Arc 5, Chapter 6
It had been about a half hour or so and nobody had come back to set me free. “Hello! I am still in here. Can somebody let me down?”
There was a little rustling and several pairs of eyes peeked out from the door, three kittens. One was white, another black and the last had blotches of white in the short black fur. All of them had piercing green eyes, tall pointed ears and twitching tails. They were so damned adorable, I just wanted to hug them. Come here, so I can love you! It looked like they were playing a game, sneaking in here by darting behind the jacuzzi. My antenna squirmed as I listened to them, they were up to something. I wonder what sort of game they are so into?
“Nyah, left,” snickered a little girl.
“Nyah, right,” whispered another girl.
“Nyah, I wanted left. Fine I will get the front,” hissed a little boy.
What could they be up to? I peered around, they had not moved anywhere. It was like they were waiting for something. I spoke up, “Hey, could you three get me down?”
Their heads poked up. Those wonderful little ears rotating as their grins spread. I wonder what they feel like? Probably so soft and snugly. I really want to pet them. They darted out from behind the upraised bath. Left white, right black and the white splotched one rushed straight at me from the front. These three seemed to be a little older than the rest, bigger too now that I got a good look at them. Normally I would be spreading my arms wide ready to receive the love, but all three of them had baseball bats. I had chosen my words poorly. My smile died when I realized what they were up to. I am not a pinata!
“Get her!” cried the boy, swinging it at me.
The naughty little kitties swooped in, hitting me with the bats. I flinched at the blows and closed my eyes, shielding myself with my only available arm. I could hear the thuds and feel the slight vibrations. After a moment I opened my eyes, looking them over. They were rather weak, well they were children. Although I suppose they are about as strong as an adult man, not some hunk just a joe smoe. Here I was thinking they would do some damage, although I am in my suit, so even more protection than normal. You call that a swing? I will show you how to handle bat little boy!
“Knock that shit off!” I snarled and they dropped the weapons fleeing.
They stood in the doorway, peering at me. I scowled and made faces at them, which they promptly replied in kind, pulling their cheeks and sticking their tongues out at me. I will make you rue the day, rue the day you crossed me! I wriggled, trying to do a pull up to unhook myself from the ceiling. They crept back in while I was preoccupied and circled below me. The boy grappled onto the crescent formation of my head, using it like handle bars. I am not a god damned jungle gym! My head shook back and forth, trying to get him off.
He was laughing with glee and stuck on there, coiling his legs around my head for a better hold. The other two jumped on as well, scaling my sides, wrapping around my chest. A realization dawned on me. They were so soft and lovable. My struggling subsided as I basked in the fluffy fur. The three were not pleased by my lack of movement. They started clawing and biting, the girls were deterred by my armor. The boy though sunk his teeth into the little wiggly tentacles on my head. I screeched, thrashing and all three detached, bolting out of the room again.
“Fucking little biters!” I screamed after them.
They were laughing and pointing at me, I shook my fist. I was going to get these little shits! Just you wait, I am going to pet you so hard! My hand dragged up, holding my leg and I leveraged it up inch by inch. At last the summit was reached. My hand gripping the cord tightly and I yanked up. The first try failed. This was harder than it looked. If only my other arms or legs were working, then this would be easy. I pooled my strength then pulled with everything. The loop moved and I plunged into the floor. Ow! I shook my head, looking for where they went. There you are you little kitties!
When I crawled towards the door they fled, screaming bloody murder. My journey for revenge ended prematurely when a pair of clawed feet stopped right in front of me. I looked up and it was Glitter Kitten with her three little brats hiding behind.
“What are you doing, nyah?” she asked, peering at me.
I scowled as the kittens were making faces at me behind her. “I was trying to get to you.”
“Me?” she looked between me and her children, then at the bats on the floor. She sighed, “What did they do now?”
“They tried to hit me until candy would come out.”
“She is lying. See on the floor and everything,” protested the little boy.
Glitter Kitten sighed, “What has Mommy said about hitting people nyah?”
