First off, I apologize for not updating in so long. I am having some, hm, I guess issues,in life. College is just...Jesus. I hate it. I would also like to apologize to all my readers who are coming to this, thinking there is a new chapter. I don't like disappointing you. I do have several chapters waiting but I will not post them all right now. I will be posting a chapter later today though.
I really need a beta. Someone with a reader's point of view who will help me develop this story. I've been looking over the story and I believe it is turning into, if it isn't one already, a Mary Sue. Or would it be a Gary Stu, since Jaden is posing as a boy? Whatever. I don't want it to go down the Mary Sue road.
I have a vague, very vague plot written out. Basically, things that need to happen in order to get to the ending. But plot bunnies just keep popping up and saying,"OH, do this instead!" And it's putting everything out of whack. I need someone to keep me on track, one who will say "EFF YOU, PLOT BUNNIES. Kat, stop trying to throw in so many events, things like this don't happen in real life."
So if anyone is interested, please message me. Or review me. Just contact me in some way. I would go to the beta category for SkyHigh and go find search out one myself, but the last THREE times I've done that, they're all "Yeah, I'll be your beta. :D" And then never respond when I send all this story information. On my other story, Black and White, which is on hiatus, I recently had a girl offer to be my beta. She's great. And I figure, a good beta will probably be someone who wants to be your beta and will ask to be it. I'll post a chapter later today but JUST BE WARNED it might just be changed. And I will tell you if I go back and take out certain events. So you won't be screwed up on what the characters know and don't know.
Also, I'm pretty sure just Author's Notes are illegal on fanfiction and what not so I have attached a one shot random to this. Nothing to do with the real story. Except for the fact that the main characters attend Hell's Depths. You can skip it if you like.
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A Day in the Life of the Black Kat
It was dark. It was cold. And it was raining. All that was needed to finish off this gloomy scene was-
A long and mournful howl pierced the silence.
-that.
"So they've realized it now, eh?" a girl clad in entirely black whispered. She was pressed against the wall of a dark alleyway, her dark attire aiding her in blending into the shadows. A pedestrian just passing by the alley wouldn't see her, unless she moved or perhaps made a sound.
But Kat would neither move nor make a sound. No, mistakes like that were for amateurs, and she, the infamous Black Kat, was no amateur.
Suddenly, she sensed movement behind her and whipped around, her elbow banging into the wall painfully. She gasped and dropped to the ground, clasping her arm to her chest.
"OW OW OW OW OW OW oiiiiiiiii, my funny bone, my funny bone," she whimpered.
The creature that had startled her and ultimately caused her current pain, jumped onto an overturned trash can nearby. A slim beam of light filtering in from the street entrance revealed the creature to be…. a black cat.
"You know, I never got why they called it a funny bone but seeing you squirming on the ground like this, I do get it," the cat said, releasing a quirky meow that could only be described as the feline equivalent of laughter. Kat glared at the cat, tossing a crushed up soda can is his direction.
"SHUT UP, JIJI. It's all your fault anyway. Don't sneak up on me."
"I thought that being sneaky was your number one rule, Miss Black Kat. And don't call me Jiji. My name is Frederick. I've already told you this."
"Being sneaky is my number one rule but that doesn't mean you have to do it too. You're supposed to make a ton of noise so I know you're coming and can hide, Jiji."
"I hope you're not suggesting that the original black cat cease his sneaking just so the copycat black cat won't resemble a fool."
Kat 'hmphed' and stood to brush the street grit off of herself.
"Just because you were a black cat before me does not mean I was copying you. Plus, My name Katherine, Kat, Black Kat. It just makes sense to go by that name. On the other hand, Black Frederick doesn't roll off the tongue that well. In fact, it sounds like some kind of racist slur. You're just jealous of my title."
Frederick narrowed his yellow eyes and leaped to the ground at her feet. A shiver ran through his entire body and fur suddenly became skin. A tall, dark haired young man now stood before Kat.
"At least I can actually turn into a black cat," he hissed.
Kat's lower lip quivered, her mouth set into a childish pout. Something glistened at the corner of her eye, what was it, a tear. OH NO. Frederick groaned.
