Coop hit the ground with a dull thud.
Dirt entered his eyes and nostrils and he felt the air rush out through his mouth as his lungs and diaphragm came into contact with the soft soil below Kat's spaceship. The impact had ruptured throughout his body so violently Coop wondered if he was paralysed. Coughing, he tried to sit up as fast as he could, but his head was spinning and his eyes were watering. Everything hurt again. But he had been through far worse than falling out of a spaceship naked. He had to get moving, he had to get away from Kat.
"Come on, Coop!" He whispered through gritted teeth and pushed himself to rise onto his hands and knees. If you can't walk, crawl! He shouted in his head, and begun to shuffle forward.
It was slow and painful, but Coop made his way through the dirt, groping around in the darkness on all fours. He felt the skin on his palms and knees wear down to nothing more than a gory mess of blood and filth. He felt silent tears roll down his cheek, but he refused to cry aloud.
"It doesn't hurt, it just stings!" He reassured himself.
After what felt like an hour, he stopped. He had reached what appeared to be a small forest, the outskirts of his home town, Bootsville.
Kat must've landed just outside of the suburbs, he thought.
It was dangerously quiet; Coop could hear his own breathing. Taking a moment to collect his thoughts he leant up against a tree, the bark rough against his exposed back.
How long has it been, Kat? Coop thought, projecting his question into Kat's brain. How long has it been since the day I woke up in your spaceship?
Almost five days, Kat replied.
Coop shivered. Although his skin was warm where it was scratched and bleeding, the rest of his body trembled from the bitter air which engulfed him mercilessly.
Cold, Coop? Kat teased, his laughter filling Coop's head.
He had been erasing the evidence of Coop's capture from the moment he pushed him off the ledge of his ship. He had cleaned the blood stains off the floors, removed his enemy's scent from the air and placed his torn and dirty clothes inside of a sliver box in preparation for what was to take place at the first sign of dawn. Everything had to be perfect.
Coop, however, didn't respond to Kat's taunts. His attention was drawn to other voices; voices that weren't in his head.
"Careful, bro, I heard they have spaceships out here too," One voice said cautiously.
"I know, but that's why I've got the camera," the other replied, "no matter the situation, we keep rolling, okay?"
"Guys, we should go back soon. We know all too well that their eyesight is better than others. Your mother…" A female begun to say, but she was interrupted by the first voice.
"We know, Fiona. We know," it said, the steps of three pairs of feet getting closer to Coop's location.
Fiona, Coop's eyes almost popped out of his head, Fiona?
And without thinking he opened his mouth and in a pathetic croak, he let his location known.
"Hello?" He called into the night.
The rustle of feet stopped and Coop was alone in the silence once again. Minutes passed slowly and then he heard a whisper, "What was that?"
"I don't know."
"Shut up!"
"Fiona?" Coop said softly, "Fiona? Is that you?"
"That sounded like…" he heard the female voice say, and then, suddenly in the darkness, he saw her blue eyes appear, "Coop!"
"Cat boy?" One voice said, revealing itself to be Lorne, video camera in hand.
"Coop?" Harley, Lorne's younger brother, said, "You're alive?"
"Hey, guys," Coop said flashing the most realistic smile he could manage. Although he felt ripples relief wash through his body, the pain and trauma were still fresh.
"Coop!" Lorne and Harley shouted together and stumbled through the thick towards him only to be stopped by Fiona. She grabbed their shirts and pulled them both to the ground.
"Lorne! Harley! You stupid idiots! Shut up and stay down!" She spat, her face screwed up in an expression of disgust. "Who are you? Are you really Cooper Burtonburger? Or are you just some alien spy?" She fired questions at him, shining white light from a torch into his eyes.
"Ow! Fiona! It is me! It's Coop!" he replied, shielding his eyes with his bloody hands.
"Really?" she retorted back, pulling a sliver alien laser from her back pocket, pointing the barrel at him.
"Fiona! Stop it!" Lorne cried out, pulling himself off the ground and grabbing the arm Fiona was holding the gun in.
"Let go now, Lorne." She said, "I told you. No chances. Not after what happened with Millie!" She choked on the last syllable.
Millie, Kat thought.
"Millie? What happened to Millie?" Coop interfered, trying to stand up, but falling back down against the tree again.
Fiona lowered her light but the laser gun was still focused on him. "When they landed, they spared no one."
Coop saw tears welling in the corners of her eyes.
Coop was humming to himself, nudging the ball along the pavement towards the local soccer fields.
"Why are we leaving so early, Coop?" Dennis asked trying to keep up with Coop's inconsistent walking speed. But before Coop could reply, Dennis heard a shriek come from the front porch of one of Coop's neighbours.
"Burtonburger!"
"I was trying to avoid her." Coop mumbled.
Coop wasn't sure what age Old Lady Munson was, but he could always count on the fact that her nickname didn't betray her appearance. She was a large, greying, wrinkly old woman who had it in for Coop and his father ever since they were children. She had a firm belief that all the Burtonburgers (aside from his spoiled little sister, Millie) were criminals just begging to be throw into gaol. She was ruthless, mean and very, very scary.
