MISSION 5
Explosives and Lessons
Everyone but Ethan was inside the Strays' briefing room. It was filled with multiple boards with pictures and notes, leading to their targets, such as Dark Kat. There were stacked files with other issues on the table, organized by their severity, around the city that the council wanted them to look over when they could, such as strange occurrences around the mountains to your typical criminal empires. The room also had a wall with small televisions showing all the news channels in case something occurred. There was a trophy room area where the team posted newspaper clippings about their accomplishment, and the newest one was Ethan's elimination of the squid and where an old file about the missing kats around the beach was marked solved.
The Strays can be marked as an independent group from the Enforcers, who only answer to June and the council. They have more freedom to go about things without worrying about breaking the law or being arrested for crossing the line. This team would be sent wherever they were needed regardless of the danger or difficulty of the mission. The team would never receive recognition for their work, and their actions would be covered as outside help or enforcer work.
Right now, the team was watching the tape of Ethan's fight with the squid and was at the end of it. However, Mike took point as June enjoyed her tea and some crackers in peace. Apart from Evelyn, Chance, and Benson, everyone else was shocked at what they saw. Mike stopped the video and clicked on the remote to send it to the top.
"Any questions?" Mike said, eyeing the group in front of him.
"Yeah, why the hell don't we just kill it and be done with it," Jason growled, both feet on the table, rocking his chair as he waited for a response.
"That's not going to happen. As June said, he is part of the team now, and you need to get over it," Mike calmly said, even as Jason stood up.
"GET OVER IT!? Why you-" Jason stopped when he saw June eyeing him as she drank her tea. He cursed under his breath and sat back on his chair, "All I am saying is it would be easier for us and kat kind if he weren't around. Why risk it?"
"I apologize. Having an alien nearby is difficult for some of you, but you should not generalize him like those visitors. From what we gather so far, he's not here to hurt kat kind or cause problems for our citizens."
"I don't care for him as long as he does not get in my way," Tina chimed in as she yawned, getting over the first shock, "I mean, even if it turns out bad, we'll just eliminate him if need be."
"I think he would be a fine addition to the team if he can use his powers…what about you three?" Benson asked, looking at the three who had not said anything. "You three had spent more time with him, so what do you think?"
"He's an idiot," Jake flatly said.
"He's a pain in my tail," Chance growled.
"The kit is fine. Honestly, it's just a kit that came to our world by mere coincidence. He seems lost and just a child," Evelyn said, glaring at Chance and Jake.
"No offense, doc, you are way too nice when dealing with kittens. Me? I wouldn't hesitate to give them a good spank. That's how you make them fall in line," Tina said.
"Tina, don't get any bright ideas with Ethan," Mike interrupted, bringing everyone's attention back to him. He sighed as this was the usual, and June would only step in when she needed to. So, any team meetings were handled by him, much to his annoyance, as it felt weird since he was the youngest one in the room. "Anyways, circling back to just Ethan, have you guys found anything?"
"The kit said that he has no idea how he got these powers and told us that it was given to him when he arrived in our world. He showed us something yesterday, but it seems to have knocked him out," Chance said as he saw Evelyn not keen to say anything. "He told us that it's magic. So that would make him similar to the Pastmaster."
Everyone's ears perked up at the old name, some wondering what had happened to that tiny wizard. Some curse as they recall the incidents with that wizard. The city barely made it out when the Pastmaster tried to summon the dark ages, only to be stopped when enforcers decided to blow up the mayor's office.
"Great…we have a wizard alien…just great," Jason muttered in annoyance, eyes drifting toward the small television wall, "Huh… speaking of that old wizard…it seems someone decided to steal an old book from Megakat City Museum of History."
Ethan slept on one of the beds in the medical wing and groggily woke up. He yawned, rubbing his eyes and looking around the room. He appeared alone in the room and scanned toward the exit, where a figure blocked his view. The boy flinched but soon realized Dante was eyeing him, with arms crossed and visibly annoyed. However, the boy also gets irritated as he remembers how Dante ditched him.
"Where the hell have you been?" Ethan snapped at the ghost, "For a teacher, you are the worst one I had today!"
