Revised: 30-5-2024
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Chapter 6 – Reunion
đź•”02:10 am
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Spook's heart thundered in his ears, and its pounding felt like it was reverberating all around him inside his tight hiding place. He hadn't moved since abandoning Benny's kidnap mission, for there was no going back to G.P now. He had done the unthinkable, and defied a direct order.
The gutter pipe jutted uselessly off of the worn red-brick warehouse - long abandoned, and its gaping end served as a window through which Spook watched with dilated irises a yellow cat half-dragged by a white one along the dark shadows cast by the abandoned buildings on the East Side. There was no mistaking it; his leader was being taken to the very cat Spook had sworn he would never approach again.
The white cat - a female by the looks of it, was subtly familiar, but the green feline couldn't find the memory to back up the nagging feeling. His sensitive ear - am I losing hearing in my right..? - the thought crossed his racing mind only briefly, could just pick up Top Cat's snide - if angry, taunts. The girl, for the most part, ignored him and kept dragging.
And then it came back like a wrecking ball to the head.
It was the same girl who'd attacked the lackeys who were with him on the mission, right as he bailed. The same; he hadn't seen her face, but the faint scent that reached his nostrils confirmed it.
What did this mean?
They turned around a corner, and Spook found himself scrambling backwards through the narrow pipe to turn with them into the alley G.P often used as his preferred meetup location. He pulled himself out of the gutter and laid on his stomach, peering over the incomplete tiled roof.
If his mission – Mayor's Sweetheart, was a success…he would be here soon. Spook shuddered, and fervently prayed that something – anything, happened so that G.P didn't get here.
An abandoned phone booth, painted in grime and dust, stood near the alley entrance like always. The white cat extracted a claw and in a few inaudible clicks, the door swung open on rusty hinges. The lock clanked against the door once, and hung dejectedly still. The female swirled around at the gagged cat, pulled out a pair of earmuffs and stuck them rather roughly into Top Cat's ears. She smirked at his expression.
"After you," Spook heard her say, and she toppled the cat into the booth.
He leaned as far over the roof as he could, but he couldn't hear a single damn word. It was only a few seconds, and she was again stepping out of the booth, Top Cat shoved in tow. Keeping an eye on her captive, she snapped the lock shut.
The green cat wracked his brains desperately for a plan, but his mind wouldn't come up with anything. Plans were never his forte; that was always T.C.'s. In seemingly no time at all, Spook started to sense familiar people moving towards them. He knew Top Cat could sense them too; his ears perked up and his pelt shifted with tension. The girl on the other hand, seemed distant.
"..You never disappoint, Agent S." purred the voice of G.P from the shadows, his whisper as clear as bells in the deserted path. Floating yellow irises appeared from the darkness, and moved closer towards the two cats backed against the alley dead end. As the eyes drew closer, their owner started to appear, and behind him, four henchmen loyally flanked.
The gangster known as G.P strutted up to his nincat and hostage with calm and deliberate steps, but Spook could sense his suppressed excitement; his eagerness barely coiled back like a snake.
The snow-white cat bowed her head without a word, and disappeared in the blink of an eye. One of G.P's men that Spook didn't recognize gave an appreciative whistle.
G.P leaned over, and with one flick of his knife ripped the gag off of Top Cat's face.
"Hey, Shirley! Some girlfriend you turned out to be!" Top Cat called to the thin air crossly.
G.P. grinned crookedly. "Glad to see you still have some funny left in ya," his white canines glowing almost as vividly as his yellow-gold eyes. "It's been a while, Top Kit. You grew."
"..Should I keep my mouth shut, or ya want me to tell yar cronies what I call you?" Top Cat said in a bored voice. "You know ya coulda just invited me to come see ya, right? I woulda found my way easily enough. It's not that hard not to smell ya from fifty miles off, Jeep ol' pal."
"Then you sense of smell must be slippin', Kit. I was there in your area just yesterday afternoon, an' ya never smelled a thing."
Top Cat snorted derisively. "Oh come on, you don' expect me to believe this bull now, do ya-?"
"You'd be surprised how little you know about anything , Kit. And you'd be even more surprised how much I know about you and your pathetic life. Without a penny to ya name, constant monitor by the NYPD and five stupid, useless mouths to feed, I say ya learned nothin'. You are nothin'. You don' even deserve to live where ya do, or have them kinda resources and contacts ya do.
"It's ya one useful talent - swindlin' people right outta their own minds. I gotta hand it, no one does it like you.." if G.P. was capable of an ounce of affection, it would have shown right then. "I've dealt with more people than you can count, used and exploited the talents of more people than you can keep in the yellow pages - and no one could do it like you do. You one of a kind, kid. You know, I think I kinda missed ya a little over those past years, Twirp Kit."
