.

Reuniting

Lithuania

Camille made her way backstage where various pet owners were gathered, grooming their pets and doing some last-minute training. The moment she'd heard the amount of money being offered as a prize for this competition, she'd leapt on entering Debutante. Even better, Falsetto Jones was presiding as a judge and hosting it at his home. In lieu of their brief partnership during the trafficking crisis, maybe she could persuade him to, you know, bend the rules a bit. Just a little. She put Debutante down on their assigned table and stroked her head. "Stay here, precious. Mommy's going to do a little bribing." Debutante mewed and purred, rubbing against Camille lovingly. Camille kissed her precious pet's head and headed off, taking on the form of a caterer.

She headed toward where she'd pinpointed Falsetto's office and smirked. He wouldn't be able to resist her womanly charms, she figured. Unless he was, y'know, not into that, but if that was the case, her methods would just have to switch up a bit. Get a little rougher. Or she could just take on the form of some ultra-cute guy and pour on the flirt. She reached the door and knocked. "Name and business," he said from inside.

"Uh, Cameron from room service," she called.

"Enter," he replied.

She slipped inside and shut the door tightly behind her. She looked back and gasped, seeing a gun pointed in her direction. "Whoa!" she exclaimed, throwing her hands up.

"Cameron from Room Service, is it? You realize that's the oldest trick in the book, don't you? I know the catering staff. None of them are named Cameron. The person whose body you've snatched is called Mike."

"Geez, chill out," she replied with a frown, dropping the guise and transforming back into herself.

He smirked a bit, lowering the gun. "Miss Leon. I anticipated a visit from you when I saw your name on the participant list. The answer is no."

"But you don't even know what I'm asking!" she protested.

"A little dishonesty on the side to guarantee your beloved kitty's first-place prize?" Falsetto asked.

She blinked at him then frowned and harrumphed, crossing her arms. "Fine. Be like that."

"I have a reputation, Miss Leon. One doesn't simply walk in here and ask me to ruin it. Not unless they're offering something particularly interesting."

"The bed and I are ready when you are," she flatly replied, trying to fluster him.

"As tempting as that is, I'm afraid I'll have to decline," he said.

"I have a hot male cousin I can set you up with," she said.

He laughed. "Miss Leon, you're the one with the parts I prefer, but offering me yourself in exchange for victory is asking me to step over a line I refuse to cross under any circumstances."

Her interest was piqued a little. "Seriously? You realize like, every other guy out there would jump on it, right? What, am I not good enough for you?"

"You give precious little credit to the male sex, don't you?" he replied.

"Am I wrong?!" she demanded.

"Yes," he answered. "I'm not sure about the types of men you tend to cross, but I assure you the vast majority are better than that. At the very least, they certainly have more dignity than you seem to believe."

"Look, what's it going to take to ensure Debutante places first?" Camille testily asked.

"I don't take bribes, Camille. It's really not my style," he replied.

"Come on, Falsey, work with me!" she whined.

He frowned a little, not quite sure how he felt about that nickname. "Hmm... Perhaps I can make an exception this once, but if I do, you're going to owe me a favor," he said.

"A naughty one?" she bitterly asked.

He smirked a bit. "Not in the way you imply," he replied.

She stared at him coldly, considering the offer. "Ugh, fine," she said, throwing up her hands in exasperation.

Just then the classical music Falsetto had been listening to in the background cut off. "We interrupt this program to bring you some breaking news," a reporter said. Falsetto and Camille looked over at it curiously. "A strange infection that seems to have originated in Middleton USA has now spread throughout Europe. Symptoms include groaning, moaning, roaring, unprovoked attacks, biting, scratching, chasing, and shambling. In what can only be described as a true zombie apocalypse, it is recommended that everyone stay indoors. Do not, I repeat do not, allow yourself to be bitten or scratched. Wait, what's that? Oh no! Run!" the reporter screamed. The radio fizzled and went dead while Camille and Falsetto stared at it with eyes wide in shock.