"Oh God, not again."
And then Kat was full out bawling. Frederick winced at the hysterical noises she was emitting, putting his hands over his ears.
"What is it this time?" a female voice asked, a tawny, striped cat coming into view to represent it.
"H-he said 'At l-least he c-can turn i-i-into a black c-cat'," Kat wailed from her place on the ground.
The tawny colored cat sighed and morphed into a tall and beautiful girl with caramel colored hair.
"Freddy, really? Why do you always say that. You know how she reacts."
Frederick shrugged.
"I can't help it, Allie. It's too easy. I'm not trying to hurt her feelings but like I said-"
"It's too easy," she finished for him. "I understand."
It really was too easy. It was no secret that mentioning Kat's 'disability' automatically reduced her to a whiner baby. It was basically a daily ritual. Everyday, someone, somewhere, would comment on it to Kat. Allie didn't think of it as a disability, per say. It was more of an oddity really. You see, their group was a group of feline shape shifters. There were tons more than just these three but Allie, Kat, and Frederick mainly stuck to each other. They were the only feline shape shifters currently attending Hell's Depths. A cat clique, you could call it, was formed. It had only been Allie and Frederick, siblings actually, up last year, when Kat came into the picture. She was a new student at Hell's Depths, obviously, and had been classified as a minion immediately, due to the fact that the she failed to demonstrate any power whatsoever. However, she turned out to be a special case. Kat is a shape shifter and her chosen form is a black cat. It just happens to be that she can/will only fursplode when you scare her really badly. Though that wasn't very hard to do. In fact, when this little piece of information was public, the daily ritual had been 'Who can scare shift Kat?' Allie felt bad for the girl and took her under her wing. Allie was a gifted shape shifter villain and thought that she could help Kat master her power. One year later, no such luck, but she stuck with the emotionally unstable girl anyway. Deep down, she was fond of the girl and her idiocy. As for Frederick and Kat's relationship, well. Long story short, Kat met him first in cat form, dubbed him Jiji, discovered he was actually a human shape shifter, NOT a regular cat and they continued to bicker for the rest of their days.
Allie turned to Kat and held out a hand. "Come on, Kat. He only says it to make you mad, you know that. He doesn't mean anything by it."
Kat sniffled and nodded, taking her hand. Allie pulled her up to a standing position and smiled at the still softly blubbering girl. "Plus, you'll probably get the hang of it soon anyway. You're still young."
Kat's eyes scrunched up again as more tears threatened to flow over.
"I'M THE SAME AGE AS YOUUUUUU!" she cried, crumpling back to the ground.
Allie glanced at Frederick, as if to confirm this statement. He nodded in reply.
"She is the same age as you."
Allie blinked dumbly.
"Oh, well…hm," she murmured. "How do I get myself out of this one?"
It was now Frederick's turn to crouch and comfort Kat.
"Come on Kat, she didn't mean anything by it. She just forgets sometimes that you've never eaten your vegetables and was thus confined to being the size of a gnome for the rest of your life."
Kat punched him in the face.
After shakily righting himself back into an upright position, Frederick nodded, solemnly saying, "I probably deserved that."
"You did," Allie and Kat replied in unison. Kat stood up again, wiping her eyes and face.
"Sorry about that, ANYHOO, everyone obviously heard the howl since you all gathered here," she said, her face dead pan serious. The siblings rolled their eyes and nodded. They were used to how fast Kat changed faces by now. "Then you will be happy to know that I have successfully stolen something from the dogs."
Frederick and Allie glanced at each other, then back to Kat.
"No way!" Fred exclaimed.
"But how?" Allie gasped.
Kat struck a heroic pose, pausing for a brutal moment before saying, "With my fabulous sneaking skills of course."
There was a moment of silence before the siblings both replied, "No, seriously."
Kat glanced at them, a frown masking her previous gleeful expression. "But I am serious."
Allie and Fred continued to stare wistfully at her.
"Okay, fine. A new guy was guarding the door, a pup really, and I just kind of lured him away with my charm."
"You lured him away with food didn't you?" Freddy asked, smirking.
