It's where the heart is.

by QuirkyEdgyBoi

Summary:

Little Cato and his parents have always been on the move. Given their careers in the infinity guard it was expected of them to be. All his life they had been jumping from spot to spot. To space station, to star ship, to colony, they never stuck around in one place for too long. Little Cato had always been alright with that. Being a spacer wasn't the worst thing in the galaxy, though he always found himself wishing that he and his parents could just settle down on one populated planet, if only for a little while. Unbeknownst to him that wish would come sooner then he'd imagen when his parents are granted leave. The issue had come out of the blue without rhyme or reason. Now he and his parents were on a flight to some city in Cailfornia. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't ecstatic, though he does his best not to show it.

Notes:

So, when I first started this story, and even before that, I was in such high spirits. But the more I wrote and the more stories I read from other creators, the more I began to second guess it and the whole series really. It kind of all started after I saw a pic of little Cato's new design. He had this long braid flung over his shoulder and running down his chest and admittedly it makes me feel something I can't explain cause he's my favorite character lol. but anyway, I was looking at it and I guess it reminded me of a bunch of stuff. About how the show never got to end and all that, then I started thinking about indie animation and how there's a lot of talented people out there getting to do some amazing things. and then there's people like me who are just existing, just existing. Like you ever feel like there's more waiting out there for you, but you don't particularly have the talent or motivation to chase it like others? Sometimes I don't feel like I'm cut out for this writing thing, or most things.

Whatever though. Here's this story, a thing I wrote that I may or may not return to. Knowing me I am though. Even when I don't feel confident in a story, I still go through with it because despite how bad things get, the worst posable thing would be to give up. At least without putting up a fight.

At least I know how to tag the series now. It's a fusion. A little more than just a crossover.

Chapter 1: Something mundane.

"Keep going," Gary shouts over to him calmly. Little Cato had kept his hand clenched around the ship's acceleration handle as they flew nonstop through hyperspace. He was nervous, he's sure everyone was, though he was the only other one doing his best to keep his frantic breathing under control. To his surprise, Gary had been doing a better job keeping it together than he was then. "Just a little further."

He reminded the boy, as if Little Cato needed to be. He knew what the stakes were if they stopped, if they'd slowed down for even a second, and the danger that had been a few lightyears behind them now. Even then they refuse to stop. He refused to stop unless Gary was absolutely sure.

"Okay." Gary huffs as their ship is thrust out of hyperspace and into the dark recesses of some far-off corner of the galaxy. Both Gary and Little loosen their grips from the hyperdrive controls and sigh, relieved to be just a little further from peril. "I think... I think this is good."

"You sure?" Little Cato peers over to the man across from him. The hyperventilating he had been keeping under wraps long since uncaging from his little lungs. It wasn't enough to hear the man's words. He needed to be absolutely sure that Gary was too.

"I..." The blonde man pauses for a moment, a sign that doesn't inspire much confidence in Little Cato's eyes. "I'm sure," Gary said finally before slowly rising from his seat. "I need to think of something... gotta talk to Quinn." He rushes out of the deck without another word, leaving Little Cato alone at the helm.

He stays seated in the co-pilot's chair for a while longer before deciding to get up himself to leave the deck behind. He aimlessly roams the halls of the Galaxy Two with no clear objective in mind. The ship was cold, even colder now considering all they had been through in recent days.

With the return of the lord commander, the death of Fox, and the subsequent loss of Ash and now Invictus was about to swallow everything in existence whole. His day couldn't get worse even if it tried and it would have to try really hard.

He was tired and scared, everyone was. Their world was about to come to an end, how could they not be. The only other person who tried not to show the fear and hopelessness that spread throughout the ship besides himself was Gary and even that was just barely.

Even his own father Avocato, a man who's been through more pain than the young Ventrexian could count on two hands, was starting to show cracks under the pressure of the apocalypse at their heels. It had gotten so bad that the man even refused to speak to Little Cato or anyone for that matter. He was sure that his dad was avoiding him and Little Cato his no idea why that could be.

That's why he needed someone to be strong, for his sake at least. He needed someone to look up to in the shadow of the end and he could think of no other person than his adoptive father Gary. And Sheryl perhaps, but she hardly cared about anything anyway. End of the world or not, it wasn't getting under her skin.

After absent-mindedly wandering for what seemed like hours or days eventually Little Cato found himself in the ship's mess hall. He wasn't sure exactly when he entered the large room, but he was going to take the opportunity to rest. If Gary says they're safe, he'll choose to believe so until proven otherwise.

He takes a seat on a nearby metal bench by one of the mess hall windows and gazes out into the galaxy beyond. They had jumped to some far part of the Milky Way, possibly even near the galaxy's edge, in an attempt to get as far away from the breach as they could possibly muster.

If they had the means to cross dark space and settle in another galaxy, Little Cato's sure Gary would take that option in a heartbeat. Unfortunately for them that wasn't going to happen. It was either venture out there or stay in the Milky Way. Both outcomes lead to their deaths. Behind daydreaming there was little more they could do beyond planning their next move and praying for a miracle.

Little Cato would do neither. Instead, the boy would peek out into the Milky Way and ponder to himself. Not for a way out or a, hopefully, quick death, but of what life could have been, for all of them. Had they just abandoned Quinn to Final Space, would they have been safe? Would they even be dealing with anything they were dealing with now?

"Hey, little man." The sudden sound of a carefree greeting entering the room makes Little Cato jump in his seat slightly. When he turns to see the abrupt intruder, he finds his eyes encountering an admittedly nerve-soothing sight.

"Oh, hey grandma." He gave the older blonde woman a quick wave and a phoned-in smile he had to force over his lips.

"Hey, what I say? None of that now." She says holding up a disapproving finger to the boy that does little more than make him laugh.

"Right sorry Sheryl." He turns away from her and back out into the galaxy. The Ventrexian boy retreats back into his thoughts, thinking of things they could have done differently, of ways they could have avoided the madness.

After a moment of silence and more 'what ifs' cluttering his mind like discarded trash, a form takes up a seat just across from him. His grandmother was still around to his surprise, and she was willingly sitting with him. Sure, there had been a table between the two, but she was still there, still close. He can't help but find it odd.

"What's troubling ya then?" It gets even stranger when she confronts him with a question about the obvious internal struggle he'd been wrestling with then.

"Uhh... nothing." Little Cato chuckles nervously. There was obviously something wrong, just nothing he ever made a habit of off-loading onto others. It wouldn't be fair, to them or himself for the matter.

"Right, right for sure." She said, leaning forward on the table to broch the distance between them. "But we both know that's bull, right?" Little Cato raises a brow at her when he brings his eyes away from the window again. "Come on little man. I... am your gran... after all." She spoke with an uneasy tremble in her voice, but Little Cato could tell she was being genuine. The little admission even gets his heart to flutter up a bit.

"Well..." He starts, unsure of what to say and how even to say it. "Do you think things would have been better... if we had abandoned Quinn in final space? Could things have been better for us? Cause looking back... maybe we should have." 

A serious look befalls Sharyl's face as she leans back in her seat with an apprehensive hum. Little Cato knew what he had just confessed wasn't particularly good though he wasn't anticipating the older women to look so displeased with him.

She sits with that unsure look on her face until a smile breaks the tension between the two in half. "Ya don't really mean that." He lifts yet another confused brow when she finally speaks.

"What?"

"Come on, I know ya don't." He goes to question her again but is stopped immediately as she continues on. "Just consider this for a moment. If you hadn't gone for the dimensional keys and set out on this grand adventure, ya would have missed out on a lot yeah? Ya wouldn't have gotten to know Ash and Fox, ya wouldn't have gotten ya dad back, Gary wouldn't have adopted ya and most importantly ya wouldn't have gotten me in ya life." She pointed to thumbs to herself causing a more honest smile to return to the boy's face. "Now I know it hurts, the situation that we're in, but would ya've had it any other way, little man?"

He brings his eyes away from her and to the table as his feelings uncertainly shift around in his mind. After some consideration, he slowly shakes his head from side to side. "No." He mutters. He wouldn't have had it any other way, not if it meant he never got to experience all the good along the way.

"And even if all that were to never happen, I think ya still would have gone along with it all." He looks back up at the woman again, as lost as she could make him.

"Oh yeah." He grins at her. "What makes you say that?"

She leans forward on the table once again. "Because you're just like him. You know that right?" Little Cato's grin disappears as he shoots her a curious look. "You and Gary are a lot alike. Sure, you and that Avocato fella share some traits but you and Gary..." She laughs. "It's downright uncanny little man. You're just as stubborn, charismatic, and foolhardy as that boy ever was, and still is. It's to a point where I'm beginning to think he had a fling with some Ventrexian girl and Him and Avocato are just lying to ya."

"Don't even joke like that grandma." He chuckles along with her, though he has to admit her little theory was making him a tad bit nervous.

"But seriously, I know for a fact that you would have jumped into final space ten times over if he asked you to. And it's all because you love him so much." 

Little Cato lets out a conceding sigh. She was right, there was no use in arguing about it. Not like he wanted too anyway. All this talk about what ifs and Gary possibly being his real dad does get him thinking, however.

"Hay grandma?" He, rather shamefully, flinches when he calls her by the name again. She never liked it, but she never resented him for using it. She just wasn't used to such a title.

"Yeah, kid," Sheryl spoke with a sigh leading her into the conversation. 

"I been thinking..." He stops suddenly, earning a wandering brow from the woman. He didn't know how to bring the topic up per se. It wasn't the kind of thing he was used to talking about with someone like her. "So, there are like, lots of dimensions, lots of me, lots of you... lots of all of us... you think that in one of them... were all happy?"

"Hmm..." She hums attentively with a smirk still plastered along her lips. "Not too healthy thinking like that ya know." She taps a finger to her temple. 

"Seriously grandma." He dramatically stretches out his hands across the table, pleading for the woman to give him a proper answer, or for her to indulge him a little at least. "Would they be happy? Or are they in the same position as us right now?"

Sheryl bobs her head before shrugging at the boy. "Honestly? Hard to say. There's a lot more nuance to life than just what you can see. Could be a universe where you and Ash are married. Could be one where I stayed in Gary's life. Hell, could be one where Gary turned out to be lord commander."

Little Cato cringes at her last example. "God forbid please." Another soft chuckle leaves his mouth. The last thing Little Cato wanted to think about was more evil versions of themselves.

"Things could be happy go lucky or the universe could be ending. You'd never know." Little Cato huffs out in exhaustion and frustration. Her answer wasn't what he was exactly hoping for, though he would take it either way.

They sit together in the low-lit silences of the mess hall as their eyes draft along the galaxy on the other side of the window. They hardly say much, more so enjoying one another's company. It was the first time he had sat down and done nothing at all.

There was no worry clouding his mind, no heavy thoughts of who they had lost or what they were going to do next, no stress of combat or injury. It was only him, his grandma, and the tranquility they found themselves in. If this was the last time, he'd ever get to properly rest, he would take it.

"Everyone." Their peaceful silence is broken up however when Gary's voice comes echoing from the ship's intercom. "To the deck. I think we have a plan."

Sheryl looked up to the ceiling and at the voice she could barely see. "Well." She got up and held out a hand to Little Cato. "Seems breaks times ova." Little Cato snickers at her, taking her supporting grip as she pulls him to his feet.

She walks off first while he takes another quick glance at the Milky Way. "Well, one of them has to be something mundane." He whispers before following behind the older women.

Meanwhile, in another time, in another life.

Little Cato touched his head to the backseat window. He slightly recoils from the cold, wet glass but settles into the feeling quickly. He peers past the condensation smeared on the window and out to the night sky that was just out of view and his vague reflection.

He brought a hand up to his bright blue mohawk, a style decision he had made a mouth before leading on earth. He runs his finger gently through his hair before guiding the digits down to his orange fur. He was Ventrexian, just like his dad though the two looked nothing alike.

While Little Cato had orange fur, his dad's coloring was more teal or dark blue. He'd always told the young teen that his color, along with his natural blue hair, came from his mother, someone he hadn't known much about. He didn't even know what she looked like.

They had been driving all night long after touching down in L.A. and spending some time there. Their destination was a few miles out from where they had been, and the drive wasn't pulling its punches. 

The boy had wondered why they couldn't have just landed in the city they were heading to instead, but his parents told him something about the spaceport being under renovation so the best they could do was catch a flight to the nearest city.

He brings a finger up to the window and begins to move it along the moisture, sketching out a little abstract image that even he was having trouble making out. He was bored out of his mind with nothing else to do but wait for this long drive to come to an end.

"Everything okay back there Little Cato?" His dad calls to him from the front, peering through the rearview mirror to check in on him. 

Little Cato lifts his shoulders in a halfhearted shrug. "Yeah." He responds quickly and dryly, still looking out of the window and using his finger to sketch little figures into the moistened fog.

"Really? That's all you have to say. 'yeah'" Gary, his other dad, spoke up next, mocking the boy's dry response and looking through the rearview when he gets not even the slightest chuckle in return. "Little Cato?" He says, still only receiving a low-effort hum from the boy. "Little Cato?" Gary undoes his seatbelt and turns to face the boy. "We really doing this? You're just gonna ignore me?"

"No Gary It's-" He nearly snaps at the man, jerking his head from the cold window. He stops himself before his mouth could go any further and get him in trouble though. "It's really not a big deal." He places his head back onto the glass with a slight flinch.

Gary scoffs at his son and turns back in his seat. "Not a big deal? Little Cato you have been complaining about how we don't get to spend much time together and now that we can, it's oh 'not a big deal'" Gary mocks the boy some more as he dips his voice drastically deep. Of course, it was not at all with Little Cato sounded like.

The blonde had been right, however. Little Cato had been asking to spend more time with the two for a long time now. He didn't want to show it, but he was dying on the inside of joy and excitement. 

He was a spacer kid, all his life he had been traveling Alliance space for his parents' military careers. For as long as he can remember, his life consisted of star ships, cruisers, space stations, and colonies all around the United Systems. From the colony of Shanxi to the city of New Atlantis. From Olympus station in Jupiter's orbit to Svarga hovering around Saturn's. His earliest memories were of Alliance military personnel.

Since his parents were both in the Infinity Guard, a branch of the Alliance Navy, it was a given that they would rarely ever touch the surface of a fully surveyed world.

Now all of a sudden, they were on leave. The word had come in whilst they were stationed on the Star Pacer, one of the biggest ships in the navy. There was no rhyme or reason for the issue, normally that was something a person had to request themselves, but Little Cato wouldn't complain. He wouldn't complain about the city his parents had chosen for them to stay either. The fact that it was on earth was enough for him.

"Come on Little Cato." His dad chuckles. "You're gonna love it here I guarantee it." Little Cato rolls his eyes. He was really putting in the effort to sell how little he felt about their newfound situation. His dad laughs off the indifferent display all the same.

It was a little while longer before the car came up upon a large black wall leading to a checkpoint just inside. It was sort of like a toll, a border separating the city they had been driving to from the rest of the world. 

The car comes to a stop and the vehicle is submerged in the bright, shimmering light of a full scan. Guards surround them from all sides, watching their vehicle along with all the other vehicles trying to enter the city. The scan takes a while, longer than what Little Cato was familiar with. 

The boy hadn't been through many scans before, say for ones involving the many ships he and his parents had been in and out of, but some of the colonies he lived on had them for entering and exiting towns and those never took as long. All the same, he and his family would wait patiently until a guard stepped up to the driver's side.

"Sir." The guard says as Avocato rolls down the driver side window. "Your vehicle came up on record. We'd like to have a word with you if you don't mind." Avocato raises a brow as he looks around to Gary who mouths something along the lines of 'What?' to the other man. 

"Uhh... sure thing." He spoke reluctantly though undoing his belt and exiting the car soon after. 

Little Cato leans toward the front seat and watches the guard usher his dad off to who knows where. "What's that about?" He asked just as lost as Gary had been at that moment.

"I don't know," Gary said keeping his eyes focused on where he had last seen the boy's father for nearly ten minutes. Little Cato was already nervous and seeing Gary just as anxious doesn't do the teen Ventrexian any favors. "Don't worry. Everything gonna- shit!" Gary spat, picking up a wallet from the driver's seat. "He forgot his wallet. It must have fallen out his pocket." Gary was already halfway out the door when he saw Avocato come back around toward the car.

"We all good here?" He asks, falling back into the driver's seat. "Everyone set?" They look at him with a kind of disbelief and worry, as if he had just sprouted multiple limbs. "What's up?" He looks from one shocked face to another.

"What happened in there? What did they want?" Gary asked, worry still gleaming in his eyes. Little Cato was in much the same position as his other father, leaning forward and looking his dad over for any sign of distress or vague hint of injury.

"Nothing, they just wanted to make sure all our information was in order." He flashes a soft, though slightly counterfeited, smile at Gary. "We're good to go."

"But you left your wallet here." Gary lifts the little lather pocket up to the man, whose smile quickly falls from his face.

"Oh, uhhh..." He stammers, gently taking the wallet out of Gary's hand. "They let me off with a warning." His grin was back in full force and brighter than before. Gary holds a suspecting brow up at him but takes him at his word, albeit with a curious hum.

In no time they were back on the road, into the night and soon on the streets of the city they would be calling home for an undisclosed amount of time. Night city. Little Cato's always heard of the place, and he's even done his own research in his free time.

They called it the city of dreams. The place where you could make a name for yourself quicker than anywhere in the galaxy. He's also heard other, less favorable things about the city. That it was a gutter, where hope goes to die, and corruption thrives. The city of nightmares. Though he's sure all the rumor, good and bad, was exaggerated. 

It may have had quite the reputation no doubt, but it was also a landmark of Alliance history. Back then, way before he was born, Night City was touted as the city of the future. A modern multicultural metropolis that was built in the early years of the twenty-second century.

Little Cato brings his arm up to the window and uses his sleaved forearm to wipe away the condensation that fogged up the backseat window. He brings his face up to the glass and looks out to the city. It was vibrant and full of life, even in the middle of the night the streets were aflush with people.

From what he could tall, from the roundabout they had been caught in. they were in Cropo Plaza, City Center. As the name implies, it was the center of everything in Night City. Tall budlings from even bigger corporations rose up into the sky like black monoliths, swallowing up the vista from anything that wasn't just as important. It must be quite the sight during the day.

Deeper in the city might have been less bright but no less colorful as advertising for all kinds of products lit up the night in a neon haze. They were in Watson now, close to their new home. It wasn't anything too special but that wasn't going to stop it from sticking out to the young teen.

"Don't forget anything Little Cato." Gary's voice echoes off the walls of the missive multi-level garage they had pulled into and wraps back around to Little Cato. "I don't like the look of this place so much. Wouldn't want to send you back down alone."

Little Cato begins to protest though his dad beats him to the punch. "Gary come on, he's a grown man." He teased with a smirk as he dragged the family's suitcases out from the trunk of their car. It was the kind of smile that always got under Gary's skin and Avocato knew that all too well. 

"Grown man or not, he's still my child." Gary blazes a harsh stare at the man who still wore the aggravating smirk along his lips, and he holds that rough stare until the aggravating smirk shifts into something Gary had a harder time staying mad at. And the blonde was defiantly beginning to crack under the weight of Avocato's delicate smile.

"Gary it's alright, nothing's getting left behind." Little Cato said, slamming the door to the car shut and walking over to his parents. "Can we go?"

Gary shakes his head. "Right." He turns his eyes away from the other man. "Which floor is it again?"

"Uhh." Avocato pulls out a phone from his back pocket and scrolls through for a reminder of where they would be living. "Floor fourteen, room fourteen-O-eight." Both Gary and Little Cato flinch and recoil respectively with much the same reaction to their new room number. "Relax, it's not going to be like that dumb movie."

"That movie is not dumb." The pair simultaneously blurt out as they accost Avocato with murderous glares.

"Alright, alright." He shrugs and turns to walk toward the elevator without putting up much of a fight.

Gary and Little Cato stood in place, watching him go. Gary shakes his head at Avocato again though this time he does so with a small smile on his face. "Dumb." He snickers. "Little Cato get your father."

"What? He's your husband, reign him in."

Once Gary and Little Cato clear their thoughts, doing their best to forgive the man, they catch up with Avocato, and the small family files into an elevator. The lift was far bigger than what Little Cato was used to. If anything, it reminded him of a cargo elevator with enough room to fit a dozen or more people.

Little Cato keeps his eyes on the digital button pad, counting the floors as the numbers pass by slowly. When they reach the fourteenth floor and the door opens up, the boy is nearly blinded by even more neon light that shines through the opening. He would have prepared his eyes if he'd known that the budling would have been so lit up during the night.

The source of all that light came from more neon-lit-up advertisements, promotions, and signs attached to twenty-four-hour shops. Some of the signs blinked and shimmered while others glistened as bright as day. There was a terrible lack of consistency from place to place but what else was he expecting really.

They stepped out of the elevator and into a mostly empty atrium. There weren't many people and the few that there were present are mostly teenagers loitering around the budling at a time when they could get in the least amount of trouble.

Gary would decide to suddenly take a tight hold of Little Cato's hand along the way to the apartment, getting some of the loitering teens to pass small chuckles his way. He tries to yank his hand away from Gary's, but the man had an iron-clad grip the boy couldn't escape from.

He gives up immediately. Even if he were able to escape, his reputation as the new kid had possibly already taken a steep hit.

The family eventually stumbles upon a row of apartments in the fourteen hundreds. His dad begins counting down the row of doors leading up to theirs. Little Cato slowly follows behind his parents, hand still unwillingly attached to his other dad's. He might have felt more embarrassed if he wasn't already so tired. He isn't sure why, though he suspects out of boredom, Little Cato's eyes begin to wander around the atrium.

He doesn't find anything of note in the wide-open hall, mostly more teens and people passed out in front of their apartments, too drunk to actually get back in, at least he hopes they were just drunk. The teen wasn't looking for anything specifically, he only wanted to take his mind off of the overbearing force of nature that was Gary.

His eyes scan along the ground until they come in contact with something. Two pairs of red shoes to be exact. Bringing his eyes even further up, he sees that they were attached to a pair of legs that were wrapped in angelic white jeans that were torn at the knees, and even further up from those was a torso with a red shirt and a cropped jean jacket over it.

It was another teenager, by the looks of it, immersed in the phone that shone bright white from its screen. He would have just been yet another teen but what made this one stand out too Little Cato was the blood-red, emotionless mask he wore around his face. Little could hardly make out anything between the lighting and the mask, but what he could tell was the boy's skin was light brown, almost caramel.

The red mask quickly looks out from its phone and at Little Cato. It was almost like he could sense that someone had been looking at him, that someone was intrigued by him and his remarkable eccentricity. He looks at the Ventrexian, eyes dark and mysterious, and the Ventrexian looks back before the teen nods his head upward, unofficially welcoming Little Cato.

He's hesitant at first but returns the gesture quickly. As soon as he does the masked teen is off his phone and walking in the opposite direction. As he goes Little Cato can make out a design on the back of the guy's light blue jacket. It was a deep red rose that almost looked spray painted on.

At that moment Little Cato stops worrying about the things his brain has been telling him to be annoyed by thus far. The bright lights in the middle of the night, Gary keeping him close at hand and the lingering teens laughing at his misfortune. In a flash, all of his previous worriers disappear and all he's left with are thoughts on how he could get a jacket like that masked kid's. 

"Here we are." His dad's voice cuts through to Little Cato's bamboozled mind as the family comes to a stop. Avocato fumbles with the code to the digital lock, eventually getting the door open after two or three retries. "And welcome home family." He steps in first, hauling each of their suitcases in behind him.

"Hmmm." Gary hums and glances around the space.

"What's wrong?" Avocato looks back.

"It's a bit small... isn't it." It wasn't the smallest space Little Cato had seen or lived in, but Gary wasn't wrong. The apartment was really just a hall leading to one open room, the living room he would assume. 

"Gary, you're acting like you haven't lived in tighter spots." Avocato hooked his fingers around each hip. "Besides look at this place. A sofa pit, T.V. on the wall, and a decent-sized kitchen. Two beds, one bath. You can't tell me it's not enough." He said, pointing to the two bedrooms and the bathroom in between them.

Gary wants to argue against him but seems to fight off the urge to do so. He knows he can't. "I guess it's not." He reluctantly admits with arms folded over his chest.

"That's my baby." Avocato puts a finger under Gary's chin, lifting the blonde's head, and places a gentle, passionate kiss on his lips. The sound of lips smacking and saliva swapping nearly makes Little Cato want to lose his lunch. Thankfully they would separate before he had the chance. "Alright, I'll see you later."

'What?" Gary snaps out of his romantic trance when he sees his partner rushing back toward the front door. 

"I got something I have to take care of."

"Take care- we just got here."

"It'll take two hours, tops. I love you and make sure Little Cato gets to bed." He was out of the door before that last part could fully register.

"Wait Avo- Avo-" The door closes, and Gary beats his fist against it. He leans up against the door and then steps back with a heavy sigh. "Well, I guess it's just me and you tonight. How bout' a movie-" When he turned around, Little Cato had already been gone as well. "Just like his father. Well, more movie for me."

Little Cato had ducked into one of the two bedrooms. He wasn't going to wait around for a designation, he was already too tired. The room he'd chosen wasn't too big but not to smile either. Like the rest of the apartment, it was, enough, as his father would put it.

He throws the bag around his shoulder to the floor and unzips it. The teen begins rummaging through until he finds what it was, he'd been scavenging for. He pulls out the phone and a pair of wireless headphones to go along with it.

He sits down on the edge of his new bed as he scrolls through a selection of music. He flicks his finger along the screen until he lands on one of his favorite songs. It was also one of Gary's, an old band he liked to listen to every now and then or whenever Gary put them on.

Little Cato falls down onto the bed and lays the phone down beside him. As the music begins to play, he folds his hands behind his head and lets his run along the ceiling above. His fingers jitter and tap against the back of his head once his mind begins to race and his body gets into the grove of the song weaving poetic melodies into his ears.

He realized that he was lying in a bed, on earth, in an apartment no less. It hadn't occurred to Little Cato how surreal the feeling was until he was actually there, and much like the song he'd been listening to it was a thing of beauty he didn't want to fade away. Once the thought is settled in his mind, he closes his eyes and smiles.

It was about time they sat in one spot for a while. He doesn't know how long they would be in night city, but he would cherish every moment they were. He was just happy to have something more mundane.

 

Chapter 2: Welcoming committee.

The sun creeps through the window, thin rays of light slowly stalking over his closed eyes. His face scrunches up as the sun begins to coax his eyes open. He runs one hand over his face and does so again when he doesn't get the thing that was irritating him the first time around.

Little Cato's eyelids slowly flutter open and are met with a full helping of sunbeam. The teen covers his eyes up again and leans up on the sheetless bed beneath him. Was it morning already? He barely even had time to appreciate the dreamless sleep he'd fallen into before the dawn was out to greet him.

He reaches up to remove the headphones he'd fallen asleep with, the music long since coming to an end and lazily drags his legs over the side of his bed. Little Cato sets stationary for a minute longer, running a hand over his face as he forces his mind to awaken along with the rest of him.

Once he feels the drowsiness start to dissipate, he rises from the bed and makes his way to the door. Little Cato didn't bother taking off the clothes he was wearing last night, a yellow sweater, blue jeans, and yellow and white sneakers to match. By the time they had arrived at the building, he was already too tired to care what he slept in, just as long as he got to lay his head down at all.

Doing a four-hour run from Los Angeles to Night City with hardly a break in between was still rough on his body and mind. He'd traveled long distances before, lightyears in fact, but that was always in the comfort of a ship that made the trips feel like mere minutes. He wishes cars had grav drives, but then again that probably wouldn't be too street-legal from what he knows of Earth's rules of the road.

He presses a finger up to the digital button pad to his room door and the thing slides open with a slight swoosh almost immediately. Little Cato ambles out of the room with a few distinctive pops to his neck as he moves his head from either side.

His first thought upon reaching the living room was to make a B-line for the kitchen. His instincts always guided him toward the food, and he always followed with little doubt. When he opens the refrigerator however, he remembers that they don't have much besides the extra homemade sandwiches and bottled waters they had packed for the trip.

"Eh." He shrugged, reaching into the refrigerator and grabbing a sandwich. Baggers can't be choosers and even then, the sandwiches were made by Gary's hands. They were pre-ordained to be good.

He turns back to the living room as he begins to undo the sandwich from the saran wrap it'd been constrained in and his vision anchors to the sunken part of the living room, or the person in the pit anyhow. Gary was there, sitting on one of the couches with his eyes closed and arms folded over his stomach.

The teen couldn't understand the reason why his other dad was still out in the living. He thinks maybe Gary had been up waiting for his dad to come back. Had his dad still not returned? All he could do was speculate and those deductions were becoming a bit concerning, so there was only one way to find out for sure what was happening.

Little Cato silently glides over to the sofa pit, sits on the couch Gary had been sound asleep on, and stalks over to him carefully as any playful cat would. The teen brings his face close to the blonde's, examining the features of his human dad with squinted eyes before pressing his lips to Gary's pale cheek and blowing a violent raspberry that startles him awake.

"What-What!?" Gary nearly falls off the couch and onto the floor to the delight of the boy next to him. "What the hell!" He glares over to the laughing delinquent.

"Good morning, Gary." He says, casually unwrapping the plastic his homemade sandwich had been confined to.

"Are you literally trying to kill me?" Gray sidesteps the teen's greetings in favor of scolding him for the rude way he had gone about waking him.

"Gary, relax." Little Cato chuckles, finally freeing the sandwich from its plastic-wrapped cage and takes a bite. "Jack loves it when I do that." He spoke with bits of his freshly bitten sandwich crumbs falling from his mouth.

"Well, Jack isn't easily susceptible to heart attacks." Gary held a hand over his chest. The argument doesn't seem to go anywhere with his son. The words fly toward the boy but never land where he could care to pay attention.

"Yeah, cause he has like two or something." He said with a tone that was not at all concerned with anything around him. "So, dad still didn't come back?"

Gary opens his mouth to speak but closes it quickly after. His oncoming relentless tirade is put on hold when he's reminded of the fact that Avocato is still absent. "No." He spoke. "He's not, isn't he." 

Little Cato looks over with a speechless huff. "Did you call him?" The boy asks. Whatever worry he was feeling last night only doubles with his dad's continued absence.

"I did, but nothing." Gary sighs, pulling up his phone. "A few texts here and there but that's it."

A worried hum flees Little Cato's stuffed mouth. His dad had always been a bit odd, and to himself when it came to personal business. He always had the habit of not telling his family of things he was going to do before he did them. 

With time his covert antics had become more routine. Though just because they had gotten used to the man's disappearing acts, that didn't make him vanishing from time to time any less worrying, for both Little Cato and Gary. The teen could only hope that it was never the worst-case scenario. The last thing he wanted was for his parents to split up or worse.

"I'm sure he's alright." Little Cato spoke up after swallowing down the chunk of sandwich that'd sat in his mouth. "It's not like he's going behind your back or anything." He sort of regrets saying that last bit out loud. He didn't want to put any ideas in Gary's head about with Avocato could have been doing.

At first, Gary does appear uneasy, shifting uncomfortably in his seat with his arms still crossed. Though his mood would lighten almost immediately. 

"I know." He admitted. "I'm just worried he might be in trouble-" Before he could finish expressing his concerns, the sound of the front door sliding open caught both of their attention.

"Hey, family." Avocato steps in looking a little worse for wear. He didn't just look tired but filthy too, like he had been diving through more than a few dumpsters.

He was back and judging by the look on Gary's face, little Cato could tell that he was a sight for sore eyes and an eye sore as well. "Where have you been." Gary shoots up from the couch and immediately makes his way over to the other man.

"What?" Avocato spoke in a quiet albeit panicked tone. "I was taking care of something, you know?" He huddles closer to the blonde. "That thing we discussed."

"That thing?" The blonde man repeats the words. "I thought that thing wasn't supposed to start unt-" Gary quickly lowers his tone as he turns back to their son still sitting on the couch. "Little Cato go outside."

"What?" The teen throws a single hand up as he lets the question fly.

"Now mister," Gary tells him, or more so warns him, again as he pulls the taller Ventrexian toward the kitchen.

"Fine." The teen scoffs, taking another bite from his sandwich. "I was doing that anyway." He shuffles toward the door without another word and makes his way out of the apartment that would soon, no doubt in his mind, be a war zone.

As curious as the teenage Ventrexian was about their whisperings, there was an argument on the horizon, and he didn't want to be there to witness it. 

It's not like that kind of thing never happens between the two. They were at it every other week normally and it was usually Gary scolding his dad for something and his dad usually took the blonde's berating like a champ without a care.

He knew it would pass; they both did. Gary never argued with either of them because he was angry. He did it because he cared for the two Ventrexians. 

Little Cato wouldn't worry about it either way. His dad always had this way about him. A sort of confidence Gary could just barely resist. By the time the teen returns later the blonde man would be putty and his dad's hands, he just knows it.

Now, regardless of what he really wanted, he had to kill time until then and he couldn't think of a better way to go about that than to explore his building. He steps out into the wide atrium and over toward the edge of his floor, peering over the side to the ground floor far below. So, this was a mega building.

Last night he'd been too tired to actually notice, but now that he was more aware of his surroundings and the building could be seen in a more flattering light, he could see that the place was enormous and stretched upward considerably. It hardly lacked in scale and depth.

He isn't sure if it was due to the change in lighting or the appearance of the other residence, but the building does feel livelier to Little Cato.

From what he can see the building was mostly enclosed and the source of its lighting was internal. There were some large windows in the atrium allowing people to look at Night City but other than that the only lighting the building seemed to get was from the synthetic ones that kept the place looking respectable. 

"She beautiful ain't she?" A voice from beside him startles Little Cato as soon as he hears it. The voice wasn't one he recognized, and it came off as a bit muffled despite it being so close to his ear. He was reluctant to turn and see who it'd been connected to but did so slowly. Standing next to him was the same guy with the red mask from last night. He was staring out to the building before bringing his sightless gaze to the teen Ventrexian. "The building little bro." He snickers.

"Uhh- yeah, I think so. I-I never lived in a mega building before." Little Cato stammers. He hadn't been in any kind of apartment building before this.

"Ayy, first time huh, choomba?" Little Cato furrows his brows at the taller boy. "Yeah, I've been here all my life. You get used to it."

"Yeah... I'm sorry, Cho-oomba?" Little Cato repeats the word to the masked teen with as little offense as he can muster up.

The taller boy does a quick double take and stares at him with, what Little Cato would assume was, shook or disbelief.

"Ohh, new to Cali overall then?" The teen wonders and Little Cato confirms with a brisk nod. "Ay, no worries, like I said the place'll grow on you." He leans up from the balcony and fully turns to face Little Cato. "I'm Kendrick by the way... Kassidy." He held out a fist to the other.

"Avocato Junior." He lightly taps his fist to Kendrick's with a smile. "Most people call me Little Cato though."

"Nice," Kendrick said, stepping around Little Cato. "Want I should show you around the building LC?"

"Oh, yeah sure." He accepts but he has the sneaking suspicion that Kendrick wouldn't have taken no for an answer.

"Fellow me." He motions to Little Cato with a nod and is off before the boy has a chance to even say 'sure'.

Little Cato had to chuckle to himself. Not even a day in and he already has his name abbreviated further from Little Cato. He couldn't stand in place dwelling on it though, not when he was getting a free tour from someone who was already halfway to the other side of the atrium.

He catches up quickly to the deceptively fast teen. They had been walking through the same hall Little Cato and his parents had passed through last night. The only difference now was the change in lighting made the wide hall seem brighter and more bustling.

Everywhere he looked people were rushing about or doing not much of anything at all. Tenants hung halfway out of their apartments, and kids and teens lounged just out of the way of normal civilian traffic. Little Cato even sees a few police officers with a person handcuffed and face down on the concrete ground.

"So, you knew this is floor fourteen. I see you and your family got 1408. lots a rumor about that one."

Little Cato could hear his own gulp audibly slide down his throat once his apartment number was brought up. "All good I hope." He spouts nervously. The boy couldn't believe he was letting a movie get to him.

"That's actually one of fourteen's best apartments." Kendrick turns to Little Cato though he doesn't stop moving, walking backward without worry. "Second to mine but that's because Ma's one of the building's managers, you know?"

"Oh." Little Cato nods absently. "Does that mean you own the building then?" He scratches the back of his head as Kendrick's laughter starts and stops instantly.

"Well, maybe the fourteenth floor." He confesses and turns back around. "It's more like she watches over everything and everyone." He continues, rushing through crowds of tenants. None of them were really going anywhere by the looks of it.

They pass through the hall and into the area where the shops that had nearly blinded him last night were located. Unlike last night, the signs and advertisements on the walls were not as hazardous to his sight. Makes sense to him given that the sun was out and wafting in through the mega building the best it could.

"This is the market, one of the building's markets anyway," Kendrick said, waving his hand along the air. "Here you can pretty much buy anything without actually leaving the building." 

"Really?"

"Yeah, choom." He continues walking with Little Cato hot on his heels. "From snacks to your fav music albums, electronics, porn, a gun if you want to." Little Cato stops dead as Kendrick continues to list off everything that was on sale in the makeshift marketplace.

"You can really buy all of that... in here?" He blurts, hardly believing any of what he was hearing. The idea of being able to buy a pistol across the way from where a pizza was being sold was an odd concept to him and not something he'd seen on a sterile space station before. The teen was having a hard time comprehending why that was possible, to say the least.

"For real. See that place." Kendrick points to a shop with a big bright neon sign over its front door. "Gunshop. You can walk in, and the owner wouldn't even ask for your age." Kendrick laughs and taps Little Cato on the arm. "Come on."

He falls in behind Kendrick again, sticking to the older teen like a glue trap. The more they walk the more Little Cato notices that they were veering further away from anything of note. Not that there was anything more important to glimpse. 

The tour had officially concluded with the marketplace, yet they were still going all while Kendrick was feeding the boy bits of information about the building and its history and Night City's as well.

He had no idea where they were going. All the teen really knows is that it was somewhere on the other side of fourteen.

"The place was almost fucked liked thirty-forty years ago," Kendrick said, catching little Cato up on an important event that had happened a long time ago now.

"Right..." Little Cato agreed. Even though he didn't have much experience with Earth, he'd always heard the stories from his parents and grandparents and was taught the history over the years. "It's why they called the 2280s and 2290s the red right?"

"Yep," Kendrick says with a little more joy than was warranted. "The blast covered the whole of Cali in nuclear red dust. I would have given anything to see it honestly." He stops in front of a door and brings his fist down on it repeatedly. "Hello!" He shouts, delivering another barrage of thumps down on the metal door. "I don't think anyone's home." Kendrick leans on the door and nearly falls into the apartment once the door actually opens up.

"Jeez Kenny, are you a psycho or what." A girl's voice emerges from the apartment first and the body it had attached to steps out soon after. When she does, seeing her sends Little Cato's heart into shock. Her attire was nothing remarkable, pajama pants and a long white shirt though he couldn't fault her for it if she wasn't planning on leaving the house in the first place.

What really caught his eye was her hair and skin. The hair was bright pink and sloped over one half of her face and her skin had a bit of a bluish tent to it, almost turquoise even. She was a Serepentian. Little Cato had seen a few of them in his lifetime, though never this close and definitely not one so breathtaking as she had been.

"Fuck off, you love it when I drop by Ash." Kendrick bit back at her with a playful sting to his words.

"Yeah, I can stand you bout as well as a headache." She snaps back at him. The words, though harsh, get him to chuckle all the same. "What do you want Kenny?"

Kendrick leans on the wall next to the door and stares down at the bemused girl. "You're brother home?" He asks.

"No." She answers quickly. "He's out right now and he's not going to be back for a while."

"Oh, right..." The masked boy piles back from the door. "You're sister home?"

"Fuck off! What do you want?"

"Alright, alright chill." He held his hands up to her disarmingly. "I got that thing your brother wanted; you know?" A confused look drizzled down the girl's already aggravated face.

"Thing?" She questions him, squinting her one visible eye.

"Yeah, you know. The violin thingy." Kendrick brings one hand up above his shoulder and uses the other to run an invisible bow over his pretend violin. "You know?"

"You mean a violin." She corrects him.

"Yeah, that's what it's called."

"You just-..." She leans up against her door with a frustrated sigh. "Fine give it to me, I'll hold it for him." Ash held out a hand, waiting for the masked teen to hand off the instrument, though that would never happen. Instead, he looks at her, her hand, and back to her again.

"Oh, I don't got it with me." He shakes his head at her, casually confessing that the violin had been absent from his person.

Ash glares at him, her annoyance skyrocketing to a level further above where it had been before. "Why did you come over here then if you didn't even have it?"

"Ay, cut me some slack." He shrugs defensively. "I was showin' my boy around. He new in town and makin' friends." Kendrick waves over to Little Cato who had been standing by silently while the two conversed with one another.

Seeing him makes Ash jump slightly once she notices that he'd been there. "Oh, yeah?" She crosses her arms and bares a tiny smirk at the other teen as she leans out of her apartment to get a better look at him. "You just came in?" She asked.

Little Cato doesn't answer right away or do anything for that matter. All he could really do was stand slack-jawed and nervous as the girl weighed his worth with a concerned brow creasing on her forehead. It takes a snape from Kendrick before he recognizes that he should say something instead of standing dumbfounded.

"Ye-yeah... last night." He mutters, throwing a thumb over his shoulder. He was still lost, too taken with her appearance to actually function like he had been before. "My name's uhh-... I mean people usually c-call me-" He stammers and stumbles over his words.

"You're boy okay Kenny?" She shifts her eyes to the taller teenager in which he only shrugs.

"No clue. Ayy, maybe he's taken by your nova beauty." Kendrick gently elbows Little Cato's side. The sudden contact mixed with his teasing finally gets the stun locked boy to pull himself together.

"What no, no I mean-" He holds his hands to his head, clearing his thoughts and jumping in front of Kendrick to meet Ash face to face. "Let's start over. My name is Avocato Junior." He held a handout to her, and she took it with no hesitation. "People usually call me Little Cato."

She smiles at him as their hands meet. "Nice to meet you little Cato." She peers over his shoulder and toward Kendrick. "Don't let him lead you astray alright?" She nods and Little Cato turns his head to the other teen. "I'll see you around."

"Right." He said and the door to her apartment slides close. Little Cato was at a loss for words and taken aback.

"I think she likes you." Another elbow lands on Little Cato's arm.

He looks over to the other with his face scrunched up in perplexity. "What?" He rubs a hand up and down on the spot Kendrick had hit him. It by no means hurts but the mix of shock and the image of Ash still burned into his mind leaves him disorganized.

"Fuck off, I can tell. And I can tell you got a thing for her too, don't you?" Kendrick points at the dazed Ventrexian. Maybe he wasn't far off but Little Cato didn't want to admit it. He only just got here; it was way too early for assumptions.

"Come on dude, I don't think it's like that." He attempts to dodge the question. Whether it works or not he isn't so sure.

"Right..." Kendrick hums and turns. "Come one." He waves to him, and Little Cato continues to follow without question. 

They loop back around to their side of the floor and continue up a set of stairs leading to floor fifteen just above. Kendrick looked back every now and then to make sure that Little Cato had still been trailing behind him, which he had. He came this far he wasn't going to bow out just yet.

Floor fifteen doesn't look too dissimilar to the one below. From the concert ground to the row of apartment doors with digital signs reading 'rent paid' traced along the top of them. Looking over the edge of fifteen's balcony, Little Cato could see his floor and all it had to offer.

That wasn't saying much but it was plenty for a kid who spent most of his days looking at the cold metal interiors of ships or the vast emptiness of space.

"So, were you from LC? Wait let me guess, uhh..." Kendrick brings two fingers up to either side of his head, baring a fierce stare in a vague effort to read the boy's mind. "Nnnn- New York? I'm a genius, aren't I? You look like a New Yorker."

"Do I really?" Little Cato was surprised. Kendrick was way off but the young teen was surprised that the other boy couldn't tell he wasn't from Earth.

"Yeah, ny Vens carry themselves a certain way." He snickers. "But I got the feeling I'm wrong, aren't I?"

Little Cato returns a light chuckle to him. "Way wrong." He shook his head. "I don't even live earthside. I spent most of my life traveling from colony to space station, to starship. The only time I ever had a long stay on earth was when I was staying with my grandparents in Salem and that was back when I was like five."

"Spacer kid huh?" Kendrick whistles as the two come up to another door. "What your parents do up there?"

"Mostly scout and surveillance detail for the Infinity Guard." Kendrick hums before knocking on the door.

"This earth shit must be jarring then." He says, leaning up against the wall next to the apartment door.

Little Cato nods. "Yeah... the gravity difference is killer but I'm getting used to it."

"I could imagen choom."

The door to the apartment slides open with the same swooshing sound all of the apartment doors seem to make. Beyond it was another teen, dressed in an open gray bathrobe, a white tee shirt, boxer shorts, and nothing more.

He looks out of the apartment and over to Kendrick. "What's up, Kenny?" The pseudo-human cat asks as Kendrick leans up against the door frame.

"Ya'll coming out today?" He returns a question without answering the one asked.

"I wasn't planning on it. Why?"

"I was going to show the new kid around little China." He points a thumb back at Little Cato just behind him. "Was just wondering if you wanted to come with."

The cat teen looks out past Kendrick and to Little Cato with squinted eyes. "Sure." He agreed. "Give me a min." He steps back in as the door slides shut. 

Little Cato gets ready to settle in, he supposed that the wait would be a long one. Though to his surprise the door opens back up as quickly as it had shut, and the boy steps out now fully changed.

He was wearing an orange shirt with what looked to be a circle with another line pricing through it and black jeans that were tucked into equally black boots. His fur was just as dark if not darker and the red streak that ran down his hair matched his eyes perfectly.

"Someone's eager to delta today." Kendrick teased him. Little Cato had to be sure to make note of some of the words he'd been hearing. He would have to ask about them later.

"Yeah, yeah." The crimson-eyed teen waves off his mockery and steps past. "So, who's your boy?"

"He's new. Wanna make him feel welcome."

"Right." The boy gets closer to Little Cato, observing him with his blood-moon eyes. "You go to Myers High by any chance?"

"Not yet. I actually start later next month."

"Right, right. I'm gonna be with you." The teen holds out a fist to Little Cato and he reciprocates the gesture by tapping his own against the surprisingly soft black fur. "I'm Timmy... Borowski."

"Avocato Junior. Little Cato." He responded as cool and collected as Timmy came off, trying to mimic the feline's layback style.

"Cool." He flashed a quick grin before pulling something out of his pocket and placing it between his lips.

"Hey," Kendrick says. "You not afraid your uncles gonna flatline you for smoking?"

Timmy laughs, pulling the cigarette from his mouth. "My uncles? Sure. You're acting like they actually give a shit." He shrugged and placed the stick of tobacco back in between his lips.

"I'm just sayin', I'm not getting blamed for any of your gonk shit this time around."

Timmy groans at the masked teen's muffled concern. "It'll be fine. I'm not even really gonna smoke it." The black feline rolls his nightmare eyes at Kendrick. "Where are we heading anyway? I doubt this neighborhood has anything he wants to see."

"Don't worry about it." He pokes a playful finger at Timmy and looks toward Little Cato. "Trust me this place is more than just bullshit and gangs' man." He reassured the Ventrexian, though Little Cato had no idea he needed to be.

"Right." Little Cato agreed with a scowl. Sure, seeing the neighborhood outside of his building was a nice idea but he finds that his mind is bogged down by a more pressing matter. Something he couldn't let go unanswered. "Kendrick?" He says and the older teen turns around ready for the question. "What the hell is a gonk?"

Chapter 3: A better pair of friends.

"Ohhh, Okay." Little Cato said, breathing in a gasp of proud realization of the phrase he'd just registered in his head. "Yeah, I get that now." A tiny snicker leaves him, some small sign of relief on his part.

He, Kendrick, and Timmy had all been packed into the building's large elevator and were heading down to the lobby. The raid was a bit slow so the other two boys would take it as an opportunity to teach the newcomer about California's local vernacular.

At first, Little Cato was afraid to even ask. On top of his fear of not fitting in he felt as if he wouldn't be able to understand anything the boys had to teach him, even though he was a quick learner. Most of his learning came from home schooling but Gary always said he was 'too smart for his own good' and maybe he was proving his dad right by how well he was adapting to this street slang being flung at him.

"Right. So, output means boyfriend and input means girlfriend." Kendrick finished explaining, crossing one finger over the other.

"No." Timmy buts in, stepping in between him and Little Cato as he strips the cigarette from his lips. "It changed like two years back remember. Now output is girlfriend and input is boyfriend." He corrected him, only slightly tripping Little Cato up in the process.

"Right, right." Kendrick sighs in remembrance. "Cause you input your-... and she outputs nonsense." He whispers and snickers to himself as he hovers one finger over the other again. Little Cato was learning so much. Even the more confusing ones make sense after some time of repeating what they meant to himself.

It wasn't much but so far what the two teens had taught him were the basics. Things he'd be hearing the most wherever he set foot in Night City. Choombatta, choomba, or choom, the one he's been hearing the most thus far, originated in terra-afro communities. It referred to a friend or family member.

Nova was one he understood instantly. It was to Earth what terra-nova was to spacers like him. It meant cool, awesome, dope, and shared the same space as preem, another West Coast term that meant much the same thing. It was short for premium and was really only used in a professional sense, believe it or not.

Gato was a term used to refer to somebody cool, a smooth operator, or a fixer. A gonk referred to the iq impaired, a fool or schmuck, basically a fancy way of calling someone an idiot. Corpse and Corpo's were easier ones to grasp for him. Those terms were used nationwide most days. They were simple, referring to corporate workers, executives, the corporation itself, or any general expert in sleaziness.

Flatline meant to kill someone or to die. A dead person or dead thing. Alien was a derogatory term used for anyone not from earth, human or not, and a Bennie was an out-of-towner. Obviously, two terms he needed to be conscious of.

"Ayy finally, this things gonna flatline me from old age one of these days," Kendrick said as the elevator reached the ground floor. "I just want it to be as fast as it used to, otherwise I'm gonna start jumping to the first floor."

Little Cato was the second to exit into the lobby. He calls it a lobby, but it wasn't necessarily that. Normally a lobby would have doors maybe a security disk. Here, the entrance of the mega budling just begins. He finds more of what he'd already seen on the inside. More little shops, food stands and even more brightly lit advertisements littering the walls.

He could already see the city, its people, the traffic on the road, and the other buildings across from there. He'd just barely taken one step off the elevator and already he could make out where his budling ended and the rest of civilization began. and all of it was connected by one long hell and a set of steps. 

It was a wonder to Little Cato to see that the building had been as closed off as it was. On the inside, the people were packed together like rats and stacked on top of each other. The only bit of privacy the residents ever got was in there, more often than not, tiny apartments. Besides that, the building had everything you needed and enough space outside of the apartments too, making it possible to never have to brave the city.

It was a city in and of itself, bordering on a shanty town. Little Cato had to confess it was impressive.

"It wasn't always that slow?" The Ventrexian asks, trailing behind to taller teen. As they step out of the lobby, down the stairs, and into the open, he's greeted with an astounding sight. The city in all its glory, stretching upward far past what he could care to see.

The sky was barely visible past the lumbering steel skyline. The streets were up and on the move with people wondering, either for their daily commute or just sitting around. Much like the apartment building, the city was constantly in motion. And just like the building everything seemed to converge all in one spot.

To his right was a police station and to his left were multiple things. A dinner, some kind of studio, and a car dealership. Everything was so compact and clustered up to one another. Forget the mega building, he'd never have to stray too far from his neighborhood at all. He'd never want for anything though at the same time, it was all so overwhelming for him. The towering skyscrapers begin to chock him up the longer he looks.

"Never," Kendrick answers him as the group comes to a stop at a crosswalk. 

"No." Timmy butts between the two again. "Don't listen to him, it's always been that slow." He said using his tongue to move the cigarette around in his mouth. Like he said he wasn't really going to smoke the thing. He more so keeps it between his lips just in case. Or maybe to come off cooler than he already was.

"Fuck off, I swear to god it was T." Kendrick snaps to the feline with a tone that was sure he'd been right about their building's slow elevator.

"Whatever." Timmy scoffed, making his way across the street as soon as the crosswalk turned green.

Kendrick steps forward. "Trust me." He leans over to Little Cato. "I know what I'm talking about." He steps onto the road catching up to Timmy quickly. Little Cato looks back at his building and then up toward the other towering budlings surrounding him. 

He tries to gather his thoughts amongst the noise polluting every inch of the neighborhood. Compared to the isolation he could find on a quiet starship; the hustle and bustle of the inner city was completely new and entirely foreign to his senses.

He snaps out of his little nervous breakdown when he notices the other boys continuing on further and further without him. He races across the street but doesn't notice the don't walk sign blazing in bright red and is subsequently almost run down by oncoming traffic.

"Guys! Wait up!" He calls after them, but they don't stop moving. Though they do move at a slower pace, which means they definitely realized he was slacking behind. At least they would allow him to catch up. "Where are we going again?" Little Cato asks as he stumbles up to the others.

"Remember." Kendrick looks over too Little Cato with what he's sure was, a puzzling look. "Urmland Street, to the fuckin' magic shop." He said, hands tucked in the pockets of his jacket.

"It's not a magic shop," Timmy interjects as he had been doing all morning long. "It's Misty's Esoterica and chakra harmonization." He stated matter-of-factly.

"That's what I said. The magic shop."

"Not a magic shop." Timmy restates. "She doesn't do hocus pocus, alakazam shit. She offers spiritual guidance, you gonk." 

"She ain't ever offer me anything." Muffled laughter vibrates from behind Kendrick's red mask.

"That's cause you're a lost cause, Kenny." Kendrick scoff at Timmy but doesn't say more than that. Little Cato couldn't tell if he was upset or not. That red mask did a great job of keeping any of the teen's emotions concealed behind it.

"Wait." Little Cato spoke up. "What's at this magic shop?" He weaves around Kendrick until he is standing next to Timmy.

"Not a magic shop." The black feline huffs again. "But it's nothing crazy. She does readings and tries to guide you on the right path. Doesn't mean its magic shit!" He looked past the Ventrexian next to him and over to Kendrick, receiving another muffled chuckle in return.

"Readings? Isn't that like voodoo?" An annoyed scowl stretches along Timmy's face as he speaks. 

"It's not like that." The scowl softens up immediately. "It's nothing bad I swear. You should come in; it'll do wonders for your anxiety." Timmy's eyes roll around as he looks at Kendrick. "Lord knows he could use a tune-up."

Little Cato peers back around to the teller teenager. He didn't see what the problem was. He hadn't known Kendrick for too long but from what he could tell the masked boy was always in high spirits. Always moving without a care in the world. hardly seemed like he needed any kind of guidance.

"What kind of readings anyway?" He turns back to the black cat with genuine wonder.

Timmy intuitively shrugs at the teen. "She can pull your cards or read your palm. You're choice really."

"Plame readings huh?" Little Cato laughs to himself. That was something he was accustomed to. Gary did it often and if he were honest, Little Cato would always go to the blonde for a quick glimpse into a possible future, if only for fun.

After what Little Cato would like to assume was ten minutes of walking the group comes close to their destination. Kendrick had run ahead of them, jovially dancing around in the streets, kicking cans and bits of litter out of the way as he went. Eventually, he came to a set of stairs and lunged off the first step, sneakers slapping roughly against the pavement as he came to a landing.

He was having fun. A little too much fun if anything. He was so in tune with the city around him. Little Cato could only barely grasp the joy he'd witnessed too. No one enjoyed life as much as Kendrick seemed to. He doesn't know why Timmy would allude to the masked teens' need for a spiritual tune-up. The taller teen looked pretty tuned up already. Maybe even over-tuned.

Walking down a street, the group turns into a wide ally that was the host to a litany of shops. To the left, near the beginning of the large alleyway was their destination. Misty's Esoterica and chakra harmonization and to the other side of that was another store Little Cato could hardly make out the use for. Could barely even read the sign but judging by the dancers prancing around in the large display windows, he could take a wild guess.

"Enjoy your magic show." Kendrick teases them before trailing off in another direction.

"Whatever. Come on dude." Timmy pulls Little Cato into the shop by his arm and the difference compared to everything on the outside couldn't be more jarring for the boy.

In the city, everything came off loud and extraordinarily striking in every other corner. From the stores right down to the clothing people wore. It all had to stand out and jump in your face, otherwise, it wouldn't catch your undying attention.

Misty's was the opposite of all of that. Her space was quiet and sat in a warm, soothing violet tint that quickly settled his nerves as soon as he entered the building. Whoever this Misty was, she was the chilliest person the Ventrexian had ever met, and he hadn't even met her yet.

"Hey, Tim. Everything okay with you uncles?" from out of sight came a woman with carefree words that flowed through Little Cato's ears like the sweetest melody he'd ever heard as she stood behind the counter. She sounded cool and collected with an aura that could rival Gary's any day. That is when he wasn't being so clingy. 

This must be Misty.

"Hardly. They're driving me psycho as usual." He continues to cling to Little Cato, ushering him into the warm low-lit shop. "Hey, I was wondering if you could see my friend here first. He's new in town and me and Kenny are showing about the place."

"Oooh." She coos at the flame-furred boy. "A Bannie huh?"

"And an Alien too." Timmy teases and hits Little Cato's arm with a playful chuckle.

"Twofer..." She hums with an indulgent smirk on her lips. "Well, you couldn't have found a better pair of friends to help you along honestly. Even if Kendrick is a bit... much." She said with some reticence. Little Cato wonders what she meant by 'a bit much' he could only guess. "So, what do you need?"

"Oh." The teen breaks away from his thoughts and speculations about Kendrick and looks at Misty with a small smile. "I was hoping for a palm reading actually."

She nods and steps away from the counter she had been standing behind. "Take a seat." She waved to a chair near the back of the room that wasn't too out of sight. Little Cato climbs into the large seat and settles into the cushioning that morphed around his body, making his experience all the more relaxing.

Misty crouches down in front of him and outstretches her hand. The teen rests his flat in her open palm and she begins to run a finger over the center of his hand. Little Cato tries to keep himself from squirming due to the ticklish sensation he was getting from the woman's index finger tracing along his paw, but he manages to hold himself together.

As she runs her finger along his palm, the expression resting on her face switches frequently, shifting from smiles to frowns as the woman revs up distressed hums on the boy's behalf. She looked nervous and Little Cato was starting to get nervous as well. He doesn't know for what, but her gloomy expansion couldn't be a good sign.

"What's wrong?" He asks wearily.

Misty sparks up another hum before speaking. "Your path is cracked and loosened in certain places." She said giving his palm a closer look.

"What does that mean?" He asks again with a slightly unsure chuckle.

"Well..." She looks up at the teen, still holding his hand in hers. "Thus far you lived a life of relative ease and comfort, but at some point, down the line that life will change drastically. You'll have setback after setback and you'll even feel like you're falling into a downward spiral, but then eventually things will straighten themselves out again. It's all just a matter of keeping your head straight."

She lets go of his hand as he slowly reacts. Little Cato stares at his hand, the tingling that came with the woman's finger long since passing him by once his nerves had begun to flare up. Now all that was left was insecurity and a sort of despair.

"Uhh... thanks..." He said, balling up the hand into a fist and dropping it to his side. The teen then gets up from the comfortable seating that had lost its luster with a despondency lingering in his eyes and soon he steps out of the shop. He could wait for Timmy outside.

He holds his hand up again once he's back out in the open. She said his path was cracked and loosened, but he doesn't know what that means. That was the first time he'd ever heard he'd be having a hard life later down the line. How much later, he was so sure.

The teen was conflicted, to say the least. The result of the reading could have been a fluke, he doesn't even know if he believed in magic, but Misty didn't seem like the type to make up stuff like that just to mess with the newcomer.

"Ayy!" Little Cato quickly drops his hand and brings his sight up to Kendrick. The taller teen had been standing near a group of people and was waving Little Cato over to join him.

The teen shoves the results of his reading into the far reaches of his mind and starts making his way over to where the other teenager stands. "Hey-... Ken..." He begins to form a greeting before stopping as he nears Kendrick.

Little Cato could recognize the group the other teen had been standing with, or rather what they had been. They were Ventrexians, members of his own species only they weren't the typical type of Ventrexian Little Cato was akin to seeing.

The typical Ventrexian body weighed on a scale from athletically lean to muscularly burly. His people were always out to maintain a certain image even for those migrating from the turmoil of Ventrexia, like he and his dad, they still sought out a way of living that accommodated the culture back home.

That was why so many Ventrexians were in the Alliance military, bouncers for clubs, worked security, joined the police force, or had taken up becoming mercenaries. Even Little Cato who was on the skinner side of the body scale was still way more athletic than the average human teenager or even adult. It was in their blood to fight and in some weird way, he felt it was expected of them to be warriors. A role decreed to them by some unseen force.

These Ventrexians before him however were nothing like what he was accustomed to. Their bodies were softer, curvy, and plump in places he didn't think a man could be and the clothes they wore didn't leave much to the imagination.

Crop tops exposed their stomachs and fishnets, and knee-high socks ran up their thighs, squeezing to the limbs and slightly spilling any extra fat over the edge. They wore pump sneakers and leather boots on their feet and jackets from leopard print to black leather hung off their shoulders.

It's then that Little Cato realizes that these weren't just any Ventrexians. They were Joytoys, or what the rest of the galaxy might call hookers.

"How'd it go in there?" Kendrick ran out to meet the boy before he could make it to where he stood waiting.

His question hit the teen like a punch, he wasn't even too sure what to say, or if he should say anything. Little Cato brought his hand up again. "I definitely went." He replied to the taller boy. Little Cato decides quickly that the reading was nothing to worry about and wasn't a topic worth discussing with someone like Kendrick who had already been making fun of the concept of Misty.

"Yeah, that's how it be." A subdued snicker travels past his mask. "Was her boyfriend in? Guy scares the shit out of me honestly."

"Nah, just her." 

"Right, right." Kendrick nods before jolting with some realization and pulling Little Cato by the arm and over to the group of Ventrexians he'd been with earlier. "This my boy I been telling you about." Kendrick shoves the teen forward and the group of joytoys runs up with a torrent of 'awws' directed toward him.

"He's so cute." One with white fur and black spots said.

"Where have you been hiding him huh?" One with almond fur looks back to Kendrick.

"You wanna spend the night with me, little boy?" Another with black fur and a white strip running down his face purrs.

The men had accosted Little Cato from all sides, scratching behind his ears, on top of his head, under his chin, and even hitting sweat spots he didn't know he had. Their attention to him nearly causes the boy to pass out as his legs shake beneath him and his body melts from the inside.

Little Cato's leg starts to kick, foot thumbing against the ground, tail swings around madly and his tongue hangs freely from the side of his mouth. The things they had been making the teen feel were otherworldly. If Gary were there to see his son squeezed in between three prostitutes, the blonde would probably have a heart attack.

When the teen gets back around to opening his eyes, they land on the sight of Kendrick trying, and failing, to hold back laughter behind his red mask. Little Cato puts two and two together and realizes that he may have been caught in a rather embarrassing position with the way he had broken down in his fit of shameless bliss.

"Oh- sorry." He breaks away from the hoard of obsessed joytoys and shuffles back over to Kendrick. "I'm sure you're all nice and..." He trails off, thinking back to the pat down the group had given him though. The thought of coming to them every so often and paying them just to rub him down comes to mind but he pushes the thought away quickly. "I probably shouldn't."

"Hey." The one with white fur spoke. "You don't have to be nervous around us baby." He saunters up to the teen, his hips swaying from side to side, and throws his arms around the boy's shoulders as soon as he reaches.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Kendrick said, pointing to the Ventrexian around Little Cato's shoulders. "Cookie's a fun guy to be around but his exploits on their own could give that show Watson whore a run for its money."

The white-furred Ventrexian, Cookie, glances over at him with a smirk. "Hmm, fuck off Kenny." He said, with a courteous smile on his face. "You act like we're the only flatbackers in Watson."

"No." The taller teen shrugs at him. "But you are the most well-known now." The Ventrexian joytoy scowls at him before turning back to Little Cato.

"Oh baby, these threads won't do." He looks the teen up and down.

Little Cato stares at the man before him with a confused brow, then looks down at himself. His threads? His clothes he realizes. "What's wrong with the way I'm dressed?" 

"Well." The Ventrexian with light brown fur, who had been scratching behind his ear before, walks up next. "You stick out like a sore thumb. And you're way too handsome to be going around with loose-fitting clothes on." He brought a hand back to Little Cato's ear and began a new session of scratching. The sensation gets the boy to bite down gently on his lip.

"He just got here," Kendrick said. "You can't expect his parents to fork over the dough for some local threads just because."

"Don't worry." Cookie steps back, reaching into the crouch of his tight shorts and pulling out a wad of cash. "I got him."

Little Cato blinks at him once the shock of seeing so much money being pulled from such a place passes. Despite the joytoy's shorts having more room to breathe, the bulge at the front doesn't seem to shrink all that much. "Wait what?" He blurts out the question.

"Hold up, you sure?" Kendrick joins in, holding out a concerned hand. "I really can't afford to pay you back you know."

Cookie, who didn't seem to mind flashing all that money out in the open, snickers at the two boys. "Honey, I already met my quota for the day and it's not even the afternoon yet. I'm sure." The man may have been unconventional, but he spoke with all the confidence of a true Ventrexian, nevertheless.

Little Cato was unsure of what to say. He looks to Kendrick for assistance, but the teen only shrugs at him. "Okay?" Little Cato said and the ally erupts into cheers from the group of scantily clad Ventrexians.

They waste no time crowding around the boy again and dragging him along by his arms. He gives one last unsure look back to Kendrick as the taller teen trails behind him. Little Cato still couldn't get a read on his emotions behind his red mask, but he'd like to think the taller teen was having the time of his life at Little Cato's expanse.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Little Cato ambles up to his apartment door. His breathing was heavy, and his body was sore. If anyone had told the teen beforehand, he'd have to haul two missive bags jam-packed with new clothes all the way back to his apartment, he probably would have reconsidered letting the joytoys shop for him.

The boy stood in front of his door, recuperating his stamina with a set of Watson's finest treads on. It was nothing too special he thinks. He wore a solid black shirt, black pants with gold trimmings that hugged perfectly to his figure, mock gold sneakers on his feet, shades tucked behind his ears, and a gold chain around his neck.

The joytoys had told him that fashion in Night City was only driven by one thing. It all depended on whether it looked cool or not. It didn't matter if the attire was tacky. It was supposed to be all about the style. The substance didn't matter past that.

Once Little Cato could feel the wind return to his lungs, he opened up his apartment door, dropping one bag on the ground to do so. When he steps inside the first thing that graces his exhausted eyes is his parents, snuggled together in the sofa pit. Just as he suspected they would be.

Gary had been in his dad's lap, gushing and smiling as the two reminisced about how they first met. It's when his dad leans into Gary, whispering in his ear and wrapping his teeth around it, that Litte Cato knew he probably shouldn't disturb them. 

He loved seeing his parents happy, but he never wanted to stick around to see just how happy they could get with each other.

He begins to carefully make for his room when his dad suddenly and miraculously peers over to him. "Woah!" He moans out with a chuckle. "What is going on here?"

Gary looks over to where Avocato was staring and does a hasty double-take. "Little Cato!" He immediately jumps out of the pit and rushes over to the boy with a million and one questions locked and loaded. "What is this? Where did you get all this from? I leave you alone for one second and you go knock off a clothing store?"

"Gary calm down." Avocato walks up behind the blonde, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. Gary realizing, he had been jumping far ahead of himself concedes.

"No, you're right..." He closes his eyes in an attempt to gather his thoughts together and begins to mutter. "Roll it back, rewind. Where did you get all this?" He said, calmer now.

Little Cato looks at him before bringing his eyes to the rug below. He thinks for a moment before coming up with the only conclusion that makes sense in his mind. "I think..." He looks back up to Gary. "...I made some new friends."

 

   

Chapter 4: Bring out the clowns.

Little Cato's eyes flutter open slowly and as they do, his vision is met with a lack of light or sight. Only pitch-black darkness. At first, it scares him not being able to see anything at all. Questions and speculations flood his mind on what could have been transpiring.

Had he gone blind? Had overexposure to so many bright lights in such a short period left his vision impaired, or had something far worse occurred? Was he kidnapped? Did he have a blindfold over his eyes and was on his way to have his organs harvested? Kendrick had told the boy that sort of thing happened more often than not in this city.

He begins to panic but when he jerks around, he can still feel the fabric of his bed sheets underneath him. He breathes a relieved sigh. So, he wasn't kidnapped, that was good. However, the question on his mind still remains. Why was it so damn dark?

He is reminded of why when his room door slides open, and Gary pops his head in to let the teenage boy know that breakfast is ready.

"Breakfast?" Little Cato rises from his bed, the light from beyond his room shining harshly over his scarcely opened eyes.

"Yeah, up and at 'em," Gary said. "And open your shutters. Rooms too dark, it's bad for your eyes." Gary leaves and the door slides closed, enveloping the teen's eyes in the pitch black of his room once again.

"Shutters...? Right." Little Cato hums, reaching a wandering hand out into the darkness to locate his window seal. He finds it but continues to struggle with pinpointing the button to the shutter's location. 

He runs his hands along the window seal again and again and even once more before springing up on his bed out of sheer annoyance. He strains his eyes, forcing them to adapt to the dark with little success. He stops trying to force out some hidden night vision talent when he remembers that the button is located elsewhere in a spot just below the window.

He retracts his hand in defeat and brings it in below the window, finding the button with more ease than he had beforehand. After a quick second, the shutters would open up and fill his room with the warm light of Earth's sun.

He lies his chin down on the window seal and gazes out into the city. They were on the fourteenth floor, which was near the top of the mega building. That meant he had a good view of everything in sight. 

Given which side of the building they were located, it was a gorgeous view of City Center and Heywood. He was still getting used to all of it. The city, the people, even his own room was still a mystery to him.

Out in space, he never had to worry about doing much on his own. From the moment he woke up on an Alliance cruiser or space station the lights were already on. Even on rim world colonies where he and his family would stay for short periods, there was never a need for opening and closing window shutters based on how regularly bright the outside was. Then again ads didn't light up the sky in the colonies.

He stretches his arms up and sucks in a deep yawn before slowly dragging himself out of bed. Eventually, he had to get used to this place, otherwise, he wouldn't be able to function normally. Oh, how he'd love the isolation of a ship deck and the wonderful low hum of deep space engines right about now.

Little Cato steps over to his door and it slides open. At least he knew how these kinds of doors operated. He didn't feel completely useless in that sense. The boy could only be happy that it was as simple as it was. He knew tech in and out, all his time studying under Gary, and his grandpa Jack had paved the way for that skill to blossom, but he didn't want to spend more time learning to work a whole new piece of technology he'd never seen before. His hands were already full with adapting to Earth's surface.

He steps out of the room and into the rest of the apartment. When he does, he's blessed with the smell of Gary's cooking. They hadn't gotten around the doing any proper grocery shopping for the house, only getting what they could from the marketplace inside the mega building.

Despite not having the proper ingredients for their usual meal plans, Gary always managed to work miracles with what he had. And when Gary made do, he made do. Right now, Little Cato could smell one of the blonde's signatures cooking, the teen's favorite in fact. A viper wolf egg omelet.

"Woah." Little Cato coos, practically floating toward the dining table in their small kitchen. Either his nose was deceiving him, or he'd been dreaming then, but he knows neither outcome was the case. The smell was all too real, as clear as day and dragging him along like a puppet on thick strings. "How in the world did you get your hands on a viper wolf egg?"

Gary turns back to him with a radiant smile. "You know honestly, I'm still surprised myself." He said, turning off the stove and scooting the omelet onto a plate. "That market has pretty much anything you can think of. Just not in large quantities." He walks over to Little Cato with the plate in hand, sliding it in front of the boy. It was staked to the edges with the omelet being accompanied by bacon and sausages. "But it's only for today anyway. Me and your dad are going proper shopping later on."

Little Cato had already begun stuffing his face as Gary sat down at the table along with him. "Where is dad anyway?" The question was muffled behind the food that filled his mouth. He didn't bother waiting to ask the question, though it would be answered soon enough.

"Right here." An exhausted response finds the teen as his father comes shambling across the carpet. He makes it a priority to proceed to the refrigerator before saying another word to his family. He swings the door open, reaches in for a quick caffeine, coffee packed into a poche, and pops the straw that came with it in as he sucks in a good long sip. "Ohh, that's more like it." He still sounds drossy but at least he was getting close to waking up.

"Everything okay Dad?" Little Cato aims a concerned glance at his dad.

"Yeah, yeah just..." He stops and brings a hand to ruffle the fur under his chin. "How'd you sleep last night kid?" He snaps a finger at his son and looks down at him with half-pried eyes.

"Uhhh... fine... I think." A strange question but one he could answer with relative ease.

"Good, good, good." The older Ventrexian yawns in response, running a hand over his eyes. 

"How about you?" Little Cato flings the question right back at his enervated father. The older Ventrexian opens his mouth, sure of what his answer is going to be but shuts it just as fast. A pondering expression folds over his face and his eyes darken as he delves into sunken thought.

"Fine." After minutes of contemplating, his answer came anticlimactically to the table's disappointment. "You sure those beds don't seem... off to you?" He turns to Little Cato again and Little Cato turns to Gary.

"Don't worry about him." The blonde man waves to the teen. "He's been complaining to me about it all night long."

"Well, the bed feels weird, you have to admit." Avocato brings his palms to rest on the table and leans toward Gary.

"And I said we can look for a new mattress if you really don't like it." It was Gary's turn to lean forward, arms folded, and one leg crossed over the other.

"And I said we don't need a new mattress; I just have to get used to this one. I just want you to admit that it feels weird."

"Well, you're not gonna get used to it!" Gary jumps up and the two budding parents fly into an impromptu shouting match. They go back and forth and back again with each other, neither man gaining any tangible ground in the argument before it was taken back.

Topics change quickly as the arguing becomes more intense. In a short period, the bickering stops becoming about their uncomfortable bed and starts becoming about everything else. Them, their service to the infinity guard, and at some point, they even pull Little Cato into the mix.

Gary argues how moving around so much could be detrimental to the boy's health and that they should have considered a career change a long time ago while Avocato goes against the thought, even falling into begging the man to stick with it as he always had when Gary brought up the topic of their careers. And every time he did there was some hesitance or fear in his dad's voice. Gary never picked up on it but Little Cato sure did though he never understood what his dad had to fear by ditching the military.

After more arguing Little Cato rises from the table and slinks back to his room with a miffed sigh. It's not like they hadn't fought before. It wasn't anything special to him and he knows they'll be over it soon. That didn't mean he wanted to hear them go at each other until then.

He opens up his closet door and looks through the pile of new clothes he'd received the day before. The selection was almost too overwhelming, but he would settle on something that drew his eye. Something he didn't realize was picked up for him until this very moment.

He throws on the black hoodie with red strips running down the arms, slides into the shorts with the same color scheme, and jumps into the red and black boots lying patiently on the floor. He gives himself a once over in his closet mirror and flashes a rather proud smirk.

He pulls the hood over his head as his ears slide through little slits at the top. He steps away from the mirror and past his room door. His parents had been calmer now, talking out their troubles at the table with foreheads pressed up against one another. 

Those two were a special kind. They could be trying to tear each other's throats out one second in the next they were all over each other with passed discretions being cast out to the side. They were made for each other that much was for sure.

They may have been done arguing but Little Cato still shuttered to stick around. Normally he gave them the space when he thought they needed it the most and this was one of those times when the couple needed alone time.

He steps out into the hallway of his mega building. The teenager could still hardly get over just how missive the complex actually was. From the bottom floor, reaching all the way upward there were rows upon rows of apartments stacked on top of each other.

It was astounding and something that would probably get old eventually, but he liked to take the time to appreciate it all the same. Even so, a building was a building, what he needed now was to occupy his time and he only knew of one good way to do so.

It doesn't take long for Little Cato to find the masked teen; it never took him long too. Kendrick was always somewhere nearby. Today that place was the market, standing and chatting with Timmy and another teenager he didn't recognize.

As he's about to make his way over the sudden thud of something crashing into Little Cato, and nearly knocking him to the ground, startles him. "Hey!" Little Cato snaps his head around. As he suspected, someone had run into him, likely not paying attention. "Watch it!" He hissed.

"S-sorry, sorry." The person shivered. They were a pseudo human, a mix between rodent and marsupial with brushed back spiky hair, his quills. He was shorter than Little Cato, but he could tell they were about the same age. "My minds not in the right place right now." He chuckled nervously to the other boy. "My bad."  He steps passed Little Cato and continues on his way. He was half expecting the opossum to keep going about his business. Instead, he stops in front of the group of friends the Ventrexian had been eyeing.

By the looks of it, nobody was particularly thrilled to see him, still, they wouldn't tell him to leave. Little Cato was a bit taken aback, as usual, though decided that standing around and wondering wasn't going to answer his question. He needs to find out who this kid is exactly.

"Guys you won't believe the dumbass I ran into just now." The rodent snickers, halfway hiding his wide smile behind one hand. "You can tell he isn't from around here either. Has no sense of surroundings."

"Oh yeah?" Kendrick stared at the smaller boy, then slightly passed him. "Hey LC." He waves to Little Cato who comes up with the question of who the possum kid is fresh on his tongue and ready to fire. "This isn't that guy by any chance?" The possum looks back and blows out a heavy huff.

"Ohhh..." Nervous laughter follows and he runs a weary hand through his spiky quills. "That's my bad." He admitted to the young Ventrexian, reaching into his pocket and pulling something out. It was a wallet. His wallet.

"What the?" Little Cato snitches the wallet out of the other boy's hand.

"No hard feelings, right?" He shrugs and tosses a cheeky, no harm no foul, smile at Little Cato.

"Argit you dumb ass gonk!" Timmy shouts. "You're still doing crap like this, as if the last pocket you picked wasn't enough to dissuade you."

"Hey, I didn't know that last one was a solo! Their usually easier to spot." Argit barked, jumping to his own defense of past mistakes that presumably could have been easily avoided. "And I didn't know this was your choom, you can't fault me on that right? Kenny?"

Kendrick hums, remaining motionless as his eyes puncture through the rodent/possum teenager. "Maybe." He slowly trudges past Argit and over to Little Cato. "Sorry about him he's an actual idiot." He warps an arm around Little Cato's shoulder and guides him into the center of the group. "This is Argit, future con man in the making. Cours, you already met him."

"Nice to meet you." Argit holds out a hand though Little Cato was obviously hesitant to take hold of it. "Right, got it. We'll work on that." He flashes another salesman smile. As if it'd make all the difference in the world.

"And this over here is Meowmar." Kendrick points over to the Ventrexian next.

"Wait, Meowmar?" Little Cato smirked at the other.

"Yeah, I know, I know." He rolled his eyes with an annoyed scowl. His fur was a strange dark shade of green and was well groomed from what Little Cato could see. His hair was also done up in a way Little Cato had never really seen. It was thoroughly combed back into what was basically a pompadour and the sides had been shaved down to a fade around his ears. It was hard for Ventrexians to pull off human hairstyles. Little Cato's blue mohawk was an exception but even that took the boy a while to grow out. He wore a light brown sweater and black cargo pants. He came off as more put together than a lot of the people Little Cato had met recently. Sure, he fit the style bill, but there was more substance to be found with him. "Like I didn't get enough of that when I was younger."

"Well, it's not every day you get to meet a famous general." Little Cato chuckles when the Ventrexian nearly lights up red. Little Cato knows it's wrong to laugh but he could hardly help it much. He couldn't fathom being named after an old war hero, let alone a legend like Meowmar.

"Alright, alright Everyone settle down." Kendrick held his hands out to calm the group. "LC, Meowmars a good friend." He hooks an arm around one of the teen's shoulders and places a hand on the other. "He's down to suck, fuck whatever you want."

"Fuck off K!" Meowmar shouts, pushing the taller teen away who'd been stifling laughter behind his red mask. "It's not like that okay. I owed a favor." He turned to Little Cato doing his best to prove his innocence though the admission of actually doing something doesn't inspire confidence. If anything, it only makes him look worse.

"It was a hell of a favor." Argit chimes in. "Sure, you're not a joytoy, but you still blew that guy, for free mind you." Argit scoffs, more upset that Meowmar didn't have the decency to get paid.

"It was a favor. I owed him for something." The Ventrexian growls at the marsupial pseudo human.

"Alright, alright. No need to flatline each other here, right?" Kendrick jumps back into the fold with more genuine concern for the group.

"Right." Little Cato speaks up once everyone goes silent. "So, what's on the agenda for today, Ken?"

"Well..." He stops and reaches into his pocket. The phone in his hand rumbles to life with a flurry of messages flooding his notifications. He stands and reads with assorted hums, a few chuckles, and a shake of his head.

He doesn't seem too pleased or maybe much too pleased. Little Cato didn't know, and Kendrick never made it a habit to spile how he was feeling out onto the floor.

"Who is it?" Timmy asked. He tries to get a peek at the phone but Kendrick steps away. It's not that he doesn't want Timmy to know. It was more a matter of personal space.

"The sibs," Kendrick responds still looking down at his phone and typing a message back in quick secession. "Says they changed their mind... that they want to meet at Reconciliation Park." A collective groan resonates from most of the group.

"They're all the way in Heywood?" Argit asked with a frustrated sigh.

"Yeah."

"We're not actually going to the park, right?" Meowmar follows up with another question.

"Of course." An enthusiastic response hastily leaves the confines of Kendrick's scarlet mask. "Why wouldn't we?"

"Kenny, that place is riddled with gangers," Timmy informs him. It wasn't something he needed to know but for Little Cato, the news ran a bit of a shiver up his spine.

"Relax. You see this." Kendrick turns around revealing the red rose engraved into his light blue jean jacket. "No one's fuckin' with me and I'm pretty sure the blood roses are keeping that place in check."

Timmy sighs at the taller teen. "First off, you're not even an earner, and second, the roses don't own Heywood."

"We don't..." Kendrick falls on a sudden silence. "I coulda sworn we did." He runs his finger over his mask and ponders to himself. "Who's over there then?"

"Not a single rose." The frustration found in Timmy's voice was unfiltered and unrestrained. It wasn't enough to just put Kendrik in his place, he had to vent all of his irritation out to the taller teen as well.

Kendrick brings his head around, looking at each member of the group with no words attached to the motion. "Oh." He muffled out through his red mask, bringing his hands together and rubbing them. "Well, we can't just not go anyway. You wouldn't leave em' hangin' would you?"

"No-" Timmy stops, grunts, and rolls his eyes even harder at the masked boy. "I am gonna kill them when we reach though." He stumps off, followed by Kendrick and Meowmar.

As they go Little Cato keeps his eyes fastened to the rose on Kendrick's back. He thought it was just a cool little design the first time he'd laid eyes on it, more style nonsense he was still wrapping his head around.

Knowing that the dark red rose actually had some very serious meaning to it leaves the young teen a bit uneasy and with only one question on his mind.

"Kendricks in a gang?" He mutters, not expecting the hand that would land on his arm.

"He's gang-ish," Argit said stepping out in front of Little Cato with a smile the Ventrexian didn't want to punch off his face this time around. "But he's always trying."

Little Cato puts whatever feeling he has for Argit aside and begins walking alongside him. "Right." He said though he didn't really understand. How could someone be gang-ish?

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Reconciliation Park. one of the biggest public parks in Night City, if not the biggest. It existed in between Cropo Plaza and the Glen in Heywood. It was enormous, beautiful to a certain degree but given its proximity to City Center, maybe it had to be.

Like all things from a distance, the park was a sight to behold. It's only after coming closer and stepping past that first threshold and into the deep recesses of its inner workings does one find themselves weighing through the muck and grime.

That's how Meowmar described the park on the train ride over. As a pretty face with a few skeletons in its closet. The Ventrexian was sort of philosophical in that sense and the more Little Cato listened to him speak the more he realized, past his brooding attitude and whatever pseudo joytoy activity he got up to in his free time, that there was something more to him than just edgy monologuing.

Of course, Kendrick liked to describe it differently. "A cool place where cool people liked to hang." Is how he put it, and Little Cato couldn't dispute him even if Timmy hadn't already done so along the way.

Standing in its environs, however, plopped down mid-center and staring at the towering sleek black corporate buildings nearby the area, Little Cato realized he didn't have his own philosophy. He didn't have his own way of determining what made the park cool or not.

He was just there, existing alongside everyone else who had more of a clue. The best he could do was call it pretty. With all the greenery around them, it was like venturing through a miniature forest with a small lake to go with it. He's been through a forest once. A creek when he was younger, but he couldn't remember why he'd been running through it exactly. Though he does remember the candy he was stuffing his face with along the way.

Needless to say, the park was nice if not a bit industrial. It sat smack dap in the middle of Heywood, nestled in between four different neighborhoods. Cropo Plaza and its sleek budlings sat to its north, to the south was the rest of the Glen along with mega building H1 being closets to the park. 

To the west was Wellsprings, and though he couldn't see much besides a wall of buildings and the multitude of adverts that lay strung across every single one, he was sure the rest of the neighborhood was right behind them and nice in its own way. 

To the east was Vista del Rey. From where they stood Little Cato couldn't see much of it besides the district's tallest buildings reaching toward the sky.

Night City's highway also stretched overhead, each intersection coiling and twisting above like snakes, nearly blotting out the sun in certain areas of the park.

Modern art, or what the city considers such a thing, paved every inch of the park. Strang statutes of warriors the boy couldn't quite make heads or tails of sat mostly limbless in the gold they were sculpted out of. He doesn't know if it means anything, though it probably meant nothing at all. However, in some weird way, they remind him of titan-class rangers.

And, just as Timmy had warned, gangs were about. Mostly hanging out like any normal person would. Albeit with music blaring and guns toting as they bragged about the score, they had earned that day. Little Cato had the sneaking suspicion they weren't talking about video games either.

"So where are they?" Timmy pouts when the siblings fail to make their long-awaited appearance. He nervously peers around the park for the siblings and to also keep an eye on the litany of gangers much to Kendrick's dismay.

"T, stop looking around. You're gonna make these gonks jumpy." He mutters as his eyes stay plastered to the screen of his phone.

Meowmar growls and malds, like he usually does, the more they have to wait. "Of course, they're not here. Those gonks never have any consideration for anyone's time." He bit down on his thumb, bitterly scowling at passers-by though his hard staring isn't directed to anyone in particular.

"Stop mean mugging people choom. That's also a great way to get us killed." Kendrick spoke again, still gazing at his phone and paying no attention to the park around him.

The teen was juggling trying to keep Timmy and Meowmar in check all whilst pretending to feign interest. The only ones that stay in his good graces are Little Cato and Argit when the rodent wasn't disappearing and reappearing out of nowhere.

More time passes and the siblings are nowhere to be found. Their absences leave the group to wonder. Kendrick on the other hand was more concerned with the lack of blood roses in Reconciliation Park.

As far as the eye can see, all the group could catch glimpses of were Valentinos, the 6th Street Rangers, a Maelstrom here and there, and, what looked to be clowns. A whole lot of clowns at that. And there weren't your happy-go-lucky, maybe a little semi-scary, circus clowns either.

They were dressed like everyday thugs with hoods pulled over their heads and pants tucked into boots and shoes. If it weren't for the makeup and smiley clown masks they had been dawning, Little Cato would have thought them to be unassuming.

Their clothes were trendy, their weapons tucked away, and, unlike regular clowns, they were fully scary.

"What's with all the... clowns?" Little Cato was reluctant to even call them that. The term might have been an insult to anyone still claiming that profession nowadays.

Kendrick finally looks up from his phone when he hears the boy's curiosity take shape. "Ohh..." He snickered. "These guys." He hums under his breath. "So, you know this city is burstin' at the seams with gangers, right?" Little Cato nods. "Well, where there's a gang, there's a gimmick, and believe it or not there are a bunch of gangs with the clown thing going on."

"Yeah, they're called clown gangs." Argit slides into the conversation. "Not as funny as you might assume though." He brings a hand up and starts counting off the list of gangs. "The High Hats, the Julliard, the Philharmonic Vampyres, the Bozos."

"-Ran by the great Bozo!" The group all sing in unison.

"And the ones around here are called the Big Tops. I'm guessing they got the spot for today." Kendrick jumps back in. "Either that or there going behind the Bozo's backs. Either way, there should be some entertainment holding us over today."

"Oh." Little Cato turns his head back to the mass of clowns performing for unaware tourists. All the while their pockets were getting picked by B teams who slip in and out unnoticed. He puts his hands in his pocket to keep his precious wallet in place. Just in case. "So, what's so special about these siblings? You guys seem to think about them one way or the other. What are they like?"

"Great," Kendrick says.

"Awful." Meowmar fellows.

"Eh," Timmy shrugged.

Their opinions waver from person to person and were about as cut and dry as they got. Kendrick held them in the highest regard while Meowmar could care less about them. Timmy doesn't even give him a straight answer, only giving Little Cato vague indifference.

The only person not to answer was Argit, who'd been so enthralled with the way the Big Tops managed to slip their hands into every pocket in the park's square.

"What about you Argit. What do you think about the sibs?" Little Cato asks the marsupial, capturing his attention away from the clowns and bringing it over to the group.

"Oh." He shrugs, much like how Timmy had done. "I'm not really into hip-hop." Little Cato raises a brow He attempts to ask Argit what he had meant by that when the sound of mock shock stops him in his tracks.

"What." Two figures emerged from somewhere behind the group, coaxing a jolt out of Little Cato as they manifest. "Now you know that's a lie."

"Biggest one in history I think."

"You mean you know, boy." 

"Ay you're right, I lie." They step out before the group, speaking one after the other. They each had three eyes, two placed normally, one from across from the other like most humanoids, with the third sitting just above on their forehead. 

One was taller than the other with a teal tone to his skin and the other was a bit pugy with his skin being a shade of turquoise. They were hooblots and despite being at different vertical intervals their energy matched all too well.

The reception for the two were mixed. Timmy rolls his eyes, Meowmar doubles over with a grunt and Kendrick relays muffled laughter and gentle applause. Argit was the only one without a proper reaction to the siblings. Even Little Cato shares a bewildered look.

"The Dewinter brothers, finally showing up when the world needed the least," Meowmar said with a snort and venomous spite on the tip of his tongue.

"Hail Meowmar," The tallest salutes the Ventrexian getting him to growl again. "You know you can't rush perfection. It'd be like going all out with your output on the first date." The taller brother rambles on with an unbothered attitude. "That kinda thing can only end one way and thats-"

"Bad, catastrophic, second rate, substandard." The smaller brother hops in once the eldest was done speaking. "Worst case scenario, no one's gonna bother with it."

"True." The brothers brought their hands up, slapping their palms together and then tipping the back of their hands against each other's twice.

"Right." Timmy steps forward, kicking one foot out in front of the other. "But what have you two been doing for the past week that you needed to ghost the entire time?"

"W-well." The shorter brother stutters, seemingly losing the confidence he'd been so proudly displaying before. "We've been all over the place looking for a new sound for a song we're working on. Dean thinks we got it, but I don't know."

"Hey if you're making it, I'm sure I'll enjoy it," Timmy said, pulling the shorter brother into a half hug while staring intensely at the taller. The hug gets the turquoise brother to nearly turn a whole new shade of dark green, but it also gets the teal one's eyes to glaze over in disgust and annoyance.

Timmy steps back, a look of satisfaction lining his face while the tallest brother lightly slaps the back of the shorter one's head, throwing a questioning look his way. The display was strange, almost like Timmy was pulling a power play. Little Cato doesn't know what that was about, but he doesn't care to ask at the moment.

"Alright." Kendrick steps up next, tipping his fist to the brothers as he approaches them. "LC this is Dean and Sam Dewinter the local wannabes."

"Ayy nice to meet ya Lil Cato." The taller one, Dean, said.

"El Gato." Sam follows.

"El Gato Cato!" They sing in unison, slapping their palms together and bringing their hands back onto each other twice.

Little Cato can't help but giggle at the siblings. "Nice to meet you too guys." The teen follows Kendrick's example, bumping his fist into each sibling's.

"Okay, okay. Now that we're all acquainted, what in the fuck have you two been up to?" Kendrick asked. His muffled laughter was noticeably absent this time around. "We been here for an hour and honestly I'm starting to get worried after some recent revelations." He looks around, presumably at the magnitude of gangs that weren't his own.

Dean clears his throat before speaking further. "As my brother said before, we have been scouring the city for our next hit. From Santo Domingo to Pacifica," He dragged his hand across the air, recanting his tale with the kind of enthusiasm Little Cato had only seen in big speeches at the end of movies. "We've been looking for the right sound to compose our next song, and I think we found it. Right here, right now in Heywood... among the clown's baby!" He points in one direction, where the clown gang is most heavily concentrated. "Come on." He motions the group forward.

They were all hesitant to follow but each member of their small group began to pick up the pace instantly. If the siblings were running around the park unharmed then things couldn't have been all that bad.

They weaved through the crowds, marching further and further into the park until there were more clowns than regular people to be seen. They continued onward, putting all their trust in the Dewinters and not minding the psychotic stares they'd been receiving from the Big Tops.

They walk until the eyes become too much to bear, until the rough glance begins to chip away at their nerves, and they start to sweat, but they keep moving. All the way up until they finally reach the centerfold of this mass of clowns. 

"Gentlemen." Dean steps up first and outstretches his arms. "Meet Bongo." He introduces the person the gang had been centered around. A young pseudo-human brown bear drumming away at the bongos between his crossed legs.

"Bongo?" Little Cato says.

"That's my name, don't wear it down... though maybe you could if you wanted to." He points to Little Cato and shoots the teen a wink. Much like the other clowns he'd been dressed head to toe in trendy fashion. A black hoodie and shorts with a glimpse of his artistic talent painted onto the clothes. Unlike the others, however, his makeup was minimal, with only two spots of star-shaped glitter stickers on either cheek of his face.

"So, what, are you like, the leader or something? A lot of these guys are sticking to you like glue." Timmy questions the bear.

"Oh, no, no, no." He chuckles at the group of teens. "Boss just made me ringmaster for today. That's all really." He beats out a short tune on his pair of bongos when he answers the cat's burning question.

"Ringmaster?" Yet another question loosened itself from Little Cato's lips. The bear laughs again though the Ventrexian isn't sure at what. Maybe his lack of understanding of the gang's hierarchy. "What?"

"LC." Argit gently taps Little Cato's arm, shining a smirk that becomes more and more tolerable the more it shines his way. "You know how regular gangs have lieutenants and captains and all that? Well, this is that for clown gangs. It's kinda simple really. Like acrobats are just their fastest guys, jugglers like to work with grenades or throwing knives, strongmen will try to beat you to death with any blunt object they can find." Argit said, counting off the different types of clown gangers. in their caste system. "And ring masters are captains. The boss takes their best guys, turns them into ringmasters, and turns them loose with a bunch of guys backing them up."

Little Cato nods then squints. "Why though?"

"Clown gangs primarily get their money by stealing from other gangs." Bongo finishes with a nice little smirk on his face and another tune drums out from his bongos. Little Cato nods again with more of an understanding of how these kinds of gang's work. Even if the information he had received wasn't much to go off of.

"Can we quit it with the twenty questions?" Dean interrupts. "Bongo, play that beat we were talking about before."

"Gladly, gladly." The bear starts slapping his palms against the bongos in between his legs when someone comes rushing up to him in a frantic panic. It was one of the Big Top clowns and he seemed to be in major distress.

"Bongo, we got problems." He whispers comedically audibly for everyone around them to hear. "Pagliacci and a bunch of other heavy hitter Bozos are on the way." He said and commotion could be heard from behind them.

The clowns were getting upset, someone had been marching through their turf, but Little Cato had no idea who. But he knows that he's starting to get scared himself.

"Relax." Bongo folds his arms behind his head and leans back into thin air. "Paggys not gonna do anything."

"Oh, I beg to differ." A voice ratter sorrowful in tone calls the bear's bluff. An assortment of tactically decked-out clowns waltzes up with body armor, some with rainbow wigs and creepy clown masks, and others with regular face masks with smiles painted on. 

There was no particular dress code for these guys. They mostly came in body armor with ha-has or cheesy jokes spry painted on top, some with half that, dawning military-grade cargo pants, and only an undershirt clinging to their pale white skin. And they definitely didn't come unarmed. 

The weapons they carried were knives, machetes, bats, and the like and they were all dipped in a wonderful array of colors. All say for one. 

Taking the lead, the one that addressed Bongo directly was devoid of all color. From head to toe, the man was bathed in black, white, and gray. His skin was completely covered in white paint and a long black smile was tagged over his actual lips, stretching far down his cheeks. His black hair sloped off to one side and his eyes were stained with black mascara that ran down his face to meet his deep black frown.

He wore a set of hunter-class ranger armor. It was gray from the cloak he wore around his neck that stretched all the way to the ground to the boots that road up to his knees and he kept a big bowie knife holstered into a sheath on his chest plate. He looked like he was in a constant state of despair, couldn't tell the man he wasn't leaving up to his namesake at least. Little Cato was still trying to decipher how he got his hands on that armor. Not everyone could be a ranger, let alone get their hands on a full set of gear.

"Paggy!" Bongo greets the sad clown with open arms. "What brings you here huh? Taking a stroll in the park? It's a lovely day for it honestly." He addressed the clown with a big smile and kind words.

Pagliacci casts a diabolical gaze at the bear with eyes blacker than midnight. He slowly marches up to the bear, one foot stepping out in front of the other in a meticulously practiced strut.

"You know it's strange Bongo, I don't recall Bozo- the great Bozo...!" He briefly pauses. "Letting the Big Tops operate in the Glen. This being his turf, you had to be aware of that." He spoke softly, his voice stained with the remnants of far-off tears.

"Maybe he did and just forgot to tell you." Bongo retorts with a radiant smile.

"He didn't... because he wouldn't allow you to con poor unassuming tourist with your theater kid fuckery." Pagliacci growls, his voice going deeper than what seemed naturally possible.

"Well, what's wrong with making a little extra scratch on the side?" 

The colorless clown breathes out a heavy huff through his nose. "No..." He whispers before raising his voice. "No! No!" He brings his fists up and beats them against his own head. "It's not about the money!" He spat through clenched teeth and faces away from Bongo.

"Well... cry me a river Paggy."

The sad clown stops his moaning, dropping his hand down to the said as he straightens himself out. He moves his head around, popping the joints in his neck before reaching to his chest. "How's about I bleed you one instead?" He turns lunging at the bear with his knife in hand. 

As the two-go falling out of sight the park flies into a fierce uproar with clowns going at each other, stabbing slicing, hacking, and pummeling. The park feels up with the sound of breaking bones, smashing benches, screaming, and shouting. 

Blood pools around the square and civilians and gangers alike begin to clear the area as sirens blare in the distance.

"Alright I think that's our cue guys!" Kendrick turns to the others from where he lies. As soon as the fighting had begun the group took the wise opportunity to duck out of the way, taking cover inside of a neatly trimmed bush.

"God this is so fucked!" Timmy screams, following Kendrick out of the bush.

"Wait, wait! Sam, please tell me you got the beat recorded from before." Dean turns back to his little brother with some desperate hope.

Sam looks through his phone, scrolling up and down, checking and rechecking for a recording with no luck. "I- I forgooooot." He whines.

"Motherf- Ahhh!" Dean goes running out of the bush in a terrified rage.

"Deannnnn-" Sam follows his disappointed brother soon after.

"Alright come on, come on!" Meowmar waves for Argit and little Cato to follow.

Argit shot up quickly. "Don't gotta tell me twice!" He was out of the bush in a flash, leaving Little Cato as the last occupant.

The boy's heart was thumping furiously in his chest. He felt stuck in place, too afraid to move or think. The thought of catching a stray blade to his skull frightened him to no end, so much so that he was up and out of the bush without even realizing it. 

He caught up with the rest of the group surprisingly fast. They stood just outside of the park at a relatively safe distance as the police began to flood in and dispatch the rampaging clowns. The teens take one last look at Reconciliation Park, and all the blood set fires and dismembered limbs, then to each other. This wouldn't go down well for anyone involved.

They all make a solemn vow right then and there. Maybe steer clear of Heywood for a little while.

 

 

 

Chapter 5: City of the future.

Little Cato reaches out into the darkness, running his hands along the wall beneath his window that his bed had been buddied up to. His finger hits a button and soon after the sound of metallic shifting of his window shutters could be heard as they slide open.

He hums when the light hits his closed eyes and uses one hand as an aid to help ward off the tension in his neck. The teen lay in his bed for a tad bit longer with one arm behind his head and a hand ensconced into his neck until his eyes were about ready to flutter open.

Little Cato leans up on the bed as he's greeted with the orang hue of dawn over Night City. He brings his head to the window, resting his chin on the window seal and peering out. It had officially been a week since his first night in the city. Since then, he's picked up on a lot of things some brochure on a website wouldn't tell you.

For starters, he needed to be aware of his surroundings at all times. In Night City anything could happen at any given moment. Reconciliation Park was a perfect example of what could happen if you let your guard down. He and his group of friends hadn't been back there in the past week, but he thinks things have hit a calm. The news has been surprisingly quiet in the Glen recently.

Another thing the teen had learned was how to move through gang territory and being that most of the city was gang territory, this information was more useful to him. No one needed to explain much, it was fairly simple after all. 

When going through gang-controlled areas, don't seem nervous. 'You just carry on about your business with no wrong looks. If you didn't bother them, they wouldn't bother you.' Despite the quick, easy, and abrupt explanation, Little Cato was having trouble understanding. He never had to deal with that kind of thing before but lucky for him, Cookie would be more hands-on with this lesson.

The joytoy decided that the best way to learn anything was to tackle the subject head-on. He'd taken little Cato to a neighborhood controlled by a gang that wasn't as violent as most of the other gangs in the city and walked through with the teen all the way to the other end. Little Cato felt like he got the jest of it though Kendrick was less convinced. The masked teen felt that if the gang wasn't willing to murder him for any reason the lesson wasn't anything effective at all.

Despite how his friends felt, Little Cato was finally starting to understand and every day he would test his luck by venturing into more dangerous neighborhoods around Watson, without his parent's knowledge of course. The young teen felt he'd finally got it when a bunch of Maelstrom didn't threaten to skin him alive like they normally would when he walked by.

A more recent lesson he was taught, and was consistently repeated by everyone, was never get in the way. That could have meant a lot of things if he were being honest. Don't get in the way of traffic, don't get in the way of your parents, don't get in the way of an input and his output. 

If someone was being beaten, don't get in the way. If a store was being robbed or someone was getting mugged, don't get in the way. If the cops were chasing said robber or mugger down, well Little Cato needn't say more.

It was cruel and a little hard, especially for him who's always been taught to lend a hand to those in need. For him to not do that, ignore those pleas, or risk his own well-being was a bit of a cultural shock for the boy.

He sighs, getting out of bed. He could go over everything this city had taught him all morning, but it would be too boring and honestly depressing. There were better ways to pass the time and a tone of things he could do to get his mind off of his frequently running thoughts.

He steps out into the living room and walks over to the kitchen. The apartment was completely silent. Usually, Gary or his dad would have been up and about by now but neither of the two seem to be skulking around where Little Cato could see. He thinks they're probably sleeping in. It wouldn't be the first time. That is if they were even home at all.

He flings open the refrigerator door, quickly snatching up the milk and kicking the metal door closed again. He then reaches to the top of the frig for a box of cereal, one of his favorites, and not because the cereal was vaguely fish shaped.

His parents had finally gotten around to grocery shopping recently which was a relief to Little Cato. Somedays leaving the apartment for food was too much of a hassle for him. Leaving the house in general was when it wasn't with friends.

Now that the refrigerator and cabinets were packed, he'd have to give leaving the apartment some major consideration. Since school for him didn't start for another month, he was perfectly content with sitting at home and channel surfing in the sofa pit.

He steps over to the table, places the milk and cereal down then grabs a bowl from one of the kitchen cabinets and begins to combine the two ingredients once his back to the table. The teen sits, not bothering to return the milk or cereal to their original spots. Why do it now when he could do it after he was less busy.

As he begins chowing down, shoveling large quantities of fished-shaped cereal into his mouth, the door to his parents' room opens up and Gary slinks out with eyes half closed and a cavernous yawn. He looks out of it as if he hadn't gotten a proper night's sleep in days.

"Hey, Gary." Little Cato waves as the blonde shambles his way to the kitchen. "I didn't realize you guys were back." He spoke. Yesterday his parents had some important business to take care of, saying nothing more then, they would be back soon.

That was yesterday afternoon, however. He should be glad they even came back at all. They could have easily just abandoned him. Not that they ever would, but his imagination liked to run wild.

"Sorry about the sudden exit Little Cato," Gary spoke through another yawn, starching his arms far above his head. "Your dad and I... had to see about something." He was tired though cautious enough for an indefinite pause. "Time just kinda got away from us I guess."

"Oh yeah?" Little Cato looks back up to the tired blonde man. "What was it? Got another mattress for your room." He jokes, knowing that he won't get a straightforward answer. It never stopped him from trying but he also knew when not to push the subject.

"Kinda, sorta... no." Uncertainty and exhaustion laced his voice before he could settle on an explanation. "We were just visiting an old friend... yeah." He hissed out a strenuous sign before taking a seat at the table. "Hey." His eyes hurriedly snapped open once he was seated. "What is this?"

Little Cato fires a confused look his way. Gary, seeing that his judgmental staring wasn't getting through to the boy, brings his hand up to point out the milk and cereal that was still sitting on the table. Little Cato looks at the items, raises a brow, and slowly guides a spoonful of cereal into his mouth.

"What?" He asks with the spoon still dangling from his mouth.

A groan leaves the blonde. "Look, the milk and cereal." He spoke more clearly, tapping a finger to the table. "You're just gonna sit down and eat without putting them away?"

Little Cato looks in between the two items and slowly brings his eyes back to Gary. "I was gonna put them back after I finished eating." Judging by the fed-up look on his face, the teen's excuse was the last thing Gary wanted to hear from him.

"Put them back now." His tone was calm as he directed a finger toward the refrigerator.

"Come on Gary Im-" Little Cato loads up another excuse for not being able to move just yet but holsters the words as Gary's calm look becomes a more furious stare. "Fine." The boy gives up, blowing out a heavy sigh and standing up from the table with the items in hand. "Happy?"

"Very much." The hard look in his eyes softens and his expression shifts into a kind smile as Little Cato comes back around to the table. "Was that so hard?" He asked when the teen fell back into his seat with a pout.

"Well, considering the time it took me to get from here to there, yeah." He shrugs, picking up the spoon and sliding a chunk of cereal into his mouth. He slightly recoils in his seat once a new batch of cereal hits his tongue. "And now my cereal is slightly soggy." He complains though he doesn't stop eating. Gary smirks and shakes his head at the boy. "Where's dad anyway?"

Gary's smirk vacates his lips as he nods toward the bedroom door. "He's still sleeping last night off," Gary said. For the past week, his dad had been in and out of the house. Sometimes leaving on his own and other times dragging Gary along.

As usual, Little Cato has no idea why. Any attempt for a bit of insight on the matter usually went unattainable. They weren't obligated to tell him, after all, he doesn't tell them of half the places he went with his friends. Even if he was obligated to.

Little Cato just caulked their absence up-to-date nights. Things they could do away from him to break in their new home. He couldn't blame them. He'd been getting used to their new surroundings in his own way as well.

They sat at the table some more, discussing the city and what they'd all been up to so far. Little Cato feeds Gary some line about sticking to the building mostly and venturing to different floors, which wasn't necessarily a lie. It just wasn't the full truth.

Gary goes on about Avocato mostly, his emotions shifting from overwhelming frustration to joyful fixation. He speaks about the way he made him feel and the things he'd do to make it up to Gary whenever the man had made him angry. He spoke about things Little Cato knew about his dad and things the boy didn't want to hear. Though he only suspects those bits were brought up subconsciously.

"You know he always knows what to say to make me feel better," Gary says, gushing about Avocato. "One day when you were young, you had gotten really sick, I was a mess and didn't know what to do you know?"

"Oh yeah."

"Yeah... I called everyone I could think of. Your grandpa, Jack, and even fished out my mom's number, like hey I'm freaking out here." He chuckles, getting Little Cato to do the same. "I was basically a new parent and right then I thought my kid was dying. That's when your dad stepped in, scoped you up with a big smile, and carried you away. Later that night you were sound asleep like nothing had happened. Your fever was down, you were silent. Even then I stood over your crib all night long. Your dad must've noticed because he walked into the room, wrapped his arms around my waist, and said, 'Don't worry the kids survived way worse'."

"Hmm..." Little Cato listens without much of an input. Hearing how Gary had been so frightened and his dad so caring caused his heart to do loops inside his rib cage. He could see why Gary was so protective of him. Though had Little Cato survived worst? If he had he couldn't remember.

"After a while, he leans into me and nibbles on my neck." Gary starts to veer off. He doesn't even bother to pay Little Cato any attention by this point. "You know he does this thing with his tongue that just-"

"Okay, okay Gary! Okay!" He wails, reaching for his ears and pulling at them.

"Oh right, shit!" Gary cursed when he realized where his mouth was carrying the conversation. "I'm sorry Little Cato, I don't know where my mind is right now." He brought a hand to his head. "That man just makes me as happy as he does angry."

A knock comes at their door, sending a wave of relief flowing through Little Cato. "I'll get it." He shot up from the table and rushed toward the door, desperate to get clear of Gary in fear that the blonde might start up more unaware rambling.

When the door opens, he finds a familiar duo, posing with crossed arms, standing back-to-back with smirks across their faces. 

"Hey, El Gato." Dean starts and leans up from his shorter brother.

Little Cato leans up against the apartment door frame. Out of all the people who could have come around so early in the morning, the siblings were the last ones he was expecting to see. "And what do you two want?" He asks.

"Oh, it's not what we want LC," Sam speaks next. "It's what you're gonna want to hear."

"And that is?"

The boys look at each other with their smirks still loose and running. They turn back to him after silently composing their next round of sentences. "So, check this. Last week we ran into a bit of bad luck, a snag if you will." Dean says. "For all we know now Bongos dead and floating down the canal in Santo Domingo."

"But not to fret, cause we found the next big thing after a week of searching," Sam said.

Little Cato hums to himself. His eyes wander in thought as he scratches at his chin. "Where at?" He looks at them, hoping for a clear answer.

"Underground sector." Dean starts.

"Dogtown." Sam continued.

"Worst of the worst!" They both finish, throwing each other high fives and busting out their signature handshake right after. "You in or what El Gato?" Sam turns to him, a sideways cocky smirk still riding up his face.

Little Cato winces. "I don't know guys. The underground sector is..." He trails off. He'd never been to Dogtown, but the stories travel far and wide. "My folks'll kill me if they found out I went there." He said looking over his shoulder and back into the apartment.

 Dean's head jolts back, shocked by Little Cato's answer "Oh come now choom! You're really gonna let the team down? Now of all days?" He nearly shouts at the top of his lungs, for no other reason than to get the point across of how important making this song was for them.

Little Cato's eyes toss and turn inside their sockets. He was being over dramatic but, in some way, he's got a point. "Well... who else is going?"

"Kenny," Dean said.

"Meowmar." Sam follows up.

"Argit."

"Timmy." Sam's voice comes down in tone as a small blush crosses his cheeks. A quick glance from his brother wipes the stupid smirk off his face as he straightens out. "Uhh- Ash and her sister."

"Wait" Little Cato stops the brothers. "Ash is going?" The girl's name had gotten his ears to perk up. Seeing that, the brother's glance at each other with unsure looks that turn into grins as they pivot back to him.

"Awwww!" They tease.

"Yeah, yeah, fuck off." He said, stepping back from the door. "Give me a min." He closes the door behind him and wanders back into the apartment.

"Who was it?" Gary asked. He was still at the table now scarfing down his own bowl of cereal.

"Friends." The boy answers hastily. "Hey, I'm gonna head out really quick if that's cool?"

Gary's perturbed hum tells the teen that he was a bit uncomfortable with what he'd just heard. The blonde was probably still reeling from the story he shared not too long ago but Little Cato couldn't say for sure.

"Were too?" He asked.

"Just around the neighborhood with the guys." He gives Gary his little half-truth.

More uneasy hums leave the man before he speaks again. "Okay... just be careful. The city's been a little wild lately."

Little Cato snickers under his breath. If only he knew how wild. The young teen was well aware of that fact himself. "No problem, Gary." He turns to his room, ready to enter before being stopped by the blonde.

"Oh, and me and your dad are gonna be out again today. "He said. "It shouldn't take long we're just... going sightseeing."

Little Cato turns back with a curious look. "Okay." He found the blonde's hesitancy strange. His dads had been doing that a lot, ever since first touching down on earth. He found it strange but nothing he needed to worry about, he's sure.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

"I'm telling you, man, this place is a real sty. A dreg heap, tumor on this entire city. They don't call it Dogtown for no reason you know." Meowmar said with a hateful hiss underneath his not-so-kind words.

They were on the train, one long stop away from where they were heading. Little Cato had been posted with Meowmar and Argit, who had been trotting up and down the seats and using the hand bars to climb over the other teens, essentially using them as obstacles.

The Dewinters and Kendrick had been standing and swaying with the train's movement by one of the doors with Ash and her sister Harp alongside her. Timmy never wound up coming along, he was feeling a bit under the weather, much to Sam's sheer disappointment. 

Dogtown didn't sound like the most pleasant of places from how Meowmar so poetically waxes on about the region. Sure, Little Cato had heard the stories of the underground sector, but the other Ventrexian makes it sound completely unhinged.

It belonged to gangs and not so petty crime. The only thing the sector had in the way of protection was a militia that had taken over with little resistance from the city to be had. Seeing as it would have taken a miracle and a lot of work to get the place out of the militia's hands, no one really cared enough to try.

"Ah, don't listen to him Cato," Argit said, hovering above the boy from where he stood on the train seat, holding the head rails above to keep himself balanced. the rodent was surprisingly calm about venturing into dog town. Unlike Meowmar who only liked to complain, Argit had no qualms with traveling to most places in the city. "It may be a little bad here and there, but the place is Nova, and the best part about it is the night market.  They sell practically anything there with no questions asked. Trust me a few gangers can't sour a deal that sweet."

The night market was something Little Cato had only heard rumored. A market where one could buy anything the heart desired. Granted that whatever the heart desired was at least semi-legal and even then, that wasn't stopping anyone from getting certain someone from attaining it beneath the floorboards of a deal that was already under the counter.

"What's it like there?" Little Cato asked, glancing wondering eyes up at the opossum. "Like really? Not figuratively." He nods back to Meowmar with a smirk and gets a 'fuck off' from the other boy in return.

"Like I said not so bad," Argit repeats his previous sentiment. "I like to travel down on my own sometimes. See what's new at the market, pick up a few tricks of the trade along the way."

"Hmm." Little Cato pouts his cheeks slightly at Argit. He knew exactly what kind of tricks the smaller teen was picking up on the daily. Learning from a place like that though, Little Cato thinks it could make him even more effective in the field of con artistry than he already was.

As his mind wanders and jumps around from thought to thought, his eyes seemed always to stray toward Ash. Throughout their long train ride, they would normally start with the girl's head and her pink hair then gradually make their way to the thick gray and gold sweatshirt her torso had been tucked into then eventually travel even further downward to the much too tight leggings that brought out her curves.

Little Cato gently bites down on the loose tongue that dangles from the corner of his mouth. What she wore and how she stood swaying back and forth with the motion of the train caused his face to heat up like he had dove face-first into an oven. It didn't even matter what she was wearing most days honestly. The sight of her alone would light his body ablaze every single time.

"Optics on Ash huh?" Meowmar elbows Little Cato's arm, jolting the boy out of the life he was constructing in his head around him and the girl and back to the reality of the train.

"Yeah- no- I mean..." Meowmar chuckles at his little slip-up and his stammering doesn't make Little Cato look any better.

"No worries, I get it," H said as he leaned onto Little Cato's shoulder and subtly pointed a finger at the pink-haired girl. "You should try to secure her. You may not be aware, but she really digs you gonk." He leans back into his seat. "She's a bit of a freak though, my only warning to you choomba."

Little Cato looks over at Ash with his mind in a murky haze and a conflicted look obscuring his expression. "Yeah, I'm sure you'd be an expert on that."

"Hey-"

"Alright, boyos" Kendrick walks over to the three boys with a bit of muffled excitement. "Who's ready for Dogtown?"

The train doors slide open when the train comes to a stop and the group steps off quickly. Once they do, they are immediately welcomed with bright lights, illuminating the dark reaches of the underground sector. Little Cato had no idea what to expect when traveling to the region but out of all his speculations, a whole city under the city they were living in wasn't the first thing to come to mind.

"Okay." Kendrick began. Everyone in the group leans over a railing of the train station that sat far above Dogtown, bringing their eyes over to peer down at the second city below. "Don't let this place trip you up now. All the lights make it seem pretty, but she's got a mean ass bite." He informs, mostly Little Cato, of what to be aware of, though the boy didn't think he needed the warning at all by this point.

They make their way down the stairs of the train station and to one of the entrances that would lead them into Dogtown. The checkpoint point was run by the Barghest militia. Meowmar had told the boy about this. No matter how they were getting into Dogtown, there was no avoiding the scans.

If Little Cato were being honest, he thought the other Ventrexian had been exaggerating but here, they are. The Barghest looked instance, the yellow clade borderline privet military was keeping a tight lock around the gates of Dogtown with guns drawn and mecs with the skulls of a strange dog painted over their chasses active. For the guys who had taken this portion of the city by force, they seemed to be doing their best to maintain the peace.

Despite the line not being so long, with maybe a few people passing the city scanner gates before his group, security was still stacked up. Could have been a show of force, a display of the power they held over the region, or maybe they were anticipating something big. Keeping their guards up for the worst possible outcome. They weren't meant to be ruling Dogtown after all.

Whatever the case, the group was past the gates and into the second city in no time, receiving hard stares from what Little Cato was sure were even harder people.

"Everybody sat to hear the making of a masterpiece." Dean Turns to the group with wide-eyed excitement and an even wider grin. The reception was mixed, mostly made up of indifference say for Sam and Kendrick.

"Hardly." The other girl in the group steps forward with an aggravated frown overtaking her face. She bore a bit of a striking resemblance to Ash, the only difference between the two is how her hair was styled, "Honestly guys, I didn't come down here to watch you guys make crappy music."

The brothers throw their hands over their chest and put on mock frowns. "Oh, Harp. That's cold as ice." Sam expressed with an overdramatic gaspe.

"Yeah, and it could stay that way." Harp doesn't let up on them, though it's clear her heartless attitude has little, if any, effect on the siblings. "I got something I gotta pick up. So, I'm not wasting any time here." She turns in one direction with Kendrick and Meowmar following.

"And were you guys going?" Dean asked.

Kendrick was the first to turn back around followed by the other two. "I can't just let her walk around alone."

"Yeah, and I kinda don't like you guys," Meowmar adds.

"You coming Ash?" Harp looks past the boys and to her sister off to the side.

"Nah. I'm gonna stay with Junior and the sibs." She shot a quick glance toward Little Cato, the smile that came along with it heated up his body and caused his heart to rampage. He quickly turns his head away from her.

"What about you Argit?" She turns to the marsupial next with much the same question.

He shrugged, scotting up close to Little Cato. "I think I'll stick with this side. Maybe give Little Cato a little history lesson on the underground." He hugs close to Little Cato's arm and parks his head on the other teen's shoulder the best he can. He might not have been trying to rob him again, but Little Cato always made sure to stay wary around Argit.

Harp cocks an annoyed shrug at the second group and takes off with Kendrick and Meowmar in tow. That left Little Cato, Ash, and Argit to follow the Dewinters in the opposite direction.

Little Cato had to admit, Dogtown even given its reputation was admirable to him. The fact that all this existed underneath where he and his friends walked, talked, and hung out on a daily was astounding to the young teen. When the boy looks up to the sky, he can see nothing but pure black and the wafting of smoke through the syntactic wind and walkways and platforms leading to other, hastily put together, sub neighborhoods. He hadn't realized it before, but they were deep underground. How far dawn, he wasn't so sure.

The subterranean neighborhood sort of reminds him of Watson with the sheer number of buildings and stores that were picked so close to each other. Twenty-four hours convinced stores and the occasional noodle shop glimmer in the dark among all the other neon signs, combining into a beautiful blur of color.

The budlings of course were smaller in comparison, with even the tallest building in Dogtown paling in comparison to the ones on the surface. Though what it lacked in depth, it made up for purely by existing in the first place. 

Along the way to wherever it was they were following the brothers, Argit would teach Little Cato more about the region they had been stalking through. He spoke about how it came to be, after the nuclear incident in 2269 that left California covered in red radioactive dust, the underground sector would be conceived to avoid civilian casualties for any future incidents.

It would have been used to get as many people as possible out of the city using underground passages, but the vision would never come to fruition. The mercenary group that was supposed to oversee the security of the construction site decided that craving out their own little piece of Night City might have been a more profitable endeavor.

So now the gangs had it. The Barghest, who wholly controlled the sector, the Voodoo boys, the Scavs, and the K-Knights.

The Scavs were a booster gang, which meant they made most of their money by stealing technology from others. Cars, weapons, cybernetic augmentations, didn't matter what it was. If they could make a profit off of it, they'd find a way to get their hands on it. It was a high-risk, high-reward kind of business venture, not that they cared much about the risk. No money was being invested into the acquisition of their ill-gotten gains.

The Voodoo boys were more well-known to Little Cato. They weren't just a gang like any other. They were more along the lines of being super hackers with the muscle to back up their risky antics. Years back a Ddos attack was carried out on an Infinity Guard ship hauling some pretty high security and very classified information. No one ever came forward to claim responsibility but a quick backtrace made it pretty clear who the culprits were. The Alliance retaliated but the info was already gone, sold off to somewhere in the other rim.

The K-Knights on the other hand were a group Little Cato was entirely unfamiliar with. All Argit could tell him was that they were a fanatical group of religious weirdos and that they also might have been an offset of some cult in Montana. That's all the information he gets out of the smaller teen though.

"Hey Junior, you alright?" Ash's voice pulls Little Cato out of submerged thought.

"Uhh- yeah." He lies, facing away from the girl quickly. Of course, he had been fine before she addressed him so suddenly. "Just taking in the sights." He looks in any direction she isn't as a blush forms beneath his orange fur.

She looks at him, smirking and keeping her eyes held to his burning face. "Oh yeah." She hummed as they walked with her refusing to peer away for the slightest second. "What do you like about down here?"

"Well..." He takes a more genuine glance at every lit-up shop and down every dark alley for a clue on what to say. "The area is bigger than what I thought it'd be. The way the shops light up the dark is oddly soothing. I also like looking at-"

"Me." She interrupts.

"Yeah- I mean no- I mean..." Little Cato slaps the palm of his hand against his forehead, disappointed with yet another slip-up, and directly in front of her.

"Awww." She steps closer to him and wraps an arm around his. "I like looking at you too. You have a nice hawk; the dye job is insane." She reaches a hand up and runs it through his bright blue mohawk. 

"Uhhh... uh-huh-" He tried to tell her that it wasn't dyed and that it had been natural, but with how her hand had been flowing through his hair all the boy could manage to get out was a short hum of approval. 

"Your fur feels soft to the touch, I could wear you like a coat if I wanted to." She pulls the hand from his head and brings it down to his cheek.

If he were burning up from just her staring before, the girl's proximity to his face was setting the boy on fire. The way she looks at him makes his knees quiver and her hand against his fur almost causes his heart to stop dead. 

She was killing him, and he didn't know if she was doing it intentionally or not. With the way she moves, he'd like to think the pink-haired girl knew what she was doing, though he was conflicted on how to feel about the teasing. It either meant she was taking the opportunity to ruffle his fur, or she actually liked him.

"Guys." Sam jumps in between them, breaking up the pair's touchy-feely pseudo intimacy, to Little Cato's relief. "We're here." He said as he and his brother ducked into an ally. The group follows them through without a second of consideration, eventually coming to a brightly lit opening at the end.

When they exit to the other side, Little Cato is met with a gorgeous view, if not vaguely rushed together piles of scrap. Everything before him was made of some bit of scrap metal. Stands selling all kinds of contraband scatter the large area with many people standing and observing the various goods on display from the completely legal to the slightly less so.

Lights strung from one shack to another and so on seemingly endlessly. It was like a shanty town, a neighborhood made up of nothing but scrap and bright lights in which its only use was to sell items. It sort of reminded him of a market.

"Hold up..." Little Cato hums. "Is this...?"

"The night market." Argit finished the boy's coming conclusion. "You guys found your sound here?"

"Shii, yeah." The siblings slap their hands together. "This way." Dean motions to the group with a nod and rushes off ahead of them.