"Um, did we really just hear that?" Camille asked, sounding slightly worried.

"It's probably a publicity stunt," Falsetto said, shrugging it off. "Come on. The show is about to start. Care to accompany me down?" he asked, offering his arm.

"R-right. Publicity stunt. Totally," Camille uneasily replied, linking her arm through his. Nervously she looked towards the window.

"Everything will be just fine, Miss Leon," Falsetto assured, guiding her down.

"Oh totally," she replied, clearly still not at ease. He frowned a bit curiously but didn't press.

KP

The two walked down the strangely empty corridor. "This is weird. The hall was filled with people when I was heading up to your room," she said, confused. Albeit they'd all been standing pretty still.

He frowned, looking around. "Hmm... Maybe I shouldn't have brushed off that news report after all," he said.

She gasped, looking quickly up at him. "You don't mean…" she began.

"I certainly hope not," he replied, but this wasn't sitting well with him. "Stay here for a minute." He released her arm and went into a nearby room, leaving her alone in the hall. She swallowed and rubbed her arms nervously. She heard meowing and barking, but somehow it didn't sound normal. Uneasily she looked down the long hall leading to some steps down.

"Um, Falsetto?" she called nervously.

She heard growls and gasped, spinning, only to see Falsetto exit the room he'd entered leading along his two Lithuanian Wolfhounds. She sighed in relief. "What's happening?" he asked.

"I um, I heard some really creepy animal sounds," she replied, looking nervously down the hall toward the stairs. Falsetto frowned curiously. Just then the wolfhounds began barking and howling, pulling against their master. He held them still, not allowing them to move him from his place. She was kind of impressed. You'd never have guessed how easily he could keep mastery over the two huge dogs. Especially given the way he was built.

"Adomas, Alexandras, heel," Falsetto ordered. sternly. They fell into line, snarling at the staircase. Eerie moans and groans echoed from its direction.

Camille backed away and quickly got behind Falsetto, holding his shoulders nervously. "Is there another way down?" she anxiously asked. "Or out?"

"My private jet is on the roof ready to go," Falsetto answered, pulling out the gun he'd trained on her earlier. "End of this hall and to the right."

"I left Debutante in the pet room!" she said anxiously.

"Oh for goodness... Adomas, Alexandras, protect," he ordered, pointing at Camilla. They barked in understanding and immediately moved to her side. He passed off their leashes to the woman. "Get to the jet. I'll get the cat. Assuming she isn't infected too. Fortunately for you, the Sphinx breed happens to be one of my all-time favourites."

"What? N-no, you can't! If we're the only two people left who are still normal..." she began.

"Then we're doomed either way and we might as well get it over with quickly," he cut off. "Go."

"You can't just expect me to leave you!" she protested as the moans and groans and growls grew closer. The wolfhounds began to frantically bark, interspersed with whimpering, and their hackles raised straight up. Camille and Falsetto turned quickly and their eyes widened in horror. Appearing over the top of the stairs was a wall of infected people and their pets staggering toward them looking rabid.

"Oh my gosh!" Camille exclaimed, covering her mouth and shaking her head.

"Alright, new plan. Run!" Falsetto ordered, grabbing her arm and bolting. She let out a surprised scream, but quickly recovered herself and followed with leashes in hand and wolfhounds racing alongside them. Fearfully she looked back. Debutante. Where was Debutante?!

KP

The duo burst out onto the roof. "Is that it?" she asked urgently, pointing towards something that didn't exactly look like a jet but she was guessing couldn't be anything else.

"I'll admit the design is abnormal, but it gets the job done," he replied. "Activate!" he shouted at it. The engines started up almost silently.

"Whoa! The thing looks like some kind of alien spaceship!" Camille exclaimed.

Falsetto smirked to himself but didn't comment on the remark. "Come on!" he insisted, racing towards it with Camille. The dogs leapt into it first and turned around to wait. Falsetto followed them, then pulled Camille on board as well. "Liftoff!" he ordered the jet. Slowly it began to rise.