Kat slumped pitifully. "Damn you!...yes."
"And he didn't smell the cat on you or anything?" Allie gaped, astonished that Kat had actually managed to worm her way into the dogs' lair. Though Kat was pretty good at worming herself into places and situations. That was one feline trait she retained well in her human form.
"Allie, she doesn't turn into a cat often enough for the scent to stick her like it does to us," Freddy answered. Kat's eyes took on a glistening look. "God, don't do that again." Kat's mouth widened to emit what was probably going to more wails before Frederick clamped a quick hand over it. "No. You only get to cry once a day. Plus, I think I hear something. So shut up."
Kat sucked in a gulp of air as Freddy released her but ultimately remained silent. The group swiveled their heads to catch the slightest sound. Kat didn't really know why she was listening; Allie and Frederick were the ones that had super sensitive ears. But she did it anyway, for appearances sake.
Patta patta patta patta patta patta.
OH? She could hear what they were hearing now, the sound of feet padding on concrete. It sounded like a great many somethings running, ACTUALLY, it kind of sounded like-
"DOGS!" screeched Allie and Frederick at once, leaping up into the air and latching onto the fire escape landing above them, just as a massive stampede of various canines came roaring around the corner. Kat shrieked and scrambled onto a dumpster, not having the amazing agility reflexes her companions had. Truly, she kind of threw herself in the dumpster. The pack of dogs came to a halt beneath the hissing Allie and Frederick. Releasing growls and barks, the group morphed into their human counterparts, and began grappling for the escape ladder that the siblings had pulled up just in time.
The dogs and cats had been at war for who knows how long, though they never entered into an actual battle. It was more like immature pranking. Cats would leave rotting fish heads outside the dog's hideout. Anything rotting would do actually. The cats liked to aggravate the dogs' sensitive noses. In turn, dogs would wait outside the cats' hideout with a hose and wait for someone to exit. Yes, they were constantly going back and forth.
A loud bark froze everyone to their places, even the freaking Kat who hadn't been noticed by the dogs. Or at least, they didn't consider her much of a threat. Every shape shifter in the alley turned to look at the street entrance where a hulking, German Shepherd stood.
"Shit. We're in deep shit. Really deep. Like 40,000 leagues under the shit, deep. Shit," Frederick mumbled.
"Stop cursing," Allie hissed back to him.
Allie, being the sort of alpha of their feline pack, stood up to full height and nodded to the German Shepherd.
"Kujo," she said. The dog shivered and morphed into a beast of a human man.
"Allison," he replied. Allie cringed. She hated that name. Allison. Bleh.
"Who's Kujo?" Kat mused from her side of the alley. The dog group, finally realizing there was another, turned to look at her. Out of the corner of her eye, Kat saw Frederick face palm himself. Allie sighed. The one in question stepped forward, smirking.
"I'm Kujo, alpha of the Hell's Kitchen canine shape shifting pack. And you are?"
Kat scrambled out of the dumpster, clumsily, and sneered back at him.
"I'm the Black Kat of course," she retorted, posing heroically again. She had an eggshell in her hair and a banana peel stuck to her butt. Either this did not disturb her because she was so awesome that not even trash could dampen her spirits, or she failed to notice because she was just that unobservant. Most likely the latter. Kujo chuckled.
"The Black Kat? I didn't know there was a particular one." Kat frowned at him, a lower lip beginning to poke out. Allie and Frederick were at once praying that she would not do this, not now, not in front of their mortal enemies.
"You've….you've never heard of me?" she inquired.
"Nope."
Kat's lips smashed together in a thin line. Allie and Frederick immediately winced at her body language. They knew she wouldn't be taking the crying route but she would be taking the much worse one. Oh dear God, she would embarrass them all.
"Well then, maybe you should open your ears, buddy!" she growled, snatching the eggshell from her hair and hurling it at his face. She missed, of course, but the intent was still there. Kujo merely glanced at the object now lying at his feet and turned back to Allie.
"Very nice recruit you have there, Allison. I bet she contributes a ton in fights."
"She's very useful," Allie said, defensively.
"I bet. Real keeper. So anyway, let's get down to business. You know why we're here I'm sure."
