"I don´t know how you always do that but I´m impressed. Really really impressed. I mean Wow… really!" Parva tried to express her amazement with words.
"Well, it seems that I haven´t impressed you enough." Said Scratch and leaned back in a big armchair and looked calmly into the fireplace in front of him. "Because if I had you wouldn´t talk."

"Yeah… and I know that I should better shut up but…" Parva leaned forward in her armchair which stood face to face to each other beside the fireplace. "How did you make that with the flames? What kind of sorcery was that?!"

"Well, a wizard never reveals his tricks." Winked Scratch grinning.
"Oh come on." Begged Parva. "Please please please…"
Scratch began to laugh. Parva behaved like a three year old girl and Scratch could really laugh days about here imitation. "Okay but just if you promise me that you won´t tell it to anyone."

"I promise!"
"Okay. You remember that I wanted you to get me the number of this Hollywood guy?"
"The special effect guy? Yes."

"Actually he was a stunt man." Corrected Scratch. "Have you ever asked yourself how they make these stunts where people run burning through the streets? Or generally all stunts that have to do with fire."

"I just thought that this was some kind of CGI animation."
"No, they really burn." Explained Scratch "But they don´t hurt themselves and there is a good reason for that. A special paste they put on their clothes. You can burn for three minutes before the fire starts to burn you… For this special trick I even put that stuff on my fur. By the way, here is a little piece of advice. Don´t do that. It burns like lava even if your skin don´t get damaged."

"Ah!" exclaimed Parva understanding. "That´s why you wanted to know something about the T.U.F.F. fire protection!"
"Exactly! I needed something that extinguish the living candle that is now sitting so cool in front of you."

"And you wanted me to call the other villains to distract most of the T.U.F.F. agents, right?"
"You learn fast." Praised Scratch happily.
"Yeah, that´s a reason why I´m the best in my class." Retorted Parva giving Scratch a wink.

"Okay, first you´re second best in your class and second this is just because all of the others in your class are too stupid to switch the light on."
"Even if that was true… that was kind of insulting." The young cat girl leaned back in her armchair and gazed around in the luxury hotel room in which she and Scratch sat. "Uhm… Scratch?"

"Yes?"
"Why are we here?"
"A very interesting question. The old romans once said…"
"No." interrupted Parva before Scratch could give her a Latin lesson. "I mean in this hotel room. That´s not your usual style, is it? I mean what´s with… uhm… standard protocol?"

Scratch folded his arms in front of his chest and gave her a complacent look as he heard her question. "It´s easy, we are actors on a big stage. So we will also behave like actors, that´s all."
"I still don´t understand."

"Parva, our plan this time is not to stay undercover as long as possible. It´s about provoking the right people without involving the uninvolved. Sending the right massages to the right receivers. So our plan has more a theatric nature. And Petropolis is our stage."

"Yeah okay, but isn´t that a bit dangerous?"
"To be honest, yes." The dog said seriously. "But I need this room for our first theatric action."
"What will this be?"
"Sending a message… and annoying T.U.F.F.."

"Oh my god" gasped Parva realizing something. "Is that the reason why we have this saw here?"
"Yes." Replied Scratch baldly.
"Whoa whoa whoa… Scratch! I thought you want to interrogate him!"

"Yeah, that´s the first part."
"Oh god… that´s… disgusting!" She shook her head in disgust.
"What? You thought that all these stories about me are just fictional?"

"Actually yes!" Parva said that not because of juvenile naivety, she got to know Scratch as a very friendly person that was always in the mood for a joke. He maybe was sometimes a bit pensively but he was just not the person that was described in those stories. Not the person who slaughters in Sierra Leone a bunch of child soldiers. "Oh… then here is another piece of advice. Every rumor has a bit truth in it." Giggled Scratch and stood up.

At a leisurely pace he strolled around in the room for a while and admired the tastefully furnished room. It was the most expensive suite in the Petropolis hotel. And it cost Scratch a little fortune to rent it for a week. But if you want to have golden doorknobs or a T.V. that is as big as the whole wall at which it stood, you have to pay a little fortune.

After Scratch´s need of seeing flashy things was satisfied he walked to the big saw, Parva already mentioned, and picked it up from the ground on which it lay. "So, time to start I guess. Parva, you better leave this room. I don´t think that you want to be here when this starts."
"No. I… I´ll stay." Meant the girl with a firm but fearful voice and stood up from her chair.

"I can´t really approve that, girl. You don´t want to see that. I don´t want you to see that."
"I´m not a little girl, Scratch!" she protested. "I´m a full member of this team! Please treat me like that."

"As you wish… Anyway, Seneca!" the bald dog shouted towards the closed door that separated the luxury ante-room with one of the bedrooms. "Get the guest out!"
It didn´t take a long time until the door got pushed open and Seneca pulled a chair through the door with the same smeary weasel on it which Scratch had seen in the T.U.F.F. interrogation room.