The group follows, weaving the crowds of mostly window shoppers. Little Cato sticks close to the brothers, perfectly kicking toe to heel with Sam as they rush through the night market until he comes to a sudden hasty halt.

Ash and Argit move past him to keep up with the siblings, but Little Cato doesn't move. His sight was too preoccupied with a shop that'd stolen his attention. Like most of the night market, it was well lit with bright lights weaving in and out of the shop like cobwebs. It was nothing special on that front.

What takes Little Cato's breath away is the items it had been shilling. Guns and lots of them. The weapons don't look cheap either, ranging from small arms like knives, cleavers, machetes, katanas, pistols, and submachine guns to bigger things like assault rifles, light machineguns, and sniper rifles, to even bigger things like heavy machineguns, auto-turrets, and rocket launchers.

He'd always been sort of a gun nut, he had his father and grandfather to think for that special interest. Being here, in front of all these weapons piled on top of each other had him drooling at the mouth. He was like a kid in a candy store.

He walks up, seeing some of his favorites on display. Some old school favorites like An-94s, M4 assault rifles, an MG 42 of all things, and new school standard issue picks for many militaries around the galaxy. Coalition Lancer assault rifles with the chainsaw bayonets still attached, Unsc BR55s, the Alliance own M1A3 Hemlock and many of them, Reich Sturmgewehrs, Volks, and Imperium Lasrifles. They even had Furon Disintegrators.

He felt like he was in a dream weaved in potential carnage. He's only brought out of his daydreaming when the shopkeeper comes around to welcome him.

"Hey, kid. What can I do ya for?"

The voice asked but he was still too busy ogling the weapons to really give his full attention. The man's voice sounded strange to him though, like it'd been put through some kind of filter. "Yeah, I woah-" Little Cato recoils in shock when his eyes finally come to rest on the shopkeeper.

"Somethin' wrong brotha?" The man takes a quick glance behind him before coming back around to the shocked teen.

"No, no." Little Cato held out his hands apolitically. The shopkeeper was a sight that hit him out of nowhere. The man mostly consisted of cybernetic augmentations and nothing remotely close to subtle. "I just wasn't expecting... all this." He politely waves his hands to the man.

His body was a mass of metal and machinery, wires stuck out from his arms and legs, and synthetic skin stretched over his torso but hardly succeeded in hiding any of what was underneath. Though Little Cato had the feeling the man was trying to hide anything at all. 

His lower jaw was completely missing and his eyes glowed bright red like security lights. The teen hadn't seen anything like this say for the Maelstrom gang, but even the shopkeeper's results would make any of them fluster up. How he was able to have it all and not go crazy was astounding to the young teen and judging by the sheer amount of enhancements the man had; it must have cost him a fortune. One decent augment alone cost an arm and a leg.

"What...? this?" The vendor points to his jaw, or lack thereof, and laughs. "That's nothin', just take a gander at this Choomba." He grabs the wrist of his right arm and bends the whole thing backward, revealing a built-in flame thrower that spat out a short stream of fire from his elbow. "Hold up let me stop, this place kinda doubles as an apartment." He laughs again, slapping his palms over the countertop of his shop. Maybe he wasn't so sane after all.

For a long moment all the boy could do was stare at the man, looking him up and down with not-so-polite glances. "Did it hurt? Getting all of that done?" Little Cato asks.

"Yes." The man quickly responds. "No... probably..." He holds a hand to the top half of his jaw, since his chin was currently unavailable, and his eyes begin to flicker as he stares into his thoughts. "Is it weird that I don't remember?" Little Cato shrugs with an unsure wince.

"Uh-" Little Cato starts up but stops when he hears his name called. Well, not his name particularly.

"Junior!" Ash's voice comes around again before he can finish the thought. "Come on man. The sibs are waiting."

Little Cato slaps the counter with a sharp hum when he's reminded that they weren't really here to gawk at the night market. "Right." He turns to the man when they begin to take off. "Sorry guy, gotta run."

"No problem." The shopkeeper waves in understanding. "Remember, for the best guns, you know where to find me."

They find the siblings, Ash practically dragging Little Cato the entire way. They and Argit stood near another shop, crouching down right behind it with their heads turned to the back wall with anticipation and smiles on the brother's faces. 

They were waiting for something by the looks of it. The siblings do so patiently while Argit strains his ears and scrunches up his face in bewilderment.

"Is this it?" Little Cato asked, crouching down beside the other boys along with Ash. "What's it supposed to be?" He didn't see anything besides the wall to the back of the shack and some cables running from a small hole at the bottom.

"Hold up." Sam shushed the boy. "Just listen." Little Cato does as he's told, turning his head and focusing his hearing on the wall much like Argit and now Ash beside him had been doing.

For a while, nothing happens. The siblings were waiting with enthusiastic grins, but the other three teenagers had no idea what it was they were listening for. Still, they sit by, until their knees start to give in and the blood flow in their legs almost stops completely.

Then, after a few more minutes of waiting, something happens. A sound, like a thud reverberating off of a metal surface, could be heard.

"Is that it?" Argit looks to the siblings. "What even is that?"

They shrugged together. "Don't know," Dean said.

"But it happens every thirty minutes and it sounds, mwa." Sam brought two fingers to his mouth and flicked his hand away with a chef's kiss.

They continue to sit by the wall, listening to the reverberating thud sound off in riptide succession every thirty minutes. Sam had been recording with his phone the whole time, holding it up to the wall as close as he could to avoid any mishaps much like last time.

Little Cato jumps as he feels a rumbling in his pocket. His phone had gone off and when he pulled it out of his pocket, he saw that it was a single massage from Gary.

gary- little cato, start getting home okay

The young teen tilts his head at the message. He opens the phone and begins to type out a response. "Hey!" Before he could however a thunderous shout startles him and the other teens as they sat and watched the wall. "How many times do I have to tell you goddamn kids to stay from back there!" The man yells at them, brandishing a large clever in one hand. He wore a blood-stained apron and a not-so-white mask over his mouth.

"Ooh, time to delta." Dean pushes Sam back, sending him into the rest of the group who scrambles to their feet as they push and shove each other out of the way. All the while the man had been threatening to chop the group up into tiny pieces to feed to his dogs.

"You come back around here, and I'll hack your legs off." The man might have just been all talk, but nobody wanted to stick around and test that theory.

They run through the night market, bumping into people and earning some pretty harsh words along the way. They go until they clear off the large open space and duck into an ally just across from where the market stood.

The group all share paints and weezs as they struggle to reclaim their scattered breaths. They look up at one another and start laughing. There was nothing like the threat of bodily harm to bring a group together and the teens were reveling in their timely escape.

Once their lost stamina returns to their empty lungs, the group gets ready to exit the ally. Before then, however, the lights to the shop they were behind go out, followed by the night market, the district beyond that, and the rest of Dogtown.

"What the?" Little Cato says, jumping at the sudden darkness that had engulfed them.

"Uh-oh." Dean starts.

"Blackout." Sam finished.

"What?" Little Cato huffs out an annoyed gasp.

"It happens sometimes, don't worry," Argit reassures him but hearing that Dogtown would totally shut down at times doesn't make him feel any better. Being in Dogtown in complete darkness makes him feel even worse.

Everything was dark and the shadows around them were all-consuming, smothering any bit of vision Little Cato once had not a minute ago. He couldn't see his friends and could bearly make out his own hand in front of his face.

"Don't worry about it now," Ash said, pulling out her phone and switching on the flashlight that came with it. "Let's just get out of here before-" She stops as the underground sector howls to life. "The rioting starts."

She takes Little Cato by the hand and the rest of the group follows behind them with their flashlights at the ready. They roam through the streets, avoiding large crowds and moving quick. Every voice in the region was screaming, some of it sounded out of terror while others were much too excited.

The group doesn't stop for a second and halfway through Little Cato decides he needs to get with the program, pulling out his phone as well to help guide him through the dark streets. The phone would also light up with a message, and from Kendrick no less.

kenny- where ya'll at?

"Wait, guys." He stops to look at the message. "The others are still down here. Shouldn't we look for them?"

Argit passes him by with a snicker. "Well, the last thing we want to do is wait around." He walks on with his light still pointed to the ground.

"Tall him were heading to the south exit. The maintenance tunnels though." Ash says and Little Cato nods, turning back to his phone.

Cato- ash says head to the maintenance tunnels near the south exit

kenny- tunnels- stadium- got it

The carry-on once the message is received and reciprocated, sticking out of sight of the rioters and staying out of the, recently deployed, Bargehest's way as they begin to keep the rampaging people in check.

They find their way to the maintenance tunnels and trudge through the dark corridors in a single file. The group never stopped, running past boiler rooms and through construction sites that were abandoned a long time ago.

Ash stops the group when they come up to a door. She poked her head out slowly and nodded back to the group, signaling that they were clear to proceed. Luckily for them, the lobby of the stadium had been emptied though not because of the blackout.

The Petrochem stadium was going through a conversation recently for an event that wouldn't be advertised until its completion. Thus, the entire stadium was off-limits to everyone. even standing near it could net a person in some kind of trouble.

Little Cato was only glad it was the worker's off day, that meant the security would have been sparse as well.

The group makes it out of the stadium just in time to see the police rolling into Pacifica to quell any unruly citizens. The teenager couldn't believe what he'd been witnessing. Dogtown wasn't out, the whole city was.

The lights were out, and people were losing their minds even on the surface.

"I can't even believe this shit." The sound of Harp's voice served as some sort of stimulant for the group's worries. Her charm wasn't as sorely missed but welcomed all the same. "Of all the days to happen..." She lets out an unamused chuckle. "I hate this city."

She, Meowmar, and Kendrick had managed to exit the underground unharmed. Little Cato was relieved to see them but still had been going through a bout of disbelief.

"Everything in one peace Choom?" Kendrick steps up to the boy with an outstretched fist.

Little Cato accepted the greeting but didn't answer the question immediately. He turns to the city in the distance and stares in awe. After an entire week of looking at Heywood and Westbrook, seeing the districts without the holographic ads hovering above the skyline was strange to him. 

"Yeah." Little Cato finally answers the taller boy with a soft mutter. So, the city of the future had blackouts then? His phone rumbles once the revelation settles in his mind. He brings it up as a new message flashed onto the screen.

gary- pls tell me ur home

Chapter 6: Automatic love.

Notes:

I think I'm starting to get the hang of what this all is, or where it's supposed to go in the grand scream of things. When I first started it, I wasn't too sure if I proceed the way I should have but now, I'm fairly sure I can get this to work with the proper tags in all. I was sorta of afraid to do that in the first story but now I'm gonna start tagging in relation to the story. So, if there's a prominent person, place or thing I can tag it to the series it's a part of but only if it's going to be an important part of the story and now just a quick cameo.

Little Cato hums to himself as his eyes aimlessly trail along the many walkways that connect the building. It was early that morning, not too early but just early enough for a couple of teenagers to be loitering about without getting in the way.

He and Kendrick had been sitting with their legs dangling over the edge of the balcony of the fourteenth floor and chattering among themselves. Well, Kendrick was doing all of the talking at least. Little Cato could hardly bring himself to listen to any of the words that exited the masked teen's mouth. The Ventrexian only hums along in agreement and nods every time Kendrick escorts a gentle elbow to his side.

Their other friends weren't with them today. They were all either too tired or couldn't bother leaving the house, leaving Kendrick and Little Cato on their own, together. Most days that would have been fine but today the young teen's mind was battered down with an overwhelming number of worries and rumination.

"And you'd think that shit would stick with you for a while but heh... surprisingly no..." Kendrick chuckles and Little Cato reassures him with a half-hearted hum. The taller teen had been going on about something for the past few minutes or so, but Little Cato wasn't too sure what it was about. The young teen only catches a few snippets before all his senses are drawn back to the mega building around him.

The sounds it mad as it creeks and groans in the high-rise wind, the lights from stores and signs that paper his sight with ads for cars, shows, and even performance enhancement. It was always so overwhelming like uncontrolled tears obscuring his vision and running down his cheeks. 

Though it wasn't only his eyes taking the brunt of the building's fury. His ears are also assaulted by people who scream and shout and make themselves known when they hardly ever need to. It was a lot for him and much like the world outside of the building, it was an overload to his tuned-down senses that had only known relative peace and quiet for most of his life.

Little Cato is doing his best to get used to the sights and sounds but sometimes the city makes him feel like he's going a bit crazy. Just when he thinks he's got some aspects of Night City down, something unexpected comes along and hits him with a curve ball that nearly takes his head off and it doesn't stop throwing until he's learned how to hit it or duck out of the way.

His friends help when they can but for the most part, he feels he's on his own. There was a lot the fathom and even more to really understand with the city and all he could do was watch and learn from others the best he could. 

Little Cato steps out of his thoughts and peers over the edge of the balcony. He stares down the atrium and at the marketplace on the ground floor of the building, kicking his legs back and forth over the ledge as another round of reflection begins. He thinks about the mega building and some about other people but mostly about the city.

"How do you think it's all powered...? The city I mean." Little Cato asks, eyes thrown over the edge and facing the ground floor with a distant gaze.

"Hmm?" Kendrick turns to him, having stopped whatever topic he was ranting about before. "I don't know. I think there are power plants or solar panels or something." He shrugged at the question. He didn't give Little Cato a proper answer though, more so speculation.

Little Cato remains seated with no immediate words to share. The young teen was still so nestled in his thoughts with no sense of his surroundings and more abhorrent staring into the distance. "Is that it? Isn't there more or..." Little Cato mummers. He was fishing for something more solid than just the 'or something' he got from the other boy. This was supposed to be Kendrick's city he had to know something.

"I don't know, man what's this even about?" He blows out a frustrated huff before turning to the nearly lifeless boy next to him. "Is this about the blackout again?" The question causes Little Cato to jolt in caution.

"Well..." He starts, a flustered smile passing over his previously dower expression.

"Goddamn." Kendrick sighs. "You gotta stop thinking about that so much choom. It's gonna rot your brain and drive you psycho." He pressed two fingers to Little Cato's head and lightly shoved at the boy's temple.

"I know, I know I just..." He pithily pauses. "Never seen something like it before." He said, turning to Kendrick for some bit of comfort.

Kendrick withdraws another sigh for the boy. "Listen LC." He spoke. "I know out in space that kinda thing don't usually happen and people don't go so crazy if it does, but harpin on it constantly ain't the right way to go about dealing with it. You're new here and still getting your bearings I get that, but don't let little things get to you. Take everything as it comes, alright?" He taps Little Cato on the arm and receives a small hum in return, though that wasn't the kind of validation the taller boy was looking for. "Alright!?" Kendrick said again a bit louder.

"Alright." Little Cato repeats as he brings his legs up from the edge of the balcony and stands. "Look I gotta go... paint my nails or something..." He said. It was a bit of a half-assed excuse by him, but he didn't care for actually trying then. "I'll be back."

"Right." The masked teen accepts his poor attempt, nonetheless. "Just remember what I said, and for god's sake stay nova LC!" Kendrick shouts. Little Cato doesn't look back, only waving back halfheartedly as he goes on.

He has no real plan, he just wanted to be away from Kendrick for a little while admittedly. He knows he should take his friend's advice and stop worrying so much about something that doesn't happen often, but he can't help himself.

He wanted a reason to worry. He's not sure why but some part of his mind wanted to linger on Dogtown and that day for hours at a time. He wanted that miserable despairing feeling. He knows it would do him no good to think about, but he wanted it all the same.

"God." He mutters to himself. All this harping on a blackout was going the drive him crazy. He needed something to do, something to take his mind away from the city's least appealing aspects for today. "What though?" He whispers and hums to himself. A few things come to mind, the building or Watson. He could try to find someone to hang out with, the Dewinters, Timmy or Argit, or he could head down to Misty's. She'd definitely be able to help clear his thoughts.

None of his plans seem too solid but there is one that comes to mind that gets his nerves going, and it was a long shot. But what was the harm in trying anyway? The worst that could happen was she'd say no and tell him to shove off. Nothing he couldn't handle in the grand scheme.

Not so much time passes once he finds himself standing in front of Ash's door. He was so sure of himself before but now that he was actually there, hovering in front of her place without a single calm thought in his mind, he realized that maybe visiting her wasn't his best idea after all.

He nervously rubs the edges of his knuckles together and begins tapping them against one another as he paces back and forth in front of the girl's door. His heart was in a rush, beating painfully in his chest as his mind flew through a flurry of uneasy speculations. 

He brings a balled fist to the door, stops, drops it, and brings it back up, this time taking a deep breath before dropping his hand again. Little Cato chuckles to himself. There was no way he was that big of a coward. Couldn't even knock on a girl's door without thinking twice.

Little Cato growls to himself and takes a hasty step back. He considers his previous thoughts and if he should just leave, though during his internal debate, his body would reach its own hasty conclusion, and before he knew it his hand was coming down on the girl's door multiple times.

A look of fear washes over his face once the realization of what he'd just done settles in his mind. He didn't actually mean to knock, he wasn't ready for something like this, asking a girl out and one he found to hot handle at that.

The teen begins to turn, opting to make his way out of there though before he could delta as quick as he could the door slides open with an all too recognizable swoosh. He turns back around slowly, expecting to see Ash at the door with her hands on her hips and looking at him when a smirk. Though when he does come around what he gets in her place is far worse.

"Who's- oh... good lord, it's you." The voice that came from beyond the door was filled with aggravation and contempt. It had clearly held some disdain for the boy. Though the hatred was never warranted, his mood was as short and gray as he had been.

"Hey, Clarence." Little quickly waves down at the short man. He was non-human, the closest thing Little Cato could compare the man to, was a Graytrexian or maybe a slightly less hansom Furon, and that was saying something. What Little Cato could discern from the man was the profound scorn his frown maintained whenever he saw the teen and his friends.

"Oh hey, yourself." The man spat back at Little Cato. His face contorted into the hateful grimace he so loved to wear. His eyes rolled back and forth past the bright orange goggles he normally wore day in and out as he kept his hands unapologetically fastened to his hips in a show of vexation.

"Oh, come on Clarence, you really gonna be like that? I thought we were cool." Little Cato points a soft welcoming smile the man's way as he extends his arms to the shorter man. Clarence scoffs and sneers at him with a collocation of assorted mouth sounds.

"I am very much going to be like that." He ridicules the boy. "You irk me to no end boy. You and the rest of your repugnant, rapscallion, riffraff. In fact, I think you're the worst out of the bunch." He points violently at the boy with more unfathered abhorrence that stains his bias.

"What?" Little Cato's head snaps back and his body recoils away from the shorter man. "Me?" he points to himself, confused and a bit offended. "Am I really the worst one?" The question comes out in a hush and is primarily directed toward himself.

Another scoff finds its way past Clarence's frown, and he throws out his hands in a way that says, 'Isn't it obvious?' Though it's not so obvious for the young teenager.

"Wait how..." Little Cato begins to argue but stops himself before the going could get real. "Never mind." He steps up to the door and leans on the edge between it and the mega building's concrete wall. Regardless of how Clarence felt about him, he wouldn't leave now. "Ash home pops?"

"Pops?" Clarence growls at the young Ventrexian. Maybe it wasn't so wise to push his luck and get on the short man's even shorter nerves, but he deserved a bit of mockery if he was going to call Little Cato the worst out of his bunch of friends. "Oh, I ought a... ohohoho." He chuckles, pointing at Little Cato and shuffling back into the apartment as the door slides shut behind him.

Little Cato isn't too sure what to do now. His first thought when something didn't work out in his favor was to turn around and go home. This time he'd keep himself around, however. He scarcely has a clue why and oddly enough he was okay with not knowing this time.

The teen kept himself propped up on the wall by his shoulder. He could hear some sort of commotion coming from inside Ash's apartment. One of the more useful attributes about Little Cato's people was that they had fantastic hearing, though on some occasions it could prove to be a curse as much as a blessing. He'd rather not think about his dad and Gary.

Little Cato steps a bit closer to the door and turns his head to focus his hearing. There was definitely arguing going on, three different voices could be heard including Clarence's. The other two voices that could be heard were Harp's, her lovely voice Little Cato could make out anywhere, and Ash's, a voice he'd rather be hearing all the time.

He couldn't hear their brother Fox though, that meant he was either sleeping or out for the day. Little Cato couldn't blame him if their home life was like this on a daily. All three of them were going at it. Mostly with one another equally but at certain points, the sisters would gang up on their father. There was nothing like sisterly love after all.

After some time and vicious shouting, the arguing begins to come to a calm and the sound of Ash's voice could be heard rapidly approaching the door. "Shit." Little Cato hisses and steps away from the door quickly. The last thing he wanted was to be caught eavesdropping on the girl's issues.

"Jeez." Ash spat as she steps out into the hallway. "All that bullshit and for what... like I'm responsible for everyone and everything in that house." He mutters to herself. The girl barely acknowledges Little Cato and the only reason she realizes he's even there is when she bumps right into him.  "Oh!" She was startled by the sudden contact, nearly tripping and falling though Little Cato did catch her before then. She seemed fine though he would continue to hold onto her by the arms to make sure she didn't accidentally fall backwards. "Sorry."

"No worries." Little Cato said, keeping his arms around her. "I was actually coming to see you. Everything alright in there?" He looks past Ash and to the door she had stomped out of in a pout.

"Uh, yeah, yeah. It's just umm..." She looks back as well. She does her best not to show it, but Little Cato could sense the Serepentian's distress, he could sense it even before she left the apartment. "You said you were coming to see me?" Little Cato nods. It was true enough even if he was having second thoughts. "Do you want to go somewhere, like away from here...? Like out of the building?"

Little Cato looks at her with a questionable wince and tilts his head. He had no reason not to trust her, but he would say Meowmar's words clung to his mind like an illness. He remembers the other Ventrexian calling her weird and wild. Could have just been the dark green Ventrexian trying to stir the pot, but why would he want to?

"Uh-"

"Good, it'll be my treat." Before Little Cato could say much however his arm was already entangled with hers as she led the boy down the hall toward one of the elevators. He doesn't argue with her, not that there was much he could say to dissuade her. The pink-haired girl was dead set on getting away.

It didn't matter where, only when and that meant now. She had told him she wanted to get out of there and into the neighborhood which Little Cato took as the girl wanted to stay somewhere close to the building at least.

He'd come to find that she really meant as far from the building as they could possibly get. She drags him off of the elevator, into Little China, and across Watson to a diner he had never been to before. Little Cato had only just gotten to town so he couldn't put too much blame on himself for not stopping by.

It was a nice little place, snuggled into a corner off an ally with a good view of some of Watson's clubs. Watson had a big club scene; a lot of the city did but Watson was the most popular place to come party.

He hadn't thought about it before but maybe that's what his parents were doing with their time away from the apartment. If he were a parent in a budding relationship where he argued with his significant other, more often than not, he'd think clubbing would be a proper fix for their issues.

"Can I get you two anything?" The diner's waitress, a woman with brown frizzy hair, comes up to the two teens with a notepad and pen in hand.

"Oh, uhh..." Little Cato picks up the diner menu. Honestly, he didn't know what to get, his mind was so focused elsewhere that he hadn't given his order much thought. He had almost forgotten he was even there with Ash, to begin with.

"Could you bring us two burgers with fries? One milkshake and one... soda?" Ash points to Little Cato with the question which catches him off guard. She had taken the lead in ordering so fast he could hardly process it but as long as she was paying, and since he didn't know what to order anyway, he wouldn't mind her doing so for the both of them.

"Y-yeah, yeah. That's fine." He said, anxiously scratching at his wrist with some unease. The woman jots down their order and takes the menus up as she walks off. Once the waitress is out of sight, Little Cato brings his eyes back to Ash.

She was smiling at him like she didn't have a care in the world. It's almost like the reason for them being here was a concern that didn't exist. Little Cato supposed he couldn't be mad at the sudden change; her dad and sister were pieces of work. The only one he could say he really liked was Ash's brother and he had only met the guy once.

"So. I kinda heard you and your family going at it..." Little Cato starts. Her home life was none of his business though she looked like she could use someone to talk to. That was his line of thinking anyhow. Everyone needed someone to lean on, even if they didn't make a great effort to show that they did. "What was that about?"

"Oh..." Ash chuckles softly, looking around the diner and nervously scratching the top of her hand. She looked lost like she didn't know what to do or say. It looks like all she wants to do is run away, to avoid the question but quick reasoning in her mind keeps her seated. "It's nothing really." She chuckled again.

"You sure?" Little Cato asks.

"Yeah, yeah." The pink-haired girl reassures him. As fidgety as she may have been Little Cato knew not to pry any further if she didn't want him to. He was perfectly fine with leaving her troubles where they lie though she clearly wasn't. "I just catch so much flack for shit that isn't my fault you know?" She leans forward onto the table, bringing her voice down to a slight whisper. "Fox isn't home most of the time but somehow it's my fault like I'm supposed to constantly keep tabs on him and keep an eye out for everything he does, and Harp could care less cause she's too much of a goddamn ju-" Ash stops herself and puts a hand over her mouth.

"A what?" Little Cato raised a brow at her though she appeared too uncomfortable to continue with the rent she'd been on.

"It's nothing." She spoke. "Harps just got a bit of a bad habit that's all. Guess that's my fault too though huh?" She snickers and looks back up at Little Cato. Her eyes, the one eye he could see anyway, were screaming out for something. Reassurance to prove her father's words untrue or anything that might vindicate her of her home troubles.

Little Cato doesn't know if he has those kinds of words. He could always try but he finds the comfort was a bit harder to get out than it had first appeared to be. It was on the tip of his tongue, but it refused to come.

He wasn't the advice-giving type for the most part, but he wanted to try, for her at least. With each 'um' and 'uh' that leaves him, however, the spark in Ash's eye seems to lose more and more hope for some kind of understanding. The look on her face was subtle but it went a long way in making him feel awful.

She didn't deserve some idiot sitting around umming and uhing at her awkwardly. He needed to say something, anything. "Will-" Just as he seems to find the words after so much delay, the waitress returns with one big tray of food in hand.

"Here you go darlings." The woman sets the tray down in front of the two then walks off with a wave to attend to some of the diner's other patrons.

"Thanks." Ash waves back. Her face lit up instantly once the food they had ordered was placed before her. The girl wasted no time digging into the meal. She starts with the burger but doesn't stay on it for long, immediately redirecting to the fries afterward and dealing a moderate amount of damage there before moving on to the milkshake.

She rotates in between the three items essentially devouring them all at once in virtually no time. Little Cato thought it was an astounding sight and one that churned his stomach admittedly. He doesn't know how a girl so small could chaw down so much. Maybe that's how she kept her figure.

He guessed he could do the same thing but to a lesser degree than what he was seeing. "So, you said you were looking for me?" Ash said, stealing fries off of his plate. 

"Huh?" Little Cato's eyes snap to her in surprise. Her food was finished, and her hands had begun to wander over to his side of the table. Little Cato didn't mind of course. Oddly enough he wasn't feeling as hungry. The most he could muster was a single bite from his burger. "Oh yeah..." He mumbles.

"Okay." She chuckles at him taking another fry off his plate. "And for what?"

Little Cato bobs his head with a dismissive snicker. "I don't know." He shrugged at her. "I was bored. Just wanted to know if you wanted to hang out or something." He leans back, folding his arms and tapping his fingers along his elbow.

"What?" Ash steals yet another fry before leaning back in the seat with a smirk. "That's it? You just wanted to hang out? Like really?"

"Uhh, yeah." He said with a sigh, rolling his eyes over. "It isn't that serious Ash."

"And you didn't come for anything else?" Little Cato shrugs again when she questions his intentions. He was dead set on holding steadfast with the pink-haired girl, but her smirk and squinted staring combined with his own gut feeling changes his plan.

"Honestly." Little Cato starts with a deep breath. "You make me feel kinda strange... you know like my heart gets all weird when I'm around you or when I see you. I was feeling kinda down today and the only person I could think to make things better was you..." He felt awkward adding that to her but if he didn't do it now he might never do it.

Ash blankly stares at him. There were no words or smirks or laughter. Only a look in her eye that could be read as understanding or relief. Almost as if she'd been waiting for something like the Ventrexian's admission to come along, waiting for someone like him to sweep her off her feet.

"Wow." She said as soon as the tension between them settled. "You're heart huh? You should see a doctor about that I think." A smirk returns to her face along with that stupid jokey look she liked to tease him with.

"Fuck off." Little Cato sighs, leaning back into the dinner chair.

"I'm kidding, I kid, come on." Ash leans over the table and holds her hands out. The teen looks at them and her before taking the hint, placing his hands within hers. "Look honestly I feel the same, heart and all." She laughs. "You make me feel strange, but I want us to hang out some more before we go into anything more serious. You know?"

Little Cato was shocked. If he were honest, he didn't actually think she'd feel the same despite what his friends had told him. He didn't think he stood a chance and for a brief moment, he thought it was just some game she was playing. Looking into her eyes though he can see that it most likely wasn't some cheap trick.

"Yeah." He agrees with a quick nod. For whatever reason some part of him wanted to run away and forget the deal but that was only due to his lack of experience. He's never had a girlfriend before, never even thought twice about a relationship. He stays put, nevertheless. Someone like her seemed like a one-in-a-lifetime opportunity to him and who knows when the next time he'd be able to bag a girl as bad as Ash.

"Alright." She smiles back at him. "Hmm?" Her hands immediately rescind from his as her phone buzzes with a message. When she pulls it out, she can't help but moan, groan, and roll her eyes. "Oh god." She sighed and quickly typed out a reply before looking back up at Little Cato. "Hey, did you still want to hang out? Timmy said he needs me to pick something up from Misty's."

"For sure." He agreed quickly. He'd much rather hang out with her especially if they were planning on getting to know each other better. It's not like he had anything better to do that day.

Chapter 7: Assumptions.

Little Cato and Ash had been on their way to Misty's after their quick lunch at the dinner. Timmy had texted the girl that he needed something from the soothsayer, so after paying for the meal that mostly Ash had eaten the two decided to head straight to the shop.

It's a nice walk, the sun was shining bright, and it was still pretty early on in the day so that gave the pair plenty of reason to take their time on the way over. Most of the journey was spent talking and Ash even pointed a few things about the city out to Little Cato.

She spoke about the things people normally got up to in the neighborhood. Mostly of things he already knew about like how it was a hot spot for a good time. People usually journeyed into the district for the various nightclubs that seemed to be open at all hours of the day but of course, were only really prominent during the night. Little Cato had never heard of anyone parting while the sun was still high in the sky but he's sure there are a few outliers somewhere.

She lectured the boy about the skyscrapers that enveloped the streets around them and how many corporations invested millions of dollars just to build Watson up. With that kind of detection, it was a given that the corporate office had to be the ones to stand out loudest and proudest. Nowadays however most of the buildings are owned by one corporation that had returned to the city after the time of the red had concluded twenty years ago.

Ash also talked about what the neighborhood used to be before all of the clubs, corporate offices, and mega structures. Before all that, the district was called North Oak, a city in Del Coronado Bay back before the bay was Night City.

It was a military city back then, and most of the shops that existed, only sold to military personnel or members of their families. It was a place that thrived during the late stages of the collapse. Little Cato was sure the place was doing so even before the world had gotten its act together some three hundred years ago.

It was a part of the free state of north California and a significant stopping-off point where a person could rest their weary head but after reconstruction, the bay sort of just fell in with the new government. After some time under the Alliance and once the military pulled out, the area was, more or less, abandoned. Since everything was being rebuilt there was no need for a place like North Oak. It's hard to make a living off of desperate survivors when there was no longer a need to survive.

After that, the region became, what Ash could only explain as, a homeless community for refugees still reeling from the state of the world back then. They would come together to build their own tent camps around the area. That was around the time the bay was purchased and the construction of Night City had begun.

About halfway to Misty's the teenager's conversation had stopped becoming about Watson and the past and had started becoming about Misty herself. Or more so what she represented, her spirituality and alternative way of living. 

From there the conversation shifts into one of spirituality and religion as a whole. Obviously, Little Cato just had to get Ash's input on the matter now that they were on it, considering what she was.

"So, what about you?" Little Cato turns to her with a smirk on his face. "Don't you have something that you worship, in your downtime?"

"I mean..." Ash giggles anxiously and looks away from him. "I don't really know what that has to do with anything." A timid blush lights up her face. The pink-haired girl was starting to play coy with him. She doesn't even attempt to give him an excuse, only endeavors to sidestep and avoid his question like the plague.

"Yeah right." Little Cato laughs a bit harder than he means to. "Your Serepentian, don't you people worship a big snake or something." Ash's head snaps back around to Little Cato with a squint in her eye.

"First off it's the great serpent and second." She steps out in front of the boy, bringing him to a stop. "I don't see why being Serepentian automatically ties me to the great serpent."

"Sure, I guess it doesn't," Little Cato said. "But I haven't met a Serepentian who doesn't jump up and down one hundred times a day for a snake god." He smirks at her. The cocky look on his face only seems to make the girl more irritated than she had been. "I don't even know how they do it. Couldn't be me."

Ash bellows out a tremendous, frustrated huff at the young Ventrexian. "Easy, fifty in the morning and fifty in the evening. It's not that hard." She proclaims matter-of-factly and the boy stares back with an even broader smirk on his face. "But that doesn't mean I do it." She groans and turns to start walking again.

"But you know about it." He pointed out.

Ash breathes a fed-up sigh. "Yeah, but you can't assume that I'm a worshiper, that's like bigotry Junior. How would you feel if I assumed you worshiped Ventrex or any of the other Ventrexian gods?"

"Well, me and my dad don't worship the gods." He smugly shrugs as she stares at him with a boasting expression. "Okay, I see you're point."

"Think you." She threw her hands up in relief and the two went quiet for a short moment. The sudden silence between the two makes Little Cato nervous and the teen considers if he had messed something up by pushing for an answer he didn't need to really know.

He thinks about saying something to her, apologizing for making assumptions about her and her people. He knows he wouldn't want to be seen as one thing or another, though maybe that was just his mindset considering he hadn't grown up on Ventrexia. He wouldn't know what a true Ventrexian would want to be seen like. Strong and confident sure but he wasn't as concerned with that like his dad would be.

"So..." Before Little Cato could begin to formulate a proper apology, Ash would speak up again. "You said you and your dad don't worship the gods. What do you follow then?"

"Oh." Little Cato uttered, feeling a blush form beneath his orange fur. That question isn't one he was ever really asked before. "Well, we don't really follow a religion. We just follow after Gary really and Gary's more..." He bobs his head around in search of the best term. "In tune with the galaxy."

"So like Misty?" Ash extended a brow when she questioned.

Little Cato winced a bit when she asked. "Not exactly." He said. "What Misty believes and what Gary believes are two different things. I think Misty is more into Vodou, paganism, and root work, but the way Garys always taught me was more along the lines of Buddhism and Graytrexian naturalism. It's all spiritual but it sorta means we put our fate in everything around us and-" 

"Hold up." Ash throws her hands up and stops the boy mid-sentence. "How did we get to Graytrexian naturalism now?" She runs her fingers through her pink hair with a confused smirk.

Little Cato's eyes widen with surprise of his own. She didn't know about his family. "Right, my grandpa Jack is Graytrexian." The teen laughed and explained to Ash. "He's basically the catalyst for Gary's behavior honestly."

She still had a perplexed look on her face though it was less so than before. "So, Jack is married into the family?" She questions him again. Considering how Little Cato made her feel earlier, it was his turn to feel a bit uncomfortable. Fair is fair.

"Yeah, to my grandpa John." The little bit of information he feeds the girl causes her to jolt in delight, leaving a pleasant smile on her face.

"Woah." She said. "That's wild... I thought my family was wild but that's... nice. Thats super modern, two grandpas two dads." She giggles somewhat nervously before calming herself down. "I'm sorry, I'm being weird." She warps an arm around Little Cato's and the two pick up their slow pace to Misty's.

She said they were super modern. Little Cato had never given his family dynamic that much consideration before. He didn't think he'd have to. It sounds a bit strange, being considered modern. Why would it have to be like that? It was normal to him.

His train of thought is cut short when the teens finally make it to Misty's Esoterica. A sight of relief for him because now he could focus on getting whatever it was that Timmy wanted instead of delving deep into Ash's insinuations. He knows she didn't mean to come off as insensitive, no one ever does usually, but Little Cato can't help but feel out of place all of a sudden.

Stepping out of the street and entering the spiritual shop was always a pleasurable feeling for Little Cato. The stark contrast in sound and tone was just so jarring for him. The sensation he got when passing the entry never failed to hit his senses like a steep dip in a rollercoaster.

As soon as they enter, they find Misty with a group of three. Little Cato is somewhat relieved, on any other day they would have to wait for the woman to come around if she wasn't already at the front counter. He was glad to see they wouldn't have to wait long but there was still the group in front of them to contend with.

"Come on Misty give it to me straight, and none of that crystal bullshit neither." One of the men in the group says, leaning on the counter and over to the woman behind it.

"What can I say, Vincent, your cards read more of the same," Misty informs him, laying out a deck of cards along the countertop.

"I told you so gonk." Another member of the group, a woman, scoffed as she roughly shoved the guy. "Why can't you accept that your life is going nowhere fast? Everyone else has."

"A dog shit life is better than being some corpo lap dog." The young man jumps into the girl's face and the two stare each other down with the kind of venom reserved for archenemies. It looks like they're about to tear each other's throats out and if it weren't for the third, larger, man in the group they might just have.

"Alright, Vincent, Valerie, es suficiente." The larger guy steps in between the arguing pair. "Man, I never seen siblings go at it like you two."

"Jackie, she started it. I'm just here minding my own business." Vincent shrugged with a smirk on his lips. "I could care less what the beaver thinks about me and my life." He steps past the girl, checking her shoulder along the way as he takes a seat on the only chair in the shop.

"Sure whatever, I may be a corpo but at least I got my shit together." Valerie made her way opposite where her brother sat and took up leaning on the counter behind the taller man as he had done. "Just watch Vince, this internship with Hyperon is gonna sore me into the high life."

"Oh 'this internship with Hyperon is-' fuck off." He waves the girl off with a mocking tone.

"You fuck off!" Valerie retaliates and just like that the siblings are back in each other's faces. They go toe to toe, foreheads roughly pressed up against one another. They seemed to be polar opposites in appearance and attitude.

Vincent came off as cooler than he assumably was. Not only was his mind and attire on street level but his soul was connected to it as well. Like most of the guy's Little Cato had met, Vincent only seemed concerned with one thing and that was his image.

His sister on the other hand could care less about street cred by the sounds of it. She was on the right side of the tracks, her soul couldn't have been further from the city if she tried and unlike her brother, she was dressing for the career she wanted. Sleek was normally the corporate standard so seeing the girl in a gray and black suit, sporting an overly ambitious mindset seemed fitting.

At first glance, they are nothing alike, but the more Little Cato watches them the more he can see that they are one and the same. Beyond what they thought they were, past the trendy threads and fancy suits, the siblings were cocky self-serving miscreants, that much was clear to Little Cato.

"Guys, guys please." Misty steps in, separating the two. "I've got customers." She looks toward Ash and Little Cato once the bickering Siblings are out of the way. "Hey Ash, hey Junior." She walks over to the teens with a kind smile. "Sorry about these guys, they can be a bit much."

"You mean she can be a bit much." Vincent snickers and Valerie flips him off.

"Guys." Misty snaps at them before turning back to the teens with a ruffled sigh. "What can I do for you guys?"

Ash steps forward. "Timmy said you had something from him. He's being a lazy ass today so I'm here to pick it up I guess."

"Oh right, I almost forgot." Misty slaps a flat palm to her forehead once she's reminded. "These three have been driving me so far up the wall that I didn't have time to pack it."

"Ay come on Misty, you make it sound like a bad thing." The taller man in the group says, smiling down at the girl. "And I personally know you love it when I drive you up the wall, chica"

"Jackie." Misty blushed, slapping the man on the arm with a more embarrassed smile on her face. "I'll be right back Ash. Wait here and don't mind Vincent and Valerie so much Little Cato." She eyes the petty bickering siblings once more before heading to the back of her shop.

Ash breaks away from Little Cato as Misty leaves and strolls right up to the taller man in the group. He was huge, compared to everyone else in the room at least, and at first glance, he could be mistaken as a cold-hearted killer. If someone had told Little Cato the man was some kind of solo, he wouldn't bat a second eye at the claim.

He must have been Misty's boyfriend. Little Cato had never seen the guy before, but Kendrick did mention that he was scared to death of him. Getting an actual look at him now, Little Cato can see why. He doesn't come off like the kind of guy you'd want to meet in a dark alley.

"Hey nina, how's it going?" Despite all appearances though he greats Ash with a soft teddy bear-like smile and a much too kind demeanor for a man his size. "Life not too rough out there I hope."

"As if." Ash returns the smile with a shrug. "It's gotta work pretty hard to keep me down but it likes to try I guess." The smile on her face fades slightly though not completely.

"Ah, well don't let it," Jackie said. "Take me for example si. That bitch whales on me all the time but I'm always up and ready for the next round of ass woopins." He throws his fist up to lightly box the space in front of him.

"Yeah, fuck life!" Vincent concurs while his sister buries her face in one hand.

They continue to talk with each other, discussing more personal things Little Cato isn't supposed to be privy to, or at least things Ash doesn't want him to be quite yet. So, he sits back, leans against a well and only slightly strains his ears to catch little snippets of the two's hushed conversations.

"Hey yo." However, the teen's concentration is cut short by the sound of Vincent calling to him and much too close for comfort at that. "I haven't seen you around here before. You new here or sometin?"

Little Cato brings his eyes over to the more ramshackle sibling, one brow lifted and expression sitting with unease. "Uhh..." The teen was reticent to say. Kendrick always told him to be careful with whom he divulged his information, and this guy Vincent doesn't seem too up to snuff. "Kinda. I live in H10."

Vincent nods at him. "Right... really?" His expression transitions from one of understanding to sheer perplexity. "Our building? Since when?" He tilts his head to the said as he makes his query understood.

Little Cato shrugs and nods at the man. "A week now I guess." He admitted. It was probably more information than he needed to share with someone he didn't know but it was hard to resist under the pressure of the man's heavy gaze.

"Well, I haven't seen you," Vincent said, squinting his eyes in suspicion of the young teen.

"That's probably because he's on a different floor gonk." Valeria steps in between Little Cato and him. "I'm sorry, my brother is a bit mentally deficient." She kicks at her brother's foot with a scowl, and he returns the gesture. "I'm Valerie and that's Vincent. We live on Seven." Valerie held out her hand with a tailored smile that put Little Cato more at ease.

"Fourteen." He takes the hand. "I'm Junior, most people call me Little Cato though." Her brother is also put at ease, as his expression softens up once Little Cato makes mention of his floor, though it doesn't completely disappear. "Nice to meet you."

"Likewise." Valerie nods.

"Just be careful around her new kid." Vincent rushes up next to his sister and throws an arm around her shoulder. "This one right here is a corpo dog. She'll chew you up and spit you out like the trash she sees in everyone." He laughs. "You probably just signed away your whole life by shaking that hand." Little Cato quickly retracts his hand and looks at it in shock.

"Would you- It's not like that kid." She held her hands up to the boy. Her attention was split between trying to calm him down and wrangling her brother.

"Ey, what is going on over here?" Jackie steps up to the group. "Sounds like a turf war or something, que pasa?"

Vincent jumps out of his sister's arms and flees behind the large man. "Jackie, she started it, she's trying to buy my choom here like a slave." He points in between her and Little Cato. "You can't do that Val, thats racist don't you know."

"Shut the hell up or I'm gonna beat you like a slave." Valeria growls, though it hardly gets her brother to close his mouth.

"See, see." He points at her with an open smile.

"Guys, guys! Please." Misty comes rushing back to the front of the shop, bagging for some silents. She held something in her hand wrapped up in plastic and paper bags. It must have been the thing Timmy was looking for. "Here Ash. I already texted him the instructions so your part ends when you deliver it." She hands the gift-wrapped object over to Ash. "And sorry you couldn't catch me on a better day."

"No worries, Misty," Ash said. "You have your hands full up with Jackie already, throw Vince and Val into the mix and I think it's amazing how you deal with all three."

Misty softly chuckles and scratches the back of her neck. "Yeah, they can be a hand full, but they're like family you know." She looks back at the arguing siblings and her boyfriend doing his best to keep them apart. "I'll see you guys later okay. Hopefully things'll be more peaceful then." She waves as the teens exit her shop.

That was an interesting little interaction he hadn't been expecting to find when he stepped out of the house this morning. Those siblings were certainly of a kind and Misty's boyfriend was more or less a pleasant surprise himself. All and all Little Cato felt that he'd made a good first impression, at least as far as Valerie was concerned. Vincent was still on the table for whether he trusted the boy or not.

"So..." Ash spoke up after some time had passed. "Let's go back to this naturalism thing." She turns a smirk to Little Cato.

He snickers under his breath. "Uhh... sure." He said, not too completely sure what more the girl wanted to speak about. "What's up?"

Ash tilts her head from side to side. "Oh nothing, just kinda sounds like Unitology to me." She said, watching the boy's face closely once his body screeched to a halt.

"What?" He practically shouted at the girl. "How even?"

"Hey, you tell me you believe in peace in the universe and being one with nature and all that. It kinda sorta reads like Unitology to me." Ash weighs her shoulders at him.

Little Cato continues his hysterical cackling. "What?" He repeats in disbelief. Unitology was nowhere near what he believed. People who follow that thought everyone should come together, literally. Unitologists believed that every living creature in the galaxy was meant to come together under one single hive mind, conscience, or being. "We couldn't be further apart.

"Oh?" Ash hums. "How so exactly?" 

"We have drum circles and meditation and-" Little Cato begins to argue but stops when he sees the ridiculous grin on the girl's face. "You're fucking with me, aren't you?" She shrugged and ran ahead of him, keeping Timmy's item tucked under her arm. He sighs to himself. He guesses he deserved that. 

Little Cato shutters to think that Meowmar had been right. Ash was a strange one but damn if he couldn't resist the girl. "God, you're lucky you're so hot." He mutters before chasing after her. 

Chapter 8: Don't worry about a thing.

Ash and Little Cato race through the halls of floor fifteen, dodging and weaving through crowds, nearly hitting and thankfully missing a good majority of the building's other inhabitants. They were basically chasing each other, Little Cato more so than the girl in front of him that is.

After leaving Misty's shop the pink-haired girl had determined that a makeshift game of tag was just the thing they needed to spice up their delivery. 

The game was mostly one-sided for the pair of teens. Every time Little Cato caught up to Ash, she'd just hold onto him, tag him, and run off again. It annoyed him but Little Cato had managed to get some semi-revenge by giving the girl's butt a hard tap the next time he caught up to her.

After a while, they come to a stop in front of Timmy's door, panting heavily as the pair share breathless giggles with one another. The pair went back and forth tapping and tagging each other though the game had long since ended.

After settling herself down, Ash knocks on Timmy's door with multiple hard thuds. His friends tended to beat on each other's doors most days. Mostly to make sure the others were up but also to get on each other's nerves. Even Little Cato would follow in their footsteps to be an absolute nuisance though he doesn't feel like he's as good at it as the others had been.

"Alright!" Load shouting could be heard from inside the apartment before the door has a chance to open. "God..." Timmy peers out, his red eyes being the only things Little Cato could make out from his dark silhouette. "You guys have to cool it with that for a little. My head's killing me."

"Oh well wakey, wakey I didn't come all the way here to be told to shove off now." Ash scoffs at the boy. "Here, I got your thing... whatever it is." She holds out his package and Timmy's previously shrouded face nearly illuminates with joy and excitement.

"Oh, thinks guys." He reaches out slightly shaky hands and takes hold of his hastily wrapped gift. "I would have gotten it myself, but I'm sick as a dog." He coughs out a chuckle. "God, I hate being sick."

Little Cato could share the sentiment. Being sick did weird things to the mind and not being able to get up and do much could only add to that dreadful feeling you'd no doubt be in. "Well try not to overwork yourself." He smiles at the other boy. "We miss you out here."

"Yeah, I'll be back don't you worry. I feel it letting up." He waves at the pair before stepping back into the shadows of his apartment. "See you around guys." The door closes before either Little Cat or Ash has the chance to say much.

Little Cato looks to Ash, and she stares back. "So now what?"

"Now?" Ash smirks. "Now..." She slowly steps up to him, leaning into him and running a hand down his chest. Little Cato could feel his face heat up along with the rest of his body as Ash's lips moved close to his. "I go home." She whispers, tapping the boy on the nose and quickly backing away. "I'll see you around Junior."

In a flash, the heat that had built up in his body suddenly vanished along with the girl. She really did do something unnatural to him, made him feel strange in ways he couldn't appropriately convey. She had him around her finger and oddly enough he couldn't be happier.

He shakes his head. Ash was really something else and her behavior was something he could dwell on later. Right now, however, getting home wasn't such a bad idea. He'd been out all morning, and he was feeling somewhat tired.

Stepping up to his door the teen takes a quick second to smile at himself. The pink-haired girl was still on his mind, no surprises there. He'd preferably have her on his mind more than anything else though, she was always a pleasant thought for him.

"Hey." Speaking of pleasant thoughts, a muffled voice from behind him rattles and derails his train of thought, and all of a sudden, his mind falls away from Ash and onto Kendrick. 

Little Cato turns to greet the taller boy with a smile, one that had been the result of the pink-haired girl lingering in his thoughts. "Hey." He responds but gets nothing in return. Kendrick wordlessly stood there with his arms crossed and shallow breaths escaping the crimson mask around his face. His countenance was still a mystery to Little Cato, hidden behind that red vail like it always had been. "Something wrong man?"

Kendrick huffs after a minute of silently staring at the boy. "Oh no, nothing's wrong, everything's nova over here." He snickers beneath his mask. Little Cato couldn't be sure but the other teen's tone shared a bit of unease and insecurity he's never heard from Kendrick up until this point. "Where have you been though?"

"What?" Little Cato shares a confused look with the masked boy. "What do you mean?"

"I don't know." Kendrick shrugged. "I haven't seen you all morning after you ran off, I guess thought you were..." He pauses and peers away from Little Cato. "It's nothing." He mutters as he brings his eyes back to the young teen. "So can a nigga come in the gaff or what?"

Little Cato snickers and turns back to his door. "Fuck off, maybe another time." He jokes. It was good to see the teen back in high hopes, but all Little Cato wanted to do was take a nap by himself.

"What?" Kendrick laughs, though it wasn't the friendly kind Little Cato had come to expect from the other. "Hey fuck off!" Kendrick blurts, nearly lashing out even. The sound almost makes Little Cato jump and startles him to the point he has to turn around slowly. "Don't hate me 'cause I'm beautiful you fuckin bitch! Maybe if you sorted out that gomi ass hair cut maybe you'd get some bitches on your dick or Ash would actually start fucking with your narrow ass, bitch as gonk ass nigga!" Kendrick stomps off in a huff, leaving Little Cato speechless and mouth agape.

"What!?" Little Cato cries out to the other boy, but he's already long gone. "Whatever!" He scowls and enters his apartment. He runs directly to his room and crashes down onto his bed as soon as he enters. The young Ventrexian lays on his back, staring at the ceiling of his room at a loss.

He thinks about what just happened. Did Kendrick really just do that, say all that to him in that manner? He told Little Cato to fuck off, usually when they told each other to fuck off it was more so the topic that they were discussing. This time, however, the phrase was directed right at Little Cato, and it felt much too angry to be a joke.

He wonders if he did something wrong to warrant that kind of response from his friend and for minutes it's all he could think about. The words stuck to him; they wouldn't leave the poor boy alone for a moment.

All Little Cato could do was wonder what he had done to make Kendrick lash out like he did and if his haircut was really as bad as the other boy said. His hair... 

All that crossed his mind from that point was his hair. As he runs a hand through the bright blue mohawk he considers changing it up. But he liked it, and Ash liked it. Ash liked him too, why would Kendrick say he needed to change to attract her? She already seems to be attracted to him. A deep pit grows in Little Cato's stomach, and he feels like he's about to throw up the more his mind races.

"Whatever." He groans and shoots up from his bed, making his way back out of the room. It didn't matter what Kendrick said to him, it couldn't. They were just words from one guy who was having a bit of a bad day.

Yeah, that's what it was, just a bad day. The boy said he was starting to freak out after not seeing Little Cato all morning, and the young teen does feel partially guilty for not mentioning that he was leaving the building.

But that still doesn't excuse what he said about his hair, or maybe it does. "Ahh!" Little Cato moans loudly as he jumps into the sofa pit in his living room. He was so conflicted. One part of him felt terrible that Kendrick had even gotten so mad in the first place and another part was angry about what the masked boy had said.

He runs his fingers through his hair once again, a frown resting on his despondent expression. After a while, he stifles his face in his hands.

"Woah." Little Cato looks up and out of the pit. "Someone's looking a little stressed." The older Ventrexian said, stepping out of his room.

"Oh, hey Dad." Little Cato holds his chin in his palms. His thoughts still run rampant with Kendrick's insults, but the sight of his dad does relieve him. "I didn't know you were home."

"Yeah, don't got much to do today." He said, stepping into the kitchen and flinging the door to their refrigerator open. He takes out a can of soda and cracks it open with a loud sizzle.

"Oh." Little Cato hums mostly to himself. "Where's Gary?" He asks, curious as to his other dad's whereabouts.

"Right..." The older Ventrexian chuckles and scratches the back of his head. "Last night we-" Avocato stops himself from speaking further. "I mean... he's sleeping off a throat ache." Little Cato doesn't know what that means exactly but after seeing the look of embarrassment on his dad's face the teen isn't sure he wanted to know. "But enough about me, what's got you in a slump kid?"

Little Cato doesn't move besides offering his dad a small shrug, he doesn't really have the energy to do more. "I... don't know." He's uncertain about venting to his dad. He knew the man wasn't the best at offering affectionate advice, that sort of thing was Gary's ballpark.

"Come on Little Cato." His dad steps into the sofa pit and takes a seat next to the distressed boy. " I know I've been a little busy lately, but you know I'm here to listen."

"It's nothing, really it's..." The young Ventrexian looks at his dad still unsure what to say, or more so if he should say anything at all. "Does my hair look gomi to you?" He looks at his dad with one hand flowing through his hair.

"Gomi?" A look of bewilderment befalls his father's face. "Gomi...? Gomi...?" Avocato repeats the word to himself before it begins to click with him. "Bad? No, your hair's fine. What makes you think it's bad?"

"N-nothing." He looks away. "I think it might be." He mumbles again as his fingers trace along his head.

His dad snicker after taking a quick swig of the drink in his hand. "I don't know kid. You were really excited working on it, had Gary up every morning to help you out and kept him busy every afternoon to help you maintain it. Now all of a sudden, you're not feeling it?" He leans back and throws an arm over the edge of the couch. "Why is that?"

More reluctance is held within Little Cato. He does like this hair, and he wasn't giving his dad a good enough reason for wanting to change it up. "... My friend said it looks kinda trash I guess... maybe that's why I feel kinda weird about it now."

"See." Avocato throws up a hand with a smile. "Let me guess, was it... uhh... Meowmar. Kid seems like the type to ring up the fashion police."

"I wish." Little Cato snickers. "I wouldn't have cared so much..." He stops. Why did he care so much? Had it been anyone else he wouldn't have minded their opinion. So why do Kendrick's words strike a nerve with him? "I'll be back Dad."

"What? leaving out again?" Avocato spoke surprised, watching his son climb out of the sofa pit. "You don't want to hang out a little?" 

"It'll be quick I swear. If Gary asks, I'm just in the hallway." Little Cato rushes out of his apartment. He could always hang out with his dad and Gary later, but a friend could be a fleeting thing. A friend on his mind as much as Kendrick was something more special. He couldn't let it come and go.

Little Cato needed to find out why the other boy freaked out the way he did, and he felt he needed to find a way to make it up to him for feeling he needed to say such words to begin with. He was hurt that's all and had Little Cato known Kendrick would feel the way he did, the teen would have been back home sooner.

His apartment was on fourteen, last Little Cato saw the other teen was heading that way. He had never gotten the chance to stop by Kendrick's apartment, the masked boy never offered to let him swing by before, but Little Cato doesn't need an invitation to do so now.

He held his fist to the door of Kendrick's apartment, stopping himself from outright banging on the thing like he normally would. The last thing Kendrick might want was a loud racket at his door and Little Cato didn't want to risk angering the masked boy even more than he was.

He softly taps his knuckles to the cold metal and steps back. As per usual the boy has to wait before someone comes to answer the door and when it does open, it isn't the person who he was anticipating in the slightest.

"Hello." A woman peers out into the hallway and at Little Cato.

"Oh, uh hey ma'am." Little Cato offers a timid smile to the woman. She was an older afro human in her late thirties if he had to guess. At first, he thinks he thinks he has the wrong apartment, but he's proven otherwise when the woman smiles back at him.

"Oh, you're Kendrick's friend, right? What was it again?" She asked as she held a hand to her hip.

"Avocato. Little Cato really." He chuckles and rubs the back of his neck. "Is Ken in by any chance?"

"Yeah." She steps out of the doorway and ushers the teen inside the apartment. "Sulking in his room like he does when no one wants to hang with him." Little Cato sighs stepping into the low-lit apartment. He knows he's part of the reason the other boy was upset. "His room is up the stairs and to the right. Can't miss it."

"To the right, got it. Thank you." Little Cato waves a grateful hand at her before running up the staircase and turning off to the right like Kendrick's mom had told him. He comes to a stop at a door at the far end of the hall and waits.

He doesn't move or barely even thinks. He just stands in front of the door, too scared to actually do anything beyond reconsider why he was there in the first place. Deep down he wasn't to turn and leave but that wasn't an option, his mind wouldn't let him just turn and delta now.

Little Cato mustered up what little courage he could, shoving his anxieties aside and bringing his fist to the door. The sound makes him flinch, he was half expecting the door to instantly open up and for Kendrick to rush out, either in outrage or excitement, but time moves slower than he thought it would.

The room door cracks open slightly, and Little Cato could see the faint sight of a red mask peeking out at him. "Oh," Kendrick says before opening up the door fully. "What's up, man?"

Little Cato was taken by the boy's mood. His mood was different now, defiantly calmer than what he had been exposed to before. "Wait w-what?" He stutters. "What's this about?"

"Huh." Kendrick slants his head to the side clearly with little to no idea of what he'd been asked.

Little Cato pouts his cheeks at the taller boy. "Why so calm now I mean?" He clarifies for his confused friend.

The masked teen remains quiet, his head still tilted to the side and eyes glazed over in thought from what Little Cato could see. "LC..." He begins. "You okay choom? You feeling under the weather or something? Did T pass whatever he has to you?" Kendrick backs up slightly.

"No, I'm not-" He runs a hand over his eyes. "Earlier you were angry. You cursed me out and called my hair gomi dude." He indicated to his bright blue mohawk.

Kendrick looks at him and begins to laugh. "What?" He chuckled past the question. "No, no I didn't mean that, that was just jokes. I love your hair man." He spoke. Little Cato could do little more than gaze at the taller teen with a puzzled and conflicted sneer. Jokes. Just jokes. How could he have missed that? Certainly, at the time the boy's anger didn't seem like some throwaway joke. "I didn't mean to offend or anything. You're like my best friend."

Little Cato's face softens up when the sound of Kendrick's remorse touches his ears. "No, no it's alright. It's my bad for assuming." He surges off the apology. It was his fault for letting Kendrick's hazing go over his head after all. He's sure of it.

Kendrick nods at him. "Hey, you wanna head out? Argits been ringing my phone crazy." Kendrick steps past Little Cato before he can get his input. Not that he needed to know what the Ventrexian was going to say anyway.

The young teen was always keen to hang out with the masked teen. He never needed to say much because the answer was always yes. Even when he didn't really feel like it.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Kendrick and Little Cato stood in a marketplace a few blocks away from where their building was located. It's a place the young teen's been through many times before. It was more of the same things he's been seeing; night City seems to consist mostly of markets in that sense.

That, food stands and waiting around for people who asked you to meet up with them first. The waiting wasn't all bad though, Kendrick would offer to treat Little Cato to a hotdog from one of the many food dispensers. 

That was the second time that day someone had offered to pay for a meal that would go unfinished. Most of his hotdog would just go to the pigeons flocking around them.

"Hey Kendrick?" Little Cato starts as he continues to feed the birds around them. His voice was a bit timed. "I didn't know your mom was black." He smiles up at him. "She's pretty young too."

"Yeah, she had me young... guess I didn't really mention her huh?" He nods his head over to the other boy. "I'm mixed actually. My dad was Irish, a kern in the army for some time before he met my ma." He sighs though starts up muffled laughter soon after. "Man, I wish you could have met him. He was the best, always going on about taking us away from the city, how bigger things were waiting for me out there..."

"Oh..." Little Cato's heart slows to a crawl. He knew what was coming and didn't have the self-restraint to stop himself from asking. "Is he...?"

"Yeah." Kendrick sighs. "A few years now... he was the best you know." Kendrick goes quiet and Little Cato does the same. There are no words he could express, losing a parent had to be the worst feeling in the world. 

"I'm sorry." All Little Cato could do was offer his condolence though the taller teen would remain silent, only giving the boy a small nod of appreciation. It wasn't his fault, but Little Cato couldn't help but feel at least a little ashamed for spurring the conversation.

They stood silently from then on, spending the time people-watching and checking the time on their phones respectively. There was no sign of Argit anywhere, not to their surprise. Kendrick was going to suggest leaving the market soon but as he does, as if on cue, the rodent would finally show.

He struts up to the waiting teens, putting on his best smile as he approaches and waving with both hands like he hadn't kept them waiting there for close to an hour.

"Hey guys." He sings as he walks up to the boys. "Hope I didn't keep you long." He chuckles.

"Real fuckin funny." He holds out his hand and slaps his hand against the shorter boy's.

"I try." He steps over to Little Cato next. "Hey, Cato." He held both of Little Cato's hands in his and they both wriggled their fingers together. It was a little handshake they had developed sometime after Dogtown and was essentially both boys just tickling each other's palms.

"Sup Arg." Little Cato said. "So, what are we doing here?" He asks as their hands separate.

"Right." Argit brings his voice down, looks around the marketplace and motions for the other two to lean in. "I have this mark-"

"No." Kendrick cuts him off before he can explain.

"But it's really simple-"

"No." 

"All I need is a distraction-"

"No"

"He's a corpo." Argit cocks his eyebrows at Kendrick. He always knew all the right words to say and all the proper cords to strike to convince someone to do things they wouldn't dare attempt otherwise. He was persuasive like that, a real people person.

Kendrick stops to reconsider the words. "Fine." He gives in, throwing his head back in defeat. The masked teen wasn't a fan of Argit's antics most days but if there were corpos to be messed with he was going to take the opportunity to do so. "What do you need?"

"I just need bait. I can klep the briefcase myself and crack the tracker too. His eyes need to be off of it that's all." Argit laid out his plan simply for the masked boy.

Kindrick nods. "You are gonna land in some major trouble one of these days. Let's do it."

"Right, what do I do?" Little Cato asks when the others begin to walk off. He wasn't much for stealing himself, but he was always down to help his friends out with their endeavors.

Kendrick turns back to him."You stay here." He said, snapping finger guns at Little Cato. "In case things go sideways. Last thing I need is you in trouble too."

"But-"

"No, no, stay, stay... good boy." He held a stern finger up to Little Cato before marching off with Argit giving the teen an apologetic shrug.

"What?" The teen huffs, watching the two leave in disbelief. He wasn't the stealing type, but he could handle a little distraction. The fact that Kendrick wanted to keep him clear at all was a tad insulting to the boy.

He was getting used to the city and learning the ends and outs of every nook and cranny it had to offer. Kendrick said he wanted to keep the boy out of trouble, telling him to wait like a dog, was like him discarding Little Cato's existence altogether.

The young Ventrexian sighs and looks around the market. There was little more he could do besides complain internally and that wasn't going to do him much good. He has to wait for the others, he doesn't like it but that's all there is for him at the moment.

"Whatever." He mutters as his eyes mindlessly travel around the marketplace. They dart around from person to person, from place to thing, until a flash of white brings them to an immediate pause. "Oh... okay." He lets his sight rest on the white-furred Ventrexian and his group for a bit. The sight of them sends shivers up his spine and makes his fur stand on edge. It probably wasn't the best idea to go over, but what was the harm in saying hello? 

Whatever he wanted to do before it didn't matter. By the time his mind was made up his body had already been halfway over to the group. They hadn't noticed him, the group of joytoys was too busy chattering among themselves, their latest clientele, and more personal details about their lives, though that would soon change.  "H-hey Cookie." He said and the group went quiet. They all turn in Little Cato's direction and like clockwork, the market erupts into sounds of joy as they crowd around the poor boy.

"Hey, cutie," Cookie says as hands from multiple different sources pat him down at all angles. It was a feeling that always made him melt like ice in soft palms. "You here on your own baby?"

Little Cato purrs. He was nearly too taken with the feeling of the hands running along his head, ears, and chin to formulate a proper response. "Mmm... I-I mean no." He snaps out of his trance quickly. "I was h-here with Ken but..." He stops and the overwhelming pleasure he was feeling before does the same when he thinks back to his friends.

The group doesn't fail to notice the sudden shift in mood and even stop caressing his ears and chin, though the joytoys would still keep Little Cato squeezed in between them.

"Aww." Kiwi, the black-furred Ventrexian, hums. "Did he ditch you?"

"Are you okay, did you want to stay with us?" Hash-brown, the almond-furred Ventrexian speaks up next. Out of the entire group, Kiwi, Hash-brown, and Cookie were his favorites, and it meant the world that they were the ones comforting him in a time of clear distress.

"No, I'm fine." Little Cato said. "I just feel like I've been here long enough not to be treated like a baby, but the guys still think I know my way around like I don't know how to navigate anything at all. It's been a week, but they still treat me like a bennie." Little Cato huffs in his tantrum. He was frustrated and tired and all he wanted to do was let it out to anyone who'd listen.

"Aw baby, you sound stressed." Cookie repeats what the group had already figured. "And I get the feeling it's not just about being new here."

Little Cato brings his eyes back up to the group. "No..." He sighs. "Uh, Kendrick yelled at me this morning. He said some pretty harsh things, but I know he was just joking but it still got to me." The group all let out worried hums when Little Cato confesses. "You think he was joking, right...?"

"I don't know," Hash-brown says. "Yelling and shouting insults isn't usually a part of Kenny's gag vocab."

"What did you do to make him so angry?" Kiwi interjects.

Little Cato's eyes dart between them without a clue. "I don't know, I-I didn't do anything." The teen stammers. "I guess I went out without him this morning?" He questions himself mostly as the Ventrexian joytoys shake their heads with wondering groans. 

"Okay boys, stop." Cookie intervenes and takes hold of one of the boy's hands. "You're gonna give the kid a heart attack." He shooed off the rest of the group while holding Little Cato close. "You do sound really stressed out though." He turns to the teen. "Hug me."

"What?" Little Cato raises a curious brow.

"You heard me." The man throws his arms over the young Ventrexian's shoulders and flashes an irresistible smirk at him. "Throw your arms around me. It'll make you feel better trust me."

Little Cato is hesitant, how could he not be. The boy wasn't accustomed to hugging people he just barely knew but that wasn't the real problem. He's never hugged a person that even remotely resembled what Cookie looked like.

He was nervous, bringing shaky arms up and dropping them back down to his sides before bringing them up again. Eventually, he finds the resilience to wrap his arms around the man's waist and the boy melts into the hug almost instantly.

In all his wildest fantasies, he couldn't have imagined the prostitute feeling as soft as he really was. Cookie was warm and affectionate, tender and comfortable. For the boy, it was like being smushed up against a wall of cotton or sponge or maybe even sitting on a beanbag chair. The feeling of the joytoy's snow-white fur pressed against his own blazing orange makes Little Cato feel gooey at the core of his being.

At some point during the hug, his hands had strayed from around the man's waist and down to his rear and thighs. Little Cato's hands were certainly full then. Nothing was tight or tense and any extra fat on the man's exposed fur squeezes in between the teen's fingers like pizza dough. At first, Little Cato feels like he's going a bit too far but the other Ventrexian doesn't complain so he doesn't stop touching.

"He's not angry with you," Cookie said after a long silence, cradling the boy's head in the crook of his shoulder. "Kendrick can be unpredictable sometimes that's all." He whispers into the boy's ear. The sensation of a soul-soothing voice in his ear added on top of the hug he was receiving made his whole-body quiver. Little Cato could see why the white-furred Ventrexian was the most in-demand out of his group. He separates the hug after a while and holds Little Cato's cheeks in his hands. "Just be patient with him, okay?"

Little Cato nods, stepping away. "Right." He agrees. It sounded like an easy enough commitment now that he knew what to expect from the masked boy. Somehow knowing Kendrick could be like that doesn't stop the teen from feeling a bit angry all the same.

"And you might want to take care of that." Little Cato hums when Cookie points at him. When his eyes follow the man's directions, he can see the tell-tale sign of an erection attempting to break free from its constraints and his face starts to heat up.

"Oh!" He quickly covers up his crouch. "I-I'm sorry, t-that's so embarrassing!" A runaway grin stretches across his face. "I'm gonna go now, I'll take your advice, but I really have to get going!" He frantically huffs, leaving the group of joytoys behind.

He moves through the market quickly, keeping his crouch covered with one hand and holding his phone in the other. The teen was too embarrassed to stick around and had started texting, messaging Kendrick that he was heading home, saying something along the lines of the weather being too humid to which the other boy would respond in kind.

After today Little Cato would have to reconsider giving Cookie a hug in a public space, or at least find a way to control himself while he was doing so.

He was all set to go, he really was until the sight of stops him dead. Kendrick had been sitting at a noodle stand with a man. It must have been the mark Argit was so excited about. Little Cato didn't know what corporation he was a part of, they were all one and the same really, but his dark blue suit does stand out as a bit of an outlier. 

It wasn't sleek like how a suit he'd usually find on a corpo though it was still taller made. They were speaking and laughing all the while the little rodent boy was carefully picking the lock of the handcuff locked around the briefcase and the corpo's wrist.

The sight of them, Kendrick specifically, remedies the boy's excitement. Little Cato didn't realize the boy was so close. He'd already texted that he was heading home, but maybe he wouldn't do that. Maybe he'd march right over to the noodle stand and show those two how much of a help he could be. Kendrick says he wants to keep him out of trouble, but Little Cato didn't ask to be protected.

"Hey, Kenny." Little Cato plants himself next the Kendrick and his corpo target.

"Oh." Kendrick chuckles, nervously looking at the teen and the corpo to the other side of him. "I thought you said you were headin' home?"

"Oh, I was." He plants his elbow down on the noodle stand's countertop, leaning past Kendrick to stare at the suited man with a smile plastered on his lips. "Hey guy, my friend here giving you hell? Lord knows he does for me." Little Cato said, bringing his eyes off of the corp and back to Kendrick.

"Oh, uh, not exactly. I mean the kid offered to buy me lunch, who am I to refuse." The man smirks.

"Cool, cool. Thats nova." Little Cato leans off of the counter and back on the stoop he sat on to observe the man more closely. "Hey, I didn't notice before but now that I got a look at the pants tucked into the latter boats and the nice hair, aren't you with Eurodine? Don't you guys usually travel in packs or something?"

"Well, uh- what...?" The corpo looks at Little Cato strangely and Kendrick does the same.

"LC." The masked boy spoke with a hushed tone.

"Yeah, you guys always have each other's backs, right? They don't insult you and tell you to stay put like a dog." He looks to Kendrick again.

"LC, chill." He whispers again and lightly shoves the boy with an elbow.

"In fact, you help each other all the time. You kill people together, you steal, you distract others while your team steals." Little Cato does break away from the taller boy. This had become less about helping and more about how he felt, which he doesn't stop to consider until he receives a certain look from Kendrick. Little Cato couldn't see his face, but his eyes told the boy that 'now was not the time for this.'

The Corpo looked puzzled, his eyes blinking open and shut slowly as he tried to process the sudden change in the young Ventrexian. "Look kid I don't know what this is about but-"

"Case access granted."

The sound of an automated voice startles everyone at the stand, the corpo included. He slowly turns his head to the briefcase and the small opossum boy picking its lock. "What in the fuc-" Before he could say much, the corp is sent over the counter by a punch.

"Oh shit." Kendrick hissed. He had hit the guy and seeing the way he reacted, Little Cato guesses it was harder than even he was expecting. "The case, come on the case before more blue suits come." He motions to Argit.

"Oh yeah." The smaller boy picked up the briefcase and soon all three were dashing out of the marketplace. 

Four or five more men with more or less the same suit as the one that had just been knocked out start swarming the area around the noodle stand. That conformed to Little Cato that they were indeed Eurodine though he doesn't know what alerted them. 

Three more would crowd into the marketplace place but the boys managed to avoid them without incident. Whatever was in that briefcase it must have been important for so many corpses to be present around it. Yet they left the guy carrying the thing alone.

"Oh, shit in a bucket, holy Jesus that was crazy, feels like I'm gonna throw up a little bit." Kendrick doubles over before popping back up in a panicked frenzy. "Man, I cracked the shit out of that gut, that was fuckin crazy!" The taller teen's tone was a mix of excitement and fear. "What even is that A?"

"I don't know!" Argit shrugged just as panicked. "It was handcuffed to the guy's arm I figured it'd be something valuable."

"Wait what do we do with it? What's gonna happen to us if they find it?" Little Cato was starting to freak out himself. "What was that voice even?"

"I guess It had vocal confirmation." Argit shrugged again, the look on his face dropping into some form of despair after realizing the predicament he'd just dragged everyone into. "Oh god, what do I do with this? Where do I take It... Kenny?" 

"I don't know," Kendrick spoke, now back in a doubled-over state. "Umm, take it to 6th street... Take it to Gloyd and let them deal with it. Earn your scratch A, but this has nothing to do with us." 

"Right, right." Argit nods, hugging the black case to his chest.

"Good." Kendrick sounds more relieved though still a bit shocked. "God lets delta fast." He takes off and the two boys follow. Little Cato didn't think they'd actually be in trouble, hell he saw it was Eurodine he should have told his friends to pull out instead of trying to argue with Kendrick. It probably didn't matter much now. All they could do was get as far from the marketplace as they could. 

Chapter 9: A bit of a bind.

Little Cato groans from the discomfort of his bed. His mind was up and running way before his eyes were ready to open and his body followed suit, twisting and turning on the thin sheets and thick blanket that covered his mattress.

His neck was sore, and his head was tremendously pounding. Needless to say, he did not get a good sleep last night. All the stress and worry from the day before had caught up to him and was now doing a number on the boy's body, and the feelings were not being kind about it.

There was a lot to think about and even more to dwell on, but it was just too overwhelming at the moment. Once Kendrick had clocked that corpo with all the force of a speeding van, all of Little Cato's stress would hit a breaking point and burst like an overflowing dam.

Maybe he should have taken the taller boys' advice and stayed out of their business. He could have gone home but he was so frustrated with Kendrick and what he said, how he made him feel... he couldn't leave well enough alone then. He couldn't just let the words sit. He still has no clue why but it just got to him. Kendrick just gets to him.

"Mmmm..." Little Cato moans, holding a hand to the crock of his neck. The sore was bad and no amount of shifting, twisting, or turning was making his body feel any better. Just more of the same no matter where he moved on the stiff bed.

It felt killer, no doubt about it, and the teen wonders if it was also a result of yesterday. A lot had happened after all, and he was admittedly still freaking out. About the briefcase and Eroudine. Argit was supposed to get rid of it, he said he'd handle it. Only that was a day ago and he still had the briefcase with him. He was having trouble getting that Gloyd guy on the phone so it turned out that they would have to hold on to their stress a little longer.

The best they could do until then was keep their heads down and as much as it scared him to have to pay the price for stealing from a corporation, Little Cato was more afraid of his parents finding out. His dad could be scary, and Gary could be even worse. That's why Little Cato usually tended to steer clear of trouble if Gary was susceptible to finding out.

He rotates onto his said, opening his eyes with a long drawn weary sigh. What he would give to go back to that moment just to reconsider approaching the boys. They could handle thievery on their own that much was clear. All Little Cato did was get in the way and now he was an accomplice. He didn't even know what he was doing, he just wanted to prove he could help, that's all.

The boy's thoughts ran wild until he'd had enough, pulling himself out of bed, albeit slowly. Wherever their actions would lead didn't much matter. He'll just have to deal with it when the time to cross that bridge comes.

"Don't worry Little Cato." He mutters to himself, sitting upright on the edge of his bed. "Your parents are with the Infinity Guard, god Grandpa Johns a grand admiral. You'll be fine..." He spoke aloud in the hopes that hearing the words would alleviate his conscience, but he was having trouble believing any of it. "You'll be fine." 

He got up from the bed, shaking the grogginess from his body and rubbing at his barely open eyes. His drowsiness was so fierce that he had nearly fallen over a few times, but it would fade as his body became reacquainted with the waking world. 

Mornings were always rough for him. His grandpa John always said it was because he was a modernized Alliance teenager. 'Kids don't work as hard as they used to' he would say with a somewhat amused scoff. The thought of the man makes Little Cato smile.

"Well, this one's for you, Grandpa." He said, making a promise to his grandfather. He's sure the man would be proud if he were in Night City and not so busy with Alliance affairs. He thinks they should really visit him and Jack sometime, though being an Admiral in the Alliance was a really big job. The old man could probably do with the downtime anyway.

Little Cato walks over to his door and ambles out into the living room in a much better mood than before. When he shuffles out the first thing, he sees is his parents. Not one or the other separately but both of them together, kind of corralled around the bathroom door looking inward with some semblance of worry on their faces. Gary more than his dad at least.

"Hey guys." Little Cato yawns as he takes a step closer to where they stand in front of the bathroom. "What's going on?"

"Oh, hey Little Cato." The blonde looks back at him, nervously though gently biting down on the edge of his knuckle. "We just had a little bit of trouble with the bathroom. Had to call the floor manager to take a look." He nods into the bathroom as Little Cato curiously peeks in.

When he does, he can surely see their floor manager, and his friend's mom, inside, fixing a leak or clog. "Oooo! Okay." She let out a few heavy huffs, standing up from the toilet and facing the entryway of the small bathroom. "You should be good now. Usually, when the toilet breaks down like that it's because someone might've jam-packed it with tissue." She said leaning up on the frame of the restroom door. "You definitely want to avoid that in the future."

"See I told you so." Gary shoots a pronounced, know-it-all look at Avocato.

"How's that on me?" He threw a hand wondering out to the blonde. "It's 2-plie, it's not thick enough for one go around. How was I supposed to prevent that, Gary?" He hissed at the man.

"Easy, wipe flush, wipe flush." Gary hisses back with more of a kick to his tone.

"I am not-" Avocato quickly pauses before he can raise his voice in front of the floor manager. "Right." He relents before the disagreement could get out of hand. "So, how do we mitigate this issue exactly?" He asks and receives an unconcerned shrug from the woman.

"Trash can." She smirks at Avocato when he lets an irritated sigh loose. Soon the woman's attention strayed off of the man and onto the boy standing beside him. "Oh hey, lil Cato." She smiles at him, offering a small wave.

"Hey, Miss Kassidy." He waves back with a shy smile overlapping his lips. He didn't think he'd be seeing the woman again so soon, though he didn't think his apartment would be having bathroom trouble this early in the morning either. She was a wonderful sight, nevertheless. After only meeting her for the first time the other day Little Cato could tell how kind she was. "Is Kendrick up by any chance?"

"Mmm!" Gary adjusts himself suddenly, clearing his throat and quickly covering his mouth when Little Cato makes mention of the other boy. He has a strange look on his face, one that makes it clear that the blonde is uncomfortable. He wants to say something but keeps it concealed anyway.

"Yeah, he's skullkin' in the halls like usual." Miss Kassidy answers. "If you're going with him keep an eye on the boy. He's been acting jumpy, and he only gets like that when he's doing shit, he knows he isn't supposed to be."

Little Cato nods. He should have guessed Kendrick wouldn't be able to keep his nerves under wraps with this issue. He was normally so good at maintaining his cool but given what they were dealing with, Little Cato could understand the boy's paranoia.

"Little Cato?" Gary calls when the boy begins to make his way back to his room. When he turns back around, he notices that his other dad is struggling with his words, peering nervously back and forth between the teen and the other adults in the room. "Just um... just be careful today, okay?" He said with worried eyes. Little Cato could tell It wasn't the words he wanted to say exactly but it was all he could say looking in between him and Miss Kassidy.

Little Cato nods again, the gesture carrying some caution this time around. "No problem, Gary." There was a bit of aggravation in his tone, but he'd take his dad's advice to heart. He already knew he needed to be on edge today.

After cobbling together his wardrobe for the day, a thick yellow sweater, black sweatpants, and yellow sneakers to bring it all together, Little Cato makes his way out of the apartment. Kendrick's mom said he was out and about in the halls. The boy could have guessed that easily.

He would be at a loss for where to start though truthfully, he knew exactly where Kendrick would be stalking right about now. Since Argit still had the briefcase, the taller boy would have wanted to keep a very close eye out for the other.

The young Ventrexian comes up to Argit's apartment and as expected he finds Kendrick standing, or more so leaning on a well, in front of it. He had been bobbing his head from side to side, caught in some deep pit of rumination from what Little Cato could tell.

"Hey, Ken." Little Cato walks up, splintering the masked teen from all the thoughts that'd been running through his mind. The conversation starts like it always had, with a bump of their fist and a smile from one end. Only this time Kendrick seemed somewhat subdued. "What's up, man?" Little Cato hardly needed to ask. Like his mother had said before the boy was a bit jumpy, even when he tried to hide the fact.

"I'm good... maybe." The masked teen grunts, silently cussing as his head jerks forward in slight irritation. He kept a finger to his chin, or the chin of his mask, as he fell into more inquisitive silence.

"What do you mean by that?" Little Cato squints an eye at him and raises a wondering brow. This hadn't been the usual paranoia the boy had displayed a day earlier. This was something more along the lines of perplexity and curiosity.

"What I mean is no one's been around." Little Cato tilts his head at the boy, he's already lost but the taller boy's rambling causes his bewilderment at the situation to grow more curious. Kendrick sensing this obvious perplexity decided to clarify. "Like no one's been around you know. I've been keeping an eye out all last night and there hasn't been a single blue suit stalking about. You think there'd be at least a few Corpo's on the prowl for some kids who kleped their shit but there's nothing. Ain't that weird?"

Little Cato's eyes pivot away from the boy. "Really...?" That was weird. Corporations never took too kindly to interference from anyone, and that statement is especially true for Eroudine. From what Little Cato has heard about the corporation, their watchdogs, the guys in the nice blue suits, were always out for revenge on behalf of the company CEO and founder, Aaron Eroudine, and his sons too. For no one to come looking around for what was an encroachment on their business dealings in Watson or Night City for that was strange, to say the least.

Little Cato was going to question Kendrick further and maybe even try to go over whatever conspiracy theory that might fit Eroudine's lack of interest in the briefcase, though his theory crafting is cut short when Argit's apartment door slides open suddenly, and the rodent/opossum teenager steps out with all the excitement of actual rat.

"Guys I got Gloyd on the phone, he said he wants to check it out." The group all share in one great sigh of relief. They could finally be rid of this burden, granted they had stolen.

"Were at?" Kendrick jumps with more enthusiasm in his muffled voice.

"Sizz's," Argit replies quietly.

"Sizz's," Kendrick repeats with a swift nod.

"Sizz's?" Little Cato follows more confused than anything. Each boy stares at him. Argit was smiling and he's sure Kendrick was doing the same under his crimson visage. Just great Little Cato thinks, yet another thing he was out of the loop on.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

The small group of boys turned down a dirt path and stayed on the trail until they came to the building where they were meant to meet the 6th Street ganger. It was a large warehouse in Watson's Northside industrial district. 

Nothing out of the ordinary for where they were, though maybe it was a bit too out of the way for Little Cato's liking. It stood among old factories and other warehouses and buildings that were shadows of their former selves. The location fit like a glove in a town that had seen better days, completely unassuming at first fleeting glance.

It's when the boys walk up the old building and after Kendrick knocks on the door that Little Cato's preconceived view of the old warehouse changes.

A latch unhinges and the door creeps open, revealing a man on the other side of the small crack. "Hmmm... Kendrick. And what are you doing here kid?" The man carefully peaks out, demanding to know about the teen's sudden appearance.

Kendrick snickers, his confidence surging past his blood-tinged mask. "Oh, come on, you really gonna treat your favorite customer like that?" Kendrick throws his hands up with an innocent chuckle.

"You don't pay for anything."

Kendrick's hands fall to his side when the man rebukes his advance. "Well yeah... but that's because neo-capitalism got your boyo in a bit of a bind. If it didn't you know I would be buying all the augments you chooms have to offer." The masked boy points at the man behind the door with another snicker. He doesn't budge at the flattery, hardly even groans at the taller boy's excuse. "Come on we're here to see Gloyd about something. It's me and Argit out here."

The man behind the door slowly pokes his head out further, seeing Kendrick and finding Argit next. "I don't him." He nods over to Little Cato. "You know how Sizz feels about new people around."

"Yeah, but Sizz's policy is also friends of friends, right? Let us throw homie." Kendrick's tone instantly darkens which frightens Little Cato. The doorman groans but steps aside and opens up the warehouse to the group anyway.

"Fine go." He mentions the teenagers inside with a nod while paying extra close attention to Little Cato. "Behave kid." He said as the young teen passed. He was never planning on misbehaving, but someone always felt the need to tell him things he didn't need to be told to begin with. It was starting to get on his nerves.

When they step into the warehouse, Little Cato is surprised to find the interior is much more intact than the exterior made it out to be. Sure, all the usual things that could be found in a big warehouse were there, large crates, old machinery, and even cars parked up and covered with protective cloth. But what's more interesting is what lies beneath.

Down a set of stairs, the group would find themselves inside what appeared to be a medical clinic right beneath where the warehouse stood. His astonishment would have peeked there, but the clinic was hardly done confounding the young teen's mind. It was busy with a multitude of patients lounging in a large waiting room that was about as large as one he'd find in the average hospital. Upon closer inspection, he noticed that the clinic's patients weren't just patients, they were gangers.

"What is this place?" Little Cato wonders out loud, gawking shamelessly at the many gangs that were present in the underground clinic.

"It's ripper clinic, you know for augments... cybernetics," Argit answers the Little Cato's question with a mindful whisper.

"Really?" Little Cato whispers back. He isn't sure why; he doesn't even mean to. Only that he probably should have been prudent if Argit was. "Wait why down here anyway? Beneath the warehouse and everything?"

"Because Sizz doesn't have his license." Kendrick laughs loudly, ignoring the boy's subtle whispering thus far.

"What?" Little Cato snaps to Kendrick.

"Yeah..." Argit flashes his signature cheeky grin. "It's all under the table."

Little Cato whips a double take to both boys. "So, what, like bootleg augments?" He chuckles to himself. 

"Bootleg my ass." Kendrick blurts. "It's a shame they don't give him his license if anything." He argues in defense of the clinic and its unlicensed owner.

The young teen buries his argument then and there. The topic of augmentations and whether or not they should be performed by someone who may or may not have been qualified wasn't one he thought was worth the fight.

"Right." Little Cato sighs. "So, what's with all the gangs? They don't seem so... hostile." He said looking around at the gangs again.

"Just think of Sizz's clinic as a cease-fire zone." Argit chimes in. "Since Sizz is one of the only good unlicensed ripper docs in the city who doesn't ask so many questions, the gangs thought it would be best to keep the conflict out of the neighborhood. Cops showing up all of a sudden would be bad for business after all."

"Yeah, the most questions he'll fling is one and even then it's in one ear and out the other." Kendrick scoffs, taking a seat at the furthest end of the subsurface ripper clinic. He sounds like he has some kind of disdain for how this Sizz guy does business and not too long after praising him for being unlicensed. Little Cato can never get a proper read on Kendrick and he doubts most can either.

Argit takes up a seat beside the taller boy and Little Cato follows after. They were there to meet up with someone the teen had only just heard of yesterday and it only just occurred to him that the thought weighs on his mind.

All he knew about Gloyd was that he was part of 6th Street and that he handled some of the gang's bigger jobs. Other than that Little Cato was in the dark about this particular character of interest.

"So..." Little Cato begins. "What's this Gloyd guy even like. I feel like you guys talk about him a ton, but I still can't get a clue." The other boys take a moment before answering, shifting oddly in their seats and moaning and groaning either nervously or out of aggravation.

"Gloyd..." Argit starts up though it would seem that the words he had prepared were lost upon a second thought. "Gloyd is-"

"A fuckin lunatic in all honesty." Kendrick interrupts, spicing up the ganger's reputation with his all-too-colorful vocabulary. That's the only way he knew how to spice anything up really. "The guy is actually sick and twisted. You know 6th street his these things called clean up parties, that he's in charge of, you know what they do?" Little Cato shakes his head with concern. "They get info on a family of illegal immigrants, get a party together, and roll down on them. Do I even gotta say much more?" Little Cato shakes his head again, signaling that it's fine to stop talking about the man, though Kendrick keeps going. "The guy is weird, pale like he don't even have a soul and he's got this smile when he looks your way like he's planning your funeral or something." Kendrick shakes his head in what Little Cato assumes is disgust. "But that's Gloyd. He used to run with a crew that hung out at an old race track in the desert they could the sugar rush. But they stopped talking so much after one of them up and left 6th Street behind and I can't blame the guy."

The group fell silent, returning back to waiting like there was nothing more to talk about, and there wasn't. Little Cato certainly doesn't want to hear more. Clean-up parties, pale skin, and a wicked smile don't sound like the traits of a person he wanted to meet with.

Instead of thinking of lifeless skin and a cruel smile, the teen would turn his attention back to the gangs in the clinic to see how many of them he could recognize and if he could count on one hand. The most obvious one he noticed was Maelstrom. It made sense that a gang addicted to cybernetics and body augmentation would frequent a barely legal ripper doc.

The next gang he was able to make out was the Valentinos, a Hispanic gang. It didn't matter if you were human or not as long as you had a connection to the Central American regions. Little Cato could see why they were down here, getting nova gold-plated augments was semi-important to a gang as flashy as they were.

Shifting away from them, his eyes land on the Tiger Claws, a gang with some deep Asian roots and enough connections to cause a loud fuss too. Their augments were mostly sharp and sleek like tiger claws, the irony wasn't lost on him. If Little Cato were looking to deal damage with hidden blades he'd also look towards a guy like Sizz.

Little Cato hums astonished. These gangs couldn't stand each other out in the streets. To see them all under one roof getting along more or less was the most uncanny thing he'd ever seen.

His eyes continue to roam the room until they come to a stop on a familiar sight. "What...?" Little Cato mutters out in shock when he sees the group of clowns huddled in one corner. "No way..." At first, he thinks his eyes are deceiving him, the lack of sufficient lighting in the underground clinic is making him see things that aren't really there, but when he rubs at them and is met with the same group, he knows they're all too real. Right there in the unskinned fur was Bongo, grinning from ear to ear as he chattered with the clowns gathered around him.

Little Cato isn't sure what to do at first. He thinks of telling his friends to see if they could verify who he had been staring at. He also considers that he might have just gone crazy, though the action he decides on is to see for himself.

He was out of his seat and over to the group before he knew it. The clowns seeing the boy approach jump out in front of the brown bear to leer at Little Cato with scowls and sneers not befitting of any kind of clown. "Hey wait- uh, Bongo." The teen reaches past the clowns and calls out for the bear who immediately turns his way.

"Hey, cutie from the park." The clowns let the boy pass when his presence invokes a positive response from the bear. "So you made it out of that mess unscathed huh?"

"Yeah." Little Cato was still in a bit of shock seeing the man. He looked different, dawning a distinct red dress shirt buttoned all the way up to his neck complete with a blue bow tie and a cup hat that sat at the top of his head. "Question is how are you?"

"Ohhh..." Bongo playfully covers up the devilish smile on his face with one hand. "As I said before, Paggy wasn't going to do anything to me. He wouldn't dear, he just can't pull himself to do so." He perks up a confident smirk at the boy.

"Is he still alive too?" Little Cato asks with a shiver as he recalls the other clown's appearance.

"Yes, though tile between his legs. I swear I think he's afraid of me. The thought of being in my shadow outrages him to no end." Bongo tenses up slightly. "He so ill-humored nowadays, even if right. But he is alive, as am I if you couldn't tell by my corporeal being, and I am in no way plotting to get back at bozo, the great bozo of course, in any way, shape, or form, no siree."

"Bongo." A pseudo human bat steps into the waiting room past the double doors with rater dim tone to his voice. "I'm ready to see your boys now." The clowns begin to laugh and cheer as they comedically cram their way through the doors.

Bongo turns to Little Cato with another lively smile on his face. "I have to go oversee this, but maybe we can hang out sometime. I'll tell how I really made it out of that bind." He leans in and cups Little Cato's cheeks in his hands. "Besides you're too cute to be hanging out by yourself." The bear coos before turning around and following his gang further into the clinic.

That whole interaction leaves Little Cato's head spinning like a wheel and without a clue on how to process it properly. He figured he shouldn't really try, those clowns were already enough to give him some kind of headache. Trying to make heads or tales of them was just going to make the migraines worse.

He turns back to look for his friends and finds that a whole new gang has entered the clinic unbeknownst to him. The group they had been waiting for no less. The 6th Street Rangers were something else for sure. A gang that was based around the military and loved to display it. They wore old army colors, mostly tens and greens, and every other arm had a blue armband around it with the number six imprinted. The gang was deeply involved in the street racing scene though that didn't mean they never branched out to other nefarious business ventures.

At the head of the pack was a young man who was nearly as pale as snow with a smirk that was more sadistic than it was probably meant to appear. That must have been Gloyd. He looked just as bad as Kendrick had described him, though his rosy cheeks were a pleasant surprise.

The young teen shuffles back over to his group as 6th Street does the same.

"Hey, hey. My favorite little bastards." Gloyd was the first to speak as he reached the group of teens. "Well, I don't know you actually." He points at Little Cato, his smile still resonating like a ray of deranged sunshine.

"Well, he's new in town." Kendrick and Argit quickly step in front of Little Cato, tucking the boy behind them.

The smile on the pale man's face drops into a scowl that is partly disheveled and a whole lot more furious. "So what like you're here on a visa or something?" He sneers through clenched teeth, peering past Argit and Kendrick who begin to tense up.

"N-no." Little Cato stammers quickly. "My parents are in the army." One quick mention of his parent's occupation sends the pale man's profound sneering into obscurity. His mood softens though the nauseating smile remains vacant.

"Oh." He breaths. "Well, it's always good to hear people doing their part for the nation. A lot of the time these people from shithole worlds come in and try to take advantage of it all makes me sick to my stomach." Gloyd leans into the group with squinted eyes and a hushed tone. To Little Cato, the argument came off as shallow, like he doesn't really think that. Given what he's heard, Little Cato wouldn't be surprised if the Pale man was just looking for an excuse to hate.

Shallow arguments aside, Little Cato had never seen a person as out of it as Gloyd was then. He wasn't high or anything, the pale man just had this far-off look in his eye, like his only concern in this world was to cause as much pain as he could to the people he despised.

"Alright, we get it, you can write your manifesto later." Kendrick interrupts the pale man's fretting with a groan. "You gonna take a look at what we got or what?"

Gloyd's eyes recenter and focus on the teens before him. "Right." He said closing and then opening his eyes after some quick contemplation. "Is that it? I thought you said it was Eroudine." The boys were perplexed by what he meant until he pointed to the briefcase to which all eyes would follow.

There was a symbol on it that none of the boys had noticed before. Though with how well the logo blended into the surface of the black briefcase and the state of panic they had been caught up in until now, who could blame them for not taking notice.

"Umbrella?" Argit mutters, running a hand along the etched-out circle on the flat surface of the briefcase. He sounds lost and Little Cato had to admit he was too. It was strange that Eroudine held a rival company's briefcase.

"Eh, whatever." Gloyd shrugs at the teens. "Let's have a look at what's inside." Argit hands over the briefcase to the man and he orders one of his men to hold out his arms. He places the case down and opens it up with an inquisitive hum. "Oh... now that's interesting." He pulls out a large vile with what appears to be a strange red flower submerged inside of a thick murky liquid which may or may not have been water. Gloyd looks at the glass vile, rotating it around, inspecting the thing with hums, and nodding his head around in thought before looking to Argit. "Five thousand."

"What!" Argit shouts. "Only!?"

All of a sudden, the foul smirk that had been absent returns Gloyd's pale lips to Little Cato's dismay. "Hey, I'm taking a big risk with this kid. You told me it was Eroudine but imagine the heat well be in having to keep clear of two different corpses. You taking it or not?"

A defeated moan makes its way from Argit. "Fine..." He didn't want to but the rodent would concede to the man's offer. Not as if he had much of a choice.

"Good." Gloyd's repellent smile widens as he repacks the briefcase. "Pay 'em and get Bridge on the horn. He's gonna want to see this." He made his way out of the clinic and after paying the boy what he saw as a measly five thousand dollars the rest would follow.

The amount wasn't what Argit was hoping for but it was still a large amount for kids their age. Little Cato would love to have five thousand dollars all to himself. Though he wouldn't be looking towards Gloyd to pay him at any point in the future.

In fact, if he ever had the pleasure of doing business with the pale man again, it would no doubt be too soon. It's not every day Little Cato got to meet someone whose very expression dug under his skin like a rusty needle, and he'd like to keep not meeting people like that for as long as he could manage it.

"What a fuckin' gowl," Kendrick mumbles once Gloyd was long gone. "I hope someone kills him someday," Kendrick said, watching the rest of the gangers leave the underground clinic before turning back to his friends. "Welp boyos, crisis averted. "He claps his hands together. Their troubles may have been over for now but who's to say.

"So now what?" Little Cato asks. Kendrick was on the verge of offering a suggestion when the double door of the waiting room flung back open with a group of now fully done-up clowns exiting from the other side. All except for Bongo, the big tops were dressed up in circus uniforms Little Cato would closely associate with clowns. They went in looking like hoodlums and came out more like jesters with bells dealing from their hats and shoes that curled up at the toes. They also looked more elongated oddly enough. Though it could have just been the outfits.

"Yo Sizz." Kendrick walks up as soon as the clowns are out of the way. "Sizzy..." He grins, poking playfully at the bat.

"Ugh, Kendrick." The man scoffs at the teen. "I keep telling you if you want an augment you have to pay for it man," Sizz said. The tone he took with Kendrick was a kind one, a bit peeved but kind all the same.

"I know but, neo-capitalism man," Kendrick smirks pulling out and repurposing the same excuse he used at the front door. "Besides I'm not here for me right now. I just wanted to get my boy here something special." He throws a thumb back to Little Cato whose brows rise slightly.

"What?" The young teen uncertainly utters. 

Sizz looked at him, one of his eyes was slightly glazed over but Little Cato could tell the bat's attention was directed his way. "How are you even paying for it?"

Kendrick's mask hardly does much to hide his muffled snickering. "A's gonna do it." He instantly nods over to the opossum boy.

"What!?" Argit blurts.

"Come on, you just earned yourself five K, it'll be a drop in the bucket. Besides you owe LC half of that for helping if anything." Kendrick argued though Little Cato wasn't sure he'd done much of anything with getting that briefcase.

"I-I..." Argit tries to come up with a decent rebuttal but he struggles. "Fffffine... but only if Cato wants it." All three turn to face Little Cato again.

He was faced with a decision and one he wasn't sure he was eligible to make. They wanted to buy an augment for him, a kind thought but what would his parents think? If he did this without their permission he could land in some serious trouble. 

Though if he rejected the offer, he wouldn't know how Kendrick would take it and it was a generous offer, even if Argit was the one paying for it.

His eyes jolt from one teen to the other. He wasn't sure what to do and his body was beginning to tense up as a waterfall of anxiety dropped down on top of him. "Ye-... yes?" He reluctantly agreed. His tone was obviously uncertain but his conformation was good enough for Kendrick to throw an arm around his shoulder.

Before he knew it Little Cato was being guided through the double doors, down sparsely lit halls, and into a large, almost monochrome, operating room with a TV on the wall, blearing some show Little Cato was vaguely familiar with. 

Kendrick ushers the boy over to a metal chair that sits in the center of the room. He kept his arm around Little Cato's shoulder the entire way, reassuring him about how cool he was going to look after Sizz was done with him though no amount of thrillful elation was going to dim the boy's nerves. He sits Little Cato down on the chair and moves out of the way of Sizz.

"So, what were you thinking." Sizz leans over the boy with the question. Little Cato doesn't really know what he means but before he could ask, Kendrick steps in with an idea of his own.

"Im thinking you go up as far as you can." He pointed at a spot just above Little Cato's elbow. He should have said something, told Kendrick he was feeling a bit uncomfortable but he was too nervous to back out now.

"Okay." Sizz steps away from the chair and returns with a few tools and an oxygen tank by his side. Little Cato thinks he would use the tank to put Little Cato to sleep or numb his senses but when the bat takes up the oxygen mask and puts it to his own mouth with a deep inhail, the boy isn't so sure. "Heeehehe." Sizz sighs as he removes the mask from his mouth, a strange green mist trialing out once he does. He then leans over to Little Cato and strips the mask around his mouth. 

Immediately his body is hit with a wave of euphoria, and his body feels numb though, at the same time, his senses are heightened. He breathes in the gas but no matter how many puffs he takes it never seems to be enough for him. The teen was sure he shouldn't have been inhaling whatever it was in that tank, but he didn't care anymore. All he could focus on was how it made him feel as his mind blinks in and out of consciousness. 

"Right... how old is he?" Sizz asks. It only just occurs to the man that he should have questioned the boy's age. It only occurs to Little Cato that he should told him.

"He's eighteen don't worry," Kendrick answers with a swift wave of his wrist. He was wrong but Little Cato was too wrapped up in this exultant feeling to correct him.

Everything seems so far gone now. The gas starts to dim his nerves and his mind starts to drift. The voices, the room, his friends, all of it was gone. He was slowly sinking into a pit of comfort and was soon submerged in a blissful heap of nothing besides color and the outlines of people he knew dancing across his vision like specters in the night, two specifically making many reappearances. One with pink hair covering up one eye and the other with a blood-red mask. Little Cato felt like he was drifting in nirvana then.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

The sun sat above the clouds on a sunny afternoon. Their apartment was silent though it normally was. Gary and Avocato were seated in the sofa pit of their living room with the TV flipped on to the loco news network. Gary sat curled up next to his husband, leaning up against the man with one arm on his chest and his other hand caressing one of the Ventrexian's ears.

There wasn't much for them to do that day besides sit in the house and watch TV. After the long week they had all that crossed their minds was rest. What better way to pass the time than with each other, post up on the sofa and watching TV? Gary couldn't think of a better afternoon if he tried. Maybe if he were still in his early twenties but his party brat days had long since passed and he feels all the better for it.

"Still no word on the recent attack on an Umbrella convoy by unknown assailants. "The newscaster spoke out her carefully rehearsed words in a monotone yet enthusiastic voice that almost put the two men to sleep while getting their blood pumping at the same time. "NCPD is doing their utmost to aid the pharmaceutical company in their investigation but thus far no new leads have surfaced."

"Jeez." Avocato groans, guiding a finger over his eye. "Someone hit a corporate convoy? How do you do that and succeed?" He tosses the question up in the air. The Ventrexian wasn't really looking for an answer, more so wandering out loud.

Gary shrugs. "State of the world." He answers rubbing a finger up and down Avocato's right ear as he begins to purr.

"In other news, a suicide bombing in Coastview, Pacifica leaves rain pouring on more than a few clowns parade today. Eden Beach Mega Ride was bombarded with flurries of explosive acid confetti. Reports claim that the attack was a gang retaliation against the Bozos though there is no information on who had been involved and why given that the assailants were reportedly disguised as Bozos themselves."

"Acid confetti, what even in the hell is that?" Avocato flings another question up that Gary catches effortlessly.

"I don't know much about clown gangs but that seems in line for them." Gary chuckles past closed lips. "Anything for the bit, right? And these guys are one hundred percent committed." Avocato purrs in response. He seemed satisfied with what Gary had given him though the blonde knew that the ear message his the man too preoccupied to really care. Gary could have told him it was magic and Avocato would have agreed then.

The abrupt sound of their front door gliding open sweeps through the noiseless apartment, drawing Gary's attention away from the news broadcast and quickly over to the entryway. When he peaks over his shoulder he sees his son, finally back home and leisurely shuffling his way inside.

"Hey Little Cato," Gary calls over to the boy and turns back to the TV. He was expecting a hello or some sort of greeting from the young Ventrexian in return but what he got was nothing up until Little Cato made his way to the kitchen.

"Hey, uh... Gary." Gary extends a befuddled brow at the late response. It was out of the ordinary, slow and dazed like the boy was learning how to speak for the first all over again.

Gary turns his head back again. "What's the matter Little Cato? You're so tired that you forgot how words work?" He jokes, looking at the boy idle in the kitchen. Little Cato's arm sits attached to the refrigerator door, but he doesn't move.

His eyes were closed, and his nose twitched back and forth. "Nah...?" He finally spoke as his face turned up in bewilderment.

"What?" Gary said, climbing out from the sofa pit and making his way over to the kitchen. "Little Cato are you..." When he gets close his nose recoils as it comes in contact with an awful smell. "What is that? Little Cato are you alright." He franticly turns his son around to face him. "What in the?" Gary cups Little Cato's face in both hands and runs his thumbs down the boy's cheeks to inspect the teen's bloodshot eyes. "What the hell? And is this a... glove?" He takes the boy's hand. It was heavy, much heavier than what he was accustomed to, and the blonde knew how much his son weighed clothes on and off. Gary doesn't want to believe what he's seeing; he doesn't want to believe any of what he's seeing. His heart races faster and faster as he rolls up Little Cato's sleeve, revealing even more augmented metal gauntlet. That's when he's hit with a heavy dose of realization. "Oh my God! Avocato!" 

Gary's cries nearly cause the other man to fall from the couch as he scrambles over to the kitchen. "What's wrong." He looks at the blonde and his son in a feverish panic.

"Look at this! Look at him!" Gary points to Little Cato's arm and eyes. "His arm it-it's augmented and he's high off of his ass right now." He said, hugging the young teen close to his chest.

The admission combined with Gary's shouting and his tight grip around his head gets Little Cato to sober up as his pupils recede back to normal constriction. "W-what no I'm not high, I'm not... am I?" 

"Yeah, he's not..." Avocato looks at the boy closely. "How can you tell?"

"Oh, trust me I can tell." Gary growls and brings the boy out of his arms to get another glance at him. "Little Cato what happened? Where did you get this?" He holds up Little Cato's arm again. The teen was caught in a web of thought, debating with himself on whether he should tell or not.

"Gary calm down." Avocato walks up to the irate blonde and touches a hand to his shoulder. He does his best to ease his nerves, but Gary just wasn't having it this time around.

He swipes Avocato's arm away and turns. "You don't tell me to calm down! You might be calm right now but I'm not gonna sit around and let my baby mutilate himself and get high on God knows what!" The blond brings his eyes back around to his son. "Little Cato, where did you get this?" He asks again and this time the boy is more forthcoming.

He never wanted to get on Gary's bad side. He thinks if he spoke up then the punishment wouldn't be so severe, so he told him everything. He told him about Northside and the warehouse he was taken to.

In no time at all they were all on their way. Gary was on the brink of a rampage, and he'd brought his family along to bear witness. He raced half across Watson with no break and still fuming at the seams. He was angry and not a soul in the city was getting in his way that night.

"This the place?" He looks at Little Cato and the boy meekly nods in response. Gary marches up to the warehouse in a furious strut and starts pounding on the door relentlessly.

"Can I-" The blonde doesn't wait for the door guard to finish, pushing his way past and heading straight toward a set of stairs leading underneath the old warehouse. "Hey!" The man follows them through the corridors and all the way to the waiting room. "Hey now wait just a minute!" The guard jumps out in front of Gary before he can get through the double doors. "You can't just-" The blonde sends a swift slap across the man's face that quickly gets him to shut up. "Uh, right." The man moves out of the way, holding a hand to his cheek.

Gary pushes past the set of doors with his son still in hand. He blazes down the long dim hallway like a bundle of blonde fury and crashes through one final set of doors like an angry Pitbull. Sizz had been in the middle of touching up a patient when the group of three came barging in.

"What the-"

"You, where's my son's arm?" Gary walks up to him with the demand and doesn't bother waiting for an answer. "Is this your idea of augmentation? Drugging up minors and operating on them? Where's my son's arm!?" He repeats after a quick tangent.

"Minor." The bat's ears perk up. "They said he was eighteen."

"And you believed them?" Gary faces the ceiling with a baffled chuckle. "You have five seconds before I call the cops." He pulled out his phone in the hopes that it would encourage the man to move faster, which it did.

"Hey it's, chill, it's chill." He rushed off and was back in a flash with a cooler in his hands. "I don't want any trouble."

Gary opened the lid to make sure it was the right arm. "Do something like this again and there's gonna be trouble. Avocato grab the goddamn thing." He said marching off with Little Cato.

Avocato walks up and takes the container from the bat. "Sorry." He said with a shameless smirk on his face. "He's a real firecracker."

They step back out into the night breeze. Gary was calmer now though still heated. "God now we have to get you to a hospital. I can't believe you'd even do something like this Little Cato." He spoke softly, still holding onto his son's hand with a tight grip.

This was probably another lesson Little Cato could tuck into his belt. Never get an augment without his parent's permission and definitely don't get them done at an unlicensed ripper doc. 

Chapter 10: Paranoid.

"Check this out." Little Cato said, lifting the sleeve of his black short-sleeved shirt with a proud smile on his face to show off the scar around his bicep.

"Fuck me choom..." Meowmar winces at the sight of the boy's arm. As gruesome as it might have looked that doesn't stop the other teen from running a finger over the scar. Little Cato had only just gotten reattached not too long ago so he could see where stitches contacted the limb since the fur around it was near gone. "What in the world made you go and do that anyway?" Meowmar asks, almost scolding the boy.

Little Cato returns a thoughtless shrug in response. "Don't know. I thought it'd look chill." He sort of lies. The truth was he felt as if he needed to get the augment. After how suddenly the offer came, he didn't want to seem ungrateful to Kendrick or Argit.

"Hey well, maybe next time give it a little more thought," Timmy spoke with a tone similar to Meowmar's. He stood on the other side of Little Cato, staring over the balcony edge of floor fifteen and down to the ground floor. "The last thing you want him to do is put you in a bad situation. He's really good at that you know." Timmy chuckled.

"Yeah, he tends to trip people up often, and when he does, they're the ones taking most of the heat, not him." Meowmar chimes in with a petty scowl on his face, still running a finger over Little Cato's flesh wound. "Don't let him trip you up LC."

"Guys, he's not gonna trip me up." Little Cato breaks away from Meowmar's curious hand and steps away from his friends altogether. "You're paranoid Gen; you think everyone's out to screw everyone else over."

"And am I usually wrong?" The other Ventrexian said, throwing his hands out.

"Usually." Little Cato answers out of spite. He didn't want to hear more bad things about his friend. Gary had already given him a mouthful the night they had gotten back from the hospital. Kendrick wasn't bad, he was the best thing that's happened to him for a while now.

"But seriously, be careful." Timmy joined in, more concerned than Meowmar had been. "I know you love the guy; I love him too. Just don't love him unconditionally. That's when he'll trip you up."

Little Cato groans. "He's not gonna trip me up, whatever that means." The boy turns and begins to walk off.

"Were you going LC!?" Meowmar calls to the frustrated teen.

"Back downstairs to do anything away from you guys!" He shouted, too fed up with even look halfway back at the other boys. It was way too early in the morning to be dealing with their nonsense and technically he wasn't supposed to leave the fourteenth floor since he had been grounded.

A maddened scoff travels through his throat and hustles its way out of his mouth at the thought. Since when was it illegal to have fun? Yeah, he'd basically gotten his arm chopped off without his parent's permission but hasn't everyone done something without a parent's permission. 

He knows Gary's no angel, try as he might to look it. His grandparents had told the teen plenty of stories of what the blonde used to get up to when he was younger, so why was he being so strict with Little Cato then?

It was unfair to the boy. His other dad was being a hypocrite if anything in that regard but whenever Little Cato tried to bring anything about Gary's passed up, he'd just shut the boy down entirely. There was no room to argue with Gary. There was never any room and no reason to even try when he was so mad. The only one who ever stood a chance was his dad or grandparents though his dad was taking a backseat on this one and his grandparents were out of town, so the young teen was on his own.

After hitting the fourteenth floor Little Cato turns toward the balcony, immediately coming to a rest on the edge. He leans over the side of the short concrete wall and stares out at the other portions of the mega building. His mind was unorganized and overworked. It always was but now was something different. Noting else was running through it besides Kendrick, his red mask, odd behavior, and all his other quirks.

Little Cato thinks it isn't fair to put the blame on the masked boy when it was, he who agreed to get the augment. The blame couldn't possibly fall on Kendrick because Little Cato had the opportunity to decline, and he chose not to.

"Oh, man." Little Cato quivers a whisper, dropping his head into his arms. He should have said no, then there would be no reason to dogpile Kendrick at all, but nobody sees it that way. The fault should have fallen solely with Little Cato, and he would have been okay with that.

"We're not trying to hurt you, Little Cato." The teen sighs, bringing his head out of his arms to look up at Timmy above him. He forgot they were just one floor apart. "We're just trying to look out for you that's all." He and Meowmar pear over the edge at him. The other Ventrexian had a look on his face that could care less but Timmy's was at least held more understanding and care.

Little Cato doesn't bother saying much. He was still to upset at them. Instead, he got up from the balcony and backed away with a roll of his eyes. Since he couldn't step some much as a toe off of fourteen, he was just going to head back home.

The last thing he needed was for his punishment to get worse and his dad wasn't going to step in. He knew better and he loved Gary too much to interfere in the disciplining of their son.

"Hey, Junior." Before he has the chance to drag himself into the apartment and sulk in his room like any proper angry teen, the voice of a familiar angel evokes some kind of joy back into his body.

"Hey, Ash." Little Cato mutters and conceals a small smile by leaning face-first onto the door.

She smirks, humming curiously at him. "Well if I knew that's how you were going to be I might have just reconsidered saying hello."  Little Cato wobbles his head against the door with a subdued chuckle. She's toying with him, pushing all the right buttons the best she knows how.

"Ash." Little Cato looks over to her though she already had her back turned to him and facing away.

"No, no. I can take a hint. I know when I'm not wanted." She begins to slowly walk off, dragging her feet against the concrete and much too obviously giving him enough time to catch up. He had half a mind to let her walk, but he wasn't so good with not playing into the girl's shenanigans.

"Ash, wait." He moves from the door and briskly jogs up to her. "Ash." He grabs her by the hand, a warm smile still touching his lips as he spins the girl around. "You know I didn't mean it like that." He held her firmly in place, keeping his arms around her waist as she continued to gently smile at him.

"Oh yeah." She throws her arms over his shoulder and brings one hand up to run through his blue hair. The girl tilts her head from side to side, carefully observing the boy with a joyful expression. "What's wrong?" She asks him with furrowed brows though he stays silent, the smile falling slightly from his face.

He isn't sure what to say, or how to bring his troubles up to her in a way that doesn't make him sound like a total brat.

He kept his arms hooked around her lower back as he bounced his head around without a single coherent thought running through it. He was stuck searching for something tangible to say but his mind always jumped to Kendrick and being angry on the taller teen's behalf.

"Uhm." Little Cato utters, his eyes lingering away from the girl in his arms. Ash was still waiting patiently for a response, a little smirk still curled up on her face. The look warms him up and significantly settles his mind down. He swears she kills him sometimes. "You know two days ago I got into some serious trouble, right? Well, everyone just keeps blaming Kendrick for my decision, like I'm not capable of making my own stupid choices." He said as Ash nodded along. The boy could feel himself getting heated again, past the point of boiling. "And they blame him for it. It just makes me so angry you know."

Her sideways smirk comes to a rest as she rubs at one of the boy's ears. "But do you feel like he's to blame?" She offers up a question that sours his expression.

"What do you mean by that?"

"I'm not saying he's definitely to blame here." She shrugged. "I'm just asking if you felt pressured into thinking he isn't?"

pressured. Did he feel pressured then? Little Cato thinks back to the clinic and the eyes that followed a sudden offer he wasn't prepared to accept. He thinks to himself, was he pressured? And he thinks until he has a clear answer.

"No." Little Cato snickers with brief reconsideration. "Not exactly..." He tilts his head back, sighing at his own indecisive mind. "I don't know really." He'd like to say there was nothing like that involved but with the way he felt then, the eyes urging him to make a decision right on the spot, he wouldn't completely discard the possibility of feeling as if he needed to. "That doesn't mean he should get all the heat for me." Little Cato mutters.

"Junior..." She sighs, though not at him. "Junior?" She spoke when he didn't acknowledge her. She tries to get his attention in other ways, toying with his hair, poking and prodding at his ears yet she gets nothing besides a slanted, far-gone gaze in his eyes. It's only when she smiles and puts her fingers over his lips does, he reacts with any kind of emotion. 'I'm sorry Ash' She moved his lips up and down with her thumb and index while mimicking the worst version of his voice he'd ever heard. 'I just thought standing here silently in front of the girl I liked would show that I'm edgy and thoughtful and cool. But it might also show that I'm an idiot too.'

"Alright, alright. I get it." He gently swats the girl's hand away from his mouth. "I'm sorry, I guess I'm just brooding over here." He snickers at himself while she stares on with her stupid smirk he always cherishes seeing once it comes around.

She let out a cocky huff, light tapping him on the cheek before taking a step back. "Hey, I like the fit today." She murmurs softly, looking Little Cato up and down. The subject changes so violently it nearly gives the boy whiplash.

"Oh yeah? I don't know, I think it's alright." Little Cato hardly felt he was dressed to impress. He'd sooner count all the flaws in his choice of apparel more than anything. The wrinkles in his black tee, the scuffs in his tan boots, and the red plaid shirt he wore around his waist for aesthetic purposes only. The only thing he could say he truly liked about it was the bleached torn jeans on his legs.

"Well, I love it. Makes you look more mature." Ash held a hand over his head as if she were measuring the boy's height. He was already significantly taller than the 5'4 short stack coming in at 5'8 himself. It probably didn't take much for someone to look taller than her.

Her comments make him feel better either way. Sometimes Little Cato forgets that Ash has this strange hold over his emotions, and he only really remembers she does once it's too late and the girl is already picking at him.

The pink-haired girl always knew when to start, stop, and start again with him. It could be a bit jarring at times and a tad frustrating, especially when she didn't let up on him for long periods, but he manages to take it all in stride most days.

She steps away again, flashing another warm smile at him. "Hey, I gotta go, but I'll swing by later. Maybe we can chill in your room."

Little Cato rubs the back of his head. "Yeah, maybe." He said, shrugging at her. She shrugs back and he does the same as she makes her way further and further down the hall. They go back and forth until Ash decides to call it quits and then she's gone, out of sight and semi-out of mind until the next time she comes around to him board.

Little Couldn't could hardly stand letting her go but he didn't mind watching her leave. He sighed, his days always took an ordinary turn whenever she appeared and disappeared because it mostly consists of him counting down the minutes until she reappeared before him. It was like he was cursed, and she was the spirit hunting him, much to his delight, nevertheless.

Some days were longer than others, however. She said she'd swing back around but Little Cato wasn't counting on it. If anything, she would shoot him a text and from there they would carry on the conversation throughout the night. She could text for hours and Little Cato just barely, though he loved to talk with her any way he could.

"Man, if she ain't a hot tomalley." Little Cato nearly jumps out of his fur when a muffled voice creeps over his shoulder. "If you don't lay down the law I might have to."

"Fuck off Ken." The boy turns and lightly shoves the taller boy with a playful snicker. "Aren't you like, eighteen dude?"

"In a few months, there's still time choomba." He coughs out a muffled chuckle before going quiet. "I'm kidding..." His laughter tedders off to a soft, yet awkward hum as he rubs his neck. "Hey, I'm sorry about the uhh..." Kendrick motions to his arm, a bit embarrassed from what Little Cato could tell. "I should have asked if it was okay first boyo."

"Nah don't sweat it." Little Cato quickly dismisses the apology.  "Gary's blowing things way too out of proportion. He can be a real dick sometimes."

Kendrick snaps his fingers and the boy's ears twitch back defensively at the other's sudden shift in mood. "Watch your mouth." He spoke. "Your pops... he's uh..." Kendrick giggles, running his hands along an imaginary body. "... He's chilled as a motherfucker."

Little Cato glares at him mystified. "Seriously dude?" He scoffed at the taller boy. Out of all the times to speak like that about his dad why choose now?

"Point is, take it a little easy on the man. He's just looking out for you. Making sure you don't do stupid shit. A lot of kids would kill for someone who cared that much." The young Ventrexian's eyes nearly roll to the back of his head. Of course, Kendrick would think that he wasn't the one trouble. "Anyway, you doing anything today?"

Little Cato's vision comes to rest on Kendrick again though not without a newly formed frown on his face. "Not much I can do." He sneers.

A muffled snicker shudders against Kendrick's red mask, not a good sign though not the worst. "Good." He said. "Follow me." He gestures to Little Cato before turning and walking. He didn't give the boy a chance to determine whether he was going or not. Little Cato couldn't leave the fourteenth floor at all but like always he followed the other teen without question. 

The results are always the same. His body moves before his mind can give it permission and its only whenever Kendrick is making the demand. Had it been any of their other friends he would be able to consider their request beforehand, but when it was the boy with the red mask he had little to no choice.

Little Cato would try to get to the bottom of why he couldn't resist but he'd never dwell on the notion for too long. Even now as he follows the other boy through the atrium of floor fourteen and down long dime halls, he doesn't stop to question Kendrick once. He doesn't ask where they are going and scarcely takes heed of Gary's warning to not stray too far from home. All that mattered was Kendrick and what he wanted to do.

Eventually, the boys come to a stop at the end of a barely lit hallway after passing rows of doors on either side of them. "Alright," Kendrick spoke, turning to a large vent to their left and prying it open. "Through there." He motions a hand to the vent.

Little Cato looks at the open vent and then back to Kendrick. "Crawl through there?" He asks and receives a reassuring nod. Little Cato had spent copious amounts of time considering many decisions in his life before he made them, sometimes not even deciding at all after going over if for too long. For some reason getting on his hands and knees to crawl through a dark tunnel just because a boy asked him to, isn't one he plays back in his mind more than once.

It wasn't so bad as far as vents go. There was some dust here and there, but the long tunnel was cleaner than the average ventilation shaft, he would assume at least. The boy hadn't shimmed through many vent shafts in his life.

He doesn't know where the vent is leading him, and it doesn't take very long to come out on the other side. "Woah." When he crawls out from the small space, he winds up in a ratter spacious room.

It was big, bathed in a deep red from a light source that wasn't regulatory, and decorated with mostly poster plastered on the walls and a small bed roll splayed out on the floor.

"Nice right?" Kendrick said coming out of the crawl space behind Little Cato.

It was amazing, Little Cato had to give him that. "What is this?" He turns back to the other with an excited gleam.

"It's an old maintenance room to a part of the building that isn't really in use anymore." Kendrick yawns, outstretching his arms and steeping past Little Cato. "Now It's what I like to call, home away from home. I just filled it with a bunch of crap I like so that when I swing around, I have something to do." He falls onto the bed roll. "And I know things can get pretty rough out there so if you ever feel overwhelmed, you can swing by too... maybe I'll even show you the abandoned part of the building." 

Little Cato's ears perk up in joy and his tail begins to wage back and forth across the cold floor. "Ken." He can feel a smirk growing into an even wider grin that he has little to no control over.

"Yeah, yeah..." Kendrick scratches the back of his head. "Look, I don't tell people about this place so obviously it's between you and me okay."

The smile on Little Cato's face vanishes. He was already over the moon that Kendrick would let him use the little hideout but hearing that he was the only other one that knew about it left him in shock and another feeling he thought couldn't be accurate. His heart begins to feel strange like a swarm of butterflies entered his chest and were fluttering around it.

Little Cato walks over to the sitting boy, crouching down to his knees beside him, wrapping his arms around one of Kendrick's, and hugs himself as close to the other boy as he can get. It wasn't something had expected from himself.

He felt his body heat up and almost melt away alongside Kendrick. It's the kind of feeling he only ever got when he was with Ash though she wasn't there, yet here it is as heartwarming and soul soothing as always.

"Thanks, Kendrick." He said, sitting his head on Kendrick's shoulder.

"Yeah... no problem." He spoke slowly. Little Cato could hear the anxiety in his muffled voice. He was nervous but he didn't try to sever himself from the other teen. He even starts leaning into the hug more than he was before.