Just then they heard a frantic meow and gasped, looking back. Camille's eyes widened in shock and hope. "Debutante!" she cried. Her pet was uninfected and desperately trying to reach her, meowing frantically.

"Oh for the love of…" Falsetto began. He cut off his statement, leaping out of the jet and racing to the cat. He couldn't believe he was risking his life for this thing. He grabbed the feline by the scruff and raced back to the jet, Camille was gaping in shock, unable to believe she'd really just seen him risk his life for her pet.

Falsetto tossed the cat up. Debutante meowed in surprise. Camille caught her quickly. The master thief leapt for the ship but fell just short! Alarm filled his eyes and he heard the moaning. He looked back with a gasp. The hoard was approaching. There was no way he was going to die for a cat! Things like that only happened in movies! He sprang desperately for the jet again, but this time she dropped to her knees, bending down and grabbing his wrists. The wolfhounds caught the back of her clothing so she didn't fall out and helped quickly pull their master on board just as the 'zombies' reached their locale. He was hardly able to get inside in time to avoid being bitten or scratched.

The two humans looked back down in shock. When his heart rate at last slowed down, Falsetto swallowed in relief and turned to Camille. "Uh, thanks for the save," he warily said, not sure what to make of it.

"You like, totally risked your life for me and Debutante! There was no way I was just letting you get devoured or something! Besides, I have no clue how to work this thing." She replied standing up and looking around. Wow. It really did look alien. She frowned somewhat suspiciously. Come to think of it, there'd been reports about some attempted alien invasion not that long ago... Lowardian, she believed? Whatever that was. Was it possible that...

"Well, now that that's over, we need a plan," Falsetto said, standing up and brushing himself off, breaking her out of her thought process.

"What do you suggest?" Camille asked.

"Heading for the origin of this whole disaster in the hopes they've managed to contain it or find a cure. Given the United States' ridiculous military force, I should certainly hope they were able to nip this in the bud before it got out of hand," Falsetto answered. "Besides, I have contacts there. People who might be able to help. With luck, whatever this is will be over as quickly as it stated."

"What could have happened? Everyone seemed so normal only a few minutes ago!" Camille said.

"Did they, Miss Leon?" Falsetto asked. "On my security camera feeds, they seemed oddly still and strangely quiet. Especially for an event this size."

Camille grimaced a bit. "I uh, I never thought about that, but now that you mentioned it, they did seem totally spaced out. Weirdly obsessed with what they were doing too. I just thought it was like, concentration or something. I mean, how did it hit everyone but us? It doesn't make any sense! None of it."

"That's what we're going to have to figure out," Falsetto replied, walking to the front of the ship. At least that was what Camille determined to call it from here on in until he decided to disclose what it really was. Military prototype, alien spacecraft... frankly at this point nothing would surprise her about this man. He was a completely different breed, she wryly figured. Probably the same breed as the total enigma that was Jack Hench.

Upperton

Hirotaka sat before Sensei, torches lighting up the small cave. The two were meditating or rather attempting to. Sensei was well aware, though, that Hirotaka was unable to focus. He sensed the young ninja wished to talk, so he gave up on his own meditation and waited patiently for Hirotaka to let the guise of concentration go and speak up. Yori was practicing her martial arts further back in their hideaway. Fukushima was on guard duty outside, which meant the likelihood of their being interrupted was next to nothing. Fukushima had been one of Yamanouchi's greatest guards once. It had seemed like nothing could get passed him.

"Master, I have done a terrible thing," Hirotaka soon said, dropping the feigned concentration and looking woefully up at him.

"You, child? You who are infallible?" Sensei asked, tone amused. Hirotaka knew the man was mocking him. After all, what person on Earth was infallible? There was no one alive on this planet who had not done at least one terrible thing in their lives.

"Sensei, what I have done is worse. I massacred twenty men in cold blood," Hirotaka said, guilt tearing at his heart.