“Only do it if they are going to hit you back?” answered the white one nearly in tears.
“That is right. What have you three just done?”
“Hit somebody who can't hit us back,” the two that were not crying said, rolling their eyes.
“That is right. Do you know why that is bad?” they shook their heads and she continued. “It shows you are weak, see she is still crawling around. In a fight there are no rules, so be sure to go all out. Not against each other though, we have to watch out for one another. If you are going to hit something make sure it can't get back up. Now against somebody like her it is understandable, nyah, she is what we call a Regenerator. It means that she heals super fast. See how she is not dead even though she got beaten down by Den Mother. She might even be up and about fully healed by tomorrow.”
“Scary,” cried the little white kitten.
“How do you beat these types?” asked the boy. What am I a Pokemon? Well obviously since I am a bug type fire is the bane of my existence.
“For these types nyah, nyah, you go after the limbs. Nyan, nyan get the arms and legs first, then the head and they will be dead. Simple nyaes? If they are really strong though they can put their parts back on or even grow new ones. Scary right?” she wagged her finger at them, pointing at me here and there.
They nodded eagerly. Glitter Kitten what the hell kind of parenting is that? Teaching the next batch of super villains already I see. The kittens were giving me the evil eye, they were up to something. How can something so cute be so diabolical?! I just want them to love me! Now what am I going to have to deal with? She surprised me though, when she grabbed up the little leader by the scruff of his neck.
“Now what did I say earlier?”
“Leave the hero alone?” asked the white kitten.
“Nyaes and what did you do?”
“We were playing with her,” scowled the boy.
“Looked more like you were tormenting her. Now look. She has something very important to help me with and that means she is off limits,” she smiled vaguely and they cringed. “Since you were being bad, a little punishment is in order.”
The two girls retreated and the boy struggled, crying desperately, “We did not hurt her!”
“Not that you did not try. Come and take your swats without a fuss or I will give you something to cry about,” she glared at them.
Their ears went flat and they reluctantly followed behind her. Glitter Kitten went into the next room over and about ten seconds later their cries of agony rose up. It sounded like she was skinning a cat or something. I heard a low slap and a fresh voice was filled with tears. Oddly only two of them were punished. I could tell by the voices. She returned without her furry little brats and lifted me up with one hand.
Come to think of it what the hell even was her super power? I thought she was supposed to be fast, yet here she is lifting me up like it was nothing. She lay me on the couch next to the two pouting children, the black furred girl and the white blotched boy. They were sprawled with their bottoms up in the air, a red hand print on the soft skin. The white kitten was smugly sipping on some juice. She got rewarded for tattling on her siblings.
“What are their names?” I asked, reaching towards the little white one. She let me pet her, so soft and fluffy. This one, I want this one.
“She is Snowball. He is Rocket. She is Midnight,” said Glitter Kitten pointing to each respectively.
“You name your kids like pets?”
“No, no, nyah,” she grinned, wagging a finger at me. “It is their stage names for when they get older.”
“Stage name?” I asked looking at the children. Then I remember exactly where she lived, the thought they would be actors was thrown out the window after a moment. “You mean like a stripper?”
She almost purred, “Nyes, also super villains just like me, most of them will likely take over the family business. That and it is rather hard to name twenty four children.”
“You have twenty four kids?”
Glitter Kitten lowered her ears and the tail slumped, “Sadly only nineteen at the moment. The young are vulnerable to the world after all. Sometimes they wander off and don't come back, others are killed during fighting, or picked off by our scaly neighbors and then there are those sick bastards who catnap them.”
“Oh, well sorry to hear about your loss.”
“Thanks, most from your half of the city don't seem to understand.”
“If they are so important to you why am I even allowed near them? Couldn't I like kill them or take one hostage to escape?” I asked, this had been bugging me for a while.