A minute passes before the buzzing in Little Cato's phone takes him out of the comfort the hug provided. He pulls out the device, hoping to see if Ash has finally gotten back around to him but once his phone is open the message, he sees splayed out across the screen is not one he was particularly excited for.

gary- i dont c u in this hall mr

"Shit." Little Cato hissed. "Hey Ken, I gotta go but thanks for this man." The taller teen says hardly a word as he hums and waves Little Cato off.

The boy was back in the vents, shimming through the long dark, and dusty tunnel until he came out the other end in no time. He races through the halls of his floor, passing by some residents effortlessly and nearly toppling over others until he reaches his apartment, and not to his surprise, his other dad is already there.

The blonde stood with his arms folded over each other and an annoyed look resting on his face. Little Cato takes a quick second to slow his breathing before slowly approaching the man though picks up the pace once he sees Gary taking his phone out. "Sorry Gary." He rushes up. "I was-"

"Where have you been?" He cuts the boy off, asking a question that would have shortly been answered.

"... I was around the corner with Ash." Little Cato fibs. He figured if told Gary he was off with Kendrick his punishment would only get worse, so he gives a name that Gary doesn't feel as strongly about.

Though of course the blonde was skeptical, scanning his son up and down with squinted eyes. He was looking for lies and any hint of dishonesty from the boy. "Well, give me your phone." He held his hand out to the boy after a while of doubtful humming.

"What?" Little Cato snickers. "Gary you-" He stops when he sees the nonsense frown on the blonde's face deepen. "Okay..." He shook his head and reluctantly handed over the phone.

Gary takes it, pulling out his phone next. "Sense we seem to be having an issue you and me are going to be sharing location from here on out."

Little Cato nearly choked on his own tongue, staring dumbfoundedly at the blonde with a stupefied gaze. "What!?" He blurts. "Gary, are you seriously gonna start tricking me?"

"Yes seriously, so I can stop you from doing stupid crap around the city and so you can stop trying to give me a mother-crapping heart attack," Gary shouts in a hushed tone. At least the last thing he wanted to do was make a scene in front of all their neighbors. "Now go inside." He holds the phone out too Little Cato which the boy snitches with a frustrated growl. "I love you," Gary calls back too Little Cato.

"Whatever..." He mutters beneath his breath as he steps into their apartment. He stomps through and doesn't stop for a moment. The boy was beyond pissed and just wanted to be left alone. He goes off and does one little thing and now he's treated like a convict.

Little Cato storms into his room and jumps into his bed. It was the only place he felt good and even that was slowly becoming tainted by Gary's insistence that he was up to no good. The blonde was always in and out of his room, to check on him, to get him up in the mornings, to put him to bed at night.

Gary was driving him insane, and he doesn't know what to do about it. The only thing that puts Little Cato's turmoiled mind at ease is the thought of Ash and how she felt in his arms. When she wasn't enough, He switched over to a certain crimson-colored mask with much the same thought running through his mind, how Kendrick felt against him beneath the red hue of that home away from home.

A combination of the two normally gets the boy to come down from whatever angry or anxious high he'd been on, even though his issue would remain. Little Cato thinks it can't be like this forever. School was about to start soon, and Gary had to give him some leeway eventually. That was his hope anyway.

Chapter 11: Rich in spirit.

It was an early afternoon. The sun still sat high in a blaze of orange in a sky that had been on the cusp of resting for the day. Little Cato leans up against his windowsill, peering at the city below, scanning the streets in search of anything that wasn't his room.

He looked for the things he'd rather be doing, the stores and markets he could barely see, the people he had yet to meet, and the friends who couldn't visit him. His punishment rarely included visitation rights and when he did get to leave the house it was under heavy surveillance.

He looked for new sights and longed for new sounds. Anything that wasn't concrete hallways, small apartments, cramped bedrooms, and the distinctive buzzing of fluorescent, artificial lights. Most of his time consisted of his room and it was driving him to the brink of madness.

He looked for a way out, at first it was harmless self-indulgence, a means to bring his anguished mind to a calm but gradually it would move to thoughts of actually escaping the building. He thinks of a few different ways, burrowing through the floor, scaling down the side of the mega building with a rope made from his bed sheets, or just crawling through a ventilation shaft. Unfortunately, the more he thought about these plans the more holes he could poke in them.

Digging a hole through metal floors seems like a huge undertaking for his poor, gracefully manicured clews he'd get done bimonthly. Scaling down the building was a cool idea, though it would most likely stop being cool once he was falling to his death. The vent plan could work, but Gary was tracking him, so he wouldn't get too far if he did try to leave.

Little Cato sighs, abandoning any and all preliminary plans he might have had, and returns to daydreaming. He reaches over to a small jar of nail polish he'd gotten from his bathroom and opens it up. He had been up all-night thinking about how he ended up like this, trapped in his room and unallowed to leave most of the time. The cybernetic arm enters and leaves his mind as quickly as the day he had gotten it and lost it. He may not have been able to keep that augment, but he reasoned that he could make little changes to his body. Add little cosmetics that would be more harmless in the long run.

One idea that comes to mind is his manicured nails, long claws protruding from his fur that he would begin to paint one after the other. He runs the small brush down the nail of his middle finger and brings his hand up to observe his progress. He was halfway done with the first hand and was already liking the results.

Little Cato had always been a fan of black claws or fingernails though he never actually dared to paint his own in that way. That is until now when the teen was feeling especially moody. What better time than the present.

He finishes painting the last clew on his other hand, dropping the small brush to the side and bringing both hands into view. It was the perfect image, and his mind runs wild with ways he can expand on this look. Why stop at his nails when he could start wearing black all over? Though he thinks that might get stale at some point.

He could do it sparingly. The boy was never one to stay complacent so wearing a vibrant outfit one day and one devoid of any color the next wasn't such a bad idea.

"Little Cato." The teen's ears curve back at the sound of his door sliding open and the voice that brazening comes from behind it.

"What Gary?" He doesn't bother turning to face the blonde. His eyes were having a much better time observing sites that were out of reach and Little Cato didn't see the need to sully it with his killjoy of a father.

"Are you seriously still mad at me?" The young moody teen doesn't answer, still gazing out of his window, pouting to himself because it was the only way he could get the point across to the man that he was upset. "Look Little Cato, I need you to do something for me."

The boy jolts suddenly and reluctantly spins his head around to Gary. "Huh." He mutters, looking at the blonde with a questioning grimace. Gary was asking for his help now. Little Cato shouldn't have found it so odd but given the circumstances, it was a bewildering thing to hear. "What is it?" He warily asks.

Gary steps out of the doorway, walking further into the room and toward the boy who sat cross-legged on his bed. He sits down on the edge, bringing one leg to rest on the mattress as he the boy.

"I need you to go pick something up for your dad." Little Cato continues to at the blonde ambivalent about the nature of his request. He still doesn't understand, not really anyway.

"Why can't Dad do it?" He asks honestly.

Gary turns away with a small, bothered chuckle. "Well, because your dad already left and he's going to be out all day."

Little Cato hums, running a flat palm along the sheet on his bed. Had his dad left the house? Little Cato didn't notice, though it was hard to focus on anything else but the spite he had for being stuck inside for most of the day. "Why can't you do it?" He proceeds to question.

"Because I have to go pick up, you're uniform for school, Little Cato..." Gary takes a deep breath after blowing a frustrated sigh into the air. "He really needs this before the day's over. Can I trust you to get it?" When Gary looks at the boy again it isn't with mistrust or doubt or suspicion. The look he shares with Little Cato then is loving and warm, almost motherly in a sense. It was the kind of luck he always associated with his second dad and now all of a sudden Little Cato was having a hard time staying angry at him.

"Okay." The boy nods, agreeing to retrieve whatever it was his dad needed. If it was so important to his parents, then he would do as told. That and Gary was actually allowing him to leave the house which was good enough for Little Cato to agree to anything the blonde man might have wanted.

Without warning Gary wraps one arm around the boy and pulls him into a hug. Since getting his arm reattached, Gary's hugs had been like a sparse resource that Little Cato was strictly forbidden to access. Getting one from him now was like getting a sip of water after hours of wandering a scorching desert. Needless to say, It was the greatest dose of pleasure he'd experienced in recent days.

"Alright, I'll text you the deets. You get ready." Gary stands and begins to make his way out of the room. When he reaches the door, he turns back. "And please don't stray too far Little Cato."

"I know Gary, I know." Little Cato said, rushing to his closet as if he needed to be reminded. This was good he thinks, the perfect start down the road toward his father's forgiveness for his stupid mistake. All Little Cato had to do was not mess it up.

The teen steps out of the apartment, now fully dressed and ready to carry on with his sudden delivery order. He stretches out his arms and legs, happy to be out of the apartment and leaving the building as well.

It's felt like forever since he's had the opportunity, and he could hardly wait. Being locked up in his room was starting to get to him. In his mind, the tiny space was even beginning to resemble a prison cell. Four walls and not all that much room to pace around. At least he could say he had a window to stave off the boredom.

Still, Little Cato couldn't help but find it odd. He had gotten the okay from the blonde, but it felt like some kind of trick to the teen, like something Ash would do. Gary was only allowing him outside just to see what would happen, or maybe he was testing the tracker on his phone.

Little Cato sighs. He doesn't want to believe his own assumptions, but his mind was already made up. Now he was feeling paranoid and despondent. He looks back at his door. Going back in wasn't an option, might as well get Gary's little test run over with.

He had begun walking through the busy concrete hallway though it didn't take long for him to come to an immediate stop again. "Hey!" Timmy hollers, skipping up too Little Cato. Not five steps out of his apartment and already one of his friends was ready to greet him and rope the boy into something. He really missed things like that. Though he'd only been grounded for a few days it felt like a few years. "You finally free man?" Timmy said, coming to a sudden stop and taking Little Cato's hand in his. He had been wearing some kind of uniform, a dark blue blazer with a golden patch on the right side of the chest, gray dress pants, and black dress shoes. This must have been the Myers High uniform.

"Nah." The young teen responded with a dejected frown. "Gary just wants to... well he wants me to pick something up for him."

The black cat stepped, back nodding along as the teen spoke. "Right." He spoke. "I'm in." He flashes a relieved smirk and a shrug before stepping alongside Little Cato.

"What?" Little Cato's head jerks back as he upturns a perplexed glare.

"I wanna come along," Timmy said as he began to walk. Little Cato didn't realize but his feet had begun moving as well, keeping in line with the other's movement. His body never left him with much say with any of his friends now that he thinks about it. "It's boring out here. I just got back from school, and nobody wants the chill. Kendrick doesn't want to leave the house, the sibs don't want to leave the house, Ash and Argit or out doing I don't even know what."

The mention of Ash and Argit brings Little Cato to a brief stop when his body tenses up. "Hold up." He starts. "Ash is with Argit? How come?" He wondered to the red-eyed boy, inquiring on the reason for Argit and Ash's absence even if he had already received an answer.

"Don't know, I think they said they were going to pick up something? Something like that." Timmy said. It wasn't much of an answer, but Little Cato would accept it as they continued onward. 

Ash was really good at toying with the boy's emotions, even when she didn't mean to. Little Cato could only hope that Argit wasn't trying to woo her while he was grounded. Little Cato knew the rodent boy would never do such a thing but much like the rest of his body, his mind liked to wander without permission. "But that only leaves me with Harp and Meowmar and all those two do is argue with each other, it's insane. So, when I saw you out and about, I was like 'Hey my chooms out, let me go bother him' I'm telling you it gets dry out here with nobody around."

Little Cato could imagine. The city was not as fun if there was nobody else to run through it with. Night City was almost like a playground in the sense that the more kids you met the more fun the swing sets and jungle gyms would be.

There was never a dull moment with Kendrick or Timmy or any of the other kids he'd hang around with. Being held up in his room really proved how one simple change could make things completely unbearable.

On their way to the elevator the boys pass by a set of stairs leading to the floor below. Not an odd occurrence obviously, buildings have staircases and people use those staircases. What was a bit strange was the sound of heavy panting that could be heard as they walked by, like someone had been running up every single step instead of just using the elevator a person normally would in a building like this.

"Haha!" The loud sudden laughter and short heavy breathing cause the boys to turn on their heels. "I... I fuckin knew it." The man pants. He was a familiar face to Little Cato. Even detached from his sister's side the boy could make him out in a crowd.

"Vincent?" Little Cato said once he could recall the man's name. "Wait, knew what?"

"Uh... well..." Vincent pauses. "It's more like I'm glad... I was wrong about you being a narc beav."

Little Cato turns up a shocked scoff at the man. He already knew Vincent didn't trust him but to think he was a beaver. The boy didn't even look that suspicious, he didn't think so at least. "Did... you run all the way up here?" Vincent nods at the question. "Why didn't you just take the elevator?"

Vincent coughs out a strained giggle. "Cause... elevators are for chumps and gonks with nothing better to do... but work for the rest of their lives... my sister's proof of that." He huffs, doubled over. "They're literally designed to scramble your brain with the ads they play inside." He stood straight up once he managed to get his breathing under control. "So, what you doin today choom?"

"Well, I was going to pick something up." Little Cato spoke unsure. Not because Vincent came off as untrustworthy but because the question he proposed was so out of nowhere.

"Cool..." He nods back, rubbing his hands anxiously against his pants. "Can I tag along or what?"

Little Cato looks over to Timmy. Telling by the uncertain look laced along the boy's expression, it wasn't an idea Timmy was down for. Little Cato on the other hand could always do with more company, especially after recent days. 

"Sure." He smiles, receiving an eye roll from the midnight-furred teen beside him. "But if you are coming with, we're taking the elevator."

Vincent drops his head. "Shit." He hissed and brought his head back up with a sigh. "Fine, but that's the only way they're gettin' me." Vincent pushes past the teens and takes the lead toward the elevators. 

He mentions 'them' a lot but never elaborates on who 'they' were and along the way the conversation about them and the ninety-nine percent don't let up. It's not a conversation Little Cato minds all that much, he and Kendrick would come up with all sorts of wild things about the city and the nation as a whole in their downtime. The teen was sure most of the people in the city did. Timmy wasn't one for those conversations however and along the way his inputs mainly consisted of sighs, groans, and astonishment with how one person could believe half the things Vincent did.

After stepping off of the elevator and into the busy streets, Little Cato was hit with a sudden rush of relief. He was back out in the open, after days of concrete walls and cluttered rooms. He takes a moment to breathe it all in.

He takes in the sun and the people and soaks up as much of the noise-polluted air as his ears could bear to hear. Even the buildings that had overwhelmed the boy on his first day in town were a sight he had missed dearly.

He was back, the moment may have been temporary, but he was there, and he wanted to cherish it for as long as it would last.

"So, where are we going? Like what are we getting exactly?" Little Cato is torn out of his meditative state as Timmy speaks. The teen was so caught up in the exhilaration of finally being outside that He'd almost forgotten anyone else was there beside him.

"Oh yeah." As much as Little Cato wanted to, he couldn't linger on this feeling for too long. "Let me see." He said, pulling out his phone. His dad had sent him the details earlier of what he was supposed to be fetching. "It's, umm..." He raised a brow at the phone, bringing it closer to his face to make sure he wasn't misreading the message. "A sandwich? From some corner store." He shows the phone to Timmy and Vincent. "Where is that?"

"Oh, I got you." Vincent smiles, once again taking the lead for the teens. "I go there all the time. The place kinda sucks but what can you do, it's Watson." Vincent chuckles. He was already far ahead of them, excited by the prospect of showing the new kid around. Though Little Cato was no stranger to Watson by this point he didn't have the heart to break it to the man. Besides he had never been to that particular store before so he would accept the help.

Vincent was a fast walker, much faster than anyone Little Cato had seen before, and the fastest walker he knew was Kendrick, until now anyway. He was almost hard to keep up with, sticking far ahead of Litte Cato and Timmy, pulling sharp turns around corners that nearly caused the boys to lose track of him, and weaving through crowds in ways the boys couldn't imagine until he would eventually loop back around the street.

Along the way, he spoke more about the city's state of being, the nation, its government, corporations, and corpos like any upstanding, paranoid Night City citizen would. Though he was normally so far ahead his ranting was mostly to himself and Little Cato doesn't think he noticed that nobody was really listening once.

By the time they had reached their destination, Little Cato's feet were sore and crying for a break. He was tired and about ready to drop after trying to keep up with Vincent, but at least they had made it.

"Well, shit," Vincent mutters.

"W-what..." Little Cato takes a second to catch his breath once he stops by the man's side. "What's wrong?"

Vincent gestures to the front of the convenience store. "Look at these fuckin gonk assholes." There was a large group of people dawdling near the store. He wouldn't have even noticed they were together if it weren't for the clear dress code they were abiding by.

Everything they wore was in a weird pattern of black and white like camouflage or digital fatigue. Most of them wore long coats with the same pattern that stretched down to their legs. Some wore shorter jackets and others wore only black shirts with what appeared to be German written out in a dark shade of red on them. The only consistency with the group was that they all wore the same colors and the same black boots on their feet.

"Are they a gang?" Little Cato asks, scratching the back of his ear.

"They're called Die Reicher Geist," Timmy mutters to the curious boy. "The Rich Sprites. I think it's supposed to be some kind of joke or something. They're a bunch of nazis but I don't know why they're out here. They usually stay in Santo Domingo." He said with a worried hum. "Maybe we should come back another time."

"But Gary said he needs this sandwich today." He directs a weary moan toward his friend. He knows it was just a sandwich, but Gary had trusted him with this task, nonetheless. Tracker test or not he was going to go home empty-handed. Timmy sighs and begins to scratch his chin thoughtfully.

"Maybe we can... shit." Before he could come up with a decent idea for how to get past the loitering gang, Vincent was already halfway across the street and shouting in their faces. Little Cato head to give it to him, not a lot of people would willingly jump in a bunch of gangers' faces, foolish as doing so may have been.

"What the fuck do you gonks think you're doing!" Vincent shoves the first one he stops in front of, causing the rest of his group to fly into an uproar as they try to keep the man at arm's length.

"Hey chill brother, chill." The one Vincent shoved first spoke up. "The fights with the Xenos, not your fellow man."

Vincent spat a violent scoff at the group. "Yeah, I wouldn't be caught dead. You fuckin bastards love to hear yourselves talk, moaning about shit that doesn't have anything to do with your own insecurities. You're so deep in this shit you can't even see how fuck up and wrong you all are." He shoves the man again causing yet another bout of yelling and shouting.

"All I'm saying is the nation's getting too crowded. These people come in from their worlds undocumented, the cost of living goes up, and unemployment rises, who do you thinks to blame for that? Now we have all these humans with the same skill sets just suffering because foreign labor is cheap, and we have to accommodate for all these freeloading outsiders." Vincent tries to go at the man again, but the other members of his group keep him back.

"Vince." Little Cato runs up along with Timmy. "Don't waste your time with these guys man." He pats a hand on Vincent's shoulder, attempting to calm him down.

The man at the head of the group laughs, more so at Little Cato, when he sees the boys. "Of course, you're friends with one of the worst offenders. I suggest you take the nip's advice and beat it, lover boy." Suddenly Little Cato is struck by a spike of shock. A deep pit ruptures in his stomach as he stares slack-jawed at the group of neo-fascists. No one had ever called a slur before.

His words send Vincent back into a frenzy, pushing and shoving at as many of the men as he could on his own. Little Cato hardly did anything to interfere this time, he was still too shocked to try and stop the man.

"Hey, hey!" All the frantic angry shouting comes to a sudden stop at the sound of another much louder voice. "What's all this now?"

"Jackie, thank god!" Vincent grins wildly at the other man.

Jackie rubs the back of his neck, glaring a more subtle smile back at Vincent. "Yeah, I was just in the neighborhood. Could have sworn I heard some gonk settin' off firecrackers or tormenting some poor pollo maybe. So, you can imagine my shock when I found out it was just you V."

"Yeah, yeah." Vincent groans at the man. "You gonna help me deal with these assholes or what?"

Jackie peers over at the group, all of a sudden quieter and completely unsure of themselves. "Cierto, sure." Jackie walks up to the gang and throws a punch at the one who'd been bugging Vincent the most which causes his head to violently snip back before he hits the ground unconscious.

"Yeah!" Vincent cheers before jumping into the fold with the taller man. The two were relentless with the gangers. That kind of brutality would have been expected from someone as scary looking at Jackie, but Vincent was something else entirely.

Even though he was a bit on the smaller side the hothead was keeping pace with, and even surpassing Jackie, in the brawl. He could take a hard hit and throw it back tenfold. His deceptive frame moved fast and his fist even faster.

The young man had issues that was for sure and maybe that's why he picked the fight in the first place. It was the perfect excuse to take out his anger with them being nazis. The group insulting Little Cato was just the cherry on top that justified the attack.

"LC." Timmy shakes the boy by the arms. Little Cato was still in a deep daze, too taken aback by what he was called and the fight that had ensued to move or even think straight. "I think now's a better time than any." He looks at the black feline and all at once all his senses come back to his body.

"Right." He nods and quickly follows the other boy in the store.

When they entire the store, it is completely silent like all the previous racket had cees to be. The boys think that maybe the fighting has come to an end but when they look back out through the store's windows, they can see that the conflict is only hitting its peak.

The store was like a different world, separated from the outside and existing in its own peaceful bubble. A bit odd for a convenience store though the serene silence is something Little Cato could do with at the moment. Behind the counter, the clerk watches the fight with a tiny smirk on his face and not cheering for any particular side.

"I help you with anything?" The clerk spoke, eyes continuing to focus on the brawl beyond the window as the teens approached the counter.

Little Cato takes a second to gather his thoughts and begins remembers his reason for being there. "I'm here to pick something up for Gary Goodspeed."

The clerk finally takes his eyes off of the occurring incident outside and brings them over the counter. "Oh yeah?" He gives Little Cato one good long look over. "Are you, their kid? You don't really look like Avocato..." The man pauses, stretching an eerie smile across his face. It was like he was waiting for Little Cato to laugh at a joke he wasn't even in on. "Hey, but you probably get it from your mother." He laughs and reaches under the counter, bringing a wrapped-up sandwich to rest on it. "I assume I don't have to tell you not to open it."

"Oh, yeah... I guess." Little Cato looks on confused and a tad unsettled. He had already gotten the memo but that doesn't make the request any less weird.

The man nods. "Good." He slowly slides the hero over the countertop. "Make sure they eat it today. Those two might not get another chance."

The teen takes up the sandwich and begins making his way back over to the front door with his friend just behind him. ""Was that weird? That was weird right?" Timmy leans over to whisper in his ear.

"Yeah, definitely." He agreed. His parents had been acting weird ever since they got to Night City, he didn't know that odd behaviors stretched to other strange individuals as well. It almost made him want to question what was going on, though maybe he would keep such questions to himself for the time being. It was just one store clerk, after all, that didn't he should jump to such far conclusions.

As the teens trek back outside the fighting had come to an unquestionable conclusion. Jackie and Vincent had been standing over the bodies of their field foes with proud looks on each of their faces. They were bruised, battered, and out of breath but they were the only ones standing and that's what mattered the most.

Little Cato crouches over one of the gangers with the hero safely tucked into his arm. He peers down at the man who had insulted him earlier. He was still breathing which relives Little Cato even if it shouldn't have. He could hardly comprehend why someone could hold that much hate for people who didn't bother him, whom he didn't even know personally.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Little Cato shuffles in through his apartment door exhausted. "Gary, I'm back!" He calls out to his father and gets no response. "I got called a nip today! Do you even care!?" He calls out again, taking a more sarcastic tone with the walls of their apartment. Still, he gets no answer meaning the blonde most have already left. "Okay." He mutters under his breath.

Well, at least he had the sandwich. Little Cato couldn't understand why it was so important though, when they had Gary. The blonde would have made him one ten times better and for free. Whatever the reason he couldn't just leave it out spoil in the apartment's syntactic heat.

He walks over to the kitchen, throws the refrigerator door open, and tosses the hero inside. He drags himself over to the dining table afterward and plants himself in one of the seats, dropping his head in his arms, and as usual, his thoughts begin to run amuck.

Little Cato thinks back to that gang they had encountered, The Spirits. Their words consumed him from the inside out and refused to stop. They had called him a nip, a derogatory term for any non-human that so happened to resemble a cat. Because cats like cat nip. He sighs to himself, do people really think like that in this day in age? He wonders.

Little Cato supposed it could have been worse. They could have called him a pussycat or a perch kitten or any other term that revolved around earth cats. Didn't matter if he wasn't actually one himself.

The young Ventrexian had always been taught to be kind to others and to have understanding and compassion. It was easy to do that on a small colony or space station where he rarely ever witnessed any kind of discrimination and where everyone seemed to get along. But if this was what living earthside was really like he was in for a rough time.

He sat submerged in thought until a knocking at his front door brought the boy out of his deep thinking and back to a more tangible state of mind. Little Cato rose quickly from his seat, thinking it was Gary, that the man had somehow forgotten how to get into the apartment or was having trouble with the door.

"Hey!" However, when he opens the door, he's inundated with wide, toothy smiles and enigmatic greetings from both Ash and Argit. They were in the same blue and gray uniform as Timmy had been wearing and Argit was carrying a white box in his arms. "Hey, Junior," Ash said though soon the smiles on both teen's faces would fade as they got closer looks at Little Cato. "What's wrong? You look tired."

Little Cato runs a limp hand over one of his eyes. He was more tired than they really knew. "Well..." He mentions them inside the apartment with a nod. "Gary wanted me to go get something for him today and I had a run-in with a group called the Rich Spirits."

"Oh God." Ash sneers more annoyed than worried. "Are you okay? Did they do anything?" The pink-haired girl questions. She was a bit irate and ready to march down to the group and start fighting if need be.

"Don't worry, Jackie and Vincent already handled it." Little Cato starts up a round of excited laughter. "It was insane, there were like seven or eight guys there and those two completely wiped the concrete with them all."

Argit walks to the kitchen with a deterring hum. "I don't know." He said, placing the box down on the table. "Reicher Geist is a joke honestly. Yeah, they're one of the bigger nazi gangs in Sol but they're no Solders of Human Heritage or Tarren Brotherhood." The rodent let out a snarky snort. "Still, eight guys is impressive." 

"Right." Little Cato slaps his palms flat against the surface table with more excitement than was needed. "Craziest part was Vincent did most of the damage."

Ash groans. "Well, at least you're okay." She was still upset for Little Cato though it seemed she was willing to let it slide for now since the gang had already been put through their paces.

Little Cato agreed. More or less, he was fine, the only injury he'd suffered was hurt feelings although it could have been much worse. If Jackie and Vincent hadn't been there, he probably wouldn't have gotten into that store at all.

"So, what's in the box." Little Cato points at the big white box on his table.

Argit and Ash look at one another, throwing their smiles back on. They round the table and bring the box forward. "Right," Argit said. "Since I was one half of the reason you got in trouble, I thought I try to make it up to you." The rodent/opossum slides a finger under the lid of the box, teasing the reveal of its contents before finally flinging the top open when Ash slaps him on the arm.

"Woah." Little Cato smirks as he peers into the box. "A cake?" He looks up at the others who wore the proudest looks over their expressions. He carefully reaches into the box and slowly pulls the cake out. It looks amazing, expertly crafted, and frosted. The brim was wrapped up in beautiful swirls and there was writing laced in gold over the top that read superstar.

"It's red velvet," Ash said. "Argit insisted." She pointed at the other boy with a flat look of indifference on her face.

"Everyone likes red velvet," Argit argues. "Kavin thought it was a good idea, didn't he?"

"Yeah, but that's common knowledge, otherwise you shouldn't listen to everything Kev has to say cause he's crazy as hell."

Little Cato shakes his head as the two argue back and forth with each other. He stood up from his seat and waltzed over to the kitchen cabinets to grab three plates and silverware. "I think it was nice of you guys." He lays the plates out across the table along with three forks. "Did you guys want some? I could really use the company right now honestly." Little Cato scratches the back of his neck with his fork still in hand.

They looked at him and shrugged. "Sure, I'm not doing anything right now," Ash said, taking a seat.

"I don't go straight home after school anyway; my brothers drive me insane." Argit also agrees in his own way, taking a seat next to Little Cato.

The young Ventrexian was elated. After the day he's had he could use a shoulder or two to lean on. What better way to relieve stress than to share a red velvet cake with his friends.

Chapter 12: The Experience.

Notes:

I kind of want to preface this chapter with a note. In a few days I'm going to be heading on vacation and I didn't want to go to crazy with the writing. So, I decided to update the story with this one chapter mostly just to explain why the next update might be a little far off. Admittedly I feel like it's rushed but I could always fix it up once I return. I hope everyone is enjoying it so far, personally it's driving me bonkers but then again, all my stories do.

"No, no, no!" A volatile hiss trickles off of the short man's tongue, past a twisted frown, and is shot directly at the young Ventrexian before him. 

"What?" Little Cato questions Clarence with a puzzled squint. The short-tempered man and his second daughter Harp had just stepped out of their apartment and were likely on their way to do who knows what. "I didn't even do anything yet." He defended himself. He had only strolled up to the apartment door not too long ago and was already getting hounded for it. The boy wasn't thinking of doing anything mischievous, he was simply bored and the best way he could think to elevate the lethargy was to pay Ash a visit. Or so he thought.

"I don't want to hear any of it, you hoodlum." Clarence turns up a bemused, sanctimonious scoff at the boy. "I know what you're up to, you little scoundrel." Despite his best intentions the short, gray man hardly wanted to hear a word from Little Cato.

"You don't even know why I'm here." Little Cato attempts to argue with the short man.

The young teen knew it would have been a vain effort but that never meant he couldn't try. "Oh, I know exactly why you're here and trust me it's not going to happen, so wipe that thought from your perverted mind now." Clarence glares at him with a spiteful growl grumbling in his throat.

"Perverted!?" The teen gasped. "But I-"

"Little Cato just cool it, you're not getting inside." Harp interjects, peeking past the shorter man before Little Cato has a chance to defend against the accusation tossed his way. "Besides Ash ain't home today, so sorry to burst your bubble." She said, borderline snarling, at the young hapless teen. As charming as always.

"What?" Little Cato blurts in his confusion. "Where is she then." He asks.

Clarence snorts and crosses his arms. "None of your business." He spat. "Come along Harp. I can't bear to continue sullying my own integrity with this little plebeian." He turns the girl who bore, more or less, a striking resemblance to Ash and the two leave not soon after one last revolted look toward Little Cato.

"Plebeian!?" He shouts at them, but the shorter man and his equally self-absorbed daughter can't be bothered to dignify his response even with a halfway glance. He coughs up a small burst of laughter, furiously kicking his foot against the floor and up at the father and daughter duo. "Me?" He whispers to himself. 

How could Clarence still think such a thing about him? Was he so full of himself that even the young Ventrexian was beneath him, even if Little Cato was five times smarter? In either case, his plans for today were shot dead and buried and now he has no clue what to do for the rest of his time? Apparently, Ash wasn't home and even if she had been, Little Cato wasn't going to see her thanks to the obstacle that was her dad.

Little Cato turns away from the door, now dejected and at a loss for any good ideas. He hums, pondering his next move. The teen was stretched for goals and anything he'd thought up earlier was swiftly put to rest.

Argit was busy helping his brothers today, Meowmar was brooding in a corner somewhere and Kendrick... well Kendrick seemed to be avoiding him altogether. Little Cato would have just written it off as him overthinking like he usually would if it weren't for obvious it'd been.

Little Cato would reach out and Kendrick would answer, they'd make plans, and not too long after the taller boy would cancel on him out of the blue without much of an explanation as to why. That pattern had been repeating itself for the past two days and it wasn't leaving Little Cato much hope of seeing the masked teen anytime soon.

His only other options now are Timmy and the siblings. After some mindful consideration, Little Cato felt it best to give Timmy a try. It was the weekend so the feline would be home, laying lazily about like he normally did most days.

Little Cato bangs on the door with a balled fist. He didn't care to be subtle, his mostly one-sided interaction with Clarence and Harp not too long ago still left him with a rancid taste in his mouth. "Plebeian," He mutters. He still couldn't believe what the little monster had called him.

Little Cato knocks again. He hadn't been waiting too long but that didn't stop his nerves from building up while waiting for a response, he didn't want to wait longer than he needed to. About a second passes before he starts knocking again. He was growing more impatient with the sealed door. The boy needed someone to talk to and to be with right now. Timmy's nap could wait, it was no concern to him.

Little Cato goes in for yet another round of banging but stops himself from knocking once the door actually opens up. He was anticipating black fur contrasted with blood-red irises peaking back at him like they always had done when he came by, though not this time around. When the door slides open the fur, he sees is a brighter blonde and the eyes not so nightmarish.

"Hello?" A face with a radiant smile emerges from the apartment. "Oh, hey- uh... Little Cato, right?" He snaps his fingers, recalling the boy's name. He was a pseudo-human fox no taller than Timmy or Little Cato. He was one of the feline's uncles, though Little Cato fails to recall the name. "What can I help you with Little Dude?"

His smile was like most caring people Little Cato had come to now and almost as vibrant as Gary's, almost. "Hey, is Timmy home?" He tries not to sound so desperate and to come off as cool as his body would allow him to be, but he thinks the effort is wasted. Way past that bright smile Timmy's uncle could tell he was trying way too hard.

"Yeah." He chuckles. "In his room like always." He gestures into the apartment and mentions the young teen inside.

"Thanks, uhhh..." Little Cato begins though he is still having a hard time placing the smiler uncle's name. He could remember what they looked like just fine but their names escaped him all the same.

"Gregg, little dudder." He shook his head with a smile. "Doesn't Timmy talk about me? I mean with Angus I can understand why he'd be so hesitant." Gregg leans into the teen with a whisper. "I love the big guy but he's kind of a buzzkill, but me and Tims supposed to be friends." He steps back, dramatically holding a hand over his chest. "I'm actually a bit hurt." He giggles again before retreating into the apartment with Little Cato behind him. Timmy's apartment was small. It was almost exactly like his on a smaller scale. There was one bedroom and one bathroom with a living room much like the one he'd known, though the living room was not as big either.

"Nah it's not like that. We don't really bring up the caretakers when we're with each other." Little Cato nervously reassures the man and regrets it when the fox looks back at him with a raised brow. He seems genuinely hurt now even if the smirk on his face remains, His eyes said otherwise.

"Woooeh..." Gregg lightly shudders. "Well excuse me, I didn't know I was so lame."

Little Cato rubs his neck. "N-nah..." The word comes out shriveled up and devoid of confidence. "Forget I said anything actually. Timmy's head over heels for you guys." He chuckles knowing that his words weren't the full truth, and he could tell Gregg thought so as well.

The fox's smile finally falls away from his face and his eyes shine less cheerful. "Don't worry about it kid... Timmy's..." He stops as his eyes drift away from Little Cato in search of the right words. "He's been through a lot. It's not really something I want to talk about if you don't mind." Little Cato gives him an understanding nod but even with that the hurt on Gregg's face refuses to let up. The boy doesn't know what 'a lot' meant exactly but he knows when not to dig through personals that weren't his own. "It's why he's here actually, me and Angus try our best to give him the love he deserves. We offered up our bedroom while me and Angus use the pullout in the couch, we took him in when we could hardly support ourselves, but he needed to be here, needed to get away and I promised his ma I'd keep him safe..." His words elude him once more before the bright smile that had faded returns to his face. "My bad. Just started ramblin' didn't I?"

"Non, no it's fine." Little Cato assured the man with a nervous chuckle. "I think we all tend to do that from time to time."

Gregg's worried features are suddenly relieved. "Right. Timmy's in his room, he should be up. If not, he needs to be getting up." Gregg snickers, pointing to a single door at the far end of the apartment.

Little Cato gives the man a grateful nod and smiles before walking up to the door. He presses a tentative finger against the digital lock pad off to the side and the door slides open slower than what he was accustomed to.

He had no idea the red-eyed feline wasn't originally from Night City. That might have explained why his vocabulary wasn't one hundred percent Californian though Little Cato had thought the boy was different. He was counting on it being that much different.

Little Cato hovers in the doorway between the room and the rest of their apartment. The source of his reluctance was unknown though the feeling would quickly fall to the wayside as he stepped into the room fully. He shuffles over to the bed and peers at the blankets that his friend had been bundled up in.

Timmy was indeed still asleep and looked much too comfortable from what Little Cato could tell. He squats down beside the sleeping boy, observes his relaxed expression, and counts the seconds in between every soft inhale and exhale.

His mouth was slightly ajar as his breathing whistled out past his lips. He looked so peaceful curled up in his blanket like an angel wrapped in his own wings for comfort. "Cute." Little Cato snickers as he brings an open palm gently down on the boy's cheek.

"Mmmm..." The sleeping boy moans but hardly reacts otherwise. Little Cato kept his hand secured to his face, wriggling and taping each and every finger against the other boy's cheek. "Dude, come on..." He moans again, still unmoving.

Little Cato would remain just as persistent, tapping, and gradually moving to outright caressing Timmy's cheek. "Weaky, weaky sunshine. Time to get up."

"Cato?" He hums, trying to pull the hand fondling his fur away from his face. "Gimme a break man..." He quickly gave up on removing the Ventrexian's hand as fast as he began the endeavor.

"Unfortunately, I'm not going anywhere until you're out of bed." He chuckles, giving the fur a gentle squeeze. The sensation between his fingers was so warm and soft, it was sort of the reason he didn't stop petting Timmy's fur, besides wanting to wake him.

"Ughhh..." He twists and turns around in his bed with a frustrated sleepy tone. "Fine." The teen said, conjuring up enough straight to slap Little Cato's hand away from his cheek. "Ehh..." He leans up with a deep yawn when Little Cato steps away. His eyes were half shut though on their way to opening up slowly. "What time is it?" He asks checking his phone with a hum. "Right... you wanna head to the sibs?"

Little Cato shrugs. "Sure, I got nothing else in mind." Timmy nods and unravels himself from the thick dark blue blanket he'd been wrapped in. Little Cato was taken a bit off guard once he saw that the black feline only sporting a shirt and underwear. The last thing on his mind was seeing one of his friends half nude but it wasn't so bad. He could imagine the worst sight he could have laid eyes on. 

"So, you just sleep like that huh?" Little Cato asks with an impish smirk on his face. His eyes trace along the other boy's body, starting from his legs and working up to the reveling mid-draft once Timmy stretches his arms out above himself. He'd look away but Timmy didn't seem to mind him shamelessly ogling his body, so the Venterexian's eyes stayed put.

"Well, I wasn't expecting to have anyone in my room." The feline sassed Little Cato with a clamorous yawn before pulling his tired body over to the room closet. "Give me a min."

After a short time, the two boys would be off and prowling the halls of Mega Building 10 as they would most days. Little Cato was more than excited to be out of the house, since his trip to the store Gary had given the boy a little more room to breathe. He still had to stick to the building, but the blonde wasn't peeking over his shoulder at all hours of the day. Not literally anyway

Timmy on the other hand was enjoying being out less so. He wasn't even happy to be awake. He'd been forcing himself to move, tugging his body forward and dragging his black boots against the concrete ground. Mornings were not his thing. They were a lot to take in and even more, energy was exserted just to participate in the early hours.

Most of the time he didn't want to. A warm bad and good sleep was all anybody wanted at the end of the day yet despite much rater being asleep Timmy dragged himself along. Despite the exhaustion of the waking world, the overwhelming sound of belligerence at every turn, and having to actually move his body, he drags himself along. If only for Little Cato's sake. That and he needed to be somewhere this morning.

"So let me get this straight." Little Cato begins with a cocky grin. "Yesterday Sam asked you to swing by early this morning, why were you still sleeping in?"

Timmy rolls his eyes at Little Cato. "Man, people get busy LC, and after people get busy, they get tired." His explanation came with a heavy groan. "I just forgot that's all."

Little Cato let a snicker descend upon the other boy. "Yeah, but you weren't busy yesterday. Actually, I don't think we did anything the other day." He said to the unamused feline who came to a stop to let the Ventrexian take in his aggravated glare.

He kept his arms crossed and his red eyes narrowed to Little Cato who never stopped smirking at him. One sigh and two eye rolls later Timmy would knock on the door they had halted before with just enough force to let whoever was inside know that they had company. 

The door slid open quickly revealing a somewhat nervous-looking older gentleman on the other side. He was a Hooblot, about the same shade of teal as Sam with a mustache on his face. Well, it was more of a growth that resembled a mustache. As far as Hooblots go they weren't capable of growing hair, but they could get close with how certain parts of their bodies morphed. He was the siblings' father, and he looked a little worse for wear. Especially tired by the looks of the dark circles around all three of his eyes. It was a clear sign that the man was not getting any good sleep.

"Hey Tim, I didn't realize you were stopping by today." He rubs at his eyes with two fingers, his voice sapped from sleepless nights and constant headaches.

"Hey, David." Timmy waves at him. "The Sam inside?"

Mr. Dewinter rubs the back of his neck with a sigh. "Yeah, making their music like they normally do." An anxious chuckle splits off from his tired tone. It was probably the most energy he was able to exercise as of late. "Did you want to come in? I was gonna try to force myself through some sleep, but I guess it could wait." He mentions the boys inside the apartment. The man sounds like he wants to die though he lays out with little joy he could gather for all to see, nonetheless.

Little Cato sort of felt bad for the man. Dean and Sam were a handful. Just hanging around the brothers was enough to drive him crazy sometimes. He couldn't imagine having to live with them and being a single father raising kids like them was a thought that doesn't properly register with the Ventrexian.

The boys step inside, nevertheless. Their apartment was not too complex, like most of the rooms in the mega building it was what it needed to be, with the addition of the studio bed that was basically built into the living room's far wall. Much like Timmy's, it was smaller than his own. One bed one bath and a living room that was half the size of what Little Cato had. The teen was really starting to feel lucky about getting one of H10's better apartments.

The siblings were already up, they always seemed to be thought. Sam was hanging headfirst off of the wall bed, effortlessly strumming his fingers along the strings of his guitar and blowing into a harmonica while Dean was at the opposite end of the room working on the family computer in a white shirt, black shorts, and headphones wrapped around his head.

"Hey, El Gato!" Dean snatches the headphones off as he jumps up from his seat. The eldest sibling appeared so immersed in the computer before but once Little Cato and Timmy stepped into the apartment, any excitement for what he was working on was replaced with the joy of seeing one boy in particular. He walks over to the young teen, bypassing and completely ignoring Timmy in favor of Little Cato. "How's it hangin' Choom?"

little Cato shrugged a response. "Not much, still trying to come to terms with this whole punishment thing Garys got me under." His eyes twirl at the remainder of his grounding.

"Right, I almost forgot about that, uh..." Dean stops, looking past Little Cato with a slight frown pulled over his lips. "David, could you give us a min?" He took a stern tone with his father even getting the man the flinch intensely.

"O-oh, well I thought I could stay and get to know your new friend-"

"David, would you please!" Dean's tone elevates. "Go away from here... anywhere. Go to a bar, go to a club, a store, pick up a joytoy, I don't care... just get out of the fucking house!" Dean points a heated glare at the man and he grins nervously.

"Right." He said. "Right... a bar sounds good, got it." David rushed to throw on his jacket hanging in an open closet in the living room. "I'll be at the bar." He repeats, looking to his son for some sort of approval.

"Yeah." Dean moans at the man.

"Yeah... and maybe when I come back we can-" He stops when he sees the deep frown on his son's face and doesn't waste any time making a hasty exit. He hastily stumbled out of the apartment which left Dean more than satisfied.

Little Cato was miffed that Dean had just run his dad out of their apartment with no objections from the older man. How could he have held that much power over his own dad? The interaction felt like something he wouldn't have believed if he didn't just see it transpire for himself.

"Okay." Little Cato mumbles. "So you just talk to your dad like that and get away with it?" He looks to Dean with a puzzled glance.

Sam spat out his harmonica and brought his strumming to a low continuous riff that sat on the same note. "Well, ever since our mom died he's been..." Sam drones to himself for a moment. The words were there, the youngest was just having trouble piecing them together.

"Fucking hopeless." Dean on the other hand had no problem voicing what he felt at all. "He never wants to leave the house, just wants to sit and mope and moan and I can't keep holding his hand through that midlife crisis shit choom." He shakes out an appalled chuckle.

"Right, and I guess grieving together is out of the question," Timmy said, making his way over to Sam and the bed he lay in. 

Dean ambled back over to the computer, huffing and pouting as he went. "There's nothing the grieve about. Just how life is." He silently sits at the desktop and focuses on the screen. 

"Hmmm." Timmy hums before bringing his attention over to Sam. "Hey, Sammy." Timmy takes a seat at the edge of the bed as the teel boy moves his guitar to the side and leans up with a smile. Timmy does the same, leaning into the other before their lips make contact. Their mouths run over each other, sloppy smacking and tongues gilding over one another that perfectly embodies the definition of a French kiss.

"Oh." Little Cato quietly uttered under his breath when he saw the boy's affectionate display. He thinks back to all the blushing from Sam and how close he and Timmy normally stayed to each other and all of a sudden it made sense.

"Fags." Dean hissed nearly inaudibly.

Little Cato looks at him with a sneer. The teal Hooblot doesn't look so angry though, more disheartened if anything. "Right." He spoke up stepping over to Timmy and Sam, interrupting the fierce tongue wrestling match they'd been preoccupied with. "What are we doing here?" Each teen looked up at the young Ventrexian and even Dean would slide over in his his desk chair to shoot a look at him.

"Well," Sam starts. "I wanted to go pick something up and-"

"He wanted to bring Tim along, god." Dean leads his scoff away from his brother. The group falls into silence with mostly Sam and Timmy staring down Dean with ruffled stares.

Little Cato knew Dean had his problems with Timmy and he couldn't figure it out until then. Now that only left him wondering why the eldest even cared about who his brother was with at all. With how well they get along, It couldn't be that much of a burden on the siblings' relationship.

"Right, so what's this thing you're picking up?" Little Cato asks, moving to change the subject as quick as possible.

The siblings look at him, then at each other with smiles as the synergy between them returns and sparks like a flash of lightning. "Well since we've been working so hard." Dean starts.

"And it's about that time of the mouth." Sam continued checking the pretend watch on his wrist.

"We're in the mood for new BDs."

"Braindances."

"Over in Westbrook."

"Japantown."

"Jig-Jig street." 

"Stright outta Cherry-"

"Blossom-"

"Market!" The siblings sang as their back and forth came to a spectacular end. "Hell Little Cato you should come with, keep your mind preoccupied from this grounded bullshit." Dean laughs though he was far from kidding.

Little Cato flashes a baffled look to the group. "What?" He questions. "I can't remember, I'm locked up. Can't go anywhere" He spoke slowly, reminding the siblings of his situation and how he was barred from even leaving the fourteenth floor. Try as he might, however, it quickly becomes clear that the brothers wouldn't take no for an answer, not without putting up a decent fight first.

"Please, El Gato." Sam falls to his knees first, clasping his hands together and looking up at the young teen with pleading eyes.

"You need this choom." Sam got down next, looking up at Little Cato with much the same expression on his face and hands grasped together.

"Guys." Little Cato tries to assert himself but finds himself too stunned by the display of quivering lips and more puppy dog eyes than he knew how to deal with. He peers over to Timmy for assistance and gets nothing more than a clueless shrug from the black feline boy. "Fine." Little Cato buckles under the weight of the boys begging and surrenders as the siblings jump up with loud cheers. "Just let me finger something out first."

He ran his hands along the sides of his head trying to come up with a way to sneak out of the building without Gary noticing. The thought shouldn't have crossed his mind to begin with, but how could he say no after the way he'd seen his friends beg.

"You said he was tracking you right?" Dean asks and the words take hold of Little Cato's ears. "So just turn off your phone, or leave it behind. Can't track you then right?"

Little Cato looks down at him in amazement. "Yeah." The eldest was right but leaving his phone behind or shutting it off wouldn't be enough on its own. He also needed an alibi, a cover just in case Gary came looking. He pulls out the phone, opens up his messages, and gets to typing immediately to the only person he knew he could trust with the task.

little cato- hey ken im heading out of the building, if gary comes around can you cover me?

He sends the message out and waits for the response in an anxious fit. At first, he thinks nothing would come of it, Kendrick had been oddly distant for the past two days and Little Cato thinks he would just have to cut his losses this time around.

kenny- sure sure no prob choom

Though his friend would get back to him. When Little Cato reads the message he's thrilled and his heart is somewhat relieved as well. "Alright, we're good." He turns back to the siblings' delight though Timmy would remain silent. 

The black-furred feline's expression sat on Little Cato in worry, yet he stayed quiet as he shook his head in disapproval. He wouldn't tell Little Cato what he could and couldn't do but he didn't have to be happy about some of the boy's rash decisions.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Westbrook. Saying that it was the pinnacle of life in Night City would have been a big understatement. Besides Dogtown, this was a place where you could find and buy almost anything the heart and mind desired.

It was Night City turned all the way up to eleven and always at the same opacity at all hours of the day. Neon lights and bright signs with a distinct Japanese flare were the norm here more so than anywhere. If their building made Little Cato's eyes hurt at night, he wouldn't want to know what Westbrook would do to him.

The kids turn down a large ally leading into the wider Cherry Blossom Market. Even now during the early hours, the market was hustling and bustling. There were upstanding attractions here, less so there, stripers promoting after-dark clubs and joytoys prowling around every corner. Vendors shilled and gangers lurked. Still, that doesn't stop anyone from having a good time.

It was really something, even if it would strain the young Ventrexian's eyes and cause a migraine after some time. With how the buildings stretched up and the platform overpasses that sat suspended across from each one, the boy could be forgiven for thinking it was night already.

The only evidence that proves otherwise is how bits of the bright sky and sunlight manage to find their way past the lumbering structures around them.

The boys continued through the vibrant market place, winding through dense crowds and doing their best to ignore the solicitation of a good time from multiple joytoys. They cut down a set of stairs before coming to a stop in front of a place tucked into a far-off corner with a single row of neon letters splayed out above the door that read 'The Experience'.

They were supposed to be heading to a Braindance studio. Was this it? If it had been, the place wasn't as flashy or glamorous compared to the rest of Cherry Blossom. In a spot where everything was meant to stick out, this was as plain as it got with just a sign and a single door. Little Cato couldn't help but find it too bland to be right.

The group gallops inside one by one, entering a long corridor with another door set at the other end. So far the BD studio wasn't much of anything to the young Ventrexian but once they were passed the next door there was no doubt left in Little Cato's mind.

"Woah." He let out a low astonished gasp as the group stepped inside the actual braindance studio. It wasn't the biggest place, but it certainly doesn't lack in presentation. The shop was filled with BD headsets on display from wall to wall at every end of the studio. Braindance headsets weren't usually left out in the open. Even if these were secured to safety cables, it wouldn't stop the particularly over-ambitious thieves of the city from klepping them.

"Nice right." Dean laughs, giving Little Cato's side a gentle nudge from his elbow. "This place has anything you're measly mind can cook up El Gato." The elder brother walks towards a shelf and picks up one of the headsets. "You can experience anything from being a junkie to the joys of giving birth."

Timmy walks up to the boys, a disgusted snort leading the way. "Why would you want to do that?" He scoffs at eldest Dewinter. Dean tosses a hand up returning a mellow look at the feline before throwing the Headset he'd been holding over his head. "Idiot," Timmy mutters. The feline didn't seem to care much for BDs or at least this specific studio, all Little Cato knew was that there was definitely a problem. "Come on Sam."

Before Little Cato could make an attempt for a clear answer, both teens had already taken off with each other, leaving Little Cato to fend for himself within the nearly dark BD studio. Luckily for him, the studio was the biggest place, so his predicament wasn't so bad. He's only ever been in one other braindance store but that was back on Olympus station. This humble little shop tucked into a corner somewhere in Night City was bound to pale in comparison.

The young teen begins to pace along the many shelves housing many more headsets and closely observes the labels that might give him a hint of what each BD might be about. 

There were some revolving around drug use as Dean had mentioned, some were the experiences of joytoys, street walkers, or were just sex-related endeavors in general and a lot more were combat-related. Little Cato could even count on both hands how many of the names he recognized given that he's seen more frontier worlds than he liked to admit.

The Reelian scourge, Schism at Fib's drop, The Man-Eaters of Umbra, and a tone of other BDs retaining to locations that he could recall studying, hearing about, or actually sitting foot on. Little Cato also gets a kick out of the way the BDs were labeled, almost like they were comic books. It was charming in a sense and it made the young teen giggle every time he read a new title. However, he wonders how most of them were even braindances to begin with. Was it possible that soldiers were selling off their neural recordings?

"Hmm?" The teen hums after bringing his eyes to one certain BD headset. "Dust Blitz?" Another confused mutter flees him as he takes up the BD. The name doesn't really ring a bell, there were many places in the other rim called dust or blitz.

Little Cato's head bobs around as he lets the headset over his eyes. His curiosity gets the best of him and since he was having a hard time piecing together this single event, he had to know what it was about. There was no harm in seeing a little glimpse of a BD he wasn't going to buy he thinks. It wouldn't hurt anyone.

The headset sat dormant around Little Cato's head until a bright light flickers and clicks to life, and flashes before his eyes. The teen was nearly blinded by clicks and figures as the environment began to shift and change around him then he was on the ground. 

His hands ran along the red dust of a roaring desert in search of something he'd lost not too long ago. A dust storm had been raging violently, slamming against his eyes and obscuring his vision. He was scared, his heart pounded uncontrollably in his chest as he brought his eyes back up to the maelstrom of dust and radiation.

"Come on Lance Corporal!" A voice barks at him and swiftly demands his attention. "Fall back to the foundry! We can't let the rebels take it!" He looked up to find his commander though the man had already disappeared within the dust storm in retreat.

"Right!" He huffs looking back down at the dust and takes up the helmet that had flown off his head. He remembers now. He was a Lance Corporal, fresh out of the rank of private first class in the EDF, a Martian militia and he and his squad were dealing with a pretty bad assault from a group of Wiley rebels. "Damn!" He grunts, using his standard-issue EDF rifle as a crutch to hobble back to his feet. He had to make his way to the company's foundry but the dust that had engulfed his surroundings was so intense, that the goal was easier said than done.

He begins to trek in the direction of his commander. That's where the man had been heading so that was his immediate goal. If he could follow the footsteps engraved in the sand he'd be fine, but he would have to get a move on. The dust storm was quickly covering up any chance he had for survival and it was only getting worse the more he deterred.

Of all the days, Red Faction couldn't have picked a worse time to attack. They had been going for so long even before the dust storm rolled in. He couldn't see much. The dust from the storm beats against his helmet shreds the glass of his visor like razor hail. Gunfire goes off all around him, sometimes in the distance and others he swears were too close for comfort. He has to keep going. If he stopped, he was no doubt a dead man.

He looks around when he notices the lack of gunfire. The storm was still beating down on him heavily though at the same time, it was quiet. Had the fighting stopped? He couldn't hear anything, could see even less, and couldn't tell at all. Suddenly he's startled at the sound of footsteps and heavy breathing approaching him quickly. He turns around to identify the source and when he does all he sees is the swing of a mining hammer toward his head.

"Ahhh!" Little Cato jumps, knocking off the headset in the process of his sudden start. "What the-" He pants, running his hands over his head and bringing them down to his neck. The boy sighs relieved when he feels his head is still attached to his body. "What the hell was that?"

"That's what I call the experience." A man with east Asian features walks up to the boy with a sing-song tone to his voice and a strut in his step. "Now that one is one of my favorites." The man crouches down to scoop up the fallen headset. "That was only the demo but everything leading up to that point..." His eyes shut as a smile engulfs his expression. "If it were a movie, it would have been nominated for best picture."

Little Cato fires off a bewildered glare. The man smiles at him with a sideways smirk. "What?" The teen spoke up. Little Cato got that BDs were supposed to stimulate the senses but this... "Dude, I thought I actually died. That felt way real." He huffs out in distress.

"Well, that's the exp for you." Dean snickers, trudging up too Little Cato with a headset around his head and still playing. "Obi here tunes all his shit up to a hundred and it really gets the nerves going. It's so real you can even feel the wind on your face choomba. Hell, I'm giving birth right now. It's excruciating." Dean laughed again.

Little Cato holds a hand to his cheek. Now that he thinks about it, he could feel the sand smacking against his face with each particle more intense than the last, though that particular feeling was the least of his worries.

"Yeah." The man leans into Little Cato. "Don't tell anyone but it uses jailbroken animus tech to get the results." More nonchalant laughter graces Little Cato's ears after the fact.

"Huh?" The teen moans. He had always known Abstergo BDs to be marketed for their mass appeal. They simulated the brain but that was all. He's never had one where the feeling was something palpable or actually there.

"What happened? I heard screaming." Timmy runs back up with Sam by his side and nervously glances in between Little Cato and Dean.

"Don't worry." Dean dismisses the felines worrying with a brief wave. "El Gato just had his first experience is all."

"Oh god." Timmy groans, stepping closer to Little Cato and holding a concerned hand to his arm. "I should have fucking told you about this place. It's for adrenalin junkies and weirdos who like snuff, that's why I hate it." He points his vitriol at the owner of the studio. Obi Little Cato would assume.

"Hay it's cool, it's cool." Obi held his hands up with the cocky smirk still plastered to his face. "I didn't know your homie was new here. The BDs are a bit heavy but there well worth it." His eyes dart over to Timmy. "More than just snuff kid." His smirk widens as the boy flips a middle finger up at him.

He motions for Little Cato to follow him with a quick nod. The boy was understandably reluctant but would eventually follow the man over to the front counter. He'd been bent over, rummaging around for something Little Cato couldn't make out. "Here." He came back up, carelessly throwing another headset down on the countertop.

"What is it?"

Obi let out a low chuckle. "From what I know?" The man starts. "It's a recording from some twenty-odd years back. I haven't gotten around to looking at the thing, I've been so busy lately." Obi held two fingers to his temples. "Since you're new it's on me, was wondering if you'd be willing to help test it out honestly." 

Little Cato gazes down at the headset. The relatively fresh memory of the pain he had just gone through replays in his mind. "I don't know." He nervously rubs at one of his ears.

"There's money in it for you if you do decide to help." His words compel Little Cato's ears to snap to attention.

"Well..."

"Little Cato." A whisper interrupts his reconsideration and causes him to look back at his group. Timmy slowly shakes his head at him, vaguely advising him to leave the headset behind. He thinks it's a bad idea, and it might have been but if Obi was really willing to pay Little Cato just to entertain himself how could he pass up the opportunity.

"Deal." The Ventrexian pivots back around to the man.

"Alright." Obi claps his hands together, delighted. "Oh, and don't worry about feeling any kind of pain. The BDs untampered, purely just a watch." He leans back up with the smile that never left his side. "I look forward to hearing your results kid."

Little Cato was relieved to hear that there would be no pain. So far, the boy could say he wasn't so keen on the realism aspect of Obi's BDs though he doesn't completely dread the idea... he found the sensation of his head getting knocked off thrilling even.

The group makes a quick exit from the studio, hiking back up the stairs that lead them to the Experience and back into Cherry Blossom Market once again. Little Cato kept the BD tucked in his hands, rotating it around and investigating the gray steel headset. It looked sort of old and on one side there was a tiny label. 'The Defector' it read. Odd that most of Obi's BDs were named after a location and this one was a regular title.

"Hey, can you hold onto this for me?" Little Cato turns to Sam with the question. "Gary might have a fit if he found out what it was." He asks Sam because he couldn't trust Timmy not to throw it out and Dean might have just taken the opportunity to test it himself. The youngest brother was his best bet.

Sam smiles. "Sure, no problem." He took the BD and placed it in the plastic bag next to his. "We all know how crazy Gary can get when it comes to you."

The young teen rolls his eyes at Sam's giggling fit. "Speaking of Gary, I should get back before he catches on to me."

"Yeah right," Dean said. "Hey ain't gonna catch on to nothing. Kennys probably running the choom in circles right now." Just as the eldest spoke the group heard the sound of tires screeching as a crowd of pedestrians hardly ducked out of the way of a speeding car that came to a stop right across from where the boys stood. Out of the vehicle glared an angry blonde whose emotions ranged from severely disappointed to absolutely pissed.

Everyone in the group stared back at the man with either covered mouths or crossed arms but they all carried the same shocked expressions. Their eyes all then fall onto Little Cato as they start separating, leaving him behind as if they've never seen the boy before in their lives. Gary had found him; he didn't know how but now he was the only one left to deal with the consequences.

The boy looks down and whispers. "Ssssssshit."  

Chapter 13: First day in.

Notes:

So last chapter I explained that the boys went to Konpeki Plaza for their BDs, but what I really was thinking of was Cherry Blossom Market. So, I went back and fixed that in the last chapter, but can you blame me for getting it wrong, I can't tell Konpeki from Jig-Jig on a good day lol. But any I'm back to working on this, vacation was great, I got a cough that's popular over in England apparently. But I finally got to visit Westminster Abby, I've been wanted to do that my whole life.

Click- a sudden flash stinging at his eyes nearly blinds the boy. Streaks of white scatter across his vision, leaving Little Cato's sight in a haze of nothing comprehensible. By the time his eyes were able to readjust from the sudden bright flash, another intruded in its stead.

"Come on Little Cato, smile." Gary urged the boy with a quick wave and a smile towed over his face. It was Little Cato's first day of school and the blonde was taking every opportunity to preserve the memory. Even if that meant getting in the way of other passing students and embarrassing his son in the process.

"Gary," Little Cato whines as his eyes roll over irritated. He bobs his head around, stretching his neck from shoulder to shoulder. He was tired and way too uncomfortable. No one said that his new uniform would feel so shoddy, try as it might to look otherwise. Whatever material it was made of didn't get along so well with his fur and the striped, blue tie around his neck could be more comparable to a tight nose.

The boy hooks his index finger over the edge of the tie pushed against his neck to alleviate the asphyxiation, if only by a little but a tsk from Gary forces his attempt to come to an immediate halt. He wouldn't want to ruin the blonde's photo op after all.

"Just one more, I promise," Gary said. He's been saying that for the past ten pics, he's shot of Little Cato, yet there was always one more. "Oh, you look so handsome." Gary flashes another radiant smile, going through the recently taken photos on his phone. "I can't believe my baby's going to school, real school." The blonde squeals and slightly hops up and down on his tiptoes in a fit of happiness as snickers erupt from a group of passing teens.

"Gary-" Little Cato starts up a low growl when another brilliant flash collides with his unprepared eyes.

"Is this a high school?" Avocato looks around the campus courtyard with his hands concealed within his pants pockets. A confused glare paves his face. "It looks more like a collage don't you think?" His dad expressed, and maybe he wasn't far off. Little Cato had to admit that for a public high school, the gated campus of Myers High was huge with multiple budlings spanning a large area a little way's away from the district of Westbrook. Since Westbrook was one of the wealthier neighborhoods in the city, it made sense.

The school was nestled in a nice spot. It even reminds Little Cato of the private schools he'd see on TV, with beautifully manicured grass, meticulously trimmed hedges, and a mock forest surrounding the entire school.

It was all so nice, to say the least, and it begged the question for Little Cato, how was it not a prevet school? It had all the makings to be one from the lawns right down to the uniforms, cheap as they may have felt.

"Oh, you know how these things are Avocato." Gary chimes in, swiping through the photos on his device. "It probably used to be something like that, but public opinion is a powerful thing. I wouldn't be surprised if the mayor opened it to the public just to sway people and hey, we'll be taking full advantage." Gary said with a smirk.

Avocato simply shrugs at the blonde. The older Ventrexian doesn't take the explanation lightly, Little Cato even swears he could see his dad's hair stand up on end around his neck. The man always had bad feelings about many things, no matter how small that thing was.

"Well, we should get going. Wouldn't want to embarrass our son any more than we have." Avocato spins and begins to make his way toward the gated exit.

"Right, right... Just... one more..." Gary snaps three more photos of the boy before blowing a kiss his way, then proceeds to take two more pictures until Avocat comes back around to intervene. "Alright, alright, I'm done." 

Avocato shakes his head, pulling Gary away from their son. "Have a good first day kid." With one last attempt to snap a picture of Little Cato from afar, the two parents were gone, and Little Cato couldn't have been more relieved. 

Little Cato's idea of a first day was many things but standing around in one spot, getting snickered at by other students while his dad took pictures of him wasn't one, he had in mind. It was also something he didn't want to repeat.

He sighs, that's all there was left to do after the departure of his parents, and he turns to the school behind him. Little Cato looked at the old structure and couldn't help but think back to his dad's worried look. The older Ventrexian was onto something, a school this nice looking couldn't just be public not from the get-go anyway.

There must have been something more to it but given that he hadn't done any research into the school beforehand, Little Cato wouldn't know what that something was.

"Heyyy!" A loud, evidently, ecstatic howl pierces Little Cato's nerves unexpectedly. He would have turned to see what it who that had been so happy that moment but a heavy weight on his back and around his shoulders locks the boy in place. "Look who it is." Timmy brings himself around to Little Cato's line of sight with an obnoxious toothy grin. "Geez, they got you wearing the whole thing huh?" He tugs at Little Cato's blazer and lifts the end to revile his vest underneath.

"Huh?" Little Cato furrows a perplexed brow at the black feline before coming to some unanticipated realization with the students around them. Unlike Little Cato, they had all been dressed down for the occasion, each student wearing only a portion of the Myers high uniform. He saw a lot of kids with just the blazer with the button-up shirt underneath, some kids were wearing the vest with the shirt, and others just with the shirt by itself. The only thing that was a constant was that almost none of them wore the tie at all. "Oh yeah... I guess so." Little Cato mutters and rubs a hand over his eyes.

Timmy sensing the other boy's discomfort slowly steps out in front of him, losing the smile on his face. "Hey man, don't even sweat it." The other boy reaches for Little Cato's tie and carefully tugs at it until the neck wrap loosens up. The young teen could feel the sweat release of pressure as his windpipe began to open back up again. "These suits can get really uncomfortable."

"Yeah, no kidding." Little Cato draws in a deep breath through his mouth as if it had been his first in a long while. "They look better than they actually feel, why is that?" He looks at the other teen with some futile hope of receiving an answer though predictably he gets nothing but an oblivious shrug. He could take a guess, however. Looks like style outweighed everything else even here. "Eh, whatever." Little Cato turns back to the school.

Timmy hums, using a hand to pat down the boy's blazer. "So, can I give you the tour? Before class starts, I mean." Little Cato looked at the dark-furred feline, then to the students and missive campus, they stood on. He thinks why not, the school was big and only looked to get even bigger further on.

"Sure." Little Cato agrees and begins to walk alongside his friend. Being shown around by someone who knew the ends and out of the school could help avoid getting lost. He would also use the opportunity to catch up with everything the school had to offer.

"Cool, so here, where we've been standing, is the courtyard. It's where all the degens and vagrants like to hang out on most occasions. Over to your left and right are some of the boy's and girl's dorms-"

"Hold up." Little Cato stops the boy. "They have dorms here?" He looks at the buildings with a smile unconsciously stretched across his lips.

Timmy softly chuckles at him. "Yeah, but don't get your hopes up. Their only for people who can afford to live in them and don't want to travel to school every day." Little Cato gives an understanding nod. Even if he doesn't fully understand the need for the dorms, he got the basic jest. " That big place up ahead is the main school building. It's where we'll be doing most of are learning. That's not to say we won't be moving in between other buildings." Timmy taps a delicate elbow against Little Cato's side, ushering him toward the large building ahead.

They pass large stone pillars that bore some resemblance to ancient Greek or Roman design and step through a set of wooden double doors. The inside of the tall structure was just as impressive as the campus that had come before. He shouldn't have expected otherwise, the school seemed to hold itself to a high enough standard, even if it was located in Night City.

Timmy continued to guide the teen down cozy bourbon brick tiled hallways and showed some of the many classrooms that looked older though more refined than they probably should have been. Little Cato questioned just how long the school had stood for and with time the answers would come to greet him fondly.

Turns out the campus was indeed old, older than it had actually appeared to be at first glance. It was a school that stood nearly as long as Night City itself, dating all the way back to the tell end of the city's construction. It was a well-established and highly recommended privet academy that only the city's most wealthy could have afforded to attend.

From the mock forest to the low-cut grass, it was all already present and preserved each and every day. The only thing that was new about it all was the name, but that came about during the time the school had made its transition from a private school that valued the amount of money in one's pocket to a public one that valued a student's overall skill a few years back. Timmy said it was done to give back to the downtrodden communities with gifted children, but he also described the act as 'a clear case of social showmanship' and that the mayor could care less about what students he let in. He just wanted to come off as a generous man with a big heart and that kind of display would no doubt ensure his reelection.

"That... was kind of a loaded history lesson." Little Cato snickers at Timmy. "I wasn't expecting a place so prestigious to let in just any kind of rabble." Little Cato chuckles again. He could understand seeing Ash in a school like this, the pink-haired girl was brilliant in his eyes but Argit, his brothers, and the siblings also attended Myers High. Those kids were smart but Little Cato always understood that it was more along the lines of street smarts than anything.

"Yeah, you don't know the half of it." The feline shakes his head. "Did you know this place has a middle school program?" Timmy asks. Little Cato didn't know this place at all though he could since the question was rhetorical. "Yeah, you can start middle school here and just stay the whole eight years. I only found out when I was transferred here during ninth grade."

"You were transferred here?" Little Cato questions, squinting at the other teen.

"A bunch of us were actually. After an accident basically destroyed our last school, the mayor took it upon himself to transfer a bunch of the school's better students over here." Timmy stops and points to a large office, directing Little Cato inside. "I'm guessing you're gonna need your schedule. It would be hard to kick off the first day without knowing where you're going right?"

Little Cato barely had to say anything, only offering an appreciative nod to Timmy for the reminder. His mind was so laden with thoughts of Gary and this new school that he'd nearly forgotten that he was supposed to retrieve a class schedule.

Stepping into the office, Little Cato takes a moment to marvel at just how large it is. For an administration office in a high school, it was lofty and entrancing with a large ornate desk sitting proudly at the front and file cabinets that stretch on almost endlessly behind it. It definitely wasn't the average office for student administration. Though Myers was a private school back then so maybe that was the reason for its marvelous design.

"Oh, Mr. Borowski." A woman sighs, slowly stepping up to the desk in the office's reception area. "I take it you're here under positive circumstances." She spoke in a dulled, demanding tone, formally addressing the boy.

"No worries, no trouble just yet Mrs. Heathcliff." Timmy pulls a long, charming grin along his lips and leans an arm over the large ornate wooden desk. "My friend here needs his class schedule, he's a new student."

The woman glances over to Little Cato with a suspicious glare past her wide-brim glasses. "Is he now?" She continues to stare until a quick sigh does away with any suspicion she may have had. "Okay, step forward young man." She motions Little Cato forward with the tips of her fingers. "Name?" She demanded.

"Lil-" He stops himself before blurting out his neck name and takes a quick moment to process the woman's question. "Avacato Goodspeed... junior." He muttered out the last portion of his name, unsure if it would help or not.

The woman looks at him with a raised brow and hums before pulling the nearest file cabinet open. She makes her way through a section of files, running her fingers along a sea of neatly tucked-away yellow folders until her fingers eventually come to a stop. "Ooooh." The woman let out a confused yet excited hum. "I didn't know the Grand admiral had any grandchildren. What a delightful addition to our humble school." She lays the young Vantrexian's schedule down on the desk with an invigorated smile. Little Cato reaches for the big slip of fresh paper, taking up the schedule with a bit of hesitancy. "You have a wonderful day Mr. Goodspeed. And as for you Mr. Borowski," She snaps her full attention to Timmy. "I don't want any trouble today you understand?"

"What? Come on Mrs. Heathcliff," Timmy scoffs at the woman. "There isn't going to be trouble. If anything, I'm the king of staying out of trouble miss... mostly." The feline gives the woman his best smile though she clearly wasn't buying anything he had to offer. Before she had a chance to call the feline out on his false statement, he was already wriggling his way out of the office with Little Cato in hand.

 Little Cato could hardly comprehend his forceful removal from the office by his friend. He was too focused on something the woman, Mrs. Heathcliff, had said. She said he was a wonderful addition to their humble school. Little Cato didn't have much experience to draw from, but Myers High was the furthest thing from humble he'd ever seen.

"So, how many classes do you have?" Timmy's question guides Little Cato back out of his train of thought.

"Oh, right." He brings the class schedule into view and gives it a quick once-over before responding. "Uhh... six." He confidently answered with a nod.

Timmy quickly peaks over his shoulder and at the slip of paper. "Oh, they really want you to catch up huh?" He held a hand to Little Cato's shoulder while still giving the teen's schedule a nosy stare down.

"Is that not normal?" Little Cato asks.

"Eh," Timmy said. "It really depends..." The feline murmurs, circling around Little Cato and strolling back into his line of sight. "Usually, the middle schoolers have to do a ton of classes in a row but the more credit you have the fewer classes you have to take. I only have three and that's because of the credits that transferred over from the last school. I was surprised too." Timmy giggles though Little Cato doesn't share the feeling. He'd never been to a real school before; therefore, he had no real credits to speak of, meaning he had to do a full class rotation, something he'd never experienced before. It shouldn't have bothered him all that much but hearing that his friend had to do less work, even though they were in the same grade, makes the young Ventrexian a bit jealous. "Well let's just hope they don't make you run around campus with all those classes, right?" Timmy chuckles again, though a bit more nervous.

"Right..." Little Cato mutters, folding his class schedule and tucking it away in his book bag. "I'll catch you later Timmy." He leaves the feline behind without another word. His first class was history, and he didn't intend to be late. He thinks it's weird having a lesson like that so early in the morning when his parents always saved it for later on though he wouldn't complain. He'd never been to an actual school before so he would treasure the experience no matter what he had become conditioned to before.

Little Cato opens up the door to his first class, shyly poking his head through before stepping in completely. It didn't take him long to find the classroom. Given how big the main building was alone the young teen had to say that he was proud of himself for not getting completely lost along the way. The room was empty, he was the first to arrive and was even ahead of the class's teacher.

The class wouldn't start for another few minutes but being the early bird beat aimlessly lurking in the halls until the bell had rung. Little Cato would rather find a nice quiet spot to sort out the thoughts that had been cluttering his mind since that morning. 

He instantly makes his way toward the back of the class and takes a seat near a window. He had no idea if it already belonged to someone but that's something he could find out once the class began to actually fill up.

Little Cato could hear a bell ringing from outside of the classroom and slowly, but surely, his fellow classmates would enter, two of whom he quickly recognized. Argit was the first to entire, breaking out into an untamed goofy smile once his eyes met Little Cato's while his brother Kevin followed behind.

Kevin would head to his seat near the back of the room, crashing down at his desk opposite where Little Cato sat while Argit made his way to the teen. He ran up and the boys exchanged their little secret handshake, wriggling their fingers within one another's before Argit sat down at the empty desk next to him.

"Ayyy, Cato." Argit leans over to the young teen with an excited half half-hushed whisper. "What do you think of the place so far, crazy or what?"

"That's an understatement." Little Cato whispers back, leaning over his desk just as the other boy had done. "This place is huge."

"Did you see the rest of the campus yet?" Little Cato shakes his head, earning an eager and relatively devious smile from Argit. "You're in for a surprise." He chuckled. "We can go exploring lat-"

"Okay, class." Argit's words are cut short when a man calmly strides into the classroom. Any trace of sound vanishes, and the entire room falls into a stall silence as the man creeps his way over to the desk that sits at the very front before the students. "We'll give it a few more minutes before we officially start." The man spoke calmly, pacing back and forth in front of his desk with a gentle stride in his step.

He was tall, skin almost as pale as a certain someone Little Cato had seen before, and someone he didn't want to be reminded of. The sleeves of his button-up shirt were rolled up to his forearms and his eyes were overworked and dimmed by stress.

Despite his fatigued appearance, the man came off as collected and in charge of his classroom at all times. It could have been the way he paced from end to end or how he kept his tired seeming eyes trained on the class.

"Okay students," He spoke once he was sure that all his students were present and accounted for. "It is my understanding that we have a new student today." His eyes pivot and lock onto Little Cato. The sudden motion admittedly startles the boy. "Would you care to introduce yourself, young man?" The man held a handout to Little Cato causing all of the students in class to slowly turn to face the boy.

Little Cato wasn't feeling so nervous before the teacher called upon him and even rising from his seat, he managed to keep his cool. Though now that he was up and out of his seat with the eyes of too many other teenagers to count branded onto him, Little Cato was starting to become aware of himself. "I-Im uhhh..." He stutters, receiving some quiet snickers all around. "Avocato Goodspeed... junior..." He barely choked out his full name. He was feeling so anxious he almost forgot what it was entirely. 

When the teacher hears the name softly trickle out from the boy's mouth his tired, organized expression has some life kicked into it. "Wait, not like John Goodspeed, right? Couldn't be surly." He kept a curious finger half-pointed to Little Cato.

"Y... yeah." The young teen anxiously rubs the back of his neck. "He's, my granddad."

The teacher's face shifts again, this time to something more pleasantly surprised. "Well... students it's not every day we get a celebrity of this caliber in the classroom. You should all be so honored." He said and Little Cato looked around the room. He was no stranger to fanfare when it came to his name. Normally whenever he dropped his family name he was met with a litany of praise or complaints and even some shock. Some of the students here however didn't seem all that happy with who he claimed to be.

They just look at him either out of jealousy or with undiluted bitterness. It was enough to drive his confidence even further into the ground and he quickly, and quietly retook his seat.

"Hey man, don't worry about it." Argit leans back over to Little Cato. "These blowhards gonks aren't used to so much fam at once. Their just nervous." He chuckles, getting Little Cato to laugh as well. He could always count on Argit to make him feel better. Strange how he thinks it was the opposite feeling the first time he'd met the rodent boy. They had grown close in the short time he'd been in the city. Little Cato couldn't imagine what he'd do without him now.

"Alright class, today's lesson is an important one. So far we've been speaking so much about galactic history as a whole, I felt it would be a nice change of pace to bring it down to earth history for the next few days." The class let out one long collective groan. Clearly, history wasn't a popular topic here, and earth history was less so by the sound of everyone's annoyance. 

Little Cato couldn't discern the reason for the class's unwillingness toward the subject. He liked Earth's history, all history really. It was a subject he'd always hoped for the most throughout his homeschooling. After geometry and social studies, a nice long history lesson was comparable to heaven for him.

"Come now class," The teacher held his hands out to settle his wound-up students. "This is going to be fun. It's a real deep cut for the nation." The man brings his eyes about the room and begins to pace in between the aisles that separate the student's desk. "Who here can tell me the name we use for the event that left the world in ruin about three hundred years ago, hmm?" He looks around the room with a confident smirk, scanning his students one by one before coming to a stop. "Kevin Levin, would you like to answer?"

The raven-haired teen jolts with a burst of light laughter before bringing his head up to the teacher. His eyes lay hidden somewhere behind his long black sleek bangs, but the lack of eye contact hardly discourages the teacher's gaze. "To be honest Mr. Clifton, it was a long time ago. I doubt anyone nowadays gonna care so much." Kevin spoke, his velvety tone dripping from his sliver tongue in a nonchalant stream of cool and calm silk-like wave links that were soothing to the ear. His voice was so smooth and easygoing that the black-haired teen reminded him of a certain sliver-armed rock star Gary was a big fan of.

"Well, Mr. Levine that's where I pry, you're wrong. Those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it." Mr. Clifton brings his eyes back around to the class. "Maybe your brother might have the answer I'm looking for. Argit, care to help us along?" He puts the rodent boy in the spotlight next.

Argit hadn't been anticipating being called on next though with how much he knew about most things, Little Cato would assume he'd have an answer ready and waiting. Even so, all the rodent/opossum offers their teacher is a shrug and a shy grin. "S-sorry Mr. Clifton." He stammers. "I didn't exactly study for that," Argit stated leaving Little Cato more than just surprised. If Argit didn't know did any of these students? It seemed like such a simple answer from Little Cato's perspective, one of the easiest he's ever heard. Either all of his fellow students had no idea, or they didn't want to answer. Neither explanation makes any sense to the young teen.

Mr. Clifton intensely sighs at his students. "It's not something you study for... it's something you should already know." He runs a frustrated hand over his eyes before peering around the room again. "Please, can anyone answer this simple question?" He stops, eyeing Little Cato steadily. "Perhaps our new student? Mr. Goodspeed, would you please help us along? If anyone would know it would be you surely."

The class turns to Little Cato. Strangely, all eyes were on him and only him, though it most likely had something to do with being the new kid. "Well." The boy cleared his throat with a loud cough and sat up straight in his seat. "It was called the collapse. It occurred after the world was pushed to the brink of nuclear war and after one hundred years the world would pull itself back together during reconstruction once the Alliance was formed in western Africa." Little Cato smiled nervously, his eyes darting around the classroom. The class remained silent with squinted eyes and frowns constantly trained on him though the answer left a smile on his teacher's face.

"Wow... answered the first question and the second one before I even had a chance to ask it." The teacher said, struggling to contain his satisfaction. "That's what I expect from the grandson of a grand admiral." Mr. Clifton turns to the black chalkboard just behind his desk, picks up the sick of white chalk resting to the side, and starts scribbling the day's lesson plan out along its black surface. "Yes children, the name of one of the most important events in Earth history was called the collapse. Honestly, I expected much more from you all. I hope you won't let Mr. Goodspeed embarrass you any further than he already has."

The eyes of some upset students linger on Little Cato for a bit before the glares begin to slowly deviate from him with small murmurs. He could even hear someone utter words under their breath like 'know it all' or 'deckhead' like a netrunner or a hacker, Though Little Cato supposed it could be used to call someone a nerd as well.

Little Cato himself would take a moment to breathe, tuning out his teacher's voice as he took to looking out of the window, he was next to. He was usually so excited for history but the harsh reception he'd received from his fellow students had driven his keenness away for a bit.

Little Cato hums, blocking out his teacher's endless droning on about things he already knew way too much about to focus on the school outside. His eyes follow some wondering students closely, eventually gathering up toward the many other buildings on the large campus grounds and the pretend forest surrounding the golden gates just beyond. 

Little Cato had a nice view from where he sat and now that he gets an adequate look at the campus, he could see just how big it truly was. The school looked to go on for at least a mile or two and could have easily passed as a whole neighborhood in any city.

His eyes drift along the forest and whole neighborhood blocks, eventually coming to rest on a dorm as he begins to wonder what the student housing looks like on the inside. He could have gone daydreaming like that until the end of class if his curious gaze wasn't disturbed by a bizarre sight.

"What the..." Little Cato mutters to himself, slowly blinking his eyes. At first, the young teen thinks he's only seeing things, that his mind has wandered so far off it was simply making up its own entertainment. The figure standing halfway out from behind a tree had to be an oddly shaped bush and not a certain red-masked boy stalking in the shadows. That's what he would like to think though no matter how hard Little Cato would squint and rub his eyes, the taller teen never left his eyesight.

It was odd to see Kendrick standing in one spot for so long, staring back up at Little Cato through his red emotionless mask. What was he even doing here? "Mr. Goodspeed... Mr. Goodspeed."

The teacher calls out Little Cato's name which brings his senses back to the class, away from the window and from what was so clearly Kendrick Kassidy. "Y-yeah." He stutters getting more obnoxious giggling from some students.

"Since no one else here can seem to tell me, how about you step in and tell the class a little bit about the nation's first Chancellor?"

Pompous eyes fall back unto Little Cato as he's brought centerfold once again. "Sure." He spoke timidly though he could hardly help himself from answering. "Chancellor Adem Edan was actually remarkable in a way. They say his charisma was so phenomenal that he could talk the most heartless, bloodthirsty raider out of a fight. He almost single-handedly brought the world back together and under his guidance, they rebuilt everything through a mix of cooperation for some and force for others. And with the help of the first admiral Miller Eve, there was nothing he couldn't do. Some even say he was destined to save the human race... as strange as it may sound." More silence follows his answer and yet another Smile graces Mr. Clifton's face. 

Little Cato goes back to staring out of the window when all is set and done. To his surprise, or maybe not, the taller teen was gone, and to where Little Cato hadn't a clue.

Thirty minutes and a few more questions answered, mostly by Little Cato later, the class had come to a long-awaited end for most of the students. It was about time. History might have been his favorite subject but being eyed for every answer he gave was starting the wear him down.

The only one who had been cheering him on, albeit silently, was Argit which Little Cato appreciated. He knew they were already friends, but the rodent could have easily pretended not to know Little Cato at all. Still, even with the support of a friend, it wasn't enough to keep his spirits high.

They were together now, roaming down a hall along with Kevin by their side. He was all historied out and wanted their conversation to fall on anything but the past, at least that's what he would have preferred.

"Yo, LC." Kevin starts, trailing a bit behind Him and Argit and popping the knuckles on each of his hands for no other reason than because he feels like it. "How did you know all that stuff back there? I don't know any of that and I'm from Earth." Kevin snickers under his breath. "Like what's Clifton mean it's something you should know? I clearly don't have the time to know about all that old stuff."

Little Cato hums. Kevin wasn't the kind of guy who'd enjoy a history lesson. He wasn't the kind of guy who enjoyed learning in general. He never asked for much and never really cared for much either. If it didn't have anything to do with a car or his siblings, it wasn't so important.

"It's really all about patients." Little Cato laughed nervously, weaving off his extensive knowledge of all things Alliance.

"Well, shit," Kevin mutters past a smirk. "I could definitely use the help with a subject like that. History's not my strong suit" Little Cato thinks he'd need a little more than help, but if he was asking then the teen would happily indulge.

The group had some time before their next class would begin, for Little Cato at least, so they spent most of it roaming the halls and talking about the school. Much like Timmy before, Kevin and Argit's credits were good, so their classes were spread throughout the day. That meant they also didn't have to do as many in one sitting as the Ventrexian had.

Little Cato groans. Even Kevin had better credits than him. Granted he didn't have any at all but that wouldn't stop the young teen from feeling somewhat envious of his peers.

The group had found themselves in the main hall after some time of aimlessly walking. Little Cato was too busy reading over his class schedule again to pay any attention to where they were now or where they were heading. He was still having an odd time wrapping his head around the concept of class periods. 

Homeschooling was just so different than what he'd been doing now, it never even felt like schooling most days. The young teen certainly felt spoiled by it, now his mind was taking more time than he would have liked to understand the new environment he found himself stranded in.

"Hey!" The group comes to a stop. The sound of a familiar voice spurs the boy's attention away from the schedule in his hands and up to the source of the excitement. "Hey LC." It was Timmy again, this time accosted by two others. "Look who I fished out of the gutter."

"Yeah, fuck off." Ash pushes past the feline and immediately jogs up too Little Cato. "Hey junior. How's school treating you so far Junior?" She asks, coming to a stop in front of the boy with a patient look on her face.

Little Cato begins to speak, his mouth hung slightly open with some phony words of appraisal for the school he had thought up seemingly stuck. "It's... alright so far." His answer came out slowly, giving the pink-haired girl more than enough reason to doubt it.

"So far... right." Meowmar scoffs, stepping beside Ash. "It's like that you know. May seem all nice and pretty and attractive on the surface but underneath all the caked-on makeup the place is a real shithole, full of sociopathic trust fund brats and regular psychos too."

"Gen, you think every where's like that though." Little Cato said, dismissing the other Ventrexian's mistrustful words.

"Am I usually wrong?"

Little Cato is ready to disagree with Meowmar but the argument is quickly subdued when Kevin makes his way into the conversation. "Now, now you should pay more attention to the general." He said, gracefully prancing to the olive Ventrexian's defense. "He's got true paranoia you know. I've never met another person more in the know than him."

Meowmar taps a finger to the side of his head and shrugs his shoulders with an excessively proud smirk. "What can I say." He held on to his cocky expression, subjecting Little Cato to the full brunt of it. However, it would immediately veer into something more peeved when his eyes glide past Little Cato altogether. "Speaking of regular psychos." He grumbles as the rest of the group glances past the young teen as well.

Little Cato was also ready to turn and see who everyone had been staring at but before he could his vision darkened. The feeling of something cold shrouding his eyes startles him slightly, though he does his best not to show it.

From what he could tell the objects covering his eyes were hands. Hands that had clearly been out in the cold for a bit too long. "Guess who." A muffled voice fills Little Cato's ears and kickstarts his heart. "I know it's a little hard to tell but just take a quick guess." The voice urges him to invoke a name with a little shake. Little Cato already knew who it was, he just didn't feel like saying it. "I'll give you a hint-"

"No."

"Why not." The voice says confused though the hands would remain held over Little Cato's eyes.

"Well, I'm still mad at you, so that's for one." The teen said, folding his arms over his chest.

"Bitch what?" Suddenly light returns to Little Cato's vision as the hands are removed. He turns around to see Kendrick, taken aback and seemingly appalled at the boy. "You still upset about the market? How long are you gonna hold that over my head nigga." Kendrick huffed. He was angry but Little Cato didn't care so much this time around. His issue wasn't Cherry Blossom, it was about way more than just Cherry Blossom. "Look Little Cato." Kendrick sighs, apparently calming himself down. "I did my best I really did. Your dad just... broke me. You should have seen the look in his eyes, I was fearing for my life choom." The taller teen pulls out all of his theatrics for the boy. Little Cato kept his arms crossed and face rested in doubt still. He wasn't sure how much of Kendrick's story he actually believed though he knew for certain that it wasn't much.

"What are you doing here anyway?" Little Cato rushes to change the subject instantly. "Do you even go to school?"

"Yeah." Ash walks up beside Little Cato with a sigh. "Just because he's got one more year here and only one class, he feels he can show up whenever he wants."

"Yeah..." Kendrick chimes in. "I mean that's how it works doesn't it?"

All eyes in the group look to Kendrick. Their faces sat in a range of emotions, from smiles to annoyed grimaces. Little Cato wanted to say something, not about school or Kendrick's lack of interest in it but about how the masked teen had been acting a few days prior, about how Kendrick had been seemingly avoiding him at all costs. Up until now, that is.

Try as he might, Little Cato was having a harder time than usual getting any of his concerns out. He doesn't know how to bring the topic up without sounding like a clingy girlfriend.

"Hey!" His intentions fall even more to the wayside when a hasty holler gathers the group's communal attention. Another group of three boys treks up with smug looks covering their faces. The three teens had an entitled air about them. Little Cato could have said that about most of the students there but these three boys especially. They absolutely reeked of designer cologne, morning mimosas, and weekend trips to the Alps just because. 

"Oh, here we go." Argit laments at the group's approach.

"You're the new kid, right? Avocato Goodspeed." The blonde teen at the front of the group addresses Little Cato with a fiendish sneer.

The Ventrexian's eyes bounce around reluctantly. "Yeah..." He spoke slowly. "Who are you?"

"Tavish De Marco," Argit whispers to Little Cato. "He likes to think he runs the school, but like Gen said, he's just a psycho with a trust fund."

"Really." Little Cato tilts over to Argit with his eyes squinted away from the blonde.

"Hey, hey! Eyes to me new kid." The entitled blonde snaps his fingers to Little Cato, demanding and receiving his attention. "I saw you sucking up to Clifton early like some dick sucking, kiss ass." Tavish spat, the lackeys at his side chortling as if his insult was the peak of comedy for them.

"Yo Tav calm down." Kendrick dismissively waves at the blonde, though the gesture only irritates him further.

"Fuck off." Tavish snarls at the taller teenager. "Like hell am I going to have some Bennie embarrass me in my own school."

Little Cato glares on in surprise and with a little irritation of his own. He didn't like the way Tavish had spoken to Kendrick, as if he had the right to talk to him like that. "I don't see how participating in class is sucking up." He laughs to himself. "Maybe if you studied more, you'd know about your own world's history. Maybe then an Alien Bennie wouldn't have to embarrass you." A few snickers and oooo's erupt from Little Cato's group and the few passing students who'd stopped to witness the confrontation.

Tavish was taken aback, eyes moving around nervously when he noticed he was being watched from all angles. "You fucking bitch." He moves up too Little Cato and throws out a fast punch that the young Ventrexian immediately sidesteps and catches in his hands. He takes the blonde's arm and twists it behind his back, causing Tavish to drop to his knees with a stunned gasp.

"Tavish!" The teen that stood to the right of the blonde, an Octoling with purple tentacle-like hair and brown skin, runs up and hunkers down by his side. "Oh, you dick." The Octoling fired a vigorous glare up at Little Cato as he kept a hand on Tavish's arm.

"What?" Little Cato blurted, keeping his hands held up in a combat-ready state. "He came at me."

Tavish stood up, shoving the Octoling aside and holding his wrist in his other hand. "Okay." He directed a tranquil sneer to Little Cato. "Just watch your back new kid. I'd hate for things to get... unpleasant between us." The blonde spoke to him as if he hadn't just been sent to his knees in pain. "Come on." He scoffs back to his group of friends as he's the first to take off. They each follow him one after the other with the Octoling trailing behind him last.

"Hump, See-ya." The Octoling says, flipping a middle finger up at Little Cato, and takes off after his group.

"Jeez. Talk about stuck up." Meowmar walks out past Little Cato to watch Tavish and his boys go. "What even was that you did LC? Did you break his arm?"

Little Cato's body loosened up once he was sure the other group was gone. "No... just sprained it if I did it right." He looks at his hands. Up until this moment Little Cato had never been in a real fight before. He never had to say anything to another person let alone nearly break an arm. "It's an A.I.A maneuver my dad taught me."

Meowmar double-takes before letting out a shocked gasp "I'm sorry A.I.A!?" 

Little Cato rubs the back of one of his ears with a nervous smile paving its way across his lips. "It's nothing really. I don't even know much from that particular style."

Meowmar continues to stare with an open mouth. "A.I.A!?" He repeated. He was clearly not taking the revelation so well.

"You know the general's got a point." Kevin butts in. "You don't usually see kids bustin' out secret agent fighting maneuvers every day. It's a little sketch, isn't it?"

"It's not sketch." Both Timmy and Ash simultaneously argue on behalf of Little Cato. "He's just different like that," Ash said, stepping beside Little Cato and running a hand through his bright blue hair. "Besides, he's a spacer remember. He's bound to pick up something being around all that army personnel."

Accepting Hums reverberates from Kavin and Kendrick. Meowmar was still in a state of shock but at least he had stopped talking. If Little Cato knew his friends would have such a strong reaction, he would have reconsidered defending himself. Hell, Kendrick would have defiantly retaliated against the blonde, blue blood, that much Little Cato was sure of.

Suddenly a loud ringing would cause the boy's nerves to fly into a frenzy. "Oh shit," he jolted. "I gotta go guys, I have to get to English. I'll see you later." He spoke franticly and took off with his schedule in hand.

"Wait what? Junior!" Ash calls after him with no luck in getting the boy to stop. "What's he doing?"

Timmy steps beside the pink-haired girl. "He has no credits in the system, so they completely packed his schedule." The group of friends let out a collective moan of realization.

Ash continues to hum to herself, kicking her formal boots against the glistening tiles of the main hall. "That sucks." She pouts, likely more aggravated about Little Cato's situation than he was.   

Chapter 14: First days are always the longest.

Notes:

It's probably not a good sign if my own writing makes my brain hurt right...? Sometimes I mean.

Little Cato waves his friends goodbye and immediately begins shuffling toward his apartment. The phoned-in smile he had to put up with all day disappeared in an instant as soon as the others were out of sight.

To say his day had been a long one would be underselling it by a broad margin. He holds a hand to the side of his neck in hopes of possibly relieving some of the tension he'd been feeling. It hardly works and if anything, it shifts the pain to other places. His body was sore, and his feet were whining for rest. Dress shoes were not made for running, yet he'd been doing nothing but running and nearly slipping on waxed polished floors all day long.

For the most part, his classes were singled into one building and easily acceptable to his sheer relief but on occasion, he would have to sprint halfway across campus just so he wouldn't be late for the ones that just so happened to be hosted in a completely separate building or lecture hall.

Little Cato wishes he could say that was the worst of it, that his constant running through long halls and across campus blocks was as bad as it would get but his fellow students took that cake by a landslide. He had just barely started school and already so many other kids wanted him gone. He already thought dealing with Tavish was bad but sure enough more obstacles would come crawling their way out of the woodwork to test the boy.

He seemed to be in some new conflict every other half hour, whether it was juvenile teasing or him being forced to defend himself. He could hold his own just fine when a kid decided he wanted to test his luck and throw a hit, no problem. His problems arrive with petty hazing. He couldn't do much if someone was harmlessly teasing him. He especially found that out the hard way after a couple of bastards decided that tugging at his tail during P.E. would be the funniest thing. Of course, he would pay them back by running his claws over their uniforms. They weren't hurt but their gym clothes had some nasty marks added to them.

He got in trouble for that little show of backlash. Since those kids weren't out to hurt him the school prefects found Little Cato's reaction to be unwarranted. They would let him off the hook with a stern talking to, it was his first day after all, though the school dean had mentioned they would be giving his home a call later. That wasn't something he was super excited about.

If anything, the only good part about his day were the teachers. They had taken a liking to Little Cato quickly, and though the reason for their fondness was partially due to his namesake, they mostly treasured his work ethic in class. Not a lot of students showed the same amount of zeal as Little Cato did when it came to schoolwork, and they seemed to adore him for it. They were already calling him the best student they'd had in a long while and that general opinion just didn't sit right with his peers outside of his friend group.

Despite some of the positives that had come, he was done all the same. The only emotion that remained from this long day was weariness and he was ready to throw in the towel for the rest of it. The idea of having to do it all again tomorrow dampens his mood extensively. He could already feel the new aches and pains that would come with a new school day. He'd find a way to manage it all eventually but for now it was too tiring a thought for him.

The door to his apartment slides open with a swoosh that sends a relaxing shiver through his body, and he steps in, kicking off his fancy shoes and dragging his feet along the vacuumed carpet. He was finally home, back to the cramped comfort of his much simpler existence. All Little Cato could think about was sleep, his blankets, and the pillow that awaited his weary head. It was calling to him like a sarin song out in the open sea and sure enough, he would answer the call without putting up much of a struggle.

"Little Cato." Or he would have if his dad hadn't pulled him away from his intention. "Is that you kid?" Little Cato considers not answering the older Ventrexian, instead just slinking off quietly to his room past the sofa pit, and he would have done so if his dad didn't feel the need to turn his head to face the young teen. "What's up?"

Little Cato stood in place, gathered in a moment of deliberation. He looks at his room door, he could still go. "Hey, Dad." But his dad had already addressed him, it would be rude to go without saying much and Little Cato felt he could use someone to speak to anyway. Might as well lean on the man's shoulder. "Just a long day that's all." He said, looking at his dad who stared back at him from the sunken part of their living room. "What are you doing over there?" His dad continues to look at Little Cato before slowly raising his hands with a gaming controller clasped within them.

Little Cato tilts his head at the man, lifting a brow apprehensively as he brings his eyes over to the wall-mounted TV that sits at the other end of the sofa pit. He hadn't noticed his dad was playing video games, he didn't even realize they had a console until that very moment.

"Wanna play some?" His dad offered, waving the controller in the air. It wasn't an offer Little Cato would refuse. He could use the downtime and he couldn't think of a better way to get his mind off of his long day. Little Cato slinks his way over to the sofa pit and climbs in, falling down beside his dad.

"When did we get this?" He asks picking up the second black controller that sat on the small coffee table at the center of the pit.

"While you were off at school. Thought maybe it might help you take your mind off of... certain things." His dad grimaces, hinting toward what Gary had put Little Cato through earlier and what the blonde had been putting the boy through for the past week or so. "He already got us set up too." Avocato backs out of the game he'd already been playing and comes to a display showing three different profiles.

Little Cato huffs with a small smirk. Gary certainly worked fast. Spider_cat was obviously him; it was a nickname Gary had given him for how antsy he used to be. He could never sit still for too long when he was younger, and it used to drive the blonde mad with worry when he couldn't find his baby where he last left him. Thund3rband1t was Gary, that was a name Little Cato had given him funnily enough. Despite his seemingly squeaky-clean behavior now, the blonde used to be a real scoundrel, more rebellious and fun even if he was in the navy. Little Cato was young, but he could still remember the things Gary used to get up to. Little Cato is sure that the old Gary is still inside his new sanitized shell buried somewhere deep. He wonders why the blonde tries so hard to hide it. 

The last name strikes Little Cato as odd, and a bit humorous. MrWhiskers, obviously his dad but not a name the man would have chosen on his own. The older Ventrexian wasn't the most creative guy so Gary must have been the one to make the name and most likely to the Avocato's objection. 

Little Cato gets a kick out of seeing their nicknames displayed on screen, nonetheless. Considering that he was technically still grounded Little Cato was surprised that Gary would go through the trouble of making his profile let alone buy a whole new gaming console. For the house sure, but nothing was stopping Little Cato from using it.

"So what were we playing?" Little Cato turns to his dad. The older Vnetrexian keeps his eyes on the TV and a smile on his face. 

"When's the last time we've been shooting together? It's been a while, hasn't it? Your aims probably getting a bit rusty I bet." Low laughter settles in Avocato's throat as he turns to face the young teen. "I was thinking of a one-on-one. Me versus you like usual."

It's Little Cato's turn to laugh beneath his breath. "You know shooting in video games is a way different thing don't you Dad?" He shakes his head. The man wasn't exactly an avid gamer, yet he issued the challenge without a second thought. He may have been able to outshoot Little Cato in real life but in a world where the boy didn't have to worry about things like accuracy and kickback from heavy or even slight recoil, the older Ventrexian was as good as done for.

"Well, I think you're selling me a little short here kid." Avocato turns his gaze back to the mounted TV. "Or maybe you're just to chicken face your old man." Avocato teases him. He was trying to goad the boy and honestly, it had worked. Little Cato turns up a pompous smirk and nods, motioning for the man to start up the game. It was his funeral.

The screen dulls for a moment before coming back to life with the logo of the game's producer, followed by the developers and any other studio that might have been involved in the making of the project. After a few more labored seconds of blackness, the start screen for the game materializes with a prompt that reads 'press any button' spelled out along the bottom of the screen.

It takes his dad some time to figure out how to work the main menu and a bit of help from Little Cato to get the two where they needed to be in the multiplayer menu though after the brief complication, things were on the right track. Avocato managed to set up the local multiplayer session without much hassle and the two each took some time to set up the classes they'd be using against one another. 

Once that was done the map was chosen, selected by Little Cato since he'd been more knowledgeable on the proper ethics of a one-on-one match with this game in particular. The map he chooses is one where all differences are settled. After a little pre-game trash talk between the father and son, they're ready to go as the timer on the screen counts down to the match's start.

"So," Avocato starts, leaning over to the younger Ventrexian next to him. "You said you were having a long day, right? What's happening with that?" The man asks as he begins to rush out once the game begins. His dad was eager to get started, jumping straight to searching the map for his target. Avocato was always a hands-on man, always choosing to approach his problems like a hungry wolf or maybe an angry gorilla.

Little Cato on the other hand decided to play it slow, camping out in dark corners and waiting for his victim to stumble upon him. He likes to playthings safe, to creep up on his enemies like a stalking tiger. When push came to shove, he'd take after his dad but normally the young teen would approach any situation with a cool head if he could help it. He was sort of like Gary in that sense.

"With my day...?" Little Cato bobs his head at the question. He doesn't know where to start with his day. There was a lot on his mind, and he doubted his dad would be able to ease any of those problems running through it. "I don't even know... I always thought school was gonna be... better if that makes sense." He opens fire once his dad is in sight, gunning down his character quickly and taking the first point.

Avocato jerks forward, letting out a frustrated grunt from his previous death. "So, what, you saying you don't like it?" 

"I didn't say that." Little utters as he takes another quick potshot at his dad. He wasn't aiming to kill him this time. The boy just wanted to rattle his nerves a bit. "I was just hoping for something more... peaceful, I guess. So far, it's been nothing but a nightmare sort of. A lot of running around, a lot of kids wanting to test my patients, and a lot more wanting to fight me."

"Fight you?" Avocato snickers, a bit out of disbelief. "Why would anyone want to fight you? On the first day too?" He turns a corner, spotting and killing Little Cato before the teenager has a chance to react.

The boy had been asking himself the same question all day. At first, he thinks it was the way he excelled in his classes after only just arriving. A lot of kids there didn't want to be one-upped by some spacer Bennie, but Argit believed differently. He told Little Cato that the other students' disinclination toward him might have been an issue of status and no talent or intelligence. He was the grandson of a person who had sway in the nation, who had a say in shaping what it would be. To them, Little Cato was at the forefront of society and every single person in that school, and they couldn't stand it, especially with how humble he presented himself.

He couldn't say there wasn't evidence to disprove Argit's claim. They may not know it, but Little Cato could hear their hushed whispering and mulish distrust. Some felt he was lying or that his records were doctored for no discernable reason. There was no way in their minds that he could possibly be a Goodspeed and the ones who thought he was telling the truth felt that his parent's marriage wouldn't last. Sure, he was a Goodspeed now but once his parents were separated, he wouldn't be. Still, others, mostly human students, talk about Gary and John, calling them disgusting or disgraceful for intermingling with races that weren't human.

Those comments got his blood to boil the most and they were the reason behind most of his conflicts that day.

"It's a little more complicated than I was hoping for, you know?" Little Cato said, catching his dad off guard again and killing him, adding another point to the scoreboard. "And the thought of having to do it all again tomorrow and the day after that... to see all the kids again and again, and to do all that running again and to hear their-..." He stops when his thoughts begin to manifest unintentionally. Little Cato could even feel his eyes bubble up on the verge of tears but could hardly understand why he'd want to cry. "It's kinda disheartening..." He manages to catch his dad again when he hears shots ring out though nothing actually hits him.

"Hmm." Avocato hums, hunching over and focusing on the screen. "Did you fight back?" He asks, getting a low chuckle out of his son.

"Of course..." Little Cato's furrows into a worried heap suddenly. "They said they're calling the house later today actually..." He winced through clenched teeth.

"Oh lord." His dad didn't have to say much besides that. Once they got ahold of Gary Little Cato could only imagine the mouthful, he'd receive from the overbearing blonde. "Uhh... tell you what, once Gary gets back and the call comes through, I got your back. You were defending yourself after all, I don't see why they need to call." Little Cato smiles. Throughout Little Cato's grounding, his father has yet to get in between him and Gary. Seeing him so willing to lighten the load now makes the boy feel a little less nervous and a lot warmer inside. "God." Avocato hissed when his screen shook violently, and his character fell again. "How are you so good at this?" The man waves his controller in astonishment.

The young teen giggles. Their game was almost over with Little Cato taking the lead far ahead of his dad. All he needed was one more kill and the game was called. 

"Dad, I keep telling you, it's not like real life. If you see me from a distance, you can just shoot straight at me. There's no need for aiming ahead in a game like this."

"Oh," Avocato said. "Have I been doing that?"

"Every single time."

The older Ventrexian throws his head back with some semblance of understanding for virtual shooting. "Right... I didn't realize." He might have understood now but Little Cato knew it wouldn't take the man long at all to return to treating the game like it was reality. Some habits were hard to break for the man. "Well, you got me anyway." He drops his controller off to the side as his Little Cato scores the last kill and like that, the game comes to a close. "I'm gonna get you one of these days you know. Count on it kid."

"Yeah, the day you outshoot me in a game is the day I outshoot you for real, Dad." He smirks, half joking with the older Ventrexian. Little Cato knew he couldn't really stack up to his dad in most cases, but his dad at least had the chance to learn how to play a first-person shooter. They were way easier than handling a real gun in comparison and the older Ventrexian was already well adapted in the field of firearms. Needless to say, it was never going to happen for Little Cato.

Avocato shrugs at his son, humming doubtfully to him. "Maybe I'll try to sniff out a shooting range for us soon. How about some TV instead? That last ass Beatings got me reconsidering some things admittedly." Little Cato agreed with a small nod. His dad reaches for the controller but stops just short of switching the screen back to regular television when they hear a sound coming from the other side of their front door.

"Yes, yes okay... I see." The voice was muffled but they could tell it was mildly frustrated all the same. Gary was at the door, sat just on the other side and by the sounds of it he was on the phone with someone. "Avocato Ornifex Goodspeed Junior!" The blonde echos his full name before even setting foot in the apartment. Though it was slightly muted, the words get even the boy's father to pout nervously. 

The door would slide open not too soon after the screaming had started and the blonde stomps through the threshold, instantly locking eyes with Little Cato in the sofa pit. He silently ambles over to the young teen and stares him down.

"Really?" He starts, his eyes held onto Little Cato so furiously that he barely even takes the time to blink. "Fighting in school mister?" 

Chapter 15: Grandma!?

Notes:

I just found out that the phrase is save for and not say for, like except for or other than. I'm still working my way through this vocabulary thing; writhing has really been helping with shattering my perception of the English language.

It's a Friday afternoon. Orange streaks of light burst through the open shutters of his apartment window. The TV was on and buzzing at a low volume in the background. Little Cato was hunched over the little coffee table in his living room, mulling over schoolbooks and data pads with a pencil in hand. He was deeply immersed in his schoolwork, using the soft sound of some cartoon he'd carelessly thrown on as a study aid.

As predicted, the last week had been one of the longest in his life. School, as it was now, wasn't as glamorous as television made it out to be. It mostly consisted of running from class to class, for him at least, dealing with students who thought that sucking up to him would fetch them some kind of reward if not a boost in status, and settling scores with jealous kids with nothing better to do with their time.

Tavish was proving to be a particularly annoying thorn in his side. The blonde scion had a lot of anger issues and saw himself as above most of the people he interacted with. Up until Little Cato's arrival, he was the most influential teenager to grace that school. His family was one of Night City's more ultra-wealthy, at the top of the totem pole in every sense, and even had ties to the Eurodine corporation, with his father being an executive at the company. 

Needless to say, Tavish was feeling a little bigger than his boots actually fit. That is until someone like Little Cato came along whose family was at the head of the nation and arguably far more important than Tavish's own. That's when the blonde starts to realize just how nearly insignificant, he actually is.

It drove him crazy, and he took every chance he could to belittle, downsize, scrutinize, and pick at Little Cato. Though that's not to say Little Cato couldn't turn the insults back around on the entitled blonde.

The young teen was never one to boast but he was also never hesitant to put the young hairiest in his place whenever he stepped out of line. From threats to having his family blacklisted to deportation, Little Cato would pull out all the stops for the entitled boy. It was all smoke and mirrors however, Gary was never one to ask his parents for handouts, but Tavish didn't know that, so Little Cato would milk the strategy every chance he got if it meant keeping the blonde boy off his back.

Tavish was nothing, Little Cato tended to treat him like a misbehaving dog. He couldn't say the same for his Octoling friend, Koral he thinks his name was. That boy was malicious, he knew how to push Little Cato's buttons and the best times to do so. Unlike Tavish, He wouldn't scare so easily but he was also smart. He'd always keep his harassment to just that, making passive-aggressive passes and hurling insults with strategic purpose. He wouldn't try to fight Little Cato because he knew he wouldn't win but he also knew Little Cato wouldn't start a fight if he wasn't threatened. He was a real piece of work.

It was a long week and Little Cato's happy it was finally coming to a close. Instead of heading out to see his friends immediately after coming home from school, he would take the opportunity to knock out his homework so he could have the rest of the weekend to himself.

Little Cato let a solemn hum feel the silent apartment, dropping his pencil into his open notebook. It had just occurred to him that he'd been working nonstop since slinking in past the front door and dropping into the sofa pit. He barely even took some time to undress, only removing his blazer and vest, and tossing it on the couch next to him.

He pushes his books and some of the school data pads off to the side of his little coffee table, picks up the remote to the TV, and starts absently flipping through channels. He has no clear goal and nothing he wants to particularly watch.

That's not to say there wasn't anything on. Watson whore should have been on then, it aired every afternoon around the time he'd be getting home from school. The latest session had recently come to an end so the episodes airing lately were just reruns but that didn't matter to him. That show was so good he could binge-watch and rewatch it till the day he died. Only he didn't feel like watching it at that moment nor any of the shows that normally snatched his attention span.

Sitcoms, romcoms, dramas, crime dramas, comedies. None of it was wetting his whistle today like it would have any other day. He couldn't bring himself to stay on one program for long before changing the channel. It may have been the results of the past week, he felt so overwhelmed with classes and students either bothering him or kissing up to him that he was completely drained.

Little Cato needed something uneventful, something boring or trivial that he could drown out his load thoughts to. Something like... "Oh..." He comes to a full stop, tossing the TV remote to the side. It was the afternoon news, and a story segment was already in progress. Just perfect he thinks, the news had to be the most uneventful thing he could think of. It was nice and boring most days.

It wasn't Night City's local news network either. This was ANN, a channel that played nothing but news that covered all aspects of the Alliance for twenty-four consecutive hours a day. Little Cato always found the network's afternoon anchors to be so enthralling. The way they bounced off of one another was astounding, and a work of genius if their back-and-forth commentary were all planned out.

"Who would have known someone so significant could have such a big heart." One of the anchors, a man with peach fuzz skin, a nearly flawless head of hair, and a tailored smile, said leaning over to his oc-anchor. "You think we'd ever be able to get Aaron in for an interview? A guy as rich as him can't be that busy."

"Well, I doubt he'd have the time to talk to you Richerd." The co-anchor, a woman in a tight-fitted white suit, points a friendly grin back at the man. "Besides I heard he was gearing up for a trip to Eden in Africa with another big entrepreneur." They were talking about Aaron Eurodine. That's a name that seems to pop up around Little Cato a lot. He'd say he was sick of it, but the Eurodine family were a pretty important staple to the Alliance. They were an old family who's been supporting the nation since its founding. They did a lot of charity work, Aaron, more than the rest of his family at least. He was alright as far as billionaires went.

"Yeah, I heard about that..." The man continues, trailing off a bit. "Imagen going on vacation with a McDuck, Redina. All that old money in one place... it has to make a man nervous."

"Well for lesser men maybe." The co-anchor, Redina said nodding to the other.

"Well bite me bitch." He quickly mutters before continuing on to the next story. "In other news, in slew of recent events on Mars, company Ultor pushed investments to strengthen the Earth Defense Force militia. We'll now take you to our man on the field who will hopefully shed more light on the company's new strategy."

The feed cuts away from the two anchors and the image of a Lombax, another species in the galaxy that resembled walking, talking cats, with black streaks around his long ears fades into view. He stood nervously, eyes darting around from side to side as a fixed smile sat firmly on his face.

He waits around eventually bobbing his head when his cue to speak has yet to arrive. The time between the anchors passing the segment to an on-field reporter was always delayed no matter the distance. That Lombax could be standing on earth and there would have been at least a minute-long wait.

"Yes Rich, I'm here at the headquarters of Ultor along with CEO, Alabaster Yutao." The reporter began after a few seconds, immediately introducing a young man with one red glowing cybernetic eye and a cocky, unbearable sideways smirk running up his face. His nearly featureless gray face, say for his eyes, ears, and mouth indicated that he was a Martian. Little Cato's only seen a handful of his kind but that's because Martians rarely ever left the solar system and the ones that did always were Alliance military. "Mr. Yutao, is there anything you can tell us about this new project your company is heading?" The Lombax waves his microphone in front of the young CEO's face.

"Well, it's nothing I can speak on quite yet. The project is under wraps, strictly hush, hush but what I can tell you is that it will turn the tide of this little rebellion, that I can guarantee." He flashes his iridescent smile to the camera. "Mars is already free, it doesn't need to be anything more." The young man raises his wrist to look at the biometric watch, that all corpos carried, wrapped around it. "If you'll excuse me, I have a meeting in a few minutes. Me and kessle- uhhh... I mean, my investors are going over the budget for this quarter, Mars isn't going the manage itself... yeah." The CEO shuffles off. For some odd reason, his infectious confidence had faded as he had suddenly become nervous, much to the reporter's bewilderment as well as Little Cato's.

"Anywho... You heard it here first. No new information just yet but that is sure to change in the coming days and of course, we will do our utmost to keep you posted. Back to you Rich."

The feed cuts away from the reporter and fades back to the two anchors. "Think you Felix we certainly hope to hear more from the happenings on Mars," Richerd said, rolling his eyes and picking up a data pad. "I gotta say though, that Yutao kid is a snappy dresser, isn't he?"

"Well to me it looks like he's taking a lot of inspiration from Handsom Jack." Redina sasses the man with another pesky smirk. "Besides I hope you're not getting any bright ideas. The suits you own are tacky enough as it is."

He chuckles and hums. "Well, they're better than the rags you wear on a daily Redina." He said through his tact-on smile. "In upcoming news, new developments in the Umbrella convoy attack. an Eliksni non-human activist killed in a freak accident recently, some are calling it foul play. Arasaka and Militech are back at each other's throats, could this be signs of a new corpert war? The Admirals are certainly keeping close eyes. And Are your children truly safe online? Studies show an increase in child abductions over the Nat may prove otherwise. Of course, all this after our break." The feed fades out and cuts to a commercial break. 

Little Cato was beside himself from the last news story. Was there a rebellion on Mars right now? From the way the CEO and reporter spoke, they made sound like it was in full swing. How could he not know something like that? His hands unconsciously make their way to his neck the more he thought about it. He recalls the braindance he had sampled back in Cherry Blossom Market and the way it felt. 

He couldn't believe there was a war so close to him, closer than he ever would have expected something like that. His thoughts drift to Mars, what both sides could have been going through, and the pain that might have been inflicted on one another. Little Cato's hands move further up his head and coral around his ears. That feeling was so intense, he swears he can still feel it and some part of him wants to feel it again.

"You there!" Little Cato jumps and looks around the apartment in search source of the sudden yelling. "Oh yes, you there!" The boy's search comes to a stop when he realizes that the voice addressing him, rather violently, had been coming from the TV itself. "Sick of your boring day-to-day!? Are normal gang turf wars and group brawls becoming a little too mundane for your liking!?" It was a commercial, eagerly advertising something that caches the boy's undying attention. He was totally fixated on the product even if he didn't know what it was yet. "Well, why not come on down to the newly reopened and renovated for combat sports, EBM Petrochem Stadium this Sunday for some good old-fashioned family bloodshed. And with the night's headliner all the way from Legion space, bloodshed has never looked so damn good!" The image that unravels on the screen causes Little Cato to pull a quick dumbfounded double take.

"Woah." He let out a steady gasp at the image. a blonde with a large blade in one hand and a rifle in the other. The first person that came to mind when the image appeared was Gary though it wasn't the same blonde he was looking at. The hair was too long and more importantly the person was a woman. No, it wasn't Gary but his someone he knew, someone hadn't laid eyes on in a long time.

"Are you gonna let this opportunity slip through your fingers?"

"No." Little Cato responds to the TV.

"A show from the notorious Sheryl Cutthroat isn't something you're gonna want to miss is it!?"

"No." Little Cato said leaning onto the coffee table with an overwhelming amount of excitement coursing through him as the ad proceeded. 

"Then come on down if you think you got the stomach for it." The commercial continues to provoke the boy's eagerness, causing him to jump out of his seat. 

"I do! I will!" The commercial comes to a close and the music fades with one last still shot of his grandma ripping the head off some poor mercenary with a smile on her face.

Little Cato was rendered speechless. He couldn't believe what he'd just seen. His grandma was coming to Night City, on Sunday night. He didn't know how to feel about the information relayed to him just then. His body could hardly move an inch and he didn't know whether he should be smiling or not.

"Oh my god." Another voice, this time from Gary behind him, startles the boy again. "Is she really coming here...?" Gary murmurs, staring at the screen of the wall-mounted TV.

Little Cato frantically spins around to the man. "Gary." He starts up breathlessly. "Did you see that?" Little Cato points a finger back to the TV, his emotions still in a tangled heap of excitement. His lips curl up and down on his face as his mind endeavors to sort out the best emotion for him. "Grandma." He blurts.

"Yeah, yeah..." Gary sighed at the young teen. "I saw her and no, we are not going."

"What?" Little Cato groans. "Why not? It's been so long."

"Exactly. It's been way too long. Why do you even want to see here anyway?" Gary snaps, coxing a small flinch out of the boy. The man's resentment wasn't directed toward Little Cato but more so the situation. "Look Little Cato, how about you head out." He wanders around the sofa pit and smiles at the boy once he comes to a stop in front of him. "Get you some of that all-natural heat."

Little Cato scoffs at the blonde. "I don't want to go outside." He argued. "Not until you say we can see go grandma."

Gary's smile drops as he stares at Little Cato. "Little mister." He spoke in a low tone. He furrows his brows at the young teen though his son refuses to budge. Little Cato was going to stand his ground this time and Gary knew there was nothing he could say to convince him otherwise. "Okay..." Gary sighs, head falling back in defeat. "Head out and... I'll think about it." Little Cato's mood lightens up.

"Really?" He asks with hopeful eyes.

Gary nods. "But you have to go now." Gary gestures to the front door.

"Promise." 

"Little Cato..." Gary starts and stops at the sight of Little Cato's misty eyes. He sighs again and breaks out a soft smile. "I promise... now can you please go get some fresh air... for me?" The young teen jumps off of the couch and hikes out of the sofa pit with no argument. He ran over to the front door and slid back into the dress shoes he had kicked off earlier. Since he never bothered to get undressed it didn't take long to get prepared. "Don't go too far!" Gary shouts though Little Cato is already out of the apartment before the blonde can give him any kind of warning.

Little Cato was excited. Like Gary had said It had been way too long since he's seen his grandmother. The last time he could remember was when he was very small, so he could just barely remember anything at all. All save for the way her hands felt against his fur.

The feeling was so vivid, even now he could feel her warm hands holding him still. Gary always had issues with the woman. She was a matter the blonde never wanted to go into, and Little Cato could understand why but she was still Little Cato's grandma and Gary's mom. She was still a part of the family even if she wasn't actively a part of it at the moment.

The woman meant everything to him, even if they hadn't had the most interaction, Little Cato knew she loved him. That's what his grandpa would relay to him.

Little Cato stalks down the halls of floor fourteen, still daydreaming about his grandma and the night he'd be able to see her again. He goes over all the things he wanted to ask the faded blonde woman. What had she been up to? How were things going and how exactly did she wind up in blood sports. The last question was burning him up the most. 

The commercial mentioned that she was hailing from Legion space. Could that be where the woman has been hiding all this time? Living amongst Ceasar's Legion in Neo Arcadia for that long. There was only one way to find out.

The young teen continues to walk aimlessly until he stumbles upon a wall-mounted ad promoting the stadium on Sunday with an image of his grandmother taking center stage. She had been standing stoically with a sword in one hand and a purple cloak over her shoulders.

Not too long after the first ad he stumbles upon another and another and another after that. Almost every ad block on that floor was of her and Sunday night. They were nearly endless, a jarring display of his grandmother over and over in various positions, all showing off her outstanding might, her achievements, and who she was.

He was absolutely impressed with the woman. For a woman her age her physique was still in tip-top shape and the angry glare she wore could scare any man into submission. If she was anything like Gary, then he was sure of it. Just looking at her still images got Little Cato's blood rushing and from the sounds of excitement in the distance so were some others as well.

His ears bring him to the source of the ruckus. He shouldn't have been surprised to find that it was most of his friends, all clustered up around Kendrick as he held his phone out for the entire group to see.

"Jeez."  Moans of discomfort resonate from each member of the small group.

"God-"

"Damn..." The siblings spoke one after another. "Ooh, that hurts." Sam winces, placing a hand over one eye.

"God." Harp held a hand to the top of her head. "She really tore the top of that guy's scalp off." All of them were either wincing or fidgeting, holding hands to the parts of their bodies that coincided with what the video they had been watching. As violent as it seemed they couldn't bring themselves to look away.

"Is this bitch bad or what?" Kendrick laughs and jolts back after seeing something especially nasty unfold on the small screen.

"Yeah, kinda sexy in a weird way huh?" Meowmar mutters, leaning his head on one of Kendrick's shoulders with a conflicted scowl.

"I still can't get over that thing she did to that guy's ribs." Argit cringes, holding his arms over his stomach.

"And her ripping out the tongue wasn't the most traumatizing thing?" Timmy questions the rodent as he turns a frown back to the phone screen.

They were really taken with the video they'd been watching, secondhand pained flinching aside. Everyone seemed to be afflicted with expressions of awe or some kind of curious terror, all say for Ash that is. The pink-haired girl just stood and watched every second with an exhilarated smile on her face.

Little Cato felt he had stood off to the sideline long enough. He needed to see what the fuss was about though he had a feeling he already knew. "Yo guys, what you watching?" He asked, walking up to the group.

"Yo, LC. Come check this out." Kendrick motions him over with a nod. He steps up to the taller boy's side, laying eyes on the phone screen of Kendrick's phone and sure enough the group had been watching one of his grandmother's death matches. "Is she insane or what. The ads to her match on Sunday started coming around and you won't believe the shock I put through when most of these guys didn't know who she was." Kendrick nods back to the rest of their friend group while holding the phone out for Little Cato.