"Well, sleeping beauty, it's actually the next day!" Dante spat back, making the boy blink in confusion.
"Huh? I was just…." Ethan stopped, wondering what had happened to land him in the medical wing. "Whatever…actually, I figured out how to use the card. No thanks to you!"
"Yeah, I can tell. Ignoring everything. What color was it?"
"What?"
"What was the final color? And how would you describe it?" Dante said, rolling his eyes and sitting on the opposite bed near Ethan's. "Hurry up and tell me!"
"Shut up…it was black mixed with some purple," Ethan said, pausing a bit before continuing, "It was dark and felt like I was staring at a deep pit. What does that mean?"
Dante scoffed and was about to say it till he realized he did not remember. He winced at this and was trying hard to recall what it meant. Yesterday, the card idea came to him as a small memory returned of what wizards usually do when teaching their apprentices. The card had something to do with revealing the young student's potential, and the colors meant something. Dante growled and wondered what else the wizards showed their students on their first day.
"Hello! Are you there?" Ethan shouted and sat on the side of the bed, looking at his master's silent thinking. "Did you forget or something?"
"Of course not! Just thinking about how to explain it so your small mind can understand it! Give me a second."
"Dick…just say you don't know!"
"You little ungrateful brat, if I could, I would wrangle that little head of yours!"
Ethan put his tongue out and gave a mocking face to his wizard teacher, "Try it! Oh, wait, you can't! You know what? I'm hungry, and you can meditate all day like I care!"
Dante was about to shout back but froze as the word 'meditate' brought forth some memories. He watched the boy jump off the bed and head towards the door, barely reaching the door's knob.
"Wait! Get back here this instance!"
"Why?!"
"Just get over here, you brat!"
Ethan wanted to leave but returned to his mentor's side. He saw Dante signaling to sit with him, crossing his legs and putting his hands together to form a circle with his thumbs pointing up, index finger pointing down, and the rest interlocking. Ethan sat in the middle with his mentor and copied the stance, interested in what the kat was planning.
"Close your eyes and take a couple of breaths. When you are not distracted and feel completely concentrated… chant 'Inner Sanctum' and tell me what you see," Dante instructed, watching the boy look at him weirdly.
"Uh huh…and what does this do?"
"Just do it!"
Ethan sighed but thought it was better than doing nothing. He closed his eyes to darkness and took a couple of breaths. He kept this going until he felt concentrated and ready himself.
"Inner Sanctum!" Ethan shouted.
Ethan opened his eyes to see that he had left the medical wing and was sitting in the middle of nowhere. The rocky floor floated in the vastness of nothingness, with pillars standing near him and a vast glowing tree in the distance. Above the tree, far and ever-extending bright white leaves could be seen, almost the size of buildings. The tree was black oak, and the bottom could not be seen.
"What is this place?" Ethan asked himself.
"Good, you're in. Welcome to the inner sanctum inside each magical being," a voiceless voice said above the boy, but he could tell it was Dante.
"Dante?! Where you at?" Ethan said, looking around for the kat.
"Don't worry. You and I are still in the medical wing. I'm talking to you right now, and you are talking to me in bed. Think of it like being in a dream, but you are conscious and talking to yourself. But ignoring that…do you see…pillars?"
Ethan looked back at the pillars. Upon further inspection, the five pillars had huge center symbols and were in different positions. There were other symbols below the main symbols going around from top to bottom, more minor but broader in numbers, almost like jewels. Multiple stony arches connected the pillars. The whole thing almost looked like a rocky city with interconnecting roads leading to different buildings.
"Every magical being can use any magic, but their aptitude towards and ease of using them depends on the pillar's position. Describe them and tell me which are in what position."
Ethan grimaced and got close, squinting at the symbols and trying to make sense of them.
"Uh…let's see, the highest one looks like half of a kat. The second-highest shows a figure with things around him like monsters. The next one looks like someone is changing something to something else. Next is a kat throwing a bunch of symbols around him. And at the bottom, it looks like someone is healing somebody."
"So by order of things and me understanding you correctly…you have an affinity to Illusion and Conjuration. You can use Enchantment which is your middle ground. Destruction is the second weakest, and Restoration is the worst. And-"
Ethan blinked and looked above, hearing nothing for a while, "Hey, everything okay back there?"