Glitter Kitten stared daggers down at me, her mouth set in a cruel grin, “I am not too worried with how messed up you are right now. We both know you would not. I could tell just by how you acted, though to be fair I don't truly trust you. Which is why I am watching over you, just in case. Should you harm one of my kittens well, the claws come out and I would kill you in the slowest, most painful way I could. You would be pleading me for death and yet I would not give it to you.”
I gulped, “Point taken. I like cats and it is not as though these little guys have done anything too bad. I sort of had my perspective opened up a bit since this happened to me.”
“Yes I see that,” she flashed the cards of the naked cat girl. When the hell did she get those and why are they perfectly fine! If only they had been ruined instead of the map. “I never would have taken you to be a fan of mine.”
“I like cat girls you got a problem with that?” I glared.
“Why would that be a problem? You should have told me from the start rather than playing coy. I would have been more civil you know. I always treat my fans better. Since you like pussycats so much all the more reason to join me.”
“Still going to have to turn you down,” I flatly replied.
“Well should we ever cross paths, at odds I will be sure not to kill you and trust me I could kill you very easily.”
“Why is that?”
“Consider it a favor for helping me out here. You saving that man's life, well to be frank helped me a great deal. So I owe you one, nyahah. Although after this I suppose it would be two. How about I give you free drinks at the bar?”
“What the hell makes you think I am going to come back after all of this is over?”
“Don't be so melodramatic. Little miss hero. Offer stands feel free to drop by.”
“I still don't really like this.”
Glitter Kitten smirked, laying her hand on my head. “No need to be so serious. You are not hurting anyone. In fact a lot of people are not going to get hurt since you are helping me.”
“I really hate drugs though. Who are you even selling it to? That much is enough to ruin the lives of thousands.”
She sat next to me turning the channel on the tv. It ended up back on cartoons. I could see her kittens poking their heads in from other rooms and slowly creeping in. “Life is all about choices, Mecha Fairy. It is their choice to ruin their lives. We all have to live with the consequences to our actions. Sure I am a so called bad person, kill people, rob, torture, but I also protect, support, love and cherish those around me. You see I realized long ago it is not about what others see me as, it is about how I see myself.”
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“Honestly that is pretty deep was not expecting that from a stripper cat. However, drug abuse effects everyone around that person. It is not a simple matter.”
Glitter Kitten laughed, “Nyahaha. Pretty good right I thought that up when I was high as fuck.”
I stared at her and she poked me in the face. “You use your own drugs?”
“Hell no, that shit is bad for you. Fucks with your head you know? Besides only an idiot uses their own supply.”
My frown creased, “You just said you were high. So what were you doing?”
She nodded, “Catnip. Now that shit will get you fucked up.”
“Wait is that code for something or do you mean like literal catnip?”
“I mean catnip,” she replied rather matter of factly and pointed at a potted plant next to the tv. Several of the kittens were basking nearby it.
Catnip? Now that is a new one. Well I guess she is a cat, so should I be so surprised? I saw those fuzzy little kids watching me. This was not exactly what I had been expecting from the notorious Glitter Kitten. She sort of reminded me of a hippie soccer mom. So far she had not even touched me, just idle threats and she even seemed apologetic about my kidnapping. Granted I still had something that she wanted meaning I was not going to be released, at least not right away.
It seemed to me that she was getting more of a bad rap than she deserved. Although that might be a good thing since if her enemies knew she was not that bad it would cause problems. I could just be biased here, I do love cat girls. Of course there was the possibility that this was something of an act, they were villains after all.
While I had been thinking my antenna swished back and forth. Out of my peripheral vision I saw Glitter Kitten arch her back, going hunter cat mode. She wiggled her ass and the tail writhed with excitement. It was not just her either, the kittens looked rather riled up following with their eyes, bodies tightly bound. In the end they were just cats. I could probably take advantage of this. At the least that is what I thought before she lunged and tackled me!
She pawed at my antenna, beating them back and forth. It escalated to scratching and biting. It did not really hurt so much as just being weird. This was one of the strangest feelings I had ever had. Her warm, wet mouth held my segmented feelers. I could smell her breath, it reeked of alcohol and... cat food? God is it that bad down here? Her heart beat radiated through her body and flowed into me from the vibrations and sounds. She was purring. The more they moved the harder she chewed. My hand jabbed her in the stomach and she shot away from me back to her perch. That hit did not feel like it connected. Her predatory eyes gazing down.