"For the crime which they inflicted upon you and upon Fukushima. Surely their wrongdoings far surpassed your own," Sensei said, but he didn't speak in a reasoning or argumentative tone. Just an inquisitive one.

"Please. Do not play this game with me, Master," Hirotaka pled.

"It was vengeance, young man," Sensei said.

"Vengeance was not mine to repay!" Hirotaka insisted. "No mortal man possesses the right to judge another. Such dealings are for the gods to decide. I have done a great badness."

"Is it for you to decide whether what you did was justified or wrong?" Sensei asked.

"No, Master, but I know this was wrong," he replied, head hung.

"Are you your own judge, Hirotaka?" Sensei asked.

Hirotaka was silent. "No, Sensei, but that does little to ease my guilt. I fear if I let it go and move on, I will become hardened beyond redemption."

"Guilt is something we all bear, child. I still feel regret over the actions of my past. Some dating as far back as childhood," Sensei said.

"This was a slaughter, Sensei!" Hirotaka insisted.

"Have you never killed before?" Sensei questioned, and Hirotaka stiffened. He said nothing. Yes, he had killed before… But only to protect the school and his loved ones or because it was his duty! Never in vengeance!

"It does not make it less painful," Hirotaka answered.

"That is good. It proves that your heart is still true," Sensei replied. Opening his eyes and looking at Hirotaka, he said, "You will not become like the men who so wounded you and Fukushima. You will never be like them." Hirotaka was quiet. That had hit home, he noted.

"Thank you, Master," Hirotaka replied, bowing to the man and then rising to leave. Sensei watched after him and smiled affectionately but tiredly. Slowly that smile fell, and he bowed his head.

KP

Hirotaka swaggered coolly out of the cave as if nothing had happened, the smirk that he usually sported now planted on his face. "Hi," he greeted Fukushima before flicking up a piece of gum and catching it in his mouth. Fukushima smirked and the two fist-bumped. The younger ninja's smile fell right after, though, becoming a concerned frown.

"I know that habit of yours. What happened?" Fukushima asked. "You had planned to speak to Sensei. Did it do more damage than good?"

"Surprisingly, it helped," Hirotaka replied.

"Though precious little it seems, if you are chewing gum to combat a stress craving," Fukushima wryly said.

"Sensei may speak in riddles, Fukushima, but his advice is sound. Only sometimes too real and raw," Hirotaka replied.

"You mean his advice is sound if you can unravel his words," Fukushima dryly replied. Hirotaka smirked and playfully got his friend into a headlock, rubbing his hair with a fist. The Americans had some ridiculous term for it. 'Noogie' or 'noggin rub', he believed. Whatever a noggin was. Given the context, he supposed it must be the head, but it seemed a ridiculous phrase to use nonetheless. Fukushima broke away, grinning at him.

"What have you noticed so far?" Hirotaka asked, getting back to the task at hand and leaning against the stone, oozing his regular coolness. He had sorely been neglecting that part of himself as of late. Then again, there hadn't been much time to be light-hearted and casual recently.

"It has been quiet. Oddly so," Fukushima replied, becoming a little more serious.

"Oddly bad?" Hirotaka asked.

"When is oddly good?" Fukushima replied.

"Hmm, this could be problematic," Hirotaka remarked, holding his chin between his fingers ponderously. It seemed there would be no time to ooze coolness now either.

"If we remain on guard, we should be fine," Fukushima said.

"Hmm... Perhaps," Hirotaka replied.

Fukushima shook his head ruefully. "You have changed, my friend. Gone is your carefree personality. Your 'coolness' as the Outsider, uh, Ron, would say."

"I have matured, Fukushima," Hirotaka replied. "But I have not changed as much as you would think."

"Good. Slowly but surely the life I once knew has been unraveled before my eyes. I do not believe I can take much more change," Fukushima sadly said.

"No matter what happens, I will be at your side, brother," Hirotaka promised.