"Yes, I'm still here…I just remembered! That card I gave you and the colors you spoke of…it appears you're a wizard that uses darkness."
"Huh?"
"Just come back. Say 'Return' while assuming the position from before."
Ethan did so.
"Return."
Ethan looked back to see the medical wing and Dante looking at him. Before the kid could say anything, his stomach growled, and it felt like it was hurting him. He winced and clutched his stomach in pain.
"What are you doing?" Dante said, eyeing the hurt child in boredom.
"It hurts…it feels like I haven't eaten in days. I'm gonna go… I'm starving," Ethan grumbled, getting off the bed and heading toward the exit. His mouth salivated at the idea of getting food in his mouth.
"HEY! We are NOT done here, you little-" Dante stopped, following the boy out the hallway and going through the door like a ghost.
At the mess hall, Ethan felt relieved eating a plain old peanut butter and jelly sandwich, his sixth one as apparent with the crust he pulled out and lying nearby on the table. He grabbed the milk jug and drank from the container, sighing in relief as he felt much better. He looked in front of him to see Dante looking at him in disgust as the boy burped.
"I don't think I have ever seen a creature…with such an appetite," Dante remarked as Ethan grinned at him.
"Well…I don't usually eat this much, and I was starving… and I mean like a lot," Ethan said, grabbing more bread slices from the nearby bag, "I felt like this when I used the card and at the beach…though at the beach, I felt other things that hurt like hell."
Dante's ears perked up, and he looked at the boy intently, "Overextending yourself can happen with magic similar to muscles, but this is different from that. Say, Ethan. Did you feel the mana flowing through you when you use the spells?"
"Mana? Oh…I don't think so. If I think about it….I don't feel anything flowing through me."
Dante's mouth dropped, and he slapped his head in frustration, "Damn it all. You are not using the mana around you. Oh, damn it all, it's worse than imagined!"
"Whatchu mean?" Ethan said, stopping midspread for another sandwich.
"Think for once. Since you are not using the mana around you, what do you think it's been substituting with?"
Ethan thought about it, and it hit him.
"YES! You are using your own body to use it. The energy from food, blood, or anything you are unwillingly giving in replacement of mana," Dante growled, shaking his head, "Make no mistake, you are using mana but only a fraction to use this substitution power. I thought your inexperience caused the first collapse, but it looks like this is the reason."
"Shit, does this mean I can't use magic? I don't want to die from it," Ethan said, looking away and scratching his hand.
"Calm your tail. It appears you picked up a bad habit inadvertently. It just means you are now aware of it and need to start channeling only from the well of mana," Dante corrected but saw the kid was unconvinced, "It's impressive, in any case. Usually, that's an advanced technique when wizards need a trump card. Only some learn it."
"Really?" Ethan said, smiling and calming down a bit. "That's kind of awesome to hear. However, hearing that I can do that kind of magic is a bit scary. So can I throw fireballs?"
"Remember, your Destruction magic is the second worst pillar, so yes, but you would struggle to summon the elements. So I would advise focusing on Illusion and Conjuration for now," Dante reminded while waving his hands, "Fireball? Huh? That's nothing compared to what a magical being can do. While there's the standard type of magic like fireballs or iceballs or whatever thing you heard…how it comes out is always distinct from other wizards using the same spell. Additionally, each kat has its unique magic they can only do. The potential is endless, and your imagination and classification only limit it."
Ethan stared in amazement, shaking and beaming excitedly as he wanted to start. Dante smirked and put his paw before the boy.
"Here's a gift. You probably thought I was fooling around when I left you but….behold! Your second lesson!" a small portal dropped a book and a deck of blank cards. "This is…what now?!"
Ethan grimaced at the book and felt less excited about learning. He already had other things to read and was not in the mood for another one. He groaned, grabbing the book and looking at the first page. However, his attitude changed when there were symbols and how to draw them, and the explanations were short and straightforward.
"Thank god, it's just pictures!" Ethan exhaled, "It's just pictures. So what is this?"