“What the fuck was that about?!” I yelled at her.
“Nyahaha!” she cackled. “Those thingies on your head are pretty fun.”
“You leave my antenna alone. Just let me sleep will you?”
“Do you heal faster while sleeping?”
“Yes,” I said, not entirely sure if it was true. All that I knew is that it might get me out of harms way.
“Very well. We need you in tip top shape tomorrow, or else I might just have Den Mother drag you around on our little hunt.”
Oh god she means it too. Sub, fuck everything else get the legs working first! “I should be able to walk, by tomorrow.”
'Stop whining will you?' Grumbled Sub. 'We are just paralyzed. I have already gotten most things connected. The spine is being a real bitch though, can't quite seem to get the right nerves back together. Oh you feel that? No? False alarm.'
“I wish you would take things seriously,” I growled back.
Glitter Kitten stared at me. “I am always serious. You trying to pick a fight or something?”
I shook my head, “I was not talking to you, sort of mumbling to myself.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Well we have all been there. You should really choose your timing more wisely. After all if I was not such a nice person, well you would be in a very bad place right now.”
“It is a good thing that you are such a nice person.” My mouth spread nearly coming off the sides of my face.
Her hair stood up for a brief moment then flattened. “Come along now. Snowball, Midnight, Rocket. Let us leave the little hero to recover.”
I was left all alone, the tv my only company. It was just what I wanted, to rest. My eyes dropped shutting out the dimly lit room. Sleep took me for what seemed only a few moments, though it had been hours. The sun had set and the tv channel had been changed at some point. It was on the news, a recap of the daily events they were harping on the attack still. Vaguely I rubbed my face, turning to get a better position. Something was weighing down my legs. Nibbles sat there munching away at a metal pipe. She turned staring at me with her black beady eyes and for a long moment there was silence. It sort of reminded me of a deer in the headlights.
“You eat metal?” I asked.
She nodded crawling over me so that we were face to face. A bit too close for comfort. “I have to nibble or else my teeth hurt. They grow so fast.”
She had bad breath though I doubted that any of them even brushed their teeth or used mouthwash. Wait a minute does my breath stink too? I have not exactly been keeping up on the oral hygiene since I don't have any teeth. I blew in her face and she reeled back covering her nose. Oh god is it that bad? Why the hell did no body tell me I had such wretched breath? No wonder Chief has been staying at arms length. When I get back I am going to gargle a whole damned thing of Listerine.
“How bad is my breath?”
“Rotting meat,” she replied, looking a little green in the face.
“That bad eh? Sorry about that. So why are you here anyway?” I asked looking away, I felt a bit embarrassed.
She rubbed her face with her paws. “I don't like how things get down there. So I stay up here usually. Glitter Kitten told me to watch you. Here is your food by the way, I got a bit side tracked earlier.”
There was a can of dog food on the table. I eyed it and said, “You don't have real food here?”
“No. We had to start rationing last month.”
“Rationing?”
“Yeah, I can't really tell you why though.”
“So what, you are feeding the dog food to your customers down there?” I asked.
“No. We stopped serving food, only alcohol and drugs now.”
“So I take it you don't like that?”
She nodded and I lay back. Seeing the Mad Dogs up close has left me wondering, are they really that bad? Sure Den Mother is a bitch, but the rest of them seem rather low key about most things. The way I had been hearing things I had honestly been expecting them to be feral animals. Yet here they are trying to make a living, albeit in illegal and rather dangerous exploits. At the least I was expecting some Villain type stuff. Not this. Although I suppose I got a dose of the real deal with Molotov everything else seems watered down in comparison. God dammit, I am trying to rationalize why criminals are doing bad things. It does not matter why they are doing bad things it does not excuse it. Besides they tried to kill me.