The young teen chuckles. "Yeah, grandmas on a whole other level isn't she."

"Hold up." Suddenly the phone is drawn away from Little Cato's view. He didn't understand the reason until he brought his sight to a flurry of doubtful faces. "Stop fuckin lyin'."

"No- no, I swear to god she is." Little Cato looks in between the doubt in their eyes with his hands held up innocently. They still don't seem convinced and were only growing less so. Meanwhile, Ash had stepped away from the group and over to one of the ads.

"Oh no guys, he's right. Come have another look." The girl called everyone over to reevaluate the digital poster as she had been doing. The teens crowded around, some squinting at the woman and others just getting as close to the ad as possible. "See the eyes and the chin and... she really does look like Gary huh?"

The group of teens lets shocked moans simultaneously cultivate in the crowded atrium. "Ugh, she does look like a female Gary." Dean's squinting intensifies. "Man, I'm not gonna be able to unsee that."

"Yeah..." Kendrick walks up to the poster next. "Cutthroat's really your grandma? Damn, that body is insane boyo..." The masked teen runs a finger along the digital ad, tracing out the woman's curvy figure. "Right, so she's just a sexier version of Gary then."

Little Cato whips his head around to the taller boy and raises a brow. "What do you mean by that?" He hissed at Kendrick.

"I mean let's face it, El Gato, your grandma's a sex kitten by the looks of it." Dean shrugs. "Hell, we should all get down there Sunday night to get a closer look, if you know what I mean." Dean bites his lip as he peers back at the poster.

"I still think it's bullshit, that's gotta be airbrushed, or something. She didn't look like that in the video." Sam ran a finger along the side of Sheryl's wide hips in hopes of pointing out the Photoshop job. "I refuse to believe she actually looks like this now."

"Yeah, but she was wearing a lot of armor in that video," Timmy said. "You know it could be worth checking out guys. She seems like a fun person."

"Fun person he says." Meowmar taps Timmy's arm in an unruly fit of laughter. "Sure, that's what I was thinking too choomba."

Little Cato couldn't believe what he was hearing or even seeing, his friends swooning over his grandma right in front of him like he didn't even exist. It was a sight that made him nearly sick to his stomach. 

"N-no, no, that seems like a bad idea actually." Little Cato said, trying to get his friends to stop ogling his grandmother by using his body to cover up the digital poster though the strategy doesn't really work out in his favor. 

Kendrick would move him out of the way by pulling the boy's face into his chest of all places, keeping a firm grip around the back of the boy's head so he couldn't move. He does his best to get out of the taller boy's grip, but the oddest thing happens. His body completely shuts down as his forehead is inundated by the rhythmic pitter-patter of Kendrick's heartbeat. 

All of a sudden Little Cato couldn't move, he didn't want to. His body starts to heat up and he gives up. The boy thinks he's just trapped there until everyone gets bored of drooling over his grandma or tired of standing in one spot, which could take a while. Luckily for the poor boy, assistance would come from the unlikeliest of places.

"Alright, you perverts, that's the man's grandmother for god's sake. Show some respect" Harp pulls Little Cato loose from Kendrick's grasp and huddles up next to him while she glares at the group of boys. "Get going now or I'm gonna give you a reason to start howling." The boys groan and wave before disbanding.

Little Cato was quiet. Did Harp just help him out? Cold-hearted Harp? "Uhh, thanks... for helping me out there." He never thought he'd be thinking Harp for anything. The words felt strange and uncanny even when they leave his mouth.

"Don't mention it... you didn't look like you had the spine to tell 'em off anyway." Well, that was more like the Harp he was expecting.

By the time the rest cleared out the only ones who would remain near the ad were Harp, Argit, Ash, and himself. Little Cato turns back to face the digital poster. This was the closest he's been to the woman in a very long time, and it could end up being the only time as well.

"So... how long has it been since you last seen her?" Ash said, observing him more than the ad he'd been examining.

Little Cato tilted his head off to the side, calculating the time since the woman had last held him. "A long while." He finally spoke.

Ash hums, turning her head to the woman displayed in bright orange neon. "Maybe we should go down to the arena on Sunday. If only just to get a chance to see her." She gently shoved Little Cato, but his eyes didn't leave the image.

"I'd have to convince Gary first." Little Cato pulls his gaze from the ad and brings it to the girl next to him accompanied with a soft smile. "He said he'd think about it." Ash throws her head back with a playful groan. Ninety-nine percent of the time when a parent said to maybe their child it really meant no, but Little Cato had a good feeling that it would be the opposite this time around.

He seldom ever heard from the woman and anytime he wanted to reach out the result would lead to dead ends. His grandpa John never could keep track of the woman all that well and Gary less so. Her being here now out of all places felt like faith. This could have been the only chance to see her in person for a good long while.

"You know, I'm not really into blood sports, colosseums, and all that," Argit said throwing his arms around Little Cato. "But your grandma does make it look like art. I say let's do it."

The teen laughs at the boy on him. "Yeah, yeah... that's what I'm hoping for." He turns his head back to the ad and the faded blonde woman on it. Sheryl Cutthroat. Were they finally going to meet again? "I'm hoping..."

Chapter 16: It'll take more than that.

"Okay... let's see here," Gary said, maneuvering his finger along the screen of his phone. He'd been looking at a small image of an arena, scrolling from one end of the image to the other, using both fingers to enlarge the picture and pinching the screen to bring it back to its original size.

"Ooo-ooo, make sure to get as close to the arena as possible." Little Cato spoke up, leaning over the blonde's shoulder and practically bouncing up and down and his child-like excitement, despite how old he may have been presently. "I have to be close enough to see grandma."

"Lil-" Gary looks over his shoulder to the boy leaning on it. His first thought was to argue against the notion of being so close and possibly deny the request, but he couldn't bring himself to do such a thing, not with how the boy kept a steady, hopeful gaze locked on him. "I'll see what I can do." Gary forfeits through clamped teeth and a big smile.

They had been up early that morning, sitting at the kitchen table to go over their seating arrangements for Sunday night. All the blonde really knew was that Little Cato wanted the front row and any attempt to compromise led to small panic attacks and more tantalizing staring.

Avocato lightly chuckles through a hum. He'd been with his family as they proceeded in their endeavors though not actually getting involved himself. "Arena side huh?" The older Ventrexian had been resting his arms and head lazily on the kitchen table, though his eyes would remain on his son and husband still. "This sounds like a big event. What are the odds of his getting good seats?"

"Well, there's still plenty available," Gary informed the man whilst still going through the map on his phone. "Even if we can't get those, there's plenty of seating just behind. We'd still be close enough."

"Gary nooo!" Little Cato whines at the mention of downgrading the seats they had yet to acquire. "I need to be close enough to see her." The young teen falls off of the blonde's shoulder and comes to rest on the table with both his hands held together. He begins to beg Gary to reconsider even if he hasn't even bought a single ticket yet.

"I know, I know. I'm working on it, spider cat." Gary reassures him as he continues to go over the layout of the arena.

"I don't think it matters where we sit kid." Another hum carries its way over from Avocato. He slowly lumbers up from the table and folded his arms over his chest. "It's not like we're going to be right at the arena. There's still a huge gap between the people and the actual fighting you know." A tiny smirk encroaches upon the older Ventrexian's face. "It's all separated for safety purposes... obviously."

Little Cato shoots a dire look at the man. "Dad that doesn't matter. As long as I can actually see her with my own two eyes, instead of watching her through some screen in the nose bleeds, I'm nova." He hops up from the table restless, waving his hands around the apartment to hypothetical screens displaying his grandmother in the heat of combat.

 "Okay, boys, okay." Gary moves to settle his son down before refocusing on the tiny screen. The blonde finally decides on a spot at the front that should satisfy his son enough to stop the heart-wrenching glimpses he hurls Gary's way.

"You think we could get seats in the center-right lanes?" Avocato pipes up as Gary's finger screeches to a premature stop above the screen of his phone. "It'll make me feel more comfortable if you could."

Gary glances up at the man for a quick second before leaning back down to the device in his hands. "They don't have front-row seats at center right. They have center left... if that works?" Gary brings his eyes back up To Avocato.

His face rumples up in some irritation. "Center-left?" He reiterated, nearly hissing out the words with a nasty scowl. "Fff-fine... yeah. It'll have to do." He grumbled again, turning a groan away.

"Okay, good..." Gary hums looking at his phone and selecting the seats. "Okay, center left lane, that's section G, first row. Anyone have any complaints or objections?" The blonde looks to his son first who shakes his head, then brings his eyes around to the boy's father who merely shrugs at the inquiry. "Good." Gary places the order, buying their tickets for their seats as he leans back in his chair with a relieved albeit worried sigh.

"Yes!" Little Cato hops up from the table with an exhilarated look on his face. His excitement was too much to contain, and he could hardly hold on to it for any longer. Gary might have been breathing easily but Little Cato was more restive. The other day he'd been so worried about this whole thing. Little Cato figured that the blonde would just forget about the event or would simply choose not to acknowledge it at all after getting the boy to leave the house. 

Now, however, it was clear that the man wasn't going to ignore it. This decision was locked in, and they were actually going. Sure, Gary could change his mind and cancel the tickets but why would he? Little Cato was ecstatic, through the roof, over the moon, and out of the solar system. Even so, all his excitement would come to a brief rest when a knock arrived at their door.

It was subtle though loud enough to capture the family's attention as each member brought a different look to the front door, or its general area at least.

"I'll go see who it is." Little Cato pivots around the kitchen table and makes his way to the door. It was early and he wasn't expecting anyone he knew to come around at such a time. He thinks it could be Kendrick's mom. Being the floor manager for floor fourteen, she always made it a point to check in on the residents, particularly the ones she really liked. When Little Cato taps his finger on the door's digital lock pad, opening the door, the sight he finds is more than just a pleasurable surprise. "Ash?"

He raises a momentary brow at the pink haired Serepentian as the smile on his face continues to shift into a disjointed bit of joy. "Hey, Junior." She leans halfway into his apartment from the hallway, a small and somewhat mischievous smile lining her lush lips. "Let's head out."

Immediately Little Cato's buoyant expression slips, and his face comes to rest in a pouty huff. Was she being serious right now? She knew his circumstances and yet she was asking him to come out.

"Ash, stop playing." Little Cato's eyes roll over twice in his annoyance.

"Who's playing?" She leans further toward him before actually stepping into the apartment and partially pressing her body up against the boy. Since Little Cato couldn't just let her in, he'd have to settle for standing chest-to-chest with the girl. "We're supposed to be getting to know each other. How are we gonna do that when you're always cooped up in your apartment?" She kept her voice low, peering over his shoulder and into his home, on the lookout for his blonde father no doubt.

Little Cato threw his head back with a soft groan. She really wanted to hang out now, even though previous attempts from him leaving without permission had only gotten Little Cato in more trouble. He was really starting to regret going down to Northside now. "Ash-"

"Little Cato? Who's at the door." The young teen was gearing up to let Ash down gently before Gary strides up to the door, cutting the oncoming dismissal off. "Oh, Ash, right?"

"Yes, Mr. Goodspeed." Little Cato turns back to the girl as she steps away from him and quickly back into the hallway. "I'm sorry to bother you this morning but it's my father. We had gone shopping, but we grossly miscalculated how much help we might have needed." Little Cato lifts a brow at the girl's sudden change in demeanor. She was so formal now compared to the raunchy jokester she normally portrayed. She even goes so far as to address his dad as Mr. Goodspeed. It was the kind of conduct Little Cato had only seen from her in school. The fake her that the girl's father always urged her to show off.

"Not enough help?" Gary runs a perplexed hand through his golden locks. "Your dad needs help?" He repeats in his own bewilderment.

"Yes, sir that's correct." She assured the blonde, standing upright with her back straight in a friendly, welcoming stance and a smile that assured she could do no wrong.

"And he sent you... to come and ask for help?" Gary continues to question Ash. Little Cato by this point had buried his embarrassment behind his hand, open palm slapped against his face to somehow escape what he had been subjected to. Whatever the girl was doing wasn't going to be enough to convince Gary to let him out of the house.

"Yes sir." Her smile shines brighter as she stands off to the side. "Me and my dear brother." From almost out of nowhere at all, stepping into frame suddenly, came a large figure. Judging by his white face contrasted by his grayish brown skin tone, he was a Tryvuulian. A species who if their brains were as big as their muscles, they'd be geniuses. They were also, admittedly, not to found of Ventrexians, and vice versa. There was a lot of bad blood between the two people and it's an issue Little Cato doesn't really know much about besides a basic understanding that their people don't get along.

Despite his large appearance, he stood with the same amiable aura as the girl next to him. His posture was inflexible, and his smile was just as innocent. He was the girl's brother, and his sudden appearance was one Little Cato wasn't anticipating in the slightest.

"Good evening, sir-"

"Fox it's still morning," Ash whispers over at her brother with the ever-present smile contently paved along her lips.

"Right," Fox quickly recomposes his rehearsed posture with a cleared throat. "Good morning, sir. Sorry to disturb you on this fine day, but I'm afraid we find ourselves in need of some assistance. You see our further, me and Ash." He waves over to the girl in case it wasn't obvious that they were together. Little Cato had gone back to hiding away in his hands from the secondhand embarrassment he was experiencing. Fox wasn't the best actor out there and Little Cato's sure Gary would pick up on that immediately. "He's gotten so fragile at the ripe old age of forty-five. We could use the assistance, just one pair of extra hands to help us out down at the supermarket. I was thinking your son would do since father is so fond of him." Fox looks over too Little Cato and visibly winks at him.

Little Cato knew it was over then. If Gary hadn't caught on to whatever little scheme the siblings were cooking, that little sign of conformation was the nail in the coffin.

"Well... if he needs the help... I suppose." However, to Little Cato's amazement, Gary doesn't find any reason to doubt their excuse. He who found anything and everything Little Cato was doing suspicious as of late. "If he sent you two it must be important." The blonde looks to Little Cato without the faintest glimmer of worry. "Go get dressed. It's the least we can do for a neighbor." He taps the boy on his shoulder. "I didn't know Clarence liked us at all honestly."

Little Cato oddly stares at the blonde and the siblings standing politely on the other side of their door. That couldn't have worked he thinks. Gary couldn't have fallen for this blatant display of dishonesty, could he?

"Right..." Little Cato steps back into the apartment slowly, still wondering if Gary was actually taken with the idea of allowing his son out of the house on a Saturday. By the time he's dressed, back by the front door, and out of the apartment entirely, he has his answer.

Could Gary really be so gullible and that easily taken in by Fox and Ash? Fox particularly.

"What was that about?" Little Cato starts in a hushed tone. Even though the small group was at a far enough distance from the apartment, the teen wouldn't take a chance in raising his voice until they were out of the building completely. 

"Come on, it was the only way I could think to get you out of that cell." She whispers, gazing over at him with an arrogant look on her face.  "You're not gonna call it preem?"

Little Cato scoffs. He hardly knew what to say to the girl. "With Fox?" He bounces his head over to her brother.

"Well, I couldn't just sit by and watch my sister's heartbreak because she couldn't see her input now, could I?" Fox said, lodging himself in between the two teenagers.

"Well, we're just talking." Ash and Little Cato both stammers abruptly.

Fox snickers at the pair, keeping his arms wrapped around their shoulders. "Sure." He shrugged. "Who am I to get in the way of young love though." His eyes wander off with an amused smile.

"Fuck off Fox." Ash pushes the bigger man away. "I don't even know if I like him yet."

"Whatever you say Ashy." Fox snickers again before walking ahead of the teens.

A grin casually pushes its way across Little Cato's expression. He couldn't help himself. He always likes to see Ash and her brother tease each other, Fox more so than the girl. It was better than some of the interactions he'd witnessed between her and Harp at least.

Little Cato's smile would fall from his face though as Ash's most recent words clearly unravel in his mind. "What?" His eyes dart toward the girl. "You do like me though, you said so."

Ash tilted her head. "Did I? I don't think so." Another smile flows his way.

"You so did." Little Cato retorts, not as amused as she had been.

"No, I don't think so. I would have remembered if I said something like that." Little Cato opens his mouth to debate some more but shuts it when he realizes what is going on. She was toying with him, and it was one of those times when he didn't much care for it.

"Fine, be like that." He rushed off, deciding that walking next to Fox would be more preferable.

"Oh, come on Junior... Junior." He doesn't answer her, not when they make their way through the halls of the mega building, not when they're crammed inside of a tight elevator, and not when they are finally out in the streets of Night City. She constantly calls out to him, but he ignores her every single time.

It actually took her grabbing Little Cato by his arm and stopping the boy for him to even consider looking her way. She tries to speak through a brief fit of laughter and resorts to covering her mouth when she fails to get the amusement to stop on its own.

"Junior- Little Cato." Her lips curl up and down as she waves a hand in front of her face to drive away the laughter that had outstayed its welcome. "Are you really mad at me?" She asks, merely receiving an eye roll as her answer. "Little Cato." Her sputtered laughter starts up again. Her tongue stayed ensconced in between her teeth causing the pink-haired girl to make a sound akin to a squirt gun.

He hums and moans at Ash's perseverance. He didn't want to say anything or even acknowledge her, but she was too alluring for him to just stay quiet. "Of course." He spoke. "How are you gonna stand there and say you don't like me."

Ash's sprinkler-like laughter comes to a stop. "God I was joking." Her smile hurriedly dissipates as a frown takes up residency on her face. "I didn't even say I didn't like you..." She sighs. "Come on man." She said, her face resting flaccidly as she began to coo at the boy. "Come on Little Cato." She purses her lips into a tiny smirk, letting go of Little Cato's arm and grabbing palmfuls of his cheeks. "Little Cato, you aren't mad at me, are you?" She addressed him as if speaking to a baby while scruffing up the fur around his cheeks.

A slight smile begins to form on his face. He couldn't resist her, try as he might and he has tried so very, very hard before.  "No." He spoke from squashed cheeks.

"What's that?" Ash turns her head to him, presenting her ear for Little Cato to directly speak into.

"No." He spoke a bit louder, withdrawing the girl's hands from his face. "I'm not mad. Just a bit emotional I guess." He said holding her hands in his. He was making a big fuss out of nothing serious and knowing her and how she was, there was no justification for whining.

She was so complex and bizarre, but she was also wonderful and humorous. She could be as affectionate as she was insufferable. The pink-haired girl was one of the most beautiful people he'd ever laid eyes on. He couldn't believe she even wanted to be near him even if he did get moody or bratty sometimes.

"We good?" She asks softly, still holding her comforting smirk to him. She didn't even need to; he wasn't really mad to begin with.

"Yeah." He chortles. Shifting around in the middle of the concrete sidewalk like the goofy ass kid he was. "So where are we going again? I can't really move too far from the building you know."

"I know." Ash's grin sharpens significantly. "That's why we're going to the supermarket since Gary's tracking you and all." She points toward his pocket or the general area where his phone would be. 

Little Cato unconsciously reaches for his side. Sometimes he forgets that the blonde is watching his every move. Little Cato wishes he could get rid of the damn phone but doing so would drive his second dad to the brink of psychosis.

He'd have to bear with it, like he'd been doing though It wasn't all bad. He was out now, under the impression that he would be helping Clarence down at the supermarket, but he was outside all the same.

As far as supermarkets went Night City's weren't all that bad. Most of them were understocked on a good day and most of the food was almost always just recently expired but like the rest of the city, they had their own charm.

The supermarket that Ash and Fox brought him to was nothing special in that regard, it was like all the other spots in Watson. His parents would never shop at a place like this. Gary would choose some of the better grocery stores, even if that meant traveling all the way out to Westbrook.

"Right." Little Cato hums. "So, you got me out, but what are we supposed to do now? You can only have so much fun with a supermarket." Little Cato said. Ash and Fox look at one another with clueless expressions, one hoping that the other would have an idea.

"Shop?" Fox offers a not-so-confident toss of his shoulders, answering Little Cato's question with another question. "Look around, and... kinda pick stuff up. I'm really only here to supervise you two."

Ash groans at her brother. "Fox I only ask you to help me get Junior out. I mean we already did that, so you don't have to be here..." She informed her much taller sibling, rubbing her neck with one hand and holding on to her elbow with the other while looking at him with a peculiar sneer. "You know what I mean?"

"Now Ash," Fox begins to laugh, shaking his head, more to himself than anything in particular. "You made it very clear that you wanted here to supervise you two. You said, 'Fox I need you to come with me to get Little Cato out of his apartment, and that if his dad asked why just say our dad needs help and that I would supervise him along the way' and then you winked at me." He says, sure of himself.

"That wasn't a wink I was just blinking-"

"Hey, say no more. I get it." Fox gestures to the store with a severely confident look. "After you kids." He walks ahead of them, anyway, entering the supermarket before Ash has a chance to argue against him.

Little Cato tilts his head in an entangled haze of bewilderment. "Is your brother okay." 

"Yeah." Ash chortles nervously. "He's just being a gonk that's all." She says, following the man inside the store not long after he had entered.

Little Cato begins to do the same but stops just shy of entering the supermarket once a sudden flash of gray, black, and the faintest bit of white invades the corner of his eye. When he turns to face the mass of gray and black the boy is briefly taken by surprise.

Just off to his left, away from the store's entrance, stood a clown absent of color, pacing back on forth and sporting military-grade gear. The thick black mascara around his eyes melts down his cheeks like a stream of heavy tears. Bongo had mentioned that Pagliacci was still alive but Little Cato had only just scarcely believed the bear at the time.

After some consideration and much deliberation, Little Cato's legs begin to move of their own volition, and he would find himself standing in front of the gray and black clown ganger.

"So... you really are still breathing." Little Cato spoke carefully. The clown's eyes snap at him instantly, closely analyzing the young teen with a perplexed glare.

"Do I know you?" His dark squinted eyes run along the boy's frame. He looks Little Cato up, down, and up again, attempting to piece together who this kid that had just walked up to him was.

"I'm... Little Cato... one of the kids from the park..." Little Cato keeps his voice low, not wanting to disturb the clown any further. "We were speaking with Bongo before you..." Doing his best to describe that particular, blood-soaked day. 

The clown keeps his eyes in a compressed squint and leans forward for an even closer look at the boy. "Oh yeah... I remember." The clown stands back up, ostensibly more relaxed. "Yeah, the fur and hair really stood out for me..." He held his hands up in a makeshift picture frame, holding Little Cato at dead center. "You were talking to the bastard about something, uhhh... music related, right?"

"Yeah." Little Cato murmurs anxiously. "My friends were looking for a sample for their song."

The clown drops his hands to his sides. He was no longer squinting skeptically at Little Cato though that hardly made his staring any less fear-inducing. "Well, be careful when you speak to someone like Bongo. He's a sneaky fuck trust me. I wouldn't be surprised if you boys wound up missing some personals." Little Cato couldn't help but scowl at the thought of Bongo and his clowns. The teen was sure he wasn't missing anything. After meeting Argit for the first time that same day, he made sure to keep a protective hand around his wallet and phone at all times. He couldn't say the same for the others, but he was sure they already knew to stay weary around the Big Tops. "I assume you heard what happened over in Pacifica Kido?"

Little Cato nods to the question. "Yeah... acid confetti... rough."

Pagliacci let out a snicker that ran a cold shiver through Little Cato. His brief bit of joy doesn't sound like any kind of laughter he's heard before. It was low, gritty, and dark, like a lonely sparsely lit back ally or an abandoned warehouse. If he had to compare, he'd say it was like an old engine trying to start up, or maybe the deep space thrusters of a starship about to break through the atmosphere. It was something deep, guttural, way too off-putting for his ears. Not like any kind of sound a human should be making. 

"Genius as much as I hate to admit it... but it was ... he is a genius..." He points his painted-on frown upward as his eyes glaze over. He doesn't look as distressed, or upset, as he came off. If anything, it was more like the opposite as if the simple thought of his rival's capabilities was filling his body with some kind of pleasure or excitement. "But I won't let him one-up me. I refuse to let him one up me." The clown's flat tone pivots to something more enriching and deranged as he brings his eyes back down to Little Cato. He then looks off to the left, toward the entrance of the supermarket, and to the clowns marching out of it. Bozo upon Bozo almost endlessly parade out in single file all carrying brown paper bags in their arms. "Just you watch kido, just you watch," Pagliacci said, cracking a lethal smile beneath his fake black frown. "I'll see you around sunburst." The gray and black clown wanders off in the direction of the others.

Little Cato has no idea what to make of what he'd just seen, or the man himself, and especially the rivalry he shared with Bongo. It was all so hectic, and the teen is sure it could only end badly. The clowns loved to fight though no matter what they did, Pagliacci and Bongo could never seem to get to one another. 

No matter how many times they went at each other, no matter how many bullets were fired, bombs exploded, or retaliations enacted, the two clowns always managed to slip away with everything, except the other gangers they brought along with them, unharmed. Little Cato was starting to think they weren't even really trying to kill one another, but if they didn't want each other dead why fight?

He doesn't understand and maybe he doesn't want to. Those two were a pain to his wellbeing. Right now, he should be focusing on hanging out with Ash not middling in the affairs of psychosos.

"Oh right." Little Cato jolts when the girl crosses his mind. He'd nearly forgotten why he was really there and immediately he hoofs through the automatic doors of the supermarket.

Entering, Little Cato finds that the supermarket was nothing special, as suspected. The store was just as destitute as he had been expecting. The place was certainly keeping up with the Watson standard he sees. Despite that, the location was still brimming with customers with full baskets or shopping carts. The quality of the food didn't really matter when you were in desperate need of it after all.

Little Cato looks around from where he stands. He tried to make out Ash in the crowd, but he couldn't see the girl anywhere, or her brother for that matter, big as he was. That leads him to believe that they must have been further into the supermarket. The boy moans upset. They didn't even have the decency to wait for him.

Little Cato treks deeper into the store, starting his search in the first aisle he spots. Exploring the store was his best, and only, bet. Knowing Those two they could have been anywhere, causing a scene or making misery for the other shoppers because they were bored. He knows he has to find them quick and reign them in before someone has the bright idea to call security.

He looks everywhere, checking each aisle and section in the fairly large supermarket. They weren't in the frozen foods section, fruits and vegetables, snacks and drinks. Little Cato even tries the alternative foods aisle to no avail though he should have guessed he wouldn't find them there. Not a lot of his friends believed in healthy eating to that extent.

Searching for the siblings eventually becomes too much of a hassle for the boy. In all honesty, he'd already given up about halfway through the search and had resorted to pulling out his phone like he felt he should have done from the moment he entered the grocery store. He shoots Ash a quick text, relaying his last known position to the girl while also letting her know he was still on the move and updating her on his new position every other minute.

Little Cato knew he should have stood off to one spot and bided his time until Ash showed up but was way too heated to stay still for too long. He walked aimlessly, eyes clutched to his phone, waiting for the girl to text back. What could be taking her so long to get back to him? He wonders. Her lack of responses was starting to severely nip at his patients. He becomes so irritated that he barely even notices when he wanders right into someone by accident.

He stumbles off balance, almost dropping his phone as well. "Oh, sorry I-" He looks up ready to apologize to the person he'd just hit and is rendered mute once his eyes make contact. Honestly, he should have guessed who it was by how soft he felt. "Cookie?"

The Ventrexian looks at the boy with some semblance of shock at first until his expression lightens up as a smile appears. "Hey, baby." The cream-colored joytoy beams at Little Cato. "Doing a little early morning shopping?"

"Nah." Little Cato meekly rubs at the space between his neck and his collarbone. He could already feel the heat in his cheeks begin to burn him up. "I was supposed to be here with this girl but... I have no idea where she ran off to." Little Cato said before an amazed gasp belched from the other Ventrexian.

"Aww Little Cato, do you have an output already?" Cookie asks, gushing and stepping closer to the young teen.

The excitement in the joytoy's voice and sudden proximity to Little Cato causes his tail to wag along the floor uncontrollably. "Nah, nah... not really." His tone trails off slightly. "She said she wants us to get to know each other better, which obviously, yeah..." He shrugged at the man and to himself. "She just drives me crazy sometimes, you know?"

"Mmmm." Cookie hums curiously, holding a hand negligibly over his mouth. "Relationships can be hard, especially when you're trying to get one going. I think the key is to set your boundaries. Let her know that she drives you crazy sometimes, baby. You don't have to suck up to someone just cause you like 'em."

"It's not like I haven't told her." Cookie throws a skeptical glance toward Little Cato that gets him to buckle with a wince. "I... just haven't told her outright..." The young teen admits, touting an innocent grin for Cookie.

Cookie hums at the boy again, grinning almost ear to ear and shaking his head at Little Cato's shy behavior. "Trust me," He began, reaching for one of Little Cato's hands. "It'd be so much easier if you just let her know. Worst case scenario, she freaks out but at least you dodged a bullet." Little Cato nods. What harm could speaking with Ash about how he felt about her playfulness really do? He could ease into the conversation, make things comfortable before potentially upsetting her, though it does take a lot to upset her.

"Junior!" Ash shouts from behind and runs up too Little Cato with a giggle. "Sorry, I was missing, I was..." Her laughter comes to an immediate stop once she reaches his side. "Oh... hey Cookie." She intertwines her arm with Little Cato's and plus him close to her. Her greeting toward the other Ventrexian wasn't such a warm one. Cold as an icy tundra and just as unforgiving.

"Hey girly." Cookie on the other hand was just as open and friendly as he had always been. "So, it's Ash then huh? Aww, that's so cute." He looks at the pair and offers one last kind smile to Little Cato. "Hey, I have to go, but remember what I said." He reminds the young teen before turning and leaving the aisle behind.

"I didn't know you and Cookie were so tight." Ash keeps her eyes narrowed on the joytoy and then turns a flat expression to the boy she'd been holding on to so tightly. "What were you guys talking about?"

"Ah, just some stuff." Little Cato keeps his answer short and dispassionate.

"Of, really?" A brief peculiar smirk traverses her lips. "What kind of stuff?" She questions again.

Little Cato titters apprehensively. He turns his head away from the girl and his eyes dirt around indecisively at the question she'd proposed. "It's really not that important Ash."

"Not that important." She mutters to herself. The grip around his arm further tenses as the pink-haired girl vanishes into her own thoughts. It was then that Little Cato would bring his eyes back around to the girl and the unmistakable look of worry on her face.

"Wait." He squints, a small smirk developing. "Are you jealous?"

Ash immediately exits her mind and whips her head around to lock eyes with Little Cato "What!?" She bellows, detaching herself from the boy. "Heh- don't be a gonk man... It- It'll take a lot more than talking to some street whore to upset me, Junior. If you think that even came close, you're sorely mistaken choom." She reasons, putting forth her best excuse and dawning her shattered poker face to possibly salvage some of the embarrassment that she had accidentally let leak out. "Wipe that look off your face now."

"Hey, okay, okay." Little Cato shrugs, lowering his smile though not ditching it completely.

She groans and jerks her head out of frustration. "Look come on... Fox said he was going to lick a bunch of ice cream straight from the tubes and put them back in the freezers. I think it would be best if we put a stop to his bullshit before we get in trouble." Ash turns and walks off without Little Cato's input.

He stood in place for a moment, watching the pink-haired girl trudge off with his joy still proudly on display. He had never seen Ash like that before. The girl was normally so cool-headed and unbothered by most things. To think he'd be able to catch even a glimpse of her in such a state of unrest astounds him. 

He didn't know a girl like her was even capable of such an emotion. Though she insists that she's fine and not bothered by Cookie talking to him, anyone with eyes could tell. "She's really jealous?" Little Cato lets the soft whisper carry through the empty aisle before going after her, still somewhat in disbelief.

Chapter 17: The balled of Sheryl Cutthroat.

Notes:

I'm just gonna go mask off with the world real quick.

"Guys come on!" Little Cato shouts, not caring to look back and see how far his parents had been as he ascends the wide stairs leading up to the arena. He struggled to control his heavy breathing; he could hardly reign the excitement that ran through his veins entirely.

"Little- Little Cato, wait!" Gary hollers but the boy refuses to stop climbing. Not for the dense crowds of people, not for his slow parents trailing behind him by a wide enough distance, not even his own anxieties about actually entering the arena were going to stop him from getting there. 

He had to say the crowd tonight was large, much larger than he'd been predicting though Little Cato had an inkling that there wouldn't be many empty seats. Tonight was all about his grandmother. There were other fights before then, intermissions, and the like but she was the main event, the very last, and best, match of the evening. Little Cato was here for her and only her and he's sure that most of the people there were also attending for a glimpse as well.

How could anyone want to miss a performance from the notorious Sheryl Cutthroat? Little Cato chuckles through his heavy breathing, repeating the commercial goading from two days ago in his head. To think that his grandma was notorious. She must have lived an amazing life and most likely was still living it if just her name was enough to get so many people excited.

"Ticket." A woman with tired dark circles under her eyes asks as Little Cato comes to a stop at the receptionist's booth. He reaches into his pockets, breathless though frantically checking every orifice stitched into his attire. To none of his surprise, however, the teen realizes that Gary is the one with his ticket.

"My dad has it." The young teen experiences some small hint of embarrassment to the exhausted receptionist before turning back to scout for his parents. "Gary come on hurry up!" He yells at the blonde specifically. They hadn't been too far but for Little Cato, it was a little too far for his licking.

"We're here, we're here." Gary groans, stepping up to the booth beside his son in a peeved huff. He pulls out his phone and shoves it into the gap at the bottom of the protective glass, giving Little Cato a short side-eyed glance.

"Okay, you're good to go." After a minute of scanning for all three tickets, the woman drops the phone back into the gap of the protective glass. "Your seats 'll be in section G, front row." She slowly explained what the group already knew. Her slow movement and barren tone make Little Cato even more restless than he already was. "Have a nice bloodbath."

"Thank you." Little Cato exclaims and runs straight passed the arena doors, once again taking off ahead of his parents. They would try to stop him, Gary more than his dad anyway, but Little Cato was too focused on getting the chance to see Sheryl to listen.

He would come to a stop, however, not by his own admission but by the fact that he had no idea where he was going. The signs in the arena appeared somewhat misleading and with all the people pushing and shoving to get to their own seats or looking for the snack stands; it made the directions hard to follow for his overstimulated mind.

"Little Cato." He jumps slightly off of the ground at the sound of Gary's voice merged with the sudden touch to his shoulder. "Just slow down for a bit. It's not like we're going to miss her." Gary gently reassures the hyper-fixated boy, running his hand along his shoulder before moving up toward his ears.

The feel of Gary's fingers around his head causes Little Cato's heavy breathing to ease to a stop. The blonde always knew how to make him feel better. Even when the young teen felt as if he didn't need the cheering up, Gary would always prove him wrong. He knew him better than he knew himself sometimes.

"Right, I know, I know..." Little Cato said, letting out one more heavy breath that caused his restless limbs to stop jittering anxiously. "I never thought I'd ever see her again. It feels weird Gary. It's killing my nerves."

Little Cato brings a cloudy gaze up at the blonde. Gary kept a strange look on his face that the young Ventrexian had a hard time deciphering. The emotion was a mix of things, anger, sadness, worry. "Yeah, me too kid..." Gary quietly mumbles, his rubbing of Little Cato's ear slowing down considerably.

"Hey, don't worry you two." Avocato chimes in suddenly, easing his way between Little Cato and Gary. "Besides, She's the main event, right? We have a lot of time between then and now Little Cato." His dad was right. He and his parents had arrived at the arena early, way before any of the events had started. 

All Little Cato wanted was to see his grandma and if it were up to him, he would have suggested they come at a later point. The only problem with that was his friends. They had decided wanted to be at the stadium early and wanted him there as well. At the same time Gary wanted to get his money's worth so no matter how Little Cato cut it, he was going wind up at the arena way before Sheryl's performance. Yet, that hardly stopped the excitement he felt when finally pulling up to the stadium anyway.

"Yeah..." Little Cato sighs, partly relieved and partly disappointed, in himself for getting so worked up the past few days. "How about we go check out the snacks then?" He proposed, looking at both parents with a more relaxed smile.

Avocato and Gary glance at one another, nodding their heads in contemplation. "The prelude match is about to start, isn't it?" Avocato questions the blonde.

"Yeah, but that match probably isn't going to be all that right? It is a warm-up." Gary softly snickers and Avocato shrugs in agreement with him.

The lines to the concession stands were long and Little Cato should have assumed they would have been. With how many people he'd seen before entering the building alone there should have been some hint in his mind that the arena had to be completely sold out.

It becomes clear quickly to Little Cato after stepping onto the line that they're going to be there for a little while. Between the people that were already in each line and some of the more indecisive guests ordering for whole families, the lines had been crawling along at a snail's pace.

The only thing of note Little Cato could see from standing in line was the few familiar faces around him. To his left, caught in one long queue, was Timmy and his uncles, Gregg and Angus. He was happy to see them though Timmy's uncle Angus, a large bear with vaguely shaded glasses, looked like he'd rather be anywhere else than standing on that line.

Just behind them was Meowmar and his mom though Little Cato couldn't see his dad anywhere. The man was either around or had decided not to come in favor of spending some alone time. He and Timmy had been talking to each other and seemed as outwardly enthusiastic about the show as Little Cato had been not too long ago.

Looking over to his right, on another line was Argit, his brothers Kevin, Manny, Pierce, Alan, and sister Helen. Little Cato thinks it's strange that all of Argit's siblings are regular humans, granted of various colors, with not one of them being pseudo like himself. Little Cato doesn't know what their family dynamic is like. He could guess that they were all adopted, or Argit at least, but Little Cato couldn't know for sure. He doesn't see their dad with them, but he seldom ever did.

Behind that group were Ash, Harp, Fox, and Clarence surprisingly enough. Little Cato was shocked that a man like him could even be bothered attending an event like this and even more shocked by the overly flustered look on his face and the deep red shade in his cheeks. It looks like he'd fallen in love and hardly knew how to process the feeling, considering the concept of emotion as a whole was something the short man was even aware of.

Further ahead on the same line, Little Cato could make out the Dewinters, and as always Dean appeared to be having a one-sided argument with his father for simply existing. Even being out in public and drawing the attention of passive onlookers a few eyes wouldn't stop the son from rigidly scolding his own father. 

Little Cato scoffs in Dean's direction and looks around some more. They hadn't seemed to notice that he was there. Seeing as to how preoccupied Little Cato wasn't surprised, they didn't notice. 

There was still one pair of people Little Cato had yet to find amongst the congested crowds. Despite all of his searching, Kendrick and his mom continue to expertly elude his vision. Were they already inside? Did they even show up at all? Worry engulfs the boy as ruminations begin to flood his mind with thoughts of where his masked friend could be. What if he didn't want to come? Kindrick could see a fight every day, an event like this was nothing, especially when he had to pay for it. What if he couldn't convince his mom to take him? The thoughts of what could have happened to the taller teen run through Little Cato's mind like unhinged little mice.

"Hey." A harsh whisper prices the thoughts, scattering them. The voice and sudden appearance of a masked delinquent, startles him and his parents alike. "Sorry If I scared everyone non." Kendrick apologetically waves his hands. He had jumped out in front of the group, the first thing filling Little Cato's vision being the expressionless red mask he always wore.

"Sorry about him." The masked boy's mom came up from behind Little Cato's parents. "He's excited like nobody's business."

Kindrick tosses his head back with an annoyed groan. He lightly kicks a foot against the ground and points a look at his mom. Like always, the mask over his face does a great job at harboring the emotions though Little Cato hardly needed to see his face to know he was vexed.

"Oh, it's fine," Gary said, taking an awkward tone with the woman. "Ours was just as antsy." He giggled nervously, pointing a quick finger at Little Cato.

He moves his head away from his parents, leering off to the side with a bratty hiss. He didn't need to be reminded and it wasn't like he could help it anyway. Tonight was supposed to be special, kind of a big deal even. It was more than just a display of blood guts and gore for Little Cato, though he's sure they would get plenty of that.

"Hey." Kendrick leans into Little Cato, lightly poking at his arm. "You excited or what?"

Little Cato turns to the taller teen, a dim smile curled up ever so slightly on his lips. "Yeah." He answers before taking a momentary respite to reconsider. "I mean no..." Little Cato restates as the little smile on his face drops into an uneasy grimace. "I don't know actually."

Kendrick diligently nods, letting out an empathetic hum. "You'll be fine. Not everyone can say their grandma's a badass gladiator you know. That should make you some kinda proud." He gives Little Cato another gentile punch to his arm. Suppose he could say Kendrick was right, not a lot of people can say they were related to such a person. He should be proud but at the same time, he felt utterly nervous. Given who she is, and his family's complicated history Little Cato couldn't help but be a bit apprehensive. "You in the group chat by the by?"

Little Cato looks at the taller boy as if he had spoken anything other than plain Terran English. "Group chat?" He lifted a single, questioning brow at the masked boy's words.

"Yes, group chat," Kendrick repeats himself with a snarky chuckle. "We're all gonna be in different seats, we gotta stay in contact some way."

"Hmm." The young teen purrs an indignant hum. "No one told me anything." He grumbles to the metal clade arena floor.

"Damn. Whose job was it to tell you anyway?" Kendrick huffs, frustrated on behalf of his friend. "Wait... it was me." His head slowly bobs around in realization, and he rubs the back of his neck a bit embarrassed. "Hell well, I'm telling you now so no worries." He pulls out his phone, quickly typing along the screen as Little Cato's device rumbles with the sound of a new message.

The young teen relives the device from his pocket and checks it. He was now in his friend's group chat, and he didn't even have to accept the invite beforehand.

ashy- where u been jr?

gen- took u long enough

tim- everyone got here awhile ago, we were starting to think you might not show

sammy- nah he wouldn't have missed it, not for the world

arg- where are you anyway?

At once his phone rumbles with the concerns, and jokes, of his friends. All say for Dean, but he was too busy trashing his dad to check his phone.

LC- yeah my bad, traffic was gonked

LC- middle lean at concussions, next to kenny

He brings his eyes up from the device in his hands to look around. He sees his friends have done the same, all slinging quick, tight gazes at him and Kendrick, locating the duo without much trouble.

ashy- oh right

tim- right

gen- didn't even notice

arg- yeah me neither

sammy- me threeither.

sammy- but to be fair dean is going crazy up here

Little Cato looks up again and toward the front of the lines. The Dewinters had stepped off, long since claiming their food and drinks though Dean still felt the need to berate his father. He yells and shouts something about the man's life 'not being his problem' and about how 'the past is the past and that it should stay there'. 

Dean didn't care about the attention they had been drawing and all the while his dad just stood silently with a nervous smile. "God David you're so annoying!" Dean shrieks, stomping off with a bucket of popcorn in one hand and a large drink in the other. Sam follows his brother and after some deliberation from their dad, he also gets a move on, though slowly and so what pathetically.

All Little Cato could do was watch the issue unfold. Davide probably hadn't done anything to deserve his son's wrath but knowing Dean, he didn't need an excuse. It didn't take much to get on his nerves. 

Little Cato felt bad for the siblings' father, he always did. There wasn't much the teen could do for the man and maybe he didn't want to try. Getting in between Dean and David was like getting in between a wolf and a rabbit. It's something you shouldn't do.

After a while the lines begin to pick up. The actual first match was beginning to start nobody wanted to be late for a single moment. Little Cato could already hear it from where he stood. The arena's announcer over loudspeakers and the roar of a heated crowd shaking the stadium grounds. Little Cato may have been there for one thing only, but the sound of loud cheering gets his body to fly into a frenzy of adrenalin.

Finding where they needed to be didn't take him and his parents long at all. The family makes their way down the long aisles of section G and pile into their row at the very front. Little Cato sat with the snacks they had bought clutched nervously close to his chest.

They were much closer to the arena's edge than he'd thought they would be. Despite their position being protected by some strange holographic barrier and sturdy glass behind that, Little Cato doesn't feel so protected.

The young teen closes his eyes, catching his breath and breathing out a long sigh to calm his shaky body. He reopens his lids and leans forward, peering out to the large island battlefield that had already been soaked with viscous fluids and the nearly bottomless moat that surrounded the combat area.

The arena was big, bordering more on the size of a football field than a combat stadium, and seemed to stretch far beyond reasonable reach.

"Well, well people! How's everyone feeling tonight!? Was that last show a spectacle or what?" The arena erupts in a missive cheer when the slightly effeminate voice of the arena announcer blares over loudspeakers. Little Cato follows behind everyone else, letting out a dull cheer as he looks around for the man, though he has trouble locating him. "Yeah, in fact, can we give our volunteers a round of applause! Without them putting their lives on the line for our entertainment, dead as some of them may be now, nobody would be here tonight!" The audience starts letting out applause, some standing, stomping their feet and others adding a little extra flare to their show of appreciation with sharp whistling. Little Cato still has trouble finding the man until he notices that, unlike him, everyone else is focused on one spot away from the battlefield. Little Cato follows the crowd's lead and finally spots the man at the north end of the arena standing on a platform just above the battlefield. A pseudo-human white rabbit with his long ears wrapped up with a scrunchie and falling down his back. He wore a blue rhinestone suit that flashed and sparkled as strobe lights from far above passed over him and a wide toothy smile rested on his face. "Now as you may know this was only a small taste of what we have in store. It's gonna be a night of blade thrashing, gunslinging mayhem, and performances from some pretty well-known individuals. If that doesn't get your blood rushing to certain places, I don't know what will." The crowed continues to cheer. "Well, are you ready for it!?" The crowd bellows louder for the announcer. "Then let's get to it!"

The next two or so hours aren't such a bloody blur for Little Cato, even if he may have wanted it to be. He never realized how squeamish he could be until that night. After all the fighting and unpleasantries, the boy was having a hard time keeping an eye on things though he found it hard to stop watching all the same.

The next match in the lineup, the first official one since Little Cato and his dads had basically missed the warm-up, wasn't anything too eventful. A run-of-the-mile shootout between two groups of four was something Kendrick could show the boy any day.

The match after that however is where things would start to kick up a notch. The battlefield is quickly turned into a warzone between a large group of Eliksni, four arms and all, on one end and a group of Irkens on the other. The scene that had unfolded was a spectacle of carnage, more dark blue blood, and missing parts than the young teen was comfortable with actually witnessing.

A lot of what transpires leaves him either winching, squirming in his seat, or halfheartedly covering his eyes, leaving the gap in his fingers open just wide enough to witness the proxy war play out.

Little Cato had never been so close to an Irken before. Granted he was at a safe distance; he had never seen one in person. They mostly stuck to their own nation and whenever they did happen to show up outside of their empire, they were usually up to no good. Their red bulbous eyes, green skin, and the long black antennas that protruded from their heads would tend to unnerve Little Cato the longer he looked.

Even though they had been fighting in some arena in Night City far away from the comfort of their tallest, their leaders. This particular group was still dressed in their usual fascistic attire. Pink and purple long coats, imperial armbands around their biceps, and neck coverings that were pulled up over their mouths to conceal their faces. Not because they were scared of being recognized but because in their eyes it makes them come off more terrifying. They're not far off in that assumption. Their presence here tonight makes Little Cato wonder if they were there against their will or by choice.

By the time the battlefield is cleaned, the best it could have been anyway, and the next round begins. Gary had gotten up to leave, mumbling something about heading to the bathroom though the blonde might have just had enough of all the blood that was being splattered along the reinforced glass. Little Cato really couldn't blame him.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Gary rushes out of the dark arena and into the vast open corridors of the stadium. "Jesus!" The blonde hissed to himself, keeping a steady hasty pace in his speedy walk back to the concession area. He had told Little Cato that his stomach was starting to hurt, and he needed to use the bathroom but in truth, he only needed a breather.

Watching those fights and the people hurting and killing each other was rough but that's not what gets him to bow out. It was the thought of seeing his mother that got to him. After all that time, how long she's been gone. He was afraid seeing her would be too much for his mind to process.

Gary comes to a stop, small whiffs of scattered breath still rushing in and out of his mouth as he leans up against a cold wall. If it weren't for Little Cato the blonde man wouldn't have come down to this arena at all. He understood that his son was excited to see his grandmother, but Gary had more of a reason not to be.

"Hey." A soft, deep voice pulls Gary away from his upcoming panic attack. "Your Little Cato's dad, right?" The blonde's eyes reach up to the voice that had inquired about his position in his family. 

"Uhh, yeah... well his other dad." Gary slides off of the concrete wall with a slight stutter. "You... were with Timmy, right? One of his uncles." The blonde curiously motions at the large bear with lightly shaded, thin brim glasses. He hums, nodding his head in response.

"Sorry If I startled you by any chance." The bear immediately offers up apologies for intruding on the blonde's encroaching panic attack.

"No, it's nothing really..." Gary dismisses the brown bear's condolence. "I just needed to step out for a bit."

The bear smirks and moves to stand next to him. "No, I understand. I didn't want to come here but Gregg and Timmy kinda pressured me into it."

Gary laughs. "I can relate to that actually." He turns to the man beside him. "I'm Gary by the way." He held his hand out and the man takes it in his.

"Angus. Nice to meet you."

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

"Haha yeah!" Not so long after the last match, the announcer makes an energetic reappearance far above the crowd. "I know it's been a long night and we're all suffering from some new aches in pains after sitting in one spot for so long, so now we're moving into our last match for tonight." Little Cato's heart mummers suddenly. "Alright people, It's the moment you've all been waiting for, I know, and she's been itching to give you a good fight all day long." The boy leans forward in his seat, his anticipation of this long-awaited moment slowly killing him. "Ladies and gentlemen, Sheryyyyl Cutthroaaaat!"

The arena goes dark when the name of his grandmother is gleefully invoked through the loudspeakers. Little Cato leans forward, squinting his eyes for a better look but the dark arena was doing him no favors.

"Huh." The abrupt buzzing of his phone sends a jolt of fright through his body and drives a breathless gasp from his mouth. He reaches into his pocket, pulls out the device, and steadies a shaky hand over the top so the light wouldn't be seen by others.

Ashy- you nervous?

Ash had texted him away from the group chat that had been going off nonstop since he first sat down.

LC- as hell

He replayed back, not completely joking. This was the moment of truth for him, everything he'd been waiting for since Friday afternoon. How could he be anything but nervous?

Ashy- yeah me too

Little Cato smiles. At least he wasn't alone on this journey. As he's about to type out some witty remark, tailor-made for the pink-headed girl, the arena shines back to life. His head whips up from the phone and his eyes zero in on the battleground below.

A figure had been standing motionless, covered completely by a purple cloak with a large glaive buried in the ground by its blade beside them. The figure slowly looks around the arena, to the crowd that waiting with bated breath, and looks down at the glaive next to them. They slowly squat down, running delicate fingers along the handle of the sliver glaive.

They stay on the ground for a moment, motionless and huddled up next to the weapon, then in a flash they would pop back up to their feet, casting off the long clock and reviling themselves. It was his grandmother; in armor he was not fully prepared to lay eyes on. If he could even call it armor that is.

She wore a solid gold breastplate that revealed her shoulders and a much too short gladiatorial skirt that rode up her hips. Her apparel looks far from typical or protective for that matter, and the whistles she gets cause the boy's heart to race for the wrong reason.

"Hey- hey!" He tries shouting over the roars and clapping and whistling, making a vain attempt to stop every single person in the arena from ogling his grandma, though of course, his efforts alone wouldn't be enough wouldn't be enough. "Dad-" Little Cato looks over to his dad but the man had been fast asleep, cuddled up in his cheer with his arms crossed over his chest. "Ugh." Little Cato groans and turns back to the artificial battlefield.

"There she is folks, in all her, mmmm- glory." Little Cato huffs. Even the stadium's announcer couldn't keep it in his pants. "And she's going up against a real mean son of a bitch tonight. A superstar all the way from the Imperium of Man. People, allow me to introduce to you... fallen paladin, Ryes!" Lights flash to the other end of the arena, revealing his grandmother's power armor clade opponent.

"Hey!" Little Cato bangs his fist to the reinforced glass. An Imperium paladin in a full set of power armor hardly seemed like a fair fight.

Nonetheless, Sheryl stood unshaken. She slowly reaches down for the glaive beside her, grabbing onto the handle and pulling the weapon out of the ground with one swift heavy tug.

"Isn't this a laugh. From a star paladin to arena fodda." Sheryl snickers at the knight. "Oh, how the mighty have fallen." She rotates the large silver glaive effortlessly with one hand as she hurls a mocking smirk at the towering knight.

"That's real cute..." The knight growls at the woman. "You're the reason I'm even here in the first place Cutthroat. You took everything from me. I was outcasted and forgotten, left to exist amongst the rats of the galaxy." The knight drones on pacing back and forth, every step he takes sending light shockwaves throughout the arena. "But I have clawed my way from nothing in this pit of degeneracy you call a nation all for this moment now."

Sheryl maintains her stoic posture before the lumbering knight, her mellow expression refusing to let up for a second. "Oh, come on Ryes, it was just biz as usual, a completely neutral affai. S'not mah fault ya couldn't do ya job right mae."

The knight let another low growl form in his throat, carefully reaching to his back and unsheathing the weapon holstered there. It was a chainsword, a standerd kind of wapeon for Imperium solders. Particularly knights with power armor. "You know what I've come for Cutthroat." The sword raves up like a roaring engine.

"Well..." Sheryl stops twirling the large glaive, brings her other hand to rest on the handle, and spreads her feet along the ground. "Ya gonna have to come earn it love." The arena roars to life again, the crowd screaming, hollering, and cheering, 'Cutthroat, Cutthroat, Cutthroat' over and over again. Little Cato even swears he can hear Clarence, shouting louder and prouder than anyone else there. Of course, the teen cheers on his grandmother too, as loud as he could in his worried state anyway.

Each combatant stars the other down, asserting their dominance, looking for cracks in each other's tightly fastened mental armor, holding their breaths in preparation for the first move. Then the knight launches himself at the faded blonde, jumping into the air and bringing his chainsaw blade down overhead.

Sheryl sidesteps the heavy hit though the shock wave of the knight's missive power armor sends her to the ground, though to a safe distance. She rolls off of the ground and immediately resettles her body into a combat formation.

The knight pulls his sword out of the ground, bringing up chunks of artificial stone as he does, and turns to the woman. "You have no idea how long I've waited for this." A weary laugh escapes him.

"Yeah..." Sheryl huffs out a strained chuckle. "I imagine it's gonna be all the more awkwaed once ya lose then." She starts toward the knight, not wasting any time with the suited paladin. Shyrle slashes and slices at him with the sliver glaive but no matter where she hit or what she did, the knight would be ready for her, blocking every attack she threw out and dodging a whole lot more.

Even when she does manage to land a hit, the sliver blade of her weapon would marly bounce right off his hunk of armor. She attempts the slice him down the middle, but the knight quickly catches her glaive in his chainsword's blades, bringing the sword down and around to deflect the woman's weapon out of her hand.

Her glaive was gone, landing at a far enough distance that she would not dare attempt retrieving the thing. Little Cato nearly faints. He thinks his grandma is about to die right there in some filthy arena of all places, however, to his surprise, the old blonde is far from finished. 

Sheryl had staggered for a bit though after regaining her balance the woman would come back around with a pair of coiled daggers pulled out of God knows where and stabs one clean through the power armor and into the former knight's right leg.

The hulking knight howls in pain, smacking the blonde away. She goes flying but never hits the ground, somersaulting back to her feet effortlessly.

"What was that?" The former knight staggers a bit and struggles to keep his feet on the ground.

"Well, a little birdy told me that they'd be given ya little fancy suit back, so I thought why not bust out the ol' corrosive daggas?" Sheryl laughs under her breath, wiping the blood from her mouth and twirling the newly presented daggers in her hands.

He screams rushing at her in a fit of untamed rage. The knight begins to swing his chainsword wildly though he hits nothing. Sheryl's approach changes just as the knight's had. She weaves and dodges every hit effortlessly. She lets him fight with himself, waits for him to throw out reckless swings, and retaliates with quick stabs right after.

She does this multiple times, playing it safe, moving between his swings, stabbing him just as quick as she danced around him. Her daggers were amazing, they cut through the knight's heavy power armor as if the suit were made of butter or cheap toilet paper. The more she stabs at him the more unbalanced he becomes. The knight unleashes one more thoughtless swing as Sheryl sidesteps the attack and uses the sword to launch herself onto his armor before climbing onto his back. She lifts the daggers, ready to strike the killing blow but the knight, in some strange last-ditch effort to stay alive, musters up enough strength to grab hold of her.

"Fucking bitch!" He tosses the woman hard enough the shatter the holographic barrier and hit the protective shield on the other side. She hits the glass hard, stabbing her daggers into it to keep herself mounted to the wall though one of the corrosive blades nearly hits Little Cato in the process.

Sheryl heaves out scattered breaths before turning to look at the glass, seemingly to check her faded blonde hair. She peers away, ready to re-enter the fight but quickly turns back to the glass with a shocked look over her expression. Her face shifts from exhausted and battle-hardened to still and tentative in an instant when she sees the boy on the other side of the arena's other shield. She was taken aback, and her mind hadn't made up what she should do yet.

Little Cato's heart beats a mile a minute when the woman looks at him. He was pressed up against the glass, stupefied and too stunned to move away even as the daggers began to eat away at the shield. The blonde put a hand up against the glass, to him, before turning back toward the battleground with a rageful scowl. She uses a combination of her daggers stuck in the glass and her legs to eject herself back toward the arena and the knight. She goes barreling at him like a flaming comet and hurls one of her daggers at the man. He blocks it but doesn't see the next one that comes right after.

By the time he does notice, the short blade was already buried in his neck, and he was on his knees. Sheryl strides up to the battered knight with a proud smile. She observes him and his armor, or maybe the abundance of holes she had put in it, then walks over to her silver glaive. The faded blonde picks the weapon up, places it on her shoulder, and struts back over to the kneeling man.

"Guess ya won't be takin my head after all love." She teases, resting the blade of her glaive up against his neck. The knight barely even has the strength to look her way, but he would slowly manage regardless.

"Fuck-" Before he could finish his final statement, the blonde had done a little twirl, spinning on her toes and bringing the glaive around, decapitating the knight with one swift motion.

His head flies into the air and comes crashing down violently against the artificial surface of the battlefield, bouncing with a bloody splat as his body stays motionlessly upright. Sheryl turns to the crowd, face rinsed in blood and panting heavily. She bows and the crowd erupts into a roaring cheer.

"Well, what can you say folks! It's always a good time when Cutthroats in town! Good night, everybody, thanks for coming out!" The announcer said, bringing the show to an end as Sheryl took in the torrent of praise, she'd been receiving all round. After one last bow, she would rise again, looking toward Little Cato.

She held her eyes to him, even squinting to make sure she had been looking at the right spot. She smiles and brings her hand to her lips, blowing a kiss the boy's way. Little Cato's breathing suddenly stops then as he staggers back onto his seat astounded... amazed.

"Ooh, what I miss." Gary walks up with a smile. He had come back long after the fighting was finished. He then looks down to the battlefield. "Oh god," He groans when he sees his mother bowing and basking in blood that wasn't hers.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

"God..." Gary sighs as a man guides Little Cato and his parents to the backstage fitting rooms. The man leading them had come at the request of Sheryl herself. This sudden proposal left Gary in a bit of a tizzy. The blonde was already apprehensive about seeing his mother from afar. To hear that she wanted to speak personally only dampens his mood more than buying the tickets to watch her fight did.

"She's through this door." The man comes to a stop, gesturing to a door with a star plaque near the top. "No trouble you here." He gives his first and only warning to the group though his words don't genuinely faze any of them. Gary was too nervous, Little Cato excited and Avocato just challenged the man's authority with an austere sneer.

They stood in front of the door. Little Cato is the first to step up to it, reaching out for the digital lock but pulling away just as quick. "Hey Gary, you should open it... she's your mom after all." He runs behind Gary and shoves him forward.

Gary stares at the door before looking back at his family with an uneasy wince and gritted teeth. Little Cato gives him nothing beyond a frozen frightened glance while Avocato motions to the door with a nod. Gary somehow finds the courage to look back to the door and its star plaque that reads out his mother's last name, Cutthroat.

The blonde reaches for the digital lock but stops before hovering his finger above the lock pad. "You know what..." He steps back, giggling to himself. "She probably doesn't actually want to be bothered. Why don't we just... go get ice cream? Ice cream sounds fun right?"

Avocato sighs, stepping forward. "Alright move it." He pushes past Gary and Little Cato, slamming a fist against the lock pad, and opens up the door for the timid duo. "You're welcome, baby." Avocato smirks, standing to the said and holding his arm out for Gary and his son.

"Thanks..." Gary hisses and squints before entering the room, followed by Little Cato. They slink in, and stand awkwardly next to each other, looking at a chair that was turned to face a large mirror. Little Cato wasn't sure what to do and neither was Gary. The only one who hadn't seemed to care so much about Sheryl was Avocato, who stood arms crossed with a constant attitude.

"Heyyyy kid!" suddenly, the single light blue chair spins around to the group, revealing a happy faded older blonde with a silk bathrobe wrapped around her body.

Gary was nervous before, but standing there now any hint of fear he was feeling slowly washed away and all he was left with was irritation or something of that magnitude. He folds his arms over his chest and greets the woman with an unfriendly grimace.

"Hey, Sheryl." He spoke, looking away from the woman with a turned-up nose.

"Woah- wha?" Sheryl snorts out a chuckle at the blonde. "What's that about then? No hi, mum? I miss ya mum, it's been almost ions mum." She kept a friendly enough smile on her face and got more silence for her efforts to open up. "Gary?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, I maybe would have said, oh hey Mom, thanks for not contacting me for years mom, really awesome that you ditched me and Dad when I was a kid Mom... If you ever acted like a mom at all!" Gary screeches fed up and tired of the woman.

Sheryl's smirk had abandoned her altogether and was quickly replaced by a flat look that couldn't fathom the reason for her son's screaming. "Well if I knew it was goin' to be like that, I wouldn't have invited ya in."

"Why did you invite us back here to begin with!?" Gary sneers at her and she bobs her head in a forgetful manner.

"I saw little man and thought it's been a while." She explains though it's not anything the blonde wanted to hear.

He huffs, smacking a self-disciplinary palm to his face. "I'm gonna wait outside guys." Gary storms back out of the room.

Avocato runs a hand along his ears. "I should probably go after him." The older Ventrexian looks to his son with a fleeting sigh. "Just come find us when you're done." Little Cato nods and his dad steps out of the room after, leaving him and his grandma with a newly formed smirk on her face.

Little Cato hesitantly faces the woman, with all his own fears and anxieties bubbling up beneath his fur and sending tingles through his body like mad. He had so many questions for his grandma, when he had seen her in that first commercial, going over her figure in all the ads and even watching her fight he was constantly coming up with new things he wanted to ask. Now that he was actually in front of the woman, he could hardly remember a single one of his searing questions.

"How's it goin' little man?" Sheryl asks, shaking Little Cato out of his star-struck stupor.

"F-fine... I'm fine... ma'am." Little Cato choked before swallowing down the lump caught in his throat.

"Woah, woah." Sheryl held her hands up too Little Cato, giggling and leaning forward in her spinny chair. "What's with the ma'am thing? Do I look like a ma'am to ya?" 

"Oh, right no. Sorry grandma." The word leaves Little Cato's mouth in a hurry, coaxing a sharp wince out of the older woman.

"Ugh, go back to ma'am place." She turns her head away with a grumble.

Little Cato points his eyes to the floor and drags a hand over his face. He was embarrassed and scared to open his mouth any further. His words were jumbled up and caught in his throat, not that they made much sense anymore.

Sheryl glances back at Little Cato bobbing her head back and forth and rolling her eyes at the way he just stood with his face covered up. "Ughh!" She groans and stands up from her bright blue chair. The faded blonde walked over to the boy ready to say something, but her words were just as stuck as Little Cato's had been. Little Cato brings his face out of his hand when he sees her walk up to him. She scratches the back of her neck, still unsure of what to say, bobs her head around, and lets loose a series of indecisive hums. "Hey," Her face lights up as if a light bulb had gone off in her head. "How about we get outta hea? Rooms kinda stuffy don't ya think?"

A small smile makes its way onto Little Cato's face and quickly disappears. "I can't actually... I'm technically grounded and Gary's tracking me."

Sheryl oddly tilts her head at Little Cato. "Gary's wha?" She closes her eyes and pinches the bridge of her nose. "Okay, uhh... give me ya phone little man."

"Huh?" The strange squeak was all Little Cato could manage.

"Ya have a phone, don't ya? I think a lotta kids do nowadays-"

"I mean why grand- Sheryl?" Little Cato quickly corrects his slip of the tongue.

Sheryl doesn't answer right away, aiming her radiant smile at the boy. "Don't..." She takes a long, deep breath. "Don't you trust your gran now?" She held her hand out urging him for his phone. Little Cato found himself stunned yet again.

"Yeah." Little Cato took out his phone and held it out to her. Her simple words were enough to make him surrender to whatever she wanted to do next. She snatches the device and scrolls through it, pressing her thumb down onto the screen as the phone begins to ring.

"Yeah, Little Cato." Gary picks up with a sign, his voice is dry though more at ease than before. He was calmer, a result of his dad talking the blonde out of his frustration.

"Hey love, I'm gonna kidnap ya wallaby real quick. Is that okay with ya?" Sheryl asks, though she most likely didn't need to. She was going to take Little Cato whether he wanted her to or not.

"What!? No! What!?"

"Thanks love. I appreciate ya."

"Mom don-" She hangs up the phone before Gary's disapproval can reach her.

"We should probably get goin' before Gary comes lookin'." She motions to the door.

"But..." Little Cato waves to her. "Your robe."

Sheryl looks down, touching her hands to the silk bath robes. "Eh, I gotta change in my cah."

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Sheryl walks through the door of a diner, small balls ringing out as she holds it open for the boy following behind her. She walks further into the establishment with Little Cato meekly telling her until the woman finds a seat near the back. Sheryl gestures to the stall, allowing Little Cato to sit first before taking the seat across from him.

"Snazzy place huh?" Sheryl Whistles, looking up at the walls of the dingy diner.

Little Cato fellows her impressionable gaze. "Is it?" He questions the validity of her sight. It wasn't the worst looking spot in the city, but it wasn't the greatest either.

"Hey!" Sheryl leans out of the stall, snapping her fingers to the single waitress who'd been serving the empty diner that night. "Over hea love." The waitress slinks over to the pair, her eyes struggling to keep themselves open.

"Yeah?" The young lady moaned as she pulled out a pen and pad. She certainly sounds tired. She gives off the impression that she has been working all day or maybe she had just woken up not too long ago.

"Two drinks for me and the little man, chicken tendas with onion rings and, uhhh...." Her head bobs around as she motions to Little Cato.

"A hotdog is fine." He spoke softly, offering the tired waitress a sympathetic smile. The woman jots down their order and trudges off, leaving an awkward silence to hang between the teen and his grandma. Little Cato fidgets in his seat and nervously taps his knuckles against the cold metal table.

The young teen was at a loss, and so was his grandmother by the looks of the equally awkward shifting coming from her seat. The pair go back and forth, trading uncomfortable glances, opening their mouths to speak and saying nothing at all and being caught in a series of thoughtless or shy hums.

Little Cato takes a sturdy breath. They couldn't go on like this all night. It was made clear that neither of them knew what to say or how to feel. Little Cato found himself intimidated by her, but he wouldn't let their interaction rest on a nervous silence.

"So..." Littke Cato clears his throat once or twice before looking directly at the woman across from him. "How did you end up in Night City, fighting a death match with power-armored up knights no less?"

Sheryl finally looks his way, her constant fighting and finger tapping on their metal table ceasing fully. "Now that is a long, very funny story little man." The woman leans forward over the table. A vibrant grin races along her lips as she begins to regale Little Cato with the story of how she ended up spilling blood before live audiences. "So how much have John or Gary talked about me?" Little Cato shrugs at her. "Not much ay...? Well, if you didn't know before, I have a habit of... procuring items that don't necessarily belong to me."

"What...?" Little Cato giggles under his breath. "Like you're a thief?"

Sheryl laughs, throwing her shoulders up briefly. "Well, thief is such a strong word. I like to think of myself more as a liberator of objects and artafacts that are valued more than how they are currently being taken care of. "Little Cato tilts a confused scoff at the woman. "Anyway, I been all over the galaxy makin' a name by steal-..." She stops for a moment. "Borrowing... from other, more well-off folk. I've procured things from Reich's home world Arya, taken tons of riches from some Imperium fotress monasteries from places like Equestria. I've raided Irken ships, Helghast convoys in the other rim." The faded blonde spoke aggregately of her past exploits while keeping a smug sideways smirk along her cheek. "I even managed to lift some legendary items as well. You seen that glaive I used to, uhhh...." Sheryl chuckles, bringing her voice to an even lower pitch. "Liberate Ryes's head from his body? That weapon is Gundyr's glaive." She whispers to the boy excitedly. It was as if he was supposed to know who Gundyr was. Sadly, he doesn't have a clue.

"Who?"

Sheryl jolts back in her seat at his airy response. "Who?" She repeats the word a bit upset. "Don't they teach ya any history in school?" Little Cato stares with an unsure look. If they had taught him about this man, he had defiantly glossed over that particular lesson. "Well anyway, I'll probably tell you about 'em some othea time. That's some pretty wild Imperium history you're missing out on."

"Is that why that guy was so adamant about killing you?" 

Shyrle hums for a bit. "Partially." The pride displayed on her face fades away suddenly. "Ryes had staked his knighthood on retrieving that thing and me in the process for taken it. Took an oath of responsibility when his chapter Eldea advised against it. Needless to say, after I outplayed the poor sap and he failed to take the glaive back, his title of paladin was striped, he was banished, and from what I heard, the knights under his command were stripped of their titles and demoted back to guardsmen to add insult to injury."

Little Cato goes wide-eyed. "All because he couldn't capture you?"

"What can I say. They take those oaths seriously ova thea. It would be a sign of weakness if a knight that was so sure of themselves failed to deliver on their capabilities." Sheryl said, her smug smirk returning in a full blaze of glory.

"And the daggers?" Little Cato asked.

"Those..." She stops and clenches her teeth embarrassed. "That's actually why I'm hea now." She leans off the table and settles into her seat. "Those were a special pair of blades belonging to the Legion royal family actually."

"Grandma..." Little Cato let out a distressed moan as the faded blonde slings more embarrassed snickers. "So, what happened?"

"Funny thing really. I was with a group on this one. The job had gone off without a hitch, I was in the clea on my way to the spaceport... or so I had thought. Befoe I knew it, suddenly I was surrounded by Legion praetorians with black and gold, ornate rifles pointed at my skull and jew." She motions to her head area. "Next thing I know I'm on my way to prison. You eva been to a Legion prison little man?" Little Cato shakes his head, a sudden look of fear crossing his expression. "Not particularly pleasant. One day the guards had come to my cell, saying the emperor himself wanted to have a word with me. Turns out one of my partners had been made and ratted everyone else out just so he wouldn't be the only one rotten in a Legion work camp. That's why I don't like working with people. Their only eva out to get ya little man." She points at Little Cato, going slightly off-topic. "So, everyone had been caught, the artafacts had been retrieved before they had the chance to leave the planet and now suddenly knelt in front of the Legions emperor, this brown pseudo rabbit fella named Octavio Caesar, with an ultimatum. Plagued my service to the Caesar-Augustus family or..." She ran her thumb along her neck, emphasizing her lack of choice in the matter.

"Oh..." Little Cato spoke lowly, a bit dismayed. "Does that mean...."

"Yep." Sheryl beams at him. "Your ol' gran is technically a Legion slave at the moment."

Little Cato drags a hand over his mouth, holding back a shocked gasp. "Man..." He chokes up a gutted breath. "I'm sorry grandma."

She waves a hand at him, dismissing any empathy. "Don't be. What's done is done, for now anyway."

The young teen removes the from over his mouth and places it back on the table. He and his grandma had settled back into still silence though he could say the tension wasn't as unpleasant this time around. In some weird way, he was more comfortable with her knowing what he knew now.

"Well, whatever you used to be or what you are now doesn't really matter. You're pretty much the coolest person I have ever met." He said with a soft smile. Sheryl looks at him, a mix of pride and terror covering her face.

'Th- thank you... little man." Her face would also settle on a tiny smile. She reaches out a hand, hesitantly stretching over the table, and holds out an open Plame. Little Cato stares at it, his heart thumping wildly before moving his hand toward hers. His fingers touch against her cold flesh before their palms would fully meet and Sheryl closes a gentle grip around the boy.

Her touch was surly and rough, though just as vivid as he remembers it being so long ago. Despite how it felt to him now the warmth from her palm fills him with joy and wonder, like there was a piece of a puzzle missing and it had only just been found and fit back into place.

"Order up." Their quiet bounding is broken up by the waitress they had both nearly forgotten about. "Two drinks, one tender with onion rings and one hotdog. Enjoy." She places the items down in front of the pair before leaving them to it.

Little Cato wasn't feeling all that hungry instead following after his grandmother in sipping on the drinks that had arrived alongside their food.

"Hey, little man," Sheryl spoke in her soft raspy, Aussie tone. "I'm actually goin' to be in the city for the next year. If ya wanted to rendezvous durin' that time... I wouldn't completely despise the idea." Little Cato smiled at her and hummed an agreement as he sipped from the soda in front of him. "Oh right." Sheryl jumps with a snap of her fingers. "You neva did tell me what you were grounded for?"

Her question causes Little Cato to choke on the drink and his quick sipping comes to a stop right after. He looks up at her, wiping rogue streams of soda from his mouth and chin. "That's... a funny story actually."

Chapter 18: A consequential conversation.

Heavy wind blows, and a cold breeze feels the air, howling endlessly like a pack of restless wolves. The moon sat high in the sky, gleaming amongst the stars as it had done every other night. Avocato looks at the city below, astonished by its sheer size.

Night City glows brighter than anywhere he's really seen. The shine reflects off of every glass surface of many towering mega structures, lights illuminating every inch of the land the overcrowded town was built on. Holographic ads run through the sky at all hours of the day, and voices erupt from almost nowhere, filling the air and echoing throughout the dense avenues to remind people of the products they should have been buying at that very moment, the things they just couldn't live without.

Avocato couldn't stand it. The bright lights, loud advertising, and tireless, disorderly streets. In a way, the city reminds Avocato of home, though less monarchical and more capitalistic of course. Yeah, the techniques may have been different the results were always the same. Night City made a lot of promises the man knew it couldn't keep, and he should know better than anyone. Ventrexia was always good at making promises. He pulls his sight away from the city and brings his eyes back to his reflection in a lengthy window.

He reaches one gloved hand up, gently sliding his fingers to a portion of glass just above him, light sparks of electricity circuit from his digits as they come into contact with the glass. He comes to a brief stop, looking up at the large structure he'd been bound to and smiles slightly to himself. He brings a foot up soon after, the same bit of electricity coursing through the glass as it connects, followed by another hand and foot after that. Avocato continues like that, bringing hand over hand, falling into a steady motion of moving up the stainless glass like a cat climbing up a tree.

He had been scaling the said of a building belonging to the Petrochem corporation with specialized magnetic gear with his partner Gary sort of struggling to do the same just below him. Tonight's objective required both men's involvement. It was nothing special, their missions rarely ever were. All they had to do was gather as much information as they could and plant a bug. Why it needed both of them to do so, Avcato wouldn't know, and he wouldn't question either. Not like he could anyway.

"I still... can't believe this..." Gary's voice grumbles over the earpiece in Avocato's ear. He sounds frustrated, his venting coming out in a spaced-out pant. The blonde wasn't all that used to climbing the sides of buildings, manually that is. 

"What's wrong Gary?" Avocato huffs back the other man, still keeping his quick pace along the towering structure. At first, he thinks the blonde just has an issue with their current objective. Gary was no stranger to complaining whether it be about the city or the most recent missions the couple had undertaken.

"What do you think?" Gary flings the questions at him, the tone he took aggressive, and way too worked up. Avocato opens his mouth, ready to answer but the blonde speaks up immediately before he gets the opportunity. "Where does my mom get off just taking Little Cato like that huh!?" Gary's voice shrieks over the earpiece, nearly deafening Avocato. "After all that time gone, she thinks she could just pop up and suddenly decide to play grandmother, and that I would be cool with it?" It was more talk about his mom. Avocato should have expected it really.

Ever since the day the ads of her started appearing around the city Gary had been a tad irate. Having to see her face everywhere he went was driving him crazy and he never failed to let Avocato know just how upset he truly was.

Avocato never really knew what to say during those moments he was upset, or how to properly comfort the blonde. If it were anything else, any other situation or problem, The Ventrexian would be able to talk Gary down from his outrage with no problem. When it comes to the blonde's mother, however, Avocato is at a loss for comforting words. His lack of grace doesn't stop him from making an attempt with Gary, though sometimes the blonde made it seem like his mother wasn't something he wanted to get over. He was comfortable grumbling about the woman no matter what he would say. The Ventrexian's words would really sway Gary.

"Gary..." Avocato begins. "Maybe it's time to forgive her. It's been years, I doubt she's the same person who left you as a kid right?" A static snicker crackles in his earpiece.

"What do you mean?" Gary said, his voice becoming more irritated. "How am I supposed to forgive a person like that? Even if she's not who she used to be, how do you expect me to let that go?" A sharp groan bellows from the earpiece. Avocato hums, words still stuck in some sort of limbo. He was having trouble speaking though to be fair he was trying to focus on climbing up the side of a tall building. One little slip-up and they would be plummeting to their deaths, no matter how good the equipment they were using was. Avocato comes up to an edge, climbs over a safety railing, and lands back on solid ground, admittedly grateful to be back on his own two feet. Looking back over Avocato reaches a handout to a flustered Gary before yanking him up and over the guardrail.

The man looks around after lending his partner a hand. They were in a rooftop garden, from what he could tell, with a little bar area not too far from where they stood. They weren't at the very top of the building, but they were close enough to it. Luckily the rooftop lounge appears to be empty to Avocato's relief. After all that climbing the last thing, he wanted to do was sneak around a few tipsy people.

"Uhhh... maybe give her a chance, I don't know," Avocato said, scratching the back of his ear and staring nervously at the blonde. "You might be blowing this whole thing out of proportion Gary."

Gary aims a baffled glare at Avocato before wiping his head back in hysterics. "Me? I'm blowing things out of proportion?" He takes a step back shaking his head with a amazed smirk. "She took our son without permission knowing damn well that he was grounded, and you can't tell me she didn't because Little Cato told me that he told her," Gary growls. "And for him to go along with it. Why is he constantly trying to break my heart? The fruit of my womb."

"Gary." Avocato rolls his eyes.

"Oh, get the point Avocato." Gary spat. "I didn't have to give birth to him to worry about him."

"But you worry too much." Avocato snaps as a semi-guilty look washes over Gary's angelic features. "Look I understand. You love him and care about him to the point of stressing yourself out, but Gary all the worrying is gonna drive him away. You don't want that right?"

Gary stood quietly, glancing away from Avocato with a pout on his cheeks and folded arms. He sighs, looking back at the man. "How's our hacker doing? Does he know where we are or where have to be or what?" Gary doesn't acknowledge Avocato's last question. He had clearly struck a chord, enough to make the blonde change the subject entirely.

Before Avocato could bring the conversation back around to Little Cato, the sound of his phone diverges the attempt. He takes the device out and lets out a quick snicker when he reads the message sent. "See for yourself." He turns the phone around, showing the blonde the message, he'd just received.

the fox- just fine. head through the bar and to the automatic doors, I'll have them opened.

Gary leers at the phone with a discomfiting sneer. "Ugh. Is he watching us?" He quickly scans the rooftop area for any sign of suspicious figures that weren't them.

"You have to admit, for a freelancer, he's pretty good," Avocato said, starting in the direction of the bar with Gary close behind him.

"Yeah..." Gary mutters. "Maybe a little too good." As they go, a large screen they pass flickers to life with white text that slowly scrolls across a black background. 'Only a bit experienced is all' It reads. Gary scoffs at the sudden text, eyes rolling over. "Yeah, sure." He whispers, keeping a look out over the rooftop area. "Just no more inducing blackouts you hear. My son bearly made it home during that first week." He schooled the screen with his hands affixed to his hips.

'It was either that or let the target away. But I'll be a little more careful next time.'

Gary sighs at the newly formed set of words before turning back to, and following, Avocato. 

The men slither up to the door. At first, nothing happens, and after a few minutes of carefully looking around and breathing concealed sighs the automatic doors swiftly and soundlessly slide open. Avocato chuckles when Gary sounds another aggravated moan. Credit where credit is due. Gary may not have trusted this hacker but without him, half of the mission they were secretly embarking on might have been utter failures.

He and the blonde step past the automatic glass doors, stepping foot into a large corporate center. The building was sleek and sanitized like a lot of corporate places were. A few employees skulked about here and there but beyond that, the space was pretty much empty. That doesn't mean the pair could just waltz on through like they own the space themselves, especially not when they were decked head to toe in tactical stealth equipment.

"Were to now?" Gary questions the crouching Ventrexian. When Avocato proceeds to answer, he has the wind abruptly knocked out of his sails when their hacker, the Fox, informs the duo before he has the chance to even wonder out loud. 

'One floor up and don't worry about the cameras.' More words spelled themselves out along digital billboards and nearby signage much to Gary's dismay. "Okay, he is definitely watching us." The blonde cautiously throws a glance over his shoulder.

"Yeah... maybe." Avocato looks back at Gary, looming over the blonde's shoulder with a sinister tone. "Maybe his always watching us..." Gary looks back to Avocato, his eyes darting from side to side as he begins to slink into himself. Avocato continues to stare at him with a dreadful squint, his features only softening as soon as he sees the blonde begin to sweat. "Just kidding." He smiles, tapping Gary's arm with a light smack. "Let's get a move on."

"Right..." Gary mutters as the Ventrexian moves ahead. The blonde would take a moment to recompose himself. "You don't think he's actually watching us though, right?" He asks though Avocato wouldn't answer. He was too busy trying to find the best way to get through a brightly lit building without being seen. 

He moves and Gary follows. They stick to the darkest parts of the open corporate center, ducking into shadowy corners, sparsely lit hallways, and anywhere else that wouldn't get them immediately recognized as people who clearly didn't belong there.

The journey to the floor above wasn't a long one if Avocato didn't count the moments where he and Gary had to wait for employees, security staff, or the janitor to clear out before slinking off to another shadowy spot to begin the process of hiding away all over again.

Their objective was at the end of the hallway they'd been silently creeping through. It was an office belonging to some executive of the company who may or may not have been conspiring against the United Systems Alliance. 

That's why they were here now, weaving through dark corners and evading janitorial staff. To see if the claim against this person had any merit to it. With an accusation that big, Avocatto was hoping the information he was given was on the money.

Gary and Avocato pile up beside the office door as it miraculously unlocks itself. Avocato slowly pushes the door open, poking his head inside first to make sure that it had been empty then enters once he sure the coast was clear.

The office was a stranded afire for an executive. Comfoy-looking couches, sand gardens, a poorly maintained bonsai tree, a nice desk, and an even nicer view of the city through a large window.

"Alright, let's get to work," Avocato said, immediately jogging over to the office desk. He looks at the monitor of the exec's computer. It was an Omni, one of the most expensive brands a person could own. "God," Avocato grumbled. He never liked the brand all that much. Their technology was too overly complicated for him at times mainly because the controls made heavy use of the holographic tech it was built off of. 

Avocato leans over the desk, reaching for the side of the holographic monitor and running his fingers along the sleek surface until he stumbles upon the small USB port he'd been looking for. He then brings out a tiny microchip, a datashard, and inserts it into the port.

That small act would give their hacker full access to the computer. All Avocato had to do now was sit back and relax while the Fox combed through all the nefarious data that may or may not have been there.

The screen of the holographic monitor lights up and immediately glitches out, revealing a cluster of white lines. "You know I never understood his logo," Gary said stepping beside Avocato and raising a brow at the monitor. "What's it even supposed to be?"

Avocato shrugged. "I think it's a fox." He said. "See the ears up here, and the overall head shape down here." He points the the cluster of lines. Truthfully, he was only guessing based on the general shape of the logo and the hacker's alias.

"I mean... sure you could say it's a fox, but it doesn't look like anything to me-"

"It's a fox." A raspy voice disgorges from the computer to correct the blonde. The sudden start was enough to send Gary halfway up in the air.

"Woah...! Are you actually in there? Like right now?" Gary questions the monoter.

"You know, technically I'm not actually in here right...?" Soft raspy snickers emerged from the monitor as well as some light chuckling from Avocato. 

"You know what I meant moron." Gary hissed.

"Yeah, yeah, give me a sec." The monitor goes quiet and the jumbled-up mess of a logo that was meant to be a fox instantly shifts to the computer's home screen. "There's a lot of useless junk in this guy's files... lots more porn..." Gary huffs out an irked sigh. "There are some things in here that seem weird... but nothing to raise your eyebrow at... I'll keep looking."

The room falls into another solid silence. The hacker goes through everything he can on the computer, opening file upon file, combing through leftover bits of data as quickly and thoroughly as he can though Avocato and Gary couldn't care to watch the man work.

They choose to watch the city instead, tracing the ever-present glow of its neon skyline along miles of tall dark buildings. It's the kind of thing they actually like to do in their free time. Just sit back and relax with each other close by.

"God, I cannot wait till this is done." Gary yawns, casting his head down on Avocato's shoulder.

Avocato brings his arm up along the blond's back and hooks his hand over his shoulder. "You tired already." He snickers, pulling Gary in just a bit closer.

"I meant... till all of this is done..." The blonde makes himself clearer though the words still manage to drive a curious buzz from Avocato. "Like everything we've been doing lately, all snaking around and the info snatching and surveillance bugging. We're supposed to be Infinity Guard... not the A.I.A or the NBI." Gary moans. 

"This operation is a joint effort between multiple agencies." Avocato winces, only giving Gary half of the whole truth he knew. The other half of why they were really in Night City and some of the more important targets Gary didn't know about could remain with him, for now anyway.

"I know," A weary breath leaves the blonde. "But like, your last mission was a data scroll hidden in a sandwich. A sandwich. They really can't contact us outright? Are the hoops we have to jump through, all the relayed and hidden massages and all that, really necessary?" He let out another exhausted huff. "I barely got down to Konpeki in time to handle that last one since you were still busy."

The Ventrexian bows his head forward in a fit of nervous laughter and scratches his neck. "Yeah... thanks for taking care of that again." A light blush forms under his fur. The last mission they were given, the sandwich job as Gary liked to call it, was meant for Avocato. He was supposed to make his way down to the hotels in Konpeki Plaza to plant a tracker on a military official visiting Earth from the UNSC. The only problem was he was already busy taking care of another matter that had stretched on way longer than he had anticipated it would. Avocato was only happy Gary had gone in his place. He didn't want to know how bad things could have been if the blonde hadn't given the sandwich a look. That mission was an important one so he would imagine Kessler, the man issuing most of his orders, wouldn't have been all that happy. "You ever get worried about keeping all this from Little Cato?" The man blurts suddenly though he doesn't really know why.

"Eh, what he doesn't know won't kill him," Gary said seemingly glossing over the man's sudden concern. "But you're right. He was probably so excited when we told him were gonna stay on Earth for a while. Probably thought he was going to spend so much time with us and look at what we're doing. Running through the city without his knowledge and practically ignoring him."

Avocato nods. He could only guess how Little Cato was feeling about them being out of the house so often, himself more than Gary anyway. His mind quickly pivots to his family and the tension that had flooded the apartment. "Hey, Gary?" He spoke, catching the attention of the blonde. "Why are you being so hard on Little Cato lately? It's not like you."

Gary's head pops off the man's shoulder as he hurriedly steps away from his side. "I'm sorry, not like me?" He raises a brow at Avocato's fairly harmless insinuation. "When's the last time I didn't care for my own kid? I try to protect him and keep him from running his life and his body and all of a sudden, it's not like me?"

"I didn't mean it like that-"

"Then what do you want me to do Avocato? Sit off to the side and let him run amuck, get addicted to glitter and sleep on the street where he can contract a disease from some hooker?" Gary raises his voice slightly despite being in a position were doing so isn't necessarily wise. "You may not care for him at the moment, but I still care Avocato." He says, voice swelling on the verge of tears.

Avocato looks at the blonde with narrowed eyes. "I never stopped caring about my son..." He spoke in a low gravelly pitch, bringing his hands up and holding Gary by each shoulder. "I have nothing but love for that kid and I know you do too." His expression eases up and he releases blonde. "He means the world to you, and you want to protect him from all the bad out there I understand that, but if you keep going the way you are now, you're only gonna end up driving a wedge between the two of you. Do you really want that?"

Gary crosses his arms and looks away. "If it means keeping him safe yes." He closes his eyes, instantly regrating the answer. "No..." He goes quiet again before bringing hesitant eyes to Avocato. "What do I do?" The blonde quivers.

"I say talk to him." The scratchy voice of their hacker reemerges from the computer speakers, taking the two quarreling parents off guard. "You know I have a sister. I remember way back when something bad had gone down. A bad accident that I was the cause of it all really. My niece had died, and my family wasn't the same after. We all grieved in our own way, I just took it more personally than my sister had, jumped right into vigilantism, and took my pain out on the world. I did everything in my power to protect her and her son. I guarded her without her knowing, went after people who would harass her, and even installed security cameras in their house so I could keep a close eye on the both of them twenty-four-seven all while disrupting the criminal underworld in my downtime. Naturally, after my antics had caught up with her and my nephew, you can imagine she doesn't speak to me anymore." The voice disappears for a moment, dipping the room in a mournful sensation. "I say talk to the kid, get a conversation going, try to work this out the right way... otherwise Avo's right."

Gary looks at the monitor for a bit before turning a regretful gaze to Avocato. He keeps his eyes locked with his partner before rolling them back around to the monitor. "How long have you been listing in on us?"

"I never stopped." The hacker says without an ounce of shame in his voice. Gary can only slap a plame to his face. "Alright, I think I got what we came here for. I'm gonna send all this up to our mutual friends and see what they can make of it. You boys clear out fast." The voice fades out for good this time, closing the computer as he longs out. 

Gary looks at Avocato again. "Is he good or what?" Avocato said with a smirk.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Little Cato lies on his bad, his eyes somewhere between wanting to close shut and not. He slowly turns his head to peer up at the window and the glow of the city creeping into his room. He was too exhausted to move but too anxious to actually sleep.

His day was filled with nothing of note. Just nonsense from school, nonsense from friends, and nonsense from his budding relationship with Ash. Just nonsense overall from where he was sitting, or maybe lying now. He shouldn't even have been in bad. It wasn't so late, only around eight pm or so.

He should be out doing something right now with his group of friends, but he knows it would be wiser to stay put. Gary had him on a tight leash and any attempt to pull against it only resulted in his punishment worsening.

The young teen was stuck in a bind and there was no clear way out for him, not how things were now. All he could really do was lie down and think up scenarios and fantasies of the things he could have been doing since he wasn't allowed outside of the house when Gary was gone. Even when the blonde was there, he could only go so far.

Little Cato sighs. His eyes were starting to get heavy. He figures if he keeps thinking like he was, his mind will get bored, and he'd be able to pass out in time to wake up early in the morning. School was a bit rough, but it was the only ounce of independence he could enjoy at the moment.

"Little Cato...?" A knock comes at his room door, immediately removing the heavy feeling from around his eyes. "You awake buddy...? Spider cat?" It was Gary and he was knocking at his door instead of walking right in?

Little Cato leans up in his bed, rubbing his eyes as he does. "Uh, yeah, yeah I am." He responds to the blonde outside of his door, a bit uncertain at first.

"Can I come in?" He asked... he asked? Little Cato sits straight up, now fully intrigued and somewhat frightened.

"Sure..." The door slides open, and Gary carefully steps in along with his dad. The blonde has a sort of soft, shy smile paved over his face. He looks back at Avocato, the older Ventrexian motioning him along with a quick wave.

Gary shuffles hesitantly to the side of the boy's bed. "May I?" He asks for more permission and Little Cato grants it with a curious nod. "Hey, kid." Gary sat with a deep sigh pushing its way past his lips. "I know I've been a bit of a pain... and really hard to deal with lately." The blonde looks at Avocato and then back to their son. "You know I love you and I would do anything to keep you safe, but I know I can't keep myself wrapped around you... as much as I would like to." He holds a handout to the teen. "Give me your phone."

"What...?" Little Cato bares a confused grin though Gary only responds with a flick of his fingers. The boy catches on, reaching over to his nightstand for his phone, and places the device in Gary's hand.

The blonde starts looking through the phone, quickly tapping on the screen. "I never wanted to drive a wedge between us, and I never wanted you to resent me." He hands the phone back to his son, keeping his eyes planted on the boy.

"Resent you? What...?" Little Cato looks down at the phone to see what his other dad has done. The teenager was actually being untracked. "Wait... does this mean I'm ungrounded?" Gary nods, opening up his arms with a loving little smile curled up on his lips. Little Cato smiles back, throwing himself into the blonde's arms without a second thought. It's felt like forever since he's given Gary a proper hug and it felt as good as it always had. Warm, safe, comforting. It was the greatest feeling and nothing ever came close to matching it by a long shot.

"Be free my child, be free!" Gary starts to hum, playfully shaking the boy back and forth.

"Okay Gary, okay." Little Cato giggles as the two separate.

"Right, you're right." He brings a hand up, wiping subtle tears from under each eye. "Getting too emotional over here." He looks at Little Cato with a minuscule smile. "I'm gonna take a step back from now on. Just promise me that before you go and do something you think me not be so wise, give me a call first so I can weigh in."

Little Cato snickers and nods before his face comes to rest on a more befuddled glimpse. "Uh, what's going on here by the way?" He points to the blonde and his father behind him. Gary raises a brow until he goes into a slight panic once he realizes the boy was wondering about their outfits.

"Uhhh..." Gary stammers. "We... were at a- uhh.... tacticool themed party... right?" He darts back to Avocato. The older Ventrexian turns up a wondering gaze before abruptly exiting Little Cato's room. Gary looks back to the sunburst-toned boy with a nervous grimace. "It was a tacticool party..." He laughs, squinting and backing slowly out of the room. "Enjoy your freedom." The door slides shut. 

Not too long after their exit, Little Cato could hear the sound of quick shuffling as his parents struggled to get undressed. "A tacticool party?" Little Cato mutters to himself.  "How come they didn't take me?"

Chapter 19: In all the right, and wrong, places.

Little Cato treks through the halls of his building. The concrete corridors had been surprisingly quiet at the moment. His mind was half focused on home as it always had been after a long day of school. The other half had been focused on the phone that rested in his hand.

The boy had become good at walking, watching the screen of his device, and avoiding rough run-ins with the other distracted residents of the city. It was a skill Little Cato had cultivated alongside his friends, who always seemed to be on their phones in one form or another.

It wasn't like there hadn't been a purpose to his continued fixation on the screen, however. He wasn't watching some stupid video from one of his favorite content creators or keeping tabs on social media like most would. He'd been doing something much more important.

Waiting for a reply from his grandma.

He had sent a text out to the old blonde earlier and was now waiting rather impatiently for her to get back to him. When he sent a message in the middle of algebra asking if she wanted to hang out sometime that day, he was only interested to see what she had to say. After sending the brief message he put the thought of hearing back from her out of his mind and carried on with his day as usual. By the time he got out of school and a response had yet to come, his previous patient outlook would fall into anxious anticipation.

From the moment he left school grounds in Westbrook, to the train ride all the way back to Watson and the hike up to his mega building, Little Cato would keep narrowed brows fixed on his phone as he held a tight, nervous grip around the strap of his book bag.

Still nothing. Little Cato wonders what could be taking the woman so long? What could she be doing at the moment? She didn't have any fights scheduled for the day, as far as Little Cato was aware anyway. He doubts she would have skipped town and left the city. From what she's told him it would be impossible for her to do so.

"Come on grandma." Little Cato mutters, coming to a stop at his door, eyes still knitted to the screen of his phone. He was never really a patient kid, not when it came to people, places, or things he really cared about, though he would always give patients a try, nevertheless. He sighs past pursed lips, relenting and shoving the phone in his pocket before tapping a finger against his apartment's digi-lock.

He drags himself inside of the compact home once the door is fully open. The young teen was tired, and it only just occurred to him as soon as he was home and not so focused on his stupid phone. Little Cato needed to relax and take his mind off of his grandmother's non-response.

He does what Gary had taught him to do anytime he's stressed out about something. He closes his eyes and breathes in and out slowly. He takes a couple of deep prolonged breaths, keeping his eyes latched shut to focus on himself in the moment. In and out... in and out... until he felt right enough to open his eyes again.

When his eyelids flutter open his eyes land on a particular site in the kitchen, his parents. On Their own it's not a strange sight, he sees his parents together all the time. But this time was different, special in a way. They were dormant, leaning up against a counter and cuddling up to one another with coffee mugs gently grasped in their hands. Their eyes were shut softly, and cozy smiles rested along their lips as they leaned into each other.

The sight of Gary and his dad hugged so close to one another was a sight sweet enough to give Little Cato cavities. He loved seeing them so happy, any moment when they weren't arguing was a joyful one for him. He smiles at the huddled couple.

"Hey guys." He spoke up, throwing his backpack into the sofa pit. The pair hum at the boy, keeping their eyes closed and bodies close to each other. A small laugh leaves the curled-up smile on his face. "You know that's really sweet. I think I might even be sick."

Gary returns a chuckle, opening each eyelid one by one, and looks at the young teen. "You think after all these years you'd be used to it."

"Yeah, yeah." Little Cato snickers and steps over to the kitchen table. He pulls out a seat, planting himself at the table with eyes constantly pointed at his parents. "You guys just wake up or something?"

"Or something..." Avocato hums and takes a steep sip from the mug he held.

"And the first thing that came to mind was... this?" He motions at the couple, his tiny smirk morphing into a wide grin.

Gary placed a gentle hand on Avocato's shoulder before stepping away from him and over to their son. "Oh, Little Cato, love is one of those things that's complicated to explain. You eat together, you watch TV together, you drink together-"

"You go to military-themed raves together." Little Cato flashes a confused grimace at the blonde.

"Ye- yeah, that too..." Gary holds a hand to his mouth as he stares away from the boy in apprehension. "It's... a pretty tough cookie to crack sometimes. It comes and goes when it wants to, and I have a pretty good feeling you know that." He drops an elbow onto the metal table and holds his chin in his hand, smiling at the boy.

Little Cato ran a hand over his head before guiding it down to his neck. Gary was right and probably more than he actually knew. Technically he and Ash weren't together just yet but that didn't stop the butterflies he got every time he was around the pink-haired girl.

Love and the things a person did amid the feeling wasn't something that was easily explained but maybe it didn't need to be. The feeling of being there should be good enough.

"Oh god, Gary." Little Cato giggles at the man suddenly. "Really?"

"What?"

Little Cato points to the blonde's black tank top. "Samurai." He snickers. "Are we fifteen?" Gary does a double take, looking down at his shirt and back up to the boy with a bewildered snicker.

"What? Little Cato, you know this is one of the greatest bands in the galaxy, of all time even. Don't pretend you don't like'em now." Gary flings his wrist playfully at Little Cato. The boy scoffs out another laugh. Of course, he still likes them, but he could never really bring himself to admit it is all. "In fact, If I remember correctly, your favorite song is Chippin' In. I'd throw it on, and we'd dance together, you just couldn't help yourself."

"Gary." Little Cato could feel the heat build-up in his cheeks. "I mean, it's objectively a good song though." Little Cato throws up his shoulders, rubbing the back of one ear, his body burning up with embarrassment. "Who wouldn't try to dance to it...?" He tapped a finger anxiously to the table as a vague memory of his smaller self rhythmlessly hopping around to punk rock cluttered up his mind.

The memory stays with him and lingers for a short moment that felt more like an eon before the buzzing of his phone would thankfully pull him away from the wild aimless flailing of his childhood. The premature shock pulls him back to that moment as he frees the device from his pocket. It was his grandma. She had finally gotten back to him.

grandma- sory for the late respond, i would luv to hang luv

Little Cato's fur stands up on end and he nearly hopes out of his seat at the response. He would have been breathing out heavy gusts, but he kept his outburst concealed in front of his parents. He takes the phone and turns away from the table, typing out a reply with a fluctuating smile.

"Let me guess. It's that girl you like, isn't it?" The boy looks up at Gary with a disoriented glare.

"It's so that girl." Avocato hums from his spot in the kitchen. They weren't so far off. It definitely was a girl texting him at the moment.

"Right..." He held the phone close to his chest, his heart nearly beating out of his rib cage. He hated how his body reacted to excitement. "I'm gonna head out now."

Gary let out some small laughter. "Okay but be careful. I know you two like each other but don't let her get you in trouble." Gary gives the boy a blase warning though the look on his face is more worried than he was letting on. He then stands up and goes right back to cuddling with Avocato on the counter.

"I got it, don't worry." Little Cato waves and then exits his home with his school uniform still on. He hadn't even gotten a chance to change. All he could think about was being away from his parents and their cooing over him and Ash.

grandma- Alrht luv ill pick u up soon

Little Cato looks back at his phone and his heart starts to flare up again. At least he had something to look forward to today.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Little Cato stood on the curb not too far from where his building loomed. He kept his attention mostly centered on his phone, only bringing his eyes up every so often to see if his grandma had finally come around to pick him up. She would probably just text him or honk her car horn to let him know she was there though it never hurt to look every now and then.

He moves his neck around to relieve the pressure he was feeling and kicks his foot against the concrete sidewalk frequently. All his grandmother had told him was that she'd be picking him up in front of the building. Not where they would be going or what they'd be doing.

The vague answers he got from the woman were a bit frustrating, but he wouldn't hold it against her. The faded blonde didn't seem like the kind of person to spend her days interacting with kids, even teenagers. It probably wasn't her fault she didn't care so much.

He'd like her to care but he knows he can't force a relationship between the two of them. Much like Gary she was a free spirit. Though, unlike the younger blonde, she was always on the run and on her own.

"Oy! Oy love!" Shouting coupled with a few courtesy honks spurs the boy's gaze upward as a black car sped to a screeching halt in front of him. "Come on get in!" Sheryl hollers leaning over the passenger seat and opening the door for the boy.

Little Cato's body jolts quickly. He smiles, pocketing his phone and throwing himself into the passenger seat of his grandmother's sleek black Outlaw GT. "Hey, grandma." He greeted, slightly peering away from the older woman.

"Ya ready for some fun little man?" She asks, eagerly slapping a hand to his leg and giving it a lighthearted shake. He nods at her, hardly able to contain the sheepish smile forming on his face. "Alright, might wanna hold on ta sometin." She taps her foot against the gas, revving up the engine before dropping her foot as the car takes off. 

He barely had time to affix his seat belt before the older woman put the pedal to the floor and as soon as she started, she didn't stop for anything. She speeds down the city's long black damp roads, hitting each sharp turn with an equally sharp whip of the steering wheel.

The woman tore up the streets like a demon, each car she whizzes and zips past throws the boy in the passenger seat like a rag doll. Her wild driving warps his senses and tosses his stomach intensely. Little Cato feels like he's on a roller coaster, holding on for dear life as the Outlaw goes flying through Night City.

"So, uh-" He locomotes in his seat as Sheryl pulls another abrupt turn. "Where we going, grandma?"

The blonde kept her eyes stitched to the road, quickly turning the wheel from side to side to avoid regular traffic and oncoming traffic once she was on the opposite side of the road. "Away from hea." She chortles. "I haven't been in Night for too long, but I can already tell Watson is as dull as dog weatea." Her eyes suddenly pivot from the road ahead and over to him. "I heard of a spot in Wellsprings, by the docks. Should have some good food."

"Wellsprings...? In Heywood huh?" Little Cato swallows down the thick lump in his throat and nervously snickers when his grandmother gives a nod of confirmation. He hasn't been to Heywood in a while though it has been some time since the clown gang proxy war. Things should be fine, more at ease even if he was still too scared to go around that neighborhood.

Not too long after his grandma's suggestion, and violent racing throughout the streets of Night City, they would come to a piercing stop by the Wellsprings waterfront. Sheryl was the first to exit the car, making her way over to the passenger side door to open it up for Little Cato.

She lends out a hand, helping him out of the black Outlaw, and ushers him toward the many food kiosks at the edge of the waterfront. He didn't need the help or show of chivalry from the older woman, but he wanted it all the same. Any reason his grandmother took to touch him he gladly accepted.

Little Cato would follow her past a few stalls until she came to a stop at one that caught her eye. "This one look's alright." Little Cato looks at it. The food stand was nothing special besides the bits and bobs that decorated the stall and the parts from creatures hanging off that Little Cato could hardly make heads or tails of.

Sheryl taps the young teen's arm, nodding over to the food stand before taking a seat. He followed without argument, taking the stool next to the faded blonde with a weary smile.

"Hello, hello folks." As they settle into their seats, a dark blueish newt walks up. He slaps his hands down against the countertop and greets the pair with a typically bright Amphibian smile. "What can I do you for today?"

Sheryl leans over the counter elbow first and holds her chin in her hand in a fashion that looks way too identical to someone else Little Cato knew. "A little birdie told me that this particula spot has some of the best deep-fried blot flies around. I believe she said, they are to die for."

"Well, your friend assumed right ma'am." The man smiles back at her as she flinches at his poor choice of words. "I gather that your young friend here would like the same?"

"Grandson... and yes." She looks to Little Cato and hurls a quick wink his way. The newt whistles at the faded blonde before stepping away to prepare their food.

Little Cato leers at the woman with surprise, not by her remark though it was a significant element in the feeling he had. "I didn't know you liked Amphibian food Grandma."

"Eh well..." She throws her free hand casually into the air. "When you travel the galaxy as much as I do you tend to acquiea a taste for multiple delicacies." The woman falls silent, her face obscured by a distant look. "I spent a lot of time on Amphibia you know. Beautiful planet, ripe for the pickins too, if you ever find yaself in that particula field of expertise." She spoke more of her glory days and Little Cato should have guessed she would. The boy sort of felt bad for her. Being tied down to the Legion meant she couldn't live out her life the way she wanted. She may have been a pretty well-known thief, but her old line of work seemed to be for a good cause. If how she worded it was anything to go by that is.

"You know, I knew, I knew you from somewhere." The man came back around, dropping two bowls in front of the pair. "You're pretty big in the imperium, especially on Amphibia." The newt reaches into his apron, pulls out his phone, and shows the device to the older woman and her grandson. "The bounty on you is still pretty big over there." Little Cato leans in, squinting stunned eyes at the screen. He releases a breathless gasp at the number displayed below an image of his grandmother. He never knew how strange so many zeros could look bunched up together until now. "I'd avoid it if I were you. You know how knights like to treat the notireus over there." The newt said pulling his phone back.

"Eh, they love me ovea in Imperium space. They just need some time to get over whatevea past misdeed or act of heresy they assume I may or may not have committed." Little Cato giggles under his breath at Sheryl. Always completely innocent despite the overwhelming evidence.

Little Cato moves his eyes to the bowl he was given. He picks up the silver bowl with his meal rolling around inside and takes up the fork provided next to it. He was no stranger to eating food from other cultures, it was basically half of what they did in the Infinity Guard. To hear his grandma had done the same surprised him a little.

To hear of all the things, she's done and the places she's seen and visited. He has so many more questions for her and much like the last time they were together; the words were caught somewhere in his throat. Little Cato was at a loss whether or not he was chewing on a giant deep-fried fly at the moment. She was more worldly than he had first anticipated her to be.

It's after a few conservative bits of his meal does the boy finds the courage to ask the old blonde anything at all. "Hey, grandma." He starts shyly. "You've been all over, right? What's the Legion like? I obviously never been." He beams a shy grin at the woman catching her in between bits of her own fly.

"Hmmmm... well it's anothea beautiful spot. Arcadia is exactly how they say it is. Rome if Rome never fell and just kept evolving and all that. It's astounding really." She spoke with genuine enthusiasm, like a child discussing their favorite hobby. "There are a lot of slaves, however." She said, bringing Little Cato's growing excitement to a cold stop. "But what could you expect. The Legioan have been all ovea the other rim lately, burning through ridea gangs, bandit gangs, and tribes like nobody's business. The Legion's top generals, Borus and Lanius have been at the head of a bunch of their campaigns." She explained and then leaned in closer to him. "I also heard that's why a bunch of people are tryin' to re-expand into the rim, but ya didn't hea that from me little man."

Little Cato sat silent for a moment. He had no idea the Legion was progressing so quickly out there. He hadn't seen any during his time in the colonies. He's always heard about the first attempts to colonize the outer regions of the galaxy and how those attempts failed way back in the day. Is that why the Alliance was so eager to move on it? The entire Infinity Guard and Helldiver fleet was out there, he was out there with his parents not too long ago. 

He felt it was strange, but the first attempt was a long time ago now. The nation was more prepared for such an undertaking nowadays. Still, it was a lot of work, no matter how fast the Legion was progressing. The rim was a missive place, a lot of star systems to chart, planets to settle, and even more untamed gang nations to deal with.

"Sooo..." Little Cato begins again, his shy smirk returning as he faces his grandmother. "What's the Caesar-Augustus Dynasty like?"

Sheryl hums at the boy, swallowing down the large bit of fried fly in her mouth before answering. "Like how all dynasties are in history. Politically concerned, self-righteous, slightly inbred." She snickers to herself. "Though I must say the Caesar side of the family are really friendly folk, though they do not get along with the Agustus side of the family."

"Hmmm?" Little Cato doesn't shy away from the confused hum that leaves him. "Why?"

"Right, that one is a tad complicated little man." Sheryl drops her bowl, throwing her fork inside of it as she turns to her grandson. "So, both fams have human DNA, the stuff runs deep. I think the problem arises with the makeup of either side. The Caesars are more Rodent and Leporidae and Agustus's are more Canine and Feline. Even the humans on eithea side hate the other because Caesar is Caesar and Agustus is Agustus. They're at each other's throats for the simplest things most of the time. Trust me when I say it gets wild over thea little man." Sheryl shrugs. "But I also heard it had something to do with some ancient history going all the way back to the first dynasty and ol' Caesar himself. Something about how the Caesar family feels more entitled to the empire because it was founded by thea namesake." Sheryl leans back in her stool and folds her arms. "I don't really know for sure though little man."

"Oh." Little Cato murmured, turning back to his bowl of half-eaten fly. He had no idea a family that monuments could be so petty toward each other. It seems it didn't matter who you were if your family was rich or poor, royalty or peasantry. They all find some issues to take. There would always be some sort of argument involved. 

Chapter 20: No need for speed.

"You need to get your head out of the clouds Ken," Kevin said, delivering a stern backhanded slap to the taller boy's arm. He goes back to leaning over the edge of floor fourteen's balcony, guiding his eyes out to the other half of the atrium across from where they stood.

Kendrick scoffs at the raven-haired boy and backs away slightly from the balcony to look at him. "But you know I'm right. Lizzies has some of the baddest bitches and BDs this city has to offer." He exclaimed, pointing and poking at Kevin, running a finger along the bits of his fair skin that wasn't covered by his short-sleeved black T-shirt. "If only I can get in there..." Kendrick mutters, turning back to the balcony.

"And I keep sayin' it's just not gonna happen big guy," Kevin responds, voice as calm and honey coated as ever. "Those JTs run a pretty tight ship down there. Everything is by the rules. They don't want incidents, you know that."

"Yeah..." Kendrick dips his head down into his arms as an irritated sigh breaks free from his crimson mask. "I do know that don't I." The pair of boy's quiet down, sitting, or rather standing, in a mutual silence with little to no words being shared in between Kendrick's broadening.

Little Cato had been watching from not too far away. The young teenager had only just come around but hadn't gone further than standing behind the two boys. They had been talking about Lizzies. A BD bar and brothel run by a gang called the Mox and a place Kendrick had been trying to weasel his way into for a while now.

Little Cato's never been, the bar was an adult establishment so kids like him would obviously have a hard time getting in, but he's always heard about it. He'd heard about how classy the place was, even if it was run by a gang of Joytoys, sex workers, Porn stars, and the like.

Despite whom was in charge they upheld the law, the best they could, and protected their own. The Mox wasn't the strongest gang in the city, but they could hold their own in a tussle. Any gang who was worth a salt had to at the end of the day, otherwise they wouldn't last in the city like Night.

"Yo, guys." Little Cato finally decides to pick up his feet and walks over to the pair by the balcony. "What's good choombas?" He joined them, a smile running over his lips as he leaned up against the stone wall next to Kevin.

"Nothin," Kevin leers his hidden eyes over at the boy with a toothy grin. "Ken keeps goin' on about dreams that'll never come true at the age of seventeen... or eighteen... or nineteen." Kevin laughs after hearing the potent, childish huff rumbling from beyond Kendrick's crimson mask. "Until you turn twenty-one, it's just not gonna happen man."

"Man fuck that!" Kendrick steps away from the stone wall again and snaps back around to the raven-haired boy. "Twinty-one!? Twenty-one in a city like this!? That's some gonk shit." The taller boy blares belligerently at Kevin, and Little Cato by proxy. "I'm gonna get in there, fuck the wait... just need to think of something... you know." He drops back onto the wall, resting over the edge of the balcony. He appeared more at ease now, but Little Cato could hardly tell with Kendrick.

"Right, right," Little Cato buzzes a bit amused and doubtful of any plan Kendrick may have had to snake into Lizzies. "Hey Kev, where's Argit? I've been looking for him after school, but I can't find him."

Kevin laughed, nodding his head away from the Ventrexian. "He's probably sitting in some vent somewhere doin' his homework." Kevin shrugs. "Or klepping something off some poor gonk, you know how it is. He never likes comin' home right away."

Little Cato nods, agreeing with the statement. He knew Argit never wanted anything to do with his siblings immediately after school, specifically his brothers, but he usually found his way too Little Cato or one of their other friends. The rodent was most likely alright, though the boy was still worried.

However, maybe his worrying can wait for a later point. He was home from school at the end of yet another long week and right now he could think of nothing other than unwinding. He drops into a relaxed pose against the balcony's stone wall as any thought of school and schoolwork falls to the wayside. Home could wait and his homework could wait. Little Cato being alongside his friends was all that really mattered at the moment.

"Ayy Kenny!" All three boys jolt, surprised as they turn their heads back to an approaching group of four.

"Shit." Kendrick turns away from the group and slams his head back into his arms. "Why today of all days?" The masked teen mumbles. Little Cato looks over to the unsettled boy, staring at him with a concerned though curious glimmer.

The group steps up to the teens. Their sizes vary from as tall as Little Cato to even taller than Kendrick by an inch. They all have a similar style of dress, red shirts, or shoes, all differing from one another in some small way, but it was clear that they were meant to be matching.

"Hmmm?" Little Cato hums. Could this be...

"Kenny..." The man at the head of the group, a hyena in a red crop top with a head of tall silver hair, and the shortest one out of the four spoke as he approached with his hands out to the side and teeth on display past his twisted smile. "Kenny, Knenny, Kenny. Where you been hiding out at? It's not proper etiquette to be running away from your problems big man."

Little Cato keeps his eyes carefully trained on the group. Problems? He wondered silently. Was Kendrick in some kind of trouble with these guys? "Shit." The taller teen groans, taking a few seconds before moving his attention to the group. "Yo DB... wh- what up choom." Kendrick stammers and sheepishly rubs the back of his neck. He kept his eyes on the ground, too afraid to look the hyena's way. Little Cato's never seen the boy so scared before, not like this.

"Oh, Ken boy. You know exactly why am here." The man moves closer to Kendrick, slowly inching up to the taller boy. "I'm here about your dept gonk. Did you think all that money I gave you was for free..." The hyena spoke softly, running a somewhat gentle hand along the teen's shoulder and moving a finger along his neck.

Kendrick sputters up some sort of strange laughter as he squirms away from the man. "Yeah... I mean yeah man, yeah... I haven't forgot or anything." He huddles over to Kevin and Little Cato, dragging the two boys away from the group and behind himself. "But I been working on it DB... I been working on it for real, you know that."

"Sure, but you paying me back little by little isn't gonna cut it, especially when interest is involved Ken, boyo." The hyena sneers, rolling his eyes as his previous smile morphs into an aggravated scowl. "Look, we got something that maybe you can help with and pay off what you owe quick in the process." Kendrick stops his slow evacuation from the area though he keeps his hands around the other two teens' arms. 

"What is it?" He questions the man.

Another rancid grin twists its way up the Hyena's face. "We got into some shit with 6th Street recently. They said they'd be willing to settle things down at the sugar rush with a race. I figure you do that for us, win the money Gloyd put up and I won't have to fucking zero you kid." He laughs, looking back to his group of scarlet-clad goons who do the same.

Kendrick moans uncomfortably behind his mask. "I- I can't do that..." Kendrick averts his eyes from the group.

DB snickers, tossing his shoulders up and down. "Okay, well Gloyd also said a brawl works just fine for him and you can bet your lengthy ass you're coming if it gets down to that. Roses don't bloom alone, and the petals all fall together. Thought you'd know that when you stepped into this gang."

Kendrick's breathing, though barely audible past his red mask, becomes heavy and the grip he held around Little Cato's arm becomes shaky. He was trembling, nevertheless holding the two boys behind himself, shielding them from these people, this gang. The blood roses Little Cato would come to realize.

The young teen huffs and wriggles out of the taller teen's hold. He'd had enough of hiding behind his frightened friend and was ready to do something to help alleviate the situation. "Hey, uh... DB?" Once Little Cato is out in front of the group however, he doesn't exactly know what that something is.

"Who are you supposed to be Fanta?" The hyena gives Little Cato a half-backed snarl.

"I'm... just a friend." The boy found himself a bit more timid than he first thought he would be in front of the group of red-drenched gangers. "Could you give us a second? Maybe I can get Kenny to reconsider this... thing you want him to do." Little Cato franticly chortles as he pulls the taller teen to the side. "Kendrick." He starts in a harsh whisper, bunched over alongside the masked teen. "Maybe you shouldn't provoke these guys so much."

"Man, I can't do that race, I'm already a bad enough driver as it is. I don't need to prove it to them." He whispers back.

"Kendrick." Little Cato shifts his position, stepping in front of the taller boy. He brings his hands up and takes Kendrick's cheeks in his palms, grabbing more of his mask than anything. "Come on man, just do it... please." Little Cato's pleads came out in a shudder. He was scared for the taller boy, scared of what the group might do to him if he didn't stop and listen for just a second.

"I'd listen to Fanta if I were you kid." DB butts in, shouting from where he stood. Little Cato continued to hold Kendrick, forcing the taller boy's sight to focus on him and only him. 

Kendrick sighs. "Okay." He agreed, letting out a shaky groan. "I'd rather not throw down with Gloyd anyway." He stands up and turns back around to the small squad of blood roses. "Alright... I'll do it."

"Yeah!" The gang cheered and applauded the teen, though Kendrick didn't really have a choice in whether or not he would go.

"But his coming with me." Kendrick points back to Little Cato.

"What!?" Shock and confusion burn through the boy as his nerves begin to kick up.

"You convinced me to do this so you're coming with." Little Cato's mouth opens, a series of unsure moans being the only thing he could manage then.

"Oh shit." He mutters, teeth clenched in apprehension.

"Alright." Kevin claps, making no effort to hide his amusement. "I'm with it." That settles it then. They would all be participating in a race, with Kendrick's life seemingly on the line if they couldn't manage to win somehow.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Sun scorches the ground, and sand crawls along hot dunes. Cacti sway gently in the hot breeze, even they had to be pleased with any bit of chill that came around in the California wasteland. Lizards scamper out of site as tires kick up large clouds of sand.

He was in a car, sat alongside his friends in the backseat on their way to a racetrack in the middle of the desert. The area they had been tumbling through was oddly nick-named the Badlands by the locals, due to the long stretch of desert between major cities with little to nothing in between and some of the nastier gangs that roamed around it. The ride was bumpy, as to be expected when driving off-road, but it was as if DB was going out of his way to hit every single bump in the desert.

This had to be Little Cato's first official outing outside of city limits. The boy hadn't gotten the best look before, given that they had arrived during the night, but the desert was a whole different beast during the day. A sea of scorching hot nothing but sand for miles with a few scattered buildings off in the distance here and there.

He hadn't envisioned himself back out in the sand so soon, then again, he wasn't expecting to be caught up in a gang squabble either. Little Cato felt like he shouldn't have opened his big mouth at all, but he couldn't have just turned his back and let Kendrick figure out whatever trouble he was in on his own.

Little Cato was confused and scared; his palms sweat as he scratched incessantly at the fabric of his ocean-blue school pants. He was hoping for a miracle at this point, hoping that this thing he was dragged into, and the race would somehow work out. He doesn't know how it would, but he hopes against hope regardless. He could only imagine what would happen if Kendrick lost and what his gang had in store for the poor boy.

At some point, the car comes to a rough stop. Little Cato was too worried to take notice of the vehicle's sudden pause and was only prodded out of said worry when the door on his side of the back seat was thrown open.

"Where here boys," DB said, glancing into the backseat for a moment. "It's your big moment Kenny, try not to look so gloomy." Each boy steps out of the car, Kendrick doing so slower and more reluctant than the others.

"Yeah... I'm so excited." Kendrick groans as he drags his feet behind Kevin and Little Cato.

Little Cato had heard about the sugar rush, Kendricks talked about the track before. From how he spoke, the taller teen made the place seem way too good to be true. Standing there now, however, Little Cato could see that his friend had actually been underselling the old racetrack by a wide margin.

Old asphalt roads that wind in and out like hyperactive serpents and sharp turns curve widely before turning off into the desert. Ramps ranging from small jumps to the largest leaps sat placed along the desert track and, of course, a whole bunch of gangers looking for a good time littered the area. Little Cato was hoping for a track that was less intricate than what they actually received. The complexity of what he was looking at boggles the young Ventrexian's mind. This could be a little harder than he assumed.

"Ay!" A voice, familiar and unpleasant to the boy's long ears, greets the group immediately with a friendly smile, as friendly as he can make it at least. "DB! God I wasn't actually expecting you to show up, I'm gonna be honest." Gloyd snickers his pale features seeming even more so under direct sunlight. "Fuck me that's funny."

"What's funny is how bad your ass is gonna feel after we fuck you!" DB spat with a tad more confidence than was merited.

"Ooo, don't promise me a good time." Gloyd carelessly rubs his chin, sticking his tongue out of the corner of his mouth as he watches the hyena and the other gangers with him. "So, who you setting up for failure today?"

DB snickers and snaps a whistle to the group behind him. Kendrick walks up past the others, dragging his feet along the desert sand with his head still faced down. He shrugged, confidence nonexistent.

"Ha! Wha- Kenny!" Gloyd laughs, nearly dies of hysterics when the taller teen shows his masked-up face. His laughter continues, his body doubling over as he's accosted by a few other young-looking adults. Like Gloyd, Little Cato had a hard time placing their ages. They appeared to fall somewhere between their late teens and early twenties. The only thing the boy could place was the arrogant smirks over their expressions and the smug auras they wore like cheap perfume and cologne.

"Don't knock him just yet Gloyd. He might just surprise you." Gloyd's exaggerated fit of humor stems quickly as he brings a doubtful and somewhat bored gaze to the other man. 

"Okay." He said frankly, using his tongue to puff out his cheek. "How's about we make this more interesting than. One lap all the way around. If long stretch here wins, I give you my Ford." Shocked gasps spurt from both Gloyd and DB's crews.

"You're really gonna put you're Hoon on the line?" Kendrick spoke in a muted tone as if his words were some act of heresy, a forbidden malediction no one should dare to utter aloud.

"Hell yeah," Gloyd answers much too confident in his own decision to put his car up as a reward. Had it been Little Cato in his place he wouldn't be so quick to get enthusiastic, but if it had been Little Cato, he wouldn't have up the stakes of the race even if it was a sure victory.

Kendrick is given a transient delay as the words resonate with him. Whatever nervous feeling he was holding onto before had only gotten worse. Little Cato could tell by how quickly his body tensed up that this bet was not a good sign.

"I- I don't know choom... I don't even really have a proper car-"

"Don't worry. You can use Winterpop's." A girl off to his right, as about as snow white as Gloyd leans over at him perplexed.

"What!" She shouts, rushing up to the self-assured young man. "You can't seriously be suggesting I give these assholes my car-" Gloyd held out one finger to her and then opens his hand. He doesn't say a word, doesn't even look at her, but she knows what he wants. "Fuck." She hissed, handing over the keys to her car.

Gloyd held the key, smacking it into the palm of his other hand repeatedly before glancing cold eyes at Kendrick "Come on." He motions a nod and Kendrick would follow first before Little Cato and Kevin would join them. The young pale man steers the three teens through the outfield of the racetrack, playing with the keys in his hand and looking back at the small group of boys.

The man turns into a tent and walks over to the car that was parked inside. He was a Quadra type-66, as white as fresh snow and decorated with a vinyl wrap designed with a flurry of snow cones and ice cream.

