day to get there, especially because they did a small stop on Courant City, Connor had begged him to.

There, they had lunch and ran into what seemed a friend Connor had made, her name was Marina. During lunch, Connor had explained how his first trip to Milennia Town was, explaining everything that happened there in Courant City and on the way after that. Greg's heart started to beat faster and he felt his face get red as he recalled the things that happened on their little stop.

He sighed and decided to push it to the back of his head while they entered the city. "Head to HQ, the others surely arrived already."

Connor nodded and drove his Rover to the park. The streets were pretty empty for being a Saturday and Connor could easily drove inside the park and head directly to HQ. He parked it behind HQ and both entered the totem pole, where they were received first by the Petit Masks. "Connor! Greg!"

They hugged them and Hope said. "You took forever!" He looked around Greg's Room. "This place is amazing!"

Greg smiled and looked at Connor. "Let's meet with the others, it's time to go back." Connor nodded and they headed to the upper room, the kids followed shortly after.

Connor and the others made their usual way to their homes. The kids looked around curiously ahead, Federico and Riley talked lowly together with their heads close to each other, Silver and Amaya talked animatedly to each other and Greg walked not so far away from him, keeping an eye on the kids.

Connor watching him, felt how his blood rushed up to his face recalling what happened on their little stop back in Courant City. He put his hand over his mouth and shook his head, trying to shake any other feeling. They stopped and Silver said. "This is my stop." She opened the door of the small fence at the entrance of her house. "Good luck with you. Tell me how it went with your parents afterward." Was all she said before using her keys to enter her house.

They kept walking and not so far ahead, Federico and Riley stopped. Connor instantly recognized Riley's house. It was so different from the others that it was easy to tell it apart from the others around. Riley walked with his luggage over to his house, where after he rang the bell, he was welcomed by who Connor assumed was his father.

The tall and sleek man with dark hair just like Riley's looked down at him. "You decided to come back, I see." He let the Asian boy pass. "Come on. We have to talk, severely."

Anger burned inside Connor at seeing that Riley's father was not even remotely happy to see Riley, he reminded him of his own... Greg pushed him slightly. Riley was gone and the door to his home was closed. "I feel the same way, but we need to leave, too." Was all Greg said before walking alongside Amaya and Federico. Connor took a last glance at Riley's home and followed.

At the end of the street, Federico stopped and looked at them. "I gotta go this way." He waved at them. "I'll update you with my parents... if I don't die of course." They laughed and Federico left. They kept walking their own way.

Vita looked at Connor. "I thought you all lived together."

Connor chuckled. "No, but the three of us leave really close." He said, referring to Amaya, Greg and himself. Vita nodded as they walked ahead.

20 minutes later, they made their way into their usual neighborhood, his heart beating fastly. On the two weeks they spent on Milennia Town, Connor had called his mother once to tell her that he was okay, but he never told her where he was or why he left. He was worried about how much she had been anxious over him and wondered if that interfered with her work and other matters on her life.

"This is a pretty place," Unità observed. They walked into the path that led to their homes, and stopped first in Greg's, not knowing to the surprise they were going to run into. When they rang the bell, they could hear Greg's mother inside. Greg looked rather anxious and Connor tried to relax him as the lock on the door unlocked.

"Yes, what-" Lina stopped as soon as she saw all of them. Her shocked expression shifted from Greg to Connor, to Amaya and then to the kids, the last ones confusing her a lot. "Katrina! Alexander! They are here!" She grabbed Greg by a wick on his hair and pulled him inside. "You three come inside now!" She scolded, though she showed a huge relief seeing the three of them.

Connor signaled the kids to follow him inside and then he met his mother's gaze. Connor smiled at her uncertain, but tears streamed down her face and she ran up to him, hugging him. "My baby!" She almost choked Connor because of how strong she was hugging him, but Connor didn't mind, he hugged her back.
"You're alright!"

"Sorry for lying to you, I promise I'll never do it again." He apologized to her.