"No. Not really."
Kujo perked a suspicious brow.
"Oh really? Then who else would have stolen our precious religious icon?" Allie shrugged. At this moment a young man came up, a boy really, and whispered something in Kujo's ear. Kujo's head whipped around so fast to glare at him, that he almost knocked the kid out with his chin. "WHAT? Impossible!"
"What's impossible, Kujo?" Allie asked.
"He says," Kujo motioned to the boy, "That is was your little pet over there that lured him away with a Big Mac combo meal."
Allie and Frederick swiveled their gazes to stare in horror at Kat. If she was a cat, her ears would have been laid flat in defense. In human form, she looked like she was going to prepare herself for a major scolding.
"YOU STOLE THEIR ICON?" screeched Allie.
"YOU USED A BIG MAC COMBO MEAL TO LURE HIM AWAY?" yelled Frederick.
Kat flinched.
"I didn't think it was that important…And what's the big deal about using a Big Mac combo meal?"
"You didn't think it was that important?" roared Kujo. "YOU SMASHED THROUH A GLASS CASE TO GET TO IT! And using a Big Mac combo meal is the lowest of the low. All cats know that is the dogs' greatest weakness."
"Oh that. Well. I thought you guys wanted to keep it clean or something. As for Big Macs being your greatest weakness, are we not supposed to use our enemies' weaknesses against them? I'm confused."
"It's an honor thing, Kat. They don't go around with boxes of sushi to lure us out; we don't carry around bags of Big Macs to lure them out," Allie sighed.
"Oh. Well, I don't even like sushi anyway," Kat shrugged.
Kujo gave her a curious look.
"Just what kind of cat ARE you?" he gaped.
"A very bad one. She's horrible at it, truly," Frederick groaned.
Kat attempted to hiss menacingly at him. "See? Can't even challenge one properly in cat-a-nese. She's a real disgrace to the clan."
"Well, whatever kind of cat she is, she has our icon and I want it back, NOW," Kujo snarled. He threw out a hand, palm up, as if waiting for Kat to hand it to him.
She perked a brow.
"No way! You know how long it took me to break that case? Like 2 minutes. I couldn't find anything heavy enough and had to walk all OVER your little compound to find a chair. It is my prize now."
Kujo went through a sudden fursplosion and was once again a giant German Shepherd. He launched himself forward so that he was directly in front of Kat, taking snaps at her face and ankles.
"You wanted your icon thingy back you say? Why of course I'll give it back to you, no problem. Sorry for the trouble," Kat hurriedly sputtered, reaching into her pocket to withdraw….a purple and red chew toy.
She tossed it into the air and Kujo leaped up to snatch it in his jaws. He gave her one last withering glance before stalking from the alley, the pack following closely behinds, shifting into their canine forms as they exited the shadows.
Allie and Frederick jumped gracefully back down to the ground. Immediately upon landing, Allie stomped over to Kat and grabbed the back of her collar, shaking it wildly. "Stealing sacred religious icons, Bic Mac combo meals, we DEFINITELY need to work on your knowledge of dogs," she grumbled, dragging Kat out of the alleyway. Kat stumbled backwards glancing at Frederick for help. He shook his head; it was an inevitable doom for her then. Still, it brightened her night when Frederick gave her a high five, commending her on her sneaking and thievery skills, even if she did use supposedly dishonorable methods.
Oh yes, she was THE Black Kat.
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Yeah, stupid, I know. :l
And before you ask, NO, I am not the Kat in this short story. It was actually inspired by my cat Boo, who doesn't act like a cat at all (Until she's gets scared). And how the other two cats, Minnie and Marshmallow, have to teach her stuff it seems like. I'm more portrayed in Frederick than anyone else. Because I am a jerk. :l Also Kujo was inspired by my dog, Gracie, who likes to taunt Boo. But gets along with the others.
Blah blah blah.
Next chapter will be up soon. Today in fact. Just remember, if I get a beta response and they don't like the way the plot is going, the chapter WILL most likely be changed. And I'll tell you of this change. As soon as I get a beta, I will remove this chapter/author's note/random.