Gloyd opens the door and jerks his head at the car before tossing its keys to Kendrick. He then steps away from the car shoving past the taller teen who was still caught in a thick web of high-strung wonder. 

"Hey, wait," Kendrick calls to him. "You're not afraid I'm gonna wreck it?" Gloyd looks at him with genuine confusion.

"Huh?" He shrugged. "Go off, I don't care about the bitch's car." He sneers before exiting the tent completely. 

The three boys bring their eyes to the snow-white beauty. Little Cato and Kevin couldn't help but gawk as their faces began to light up as bright as the desert sun before the boys franticly piled into the muscle car.

"Holy shit." Kevin pants as he jumps into the back seat of the white Quadra. "I never been in a Quadra before today. Always wanted to ride somethin' like this."

Little Cato brings a thrilled look to the boy in the back seat. "Does it feel as good as you hoped?" He asks, one arm tossed over the black leather seat as if he actually owned the car.

"Even better," Kavin said simply, splaying his body out over the back seat of the car. "I think I might get one someday, paint it green with black stripes running down the middle." The boy giggled before cooling off with a static hum to himself.

Kendrick crawls into the front seat with a weary puff. "Alright, boyos, let's not go too crazy now." He said, placing shaky hands nervously on the steering wheel. He bobs his head around, his breathing becoming more spermatic before suddenly slamming his fist repeatedly into the wheel out of frustration.

After a while, his outburst comes to an end as he rests his head on the steering wheel. The taller teen sat in place for a little, head glued to the wheel, unmoving and uncaring. He was distraught and inconsolable by this point. Kendrick didn't want to be here, but he was the reason for it in the first place. What made him think he could just avoid paying back a gang. 

The more Little Cato thinks however the more the young teen feels liable for this mess. He could have managed the situation better or maybe could have offered the roses something in place of Kendrick's debt instead of pushing the boy to race.

"Kendrick." Little Cato spoke softly. The taller boy hardly acknowledged him, but Little Cato could tell he was listening. "Why'd you even borrow money from that DB guy?"

Kendrick moves his head against the wheel slowly. He stops and lets out an exasperated breath. "Did Ash tell you much about Harp at all?"

Little Cato shakes his head, eyebrows lifted in concern. "No... not much really. Why, what happened to her?"

Kendrick sighs, finally bringing his head up. "Well if she didn't say much, I won't say much. Just know Harp needed the money and- I don't know... I'm a sucker for the girl so..." The masked teenager sticks the key inside the ignition of the car and turns it ever so slowly "Fuck." A startling jolt runs through the masked boy as the car hums to life, growling like an angry bear whose hibernation had just been disturbed.

He taps his foot lightly to the gas, pulling out of the tent slowly. The engine let out a low, powerful growl with every tap and press of the gas pedal. He slowly made his way toward the racetrack, carefully passing by intoxicated or unaware gangers as he did.

Before Kendrick said he wasn't that good of a driver, yet he handled the steering wheel of a Quadra that wasn't his with all the grace of a seasoned expert. Why had he been so scared before? He appears to be doing great so far, better than what Little Cato could do for sure.

"So, what's the plane?" Little Cato pipes up from the passenger seat as the car comes to a stop at the starting line. Car's roar and howl around them like a pack of wild wolves and angry tigers while gangers cheer for the inevitable kick-off of the race.

"Don't even sweat It LC. Kendricks got this in the bag." Kevin said, leaning up from the back seat and tapping the masked teen's shoulder. "He used to play the old racing games at the arcade, would trash the high score every single time man."

"But that was just games." Kendrick snaps back at an unphased Kevin. "Actually, driving is something else gonk. It's like really real shit." Kendrick spoke on the verge of panic, looking over the steering wheel and out to the other cars lined up at the starting line. Little Cato snickers under his breath. He knew the feeling.

"Alright, everybody!" A young woman, one that had been by Gloyd not too long ago, steps up to a podium above the track. She looks oddly more well-groomed than the others, her hair sat in a platinum-blonde bob-cut and her 6th street uniform was more preppy than intimidating. Though she would keep the same bitchy smirk as the rest of her friends. "I know most of you already know the rules, so I won't be long. No shooting, sabotaging, or provoking the competition, but the occasional love tap is fine." The crowd howls louder, more for the race than the rules. The girl then unholsters a revolver from her leg. "Are you ready!? get setty! Get the fuck out of here!" She hollers, firing a shot into the air and the race begins.

Kendrick puts his foot on the gas as soon as he sees the other cars speed off, though oddly enough the Quadra doesn't necessarily go at first. "Oh fuck!" He spat.

"What happened!?" Little Cato looked at him, clutching tightly onto his seat belt. They hadn't even started moving yet but it never hurt to be prepared.

"The fucking car stalled!" Kendrick yells again. He puts his foot back on the pedal this time getting the car to move though they were a little behind now. "Fuck!" Kendrick hissed again.

"Ken you're working the gears all wrong! stop being so hasty and ease up off the gas!" Kevin clamors, leaning toward the front with slight alarm in his normally calm tone. "I know this is a race, but ya have ta take it easy man."

Kendrick growls. "Right- yeah, almost forgot." He jerks his head forward, throwing his hand over the car's shift to correct his mistake. He tightens his grip around the steering wheel, his knuckles popping as he does.

He wasn't so worried now; Little Cato could see it in his movement and the way his body just barely loosened up. He was angry, pissed beyond belief, and using it to his advantage. Little Cato had to admit, seeing the taller teen like this made his body feel bizarre, for lack of a better term. butterflies toss and turn his stomach; his toes curl up and his mind loses all mother function. It's not the first time this has happened to him either and whenever it does, whenever Kendrick got so passionate to say the least, all the boy could do was sit and squirm in his excitement at the thought of the taller boy, much like how he had been doing now.

The masked teen whips the steering while around, pulling a mighty sharp turn. "Jesus." They had come dangerously close to hitting one of the barriers of the track head-on. Little Cato hopes it's not a mistake the taller boy would make again. The young Ventrexian wasn't the biggest fan of close calls.

Kendrick catches up with the other cars in no time. Their car was still dead last, but they definitely weren't out of the race just yet. Kendrick keeps his hand firmly laced to the steering wheel as he comes up to the second to last car in the lineup.

"Easy Ken, don't rush it," Kevin spoke up from the back seat again, pointing out to the car in front of them. Kendrick grunts at the black-haired boy. He was focused, looking for the right moment to attempt to overtake the vehicle ahead of them. Then he would find one.

Kendrick hits the gas pedal as fast as he can when the car before them turns off slightly to the right, just far enough out of the way for the teenage driver to pass them by. He passed quite a few cars then, getting into a steady flow of weaving in and out between them before coming to a stop in front of another car.

Little Cato was getting excited. He wipes his head around to every window in the Quadra to see where they had been placed all of a sudden. He'd say they were pretty close to the front, fourth place If he had to guess. A commendable position considering how they started.

The young teen kept his head to the glass of the passenger side window, glancing at the racetrack and not paying attention to the upcoming sharp turn. "Ow!" Little Cato yelps. Kendrick had whipped the steering wheel around, sending the boy face-first against the car's reinforced glass.

"Sorry." Kendrick apologized as they turned off into the desert portion of the racetrack. In a way, they should be thankful for the change. The terrain was rougher like driving on sand and rock should be, but at least there weren't as many twists and turns to be found on the off-road section of the sugar rush.

It was a straightforward, wide, off-road drive without much deviation from the cruel course. Their only problem with this half of the track was the ramps and jumps.

Going up, over, and hitting the ground hard was not an easy feeling to get used to. Even the tiniest jumps shake the car and bounces the teenagers slightly out of their seats. Little Cato wouldn't be surprised if he ended up with a few new bruises from this ordeal.

"Oh shit." A razor-sharp cuss slithers off Kendrick's tongue.

"What's-" Little Cato doesn't finish, the issue becoming self-explanatory as he looks ahead. It was another jump, the largest thus far, so maybe the last as well.

"Alright." Kendrick lets out an unsteady shutter. "Hold on chooms." He said and the boys didn't argue. They hunker down in their seats and hold on to anything their hands could grasp for dear life. Kendrick floors it, sending the car over the ramp and high into the air.

That moment felt abnormal as if everything had slowed to a crawl suddenly. They were far in the air, high above the desert sand for what seemed like an eternity. Little Cato could just barely hear the faint sound of his friends screaming past a dense screen of white noise. They were terrified and why shouldn't they be. They had essentially jumped off a mountaintop, Little Cato should be screaming too, but the only thing he could think to do was... smile.

Little Cato's heart races, his blood pumps like a river and he just smiles. It was like being in a starship, taking off past the atmosphere and into space. He could stay with the feeling forever, he never realized how much he missed it until then, but much like the missive jump, you had to come down from your highs eventually and they had done so hard.

In a hasty moment, everything was back to normal. The car was humming and rumbling harshly along the desert ground and his friend's breathing was out of control. The change is so instant that Little Cato begins to question if the moment he'd just experienced had been real at all.

"Ha! Their cars stopped." Little Cato looks to the back seat toward Kevin who'd been peering out of the back window. "Jump was so steep, they musta stalled." Kevin begins laughing with what little breath he has to spare from his blood-curdling screaming.

"How come we didn't stop?" Little Cato questions his friends and gets uncertain shrugs in response to his inquiry. At least they appeared to be in first place and on their way to actually winning this race. That is until the car begins to slow down.

"What? No, no, no, what's happening?" Kendrick's panic returns to him as he slaps his palms against the wheel.

"Woah!" Kevin yells from the back. "Cars on fire."

"What?" Little Cato whips his head around to the back seat again and sees the raven-haired boy hadn't been overexaggerating. A plume of smoke had been blazing from somewhere behind the cushions of the leather seats. "Oh god." Little Cato quickly undoes his seat belt, leaping out of his seat and falling into the back without much of a second thought.

He crashes down on the seat next to Kevin and brings a hand up, weaving the black screen of smoke out of his face as he tries to determine its source. The young teen quickly moves his hands to the leather seats, removing the middle section feeling the car with a cloud of obsuring smoke in the process.

"Oh fuck!" Kendrick let out a heavy cough. He rolls down a window to clear out some of the smoke that had filled the car, sparing his lungs though it hardly does anything for his visibility.

Little Cato waves his hand around some more, clearing out some of the thick dark smoke to get a better look at their current problem. "Oh man!" He bawls, leaning back toward the front of the Quadra. "It's the engine."

"Huh!" Kendrick just grimaces and tosses his head back to make sure he hadn't misheard.

"The engines at the back of the car." Little Cato repeats before rushing back to the issue at hand. He squints his eyes, spotting something loose and flailing past the dense plume of smoke. "It looks like something came loose, a cord or tube I think." He reaches past the cushions and into the back to grab the thrashing tube. He fumbles with the thing for a bit but manages to hold a steady grip around it. "Is there something up there I can use? Maybe like a wrench? Check the glove box."

Kendrick hums. "Right glove box." He mutters, opening the door to the glove box, and reaches inside. "Right got it." He pulls out a long silver wrench and holds it out.

"I got it." Kevin takes the tool from Kendrick and hands it to Little Cato.

"Thanks." The young Ventrexian snatches it and guides it to where his hand holds the loose tube. Despite having a general idea of where he needed the tool to be, the boy was having more than enough trouble locating where the tube and the engine actually connected.

He fidgets with the tool a bit, drawing it from his hand to the engine with no luck of connecting to anything. Little Cato knew he needed to hurry, nonetheless. His body was getting hot and the smoke unfailingly blowing in his eye was beginning to frustrate him but still, he persisted.

He lines the wrench up to his hand again and again with no luck. He retraces his steps many times with little success until the tool finally comes into contact with something. He knew with the distinctive click he heard that he'd finally got it. "Yes." Little Cato let out a sharp elated hiss, holding the wrench in place before pulling it down and fastening the tube in place. 

The smoke had all but ceased and the car began to pick up speed again. "Fuck yeah!" Kevin shouts and shakes Little Cato by his shoulders. They were back in the clear though their impromptu revelry would be disrupted by an unexpected, jaggy bump.

"What was that?" Little Cato asks when another sudden bump sends him and Kevin forward.

"You gotta be kidding me." Kendrick fills the car with another bothered groan, looking into the rearview. "Someone caught up." Another rough bump propels a low growl from the taller teen.

"Shit." Kevin rolls down his window to carelessly stick his head out. "Bastards really tryin' to run us off the road." He titters, dipping back into the car with a smile on his face. Another bump, it's clear this guy isn't going to let up.

"Fuck, having trouble concentrating here." Kendrick mummers to himself. At this rate, the driver giving their car little love taps was going to succeed in breaking the taller boy's focus. Little Cato had to do something, had to make the guy back off somehow, but how?

His eyes begin to drift, finding their way to his hand and the tool that rested within it. He looks up suddenly. "I'm gonna throw this at him." Little Cato held up the wrench.

"Woah, woah." Kevin waves his hands out in front of himself. "Didn't they say no sabotagin'?"

"Don't worry, I'm only gonna scare him." Little Cato crawls over the raven-haired boy and leans out of the window. The other car was gearing up for another ram as the driver began to pick up speed. Little Cato holds up the wrench, waiting for the perfect moment before he hurls the sliver tool.

His goal was to frighten the driver, nothing more. When he throws the wrench however it goes flying into the windshield of the car, shattering the glass on the driver's side. The vehicle swerved out of control and eventually went tumbling off of the track, twisting along the desert sand as it came apart.

Little Cato quickly returns to his seat, the look on his face somewhere in between shock, guilt, and overwhelming embarrassment.

"What happened?" Kevin looks at the young teen brows curiously knitted together. Little Cato bobs his head, tapping two fingers over his other hand nervously.

"He backed off..." Little Cato swiftly answers through his clenched-up teeth. He silently hoped that driver would be alright.

The track progresses back to black tar roads. By this point the teens were far ahead in the lead, so the swerves and turns of the racetrack didn't matter as much. After one last particularly short turn, the borrowed Quadra would speedily cross the finish line, much to all of their astonished shock.

The car was silent, the only sound that could be heard was the muffled cheering and shouting of the world outside of the Quadra. The teens were nearly static all save for Kendrick who quivers in his seat. Had they really done it?

"I-... is it over?" Kendrick repeats the question that was on Little Cato's mind. His grip on the steering wheel stays wobbly and his distant gaze remains forward.

"Yeah, I think." The ventrexian softly confirms for him.

The car remains silent for another long moment, and then laughter begins to fill the stale air. "Ay yoo, you still got it!" Kevin shrieks cheerfully, leaning up to tap the taller boy on the shoulder.

"Still got it," Kendrick mumbles in return. He seemed unsure how to feel about their victory. "Let's get out of here." He said, exiting the car first. 

Little Cato makes his way back to the passenger seat and steps out of the muscle car next. Kendrick wanders up beside him as he helps Kevin out of the Quadra. The tall boy was still lost in his thoughts but not completely strung out. Little Cato thinks it must have felt like a dream to him. Whether it was a good one or bad, the young teen couldn't tell.

He wanted to say something, to Kendrick. He was ready to offer up some words of encouragement or reassurance, but he didn't get the chance right away.

"How in the fuck did you manage that!?" Gloyd blurts, walking up to the small group of boys, accosted by his bratty friends. He was belligerent and clearly upset. Little Cato would be too if he just lost his car to a bunch of kids. "There was no way you were coming out on top after the last jump."

"I don't know." Kendrick Snickers, apparently snapping back to normal. "I mean that engine nearly came loose. That has to count for something right?"

"Yo, Gloyd don't you remember." One of the pale young man's friends hits his arm, clearly the most eccentric one if her rainbow afro was any deranged sign to go off of. "Back in the day, we installed reinforced hydraulic springs on our rides because the jump was just too much. Kept slowing down the car spars we used ta have." 

A brief glimpse of realization dawns on Gloyd's pale features once he can recall. "Shit." He grumbles. "Winterpop's car, that's right. Ughh, I fucking gave them that race." He ran disoriented hands through his dark hair. "One of us should have been on that track, what the hell was I thinking?"

"Yeah man, if Rancis were here, he would have trashed you kids. He always races." Another one of his friends a young woman with mint green hair, steps up and is just as quickly shut down when Gloyd shoots a furious glare her way. She nearly curled into herself, flashing an innocent grin at the pale young man.

Gloyd turns back to the teenagers. He takes a deep breath and approaches Kendrick. "You're lucky I like you, Ken." He reaches into his olive-green jacket and pulls out a large wade of money, along with his car keys. "Don't go spending it all in one place." He hands the items over before turning back to his friends and rambling off with them in tow.

Kendrick looks at the keys, holding them into the sun's bright light. It was a bright orange fob that had been decorated with a singular tiny sticker of an orange. "Alright." A bewildered chuckle finds its way past Kendrick's emotionless mask. "Yo guys I just got a-" The taller teen's celebration is cut short when the key and the money he was holding are snatched out of his hand.

"Yep, that should about cover what you owe," DB said, pocketing the cash and twirling the key around his middle finger with a smirk. "Preem work. You were great out their kid, a real good driver and all that." The hyena stops spinning the key and slowly shuffles up to Kendrick. He held his hands to the taller teen's neck and cupped the bottom of his jaw. "But for future reference, don't bite off more shit than you can chew. I know I don't like pressuring you, kid." Kendrick stiffly stood before the man, only managing a quick nod. "Good." The hyena smiles again. "By the way, I'm not driving you kids home." He said, the rest of his small group of gangers laughing back at the teens as they go.

"Woah, what come on! Were in the middle of the desert!" Kendrick attempts to make an argument though the group doesn't justify his existence at all. That hyena was something else, nothing good if Little Cato had to say. He wonders why Kendrick even claims to be one of them if they treat him so poorly.

"What a bunch of dicks." Little Cato spat. "You want to be one of them why?"

"Eh don't worry about it. It's just biz. That's the way it goes." Kendrick breathes out a nonchalant sigh, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Damn, can't believe I owned a Hoonigan.

"Nah, that don't count." Kevin dismisses the taller boy. He kept his arms crossed and cheeks in a puff. If Little Cato didn't know any better, he swore that Kevin was showing signs of jealousy. If the boy hadn't kept his eyes constantly hidden behind his long dark bangs, Little Cato might have been able to tell.

"Yeah, whatever. I don't even have a license anyway, but we won't talk about that." Kendrick taps an elbow to Little Cato, shrugging off Kevin's desirous dismissal. "So... how we getting home laddies." Kendrick looks at Kevin and Little Cato, neither of which has a soiled answer for him.

"I can take you." their attention to one of Gloyd's friends. The one who had unwillingly loaned her car to them. Winterpop. 

"Oh yeah." Kevin turns up a mistrustful sneer at the young ganger. "Why's that?"

She hums at them, pale lips pursed, and blue eyes squinted softly. "I guess why not. You didn't make me look so bad out there and you kept my car in one peace." She folds her arms and smirks. "So you boys coming, or would you rather walk?"

The boys look at one another, conveying relenting shrugs. What other choice did they have? "Sure." Kendrick ran up behind the young woman. "By the way, we might have to owe you a new wrench."

 

     

Chapter 21: Bowling for unexpected feelings.

Little Cato fires up an inquisitive hum as he taps the edge of his pencil against his bottom lip. He leans up from the small coffee table he'd been hunched over for a moment, pondering the question he had just read and re-read to himself.

The young teen had been in the living room. The afternoon had just arrived after a long day of him mostly doing nothing and now he was chipping away at the homework he'd been putting off for most of the weekend. Math, and specifically algebra, was no unfamiliar concept to the boy, far from it really. Living most of his life amongst the stars meant he had to be proficient in the subject if only a little. He had to be proficient in a lot of things up there.

Living on a starship meant he had to be able to hold his own. If something went wrong, a faulty engine or malfunctioning door, and his parents weren't available he couldn't wait for the issue to resolve itself, and even when they were around Little Cato was expected to lend a hand. So to sum it up, and not to toot his one horn, he was pretty decent at math and engineering.

The work the school had been giving him recently, however, was different. Nothing hard, not at all. The work just made him think a little more than usual and that's something that seldom happens to him when learning.

Little Cato understands the school has a certain standard to uphold, but not a lot of the students attending Myers seem to have the kind of cognitive fortitude for most of the military guard algebra Little Cato had been receiving in his homework lately. 

Some part of him thinks that his teachers had toned up the work a bit specifically for him, though not because any of them had a bone to pick with the young Ventrexian. His peers already had that field covered. Little Cato thinks the school had been beefing up his work because of how quickly the boy was burning through the regular curriculum.

The Ventrexian is speculating of course though his theory only came about when he was doing a homework assignment during his lunch period. He had decided to show Ash a specific question he'd been stuck on for more than one minute. The girl was one of the smartest people the boy knew so he'd been expecting at least some speculation on what the answer could have been. When the words that leave her next weren't that but a sudden and simple 'what the fuck is that?' Little Cato began to suspect that something was amiss.

He pushes the thought aside for now as he leans back over the data pad resting flat on the coffee table in his living room. He re-reads the question one more time, solving it instantly with a more secure huff.

"Everything okay kid," Gary asks him. The blonde and Little Cato's father had been on the sofa behind him, cuddled up as they usually were, and watching TV with the volume on low to avoid disrupting Little Cato's focus. Though his attention span isn't so easily broken, he appreciates the gesture all the same.

Yet another inquisitive buzz finds its way out of the young teen's mouth. "Yeah..." He replies, his wondering tone trailing off as he offers another question a squinted glare. "My homework looks a little weird, but it's nothing I can't handle I think." Little Cato spoke, jotting down an answer for the next question.

"Oh yeah?" A small laugh negotiated its way from the blonde toward Little Cato's ears. "Can I see?" Gary slants forward on the sofa. Little Cato nods, an impulsive heavy whiff signaling his relief as he hands the pad over to his other dad.

Gary takes the device, a smile still burning bright on his face. After just a moment of staring his blinding smile would dull into a confused grimace and not a moment longer his eyes would widen in temporary shock.

The blonde hums, turning the pad from side to side with his brows tightening oddly over his eyes. He holds the pad out, squinting his eyes toward the questions he'd been monitoring and tapping fingers restlessly against his mouth in a simi horrified manner.

"Right..." Gary mutters. "Right, right, right... hey Avocato, can you look at this real quick?" The blonde hands the data pad over to the other man. His face hardly displays any kind of emotion as he stares off into nothing.

"Sure." Avocato takes the pad. "Oh my god." The older Ventrexian chuckles, casually dropping the data pad onto his stomach. He hardly looked at the thing but one quick glance coxed a surprised reaction out of the man nonetheless.

"Right...?" Gary Murrmers, looking over at the older Ventrexian with the same shell-shocked expression in his eyes.

"What's wrong." Little Cato peers up to his parents, brows lifted in concern.

Avocato had gone back to scanning the pad, giving quite a few questions second, and even third, glances. "Is this the kind of stuff they're teaching you there?" He asked, eyes still skimming over the boy's homework assignment.

Little Cato nods his head around, humming uncertainly at the man. "Just homework really." He answered, his curiosity now piqued. His odd theory may have some legs to stand on after all. "Why?"

Avocato snickers again, though he would keep his eyes attached to the pad still. "Calculus, abstract algebra, mathematical logic. I learned stuff like this in a military academy back on Ventrexia. It's not something I'd give to a high schooler."

"Oh..." Little Cato leans one arm over the small coffee table in the sofa pit and keeps his cheek nuzzled into his other hand. Not something recommended for high schoolers? He wondered silently with eyes adrift. The problems and questions gave him slight pause but it wasn't the hardest thing once he could wrap his head around the impending solution. Little Cato wonders what that could mean, not just for his school but for himself.

His brief bout of curiosity is gelded for the moment, however, as the sound of soft, respectful knocking comes rapping at their front door. The young teen gets up and absent-mindedly makes his way out of the pit he sat in. 

Little Cato barely recognizes that he's halfway toward the front door. His mind still henges on the thought that his teachers might be supplementing his studies for reasons he wasn't so sure. Maybe they were trying to fast-track his education. They made it no secret that out of every student attending Myers High, he has the greatest potential. But why did that have to mean giving him more work than the other students?

The young teen shakes his head, pushing the work to the back of his mind for now. Little Cato arrives at his front door, pushing his finger gently against the lock pad to open it.

"Heeeyy, duder." The door opens and Little Cato is immediately greeted with blonde fur, an intoxicatingly warm smile, and two more muted expressions just behind him. "How's it hangin' little guy?"

Little Cato smiles. "Hey, Gregg." He said before leaning over to wave at Timmy and Angus who stood behind the fox. "What's up? It's a little weird seeing you guys together willingly." Gregg chuckles nervously, stepping back and rubbing his neck uncomfortably. Little Cato, taking notice of his mistake moves to alter the topic. "Uh, so what are guys doing here?"

Gregg was still a bit lost in thought. Eventually, he brings his eyes to Little Cato, tapping his forehead with the tip of his fingers. "Right." He said. "Uhh... Angus?" The blonde fox pivots to the husky brown bear behind him.

Angus sighs at the fox and steps past him. "We came over to ask if you wanted to go bowling with us."

"Bowling?" Little Cato repats looking over his shoulder and into his apartment. "Oh, I don't know. I have a lot of homework and my parents are kinda tired right now and uhhh..." Little Cato trails off, his mind beginning to draw a blink of any justification he could use to decline their offer.

"Come on, just one game. It'll be fun." Gegg ratter loudly rejoins the conversation. His smile had returned as he held his hands together, almost begging for the young teen to reconsider.

Little Cato rubs the back of his neck. It wasn't like he didn't want to go, he liked the thought of hanging out with Timmy and his uncles. The source of his reluctance was a different factor entirely. Little Cato looks over to Timmy, silently begging the dark-furred feline to convince his uncles to accept his decline though before any assistance can come the young teen is joined at the door.

"Did somebody say game?" Little Cato winces when said other factor walks up beside him. Gary takes Little Cato by the shoulders and gently moves him out of the way. "Please tell me I heard that right." the blonde smirked with crossed arms as he leaned up against the door frame.

"Well actually-"

"Yeah, bowling." Little Cato tries to intercept Gary's curiousness though Angus's monotone voice would be the death of that attempt. "There's a nice little place we like to go not too far from here."

The smirk on Gary's lips would drop suddenly. "Bowling?" He repeats plainly and the second family confirms with a simultaneous nod. "Bowling." The blonde said again, his face lighting up like a star. This is what Little Cato was trying to avoid. "Hey Avocato, you wanna go bowling!?"

"Bowling!?" His dad yells back. His voice was just as uncertain as Little Cato felt but the man wouldn't attempt to stop the blonde. "Sure..."

Gary turns back, confidence surging and bleeding off of the blonde like a wave of frosty mist. He grins at the family before him, sharing his untethered excitement with them.

"Yeah... I love bowling." Gary giggles to himself. "I love games in general really, usually when others are involved." He said. Little Cato knew where this was going. He knew the moment that violently competitive smirk crossed the blonde's expression. The young teen knew this could only end one way. It wouldn't be a disaster, but it sure would be a spectacle.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

"Yeah!" Gary yells at the top of his lungs, pumping a clenched fist in the air. The bowling ball he had so effortlessly sent careening along the glistening lane smacks against the white pines at the end, knocking them down with a multitude of satisfying hollow thuds.

"Oh, what!" Gregg, groans, tossing up shocked and frustrated hands into the air. That had been Gary's fifth strike that night. The blonde was certainly on fire and wasn't showing signs of slowing down his winning streak.

Everyone was having trouble keeping up with Gary, including the man's family. The blonde got like that whenever there was a game to be played, and won. It made Little Cato less keen on trying to bowl, instead throwing more gutter balls than he was actually capable of. 

The only one who could really stack up to Gary's skill level in that moment was Angus, who was only a few points behind. If the tall brown bear managed to hit his shots with the same energetic efficiency as Gary did, he'd be able to easily overtake him without issue. But if he did that, the blonde's competitive nature might heat up more than it'd been burning already.

Little Cato would rather not have his other dad more wound up than he already was. The best thing the boy could do was let the match play out on its own, and that's what he did. He sat on a bench, cheek resting in his palm and mind drifting to anywhere that wasn't the dimly lit and overly loud bowling alley.

He tries to be as uninvolved in the game as he possibly could make himself. The boy would instead sit with his thoughts running free as his nose was filled with the sickeningly sweet aroma of subpar nachos, flat soda, and slightly alcoholic drinks.

"Yeah!" Gary pumps another fist in the air. That was his sixth strike. He was really on fire tonight, giving this game everything he had.

"Damn it!" Gregg shouts again. Gary always gives it everything, one hundred percent with no pause. If there was a game to be played he was going to win it. There was no stopping the blonde once he started.

Little Cato slouches in his sight, sputtering out a long weary sigh to himself. If the young teen were being honest, he wishes he were having more fun. Maybe on any other night, he would have. Even if Gary got so aggressive most of the time there was still some fun to be had.

He doesn't know why tonight was so much of a problem. Little Cato thinks it might have something to do with Gary and his competitive nature. He feels It was a little too soon for the blonde to show his ass off in front of the neighbors, embarrassing the young teen in the process, or maybe he was tired of all the advanced math he'd been doing earlier that evening. He also could have just been plain tired. Little Cato could never rule execution out and he had plenty of reasons to be.

Whatever the problem was he was content to sit with it for now. The less he tried to think about his distress the better he'll be off. At least that was his hope.

"Yo LC." Little Cato looks over, a bored gaze resting on Timmy who had just sat down in the seat next to him. "Everything okay? You look a little, ummm..."

"What?" Little Cato snapped his head to the boy. His tone had come out harsher than he meant for it too.

"Pissed." Little Cato raises a puzzled brow at Timmy.

"Do I really?" The young teen asks honestly. Timmy nods once, folding one of his legs under his body on the seat. Did Little Cato really come off like that? He doesn't feel angry, or at least he thinks he doesn't. 

"What's on your motherboard?" Timmy questions, pointing a quick finger to the side of his head.

"I..." He pauses for a second as his mind scrambles for his lost train of thought. "Don't know... I thought I did, it didn't feel like anything before but now that you mention it I do feel weird." Not wanting to be heard by the adults nearby, Little Cato keeps his voice low. "I guess school sucks."

"Yeah, but school always sucks," Timmy said turning back to him with a small chuckle. That answer was too obvious and the feline knew it, Little Cato knew it too. "What's really wrong?"

Little Cato sighs again. "I'm worried..." He murmurs. "Worried about my grandma, worried about my parents I don't know... I'm worried about Kendrick sometimes." Little Cato stops momentarily and closes his eyes. "You ever get that feeling where you think everything is going to be fine but you know secretly that nothing really is? That no matter how much you do something for someone they'll just end up still making all the same mistakes they've been making?"

Timmy sat still, keeping his arm braced on the chair and his head rested against it. His eyes rove around for a bit before circling back around to the young Ventrexian before him. "Yeah, I get that. Hell, I think that's the only thing in my life that doesn't change LC." Timmy giggled softly, coaxing some laughter out of Little Cato as well. "I think the best advice I could give for that is not to worry about people like that. Sometimes ones like that don't really want the help or concern. They want to keep making those same mistakes, no matter how much you plead with them or beg them to stop. It's nothing bad, just... human nature."

Little snickers under his breath. Was that really it? Was it just a human thing? Was that the reason why his friend came dangerously close to death for helping someone else and why his grandma was a slave gladiator? It was just in their nature to make those kinds of mistakes?

"Oh yeah?" Little Cato bitingly replied, dropping the smirk on his face entirely. "You make it seem like trouble is something you can't choose, that it's just baked in." The boy sneers harshly, turning his heated gaze away from the dark-furred feline teenager.

"I'm not saying that." Timmy rolls his eyes. "I'm just saying some choose trouble because that's all they really know. It feels good even if they don't realize it. Then it gets addicting like a drug. They just have to balance on the edge more and more because that's what feels natural. Here we usually call those types edgerunners."

Little Cato snickers, opening his mouth to argue, though nothing would come. No words of dispute or good arguments. He couldn't find the proper response to what Timmy had just said. "Damn." He mutters. It was the only real reply he could think up.

"Is this about Kendrick?" Little nods as soon as he's asked. Clearly, it was. "Little Cato... do you... like Kendrick? Like, really like him I mean..?" Timmy whispers with one hand over the edge of his mouth.

Little Cato looks at him, a wide smile overtaking his mouth. His first thought was to say, no of course not, that was his best friend. But the more he thought about it, the hotter his body felt and the more his mind began to race with thoughts of the taller boy. The young teen looks at Timmy. "Uhmm..." 

Little Cato is about to answer truthfully when the pair's conversation is interrupted by one of Timmy's uncles.

"Tim," Angus said. "You're up." He nods back to their lain. Gary had been excitedly hopping up and down in place as he eagerly awaited his next turn.

"Right," Timmy says, standing up from the chair and heading toward the bowling lane.

Angus remains by Little Cato to observe the scoreboard above their bowling lane. "Jeez, Gary really is giving it his all."

"Yeah." Little Cato scoffed. "He gets really competitive when it comes to games. He always has to be the one coming out over everyone else. That's why I don't play cards with him anymore."

Angus hums, keeping an eye on the lane and the current frame for both teams. "I'll keep that in mind." The bear said walking back over to the others.

Little Cato waited until Angus was closer to the others before bringing his eyes to the screen above the lane. Gary really was destroying everyone's self-esteem out there. His dad and Timmy were doing great, Angus was doing even better, and Gregg had been falling way behind from the start.

Little Cato's eyes would then wander down to his score. Mostly zeros, he wasn't even trying. A small relaxing hum rests in his throat. Maybe he wasn't having fun because he was choosing not to. That dreadful feeling had become so natural recently he hadn't even noticed it. 

It looks like he was next to go after his dad. He might have started off bored, but he could turn that around, no problem. He laughs and stands up. He didn't see the harm in at least trying to give Gary a run for his money.

"Hey, Gary." Little Cato ran up to the group just as his father took his second shot, scoring a miraculous spare. "Can we restart the game?"

"Restarts the game?" Gary repeats, baffled. "How come?" He questions the boy before taking notice of the self-assured smirk on his son's face. "Oh, I see." Gary closes his eyes, his own malicious smirk beginning to take shape. "You're finally ready to start playing then." 

"Yep." Little Cato confidently replies. "Put me on Greggs team, you take Timmy. I got a score to settle with you." Little Cato hissed playfully. The two squinted at each other, arms folded and pressure riding high between the father and son. Gary obliges, stepping over to the scoring machine and restarting their game.

Timmy huddles up with Avocato and Gary while Little Cato rendezvous with the feline's uncles.

"Okay, I like this." Gregg nearly squealed in delight. "We have a whole nother chance now."

"Yeah sure, but how are we supposed to win exactly." Angus Calmy debated. "Honestly you weren't doing so well before Junior."

Little Cato giggles, sticking his fingers into the fingerholes of multiple bowling balls before finding one that fits him perfectly. "Well, I wasn't trying before." There was something Little Cato hadn't mentioned before. Gary wasn't the only one who could be competitive in everything he did. Little Cato was exactly the same as the blonde. He longed for competition and even needed it sometimes. Gary wasn't the reason He didn't want to play tonight. The real reason was that Little Cato could be just as bad. The boy just knows how to control it better. He turns to Timmy's uncles, enthusiasm blazing brightly. "Angus you're pretty good but I notice you like to throw curves. If you aim a bit away from the center, you'll be able to hit your pins more."

"Right." Angus nods, casually sticking his hands in his pockets. Little Cato then turns to the blonde fox next.

"Gregg." Little Cato stops for a second, leaving the fox in his own excitement. "Do your best." It was really the best advice he had to offer Gregg at the moment.

Little Cato picks up one of the heavy balls and saunters to the start of the lane. He was first in line, up against Gary. The blonde was first up to swing, or roll, in this case.

He holds the large marble orb up, closing his eyes and drawing in a deep breath before reopening them with a smile. The blonde strides up, throwing his arm back and tossing it forward again, sending the ball barreling down the sleek ally lane. The gratifying sound of marble crashing against hardwood fills their ears as the ball reaches its targets.

"Oh yeah!" Gary happily exclaimed. It was another strike, but Little Cato had come to expect nothing less from his other dad by this point.

"Okay, okay." Little Cato spoke calmly as he stepped forward past the blonde. His ball was already chosen, and his strategy mapped out. Truthfully, Little Cato had never beaten Gary at a game of bowling before, or a game of anything really. The young teen would always wind-up choking towards the end, botching his last throw every time.

It really only took one screw-up to lose to Gary though. The blonde scored way too many points. He was always so focused on the game and hardly anything could break that steel caged concentration of his. The only way Little Cato could possibly hope to win against the man would be if he didn't score at all. Little Cato admittedly had a plan for that, but he would keep it concealed until the very end where he was most liable to miss up.

The boy brought his ball up, much like Gary had done, and sucks in a steady, soothing breath to settle his mind. He takes a few elegant steps forward, bringing his arm back before sending the ball on its way. The marble hits hollow wood quickly, a strike. It sounds like music to his ears.

Little Cato turns up a snarky grin to his dad. The game was officially on. Marble clashes against wood, sending the poor little targets to their demise as cheers and groans rupture from either team. Little Cato felt as if it were a mistake to give his dads Timmy, but the boy's real worry was Gary. The rest were doing good, but the blonde was going to be the one to push their score over the edge.

Luckily for Little Cato, he has Angus. The tiny bit of advice he had given the man beforehand appeared to work wonders for the husky brown bear.

Gregg had also been doing surprisingly well, or at least better than before. The fox had been hitting enough pins to keep their score close to the other team and that's all Little Cato could hope for in the moment.

For all the work they'd been doing, however, Little Cato knew it wouldn't be enough. Gary was just too good at what he did. Little Cato would have to be the one to push their score past the blonde's and he would do so to the best of his abilities. Bowl after bowl he would hit his targets and score his strikes as he managed to keep up with his other, merciless dad.

Little Cato might even dare to say he was actually having fun contending with his dad. That is until they reach the final frame of the game. This is the point where he always manages to screw up and that fear begins to take hold as Gary steps up to the lane with a bowling ball in hand.

Little Cato feels now is the perfect moment to enact his plan though he would take a moment to consider if it was really worth Gary's sanity. When he sees the blonde gearing up to hurl the heavy marble ball, Little Cato figures it's either now or never. Gary would get over it in time.

"Hey Gary, me and grandma are thinking of eloping together." Little Cato blurts as Gary's head slowly turns to face him. His body twists around soon after as he realizes the ball before bringing a finger up to the boy.

"Now listen here, little mister-"

"Gary!" Avocato shrieks, motioning to their lane with a shocked expression.

The blonde's eyes follow as they widen in terror at the sight that unfolds. "Oh, no gutter ball, Jesus ugh." Gary holds his hands to his head in disbelief as he watches the ball slide down the gutter and out of sight. "Tricked, you tricked me." He swung back around to the boy, expression in utter confusion.

"All's fair in love and war, right?" Little Cato responds offhandedly. Gary opens his mouth and proceeds to argue but appears to find himself conflicted with the things he wants to say to his son.

Instead, he lets out an aggravated moan before stepping back up, grabbing a ball from the ball return for his second attempt. Gary walks back over to the start of the bowling lane. He holds the ball up and anxiously bobs and jerks his head as he lines up his shot.

He strolls up, though not as gracefully as he had done before, and begins to launch the ball. "You were only joking, right? Like you and mom aren't actually-"

"Gary." Avocato groans and Gary turns around just in time to see his bowling ball gently knock over one singular pin. He had done it again, impatiently turned to the boy without properly lining up his shot.

"Crap." The blonde hissed before stepping aside.

Little Cato was elated, the game was pretty much in the bag for them. Even if the boy didn't end up hitting a strike it didn't matter. All he had to do was hit more pins than Gary had.

The young Ventrexian steps up, picking out his perfect ball. He brings it up and lines up his last shot. The ball glistens along the sleek lane, guiding toward the pins as quick as a marble phantom before it finally makes contact. A little animation of a bowling bow gunning down pins with a machine gun appears on the screen above their lain, a strike, non to his surprise.

Little Cato jumps up and excitement and rushes over to Gregg. The pair cheered, holding their hands in L shapes over there toward the other team while Angus stood by, pinching the bridge of his nose out of embarrassment. The game wasn't officially over, four others still had to take a turn but essentially Little Cato and the uncles had won.

He had to say he was astounded. That was the first time Gary hadn't bowled a perfect game. Granted Little Cato had used the blonde's contempt for his mother to achieve that victory, but the victory felt sweet all the same.   

Chapter 22: Imperfect balance.

Notes:

For a while I was feeling pretty awful about this, or more so nervous. I tend to overthink a lot of what I'm doing and that leads to me getting more stressed than I probably should be. So, here's what I'm going to do from no own. I'm gonna write, edit and upload one chapter at a time, hopefully that would ease the stress a bit and I'm also going to be taking a new approach to the story telling. I want to get to the point quicker, so it doesn't feel like it's droning on and on. Hopefully this works out better for me, it probably will, though who knows.

"Gary come on." Little Cato pleaded, trailing behind his human father. They had just made it back to the building not too long ago and were walking through noiseless corridors along with Timmy and his uncles. Naturally, Gary would hardly acknowledge the boy on their entire trek back to H10. "Gary, I was just kidding." Little Cato spoke again, keeping his hands held together in apologies as he followed behind the blonde.

"No, no I understand." Gary kept his face turned up and eyes shut, a look of calm resting over his expression. "That's how you treat the man who raised you, kept you fed and cleaned, took you out on play dates, no I get it. Just as long as you get to win a stupid bowling match." Gary calmly kept his voice to a manageable pitch, receiving slight snickers from the others in their group, Avocato included.

The blonde was certainly mad, not enraged but definitely disappointed in his son. If Little Cato knew it would be this bad, he would have considered a different method of attack to win over his other dad.

"Gary, I keep saying it was a lapse of judgment. I just wanted to win for once." Little Cato stops, dropping his hands to the side, and pouts. "Is that really so much to ask from you of all people?"

Gary stops in his tracks "Huh?" He turns his head slightly to Little Cato before bringing his full attention around to the boy. "What's that supposed to mean?" 

Little Cato angrily folds his arms over his chest and gazes away from the blonde with a frustrated pout still residing on his cheeks. "It means you're just as competitive as me." He softly huffs, rolling his eyes to the floor. 

Gary snickers at the boy, tossing his shoulders up in bewilderment and opening his mouth to argue against him before he is swiftly interrupted.

"He's right." Avocato cuts into the conversation before Gary has the chance to properly get started. "You tend to go way too hard in these things Gary." He said, slipping a particularly cheesy nacho chip onto his tongue and proceeding to speak with his mouth full. "Can' blame da kii fo wantin' to win fo once."

"Heh!" Gary laughs, looking away from the father and his brightly colored orange son. "Really? You're serious, you're both seriously ganging up on me on this?" Gary's expression had shifted again, this time to that of confusion.

Little Cato slowly brings his eyes off of the concrete floor finally, guiding the weary orbs up to the blonde with his arms still crossed in his tiny tantrum. He clearly shrugs to Gary with a slight shake of his head. Gary looks on, his eyes drifting between Little Cato, the boy's father, and, eventually, the young feline teenager and his uncles.

"Little dude is onto sometin' TB," Gregg spoke as bluntly as his raspy tone would allow. "You were crankin' it up to eleventy-five tonight. I guess your kid pulling out all the stops to win was just bound to happen. My friend Mae can be the same you know."

"Yeah, for sure." Timmy scoffs after Gregg is finished speaking.

Gary carefully slips his head into one hand. "Oh lord." He mutters and shakes his head. "Okay, okay." He relents and looks at the boy. "Little Cato what you did tonight was uncalled for... but I know I can be a little... much, during some of our past times." A reluctant sigh briefly wavers from the man. "I accept your apology."

Little Cato's expression softens as the pout in his cheeks deflates and fades away. "Thank you." His eyes veer away for a moment as he mumbles.

"Okay," Gary replies simply. "Come here." He motions at the boy with a nod. Little Cato shuffles around in place for a bit before dragging his feet over to Gary. The young teen steps up as Gary's arms open up wide and Little Cato immediately falls into the imminent huge. He wraps his arms around Gary's waist while the blonde cradles his head and rubs behind his ears. 

Little Cato settles into the felling straight away. He pushes up close to Gary, falling deeper into his soft, motherly grasp as the blonde traces his smooth fingers along the boy's long ears. He feels safe in Gary's arms, secure in his presence. This was a feeling that would never get old to Little Cato.

"Eh!" A sudden, startled gasp escapes Little Cato. The feel of rumbling from his hoodie pocket distributes the peaceful cuddling session with his father. Another rumbling comes, quickly followed by a second and a third after.

The boy leans up and out of his other dad's arms. "What? What's wrong Little Cato?" Gary asks, continuing to hold the young teen close.

"Nothing." Little Cato murmurs out a barely audible huff. Kendrick had been messaging him.

kenny- yo

kenny- lc

kenny- swing by homie.

He wanted to meet now? Little Cato looks up at his other father, soft arms still hugged around him the best they could be. "Uhh... Gary?" He starts hesitantly. Gary looks at the boy, confused and only growing more worried with Little Cato's demur.

"Yeah...?" Gary begins slowly, attempting to coax out the question Little Cato was having a hard time asking.

"Uhh... It's Kendrick... He says he wants me to come by real quick and I guess..." Little Cato does his best, squeezing an embarrassed wince at his own broken-up question and bracing himself for the blonde's rejection.

Gary goes to speak, opening his mouth though it hangs agape in uncertainty. He didn't speak, the most the blonde was able to manage was one long indecisive hum. He could have said no in a thousand different ways if he wanted to, and honestly, Little Cato was expecting him to. But instead what the boy got was an answer he wasn't expecting, at least not as soon as it had come.

"Yeah... yeah sure." Gary slightly staggers away from Little Cato a bit shocked. He keeps a sheepish grin over his lips as he rubs nervously at the back of his head.

"Really?" Little Cato asks confused.

Gary bobs his head, locked in what seems like some moment of reconsideration, before jerking it suddenly. "I mean it seems alright to me. You're growing up, I know you have friends. I can't really tell you not to go." Gary said. He was clearly having a hard time admitting any of the words that left his mouth to Little Cato but he does so anyway.

Little Cato doesn't speak a word. The young teen only rushes back up to the blonde and throws himself into another quick hug. "Thanks, Gary." He said after separating from the man.

"Yeah, yeah. Just don't stay out too late." 

Little Cato looks at him with a much too amused expression. "Is that a warning?" He jokingly questions the man.

"More of a suggestion." Gary gives Little Cato a smooth and leveled response before sending him on his way. "And remember, if you ever think of doing something you're not sure about give me a call first!" His voice echoes off the quiet concrete walls of the atrium as he shouts more suggestions at Little Cato.

"I know!" Little Cato hollers back with a snicker. Gary didn't have to worry about him. Little Cato had definitely learned his lesson on acting without his parents' knowledge and he didn't plan on making the same kind of mistake again. He could keep himself out of trouble, he was sure he could. 

The trip to Kendrick's apartment was never a long one. They were thankfully on the same side of fourteen's atrium so the boy didn't live too far from Little Cato. The young teen's first destination every morning was Kendrick's apartment. Even on a school day, Little Cato would find time to let the taller teen know he'd be heading out for the day. It was basically tradition, a second instinct by this point.

Little Cato strolls up to the apartment door, hand balled into a fist and ready to knock, though he stops just short of bringing his knuckle down on the metal door. His ears twitch at the sound of voices, arguing from what he could tell.

Two voices, Kendrick and his mom going back a forth about something. Little Cato couldn't quite tell what about, their door was thicker than the average apartment door on floor fourteen, but he could tell the bout was heated.

Little Cato steps closer, practically pressing his ear up against the door in hopes of hearing the bickering pair batter. He closes his eyes, strains his ears, and quiets his mind a bit, focusing everything he has on his hearing. However, before anything could come from his attempt to listen in on the arguing, the young teen nearly falls into the apartment once the door suddenly slides open.

He jumps back quickly with a brief start and a heavy breath. "Go on! You think I care about the shit you get up to! It makes no matter to me bitch!" Kendrick's mom hollers angrily from within their apartment as the taller teen steps out. "Ya gonna be nothing more than a dumb dead Irish nigga!"

Kendrick scoffs and turns back to the apartment. "Yeah, I'll be that!" He yells inside before sliding the door shut and turning back to the young Ventrexian standing shyly before him. "Ay LC." He swaggers up to Little Cato, slapping the boy's hand against his. He had a large white box tucked and secured tightly underneath his arm. Little Cato wanted to ask what it was but then again he had a million questions for the taller boy at the moment. None of which would go answered. "Let's go."

"Huh?" Little Cato tilts his head curiously, though of course he still follows behind Kendrick all the same. "Wait, where?"

"You know." Kendrick snickers, eyes still forward, and the pace in his step just as quick. "To the hole gonk." Little Cato hums again as he trails behind the masked teen. "Home away from home?" Kendrick fully turns to the boy though he doesn't stop moving.

"Oh right, right." Little Cato nods. He hadn't really gotten the chance to swing by Kendrick's hideout. School had been eating up a lot of his time. It was good that he was at least getting around now.

Before long Little Cato found himself, on his hands and knees crawling through a dark vent into a dimly lit red maintenance room. Little Cato rises to his feet, patting a sheet of dust he had attained from crawling through the vent from his knees. He ought to get around to the old room more often. It could maybe work wonders with the things he was feeling, mostly the stress brought on by school days.

Kendrick comes out of the vent next, the box still tucked under his arm. He hops up to his feet quickly, patting himself down as well before walking over to the room's single door on the opposite end of where they stood.

Kendrick reaches the door, pulling out a yellow keycard as he does.

"Oh." Little Cato murmurs. "I didn't know you could open it... normally..." Little Cato added, eyeing the card in Kendrick's hand.

Kendrick giggles slightly as the door slowly begins to slide open. "Yeah well, since Ma's the floor manager I'm a bit obligated to lend a hand here and there. Being the co-janitor kinda sucks but it's fun snooping around inside of everyone's apartment." Kendrick said, stepping out of the way and ushering Little Cato past the opened door.

"Oh." He murmurs, stepping out of the soothing red light and into the dark halls of the abandoned section of Mega building H10.

Little Cato takes careful steps, doing his best to avoid tripping in his low visibility. The air was a bit stale, vacant like he assumed the abandoned sanctions would be. Heaps of dust crowed the air, flowing in and out of his nostrils.

Little Cato nearly sneezes a few times but he manages to control himself through sheer force of will. Soon the young teen's confidence in moving through the dark would grow as his eyes adjusted to the darkened half of their mega building.

He was in a hallway, he could tell that much. It was devoid of life, clearly, and despite them being in the same building essentially the area seemed vacant of any sign that civilization had ever been there. Kendrick passes Little Cato by and gives him a quick tap on his arm as he does.

"Let's go." The taller teen nods at Little Cato and walks off into the dark. He moves without hesitation as if he'd been through this half of the building a thousand times and had memorized every nook and cranny. He may well have.

Little Cato follows, more reluctantly than Kendrick since he can still hardly see a thing. He eventually comes to an opening, breathing a relieved sigh as an arch of light obstructs his view, and he steps out. It was an atrium, or what used to be at least, long since abandoned along with this half of the building. The light he had seen from the hallway shone softly down the center split of that half of the building. It must have been from the moon he thinks.

Where he had stood looked so much like where they lived. Little Cato thought it was strange seeing the building so absent of life. Seeing the same halls he walked every day so destitute and lonely knots and jumbles up his mind a bit. It was like being in a barren world or in a ghost town. The empty section was eerie, to say the least.

"Yo LC," Kendrick calls out to him. His eyes dart around in search of the taller boy until his hasty surveillance of the low-lit space comes to a stop, spotting Kendrick on the stairway going up. "We gotta head up." He pointed above.

"Up?"

"Yeah." Kendrick let out a low chuckle. "The elevators don't work so good on this end so we gotta use the stairs you know." He shrugged before, again, taking off without Little Cato.

Little Cato narrows confused brows. He didn't know what they were doing exactly but he was guessing it would be something along the lines of chilling together in the dark. Now he isn't so sure what to make of Kendrick's intentions.

All the same, the boy would fellow. It wasn't like he never trusted Kendrick after all. He walks over to the stairs and begins making his way up. It feels like he's been walking forever, absentmindedly bringing one foot up in front of the other in his climb up the old open stairwell.

At some point, Little Cato even begins counting the steps on his way up. The number had reached around the two-hundred mark by the time he came to a stop. They had reached the top floor finally. Considering that they had been so close to the top of the building already Little Cato was counting himself lucky that the trek up wasn't a worst one.

"Over here." Kendrick waves at him and dips into another long dark hall. Little Cato rolls his eyes. He was getting a bit tired of the vague directions but he followed the masked boy nevertheless. The trek wasn't long. In no time Little Cato would catch up to Kendrick, standing by a door at the end of the hallway. "You ready?" Kendrick asks when Little Cato approaches.

"Sure." Little Cato grumbled a bit in response. "I'd like to know for what though." Kendrick just looks at him with a small chuckle, then turns to the door, plugging in the same keycard he had used earlier. He turns a half glance at Little Cato and steps out past the door.

The young teen sighs and bobs his head with some disbelief before following behind the masked teen. 

As soon as he steps out of the door Little Cato is suddenly hit with the night breeze like a splash of cold water. "Woah!" He blurts, startled by the sudden change in temperature. He looks to find Kendrick, his eyes hitting the taller boy instantly ascending a set of metal stairs.

Little Cato crosses his arms and hugs himself close to stave off the night air and hopefully induce some kind of warmth. He begins to walk in Kendrick's direction, bringing his foot down on the metal staircase his friend had gone up not too long ago.

He rubs his hands over his fur, trying to accumulate warmth as he takes slow, shivering steps up the metal staircase.

"Okay, Kenny." Little Cato huffs once he reaches the top of the stairs. "Where-..." He was fully prepared to start questioning the taller teen by now, though his fully loaded inquiry falters when he brings his eyes out to bright lights and tall buildings.

Night City gleamed below, lighting up everything in its vicinity like a fully decked-out Christmas tree. They were on the roof. He had never seen the city from such a great height before and looking at it nearly takes the breath out of Little Cato. 

"Woah." Little Cato let out an unsteady puff.

"Nice right?" Kendrick giggles at him. He was leaning his arms over the edge of a short wall with the large box he was carrying before now laid out over it.

Little Cato nods. "Yeah." He mutters and takes a second to gawk at the glow of Night City before shuffling over to where Kendrick stood. Little Cato leans on the wall next to the boy, the entire time keeping his eyes on the brightly lit city below. He was close to speechless.

It wasn't like he hadn't seen Night City before, he looked at it every day, the lights, the monstrous buildings, and brilliantly radiant ads and shops. But being so high up with the night breeze blowing through his sunny fur and swaying his tail, it seems more tangible, real. Like he could actually see the city for the wonderful thing it was.

"My dad would bring me up here all the time you know." Kendrick begins, eyes still tracing along city lights. "Used to go on and on about life, specifically about it not keeping me down and fighting against all odds, fighting against destiny and all that. Would always say 'Kendrick me son, there'll come time and time again where you'll ave ta pull yerself up out o the mud boyo'." Kendrick chuckles after breaking out an Irish accent. Little Cato laughs along. He had never met the man, but he'd like to think it was a pretty good impression. "Then he'd almost fuckin' full off the roof 'cause he was kinda clumsy like that." Kendrick shakes his head and holds a hand to his neck. "I guess that's why I wanted to bring you here."

"Oh." Little Cato is at another loss for words. His heart thumps harshly in his chest, his feet cross over one another as he fiddles nervously, and his tail swings behind him nearly out of control. "T-thank you." He said, just barely, as a warm smile crossed his soft expression.

Kendrick sighs, a bit amused by the boy's reaction. "Alright, alright, come on man. Don't drop your panties for me just yet." Kendrick manages to spur a bit of a blush in Little Cato's cheeks before he takes up the box laid out in front of him. "The other reason I brought you up here was so I can thank you. I don't think I could have paid off DB on my own in time... so you know..." Kendrick turns to Little Cato with the box in hand. He wraps his fingers around the lid of the box and lifts it off. "Your parents cool with guns, right?"

Little Cato was rendered speechless once again. He looks down at the box and he sees the item resting inside though he could hardly believe it. "Kendrick." Little Cato gasps. He reaches both hands in, clutching one around the rear grip and the other over the magazine four grip as he pulls the rifle out. It was a Kang Tao, a sleek and boxy smart rifle and some of the best hardware the eastern Asian regions could offer an Alliance civilian. "How'd you get your hands on this. These aren't exactly cheap you know."

Kendrick shrugs. "Now that I can actually use the scratch I earn, I figured why not. Took a trip to Dogtown and got a good price 'cause they love me down there."

"They love you everywhere." Little Cato chuckles in perplexity with his eyes continually scanning the weapon in his hands.

"I mean sure... but..." Kendrick stops and brings a hand up to his red mask. He works to undo the heavy buckles wrapped around the back of his head one by one then removes the mask. He then lays it down on the short wall he had gone back to leaning on. "I wanted to sincerely thank you."

Little Cato's eyes widen immediately, and he nearly drops the gift given to him by the taller teen. He was beyond shocked, his mind beginning to run endlessly. For the first time since he'd met him, Little Cato was now getting an actual look at Kendrick's face.

If Little Cato were being honest, he'd been expecting something bad, maybe a couple of nasty scares at best. A person doesn't wear a mask all day every day for no reason. When his eyes touch Kendrick though, they don't receive deep scars or torn flesh. The taller teen's emerald, green eyes dart around anxiously as a gorgeous smile stretches along the lips of his light brown, caramel feathers. There wasn't a single scratch, mark, blemish or scar. 

If anything, his skin was nearly perfect. Little Cato would even go as far as to say the boy was cute.

"Kendrick... I don't know-... what do I-" Little Cato stammers, laughing nervously as he looks to and from the unmasked teenager. His mind runs wild with things to say and do, and his smile morphs from small to wide and back again. His thoughts run until they settle on an action, or more so an instinct. 

Little Cato settles himself, bringing his eyes to make contact with Kendrick. He hugs the smart gun to his chest and leans into the other teen slowly. Little Cato felt he shouldn't have tried to do what his body wanted, the last thing he wanted to do was scare the taller teen off. But by the time he comes to his senses, his lips are already connected to Kendrick's.

All sense fades then as his lips graze across the other boy's. Little Cato could hardly think now. He keeps his eyes closed to take in the feel of Kendrick's soft lips. He should have pulled back by now, but he couldn't bring himself to do so. All Little Cato wanted to do was feel Kendrick up against him for the moment. He was happy, though maybe a bit too happy.

Little Cato's eyes snap open once he realizes what he is doing. He stepped back quickly, embarrassed by his own actions, and the feeling was made no better by the expression Kendrick held on his face.

The taller teen just stood there, smirking with one brow raised high at Little Cato. "I'm sorry." Little Cato blurts, hugging the gun in his arms tightly. "I didn't mean to do that- I-I was- I guess I thought-"

"Don't worry," Kendrick responds unworried as he thoughtlessly shrugs his shoulders. "Though maybe don't go kissing people when you're already with somebody else. I would have enjoyed it more otherwise."

A look of horror crosses Little Cato's expression with his eyes jumping in between Kendrick and everything else on the rooftop. "I gotta go." Little Cato murmurs, hastily brushing past Kendrick.

"You gotta delta so soon!?" The taller boy called out though Little Cato didn't respond. He couldn't bring himself to even look back at the taller teenager. "Alright, see you around LC!"

Little Cato runs back into the abandoned section of the building, mind inflamed with thoughts and feelings that wouldn't stop for a second. He shuffles through the dark without a care as he looks for his way back out.

He nearly trips over himself a few times but doesn't stop moving. His low visibility doesn't matter now, he was being driven by his need to get away from Kendrick and the want to run home as fast as he could.

He finds his way back to the old maintenance room, steps into the dim red lighting, and immediately throws himself into the vent with the gun under his arm. He couldn't stop, he didn't want to. He just needed to go, through long halls, through the atrium of the fourteenth floor, and into his apartment.

Little Cato rushes into his room, setting his new rifle up against a wall near his closet before throwing himself onto his bed. "Why did I do that?" He said, curling his body up into a ball. What had he done? That was his best friend and he just kissed him out of the blue and for a bit longer than what he could consider platonic. "Oh, man." Little Cato groans and sinks even further into himself.

What he did was wrong, it had to be. He was supposed to be with Ash, or at least they were talking about getting together, yet the thoughts of Kendrick's face and the feel of his lips pressed up too Little Cato's don't stop. He needed to take his mind off of what just happened, though his mind was a bit scarce for ideas at the moment. "Ash!" Little Cato jumps up from his curled-up position and quickly pulls out his phone.

He scrolls through his messages and taps a finger on the girl's name.

little cato- come over

ashy- ummm why???

Little Cato groans, he didn't have time for her games.

little cato- now please

ashy- okay, okay

He drops his phone on his bed and lays back. Kendrick continues to linger in his mind. Little Cato runs a hand through his bright blue hair. How was he going to explain this to Ash?

Minutes pass that seems more like hours. Little Cato stayed curled up on his bed in a heaping pile of emotional confusion and humiliation. What else could he do though? He was in anguish over what had transpired on the rooftop not too long ago.

More time passes. Little Cato's thoughts still tear at him, but they hurt a little less so as the boy teeters on the verge of sleep. In all honesty, he was about ready to. He just wanted to put tonight behind him along with the distressed feeling that came.

As he's about to sink deep into a much-welcomed slumber, however, the rumbling from his phone pulls him from his oncoming solace.

ashy- alright im here

ashy- dont wanna knock cause ur rents might be sleep

Little Cato rushes off the bed and steps out of his room. He slowly and carefully makes his way through the apartment until he reaches the front door. All the while his mind flutters with thoughts of his best friend. "Oh god." He mutters before tapping a shaky finger on the door lock pad.

It opens and he's greeted by a rather energetic-looking Ash. "What's up homay." She smiles keeping her hands nestled into the pockets of her pajama pants. 

Little Cato doesn't speak, even though he tries. He was still too caught up to say anything, so he motioned her inside with a short nod. He didn't wait for a response before taking off back to his room.

"Wait, Junior, what's up?" She asks and steps into the apartment when Little Cato doesn't say much of anything. "Junior." She tries again, following the boy into his room. He sat down on his bed, expression caught in a tangle of perplexity and shame. "Man, what happened? You look like you fucked up something real bad choom." Ash laughs a bit, but he doesn't say anything. "Jeez, man what's wrong?"

Little Cato looks up, eyes struck with something awful. "Ash." He mutters. The words were stuck, they were always stuck, but he had to try. "Ash I... I uh..." He chuckles to himself.

"Let me guess..." Her smile broadens as she drifts off in thought. "It has to do with Kendrick, doesn't it?" She smirks as his body tenses up and nearly locks down. He nods. "I'm gonna assume he roped you into some scheme, got you to do something embarrassing like wear a skirt-"

"I kissed him..."

Ash stops and her smile fades. Her expression lies in a state of disarray as if she had just been struck in the face with a bat. "Ohhhh... nice try." Her smile returns. "For a second I thought..." He leaves again when she sees the unchanged look on his face. "Wait... what?"

"We were on the roof and said it was a special spot and he gave me a gift and he took off his mask-" Little Cato panicked, explaining everything as quick as he could, every cause that had led up to that moment all the while Ash stayed quiet. "I started feeling strand, I couldn't help myself. And I liked it." Little Cato admitted and a devastated look emerges from the girl in front of him. "I-... I like it, Ash." He continued softly. "I really liked it... I know it's wrong and... I understand if you don't-" He's cut off suddenly, interrupted by the feel of lips against his.

Ash had leaned in and kissed him, and his mind nearly explodes. The feeling was the same as he had gotten earlier. He felt fulfilled, felt as if he needed this, knew he wanted more of it and more of her.

Eventually, she leans back, leaving Little Cato more confused but calmer now. "Was that better?" She whispers out the question, just barely veering her eyes away from the boy. Little Cato had no idea what to say, his words were all but spent. The best he could offer was a slow nod. "Can... can I stay tonight?"

Her question knocks him even further off balance. He'd say he was shocked, but everything had transpired so rapidly that he was just too tired to be bamboozled. "Yeah." He mumbles and Ash takes a seat on the bed next to him. She wrapped one arm over his shoulder and placed her other hand on his chest as they sat in silence.

Little Cato felt at ease now. The feeling he had gotten on the roof was subdued though it wasn't gone completely. He could still feel it resting somewhere in his chest, it was just more in tune now if he had to say. Balanced out by another equally overwhelming feeling he didn't know what to do with. 

Chapter 23: Eden Beach Mega Ride.

A loud ball rings over the silence of the room, signaling the end of class to many a tired student. Little Cato wrapped up the notes he'd been jotting down, adding a few final lines before closing his notebook and shoving it into the bookbag that sat on the floor beside him.

He stood up, picked up the bag, and tossed it around his shoulder as he made his way toward the classroom's exit. Their teacher had been giving the wary students reminders of upcoming events and projects, but Little Cato was already too checked out to care about any of what had been said.

His last class was way longer than he felt it needed to be. Usually, he could bear to sit through social studies but recently he was having a hard time focusing on long drawn-out topics. His mind still tarried on that night on the rooftop of his building and particular events that had transpired afterward.

It was bad enough that Kendrick was regularly on his mind but Ash now too. He could hardly focus on anything but the pair, the thought of their bodies pressed up together and how their lips had grazed one another's. The thoughts always excite him, but they were starting to drive him a bit crazy. It was even to the point where it had begun affecting his schoolwork. For the most part, instead of taking notes as he should have been, Little Cato would use the time to doodle little images of Ash and Kendrick. The likenesses were never one to one, but he gave it his best regardless.

Little Cato shuttered to think that Ash and Kendrick had taken that much of a toll on his psyche. To think that one little thing, what he felt was a mistake on his end, could leave him so distraught was insane. He didn't mean to kiss Kendrick, and he wasn't expecting Ash to kiss him on the same night but here he is now. Stuck in between confusion, excitement, and a bundle of other emotions that were tearing him apart bit by bit.

He doesn't know what to do about it all, though he thinks maybe he should talk to someone. The thought of bottling up his emotions also comes to mind. There was no shame in hiding right? His dad would say otherwise... his dad. 

Little Cato hums as he steps out of the classroom and into the school's old oak halls. His dads might have some good advice for him, Gary especially. Little Cato knows the blonde had been with many guys and girls in his life, he was sure there had to be some solid advice hiding beneath that blonde lid.

"Hay Junior," Ash spoke softly, smiling as she came to a stop beside the distracted young teen. She had been spending a lot more time with him lately than she typically would. Her behavior also seemed to shift. Little Cato wouldn't admit to her face, but the pink-haired girl had become a tad kinder and a lot clingier as of late. It was only ever around him, but he couldn't understand why. "Did you hear about what's going down after school?"

"Huh." Little Cato hums confused. "What's going on after school?"

Ash raises a brow. "Didn't, well... Kendrick tell you?" She questions with a groan. Little Cato shakes his head. Ash should have known not to rely on Kendrick to relay any kind of information to anyone. The masked teen would simply forget most of the time. "Right... well everyone's heading out to Pacifica. They want to hit up Eden Beach Mega Ride."

"The amusement park?" Little Cato repeats a tad baffled. "The same one that got bombed out not too long ago?" 

"Yeah, pretty much..." Ash casually shrugs and bobs her head.

"Fuck off." Little Cato snickers at the girl thinking that she had been joking at first, though he had gotten pretty good at ready the girl as of late. He could tell what was a joke and what was genuine. "Why in the world do you want to go there? Jeez, I thought they were closed."

"It just opened back up. Besides, who wouldn't want to go?" Little Cato stares at her unamused. "You serious Junior? You don't want to go?"

"Uhm... obviously." Little Cato bobs his head before he starts to walk away from her.

"What..." Ash mutters with some perplexity. "H- hey, with up!" She shouts, running to catch up with Little Cato. "You're actually being serious right now?" She asks, staying behind the young teen with a data pad hugged to her chest.

"Yeah." Little Cato said, rolling his eyes.

"How come?"

The teen stops with an astonished snicker before picking back up his previous pace. He couldn't believe he had to explain himself. "Because I don't feel like running the risk of getting caught in between another clown fight. You guys may think that kind of thing is fun, but sadly I don't." He said, his tone reeling on the edge of frustration. "Why do you want to go?" He turns the question back on Ash.

The sudden reversal appears to slow her down but only for a bit. "Because... everyone's going... duh. I don't know." The pink-haired girl said though she didn't look so confident with her answer. "Come on Junior please." Ash ran out in front of the boy, stopping him suddenly. "Little Cato..." Her eyes widen and gleam as she pleads to the young teen.

Little Cato folds his arms and sighs. He wanted to stand his ground and maintain his position, but Ash was making it hard to do so. She always did. "Gary would kill me if he found out."

"Then Gary won't find out." She responds, gripping her data pad close to her chest.

"Ash..." Little Cato begins, ready to decline. He couldn't go, he didn't want to go, but the more he pairs into her big, begging eyes the more he could feel himself giving in to her demands. "Uhhh... fine. Yeah okay." He reluctantly agrees to the girl's delight.

"Yes." She hissed under her breath. "It's gonna be fun, trust Junior." She gives his arm a light taps with her fist as he throws his head back annoyed. He wasn't sure he would enjoy the park but at least he wouldn't be bored worrying about all the bad things that could happen while they were there. "Oh, you got a class starting right?"

Little Cato's head snaps up suddenly. "Shit right!" He huffed, passing Ash by. "I see you after class, just promise to stick close to me when we get there!"

"What!?" Ash scoffs.

"Ash!" Little Cato calls back as he rushes off.

"O- okay, I will, God!" She relented. With how differently she's been acting as of late, Little Cato was expecting her to. She'd cave in for him just as much as he would for her. It was strange but it at least evened the odds when it came to her teasing him. She wasn't nearly as good at getting under his skin as she used to be. Maybe she was feeling just as confused as he had been. After all, she did kiss him right after he had confessed to kissing Kendrick on the same night. Little Cato wouldn't be surprised if she were in the same awkward boat as him.

The rest of the day seems to fly by too Little Cato's amazement. The morning had started with such a crawl he'd been expecting it to keep that same pace for the remainder of the day. By the time he had reached his next class, it had passed by just as quickly as it had started.

Of course, the thought of going down to Eden Beach had been on his mind after his conversation with Ash but he hadn't realized that he might have been more excited than he let on earlier. By the time school comes to an end and he's on the other side of the campus's golden gates, Little Cato is more willing to indulge the idea.

He'd been expecting to find his friends waiting for him but to his surprise, the only ones lounging about were Ash and Argit.

"Hold up, where is everyone?" Little Cato questions, walking up to the pair with narrowed brows.

"Oh, they already went ahead of us." Ash smiles back at him.

"What?" He spoke. Her answer was way too abrupt and carefree for his liking. "What does that mean?"

"It means their already over there," Argit spoke next. "Yeah, you know school ends early for us so they decided that we should meet you there."

Little Cato's features fall into a fit of confused frustration. They'd already gone without him. "So... why aren't you guys with them?" Ash and Argit look at each other for a moment before focusing back on Little Cato.

"We thought it would be best to wait for you," Ash answers. Little Cato takes a moment to calm himself. The young teen had half a mind to be a little angry with his friends for taking off without him but technically they didn't owe it to him to stick around. At least Ash and Argit decided to stay back.

"So how are we getting there." Little Cato asks.

"Uhh, duh," Argit snickers. "The metro choomba." 

Little Cato chuckles, rubbing the back of his neck embarrassed. The train ride wasn't so bad. Little Cato liked taking the metro in Night City, maybe more than he ought to have. It was his favorite way to get around mainly due to how the train operated.

For the most part it always road above ground, far above street level. It was a great way to sightsee for him. The only issue he could find with taking the train was that it didn't cover every part of the city.

The more rural parts, places like Pacifica, didn't have too many rail lines interconnected like in the inner city. Sure, the train would get you there, but you'd still have to do a decent amount of walking once you got off from any stop.

That's what they had been doing now, he, Argit, and Ash. Walking wasn't really his thing, but he had to do what he had to do. It wasn't like he was totally against the idea of putting foot to ground. He did a lot of walking before coming to earth. Despite the atmosphere being different, and admittedly making walks slightly more difficult than before, there was hardly any change for Little Cato. 

They had been trekking along a beachfront for a few minutes now. It was a cool evening and the wind blowing in from the ocean made the long walk more bearable. Little Cato liked moments like this. Walking along a sun sat with people he cared about while a slightly chilly wind ruffled through his orange fur. It brought his mind back to a time when he was younger. A moment he couldn't exactly recall but knew was there, nestled into a cozy memory.

In no time they would come up to the amusement park. Eden Beach Mega Ride. A Night City darling located on the beach and right next to the Grand Imperial Mall. Their friends had been waiting just outside of the entrances, laughing and arguing with each other and doing their best to get in the way of the other fairgoers. 

Little Cato was a tad shocked to see the place. Given what had happened with the carnival weeks earlier the park was looking good from what he could tell. At least it was still standing.

"Yo, choom," Ash spoke first as they came up to the group of friends. "Why in the hell are you all still standing out here?"

"Hey, good of you to join us too." Meowmar scoffs at the girl. "Our bad if we decided to plant roots for you slugs." The Ventrexian hissed, pointing a nasty sneer at the group that had only just arrived.

"Jesus Gen calm down. I didn't realize we were inconveniencing Her Majesty." Ash shot back quickly, taking pleasure in the way Meowmar's face twists up angrily. "It's not like you're paying for yourself anyway, princess."

"Fuck you. Kenny offered and accepted. That doesn't mean I wouldn't have paid."

"Gen chill. You need to take it easy man." Little Cato steps in between the two. He got Meowmar was upset, for whatever reason, but he wasn't going to sit by and let the guy insult his girlfriend because he was mad. It's not like he had to wait.

"I'd be taking it more easy if I didn't have to wait for your slow ass." Meowmar spat again taking Little Cato off guard.

"Hey-"

"Yo Gen calm down." As Little Cato is about to speak up and retaliate, Kendrick cuts in suddenly.

"But Kenny she star-"

"Gen dude, choom calm down before I tose you in the ocean, I swear to god, like what the fuck." Kendrick chuckles. Meowmar looks in between Kendrick and Little Cato, his mouth tries to form some kind of comeback but fails as he strums off in a huff.

Little Cato steps up to the other group bewildered as he begins to scratch his head. "What's up with him now?" Little Cato turns the question to his friends.

"Oh, you know, just Gen being Gen," Dean said with a snicker over his lips. "The general is always pissed, you know that." 

"Nah that ain't it." Sam walks up beside his brother with the same smirk on his face. "Meowmar's just mad 'cause he got caught sucking dick in one of the bathrooms today." He stated plainly.

Dean chuckles again. "I know that I just didn't want to say it." He half whispers, a smile still on his face.

A confused look runs over Little Cato's features. "What? Really?" The young teen held a puzzled hand to his head. "Why in the world was he doing that?" The siblings stare at each other, their small smiles finally fading.

"Dunno." They both sing. "Said he owed a favor," Dean said.

"He always does." Sam continued.

"Life of a joytoy." They both shrug and nod. 

"Favor or not I'd be mad about being caught like that too," Kevin spoke up next. "I'll go check on him. Poor guy can never catch a break." The raven-haired boy explained before walking off in the direction of the other Ventrexian teen.

Meowmar always seemed to be doing a lot of favors for a lot of guys around the school. Whatever his situation was, he appeared to always owe more than he could ever suck his way out off. Then again it was none of Little Cato's biz, that is until Meowmar decides to make it his biz at least.

"Catch a break. Sure." Harp mummers. "It's not like we fuck with him all that much. If you ask me, he's just being a bitch about it, like always."

"Well, maybe that's the real problem." Timmy was the next to join the conversation. "He probably feels targeted." 

"Targeted!?" Harp practically screams at the top of her lungs before laughing. "He, who gives everyone shit for every little thing? Remember how he laughed about what happened to you when you were a kid? Wasn't that a little too fucked up?"

"Hmmm?" Little Cato's ears shot up quickly. "What happened to Timmy?"

"Nothing!" Both Timmy and Harp replied. Little Cato sighs to himself. They were his friends, but they always had trouble discussing anything about themselves with him. He thinks it's because he's still relatively new to the group which sort of makes him feel bad. Either way, he wouldn't push the topic.

"Maybe you're right Harp. Maybe we should say 'fuck him' and start fucking with him, but maybe it wouldn't hurt to have some understanding either." Timmy crosses his arms over his stomach and starts tapping his fingers against his elbow.

Harp stares at him until her eyes slowly start to drift away. "Whatever." She coldly remarks before heading towards the amusement park entrance. Timmy stayed put until Harp was gone. His eyes look far gone like he was lost in thought or maybe a memory. The feline snaps out of it as his eyes readjust to reality and he breathes a relieved sigh.

He looks more at ease though somehow still stressed. Looking over at Little Cato though appeared to drive whatever stressful remnant that had lingered in his mind. He smiles at the young teen and waves before also making his way over to the park entrance.

Little Cato keeps his eyes on the dark-furred feline. He had no idea what they were talking about or what that far-off look in Timmy's eyes was, but he couldn't help but worry.

"Hey LC." Little Cato's focus is broken, and his body nearly locks up when he hears Kendrick address him. "Is this place crazy or what?"

Little Cato stares dumbfounded. He doesn't know what to say, the words eluding him as he does his best to formulate a response. "Y- yeah, yeah... really cool..." He moans destressed, doing his absolute best to play off his nervous fidgeting.

"And to think this whole time you haven't been here. Better late than never I guess." Kendrick said. "The place is so nova man. It's kinda like Luna Park in New York."

"Yeah, but Luna Park is actually cool," Argit said walking past Little Cato. "This is more like one long-ass boardwalk they managed to squeeze a bunch of rids on with zero charm besides the clowns who run it. Trust me, Cato, it's not all that." Little Cato nods silently at the rodent/opossum mix still averting his eyes away from the masked teen. "Eh, you're right. It's better to see for yourself." Argit takes Little Cato by the hand and leads him toward the entrance of the amusement park. He wasn't expecting to be dragged off like he was, but he was silently grateful.

"What's up with him," Kendrick asks as he watches Argit tug at Little Cato.

"Yeah." Ash narrows her eyes at the masked boy. "I wonder what is wrong with him Ken." She said, her tone accusing him of something he wasn't quite aware of.

"What? Don't put it on me now."

Little Cato pushes his way past the park's metal turnstile as he officially steps into Eden Beach. The young teen gives the place a good look over. He was pleasantly surprised. For a place that had been bombed, there had been no evidence of an attack occurring at all.

Argit taps Little Cato on the arm, stalling the boy. "Shitty am I right?" Argit snickers as he pulls him off to the side and out of the way of anyone else entering.

"It's pretty cool actually." Little Cato shrugged. "I'm sure it's no Luna Park but it's good for what it is right?" Little Cato flashes a smirk at Argit.

The opossum stares at Little Cato as if he had just said something way too odd to comprehend just then. "Hey, whatever. To each their own." His head bobs at the young teen. "So, what do you want to do first?" Argit asks. Little Cato was surprised he was even being allowed to choose.

He looks around for a bit. The choices were nearly endless. From The many Carnivale games that may or may not have been rigged to rollercoasters and the Ferris wheel. "Umm." He hums unsure, looking back to Argit. "I think I'm gonna wait for Ash. She'd probably kill me if I started without her."

"Suit yourself." Argit carelessly shrugs his shoulders before walking deeper into the park to do his own thing. Little Cato is left on his own, staring at the entrance of the park and awaiting a flair pink to pass by his sight.

He wonders what's taking so long. Last he saw, she was still out there with Kendrick. Oh, Kendrick... 

Little Cato winces at himself and his earlier demeanor. He'd been acting awkward around the taller boy lately and couldn't seem to stop to save his life.

It wasn't his fault. He didn't mean to come off so standoffish but every time he gets close to the masked teenager memories of that night come rushing back and the awful weighing sensation in his heart skews violently to one side.

Little Cato hums. He was somewhat ashamed of himself, to be honest. He should have been facing this issue head-on. The sooner he got past his new awkward faze the sooner he could feel comfortable around Kendrick again. He owed it to the taller boy to get back to normal.

After some time, Little Cato finally spots Kendrick and Ash entering the park. They were teasing one another before Kendrick decided to separate. Ash trudges over to Little Cato after spotting him with the previously frustrated look on her face morphing into a delighted smile.

"Sorry to keep you, Junior." She said, stopping in front of him, her smile dropping slightly. "Kendrick's..."

"Being Kendrick." Little Cato finished for her, grinning shyly. "it's probably my fault. I've been acting weird."

"Why wouldn't you be though? You did... you know..." She leans closer to him, lowering her voice. "Kiss him..." Little Cato nods, his face dropping as the shame he felt before kicks up a notch. "But hey let's not worry about that now, right? We're at Eden Beach choom." Ash gushed, lifting Little Cato's face with one hand.

His expression begins to lighten up again. He found it hard to stay sad in her presence. "Yeah, you're right?" He smiles back at her. "So... what do you want to do first?"

Ash hums, bringing her eyes to the park they stood in. "How's about a ride." She suggested and Little Cato agreed. There was nothing wrong with kicking things off with a ride. Their only problem now was which ride to start with.

Their options were vast and varied. Little Cato thinks they could benefit from a thought-out plan. Going by wait time was a no-go because the wait seemed to be the same for all of the rides there. Some of the lines look to stretch on too long with a few of the more popular rides.

Instead of standing around and scratching their heads, Ash would take swift initiative, grabbing Little Cato by one of his arms and dragging him off. He doesn't mind much since he has no better ideas at the moment. They would start with one of her favorite rides, one of those zero-g rollercoasters that spun around a lot. Truthfully It wasn't one he thought he'd find to be fun.

By the time they had reached the front of the line, Little Cato's nerves had reached an all-time peak. The ride was a two-person coaster so obviously he and Ash would be riding together, though she does joke about getting separate rides after picking up on his reluctance. The safety cage that rattled shut around his body gives him no sense of comfort, no matter how secure it may have seemed.

Ash endeavors to calm him down after noticing his slightly agitated breathing. She had told him to think of the ride as a starship, soaring through the sky. Little Cato would try but a starship didn't leave him flat on his stomach suspended in mid-air compactly exposed as it tossed and tumbled at certain intervals. He'd take a starship over this death trap any day.

By the time the ride had ended Little Cato was about ready to fall over. That ride was less zero-g and more nauseating. It didn't go nearly as fast enough for him to not feel a thing.

"Are you okay!" Ash laughs wrapping an arm around the boy's neck.

"Yeah," Little Cato grumbled at her. "I can handle speed and high altitude but that was just... annoying... That's really your favorite ride?"

"Whatever nerd." The girl snickers, lightly slapping him across the face. "Where we going next? Your choice."

Little Cato's eyebrows raise in wonder as he's offered the next choice. Normally he did whatever his friends wanted to do and never got a say in the matter. Again, he thinks it's because he's new but at least they appeared to be warming up to him enough to let him vote on an activity now.

After some momentary observation, Little Cato would settle on the UFO, a ride he thought he'd feel more comfortable with. From the look on Ash's face, Little Cato could tell she didn't like the choice as much, but she wouldn't argue against it.

The ride wasn't all that bad. All they had to do after stepping into the makeshift UFO was sit in place while the saucer spun around as fast as it could. To Little Cato, it felt more like home, the lighter atmosphere he was so accustomed to for most of his life right there in one little ride. Even if it was simulated.

For Ash, it merely looked like she was going to lose her lunch or pass out for the duration of the simple ride. Once it's over and they step out one by one, Ash is the one who looks like the one who's about to topple over this time around.

"You okay Ash?" Little Cato smirks, hooking an arm around her shoulder.

"Sure, whatever dude." She shakes her head, regaining her balance. She looks pissed but soon her face lights up at the sight of something in the distance. "Hey, let's check that out." She nearly squeals at Little Cato, pulling the boy by his arm again.

By the time he figured out what their next ride was, a haunted house, they were already on the line and near the front to boot.

Little Cato isn't afraid to admit that the ride had made him jump more than just a few times. By all accounts that shouldn't have been all that scary, with how cheap the animatronics they used looked, but it was the method in which the ride used them that got Little Cato to curl up in his seat.

The ride was mostly dark so when the puppets did pop out it was accompanied by loud sound effects that resulted in cheap jump scares. Scares that didn't seem to affect Ash one bit, though she was certainly taking pleasure in watching Little Cato jump halfway out of his seat every other second.

The hunted house wasn't his favorite ride, but it still managed to get Little Cato excited. From there on the pair had gotten into the swing of things, passing the choice of the next ride to one another. They hit up as many rides as they could muster for the time they had and with the lines being so long they had to choose wisely.

Next was the sky swings. As the name implies, the ride was designed to lift you far into the air and hurl you around at the same height. Little Cato would imagine that Ash wasn't such a fan. Afterward, they rode the seat drop, another zero-g kind of ride that did a great job at turning your stomach through heavy dips downward though Little Cato did have a lot of fun on it.

Their ride after that was a Mary go-round. Despite its less intense nature Ash still looked like she was going to be sick to her stomach. Little Cato would conclude that the girl just didn't like going around in straight circles. 

At some point, they had gotten on board with the regular rides and had started gunning for kitty rides to satisfy the child within them. Aside from the off-handed berating they'd received from the ride operators Little Cato and Ash would have the time of their lives.

The couple's next objective was the pride of Eden Park, The Love rollercoaster. That was a ride they could both enjoy. No straight circles, no false gravity, just the thrill of speed and dips that turn their stomachs as they raise their hands high above their heads.

This day had turned out better than Little Cato expected. It certainly wasn't lacking in the fun department and though it was getting late there was still one more ride they had to hit on the suggestion of Ash. Something for just them.

They rush through the park, toward their final ride for the night before coming to a hasty stop as they notice Meowmar on his own. The other Ventrexian was playing a carnival game and failing miserably by the looks of it. "Fuck!" He hisses after tossing a ball that misses its intended target. Little Cato and Ash debated if they should join him or keep moving. After what he said to them the choice couldn't have been easier but Little Cato couldn't just pretend the other teen didn't exist.

Little Cato walks over to Meowmar with Ash close behind. "Hey, Gen." Little Cato greeted as another hiss left the dark blue Ventrexian. "What you up to?"

"Nothing." Meowmar growls, throwing another ball. "Trying to win this fucking game." He picks up and quickly throws his third ball and misses yet again. "Fuck! This game is rigged or something."

"Hey, it's not rigged." The clown carny behind the counter argued. "It's against Bozo policy to con people like that. You're just doing it wrong."

"Bullshit!" Meowmar shouts. "Hit me again." He angrily tips his fingers to the countertop as if he were asking for another round of drinks.

"Be my guest kid." The clown lays three more baseballs out over the counter and Meowmar doesn't waste any time discarding them. He picks up the first one and throws it but misses.

"Shit." He hisses, picking up the next one and throwing it, also missing. "Fuck."

"Gen wait." By the time Meowmar goes for his third and final throw, Little Cato steps in, grabbing the other teen's arm before he has a chance to squander his shot. "Let me try." He spoke. Meowmar just stares at him with squinted eyes before stepping out of the way and sarcastically ushering Little Cato forward.

Little Cato picks up the baseball and gives the staked bottles a quick observation. He'd seen games like this one before. Little Cato hadn't been to many theme parks but there was one big one inside Olympus station that he had been to once or twice. The games never cheated but the park couldn't just let you walk away with a prize so easily. In that sense they weren't rigged, you only had to hit them a certain way. Little Cato wonders if it worked the same here.

"You got this junior." Ash cheers him on from the sideline. Her sudden encouragement gives him all the motivation he needs to at least give it a try. He takes a quick breath, steps back a bit, and hurls the ball forward.

The ball crashes against the stacked bottles sending each one falling to the ground behind the counter one by one.

"Woah!" Ash bellows while Meowmar looks on stunned.

"How in the-" The clown starts but stops just a quick. "Never mind. You win. So, what do you want?" He turns, pointing a finger at the many large stuffed animal prizes above. 

Little Cato goes over his choices. There were so many good ones that he doesn't think he can choose until one catches his eye. "What about that one." Little Cato points at a large purple bunny. The clown fetches the stuffed animal and hands it off too Little Cato who in turn hands it off to Ash.

"Aww, thank you, baby." Ash coos, leaning into the young teen and planting a small kiss on his lips.

"Barf." Meowmar loudly scoffs at the couple with folded arms. His outburst causes both Ash and Little Cato to look over at him.

"Whatever gonk." Little Cato snickers at the other Ventrexian. "Where's everyone else by the way? You're just wandering around the park by yourself?"

"Sure." Another scoff exits Meowmar. "Kendrick and Kevin are doing the bumper cars, last I seen Argit and Harp were heading into the tunnel of love and Timmy was here, but I guess he got bored and walked off. He's probably with the sibs at the arcade."

"Wait a minute... Argit and Harp in the tunnel of love? Why?" Ash questions the other teen in a bit of shock.

He shrugs unaware. "Don't know, don't care anyway." He looks away, arms still crossed over his chest in frustration.

"Right..." Ash drones, slowly moving her head from either side. She looks as if she's debating the next few words in her head. "Well... did you want to come with us to the Ferris wheel? Or are you okay with wasting your money on some stupid game?"

"Yeah right." Meowmar snickers. "I rather eat my own jizz."

Ash chuckles under her breath. "Fuck, suit yourself. Come on Junior." She said, ushering Little Cato away from the ball toss and Meowmar subsequently. The other Ventrexian would stand there for a while long, arms over his chest and eyes wandering about, lost for what to do next.

"Yo, yo guys, wait up." Seemingly having a change of heart, Meowmar rushes to catch up with Ash and Little Cato.

The Ferris wheel. Ash tells Little Cato how there was no better way to send off a night at a fair. The pink-haired girl would always save the slow ride for last every time and sitting alongside her now he could understand why.

Little Cato was never the biggest fan of Ferris wheels for the handful of times he's road them with Gary, he thought they were boring and went on for longer than they needed to. But sitting so high in the air, a cool breeze flowing through his hair with a girl that drove him absolutely crazy and a good view of the city, he seems to have a sudden change of heart.

He looks down at the girl cuddling up next to him with a large stuffed animal in one hand. He couldn't help but smile at her. "Hey, Ash." He spoke and she hummed quietly in response. "I didn't think I'd actually be having as much fun out here like I did. Everything's just felt so weird lately after what happened with Kendrick. I was gonna go home and mull it over in my bad so thinks for pressuring me into this."

"Pressure you?" She leans up with a smile. "Don't put your bad behavior on me now." She said tapping a finger to his nose.

"What can I say, you're a bad influence." He chuckles, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her into a soft hug.

"Well, maybe I like being a bad influence on good boys," Ash whispers, inching closer and closer to the boy's face.

"Oh my god, guys please get a room." Their slight teasing of each other is interrupted by a particularly irritated-looking Meowmar who sits at the opposite end of the Ferris wheel car. He sneers at the couple. "I swear If this keeps up I'm going to jump."

Ash leans up from Little Cato again and looks at Meowmar with a heavy glare. "Jesus Meowmar seriously, is there nothing you won't complain about!" Ash snapped and the two jumped straight to arguing with each other.

Little Cato shakes his head disapprovingly at the pair before looking out past the car's protective glass as he tries to blot out their arguing. At least he was starting to like Ferris wheels. 

Chapter 24: Rumination.

Little Cato sat on the couch in his sofa pit with one long crossed over the other, bouncing anxiously. His back straightens out as he concentrates on the phone he'd been watching closely, thoughtlessly scrolling through every single one of his social media accounts. He hadn't been looking for anything in particular, however.

The young teenager was mostly trying to distract himself, doing anything to get his mind off of certain feelings he'd been battling with for the past few days now. He swiped a thumb up the screen, passing post upon post from people he could hardly care about. His doom-scrolling hardly does much to help him though.

No matter what he did, where he looked, or whose life he tried to invest himself in, nothing seemed to work. His mind would instead be drawn into visions of a red mask and his heart would thunder in response. Any slight hint of red, any curious glint of crimson, any shimmer of scarlet, he was frequently reminded that Kendrick existed in his life. His brain was too addled with thoughts of the taller teen for him to focus on forgetting that they had swapped saliva not too long ago. Though it was Little Cato's fault that the kiss had transpired in the first place.

The teen throws his phone down out of sight and closes his eyes. Mindlessly scrolling through other people's lives was getting him nowhere. Little Cato needed something more practical, something more substantial than just trying to block his intrusive thoughts of Kendrick.

An inquisitive hum rests steadily in his throat as he begins to scour his mind for a proper solution. Out of all the impractical ideas that come to mind, Little Cato thinks speaking about how he was feeling was the best, if not hardest, option he could take. 

He hasn't gotten around to speaking to anyone, besides Ash, about what had happened yet, but he never exactly knew how to broach the topic with Gary or anyone who'd care to listen for that matter. He found it difficult to talk about. Even if he knew his dads wouldn't judge him and offer their assistance in any way, they could he was still too scared to say much of anything.

Little Cato leans back on the sofa, legs still crossed, and arms frustratingly folded in his search for a peaceful mind. He'd like to think he was coming close to some kind of serenity at last but who was he kidding? He was already so wrapped up in visions of a maskless Kendrick running through his mind like a raging tempest. The thoughts were often so impure and Little Cato knew he shouldn't have been thinking of the teen so heavily in that way, but he just couldn't help himself.

"Hey, Little Cato." Little Cato's thoughts are derailed as Kendrick's face disappears into the ether of his dirty thoughts. The young teen felt a little displeased, but he thinks the sudden interruption was for the best. He didn't want to end up soaking the couch. Little Cato opens his eyes, face completely emotionless as his father comes into view. "You okay Kid? You been sitting there for a while."

Little Cato looks at the older Ventrexian who had taken a hasty seat in the sofa pit. The man looked beside himself a bit, even past his forced smile and faux cheery conduct. Little Cato lived with the man long enough to tell when he was upset, and his dad was so clearly agitated.

"Yeah sorry. I was on my phone, and I guess time got away from me." Little Cato did his best to downplay his silent reflecting and ruminating though his nearly emotionless tone might have given off the wrong impression.

"Yeah, yeah I get it. It's uh, what do you kids say...? Chilled?" Avocato said, slinging out slang Little Cato's heard a million times from other people. For some reason, the word didn't sound as right coming from his dad's mouth.

The boy chuckles, the dower look on his face lighting up with his dad's vague understanding of Cali slang. "Yeah Dad, it's chilled." He repeats with a smile.

"Alright, alright... that's good." Avocato, stammers, grinning somewhat nervously at Little Cato. "It's good that you're chilled. I'm chilled too." He let out a bit of a breathless chuckle. "I mean not actually. I'm doing alright." Avocato brought a hand up to his head, rubbing his fingers over one of his ears.

Little Cato raises a curious and sort of confused brow at his dad. "Oh... yeah..." Little Cato gives the man a friendly smile. "Something up Dad? You seem a little..." Little Cato takes a moment to find the right choice of word. "Worried, I guess."

"Huh?" Avocato's ears flicker and his body tenses up and nearly locks down. His face goes blank, and he even looks like he's searching for the right choice of words himself. "Yeah, I'm fine. Completely chilled in a cool way." He leans over on the couch, decorating his expression with a forced carefree smile. 

"Well, if you say so." Little Cato shrugs. He wasn't completely buying his dad's excuses but what else was he supposed to do? He never dug around in his parents' biz all that often because why would he? Little Cato felt he'd come off as more of an annoying brat if he'd been worrying about them at all hours of the day. 

"Oh, that reminds me," Avocato lightly taps his fingers to his head as a sudden thought crosses his mind. "I found a shooting range for us. I thought since you got that new gun of yours that maybe we could head down... like right now."

"Now?" Little Cato repeats, sitting up casually on the sofa. He was knocked a bit off kilter though not completely taken aback and his dad would confirm what he'd just heard with a nod. "Why now?" Little Cato asks still stuck on the offer his dad had just sprung on him.

"Well like I said, it's been too long since we did anything together right? Just me and you? I was out one day and found this nice little shooting range. I thought it'd be perfect for just us." His dad said, leaning forward and still grinning nervously.

At first, Little Cato isn't so sure about leaving the house. All he wanted to do was sit on the sofa and think of ways to get Kendrick off his mind though he would reconsider as a thought crossed his mind. Shooting with his dad was a great idea actually, a no-brainer. Little Cato couldn't think of a better distraction, and maybe he'd be able to spur some kind of conversation while they were there.

"Yeah, that's fine by me." Little Cato said, agreeing to his dad's offer.

"Alright." The man's smile lowers a bit. It looks less forced over his lips and more genuine now. "That's chilled." He says, getting Little Cato to snicker beneath his breath.

Avocato pulls the car into the parking lot of the gun store where the shooting range was meant to be. The older Ventrexian pulls the key out of the ignition and anxiously rubs his hands along his legs.

The man was nervous and wasn't even trying to hide it now, though Little Cato still didn't know why. Little Cato starts to think, it couldn't be because of him, could it? They had done plenty of things without Gary before. The young teen was around his dad every day and the man hadn't had a single issue with him. Why would he? Little Cato was his son. Their fur may not have matched, but they were as thick as blood got.

Little Cato feels he should ask his dad why he'd been so jittery though before he could formulate his concern Avocato appears to come to his senses. He looks over at Little Cato with a wide-spread grin before exiting the car.

"Come on, you gonna sit in there forever?" Avocato chuckles, starting toward the shop after pulling his guns from the backseat. Little Cato spitefully scoffs. He wasn't the one holding them up, but his dad had to be a kidder.

Little Cato steps out of the car next, slightly dragging himself out of the passenger seat along with his G-58. Where were they anyway? They had been driving for a little bit and admittedly Little Cato was a bit too lost in thought to pay that much attention. The young teen takes a brief look around the area. It was nice, really nice. Were they in Westbrook?

Little Cato wonders why his dad had driven to one of the nicest parts of town for a shooting range. He understood Westbrook was the place to be, but he was also sure they could have found something far cheaper.

Little Cato shakes his concerns for the area, and how expensive this shooting range may or may not be, away quickly and follows his dad into the Gunshop. He might ask his dad about what was on his mind, but he might also just leave the older Ventrexian be. Knowing his dad it probably had something to do with Gary and if it had something to do with Gary, it was probably something Little Cato didn't want to get involved in necessarily.

The young teen trudges over to his dad at the front counter. The man had been speaking with the weapon shop's employee who'd been safely secured behind a protective cage and thick bulletproof glass behind that. Even in Westbrook, you had to stay weary. You never know what might happen on a quiet day in Night City.

"Yeah, that's two for the shooting range," Avocato said, throwing up two fingers to the woman and taking a brief glance back at Little Cato. The boy was slow to catch up, only because he wasn't quite sure what to make of his dad's demeanor, and when he wasn't sure about something, he had to think it over. One moment he was trying to fake a smile and the next he was deep in thought. That sort of behavior wouldn't have been weird if it were anyone other than his dad.

"Two for the shooting range got it." The woman replies quickly, a chipper, cheery smile paved along her face. A rear sight so early in the morning. "Alright, you're good to go. It's just through those doors." She points at a set of automated doors. Avocato gives the girl an appreciative nod before nudging Little Cato to follow him. 

Avocato steps into the gun range stall placing two guns, a B3 wingman revolver, and an R-201 assault rifle, down on the counter as he situates himself within the booth. They were two of his favorites and weapons he'd received from his military service before he joined up with the Infinity Guard.

Little Cato steps into the booth right beside his dad's with his rifle in hand. Usually, his dad would bring a weapon from his extensive collection for the boy to borrow but since Little Cato had his own gun this time around, the young teen didn't have to feel so dependent on the man.

His dad didn't mind the gift Kendrick had given him though Gary was a bit more on the fence about the rifle. The blonde still thinks that it was stolen.

"Okay kid," Avocato shouts and smiles, picking up his revolver and leaning out of his stall. "You ready to see if you can outgun your old man?"

Little Cato snickers to himself. "Yeah, sure." He mutters. He didn't have a chance in the world and his dad knew that.

"Alright." Avocato steps back into his booth and presses a button on the stall wall and A digital target pops up at the far end of the range. Little Cato would do the same, hitting the button with a shaky finger as his targets appeared. The boy was nervous. Even though Little Cato had been through this way too many times to count, trying to keep up with his dad was still a nerve he couldn't shake off.

Avocato is the first to raise his weapon, firing off all six shots held in his revolver. However, something bizarre happened when he did, something Little Cato had never seen, not until now that is.

"Ah, shit." Avocato mummers. He had missed all but two shots. Granted those shots were headshots, from how the target's head glows red, but the fact remains that the man had missed some of his shots.

"You okay Dad?" Little Cato asked, aiming his rifle at his target and firing. He keeps his shots in burst though given that he was wielding a smart rifle the action was a tad pointless. Little Cato could virtually hit his target no matter where he aimed.

"Yeah, yeah..." Avocato blows out an angry huff as he reloads his revolver quickly. "Still a bit drowsy thats all kid. I'll get there. I'm chilled remember." He says with a not-so-confident stammer.

"Uhh... sure Dad." Little Cato fires his gun again. His smart rounds hit the target rapidly, causing the holographic thing to glow yellow, then red before it disperses. Not one bullet missed but of course, they never would. That was the thing about smart guns, the bullets followed the tracker dart. Just as long as the rounds were following the dart the target was never out of sight. In a way, it wasn't so gratifying. He could always just not fair the tracker dart but what would be the fun in that? 

Avocato raises his weapon again. Same as before he fires all six shots. This time only one round hits its intended target. How had he done worse his second time around? Little Cato wonders. This was more than just morning drowsiness.

"Hey, Dad. I think you missed." Little Cato says half-jokingly.

"Oh, yeah? I haven't noticed." The man replies with a harsh snarky sneer. He heaves his head back with a heavy sigh, tossing the gun down on the counter. "Motherfu- hmmm." A low growl creeps its way out of his mouth as he picks up his rifle next. The older Ventrexian loaded the magazine and unloaded every single round in the rifle on the poor holographic target.

Hot led zapped down the line of the range tearing into the target and ripping the digital person apart. Even when the target was completely gone his dad kept firing, finger squeezed tightly against the trigger until the mag was empty.

Little Cato steps out of his booth, removing the protective earmuffs from around his head, and walks over to his father. The man, for all tense and purposes, looked relieved and maybe a little too happy with what he'd just done.

The look on his face was odd, twisted, and monstrous. Little Cato had never seen has dead like that before. It unnerved the boy to think his dad could even look such a way. The man was already scary enough.

"Dodge that!" Avocato shouts. His breathing was heavy with excitement and the smile on his face, if Little Cato could call it that, was filled with maniacal glee. Little Cato thinks now is probably a good time to talk to the man.

"Okay Dad, what's going on?" Little Cato questions his father, stepping into his booth.

The strange smile that had taken up residence on the man's face vanishes suddenly. "Huh?" He looks at Little Cato as if he had been pulled into another world. Then a more natural, albeit nervous, smile crosses his face. "What? No, I'm cool, chilled, nova, gonked out... whatever that one means." He continues to look at Little Cato, trying to downplay the duress he was evidently under. Little Cato wasn't buying it.

"Hmm..." The boy hardly did anything, simply hums skeptically and squints at the man until he eventually breaks down.

Avocato sighs. He knew he couldn't hold a charade to save his life. "Quinn's in town... and Gary's visiting her."

"What!?" Little Cato nearly screams. "Auntie Quinn's here? When were you guys going to tell me?"

"Well, you were busy with school and homework..." Avocato trails off at the fed-up glair his son was giving him. "Anyway, he's visiting her now and I think it's kinda affecting me. Thought coming here would help clear my head." Avocato lazily rubs the side of his neck.

"Yeah, I can imagine. Gary always said he used to be so crazy for her." Little Cato giggles though stops when his dad returns the same heated glare he'd given the man just recently. "Right, sorry... I know how you feel though. It's rough thinking about the people you care about. It's like those kinds of thoughts alter your mind and not in a great way either."

"Hmmm..." Avocato lets out a momentary hum. "Got troubles of your own kid?" Avocato questions his son, laying his rifle down next to his revolver.

"No," Little Cato tilts his head a bit to consider the answer to his dad's question. "Yeah actually. It's Kendrick, I can't... I mean I can hardly stop..." Little Cato stops. He has no idea how to say what had been so viciously plaguing his mind. "He's on my mind a lot." The young teen mutters.

"Ohhh..." A short buzz passes the older Ventrexian by. "But I thought you and that Ash girl were... you know." The man intertwines his fingers with a smile. "Together."

"No, we are, we are," Little Cato throws his hands out in front of him quickly. "I'm just having a little trouble not thinking about Kendrick... in wired positions..." Little Cato winces, anxiously rubbing his hands against the fabric of his tight jeans.

Avocato sighs, his eyes looking for a place to permanently rest before simply settling on his son. "This isn't really my field, Gary's usually the hopeless romantic, he's a lot of other things nowadays too, but I'll give it my best shot." The man rotates his broad shoulders, losing himself up as he prepares to advise his son. "I know things like this can be tough. Heaving strange feelings, you think shouldn't be having especially when those feelings are for a close friend. It's probably driving you crazy, most likely hindering you're work or hobbies too I assume?"

Little Cato's eyes almost grow wide with astonishment. "How'd you know that?" He asks with one brow raised curiously at his observant further. Little Cato always endeavored to hide his true feelings behind a cold stone wall, but he should have known his dad would be able to weed him out.

"Believe it or not I used to be like you kid. I was always a wreck around the people I was starting to fall for, Gary especially. Some days I couldn't even focus on my work when he was around. I remember it was really bad when I first met my wife back on Ventrexia."

"You mean mom, right?" Avocato freezes in place, yet another strange sight for Little Cato to witness from his dad. "Yeah... yeah..." He held a hand to his head, closing his eyes as he appeared to be relocating his train of thought. "Anyway, the point is you just have to speak to him. Obviously, you aren't looking for anything romantic with him, you just need him to understand how you're feeling about him. Once the object of your desire fully understands your position you can move past it. It's like a form of closure."

Little Cato crosses his arms and shines a surprised smirk. "Closure huh?" The teen repeats. Now that it was mentioned he thinks he could sure use something like that right about now. All had to do was talk to Kendrick about that night, get the masked boy to understand how he felt, and they could move on from there. "Hey, maybe you and Gary could talk about the whole Quinn situation too huh?"

Avocato chuckles historically, picking up his rifle and reloading it. "Well, that's just not gonna happen kid." He points the gun at another holo target, tearing into it without losing his grip on the trigger. Little Cato sighs. Was his dad's advice even going to be helpful? If the man isn't going to practice what he preached, why should Little Cato bother?

"Fair point I guess." Little Cato relents. He couldn't tell his dad what to do or how patty he should feel at the end of the day but the least he could do was offer assistance in the matter. "Where are they now by the way?" Little Cato looks up at the man with the question.

"At a cafe..." He pauses momentarily. "Nearby..." He says with a cheeky smirk.  

Little Cato bobs his head from side to side with a tiny, yet cocky smirk curled up on his cheek. He should have known that was why his dad chose Westbrook specifically. "You wanna go mess with them a bit?"

Avocato releases the trigger of his rifle. He turns to the boy, a sly smirk crossing his expression. "You know, I think I do in fact."

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Gary sat with an elbow relaxing on a light oak cafe table. The woman that sat across from him was working a data pad, jotting down everything he had to say thus far. A small smile rests on her lips as she speedily taps her fingers against the sleek tablet.

Her name was Quinn Ergon, a highly talented solder and a proctor in the Infinity Guard branch of the Alliance Navy.

He always thought she was amazing, her dark features, her nearly ceaseless drive, and her incredibly stubborn work ethic. The blonde couldn't stack up to her on his best day, she was just too good at what she did and at living out right. Maybe that's why they never got together. They were just too different, even when he tried to change on her behalf. A lot of those new, professional habits, manage to stick with him, nevertheless.

"Wow... this is turning out to be a pretty interesting debriefing." Quinn giggles, gently placing the tablet down on the table and looking at Gary with a soft expression. "Some part of me wants to believe you're hemming up these operations in places but it is you so I wouldn't be all that surprised."

Gary chuckles back at the woman. "Well, you know, I'm just full of surprises, not to toot my own horn or anything." Gary grins, stretching his arms above his head. He could hardly help but brag to Quinn whenever he got the chance. He picks up a small cup resting in front of him and brings it to his mouth. The bitter-sweet liquid slightly seers his lips as it passes into his mouth and down his throat. "Wow, look at us, chillaxing at a swanky cafe, chatting back and forth with each other and sipping on lattes. It's almost like an actual date or something."

Quinn's head bobs a bit in surprise. "Gary, again this is not a date. We are just having a quick briefing on your recently completed tasks." Quinn spoke gently, of course professionally getting the conversation back on track as only she could.

"I know, I get it. This is strictly business. You never wanted me anyway so it shouldn't be hard to see it that way."

"Gary..." Quinn quietly groans at him. The gesture was filled with anyone but also a kind of empathy for the blonde.

"No, you're right. That was too much." Gary awkwardly rubs a hand against his neck. That was uncalled for he thinks. Just because their personalities didn't synch up didn't mean he had to be a dick about it. Besides something good did come out of the heartbreak in the end. Gary wouldn't trade his relationship with Avocato for the world. "Right, back to the spy synopsis."

Quinn sighs at him again. "Gary, it's simple reconnaissance. I hardly think we're doing much spying." A small snort reverberates from the woman.

"You say that Ergon, but everything I've been through so far kinda proves otherwise." Gary shrugs and takes another sip of his coffee, nearly falling out of his seat as he does. He had forgotten just how hot the latte was and was only reminded once the light brown liquid was on his tongue and down his throat. He almost coughs the stuff up but manages to save face in front of Quinn just in the nick of time, or so he hoped.

"Hmm, well... we should continue. Maybe with your latest assignment? The Sandra Dorsett op-"

"Actually Quinn, can we maybe speak about something else?" Gary interrupts the woman. He looks down at the table and the cup that was on it as he slowly guides his finger around the brim of the small porcelain mug.

"Yeah...?" Quinn proceeds unsure with a hint of worry in her tone. She looks at Gary with concerned eyes. "What is it?"

Gary resumes to run a finger around the edge of the cup before bringing his eyes to meet Quinn. "Can we talk about the sandwich?" Quinn throws her head back with yet another sigh. "Seriously why a sandwich? Why not just call us and give us our missions outright? Why make use jump through hoops?"

Quinn brings her head back around to Gary, eyes less concerned and more aggravated. She opens her mouth, speaking in a low tone "Gary this is a sensitive operation, you never know who might be listening in. We may have against working all over the city but that doesn't mean we can afford to get sloppy."

"Yet you choose a cafe for my latest debriefing." Gary hums with squinted eyes.

"You know the rules. A debriefing can't take place around another again. It's how we avoid being compromised." Quinn explains what all of his superiors had been telling him since he had gotten to Night City. "And the cafe is fine for your information. As long as we keep it just vague enough there won't be any issues." She huffed picking up the tablet again. "Alright, back to Sandra-" The woman begins but is interrupted again, this time by an outside source.

"Hey Quinn, Hey Gary!" Gary almost jumps at the excited cries of a familiar voice. Little Cato stands at the cafe window, peeping in from the other side. He had nearly scared the two half to death.

"Oh God," Gary mutters, touching his fingers up to his forehead as his son presses his face up against the glass.

"I'm gonna come in!" He points out of sight before running off. Avocato would come up to the window afterward, grinning and waving at the pair before following behind the teenager.

Little steps into the cafe and immediately runs over to Quinn. He throws himself into the woman's lap as soon as he reaches the table she and Gary are sitting at. "Hey, Auntie Quinn." Little Cato chirps, wrapping an arm around Quinn. "When were you gonna tell me you were in town?"

"Oh, that's my bed, Little Cato," She laughs. "I only just got into Sol and was still settling in. You know how stressful work can be."

"Yeah, for real." Little Cato said agreeing with the woman.

"Well, you don't work at all Little Cato," Gary spoke next, correcting and even belittling the boy. Little Cato just stares at him with a blank look as he keeps himself coddled within Quinn's lap.

"Well, he goes to school. That's a form of work." Avocato enters the fray, leaning over the table, and focuses instantly on Quinn.

"Oh, Avocato. I was not expecting to see you today." Quinn smiles pleasantly at him. There was no hint of ill will or malice, though the same couldn't be said for Avocato.

"Oh, I'm sure you weren't." He practically hisses at her eyes narrowed and looking for any sign of weakness though he would find none.

"Hey, Auntie Quinn, can we go see a movie?" Little Cato asks her, resting a head on her shoulder. Gary raises a brow at the way he babied up to the woman though he shouldn't be surprised. Little Cato always got like that around Quinn.

"Well actually me and Quinn are supposed to-"

"Hey, I'd love to." She responds, cutting Gary short. No one was even paying attention to him by this point. "You know I'm gonna be in town for a bit, so I don't see why not."

"Ay, cool. Do you think we could get ice cream right now?" 

Quinn narrows her brows and squints her eyes. "I was in the middle of something... eh whatever. It can wait until tomorrow." Quinn said, standing up with the boy in her arms.

Gary huffs. He forgot how Quinn and Little Cato's weird auntie-nephew relationship. Not only did the boy like to play up the baby angle around Quinn but she loved to play into it as well. There goes his time with Quinn. Sure, it was just a long series of debriefings for his latest missions, but it was technically still alone time.

Chapter 25: A complicated thing.

Little Cato was sitting on the staircase leading up to his mega building with his hands clenched together within the fused pocket of his black hoodie. His attention squarely focused on the narrow city blocks of his tightly clustered neighborhood.

The day had been somewhat of a dower one, its gray sky being the perfect embodiment of how he felt inside for the most part. The emotions he always endeavors to seal away behind a stoic facade had been fluctuating like mad as of late. He knows the cause, it's been weighing on his mind for a while, and he knows the solution to make it stop. His only problem is he was too frightened to commit to the fix he had in mind.

Little Cato brings his eyes from one city street and down another. Nothing yet. He pursues his lips, blowing out a faint raspberry, followed by another odd assortment of mouth sounds he'd been producing out of sheer boredom.

Suddenly, the sound of an incoming message blears from his phone. He pulls it out, lighting up the screen is immediately hit with a stack of apprehension.

kenny- yo boyo where you at

Kindrick was messaging him. He always was though Little Cato barely ever messaged back. It'd gone on like that for the past week. Every time he got around the taller boy there was some bout of awkwardness and erratic rambling.

He briefly reads the message before pocketing his phone. He felt bad not answering but he needed to get his thoughts together before doing so. 

The young teen looks back down the city block he had just taken his eyes off of. Still nothing. He kicks a black sneaker against a concrete stair and moves to adjust his body along the step he'd been on to make sure he wasn't sitting too roughly on his tail.

He was starting to get uncomfortable now. The tight black shorts he thought would look perfect paired with the rest of his attire for the day were beginning to ride up his lower region. Having a wedgie was never fun but Little Cato felt it was way worse when a tail was present.

He brings his attention back down the other street. Nothing. Maybe he could adjust his wardrobe? He appeared to have some time after all. He was sure he'd be able to race back upstairs and change his pants before she managed to come around.

As Little Cato decides that the shorts, he had been wearing just weren't going to cut it, the sound of a horn honking repeatedly stops him in his tracks. When the sleek black Outlaw comes to a stop at the curb not too far from the stairwell, he knows there is no changing clothes now.

He jumps up and makes his way to the car. Little Cato was relieved that she'd made it but also disappointed that he would be spending the next two hours or so dealing with the black shorts clinging to him like a skintight suit.

The door to the sports car smoothly glides open when Little Cato trudges up. There he's welcomed with a black leather cropped jacket, faded blonde hair, and a lively smile resting on a face that had seen plenty of conflicts for one lifetime.

"G'day little man." Sheryl greeted, looking over at the young teen as he settled himself within the comfortable gray leather seat of her car.

"Hi, grandma." Little Cato smiles back at her, tucking his tail over his lap as the door automatically closes down.

Sheryl would keep the same upbeat smile on her face though it would steadily fade the more she looked at the boy. "Ay now." She begins in a casual tone with a more confused look. "Wha's this then?" Her eyes squint as a brow rises to her forehead.

Little Cato returns an equally confused look to the woman. He looks down at himself, tracing her eyes to his body. Was there something wrong with his sweater? He thinks. "What's wrong?" He finally asks, unable to determine the cause of his grandmother's puzzled expression by glance alone.

"Well, uhm..." She pauses momentarily, eyebrows knitted together in thought. "You're wearing a skirt little man." She points out with her expression still twisted in a mess of bewilderment.

Little Cato looks down at the skirt with the tight black short underneath than back up at his grandmother. "Oh yeah." He smiles somewhat embarrassed when the older woman points out the red and black plad mini skirt pulled up around his waist. "I was just trying out some new things. Honestly, I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fashion here, but I think I'm heading in the right direction."

Sheryl keeps a squinted stare on the boy, one hand held against her chin. "Right..." She spoke lowly before a smile reappeared. "Yeah, I mean fa be it from me ta tell ya how to dress little man. Just be caeful. I know just how odd people tend to get. If anyone were to get out of pocket with ma gran well... Let's just say I'd hate to cause a scene."

Little Cato smirks at the woman. "You know I know how to handle myself, Grandma? My dad and Gary taught me just fine." He teases with an uncontrolled smile, caused by his grandma's concern, along his face. 

Sheryl leans back in her seat with a shocked snicker. "Did Gary now?" She spoke. "At least some good came outta that boy." She chuckles again, quickly stopping after turning her head back to the boy and seeing the lack of amused emotion on his face. "I kid..." Sheryl states before starting the car up. "So, what were we doing again?"

"Uhh, movie grandma." Little Cato reminds her with a smug smirk.

"Oh right. I tell you I'd forget my auss if it weren't so big." The old blonde giggles once more as she lightly taps her foot against the gas pedal. The purr of the Outlaw's engine rumbles throughout the vehicle before the woman shifts the gear to drive.

Shryle certainly had an obsession with speed, that much was clear to Little Cato the last few times he had spent with the woman. He was only glad she had the skill to back up her obsession. Lord knows the young teen would have been far more reluctant to jump in a car with his grandmother at all otherwise.

Little Cato thinks perhaps she could teach him how to drive sometime. The way she barrels down narrow city streets, swerving in and out of traffic like there wasn't anyone else on the road, had to come from some time and effort in the art of speed demons. He just knows she knew a few tricks of the trade and hopefully, she wouldn't mind imparting some of that knowledge onto his young mind.

The car comes to a quick and screeching halt after half an hour of speeding dangerously down narrow streets. If he hadn't been buckled in, Little Cato was sure he would have gone flying through his grandma's lightly tinted windshield.

Sheryl steps out of the car first, strolling around the front and walking over to the passenger side. She opens the door and helps Little Cato out of his seat as she had done many times with the boy whenever they were out together. 

He was excited to see a movie with the older woman, though his excitement would die down a bit as he got a good look at the parking lot they'd stopped in. If the many rows of parked cars were any indication, the theater might be a little on the crowded side. That coupled with the constant rumbling of his phone he'd been trying to ignore; Little Cato didn't know just how much fun this might be in hindsight.

The teen is brought out of his tightly wound thinking when his grandmother begins walking ahead of him without warning she'd be taking off. He could worry about everything else later. Right now, he should focus on the current moment.

After assembling his thoughts he'd run after the woman, sneakers smacking hard against the pavement and mini skirt swaying in the oncoming wind as he did. Little Cato was always surprised about how fast she could walk. He was surprised by a lot of the things his grandmother did. Arena fighting, grand heist, national espionage. She was seasoned and excellent at the things she did, and regardless of her age, she still moved like not out of her twenties.

Sheryl stops at one of the doors leading into the movie theater, opening it for the young teen. Little Cato nods with an appreciative smile before stepping into the large building and she follows afterward.

"Hey, little man." Sheryl quickly stops Little Cato. He turns to her and sees a rather curious look on her face although not like the one she had shared with him earlier. This one was more timid, skittish if anything. "I gotta warn you, we won't exactly be alone heae."

Little Cato returns a miffed look at his grandmother. "What does that mean? Who else is going to be here?" He asks her and she shyly and awkwardly maneuvers tentative fingers along her neck.

"Well, he's... how do I explain it?" Sheryl mutters, thoughtfully holding her chin in one hand. "Do you remamba the arna little man? Who all was theae? Well..."

"No need to explain love." His grandmother's attempted explanation is cut short as a rather familiar and slightly feminine voice touches Little Cato's ears. "We are friends after all. I don't see the need for tiptoeing around your grandson." The person walks up to them, the shimmering of their blue rhinestone suit jogging Little Cato's memory with its star-like glare. 

Little Cato nearly gasped at the sight of the man. It was the announcer from the arena. A white rabbit who'd appeared to be more self-aggrandizing and obnoxious in person. "Wait, you're the announcer? What are you even doing here?" Little Cato stares on with a puzzled expression, the shimmering of the rabbit's blue suit peppering his vision. He then turns to his grandmother for an answer.

"Little man, this is Maxus. The official story is that since the arena's been refurbished, the Legion would lone Night City one of their best announca's until they can find a suitable replacement." She gestures toward the man who takes a courteous bow. "The family insists he's with me for his own protection but the real reason he follows me around is to detonate the bomb in my head just in case I think of runnin' off. He's my handlea in a sense and he's got me on a pretty tight leash."

Little Cato's brows lift slowly as his mind begins to process what he'd just heard. When he finally comes to terms with the words his eyes widen in shock and horror. "What!?" He yells, getting the eyes of many theatergoers to focus exclusively on him.

"Oh, come now, Sheryl. You make it sound so gruesome." The rabbit cocks a smirk at the woman.

"Well, it's not exactly wholesome, is it?" She smiles back. Despite her current position she refused to give Maxus the benefit of the doubt by looking meek or defeated. "I'm not going anywheae, you don't have to worry." She says, rolling her eyes. "I owe it to my gran to behave." She wraps one around Little Cato's shoulders and pulls him in.

"Please do." The rabbit replies simply. "But I must admit this boy of yours is adorable." Maxus scoots closer to Little Cato, grabbing and pinching at the teen's cheeks.

"Okey, okey." Little Cato pushes the man's hands away from his cheeks with a scoff. He then turns to his grandmother. "What movie were we going to see anyway?" He questions her, trying to get his mind off of the fact that her had could potentially explode if she didn't act according to the Legion's wishes. Still, the thought doesn't fully leave him.

Sheryl dallies on the question for a second, fingers tapping against her chin before she answers. "Obviously I was thinkin' Outpost 13. Heard it was one of the biggest horrors lately."

Little Cato does a quick double take, gulping at her suggestion. It wasn't out of fear, he wanted to see that movie as well. But Quinn also wanted to see it and she was also going to take him to see it. "A-are you sure grandma?" The boy stammers nervously.

"Of course, little cutie," Maxus responds on Sheryl's behalf. "It's only one of the biggest movies of the year. I've been doing my damndest to avoid spoilers for it." Little Cato pouts. That's exactly what he and Quinn had been doing. 

"Maybe we can, ummm... reconsider and watch another movie instead?" Little Cato winced, flashing a shy grin to hopefully lower His grandmother and her handler's guard. Unfortunately for him, their minds seem to be made up.

"Aw, what's the mattea? Ya scared little man?" She asks and he shakes his head at the assumption. "Look, little man, if ya want, you can watch something else and sit this one out. I'll give ya the money for it, but I personally need to see Outpost 13." Sheryl states in a tone that gets the boy to fold in on himself. She most likely wasn't trying to intimidate him but she was certainly good at it.

"I mean-... Never mind It's fine... let's go see it." He reluctantly agreed. He couldn't pass up a moment to watch this movie with his grandma, but what would Quinn think? He thinks maybe he could pretend to be seeing it for the first time when he and the other woman went.

"Well, alrigh. Let's get a move on then" She exclaimed excitedly before walking ahead of the small group.

Little Cato hangs back for a bit, sighing as he watches his grandmother. "Don't worry about it child," Maxus spoke, stepping beside the young teen. "She really isn't as tough as she likes to come off." He smiles and walks off behind Sheryl.

Little Cato looks to the ground with a pout still on his cheeks. Of course, he knew she was good underneath her battled-hardened exterior. He wasn't so worried about her being tough, he was worried about her leaving again. Little Cato doesn't know when's the next time he'll get to see her, so he wants to make the most of their time together now. Even if it conflicts with the time with the other special people in his life.

He let out a quick sigh and trudged off after the pair. Sheryl had already paid for the tickets and was now waiting at the concessions stand along with Maxus, oddly watching over her carefully.