"Until you die," Fukushima answered quietly. Hirotaka winced and stayed quiet, looking ahead once more. Yes… Until he died… For a long moment, there was silence. "I overcame my mother's death, but when Monkey Fist came for the Lotus Blade... That is when it all began falling apart... It was a trial I could not overcome, and whatever I had let fester and grow inside me for so long spilled out."

"It seems everything starts to fall apart when Team Drakken gets involved," Hirotaka said.

Fukushima was quiet. "I do not regret that he came," he finally said. Hirotaka didn't comment on that. "For a moment, just a moment, I knew again what it was like to have a parent."

"Was he much of one?" Hirotaka asked.

"Perhaps not… He was manipulative, power-hungry, and obsessed, but it was better than nothing," Fukushima answered.

"And…" Hirotaka pressed.

Fukushima was quiet. "And I believe that once he truly did love me as a son," he finally confessed.

"Given his actions during the incident, I believe he still might," Hirotaka said.

"I only wish I had gotten that second chance at a lost childhood," Fukushima murmured.

"Then you would not be the same person you are today. You would have been molded by him," Hirotaka said.

"Or I would have molded him and he would not have become as bad as he is," Fukushima said.

Hirotaka thought a bit, then smirked teasingly. "Perhaps, but on the other hand you might not have met me or Yori or Monique or…"

"I get the point," Fukushima said, frowning at him in some annoyance. He looked ahead once more and smiled a bit. "Perhaps that in itself outweighs the downsides." Hirotaka grinned affectionately.

"Hirotaka, Fukushima, Sensei wishes to speak with us. He says it is urgent," Yori said from behind. The two turned curiously.

"Good news or bad?" Fukushima asked.

"I am unsure, but somehow I do not believe it will be good," Yori replied solemnly.

KP

Yori, Hirotaka, and Fukushima listened in horror to Sensei's tale. An illness had spread throughout the world that could only be described as a zombie apocalypse minus the infected being dead. Snapping out of the shock, Yori exclaimed, "Sensei, what of Stoppable-san and the others?"

"I sense they are alive, but I will not be able to help you find them this time. Soon I will join the diseased," Sensei confessed.

The three ninjas gasped and paled. There was silence for a long moment. "What?" Yori finally found her voice to ask.

"It has taken everything I had to keep you three safe, amongst others. In the process, I neglected to do the same for myself," Sensei answered. "Now I grow tired. I feel the poison boiling in my blood."

"Master, there must be some way around…" Hirotaka began.

"There is no way. Not yet. But perhaps you will be able to find a cure," Sensei mused.

"Master Sensei, what shall we do?" Fukushima asked, feeling suddenly very afraid.

"Find the others. That is all the advice I have the power to give you," Sensei replied, voice a little slurred

"We will go immediately, Sensei," Fukushima said, rising quickly with Yori and Hirotaka. He paused, though, when he saw that the old man's eyes were now shut. "M-master Sens…" Fukushima began, approaching and reaching out his hand. All at once Sensei's head snapped up and he lunged with a growl. Fukushima cried out in terror.

Hirotaka dragged him away quickly. "Run!" he ordered.

"Sensei, no!" Yori exclaimed. Hirotaka grabbed her arm as well, pulling both of them out of the cave as the old man chased after them.

"He tried to bite me! He tried to bite me!" Fukushima repeated in horror, gaping at his arm and praying there was no mark there. Thankfully, there wasn't.

"We must ignore our sadness, all of us! We must find Amelia and whoever else is with her. She will be in Middleton. She was attending a fundraiser. Ron and Monique were among those joining her," Hirotaka said. "With luck, they will still be there." Yori and Fukushima nodded in agreement, following his lead.

Middleton

Mrs. Renton watched solemnly out the window as the hoards attempted to converge on her home. Huddled inside were her son and his companions. She looked solemnly back at them. They were all so young... Not one of them had a parent left uninfected, she knew. It was only her, so she needed to take responsibility for them. Amelia, the oldest of them, was putting on a brave face and entering big-sister mode, but she was frazzled too, Mrs. Renton knew, and as much as she was trying to care for everyone else, she needed to be cared for too.