"Like I was saying," Dante growled, "This book I found outside. It appears to belong to a wizard that focused on creating spell scrolls. Usually, the correct and proper way would be to use dragon blood and a scroll when drawing the spell, but let's go with the more barbaric practice, as that's more fun. Use your blood and draw the spell on these cards."
"Can't I just use a pen or pencil? Also, go back to what you said. There are dragons?!" Ethan said, wondering if he could see a living dragon as seen in movies. His attention was brought back when his teacher snapped his fingers at him.
"Not anymore, just focus! By the higher gods! No, you cannot use those tools, as spell scrolls need to be written with magical blood. Second, you must channel your magic to the written text to prepare it. This is where your lesson begins, as it forces you to concentrate and will help you control the mana flow. Go slow and try imagining sending water to a cup. If you feel anything other than the flow or feel exhausted, stop and redo it again. Don't force it or lose concentration! You'll set off the spell by accident if that happens." Dante warned the boy.
"I see…so wait, once I get this control down….would I be able to start creating my own spells?"
"Don't jump ahead. You are way too new to even think of creating one."
"Okay, but can you tell me how it works? Please?" Ethan said, putting his hands up and begging to be taught, much to the annoyance of his teacher.
"Fine. I'll give you a quick summary for now. It requires you to imagine a spell and create barriers, such as limitations, conditions, and what you will provide in return for using it. The more barriers, the more powerful the spell, but they are harder to use, and the opposite occurs when it's too easy. I'll go into more detail later, but for now… focus on the cards."
Ethan was reading the book of spell symbols and put it down, "Okay, got it. So how do I-"
Dante left his spot, and now only Ethan remained in the room.
"SERIOUSLY?!"
Ethan groaned in annoyance and shook his head, praying that this did not become a habit with Dante. He scanned through the pages and thought of which one he should draw first, deciding to go with the first page. The boy stopped and wondered what he should use to cut his hand to draw blood.
Chance and Jake awkwardly walked beside each other, heading towards the mess hall for food. Everyone split in different directions, Tina went to train with dummies, Evelyn went to check on Ethan, Jason went to R&D, Benson went to his room, and the other two stayed in the room. The duo slowly realized they were heading in the same direction and would not break away as it would admit defeat. They would not look at each other and pretend that the other kat was not there. Hostility was in the air, and no one would break this silence.
"So…" Jake said, though similar to a whisper.
"…..Yeah?"
Both toms looked at each other, but their anger started to boil, and they quickly ignored each other. They continued down the hallway, clenching their teeth and fur frazzling up - glancing at each other and waiting for the other tom to make the first move. They both stopped walking and just looked at the walls next to them.
Jake was the first to move, spinning around to land a kick to Chance's side stomach. The tabby growled and cursed himself as he should have expected this from his former friend, as Jake was a kicker first than a puncher. However, Chance took the hit with a slight wince and grabbed the smaller tom's leg, slamming him against the wall. Jake growled and quickly recovered from the floor with a swipe to Chance's feet, causing the giant fellow to fall. Jake jumped at Chance, legs holding onto the tabby's sides and him beginning to throw punches at the kat's face below him. Chance hissed as the metallic hand caused more damage to him, raising one hand to block and using the other to land a jab to Jake's side. Chance managed to push the tom away from him, and they were now on opposite sides of the hallway.
They gave a low growl at each other and were about to continue their fight till a voice called out to them.
"What are you two idiots doing?!" Evelyn shouted, running down the hall and stopping between them. "Are you seriously trying to kill each other!"
"Get out of the way, doc. This is between this big oaf and me," Jake growled, getting himself to position, wincing at his side felt like a truck hit him.
"You heard him, Evelyn. Step aside and let me deal with him," Chance said, ignoring the doctor and staring at the tom with one eye as his other eye was already swelling from the brutal hit of the mechanical hand.
BOOM!
The sound of something exploding was heard nearby, making the underground lights flicker above them. The trio jumped at the sound and looked toward the direction it came from, which was the mess hall. They kept looking for a bit and relaxed when no order explosion was heard.