The theater was surprisingly more well-kempt than Little Cato had been anticipating. The floors had little to no litter on them. The dark carpet which seemed to be freshly vacuumed was so clean the boy swears he could eat off it, though he wouldn't test his luck.

The theater was bigger than he imagined it to be as well. Rows of holo ads for upcoming or recently released films lined the walls from end to end. The building was also a multi-floor complex with multiple auditoriums each playing a multitude of showings at any given time.

Like always the city manages to throw Little Cato for a loop. One moment it's the pit of society and the next it's the most elegant thing in Alliance space.

The line for concessions wasn't all that bad. Even though there had been so many cars shacked up in the parking lot outside the actual interior of the movie theater wasn't so jam-packed. There were a lot of people just not as many as he thought he'd be seeing.

Little Cato had to admit he was feeling pretty excited. Sure, he was about to see a movie from a director he and his aunt loved dearly but how could he resist?

"Whatcha think little man?" Sheryl slaps Little Cato along the arm and she nods to the theatre's menu. "Popcorn or hotdogs?"

"Oh, uhhh..." Little Cato draws his gaze at the menu. He skims over their options and considers what might work best for Outpost 13. "Defiantly popcorn. Outpost 13 is a true camp sesh, Grandma." He replies confidently though he still carries the nagging worry of his grandmother's current predicament at the back of his mind.

"Ah, true that." She agreed. "Oy, darlin' ovea hea." She turns to the counter, waving over the young-looking teenager heading out buckets of popcorn to other waiting guests. "Two large popcorns and..." She turns to Maxus.

"I'll be taking nachos. Popcorn is so overrated I feel."

Little Cato and Sheryl both give the man sneers of differing degrees. Sheryl gestures at the teenage employee with a brisk nod and he runs off to prepare their snacks. 

The employee returned as quickly as he'd started preparing the group's food, balancing everything they had ordered with incredible prowess. Little Cato thinks he must have been doing this for some time, young as he was.

After scooping up their food, the group would make their way to their appointed theater. Stepping into the cozy dark room was a bit jarring for Little Cato at first, to think he'd be used to sudden transitions like that by now. However, he would soon settle into the dimly lit auditorium as his eyes adjusted.

They found their seats quickly, well Sheryl found their seats, and they all fell onto the cheap leather. The screen in the theater was on and blaring at a low intensity. The movie had yet to start, they still had a good thirty minutes of ads to sit through before getting to that point.

The ads for other movies were as they were. Loud, similar in genre to what they would be watching, and much longer than he'd cared to sit through again.

As the ads went on a rumbling coming from his phone gave him a light start. Pulling the device out Little Cato couldn't help but let out a frustrated sigh. Kendrick had been texting him.

kenny- yoooo

kenny- whats good lc

Little Cato looks at the screen. He re-reads the words time and time again, but it barely seems to register with him. He could only think of ways he should respond, or if he should respond at all. He defiantly wants to reply but he can't. He was stuck on just what to say and how to say it. Should he bring up the kiss? No that was a bad idea Little Cato thinks.

His mind races for a response until lights in the theater start to dim and a pre-induction to the movie begins to welcome the guests in the auditorium. Little Cato looks back down at his screen. It wouldn't hurt to text the boy later.

The introduction finishes not too long after Little Cato puts his phone away. The screen goes black and stays that way for a bit before lighting up brightly as ominous music begins to swell within the Auditorium. A bright light illuminates the dark theater as the screen comes back to life. A wide, sky-view shot pans over vast frozen vistas, showing off wide portions of frost tipped surface. Text crediting the director and producers fades in and out on screen before the camera comes to a stop on a lingering shot of the exterior of Outpost 13.

From what Little Cato could tell from the single trailer he'd seen, the movie was about an excavation team, posted on Europa, completely separated from society when a frost blizzard knocks out their communications completely. The crew was supposed to be there for the next few months mining the moon for materials but unbeknownst to them, something very old and very hungry lay dormant under the ice.

It was a classic setup and Little Cato's favorite kind if he were being truthful. A team completely cut off in the wilderness while a monster was on the hunt thrilled him to no end. He doesn't know if it's because he lived his whole life out in space where something like that could potentially happen, but he didn't know otherwise.

This was the kind of movie he liked and one he would have been enjoying if the thought of him leaving Kendrick on read didn't bug him so much.

Another rumble from his phone. He takes it out, covering the screen with one hand.

kenny- alrt now i feel like you avoiding me

Little Cato sighs. Kendrick was probably joking but it was the truth, nonetheless. "Hey Grandma, I'm gonna go use the bathroom." He leans over to the older woman and whispers.

"Alrigh, just don't take too long, ya gonna miss somethin' good." She replies and agrees with a nod. He stands from his seat, shimming past Maxus, making his way out of the dark auditorium and into the movie theater's wide corridors. The whole time he'd been walking with his phone out, eyes stitched to the screen.

He'd been typing and re-typing a response to Kendrick, but they would always go unsent. Little Cato would always end up erasing each attempt when he felt the excuse wasn't good enough. He groans to himself, lamenting his anxiety-riddled mind and rushing into a nearby bathroom just to collect himself.

Why was he so bad at this? Speaking to Kendrick about his fuck up on the rooftop. Little Cato shoves the phone into his hoodie pocket and rests his palms down flat against the bathroom sink. He leans up and stares at himself in the mirror, running a hand over his exhausted eye. 

He wished for the courage to just spill his guts to the masked teen, but he was too scared. Scared of how Kendrick might take it, of what he might think, how it would influence their friendship or even outright ruin it. 

Amid his hazy cycle of thought, a door to one of the bathroom stalls would fly open, and out from it would step a familiar brown bear. He looks disheveled although satisfied by the looks of the smile on his face.

"Bong-" Before Little Cato could execute his confused greeting, the confusion chewing at his mind worsens extensively as he sees a mass of Gray and white stepping out of the same stall.

"Oh..." Pagliacci spoke dryly. He and Bongo stare at the boy like two deer frozen in headlights. "How's it going kid?"

Little Cato looks back, caught in the same pair of lights. "Wait, wha..." He starts though his mouth can hardly finish the thought. "W-what were you two doing in there?" The question leaves the boy, though not on purpose. The clowns look at one another, bobbing their heads and shoulders almost in sync.

"Right..." Bongo starts. "You see, me and Paggy here, we... I mean, things just don't go the way you plan sometimes and..." The bear gives Little Cato nothing but unsure hums and unfinished, scatterbrained answers.

Pagliacci sensing the boy's ongoing disarray steps in. "Come on kid isn't it obvious?" He finally states, making things way too clear for the boy. Little Cato couldn't believe what he was hearing or seeing for that matter.

"Wait, do you guys even hate each other? Are you even rivels?"

The pair look at one another again and turn back with simultaneous shrugs. "We are rivals." Pagliacci continues. "As long as he's clowning with another gang we will be. Still, it's hard not to care about him all the same." The sad clown said, running a hand through his dark streak of hair. "Hey let's get going. I'm pretty sure Outpost 13 started by now." He sneers past his fake black frown and exits the bathroom.

Bongo moves to follow though not before coming to a stop beside Little Cato. "Love is a complicated thing. Remember that for me won't you, cutie?" She said, scratching beneath Little Cato's chin before leaving the bathroom.

Little Cato stays sat up against the bathroom sink. He was just as stunned as he was when first saw the two clowns exit the toilet stall. He looks toward the exit and thinks about the words the brown bear had just fed him. As lost as Little Cato was there was some truth to the statement he thinks.

Little Cato pulls out his phone, moving immediately into his messages. He thinks he knows what to say to Kendrick now.

little cato- hey man

little cato- yeah sorry about all that

little cato- can we talk... say maybe tomorrow

kenny- 4 sure man

Little Cato leans back on the sink again and breathes a much too relieved sigh. He'd finally worked up the bravery to at least ask the taller teen to talk and he had enough time to go over what he wanted to talk about. He just hopes he can go through with it when the time arrives.

Chapter 26: Seeking closure and other modernized things.

"Yo, guys." Little Cato said just audible enough for his voice to pass through the thick metal, automated apartment door. He brings one singular, backhanded, knuckle up against the siblings' door quickly and consistently though that doesn't do much of anything.

Thoughts of leaving do cross the young teen's mind, on more than one occasion, but Little Cato was never one to call his hardships quits quite so early. "Yo, guys! Dean, Sam! Open the door you gonks!" He speaks a bit louder this time around. Surely the sound of his voice brought up a pitch that would hopefully catch the sibling's attention and prompt them to move.

"Hey kid, shut up already!" One of the siblings' close neighbors, a grumpy, grizzled man, of hardly many words, sneers at Little Cato when he exits his apartment.

The young Ventrexian gives the man a shy enough smile, silently apologizing to the normally stressed-looking man for making such a racket in the first place. He was only trying to get his friends to answer their door, not be a disturbance to the whole floor.

Little Cato moves his hand back to the door once again. His consistent knocking hadn't worked the first go around so why not try again? A broken clock was right twice a day. The siblings were likely still asleep, or out. But where would they be off to so early in the morning?

Little Cato finally stops knocking and steps back from the door. He waits, slightly tugging at the long gray sleeve covering half the palm of one hand. Still nothing. He let out a deep, ruffled sigh. The teen rolls his eyes, does a sudden about-face, and begins to walk off.

He didn't want to stand around, banging on the boys' door and causing a scene for that side of the fourteenth floor to bear witness. He'd sooner leave than make a complete gonk of himself. At least that's what he would have believed if he wasn't so stubborn.

Little Cato charges back at the door, bringing a balled fist down heavily on the cold steel and binging furiously. He wasn't going to give out so easily. Not when the sound of organic matter hitting thick steel echoes throughout the halls, not when his hand starts to hurt. He needed to get in and he wasn't taking no for an answer. When he gets tired of that the boy simply turns around and brings his foot up to the bottom of the door and begins kicking.

After some time of him making it clear he wasn't leaving, the door eventually swooshes open. "Alright, choom, it's chilled... I'm up..." Sam steps out with a yawn, rubbing a hand over one of his exhausted eyes. "You have to give me some time El Gato, you know that..."

Little Cato let an irked hum greet the teal sibling. "How much time do you need in between knocking and yelling though?" He asks, stretching a brow at the younger sibling. Sam lingers on his question with an authentic pause as he proceeds to rub one tired eye. After a moment of standing and not saying much of anything he shrugs at Little Cato.

"Come on, I got it set up for you." Sam nods at Little Cato before both boys enter the apartment. Little Cato tappers behind same as the other boy drags himself back over to his bed. Little Cato had been expecting both boys to be asleep that morning but looking over to the computer he could see Dean, up and actively chipping away at their long overdue hip-hop project.

"What up, El Gato?" Dean mummers, his focus lasered onto the editing program opened on his desktop. Little Cato wonders just how long he'd been like that.

"Have you been up this whole time?" He questions the Turquoise sibling and gets a slow nod in return. "Didn't you hear me making a gonk of myself in the hallway? Why didn't you answer the door?" His question isn't answered immediately. Dean sits with a thoughtful hum while giving his monitor a stern, squinted glance.

"Was a little busy... my bad," Dean mutters again, clicking and dragging numerous variables to varying spots for the best sound possible. He was doing his best to make sure the beat he and his brother had worked so hard to compose was just right. Anything less for him would be a waste of time.

Little Cato's eyes pivot at the older brother. The young teenager was a little upset, but he knew just how important this next song was for the boys. Little Cato wasn't about to start hassling him over having to stand out in the hall a little longer than he wanted.

Little Cato instead shakes his head and ambles over to Sam. The boy had taken a seat on his bed and had begun tunning an old headset. "It's just about ready," Sam said, holding the headset out to Little Cato. It was the Braindance Obi had given him that day he and his friends had journeyed out to Cherry Blossom Market. The young teen thinks that decision wasn't one of his best moments and thinking back he still gets a hint of distant embarrassment.

Little Cato hadn't been able to get around to testing the BD at all. With being grounded, his schoolwork, and the newfound discomfort concerning Kendrick, testing the BD was the furthest thing on his mind.

Now though he felt it was a better time than any to give the headset a look. He was supposed to be meeting up with Kendrick today to discuss his recent woes but there would be a little setback in that regard. The masked teen had texted Little Cato that he would be busy for an hour or so and that he'd get back to him once he was free. Little Cato had to kill time until then somehow.

"Thanks for keeping it for me man." Little Cato walks up, takes the BD out of Sam's hand, and falls onto the bed beside the chubbier sibling.

"No prob. Had to fight Dean off every day, but it's all good."

"If it's a BD, I'm gonna want to see what it's about princess." Dean scoffs from the desktop and Sam flips a quick bird behind his brother's back in retaliation.

"Well thinks anyway." Little Cato smiled before looking down at the BD in his hands. He turns it from side to side, examining the device with a careful glance and running a finger over the title etched into the side. The Defector. He wonders what it's about. The modal was certainly old, Obi had mentioned twenty years or so. Who'd been holding on to this BD for that long? He wonders silently. "Here goes nothing." Little Cato announces, mainly as a form of security for himself. He doesn't know what to fully anticipate from the braindance but, given what he's seen at Obi's studio, he knows it probably wasn't anything good.

He places the BD over his head. Soon a bright flickering flash peppers his vision with blinding light, his ears begin to ring and in a swift instant his sight goes completely gonked. He was somewhere else.

When his sight comes to, all his sight glimpses is darkness, though it wasn't typical darkness. He can see shimmers where they shouldn't be and blots of orange and red screeching off into the distance. He was surrounded by smoke thick and black and choking. The sky lit up in a bright blaze of fire as streaks of scattered light rose into the beyond.

He was somewhere unfamiliar at the moment. It looks a bit urban, with dark back roads, long alleyways, and tall crumbling buildings. The city block was falling apart, and he was caught in the middle of the downfall.

"Hey!" A shout reaches him fast. "You okay!" Someone had run up to him. At first, he could hardly see who'd it been but after some time his eyes would begin to make out the figure looking him over. He was wearing infantry armor, as black as the viscous smoke wrapped around them. He was a soldier. That's right, they were both soldiers. The were tally marks on the chest plate marking every single kill he could manage to confirm. "That was a bad hit! That rocket came out of nowhere...!" The soldier above holds out a supporting hand and he takes it after some deliberation. "You with me Nomad!?"

The soldier above shouts. Nomad, his callsign as he recalls, takes a moment to collect his thoughts. They were hit by a missile or something of that matter, and he was still reeling from the impact. He brings his eyes to his comrade. His form is a bit obscure by a mix of hazy vision and kicked-up dust but slowly comes to fruition with each moment.

He was a pseudo-human. A white duck with messy hair that sat just above his eyes. "Yeah!" Nomad groans after gathering the rest of his bearings. "I'm good Don!" He bends down to pick up his rifle and checks the chamber to make sure it is fine to fire. He could remember hating these guns. They were always so quick to jam up at the worst times. Nomad could count so many times when the weapon jamming had nearly cost him his life. "Where's everyone else?"

His fellow soldier, Donald, points a nod over his shoulder before looking back to Nomad. "Somewhere down that way." Donald points his rifle in the direction behind him with a nod. "If we go now, we can at least die as a squad." He laughs. Donald always had a sick sense of humor, but he couldn't fault the duck for that, especially now.

"Right, sounds good." He agreed. "Lead the way Duck," Donald smirks, turning away before starting his march down the bombed-out road. He would take another moment to draw in a deep breath. His nerves were dancing to the tone of their on-beat, totally out of control. Once he hears Donald calls back to him, he quickly gets a move on.

"Wait." Nomad stops his squad mate. "Have you seen Walker around? I lost track of him." Nomad inquires. Walker, one of their squad mates and someone who was practically a brother to Nomad had been lost in the recent scuffle.

"No," Donald replied. The dower glance on his face doesn't inspire confidence in Nomad. "Come on let's move it." He turns and continues on. Nomad sighs. He could only hope Walker had already made it out in time.

He was still a bit out of it, but his memory began to gradually return to him. He can't quite recall his own name yet, just the callsign he'd been given, but he knows he's a soldier in the Alliance infantry. He was with the 27th raid division, on a mission to assist a group of marines and a couple of A.I.A agents if he could remember.

They were on a jungle moon colony, fighting a war that had been raging for close to eight years by this point. They were there to push back Helghast Socialist beliefs propelled onto the Hooblots occupying the moon. If they were to lose this moon, then the Hooblot home world would surely fall under URH control. 

Nomad follows Donald in a crouched strafe with his head down and his rifle up. He moves through the decaying urban sprawl as he had been trained to, sticking close to crumbling buildings and keeping his eyes on any open and vacant windows above.

The last thing he wanted to do was lose his head on some backwater world far from home.

After some time of carefully moving and securing their path, the two soldiers would come up to an opening leading to a town square. It seemed safe enough from what Nomad could tell as he and Donald moved across the open area. The square was barren and lifeless. 

"Watch it!" Donald dives into Nomad, tackling him into a large empty fountain at the center of the square as a burst of gunfire goes whizzing past them.

"Who's'at now!?" A voice follows one that doesn't sound anything like the Hooblot language either.

"Calm down! It's Donald!" The duck screams from behind the fountain wall with an arm still hovering protectively over Nomad.

"Donny!?" The voice howls back surprised and excited. "I coulda shot ya boyo! What ya doin'!?" The voice questions him. "Come over'er!"

"Fuck you! Come over here!" They could hear a grunt in his tone but the sound of heavy boots rushing along chipped pavement meant he would oblige.

The other unseen soldier ducks into the fountain along with Nomad and Donald. "What's crackin' fellas." He grins at the two. He was a human with dark brunette hair. William Kassidy Nomad determines. He was a man with more stories than sense. Sometimes it was hard to keep up with some of them. Whether the Irishman was here for the money or to serve his nation, he couldn't recall. The reason seemed to change every other day.

"Kassidy, you bastard. I thought we lost you." Doneld grumbled at the man.

Kassidy chortles at the pair while repositing himself in the fountain. "Would be a cold day in hell wouldn' it Donny boy?" He jokes though Donald doesn't exactly return the pleasantry. The duck was too busy covering the group, carefully peeking his head out of the large fountain to make sure no communist guerrilla had been skulking about.

"Where's everyone else?" Donald huffs, finally bringing half his attention to Kassidy.

"Last I seen, the whole platoon was heading that way." Kassidy flicks his rifle in the direction he'd come from. "Captain sent me back to find you, lads. I think they said we're pullin' out."

"Pulling out?" Donald drops back into cover. His mute fogged expression falls on Kassidy completely. "Fuck it." He sharply cussed after standing up. "The sooner we catch up the sooner we can be done with this." Donald nods to Kassidy and then to Nomad.

"Couldin' agree more boyo. I'm just not feelin' the weather here." Kassidy stood up next and offered a hand to Nomad. He would take it. He swears he even forgot where he was. His mind was so jumbled from the hit they had taken and still recovering. If Donald and Kassidy weren't there, he was sure he'd be dead by now.

Donald takes the lead again, leading the trio out of the dilapidated fountain they'd taken shelter in and into the abandoned streets of the moon colony's capital. The city had likely seen better batter days, but Nomad wouldn't know. He had only just been stationed at the capitol and that was after the URH push. The army was already doing a bad job at holding territory within the moon's jungles but now they might as well hang their hats up.

At some point, radio contact would re-establish. Before then they were working in the dark. No matter how hard Donald tried to hail someone, the attempt always resulted in static. Now though, their coms seem to be working again and they were going wild. Multiple reports of fighting, calls for support, and squads being pinned down by overwhelming forces crackle through their radios. Amongst the ruckus was an order to regroup and that all active squads should begin making their way to the rendezvous point.

Donald would take the re-established communication as a good sign to keep moving the trio in the direction they'd been heading.

The group continues running along hollow city blocks with the sound of gunfire echoing in the distance. The sky blazes like a ball of fire as it's scrooched with hails of antiaircraft rounds. Pulling out doesn't seem like such a bad idea.

"Over there," Kassidy shouts pointing ahead. There was fighting going on, a group of soldiers had been buckled down behind cover, some blindly firing over the short wall they were behind and others helping with the wounded. An APC had been down on a road below, firing at anything and everything shooting back at them.

The trio double-times it, sliding into cover near a man barking out orders to the soldiers around him.

"Well...!" The man gasped, more annoyed than shocked with the small group. "It's about time Kassidy found your asses!" He yells over the oncoming and outgoing gunfire from either side. This was their squad leader. A pseudo-human Dalmatian from somewhere in London with a spoiled attitude. He had been as irritated at the start of the war as he was now. He was young but a lot of the soldiers here were. The only difference was he managed to keep his cool in even the direst situations.

"Yeah, nearly almost shot us too!" Donald hollers over the mass of sound. "Jesus what are doing cap!?" 

"Getting the bloody hell outa heae! We just need a way forward!" The team leader yells before looking over to a soldier struggling with a radio. "Where's our air support!?" 

The young man on the radio flinches at the captain's impulsive shouting at him. "I'm trying, I'm trying! I can't get anyone on the horn! We don't have a proper mark on the targets!"

"Then get one!"

"I-I'm trying!" 

The Dalmatian groans at the young radio operator. He begins to move, ready to snatch the radio out of the soldier's hand until someone else beats him to the punch.

"Pull it together and give me the radio!" A gruff voice spurs the young operator out of his hectic meandering. 

Wha-" The young solder stammers. "W-who are you with!? Marines!?" 

"Just give me it!" The man shouts again.

"Fine, good look with that shit." 

The man takes the radio from the operator and peeks over the short stone wall. "Texas, this is Seara, Oscar, Gold, X-ray. Priority one, ordanents on my command. I authenticate golf shoe over! Your target is tagged!"

"Cordant's confirmed. Contact at the six-story building." The operator on the other end of the radio responds quickly. In a matter of minutes, past the onslaught of gunfire and rockets, a double-bladed helicopter arrives. It opens fire on the buildings raining hell down on their position, sending in a flurry of missel and cannon fire. 

After a few more shots, the building giving them such a hard time crumbles and falls. Any poor soul who managed to survive the initial assault was not making it out of that.

"Looks like we have our way through!" The mysterious man said, hopping over the stone wall along with the three comrades he had arrived with.

Nomad looks at Kassidy. The Irishman gazes back and surges with a coquettish smirk.

"You heard the man! Get moving!" Their captain barks, standing from his crouched position to guide the other soldiers the best he could. Kassidy fellows and Donald after that. Nomad sighs. That must have been the agents they were supposed to assist. They were something, the one ahead of them especially.

"Nomad!" He's thrown out of excessive thought when Donald sounds his name. Nomad smacks a hand down on his helmet before standing. He needs to pull himself together if he's going to survive this.

As the thought passes, light begins to flicker, and his vision goes white. The feeling changes the scenery changes. Little Cato was back, and he could feel himself again.

The young teen pulls the headset off as the memories from the braindance and his separate entirely. A short, perplexed breath escapes him as he rests the headset on his lap. 

"How was it?" Sam asked after a moment of silence.

Little Cato was somewhat speechless. What he had just seen, who he had just seen... surely it couldn't be who he thought it was. "It... sure was something." Little Cato drones out his response to Sam. It was the only way he could describe the BD. He should be glad he couldn't feel any of it, though some part of him wishes he could.

Dean snickers from his chair. "So, in other words not all that." He utters. "Eh, still I would have loved to see it, even if it's unmodified."

"Yeah maybe..." Little Cato mumbles, rotating the headset in his hands. The braindance was way more than Dean could imagine, toned up feeling or not. Little Cato proceeds to stare at the BD, stuck on the events he'd just witnessed. He might have stayed lost in thought too if his phone hadn't pulled him back to reality.

kenny- yo im good where we meetin

When Little Cato reads the message, his stomach nearly sinks. Was it time to meet with Kendrick already? Little Cato had killed way more time than he realized.

"Hey guys I gotta go." He jumps out of bed and rushes to the front door. "I'll catch you two later though."

"Right, safety choom," Sam said and Dean would utter something along the same phrase as Little Cato fled their apartment.

He looks back at his phone typing out a quick message for the taller boy. 

little cato- balcony in front of my place

Little Cato taps a weary finger to the screen of the device, sending the message out. He takes a slight instant to breathe. He hopes he's ready for this. He has to be. This needs to go right for both of their sake. 

Little Cato had been adamantly pulling along himself reluctantly. He needed to get this done but his body opted to rather delay the inevitable. Thoughts of what to say and how to say it race through his mind at a breakneck pace.

How would he start? How would he bring up that night at all? Would Kendrick get disgusted? The masked teen didn't seem fazed by what happened but what would happen if Little Cato reminded him? He was composed now but some time has passed since then. Surely Kendrick would feel differently once reminded.

Little Cato's worries draw to a close when he comes to a stop at his apartment. However this was going to happen, it had to happen now. The boy could only hope for the best.

Kendrick had already arrived, leaning over the short wall of the balcony. Little Cato ambles over. His legs were a bit shaky, but they carry him all the same. He leans on the wall beside Kendrick, arms crossed over one another in much the same fashion as the masked teen.

"Yo LC, my dog." Kendrick turns to Little Cato. He sounds so carefree; a sentiment Little Cato wishes he could share. "What's good choom? What did you want to talk about?" He asks though Little Cato finds himself trapped in more hesitation. "Is it about Ash? She gettin' on your nerves? Do I have to step in?"

"No, no. It's not that..." Little Cato starts and finds himself caught in his reluctance once again, but he figures there's no use in hesitating. He needed to rip the problem off like the band aid it was and get this over with. "It's about that night... on the roof... where I... you know..."

Kendrick leans back with a deep and slightly annoyed sigh. "Choom, I already told you, it's alright-"

"N-no, it's more than that." Little Cato stammers, cutting Kendrick off. "That night my body just moved on its own, I was so confused and nervous but at the same time, I was so happy. After that I could hardly think about anything but you. I couldn't even focus on school. It was all about you and me. You were just there always. That's the reason why I've been getting so weird around you now. That's the reason why I barely text you back most of the time. I was so afraid of what you might think... you know? And I was afraid I'd lose you as a friend because I can't stop thinking about you like that." Little Cato falls back onto the wall after finishing his long-winded admission.

Kendrick looks at him. There was no sign of despair or offense or contentment for that matter. All Little Cato gets is a long look and that red apathetic mask. All Little Cato could do was plant his face in his hands out of embarrassment for just dumping all that onto the taller boy. 

"Junior." Kendrick finally speaks. He doesn't sound as disgusted as Little Cato was anticipating. It didn't sound revolted at all for that matter. "Is that what this is about? You're not going to lose me over some little kiss. I didn't even hate it. I don't hate you. What do I have to do to prove that? You're like my best friend."

Little Cato looks up at the taller boy, dragging his eyes out of his hands. "I am?" He asks. Of course, he considered Kendrick to be his best friend, but he didn't actually know the masked teen felt that same. The evidence was so clear now that he thinks about it, however.

"Duh." Kendrick nods "You gotta take it easier on yourself choomba." He said, leaning on the wall next to the young Ventrexian. The conformation seems to light a soft fire in Little Cato's cheeks. The pair would rest there, looking out to the atrium of their floor in silent understanding. "So... you been thinking about me huh?" Kendrick says with a small giggle. "What kinda thoughts we talkin' here? Were they spicy? You were probably getting freaky with it weren't you LC?" 

"Wh-... I-I..." Little Cato stammers, unable to finish his explanation before he drops his face back into his hands. The heat in his cheeks starts to burn like a furnace as a tiny smile starts to form on his lips. He isn't sure whether to feel happy that Kendrick was taking the conversation well, or nervous about the new ammunition he had just given his friend.

Notes:

Sorry if Kendrick's last name keeps changing, I keep forgetting how to pill it sometimes lol. Thats my bad.

Chapter 27: Misguided youths and the parents who worry for them.

Gary places the last few glass cups he'd been carrying over to the kitchen table. He sat each one down neatly on meticulously arranged coaster, endlessly fiddling with one cup after the other to make sure their position had aligned with the flat symmetry of the table, before stepping back. The blonde calmly hums to himself, tapping three apprehensive fingers to his chin as he monitors his work.

"Okay," Gary mutters with a weary smile gently reaching across his expression. He felt satisfied enough with the work done so far and the overall feel of his apartment. He was partially satisfied with what he'd done at least. "Oh no." He throws his head down in a huff, briskly pacing back up to the table.

Gary picks up each glass cup again and, one by one begins to rearrange their places on the round metal table. He gives the cups another quick annoyed glance. An aggravated grimace contorts his normally relaxed face before he decides that the placement of the cups wasn't the issue here.

The blonde grunts irritated, mentally kicking himself for his lack of foresight. The extra chairs, he practically had to beg Ms. Kassidy to lone him, were the main misplaced issue. The table was big, but with all the extra chairs bundled up together it doesn't look big enough. 

Gary drags each seat out, taking them and methodically placing and replacing them at the different spots near the table. He takes another step back. From any other perspective, the arrangements of the chairs might not have appeared to be any different than before, but for Gary, the new positioning made a world of difference for the feel of the room.

The blonde let out a long-labored sigh. Moving all those chairs around as quickly as he did, left him a bit winded but that didn't matter. Everything had to be perfect. 

The blonde man makes it no secret that he is stressing out about tonight. How could he be anything less? He was about to have the parents, and or guardians of all his son's friends over, all seated in his apartment. He claims it was for a friendly game of cards, poker nothing special, but his real intent was to speak his mind about how some of the other kids had been influencing Little Cato and not in the best of ways. Everything had to be presentable. Gary wasn't about to go inviting people into a filthy home, as dishonest as his intentions might have been.

He pushes over toward the sofa pit next. His judgmental eyes run along the long sofas as he reaches a hand in to fix up some of the crooked pillows, he found to be balancing a little too off-center. Gary leans up, eyeing the pillows before leaning back over the edge of the sofa to fidget with the pillows again. Another vexed groan leaves him. No matter what he did or how he balanced them, the sofa pillows just didn't look right to him.

There was a lot to consider with this place. Gary didn't even realize just how much work he had to do until now. It's not like he and his family didn't clean, just not every week. The blonde was kicking himself for putting off the work until the very last second.

"Jesus!" The blonde hissed at the couch. "If you pillows' to sit up straight, I swear to crap-"

"Gary." Gary pauses as his husband steps beside him. "Is shouting at the couch cushions necessary?" The blonde quickly snaps his head over at the man. When he sees Avocato and the concern he holds, his heart slowly to a more gentile pace. He treasured Avocato and his insights but now was not the time for thoughtful insight.

"Avocato, you know how important this is right now." Gary turns back to the sofa to adjust the stubborn pillows he'd been in conflict with. "Are the hors d'oeuvres ready?"

Avocato shrugs at Gary. "Yeah but." He brings a hand to the back of his neck. "Is it really necessary? I mean we're only playing cards, right? No need to get fancy or anything baby." He snickers at the blonde, though the playful smirk on his face would abruptly drops as Gary's scoff turns to meet him.

"Avocato," Gary spoke softly, leaning up from the sofa. One finger runs along the edge as he steps closer to Avocato. "You know how I feel about inviting people over?" Gary asks. Avocato would take a moment to respond though does so with a careful nod. "You know how I feel when the house is a mess and company is coming?" Avocato nods again as Gary smiles. "Everything has to be right; everything has to be clean. I have to have a nice spot because I need to make a good first impression." The smile on the blonde's face quickly falls into an eerie frown as his voice deepens. The squinted look he gives off slightly unnerves the Ventrexian.

"Oh," Gary's gloomy features soften as a knock comes at their door. "Crap!" He hissed. "Get the hors d'oeuvres ready." He said, shooing Avocato off to the kitchen before then running toward the front door. He stops, throwing his hands to his head to fix up his blonde curls. After spending a bit longer than he meant to, running his hands through his hair, he recomposed himself, propping up the gentile, confident posture that many people seemed fond of. "Okay." A gentile breath flows in and out of pursed lips and he places a finger on his door's lock pad.

The door opens to a woman with light brown features and frizzy hair on the other end. She was the first guest of the night and probably the most important to Gary. "Hey, dimples." She said with an enthused gush. 

"Hey, Asya." Gary smiled back, greeting Ms. Kassidy with a friendly enough hug. "Come on in, honestly I wasn't expecting you to come around so early." He lets the woman pass. There was a subtle hint of apprehension in his tone and in the way, he moved all of a sudden. Ms. Kassidy was arguably going to be his biggest opponent that night. If Gary didn't choose his words wisely, she could very well put his family out on their asses.

Ms. Kassidy marches in as if the home belonged to her, to begin with, though maybe that wasn't too far a stretch. She glides along the floor as she gives the apartment prolonged observing glances. Each step she takes carries a certain commanding sense to it.

"Gotta say, I always liked 1408." She looks at Gary while running her fingers along the edge of one of the living room's sofas. "It's almost as good as my place... almost." She smirks and then brings one leg over the edge of the sofa followed by another as she falls into the pit. "Real comfy spot you know." 

"Uhh..." Gary mutters at the woman slouched on his couch. "Yeah, yeah pretty comfy, but I was thinking we'd play in the kitchen-" Another knock comes at the front door before Gary can finish. The blonde whips his head around to the sound. "I'll be right back. Go into the kitchen please." He softly raises his voice as he races back to the front. He presses his finger to the holo pad, opening the door, and same as before he's met with someone he'd been expecting on the other end. Two someone's to be precise.

"Suuup Thunder Bandit!" Gregg blurts out in excitement, speech slightly slurred as his tongue hangs freely out of his mouth. "Are we ready for game night or what!?" He rushes past the blonde and into the apartment. Angus followed shortly after; fingers pinched to the bridge of his nose out of embarrassment.

"Sorry about that, he had a... little bit of drink before we left the house." Angus calmly explains the reasoning for his boyfriend's outlandish excitement. Gary sighs and motions the bear into the apartment.

"Man, this place is huge! Your living room is crazy dudder!" Gregg hobbles over to the couch, moving his hands over the edge of the soothing material it was made of and possibly getting some gratification out of it in his drunken haze. "Woah! You guys have two bedrooms!? Most places in the building don't even have one!" The fox chuckles, looking back to the sofa pit and jumping in alongside Ms. Kassidy. "Ahh, and this TV!" The slightly intoxicated fox snatches up the remote control from the small coffee table before him and immediately starts flipping through channels.

"Right but uhh-" Another knock cuts Gary far too short. "Jeez." He grumbles beneath his breath. "Look just go to the kitchen and wait." The blonde silently gestures to Avocato, who had been standing off to the side with a tray of hors d'oeuvres in his hands, to start kitting their guest to the designated play area.

The blonde found himself back at his front door as his stress levels began to climb far past what he felt before. He closes his eyes for a moment, breathing in and out softly to regain some sense of self once again. 

When the door opens the blonde is met with two more sets of eyes that weren't as familiar to him.

"Hi." The woman, a dark green Ventrexian, smiles gleefully. She stood arm and arm with her husband, whose fur was a lighter shade of blue. "Sorry if we were a little late. Someone needed some convincing." She bobs her head to the man as she continues but Gary hardly has a response for her.

He stood at the door; face scrunched up in a confused mess with one brow raised high. His eyes dart back and forth between the couple in his semi-struggle to recognize them.

"It's us. Felina and Catstill." Gary gasped as a look of complete recognition doused his expression.

"Right, Meowmar's parents." The blonde flashes an embarrassed grin at the pair. "I'm sorry, it's been a long night so far. Uhhh come in."

"Thanks." The husband spoke up next. "You know we've never been invited to a neighbor's place for a game night before, so it was a nice surprise." The husband-and-wife duo stepped into the apartment, guided by whispers of how nice the place had been. Far nicer than their own.

Gary watches them amble in while leaning on the edge of the open door. The blonde was admittedly shocked to see the two. He's glad they bothered to come around, he just wasn't expecting them to show up.

"Ahem!" Gary's body jerks and snaps upward at the sound of a clearing throat. He turns his head back to the hall and is welcomed by nothing at first glance. "Right here ape." Gary moves his eyes down a few inches as they finally manage to make contact with the origin of his start.

"Oh," He mumbles at the short gray man. "Hey, Clarence." The blonde greets the shorter man with a less-than-friendly eye roll. Gary had almost forgotten he'd invited Clarence in the first place. The man had adamantly refused his early offer but here he was now, one hand placed against his hip and a vexed snarl residing over his expression. 

"Yes, it's me. I've decided to attend your pitiful excuses for a get-together." The scowl on his face somehow managed to grow even more viscous. "Now stop your mindless meandering and let me in." He doesn't give Gary the chance to even consider inviting him in as he pushes past the blonde and into the apartment.

Gary glared at the self-imposing vertically challenged man. He wasn't too excited to see him here, but he was a part of the issue. Like it or not, he would have to put up with Clarence, for the time being anyhow.

Gary steps back into the apartment, bringing his hand up to count off the fingers. "Okay, so that's Kendrick's mom, Timmy's uncles, Meowmar's parents, Clarence," He sneers at the mere mention of the short man. "Who's missing?" Gary wonders to himself. As far as he knew he had everyone he needed for tonight, but he knew that's night exactly right. "Argit and the Dewinters." A gagged murmur flowed freely once he was able to remind himself.

Gary had all but forgotten about David Dewinter. The man was so timid but always excited to speak with others when he could. The blonde would have thought he'd be the first to arrive honestly. As for that Argit kid, his parents weren't here yet either. 

Come to think of it, Gary isn't sure if Argit had parents per se. He's never really seen anyone around. Gary had to ask one of the boy's siblings directly if their mother or father was available for his get-together tonight.

It wouldn't be so far-fetched for anyone not to show. He doesn't exactly know what those kids' living situation is. For all he knew they could have been living on their own. That or their parents were constantly out of the house. Gary drops the thought, deciding to chalk it up to a loss, and begins to walk back to his living room, though before he can make it far another knock comes tapping gently at his door.

He turns around slowly, delivering an intense stare-down at the door. After a moment of looking and another quick round of knocking he would step back toward the hunk of metal. He carefully ambles over, tired of walking back and forth from the living room to the door by this point and taps a finger on the lock pad once again.

When the door soars open, his sight is welcomed to the site of a second pair of parents. One, the familiar turquoise father of a pair of badass little boys, and the other, well not so recognizable.

"Hey Gary, sorry I'm late," David said, as eager and somewhat nervous as he's ever been. "I wanted to swing by to pick up the Levin kid's dad." David threw a thumb back at the man in a black leather jacket and a hood pulled over standing apprehensively behind him.

Gary leans out to glimpse a better look at the man. So, they did have a dad. The man looks reserved with his head slightly down. Not timid like David but more so like he's trying to hide his face.

"Um, hi, uhh." Gary waves at the man behind David. 

"Call me Alex." The man gave a short wave back at the blonde. "So, uh... where's the party?" The man chuckles awkwardly, seemingly regretting his attempt at a joke. "May I?" He motions past the door and Gary nods, letting the shy man into the apartment. Alex? Gary wonders. Alex Levin doesn't sound too right to him, but he wouldn't argue with the man over his name. 

"Don't worry about him," David said in an attempt to reassure the blonde man. "He's usually quiet around new people. Don't let it get to you." He grins at the blonde before pressing past him. Gary stays at the door for a bit. He wasn't taking the man's silences to heart all that much. He was only shocked to see him show up at all or to see anyone show up.

Gary hums, turning and walking back into his apartment. That should be everyone he thinks. They could finally get this game night on the road. Now if only everyone he had invited over wasn't so infatuated with his living room.

"Uh!" Gary yelps at the parents gathered in his sofa pit. "Avocato!" Gary loudly whispers to the man. "I thought I said get them in the kitchen."

"I tried." Avocato shrugs his shoulders. "They just got bored of writing and causally migrated back to the sofa pit." Avocato scratches at his ear as he does his best to explain why the parents weren't where they were supposed to be. "Where out of hors d'oeuvres by the way." Gary sighed at the man and somewhat at how quickly the appetizers had gone.

"Okay, look. Go get the table ready. I deal with everyone." Gary sends Avocato off. The night hadn't even started yet, and he was already losing control of the situation, but he needn't worry too much. Now that everyone was present, he could focus on getting things back on track.

The blonde quickly paces over to the sofa pit and the parents chitchatting within.

"Hey, it's about time you got here." Ms. Kassidy said, shoving an elbow at Alex. "I'm amazed you even managed to drag yourself out of your hole at all."

The dower man sighs, slumping further into the couch. "Well, David wouldn't leave me be, so I figured why not." He spoke softly. "Man, this place is nice, wish I had it. I got all those kids you know."

"Hey guys!" Gary buts in with a sort of overly friendly smile. "I know the sofa area is nice, but could we start moving it toward the kitchen." He gestures to the table. "I mean we wouldn't want to play on the floor, right?"

"You know, that sounds like a good idea." Gregg drunkenly hobbles in with a suggestion. "Let's just play on the floor guys."

"What!? N-no-"

"He's right, I'm down for it." Ms. Kassidy interjects. "Besides I don't think the tables big enough for all of us."

"No come on guys, the table-"

"We'll put it to a vote." Felina starts after, turning Gary's say into an opinion rather than a demand. "Show of hands for anyone willing to play on the floor?" Many hands rise into the air, even Angus as reluctantly as he does. "All who oppose?" Gary raises his hand obviously though it was a vain endeavor. He'd been swiftly outvoted. "Then it's settled." The parents let out cheers.

Gary doesn't do the same. His who'll plan had just tumbled out of control.

"Fine..." He relents to the demands of his guest. "Avocato, could you bring the cards over."

After relocating the cards from the table to the living room floor. Both Gary and Avocato would gather in the sofa pit with the other parents. The blonde was still fuming, though not outwardly. He had spent an uncomfortable amount of time making sure his guests would feel comfortable but instead, they would rather play cards on a floor he hadn't even gotten around to vacuuming. This wasn't a move he wanted to make but he would abide by his guest will.

Avocato sits down next to him and places the deck of cards at the center of the circle the parents would form. Gary reaches for the deck, intending to shuffle the cards around though Ms. Kassidy would beat him to it.

The woman splits the deck, stacking them back into each other before passing out a set of cards to each parent in the circle. Gary pouts at the way she tosses his cards around. He was the one who was supposed to commence the shuffle, he always was. He thinks the worst part is that the woman does it so much better than him too.

"Crap." He mutters while keeping his sneer suppressed beneath an indifferent facade and takes up his cards. The hand he'd be dealt doesn't look so good, but he wasn't worried. For poker, you didn't have to necessarily have good cards to get somewhere in the game. As long as he could hold a bluff and the others fell for it, he couldn't lose.

The game commences. Everyone's cards were in hand and slightly covered up just to be safe. Not a single glint of doubt lay over any of their faces. They were just as calm as Gary had pretended to be at that moment. They were good he thinks, but he knows he's better.

All it takes is a rise and a couple of calls to sway the game in his favor.

"Shit." Clarance tosses his cards down. By this point, most of the competition had succumbed to the blond's hollow threats and folded. The only one still standing after all of it was Kassidy.

She was a stubborn one, always keeping her cool and not letting her porker face fall for a single second. Her cool code of conduct kind of gets to Gary. How could she be so confident even after the blonde pushes the weight of his bluff to its limits? Either she had a really good hand and was intending to call the bluff, or she was doing the same as him. Putting up a front to get him to fold under the pressure. She was nearly unbreakable. He needed to find a way to do so.

"Hey, big guy." Gary's pulled away from his strategic thought process. Meowmar's dad, Catstill had called out to Avocato, nodding to the man with a slight smile. "Have we met before? You used to live on Ventrexia once upon a time?"

Avocato chuckles lightly. "Once upon a time yeah? How come you ask?"

"Excuse me If I'm wrong here but I'm pretty sure we attended the military academy of Ventrex together. I sat behind you most days."

Avocato kept a smile on his face and his chin rested in his palm. By the look on his face, he couldn't quite place the man smiling at him though after some silence his memory would jog. Immediately his eyes would go wide from the sudden realization thrown his way.

"Catstella!?" Avocato squints, looking closer at the other Ventrexian. "You actually transitioned huh?"

"Yep." Catstill giggles at Avocato. Gary looks in between the two. A warm fit of jealousy begins to encumber his chest like a tight vest.

"Wait," Gary says, officially putting the nerve-wracking game on pause. "You two know each other?" He questions, eyes continuing to dart between to two men.

"Oh yeah, we go way back." Avocato swiftly answers. "We actually used to have a thing in the academy, before I met my wife of course. We were menaces. Our troop leader would hound us every chance he got."

"Yeah. Remember that one day? Our class had on-field training; we had snuck off to the bathroom to-"

"H-hey now," Gary cuts the story short with a flare of nervous giggling. He knew where the reminisces was going and he didn't want to hear it. Not especially after finding out about what his husband and this other guy used to have. "Why don't we talk about something more fun... like our kids? That's a great topic. That's a wonderful topic."

"Ugh, kids. Is it really?" Kassidy scoffs at the idea, holding her cards close to her chest.

"Oh, come on it is. My Little Cato is the light of my life. He's a smart kid, he's kind. But lately, he's been doing a lot of things he wouldn't usually." Avocato directs a raised brow at Gary after what he'd just heard from the blonde.

"Kids'll be kids." Ms. Kassidy spoke again. For some reason, the short comment gets under the blonde's skin. For any other kid maybe, that was true but Little Cato wasn't just some kid.

"Normally I'd agree, but I know I raised mine better than that." Gary spat; a gracious smirk laced along his lips. "I feel like he's being easily swayed, manipulated you could say, to do things he wouldn't do otherwise by kids who probably need more, proper, guidance.

"Oh shit." Avocato buzzes and braces himself for what's about to come.

The circle goes all but quiet as Gary talks. All eyes that were perversely unaware of the blonde's passive-aggressive passes were now fully trained on him like loaded rifles. "I'm sorry was that some kinda a jab at me." Ms. Kassidy said. Her face had been twisted up into a confused glare as she lowered her cards onto her lap.

"Oh, no, no. I'm just saying there are a lot of kids in this building who seem to be persuading my son into doing odd things." He brings his eyes to each parent as he continues on his tirade. "Whether it's telling him to meet them at abounded buildings, or on rooftops, or at amusement parks and even gang hideouts. Sounds like some of them need to be taught better if you ask me." Gary's smirk morphs into a full-on shit-eating grin after getting the weight of the words he'd been itching to say off his chest.

"Uhhh..." Gregg groans. His tone of voice gives off the impression that he is distressed but the look on his face makes it seem like he'd been putting a puzzle together. "Hold up, wait a minute!" He sat straight up, voice not so slurred anymore.

"Hold on Gregg-"

"No Angus, sobering up here! Are you bad-mouthing my nephew!?" Gregg shifts his weight around and moves to his knees with a nasty sneer. "Cause if you are We'll take care of this! My ass may be drunk, but I'll throw down bitch!"

"Hey, I'm not saying anything in particular." Gary retorted. A cocky smirk rides up his cheeks though he pays no mind to the angry fox shouting at him.

"No, he's right you're saying something so just spit it out blondie." Clarence inserts himself into the argument. He scoots closer to Gregg, intending to help though Gary couldn't tell if he was truly angry or feeling left out.

"Hey, if I could jump in real quick," Alex said, bringing the circle to a calm. "Kids are a special kind, trust me when you have as many as I do you learn this fast. Little Cato's just doing what he's always wanted to do whether you like it or not. He was probably always going to. We've all been in that spot before, I'm sure. We always wanted to act out and feel more adult than we actually were, because at that age that's all you want. To just feel like you can make your own choices in life."

The parents remain silent for a time, each lending subtle nods to Alex. All except for Gary.

"Well, my baby wouldn't do that because I raised him better!" The blonde explodes at the circle, sending everyone back into an uproar. It was mainly Gregg, Clarence, and Gary angrily shouting over each other while everyone else tried their best to bring the arguing to a stop.

"Alright." Ms. Kassidy said with no response from the other. She would then begin to raise he voice after being ignored. "Alright! Alright!" She rolls her eyes, finally managing to break through the wall of noise. "Jesus, this is exactly the kind of shit Kendrick would do. Get mad for no reason and start blaming everyone else. I swear to god that kid makes me want to drive one-hundred-fifty miles into a wall sometimes."

Each parent would look at her, unsure of what to say or do. Soon enough small rounds of chuckling would meet her followed by some full-on laughter.

"No, I feel you," Gregg said. "Timmy gets on my last nerves sometimes. I love the kid, but I swear he can be just like his mom. Always running around town, climbing on shit, and getting into arguments when he doesn't need to. Honestly, he reminds me of myself too."

"I get that, especially with Kevin and Argit," Alex expressed a relieved sigh as if he wanted to get the frustrations he felt for his kids out there. "Those two are like peas in a pod, as thick as thieves but that's not always a good thing. They can be as destructive as they can be productive."

"Yeah, Dean is definitely something else too." David joins next. "He likes to yell a lot. Sometimes I think he just does to hear himself. He's always so angry. I don't know how to deal with it most days. Sam is better but he just does whatever Dean tells him."

"Oh, Meowmar can be a bother as well." Felina sat up on her knees and began scratching at the fabric of her pants. "He likes to complain a lot I noticed. To a concerning degree"

"He gets it from her really." Catstile motions at his wife.

"Trust me I know what you mean." Avocato laughs along with the group. "Little Cato doesn't know when to quit it sometimes, loves to kid a lot of the time. I swear every day his turning more and more into Gary and I don't know if I should be scared or not."

"Hey, there's nothing wrong with two angels in your life, right?" Gary giggles. "But you're right. He knows how to be a nuisance even before coming here." Gary turns the circle of his fellow parents. He was more at ease with the group. "When he was younger and we were doing most of our traveling throughout space, he'd always managed to sneak away from me and hide in the ventilation. No matter what ship we were on he couldn't keep himself from crawling into them. Would always give me a heart attack before I figured out where he would disappear to most of the time." 

"Well, that goes to show. Kids are just assholes." Gregg smiled at Gary. The blonde let out a relieved giggle. The memory of Little Cato hiding in vents and fighting the man just so he could stay in a little longer floods Gary with warmth and joy. All he wanted was for his son to be happy. Gary supposed he couldn't tell the boy what to do and how to do it his whole life.

"Well, not mine. My kids are perfect." Clarence said, arms crossed, and head tilted upwards in a pompous show of superiority. Everyone in the circle focuses on him with doubt and annoyance. "Oh, I jest. Those three irk me to no end." The group shared more laughter amongst each other's shared struggles.

"Who's up for round two?" Gary spoke with a cheer, gathering all the cards and reshuffling them before heading them back out. This moment wasn't a part of his original plan. He had intended to speak his mind to the parents of his son's friends, but they ended up having more fun than he realized. Even Clarence would manage to open up to them that night.

Chapter 28: Absolution on behalf of a friend.

"How much?" Little Cato questions the receptionist, a boy with curly brown hair he had only known in passing from the few classes they shared. He reached for his wallet, pulling it out from his uniform pants without waiting for an answer, and already prepared to pay the other student.

"20." The boy states with a kind, cheerful smile. Little Cato hands him the money and in return, the boy gives him the pair of leather black shortcut gloves he'd requested. Little Cato felt he could stand to add some flavor to the uniform he was forced to wear during school days. He was at the point where the more he wore his school attire the more comfortable he felt removing certain items and adding others. The gloves were a perfect addition to his alteration. "Hey... Avocato, right?"

Little Cato looks up with a pinch of surprise after squeezing his hands into the tight leather gloves. Sometimes he forgets that he's named after his dad. He's been called Little Cato for so long that hearing someone bring up his full name was always so jarring for him.

"Uh, yeah." He spoke a bit hesitant, still a tad taken aback by the use of his name especially by a boy he'd never really interacted with. Though he supposed it made sense for him to use it, they weren't so acquainted with one another.

"I heard Koral's been asking around for you." The curly-headed brunette said. The welcoming smile that once lay on his face vanishes and is replaced with perplexity. 

"Huh?" Little Cato responds mind now falling further into a confused trance. "What? What for?" He questions and gets an unhelpful shrug in return.

"Don't know, but he made it sound urgent, though I thought you two didn't like each other all that much." The boy begins to ramble, eyes peering far past Little Cato. "I found it strange at first, but I figured you guys had squashed the beef at some point, or maybe he wants to now? I don't see why he'd be so eager to find you otherwise. Either way I told him I didn't know where you were, of course until right just now." 

The boy finishes his long-winded rattling as Little Cato throws back a fed-up sigh. Koral could be a real pain, even more so than Tavish could be. Hearing that the Octoling boy was out looking for him doesn't inspire a positive reaction from the young Ventrexian.

"Right..." Little Cato drones skeptically. "I'll keep that in mind." The young teen said as he began to make his way from the school's clothing kiosk. He had classes soon and he couldn't spare the time to discuss paltry gossip about a boy he could care less about. If Koral was looking for him it probably wasn't for any good reason.

The best Little Cato could do was steer clear of Koral and focus on getting through the day without a mishap. His next class was Alliance History so at least he'd be able to drown his uneasiness in boring topics.

Little Cato enters the room just behind a few other students. He quickly found his way to his usual seat near the back. He wraps the straps of the bag around the back of the seat, letting it hang loosely as he seats himself at the desk.

He pulls out a data pad and a notebook from his bag, setting the items down on the flat surface of his desk, leaving the objects stagnant. He brings both his hands onto the desk next, clasping them together and setting them down gently on the desktop.

He was ready to get this class underway and by the looks of some of the other more keen students, he wasn't alone in that thought.

Argit steps into the class at one point, predictably followed by Kevin not too long after. The rodent strides over to his seat, eagerly hurling himself down at his desk with a grin as he lets his bag rest on the classroom's relatively clean floor. 

"Hey LC." He whispers, leaning over to Little Cato, his Cheshire cat-like grin shining brightly at the boy. What was he so happy about? Little Cato wonders thoughtlessly.

"What's up?" He leans over to the other boy, eyes still concentrated toward the front of the class.

"Did you hear?" Argit asked.

"Hear what?" Little Cato quickly and curiously responds.

"Cliffton's out today. We got a sub." Little Cato's brows rise as he jerks his head to the boy next to him.

"A sub? Really?" He spoke flabbergasted. "What happened? Is he okay?" He asks, somewhat worried for the history teacher.

Argit hastily nods. "Yeah," he said. "He's just taking a little vacay I heard. The sub is gonna be filling in for the next mount." He smiles even brighter than before. Little Cato was stricken with shock. He didn't know this school allowed for substitute teachers. He didn't even know the teachers were allowed to take vacations.

"Who is it?" Little Cato leans back over to his friend now with only one prying brow lifted on his face.

Argit shrugged. "Dunno," he said, bobbing his head idly. "Some Hyperion rep I think." Little Cato hums after Argit finishes. He didn't realize that corporations could offer that kind of service, especially not Hyperion. Given Night City's nature though and the school they attended, the boy shouldn't be all that surprised.

Soon the class would fill out. Students gather in and flock to their seats though they would still keep conversation as long as there had been no teacher there to stop them. After a few minutes, someone would yet to show up. The class was starting to reach the five-minute mark yet there was no sign of an educator in sight.

Some of the other students would take the lack of an adult as a sign to start doing whatever they pleased. Walking around the class, kicking their feet up on desks and even some would begin sitting on top of the teacher's desk at the front of the class.

Another minute would pass with no teacher to start the class and students acting out because of that fact. It was starting to look like no one would show up at all and it would take another long minute to pass before some semblance of hope would finally grace the classroom as a woman stumbles in. The loitering students quickly scatter, rushing back to their designated seats and sitting with straight backs and hands elegantly clutched on top of their desks.

"Sorry, Sorry I'm late guys." The woman apologizes, haphazardly tossing her attaché case down on the large desk at the front of the room. Little Cato's mind nearly goes haywire when his eyes meet the woman who had entered the class.

"No way." He mutters. This woman was their substitute. Was it really...

"I'm Valerie. On behalf of the Hyperion corporation, I will be your substitute for the foreseeable future." She turned to the chalkboard, writing her name out with the peace of warn-down chalk that sat just beneath it. She turns back around to face the class and her expression lights up suddenly at the sight of one particular student. "Hey, Little Cato!" She waves at the boy with a minor spell of unprofessional excitement before she takes notice to correct her sudden outburst.

The class all look to him. It was bad enough that Clifton held Little Cato in such high regard but now the substitute filling in for him was someone Little Cato knew semi-personally. He held a hand to his head, trying to obscure his sight from the many eyes accosting him. A surge of embarrassment begins to wrap around him and Argit and Kevin chuckling at him beneath their breaths doesn't help the feeling.

"Oh, one more thing before we start class for today." Valerie nearly jumps in excitement. She reaches into her briefcase, pulls out a stack of cards, and begins making her way through the rows of desks handing out the cards to each student as she went. "I am obligated to hand these out for your future endeavors in education. Just in case you ever consider joining any Hyperion-funded colleges of course." She sat a yellow card down on Little Cato's desk before proceeding to the student in front of him. He picks up the card, a simple white H, lay on the yellow backdrop before a row of text begins to slowly seep out from beneath the single letter to spell out the company name.

It was a business card with a holographic presentation. He thought it was impressive honestly, classy. Little Cato's only seen a handful of cards like it but that's only because they were so expensive to produce. It would make sense for a company like Hyperion to hand them out so willy-nilly. They were one of many corporations with money to burn.

After thirty long minutes, the bell finally envelops the room, signaling the end of class. Students push out unorderly, ready to be gone. 

The class was a bit of a mess. Valerie was far from the proficient educator Mr. Clifton was. The company representative found herself peering into history pads on more than a few occasions, making sure answers to the preconstructed questions she'd been dishing out were correct. Needless to say, she would slow the class to a crawl, at least for Little Cato.

Little Cato didn't know if it was the subject she had been substituting for, but it was too clear that she wasn't so good at teaching it. He's not even sure if she knows how to teach honestly but he could at least give the woman an A for effort. He does hope she would improve if she was to be their teacher for the next month, however.

Trudging through the halls of his school, Little Cato would find himself lost in thought. History class and their substitute had long taken a back seat to a more pressing issue he'd nearly forgotten until now.

The student receptionist mentioned Koral was looking for him. The thought of that kid even asking for Little Cato by name irks him. What could he want? Honestly Little Cato didn't want to find out. The likelihood of it being some kind of prank to get back at the young teen was a very real possibility.

He couldn't fall for it, wouldn't slip so easily into the Octoling's trap. Not if he could help it at least. He'll just have to stay alert and steer clear of the Octoling.

"Hey, Junior." A voice sends a sharp shiver throughout his body. It wasn't anyone he minded being around and that wasn't good. "Avocato." A boy ran up, trying to grab Little Cato's attention but he refused to give him anything of the sort. "Can you hear me? Are you ignoring me?"

"Leave me alone Koral." Little Cato said as he proceeded to walk. His clear contempt doesn't discourage the Octoling however.

"I need to talk to you. It's important." The Octoling circles Little Cato, stepping out in front of the young teen and stopping him immediately. "Please." He sneers, rolling his eyes as if showing genuine restraint was just too painful a task for him.

Little Cato stares at him, unimpressed but still surprised that any form of the word 'please' managed to leave his mouth. "Fine." He relents the boy. "What is it? And can we make it quick? I've got things to do."

"Oh but of course." The Octoling smirks at him. "Though not here. Maybe somewhere more private." The boy begins walking before Little Cato can reconsider hearing the boy out. 

That's just his luck he thinks. What did he just get himself into?

Little Cato cautiously follows Koral through the old halls of the school. He didn't like the thought of following the boy though for some odd reason he does so anyway. Little Cato thinks it's just curiosity getting the best of him, He wouldn't mind hearing what he has to say. Though if it was a prank that would give him an excuse to finally beat the boy up.

After a while, the two boys would slip into an old wing of the school that hadn't seen much use in recent years.

"Come on." Koral nods to Little Cato, opening an old wooden door and gesturing for the boy to step inside. He was hesitant to do so, how could he not be? Sensing that hesitancy, the Octoling would walk in first thought with an aggravated pout. At least Little Cato could be sure it wasn't a trick, so far at least.

Little Cato shuffles inside of the old room next. It was dark and stuffy, nothing like the rest of the prim and proper school corridors and classrooms he'd become accustomed to. The room brightens with a sudden flash of light that takes Little Cato's vision by surprise.

Koral stood before him, face as blank and uncaring as it usually was when addressing Little Cato.

"Okay, so what is this about?" Little Cato questions the Octoling.

"Look, it's about Tavish okay." He said, another irritated sigh leaving him. "Would it kill you to let him have his way from time to time? Is it really so important to try to one-up him so often?" He spoke, arms crossed, and eyes fixed on Little Cato.

A nonplussed snicker fills the old stuffy room. Of course, this is what it's about Little Cato thinks. "Well, he keeps bugging me every chance he gets so I'd say he deserves being one-upped in some regards." Little Cato sneers back at the Octoling. His vitriol for the Tavish and Koral was as clear as fresh water. He doesn't know what the other boy was expecting when thinking up a request like that.

"Come on Junior. Don't be a rube." Koral scoffs at him. Little Cato felt now was as good a time to take his leave as any. If this was what the Octoling wanted to talk about, then Little Cato had nothing to say at all.

"Look I'm sure you really care for Tavish, a bit more than you probably should really," He mutters. "But I don't, so..." Little Cato turns to open the door though it hardly budges. "What the?" He said, trying to twist the knob again.

"What's wrong?" Koral steps up beside Little Cato as he struggles with the old wooden door.

"It won't open." Little Cato said, still trying to work the knob on the door.

"What?" Koral blurts. "No, you're just doing it wrong. Move aside." He pushes Little Cato out of the way and starts jiggling the doorknob. Just as the young teen had said, the door wouldn't budge. It was jammed.

Koral looks at Little Cato. A tinge of fear melts over his face as he turns back to the old door. He begins banging on the thing and shouting to hopefully catch the attention of any passerby.

"Hello! Hello, is there anyone out there!? There are students stuck in here!" He knocks and bangs and yells though to little success. They were trapped and there wasn't really much they could do about it. The Octoling would persist anyhow. "Hello!?"

"Koral, would you calm down." Little Cato said. He was just as nervous as the boy had appeared, but he wouldn't let it show. Him flipping his lead in the same manner as Koral would be an unproductive endeavor.

"Calm down? calm down!?" He steps back from the door and over to Little Cato. "How could you be so calm right now!? We're trapped in a dingy, stuffy, moldy closet."

"You choose it." Little Cato points out, but Koral could hardly care to listen. He was already complacent with his worry.

"Oh, God, I'm going to die in here. I'm going to die in here aren't I Junior?" He looks at Little Cato, heavy breaths passing in and out passed his quivering mouth.

"Would you calm down? You're not dying in here. Someone's bound to notice two missing students, right? We'll be out of here in no time." Little Cato calmly explains, seemingly getting the Octoling to settle down.

"Fine, fine. Whatever you say." Koral shakes his head before stepping past Little Cato.

"Jeez, you make things sound so hopeless sometimes." He smirks, chuckling at the other boy.

"Will maybe, but not all of us have it so easy-" He stops after leaning back on the standing self at the far end of the room.

"What was that sound?" Little Cato questions, stepping over to where Koral stood. He'd heard a weird clicking sound, almost like a door had just been gently pushed shut. "Help me out with this thing." Little Cato grabs one side of the large shelf as he nods to the other end.

"Are you serious?" Koral snarls at the suggestion. Little Cato doesn't say much, only giving him a quick unamused stare. "Fine..." Koral reluctantly reaches for the other end of the shelf and helps Little Cato move it.

It takes a bit of effort, but they would manage to haul the old thing out of the way in no time. Behind it, Little Cato's premonitions would be confirmed. 

"It's a door." He said, excited. He reaches out to it, twisting the knob. the door slowly creeks open, the years of neglect displayed in every crackling screech it makes. "Maybe we can get out from here." Little Cato said as he started down the long dark staircase.

"Junior wait." Koral blurts, stopping the boy. "Why are you going down there? You don't know what could be down there. There could be like a killer, or a cyberpsycho... or a ghost."

Little Cato hurls a questioning look at the Octoling. "You believe in ghosts?" Koral shares a quick shrug and a nod with the young teen. Little Cato snickers in response.

"Well, you can either take a chance with the ghost or stay in the dingy, moldy closet. It's up to you." He said, giving Koral his ultimatum before stepping into the darkness.

Koral watches, eyes rolling as his body jitters from the few choices he has. "Junior wait! Wait up!" He hastily decides and runs down the dark staircase in pursuit of Little Cato.

He finds his way to the bottom of the dark stairwell. He stops at the last step, hitting the ground floor roughly as he does. He squints his eyes to the pitch-black darkness. The place seemed so huge, and worst of all Little Cato was nowhere to be found.

"Junior?" Koral calls out though only silence rushes to meet him. "Avocato?" He calls again with much the same result. Panic begins to set in once again. He was afraid to move but he couldn't stay in one spot forever. 

He picks up his feet, ever so slightly dragging them through the dark hall. He peeks around carefully, squinting his eyes at the dark and running his hands along old pipes to keep his balance. He jumps slightly at the sound of something moving. When he looks off into the direction of the noise, he sees not much of anything.

Koral breaths softly, loosening up his body and letting his guard.

"Boo!" As soon as he does, the sudden reappearance of Little Cato sends him to the ground in a start.

"Ow, hey!?" He cries, looking up at Little Cato and the light shining from his phone. "What was that about gonk!?"

"Come on, relax. I was just messing around." Little Cato said, reaching out a hand to the frightened boy. Koral accepts the hand and is pulled off the ground, giving Little Cato a light dispirited slap to his arm for sacring him. "Man, this place is huge. It's like some kind of bunker I think." Little Cato raved at the surrounding corridor. He was a sucker for subsurface structures.

Koral pats down the dust from his uniform and looks around along with Little Cato. "Hmmm...? Oh yeah, I think I know what this is. I always heard rumors about there being underground passageways beneath the school. I think it was meant to be used for getting students out safely in case of emergencies.

"Hmm." Little Cato hums. This was starting to sound all too familiar. How many emergencies was Night City expecting? "We should keep going. If that rumor is true, then this place should lead us to an exit. we'll be out of here in no time." Koral shrugs, following the boy closely and keeping an eye over his shoulder.

Little Cato keeps his phone light to the floor. He'd already tried pointing it forward, but the bunker's corridors ran so deep that the light from his phone didn't make it so far into the distance before dropping off. The pair follow the light shining along the old dusty, chipped concrete.

The boys tread carefully. Their steps echo loudly throughout the empty halls of the underground passageways. Little Cato doesn't know where he's going technically but he figured that following the pipes that ran along the walls was a good start.

"Oh God!" Koral jumps, causing Little Cato to do the same.

"Woah, what!? What happened!?" He turns, shining his phone light on the disheveled boy.

"I saw the biggest rat just now. Oh my god, get me out of here Junior." Koral whines, grabbing onto Little Cato's arm and clinging tightly to the boy. Little Cato chuckles out a sigh and he continues to walk with the other boy attached to his arm like a damsel in distress.

"Hey, what did you mean when you said, 'not everyone has it so easy'?" Little Cato turns to the other boy on his arm with a question that has been on his mind since entering the old passageways. "I don't think I got it all that easy Koral."

Koral was quit. It was like he didn't know what to say, or how to explain to Little Cato. "Well..." He starts slowly. "You... your family I mean. You're the grandson of Admirals, one important branch at the head of the government. You're everything a lot of kids want to be. Important. If something were to happen to you, I'm sure your grandfather wouldn't hesitate to call in every branch of the military just to see you safe."

Little Cato unsheathes a baffled giggle. "Man, Koral." He starts. "I'm not as important as you think. My grandparents may be in important positions but that doesn't mean much for me. Gary doesn't really ask Grandpa for much. He doesn't like relying on him for anything." Little Cato explains to the other boy. Odd silence falls out between the two, the cool quiet darkness only being disrupted by the sound of the boy's dress shoes thudding along the old floor. "Why do you care about Tavish so much by the way? The guy's such a dick."

Koral opens his mouth. An audible sigh breaks free past pouted lips. "He's not all that bad Junior." Little Cato scoffs at Koral's response. He had a hard time believing that. "He's really not. I remember when I first arrived at this school. I was new and shy. I had a hard time opening up to people and I guess that made me a loser in some way. Usually, the quiet kid doesn't get bothered all that much but this school's different." Koral hums. "One day, I had to use the bathroom. I guess a bunch of kids saw me and thought it was a great opportunity to fuck with me. If Tavish wasn't there to intervene, I'm not sure what might have happened that day... he really is a good person Avocato."

Little Cato hums again. The story left him somewhat distressed. He never expected Koral, a kid who was always such a pain in his said, would open up to him in such a way. He doesn't know why. Maybe it was this bunker. The boy was just scared and not thinking straight, had to be. "Come on." Little Cato said. "Let's get out of here."

After some time of aimless wandering, for the most part, the two finally happen upon something palpable. It was a set of double doors, large, black, and kind of heavy-looking. This could be their way out.

"Let's see if we can get it open." Little Cato said, walking up to the double doors. Koral refused to let go of him, so the boy had to work the door alone. Luckily the set of doors weren't as heavy as they looked and would open easily. Once there though, they find themselves in an area that was the opposite of where they had been.

The hall was much brighter, well-lit with buzzing florescent lights overhead. Little Cato couldn't be happier to hear that slight buzzing sound.

"Okay, I know this." Koral starts. "This is the library basement, I think. We should be able to get back to campus from here."

"Thank god." Little Cato huffs relieved. "Damn..." He hissed, looking at his phone screen. "I gotta go, I'm late for my next class." Little Cato says, ready to run off. Hopefully, he could get to class before his teacher was able to mark him as tardy. 

"Junior wait." Koral stops him. "Can you at least think about what I said... about Tavish?" Little Cato turns to the Octoling. In all honesty, he didn't want to take Koral's for the platinum blonde into genuine consideration but when he looked into Koral's eyes Little Cato couldn't help but feel bad for not doing so.

"I'll... I'll think about it. I really have to go through." Little Cato turns, running along the basement corridor. Koral stays behind, hands on his hips and he leans over with a deep sigh. 

Little Cato couldn't believe it. Was Tavish really so considerate? Was he really as nice of a person as Koral built him up to be? He was having a hard time seeing it himself. 

Chapter 29: Hallmark of a Brain Potato.

The glimmer of pink neon lights shimmers throughout the market square. Shoppers from all over the city comb stores and stalls in search of things they wanted but didn't really need. Joytoys seductively strut up and down the plaza in petrol of new, or returning, clients.

Little Cato stood at the southwest entrance of Cheery Blossom Market, lingering just over the threshold as he took in the beauty of blinding flavor lighting and erotic window dancers promoting BD studios and strip clubs.

Despite its carefree, and somewhat libertarian means of operation, Cheery Blossom was always so beautiful to Little Cato. That was especially true wants the evening rolled around to accentuate the prettier halves of an otherwise glorified back ally.

Little Cato smiles at the many bright sights. He kept gloved hands clenched around the straps of his bookbag as he proceeded to wander deeper into the large marketplace. He rubs his thumbs against the straps of his bag. The leather of his tight gloves pressed against the smooth polyester gives the boy some sense of reassurance.

He wasn't nervous, not to be here at least. Little Cato loved Cherry Blossom market; from the few times he's been here it's never failed to leave him with a stupid grin on his face. Now that Gary hadn't been hovering over him every moment of his life and keeping close eyes on every single move he made, the boy could get down to the market more often.

Truthfully, he never needed anything from here, though the market carried a variety of services for any given occasion. Little Cato more so liked coming around for the fun of it. Even past its grimier parts, he enjoyed the shopping center for what it was, though that isn't to say he wasn't there for something.

He had biz to attend, a certain BD studio to visit, and a man who offered to pay him for a job he would have adamantly done for free if asked. Kendrick and Argit would have given Little Cato an earful if he had done that, however. Those two never believed in doing anything for free, even if they really enjoyed it. Little Cato would have had his gripes, but that way of thinking was a Night City standard.

The market was certainly busy that day. Cherry Blossom normally was on any given day, but Little Cato noticed today was busier than usual. Mostly filled to the brim with Solos and street samurai. The mercs were all clustered and spread thin throughout the market square at the same time. 

A Solo or two wasn't so odd a sight in Night City or any city like it. New York, Los Angeles, Sol, London, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Paris, Sao Paulo, and any other major city on earth had their fair share of street mercenaries. Even living paradises like Eden, the Alliance capital city in Africa had its problems that many solos flock over to solve. It was a good business and a fairly legal one at that if you had the skills to not get killed on the first day.

Little Cato wondered what they were here for. They were on a job that much was clear, most likely on the hunt for some unlucky gonk who thought they could outsmart the city. He so desperately wants to walk up and ask but he knows he can't. He shouldn't. If it wasn't his biz then he had no right to get in the way.

After watching the solos regrouped and being solicited by a few joytoys, and kindly turning them down, the boy finds himself at a familiar set of stairs, leading to an under passage of the market. It was one of Cherry Blossom's darker areas but not all that dangerous, given you could keep your wits about you.

Little Cato hops down the staircase and into the dark underpass with an enthused bounce as he hits the ground. There wasn't much light, a few signs scattered here and there but nothing bright enough to bring the underpass out of the dimly lit shadows surrounding it. At the far end of the alley, one light shines brighter than the rest scattered there, however. 

Standing in front of it and the door just beneath it sends a flurry of butterflies fluttering throughout Little Cato's body. The Experience. The sight of the flickering blue sign and the slight buzzing emanating from it causes the boy to squirm a bit. Even after being inside the studio Little Cato still gets this odd mix of dread and excitement when he's close. Simply looking at the uninspired hole in the wall nearly makes the boy wet himself, though he wouldn't say in a bad way.

He shakes his head and the thought of whatever those feelings were away before proceeding past the automated door and into the low-lit studio. The line of BDs laced along shelves at either end of the bland-looking studio sends a shiver of ecstasy through him.

Little Cato skips over to one of the shelves, running a finger along the cold metal and stopping at one of the braindances there. He picks it up and turns it to read its label slapped onto the side. "Flesh ritual?" He whispers, humming curiously at the braindance before sating back down. He probably didn't want to know what that was but damn if he wasn't intrigued all the same. He needed to grab one of these BDs for himself one of these days he thinks.

Little Cato walks up to the front counter next, removing his backpack on placing it down on the countertop as he did. Obi wasn't anywhere in sight. Little Cato peaks over the countertop, and around the studio but to no end. Where could he be?

Little Cato rubs his neck. He thinks maybe the man had to step out quickly. He always seemed to be busy, always popping in and out of sight, from what Little Cato had seen. The best he could do was wait for the man to reappear and there was no telling how long that might take.

Little Cato gives the studio one last glance before turning his head back to the front counter. "Woah!" The boy nearly jumps when he does. All of a sudden, the man Little Cato'd been looking for had materialized right in front of him, one arm splayed over the countertop and a creepy smile brimming ear to ear. "Jeez, you scared the hell out of me. Where'd you even come from?"

"I don't know what you mean. I was always here." The grin on his face hardly lets up. "So, what can I help you with? In the market for a new experience, I take it?" 

"Huh?" Little Cato chuckles at the man. "Don't you remember? You gave me this BD you wanted to test?" He unzips his backpack and pulls out the headset nestled inside. "Sorry, it took me so long. Family issues and all that." He mutters seating the headset down on the counter.

"Ohhh..." Obi hums, rotating his in-between the BD and Little Cato. "Nice big guy. I nearly forgot about that old thing." He said and picked up the headset. "So how was it? And what was it about? I'm just dying to know over here."

"War... apparently." Little Cato leans on the countertop, slightly mimicking Obi's previous motion. "Just like you said, the BD was old. It took place in a city; a lot was happening really. The guy who I was seeing the world through was scared, I couldn't really feel it, but I knew he was you know. It's like I could feel his memories at the time."

Obi hums again. His twisted smile was less pronounced but still gleaming in its own special way. "Sounds like a hit to me. I don't get many wars and when I do, they're quick to sell." Obi rubs one finger over the old headset. "So, you ready for the next step?" 

Little Cato's head tilts slightly at the question. "Next step?" He responds with one of his own. Obi only chuckles at him before picking up the old headset.

"Follow me." He nods and walks through a door leading to the back end of the studio. Little Cato doesn't hesitate to follow the man, picking up his backpack and tossing it back around his shoulders.

The room was more well-lit than the studio before it. A wall of screens stood at the opposite end of a slumped-back metal chair at the center of everything. A desktop computer also lay on a desk not too far from the large metal seat. 

Obi was already at the computer with the BD headset jacked into the monitor. The man was already well at work, typing and scrolling through the footage found in the BD.

"Alright, have a seat when you're ready." He nods over to the seat.

Little Cato looks at the chair. Streaks of uncertainty jerks at his well-being. It looks somewhat identical to a Ripper doc's chair. The thought of that leaves the boy with a massive haul of fear. He remembers what happened the last time he sat in a chair like that.

"What is this?" Little Cato asks, looking toward Obi. "Y-you're not gonna pump me full of chrome, are you?" Little Cato laughs. He jokes, trying to keep his tone light though there is a hint of worry weaved in all the same.

"No of course not. I don't even have my tools." The man said with an unwavering smile plastered on his face. Little Cato could not for the life of him tell if the man was joking or not. "We're just gonna go through the BD footage to weed out the more interesting elements." He stood up, stepped away from the computer, and strolled over to the chair with crossed arms. "You know, bring all those little bubbling feelings and emotions our subject was experiencing to the surface. I want people to feel like they're in a war zone." Obi bobs his head to the seat.

There go those mixed feelings again, rushing back to Little Cato like a rain of arrows. Did Obi really want him to help fine-tune the BD now? The thought of re-experiencing the thing with all of those feelings he couldn't only think of being fully aware of everything this time around frightens Little Cato, but at the same time he wanted to feel it all. Every anxious moment, every choking, smoke-filled breath, every bullet wound. Little Cato felt he needed to do it and if anything, he was obligated.

"Alright." He spoke softly, slowly shuffling toward Obi and the chair. He crawls into the seat and settles in with a tense sigh. His body jitters slightly in his mixed emotions creeping up from his core. He dreaded the moment the headset was back over his head, but he couldn't wait for them to envelop his sight.

Obi peers down at the boy, a blinding grin shining down before he places the BD over Little Cato's eyes and walks back over to his computer. Little Cato sat with his arms folded over his stomach. He couldn't stop his mind from racing. After another moment the headset would initiate, light flickers in his eyes and all of a sudden, he was back in the same war-torn urban sprawl as before. Only now something was different.

The crumbling city was still falling apart, the warzone still raging. The only difference was that Little Cato was there, or he should say he was more aware of his own conscience within the space.

"Okay, let's get started then." He could hear Obi's voice echo through the frozen landscape. "Suppose we should start with what our boy was feeling right? What do you think?"

Little Cato manages to look around though he doesn't know how. He tried to find where to voice was coming from but to no avail. Obi was completely absent from the space. All Little Cato could see was the current area Nomad had fallen. Beyond that wasn't the same sky he'd seen before but something more digital, inky, and vacant.

"Uhh... Sounds good to me." He said, his own voice echoing out toward the void. Soon a feeling begins to arise, an emotion he was all too familiar with wrapping around his chest and neck. Little Cato hums in discomfort. Obi had turned up the tension in just the right way. The boy could feel the hopeless tug of the unknown in his chest and it felt oddly amazing to him.

"Alright, I'm gonna need you to talk me through this big man. We need it to be as accurate to the moment as we can get it." Obi said from the inky void. "How'd I do with the nerves?" He asked.

"Yeah..." Little Cato could feel himself quiver out the response. "That's what I can remember him feeling. He was really scared but he tried not to show it." Obi hums and the BD continues. Nomad stood to his knees disheveled and hardly able to see his hands in front of his face. Little Cato could remember how Nomad felt at the moment like he could hardly breathe. "You should turn up the scenery in his breathing. His longs were filled. He was definitely having a hard time." Little Cato chuckles another quiver out to Obi and not a moment after giving the man the suggestion, Little Cato's lungs are filled to the brim with more than just smoke, but dust and bits of debris as well.

"How's that?"

"Ugh... bring it down a bit." He says. He could remember the feeling being intense but not this much. This was too overwhelming.

"On it." The feel of the smoke crowding his lungs lowers. It was still plenty choking but not quite suffocating.

"Perfect." Little Cato says and the footage continues. The smoke begins to clear as another soldier begins to make his approach, a face Nomad was relieved to have laid eyes on. Donald speaks to him, looks over his shoulder, and picks Nomad up with a smile despite the circumstances they find himself in.

"This one's easy to read. You can tell ol' boy is happy to see him."

"But he's still kinda confused." Little Cato cut in. "His mind is hazy. Right now. He can't tell up from down, but he is happy to recognize the other solder." Obi hums and at a moment's notice a new feeling falls into the fold. Little Cato's head was spinning, and his vision was topsy-turvy, but he could sense the solace past all of it. He could hardly think, and he thought that's a good thing.

The two soldiers carry on. Nomad was concerned about one of his friends, but he wouldn't dwell on him for long. There was hope brewing within him. He was prying that Walker had found a way out, but Little Cato knows that hope won't stay for much longer.

The soldiers strife along abandoned roads, their bodies close to crumbling buildings and eyes up and aware of open windows. Nomad was more on edge in this portion of the braindance. At any moment, he knew his head could find itself engraved with a new hole and he was waiting for it, only that moment would never come. A new wave of ease would wash over Nomad, but his distress remains heightened.

Soon they were at the town square. They shot at and in a fountain before Nomad could understand what was even happening. Another bout of perplexity hits him like the missile from earlier. Nomad felt like he was losing his mind with all the tumbling he'd been doing. He didn't want to die; Little Cato was sure a lot of soldiers during that conflict didn't want to, but he could feel Nomad's desperation. All the man wanted to do was make it out alive and the hope for doing so becomes bleaker the longer he stays on that moon.

Donald calls out to the person firing at them and the soldier responds. Kassidy would jump into the fountain along with them, grinning and joking as he dives into the fountain safely. Nomad was irritated if not happy to see the Irishman.

Kassidy went on about the rest of their squad, how they were pulling out, and how he was sent back to find both him and Donald much to his dismay. Nomad was flattered that their squad leader cared so much but shocked to hear that they were pulling out and leaving the moon, and by extension, the Hooblot home world behind. Little Cato could feel the excitement coursing through his body. He was ready to be gone, Hooblots be damned. He thinks these people would thrive under Helghast rule anyhow.

Little Cato was feeling a wide range of emotions and sensations as they neared the midpoint of the braindance. Obi would finely tune every little feeling up to perfection as Little Cato relays Nomad's thought process to him. Little Cato had never felt so stressed out in his entire life as this soldier had been at that moment. 

He was an emotional rollercoaster of fear and unease, so happy to still be breathing but worried that he'd end up losing his head to some stationary sniper just out of sight, losing his arms or legs to another rough rocket, or just outright losing everything to landmine he couldn't see before it was too late. His thoughts ran a mile a minute and Little Cato could feel it every step of the way.

The small squad jumps out of the fountain and rushes across the bombed-out square. They had been running all day, but it was only now that Nomad was starting to feel it. His legs wanted to give out and he just wanted to lie down. All the different aches and pains greet Little Cato quickly. The burning of his shins as he ran, the rapid draining of his lungs. The feeling was awful, and this BD was all the better for it.

Donald, Kassidy, and Nomad rendezvous with a missive group of fighting soldiers. This was the moment when Nomad's emotions would hit an all-time high. They had just regrouped with their squid leader and were pinned down by suppressing fire from a nearby building. Little Cato could practically feel gunfire wiz past him, zapping as close to his head as it could possibly go without making contact.

They were set to leave, the only problem being that a lot of the Hooblots in the area were keen to keep them there. They were stuck and couldn't do much about it. The radio operator was having trouble calling in the air support needed to alleviate the pressure brought on by the nearby structure. It was looking more and more like they were going to die then and there until a group of A.I.A. agents arrived. The one taking the lead snatches the radio from the operator and shouts something into it.

When their long-anticipated air support arrives, it sends a hail of cannon and rocket fire into the building, sending the large stone pain in the ass to the ground. The soldiers got a move on now that the road was clear.

The A.I.A. against take the lead though a good majority of the infantry units would stick behind the APC, using the small tank as cover as it rolls down the streets toward the waterfront.

The platoon rolls down the street, firing upon attacking Hooblots settled in tall and short buildings alike. If it weren't for the lead A.I.A agent calling out targets for their air support and taking down enemies at an inhuman rate, Nomad is sure they wouldn't have gotten too far down that long road.

Eventually, Nomad, his squad, and every other soldier fighting their way through city streets come to their final rendezvous point. The last batch of helicopters were ready to take off. Unfortunately for them, more issues would arise along with the final stretch.

They couldn't leave just yet. The risk of them being shot out of the sky by enemy aircraft was too high but all hope wasn't lost. All the soldiers had to do was get the anti-aerial turrets online to cover their escape. The agents would cover one turret and unfortunately, Nomad, Donald, and Kassidy were 'volunteered' for the other. Everyone else would stay behind to protect their way out.

Nomad didn't care by that point. His only concern was getting out alive and that's what he was going to do.

The small squad rushes over to the large turret. Nomad races up to the turret while Donald and Kassidy would wind up providing him with cover. He wasn't so good at activating these things but out of the three of them, he was the most qualified. 

The screen on the turret's console lights up and Nomad inputs a code, starting a timer as the large gun begins to warm up. Donald and Kassidy were doing a good job holding off the oncoming Hooblots rushing toward them. They were some of the best soldiers in Nomad's eyes, fought like uncaged demons on their worst days. They could carve their way through whole platoons with the right equipment. There was no better two he'd rather have watch his back.

Today however was a partially off day for the three of them. Kassidy had found himself pinned down at a far-off corner, Donald was taken off guard and tackled to the ground by a guerrilla, while another one managed to get a shot off at Nomad.

"Ugh!" Little Cato grits at the sharp pain he felt in his leg.

"Woah too much?" Obi asks as the BD comes to a brief pause.

"Yeah." Little Cato said. "This guy's pain tolerance was insane. He felt it but he was too stubborn to actually care, you know?" Little Cato could feel the pain in his leg decrease. It was still evident but not as bad just as he could recall from Nomad's thoughts at the time.

The BD resumes, Nomad swings his rifle around to the commie that took a shot at him and unleashes a quick burst of rifle fire, sending him to the ground. He looks to Donald next. He was still on the ground with a Hooblot's hands wrapped around his throat. He lifts his gun to the enemy but Kassidy leaps in before Nomad can get a shot off.

The Irishman kicks the Hooblot off of the duck and brings the butt of his rifle up before dropping down on the enemy soldier's head. He smashes the rifle down on the Hooblot over and over again until the only thing left of the enemy soldier's head is a pile of green and gray mush.

"You alright boyo!?" Kassidy turns to Donald, offering a handout to the man to help him back to his feet.

"Ehh... Y-yeah..." He spoke. For the most part, he was fine, but his voice didn't sound as right. What was once before a brilliantly articulate man had now been struggling to get out any coherent word. His throat had been crushed but he didn't have time to worry about it. None of them had time to worry about any of their injuries.

Once the anti-air guns were online the small squad was on their way back to the helipads at the waterfront. The A.I.A agents regroup at the same time. They along with Nomad's group would help fight off any remaining Hooblot guerrilla fighters still gunning for them before the platoon begins boarding the helicopters.

Their fight was long, a war that raged for seven years now rendered pointless as the Alliance military began their exodus of the moon's capital. The plan was to fly out to safe points set up out at sea before boding dropships that would take them all the way to star cruisers that sat in wait in the moon's orbit. It was clear. They had lost and the worst part was Nomad had yet to see head nor hide of his friend Walker. He can only hope the man made it out alive.

The braindance comes to an end as that final thought crosses Nomad's mind and the old headset is pulled off of Little Cato's head immediately. Obi had already been beside the boy standing above him with a smirk. 

"Now that was some fine work big man." He said, helping Little Cato out of the seat. "Nice work keeping your cool in the seat by the way. I think you're the best help I've ever had with one of these things." Obi reaches into his coat pocket and pulls out a wade of cash for the boy. "Here, for you."

Little Cato takes the money. His jaw nearly drops as he begins to count each bill. "Woah- this is five thousand dollars!" Little Cato practically shrieks at the man.

"What? Not enough?" Obi reaches back into his pocket though Little Cato would stop him.

"No- no, it's enough." He said quickly. "It's just a lot more than I was expecting that's all."

"Well, you helped a ton. Not a lot of folks wouldn't be willing to help tune up these BDs." He said. "People love'em plenty but I guess the thought of spending extended sessions in the replay with those feelings is a bit too much of an ask." Obi let a cool shrug loose onto the bewildered boy. "Come on." He nods walking back to the front.

Little Cato takes up his backpack, throwing the strips around his shoulders once again, and follows behind the ratter tall and overly cheerful man.

"Hey, tell you what," Obi spoke from behind the counter. "How about you go get a BD? I'll throw in a discount just for you."

"Really?" Little Cato nearly chokes on thin air, doing a double take at the man. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah." Obi shrugs, a smooth drone finding its way to Little Cato's ears. "Like I said you were the best help I've had in ages. If you like, I'll keep tossing cash and discounts if you'd be willing to lend a hand around the studio."

Little Cato giggles in his amazement. He didn't have to take a moment to consider the offer. If Obi was going to be paying him that much and giving him BDs for his time, why would he say no? "For sure choom. I'm your guy."

Obi chuckles at the boy's overall zeal. Little Cato felt he could have toned it down a bit but that wouldn't change the fact that he was still excited about the proposition.

"So do you know what you want big man?" Obi asks. Little Cato hums, turning back to the selection of BDs in the studio and recalls one strange BD he was a little too curious about.

"I think I have one in mind actually." 

Notes:

Little Cato seems like the type to get addicted to BDs.

Chapter 30: Early access bullshit.

The end of class comes with the all too recognizable sound of a ringing ball. A minute before the ringing, students had already risen from their seats, eager to exit the class as they packed their bags and slung them over their shoulders.

They couldn't even bother to wait for their substitute to finish reminding them of upcoming assignments before exiting the room. The amount of passive-aggressive disrespect they would show the woman was to a disgusting degree. Luckily Valerie never actually caught on to the students' disinterest in her.

"Right, uhh... don't forget those assignments guys. I know spring break is supposed to be fun, but school always comes first." Valerie said with a timid chuckle. Her courteous reminder doesn't seem to provoke any interest from the students ignoring her, however. The most she'd get was a few scoffs from some of the more entitled ones.

Unlike the other students, Little Cato would hang back for a bit. He kept up his polite posture, setting up in his seat with his hands held to the desk. He sat patiently until the class had all but cleared out and it was just him and his teacher.

He stood up from his desk, grabbed his bag from the back, and walked over to Valerie. The woman takes a seat in her chair at the front, slumping back with a long, frustrated groan. She was tired clearly. Dealing with these kids was harder than it seemed on the surface and Little Cato could attest to that fact.

He felt bad for the woman and maybe that's why he always stays behind to give her some tips on teaching Myers's students better. It had been working in his eyes. Valerie had grown in the few weeks she had been with them.

"Hey teach." Little Cato says, letting a comfortable smile grace the slumped-back woman. "Rough day?"

"You have no idea LC." She responds a heavy sigh flowing out of her exhausted features. The Corpo rep held a fist to her cheek as she inclined further back into the large leather chair. "When I got this assignment, I thought it'd be so much easier. Thought I'd get in, teach a few kids, inspire some future Hyperion employees..." She sighs again. "I don't think they like me so much though."

"Hmm." Little Cato hums, his bros knitted together as he scoots himself on top of the large desk. "What gives you that impression?" He looks at her one brow lifting along with his inquiry on his teacher's sudden observation.

"Well... I don't know..." She pauses briefly, a slight ting of doubt passing her weary eyes. "Vincent's been getting in my head lately that's all. Says I'm the furthest thing from a role model. Says kids nowadays don't won't to look up to boring corpo beavers, not even rich kids." She huffs outraged. 

Valerie's brother usually liked to talk without giving the words that left his mouth much regard but honestly, Little Cato had to agree with him on this one. Modern kids didn't have corporate jobs in the cards like they maybe used to back then. Even the more well-off ones around Myers High didn't see themselves in some cushy exec position with their feet kicked back while being weighted on hand and foot. A lot of them wanted to just do nothing at all and a lot more wanted to be famous influencers like the one a bunch of the students were so infatuated with. Dewey D if Little Cato could remember the name.

"Well, he might have a point." Little Cato shrugs when Valerie throws shocked eyes at him. "What? Just saying, that's all."

She shakes her head in disbelief. "Well, it doesn't really matter." She leans up in her seat and plants her elbows firmly on the desk. "You got your assignment for spring break right LC?" She asks switching the subject on a dime. Little Cato couldn't blame her for it. Discusses His generation's ambitions, or lack thereof, could be tiring at times.

"Of course, I do V." Little Cato smiles and nods while patting his bookbag.

"Hey, that's Miss Valerie in class you here." She spoke as the two shared a small chuckle.

"Okay, okay." He hops off of the teacher's desk and makes his way toward the classroom door. "See you later teach." Little Cato waves back at her before exiting the room. She may not have been so confident in her skills as a teacher, but Little Cato could see her growth. Even if she couldn't, he was happy to see her stick with the substitute position regardless.

In the halls, in between wandering students and morning announcements blaring over loudspeakers, Little Cato's mind begins to roam. He found himself stuck in a sense he'd rarely ever had in school, as far as he remembers anyway.

The boy realizes he's bored. It wasn't the same kind of boredom he tended to feel at home or doing nothing at all either. This was different, more spontaneous to his young mind. Where had it come from? He thinks ideally as his body wanders carelessly through the long halls of the main building.

He thinks Valerie could be the cause. Little Cato had been thinking of her to an unhealthy degree as of late, or more so her ability to teach that is. History was a boring subject but never that boring before she showed up. Little Cato never minded the long lessons of Earth's past they were taught all that much. But since Valerie took over the position as their history teacher, for a time anyway, the class hadn't been the same.

Whenever it would draw to a close the young teen was always left with a feeling of exhaustion. Whether it was all on Valerie or some other factor he'd failed to take account of he wasn't so sure. All he knows is how drained he felt.

"Hey, bb." A sudden weight drops itself onto his back. Arms wrap around his neck and chest as he's brought to a short stop before continuing with the newfound weight over his shoulders. "What's going on junior? You trying to hide from me all of a sudden?"

"Hey, Ash." Little Cato quickly identifies the overly enthused spell of pressure weighing him down as his girlfriend. "Not hiding, just have a shit ton of classes."

"I know, but it feels like forever since we saw each other. God, I'm dying without you." She whines, rubbing her cheek against his.

"We saw each other literally this morning. We see each other every morning." He scoffs a bit annoyed by her little antics but also a bit flattered that she would say she missed him so much.

"I know," Ash said as she threw herself off of the boy and began to stroll beside him normally. "Still, it sucks that you have to spend most of the day studying and learning, like what is that? Where are we even? School or something?" The pink-haired girl let out a mock snicker. Little Cato chuckles under his breath. Her jokes were stupid most of the time, but he couldn't help but laugh. "So did you hear what the boys are planning?" Little Cato cuts his subdued laughter short and peers over to the girl with a confused glare. "Oh of course. Someone should really try keeping you in the loop huh?"

"Uh... yeah..." Little Cato agreed with a roll of his eyes. "What's happening now?" He questions her. She smiles at him, running a finger along his arm and taking one of his hands. Ash would quite literally drag the boy through the halls to some secluded spot in the main building.

His friends had been there far ahead of them, all except for Meowmar. The boy was sick that day or had claimed to be, and couldn't come in. 

The group of boys had been congregating near a wall, whispering out inaudible disagreement. Despite Little Cato's hearing being better than most, he's only able to pick up bits and pieces of the hushed conversation.

"Well come on." Ash taps the back of one of his strained ears as she dashes toward the group of murmuring boys.

"God, I need that game," Kendrick mutters. "Shit the one day I decided to come to school, and this happens." He grunts past the crimson mask latched around his face.

"Yeah, no kidding." Timmy groans in agreement. Little Cato still couldn't gauge what the group had been so down about and not knowing was driving him a little crazy.

"Hey, chooms." Little Cato said, inserting himself into the huddle and sort of startling the group when he did.

Each boy lunges out of the huddle. "Jesus!" Dean screeches. "Where'd you even come from?"

"What? I don't know. My class just ended, I just got here." Little Cato stammer back with a puzzled brow. "What's happening? You guys look like you're plotting... you aren't plotting are you." He asks out of curiosity. Even if they had been they probably wouldn't let him in on all the detes anyway.

"Oh, were plotting alright." Kendrick steps up to Little Cato with a confidant strut. "Get this LC, a company just shadow-dropped a game we all been waiting to get our hands on way earlier than the planned release date. It's some kind of early access promotional bullshit. I have to get my hands on that game boyo."

"The only problem is that no one is allowed on or off campus right now," Timmy said. "The schools on high alert because of all the shit that's been going down in the city lately."

Little Cato takes a monument to reflect on what he just heard. "A game?" He asks, receiving nods from the group. "And... you can't wait till you can download it?" The boy gets loud gasps from most of the boys in the group as if the words left his mouth, were the foulest thing.

"Little Cato," Argit appears beside Kendrick. "Physical releases are the last bastion of true gaming LC. You know a lot of old games get delisted every year and unless the company decides to drop a newer version, there's almost no way to get them."

"And you really think you can trust a corp with the games you download?" Kevin enters the discussion on gaming and where it's heading in the future. "You don't own the games you buy any more. It's all in the hands of the people selling them. That's why we take what we can get."

Little Cato's eyes start to wander again as his head nods. It was hard to argue with what his friends were saying. Wanting to go back and play the games he used to as a kid was becoming harder and harder the more, he thought about it. However, he also wonders just how necessary it was to preserve some of those games in the first place.

"Oh, that sounds awful." The group jumps in another start. This time the source of their scare was an outside force no one could have anticipated listing in on them. Maybe besides Little Cato.

"Koral?" Sam questions as the group glares at the Octoling boy. "What in the hell are you doing here?"

Koral scuffles in place with a nervous grin. "Well, I saw Junior and Ash and thought it would be fun to hang out with you all today. So I tagged along. And we can totally get out of the school. Remember Avocato?" Ash looks at Koral. A small fire lights up in her eyes as a soft jealous hue covers her face.

"Tagged along?" Kendrick throws an especially toxic glare at the boy. "Hang out? Fuck you mean hang? Don't you have beef with this guy LC?"

A flurry of nervous giggling flutters from behind his odd jittering. "I-it's complicated man..." He stammers in between Kendrick and Koral. "But he's honestly got a point. There's a way out of the school no one uses from what I can tell. Just... you know." The boy considers whether what he is about to ask is a good idea or not. "Let Koral come along? He knows how to navigate it pretty well."

What Little Cato knew was going to happen happened. The group erupts into a roar of disagreement over his suggestion. "Let him come?" Kendrick gasps. "Nigga are you-..." The taller teen gelds his statement and draws in a short breath. Little Cato knew Kendrick couldn't resist him even if what he was asking for made the taller boy angry. "Fine... okay." He shrugs laying the palm of his hand flat against his mask. "...So how do we get out?"

Little Cato and Korel lead the group back to the old closet where they had discovered the school's old underground passage. Being back in the room felt odd though it does draw up some slightly found memories for Little Cato. Mostly of how Koral believed he was going to die in there.

When they stepped inside, they could see that not much of anything had changed. It was weird how often the room went unused. Little Cato would think a room like it, leading to an old underground bunker would be better protected or at least watched. Hell, the room might have been so old that even the teachers didn't know of its existence. That was the only thing that made sense for why it was so easily accessible to him.

The old passageway was just as dark as the two boys had left it. Despite having more numbers and lights illuminating their surroundings, Koral would still cling to Little Cato's arm somewhat unconsciously. 

The old bunker corridors were more traitorous than Little Cato could remember. The halls were more winding and maze-like with more light shining in the long dark than it had before.

"Woah. This is so fucked." Dean's laughter bounces off of the narrow walls as he flashes his phone light throughout the corridor.

"How long do you think it's been here?" Timmy throws the question out, flashing his phone in the same direction as Dean.

No one could give a clear answer to the question. Up until recently, no one had known the ruin had existed outside of a few rumors. If anyone would know the exact age it'd be Little Cato Koral or Argit, though Argit would have more room to speculate simply based on the rusting of the pipes and his knowledge of the city as a whole.

The group weaved through the dark passages without an inkling of where they were heading. The only objective they have in mind is getting out of the old halls. They needed to get past the gate so that meant they had to find a tunnel that would lead them right outside of the school.

They wind up with a few dead ends that would just lead to other buildings on campus or outright to the campus. They would have to turn and start their search anew in most cases.

At some point during their search, Ash had clung on too Little Cato's other arm. She furiously glares at Koral on the opposite end of him, keeping distrustful eyes affixed to the boy for as long as she feels threatened. Koral would never try to swipe Little Cato and Little Cato would never dump Ash after they just started dating but she couldn't be convinced to ease up. In her mind, the Ocotoling was no better than a challenger.

After some time of stumbling around in the dark, the group came to what appeared to be a bright light blazing at the end of one of the passageways like a beacon of glimmering hope. They start to pick up their pace with Kendrick leading the pack as they rush off to the bright light at the end of a long dark tunnel.

The group emerges from the other side of the tunnel one by one. They are hit with the wonderful glow of a mid-day sun as they exit the old tunnel and hit an old patch of wilderness just outside of the school. They had finally made it out.

"Fuck yes!" Kendrick exclaims and is quickly shushed by Timmy. "Alright let's delta before anyone notices." He waves to the group, ushering each boy past him, and stops at Little Cato. "Come on LC."

Little Cato freezes. Koral and Ash still cling to his arms as he nods and bobs his head unsure of what to say. "I..." He lingers on silence again. "I can't."

A blank red stair along with a quick double take hurry to meet Little Cato. "You can't?" He says, stumped. "Why not?"

"I still have class man. I can't just skip, that's crazy." Little Cato argues against the boy. He'd follow Kendrick and his other friends pretty much anywhere but skipping school was a no-go for him.

"Oh, come on junior." Ash separates from his arm to face him. "No, one'll notice if you were gone for a little bit."

"Ash, literally all my teachers will notice." He counters. Little Cato was a well-known student by this point. Even after just arriving at Myers High his teachers had taken notice of him. Even some of the students who didn't kiss up to him had genuinely taken a liking to the boy. "Sorry, Ash but-"

"Avocato why not go?" Koral spoke up. Little Cato turns to the boy slowly. The Octoling's eyes were filled with thrill and excitement. "You've been working so hard Avocato. Traveling into the city could be fun for us." Little Cato brings his eyes off of the other boy and he trips into thought. 

Sure, It could be fun, and his friends were going so why wouldn't he? What was the harm in skipping one class? He thought to himself. His mind settles on and answers quickly when he looks back to Kendrick. "Okay." He said, nodding to the taller teen. "But as soon as we're done, we come right back." He begrudgingly walks up to Kendrick, passing the boy as he steps deeper into the small patch of brush. 

Koral would follow behind shortly after leaving Kendrick and Ash at the entrance of the bunker tunnel.

"You okay Ashy?" Kendrick questions her once nothing the girl's far-off glare.

"Yeah..." She dragged out a soft enough response, her eyes narrowed, and a frown aimed at Koral, or the general direction he'd sauntered off in. "Just great."

Getting into the city wasn't hard but it technically wasn't so easy either. The area of Westbrook where Myers High was located was a bit on the rural side. It was no easy task getting around if you didn't have a car on standby.

The group had to spend upward to an hour trekking to the nearest train station, about fifteen minutes waiting for the thing to come, and another twenty or so just to ride it into the city. That didn't include the time it took to get the game shop everyone preferred to head to either. 

In total Little Cato would guess that it had taken them two full hours to get where they were. However, their long travels seemed like they were only going to get longer once arriving.

"Shit," Kendrick swore sharply at the line gathered at the game store. Little Cato was confused. If a few copies of the game were silently released early how could the line be so long? He wonders how these people found out about the release. He wonders how his friends found out as well.

The line moves at a snail's pace. There was way too much time in between early bird customers entering the store little by little and the line progressing at all. Little Cato felt like they had been on that line for hours just waiting to get to the front of the game shop. The heat of the spring sun was starting to get to him after a while, beating down on his poor body like a thousand-degree drum. As a Ventrexian he didn't sweat like humans did. Whenever he got too hot the pours beneath his fur would open causing the sweat to run along his fur, weighing it down and giving it a slightly soaked appearance.

The longer he stood in that one spot the more he wouldn't hesitate to say he looked like a wet cat. He'd even started panting, tongue hanging loose as heavy breaths heaved in and out of his mouth.

By the time they reach the front, Little Cato is relieved. Not only to be out of the sun but to get his friends game so they could start heading back to school. He had already missed enough classes to warrant some worry from his teachers and he'd rather not have the school call his home. 

The group steps up to the counter with excited grins with Kendrick being especially restless.

"Sorry, but we're sold out." Kendrick's jaw nearly dropped from behind his mask with the awful, cursed-like word the employee had just shared with him. By the time they had made it to the front, it was already too late.

"What do you mean sold out!?" The masked teen shouts not giving the slightest care about the scene he was causing.

"It means sold out." The employee restarts in his flat tone. "It was a limited window for early access. You can still buy the game when it releases in two days."

"Mother fucker, that's two days, too late, Jesus!" Kendrick spat, jerking himself away from the counter. He stood off to the side, head lowered with his hands stitched to his waste. He was defeated and he couldn't care how much it showed.

"So that's it huh?" Little Cato walks over to him. His face held a smug yet contemptuous look on it. "All that for nothing."

The masked teen looks up at Little Cato. He sighs. Little Cato thinks he has something he wants to say but he wouldn't get the chance to before walking out of the shop completely, resolute in his disappointment.

The others follow, just as upset as Kendrick had been. Even Ash and to some extent Koral. This game must have meant a lot to them if two days were too much of a wait for them.

Little Cato walks out next, looking around briefly in search of the group before finding them by the curb of the sidewalk. The young teen ambles over, ready to retract his previous smug statement and offer some words of encouragement.

"Yo, guys." Before he could do so a person calls out. A teenager an irritated twinge to his tone. Meowmar. "Fuck you doing out here? Don't you got school right now?" He questions the group while slurping on a blue raspberry smoothie in one hand. In his other hand dangling carelessly was a bag with the same logo as the store they had exited in their disappointment.

"Fuck? What?" Dean looks at the boy in astonished anger. "Fuck off, you said you were sick, what happened to that asshole?"

Meowmar doesn't answer immediately, taking another long sip of his blue smoothie. He smacks his tongue at the eldest Dewinter sibling and then provides the boy with his hotly anticipated answer. "I got better. You make it sound like such a big deal dog."

"Well, you made it sound like such a big deal first, like honestly you're so dramatic," Timmy said marching up to the dark green Ventrexian. "What's that in the bag?" He points to the boy's other hand.

Meowmar brings the backup and looks at it, then turns his attention to the group. "You know what it is." He grins.

The group gasped at the sight of the bag. "Wait, you actually got it." Argit stops, beginning to put the pieces together. "How'd you find out you slick bastard?"

Meowmar grins again. "A little birdie told me."

"Oh, was it the same one you went down?" Koral peeks over with a sly smirk of his own.

Meowmar tilts his head at the unseen boy. "Oh ha, that's funny, fuck you. Why the fuck is Koral with you guys?" He angrily spat, sticking the straw of his smoothie back in his mouth.

"It's a long story." Kendrick steps in before things can get out of hand between the two boys. Knowing how to calm the normally angry Ventrexian, he moves to change the topic quickly. "You know you're a lucky bitch. I gotta wait for my copy." Kendrick roughly slaps Meowmar on the shoulder, slightly staggering the boy's balance.

Meowmar looks up at the masked teen, grin returning to full mast. "Well, why don't we crack it open back at my place then? You all can come over, even that cunt back there." He scoffs at Koral, and the boy returns his kindness with a middle finger. "But I gotta run some errands first if you all don't mind tagging along."

"Hell yeah. I got nothing better to do." Kendrick was quick to agree, the whole group was. The only one of them who seemed to have a problem with going along with Meowmar was Little Cato.

"Woah, woah guys wait, hold on!" He raised his voice getting his friends to stop before they could make it too far without him. "Where supposed to be heading back to school, or did you forget?" They look back at him, awkwardly shifting from foot to foot and rubbing their neck in an attempt to avoid answering the boy. "Are you guys serious? Koral?" He peers over to Koral next but even the Octoling boy has reservations about heading back to campus.

"What can you say LC?" Meowmar shrugs. "School is cool and all... if you're a gonk." He spat out a laugh.

Little Cato didn't find his joke as funny then, or funny at all. "God, fuck off." He mutters, pushing his way past the group.

"Hey, Cato, Cato." Meowmar runs after him, managing to cut the boy off as he stops in front of him. "I was just kidding man what the hell." He spoke. "Come on man, it's no fun if you're not around." Meowmar's eyes widen and water at the other Ventrexian. "Please come?"

Little Cato frowns. "Oh no." He said, stepping past Meowmar. He wasn't having any of the boy's cheap tricks. He had to be back at school so that's what he was going to do. He shouldn't have left in the first place.

"Come on Little Cato. It's gonna be real quick, just a few minutes I promise." Meowmar stops him again, this time closing his hands around each other as his pleading intensifies.

"Yeah, LC what's the harm in missing one day? You act like you can't make it up." Little Cato turns back to Kendrick who is also now egging him on. "Cato, Cato, Cato, Cato!" He starts chanting, quickly being joined by the rest of the group as they close in around the boy. "Cato, Cato, Cato, Cato!"

Little Cato stood his ground against their goading. His arms were folded, and his cheeks lay in a slight pout. No matter how hard he tried to look disinterested in them or what they had to say, however, the group of friends wouldn't let up. They just keep chanting, raising their fist, and drawing in the curious gazes of bystanders.

"Fine!" Little Cato caves in. He really just wanted them to stop screaming his name more than anything. "But this is the only time?"

"It's all we ask." Meowmar smiles at him.

Little Cato throws his head down with a great sense of shame. He would follow his friends anywhere, even out of school if they asked. What could be the harm in skipping one day though? Like Kendrick said, he could make up for it. 

Chapter 31: Cyber psycho Sighting.

"I can't believe it; I can't believe it." Gary groans. That was about the tenth time the blonde had repeated the sentiment aloud. "Honestly Little Cato, skipping school? Are you out of your mind?" Yet another appalled adage he'd been repeating as he tugged the boy along. The blonde held a hard, though careful, grip around his son's hand, dragging him along as if he were terrified of losing the boy completely.

"Come on Gary, it was just one day, relax." Little Cato tells him. He's been telling him that over and over again, though the blonde couldn't care to take heed of the boy's reasons, shallow be they may.

"Oh yeah, then one day turns to two and two to three and three to a week, to a month." Gary stops himself, heavy breaths thwarting his attempts to subjugate the boy to his exaggerated grumblings for a fleeting moment. "Honestly Little Cato I can't believe it, I can't believe it." He repeats much to Little Cato's frustration.

He should have known the worst outcome would have manifested in a phone call home that day. Ever since his early departure from school and little soiree into the city, Gary had made it no mystery that he was upset. The man had been giving the boy a proper earful all day yesterday after returning home from Meowmar's apartment and he had still been going even a day later. It was early in the day, but Gary would never let such a little thing like exhaustion get in the way of his discontent and letting it be heard.

Now Little Cato was stuck in the grasp of the fuming blonde as they speedily trekked through the downtown area with his aunt Quinn by their side. Little Cato had hoped the woman being with them would ease the blonde's fury, but she hardly tried to get in between the father and son. It was comparable to trying to separate a lion from the gazelle it was munching on.

Gary never told him where they were going, only that he wasn't allowed to be on his own at the moment. The blonde makes it clear several times that he's not grounded, just in a heap of trouble. Skipping school wasn't the kind of misconduct he wanted to see from his son.

"Gary come on it was one day." Little Cato spoke again, doing his best to quell his other dad's overstated disappointment by downplaying the incident. It wouldn't work quite as well as he'd hoped, only managing to send Gary into further hysterics and drawing up the statistics for ruined teenage lives after skipping school one day of school. Even if Gary used to do the same in his day. "Auntie help me out here, please?" Little Cato whispers back to the woman as they enter a nice store within the financial district of City Center.  

"Woah, don't pull me into this." Apprehensive hands fly up as a chilled smirk lounges on the woman's lips. Quinn wasn't going to be much help, but she hadn't been doing so from the start anyway. She got some kind of joy watching Gary parent Little Cato and maybe it was the thought of him being a responsible adult that kept her from interfering.

"Gary." Little Cato whines, pulling against the man as he begins to display signs of a slight tantrum. He pleads with Gary, though those pleas would fall on uncaring ears once the blonde starts up his moaning of the boy's actions again.

"You are so lucky your father is your biggest advocate," Gary said, eyes bitterly rolling over in his head. "If it were up to me, you would have been shipped off to Shepherd Academy by now."

A sudden sharp gasp leaves Little Cato in shock as he quickly double takes at the man. "Are you serious!?" Little Cato's tone grows in his distress and anger. "I skip one day and you're thinking about sending me to military school!" It was Little Cato's turn to be upset as the three came to a stop near a clothing rack. "Are you kidding me!? God! You act like you're this perfect being! Like you've never done exactly what I did when you were younger!" His voice rises slightly, almost loud enough to draw in unwanted attention. Though the blonde doesn't acknowledge him. He held an odd look on his face, almost as if he hadn't meant to divulge his consideration on sending the boy away at all.

"Alright let's just calm down." Quinn finally steps in once she sees that Gary is the one on the ropes all of a sudden. "He just cares for you that's all. Could you really fault him for being a little worried?" She proposed the question, but it was more of a trick to Little Cato. He shakes his head, of course, he couldn't. Gary could be a pain at times, but he couldn't bring himself to hate the man. "Besides young teens living in Sol are more likely to fall into bad crowds. The dropout rate for this city alone is more than anywhere else in the galaxy Little Cato. You should listen to your dad when he gets worried for you." The woman spews out more statistics for the boy to groan at.

"Alright Quinn, he gets it," Gary spoke calmly, taking a shirt off of the rack and hugging the fabric close to his body to inaccurately gauge the size relative to himself. "You know I just worry a lot. You're such a brilliant boy and the last thing I want is for you to do the things I did when I was younger." He said, continuing to dig through the clothing rack and pulling another shirt from it. "I'd hate for your life to get sidetracked because of- oooh, Quinn!" Whatever bit of advice he was about to give was cut in half as he turned to the woman. "What do you think about this one?" He held another shirt up to his body. "Yea, or nay?" He kept the red shirt close to himself as she squinted her observing eyes at it. Either sleeve was colored differently from the other with the left side being angelic white and the right being void black. It was a nice shirt, at least in Little Cato's opinion, but why was he buying something so eccentrically expensive looking?

"Wait, what are we doing here actually?" It only just occurred to Little Cato to ask the question. Coming all the way Downtown, to stop by this specific store that was on the more well-off side of things hadn't seemed weird until now.

Both Gary and Quinn look at him with an uneasy pause. They both stare like confused animals, bobbing their heads after a while in search of a clear enough answer for the boy. They moan and groan, looking for the best possible excuse they could drum up until one of them finally speaks.

"Well, here's the thing." Quinn starts. "We're actually heading to an Art show tonight. Me and your dads."

Little Cato raised a skeptical brow as Quinn finished. "An art show?" He asks and they nod together. "All three of you?" He asks further and receives another set of nods. "Can I come?" He questions them one more time, this time receiving more bizarre and hesitant looks from the pair.

"See that's also the thing," Gary coos as a shy smirk form on his face. "It's an... adult art show. Have to be over eighteen for this one bud." Little Cato's ears dolefully drop in his disappointment. Adult art show? He wonders what that could mean. Thoughts of trying his luck and begging for them to elaborate do come to pass but he knows it would be for nothing. If Gary, his dad, and Quinn didn't want him to do something he wouldn't, especially if Quinn was advising against it.

"Well... can I at least get something from here too?" He decides to try his luck in other places. He honestly always wanted to come to this store but could never dig up a good enough reason for his parents to take him other than wanting to show off the expensive threads to his friends.

"Of course, Little Cato." Gary agreed, nearly sending the boy's heart into an uproar. The last thing he was predicting was a flat yes from the man. Little Cato thought he'd have to do a bit of coercion before that, but he wasn't complaining about the lack of extra begging he'd have to do.

"Oh Gary, I need something good," Quinn exclaims. "Did you want to come help or are you going to stay with Little Cato?" The Blonde man peers over to his son, a slight ting of caring warmth and outstanding concern resurfacing within his eyes before turning to Quinn. 

"It's alright, I'll come help. Little Cato you stay here and pick out the things you want." He said folding the shirt he'd picked out over his arm. "And please don't wander too far. I'm begging you here spider cat." A soft smile reaches the boy as he says this.

"Gary of course." Little Cato replied with an equally soft smile though he couldn't help but be annoyed with his other dad's insistence.

Gary gives him a grateful thumbs up and follows Quinn toward an escalator that would lead them upstairs.

The store was nice, far beyond anything he could find in Little China. At the beginning of the store, on either side of the glass door entrance lay two bay windows displaying mannequins in some of the latest high-end California fashion. The inside of the store had also been separated into two parts. The upstairs floors were for female attire while the downstairs floors were for male attire although there weren't any rules dictating where one could shop. Its aesthetic was far-reaching, trendy with a corporate edge but not so sappy as to get one called out as a beaver out on the street. As far as style went it didn't matter if the threads were corpo sleek or street-tough rugged. As long as it looked cool it was cool.

Little Cato had gone through the entire first floor picking out things that simply caught his attention like tantalizing shiny little objects. From hardened lather and matted jackets to pristine white tee shirts right down to pants that ranged from jeans to carbon fiber, the boy couldn't keep himself from snagging every little item of clothing he found to be cool.

He'd snatched so much that eventually; he would need a basket provided by the store to start hauling it all around. Little Cato might have thought he was overdoing it but this was the least Gary owed him for threatening to send him Shepherd academy. Besides, it wasn't like they couldn't afford the clothes. He and his dads were more well off than they appeared, life with the Infinity Guard wasn't so bad and it was especially well-paying given that a lot of their work merely involved surveying the galaxy at large. That kind of info was especially handy to a nation like the Alliance. Normally Little Cato wouldn't be so vain but how could he pass up the opportunity to show off to his friends?

They could afford a few fancy clothes, though that did beg the question of why they were staying in a mega building. They could have gotten a place anywhere in the city even Westbrook if they were so inclined. The sudden inquiry lingers with Little Cato, nagging at him like the slight buzzing of a fluorescent light or bothersome mosquito that just had to push its luck no matter how much he swiped at it.

An anxious tug begins to pull at him even after attempting to purge the thought from his mind completely. Why would they need to stay in a mega building, he wonders time and time again. Surely there were better apartments or houses in the city. The boy's mind raced untethered until he would conclude that it had something to do with their stay.

They were only on leave. He isn't sure how long they would be staying in the city, but he knows it wouldn't be forever. It made sense why they would look toward a mega building of all places then. There was no commitment, so when it was time to pick up and leave, they could do so without issue.

That fact left Little Cato a bit more somber than he wanted. He knew they were here for a brief time, at least until his schooling was done but sometimes, he forgets that. He gets so wrapped up in the city, his friends, and the joy it all gives him that leaving it behind escapes his mind every time.

"Shit." He mutters silently to himself. He was looking through a clothing rack, but he was hardly paying the clothes he mindlessly ruffled through any attention, not like he wanted to this point. He was already so bogged in thought, too upset with himself for constantly thinking that this was his new home. His new permanent home. He thinks he shouldn't be so gullible.

He sighs, stepping back from the rack. He isn't exactly sure what to do next. The boy figured he'd go find Gary and Quinn upstairs and maybe also pick up something from the female section though the thought precludes before he's able to take off.

His ears perk back curiously. They twitch in a certain direction near the front of the store. They had picked up something, an odd mumbling from a man who appeared to be mindlessly browsing much the same as anyone in the store had been.

Little Catto keeps a close eye on the man as he stumbles around the store. What was he doing, thought Little Cato. The man looks disheveled, shaking his head every so often as he uses the racks to support himself. It was like he was trying to keep himself together but was failing miserably.

Besides the weird mumbling and shuffling, he didn't look so suspicious. Just some Saka beaver from what Little Cato could tell from the black suit he was wearing and the Arasaka logo that sat engraved on his left breast pocket.

Even so, there was no way anyone else shopping hadn't noticed this guy, right? He didn't look too strange from a glance but there was clearly something wrong, like he may have been strung out on something. Little Cato would go up and ask but he was adamantly too afraid to do so. He gets the worst feeling about the possible junkie even past him talking to himself and struggling to stay on his feet.

A monument after the thought arose, Little Cato could at least say his suspicions weren't so far-fetched.

"Are you okay sir?" Eventually, store security would notice the man's odd behavior. The guard steps up to him, defenses lowered and without a single ounce of vigilance in his movement.

"Mmm." The man mumbled back as his head twitched slightly. The security, who surprisingly still hadn't picked up on just how strange the man was acting, managed to stay as close and carelessly to the man as his professional naivety would allow.

"What was that?" He leans in with half a smile plastered to his expression. The man turns to him, eyes now flickering with streaks of bright red.

"I said, you're all gonna die here." Another much louder murmur sounds as he turns to the guard. The man's head jerks violently as he extends his arm out. The sleeve of his suit tears open as a long, mantis-like blade protrudes from his forearm before he drives it into the guard's chest. He grabs the guard's head, twisting the blade and forcing it deeper into the man before ribbing it free from his torso, cleaving the guard in half as he manages to get it free.

The first thing Little Cato heard after that was a scream. The store had flown into disarray once the other attendees eventually caught a glimpse of blood spatter and the blade it was dripping from. The man held a hand over his face, grunting, groaning, and whining as white tears began to leak down his cheeks. Suddenly the whining stops and the crying stops as he glances around the store, head jerking way too out of control by now.

Little Cato was frozen. Flickering red optics looked to find him but he didn't know what to do. The man throws a clothing rack obstructing his path out of the way as he begins his approach to the young teen. Little Cato could see him coming, could practically feel that blade protruding from his arm against his throat, yet his body would not move.

He was too scared; his mind was blank. There wasn't much he could do no matter how hard he tried. He couldn't even close his eyes as the psycho lunged toward him.

The boy thought he'd be feeling the feel of the cold sting of stainless steel burrowed in his chest, a warm sensation of crimson spilling out from him and onto the glistening floor below but that wasn't what he got, that's not what he felt. Shots rang out rapidly before he found himself with an open chest wound and the warm thick blood that splatters across his face was not his own.

The man who had been staring him down with bloodlust in his cybernetic eyes not too long ago was now on the ground and heavily convulsing.

"Jeez!" A soft sigh followed by a chuckle fills the static space. The man who had ducked into the store and laid into the psycho with two separate guns steps in further. "Just couldn't help yourself huh? Eh, I get it we all have our vices." The man smiled, holstering both guns and skipping over to the body that lay motionless on the floor. "Let's see what we got here." He eagerly drops down to both knees and looks over the body from head to toe. After a while of simply watching the psycho's body, the man's eyes would begin to flicker a bright red.

Little Cato was still snared in a state of shock. If it wasn't for the feeling of someone else's blood slowly creeping down his face, he might have remained frozen in his shock for a bit longer than he did. He looks down, slowly bringing his eyes to the man who had just, for all intents and purposes, saved his life.

The first thing Little Cato notices about the man is the large red hat flopping around on his head and how it stands out from his long black overcoat and the black tight bodysuit beneath it. After another moment of just staring at the man, Little Cato would come to the realization, from his white fur-covered face, that he was a Who. A not to rear sight considering how politically split in four his home world, Speck, had become. But it was still surprising, nonetheless.

"Uhhh..." No real words leave Little Cato. He was still too shaken up to properly respond, even if he knew how to.

"Hmm?" The man's head jerks up as he takes his sight off of the freshly made corpse. "Oh, I'm sorry." He springs up from the floor, directing a shy enough grin toward the shell-shocked boy. He was small, couldn't have been any taller than Little Cato. "My bad, I was just making sure this was the right guy. You won't believe how bad these things can get mixed up."

"Oh..." Little Cato grunts before shaking some sense back into himself. "Oh, sorry... thanks for saving my life." A timid mumble offers its gratitude to the smiling Who.

"Oh, don't fret. I'm a solo, it's basically in the job description." He laughs, moving back to the body on the floor.

"Wha-... what even was that." Little Cato was reluctant with his questioning and even more so as he struggled to move near the body. The man might be dead, but the teen couldn't be too sure of that.