Even if the face of the weasel wasn´t recognizable anymore. Seneca did a really good job in the pre-interrogation. To explain that, pre-interrogation is a special treatment the interrogator gives his victim before he talks to him the first time. That can be almost everything from administering drugs to the person over psychological torture, like isolation or similar, to a simple beating like in this case.

And you wouldn´t believe how versed Seneca was when it comes to the last one. Behind his cold calm and quiet behavior slumbers the beat abilities of a barbarian.
Seneca pulled the chair into the middle of the room and began then to touch his shoulder with a face contorted with pain.

"Pulled muscle?" asked Scratch and lay the saw in front of the chair. He growled approvingly and added with his squeaky voice. "Maybe while I rearranged his face."
"Yeah, that´s possible." Giggled Scratch. "May I make you a suggestion? You take Parva and have lunch somewhere in the city. Or you two can go shopping or something."

"Privacy?" mumbled Seneca raising an eyebrow.
"Exactly."
"Wait!" interjected Parva angrily. "I wanted to stay!"
"Maybe, but you also wanted to be treated as a full team member."

"Oh come on I…"
"That is not that I ask you to do this." Scratch voice sounded suddenly cold and stern like the voice of someone who wasn´t joking, what was a reason why Parva yield and left the room with Seneca. But of course not without letting some steam off by showing Scratch her middle finger.

As the door of the suite snapped shut, Scratch sighed tiredly. "This is becoming some kind of running gag or something." He turned now to the man on the chair and forced one of his famous smile on his face. Scratch didn´t know why this was so hard for him right now. He was waiting for this moment for almost three months, he should smile like a little kid in a candy store in this moment.

He had this feeling since the last week, the feel that he was somehow stuck. Not with his revenge more with his life in general. He remembered that he once had plans. Good plans. Plans like founding a family or climbing a mountain.

But these plans were put ad acta… and he didn´t know if he would ever open the file cabinet ever again. Scratch shook his head, it wasn´t the time now to get melancholy. It was time to ask a few questions.

"Mr Richards! Finally we meet. You wouldn´t believe how hard it was to find you."
The weasel lifted his head weakly up and gazed exhausted out of his beaten, teeth missing face at Scratch. "I know why I´m here. And I´ll tell you nothing Scratch." Breathed Richards.

"Ha! Do you know how often I heard this phrase? 21 times. And you know how often the people talked after that? 21 times. So can´t we skip this shit?"
"No."
"Seriously Richards, was that was Seneca done to you not enough?"

"I know that you will kill me." Hissed the weasel. "So why telling you something?"
"Because you can choose the way you die. Fast or slow and painful. It´s an easy decision. Tell me the name of the one who is behind that all and you receive variant one."
"If that are my choices I´m ready to receive my doom with pleasure for our glorious goals."
"Glorious goals?" Scratch asked confused. "What do you mean with that?"

"Wait you don´t kn… Hahaha!" Richards began suddenly to laugh like an idiot. "And I thought that you have at least a clue. That we just have to make one mistake and then you will uncover everything! But you don´t even know why we doing what we doing! You just caught our tool until now, don´t you? Oh my god you really needed seven years to catch someone we pay! HAHAHA!" his laughter got louder and louder. "Isn´t that ironic? The one we fear the most isn´t even close enough to hurt us! Come on Scratch, do your worst. I know that leave my children a better world when I leave in silent."

Scratch couldn´t remember in this moment when it was the last time he was so confused. What was Richards talking about? Glorious goals? Scratch thought he would search for a guy that does that because of money and power. But glorious goals didn´t sound like that.
"And that are your last words?" enquired Scratch hopping that the weasel would made up his mind.
"Yes."

"Hmm…" Scratch stroked pensively over his chin. "I thought that I would get at least something out of you. I mean I saw you in the interrogation room. You seemed insecure and afraid… I thought this would be easy."

"Well, I was. I´m loyal towards our goal and towards the boss. I would never give away anything, even if it doesn´t seem so." Richards had a soft grin on his lips and gave Scratch through that an almost guilty feeling. It was now even harder to do this now, but it had to be done. However, why should he now let him suffer if that´s useless?

Of course he could torture him, it wouldn´t be a big deal. He had tortured information out of all kinds of people but this guy… Scratch had to admit that he never saw someone who was so full of conviction for something. He knew that this man believed so strong in his ideals that he would endure any pain to save them.

Slowly his hands closed around the neck of his victim and tightened his grab. Gradually he increased the pressure on his throat. Richards retched and writhed but it was in vein. Scratch didn´t stop until every bit of life vanished the weasels body.
"What a waste." Meant Scratch as he pulled his hands away from the throat and laid it at the saw. "Let´s start this better now than later."

Meanwhile almost on the other side of the planet, Kitty just entered her hotel room. But in a contrary to the room in which Scratch was it was less luxury. But she couldn´t afford the same luxury as Scratch, mainly because she just hadn´t the same funds. But that didn´t stop her from having one of the best times in her live yet.