Evelyn wanted to look but saw that the two toms returned to stare at each other and were more concerned with continuing the fight. Evelyn sighed in frustration and thought about convincing one of them to stop. An idea came to her, but it was a hard pill to swallow, and it irked her that she had to do it to stop these idiots. Sighing, she steps in front of Chance, placing her hand on his and looking at him as she stroked it.
"Hey, let's check it out," Evelyn said seductively, touching his chest with the same hand she stroked. "Or…. do you want to leave me there by myself?"
It worked. Chance's heart skipped a beat, his tail flicked happily around, and his anger was overshadowed by loving the attention he was getting. He grinned at the doctor but gave a harsh stare back to his friend as he was tugged towards the mess hall.
"Well…" Chance said, turning his attention back to Evelyn, "I can't leave a she-kat hanging now, can I? So lead the way, and I'll go wherever you want."
Jake rolled his eyes, "Oh brother, you dumb oaf," he said, following the pair and losing interest in the fight, keeping his distance from the tabby.
They walked briefly, getting close to the door as it opened wide to reveal Ethan coughing and covered in debris. They all stopped and watched the boy swat the air before him, seeing them arrive at the scene. Ethan winced and gave a guilty look as he scrambled to think of an explanation but noticed Chance's swelled-up eye and headed towards the big kat.
"What happened to your eye?"
Chance glanced at the tom at Evelyn's left and looked back at the child, "I fell. What happened here?"
Ethan glanced away, seeing the smoke above him, and looked back at Chance, "I was cooking."
"Really now?" Chance said as he crossed his arms, "What were you cooking?"
"Uh…soup?" Ethan said, noticing Jake stepping toward the door and blocking him, "Wait, let's just wait here for a while. Who needs food anyway! Am I right?"
Jake grabbed his head and casually moved him to the side, entering the mess hall and looking towards the kitchen area as the swing doors returned to position.
"HOLY KATS! Moron, what did you do?!" Jake shouted from inside, making Ethan wince.
Evelyn was stunned and unable to say anything until she noticed Ethan start to bleed from his nose. She shook her head and pulled out her small medical kit, grabbing gauze and signaling the boy to put pressure on it. She grabbed his head and inspected him for any bleeding or injuries.
"How much trouble am I in?" Ethan said, seeing the rest of the team heading their way, alerted by the explosion.
"Very," Evelyn said.
Ethan groaned and saw the Strays arrive, eyeing him as they quickly figured out who caused the explosion. Jake returned outside and coughed as he exited, growling at the kid. The last kats to arrive were June and Mike, June angrily approached as her eyes eyed the group.
"Jason, I swear if you are activating bombs in my base, I'm gunna cut your tail off!" June shouted.
Ethan would have hidden behind Evelyn till Jason pulled him roughly to stand in the middle.
"I didn't. Our little invader did," Jason corrected, shaking the boy hard.
"Oops?" Ethan said, sheepishly grinning and raising his hands in defense.
Ethan sat awkwardly at the lunch table with June in front of him, eyeing him down and not using her usual demeanor. At least he knew he was getting chewed out this time and glanced toward where the adults were cleaning up his mess, a brand new wall leading to the kitchen, or what remained of the kitchen after his little incident. Jason and Tina sent death stares at him when he looked at them, and he looked to his other side, where Jake and Chance were standing nearby, also in trouble and waiting for their chew out.
"Furlong and Clawson, I don't like repeating myself, but I guess I have no choice. You are a team and are not to kill one another. I need both of you to fly your jet, so whatever hostility you still have with each other…squash it. Lucky for both, I have a bigger fish to reel in today. But make no mistake, if it happens again, I'll make sure you two regret it," June coldly said, giving an icy glare at the two toms, "Get your tails over there and act like a team while you clean up Esmond's mess."
Ethan flinched when June said his first real name and pleaded with his eyes to the tabby to help him. Chance shook his head at him and told the boy with his own eyes to suck it up. The pair went towards the area and helped the other adults clean up.
"Mike, has the kit been here the whole time?" June called out to her assistant, that was scrubbing through his phone in the corner.
"Affirmative. The kit never left the building. Tracker is still active and working fine," Mike said, putting his phone away and leaning against the wall.