The tv flashed drawing my attention. It appeared to be breaking news. That frizzy haired reporter in her trench coat was on, she was out front of the hospital. “Penny Peaches, channel eleven news reporting in. As you are most likely well aware the Mad Dogs assaulted the Downtown Hospital. The target was Mr. Richard, who has been relocated to the Hero League Headquarters under heavy guard. Rumors are that teams are being scrambled to siege the Slums. But should we? According to my sources Mr. Richard is a wanted fugitive connected with the Columbian Drug Cartels, namely the Angels of Hell. This raises a very-”
A voice interrupted her mid sentence and the camera jerked to the side. There stood Glitter Kitten. She was wearing a skin tight tiger print cat suit save her hands and feet. Sparkly dust was rubbed into her fur making it glimmer. “Nyahaha. Interesting I thought he was a rat. I have a little message for the Heroes.”
Penny was shaking a little. At first I thought it was terror, but then I noticed it was enthusiasm. Something wrong with that bitch. “Glitter Kitten! Can I give you an interview?”
She gave the camera a glance. “Pretty brave little human. Very well ask away, but first I have something to say. I know you are watching heroes. I have your little Mecha Fairy. She is alive and well for the moment. I was surprised as well, resilient little thing she is. How long she stays alive is up to you though. In two days I will personally drop her off at the neutral zone, unharmed, assuming my demands are met. It is simple really stay out of my Slums and when I bring her, bring me five million dollars. I would ask for Mr. Richard, but we both know you won't give him up, not even to save your junior hero. You take one step into my Slums and Mecha Fairy is dead. I will rip off every one of her limbs, let her bleed out, piss on her face and of course I will do all of this right in front of you. I might keep her head as a trophy or I might put it on a pike and display it for all you to see. Just to show you how powerless you are. Don't fuck with me and I won't fuck with you.”
“Mecha Fairy is alive?! How?” asked Penny.
She looked rather nonchalant, peering at her clawed finger for a moment. “Simple. She regenerates. Fairly strong at it too. By the way Heroes, I know who she is under that suit after all I peeled her out of it like a tin can. I am rather surprised, honestly. I won't kick the litter from the box unless you make me, you know what I mean. Anything else?”
“Why are you giving her back after two days?”
“Oh that nyah. She needs time to recover. Den Mother got a little angry while we were questioning her and ripped off her arms.”
“Her arms? That is terrible even rank 4 can't put their limbs back on.”
“Good thing she can then. She is fine, don't worry about that.” Her tail flicked a little, she was lying. Though actually it was true, she just did not know it.
“Why did you attack Mr. Richard?”
“He-” started Glitter Kitten then stopped herself to think. “To put it simply he tricked one of my subordinates and we will not be made fools of.”
“So your motive was revenge?”
“I suppose so. By the way I am not forbidding people from visiting the Sparkle Kat, I just better not see mobilized forces moving in on my turf. You keep the peace and I will keep the peace. Understood? Good Nyah. Well I will see you in two days when I drop off Mecha Fairy. Try anything funny and her death will be the least of your concerns.”
Glitter Kitten crouched and pounced up landing on a roof over head. The camera followed as she vanished from view. Penny sighed then looked ecstatic, “You heard it here first, on channel eleven. Glitter Kitten herself has made demands, fairly simple ones really. Can her word be trusted? Is Mecha Fairy still alive? What are our heroes going to do? All that and more next time!”
I lay there watching as the reporter changed to someone else. She certainly got her point across. That was actually rather smart to use the news media to intimidate the heroes from taking action against her. Since she made it public if they went through with it and shit hit the fan it would look bad for the good guys, since they ignored the threats. Guess this means there is not going to be some rescue mission. That is one bold cat though just walking into enemy territory and making demands like that. Some of that was out and out lies, but then again I get the feeling she was not one to mess with. She was not the leader of the Mad Dogs by being a nice person, at the least not without a substantial amount of strength to back it up. Looks like this is out of my hands and I am just along for the ride.