"Sure as hell didn' miss you, Gutter Pussy."
No one anticipated the claw-extended backhand. A loud crack rang through the alley. The hair on Spook's back stood up, and when what happened finally registered, he was off the roof like a shot.
oOoOoOoOoOo
"WHAT?!"
Dibble slammed both hands onto the mahogany desk. Sergeant Murphy's round face twitched in a tired frown. A senior officer passing by the left-ajar door jumped a little, and shot Dibble a look of distaste.
"Kids these days," was the grumpy mutter as he walked off.
"That's the testimony of more than ten witnesses at the scene, Dibble."
"There's no way that could be right! Top Cat was in my precinct at the time! I saw 'im with my own eyes!"
"I don' know what to tell ya, son. Witnesses swear they saw' im kidnap a kid matching the Mayor's little girl's description."
"There must be some mistake. I know what I'm saying, Sergeant! He couldn't have been there!"
"Calm down, Dibble, I'm not accusing you of lying! I'm tellin' ya what people saw, and ten witnesses against your claim ain't gonna look good in court."
Dibble took a few heavy breaths in an effort to calm down. His head was spinning.
"I'm tellin' ya, Sarge," he tried with forced calm. "it wasn't 'im. He was around my beat today the whole time, so unless he time-travels there's no way he coulda done this."
"Dibble-"
"Furthermore, that ain't his style."
The Sergeant leaned against his palm and narrowed his eyes in thought. "Well, Top Cat's record ain' nowhere as ugly as some of those sick wretches, I gotta say..but with his kinda character...he's capable of a lot. He flaunts the law and you know that better than anyone, Dibble."
"He wouldn' kidnap a little girl.." the officer said weakly, then quickly collected himself and straightened. "He wouldn' do that. Ever."
Sergeant Murphy's eyes closed with a deep sigh. "You don' need to be so stiff, Dibble," he said kindly. "You been on the force with us for more than..what, fifteen years now? Man, time sure does fly.
"I remember when you first walked into this department, fresh outta school.." The older man reminisced, and Dibble groaned inwardly - this really ain't the time, Sarge!, was his agitated thought. "You were a lot thinner back then!" the older man jabbed with a huge grin. Dibble's forced smile felt more like a grimace, and he knew it looked like it.
"An' you were such a kiddy - so excited, so full of dreams. I knew you'd sober up as you got used to the job of course, but you know what I've always liked most about you, Dibble? Your unyielding sense of justice!" As if for emphasis, he slammed a fist down on his desk as he uttered the word, alarming yet another passing officer.
Dibble felt the heat rise in his face. He couldn't ignore the guilty feeling in his gut, but kept his thoughts to himself.
"Oh! By the way, did ya find what ye've been lookin' for in the archives? Dibble..?"
The policeman shook himself back to reality. "Eh? Oh. Oh, yeah, I'm workin' on it."
Sergeant Murphy leaned over his desk, small round eyes alight with curiosity. "So, when ya gonna tell me what this is all about?" He asked with a playful grin. He looked like an overgrown schoolboy indulging in gossip rather than the leader of a police department.
"I..I'm lookin' inta something. A very private matter, concernin' a citizen in my precinct. It took me ages to get 'em comfortable enough to tell me about a past..incident, and I promised 'em it would stay between us until they feel comfortable enough with..you know, the rest of..everybody else, knowin' bout it, I mean."
Murphy huffed dramatically. "How boring. Another paranoid? What does a cop have t'do to prove to the civilians that we. Don't. Bite?"
Dibble wisely remained silent. Dimly, he could hear Mahoney bark an abrupt order to another officer, and the latter's tense reply. Footsteps thundered by the Sergeant's ajar office door. Murphy reached to grab his coffee, but his fingers froze an inch from it at the sound of a crack ripping across its once-smooth ceramic surface.
Dibble wasn't a paranoid person, but the sudden, overwhelming urge to follow after Mahoney neither seemed odd nor a waste of time.
He excused himself abruptly to his confused superior, and half-ran out of the office. He dashed across the main building and out onto downtown, but Mahoney was nowhere to be seen. His police car - and his partner, were already gone into the night.
Dibble angrily wished someone would invent a telephone that you could just carry with you, and just call people to know where they were.
oOoOoOoOoOo
Ears perking, G.P turned his head up towards the black-enveloped building, his night-vision unchallenged by the dim lights, and a wide grin broke across his features.
An oil-green cat landed on the ground between the two bosses on nimble pads, noise almost inaudible to the human ear. G.P didn't look surprised in the least. Rather, his eyes shone with glee and he bared his teeth.
"Now our rendezvous is complete."