"Tracker? Wait, you put a tracker in me? When? How could you-" Ethan yelled but stopped when June slammed her paw against the bench behind her.
"Do you think you have the right to tell me what I can and can't do? Speak only when I ask you to. I better hear 'ma'am' when you talk to me. Got it?"
"Whatever," Ethan muttered under his breath.
"What was that?"
"Yes, ma'am"
"Good. Let's start with this," June said as she grabbed the book Ethan was messing with, "How did you come across this book? It was reported stolen yesterday from a museum. And since there's no way you did it, who did?"
"Nobody, ma'am. It just appeared today."
"Lying to me is not going to make things easier for you. Again, how did you get this?"
"I don't know, ma'am."
"So the book mysteriously appears, so does this deck of cards, and you somehow blow up the kitchen? It seems you know something…so who showed you and gave you these things? Eyes here!"
Ethan shook his head and refused.
"Is that so? You think looking down forever is going to stop me. I can have you sit all day until you decide to answer, and I'll keep you there as long as you refuse. If you don't want that, then look at me."
Ethan shook his head again.
"Esmond, you better come clean or else!"
Ethan looked up with anger in his eyes.
"Or else what?! You're going to lock me up? The enforcers already beat you to that. Get rid of me? Please, it's not the first time that has happened to me. Or are you just going to ki-" Ethan stopped, biting his lip, clenching his knees, looking down, and feeling like he was about to cry.
June's anger dissipated, and her face was now blank. She eyed the boy for a second and looked at the ceiling. She sighed and signaled Mike to grab the book from her, which her assistant did. She turned her attention back to the boy.
"If you want to act like a child, then I'll treat you like one. You will not be allowed to leave your room unless it's for basic needs. Your tutors will come to your room for your lessons, and I expect improvements in the following days. If not, I'll extend the period of punishment. I'll decide when you can leave, is that understood?" June said with a dry and cold tone.
Ethan did not look up but shook at his punishment.
"Mike, escort him to his room and watch him briefly until Chance finishes here. Get him out of my sight."
Ethan was sitting on his bed, tucking his head on his legs and ignoring Mike sitting on Chance's bed. He was still pissed and shaking. He did not know how to process his feelings and wanted to be left alone. He sighed and finally looked towards the kat nearby, who was fiddling with his phone and organizing June's schedule for the month.
"Can you leave, Mr. Secretary?" Ethan moaned, getting annoyed at his companion.
"Huh…Mr. Secretary. Good one, four twenty-three," Mike chuckled, putting his phone down and looking at the boy.
"Don't call me that!"
"I'll stop if you stop."
"Fine…by the way, I'm not stupid. I have just never been good with books. They just bore me, not like comics, T.V. shows, movies, or those books with pictures," Ethan said, rocking back and forth.
"Huh…is that so? Okay, I'll believe you," Mike said, leaving the bed and sitting on Ethan's bed, "So…what did you do to destroy the kitchen?"
Ethan rolled his eyes, looking away from Mike, wondering if telling the tom the truth mattered. However, Mike is a stranger to Ethan and has already shared information with Chance and Evelyn. He shook his head and looked back at the tom.
"None of your business. Just know it was an accident."
"All right, I won't then. However, can you tell me something?" Mike said, itching closer to Ethan and eyes with curiosity.
"….Maybe. It depends," Ethan said, feeling uncomfortable with how close the tom was getting. However, this triggered something else. This tom was reminding him of someone else.
"Great! So does your planet have spaceships? Or have you guys unlocked interdimensional travel? Do you guys have any cool technology we don't have? Like Galactic Kat?"
The boy groaned and put his face on his legs, another Simon but just nerdier. The kid looked up and gave an annoyed look.
"Yes, but it's about the same as yours, though…no, you guys seem ahead of us in space-related or technology-wise from what I have seen on television. So back to your question…yes, no, no, and what's that?" Ethan said, seeing Mike sighing in disappointment but eager to talk about Galactic Kat.
"It's a show about a crew flying the Great Kat Star Cruiser! They go around visiting new planets and learning new things. Honestly, I wanted to join MASA though I was never good at science when growing up…so I joined the Enforcers, hoping to come across an alien one day." Mike said, beaming as he looked at Ethan like he found a diamond, "Though…I was expecting a spacecraft and maybe learning a new language."