"Who, this guy." The Who giggles. "Just a classic cyber psycho case. He went completely postal at Arasaka HQ not an hour ago and went on a bit of a romp in Rec Park not too long after that. I was tracking him, but I wish I could have gotten here sooner." He nods to the body of the security guard. "Eh, better late than never is what my mom would always say. Course I haven't seen here since I was a kid..." The Who fell into a bit of an awkward silence before he sprang back to life with a negligent shrug.

"Cyber Psycho?" Little Cato mutters to himself. He'd always heard of Cyber Psychos, a person so chromed up with augments and cyberware that their minds would eventually snap under the weight of all that pressure they had subjected their bodies to. He never actually had the displeasure of seeing one until now. "H-how often does that happen?" He spoke up reluctantly.  

"Oh boy," The Who flashes another brilliant grin. "More than you might think. Things like this don't only occur with how many implants you have but the stress that's packed on top of it. This guy's chromed but not enough to go wacko on his own. They must have been working him to the bone." He snickers, lightly kicking at the foot of the psycho. "Yep, just another poor sap in a long line of overworked yuppies... Well, I gotta bombshell. The badges should be able to clean the rest of this up, I only needed to kill the guy." Another light-hearted giggle emits from the man as he spins on his heels, moving to leave the store with a bouncy skip.

"Wa- wait. That was insane. It didn't even take you long to... get him..." Little Cato nods to the remains of the psycho. "Who are you?" He knows he shouldn't have asked. You never get in a solo's biz if you weren't a part of it. Little Cato was feeling somewhat emboldened though after coming so close to being psycho mincemeat.

The man turns, hat bobbing along with his head. His warm smile rushed back to Little Cato in an instant. "Me? Hmm..." His eyes veer for a moment, dropping with an odd look of satisfaction. "...I'm Sam... Sam I-Am. I'm always around the city so if you wanted, I could teach you a thing or two about downing psychos, I do it so often. I can also make it up to you for getting that guy's, uhhh... you know." Sam hovers a hand over his face. "All over ya."

One last soft giggle leaves him before he turns to exit the store as quickly as he'd entered. Little Cato stays speechless, eyes still aimed at the glass double doors. How could someone be that tough and yet so seemingly kind? Little Cato didn't get the sense that the Who was the stone-cold solo he said he was but looking at the cyber psycho splayed out on the floor in a pool of deepening blood, how could he doubt him?

"Oh god!" Gary cries, rushing over to Little Cato. "Are you alright, Jesus what happened!? Are you hurt!?" Gary wraps the boy up in his arms, immediately checking his body for injuries.

"No, I'm fine." He returns a soft hug to the man while Quinn moves over to the body and crouches one knee over him.

She looks the recently incapacitated psycho over, placing her fingers on his neck without hesitation. "Well, somebody got him at least." She said, rising back to her feet.

"Yeah... a solo saved me." He mutters. Shock still bit at his tongue from the encounter. He couldn't really believe he was still alive now in all honesty.

"Oh, I'm so sorry for leaving you alone baby." The hug Little Cato was caught in becomes tighter. He didn't mind the extra pressure though; he could really use it if anything.

"I got the clothes I want to get though."  

Chapter 32: The fall of Kurt Hansen.

The moon glows high in the sky as the car zips down a mostly empty freeway heading toward Pacifica. The soothing glow of streetlights passes throughout the car before fading out just in time for another to take its place. That too would quickly pass as they speed down the freeway, their designated driver towing the fin line between casually cruising and flat-out racing with abandon.

The quiet hum of the car oddly dulls Avocato's senses. His ears bend and fold over to shield his eardrums the way they should when encountering intense forms of sound. Frankly, Avocato liked to think he was more robust than that. He could handle a little noise, especially from a ride as smooth as this. Though maybe not, not tonight at least.

Tonight was important, a total fiesta for his exacerbated nerves to twirl to. He needed to get himself under control. One deep breath draws its way into his mouth, advances down his throat, and settles in his lungs. He keeps it, closing his eyes and letting his breath linger until the point he feels he's about to pass out. When he felt he was ready he let that same breath go, liberating itself through his nose instead this time.

Avocato's eyes flutter open again. His brief medication hardly helped his bothersome ruminating, but what else did he expect? Whenever he got an extra order from Kessler nothing, he did could appease his agitated senses. His handler had some metaphysical effect on him, a stranglehold more than anything. The G-man seldom did anything for no reason and whenever he gave Avocato a secondary order on top of his main objective, he knew nothing good could come of it. Nothing good can come of this.

"You okay Avocato?" Quinn asks, yanking him free from his immersed concentration. She looks at him with a hint of concern like she had been all night. She never let it show out right, but Avocato always managed to catch the little glances she snuck at him. "You look a little... lost I want to say." She smirks at him, checking a data pad and tightly skimming over the orders they had been provided earlier. She'd been going over their mission briefing all ride long and that made sense to Avocato. Quinn was a perfectionist, the woman never liked leaving things half-assed no matter how trivial the assignment.

"Hmm..." Avocato hums a response. Not much of a response at all in her opinion.

"He's fine," Gary declared, a wild and eager smile meeting Avocato along with the blonde's laid-back tone. "How could he not be? We're heading to a firkin party."

"Gary, it's not just some party. We're not going there to let our hair down and guzzle pricey drinks." Quinn scowls as she runs a finger along the screen of the data pad. "This is Kurt Hansen's charity Gala. Kurt Hansen! Do you know what kind of things this man has done in this city? Outside of this city!?" Quinn contests the absentminded blonde, one brow raised, and tone riddled with a kind of hysteria.

Gary answers with a simple shrug of his shoulders. "What's to know?" He snickers. "Old merc turned warlord in charge of a crap-tone of meat heads with no other purpose in life other than to 'point gun and shoot'." Gary mocks, making Hansen's 'meat heads' sound more like the cavemen they partially weren't. "I get we're technically on duty but what's the harm in having a little fun."

"Because" Avocato starts, head snapping at the blonde man. "Kurt Hansen is a dangerous man, Gary. He doesn't like people snooping in on his business, he's killed for less than that. If you want to keep your head on your shoulders, please just stick to Quinn's plan." He said, trembling as he turned his head to look out of the car's tented windows.

He takes in another, much shorter, breath as he watches streetlights wane in and out of the spacious limousine. He was scared. He wouldn't admit it or let it show but he was. He was particularly scared for Gary. Avocato had no idea what Kurt would do if he caught wind of their intentions or if he himself managed to fuck this up in some spectacular way. It could end up costing him his family if he wasn't proficient enough tonight. The Ventrexian couldn't have Hansen spoked, not without isolating the man from his party first.

Gary scoffs, spitting out a sharp "Fine" at the man Before leaning further back in his seat.

"Good." Quinn sighs relieved. "Right, so the plan." She brings up the pad and looks between the two men. "Tonight is a special occasion. Colonel Kurt Hansen, the de facto leader of the Barghest and quote-unquote 'mayor of dog town' is throwing a charity Gala for the city, possibly as a show of goodwill but most likely to hold himself in good standing with the media. We'll be attending the Gala under pseudonyms acquired for the evening. Our job is to locate his office and upload critical information, he potentially might be stashing, to our runner on standby."

Avocato hums, mostly to himself. "Remind me who I'm playing?"

"Right," Quinn sighs, a bit disappointed. "You are Pawblo Buchatnyan. A much too wealthy Ventrexian entrepreneur, relatively new money on the scene, attending tonight's event."

Avocato raised a quick brow to his reflection in the window he'd been staring out of. "Pawblo?" He questions. "I knew I guy named Pawblo..." He looks at the woman, his brow still curiously lifted, and eyes slightly narrowed.

"That is who we're impersonating actually. He got a little preoccupied so we're going to be filling in." His head jerked astonished at Quinn's sudden clarification. "Given that you two look so similar we decided it would be the best call. All say for the large white patch of fur over his right eye, you're a dead ringer."

Avocato continues to stair on in perplexity. "That so?" He hums. Pawblo was rich huh, when did that happen, he thinks. The man always talked about striking it rich and even leaving Ventrexia behind, but a lot of people did then. That was the dream, the pipe dreams at least.

"You know the guy?" Gary's head pops up as he looks at Avocato with more contorted excitement on his face. "What was he like? It's not every day you know a guy as eccentric as Buchatnyan."

Avocato leans his head back on the car's cold glass. "Ol' Paw?" He murmurs. A thought vaguely flickers in his mind then, a reflection of his home, the city he grew up in, the kids he grew up with, and the trouble they'd get into. "He was kind of a dick honestly," Avocato smirks when he sees the dissatisfaction on Gary's face. He could tell the blonde had been hoping for a grand tell, high praise of an up-and-coming underdog but the truth of the matter was so much blander. However, 'eccentric' Pawblo was now he hadn't been as so in their childhood.

"Well, we're going to have to draw off of that. Just add a little spice to it and don't worry about the patch on the head." Quinn smiles, dropping the data pad and pulling out a makeup kit from under the seat. "I got you covered."

The car comes to a temporary lull, stopping on a line of other long, black, and equally luxurious limousines. The line creeps along slowly, each car stopping briefly to release a celebrity, local politician, or the occasional unsubtle organized crime boss out onto the red carpet leading up to the tall skyscraper where the Gala was being held.

The building sat on the west end of Pacifica. It was an old hotel and a fairly expansive one at that. If slumming it with the locals was your ideal vacation as a well-off individual, then this was the place for you. Pacifica wasn't the worst neighborhood these days but if someone was affluent enough to stay here, they might as well just look for a spot in Westbrook or City Center.

"How do I look?" Avocato turns to Gary and Quinn with a shy smile. The sensation he got from the makeup covering one portion of his head made him feel a bit ridiculous, but he couldn't just waltz into the hotel looking like his regular self now, could he?

Gary chirps up, hiding a giddy smile behind rolled hands. "Aww, you look so adorable." The blonde gushes. That wasn't the response Avocato was looking for exactly, but it does send his cheeks into a frenzy of heat.

"You remember who you are Avo?" Quinn asks, testing the capabilities of his memory as she hooks a pair of blue star earrings into her ears that match her nova blue dress just well. 

The man sits up and fires up a magisterial smirk at the pair. "Pawblo Buchatnyan and you two fine creatures are my arm candy for tonight." He spoke with a finely tuned accent crescent from the heights of Ventrexian society that seemed to impress Quinn and nearly got Gary to soak his pants. Avocato wasn't much of an actor, but he did his best to mimic the played-up voice of his childhood friend the best he could.

Despite being from the same ghetto Avocato had grown up in, Pawblo always spoke as if he were born and raised in Terracotta Heights, one of the more prestigious parts of the city he was from. He'd practice speaking like those aristocrats every day until the accent managed to stick like a second language. Pawblo always had ambition, dreams of living among those who didn't even know they existed or didn't care to pay any mind, liked to think that he was more than he actually was. But to hear he actually managed to attain those goals takes Avocato's breath away. He thinks should look into the man once they're done with tonight.

"Alright, everyone set," Quinn asks, checking with the pair one last time as their limo comes to a stop at the red carpet leading up to the hotel doors. The runway was surrounded by people, mostly paparazzi looking to get a statement or two from all the well-known individuals in attendance and people who just like to gawk at folk higher up on the totem pole than they were.

Avocato and Gary nod to Quinn. "What about our hacker? Is he good to go?" A twinge of sass leaves Gary's smirk as he affixes his long high-heel boots to his feet.

"I'm set, don't worry." A raspy voice fills the car from every speaker, causing Gary to jump in a sudden start.

"Wha- how long have you been here?"

Hollow, weary laughter spills out of the car's speakers. "I'm always watching Gary."

"What!?" Gary yelps for an answer but gets no response from the runner. "Crap this is gonna freak me out all night." He groans, exiting the car. Quinn follows, giggling behind the blond as she does. Avocato is the last to leave though to speak the truth, he was too hesitant to move.

Not only was he about to attend a large event hosted by one of Night City's most notorious, but he'd be doing it under the guise of a celebrity. Sure, he was just playing a character but the fear of standing out and facing all those people, facing all of their cameras keeps him locked in place.

Not to mention he was supposed to maintain the image of someone he used to know personally. Any inaccurate action and someone would notice. Whether that would be tonight or any other night. This could all go wrong in so many ways.

Avocato straightens out the edges of his purple glittering suit and tugs at the loose shirt collar exposing his chest. The Ventrexian finally gathers up enough courage to say fuck it, and he steps out of the car. The man puts as much flare for the dramatic in that first step and each step afterward. If Pawblo really was as eccentric as they say, then Avocato has a good idea of how to display that with his own body. Pawblo always enjoyed the attention others gave him so something more flamboyant and attention-griping would be his hook.

Avocato struts up the red carpet, swaying his hips, flashing annoyed scowls at every camera pointed his way, and blowing kisses into the populace sectioned off by security railing before rendezvousing with the two beautiful plus ones specifically there to make him look better. He throws an arm over each shoulder and struts into the Gala like the pompous peacock he was pretending to be.

Getting inside was more of a breeze than he had first figured it would be. Avocato was feeling confident, but he knew his struggles were only just about to begin. It was one thing to walk past people you didn't have to interact with, but it was another thing to be a celebrity at a popular event filled with other notable figures. He had to speak, and he'd have to speak a lot to maintain his social opulence. Avocato is hoping he can keep the act up long enough to see the night through. 

The group steps into an elevator at the end of the hotel's black and gold lobby. They were about ready to get this show on a roll. "Okay, so far so good," Quinn whispers to the pair. "Let's take it slow, mingle a bit, and remember," She looks to them. "If anything goes awry, we are weapons-free." Avocato and Gary nod without much objection. This was the first time they had gotten an order of engagement, well for Gary and Quinn at least. Of course, the order had come on Kessler's behalf. Gary and Quinn had questioned the decision before, but they were assured that the modification to the original assignment was for the best. They were dealing with Kurt Hansen after all. No one would bat an eye if a firefight broke out at one of his gatherings.

"Here, take these." Quinn holds out her hand. In her palm were three earpieces. "Just in case we need to split up. Our net runners also jacked in." Gary and Avocato each take a piece as Quinn quickly and carefully plugs the device into her right ear. "Okay, let's get this started." Quinn smiles.

"Let's," Avocato smirks back, the pretentious facade holding up nicely against himself.

The elevator comes to a stop at the very top floor of the hotel and opens up slowly as the group of three is greeted with a truly dazzling sight. They were supposed to be heading to A charity Gala but where they ended up could be more compared to the very top of Mount Olympus if anything.

Large marble stone pillars hold out bastardized replications of old Greek structures. Holograms of cherubs and chariots circled the air above them in an endless race along their designated paths. To their left, a waterfall flows out of a smaller, though still pretty big, imitation of the Parthenon and into the middle gap of the hotel's rooftop. The weather never goes anywhere but it was a pretty convincing sight. If it weren't for its neon glow, Avocato isn't sure he'd be able to make out the difference. 

After observing the rooftop with all the grace of toddlers having shiny keys dangled in front of them, the group would make their way toward the main building where the Gala was being held. Parting the marble pillars, they step into the soothing glow of a formal affair in full swing. 

Avocato had never been to many Galas in his life, the last thing he could think that came remotely close was a ball held in his youth. He was in the royal military academy of Ventrex then, coming up on his last year before being shipped off to fight an actual war for the sanctity of his king and his nation.

The man could remember that day clearly. He was so nervous then, much like now. He had just asked this girl out, a woman whose fur was as white as the tundras of the northeast peninsulas. She was so beautiful in her informal attire, the way her body squeezed into the tight dress drove him mad. She undoubtedly left a good enough impression on him, enough to want to marry her at least.

This Gala was almost nothing like that ball. It was far grander, both extraordinarily formal and underwhelmingly informal all at once. Abstract art lined the walls from each end, golden chandeliers hug from a ceiling that gives off the illusion of stretching on forever and the gold obsidian trimmings along the walls convey a great sense of significance. 

A small casino drew in more crowds than the bars managed though there were still plenty of people looking for hard-hitting drinks.  

The dance floors were nearly packed with the some of the more livelier party gores tossing their bodies to the harrowing beat of the latest club tracks. There had even been a stage at the far end of it all, sat up to showcase some performances though Avocato isn't sure who from. With the number of musicians present tonight, all he could do was guess. Hansen truly had spared no expense with this event. The holographs alone must have cost a small fortune.

Politicians chitchatted with one another, and celebrities mixed and mingled. Kurt's guest list was certainly exquisite. Everywhere he looked he could see well-known faces, important figureheads, and old and new money alike from every part of the galaxy scattered at each corner of the Gala. Some of the faces he's seen before and others he hasn't seen in his life but can gauge their importance by their sense of fashion alone. No one whose blood was worth its weight in gold would ever dress any less. The disguised man thinks now would be a good time to take account of who all had been attending this not-so-humble charity event.

"Hey, Fox." He starts with a hushed mutter. "Who's here tonight? I see a lot of faces. I hardly think some of them are nobody's." He chuckles in wait for a response from the hacker.

"I wouldn't know. I don't usually keep up with media."

"Oh." Avocato's ears drop slightly.

"Just kidding." Raspy laughter echoes through the earpiece. "I got an extensive list here actually. A lot of these people are in the goddamn hemisphere wealth and status-wise. Makes me wonder just how influential Kurt really is." Fox grumbled. Avocato was wondering the same. Sure, he's read his report, and even had a run-in with the guy some years ago but nowadays he doesn't seem like the average merc turned warlord. "Alright, first off let's start at the bars. I got a read on a few musicians. One Lizzy Wizzy, Kerry Eurodyne, no relation to Eurodine as far as I know." Fox laughed. "RatBoy, Comrade old money."

"Old money huh?" Avocato cuts in. "My son loves his music. I don't get it personally."

"Well, maybe you can introduce him one day." Another raspy chuckle fills his ear. "Moving on, we got a few young stars on the dance floor. Spyro from that Dragonhart band, three young influencers, Destiny, Dallas, and Deja Vu Dalmatian, and a young rich brat by the name of Pacifica Northwest."

"Oooh, Triple D." Gary parts his lips with a mall buzz and pivots to Avocato. "Can we go meet them?"

"Maybe another time Gary." He turns down the blonde's request leading Gary to let out an exaggerated groan. "Who else we got?"

"Looks like most of the CEOs and Gangers are hitting up the tables." Fox continues. "Can see Hyperion CEO, Handsome Jack at the roulette table and getting real lucky with it. Those twin stars, Velvet and Veneer are losing horribly at the blackjack table. Eldon Tyrell seems to be playing Pai gow poker with Albert Wesker, crazy bastards... hmm..." A long uneasy hum fills the brief silence on the Fox's end. "I spot one Once-ler and a warden out and about."

"God..." A strange mix of an irritated gron and a typical sigh leaves Quinn. "Of course, they're here. Nothings more worrying than having the Once-ler and Warden Davis under one roof." She growls under her breath and struggles to keep her composure. "Who else is here?" 

 "Well-... my god... looks like Dib Membrane's here too."

"What?" Quinn's attention snaps in the direction of the casino area. "Professor Membrane is here? Why though, he never leaves his lab..." Quinn utters to herself, coming up with any bit of reason for the professor's appearance at the Gala that doesn't make much sense in the grand scheme of things. For him to be here at this very moment seems odd. The last thing they'd want was for one of the nation's top scientists to get roped into anything harmful to the Alliance. "I have to go speak to him real quick. I'll be back."

"Quinn wait-" Avocato hissed behind her tough to no use. Once that woman's mind was made up there was no stopping her. Avocato lets her go, they can't afford to draw too much attention at the moment. "So uhh... wanna hit up the blackjack table?" He asks Gary who looks back with an odd expression.

"Weren't you guys going on about us not letting our hair down." He said, a cocky grin mocking Avocato.

Avocato shrugs at the blonde. "Why not, we have time I think." He said, beginning to pull the remaining person on his arm toward the blackjack table. They take a step in the direction of the casino. Avocato was really willing to sit down for a hand or two though there was a slight delay in their plans as the form of a faded blonde woman appeared before them.

"Gary, is that you may?" The woman says, her voice slurred, and her balance stood on a slight wobble. Her graying blond hair was ruffled up and the drink she held in her hand slightly dribbled onto her tight black dress. It was Gary's mother, and she was way too drunk for her own good. "Wu- wuh' you doin heae kid? Wheaes little man...? And who's this now?" Her roving and barely off-center eyes glide over to Avocato, who didn't much look like Avocato then. "Oooh, you know if Avobrado finds out ya been sleepin' round he won't like tha! But like mother like son righ, so ma lips are zipped kiddo!"

"Ha, I have no idea who you're talking about lady!" Gary forces out a laugh before lowering his voice. "Mom, not now!" He leans in with a stern whisper.

"Alrigh, alrigh..." The woman concedes quicker than they thought she would. "I gotta go hide from Maxus anyway. Little Bostad's been hounden me all nigh long. I'll see you latea kiddo." She slurs, taking a swing from the shot she was carrying, and hobbles off.

"Oh jeez." Gary held a hand to his face mortified by his mother's drunken presentation.

"Tell me about it," Avocato said, feeling just as embarrassed on Gary's behalf. Neither of them knew the old blonde would be here tonight but they should have expected she was invited.

Now able to continue to their destination the couple can see that the space was surprisingly unpreoccupied. The only ones currently at the table were the twins mentioned before. The boy was having a hard time, calling hits where he should have just held the card he had and holding at too low of an amount to even consider beating out the dealer. 

The girl on the other hand simply sat with her chin and her hind and an arrogant smirk over her velvet-colored lips. She couldn't care if she won or lost, it was like the simple act of watching her brother fail was enough for her.

Both vary in personality with the brother being far more anxious and timid than the sister but they both look the same for the most part. Each twin, for all their little differences, was still walking slabs of makeup and nose-wrenching perfume. Their skin was gray and rubbery as all hell. Could it be augmentation he thinks. Avocato felt like he might have made a mistake wanting to take a seat at that table. With his heightened senses, the Ventrexian was getting way more of the twins' combined aroma than he bargained for.

"Uhh... Hit me." Veneer stammers, throwing one finger down on the table.

"Sir you're at nineteen." The dealer spoke, subtly advising the male twin against asking for another card.

He seems to give the dealer's words some thought, gazing down at his current set of cards before looking up at him again. "Hit me." He insisted, unwavering and the dealer would oblige with a shrug.

"Twenty-five, you lose."

"Fuuuckkk..." A disgruntled whine reverberates from the male twin as he slams his head down on the table. "I don't get this game."

"You know you should really consider stopping above seventeen. That's the sweet spot in most cases." Avocato sat down with Gary by his side. The voice he'd been using came out automatically as it had already become second nature for him.

The twins look at him, faces blank and or chalked with confusion. "I'm sorry who are you?" The female twin demanded. Her proud smirk took off in a hurry at the sound of Avocato's fake accent.

His eyes dart about nervously. He was staggered by the suddenness of Velvet's tone. "I- I'm Pawblo... Bucahtnyan..." He softly answered. The twins kept impatient blank eyes locked on him until the suspicion wrenching up their faces vanished, and they were able to register who he was, or who he was claiming to be.

"Ohhhh, of course." Velvet breathes out a long puff of recognition. "My apologies. We heard you couldn't make it tonight."

"Yeah, and you really packed on the muscle sweetheart, no wonder we couldn't recognize you," Veneer says peeking over his sister's shoulder. 

A shy grin starts to form on the Ventrexian's face. He hadn't seen Pawblo in a long time, but it was true that the man was fairly slimmer than him at the time. He was skinner than most Ventrexians. The closest he'd be able to compare him to at least at the time, was Avocato's own son. If what he's hearing is true, then the man hardly changed a bit in the looks department.

"Oh yes, we had a change of plans, in which those plans had changed as well so here we are." Gary leaps into the exchange, putting on a voice as regal as Avocato had fabricated to fill in for his lack of confidence at the moment. "Hi, Damian Lockheart, one of Pawbby's new squeezes." He offers a dainty hand out to the twins which they would both take with pleasure. "We've been keeping him on a certain training regimen as of late, honestly he's been getting a bit puffy in places you wouldn't believe." Gary, or rather Damian whispers to the pair leaving Avocato's cheeks in a flustered fit.

"Well keep it up. It's a good look on him." Velvet said, biting down on her lip and running a finger along one of the man's biceps.

Gary seeing this show of affection, quickly moves in between him and Velvet in other to divide them. "Oh well, you know." He grins. "Only the best for my love." He says, squeezing the man's arm. Gary was always the jealous type and could hardly even stand it when another man or woman was speaking to him politely. Avocato couldn't help but love the blonde for that.

"Avo." A grumble crackles over the earpiece in his ear. "It's time to start moving, Hansen just left his office and is making the rounds on the ground floor. You won't get a better chance." The voice disappears. Avocato had to get a move on.

"Hey, darlings." He said turning back to the table. "I need to use the restroom. Hope you don't mind." He stood up and looked at the blonde. "Ga- ur, Damain... would you mind keeping them company for a bit?"

"Honey of course not." The blonde beams a bit too excited but what could you do? 

Avocato nods at the group and hurries off deeper into the Gala. He pushes through gossiping millionaires and politicians as gently as possible, dances through a dance floor full of young, up-and-coming stars, and shuts down conversations from his fellow entrepreneurs before they have a chance to start up with quick, cold responses.

Avocato didn't have time to sit and pretend to care about what any of these people had to say to him. This was his moment, the only moment he might get to sneak into Kurt's office unseen. He was nearly in the clear, the home stretch mocking him with how close it lay so of course his luck would have a sudden turnaround near the end.

A stray security guard had wandered over to the door and planted himself firmly in Avocato's path. He wouldn't be able to get into the back offices now, not while the guard was in the way, but if he waited too long, he would no doubt miss his window of opportunity. He needs a distraction.

"Gary." He raises a finger to his earpiece, hailing the blonde on the other end. "I need a diversion, can you help." He stops and waits for a moment. The response feels like an eternity to arrive. Each moment he spent waiting was time he couldn't get back.

"You got it," Avocato finds himself relieved once Gary's voice returns to his ear drums. "One diversion coming up." In a moment the sound could be heard, a sort of crashing followed by flustered gasping. "Somebody, anybody please help, I can't breathe! I think I'm having an episode!?" Avocato could hear the voice of the blonde cry out. He spun around to see Gary, writhing and roughly convulsing on the ground, thrashing his limbs out to anyone who would attempt to assist him.

The security guard by the door to the back office takes notice of the man's dramatic wrenching and rushes over to lend a hand. A proud grin rides up Avocato's face. Knowing Gary, he'd keep them busy for a while. He might even keep Kurt a little busy as well.

"Go on in. Don't worry about the cameras." Fox informs the man as he enters the back offices without a second timid thought. His first goal was to get to the computer, jack in a data shared as he had done at the Petrochem HQ and upload the data to the Fox.

After that, Avocato had to do was wait. He takes a seat in Kurt's chair as all the data in his computer is copied and downloaded directly to his net runner. It gives the Fox a bit of a hard time, but he'd managed to get everything of value even after triggering a data purge.

Just like that, their job was officially done. At least Quinn and Gary's were. Avocato still had one last objective to fulfill, and he was planning to carry it out no matter what. So, he sat and waited, gun drawn and facing the only other way into the room. Avocato didn't even know what kind of info they were after. His only concern was Hansen and how Kessler wanted him the deal with the man.

"Oh..." The door slides open and a man steps in. His milky white augmented eyes surveyed the room before settling back on his office desk. He's a bit dazed at first but he seems to reestablish his poise before the stranger sitting in his chair. "Buchatnyan?" He spoke, tone as smooth and cool as a seasoned soldier on a battlefield. 

"Guess again." Avocato flatly response.

Kurt hums, leaning in a squinted stair at the man as he begins to raise his hands. "You're right, you're not him huh?" Kurt smiles taking notice of the door that closes and locks behind him. "Guess I should have seen this coming a mile away."

"Try ten miles." Avocato stands, pointing his silenced pistol at the brawny man.

Kurt hums again and nods. "So, who sent you? Remind me to pay them back in kind once we're done here."

"You make it seem like you're walking out of this alive." Avocato sneers at the Colonial. "I think you know who. But it doesn't matter because there's not much you'll be able to do about it," Avocato said. "The only thing that matters is why I'm here. And you know why I'm here."

"Yeah." A long sigh flows from Kurt. "Couldn't keep playing ol' Kess forever." Kurt steps further into the office, augmented obsidian arms now fully raised beside him. He stops as Avocato raises the gun to his head. "You know You're not Buchatnyan but I do feel like I know you. Have we met before...? No, no we have met. Maybe somewhere off-world, some time ago fighting in a war you didn't want any part of. Taking that bitterness out on a king and queen who put you in that position." Avocato eyes widen before closing halfway as he veers away from Kurt. The gun he held to the man drops slightly off target. Did Kurt remember him? "You know after what happened to your girl and the kid, I was half expecting you to kill yourself." Kurt chuckles. Avocato looks back at him, eyes not full of rage. He lifts the gun but before he can shoot, the man tosses the desk out of the way, taking Avocato off guard and knocking him back.

As soon as the Ventrexian managed to jump back to his feet, Kurt was already gone, running out of a side exit to the office. "Shit!" Avocato hissed.

"Get after him!" a grumble echoed in his ear. "I already locked down all the doors heading to the main hall, he has nowhere else to go but out." The fox informed Avocato. The man was already to his feet, a bit shaken but nothing he couldn't shake off. Those damn obsidian arms were more capable than Avocato gave them credit for.

Avocato was out of the same door that Kurt had run through in an instant. He didn't see the man, but the hall only went one way. He ran, turning the winding corner until he was able to lay eyes on the man. Unfortunately, he was already gone, in a private elevator heading downstairs.

"Hell no." Avocato growls. "Fox get this door open." He orders, pulling out his magnetic gloves and strapping them on quickly.

"On it." The elevator doors slide open, reliving the empty shaft. There was no way he was letting Kurt get away, not even if it killed them both. Avocato takes a step back before hurling himself into the elevator shaft. He takes hold of the thick cables and ushes them to repel down. He'd been sliding down so fast that slight sparks were starting to kick off of the cables, slightly burning him as they made contact with his body, but he didn't care about the burning sensation over his fur.

Avocato came crashing down on the roof of the elevator. He crouches down, clamping his fingers around the edge of the emergency hatch, and pries it open with one aggressive motion. Kurt was already out of the elevator, but Avocato wasn't finished pursuing him. 

He slips into the hatch and runs out of the open door of the abandoned elevator. Kurt was still unable to get out of this labyrinth of back rooms, but Avocato would realize that hadn't been his goal. The old merc wasn't looking for ways to get into the hotel, he was trying to get out. Avocato flows the man as best he could around winding corners until they come to a back exit leading to the hotel's parking lot. He runs out of the door just in time to see Kurt pull off in a red car with black stripes running down the middle. Avocato didn't have time to think about what to do, he just needed to catch up.

The frantic man jumps into the first vehicle he sees, a sleek blue sports car belonging to one of the rich guests of the Gala. He's sure whoever it was could afford a new one anyhow.

He quickly catches up to Kurt's car as he chases the Colonel down like a pissed-off bounty hunter, speeding in between bits of traffic and civilians alike. No sidewalk was too crowded for Avocato. Kurt wanted to drive dirty, but he was willing to drive dirtier. All that mattered was the old merc's death by any means necessary.

Avocato clenches his teeth, tightening his grip around the steering wheel as he whips it around to keep pace with the fleeing man. Rage burns in his eyes and emotions flare up like an angry leopard as his focus narrows on the bastard trying to get away from him. He couldn't let him go; he wouldn't let him go.

Kurt eventually turns into an old construction site, blazing through the dark without a care in the world. He was getting desperate, the routes he was taking were getting more and more dangerous. He was a rabbit, inspired to run for dear life from the vicus dog in pursuit of him. Unfortunately for Kurt, this dog's fangs were far-reaching.

Avocato'd had enough of the games. He leans out of the car with his gun in hand, taking aim at the car ahead of him while keeping his steady. One deep breath, a closed eye, and the squeeze of the trigger later, and Kurt's car would go flying out of control as a tire blew out.

The red Mustang goes crashing into a wall, smashing through the old stone before stopping completely. Avocato lightly pushes his foot against the break of his commandeered vehicle, and it stops a moment after. Flinging open the door he jumps out, gun already drawn and ready to fire. He couldn't see much from where he stood only the red glow of brake lights cutting through dense dust. The dust and debris that settled in the aftermath of Kurt's crash obscured any sign of the man and his car. Avocato squints at the wreck. He's about to declare the man dead until a pained groan rings off the old stone of the work yard.

Kurt had staggered out of the debris, limping but still moving quickly. Avocato begins to walk after him, stalking the man like a killer in the dead of night. The Ventrexian fires off three shots, hitting Kurt once in the shoulder but the man kept moving and ducking and doing everything, he could to stay alive.

"You know I usually carry a gun!" Kurt stammers out a strained chuckle. "I thought that bringing one tonight might have been too inappropriate!" 

The old merc stumbles up to an old sewer drainage. The water was rushing like a wild river current of city waste. He turns back to his pressure and then back to the drainage system. Before Avocato knew it Kurt Hansen jumped into the drainage. The Ventrexian runs over, peering over the side and into the rushing river but sees nothing.

He'd have to go down to make sure the man didn't get away. He sighs. "Fuck this." He spat, pulling a small disk out of his jacket and tossing it into the river of waste. The man turns an about-face, walking away from the rushing water as it explodes into a cloud of flame. He holsters his pistol as the aftershock from the large explosion nearly knocks him off of his feet though Avocato would keep himself steady. 

He lumbers back to his borrowed car, thoroughly exhausted and ready to call it a night. A frustrated groan would come as he leaned on the hood of the car. He couldn't believe Kurt recognized him. He couldn't believe he could remember his wife, his unborn child, and the royal family he was meant to protect.

Avocato bound a hand to his mouth. He felt like he was going to be sick. He felt like he was going to cry. His heart beats with the sorrow of fourteen years of pain held back by denial and distraction. Following the orders of a man who was the cause of his circumstances now. Why did he do what he did? If it weren't for Little Cato he would have called it quits on that very same day. And then he met Gary, and he got a new family. Then things didn't seem so bleak after that.

"Avocato? You good? Did you get him?" His earpiece rumbles to life with a smidgen of concern underneath a normally gloomy, flat tone.

"Yeah..." Avocato shakes his head, driving away the oncoming tears as he starts to recompose himself. "He's gone."

"You sure?" Avocato sat with the question. He looks back at the sewer drainage. Was he sure? 

"Yeah... I am." He answers confident that the man is dead. Even if the explosion didn't get him, a combination of piss and shit and whatever else was flowing in that river would seep into the open wound Avocato had so gracefully bestowed upon him. Kurt was dead. Fast or slow, that didn't matter.

"Okey. I'll send the confirmation up. Good job man." The Fox's voice vanishes and just like that Avocato is alone again.

This time he doesn't feel so bad about himself, however. The moment had passed and all he could think about now was his son and Gary.

"Avocato!" His earpiece goes off again. Speak of the devil. "Where'd you take off to!?"

"Y-yeah, Gary. Yeah, I'm here" He steamers with some caution. "Sorry, I had to step out real quick. Place was getting stuffy.

"Oh," Gary responds. Avocato isn't sure if the blonde bought his lazy excuse. "Well come back in soon I kinda lost track of Quinn. On the upside, I'm really making an impression here. These people love me." Gary giggles. He sounds like he's having the time of his life. "Oh, I gotta go, that CEO from Mars was getting on Velvet's nerves and she's about to go give him the business."

"You got it, Gary," Avocato says with a small laugh. He would have to head back eventually, and he'd have to stay at the party for the rest of the night. Or at least until the Barghest realized that their boss was missing. Another fatigued sigh leaves him. Avocato just hoped no of this got back to Pawblo.

Notes:

You know they say death is not the end.

Chapter 33: The Lizzie's infiltration.

Little Cato brings the back of his knuckles down on the cold steel door, knocking with some reservation in each tap. He takes a few steps back after, curiously eyeing the door. "Please don't be Clarence, please don't be Clarence." The young teen mutters to himself, fingers crossed hysterically as he passes on his silent prayer.

It was early that morning, and the day pretty much just starting for the teen. Now that spring had officially begun and school was out there no need to head to bed quite as early as usual. Most of the time spent during the night was with his friends, either hanging out in the halls of the mega building or playing video games. 

Whenever he wasn't spending time with his friends Little Cato would use the time to work on his school assignments here and there. The assignments bore him to death, and he considers if should take a failing grade rather than coasting through his enhanced work but if he did that Gary might kill him.

Despite having more leeway with his curfew for the past half week Little Cato was still early to rise in the mornings though never intentionally. His friends were always at his door, never willing to give him a moment's peace. Even during the times when he made it so clear he wanted to be alone, he'd wind up giving in to the wants and needs of the group. He always had a hard time turning them down, especially after the begging and pleading they would resort to after being turned down the first time.

Spending so much time with the others also hadn't given him and Ash much time to spend together. Technically they were always together. He and Ash having the same friend group made separation almost impossible, but it's been a while since it was just the two of them. Not the two of them plus five more.

That's why he was there now, standing in front of her door and quietly pleading to the universe that it was her who answered and not her overbearing and obnoxious father. Since their friends were so busy today, Little Cato would use it as an opportunity to spend some time with Ash, though at some point he wondered if anyone would answer the door at all.

Little Cato had been idling at her apartment door for close to five minutes now. He knows these apartments aren't huge, it doesn't take an eternity to get from the living room to the front door. He found it odd that it was taking her so long to answer. The more the seconds pass the more he thinks he should come back around later. Leaving was a better option than standing by her door like a sad puppy and getting frustrated that she wasn't answering the door fast enough.

"Hello?" As Little Cato was on the cusp of leaving, the door slid open, stopping a quarter of the way through its skimming. An eye darts out to him, slightly squinted in trepidation though soon broadening in recognition quickly after. "Oh, hey." Fox's upbeat tone trumpets past the half-opened door before fully opening up to reveal his enormous figure. "What up Little Cato?" His smile clambers down at Little Cato.

Out of the two people Little Cato had foreseen opening up to him, Fox did not cross his mind once. He wasn't Ash but at least he wasn't Clarence. He felt he should be thankful for that. "Hey Fox. Is Ash home? I was thinking we should stay chilled today."

The smile on Fox's expression sinks suddenly, eyes passing over into thought as he holds a hand to his chin. "Ashy?" He hums prudently, eyes snapping open with a recollected answer. "Oh right, she and Harp are out shopping right now."

"Out?" Little Cato said, eyes falling to the ground. "So early? Why didn't she tell me." The question was steered mostly toward himself as he turned away from the larger man. Here he was feeling bad for not spending enough alone time with his output and she was ghosting off on him. It leaves sort of a bitter taste in Little Cato's mouth.

"You know how those two are, two pees in a pod. Two knights on a death march, two raiders with only one syringe." Fox said with another grin. The elated look on his face almost gives off the impression that he'd been reminiscing about something.

"Right... well I heard of the first saying anyway..." Little Cato sighs, head falling in dismay once again. "You know when she's coming back then?" Fox shrugs in response, sending yet another disappointed sigh dashing from Little Cato. "She was like my whole day man." The young teen runs a hand frustratingly over his neck.

"Hey don't worry man," Fox said. "Tell you what. I'll hang out with you." He steps out of the apartment hands on his waist as he strikes a valiant pose for the teen.

"Fox, no come on. You're not even dressed choom." Little Cato points out, tossing a handout to the man just in case the point passed him by. Fox looks down, observing the pajamas he'd been coped up in.

"Right..." His eyes close as he softly buzzes. "Two seconds." He says, tossing up two fingers before quickly popping back into his apartment. Little Cato's eyes pivot. Fox's abrupt proposal leaves him floored but it wasn't like he had anything better to do then. His friends were mostly busy so hanging out with them was a no-go and sitting in his room by himself all day was also out of the question. Little Cato brings his hand to his hair, roughly pushing at the bright blue mohawk with a sigh. This was his only other choice.

Another few minutes' pass to Little Cato's annoyance before Fox finally returns. His style had changed dramatically by the time he was back. His tank top and light blue pajama pants were replaced by something Little Cato would expect to see out on the streets of Night City. A brown leather speed demon jacket was draped over his wide shoulders and black cargo pants with the legs tucked into sleek combat boots.

Fox had taken the pseudo-militaristic approach with his threads though he usually did. He was even wearing a bulletproof vest with the logo of its manufacturer plastered over the chest. The vest was just a mock-up, but the point was that it was supposed to look cool, not function properly.

"Sooo... where we going?" He chirps, pushing an elbow into Little Cato's shoulder.

"Oh, uhh..." A short stammer falls in place of Little Cato's answer. His original intent was to just hang out in his room with Ash. Going out somewhere wasn't something he gave any thought to. "Should... we head over to Misty's?" Little Cato haphazardly flings a recommendation. The spiritual shop was the only place he could think of at the moment, but he wasn't the one who usually came up with where to go. That decision normally came from literally any other one of his friends.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

So far Little Cato's day doesn't have the best of begins but at least he could say it was beautiful out. Sure, it was also a tad windy and a bit cold, but it was nice despite those glaring issues. 

The sun was still shining and the parts of the sky he could see sat in a warm baby blue tent. It could have been worse; things could always be much worse. He should be glad he was dealing with a little chill and not caught in a below-freezing blizzard, nearly frozen half to death. The boy would hate to have an experience like that again. Compared to planets like Heeth, Earth's coldest weather was easy living.

As much as it sends him through fits of shivering chills, Little Cato would focus on enjoying the weather for what it is. Even so, his mind lingers on Ash. Thoughts of her leaving the building without giving him a heads up leave him angrier than he normally would get on an occasion like that.

By the time he and Fox make it to Misty's side of town, Little Cato is confused. He didn't realize they had been walking for that long until the neon glow of the woman's shop sign hit the corner of his eye with a familiar faint glow.

"Soo, Misty's..." Fox stares at the building. "You know I don't get around here too often but the voodoo thing kinda scares me." The taller man's smile vanishes with a tilt of his head. 

"Well, I wouldn't call it voodoo." Little Cato clarified. Fox paces back and forth nervously in front of the shop, observing the sign above and possibly repeating the name to himself numerous times.

"Right." Fox let out an agitated groan. "So now what? Do we go in...?" Little Cato returns a shrug to the man's uncertainty. The young teen held a hand to his neck, some subtle hint of awkwardness beginning to nip at him.

Little Cato and Fox had never really hung out solo before and it was just starting to occur to the teen just how strange it felt being with him without anyone else he knew to bounce off of.

"You know, maybe not. Misty's cool and all but maybe we can find something that's more tuned to your taste." Little Cato expressed, allowing Fox to choose their activity. Lord knows Little Cato didn't have a good enough clue what to do.

The man huffs, seemingly surprised. The ridges of brows shoot up his head. "Huh... you know what I like?" He turns to Little Cato, a grin maniacally twisting up his face. "Ice cream. There's a crazy nova spot around here actually." He said, strolling away from Misty's Esoterica and toward the market not too far from there.

Little Cato silently follows behind his girlfriend's brother. He made sure to stick as close to Fox as he pushed through hordes of roaming shoppers with as much grace and gentleness as his hulking body would allow.

The pair came to a stop at an old market stall that sat right beneath a freeway overpass. Fox said the place was amazing, but it didn't look all that great from where Little Cato was silently judging. However, this city was always so good a surprising him, so he'd reserve his critique for now.

They take a seat at the stall. Fox calls over the server, requesting two orders. One vanilla cone for Little Cato and two triple-deckers for himself.

The server, a man with an eyepatch and all the kindness of an angry bulldog, grunts as he begins to work the old ice cream machine near the back of the stall.

"Are you sure you want all that?" Little Cato asks, bending an arm over the countertop of the ice cream stall. "I can't imagine that's too healthy Fox."

"You kiddin' me Little Choom?" Fox spoke in shock, rocking back and forth eagerly on his stool. "I've never heard any such thing. Saying that, too much ice cream is a bad thing, is like saying too much water is a bad thing." He matter-of-factly glances at Little Cato. The teen could only stare back with a baffled brow. "Besides haven't you heard the old Roman proverb, Mors certa, hora incerta?" His shocked expression smoots into a proud smirk as the server begins to make his way back to the pair. "It means you can never have too much ice cream." He says, taking both his cones from the server and tipping one of them to Little Cato.

Little Cato looks at the brawny man, more confused than before. He knew some Latin; his grandpa Jack had given him lessons in the old language plenty of times. The young Ventrexian wasn't that well versed with the sayings of old Roman culture, but he was almost certain that the adage Fox had repeated wasn't quite right.

"Sure, I guess." He doesn't attempt to dispute the man, however. He instead turns his attention to the cone in his hands and the white swirl sitting on top of it. The boy pays it close mind, turning it in careful inspection and even sniffing at the vanilla swirl. It doesn't look bad but any bit of food coming from a shack beneath an overpass needed some close examination ahead of time.

Little Cato brings the cone close to his face once to cone clears his ocular analysis. He sticks his tongue out and gives the plane swirl three apprehensive licks. All at once his senses are struck at every angle with the most profound taste of sweetness, he's ever had the pleasure of subjecting his tongue to.

"Holy shit." Little Cato mutters, jerking the cone away from his face. He squints at the ice cream, brows knitted together in curiosity. The boy goes in for another lick, then another, and one long slow lick after that, savoring the aftertaste. "This is good. Why is this so good?" He questions the Tryvuulian who is already halfway done wolfing down his second triple-decker.

"Right?" He flashed a multi-colored grin at the young teen and ran a tongue over his bottom lip to catch the stray pits of ice cream dripping off of it. "Like I told you, this spot is pretty good," Fox said, polishing off the rest of his ice cream and shoving the cone into his mouth before continuing to speak. "I alwa ge awon hea weh I ca-" The man stops with a slight start and reaches into his pocket to pull out his phone. "Oh." He moans once his eyes touch the screen of his devices. After reading the message he swallows down the cone resting in his mouth with one big gulp and looks at Little Cato. "Hey, you're not doing anything today right?" He asks and the boy replies with a shake of his head as he timidly licks at his vanilla swirl.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Little Cato didn't know what the message Fox got was, but it seemed important. Certainly, important enough to drag the boy halfway across town at least. Little Cato didn't mind the trip however, he always found the train rides to be one of the best parts about his stay in Night. 

The feeling he got from the metro wasn't something he could properly explain. He could compare it to meditation. He'd have to sit in one spot for a while, reflect on the current state of his life, and by the end, he's left with more clarity than he had when he started. Maybe that's why he liked taking the train so much, other than basically having to take it every time he wanted to go somewhere outside of his neighborhood.

After stepping off the train and walking for a few minutes they wound up at Lizzie's, a bar he'd never been in due to his age but a place that was always spoken about amongst his friends. Kendrick specifically liked to bring it up a lot. 

Like most a lot of places in the city, the Bar had to stand out. The front was decorated with signs and gang graffiti of the Mox's name, logos, and anything else that made it clear they owned this side of town. At the top of the building stood a large depiction of a Mox with an axe raised above her head as she kicked one leg out in front of her like an old burlesque dancer. Above the front door, the name of the bar shimmers in a dark blue hue.

"Alright, kid. Did you want to follow me in?" Fox turns to him.

"Aren't I little too young for this place?" Little Cato said. He'd already heard how strict Lizzie's was and they wouldn't let a kid just waltz inside. Without the proper identification following Fox inside would have been virtually impossible. 

"Ah, you right, you right, just testing." Fox nods his head. He looks at the bar, checks his phone quickly, and returns to staring at the building. "Okay, give me five- no... ten minutes. A friend just wants to chit chat so it shouldn't take that long." Fox shrugged at him. "I'll be back in a jiff." The taller man trudges off toward the bar.

Reaching the door he's checked by the bouncers, two augmented women on the verge of being brogs. The two guards don't even resemble that to Little Cato. The girls looked more like they should be working inside the bar instead of safeguarding the front door. Their skin was so drenched in gloss that Little Cato was sure he'd be able to use them as make-shift mirrors, if he were bold enough to walk up to them that is. Their uniforms, though he wavers to call them uniforms, weren't the most professional he's seen, being somehow extremely tight and way too loose fitting all at once.

After determining that Fox was not a threat and of age, the bouncers sent him in past the automated doors.

Little Cato was curious now. The guards alone were enough to send his blood rushing to other portions of his body. He could only imagine what the employees on the inside looked like. Kendrick's motivation to get inside makes so much sense to Little Cato now.

If only there was a way he could get passed those bouncers. Maybe sneak in. If he were caught, they wouldn't be so hard on him he assumes. He'll most likely get a strain talking to while being dragged out, but nothing more severe than that.

"Hey, hey!" Amid his deliberation, a sudden and excessively eager voice slashes through his string of thought.

"Kendrick?" Little Cato mumbles to himself, eyes squinting at the masked teen. 

"Ayy ladies!" He bounces over to the guards with open arms.

"Oh, hell no!" One of the bouncers, a woman with purplish pigtails and a loose-fitting tank top that nearly exposes her chest, hurries out to meet the boy. "What I say before, kid!? You can't come in. How many times do I need to tell you really?" She intercepts him, holding out her yellow spiked bat to his chest to keep him at arm's length.

"Oh, come on, chill!" He groans. "I just got out of a big ass debt, and I got a lotta money to spend. You really gonna keep me from going in?"

"Are you eighteen yet?"

She asks but Kendrick doesn't have an immediate response. "... well, no, but I will be soon."

"Then till then get lost." The bouncer spat, pushing the boy away with a light shove.

He sighs, throwing his head back and then down in his aggravated loss.

"Hmmm... oh... hey- hey LC!" As the masked teen turns to notice Little Cato standing a little ways away from the BD bar. "Yo, what you doin' here choom? Thought you'd be fucking with Ash today." He skips up to the younger teen with a snicker, holding out his hand and meeting Little Cato's with a loud slap.

"Yeah, I was." Little Cato moans, distressed by the thought of the pink-haired girl. "She went out with Harp today. Didn't even tell me shit first."

"Ah..." Kendrick softly gasps, clasping a hand down on Little Cato's shoulder. "Shit happens, I guess. One moment the output of your dreams just can't stand to be away from you, they cling, and swoon, and probably jerk it to the thought of you at night, and the next they're doing things with concepts like 'family' ugh..." A snicker reverberates from beneath his mask. He might have been joking but he wasn't wrong. Ever since getting together Ash couldn't send to be apart from Little Cato. Even if she were doing something with her family, she'd let him know about it. It usually bugged him but now he's wondering why she didn't shoot him a text this time around. "Anyway, you tryna help me get into Lizzie's." Kendrick throws a quick nod back at the bar.

Little Cato looks at him, a strange grimace painting his face. "Right... why?"

"Because I want to," Kendrick responds simply.

"And you can't just wait a few months?" 

"No." He blurts. "We doin' this or what choom?" 

Little Cato peaks past the taller boy over to the bar's glowing facade. It was a bad idea celery, but the younger teen was feeling a bit nosy about the inside of the BD bar. "Okay." Little Cato agrees reluctantly, though not so begrudgingly. "But how are we gonna get in?"

Kendrick hums and rubs a finger over the chin of his mask. It would appear that wanting to get into the bar was as far as he thought. He spins around to face the building, still humming in thought. Then a gasp of realization.

"Wait." He said, throwing up a finger. "Ooohh, hohoho... Look over there." He points to a fire escape on the left end of the building. "I think that's our way in." The tall boy snickers and begins casually walking over to the side of the structure. He keeps his eyes on the Mox bouncers as Little Cato timidly follows behind him. The boys tried cautiously though they had nothing to worry about. The guards had better things to do than watch two kids fuck about. 

"Hold up a sec." Kendrick held a hand up. stopping Little Cato. He goes back over to the corner they had turned and peeks out at the bouncers. "Okay come on." He whispers, walking past Little Cato and crouching beneath the ladder of the fire escape. It was a little out of reach, but he had a plan. "Come on." He waves Little Cato over.

The boy already got the gist of the idea. He walks over, placing one foot in Kendrick's hands and setting the other on his shoulder. Little Cato then reached out, stretching an arm as far as he could but the ladder was still too high up for him.

"Dude, I can't reach it. Stand up." Little Cato whispers to the boy beneath him.

"Fuck..." Kendrick groans, huffing as he slowly begins to rise. Little Cato reaches out again, arms extended as far as they could go but only the tips of his fingers reach the bottom of the ladder. Even then he just barely grazes the very edge of metal.

"Hmmm... Just a little more man." Little Cato said. Another groan comes from the teen beneath. "Fuck it!" Kendrick hisses, fully rising to his feet and leaping up suddenly, launching the boy up to the ladder.

Little Cato clings to the ladder with a startled huff. "Woo..." He takes a second to breath before climbing the rest of the way. Lurching himself over the edge of the safety railing, the teen undoes the latch to the ladder and sends the thing down for Kendrick.

"Heh... nice choom..." Kendrick spoke once he was up the ladder. Exhaustion catches up with him as doubles over, attempting the retrieve his long-lost breath. "Haa... let's get in there huh?" Kendrick strides past Little Cato and over to the side exit that was thankfully already open. 

Little Cato could hardly believe he was inside of Lizzie's. Like most bars and clubs in Night City, it was scarcely lit, but unlike other places the low-lit strobe lights that ran along the montone tiled floors made sense. Mixed with the glow of flashing BDs from zoned-out customers, the astatic was a tranquil shock to his senses.

The howling pump of synthy EDM tracks gets the young teen's blood to rush like a rough tidal wave. The music almost made him want to hit up the flashing dance floor with some of the bar's more active guests.

The BD bar was more than Little Cato could hope for, and as Kendrick had mentioned long before, the workers were on another level of attraction. Little Cato looks at the boy to properly gauge his reaction. Unfortunately, the mask covering his face coupled with the dim lighting made it nearly impossible to read the boy's emotions. Little Cato should have known better by now the boy had a better chance of finding a needle in a haystack inside of a pitch-black maze.

"Oh shit." Little Cato could hear an amused chuckle come from the boy's mask. "Let's split real quick. Imma hit up the floor. See if you can't klep us some drinks LC." Kendrick snaps his fingers, prancing off and disappearing into a crowd of tipsy, dancing patrons.

Little Cato looks around the lounge, squinting his eyes. He quickly spots the bar; it was the only brightly lit spot in the whole lounge, so it stood out. Kendrick asks him to get them drinks. Would the bartender even serve them? What was Little Cato supposed to ask for? His options seem so overwhelming, but he thinks he can sort out those details when he gets to the bar.

He walks over, shyly positioning his hands on the counter. The bartender takes notice of the hapless boy and wanders over with a half-baked smile.

"Can I help you... sir...?" He leans in, narrowing his eyes at the boy. 

Little Cato continues to examine the wall of alcohol behind the bartender. "Can I get two drinks?" He spoke as loud as he could over the roaring music, avoiding eye contact with the man behind the bar.

He leans on the counter eyes still squinted at the young teen as if he were attempting to identify what Little Cato was. "How old are you?" He questions.

Little Cato stiffens and his blood freezes when the question reaches him. "Oh uh... ei- eighteen." He nearly chokes out the reply.

"Hmmm... okay." The bartender seems to take the boy's word with a faint hum. "What you in the market for choomba?"

Little Cato pauses again. What should he get? He didn't even think he'd make it this far. "What do you recommend?"

"This early? People usually like hittin' the gin. I couldn't explain why though. Maybe it tastes better at certain times." The bartender laughs and Little Cato follows along though he doesn't actually get the joke.

"Right, so two of those." The bartender readily nods as the boy pays for the order and steps away from the counter to fill up two glasses with a clear liquid. He returns shortly, putting the glasses down on the counter with a buoyant thumbs up.

Little Cato swiftly picks up the drinks and leaves the bar. He felt really lucky that the man couldn't tell his age. The low lighting and his fur might have also played a part in masking his age. 

After acquiring the drinks Little Cato's next goal is to look for Kendrick but he is having more trouble than he thought he would. A boy who stood out as much as Kendrick should have been easy to spot amongst a crowd even if the lighting was inadequate at best. For all his efforts the taller boy was proving to be difficult to find. Little Cato narrows his eyes to the dark, drinks held firmly in his hands. Nothing, no red mask, no light blue jean jacket. Where could have run off to?

In the middle of his narrow search, Little Cato's eyes managed to seek out someone familiar. It wasn't the boy he was initially looking for, but it was someone he could Recognize. Well, if he couldn't find Kendrick then he could at least see what Fox was up to.

Little Cato ambles up to Fox's booth. The man was sitting and smiling along with another young-looking man who was splitting his attention between typing on the laptop and talking to the Tryvuulian.

"Hey, fox." Little Cato greeted the pair at their booth, sitting his drinks down on their table.

"Hey LC," Fox said, a grin stretching gleefully from ear to ear before falling away suddenly. "Wait... how'd you get in here?"

"Ohh well, uhh..." He bobs his head, a cheeky grin paving his expression.

"Who's this Fox? Friend of yours?" Fox's friend spoke as he typed, saving Little Cato from the shame of having to explain his intrusion. 

"Sort of. He's my sister's input actually. We're practically in-laws like that." Fox bellows a hardy chuckle. "LC, this is my friend Michael. We used to go to school together. He's a real talented net runner and indie game producer." Fox nods to the man. He looked young, way too young, almost like he'd just barely taken his first steps into teenage hood. He didn't look it but he must have been old enough if he was in the bar.

"Yeah, Red terror, Irken onslaught, krat kart. You might have heard of some of my games, if you don't already have some installed on, your phone." He snickers in the glow of his laptop. "They're simple but people love them all the same."

"Yeah, no kidding? That's all you?" The boy gushes. "I love those games."

"Yeah, thanks. I'm actually working on bigger projects, like actual PC games but the apps keep the money flowing for now." The young man finally takes his eyes off the computer screen and looks toward Little Cato. "If you want, we can stay in contact, I'll give you the rundown on everything I'm working on. I don't really use social media, but I'll give you, my number."

"Sure, I mean sounds cool to me." Little Cato said, reigning in some of his elation. The young man held out a hand, eyes perpetually clung to the boys. Little Cato already understood what he wanted. Everyone in this city seems to have a thing for putting their contact information in his phone personally. 

The young teen pulls his phone free from his pocket, handing it over to the young net runner and watching as the man enters his info into the device.

"I'll hit you up sometime choom." He said, handing the phone back.

Little Cato looks at the contact and admittedly blushes at the new name in his phone. "Thanks." A gleeful smile breaks out over his expression.

"Hay, what the hell are you doing in here!" Little Cato turns, seeing the bouncer and finally spotting Kendrick sprinting away from the chromed-up woman.

"Time to delta LC!" He called, drawing attention to the Ventrexian. The masked teen dodges one of the other bouncers and runs right off the side exit they used to enter the BD bar.

"Shit." Little Cato hissed. "I gotta go guys." He says, deciding to head for the front doors instead of following Kendrick. He could have guessed they would be caught though he thought it would have happened much sooner than it had. At least he and Kendrick could say they were able to make it inside Lizzie's before they were of age.

Chapter 34: Enlightenment.

Early afternoon. The day was cool. The skies were clear and as blue as open ocean, all around. The sun's light shins down, casting long shadows from even longer metal structures and nearly blanketing the neighborhood in early darkness. The widespread shade didn't go unappreciated. During spring the weather tended to fluctuate, going from as cold as the Arctic to as hot as a volcanic eruption. The afternoons normally carried with it; heat coated in a thick layer of humidity.

Cars, that were more flashy than functional, drove up and down sun-bleached streets. Many of the vehicles that pass was covered in reflective golden paint, religious iconography, and gang graffiti bolstered along their wide models. Most of those cars were eye sores and caused more trouble than was worth. On nice days like today, sunlight often ricochets off of the gaudy paint jobs and jabs right into the eyes of unsuspecting pedestrians.

On many of the buildings surrounding the neighborhood, murals of saints, not of the religious kind, decorate the walls. Much like with the gold-coated cars, the large murals were nearly everywhere. Images of people, gangers, or some might call them protectors, watch over the people they had given their lives for.

There was no doubt about it. They were in Heywood.

A set of sneakers delicately and carefully kiss the sun-bleached pavement. Just behind them, three more followed, less weary. Little Cato and his friends Ash, who had mostly been tracking behind him out of boredom, Timmy who was doing so for the same reason, and Sam who spent most of the time staring at his phone, were wandering freely through Heywood that afternoon. 

Heywood had always struck Little Cato as odd. He could never pinpoint the district's demographic or what it was meant to be. Heywood was a neighborhood of contrast-where to the north you could find modern skyscrapers and parks and to the south where dangerous, inhospitable slums were established. In a sense the district was a sort of cultural center where to one in you could find fine art and luxury high-rise condos, and to the other, cheap dive bars and gang hotspots.

Little Cato always heard Argit call it the 'biggest bedroom in night city', where gangs like the Valentinos and 6th Street would get down to business. Legal or otherwise.

The look certainly matched the things he heard. Rich and beautiful and simultaneously, poverty ridden.

The flickering of florescent neon bar signs calls out to early morning drinkers like siren to wayward fishermen. Seeing bars crowded so early was always a bit of a shock but by this point, shock came very little too Little Cato in the streets.

The buildings were also some of the smallest in Night City, maybe save for Santo Domingo though Santo was mostly low-income suburbs, not the type of place a crop would want to place a skyscraper. The buildings in Heywood still reach into the sky the best they could though there was a little more room for the sun to breathe down on the world. Golden arcs of God rays managed to bleed through the tall steel mounds and provide some sense of normalcy that came with sunlight.

"Dammmn!" Sam snorted loudly, paying more attention to his phone than where his feet fell. "Bro, so nova." The younger, chubbier sibling giggled again, enamored with the screen of his device. More soft, vague chuckling passed his slightly parted lips.

"Oh my god, what is so funny?" Timmy, fed up with the reclusive giggling glanced over to the younger sibling. He flicked his wrist up along with a bothered scowl with hopes of getting an answer for his secluded amusement.

Sam laughed, hugging the phone close to his chest. His breathing slows as the humor slowly subsides. He'd brought the phone back out once his giggling had finally simmered out and a fresh set of excitement started anew as he did. Timmy sighed, knowing he wouldn't be getting much beyond the laughter already provided.

Little Cato's head bounced nervously in tandem with Sam's laughter. The group was far past deep in Valentino territory though that's not what bothered him. The Valentinos may have been a gang, but they were nowhere near as bad as some of the other gangs in the city. Unlike Maelstrom or the Voodoo boys or Bozos, Valentinos were less prone to random acts of violence.

They were more so showoffs than anything, but when push came to shove the gang wouldn't lay down and roll over. The gold paint wasn't just for the cars and clothes. Gold machetes, bats, knuckles, and even gold-plated guns coveted their arsenal. 

Carrying golden weapons along with all the jewelry and augments plated with the same material seemed a bit unnecessary to Little Cato though it made sense if they were to keep consistency with their brand as a gang. As tacky as it may have been.

The Valentinos never worried Little Cato. What worries him where Bozo's and Big Tops. Gangs like the Valentinos and 6th Street stuck to their territory and rarely strayed far to risk a gunfight with each other. Clown gangs on the other hand were different. They went where they wanted to, and did what they wanted to do, mostly choosing to pull, more or less, harmless pranks. They didn't own any- one piece of territory, mostly showing up where they wanted to without any prior warning, and no one was foolish enough to ask why. God forbid there was another clown gang operating one of their tourist spots without permission. Little Cato had seen the outcome of that action firsthand, and he'd rather not see it again.

Another giggly snort left Sam.

"For god's sake, what is so funny!?" Ash snapped finally, wanting, no, needing to know what was so great on his phone.

"Nothing- nothing-" Sam hardly got out through his heaving fit. "Coachella's poppin off this year, someone jus- oh." Sam's humored cackling fell abruptly faint. His eyes squint at his phone screen, something along the lines of shock ran down his face the closer to his phone he leaned. "Y'all know Kurt Hansen, right?" He spoke still squinting at his phone.

"Kurt Hansen?" Little Cato repeated the name aloud and once again in his head. He let sit and stew before realization jogged his memory. "The leader of those guys in Dogtown right?"

"He's dead." Sam coldly confessed and an elated simper returns to his face in an instant. "Argit just texted me."

"Dead?" Dazed, Little Cato could only blink at the words.

"Dead?" Timmy parroted before wrestling his phone from his pocket. "Yeah, he just sent me it too."

Both Little Cato and Ash's phones buzz next. The sudden rumbling sent Little Cato into a brief start. They had all been sent the same article on the breaking news.

Argit was so entangled with the streets of Night City that if anything occurred, he was one of the first to know and quick to inform others about the situation. Even the most meager of deets never passed his ears unnoticed.

In that, sense-he was somewhat of an info broker and one of the best Little Cato had seen especially considering his age.

Little Cato stared at the phone for a moment longer and when he mustered the courage to tap on the small link in his inbox a news broadcasts would appear. Little Cato swayed with anticipation as he waited for the video to load up. Little Cato never really liked watching the news. He found that a lot of the stories covered were boring filler or topics that mistook entertainment with fear mongering but how could he pass up a story like this? Especially when it retained to the death of one of the biggest names in town.

Kurt Hansen. A man who, up until recently, had been untouchable was dead.

After a few more seconds the video had finally commenced to play. "Welcome to ANN, your one-stop shop for all news around Alliance space." The anchorman spoke in a bubbly tone. A smile bright enough to blind anyone dumb enough to stare directly into it for too long covered his mouth. "Big news coming from Earth, Night City of course... as reports flood in on the recent disappearance of notorious figurehead, Kurt Hansen." Little Cato's heart nearly skips when he hears Kurt's name. A recent disappearance in Night City only meant one thing. They might as well say the man was dead. Little Cato was getting excited now. "We now take you to our man on the field, Rayman Ramon."

"Woah. This is serious." Ash murmured, creeping over Little Cato's shoulder while watching the video on her phone. The image of the anchorman fades and a young reporter takes center stage. His purple suit was neatly ironed, and his shirt was tucked neatly within his dress pants. His eyes were big, bagless, and telling of a bright-eyed rooky. He stood to attention; body as stiff as the two blond arches of hair that stood atop his head. Little Cato knew his species but couldn't recall the name at the moment amid his excitement.

"Yes, Rich. I'm here at the site of a gruesome scene where just a few short hours ago the host of a charity gala on the very top floor of the black diamond hotel was reported missing. The contraction site you see behind me was the site of a vicious attack. Bullet holes puncture the concrete walls, a car lay waged within the work site leaving a good portion of it in ruin and explosive residue scars the ground ahead. Currently, we are attempting to pull any footage Ctos might have from the site- oh." The reporters stopped, placing two fingers on the side of his head. "Okay, we- we've actually managed to attain the footage, and we will be playing it shortly. Are home viewers might even find it disturbing." Disturbing? Little Cato would have gone with intriguing. The broadcast cuts to a construction site as a few stunned hums from his friends disrupt his focus.

The site was empty and quiet. Could have been mistaken for peaceful. It didn't look at all like the warzone the reporter was standing in. Little Cato was beginning to question if they had been showing the right footage up until the moment when a car came zooming into frame and crashing off screen. Dust kicked up, feeling the construction site with particles of dirt and shattered concrete that just barely obscured the camera's vision. Little Cato groaned, he was afraid that the footage wouldn't be showing much of anything but after a moment the dust cleared and a second car came into view, tented blue and striped white down the middle.

A man then exited the second car and observed the area, well Little Cato thinks it might have been a man. The person pursuing Kurt was more a mass of pixels than anything. After waiting and watching the pixelated assailant began to move. Gunshots rang out as they strode further into the vacant construction site. The digitally masked attacker quickly stepped out of sight and into the camera's blind spot with just a few long strides. Another shot is fired, then nothing. The pixelated mass came back around, walking back toward the car as a massive explosion ruptured behind them. The footage cuts from there and the reporter fades back into view, a serious look stretched along his long gaze.

"As you can see, the image of the assailant is being hidden by some sort of digital masking software which leaves police to believe that they were aided by outside assistance. We can't say who they are for sure but what we do know is that Kurt Hansen, if not missing, is most certainly dead. Back to you Rich." The broadcast faded back over to the anchorman, this time a look of jaw-dropping bewilderment replacing Richerd's tailored smile.

"Was that my car!?" The anchorman leaned forward. "How the fuck did that happen!?"

"How could you not notice your car wasn't missing from the lot?" Redina asked, fixing her fake report papers by tapping them against the desk.

"Wha- th- I don't know! They had to call me a cab home." A brow was raised at him. "Hey- look, see here's what happened. I got a little drunk-"

"That's no surprise."

"Quite!" He sprang up in a huff. Quickly realizing the display of his indecency, squares his suit and slunk back down into his seat. "I may have gotten a little drunk, through no fault of my own mind you. This blond guy had collapsed, started making this big scene and It was a really traumatic event- okay."

"Is that all it takes for you to fall off the wagon that badly?"

The anchorman through his head back with an agitated scoff. "Well, I'm glad you're taking so much joy in my suffering Redina."

"Well, of course, Richard." A tiny smile pressed along her black lips.

The anchorman sighed, undoing his tie in frustration as he sank deeper into his chair. "You know how expensive that care was? How am I supposed to afford a new one huh? Tell me how?" The video ended then leaving the group in a tense silence.

Kurt was actually dead, and they had no idea who even did the man in. Well, Little Cato could say for sure that whoever it was, there must have been some bad blood between the two if he was willing to make so much noise with an explosive even after shooting Kurt dead.

"Man, that's crazy to think," Timmy said. "Kurt Hassan, dead, just like that? I thought it would take a little more effort than one person and a short chase."

"Yeah, Argit said the same." Sam nodded, showing his phone to Timmy.

"Well, it had to happen right?" added Ash. "You play the game; you're bound to lose at some point. I wouldn't be surprised if it was one of his own guys who zeroed him-" She gasped suddenly, an amused look stretching over her face. Tapping instantly on Little Cato's shoulders she continued. "Wouldn't that be crazy chooms? If one of his guys killed him chooms?" Another gasp, though one that aligned more with her excitement, left her. Timmy and Sam followed suit, giggling and pushing elbows into one another's side. "What do you think junior." Ash turned the question of whether or not it was an inside job over to him.

Little Cato didn't have much to say. He shrugged, already replaying the portion of the video that showed the moment Kurt had died. "I don't know." He mumbled.

"Huh?" Ash lifted a wondering brow.

"I mean, I think I've seen something like this before. The digital camouflage thing."

"What, like your parents do this kinda thing?" Sam giggled shortly, delving back into the world of music festivals, celebrity drama, and whatever memes he was giggling at earlier.

"No, I mean- well maybe but that's different. I know some of the best hackers around the galaxy can do some crazy things. They can erase your face, wipe your digital footprint, and even change up your social profile, or give you a new profile entirely. It's almost like magic when you see it happen."

"Hold up." Timmy paused intrigued. "Someone can really do that. Like actually?" He beams at Little Cato's nod. "You wouldn't happen to know someone who could do that would you?"

"Oh please." A sudden burst of laughter filled the relatively quiet space around them. "What are you even gonna do with a new prof- Brorowski?"

"What wouldn't I do." He said. "You could get up to all kinds of crazy shit when you're practically invisible Graven."

Ash laughed even harder. Her eyes shut as he brought the back end of her hand to her mouth, trying and failing to stop her giggling. "You? Who always wants to stay out of trouble."

"Only because I know I could get caught." If she couldn't stop laughing before she was definitely not going to stop now. A childish pout puffed up Timmy's cheeks. Ash may have been laughing but Timmy was actually smart, smarter than what any of them gave him credit for. Whereas any of his friends were willing to dive headfirst into danger, Timmy was the one who'd stop to give their antics some actual thought. For any given situation he would always think of other solutions to problems or routes to take before making rash decisions. Of course, careful thinking doesn't stop Ash from laughing at him.

"Guys, guys, please. A man just died." Waving his hands, Little Cato managed to quiet the group down. "We can at least have a moment of silence. I didn't know the guy well but Kendrick and Argit would call him a legend." From what he knew about merc legends, Little Cato was sure of it. "What do you say?" He asked and they agreed with some shruges and nods as they gathered around. Their eyes close and their hands held together.

Through his nose, Little Cato takes in a short breath. His mind was calm say for the sound of car horns and the chattering of passersby. He wanted a moment of silence but oddly enough he had no idea what to think- about Kurt or his death. He felt that it was just another day in Night City but then again, he knew how much these big timers meant to some of his friends. The least he could do was pay his respects. Kendrick would want him to.

"Well, that was stupid." After a brief spell of silence, the act of respect was broken up by an irritated Schoff, courtesy of Sam. "I have an idea. Let's head to El Coyote Cojo, and celebrate Kurt the right way."

"El Coyote-... what?" Little Cato's brow jumped up.

"Sam no." Timmy jumped in front of the younger Dewinter before he could start moving. "Where are not going to that bar."

"Why not?"

"We're literally not legally allowed to," Timmy answered swiftly and logically.

"Aww, mister bad boy's afraid to sneak into a bar," Ash said, throwing an arm around Timmy's shoulder. "I can't say I'm surprised though. You know you can't get away with it." She used her fingers to squeeze his cheeks before separating from him."Well, I'm going, how 'bout you junior?" She looks at him, restlessly awaiting his answer.

"Come on. Little Cato, tell them it's a bad idea."

"Uhhh..." Little Cato's mouth hung loose; his answer seemingly lost among the staring. He looked at Ash and Sam who braced for his eventual 'yes' and then to Timmy whose deep frown told him that going along with them was a bad idea. "Yeah... I'll come." Little Cato shuttered and let his nervous grin lead him away from Timmy.

"Little Cato," Timmy grumbled.

"Tim it may be a bad idea but since when has one bad idea gotten any of us in serious trouble?" A deadpan stare hit Little Cato hard. "Don't answer that." Little Cato turned back to Sam and Ash. He wasn't afraid of any trouble that might come from the decision. The worst that could happen was getting turned away at the door. He could hear Timmy let out a hesitant sigh before running after them.

"Guys wait."

Bold neon beamed proudly overhead, one of the few signs in Night City that didn't flicker on the rougher side of town. More gang graffiti and saintly tapestries trim the outer walls of the bar. Given the paint splatters on the sidewalk underfoot, the area had been a hotspot for aspiring street artists.

El Coyote Cojo. The limped Coyote if what Ash told him was right, though he wasn't if her Spanish was all that good to begin with. The bar was a small dive with a sort of loving family feel to it. Not many bars in Night City could claim to have such a thing and as long as you were paying, you were welcomed inside.

From what he was told, the bar was owned by a universally adored person, someone that nobody would think to cross whether you were a Valentino or a part of another gang entirely. Her name was Guadalupe, but everyone just called her Mama Welles.

"This place is owned by Jackie's mom?" Little Cato said through a hushed tone and nervously clenched teeth.

The group had just approached the bar with some excited gasps and one provoked sigh. The sun had begun to shine down directly overhead causing the cool weather to rise in temperature a bit.

"Yeah, man. We're tight with Jackie so there's no way she won't let us in." Sam reasoned. On the surface it made sense. Technically they knew Jackie. Why wouldn't she let them in?

"Just because we know her son doesn't mean she'll let us in. We're still under eighteen." Timmy countered.

"Whatever gonk." Sam waved a dismissive hand at him. "The joy toys aren't even that strict. I know El Gato be taking his allowance around there for head pats all the time." A cheeky smirk rode up his face as he winks his third eye at Little Cato.

Ash shot him a glare filled with venom and bitter jealousy after that. "You what now?" She growled; eyes squinted.

"What? N- no I haven't..." He stopped, nodding as a guilty smile began to take shape. "Not lately I mean."

"Not lately? So, you have been with them?" 

"What- no- I..." All he could do was stutter under the heavy- one-eyed glare of the scorned girl. He looked around to Sam and Timmy who offered no respite as they peered away in their secondhand embarrassment. The sun that shone defiantly wasn't out to help him either. Nervous sweat built up and his fur began to weigh down. "I... Ash." His nervous jittering takes center stage. "Come on-"

"Shit, I'm tellin' you It's not working Val!" Before Little Cato could fumble out some clunky excuse, his hopes of relief came in the form of three familiar faces exiting the Coyote Cojo "Feels like it's broken or sometin." Vincent grumbled, holding a hand to his bottom jaw while his sister Valerie did her best to keep him upright.

"Then let's go to the hospital, ya gonk."

"It ain't that broken."

"Then it's just gonna hurt." Valerie didn't hold back her snickers. She carefully sat her brother down on the edge of the curb near the bar and joined him with her arm still draped over his shoulder. Jackie watched them, laughing under his breath while leaning up against the wall of the bar with his phone in hand.

Little Cato ran up to the siblings, using the opportunity to see what was wrong with Vincent but mostly to get away from Ash's heavy glaring.

"Hey Vinc, hey Val." He led with an apprehensive leer, stopping short of the two siblings. "What happened to Vincent?"

Valerie amusingly gazed up at Little Cato, brows narrowed on him before turning a piqued grimace back to her brother. "Should I tell him or what?"

"Nah, I got this." Vincent sighed wearily. He brought a pained look to Little Cato, hand still fixed tightly to his lower jaw. "Some dumb badge nearly busted my jaw." He mewled again, pushing his fingers deeper into his cheek.

"Whoa! Why?" Little Cato choked out a small, baffled gasp.

"No reason." Separate Valerie and Jackie let out separate pitches of laughter.

"Yeah right," Jackie said. "You should have seen the way he went off on that guy, gato. V's one tough sob, but he's got some serious issues."

"He was lookin' at me funny, what the fuck did you expect me to do?"

"You're just lucky he didn't hall you're ass in hombre."

"He's just lucky he had a fuckin' taser," Vincent grumbled as he rested an elbow on his leg. "Would have laid him out otherwise."

"And then you would have been locked up anyway." Timmy notified him matter-of-factly. Vincent sucked his tongue against his teeth, tsking as flung up a vexed hand. He was defiantly hurt so why had he been refusing to go to the hospital? Even if his injury wasn't all that serious it wouldn't hurt to have it checked out.

"Oh... Okay." Little Cato moved closer to the siblings and speedily crouched beside Vincent. He looked at the spot where the man held his hand. His lower jaw had turned a purplish, black tint. Definitely not something he'd want to wait on. "Why not go to a ripper doc?"

Another painful moan. "Eh, they'll charge too much. It's honestly nothing anyway. Health care sucks major dick."

"Well, why not go ta Vik? He'll patch you up good." Jackie suggested a doc that seemed to lure an even worse groan out of Vincent. 

"I can't. I already owe him too much."

"Then I'll square away the dept. It's no problem." By now, Jackie was off of the wall and right by the curb with the siblings.

"Jack no-"

"Fuckin' nonsense V. I got you, I been making a killin' out her lately primo." It took a few minutes for Vincent to ponder the offer and a few more for him to agree but he does.

"Alright." He nodded. "Help me up."

"That's what I'm talkin' about." Jackie held out a hand, catching Vincent and yanking him off the sidewalk with one swift, sturdy tug. "Well, looks like I'm headin' to your guy's side of town. Any of you kids want a ride?" The hulking man kindly asked, turning his head to each teen who refused the offer, all say for one.

"Thanks, Jackie. I'll go." Ash accepted as she hastily, and angrily moved beside the tall man.

"Huh?" A look of sudden troubled look struck Little Cato's face like the heat of the sun beating down on him. "Ash, what are doing?"

"I'm going home. My dad just texted me... or whatever." She glances over her shoulder with a frigid half-stare. Just like that she, Jackie, and Vincent were already in a car and speeding off before he could think to say anything. 

Little Cato throws back a bitter groan and shoves his hands over his eyes. His mind began to race out of control. Did he just fuck up his relationship?

"Ooof. Cold, icy cold choomba." Sam giggling pushed up beside Little Cato. He was already back on his phone and having a much better time than Little Cato then.

"Shut up Sam! Why'd you have to bring that up, Sam!?" He lightly shoved the younger Dewinter and indecently hissed at the boy. He was glad Gary was there to witness it. The blonde might have slapped him across the head otherwise.

"Hey, I was just saying truth choom." Sam's shoulders shrug innocently. "Besides you act like she's gonna stay made forever. As if that were possible"

"She might." Timmy chimed, sounding as pessimistic as he could be positive. "She's not the kind of girl to forgive so easily. Especially when it comes to people she likes." 

"Gee, thanks, Tim." Little Cato let out another frustrated moan. His head tilts downward defeatedly.

"Don't worry about it kid." Valerie, who'd stuck around long after her bother was gone, pat an assuring hand to Little Cato's shoulder. "You're friends right. Knowing you, she won't stay mad for long. You're a sweet kid so I'm sure whatever it was you did wasn't all that bad."

"Paid joytoys for head pats and ear rubs." He muttered to his stand-in teacher, embarrassed as he may have been.

"Oh yeah, it'll be fine." He chuckled a bit. "I've seen relationships recuperate from way worse. You'll be fine."

Taking a second or two to mold over her reassurance, Little Cato finally looked at the woman. "Thanks, V."

"Hey, that's Miss Valerie."

"We're not even in class." Little Cato smirked.

"Eh, well..." She shrugged back. She kept a hand clutched around his shoulder. "How's that spring assignment coming along anyway?"

Little Cato's ears pricked forward, and he threw out a quick thumbs up. "It's going Alright. I'm basically done with it honestly."

"Of course. You're like, the smartest kid in class. If not the whole school."

"Tell me about it. "Little Cato buzzed beneath his breath, ears falling flaccid. He didn't want to be reminded of school and how he was the new favorite. His outshining everyone left bitter taste in a lot of mouths and there wasn't much he could do to mitigate the problem. Not many seemed to want to meet him halfway. To stop the teasing and snide remarks, he'd have to stop excelling and couldn't just do that.

"Hello? Hi." 

"Hmm?" As Little Cato began to delve into deep thought, he was yanked out by the sound of excitement and excessive delight.

"Hello all." The person who had appeared before them offered a wide wave and youthful pragmatic smile. He was a pseudo-human sheep, hair as puffy and curly as cotton candy and face a dark shade of obsidian. He wore a crimson-colored gown with a symbol painted over his midsection. An eye by the looks of it, milky white with swirling flames for lashes protruding at the ends. Around his shoulders, the strip of a brown satchel hung at his side.

Next to him was a human wearing a long dark coat. Beneath it was a red shirt not too dissimilar in color to the sheep's gown. Unlike the upbeat sheep, the man beside him wore a treating frown and multiple harnesses carrying more weapons than Little Cato thought was legally allowed. A shotgun was strapped to his back, four pistols were tucked away in his inner jacket, and knives, big and small, sat in sheets around his legs.

Who were these guys?

"Can we help you?" Valary said, stepping out in front of the group of teens, her attitude changing from playful to protective in a heartbeat.

"No- no, not at all. We are just simple messengers of the flock, come to invite you to our humble sermon this evening."

"Sermon?" Valerie repeated.

The sheep's ebullient smile grows larger and more joyful than before. "Oh yes. At Reconciliation Park." The words send a sharp quaver up Little Cato's spine. "We would love it if you were able to come along and listen."

Valerie phoned in a short grin as she hid the kids behind her. "Thanks, but I don't think we can make it."

The exuberant smile on the sheep's face vanished suddenly and what replaced it was a little hard to explain. Bewilderment, insecurity, a trace of sadness even as if her declining was incomprehensive. His cloudy hair bounced as he bobbed his head from either side. His eyes dart about out of what looked like fear before stopping. Then he goes still. His bobbing head, the blinking of his eyes, and even his breathing seemed to have stopped as he gaped away from the group.

In his lost gaze, his eyes would recenter on the group, a strange look still plastered across his expression. "But you must." He said or pleaded or demanded. "Our leader lamb has come to grace us with their presence as they have done with every province where our religion is known." He stopped, reaching into the satchel that dangled over his shoulders. Rummaging through, he pulls out a little pamphlet. "Please give it some thought. I promise you the experience will be enlightening." He handed the slip of paper to Valerie, gave the group a courteous bow, and merrily strolled off with his gun-toting partner in tow.

"I think will pass," Valerie whispered, crumbling up the paper and throwing it to the ground. Little Cato, intrigued, of course, went to pick the pamphlet up and unraveled it. "Those K-Knights and their missionaries' man- creeps me out."

"Yeah, they're worse than the Mormons," Timmy said, arms crossed uncomfortably.

"Just as packed though." Sam laughed into his phone. "I swear if those two nutjob groups don't go toe to toe one day, I'll be astounded."

Little Cato oddly hummed to himself. The small pamphlet was nothing special. A thin sheet of paper folded over itself with a white eye surrounded by flaming tips etched into the front. Opening the slip of paper hadn't introduced him to anything more complex than the front. There were only words within, bold black on dark crimson. 'Come witness a miracle hosted by the acolytes of the lamb' it read. He thinks back to what the sheep said. It could be an enlightening experience.

"Guys!" Little Cato jumped up, a little more excited than intended. All eyes find him quickly. "I think we should go." They stare at him, dazed silence being the only answer he receives.

"What? There?" Valerie pointed. "No way Little C, it's not happing."

"Why not? You guys have nothing better to do today anyway. This sermon could be fun in some way, right? Aren't you the least bit curious?"

"Sure, but there?" Sam whines. "You really want to sit with those weirdos?"

Little Cato's shoulders quirk at the question. "Either why I still want to check it out." A collective groan left Timmy and Sam, but Valerie was oddly silent. "Miss V?" He smiled at her.

"Well, I can't leave you unattended in a spot like that so... fuck it." She cocked her head in the direction of Reconciliation Park, motioning for everyone to get a move on.

Late afternoon. Leaves on short trees rustle and rattle in the soft spring breeze. Art that seems to serve no meaning goes unnoticed in their gold casing. Freeways loom and bend overhead like stout snakes. Large corporate towers cast long shadows from city center like bad omens.

Little Cato never thought he'd ever step one foot back into Reconciliation Park for as long as he lived in this city but there he was now, at his insistence no less. He was surprised to see just how good it looked, almost as if nothing bad had transpired at all. If he were none the wiser, he'd swear that nothing had.

Aside from being devoid of any trace of blood, the park was clean, cleaner than what had first been presented to him a few months ago. Piles of litter that had once been discarded on the park's paths were completely removed, not even a single leaf or speck of dirt could be found on the walkways connecting the park. Trash was actually sorted into bins and trash cans. Graffiti and gang tags were covered up and painted over the best they could be, park benches were meticulously scrubbed down, and even the strange statue with seemingly no origin had been polished off. At an opening, near the edge of the river and separated from the crowd of acolytes by a wide margin, stood a grand stage and a podium.

Who had done all this? The K-Knights. Had this group of fanatics cleaned the entire park just for their leader lamb of theirs? Were they really that special?

Little Cato would soon get his answer. Among the bustling crowd of crimson gowns arose whispers. Joy, excitement. Most of it was speculation but all could hardly contain themselves once they heard their leader had arrived. Some buzzed with glee, hoping and praying for a mere glimpse of the lamb, others shuttered at the thought of the leader's wrath if they felt the park wasn't to their liking. One thing was for certain. The crowd was getting restless.

From where Little Cato and his friends stood, there was a clear view of the podium where the leader would be conducting their sermon. The acolytes weren't the only ones getting impatient. Little Cato had become just as restless. His body jitters, his leg shakes, and one handshakes wildly in his nervousness.

"Hey, man." Valerie took his shaky hand. "It's fine Little C. Just take it easy." She said, rising and lowering her hand as she breathed in and out, urging him to do the same. Valerie wasn't very good with kids, but she tried, and Little Cato appreciated that.

"I know, I know." He said, repeating her action the best he could. His fast-paced heartbeats slow to a manageable speed. He was only excited because everyone else was excited. Otherwise, he had no idea why he was getting so antsy.

But he was calm. At least he was until the crowd had begun to rumble, their buzzing becoming louder and louder, growing into thunders cheers that would grow into the wails of tearful joy.

Then Little Cato saw them.

They had stored up to the podium with a sense of prideful entitlement in each step, their red cloak long and flowing as if it were a part of the wind itself. The hair surrounding their head was like a cloud, large, fluffy, and floating idly on its own. They were a lamb, much taller than anyone he'd ever seen. Not even Jackie came close They practically towered over the podium they stood at. Little Cato wasn't even sure if they actually needed it to keep the crowd's attention. He couldn't even tell if their leader was male or female. From what he could see, he'd be forgiven for assuming either or. From their face to their figure was an androgynes form, a being that was totally neutral in nature. Little Cato was taken aback. That fact alone made them beautiful in a way. The most impressive part was the crown that sat firmly on their head. It was jagged, void black barring the eye the blazed red at its center. As the lamb moved, he could swear the eye had been following him the entire time.

The leader was astounding. If perfect had a physical form, they could be confused for it. Though he couldn't tell their gender, once they spoke Little Cato figured he would be able to better wrap his head around this magnificent being. Only when they actually speak, he would remain baffled.

"Children! Leand me your ears!" Their voice bellowed, caught somewhere in between a feminine squeak and a masculine rasp. The crowd silenced themselves in honor of the booming yet delicate voice. Tremendous respect befell each and every acolyte at their leader's behest. "Hear me and rejoice for I am your shepherd, and my word will lead you all through the coming darkness. I know life can be hard; this world can be so cruel. No matter where your eyes gaze there always seems to be some new spurt of suffering. In headlines and broadcasts, it doesn't matter. The world seems content on suffering, they seem content on your suffering!" A sudden shout riles the crowd before all goes silent again. "But my family, I'm here to tell you that your suffering is a choice... Something is coming... you feel, don't you?" They smile, eyes wandering the crowd and seemingly landing on Little Cato. "A coming darkness that will consume everything whole. You're homes, your family... you're very souls." The smile fades, dark red eyes still transfixed with Little Cato. "And that is why we started this project. To prove that fighting back was not too great a task. Some outside forces may come to try and strip us of our homes, our guns... our faith." Small gasps erupted throughout the park. The leader settles the rosing with raised hands. "Have no fear, my children, for as long as I live no harm shall befall you. They only do this because they do not understand. They are misguided and, in that misguidance, shall they find their demise." Their voice echoed throughout the park, bringing a great sense of ease to the acolytes. "And so, I tell you give into your vices, take stock of your worldly possessions, surrender to the pleasures of the flesh, and keep your rifles by your side. Because once the day comes, we will build a castle, we will lock the gates, and once we pass through Eden... there will be no turning back when the morning light shines through... and for any outsiders yet to see the light," His smile returns bolder. "You can join us... willingly or otherwise." After some silence, the crowd burst into a loud roaring wale. Shouts of glory and applause of plenty almost deafen Little Cato.

Once all was set and done, their leader made their way from the podium and into the crowd to greet their flock. They shook hands and dished out blessings like it was candy on Halloween night. Then they came to a stop before Little Cato.

Their eyes bared down on the young Ventrexian as a soft grin raged along his lips. That look did something strange to him then, his heart began to thump painfully in his chest, and adrenalin flowed through his blood. The lamb snapped his finger at an assistant who held a coal-black bowl filled with what looked to be red paint. The lamb dipped their fingers into the substance and brought the paint-laced fingers over the boy's forehead.

Little Cato's muscles ceased up. Try as he might, he couldn't move. His eyes bore deep into the lamb's who's blazed with what he could only describe as overwhelming love. He could also see something else in those wondrous eyes, something far darker than hatred or contempt but he couldn't describe what it was. 

After a moment the leader took a slow step back. Their eyes remained with Little Cato before gently closing. They slowly bow their head and then they would leave. Even after they were gone Little Cato remains stunned, brows curled in his disorder.

"You okay Little Cato?" Timmy asked, wrapping a hand around one of Little Cato's arms. He doesn't speak, only tilting his head as the crowd begins to disband in the direction of their leader.

"Man, that was some weird shit." Valerie scoffed as she continued to survey the shortening crowd of acolytes.

"Yeah." Little Cato agreed with a small murmur, eyes still facing ahead of him. "Tell me about it."

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

It was early evening, the buzzing of cheap lights pulled at his ears, the chattering of board neighbors, the sound of the building groaning and creaking as it settled in its old age. Little Cato was home, and he couldn't be happier.

"Well, I'm heading home. Today was a little too exciting for me personally." Timmy said, lending a short wave to Little Cato and Sam. "C-ya."

"C-ya." The pair replied at once and Timmy was off.

Little Cato let out a weary sigh, shaking his head. "Man, he's right. I should have given that sermon some extra thought." 

"Yeah, no shit." Sam chuckles at Little Cato. "That whole part with the 'give into your vices' thing was interesting. If I wasn't so sure that whole religion wasn't a scam, I would have been into it." Little Cato might not be as inclined to join those people as Sam would. 

He's not even sure if it was a scam. There was something so genuine in the lamb's words, a confidence in their voice that could tell no lie. Then again maybe it was all a scam. It's not like something like this hasn't happened before. New organizations take advantage of people's suffering and loneliness all the time. Then again religious organizations didn't normally come bearing so many arms. It was a toss-up for Little Cato.

"Ay, boyos!" The glimmer of a red mask turned a concrete corner. The tall boy greeted the moment he saw Little Cato and Sam. "Where y'all been?"

Little Cato's mouth opened, endeavoring to answer Kendrick but Sam quickly beat him to the punch.

"Yo Ken you won't believe it. El Gato got branded." He laughed.

"What?" He wondered sounding more than upset.

"Honest. By the acolytes." Sam pointed out the eye mark in red on Little Cato's head and Kendrick leans in for a better look.

"Aw, what the fuck." Kendrick nearly recoiled before bringing up the sleeve of his light blue jacket to rub the stain off of Little Cato's head. "Come on LC don't let those people do that to you, for fuck's sake." His tone was stuck between caring and scolding. Like an older brother who could only show concern for his siblings by chastising them. 

"Yeah..." Little Cato didn't have much to say. He was still too weirded out by the interaction himself.

"Aw well." Kendrick took a step back, leaning back in to make sure he'd gotten the mark off completely. "Ash is super pissed by the way. You should go handle that."

Little Cato perked up, trepidation fading instantly. "Right." He said. He'd almost forgotten how angry she was the last time they saw each other. "Thanks, Kendrick, I- I gotta deal with that." He rushed off, hardly giving his friends a second thought.

Kendrick sighed a small laugh. "That kid. What would he do without me?" 

 

  

Chapter 35: Little Cato for a day.

Small, sweet and warm sips pass Little Cato's lips. The delicate taste of caramel streamed down his throat, easing his mind as he put pencil to paper. He propped an elbow up on the table and dropped a cheek into his hand as he delved deeper into a focused flow state of study.

His chosen study area was a table outside Myers High's in-house cafe. His last class had ended a bit early and the next wouldn't be starting for another fifteen minutes, so he would use the extra time to crack down on his studies.

The study session was a lonesome one. For the life of him, he couldn't figure out where any of his friends were that day. They had all arrived together but since then his friend had been like a scattered mist. No matter how thoroughly he looked there was no trace of them. He could understand the reason for Ash's absence around him. The girl had still been upset with him, and he wouldn't blame her for not wanting to speak at the moment. He couldn't blame her. Even if his time with the joytoys was pithily spent before Little Cato and Ash were officially a thing, he'd still made it clear that he liked her during that time. With that, he was alone and studying at a cafe.

Little Cato had to say, he was still surprised that the school had its own cafe. These sorts of things would usually have a kiosk placed in the lobby of one of the already existing structures, but Myer's had detected an entire building to the cafe. He had always passed by it in between classes. Before, the thought of stopping for something like tea and cookies never crossed his mind but he figured why not today. There was no reason to avoid it at the moment.

The establishment was nothing small. The cafe was converted from one of the old buildings on campus. It was half as big as the campus's biggest buildings. Its towering two-story structure loomed and beckoned students into the walls of its caffeinated safe haven. The stone-domed rooftop glimmered and nearly reflected in the sunlight. Tables with large blue umbrellas plastered with the logo of their school lay along the cobblestone garden outside of the building.

The cafe wasn't so crowded that morning. It was surprising seeing as most students who weren't first years hardly had any classes to attend. The ones who were there mostly chattered among themselves, the conversations softly carrying on with plans of what they'd be doing after school, the things they did over spring break, and the things they wanted to do once the summer rolled around. It was all mind-numbing babble though one of the students brought up a topic that perked Little Cato's ears right up and steals his focus away from his current studies.

They spoke about something, a music festival, Sola-Night fest, that would be occurring in the coming months. They talked about how their parents had gotten them VIP spots and exclusive passes that would allow them access to pretty much every event the festival had to offer, including the dessert fair. Little Cato's brows peaked once the fair and his ferris wheel was brought up. Was Sola-Night really that big? He'd heard about the festival, mostly in passing, on starships and space stations but he assumed it all to be overexaggerated gossip.

A dull sigh left him. Little Cato had always wanted to attend a music festival, or a festival of any kind, but in the past, he and his parents never had the time to spare for such things. They had time now, but he was pretty sure Gary wasn't going to cough up the money for a commodity like Sola-Night and he certainly wasn't going to ask his parents for help.

Little Cato dropped his pencil in the fold of his notebook and laid his head down on the cafe table. He felt bad for listing in on the students, but it wasn't like they were making an attempt to keep the discussion between themselves. He mostly felt bad for himself though. Little Cato felt like he never got to do anything, his whole life consisted of mostly space travel, colony life, and the military. He was even expected to attend a prestigious academy once he turned eighteen. Eighteen. He couldn't even have a little break in between high school and then. His dad had such high hopes for him, his grandparents had such high hopes for him. His entire family, from Graytrexia to Earth were watching him closely, curious about what career he'd up choosing. The Graytrexian side of his family mostly filled in roles behind the scenes. They were communications experts, scouts, bearcats, government-mandated scientists, spies, and held more than one seat on the alliance Senate. The human half of his family was more head-on. They were pilots, drill instructors, admirals, captains, and generals. His grandpa John was one of six grand admirals, the highest position the nation could afford someone. The position after that was Chancellor.

Little Cato felt so small compared to them. His dad wanted him to be a ranger. He could cut it don't get him wrong, but just because he could do it didn't make the process easy. Being an Alliance ranger wasn't a job just anyone could do. You had to show promise, you had to be bright, adaptable, physically adept, knowledgeable of nearly every corner of the galaxy, and, above all, brave. Absolut bravery was the central characteristic a ranger should hold. 

A sudden weight tumbled onto Little Cato's shoulders. He should just settle for what he has now and try not to rock the boat as much as he'd been doing lately. But he couldn't help but feel a sense of dissatisfaction creep up on him. He wanted so much more than what he had and what he was meant to be. He wanted more than just good grades, praise for being such a good kid, or overly protective parents. He wanted to live. Live like never before. Before it was too late to do so.

"Ay, yo LC!" As the thought steadily passed, a radiant call arrived to great Little Cato essentially causing him to spring out of his seat in profuse excitement. It was about time.

"Hey, Kendrick." He waved at the red mask, trying to keep the elation over his expression in check. He wasn't sure if he was doing good or a piss poor job at it. "Where have you guys been? I was starting to think you left school without me." He asked, looking back to the group of friends who'd been standing behind his best friend. Each one seemed a bit restless, all smiles and giggling against their better judgment. "What are you guys up to?" A smile crept along his face, knowing that there was something afoot.

"Cuttin' choom, Cuttin'." Dean blurted out, peaking his head over Kendrick's shoulder. "You comin' or what?"

"Shit, yeah!" The answer came quicker than lightspeed. It was a no-brainer at first, but some hasty realization brings Little Cato back down to the disappointment of reality. "Wait no." He said. "I can't. These teachers know me too well. They're way too worried about me. If I'm even five minutes late to class a phone call goes home."

"Ah, shit." The group sighed at once. Even Timmy who advocated for doing the right thing first couldn't help but look disheartened.

"But there's gotta be a why. It's no fun without Little Cato. Like, it's not fair." Argit argued cheeks puffed into a frown and arms crossed at the cruelty of the world.

"Yeah, sorry guys. I wish there was a way, or if someone could fill in for me I-" A pause hit Little Cato, and his body froze as his heart fired up. "Wait... wait a minute."

"What is it?" Kavin appeared from the other side of Kendrick. "Noggins workin' hard. It's gotta be something good."

Little Cato peered down at the coble stone beneath him, hand to his chin and stroking thoughtfully. Then he glanced up again. "It might be."

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Koral had been skulking through the silent ales of the library with no particular goal in mind. With Tavish being in a bit of a bad mood that day there was nothing better to do than roam the building and idly peek through the dusty shelves of the old school library.

He found a few good novels, none of which he actually bothered to read but from what he skimmed they appeared to be pretty good, if not well-written. Koral wasn't much of a willing reader. If it wasn't a mandatory assignment or for research purposes, he wouldn't bother. The Octoling would rather have spent that time tinkering with technology. Maybe that made him less sophisticated than Tavish but it's what he liked to do. At some point his skimming halted and, taking a long glance down at the sea of words, actually decided to read a passage or two. Yep, well written, but he still found himself bored out of his mind. Board of his friends, board with this school, board with himself.

Sometimes he wished he could step out of his shoes for a moment and into another's. If only for a few hours. If only-

"Koral!" He jerked up with a snappy start, half asleep in the book he'd been, not so much, been reading. "Koral, Koral! Choom!" 

"Avocato?" He voiced hesitantly, his eyes still acclimating to the sight of the other boy. "W-what's wrong?"

Little Cato threw himself down at the table, his excitement waking Koral up fully. "I need your help with something man. It's important."

"Yeah... yeah sure, anything..." Koral bounced in his seat, letting Little Cato's feverish eagerness get the better of him. "What is it actually?"

"I need you to cover for me while I'm out of school."

"For sure!" He shouted, receiving a sharp shoosh from the librarian. Excitement had gotten the better of him again. "How exactly will I do that?" He questioned, concern narrowing his brows though he didn't want to deny his friend any help he could possibly offer.

"The project you've been working on remember. We can use that." He reached over the table to jovially tap the tips of his fingers over Koral's hand. 

Unease locked onto his expression. Koral was willing to help Little Cato, but his excitement had begun to die down at the mention of the project. "Oh, I don't know Avocato. I haven't gotten around to testing it really and I'm not sure if it's ready for a full day's use."

"Then we test it now!" Little Cato sprang up, receiving another, harsh whisper from the librarian. "Please Koral, I'm begging you here. I really need you right now." He locked his hands together on the table in a pleading motion.

Koral's heart just about stopped. His friend needed him. He needed him and there he was ready to back out over an untested prototype. Why not test it now? "Okey, okey." A timid sigh left him. "Come with me."

Koral pushed the door to the science lab open, holding it open for Little Cato to step through. 

"It's this way." Koral nervously pointed toward the back of the empty class before leading Little Cato further in. He stopped at a closet door near the end of the room, opening it carefully and guiding the Ventrexian inside. Koral peeked out through the door for a moment and took one last nervous look at the class before closing the door behind them.

The room was dark, coated in a pitch-black curtain. Koral could barely see his hands in front of his face, making the light switch even harder to find. He struggled against the dark, dragging his hands along the walls of the dark room until he came to an abnormality in the smooth surface.

"Here." He said, flipping the switch as the dark void retreated far from the enveloping light. 

"Is this where you've been keeping it. A closet?"

Koral chortled, amused by Little Cato's examination. "Dear Avocato, this is where I've been working on it for the past few months."

"Yeah." He smirked. "In this dusty old closet? I didn't think you liked places so crampet."

Koral gazes about the dim space. He'd hardly call it dusty. Maybe a smidgen here or there but the small room was clean otherwise, considering how rarely used it was. It was utterly barren, aside from a few empty shelves. To the far end was a workbench with a white sheet pulled over it. Completely undisturbed.

"Well, there are a lot of this you don't know about me, my dear Avocato."

"I know that the last time you were stuck in a closet, you thought you were going to die in there."

"Shut up." Koral sighed, stepping past Little Cato and ushering him over to the workbench. He took hold of the spotless white sheet and with one quick tug, Koral unveiled the budding project of his apprehension. An old Mk 1 Helghast clocking mask.

"Man, it looks good." Little Cato laughed and lightly slapped Koral's arm. The mask was dull in color, its surface smooth, and expression non-existent to convey its purpose. Koral was attempting to reverse engineer the old clocking device for a school project and until now he had yet to test it. "So, I guess you have to scan me, right?"

"Uuuuh..." Koral tensed up. He looks at the blank mask. A hint of nausea settled within his throat. Suppose he should really disclose why he didn't want to bring Little Cato around off his chest. "Here's the thing... I've already implemented your biometrics into the mask- sorry..." He admitted as a guilty smile pulled at his expression.

Little Cato was silent. He turns his head away, a baffled smile on his lips. "Well, I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that because you're doing me a solid." Relief departed Koral. "Anyway, why don't you pop that thing on so we can see what we're working with.

"Right, right." Koral took in a deep breath, fingers crossed as he held the mask up to his face. He prayed to anyone or anything that would care to listen and hoped for the best.

The mask slipped on effortlessly. He barely noticed when it was on as he could feel nothing. He had shut his eyes beforehand out of fear that his little project actually turned out to be a bust.

"Woah." The sound of aw that emanated from Little Cato helped to nudge his shy eyes back open. "Oh my god." Koral looks down to inspect the lower half of his body. His once dark skin was now wrapped in a bright orange sunburst hue with fur to boot. Niles protruded from his hands, lovingly manicured and painted with black polish. Looking back, he could see a tail had sprung out of his backside, long flowing and restless. When he tried to grab at it his hand went straight through. It seemed that the tail wasn't soled mass, but he expected as much since he didn't have a tail himself. The mask could only copy a person's body and voice, but not change the wearer completely.

"Oh my god. It actually worked." Genuine disbelief surfed along his tone. After the initial shock, a buddle of relief would lighten the mood.

"Yes, it did..." Little Cato mutters softly. He revolved around Koral and inspected all of his bits and pieces with a satisfied grin. "Okay, this is gonna work. I'll message you my schedule, I'm gonna warn you now, it's a lot. My teachers are gonna throw curveball questions at you but don't worry about answering wrong. I'll just say I was feeling sick and... yeah. Peace." Little Cato finished, sticking his tongue out and two fingers up from each hand before exiting the closet. An odd gesture but Little Cato could be odd.

Koral didn't move after he was gone. He was too still mesmerized with his new form. "Yeah..." He whispered out a late response while trying to catch a glimpse of his newly grown tail. "I'm Little Cato now."

So, Koral was Little Cato now, but what did that mean exactly? Koral would struggle with the question for some time as he ran back and forth to each of his friend's classes. The answer never became any clearer to him especially not when those curve ball questions Little Cato had warned him about finally came around. Needless to say, Koral Cato had embarrassed himself and his friend all in one go. The odd looks received from his, or Little Cato's teachers didn't help the flush he felt run through his entire body either. It was almost like they could have seen through the mask in those moments though chose to say nothing of it. So Being Little Cato meant to be smart. The only problem was Koral wasn't as smart as Little Cato.

The other half of that day was spent dodging bullies and dealing with suck-ups. The sucks-ups were a nice change of pace. So many students had never been so nice to Koral before, even if it was just to get in his good graces. That is to say Little Cato's good graces. He could have done without the students picking on him, however. The persistent teasing, sly remarks, and subtle shoves were all enough to make a man go mad. The strangest of the encounters might have been during PE. 'Little Cato' was called on first for a rope climbing exercise. Koral had seen him do it effortlessly plenty of times, climbing to the very top of the drop in seconds. He'd also seen how some of the students seemed so enamored with Little Cato's tail while doing so. Unfortunately for Koral, he wasn't as strong as Little Cato but frontally he didn't have an actual tail to tug either. When one of Little Cato's usual bullies came around to do so, they found themselves fazing through the perceived tail and falling onto the floor much to everyone's amusement. Koral's heart nearly stopped when it happened but miraculously, no one had noticed the bully's hands faze through his 'tail'. Koral has no idea how Little Cato could manage to keep his cool with all the jerks at school doing their best to rouse him. But he did and the amount of restraint, and patience he managed to show them was impressive. The amount he showed Koral was as well. So, to be Little Cato was to be strong, to turn the other cheek. Not many could be so forgiving.

Right around lunchtime, Koral'd had it with all the running and was tired out of his mind. He just wanted to sit down and eat. Typically, Koral would be eating with Tavish and their other friends but since he was pretending to be Little Cato at the moment that most likely wasn't the most brilliant idea. With Little Cato's friends skipping school as well, he'd have to settle with his solitude. There was at least some good news. The lunch staff were overjoyed to see Little Cato. He was really popular with the older folk in school so Koral shouldn't have been all that surprised. It was then Koral realized how good Little Cato had it in some regards. The lunch staff had offered to fill his tray with food they didn't hand to just any student. Of course, he'd accept even if the real Little Cato wouldn't have. So, to be little Cato was to be appreciated. Given how sweet the boy could be, that should have been obvious.

Setting down at an empty table, Koral picked at his food. Sure, the food looked stunning, way better than what they usually got, and what they usually got was immaculate. But what good was it if he had no one to share it with?

"Hey." A somber-sounding tone reached out to him. Looking up he could see it was Ash, peering down at him with weary eyes. "Can I sit? She asked.

At first, Koral was at a loss for words. He thought all of Little Cato's friends were leaving the school. "Y-yeah, sure." His masked voice almost cracked when he offered the girl a seat. 

"Thanks." She sat and squinted her eyes at him before fully committing to the seat. "Say, you look a little... different." Koral choked, heart, beating like a drum. The mask had even almost fallen off after the way he jerked his head at her. He needed to be more careful "Did you... do something with your hair?" Ash leaned across the table, straining her eyes for a better look at the boy pretending to be the boy she knew.

"Uhhh-"

"I-it doesn't matter actually." She fell back onto her seat looking even more discouraged. Koral was only happy she didn't catch on to him. "Look, I want to say sorry for getting so mad about the joytoy thing."

"Ah yes, the... joytoy thing?" Koral muttered the last part, very perplexed by what she meant. What had Little Cato been getting up to in his free time exactly?

"I know it was before we were a thing, and I want to say I was overacting about it. You just- mean everything to me and I know I may not show it but I really, really do love you, Junior. I hope you can forgive me."

Koral lingers on her waiting expression for a moment. Little Cato had done something she didn't very much like and yet she was the one apologizing? Why? What should he do or say? What would Little Cato have done?

"No."

"Fuck you mean, no?" Ash's sad demeanor turned dry quickly as she looked up at who she thought to be Little Cato.

"I mean there is nothing to apologize for." He said. "The joytoy industry is so deplorable. The industry exists to profit off a need brought on by overwhelming loneliness all whilst exploiting the ones offering such services. The business is built around people who are looking for a deep connection or simply sex addicts. The so-called 'oldest profession in history' maybe should have gone extinct a century or two ago." He chuckled in his superiority as he passed a smug grin to Ash.

She was wordless. Her angry expression shifted to something more strangely bewildered. "Uh, sure, I guess. But I wouldn't call Cookie, deplorable," She laughed, rolling her eyes. "I thought you liked him." Ash gestured with a smile.

Koral's body tenses up again. Did he slip up? "We- well yes, but..." He scrambles to find the right words, words that Little Cato would use and not his own. "I just hate how hard he has to work is all." His shoulders popped up and a shy, guilty grin made its way along his lips.

"Hmmm." Ash hummed curiously, eyes returning to a heavy squint. "Yeah, I guess you're right. They all work way too hard honestly. Wish there was a way to lighten the loud, or louds, without throwing ourselves in places." A deviant giggle came to Koral's slight disgust. She then got up and made her way over to 'Little Cato' "Thanks for being so understanding babes." Koral's heart started to kick at his chest again as she began to lean in. Her eyes closed and her lips pushed pucker. He had begun to trickle down his face. So much so that the mask had started to slip, the image of Little Cato flickering to Koral and back again with an electric buzz.

"Woah!" His legs moved automatically as he sprung up from his seat in a flash. He held his hands to his face as he tried to keep the mask from slipping.

"Wha-" Ash's eyes opened. "Wait, were you going?" She called.

"Bathroom! Gotta uses the bathroom!" Koral shouted back, holding his hand to the mask to prevent it from fully falling off his face. Bits of laughter followed him out of the cafeteria to his chagrin.

Ducking into one of the school's many bathrooms, Koral would quickly make for one of the open cubicles. That encounter was way too close in his opinion. He removed the mask, bullets of sweat rolled down his forehead and dripped onto sweaty palms like warm raindrops. The was the problem with these old masks. They got way to hot and were prone to glitching.

He couldn't believe he had come that close to kissing his friend's output. What was wrong with him, how could he let himself be caught off guard like that? Koral slunk back onto the toilet, a much too deep sigh sprinting out of his lungs as he did.

He sat for a bit, thinking of the words exchanged with him at the lunch table. Did Little Cato have a thing for joytoy's? How could he? That kind of activity seemed so unlike the Little Cato he knew. Visting sex workers didn't necessarily make anyone a bad person, but this was Little Cato. Such things were beneath him. And Ash... she was so upset and still willing to be the one to apologize. The incident may have occurred before they were together, but it hurt her all the same, even if she felt she was over-exaggerating, though Koral felt she wasn't.

After a few more minutes of wiping away rivers of sweat and getting his head back in the right space, Koral stood up from the toilet seat. He felt he was ready to get back out there. Past the nervous sweating and mishandled social cues, none of the students or teachers seemed drawn to the fact that he wasn't who he said he was.

Koral pushed open the stall door and shuffled out of the cubical. Immediately, and practically at that, he had bumped into a familiar sight that would have lifted his spirits if he wasn't pretending to be the boy's arch nemesis.

"Oh... it's you." The tall blonde boy buzzed in annoyance.

"Oh... Hey Tavv-," Koral went stiff. His first thought was to greet him how he usually would as himself, but he wasn't himself so that typical greeting might have been oddly suspicious. "I mean sup, Tavish." Tavish rose a single microbladed brow at him. He looked suspicious of Koral at first, but his face hurriedly returned to its typical moody expression.

"You look a little... different today." He said running his eyes over the visibly trembling Koral. "You get your hair done or something? Makes you look shorter." Tavish rolled his eyes with an aggravated sneer, as if Little Cato even having a flawed treat was an inconvenience to him. "Whatever. You see Koral around deckhead?"

He was standing right in front of him, but clearly, he didn't know that. "No sorry. Can't say I have."

"Of course." Tavish groaned. "I swear when I catch up to him, he's not going to hear the end of it." He turned away from Koral, ready to leave. Koral was determined to let him walk but the echo of his words got under his skin enough for him to say something and, dear he says, speak his mind.

"You know, you should be nicer to Koral." He blurted without thinking. Might as well keep going. "Should be nicer to me too."

Tavish stopped, hand extended toward the door, now frozen in time. His hand lowered after a couple of seconds and slowly, turned head to Koral.

"What?" He scoffed. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm just saying you should be a little nicer. It wouldn't kill you; you know. It beats this territorial gunk bs you do every day."

"Hey!" Tavish barked suddenly, voice nearly shaking the walls of the restroom. The sound quickly caused Koral's confidence to curl up and die. "I'm the nicest guy in this whole damn school, the nicest guy I know in fact."

"Well, I beg to differ."

"Fuck you." Tavish shoved Koral then quickly recoiled with a balled fist and a spark of surprise hitting his face. "What's wrong with you?" He shoved him again with the same look of bewilderment only growing more baffled.

"Ow, hey! What's wrong with you?" whined Koral, lightly holding the shoulder he was pushed.

"What?" A baffled snicker arose from Tavish. "Fight back, disarm me, or whatever the hell it is you do." He said, shoving Koral again. Had it been Little Cato, the blonds wish would have been fulfilled then. But Koral wouldn't be able to. He wasn't as good of a fighter.

Tavish took a step back, mind seeming to break under the realization that Little Cato hadn't put his hands on him. A brow raised. A hand runs through lavish blond curls then he leaves without another word besides a few more annoyed grunts.

Koral stood in place, counted the seconds after the door had shut behind Tavish, and doubled over to relieve his held breath. "Oh god!" He cried out. Had he really just spoken back to Tavish? He did, didn't he? Technically it was under the guise that the blonde was speaking to his worst enemy but still. Koral had never felt so ready to die, his heart beating faster than he could keep up.

He'd calm down eventually after hearing the chime from his phone. Speedily pulling it out, he sees a message from Little Cato asking him to open the closet door leading to the bunker. Koral had to say, the day had been fun, but he was more than ready to pass the shoes back to Little Cato.

Koral had reached the door quickly. He'd taken off his cloaking mask and stored it away in his backpack in fear that It might have caused some confusion with Little Cato's friends. 

After grabbing hold of the old knob, the thing twisting with a soft screech, the door opens and each one of Little Cato's friends came piling through followed by Little Cato who was the last in the line up to exit. 

They were all coughing, eyes red as they rubbed them down, and uniforms soaked, messy, and imitating an awful stench.

"Woah." Koral gasped, covering his mouth and nose. "What happened to you guys?"

"Fuck." Kendrick cussed. His mask was sat atop his head as he roughly rubbed at his eyes. In-between their coughing, groaning, and panting, Koral had yet to receive an answer.

"Some guys came and threw us in the canal." Little Cato stepped up, practically gouging his eyes and gritting his teeth through a stinging squint. "We floated halfway down to Santo before we were able to get out. God my eyes sting... I think I accidentally swallowed a condom."

Koral's face twisted with palpable repulsion. "Uh, Ew... What did you do? Who were they?"

"Don't know!" Dean spoke next. He was doubled over, slapping the said of his head to get any excess water out of the depths of his ear. "Some fuckin Animal gangers, the roided up motherfuckers!"

"Why'd they, do it?" Koral continued and got a unanimous groan from the group of socked and stinking group.

"Cause their assholes," Sam answered simply, rubbing at all three of his eyes the best he could.

Koral couldn't keep from snickering at them. Being Little Cato for a day was hard enough but at least it was only for a single school day. He wouldn't know what to think if he had to go through the rest of the Ventrexian's life with friends like his.

"We should probably get you all cleaned up before anyone notices," Koral suggested, throwing a thumb over his shoulder. 

"Yeah, good idea." Little Cato agreed and the group followed behind Koral as he led them out of sight of security and students alike. Mishaps happened around the school all the time, but Little Cato and his friend's conditions were way too big a mishap to explain away.

Chapter 36: Sola-Night.

Gary paced back and forth across the living room, his feet dragging along the carpet and building up an intense current of electricity that had done nothing but add to his already smoldering excitement. He was restless, arms crossed anxiously, palms slapping against each bicep. What had been taking Little Cato so long, he thought.

The smile on his face was apparent, wide and full of joy. They had been working so hard lately, spying, sabotaging, and relaying sensitive information to other agents all while trying to parent a teenager and keeping the truth of why they were really in Night City from him. It only made sense that Quinn would advocate for some downtime to their superiors over the summer. The news came like a rush of wind, pushing against them unexpectedly. Gary was far beyond happy and Avocato, who'd been less so due to how much of a workaholic he could tend to be at times, was still glad.

Gary couldn't stop his mind from racing from that point on. He had so many things he wanted to do with his son, so much time he wanted to spend with the boy and now he was getting that. At first, choosing an activity seemed impossible but they had all summer long and Night City was a big place, though Gary wanted something bigger, more meaningful. Then he saw it.

While browsing the net on his phone for things he could do with his family an ad appeared, specifically tailored to his viewing habits that day. The ad was for a big event, a music festival held in the desert between N.C. and L.A. Gary could have collapsed from how fast his blood began to rush. He thought it was perfect. Little Cato had yet to experience anything so socially grand before. Gary hated that their son had to spend most of his life world-hopping along with them. He never wanted to admit it, but he felt Little Cato had lost a piece of his childhood because of them. Their work surviving the other regions of the galaxy had come before a lot of things. Gary hoped that this could make up for his teen hood... just maybe.

The blonde grunts, irritably pinching his lips together and eyes glancing over to the door every few seconds or so. What was taking Little Cato so long? He had messaged the boy about coming home early for a surprise. He wanted to be face to face with his son when he delivered the news but Little Cato, as usual, was dragging his feet and each minute that passed made Gary more antsy than he had been before.

"Gary calm down." Avocato's voice came softy from the sofa pit and broke through his rushing thoughts.

"I am calm. I'm the calmest I could ever be, forever now. You calm down." He replied, a timid chuckle apparent in his tone. His eyes crawled back over to the door. Still waiting, still watching, and growing more restless as time passed.

"You know watching the door isn't gonna make him come through it any faster Gary." Avocato sat up, tone a bit drossy all of a sudden. "Just come sit. Time'll fly by faster if you're not constantly thinking about him you know."

Gary's eyes don't abandon the door immediately. Despite what Avocato told him, he still held some hope that just by looking at the door it would give Little Cato the sense to speed it up. Unfortunately, the door remains closed with no teenage headache dragging himself through.

Gary sighed, turning to Avocato with a conceding look weighing down his expression. "Yeah, maybe you're right."

"I'm always right." He responded with a sly smirk.

"Yeah, except for when you're wrong," Gary snickered back, eyes rolling playfully.

"When have I ever been wrong baby?"

Gary stops to think for a moment and his eyes drift off to the distance. When had Avocato ever been wrong? He wasn't the screw-up type. That was more Gary's territory. "Uhhh..." He stammered, trying to save face and think of anything his husband was bad at. Shooting? No Avocato was the king of guns. Fighting? Well, he was a Ventrexian, his people came out of the womb fighting. In bed maybe? That was a big and immediate no. Avocato was a feral beast in the sheets and never failed to make Gary yelp like a puppy. Then what he thought. Not much came to mind. Even social interactions seem to come so naturally to him. His husband was basically the perfect specimen. "Well, uhh..." He snapped his fingers, trying to think of anything from the past fourteen years they'd been together. "HA! Wh- what about that time on Heeth!" Gary cried in victorious remembrance.

Avocato looks at him oddly, one brow raised, arms folded, and a dazed smirk that reads 'What are you talking about' over his lips. "Remind me." He gently reposed. As cool as ever Gary sees.

"At the old recon station. You swore up and down that none of the wildlife wouldn't go near the place. Said they were too scared of unnatural structures on that planet and the station would be empty for sure. So, what happens when we get inside?" Gary leaned into Avocato smugly, tapping the man over the shoulder and urging him to finish.

His confused smirk left his face as a shudder ran through his body. "There... was a whole colony of Terminids that were using the station as a hive... forgot about that..." Avocato mutters, retreating into his thoughts out of shame before his smirk returns. "So what? We all have flaws. I've slightly miscalculated certain some circumstances, you've lost Little Cato on more than a few occasions and dropped him once if I remember you saying."

"Hey." Gary's fingers snap again, this time to Avocato who quickly quits down. "I see you're point." He turned away, a hasty flush of red filling his cheeks.

"Good." Avocato chuckled. "Now come sit down while we have the time." Gary flung his shoulders up and down along with his reluctant breath. At this point, he might as well take the downtime. He would have until his attention is brought back to the door.

"C-ya guys." Stepping through the door finally, Little Cato called back to his friends. He remained at the door leaning halfway out to make sure his friends were out of sight before walking into the apartment fully. "What's up, Gary? You said you had a surprise?" He walked up with the sweetest smile that sent Gary's heart into a fervent frenzy. It was the kind that could do no wrong in his eyes.

"Biggest surprise of your young life, mister." He said. "Now I know we haven't been spending as much time as a family like you wanted to, but me and your dad have gotten a bit of free time and guess how we're spending it."

"Uh, yeah." Little Cato began, confused. "That's why we're here, isn't it? Off duty and all."

Gary's face falls abruptly grim. In his excitement, he had failed to take account of the words prepared. It didn't become apparent until Little Cato had mentioned their stay.

"Uhh, yeah... I- I mean- what I meant to say was-" Gary goes into a slight panic, bobbing his head around as Little Cato stares at him with a semi-perplexed fear.

"What he meant was that we're sorry we've been so busy taking in the sights without you." Avocato quickly jumped out of the sofa pit with an explanation for Gary's short slip-up.

"Right- right. That's what I meant." He shifted to Avocato and saw the cocky smirk twisted far along his cheek. The look was becoming aggravating, but Gary silently thanked him for the save all the same. "Now back to business. How would you feel if I said we were going to Sola Fest."

Avocato nodded along before leaning over to Gary with a lifted brow. "I thought it was called Night Fest." He whispered.

"No, it-" He stopped, taking a moment to think it over. What was it called again?

"Wait! You're taking me to Sola-Night!?" Little Cato hollered as loud as he could. His body fell into a spasming fit as he started to hop up and down on the tips of his toes. The look that shocked his face was a combination of astonishment and wide-eyed wonder "Oh my god, oh my god. I have to... I have to tell someone; I have to tell someone!" He gasped pulling out his phone with quivering hands, and then another staggered look hit his face. "Can my friends come Gary!?"

A cold splash of shock causes Gary's neck to whip back as he does a fast double-take. "Huh?" He said, not sure if he'd heard correctly.

"Can they come please!" Little Cato repeated. By now his feet had been taking him inches into the air as he continued to gleefully bounce.

"What!? No- no they can't." He threw up his hands, trying to shut the idea down.