"Spook? Spook, Are you stupid?!" Top Cat yelled. Spook knew his leader well enough to catch it - the barely-concealed note of panic. He caught sight of the vein-thin red dripping down from Top Cat's chin, and his blood boiled. He didn't answer, and instead turned his blazing eyes on the gangster he knew could kill people so fast they would never even see it coming.
"You have some real guts, comin' back," whispered G.P. Spook felt two bodies move up behind him, blocking any sudden movements he might try.
"Are y' tryin' to get yourself killed?" Top Cat hissed. His wide eyes darted towards the two cats that sneaked up from behind Spook, assessing all the possibilities. One of them was huge. "You came back even though you mucked up his mission? The hell ya tryin' to be a hero for?"
"You knew I was on that mission? Like, how?"
"Call it an instinct, somethin' which ya advertently seem ta lack! What are you doin' here?!"
"I won' let him get you, man! It been like all he's wanted!"
"You coulda gone to get Dibble instead of narrating our goddamn predicament!"
"...I like, wasn't thinking straight, Boss."
"When have ya eva?!"
"Is..is Benny like, okay? Is everyone?"
"Benny's fine, but that woman Shirley needs psychiatric help. I think she's schizophrenic."
The sudden burst of laughter that echoed off the alley walls made everyone in the vicinity flinch. A laughing G.P was in some ways more disturbing than a hissing, snickering or jeering G.P. He seemed to be genuinely enjoying himself.
"The hell are you laughin' about?" demanded Top Cat in annoyance. "This ain't a comedy segment…dang, will ya stop? You voice is still as annoyin' as ever. And ya still one demented son-"
A blade point was pressed precariously between his eyes. Spook's heart froze in his chest. Top Cat's eyes crossed to look at the handcrafted handle. "You still have that, huh," he stated calmly.
"It got me through a lot. Speakin' of which, you are now its rightful owner. And the richest cat in New York City, once you receive your ransom."
"What ransom?"
"The very ransom the Maya's gotta cough up if he wants ta see his baby girl again. You forgot already?" he sneered, "but it was only this evenin' that ya snatched her!"
"Bastard," hissed Top Cat, eyes darkening with understanding. "Ya haven't changed one bit."
"Neither have you. Tsk tsk," the other cat tilted his blade very slightly, making it more dangerous for his hostage to try anything without losing his eyes, "is that any way to talk to your elder?"
"Will ya shut the hell up about that?" snapped Top Cat, losing his calm. Spook stared unblinkingly between the two cats with his heart beating wildly, looking for an opening, any chance-
"Aren't ya gonna ask me why you're here?" asked G.P in mock-disappointment.
Top Cat's shrewd eyes looked hard into G.P's, and Spook could almost see the invisible mind battle crackling between both…Spook had no idea what to call it, whatever it was between the both of them.
"..You're slow." G.P. said with boredom when Top Cat didn't answer, and flicked the knife. A small gash opened across the other cat's eyelid and a shocked groan of pain escaped despite him.
Spook twitched as if to pounce, but the click of a gun's safety being unlocked somewhere from behind him made both cats freeze. G.P's cold eyes turned to look at Spook from head to toe, like he was looking at something disgusting that had to be put down.
"Don't," ordered Top Cat, shaking the blood drops out of his eyes.
Spook wasn't sure if Top Cat was talking to him, or to G.P.
The green cat opened his mouth furiously, claws extending and retracting unconsciously, but nothing came forth. Only his bloodshot glare in the face of G.P's amused smile spoke the volume of his loathing.
"Listen to your buddy, Spook. If you want 'im to live," G.P sneered.
"Man, you wouldn' dare," spat Spook without thought. G.P's smile grew, but it was no longer amused.
"Whose side are you on, exactly?"
"Spook, don' talk–"
"I'd sooner see you cookin' in the electric chair, and I'd be laughin' my ass off all the way back," hissed Spook with venom, fur standing on end.
In a blur, the gangster was behind Top Cat; one paw in a vice-grip on his head, the other knife-wielding at his throat.
"Ow! My head ya maniac–" a painful kick in the small of his back silenced him with a breathless gasp.
"Don' touch him," hissed Spook dangerously.
He pressed the knife harder against his hostage's exposed neck, grinning widely.
"Spook," growled Monster in warning from somewhere behind him, but Spook was no longer listening. In a rage, he pounced.
A gunshot tore deafeningly through the alley, followed instantly by Spook's pained cry as he hit the cold ground.
"Man, are you stupid," said Gold Pelt coldly.
Top Cat's eyes widened and swerved towards his friend, full of fear.
Spook's paws were clenched around his ear - the left this time. A thin river of blood ran down the side of his head.
Top Cat's pupils contorted in rage. "You dirty-!"
The paw holding the knife slashed across like lightning. Top Cat collapsed onto the damp pavement.