"Sorry to disappoint," Ethan said but saw how disappointed the kat looked. Ethan rolled his eyes and thought about saying something, "Lo siento, gato."
Mike's ears perked up, and he looked back at Ethan in confusion but curious, "What did you say?"
"I said 'I'm sorry, cat' in Spanish. Technically, one of my parents spoke it, though she…Just forget it. Let's just say someone else taught it to me and picked up things from neighbors. Don't expect me to write it because I can't!"
"Hmm…never heard anything close to that. We also have other languages apart from the central tongue," Mike said, "Though I never bother to learn them, don't you find it interesting that we have a common tongue between your world and mine?"
"Yeah… it's a relief. It would have been a disaster if that were the case. Imagine me coming here and trying to talk to you guys in a different language. Yet that would have been funny," Ethan said with a weak smile, imagining how things would have been different.
"I think June would have picked you up regardless," Mike said but noticed that boy frown at the mention of his boss.
"Yeah…I bet she would. Why do you follow her? It's not like you are forced to be here like the rest of us. So what gives?"
Mike stopped smiling, face hardened, and looked away from the kit, "If it means getting what I want, then I'll be glad to follow her to fiery pits below."
Ethan recoiled at the intensity but leaned forward, "What do you mean by that?"
Mike snapped out of his thoughts and grinned at the kid, "Are you going to tell me something about yourself if I tell you?"
"Nope. Bleh," Ethan said, sticking his tongue out.
"Then I'm not saying either," Mike said, copying the kit. He gave a hearty laugh, "You're stupid!"
"Shut up, Mr. Secretary," Ethan said, snickering.
"Ah…back to nicknames, are we? Four twenty-three!"
"Bite me, furball! So…how long do you think June will keep me here?"
Mike shrugged his shoulder, "I don't know, kit. It depends on how pissed off she is with you. You did tear the only kitchen here. Don't worry. I have trusted contacts that'll get it done in a couple of days. Maybe she'll let you out when it's done?"
Before Ethan could say anything, they heard the door knob open, and Chance came in, holding an ice bag and carrying a bag with his other hand. Mike stood up and ruffled the kid's head before heading to the door, stepping to the side as the tabby made his way to his bed.
"Hey, wait!" Ethan said, stopping Mike at the doorway, "You can get things right?"
"Yeah, why?" Mike said, looking back at the boy with a raised eyebrow.
"I'll teach you Spanish if you get things for me. Trade for trade. What do you say?"
Mike laughed, "All right, deal. But let's hold on to that since I don't want to step on June's tail," he said, closing the door behind him.
"Spanish? What's that?" Chance asked as he held an ice pack to his eye. He saw the boy trying to look at his injury.
"Are you gonna tell me what's going on with you and Jake?" Ethan said while trying to get a better look. "Did you lose?"
"As if, and mind your business, kit."
"Then right back at you!"
Chance snarled but held his temper, looking at the boy and signaling him to sit beside him. Ethan knew better than to argue and idly made his way to the kat, sitting down and waiting for whatever the tom wanted. The kid was surprised when he saw the book with symbols, and the blank cards returned to him in the bag that Chance had brought.
"Don't make a big deal out of it. June wanted to hold it until your punishment ended, but I told her I would keep it for her and give it to you when that happened. However, I'm not a good listener," Chance said. "Just don't blow our room."
Ethan momentarily looked at the book and set it down on his side.
"Thanks…I guess," Ethan muttered.
"I guess? I risk my tail, and I get an 'I guess'? Would it kill you to-"
Ethan put his head near Chance's chest, shaking violently as he tried not to cry, but it was already coming out. He could not hold it any longer and wanted to cry it out. He's been good at pushing his fears down since getting chased by the Young Basterds, the squid attack, the kats, and everything else, but his interaction with June reminded him how much of an outsider he was and that his future is unclear.
Chance felt lost as he stared at the kid crying silently in his chest. He scratched his neck and looked at the door, wondering if he should bring Evelyn to deal with these emotions. However, the boy held him so tightly that he did not want to push the kit off like an asshole. He cursed internally and slowly touched Ethan's head, pushing the kid close and letting him know it was okay, making Ethan cry a bit louder.