"Old Lady Mun- I mean, Mrs. Munson! How are you?" Coop said, trying to appear as innocence as possible. He knew he hadn't done anything wrong, but Old Lady Munson always found a way to shift the blame onto him.
"Were you in my garden this morning?" She yelled at Coop, storming down her stairs towards the boys.
"Why no, Mrs. Munson, why would I be in your garden when I was inside all morning…"
"Then who was it that moved Mr. Pickle Pants from his sitting spot?"
She also had a serious case of OGGCD – Obsessive Garden Gnome Collecting Disorder.
"Kat…" Coop whispered under his breath.
"WHAT DID YOU SAY, BOY?" She screamed.
"Nothing! I just thought that maybe-"
"I knew it was you!"
"No, Old Lad- Mrs. Munson! I would never touch Mr. Pickle Pants!"
"You move my gnomes AND you lie to my face? I'm going to have a word with your father!" She huffed and stomped towards Coop's house shouting 'Burtonburger' at the top of her lungs again.
"I'm sorry, Dad!" Coop said to himself as he picked up his soccer ball and began to run. Burt was just as, if not more, fearful of Old Lady Munson than he was.
"Hey, Coop, wait up!" Dennis called from behind Coop.
"No way, I'm not stopping until I can't see our block anymore!" Coop called back.
"It's about what Old Lady Munson said just now!"
Coop slowed and let Dennis catch up.
"Thanks for finally stopping!" He said between breaths.
"What do you want to say? Make it quick, she can smell fear."
"You know how Old Lady Munson was yelling at you for being in her garden?"
"Yeah! I was the one who she was screaming at!"
"Well, what if Mr. Pickle Pants has something to do with Kat's secret plans? I think we should go back and investigate ourselves. We should have enough time to make it back to soccer try-outs if we run!"
"Uh no! I'm NOT going back into that warzone!" Coop stretched. "And I'm sure it's nothing! Kat goes into her garden and messes things up just to get me in trouble anyway! Why should this time be any different?"
"I was afraid you'd say that, Coop," Dennis said, sighing.
They walked in silence for a few minutes but it was suddenly interrupted when Coop heard the sound of a heavy bag drop onto the pavement.
"I'm going back, Coop. I've, uh, forgotten my, um, tape! Yeah! Tape!" Dennis spluttered.
"You can use mine, if you want. Come on!" Coop replied.
"Uh, no thanks. Mine's… special sports tape."
"Fine, suit yourself," Coop picked up Dennis' bag and threw it over his free shoulder, "I'll see you in ten."
"Thanks, I'll be back as soon as possible!" He said and turned upon his heel and began to jog back to his house, or more exactly, Old Lady Munson's house. Dennis hadn't been able to shake the feeling that Kat was up to something huge. And, with Dennis, he'd rather check and be late than ignore the signs and be sorry later.
He just wished he had Coop with him.
A fresh wave of hurt buckled through Coop as his head pieced everything together.
His family truly were dead.
"Guys, I need your help getting up. I'm hurt pretty bad." He begun, taking deep breathes in attempt to stop himself from breaking down right there and then. "So, please, trust me. I am the real Cooper Burtonburger."
"I believe you, buddy." Lorne was the first to say, "And you should too, Fiona."
"Fine. But if he does anything weird, I'm shooting him. Got it?" She said, putting her laser back into her pocket.
"How'd you get that?" Coop said, offering his arm to Lorne who stood above him.
"Stole it during the First Landing," she replied, "It was funny, actually. It felt like I had already used one before."
It's because you already have, Coop thought to himself.
"Woah, dude!" Lorne cried out. He had just realised Coop was completely naked.
"Where are your clothes?" Harley joined in. Fiona just shut her eyes, a red blush forming on her cheeks.
"I've got some explaining to do, I know." Coop answered. Rolling his eyes, Lorne took off his dark blue hoodie and gave it to Coop.
"Cover up, Cat Boy. Taking on the aliens is one thing, but doing it naked isn't necessary."
"Thanks for the advice." He smirked, accepting Lorne's hand.
Happy, Coop? Kat asked, giggling.
Anything is better than being with you, he retorted back.
Why must you hurt me this way? Kat asked sarcastically back, which made Coop mad.
Now that I've found my friends, we're going to stop you and your stupid alien invasion. You'll never have Earth. Never.
That's exactly what I want to hear Coop. Get your spirit back, and when you have, I'll be waiting for you.
Happy New Year, everyone! In case you hadn't figured it out already, Love Thy Enemy is based about a year and a few months after the final episode of Kid vs Kat Season 2 (and everyone knows that SPOILER ALERT Millie, Lorne, Harley AND Fiona all get their memory of Catnip erased by Mr. Kat. It'd also like to mention that 'Love Thy Enemy' now has an *unofficial* themesong (of such). Anyway, I'd like you all to check out "Return (Imperative Reaction Mix)" by Bruderschaft. Just copy and paste the title into YouTube or something.
Next update should be within a couple of weeks, since I'm on holidays. Peace!