"Bastard!" Spook roared. The pain in his damaged earlobe was no more. There was nothing but horrified rage. He had no weapon in hand, but his claws were out before he even realized what he was doing.
Gold Pelt was in Spook's face in a flash, his knife - wet with blood - at Spook's throat this time, "You know, this whole friendship thing is really a style-cramper. This is the 19th time I don't kill you for questioning my actions, Spook. I don't explain myself to no one, you filthy little alley kitten, you understand? You are my henchman - my tool. Consider this your final warning. If you dare oppose me again, this blade's gonna be pokin' right out the back of your pretty throat."
Spook was beyond caring. He'd just seen his boss be murdered - left to slowly bleed to death before his eyes.
He grabbed G.P's throat in rage. "You won't get away with this! I won't let you get away with this! I swear I'll sh-"
Monster's enormous paw suddenly descended from the heavens, and clamped down on his mouth. The other paw pulled him off of the gangster's throat. The screamed obscenities became muffled yowls.
"Clam that potty mouth, idiot," the large feline warned. "You wanna stir up the whole neighborhood?"
"It seems like eh, Spooky's soul beat here had gone, eh you know, dry as a well in bleaksville," Gold Pelt sneered in a nasty imitation of Spook's speech. "Tsk Tsk. I never knew you had such a foul temper, Spook. And a slimy tongue to go with it." He laughed tauntingly, "I sure as heck didn't think you could scream and cuss like the rest of us. And you seemed like such a cool, laid-back cat.."
Spook thrashed and screamed and clawed and bit, but Monster's body was like a steel coat. G.P watched the scene with mild amusement as Top Cat's struggling began to still and the green cat's thrashing, oxygen-deprived body started to fail on him.
"Remove your paw, Monster. I think you're blocking his pipes."
"No..! You can't just like leave him like this!" Spook screamed hoarsely. "He's dying! He's dying, godamnyou!"
The leader turned his deadened eyes to the beatnik's horror-filled green orbs. The blade, still red and wet, was up in his face. "Will you shut up?" he hissed. "I could have finished him off immediately, but I have a better idea. I want your pathetic ex-gang to come across him. I want them to watch him die before their eyes."
The cat smirked. "I knew all along that your loyalty was still with your old leader. Cats like you make me sick. Such a weak, sentimental kitten. This is best for you. You need this bit of growing up if you really want to avenge your parents."
"The only reason you did this was to break me, you son of a bitch!"
He half-expected that blood-soaked knife to be hurled right across the air and into his skull, and then it would be all over. But the horror escalated tenfold when G.P started laughing in earnest.
Tears started leaking from the green cat's eyes. "Gold Pelt...I'll do whatever you ask, man. Like, I'll steal or mob or whatever. I'll shoot whoever you don't like. Whatever you want, just-"
"Naw. That won't do. You disobey me way too often, Spook, I don't know why I put up with it. You were too much of a baby to stop following Kitty. Look at all that blood, Spooky. You did this."
"Gold Pelt don't do this...please man. I won't say no to anything you ever ask me again-!"
"Good. Do that, and I might just spare the rest of your peasant pals," he turned around to his men. "Alrighty," he said cheerfully. "Clear out."
Spook's expression shattered. Hate resonated from every pore; hatred and disgust towards the murderer standing so calmly before him. The tears streamed down his horror-stricken face, "How is he involved in any of this, man?! You're just gonna-?!"
Monster raised the green-pelted feline off the ground like a ragdoll and draped him effortlessly over his shoulder.
"No! Put me down! You can't just leave 'im there! Top Cat! TOP CAT! Somebody help! HELP!"
No one answered the cat's desperate cries. Monster turned his large flank out of the alley, with a flailing, screaming hostage secure on his shoulder. Gold Pelt walked behind his large henchman just to watch Spook break. He heard guilt-filled sobs, hateful profanity, and desperate prayer all the way back.
In the brief instant that Spook raised his devastated eyes to look at Gold Pelt with immeasurable hate, Gold Pelt made sure to grin widely back.
oOoOoOoOoOo
(OriginalA.N from 2015: Thank you all for being so patient with me. Please let us all hold hands and stand in a circle to lament my broken super pretty update-on-time record :(. But really, this chapter was very hard to write!
Magiccatprincess, Cupcake, Urahara, Sync, and What-if Writer...I. Love. You. All. Thank you for giving my story a chance and actually bothering to read. You're all amazing.
And Cupcake, I ORDER YOU TO GO WRITE THAT FANFIC NOW. *points toy bazooka to your head* I WANT. I NEEEEEED.
Oh, and I'm revising each of the previous chapters to try and improve them. When you reread this story again sometime in the future, hopefully you'll like the updated version better!:)