She smacked slightly the back of his head. "Never again, Alexander Connor Evans!" But she hugged him tighter. "But I'm so relieved you are alright..."

On the background, he could see Lina scolding Greg and Alexander giving Amaya a lecture. They didn't seem genuinely mad, more like worried about their own good, and relieved that they were back home in one piece. Katrina parted away from him and put a hand on his face, right over his new gained scar. "What happened to you?"

Connor sighed. "It's something I need to tell you, but back home, it's something important that I should've told you long ago..."

Katrina took a looked at the kids. "Who are these little ones?" She said, kneeling down in front of them.

Unità spoke up for her friends, who shifted on their places. "I'm Unità, and these are Hope and Vita." She said pointing to Hope and then at Vita. "Connor brought us here."

Connor, fidgeting a little bit on his place, said. "They are staying with me, mom, they don't have a home..."

Katrina looked at him. "Look at you, becoming a parent at age sixteen." She stood up. "They can stay in Fidelite's old room." She walked over to Lina, who was hugging Greg. "We are leaving if you don't mind."

Lina looked at her. "Of course I don't mind, Connor's back home. Besides," She looked at Greg. "I'm not done talking with this little man." Greg chuckled nervously and looked pleadingly to Connor. Connor looked amused and waved goodbye to Amaya and Greg as he and the kids followed Katrina outside, to his home.

Once inside, Connor settled down with the kids again and told them for a bit to stay in their new room for a few minutes while he talked to his mother. Titina was curious of them, so she stayed on the room and inspected them curiously, entertaining them while Connor made his way downstairs. Once there, he saw his mother sitting in a chair on the kitchen, a cup of tea on her hand. She handed him another. "It's your favorite."

Connor smiled and thanked her, taking a sip. Once done, he said. "There are things that I need to tell you..." Katrina sat up straight on the chair and listened carefully to him. When Connor was sure he got her attention, he proceeded. "The reason I lied to you is that for years, mom, I've been a..." He hesitated for a moment. "I've been a vigilante, or hero, whatever." His mother looked rather surprised. "I know, it sounds stupid just to say it like that, but-"

"No, I believe you." Katrina suddenly burst out.

"You do?" Connor was surprised at how chill his mother was taking the whole thing.

She smiled. "It would explain a lot of stuff, Connor. Especially these kinds of scars that you have." She said, passing her hand on Connor's scar. "It would explain how you got so mature in such a short period of time too." She looked at him warmly. "I'm a mother, Connor, I know when you keep things from me, and now that you told me, that feeling is gone."

Connor just sat there. "So you don't want proof or anything...?" He pointed at his bracelet. "Because I have it."

Katrina stood up and hugged her son. "No, Connor. I don't want anything but your word," She said. "But please, don't lie to me like that again, okay?" Connor nodded and walked next to her to hug her. Everything seemed alright now, everything seemed settled. He had finally told the truth to his mother, he had brought the kids with him, everything with his friends was alright, and now everybody was together again.

This is an adventure Connor will never forget, to him, it was a deep memory that was not worth forgetting. It taught him a lot of stuff, especially to stand up to himself. This quest he took to find the kids turned into something special to him, but now? His quest was over as Connor, but especially as Catboy. That person was no more, this was the beginning of the quest of the new person and hero he was gonna become...

This was the end of Catboy's Quest.

Wow, okay, this is a lot to take in HA

I had been writing this for over a year and it feels so surreal to be finally finishing it. This is the first story I have ever finished, and I'll always remember it, but that did not come from my own. Thanks to those who kept reading this story until its very end and left a review, either short or long, on the story. Your amazing words kept me going until the end, and I couldn't be more grateful for them, without them I would've have stopped long ago. Seriously, thanks, you're the best.

After this, there's a small epilogue, so look out for that if you wanna find out what it's about. Again, thank you to those who stuck with the story to its very end :) Hope you enjoyed it and stay with me on the next one! Thanks for reading!

-Dapple