It was a couple of minutes before Ethan let go, revealing his red eyes and dry tears on his cheeks. He cursed, rubbed his eyes in frustration, and looked away from the tabby.
"Sorry, I just…." Ethan said, feeling embarrassed that he cried in front of Chance. He gave a weak smile to the tabby, "Pathetic. I know, old….I mean, Chance."
Chance watched the boy, pulling his feet close to his face with arms crossed and staring blankly ahead. The tabby was lost again, and not sure how to approach it, wanting to avoid more waterworks. He sighed and decided it would be best to get close, not feeling confident about leaving the boy alone.
Ethan watched the tabby shift closer.
"You don't have to stay around, you know. I'm fine."
"I do what I want! Got a problem with that?"
"No…..Chance, I don't," Ethan said, amused at the tabby.
They sat silently in Chance's bed momentarily before the tabby broke it.
"Say shri….I mean, kit, can you tell me something," Chance said, pointing at his swelled-up eye and smiling, "You think Evelyn digs toms with battle scars?"
"If you mean if she likes punching bags, then maybe," Ethan snickered, smiling, letting go of his legs and sitting normally. He looked around the room and sighed, "This is so unfair…I'm going to die from boredom stuck here."
Chance also looked around the empty room, and he put his paw on his chin, "Hmm….maybe not."
Ethan saw Chance heading to his closet, looking for a bit, and then heading back with a comic for the boy. He was surprised that the tabby would hand him this and reached for it.
"Just don't bend the pages, or I'll make you MY punching bag," Chance warned, handing the comic to Ethan.
"Does this mean I can finish Scardy Kat later?"
"No way! That's one of my prize possessions. Don't think about grabbing it when I'm not here!"
"All right, I get it! I'm not going to," Ethan said, looking at the comic's cover. Kat Kommandos is a story about a team of heroes with powers traveling around the world, saving kats from disasters and villains. The boy smiled and started the first page.
At Megakat Upper Valley, in an old school café with few visitors who kept to themselves, Mia sat with the tom she bumped into before, finding out his name was Michael Furly. However, the tom was dressed up, unlike before. Michael was wearing glasses, a button-up shirt with a plaid sweater, and nice shoes, almost looking like a school teacher.
Mia read the books that he provided and was engrossed with them. She found them intriguing, though a bit graphic compared to the books she was allowed to read at school. She was reading something called 'My Monster, My Mirror,' about a kat struggling to understand his sudden urge to kill others. It was a slow build-up, and the kat finally kills his long-time friend in the climax. She shudders at the end and wonders why someone would kill their best friend.
"Wow, it's just so interesting to know that Noa kills his friend and regrets it, unable to take it back. I guess you should be careful being too curious," Mia said, ecstatic to read such a complex read.
"He just never understood what it means to kill someone," Michael waves his paws, "He just fell back to his old ways and never completed his metamorphosis. Such a shame."
"Huh?"
"Never mind. However, I have more books at my house like this one. If you are craving to read more stories."
Mia beamed excitedly but frowned as she remembered something, "I'm sorry, my parents told me not to go to a stranger's house, and I must get back home, or my mom will freak out that I'm not ready for my dad's stupid party."
"You shouldn't force yourself to do things you don't want to be a part of. You have every right to follow your own path. I won't stop you, but the offer stands if you change your mind, okay?"
Mia nodded and grabbed her backpack. She stopped and looked back at the tom, "Was that Garfield you quoted?"
Michael grinned and nodded. Mia giggled and waved goodbye to the tom and went towards the exit. Unknown to the kitten, Michael clawed the table underneath as he watched her leave. His smile dropped, and a more annoyed look replaced it when Mia was no longer in sight. He sighed and tapped the table, looking impatient and more like an animal.
"Sir, want a refill?" a bored worker asked from behind Michael, chewing on her bubble gum and unaware of anything but herself.
Michael smiles at the she-kat, "Oh…please, I have this itch for something to wake me up. Though, I'm patient to quench it. So take your time."