She has been in India for eight days now and she couldn´t stop grinning. These day were just unbelievably fantastic. She saw places so beautiful that words are not enough to describe them. She met people that were so full of joy that this joy even caught her. And she danced, even if she wasn´t a good dancer. To sounds that were new for her ears but nevertheless sounded so familiar.

It was a time without grief, without fear, without hate.
The only thing she was afraid of was the thought that this time would be over soon. That she had to return to the grey daily routine which would suck every drop of life out of her.

"The best is not to think too much about that…" she said to herself. "That just brings me down."
Kitty walked to her bed and flopped backwards onto it. "Wonderful… I could just sleep right now." She moaned relaxed. "Or just enjoy this a bit longer pre-sleep state just a bit longer."

Kitty closed her eyes and felt like she would fly on the soft mattress. "Oh wait… damn. I still have a free massage in an hour." She suddenly remembered. If she went to sleep now she would definitely not get up in one hour. So she did the only thing that was right and stood up again even if it was unbelievably hard to leave these soft sheets.

"What wouldn´t I do for a massage" she sighed as she stretched a bit. She wanted to take a shower to galvanize her spirits but a peculiar noise stopped her, a humming sound. "What?" Kitty looked around searching. The sound seemed to come from one of her bags. Cautiously, not knowing what she would find, she approached to the small black bag and opened it.

She rummaged through quite a lot of clothes before she found the source of the sound. A cellphone, just an ordinary cellphone. "Oh just a cellphone… wait that isn´t my cellphone. Or is it?" Kitty didn´t really know if it was here cellphone or not. As a spy you have so many cellphones that it´s easy to lose the overview.

You don´t use them for calling someone of course, you mainly use them for building all sort of things out of them. From bugs to tracking devices you can almost build anything if you have a cellphone.
Kitty took it out of the bag and inspected the phone. It was a modern touch screen smart phone and that thing was vibrating but because it someone was calling.

Just because the battery was almost dead. "Who constructs these things?" said Kitty as she looked at the display where the warning 'battery dead' was constantly flashing. "I mean instead of using the last bit of charge to keep the vital functions alive it just nags you with this energy to put it on the charger!"

Kitty was about to put the cellphone back into the bag as she saw a cable that also didn´t belong to her. "Okay, that is really not my cellphone" she mumbled and walked driven by curiosity about the device to the next plug and put the phone onto the local power grid.

"So let´s see… you aren´t a bug. That´s sure. You´re battery runs down too fast for that… At least I wouldn´t use a smartphone for this purpose… and…" Kitty removed the cover from the back of the phone. "… no tracking device is attached to the battery here. So this is maybe really just a smartphone. But not mine. Let´s see…"

She now began to search through the phone. But there was nothing until she inspected the contact list. Under contacts there was just one contact and she had just hoped that this person would leave her alone. "Dudley…" she sighed as she saw the picture of the mutt. "... Why can´t you just leave me alone?"

Kitty pushed with her thumb on the contact, which was named 'emergency Dudley', to dial the number, she wanted to give it straight to him that she wanted to have nothing to do with him anymore.

"Hello?" An occupied seeming voice answered from the other side of the line.
"DUDLEY LEAVE ME ALONE!" she screamed into the speaker and drowned with her voice the constant sawing-sound that was caused in her opinion definitely from the bad connection.

"Ah… you found my cellphone!" laughed Scratch happily.
"OF COURSE! AND HOW THE HELL YOU GET THIS INTO MY BELONGINGS?!"
"I put into your bag while you slept so peaceful on that bench on the airport. Anyway, this is actually an emergency number… Are you in some kind of trouble?"

"YES" yelled Kitty. "AN UNPLEASANT GHOST FROM MY PAST IS HAUNTING ME!"
The sawing-sound suddenly stopped and the voice from the other side sighed. "Kitty… I´m sorry that I bother you."

Kitty was taken by complete surprise as she heard that what sounded like an apology.
"And I would immediately stop this all and leave but this thing went too far. I am too deep involved into this all… and you too."

"I, involved?" she repeated his words.
"They will maybe visit you and they will make you an offer then. And if that happens and you refuse, what you´ll definitely do, I´ll be the only one who will be able to protect you."

"Why should they make me an offer? T.U.F.F. isn´t connected to this conspiracy!"
"Kitty I have to hang up now. Call me just if there is an emergency!" replied Scratch rough and ended the conversation.

Kitty was a bit taken aback as the conversation ended suddenly. The thing didn´t made sense. Why should they bother T.U.F.F.? And if they would make her an offer… was the chief also connected to that? No, that was impossible. She wasn´t even willing to let this thought come to her mind. The chief would have never done something like that.

But whatever it was what Dudley meant, it was able to chase away her carefree mood. All the fears were back. And under them the ugly feeling that she went away and neglected her duty by leaving the city alone with the conspirators and Scratch. A voice in her said that she should end her vacation earlier and go back to the city to check if there´s everything in order.
"I go… but I go after this free massage. I mean… it´s free."