Mrs. Renton let the curtain drop and crossed to her. "Amelia dear, rest. You've done all you can for now," she said, putting a hand on the young woman's shoulder. Amelia looked woefully up at her. She offered the girl a reassuring smile. Amelia hesitated a little longer before nodding in agreement and falling back onto a chair looking stressed.

"How long do we have before the defenses are breached?" Kim asked quietly, arms wrapped around her knees. Mrs. Renton was quiet. She really didn't want to answer that. She shook her head. "Not much longer," she confessed. "For as long as the generator holds out. There's enough time for you all to sleep, though. I'll wake you up before it goes out."

"We can't just stay here waiting to be infected, Mrs. Renton!" Kim protested. "There has to be a way out of this!"

"The airport," Bonnie said. Kim looked quickly over at her, eyes wide. Bonnie determinedly stood up. "Whatever this is, there's no way it could have touched everywhere on earth, right? So there's gotta be places that are like, safe or something! Wouldn't islands be our best bet? I mean, there's plenty of those around, right?!"

"But not a lot where the population is low enough that it would be safe," Kim answered.

"So we go to like, a private one or something! Senor Senior Senior. What about heading there?" Bonnie asked.

"Uh, hello. Enemy," Ron said.

"But not mine," Bonnie replied.

"This isn't just about you, Bonnie!" Kim protested.

"That's not what I mean! Look, Senor Senior is putty in his son's hands, and Junior is putty in mine. If I can convince him to talk his father into letting us stay there, everything will be okay! At least until you do your hero thing and fix this, Kim," Bonnie said.

"She isn't wrong," Mrs. Renton said. "The plan is solid. We may not even have to go that far to find a safe place."

"See?!" Bonnie said, gesturing to the woman.

"Hang on. What about the ninjas?" Monique worriedly asked.

There was a beat. "The what?" Mrs. Renton asked.

Monique started and winced a bit. Oh yeah, a lot of them didn't actually know what Hirotaka, Fukushima, and Yori were. "Um..." she nervously began.

"It's a long story," Kim cut off. She turned to Monique. "Yori, Sensei, Fukushima, and Hirotaka can handle themselves. Odds are they're already somewhere pretty isolated. They've probably sensed the danger by now. Our concern has to be getting ourselves to safety for now. They'll work it out on their own. I have faith in them."

"I'm not so sure about this whole ninja thing, but I agree with Kim," Ned agreed.

"Me too," Justine agreed.

"Great. Now how do we get out of this house and make it to the airport unscathed?" Tara nervously asked. The rest of them stiffened up and exchanged nervous looks. At last, Kim turned back to her, eyes narrowed in determination. "We fight through them," she said determinedly.

KP

It took only minutes before Mrs. Renton had equipped them all with the closest things to weapons she had on hand. Kim had remotely summoned the Sloth, and it had pulled up across the road, stretched out into a longer form with more seats. They just had to make it there, and they were home-free. "Is everyone ready?" Kim asked.

"No!" Bonnie replied.

"We're as ready as we can be, Kim," Tara nervously but determinedly said.

"Okay. Everyone, stick together. Don't let yourselves get separated from the group. We've got this. We just need to focus and keep moving," Kim said.

"Lead away then, Possible," Bonnie testily replied.

Kim frowned at her a bit, but let it go and drew a breath. "Okay, we're sure this is the thinnest part of the hoard?" she asked Mrs. Renton.

"Positive," the woman replied.

"Then on the count of three. One, two, three!" Kim said. Immediately she and the others burst out of the door and began fighting their way determinedly through the hoard. In only seconds they broke out and beelined for Kim's car. Diving inside, Kim started it up and tore away as fast as she could as soon as the others were inside, the hoard trying fruitlessly to follow...