"Gary please!" He fell into Gary's chest and wrapped his hands around his waist. "Please!"

"Little Cato I thought that this could just be a family trip-" When his eyes met Little Cato's his heart murmured. The look of hope and happiness weaved into his pleading expression was too much to ignore. How could he say no to him like this? "But I suppose... if you want them to tag along... sure." Gary relented without much of a fight.

"Oh shi- oh man- thank you, Gary, you're the best!" Little Cato's hoping stopped, and he turned to the front door. "I gotta go tell them. I'll be back." Little Cato ran toward the front, dashing out of the door before it was barely open, and into the halls of the mega building.

That was an unexpected variable Gary hadn't accounted for. "Crap." He groaned, head down as some overwhelming pressure began to build around his neck.

"That went smooth," Avocato said as he took a step beside the blonde. Although it didn't sound like it, Gary could tell he was mocking him for how he handled the situation. "So how are we paying for all these people Gare?" Avocato stepped closer to the weathered blonde. He was asking the right questions and Gary had zero right answers.

"I don't know." He shrugged.

"Eh... I think you do."

A deep sigh exfiltrated Gary's lungs. The suggestion was too much. "I can't, I..."

"Gary." Avocato took the blonde by the waist, spinning him around to face him. "I know you don't want to feel like a screw-up but it's okay to ask for help sometimes. This doesn't have to be all on you." He held Gary close, hands gently caressing the curves of the blonde's waistline.

Gary held onto his broad shoulders, thoughts of how to proceed circulating through his mind. "Yeah." He said. "Maybe... I can call Jack. He shouldn't be too busy right now." Gary reluctantly separated from Avocato. Grabbing his phone, he slowly marched over to the kitchen table as if he were marching to his death.

The phone rang on and on. The hope of the man not answering arose to Gary's restlessness. He knew his other father could be busy. Holding a seat on the Alliance Grand Senate wasn't a job one could take lightly. Though Senate meetings were few and far between most days when things got busy, they got busy. Having a say in the shaping of the nation was a serious matter so when a bill needed to pass or a decision needed to be made, ninety percent of the Senate needed to be in agreement. The meetings could last minutes or months depending on how complex the subject matter was. Otherwise, there was a surprising lack of work to be found in the life of a Senator.

The phone rang on and on. Maybe he was busy today. Since arriving in Night City Gary hadn't exactly checked up on his parents. He didn't know if they were home in Vergina or over in Eden working at the moment.

The phone rang again, and again, and again, and just as Gary was about to call it quits the ringing stopped.

"Hello." A voice, slightly raspy and sweet as honey greeted with an upbeat chirp. "You know it's been so long I was actually starting to get worried Gary."

"Hey, Poppa." Avocato stifled a laugh as Gary replied with warm cheeks. "Sorry about that, I just got so busy with things and the job is seriously asking a lot from me and Avo right now."

"It's alright." A small loving chuckle sounded from the other end of the phone. "I know how it is. Me and your father got our start in the Infinity Guard so I know how tasking the job can get." Tasking might have been an understatement, but Gary was happy for any shred of validation his seconded dad could give him. "So do you need something, or did you just call to say hi to your dear old poppa?"

A short nervous giggle fled from Gary, his face delving further into a warm haze. He looked to Avocato with some hesitance, unsure if he could continue. Avocato simply blinked back at him and nodded.

"Right... so, I was planning a trip to this music festival, Sola-Night...?" He looked to Avocato to make sure he was saying the name right. Avocato shrugged just as uncertain. "Anyway, I was planning on going with the team squad, but Little Cato wants to bring his friends along now... so you know... I was wondering..." He couldn't bear to finish. He'd hoped Jack would get the hint anyway.

A small hum came before an answer. "How many?" Jack responded bluntly.

"Well, there's the DeWinter's, that's three. Little Cato's best friend and his mom are definitely coming, so that's two. Clarence and his crew are four. Avocato's old friend and his family are there. One of Little Cato's other friends and his uncles, that's three. And the Lavins, that's six. The father seems weird to me, like he's hiding something but that could just be me."

"Hmmm, the galaxies a big place sweety. Somebody always has something to hide." Jack went silent for a brief moment before his voice sprung back to life. "Alright, you're all booked."

"Really!?" Gary nearly falls out of his seat. "Just like that?"

"Just like that." He laughed. "You're set up in the VIP village."

"What!?" Gary blurted again, nearly fainting this time around. "Are you sure Jack, that sounds expensive."

"Gary, you act like we live paycheck to paycheck." Gary sighed. It's true, their family was well off. They hadn't wanted for much but buying VIP spots for seven whole families seemed a bit expensive for six days in the desert. "Gary, don't worry about it."

"I mean sure but-"

"Gary, you need this. I've always thought so highly of you as my child but lightly you've really come into your own. Raising a teenager and working a full-time military career is no easy feat. Trust me I know." Another soft chuckle. "Don't worry about it okay Gary."

Gary let loose a hesitant moan, but he'd do as he was told. "Yeah, okay Jack. Thanks."

"No problem sweety. Have fun and I love you. All of you"

"Love you to Poppa." They exchanged pleasantries before Jack hung up. Gary dropped the phone on the table. He let his held breath go. The tension around his neck had gone as if a value had been turned and his body was releasing all the steam built up within him. 

In his relief, Gary shook his head and turned to see Avocato, standing with crossed arms and an ever-present smirk.

"Was that so hard?" He asked.

"Like you wouldn't believe."

Chapter 37: I need to find some peace.

Notes:

Honestly, I did not like this chapter. It feels to basic and bland and run on, and it really depressed me to have to try and piece it together, and I still think it looks bad. I don't really know if I can continue this. I feel like I'm not a good enough writher to stick with it. The way I want to write just isn't something I can do now. I don't know why this chapter got to me so much. Guess I just finally realized that it's all no good. I'm not really sure what to do now but maybe I should call it quits.

"Are we there yet thunder bandit, are we there yet!?" A bundle of blonde frantic fur asked. In his excitement, he shifted in the passenger seat regularly only stopping to stick his head outside of the passenger side window every few minutes they were still on the road. "Come on put the paddle to the metal speed racer!" He fell back into his seat but didn't stay still longer than his restlessness would allow.

"For the last time Gregg, I'm not going any faster than the speed limit with kids in the car. Please sit down." " Gary insisted as he had been doing for the past few hours. Gregg paid his insistence no mind as he stuck his head out of the car window again.

Little Cato hummed to himself, keeping his eyes focused out of the window but listening carefully to the conversations around him. Not like it could be avoided anyway. They had gotten up early that morning before even the sun could rise. The day before the festival, his dads had rented two vans, large enough to transport all the families he had invited along. He was grateful that Gary would let them come along and even more appreciative that the blonde would go to his parents for help. At the time Gary had played it off but knowing him, it was probably one of the hardest things he's ever had to do in his life. 

After a while of sitting bored and watching inked dipped plateaus roll by, Little Cato's mind started to drift. There had been three other families all cramped up in a rented van alongside them. The siblings and their father, Kendrick and his mom, and Meowmar along with his parents. Since Argit and Ash's families were bigger that left his dad Avocato to shoulder the burden of driving that rowdy bunch. Really all the kids were unruly in their own way.

Were they there yet?

How long have they been on the road, Little Cato wondered as he gazed out into the run-on desert sky. Light was slowly starting to make its way along the sky, streaks of violet and blue illuminating the pitch-dark desert.

Little Cato felt like he'd been in that seat for days, though it may have only been hours at most. He shook his head against the cold glass. Getting up that early to ride off into the desert for some six-day music festival was jarring. The concept of being there was great, but the process of getting there was not.

He was excited, no doubt about it. Although he didn't display it as prominently as the fox sticking his head out of the window to let his tongue catch the desert wind, Little Cato was excited in his own way.

He could still hardly believe he was going to a music festival. His imagination ran wild with thoughts of what it might be like. Arguably, the thoughts he conjured up in his introspection was the most fun he'd had since setting out that night. It was also the thing keeping him awake still. He could think of all the things he might do and performers he might see, and the downsides don't seem to show themselves amid his rose-tinted, romanizations of a place he'd never been to before. He would admit there might be some disappointment to be found once actually reaching, but he's sure that it would be big enough to sour his mood.

"Are we there yet thunder bandit!" Gregg spun back around to Gary with his tongue still dangling from his mouth. His excitement had officially reached a boiling point.

"Gregg!" Gary said, about ready to snap by the looks of it but let out a small laugh afterward. He was too taken by the fox's eagerness to be truly upset. "Almost, I think. It's gonna take time, the place is literally out in the middle of nowhere."

"Yeah, the middle of nowhere, but that's still somewhere right." Little Cato said a bit angrily before slinking back into his seat quickly. He didn't mean to pipe up like he did. Even he was surprised to hear his voice come as aggressively as it had. "It would be nice to know when we'll get there is all." He continued, brushing off his sudden outburst.

"Hey don't worry." An arm draped itself over his shoulder. "Don't even sweat choom." Kendrick waved a free hand at him dismissively. 

"I'm trying not to." Little Cato clung to the arm in a shameless bid to calm himself, though the feel of Kendrick's jacket hadn't had the attended effect he'd been hoping for. Touching his arm only made Little Cato more anxious and excited though for a different reason.

"Bullshit." Kendrick snickered down at him. "You say you're trying but what I'm looking at is a kid so worried about the little things and god if he ain't worried." He tightens the grip around Little Cato's shoulders. "I get it, all you want to do is be there, be in the music, and amongst the people. When you came to me about going, I nearly shit myself, but I held it together choom."

A small chuckle came from Kendrick's mom as he spoke. "Don't believe him, Lil Cato. This festival is the only thing he's been talking about for the past two weeks." Kendrick shot a glare at his mom, staring at her with an unknown expression but given the slightly chastising look she gave back to him, it probably wasn't good. He looked at her for a few more seconds before turning back to Little Cato. 

"Point is, the more you think about it the longer this trip is gonna take. Just sit back, chill, and enjoy this busted ass AC and the Immediate entertainment given to us already." Kendrick said leaning back on the rough leather.

Little Cato slunk into the groaning leather seat. He wanted nothing more than to relax but his mind would not afford him that luxury. The rattled buzzing of the half-working air conditioning and the hard lather that morphed oddly to his poor spine would only exacerbate what little distress he was under.

Little Cato took a breath and looked around. "Immediate entertainment." He muttered to himself. At first, there didn't seem to be much of that to set back and enjoy. The Dewinters were asleep, their dad included. Gregg was too busy looking out of the car window and wondering about the ETA to their destination. Despite Gary repeating the same answer time and time again, that wouldn't dissuade Gregg. Angus was also too busy wrangling Gregg and Timmy to actually say much of anything.

"Hey guys," From the back, the sound of a cheery tone came. One of Meowmar's parents. "It says here they have a theme park there." Catstill had been going over the small map of the festival grounds. He was given the role of event planner. Avocato had vouched for the man, explaining how good of an organizer he was with the other cadets back in their academy days. So, Gary put him in charge of orchestrating what events the families would be attending each day.

"It's gotta be exaggerated." Meowmar chimed in a scoff, intending to burst his dad's bubble. "Corpo's play things up all the time. I wouldn't be surprised if it was just a dinky Mary go-round and a few shitty games."

"Jesus, can't you ever look on the bright side kid?" Miss Kassidy said, her eyes rolling at a full three-sixty degree at him. "You're always so negative. Cheer up." Meowmar sticks his tongue out at her and she takes the boy's charming attitude in stride as she sticks out her tongue in response.

"Miss Kassidy is right." His mother joined. "It's no crime to enjoy yourself. It's called being optimistic hon."

"It's called being a sheep," Meowmar grumbled, arms folded over his chest.

At least Little Cato could say he wasn't completely bored the whole time. His friends and their families offered up more than enough amusement to keep his restless mind occupied. Though the Dewinters were asleep, there was no shortage of drama with Meowmar who would eventually come into conflict with the entire van. Meowmar's rants and raves spurred Little Cato to think of his dad. He couldn't help but wonder if the man had been faring better than Gary at the moment. Knowing what he had to deal with, he was likely already tearing his fur out.

Little Cato chuckles under his breath. His poor dad was never really good with people, especially strangers. He'd be able to him up his personality in conversations but those were always one-off interactions. He could pretend for a moment and then disappear the next but his act would fluter if the interaction carried on for longer than he cared for it to. It's a wonder how he made it as far as he did with Gary.

A few more minutes pass, or hours. Had it been days? "No." He mumbled quietly. The sun had begun the rise, golden arches stretching across pastel blue skies and touching the black duns of the slivery desert.

Now that he could see better, Little Cato's head wouldn't be so wrapped up with restless worry though he was still too excited. How much longer until they were there, out of the cramped van and into the submergence of music.

"Thunder bandit!" An eager gasp from the front seat as Little Cato's ears sprung up to attention. "Are we-"

"Yep." Gary snickered. "Guys were here!" He called back into the van. They weren't actually there yet still being some ways away from the place, but he could see it, shimmering in the distance like an oasis among the wasteland sand.

A few more minutes that seemed like hours, that seemed like days, past them by and they were finally at the festival, or at the final hurdle. Gary pulled the van up to a gate, passing the outer wall of the festival grounds and coming up to a sort of checkpoint.

Little Cato couldn't see much past the large walls and tall covered fences but could hear just fine. There wasn't as much music playing as he was anticipating, a sign that things were still barely getting started, but what it lacked in melodies, it made up for in voices. Shouts of excitement, the buzzing of conversations rolling in and out, speculation of who might be performing that week and where they would be stationed past his quickly pivoting ears. From all the conversations he could hear, Little Cato couldn't make out any particular details but the little bit he could hear past all of the screaming was talk of the amusement park.

Little Cato bounced in his seat like a jumping bean as Gary spoke with the attendants at the gate. The thumping in his chest beat worse and worse when the car started moving again and came to a stop within a parking lot.

"Oh my god." Gregg let out a soft squeak.

"Wake up, you fuckin bozozs this is actually happening." Meowmar, leaning over his seat with his feet kicked up in the air, shook the Dewinters awake with playfully violent shoves. The boys stirred for a moment before their eyes opened slowly. The realization of where they had been must of hit them hard once as each of their tree eyes instantly shot open.

"Oh my god!" Dean was the first the scream and the first the jump out of the van before it had a chance to come to a full stop.

"Guys wait up." Despite Gary urging them to take it slow, the boys don't care to listen. Half of the van would immediately exit behind them. "God..." Gary grumbled and turned to Little Cato. "Could you go with them and make sure they don't get lost... or get us kicked out of the place?"

"You got it, Gary." He gave the blonde a playful salute and jumped out with the rest.

Shortly, the second van pulled up behind them, and just like before, the families came spewing out with abandon. The first group to pile out was Argit, Keven, and their brothers and sister. Their normally quiet dad would follow along last.

The next to leave the van was Ash and her family. Their expressions varied. For the most part, they seemed happy, awe-struck, and speechless save for Clarence who looked more annoyed by the fact that he was at one of the biggest events of the year.

Argit and Ash ran up too Little Cato quickly after spotting him. While everyone else was focused on getting inside, the two's priorities lay with him.

"Heeey junior." Ash cooed, skipping over to and cuddling up too Little Cato's side. Her spirits were a little higher as of late. Ever since that day, he skipped school her overall mood and how she interacted with him had been different. She was kinder to him and more clingy too. Little Cato had no idea what Korel said to her but she had forgiven him ten times over. "Man look at this place. Isn't it amazing?"

"Well, it's just the parking lot." Little Cato said, scratching at the back of his neck.

"But what a parking lot it is." Argit chimes in, a sly grin curling up his cheek. "You'd be hard-pressed to find a parking lot so lavish Cato." He chuckled. Try as he might to stifle his own laughter, Little Cato would fail miserably.

"Yeah, I guess." He'd semi-agree. As far as parking lots went, the one they stood in was a little more than average. "But there's more to this place than just the slightly messy parking lot, I'm sure of it." He said, some hint of uncertainty in his tone. "Come on we should catch up to the others before something bad happens."

"Oh, come on." Ash calmly waved off his concern. "What could come from leaving everyone-" She stopped herself. "No, you're right. My family alone would be enough to get us kicked out." They all agreed. The last thing they needed was to be put out before they even had the chance to appreciate the parking lot.

Little Cato's immediate plan was to spread out and look for each family though to his surprise, upon reaching the second checkpoint, everyone had still been together. They were all huddled around Gregg and Angus as they went over the festival map Gregg had snatched from Catstill.

It was a relief seeing everyone on their best behavior, for now at least. Little Cato was pretty sure something would end up going sideways at some point during their time there.

They ran over to the mix of families, not wanting to give any of them more time to wander off on their own.

"Guys." Little Cato called, running out to the group. "You gotta calm down. Gary said be patient so that's what we should do." He gets practically no response past a few grunts of acknowledgment. The grunts were more so directed to the sound of his warning rather than what he said. "Guys." Little Cato called again. "Guys, did you hear me?"

"Yeah, yeah... you said a bunch of words." Gregg muttered. He skimmed the map closely. His brows tightened as he leaned into the pamphlet further, eyes practically touching the paper map, and a puzzled look draped his face in concern. "Hey, Little duder. Where are we staying at again?" He asked, finally lifting a curious glance up toward Little Cato.

"Little Cato sighed. He pushed through the huddled-up families and moved beside the blonde fox. "The village."

"The village?" Angus wondered aloud before looking down at the map along with Gregg. "That's the VIP section. That can't be right."

"No, it's right," Gary interjects, trudging over to them along with Avocato. "We're in the VIP area. I had intended to get something more relaxed but..." Gary shrugged off the last bit of his statement, closing his eyes and drawing in a deep breath.

A member from each family stared holes into Gary. Their faces all convey the same awe-struck emotion. Then they look toward one another, faces still in a state of shock before that shock turns to joy and excitement as each family begins to fly into a tizzy. A symphony of assorted sounds echoed through the parking lot in their enthusiasm, and all at once, they sped off to the front gates. They were immediately stopped by a guard at the turnstiles of the main entrance.

"Hold up. I'm gonna need to see some passes before I let you in."

"Passes, what-" Gregg, who'd been leading the pack, was the first to speak in his outrage. "Whaddya mean passes. Do you know who I am! I'm in the goddamn VIP section!" He spoke louder than was necessary, smile blazing with pride and a bit of stupidity.

"Then you have no problem showing some VIP verification." The guard shot back with one cybernetic handheld firmly out.

"What!?" Gregg snapped again. "I'll show you some verification-"

"Gregg, please!" Gary stepped in, just in time to save Gregg from his own temper. "Here sir. My apologies for my friend. He's just excited is all." Gary explained and the guard hummed as he paired at the device handed to him.

He looked back up at the group, eyes slowly rolling over each and every one of them. "Alright." He said finally. "Enjoy the festival."

"Oh, you know I am rent-a-cop." Gregg gave the guard the finger as passed through the turnstile. He just had to get the last word in.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Little Cato nearly lost his breath when he stepped through the turnstiles. They weren't kidding when they called it a village. It was more than that even. Hilly paths lit by garden lights led up to tents that were more the size of small homes. Rows of gardens and hedge bushes decorated the landscape and separated one tent from another.

There didn't seem to be that many people out and about in the neighborhood-sized section of the festival. A lot of the people he did see were nicely, properly groomed, and wore some kind of expensive jewelry. Most of them either had to be well-off, or outright celebrities to afford to be there. He couldn't believe he was there himself.

Much like earlier, an awe-struck emotion befell the group. Astonishment, worry, and outright insecurity paved the faces of each of his friends. This wasn't something they were used to nor something they got to experience from time to time. 

They were poor. All they ever knew was the streets of Night City and half of the time was spent running amuck in the mega building. They weren't supposed to be there, they stuck out like skunks at a formal event, and it took them a little to adjust to their new surroundings.

Despite being among such elegance, that hardly shook up the families. Whether they belonged there or not didn't matter once the sound of excited wails started making their way down the white stone paths. A couple of strange looks came their way but no one besides Little Cato, his dad, Argit, and Ash bothered to notice the appalled socialites.

"Hey everyone! Behave!" Gary ran after them, trying to stop their overly enthusiastic screaming and apologizing to the other guests along the way.

"Yeah... This is gonna be a long week." Avocato sighed and brought a hand hesitantly to his neck. "Let's go kids." He moistened and the kids slunk off behind him with much the same sentiment.

Tricking past more confused eyes, they finally reach their tent and without much incident. 

Honestly, Little Cato was hesitant to call it a tent. The thing was huge, bigger than others they had passed so far. A hardwood deck wrapped around the tent, further exaggerating just how big it was. Rose gardens with newly sprouted crimson petals stood in organized rows along the smooth walkway, with some of the stems reaching as tall as sunflowers. Little Cato never thought about how good flowers could make a place look but after seeing the tall rose-covered hedges, he thought he wouldn't mind having a little garden of his own. 

Marching up the deck to the tent, he could hear that the wails of excitement had yet to stop. The buzz of chattering had replaced the screaming, but it was no quitter. In their hurry, they hadn't even cared to close the door behind them.

Avocato was the first to step inside, followed by Ash and Argit which left Little Cato to close the door of the extravagant tent behind the unmannered guest.

The tent itself was incredible. The interior was much more spacious than the exterior had suggested. It was a high-end paradise of modernity and a perfect example of what the high life had to offer. There were multiple rooms to accommodate each family, a large wide-screen TV that sat before suede-covered furniture, and bathrooms that were immediately being exploited to their fullest potential.

"How can you call this a tent?" Timmy appeared from out of the blue, slightly startling Little Cato. He stepped into view with a white towel wrapped around his waist and his black fur soaked. "It looks more like a hotel suit."

"I know right." Little Cato cracked a timid smile. It wasn't the usual camping tent that came to mind but maybe that was a good thing. He struggled to imagine what it would have been like to share a space so small with all the people they had. "Uhh, how do you feel about all this by the way?" By the look of confusion that folded Timmy's brows, Little Cato could tell he didn't quite understand the question. "Like being here in the VIP section. Does it feel a little weird to you?"

"Huh?" More confusion followed. "You saying you don't want to be here LC?"

"No, no, it's not like that." He waved a hand. "Just, the way we were being looked at when we came in..." Little Cato stopped, unsure of where his concern was going.

"Well, we were making a bunch of noise coming in. That would draw in a crowd. We get looked at like that back home when we're fucking about."

Little Cato shook his head as his lips pulled together tightly. "No, but you should have seen the way they were staring. It was like... they could tell."

"That...?" 

Little Cato leaned in and whispered. "That we aren't like them."

"Little Cato." A hand clasped roughly to Little Cato's shoulder. "I think you're overthinking this choomba."

"Yeah but-"

"We are at one of the biggest events of the year right now. Not a lot of people could say they came to Sola-Night. You shouldn't be afraid to express yourself. Your granddad bought the tickets in the first place. If anyone deserves to be here it's you." His hand retraced but his smile remained with Little Cato. "Just think what would Kendrick say. Sit back and take it all in. Let yourself enjoy this." Timmy gave him a short nod. He hooked his thumb around the edge of his towel to keep it from falling and walked off to the room his uncles had claimed.

Great, there goes the only person he could comfortably confide in nonchalantly shrugging off his feelings. 

Little Cato quietly sighed. Maybe he was overthinking it a little bit. If someone were to come barging through his nice, quiet space like they had, he'd have half a mind to stare them down too and without assuming they were lower class because of it.

Little Cato brought a half-hearted gaze around the large house-like tent. Everyone was already starting to settle in. Some sat on the sofas or near it immediately engrossed in the TV. Others were cuddled up in bed even though the sun had just risen. The only two people he couldn't find doing anything were always the most concerned with. Where was Ash and Kendrick?

He'd ask around and get the same answer every time. Either a 'no idea' or a clueless shrug. Even Kendrick's mom didn't know where he was but half the time she didn't know where he was back home so Little Cato couldn't blame her now.

Finding no answers on the inside, Little Cato would take to searching the deck of the cavernous tent. He knew they couldn't have gone far. It was too soon to explore the festival grounds and entering unfamiliar territory always came with caution for them but then again, Ash and Kendrick could be unpredictable. Narrowing down his search efforts, Little Cato's curiosity would bring him to the back garden.

Green foliage enveloped him as he wandered into the back garden. Constellations of red roses dotted the walls of brush that stood tall over him. Of course, their tent had a hedge maze. Finding his friends could never be made easy even on vacation.

Preparing himself mentally, Little Cato ventured into the hedge. He had no idea where he was going but he carried on, nonetheless. His journey was riddled with dead ends and lops around that brought him back to the patio. He always hated mazes and maze puzzles. How anyone could take pleasure in owning such a thing was beyond astounding to him. At a certain point in his tedious journey, he feared he'd become lost until his ears pricked at the sound of voices. Small chatter by the sounds.

He used that small chatter to guide him through the confusing maze, eventually coming upon the individuals of his desire. Kendrick had been lying back on the garden bench with his arms casually folded behind his head. Ash on the other hand looked more nervous, leaning forward with her elbows propped on her legs as one leg bounced quickly in her nervousness.

"I know I said I forgive him but sometimes I feel like he hardly even remembers me saying it you know. It's like he doesn't remember the entire conversation at all." Ash said, eyes halfway glanced at Kendrick.

He let a small laugh simmer between them before speaking. "Ay, that's just LC for you."

"No, I'm serious. He hasn't really acknowledged me like he did that day you know. Feels like I was talking to a whole other person or something." Ash fully turned to Kendrick. Her words were soft and somewhat lost.

"Ay, the boy is scatterbrained. That doesn't mean he doesn't care. He just has a lot on his mind." He reached out to comfort her. "You still love him, don't you?"

"Of course." Ash sprung up instantly. "I may come off heartless or act like a fucking bitch around him sometimes, but I love him with everything I got choom." Chuckles sprung up in unison.

Little Cato's eyes fall to the ground. He had no idea Ash felt that way, but he couldn't exactly tell her that it wasn't him she spoke to that day. He couldn't tell her that instead of being there for her, Koral was the one taking his place while he skipped school to hang out with his friends. It would make him look awful, though he felt awful all the same. He thinks maybe he should give her some room.

"Someone there?" Suddenly startled by the rustling of the foliage, Kendrick called out.

Fight or flight instinct kicked in then as he thought of what to do. After hearing them speak he didn't know whether to run away and ignore Ash's feelings or confront them. "Y-yeah." Little Cato stumbled out fast, his eavesdropping jig was up. "Yeah, just me." He met semi-surprised faces, well at least one anyway. "My bad I was just looking for-"

"Ash, right?" Kendrick said, finishing with a completely different answer than what Little Cato had in mind.

A quirked a brow at Kendrick, for a brief moment he didn't understand but a quick nod to Ash cleared up his bewilderment.

"R-right, right. I was looking for Ash." An apprehensive giggling left his trembling tone. Great, now he had to deal with it.

"Oh well, don't let me get in the way." Kendrick eagerly stretched his arms and stood up from the bench. "You two make it quick so we can get this show on the road. I got so much I want to do today." He gave the young couple another quick glance before leaving. Probably would have given them a smirk too if the mask wasn't in the way.

Little Cato watched him leave before reluctantly turning back to the skittish girl. A small hum sat in his throat and his feet began to shuffle slowly over to where she sat. He was just as nervous by then.

He took a seat next to her, his eyes moving between her and the roses on the hedge walls. Ash didn't look back, instead keeping her eyes forward as one leg continued to shake. She wasn't going to speak. Making the first move was probably his best option though as his mouth opens, sound falls flat along the humid air. He didn't know what to say. He didn't want to be there after hearing how upset she was really. Kendrick had funneled him into a corner and Little Cato agreed to sit just to keep him in a good mood.

More silence fell over them both. No words were shared, nor eye contact exchanged for a few minutes more.

"How much of it did you hear." Ash began, breaking up the pungent silence between them.

Little Cato sat in thought for a moment. He was unsure if he should tell the truth or not. "Most of it." After a few seconds, he opted for the truth.

"Right..." She mumbled back slowly. "So, you get what I mean then?" Her bright pink eyes turn to him quickly and boldly.

"Yeah." Little Cato replied and faced away from her. She was expecting something more, an answer for his dispassionate behavior but he didn't know what to give her besides all the simple, dismissive replies that hurriedly came to mind. "I..." He started, nothing of use leaving his mouth on his first attempt. "Ash I'm sorry if I'm making things weird between us. I know I make excuses all the time but this time I don't really have anything for you to excuse. All I can say is I'm sorry for disregarding your feelings. That was super shitty of me... but I want to make it up to you in any way I can."

Silence.

Ash stares without a peep, pink eyes burning into Little Cato like plasma drills and being semi-scorched by plasma before, the feeling her gaze gave him wasn't pleasant.

Slowly her lips began to curl up as a large smile began to take shape on her lips and she laughed. "Come on choom. Don't get so sentimental. I hate that."

"Get the fuck out, you love it when I'm sentimental." He smiled back at her. "Admit it. You can't resist the sentimentality I give you."

"Yeah, you're right." Ash caved in without so much as an eye roll, teeth gritted behind her grin. "That's why I hate it so much. God, you're such a Casanova sometimes."

"Sometimes?" Little Cato felt a bit hurt by those words. "How about all the time." He leans in, hand grazing over hers on the marble stone bench as their pinky fingers intertwined.

"Guys!" Lining his lips up with hers on a slow approach the pair are interrupted, unable to get anything bigger than a small peck. "Come on!" Kendrick shouted from somewhere beyond the tall maze walls. "Let's go, it is time to party. Move it! Move it!" The snapping of his fingers came alongside his slightly muffled voice. 

Little Cato looked up to the sky above. Bright light blazed among the bright blue vista. The sun was officially up which meant it was time to get a move on. "Come on." He stood and offered both hands to Ash. She accepted, taking his hands as he gently pulled her to her feet. He led them back through the maze, Little Cato nearly getting lost on every step of the way. Eventually, he'd hand off the role of leader to Ash given that her sense of direction when it came to things like mazes was far better than his.

They stumbled back to the deck of their lumbering tent though before to were able to leave the maze completely, Little Cato caught Ash by the arm, bringing her to a stop. 

"What is it?" She looked back at him with her lips twisted in a confused smile.

"Nothing." He surged and maneuvered over to the hedge wall. He reached up and tugged one crimson rose free from the tall grassy foulage. Walking back to her, he brought the rose to her head and logged the flower into her hot pink locks. "Thought you'd look even more beautiful this way."

She nearly choked. Her wide grin had left her behind. "What the fuck." A deep shade of red clung to her cheeks before her smile could return brighter than before. She punched his arm, must likely for the cheesy line he had delivered then kissed his cheek for the flower he had given her. "Come on you sap." She ran up the patio stairs and around to the front of the large tent.

Little Cato hummed, amused and rubbing his arm. "Yeah, a romantic sap." He whispered before trailing behind her.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Breath-taking was the only word Little Cato could use to describe the emerald plateau before him. Lush green hills rolled along festival grounds like the vast dune seas of the desert it was settled in. It looked like it went on for a few miles or so. There was a lot of space, more than Little Cato realized would be used for six days. The land itself was marred by a copious number of man-made debris. promotional towers, food trucks, and stands were scattered about the green sea, and smack dap in the center of the field was a crop of small multi-colored buildings. 

Not too far from where they stood was another gate, the main entrance for those who didn't have VIP passes. Near that gate, large, paint-splashed, decorative letters protruded from the ground and were arranged in a way that was ready to greet new guests. The words were more a statement rather than a greeting as if seeing them was supposed to invoke a sense of pride. The words spelled out Sola, but the real meaning was more complex. They were there to remind you of how much more important you were compared to the rest of the world.

Overhead, the sky was cluttered with flocks of eco-friendly solar blimps. In the distance, wind turbines stood tall and spun slowly, and not too far from them was a solar panel farm that had been eagerly waiting to convert the light of the sun into useful energy. They calmed Sola-Night was a self-sustaining festival, the first of its kind to ever exist. Nowadays, many things were self-sustaining but at least the festival had the privilege of calling itself the first to ever do it.

Little Cato dropped to his knees. He planted his hand into the grass and ran along the cold, damp ground ground. He wiped the hand against his white tank top and after doing so was left with an odd blue stain.

"Is this grass real?" He asked, pulling at the bottom of his shirt to observe the stain. Afterward, he took it off entirely and let it hang from the waistband of his summer shorts.

"Nah." Kendrick huffed. "It's fake as shit like everything else here. The grass, the palm trees, the people. I'm sure the whole solar energy thing is even bullshit." He spouted on in his paranoia. "Hey, but that's just how it is. Don't mean it's gonna be a total shit show, right?"

Meowmar scuffed from behind. "Sure." He droned sarcastically. "It's gonna be the greatest shit show."

"It isn't," Kendrick said before pulling a map off the festival grounds from his back pocket. "Okay, right now we're at fusion point. It's the center of everything here, so probably the place where we'll be spending the most time. Behind us is eco-village, where we just came from. Up ahead," Kendrick pointed to the large Ferris wheel. "Is the desert fair? All the way over there is utopia." Their eyes shifted over to the large wall covered in what looked to be balloons. "Indie zone is near the desert fair and to the left all the way down, past all of this is the main stage." He folded the map up and turned to the group. "Since everything's still being set up I say we start here at the heart of Sola-Night."

"Not that we have a choice," Ash spoke smirking as she shuffled up beside the tall boy. "I assume we're gonna make this fun?" She started stretching, beginning with her arms and finishing with long tugs at her legs.

"Obviously. Yall ready LC?" Kendrick said to Little Cato. He knew that tone all too well. Little Cato didn't need to see his face to tell when he was getting excited.

"You know I'd wipe the floor with you all any day of the week, right?" Little Cato smugly responded.

"Big talk coming from a space baby." Timmy teased Little Cato as he lined up next to him.

Soon the group was gathered in one straight line. The siblings, Meowmar and Harp lined up to one side of Kendrick while Argit, Keven, and Timmy lined up beside Little Cato. The teens ready themselves, their legs preparing to take them far and fast. They sway and hope with anticipation, shoving one another to rile up some bad blood before the race starts.

"On three." Kendrick tossed up three fingers. "One, two-" He gave himself a head start without bothering to finish the countdown. After some annoyed protest, the others took off after him as fast as they could. Kendrick never played by the rules, but Little Cato was just fine with that. He'd still be able to beat him even then.

Kendrick held the lead for a time, but it didn't take long for Little Cato to catch up. He was moving so fast down the hill that he'd wind up overtaking Kendrick without even noticing. All that mattered was the adrenaline coursing through his veins and winning the foot race. Little Cato was focused on the race that he had filed to take account of the buildings that had spontaneously formed around him. After coming to a stop, he realized that he had also lost track of his friends.

"Oh, shit." A mutter left him. It just occurred to him that he didn't know where they were racing too. They took a moment to pair around. He was among the crop of buildings. "Oh." He mumbled again once he realized that the buildings were actually converted shipping containers. "Okey..." Little Cato muttered to himself, looking up at the glass walkways overhead that connected the containers to one another.

Everywhere he looked he found the same sort of shop. Juice bars here, cafes there, gym corners, photo shoots, and so on made up the stylized shipping containers. It was certainly an artistic choice to use shipping crates for recreational purposes. That wasn't a choice he would have made but Little Cato was a more logical thinker than an artistic one.

He would admit his despise for the artistic flare was probably just his friend's sensibilities rubbing off on him. The one thing he could say he did like however was the stage that sat in the middle of the cluster of shops.

The music that softly flowed from the band playing was almost mesmerizing. Dragon heart. Little Cato knew of the band, but he didn't really know much about them. He'd never gotten around to listening to them before, shameful as it was to admit.

Getting to hear them now, to experience their soulful riffs and insightful spins, Little Cato was infatuated. So infatuated that he had lost track of his surroundings.

"Woah." His body clashed roughly with another soft object, sending it to the ground with a heavy huff.

"Hey." The person whined. "Watch where you're going you fu-" They're oncoming blowout was put on hold the moment their eyes met Little Cato.

"Oh, my bad. I should really watch where I'm going." He chucked awkwardly and quickly offered a hand to the other teenager he had knocked down in his careless infatuation. He was a duck with blonde curly hair that looked like it had taken a lot of time and money to perfect. His feathers were as white as a cloud and lovingly preened five times over. "Sorry."

"No- no problem." The duck boy's words stumbled out of his mouth as Little Cato pulled him back up to his feet. "It's really my bad..." A faint shade of red lit up his cheeks and his eyes had begun to wonder at more than just Little Cato's face. "I'm Louie." The boy held out his hand.

"Avocato, my friends call me Little Cato though." Little Cato said, shaking the hand.

"Alright, Little Cato." Louie's blush started to soften. "Nice scar." He pointed at the spot where Little Cato's arm was re-attached.

"Thanks. Same for you." Little Cato motioned to the boy's right arm. He'd hesitate to call it a scar. Though it looked held enough, his entire forearm still looked like it had been chewed on by something. "What happened?"

"Uhh..." He smirked sheepishly at Little Cato. "I was playing around in a scrap yard..." His eyes squinted as he rubbed at the mangled arm. He wasn't so confident in the excuse, but Little Cato could tell it was something he'd rather not speak about. "So... you're doing the whole shirtless thing I see."

"Oh yeah." Little Cato looked down at his shirtless torso, a reminder that he needed to find a replacement at some point. "Yeah... my family is kinda made up of naturalists. You know one with nature, drum circles, yoga, and all that. One of my dad's usually says, if you got it flaunt it." A small giggle left him as he recounted some of Gary's infinite wisdom.

"Well, you definitely got it for sure," Louie said roughly biting down on his bottom lip. 

A flush of heat rose up from Little Cato's toes and slapped his cheeks. The compliment was flattering. "Thank you but I'm actually-"

"Louie." A voice interrupted him Before he could disclose the status of his relationship.

"Hey, Louie. Sorry if I caused any problems between you and your boyfriend." The third boy said. He was slightly taller than Louie and Little Cato and lanky to boot. His deep ocean blue fur, which bordered on dark violet, rustled in the gentile summer wind. His long ears were obscured by his deep blue hair and one long arch of hair hung over his right eye. He was a Who, but he wasn't just any old Who. 

Louie let out a disgruntled sigh and rolled his eyes. "Don't worry, he's like that. Honestly, it'll be good to get away from him for a while."

"Yeah, but still..." The other boy went quiet, and he glanced over at Little Cato. "Oooo, who's your friend?" He cooed as his eyes explored every inch of Little Cato's body. Yet another person he'd have to beat off with a stick, he thought.

"Right. This is Little Cato, we actually just met. Little Cato this is Looka, he's-"

"A pretty big deal." Little Cato sidestepped Louie's introduction and strolled up to Looka. "A pleasure to meet you, your dukenees." He extended a formal Yookian bow before offering his hand. Being well versed in a multitude of cultures around the galaxy, Little Cato knew it could be seen as rude to not great a Yookian in the proper manner.

"Oh, please don't start with that." A soft smile reached along his expression as he took ahold of Little Cato's hand. "I get enough of it back home." Being the son of a Duke, Looka was always in the public eye, and whether he knew it or not, the Alliance had a lot riding on his family. Looka's planet was in a bizarre position. It had been split between multiple ideologies, all competing for total control of the world and its people. Since Yookia was a democratic state, the Alliance would back them to the best of their abilities. The struggle for the planet was really a war of patience rather than guns and bullets. Until a shot was fired, each side would playthings safe.

"You know me and my parents were a part of the team that escorted your family to earth last year."

"Really?" Looka beamed, stepping closer to Little Cato and meeting him chest to chest. "Of course. How could I forget this bright blue thing." He ran his fingers through Little Cato's hair. The feeling nearly made him purr like an idiot.

"Right, so we're all acquainted." Louie hoped in between Looka and Little Cato. "Hey, did you want to hang out with us?"

"Sorry, I- uhh..." He was close to turning down the offer when he was brought to a pause. He was supposed to be with his friends, but he had lost track of them a while ago. Looking for them should have been his top priority. "You know- yeah why not. Let's hang out." He shrugged. If his friends were really missing him, they would have texted him by now. They could go one day without him. They had six whole days together after all.

"Sweet dude." Louie hoped gleefully on the tips of his toes. "Do you want to me Dragon Heart? I know Spyro personally."

Little Cato's face let up "Get the fuck out! Really?"

Louie held a hand over his chest. "Honest to god." He answered with one raised hand. Now Little Cato felt things were going to get interesting.

Chapter 38: Never did no harm.

Notes:

Despite my little break down I at least have to finish the story, then I'll decide what to do with myself.

It was early in the morning. The sun hadn't begun to rise yet as evident by the chirping of crickets within the brush of their rose gardens. The sky shimmered with a silent faint blue that foreshadowed the sun's approach. Little Cato sat on the patio of his luxury tent to take it all in.

He'd been scrolling through his phone, giggling while observing the memories snapped and immortalized a day prior. He, Louie, and Looka had done the most they could, where they could in the fusion zone all in one day. They even got to take pictures with the lead singer of Dragon Heart. Louie's uncle's company used to manage the band for some time before they went independent.

Little Cato stared up from his phone and gazed at the Eco Village. He took in a deep breath, seizing all the beguiling scents nature had bestowed upon the temporary residents. Fake as it may have been, the grass, the palm trees, and even the people. It was real enough for him. So far, the music festival wasn't a major disappointment, but they were only on day two. Still, with how well everything had been going he was confident that his enthusiasm would remain.

After releasing a prolonged breath, Little Cato continued staring at his phone. He scrolled through some more, swiping his finger up and down the screen quickly and zooming into photos he'd already glossed over multiple times until he tapped into a picture of his new friend.

He was obsessed. That Louie was certainly easy on the eyes. He was slim, his body finely tuned by all the best food and exercise routines money could afford. Louie made it no secret that his family was wealthy, but he didn't seem so proud to admit it either. That isn't to say there wasn't some sense of satisfaction to be found in his eyes. They were still rich after all.

Little Cato sighed, shaking his head. Those old disloyal thoughts were starting to creep up on him again. "Keep it together." He muttered to himself. "You're literally taken. He's taken." Little Cato reasoned to himself though his body was starting to make a compelling counterargument.

The more he stared at the photos the more his body would react. He groaned, pushing the newly formed lump in his crotch back down between his legs. Maybe that was enough ogling photos of Louie for now.

He proceeded to scroll, trying not to pay too much attention to the lean duck boy in most of the photos he took, and selected some of his favorite photos from yesterday. Afterward, he uploaded them to his social media, putting down all the proper tags and emojis he'd usually use on the rare occasions he liked to brag to others online.

As he put the finishing touches on his post he leaned back on the outdoor sofa and drew another, more glum breath into his lungs. More images of Louie pop into his head and then some of his best friends. He couldn't keep thinking like this. He and Ash were supposed to be something and the girl was prone to jealousy so if she were to find out, she'd be even more pissed than before. He's just glad she wasn't telepathic.

Little Cato couldn't keep looking at others with that kind of excitement. Could he? Was there any harm in that? Just Looking.

"Hey Little Cato." He was pulled out of his impure thoughts as Argit stepped out of the tent. Little Cato quickly crossed his legs and slapped a hand to his cheek as a burning flush rose in him.

"Hey, man." He managed quickly.

Argit stopped and stared at him. "You, okay?"

"Never better." He replied quickly.

"You sure?" He tilted his head. "Cause ya look kinda... not so great to me." Argit chuckled before taking a seat next to Little Cato.

"Oh... Do I really?"

"For sure." His answer was blunt. Little Cato couldn't help but feel bad after hearing it. "What's wrong? Something chipping at your motherboard?" he lightly tapped a finger against Little Cato's forehead.

Little Cato shook his head automatically, at first denying that anything had been wrong, but his nagging caused him to reconsider the immediate response. "You know what, yeah actually." His words came carefully as if he just stepped into a minefield. "I think I have issues AJ."

A small hum twitched Little Cato's ears. "What makes you think that?" He asked.

"Well, ummm." Uneasy giggling left Little Cato before anything else. No matter how he could phrase his admits he was walking on eggshells. "You know- it's like... I mean I... how do I explain this." Sitting straight up, Little Cato huffed out short breaths. His body was shaking, his nerves were spasming nearly out of control and a slight, uncomfortable pressure began to wrap around his neck. "You ever feel like you couldn't belong to just one person?"

"Like... in a love kinda way?" A brow raised high on Argit's head as he attempted to piece together Little Cato's vague words. Honestly Little Cato was trying to do the same himself.

"You know." The peruser began to mount and his throat heated up like a stovetop. He rapidly tapped a nervous finger against his cheek while his chin rested in the palm of his hand. "I get this feeling that my heart belongs to multiple different people. At any given time, it can jump from one person to another, and it feels like I can't do anything about it. I don't really know what to do about it."

Argit sounded another odd hum. Little Cato should have expected his words to be misunderstood again. How could he expect someone else to understand his feelings when he couldn't understand them himself. When he was being as vague as they were.

"Have you talked to Ash about this?" Argit finally asked after a few moments of processing.

"Yes... well no... not really." Little Cato's shoulders fell with uncertainty. "It's way too hard to explain and she can get a bit..."

"Jelious." Argit chimed, already understanding his dilemma, at least with the girl he was supposed to be an item with.

"Yes, yeah man." He sighed somewhat relieved, though still way too tense to let his guard down. "How am I supposed to bring it up. She already feels like she's not enough, especially after I told her I kissed Kendrick." Little Cato paused, quickly slapping a hand over his mouth.

"Wait, you what!?" In shock, Argit cried loud enough to wake the whole VIP section up. Little Cato would have to put a hand up to his mouth to shut him up before anyone could actually wake up. "You kissed Kenny?" Argit whispered once Little Cato's hand was gone.

"Yes, but can you please be chilled about it? I'm already feeling awkward with Ash knowing. Now you too I guess."

"Of course, I can be chilled. I'm the chillest one in the group choom."

"Wouldn't that be Kevin?" Little Cato snickered at the exaggerated look on his friend's face. "Still, I know I can trust you. I'm just worried as all. I wanted to just drop it you know. Forget anything even happened." Little Cato stood up and his cheeks pout as the pair were submerged in another wave of awkward silence.

"You know what." Argit began, standing and speeding up too Little Cato with a sharp grin. "Tensions are too high right now. We need a pallet cleanser." He stepped around Little Cato, hopping off of the top of the deck with one long leap and landing on the paved walkway with a bounce. "Let's head down to the desert fair, just me and you."

Little Cato snorted at his eager friend. "The fair. Is it even open right now?"

"It's open 24/7 for the next five days." he held up his fingers to further drive home his point.

A brief lull hung between them. The desert fair, just him and Argit. Hanging out with one of his good friends could be what he needed to take his mind off the thoughts rattling around in his brain.

"Sure." Little Cato shrugged as he began to follow behind an excited Argit.

The festival grounds were silent. Little Cato figured it would be. The sun had only just begun to rise. Guests were still sleeping off yesterday's hangovers. Even with the change in atmosphere Little Cato wasn't anticipating just how different things would begin to feel when stepping out onto the grass of the fusion zone. Unlike the day before the emerald plateau of the fusion zone was rendered barren. There was no running up and down the hills, no sunbathers resting on towels splayed out on the synthetic grass, and many kiosks stood without receptionists or the half-drunk festival guests they were meant to cater to. Actually, seeing its emptiness was strange. It was a different feeling from before, a different world almost. Even the grass underfoot seemed to feel a little more changed in the pale dusk breeze.

Aside from the festival grounds being nearly vacant, there was no lack of music. Soft, poppy tones flowed through the air as naturally as the wind, surrounding them from every angle. It was all oddly eerie for Little Cato to hear the music carry on without anyone to listen, but Argit didn't seem to care or notice at all.

Argit kept his position ahead of Little Cato. He led them with a slight skip in every step. The whole time they'd been walking his curiosity was put on full display. He endlessly questioned Little Cato about his encounter with Kendrick, digging deep for all the juicy little details. It would have bothered him if he didn't play into it as much as he did.

"What was it like?" He turned to Little Cato with a nosy look on his face.

"Oddly satisfying. A little too exciting I think."

"Like, you got hard?" He asked with a small grin and Little Cato hardly justified the question with a nod. "Was he mad?"

"No. I thought he'd be, but he wasn't." He said. Kendrick's attitude about the scandalous affair was still a confusing subject for Little Cato. The way he played it off as if it was a joke or just friends being friends made him feel weird and a bit rejected. That was a big moment for him and Kendrick just shrugged it off. Suppose he should have been happy that he only did that. Worse things could have transpired.

"What did it taste like?" The gloves were off. Now he'd been getting into the profound questions.

Little Cato chuckled. A warm feeling clambered to his cheeks as he thought of the best way to explain himself. "Not bad." He simply said. It was more than that. It was sickly sweet like eating ice cream, mouth-watering like biting into a fresh apple. It was everything he wanted and needed all at once and maybe that's why he couldn't get over it. "I think he was eating peppermints that day or something though."

Argit laughed "You know, that sounds about, right?"

What you kissed him too?" He said half-jokingly.

"Nah, but I always think about what everyone's mouth tastes like."

Little Cato's face scrunched up questioningly. He thought it was a bit odd at first but thinking about it more had gotten him curious. "What do you think I tease like?" He said just to hear Argit's response.

"I imagine you taste like tropical candy."

"What?" He shook his head. It wasn't the worst answer in the world.

"Did you want to prove it to me?" The response caused a sharp jolt to run through Little Cato's body. He couldn't tell if Argit was being serious or not. He nearly almost said yes to the offer but stopped himself.

"Maybe sometime else."  

Argit let out a shy giggle before turning back around. "Race ya." He suddenly took off without having the decency to countdown. Little Cato ran after him, nearly slipping and falling on the fake blades beneath his feet as he tried to catch up to the other boy. He'd always been faster than he looked.

Before long they were at the entrance of the fair. Argit at least had the decency to wait for. They strode up to the attendant at the turnstiles, holding up their wrist and flashing the VIP bands around them like a couple of brats. The attendant waved them through, letting them cut ahead some waiting, technically less noteworthy festival goers.

Stepping into the park took Little Cato back a step. What Meowmar had said the other day stuck with him. Cropos liked to play their products up all the time. Little Cato the fair wouldn't have been much different from any corporate-backed shindig. Maybe there would be a few raids here and there, and an outrageously long line for the Ferris wheel but he couldn't have been more wrong. 

The desert fair was a full-on theme park, no different from Eden Beach back home. The layout was almost similarly constructed too. The bumper cars were huddled beside the carousel, the hunted house sat across from the zero-g ride and a roller coaster stood near the far end. They even had an arcade. The only difference was that the Ferris wheel was at the center of the park instead of the far end. It might have been a bit bigger than Eden Beach.

"Let's get something to eat first." Argit tapped Little Cato on the arm.

"Right now? Before we get on the rides?" Little Cato strolled after Argit as he began to walk. The fair was surprisingly dense with guests all lined up at the attractions or already riding them. Turns out it was never too late or early to ride a rollercoaster.

Argit turned a half glance to him. "Duh. You can't have fun on an empty stomach, Cato." He said, walking over to the first kiosk they passed. It was some kind of corn dog place with a frozen creamy spin from what Little Cato could make out, where they fired and dipped in ice cream. That couldn't have been the healthiest thing he thought but he was feeling a bit hungry. Thankfully the line was short, bordering on non-existent.

Stepping up to the food stand, Argit was barely able to open his mouth before the employee working the stand started to question him.

"What kind of corn dog can I get you, boys." The man greeted them with a smile stretched from ear to ear. The dark circles under his eyes might have meant the welcoming grin was phoned in. At least somewhat. 

Argit looked back At Little Cato, unsure of what to ask for. Little Cato shrugged just as clueless. He had never seen a spot like this with a gimmick so 'unique' he'd call it. Argit would basically have to wing it.

"What do you have?"

The man held one hand to his hip and the other to his chin and took a moment to ponder the question. "Well, there's Cherry Pop, strawberry Sunday, Chocolate Delight. Those are all the best ones in my current opinion.

Argit took another look back at Little Cato for assistance. He shrugged again though he would mouth the words 'chocolate' to steer his friend in the right direction.

"Two chocolate delights I guess."

The man snapped his fingers and chirped out a quick "coming right up" as he stepped back into his booth. No time had passed before he was with them again, passing two cartons, with chocolate-covered corn dogs nestled inside, over to the boys.

"You enjoy it now, and the rest of the fest too." He said, heading off to the unhealthy snacks. In Night City, Little Cato would have never seen someone so eager to work a job, especially if they looked as exhausted as the employee appeared. Either he was genuinely passionate to serve, or he was phoning it in to make the sell. They definitely wouldn't have gotten the same treatment back home, fake or not.

Argit finds them a spot to eat after leaving the corn dog booth. He was hoping for a quiet snack, with little bits of conversation here and there, but as they sat Little Cato was bombarded with more questions regarding him and Kendrick.

"So, what prompted the kiss exactly? Was there something going on up there? Was he teasing you? What's the subtext Cato, what am I missing?"

"Nothing prompted it." Little Cato grumbled a little annoyed. "It just kinda happened."

Argit tossed his head around. That answer was nowhere near good enough for him. "You don't just kiss your best friend choomba. That's something you lead up to after an intense joy ride of sexual tension. What really happened?" He simplified his question as his tone grew suddenly demeaning.

Little Cato sighed and dropped his ice cream-covered corn dog harshly back into its carton. He wouldn't be able to avoid this one, would he? "When he took off his mask... he talked about his dad and- I don't know, I just freaked out, I think. We were up on the roof and the city was so beautiful. It was so sweet at the time. I couldn't help myself."

"Oooooh..." Argit hummed, his clasped hands falling over his lips. "I see. You actually like Kendrick. Like, in put-out put, like Kendrick. That's kinda heavy actually." He muttered to himself mostly.

"But I can't like him like that, he's, my friend. It's weird. Isn't it?" Little Cato was hoping that Argit would agree with him, that his feeling for Kendrick was just a passing thing and that it was nothing to worry about. He was hoping Argit would tell him that his wondering eyes were normal and that there was nothing to worry about. He wanted Argit to tell him that there was nothing to worry about.

Argit gave him a shrug. "Whether it's wrong or not is not for me to decide. What matters is how you feel about it... how you truly feel." Argit said, pitching a salesman smirk to Little Cato. "Just talk to Ash before opening up the relationship yeah?"

"Right... duh." Little Cato said, breathing out the nervous puff, that sat in his lungs. It wasn't exactly what he was hoping to hear but he understood, loud and clear. He had a lot of thinking to do. He wouldn't even know how to bring the topic up with Ash if he did decide to.

A few minutes go by, and their calorie-stacked snacks are swiftly devoured. To Little Cato's delight, the food had been pretty good. The concept of dipping anything fired into ice cream didn't sound delectable in the slightest, but this was exceptional. After tossing the empty cartons into nearby overly polished recycling bins, the two of them were still for a moment as they discussed what was next.

"So, what are we doing first?" Little Cato questioned, stretching his arms high into the air.

"I was thinking-"

"Little Cato!?" In the middle of their brief discussion, a voice would call out. "Hey Little Cato!" The familiar glint of white feathers flurried over to him soon after the voice had come. "I wasn't expecting to see you here dude."

"I wasn't expecting to see you up so early either."

"Yeah, my brothers dragged me here. Said I needed it, or whatever that really means." He said with his face slightly contorting into a snarl. Little Cato couldn't even make out the expression. Frustration or slight anger maybe.

Argit, who seemed on the verge of fainting, stared at the boy with open-mouthed wonder. "Holy shit." He wheezed.

"Friend of yours." Louie shifted his strange gaze to the other teenager.

"Yeah, this-"

"Aren't you Dewey D?" Argit cut him off, finally shaking off the frost of astonishment.

"Oh god," Louie muttered behind a hand. "No s'not me, He's my brother... unfortunately" Louie hesitantly replied. He was trying to be kind to the rodent boy out of respect for Little Cato. From the looks of it, if the duck could have avoided talking about his brother he would.

"Get the fuck out! Really!?" He couldn't contain his excitement any longer and began hopping up and down on his toes with some hyperactive glee. Little Cato was impressed that he managed to stay as calm as he did. "Can- can I meet him?"

"Uhh..." Louie looked away. More hesitancy followed regarding the question. Little Cato was half expecting Louie to say no but for some reason, he agreed.

"Sure, but please don't gas him up. I already have to put up with him for the next five days."

"I won't- honest." Argit bounced, hands held closed fists to his mouth. The boy was beyond ecstatic. He was a teenager about to meet his favorite celebrity. Basically, he was on the verge of having a heart attack.

Louie let out a despondent moan and nodded for the two boys to follow him.

Holding open the door to the arcade, Louie practically shoved the boys inside. Their senses dulled in the dime lighting and flashing of arcade games. Game demos played on an endless loop and the sound from the machines was cranked up to its loudest in an attempt to draw in the interest of arcade goers. Little Cato didn't know if an arcade was supposed to be that dark and noisy but all the different sounds that hit his ears were unbearable at first. He'd adjust to his new, overstimulating surroundings, much like he always did.

The arcade was mostly empty to no surprise. People would rather spend the time riding the rides before the park got too crowded later on. It was a smart move coming early, Little Cato thought. By the time night fell over Sola-Night, everything was in full swing. As the music began to fill the venues around the festival guests would knock back liters upon liters of alcohol. By the time early morning came, a majority of the people were all partied out and sleeping the off drinks. 

That's what everyone in Little Cato's tent had been doing. They were so excited to be at Sola-Night that the first day was solely dedicated to throwing one big party. Even Gary had briefly reverted to his party boy days last night. Little Cato was still shocked to see Argit up after all that.

"This way." Louie continued to them through the arcade and eventually came to another duck. He was similar to Louie. Way to similar. He could see how Argit was confused. The only real difference he could spot was in the siblings' body types. Whereas Louie was more lean, his brother was slightly bigger. His arms were tuned, and his shoulders stuck out broadly but elegantly. At the waist, he was slime, slimmer than he thought a guy could get and his legs were defiantly strong. Little Cato would admit that Dewey had a nice ass. 

"Damn," He mutters, feeling a whole lot warmer. He was having an unreasonably hard time taking his eyes off of the influencer. 

Even though they were in the middle of the desert that, didn't stop the young influencer from dressing the way he wanted to. A dark blue jacket hung off his shoulders and fitted cargos that stretched as far as his shins adorned his legs.

 Years of practice and public events had clearly perfected the expression. It was the kind you'd see from a person who'd promise you the world and then some. The kind that draws a person in and keeps them trapped in a web of their irresistible personality. He was persuasive and captivating, and it was all to his benefit. Once you were in his grasp, you couldn't resist or fight. You'd do anything for him. You belonged to him. 

Argit was the best example Little Cato could draw from. The kid could talk the pants right off your legs if you allowed him to.

Dewey held his phone out in front of him. He was shifted constantly, looking for a perfect angle and unconcerned with anything or anyone around him. Little Cato knew the type. He was the kind of person who was only attracted to himself. If he were to bump into you, you'd be the one getting in his way. Everything began and ended with him. 

"What's up my little dewdrops. Sola-Night is really popping off this year. Yesterday was a blast and boy I wish a lot of you could have been here with me to experience it, but these vlogs are the next best thing for you." He spoke into his camera, flaunting his cheap plastic personality like a weapon of mass destruction. Little Cato could guess it before but in that moment, he could see just how fake Dewey D was. The act must have glossed over Argit's head because he was no less giddy despite it. "Today we're getting an early start at the desert fair and, uh... Louie what the hell, you're all up in my shot dude." He said, keeping the phone held up to his face. The fake persona he'd been flaunting before disappeared quickly as a vexed scowl took shape.

"Oh, Jeez, I'm so sorry Dewey D." Louie shot back sarcastically. "One of your fans wanted to meet you so badly and how can I resist helping my big brother." He said, his tone filled with sassy spite.

Dewey dropped the phone to his side and spun around to the group that had interrupted him. "Really, Here...?" He let out a whisper, seemingly taken aback. His graceful facade had broken apart for a moment though it would recover just as quick. "I mean yeah- of course. Why shouldn't one of my adoring fans get the honor of meeting me." He held out his arms as if waiting to be embraced by the boy.

Argit didn't move, maybe to star-struck and terrified as he stood in front of the monument of his fascination. His body trembled and a tick twitched at one of his eyes, but his smile remained, as nervous as it was. It took a little slap to the back from Louie for him to step out of his stupefied state.

Argit slowly dragged himself up to the young star. "H-hi, I-im Argit. I-Im a r-really big fan." The shuttering of skittish giggling escaped him. "I-I know y-you probably get that a lot, b-but I really mean it. You're like the k-kinda person I want to be someday." Little Cato had to turn his head away to hide his laughter. He'd never seen Argit so shaky before. This was the messy he's ever been, and all because of Dewey D.

"Ah, don't sweat it. You can never have too many biggest fans after all."

"Yeah right." Louie snickered at his brother.

"Watch it, Louie!" The mask slipped again as he shot an angry glare at his brother. Just like before his expression would smoothen out and return to the personality that was Dewey D. "He clearly knows who he's talking to. Do you?"

"Yeah. He's talking to some broke kid from Duckburg. Nothing more, nothing less."

"Formally broke." Dewey corrected his brother and held his phone out in front of him to resume his search for that perfect angle. "Ever since the family got back together, we have been killing it. I don't see why you have such a problem with that. When we were kids all you could think about was getting rich. Now that we're there, look at you, mister high and mighty, sitting on top of your high horse and looking down with a self-righteous shit-eating grin and tacky ass blonde dye job." He stopped and stared at Louie through the screen of his phone. "Hey but don't let me stop you from sucking your own dick."

Louie stood silent and a small groan, or growl, passed his shut mouth. "Whatever." He huffed and rolled his eyes. "Have you seen Huey?"

"I think he's off playing Skee-Ball." Dewey nodded and one direction and, without a word, Louie stormed off. That left Little Cato and Argit alone with Dewey D. "So did you want a pic dude?" 

"I'd love that." Argit nearly squealed and ran up to Dewey. He quickly wrapped himself around the influencer's waist like a kid would do with his parents. 

"What about you?" He looked to Little Cato who stood, arms crossed and rather unimpressed.

"Eh." He shrugged at the influencer. "I watch you. I wouldn't exactly call myself a fan though."

"Ooooh, a hate watcher." Dewey granted him a smile that was more genuine than what he had on before.

Little Cato shrugged again. "You can be entertaining sometimes." Dewey hummed. His smile had receded a little.

"So do you want that pic?" He asked again. Little Cato remained as he was, eyes drifting off momentarily. Quickly, he looked back up with an answer.

"Sure." He said and shamelessly walked over to the waiting pair. He stayed on Argit's side as Dewey raised his phone, hugging Argit close and tight.

"Saaaaay Dewey!" 

"Dewey!" They repeated after him, throwing up peace signs and smiles. In all fairness, the pic came out really well.

Chapter 39: We all know art is hard.

Little Cato was resting on a swinging seat that hung from their tent's deck. The seat settled around him as the refined cushioning molded to his body like Jell-O. He felt as if he were lying comfortably on a sea of clouds, and he was more than ready to submerge the rest of himself in the soft feeling. It was meant to be brief, a quick break before he got back up and into the festival, but his body began to disagree with the original plan.

His eyes grew heavy as he sat there. He'd spent most of that morning running around the fusion zone with his friends and nearly getting in trouble in the process. Thankfully, they were all more than adept when it came to evading authority, so the security presence of Sola-Night never really stood a chance against the borderline street rats.

A small hum arose from deep within Little Cato as he reflected on the turbulent early morning. The more the thoughts flew by the more ready to pass out he'd become, and the gentle swinging of the elevated sofa would only coax him along in that endeavor. With each gentle sway, the call of sleep would drop a sack of bricks over his eyelids. With each passive swing his body became more at ease, unconcerned with the reality around him. With each soothing rock of the seat, his mind began to drift further and further from where he was.

Gentle sleep called his name. He wanted to ignore the insatiable call, and for a time, he had been succeeding He forced open his eyes time and time again. He needed to stay awake; there was so much more to do. Still, how could he resist a tender call? How could he refuse to answer?

In moments his eyes were closed, his mind calm and hazy as darkness enveloped his entire being. Maybe that was it for the day after all. He wouldn't fight or fret. There was still plenty to do during the nighttime revelries. Just so long as he didn't oversleep, Little Cato wouldn't be missing out on anything besides what musical talent was set to perform that day. A sacrifice he was happy to make if needed.

As all feeling in his body left and his mind started to drift away, his eyes snapped back open suddenly. Something had just gone off in his ear, a loud and impulsive sound that sent him upright. It had been so sudden Little Cato could hardly make it out. What was it? A shout? His mind was in shambles, struggling to identify the intrusion as he fell face-first on the wooden patio.

"What the fuck!" Little Cato violently sprung back onto his feet. He was fully awake now. His eyes readjusted to the light he had bid farewell to not too long ago as he was greeted by the glint of a familiar red mask, then the outline of a giggling silhouette as the rest of him came into view. "What the hell choom, are you crazy." There was a sore feeling in his nose. Every time he brought his fingers to the area, he felt it the most, a slight sting would deflect his attempts at evaluating himself as he recoiled from the sensation. "I think my fucking nose is broken."

"Man, you'll be fine." He gave Little Cato an apathetic shrug, making it seem like he'd just been overreacting. Kendrick trudged around the sofa to meet him. "I saw you dozen; you can't do that just yet."

"Yeah..." Little Cato could have hissed, still trying to feel the pain around his nose with small taps. "Why not?"

"Because we still got stuff to do choom!" Kendrick chirped excitedly. "We gotta head down to the indie zone now, it's crazy! You won't even believe it! You're gonna shit yourself when you see."

Little Cato looked up at Kendrick with a jaded frown. He kept his hands covered over his slightly swollen nose while trying not to focus on the pain. "I definitely don't want to do anything now. I feel like my nose is about to bleed or something." He shot a nasty glare at Kendrick.

"But LC." Kendric stopped cold for a moment before lazily running a hand over the chin of his glimmering mask. "K... Konrad Oldmoney's gonna be their man."

"I don't-" Little Cato stopped mid-denial. His body froze up like an icicle when he heard the name pass his ears. At that moment the pain in his noise seemed to fade and the scare Kendrick had given him didn't much matter. "You're lying."

"I swear to god." Kendrick brought a finger up, down, and over his chest. "The sibs are there right now choomba. There freakin' out just as much. Told me to come get you right away."

Little Cato gasped. The pain he felt was replaced by a sudden wave of adrenalin. "Really?" He reiterated in concern, fishing for more reassurance. Kendrick shook his head up and down. That was all the conformation Little Cato needed. "Then let's fucking go!" He was the first to speed off of the patio. Despite being so tired just moments early his body was rejuvenated with an immense cadre of excitement and overly eager anxiety.

A crowd gathered by the turnstile entryway, disorderly swaying and restlessly rocking in an equally restless summer wind. Above the gate, pink rose pedals protrude from a thicket of green. Hedge walls, less eye-catching, stood on either side of the gate and surrounded the entire zone beyond. The soft, spirited riffs and self-indulgent spins of pop-punk tunes screamed and echoed from past the hedge walls. Personal space was a meaning lost upon the compressed crowd. The indie zone had been in an uproar that evening. The crowd jittered abuzz like zombies at the front gate, not making it so easy for Little Cato and Kendrick to get through.

Little Cato groaned, his tolerance for waiting around reduced to grains of micro patience. Once the initial excitement had worn off the soreness, he felt in his nose had made a prominent return. In no part due to the massive, obscuring crowd, he was sure. Their idle shambling and topic less rambling while forming an impenetrable wall of flesh, bad tattoos, and unsavory piercings had all but buried Little Cato's enthusiasm for entering the zone.

Nonetheless, he had to stick with it. By that point, he was far too committed to turn back. Kendrick, the psycho that he could be, managed to crave a path through the thick wall of sweaty guests with idle threats and false rumors that redirected large portions of the waiting crowd elsewhere. 

Say what you might about Kendrick. Whether he had a bad chip on his shoulder or was fighting with whatever kind of darkness beneath his blank mask didn't really matter. He always knew how to get things done.

"God these people." Little Cato gasped for fresh air once dramatically emerging from the dense wall of shambling guests. He practically fell into the zone past the turnstiles, catching himself right before hitting a patch of soft fake grass.

"Tell me about it," Kendrick said, stepping onto the grass more gracefully than he had. "Half of these people are so fucked up on drugs, they probably don't even know what they're listening to. A burning trashcan would sound like Mozart to them. The other half I'm pretty sure just like being obnoxious gobeshites."

Little Cato let out a tiny morsel of laughter at Kendrick's words. "I didn't even know you knew what a Mozart was."

"Fuck off, of course, I know what a Mozart is. I'm the classiest motherfucker you ever knew." He chuckled lightly. "Come on, let's go find the sibs. Knowing them they probably already started without us" He tapped Little Cato on the arm and walked off ahead of him.

Taking a moment to catch his estranged breath, Little Cato stood. In front of him, a large black pyramid stood at the end of the path leading up to the main stage of the indie zone. A colorful splatter of words that said Sola was painted haphazardly to the side facing the main gate. 

Looking around, Little Cato could see just how mainstream the indie zone was. Surprisingly more so than he realized it would be. He wasn't expecting much from it. A minimalist paradise for small artists to demonstrate their talents to adoring, and possibly strung-out crowds seemed like the idle vibe he was hoping to see.

However, what the indie zone was in reality was something just as grand in presentation as the rest of Sola-Night. Speakers litter the green grassy fields. Deluxe and extravagant food trucks were parked off to the side in an open field and ready-to-serve overpriced, eccentric food to starving guests. Even the mainstage, which was shadowed by a large red open tent, popped out at them. The stage was the first thing to catch Little Cato's attention but that might have been the point.

It was all so polished, refined for the masses, not at all what Little Cato would think to see when the word independent came to mind. Believe it or not, there was still some sense of subtlety to the zone. Corporate junk and advertising didn't seem so apparent. Unlike the fair and the fusion zone, ad towers didn't clutter his line of sight so vigorously. That isn't to say no ads were present. Instead, they were spread out, little adverts here and there to keep up the illusion of that portion of Sola-Night being its own event. A slice of independent haven away from the companies that wanted to shill whatever they had to offer whenever they could offer it.

Little Cato ran after Kendrick, quickly catching up to him with little issue. As they step deeper into the zone the crowds would begin to thin out. Guests spread to each corner of the indie zone, standing in long lines leading to the food trucks, bars, and the stage that sat at the center of the zone. Little Cato was thankful for the small mercy granted to them.

"What's Konrad even doing here? Isn't he still super big? Why would someone so popular be playing indie shows at the biggest event of the season?" Little Cato turned to Kendrick curious with a brow firmly raised. "Is he actually here?"

"Yeah... maybe." He returned a shrug that only further sparked Little Cato's suspicion.

"Kendrick."

"Hey, I swear we saw him on the booking... Either that or it was for the main stage." A muffled mutter filtered lazily through his crimson mask.

"Are you serious? Please tell me you're not serious." A long pause fell in place of a satisfying answer. Kendrick shrugged again, tossing and turning uncomfortably in his unease.

"Nooo...." in his admittance, the taller boy blew out a long breath. "But the sibs honestly wanted you to be here- that part was honestly true."

"Hold on. You telling me you nearly scared me half to death and practically busted my nose for nothing?"

"No- not for nothing. The sibs have something big planned.... and you know it's not a party without you LC."

Little Cato didn't say much beyond staring at Kendrick with an indignant glare. After moments he sighed softly as his face fell into a flat and emotionless glare. "I can't even believe this." He turned and began walking from Kendrick.

"Where you going?"

"I don't know... to get something to eat I guess."

Little Cato disappointedly dragged his feet along the grass as he made his way over to the food trucks. He was still steaming, pissed off for lack of a better term. He could have guessed from afar that Kendrick wasn't being truthful with him. All the same, Little Cato couldn't help but overlook the signs to let his excitement lead him by his sore nose. Now the excitement was all but gone and all he was left with was incomprehensible disappointment and a sore nose. He should be thankful it was bleeding. Probably meant it wasn't broken.

At least some overly priced and nicely dressed food would help manage the pain, he thought. There were more than a few options he could choose from. The selection was even a tad overwhelming the more he looked. There was one taco truck, a few sushi ones, and a classic burger stand. To the far back there had even been a pizza kiosk with a decently sized line. Pizza could work.

"Hey. Can I offer you an egg?" Before he was barely able to pick up his feet, Little Cato was stopped. He turned to the upbeat voice, finding a food stand he didn't even know he was standing in front of. Behind it, the employee, a pseudo-human rabbit with almond-colored fur, beamed a bucked tooth smile at him.

"Huh?"

"An egg?" The man said. "Can I offer you one?" The man quirked up a shrug, tossing his hands up along with the small gesture.

"I'm alright." Little Cato thoughtlessly refused the man's offer.

"You sure? You look kinda down. An Egg? could help with that." The man repeated the motion.

"Why do you keep doing that?" Little Cato asked, becoming annoyed with the man. It wasn't him offering the food that got to him. It was how he had offered it. Anytime he mentioned the word egg it was followed by a quick surge of his shoulders and his hands lifting in a questioning manner. 

"Whatever do you mean?" The employee questioned back.

"The egg thing." Little Cato subconsciously mimicked the odd gesture. "Why do you keep doing that?"

"Ohhhh." He buzzed, turning his smile upward before shrugging to Little Cato's annoyance. "Company policy I guess."

"That's a stupid policy." Little Cato grumbled under his breath, making his irritation apparent if his frown didn't make it so clear.

"Hey, I get it. You're not in the mood right now." The man said, flashing another easygoing smile. "You could always come back later if you change your mind. I rarely find a person who could resist the allure of a good Egg?" His hands and shoulders lifted.

Little Cato scoffed. "Sure." He quickly trudged away from the egg stand with a notion of dearest still clinging to his chest. What good could an egg do for him really? What good would an egg from that guy do? Not much he thought.

By the time Little Cato was done talking to the egg man, the line to the pizza spot had shortened considerably. He figured that conversation was good for something after all. It was the perfect waste of time he needed.

Reaching the front counter, Little Cato hardly gave the menu a proper glance. None of what he saw was particularly appetizing, but his mood was still sore from earlier. How could Kendrick lie to him like that? He knew how much Little Cato liked Konrad and yet he lied to him. He could forgive most things his friend would do but this time was different. That betrayal of trust was too deep a cut to bear. Little Cato would eventually forgive him but for now, he'd reserve the right to stay angry.

"Little Cato?" Little Cato's ears perked at the familiar voice that drove off his sore feelings. The sound sent a warm hint of joy through him immediately. He spun around to a voice from behind. "How do we keep meeting up like this?"

"Louie." Little Cato smiled, the pain in his noise subsiding once again as his eyes met the duck. Two others stood beside him. One he recognized was Dewey, still snapping selfies and the other was his second brother Huey. "What are you doing here now? Did you get tricked into coming too?" He joked but groaned inwardly thinking back to Kendrick.

"Yeah, kinda," Louie said with an irritated glance. "My brothers are always dragging me into things I don't want to do. Right now, we're about to go see some old friends."

"Yeah, the Chipmunks, you might have heard of them. But I wouldn't blame you if you haven't. They're super irrelevant these days." Dewey spoke over Louie's shoulders. He locked an arm around Louie and held out his phone to snap a picture with his unwilling sibling.

"The Chipmunks? Like Alvin and the Chipmunks?" Little Cato's jaw practically hit the ground. He used to be a real fan of the child boy band when he was younger. Granted he was still younger but so were they. He didn't keep up so much nowadays but last he heard their style had gone from boy band to something more punk and alternative. "Are you being serious with me? You really know Alvin Seville?"

"Unfortunately." Louie let an unfriendly sneer cover his expression. The mere thought of knowing the three other boys was seemingly not to his liking but from what Little Cato had picked up on from the short time he'd spent with the duck, not many things were.

"Guys, hush." The third identical duck in a burgundy tank top shushed both brothers before taking charge of the conversation as an older brother should. Though his actions seemed more maternal than brotherly. "Our family's company used to manage them when we were younger. After being around them, suppose naturally we became friendly." Huey said. He stood so elegantly refined, tone far more respectful than his younger, by minutes, siblings. Little Cato was taken aback by the boys after meeting them the other day. Once they were side by side, he questioned how they could have all been from the same brood given how vastly different their personalities were. They were triplets but they couldn't be more individualistic if they tried.

"Yeah, for the most part we're friendly." Dewey wheezed in the reflection of his phone, snapping another picture of himself with the group. He received a scolding glare from his older brother. "What Huey? I gotta agree with Louie this time. Those three can be a major pain. They can be good publicity. People love seeing their fav celebs intermingle but come on. I can only handle so much. "

"Dewey." Huey moaned displeased with his younger sibling.

"Huey." Dewey smiled back, snapping yet another pic with the older sibling.

Huey's eyes roll with annoyance before they turn back to Little Cato. "Anyway. Did you want to come along? You strike me as a fan."

Little Cato's entire body could have collapsed as his spine caught an excited shiver. "Are you kidding me?" There was no attempt to hide his glee from the three brothers. "Of course I want to." He jumped at the chance to meet his childhood idles. The answer was obvious really. Even if Little Cato had to supplement Konrad with other musicians, the afternoon was thankfully salvageable.

Walking around the main stage, the three brothers lead Little Cato toward the back. Huey kept ahead of the pack, turning nervously every so often to make sure his brothers hadn't wandered off. For the most part, Dewey and Louie had been following along when they weren't being stopped by every little distraction along the way.

Little Cato was really the only one who listened to Huey's instructions which he seemed very appreciative of. He had no problem following the lead of others, he'd done it all his life. His father always told him good soldiers followed orders, no matter how tall. He thinks his dad only said that to get him to pay attention during his homework sessions but it's a saying Little Cato would carry, nevertheless. And, if he were being wholly honest, he really wanted to meet the Seville's, so naturally, on his best behavior, he would be.

Huey ambled up the backstage stairs and stopped once he reached the top. He ushered the group ahead of him, staying back to make sure everyone was accounted for. From there Dewey took the lead, phone in hand and only half paying attention to where he was walking.

"Little Cato listen, don't freak out or anything. do not encourage them in any way please." Louie whispered, gently grabbing Little Cato by the arm.

"Huh? Why." He asked, staring at the boy confused with his brows tightly netted together.

"Just trust me. Do your absolute best not to gas them up please." Little Cato stayed quiet for a moment. An odd request, he thought but nothing he couldn't fulfill. It couldn't be that hard to keep his cool.

"Okay." He agreed and Louie blew out a relieved sigh.

Backstage wasn't as big as the main stage seemed from a distance. A lot of the space was tightly cramped. Equipment was scattered in disorganized columns from either end of the stage, speakers lined up in any old spot they pleased, and cords, that were clearly a safety hazard, traced loosely along the stage floor. It was the indie stage, Little Cato wasn't hoping for private rooms and exclusive high-end catering, but some sense of organization should have been a present back there. The disorganized heap weirdly got to him. It was almost like looking at a stain he couldn't easily wash away. Still, the staff had managed to make it work.

The group eventually came to an open area that was more roomy but maybe that was because it was closer to the front. Manic staff rushed across the stage in a hurry. They were quick to set up equipment and fine-tune instruments all to ensure a smooth performance from the many indie artists.

Dewey snapped another pic and giggled at the result. "Uh, over there." He pointed ahead; eyes still glued to his phone. Three teen boys all stood separate from one another. One was sitting on one of the large speakers. His shoulders were slumped in an uncaring manner and a cocky smile clung to his face like a well-fitting mask. His overall demeanor was comfortably mellow but deviously charming at the same time. The look in his rested eyes burned with a passionate ambition Little Cato could have sworn he'd seen somewhere before.

Another much taller boy had been meticulously going over something on his phone. His eyes dart along the flashing screen that reflected off his glasses as he scrolled through the phone with shocking speed. He stood tall, not as confident as the first boy, but still enough to understand he was capable of handling himself. He fixed the glasses on his face. There was a sort of calculated genius reflected in his spectacles and the stoic look on his face seldom left any room for fun and games. 

Lastly, one much shorter than the others, stood half asleep on one of the other speakers on the stage. He struggled to keep his eyes open, mostly using the speaker as a crutch to keep himself upright. Little Cato didn't know if it was a result of a light night or if he was always like this. In any case, he seemed like a late sleeper with a bit of an appetite. The look on his face was indifferent past the tiredness. He could care less for being there or doing anything, but he'd do it if he had to.

"Well fuck me." The one with the deviously charming smile chimed. He scooted himself off the tall speaker and hit the stage with a heavy thud. "The triplets as I live and breathe."

"Heeey Alvin," Dewey spoke, his infectious, social facade clambering back into his tone as he met Alvin with a hug. 

"You know I knew you guys were gonna be here, but I didn't actually think you'd come visit us. Thought I'd have to track you down myself." Alvin laughed.

"Oh well, you know. Running a multi-media conglomerate is busy work and Louie didn't wanna come at all. He's just bougie with everyone nowadays." Louie threw up his middle finger at Dewey.

"Well, it's good to see you too." Alvin peered past Dewey with a squint. "Who's this? New family member? Helping hand? Latest squeeze." Alvin cocked his eyebrows up at Louie. 

"Dude shut up. It's nothing like that." Louie ground. "I just met the guy but he's really cool."

"That so." Alvin huffed and strode over to Little Cato with a cocky hope in his skip. He eyed him with a squint and a smirk pulled over his smug face. He was trying to read him or, make him sweat, or maybe he was genuinely curious about the orange-furred Ventrexian invading his space. "What's your name cool guy?"

"Little Cato." He answered with his arms folded and his composure cool. Alvin stared him down, the little cold dots of his iris tracing Little Cato for cracks in his facade. He'd find none.

"Okey- okey." Alvin took a step back. "He's alright." He turned a smirk toward the triplets before focusing on Little Cato again. "Come on and meet my brothers." Alvin pulled Little Cato along, involuntarily showing the boy around. No consent needed. "Over there about to kiss the floor is my younger brother, Theodore." He pointed to the shortest one leaning against a speaker. "And this here is our resident nerd, and the oldest if you want to get technical about it, Simon."

"You know nowadays the word nerd can be derogatory Alivn." The tallest one spoke directly. His tone was flat, reasonable, and harsh to anyone who didn't know him personally. 

"-You know the word nerd can be derogatory Alvin-." Alvin parroted the words, mimicking an exaggerated version of his brother's voice. "Maybe I should use it more often than if that's how you feel bro." A sharp snicker past his toothy grin.

"Whatever Alvin." Simon fixed his glasses as he chose to completely ignore his brother's mocking. "We're on soon. Did you memorize the scheduled set?"

"Man, fuck the set. I'll wing it like I always do. Remember the Christmas album?"

"Oh my god, I loved the Christmas album choom." Little Cato let out a sort of happy squeal as his composed farce fell to the wayside for a brief moment.

"Right!" Alvin loudly agreed in his newly developed excitement. "Bro those were some good days. I really fucking killed it on that album dude. God just thinking back is getting me a little too hyped up." The excitement had reached all the way down to his toes as he began to hop in place. "Look, guys just follow my lead like back then."

"Alvin, Alvin- uggh." Before Simon could get a word in, Alvin was already at center stage and cultivating cheers from the audience. He threw his arms out annoyed. "Great. Theodore come on!" He called to the youngest, pulling him out of his standing nap.

"Right, right, sorry. I'm coming." Theodore clumsily lumbered behind his brothers, and they all took up their positions on the stage. Theodore sat at the drums, Simon as the bassist would stand slightly off center on the stage, and Alvin settled at his spot in front of the microphone, with a red guitar in hand.

"Jeez Little Cato." Louie hit Little Cato's arm with a light punch. "Four more days, just four days, and now I'm gonna have to deal with Alvin's bullshit the whole time." He shook his head, seemingly disappointed with Little Cato. He did feel bad for letting his inner fanboy get the best of him then. "Listen just quietly slip away before they're finished out there because Alvin will talk your ear off." 

"Is it that bad?"

"Oh, it's worse," Dewey said once he finally lowered his phone. "You just opened the floodgates, my friend. Once Alvin gets to talking about himself, he won't stop until either he gets tired, or you drop dead of execution. Again, I have to agree with Louie on this one. Get out while you can." Dewey warned before Louie motioned to his brothers to follow him off stage. Even Huey would follow without question. Was it really that bad? 

Little Cato hung back for a bit. Louie might have had a point. He liked the chipmunks and most of their music, but did he really like them that much? Did he want to get caught in a self-gratifying conversation for God knows how long? He thought not as he started to make his way toward the exit.

Before he could clear the stage, an odd sound stopped him in his tracks. Was someone whispering? It sounded like a faint hiss called out his name, but he wasn't so sure. Little Cato looked around but didn't find anything out of the ordinary. Thinking he'd just been hearing things; he got ready to move again. Shortly after picking up his feet, however, the faint voice came again. This time his ears twitched in the direction of the sound.

He shot a quick glance to the left of him. The sound had brought his eyes to a set of large speakers all clustered up like a formation of rocks. Warely and carefully, Little Cato crept over to the formation and took a glance over the side. The source of his paranoia was less thrilling than he'd been hoping. He wouldn't exactly call the hidden Dewinters thrilling anyway. For some weird reason or another, the siblings were stowed away backstage and hiding from something, or more so someone.

"Guys? What are doing-" Each sibling quickly lifted a silencing finger to their lips. Little Cato was hit with a jolt of confusion. "Okay. What are you doing back here." He whispered.

"Funny thing that," Dean said. "We had this plane to finesse our way on stage to perform the new song. We had a real preem plane and everything. It was all going so smooth until I go to check the mic. Instead of grabbing the brand new one I picked up for this moment, dumbass over here brought the busted one." He nodded back at his brother.

"I'm sorry Dean," Sam whined as he clung to one of Dean's arms.

"Yeah, whatever." He hissed, rolling all three eyes. "So, we decided to borrow one of the event's mics only to find out that all they have is wired mics here. I figured, no problem I can work with that, so I have the mic but surprise-surprise, dumbass here forgot to plug the damn thing in and tune the speaker."

"Dean I'm sorry." Sam cried out again.

"Whatever, gonk... Look El Gato could you help us out. All you have to do is plug in the mic and turn on the speaker."

"It's simpler than it sounds," Sam added.

Little Cato was caught in a typhoon of astonishment. He didn't know whether to laugh at the pair or commend them for such an ambiguous plan. "You guys serious?" They shook their heads in tandem. Little Cato blinked slowly; his astonished stare still settled in on the brothers. He conceded the request for a shorter period than he meant to. He'd become so used to helping his friends that his response came somewhat out of his control. "Okey. I'll do it."

The siblings silently cheer in relief. "Okay, just follow the cored. We're gonna go back to hiding out." Dean popped into his hiding spot and back out again just as fast. "Don't take too long."

Little Cato stepped around the sibling's sort of smirking as he went. Only they could get into situations like this. They always went out of their way to land in trouble no matter how clearly avoidable it was.

Little Cato traced the cord of the 'borrowed' microphone back to where Sam had supposedly forgotten to plug it in. Like Dean said it wasn't plugged in. Didn't even come close to being plugged in actually. The cord was detached and discarded a few feet away from the large amp. Little Cato picked up the end of the cord and plugged into the stage speakers, completing the job Sam couldn't be bothered to do. Now all he had to do was turn the speaker on and-

"Hey. What are you doing back here?" Little Cato froze at the sound of a stern voice. He slowly turned; body as stiff as a board. An innocent smile stuck to his face. "This area is off limits." The staff member said, hand hovering over the radio on his hip.

Little Cato was at a loss. All he could do was stare and blink at the staff member. He had no clue what to do or how to explain himself. Could the siblings be out of luck? In his stupor, Little Cato did the only thing he could think to do. He thought of what Dewey would do.

"Ah, I can't believe this. Are you seriously accosting me right now?" Little Cato snaps at the staff member. If he had anything to say about it, his friend's little scheme wasn't going to crash and burn quite yet.

"W-what." The staff member stuttered off guard and took a step back.

"For the past hour, our clients have been complaining about the awful acoustics of this dinky little thing you call a stage, rude staff, and inapt workflow. How could expect such monumentous talent to work under conditions like these?"

"Clients." The man repeated confused.

"Yes, clients. Alvin, Simon, and Theodore Seville? McDuck records? Ring any bells?" Little Cato explained, trying his best to maintain the stuck-up, smug manager role. 

"Wait but... they're playing now." He slowly turned to the stage and rubbed at the back of his neck even more confused than before.

"Well of course. We were down to the wire and had to settle for less. Did you expect them not to play at all? Is that what you wanted" The staff member turned back with an uneasy hum. "Okey... I can see that my higher-ups need to get involved." Little Cato pulled out his phone, pretending to tap at the screen and hoping the staff member would buy his overdone bluff. "I swear this whole goddamn festival is going on the shit list."

"No- no, there's no need for that." The staff member pleaded now firmly shitting his pants in front of the teenage manager. "We'll accommodate them- just please. I'll be blacklisted if it got out that something like this happened on my watch." A delighted hum rested comfortably in Little Cato's throat. He had struck out. He wasn't just treating some ordinary staff member. He was threatening that evening's event manager.

"Fine. But this is the last time something like this happens you hear me." He stabbed a finger into the manager's chest and the man nodded. "Now go on, oh, and could you clear the stage for a little? The clients like their personal space." The man nodded again and quickly raced off to start gathering the other staff. They cleared out remarkably fast. The whole time Little Cato gave the manger his meanest stink eye. It only encouraged him to move faster. "Oh fuck." Little Cato doubled over as soon as the backstage was fully cleared out.

Little Cato didn't actually think any of what he did would work but by some miracle, he'd gotten away with scaring off the entirety of the backstage staff. Times like that made Little Cato appreciate the fact that he was a far better actor than his dad. 

Bringing his attention back to the speaker, Little Cato turns a nob at the top assumingly turning it on and tuning it to some measure. With that done and the staff all but gone, so that Dean and Sam had an actual chance of getting on stage, there was nothing left for Little Cato to do besides go and enjoy the show.

He stood by the black pyramid welcoming festival goers to the Indie Zone and leaned against the large, out of place, placement. Little Cato watched the stage closely. A subtle excitement broiled beneath his fur as he awaited the moment of the sibling's arrival. 

Come to think of it. How was it that they'd managed to get on stage without being immediately escorted off? Dean said they had a plan but what could that have been. Unless. "No way." He muttered to himself. He thought back to what Kendrick had said to get him over here. They couldn't possibly stoop so low, could they? 

To his shock, they could. The announcement came quick as loudspeakers throughout the zone introduced Konrad Oldmoney onto the stage. Excitement filled the air. Festival goers rushed to the stage. They were all, pushing and shoving and vying for spots with the best view of the main stage. Little Cato couldn't even begin to express the disappointment he felt for the siblings. Imagine the audience shock when the rappers taking the stage wasn't Konrad Oldmoney but two broke kids from Westbrook.

"What's up Sola-Night!" Dean jumped onto the stage first, the microphone pushed as close to his mouth as it could be without him swallowing the thing. "Unfortunately, Konrad had to take a bit of a rain check, but we're here to fill that void! I'm Big Dean and this is Sammy D and this is a little something we've been working on for a little while!"

The sound of electric drums slowly kicked in, and the boys started to jump and hop up and down on stage as a slow thumbing beat pulsed out from the speakers. They gave the beat a moment to settle in, encouraging the crowd to hop along with them, which they do little by little. The more people that joined, the more others would progressively follow along until the boys had formed a small wave in the crowd.

Seemingly satisfied, the two boys begin their set. They passed lyrics back and forth between each other effortlessly. The beat flowed like calm water over a quiet river that enhanced the sibling's back-and-forth rhymes and lyricisms.

Little Cato had to say, it was awful. The beat was grainy and slightly off rhythm, and the lyrics, as good as they were delivered, were lackluster. The whole song was graining to the ears and Little Cato's ears were taking the brunt of the siblings' assault.

After all that time and effort, was that really the best the sibling could put out? They said it was going to be some of the best stuff they'd made. If this was their best, Little Cato dreaded to hear their worst. He could have done better, and he didn't even know the first thing about writing music.

Still, the crowd seemed to enjoy the show just fine. They bounced to the flows, danced to the beat, and even started to sing along when the chorus came around. Kendrick may have been right about this crowd after all.

"Jeez, I thought the motherfuckin' mic was broken." And speak of the devil on his shoulder. 

"Yeah, it was but they got a new one." He said, omitting the fact that he had helped with the microphone situation, and Kendrick hummed along. "Is that pizza?"

"Yeah. Got it from that Daiquiris building over there. Actually, good pizza. crazy." He took an excessively cheesy bite under his loosened mask. The long drooping strings of cheese were enough to make Little Cato's mouth water.

"That reminds me, I haven't gotten anything to eat yet. Wanna come with?"

"Nah, I'm gonna watch these gonks finish up. You go on." Little Cato shrugged. To each their own he thinks. 

That day turned out to be a long one and he had definitely worked up an appetite since separating from Kendrick earlier. Keeping that in mind, Little Cato was in the mood for something simple but sophisticated. Something with just the right amount of flavor and presentation. He'd hate to say he was still in pretend manager mode, but he wouldn't be so honest with himself. This highlife stuff was intoxicating.

He could have chosen anything. Most of the food at Sola-Night was more presentable than edible but he already knew what he'd be having.

"Hey, kid? How are you feeling?" The man at the Egg? stand greeted with his usual bright smile.

"Yeah surprisingly." He answered as he sat down on a stool. "I think I'll be taking the egg now." The man beamed even brighter than what Little Cato thought was possible for a face.

"Great. How would you like it?" Little Cato looked over the menu for a moment. A lot of the eggs there were certainly eye-catching if nothing else. He didn't know there were so many ways one could make an egg. Some were covered in sauteed garlic mushrooms, some were stuffed with liquid pumpkin and stuffed into hard-boiled potatoes, and some were covered with cream and carrots. The selection was vast, and a decision was hard to make.

"I'll..." He gave the menu another squint. "Have the sunny-side-up." He chose the one that struck his curiosity the most. This egg was topped with fried yogurt, topped with runny clementines, and came with a side of bacon. If that didn't scream delicious, he didn't know what would.

"Ohh, that's a favorite." The man said. "Coming right up." He stepped into the stand and quickly began work on Little Cato's order. As he waited, he'd listen in on the sibling's performance. Even being some distance away, not too far mind you, he could still hear it as if he were at the stage itself.

The crowd was really eating up the performance. Little Cato couldn't understand why. The song was like nails on a chalkboard, some mix of a dying cat and screeching chicken in his opinion. Little Cato speculated that it wasn't the music that had gained the favor of the crowd but the performance itself. The siblings were energetic, and entertaining. They could start a small get-together with just the two of them that would evolve into a neighborhood-sized party after a short time. Their combined charisma was intoxicating. If you were with them, you were having a good time whether you wanted to or not.

Scratch that, Little Cato thought to himself. The song wasn't awful at all. It was just as good as they made it out to be.

"Hey Little Cato." His tell wagged before his mind could process who'd just called to him. He didn't see the woman approaching him, but he didn't notice her at all until she had plopped down right beside him.

"Valerie." 

"Miss V."

"Literally on summer vacation." They shared a laugh. Little Cato's tail wagged and wafted against his will as she smiled at him. "What are you doing here?"

"The job gave me some vacation time. Along with that were tickets to Sola-Night."

"And you just Left Vincent home alone." Valerie bobbed her head at him.

"Crouse not, you crazy?" She let out another, tiny laugh. "He's with me."

Little Cato looked at her twice. "Really?" She nodded. "Vince?" She shook her head again. He blinked astonished. He had neither misheard nor misinterpreted the words that left her. 

"He likes to talk a lot of shit but trust me, kid. When presented with an opportunity like this, even if the event was corpo ran and the tickets were provided by them personally, he'd take it in a heartbeat." She said. Giving it some thought, Little Cato was less taken aback. He and his friends all had their grapes with corporations and the mainstream. They all felt like they were too cool to buy into the lie. They were above the average sloop consuming sheep but in truth, they were all talking. They watched Dewey D on a daily basis, they bought remakes of all video games and kept up with gonging cinematic franchises. They bought the latest clothes when they could, listened to popular music, and had more than one subscription to apps streaming their favorite TV shows. They were at Sola-Night now. It didn't get any more bourgeois than that. They liked to think they were in the know but they were just kidding themselves. He and his friends were some of the biggest consumers in Night City. "Is your assignment done by the way."

Little Cato faced her with one cheek in his hand. "Duh." He jerked his head, wanting to walk his answer back a bit. "It's basically done. I just want to add some extra flare to it when I get home."

"Good. The last thing you want is to forget to do that. It's a big grade." Little Cato nodded agreeingly more so to seem like he was actually paying attention. The project was super simple. It was a presentation depicting certain events that had led to the birth of the Alliance. Everyone had received a certain prompt and Little Cato struck out with the establishing of the capital. It didn't get any easier than that, his family basically ran Eden. Doing the research was easy. He had Gary and his grandparents' assistance after all and though the presentation had to be a physical display, which was a bit backward in his opinion, he'd manage it, nonetheless.

"Goddamn." Vincent sat down on the other side of Little Cato. He kept his ears covered and a grimace over his face. "You hear that shit. It sounds like my worse fuckin nightmare." Little Cato's ears focused on the music again. The sibs were still going? "I swear I don't know how your fuckin' friends got on that stage with talent like that. Makes me want to get up there myself to show 'em how it's actually done."

Little Cato looked at him amused. "Do you even have musical talent V?" He teased.

"Whaddya me, course I do. I'm fuckin' nova with a guitar choom." Vincent said, shredding a few fiery cords on his air guitar to give Little Cato a brief example of his own talent. "Just you watch. Before this fest is out, I'm gonna show you." Both Little Cato and Valerie crack up at him. 

Little Cato wouldn't lie, He'd love to see if the man was as good as he claimed. "Who knows." Little Cato said with a half-teasing smirk. "Maybe you'll get to play on the main stage."

Chapter 40: Innocence died screaming.

"So, what do you think?" Timmy asked, rolling his hips on a medicine ball at the opposite end of the juice bar. He moved nervously, remaining quiet. He practically held his breath as he awaited the other boy's responses.

Little Cato let out a short hum and took another sip of the cold smoothie in his hands. So far, he had a lot of opinions about the drink. It was thick and gooey, slow to go down, excessively sweet in parts, and bitter in others. If he were honest, he wanted to toss the sorry excuse for a drink in the trash, but he couldn't pull himself to stop slowly sipping at the protein smoothie.

"It's alright." Little Cato declared with a quick shrug to his friends.

"Really?" Meowmar looked at him oddly. "It tastes like shit to me. You sure your taste buds aren't busted choom?"

"It's an acquired taste," Timmy added, taking a sip from his own smoothie. "Remember Gen, you spend most of your time drinking soda and cum so of course you're not gonna like it."

"Fuck you!" Meowmar flicked his middle finger at Timmy and angrily sprang up from his medicine ball. In his slight fury, he stormed over to the exit of the juice bar and began descending the stares though curiously he still held on to the smoothie.

"Come on gen, don't be such a baby!" Timmy called after him, but Meowmar was far too angry to turn back around. He wasn't even willing to acknowledge him with another flip of his middle finger.

The sudden outburst left the group amused either way.

It was close to the evening. The sun had just begun to descend leaving the sky burning in a thick hue of slowly fading orange. The group had spent most of that day running between the indie zone and fusion point, causing as much trouble as they could along the way.

The reason for their hasty excursions, however, had less to do with entertainment and more to do with everyone wanting to stick together. For some odd reason, Little Cato and his friends were close that day. They were close every day, but that day was particularly special for some reason or another. They were like pack rats, stuck together as thick as thieves with one not being able to leave the other behind.

Even if they were together that wouldn't be enough to keep them out of trouble. There seemed to be some new conflict for the group every five minutes or so and one of them was almost always the cause of it. For a Kleptomaniac like Argit who couldn't keep his hands out of others' pockets, trouble was bound to ensue for the group. When one such individual, who he was 'borrowing' from, actually caught on to the boys rooting, roughly grabbed the boy by the wrist, tearing his sticky paw from his pocket and causing him to yelp. His brother Kevin wasn't having any of the rough treatment. He sprung to action quickly, punching the man in the face which led to a minor dust-up with another group of young adults.

For the most part, Timmy was a good kid, when he was being watched at least. He never caused any trouble or stirred the pot too much but when he did, there was always some rationale behind his misbehavior. One such occasion was when another group cut in front of theirs in a long food truck line, they had already spent too much time on. Being stuck on a long line beneath a blazing sun was bad enough but people trying to take their place in said long line caused the boy to snap. Timmy immediately confronted them with Meowmar and Kendrick quickly backing him up.

Most of the sibs' issues were music-related and it was never really one thing or the other that irked them. Whether it was large obnoxious crowds, delayed shows, or dealing with obscured views caused by someone slightly taller than them, there was always a bone to pick. That would always end them up in an argument, fighting and running from security. Running away and losing out on a show never bothered them, so long as it was them coming out on top of most of their fights they were as happy as can be for two delinquents.

As for Meowmar, he never really needed a reason. He liked to start shit whenever he could wherever he could. Little Cato thinks that eighty percent of the fights they got in were caused by him alone and none of his friends were willing to let him fight on his own, even if he did deserve to. 

Whether it was Argit's sticky fingers or Meowmar's attitude, there was no lack of conflict or absence of excitement for any of them. The only ones who really managed to keep their lids on were Ash, Kendrick, and Little Cato and even then, there were the occasional outbursts here and there.

Now that the day had begun to wind down the teens would spend what time they had left at a juice bar, slowly chipping away at thick smoothies and rolling around on medicine balls as they took the time to relax.

"Oh, shit guys." Little Cato jumped up from his ball as he checked the time on his phone. "We gotta go back to the village."

"Huh?" Kendrick hummed and leaned further back on his ball. "Whadya mean?"

"Gary was setting up an activity for us remember. The drum circle?" A reflective hum sounded from everyone in the group that was then followed up by soft snickering.

"He said drum circle." Kavin giggled, his smile eventually fading as he stood. "Shit, yeah. We should probably get goin' then."

"It isn't gonna be like, too hippy-dippy, is it?" Dean asked rising along with his brother.

"Yeah, how weird is this gonna get El Gato? Are we gonna have to take off our clothes or..." Sam continued causing a small blush to form beneath Little Cato's fur as the laughter came rolling through.

Little Cato tiredly groaned at the brothers. "No, we're not taking off our clothes. Where'd you even get an idea like that?" They both shrugged out expressions of genuine cluelessness.

"God just imagen," Argit said making his way toward the exit. "Seeing our parents naked... Nightmare fuel." He shivered as he stepped out of the juice bar behind his brother and the siblings.

Kendrick was the next to stand, making a sound to signal his disappointment as he did. "Man, I thought we'd be doing something more fun with our night." He stretched his arms and let out an exhausted, overly dramatic, sigh.

"After the day we had, I think we could use a little boring don't you think?" Timmy patted Kendrick on the shoulder and the two were the next to exit the bar.

The last to leave was Little Cato with Ash close by his side. He had hung back a bit, none too pleased with his friends' reactions. Gary was excited to share some of their family activities with the teens and their parents. Admittedly when Gary first proposed the idea that morning, Little Cato was nervous about what his friends might think of sitting in a group and haphazardly ponding on drums but eventually, he came around to the idea. After hearing what his friends had to say, however, he was worried for the rest of the evening all of a sudden.

"Jeez, you think they'll even show up?" Little Cato asked Ash though he didn't face her. Instead, he kept his worried glance trained on the bar's doorway.

"Don't worry junior." She said, rubbing a hand over his shoulder to maybe try to reassure him. "They're talking shit but that's how those dummies cope with trying new things. They'll be there, trust me." She kept her hand on him. It wasn't much but her words did make him feel a bit better.

"I hope." Little Cato sighed through his sore nose. "We should get going too. I know how Gary gets when he can't find me." Little Cato chuckled awkwardly, and Ash wrapped an arm in his as they exited the meditation area of the bar.

They walked arm and arm, crossing the rolling hills of Fusion Point and eventually coming to the white picket gates that lead to the Eco village. After a long day of troublemaking, it felt good to be back. Returning to the village felt comparable to coming home after a horrible day.

There was a certain feeling he got from stepping in through those white automatic gates. Seeing the rose gardens spread through the village, the other residents relaxing or playing music on the decks of their luxury tents. Even the influencers filming every aspect of their vacation was a welcomed sight.

The village was another world, a private, micro dimension separated from the rest of time and space. On some level, Little Cato felt bad for deriving pleasure from the campsite. His heart bled for all the people who wouldn't be able to experience that kind of luxury but the exclusivity of it all was too tempting to ignore. It made him feel like he was on top of the world.

Little Cato and Ash made their way up the steps of their tent and stopped just before continuing past the wooden door.

"Still nervous," Ash asked him.

He quietly nodded. "Yeah." His voice was a tad shaky. Something like this probably wasn't anything to have a heart attack over but he wanted his friends to like what he liked. If they didn't, he might wind up feeling weird. His family wasn't exactly normal and the last thing he wanted was for his friends to catch on to that fact.

"Don't be. There here trust me." She squeezed his arm slightly, pulling him into a close half hug. She cocked her head to the door, motioning for Little Cato to open it.

He took in a steady breath before reaching for the nobs. For a moment hesitation froze his body in place. He couldn't move, or he didn't want to move but a gentle squeeze from Ash gave him all the strength he needed to push through those doors, albeit with his eyes slightly closed.

Entering the tent, Little Cato wasn't hoping for much. Perhaps, all say for his parents, he'd been expecting to see an empty room waiting for him but when he entered and gathered enough courage to open his eyes, it was exactly as Ash said. More than she said. Everyone was there, all lined up in neat rows before Gary with drums in between each leg and flower crowns on top of every head.

There were some board faces among the lot but there were also some excited ones as well.

"Little Cato. About time you showed up." Gary said. A smile, inviting was brunt onto his face though his tone was a little more irritated. "Come on get your drum and crown so we can start."

"Right sorry mama- I mean Gary." Little Cato gritted his teeth as his cheeks began to burn, and rushed over to his drum, nearly tripping over Kendrick as he went. He sat down on the floor and settled in with a sigh. He almost called Gary 'mama' in front of all of his friends. He hasn't called Gary that in a long time. The last time he could remember was when he was really young, young enough to not understand that Gary wasn't his real mom or a woman for that matter. What gives, he thought.

"Okay, now that everyone is present and drummed up it's time for us to start," Gary said, beaming ear to ear as he quickly tapped his fingers along the top of his drum. "Let's start with simple, quick, short rhythms, and though they may be simple, they soothe the soul all the same. Just follow my lead." Gary starts, softly tapping the tips of his fingers on his drum.

Everyone from the kids to their parents, followed along, doing the same as the smiling blonde. Most of the tapping was off rhythm and unconfident. His friends and their families were unsure of what they should be doing or feeling exactly as they closely watched Gary more than their own drums.

"Come on guys, don't think about it. Just do it." Gary said, practically singing, as the rhythm of his tapping became a bit faster. Their rhythm was getting better though there was still some hesitancy among the group.

Out of all the gentle tapping, only one really stood out. Kendrick had been going all out with his drum. He had skipped the simple tapping and almost immediately graduated to do his own thing, creating his own rhythm without a single care about who might have been watching. It was a typical affair for him Little Cato thought.

"Alright Kendrick, just like that." Gary cheered the masked boy on.

"Yeah, I think I'm actually digging this." Muffled laughter trickled out from his mask. The pace of his tapping would gradually pick up and eventually evolve into open palm slapping over the drum. His careless attitude inspired the others to throw caution to the wind as a symphony of quick tapping filled the tent.

"Alright, now we're getting into the swing of things." Gary grinned and looked toward Little Cato. "Little Cato, you wanna lead us into something more complex?"

"Sure Gary." Little Cato agreed instantly, taking the reins from his second father. He took a moment to think of a rhythm that might work best for the group. Usually, something more complicated for his family might not have been something the rest could keep up with. "Let's see... try following this." Little Cato muttered as he slowly began to hit his drum, starting slow at first. He wanted to make sure everyone could ease into the beat following his demonstration.

Thus far his friends had been keeping up with him with no issue. That was good he thought, it would make the next part easier to transition into.

Little Cato halted his steady tapping and waited a moment. His eyes ran over the group, a small but devious smirk crossed his lips, and he began again. He pounded on his drum, the beat fading in and out as his tapping abruptly stopped and started right back up again.

His beats were wild, each slap to the drum more ferocious than the last. Little Cato moved so fast in his drumming that he had officially begun to lose himself in the soul-soothing rhythm he and his fathers were hashing out to the inexperienced group.

"Fuck." Argit's dad let out a sharp curse. "Maybe we can simplify this again?"

"Yeah, for sure." Gregg agreed, thoughtlessly tapping on his drum.

Little Cato giggled. "Right, my bad. I guess it was a little to complex huh?" He nodded to Gary and passed control of the rhythm back to the blonde. Little Cato huffed. The drum session had left him a little light-headed and hazy. "Hey Gary, I'm gonna head out for some air real quick."

"Okay, take your time," Gary said and Little Cato was up and out of the door in no time.

Stepping out onto the patio, Little Cato takes in a deep breath. It had been a while since he'd played to that capacity. With his parents working so hard they just never found the time most days to do things like that. It felt good, it felt like he'd reclaimed something that had long gone missing, but it was finally a part of him again.

The sun had gone down by the time he was outside. The many concrete paths and walkways leading through Eco Village had been lit up. The sight was as dazzling as the night sky and just as breathtaking. The village had become like a second home for him and maybe scarcely so. They wouldn't be at the fest for much longer but how he felt didn't change.

Little Cato wished he lived in a neighborhood so comfortable, cozy, and dare he say, wealthy. He hummed discomforted after that thought. A feeling of disappointment curled up his stomach. He wouldn't mind living a more luxurious life but was he wrong for wanting something like that? They could have had it handed to them though Gary was so adamant on living independently and not taking handouts and never wanted to rely on his parents for much of anything.

Little Cato would think the same for a while. He always admired Gary's view of the world and because of that, he'd learned to have empathy for people with less than what his family could afford. He learned to be grateful for his life and family above all else. But after arriving at Sola, seeing what could have been and having what most couldn't, he could feel that empathy slip, if only for a bit. Maybe that's what sacred him. Losing himself to the pleasures of luxury.

"Hey Little Cato." A voice called to him, disrupting his tight train of thought and bringing him back to the night breeze and brightly lit paths. Louie had been smiling and waving at him. Beside him, standing with an annoyed grimace over his purple lips, was another boy who was slightly shorter than him. "You good man? You look a little lost right now." Louie chuckled.

Little Cato jerked upright. He nearly ended up slipping on the patio floor before catching himself. He held a tight grip on the safety railing, somewhat afraid to let go. He didn't realize anyone was watching him so deep in thought.

"H-hey Louie." Little Cato stuttered nervously. "Yeah, yeah I'm fine. Just thinking about stuff."

"Just stuff?"

"And... things." Little Cato cringed at his brilliant response. 

"Right..." Louie hummed and squinted at Little Cato with a little smirk as if the excuse reminded him of something humorous. "Oh hey, did you get to meet my boyfriend by the way?" Louie threw a thumb over to the boy beside him. His hair was colored the same shade as his lips with one long fringe of hair draped over his right eye. On top of his head, two black and purple horns curved slightly backward. He was a Zeti. Little Cato had never seen one in person. They rarely ever left their home world under any circumstance so seeing one standing right in front of him was a bit of an honor.

"Hey." The other boy lazily waved. "Zor." He mumbled. He seemed more shy than annoyed, avoiding all eye contact with Little Cato the best he possibly could.

"You know you could stand to be a little less cold," Louie spoke in a low tone as he pushed himself into Zor.

"Excuse me if I don't want to meet everyone you used to have the hots for."

"I literally just met the guy." His tone dove even lower, to the point where it was hard to make out what was being said, and what Little Cato could make out hardly seemed friendly. Sharp whispers, angry groans, upset moans, growls, and hisses were exchanged.

Eventually, the angry whispering softened up. In an instant the two boys had become kinder, the hisses and growls in their hushed tone had been replaced with tender muttering and warm smiles.

"I love you," Louie said, pulling back from Zor.

"Okay, I love you too." Little Cato jerked up with an awe-struck snicker. He had to take a moment to appreciate the suddenness of the two's affection. With how tender they treated one another, Little Cato felt he should have been taking notes. He and Ash was okay but there was no way they could reconcile that quick.

"Hey, Little Cato, you doing anything right now?" Louie turned back to him flashing another friendly, and somewhat awkward, smile. 

Little Cato looked back to his tent, reluctance pulling at his conscious once again. "I was..." He muttered softly, gaze still affixed to the tent and ears twitching to the pounding of drums within.

"Did you want to head to the pool with us then? If you're still not busy thinking of stuff I mean." Louie giggled under his breath and patiently waited for the boy's response.

Little Cato kept his eyes on the large tent that could hardly be called that. Again, his ears perked up at the sound of laughter and the rapid beating of small drums. It sounded like they were having a good time. It was about time Little Cato thought to himself. Maybe he should go. He didn't believe his presence was needed all that much. He probably wasn't going to be missed for one evening.

It took another few moments of consideration, but Little Cato had his answer. "Sure. I'll come." He stepped around the safety rail and hopped off the deck stairs onto the concrete pathway. He walked up to Louie, stopping beside him and his irritated-looking boyfriend.

He followed the young couple closely. They trekked up bleached stone paths, past luxury tents where some residents lounged and chatted about matters that would be incomprehensible to people lacking the concept of excessive wealth. A lot more people spoke normally about life, what they were doing, where they were heading in the near or far future, and just how happy they were to be where they were now. A lot of people were appreciative of their position. They knew that this place was a privilege and one they did not want to squander. From one tent emerged an odd chanting, a reiteration of phrases that made Little Cato's hairs stand on end at times.

"Maybe they're a cult? Those kinds of people have a lot of money." Louie joked but he probably wasn't wrong. The festival drew in all kinds of people and a cult using the getaway as a recruitment opportunity wasn't so far-fetched, was it? It would have been the perfect time. So many people were bent out of their minds on drugs and alcohol or just downright too emotionally vulnerable to think straight. All the same, it could just be a group of eccentric millionaires getting in touch with their spirituality. Little Cato wouldn't necessarily rule anything out. 

The three boys continued, passing through large rose gardens and under vine-covered arch trellis tunnels, and eventually came to the village's yoga zone.

Eco Village was an already peaceful enough place in Little Cato's eyes but upon reaching the zone, he had yet to explore, he could see that the rest of the village was nothing compared to the back end. Groups gathered in tight circles, submerged in deep meditation and breathing exercises. Armature musicians strum out sweet soft melodies as bodies twist, contort, and become one with nature in many public yoga sessions.

So this is where his parents spent most of their time. Had he known the yoga zone would be this appealing, he would have taken up the offer to join them much sooner.

Moving past the displays of contorting sweaty bodies and sweet strums of the yoga zone, the three boys arrive at the lounge. It was a sort of bar where you could get a drink and take a nap if you pleased. Gold-tinged chandlers hung from the ceilings, gently swaying in the breeze of the inbuilt air conditioning. Bartenders placed drinks down on sleek wood-finished countertops with the gentleness and elegance of lifelong professionals as they made smile talk with the diverse clientele. Large sofas held some festival attendees too tired to keep parting but not quite ready to go back to their tents and call it a night, and flat-screen TVs blared softly over their idle conversations. The lounge was cozy, weirdly homey in a way and if the choice fell on Little Cato, he'd spend the rest of his vacation just hanging out under the crystal chandeliers.

Louie motioned to the far end of the lounge and led the way ahead of Little Cato and Zor. Following him out of the wide automatic doors, Little Cato was left in awe as he came facing the pool.

Smooth stone slabs line the ground and along the stone lay, mostly empty, poolside seats with only one or two pristine white ducks lounging on them. To the far-right edge of the large poll was a mini bar, fully stocked with the most expensive drinks and professionally operated by only one member of the lounge's staff.

The pool itself was a spectacle. Traces of golden lighting lined the edges of the mostly still water as ducks, and other pseudo-human avians, dipped, dived, and splashed into the pool to disturb the reflective peace.

At the far in of the pool was a perfect view of the main stage with no safety railing to obscure the scenery. The only thing separating anyone from the pool and a long drop into the mainstage area was how deep the back end of the pool was which made it impossible for someone to spill over the side accidentally. All the same, the lack of safety worried Little Cato but no one else seemed to mind all that much. 

The main stage was still a work in process by the looks of it. Things were still being set up, that much was made clear by how barren the surrounding area was at the time.

"Hey, Uncle Gladstone." Louie walked beside one of the ducks resting on the seats not too close to the edge of the pool. A green robe with a dollar sign etched into his right breast pocket and clung tightly to his body as if it were tailor-made for him. It probably was. Like Louie's hair, his was done up in dainty curls that must have taken hours to perfect but unlike his nephew, his hair was as white as his feathers. In his right hand, he held a wine glass, and the dark, reflecting shades over his eyes didn't betray the slightest hint of emotion one bit. "You wanna meet my new friend," Louie said, tugging at Little Cato and pulling him closer.

The man didn't move. His demeanor alone made clear just how above the common man he felt he was. "Sweetness, must you bring home every stray cat that follows you." He spoke gently and took a small, elegant sip of wine from his glass. He didn't even bother to look Little Cato's way, or maybe he was looking. Little Cato couldn't tell from the man's dark shades. Who wore sunglasses on at night anyway?

"Gladstone he's not a pet," Louie argued and the man shot up quickly, nearly spilling his drink. He lifted the shades off of his face. A look of apologetic shock immediately covered his expression.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I didn't realize you were an actual person." Little Cato didn't honestly know how to react to the 'apology' but he remained silent either way.

"Yeah, and he's chilling with us tonight," Louie told him. His uncle hummed as his eyes drifted away from the boys in a bit of what seemed like a bit of confusion.

"Okey. If you insist Louie." He sighed. "Just... watch your wallet." He whispered, covering his mouth with one hand though Little Cato could hear him clearly. Still, he wouldn't say much.

"Gladstone." Louie hissed sharply at his uncle and quickly pulled Little Cato away from the man. "I'm so sorry, he's usually much kinder and... less arrogant."

"It's fine." It really wasn't but Little Cato would forgo speaking up for himself. He didn't want to cause a scene with Louie's family no matter how insensitive or out of touch they were.

"Louie, you have to control your uncle, I swear to god," Zor said, rubbing a hand over his forehead out of embarrassment.

"I know... He's making progress... a little..." Louie held back a frustrated groan the best he could. "I'm trying. But hey, enough of that." He turned to Little Cato again. "Let me introduce you to the family." Louie took Little Cato's hand, hulling him around the pool and showing him off to anyone who cared to pay attention. It was all so sudden meeting many of the duck's family at once, but he didn't mind. Little Cato was a people person after all.

The first group was his cousins from France. Paris to be specific. The De 'plumes. They were described as a bit stuck up, but the ones Louie liked the most, thus why Little Cato was introduced to them first. When meeting them Little Cato didn't get any of that smug energy, at least not the kind he did with Louie's uncle Gladstone. They were so cordial in behavior, polite, and respectful for the most part.

The next family was the Eiders from Stockholm. The second oldest family in the bloodline according to Louie and some of his favorite Swedish cousins. Much like the French family they were kind people. His cousins weren't anything to scoff at either. They were all too hot to handle, tall with lavish hair and fit bodies though they claimed not to do anything to maintain their appearances. Little Cato couldn't help but stare most of the time. Those people really hit the genetic jackpot in his opinion.

The family after that were the Brants from New York, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. It was with them that Little Cato could see the arrogance that wafted off of Gladstone on full display. They were an obnoxiously self-centered mass of hair gel and short tempers. Compared to everyone else he'd met; their attitudes had come as a slight surprise to Little Cato.

The group too great after that was the O'mallards from Galway in Ireland. They were somewhat annoying and a bit hot-headed. They were known as the party family with an implacable tolerance for alcohol. Much like the New York family, they were a rowdy bunch and in fact, Louie's younger cousins from each family typically liked to go at it with one another.

The last family Louie would introduce since he was getting tired, were the McDuck's. The first oldest family. They weren't all present, most of the McDucks were either back in Scotland or Duckburg. Only Louie, his brothers, uncles, his mother, and three cousins were at Sola-Night. Since Louie had already met a majority of that portion of the family there wasn't much to introduce.

"And this sweet young lady right here is Webby." Louie tugged Little Cato's arm as he nodded to another white duck. "She looks really nice, and she can be, but don't get on her bad side. The girl could punch a hole through you if you make her mad."

"Come on Louie. I think you're over-exaggerating." She chuckled nervously, hiding the flush in her cheeks. "Don't listen to him. The most I can do is stop your heart with a single punch, that's all."

"Same difference."

"Maybe." Webby shrugged and stepped over too Little Cato. "I'm Webby like he said just now." She held out her hand.

"Little Cato. Nice to meet you." He took her hand and nearly gasped at the cast iron grip he was caught in. "Jeez, you practice that handshake?"

"Oh, sorry." More nervous laughter followed as she pulled her hand back. "I don't know my own straight sometimes." Webby took up her hand and ran a thumb over her palm. She had an awkward smile on her face that was also nearly regretful. Of what, Little Cato wasn't so sure. "I'll catch up with you later Louie."

"Where you going?"

"To find Lena. I guess I need some..." Webby paused, squinting her eyes as she scoured her mind for the words. "Guidance." She muttered softly.

"Okay," Louie said. "Just stay safe. Tell Lena I said Hey." She gave him a thumbs-up as she shuffled away from the pool.

Little Cato turned back to Louie; a confused brow raised high. "What was that about?" He asked, debating beforehand whether or not to bring up the girl's awkwardness but his mouth had moved before his mind could make a proper decision.

"Eh, she's... got some issues she's working through. It's a long, boring story really." Louie steps closer to the edge of the railing less pool and Little Cato follows. "But she's working through it the best she can. As long as she has her girlfriend, Lena, she'll be fine. Lena's like her rock, or encore, or whatever cheesy romantic word you want to use." He crouched down by the edge leading off from the poll and went silent for a moment. "What do you think?" He asked looking out to the main stage.

Little Cato took a seat beside him, droplets of water caused by cannonballs splashed over them unexpectedly. He peered out to the main stage, the scaffolding surrounding the large concealing curtain of the stage. There was so much empty space and no sign of life, unlike the rest of the festivals. 

"Truth be told... It's amazing." Little Cato said simply. "Makes me wonder how big that'll be if they're saving it for the last day."

"Big." Louie coughed out a chuckle. "I've been to plenty of music festivals before but none of them hits like Sola does. They put together so much stuff you wouldn't get anywhere else, and they have a way of bringing people together. The fact that it's six days is extremely brilliant in my opinion. It gives everyone enough time to properly take in what this festival is all about and even then, I doubt people will really understand."

Little Cato hummed to himself. He could feel a shred of worry emerge from Louie's words. This was his first time ever experiencing something like this. He thought he understood it but did he really? "Yeah." Little Cato mumbled. "This is my first festival honestly." He admitted somewhat embarrassed by the fact.

Louie looked at him, though slightly stuck out from his gleeful grin. "Hey, not a bad first experience. All this must be blowing your head off right about now huh." He brought his eyes back toward the main stage and let out a whimsical sigh. "I wish I could experience this for the first time again. There's so much magic to that first time, you know. So much joy even when you're surrounded by a bunch of obnoxious people." He said as he went quiet, letting a temporary peace fall in between the two of them.

Louie had been right. Little Cato was having a good time, the best time of his life he'd admit. The music, the food, and even the people were all an experience he'd never known and all things he was enjoying despite a few hiccups. It was like stepping into a different world, no he was stepping into a different world, one he had heard stories about but had always been discouraged to ever participate in. He knew this big party wouldn't last forever and that's why he and his friends needed to make the most of it.

"Louie." Each boy spun around suddenly to the voice that had called for Louie. A duck with frizzy red hair and freckles over his bill came to a panting stop by the edge of the pool. One of Louie's Irish cousins Little Cato presumed. "Yer mother's gettin' inta da drink in the lounge. She's really kickin' up a shite sterm cousin."

"Oh my god." Louie groaned deeply before quickly standing up. "I'm sorry I have to go deal with my alcoholic mother before she gets us all tossed out of the festival. You can stay if you want but I won't blame you for leaving." He pinched the bridge of his beak, mumbling something incoherent before taking off with his cousin leading the way to the lounge.

Little Cato knew how he felt. Quilling misbehavers seem to be a thing he'd been doing a lot over the past few days. He figured he should be going anyhow. He had already been gone long enough for Gary to take notice of his absents.

Tracking back through the lounge, past a belligerent woman hollering about multiple dimensions and secret invasions as her family tried their best to calm her down. Was that Louie's mom? He felt bad for his new friend if that's how she regularly behaved. 

Little Cato found himself back in the peaceful ambiance yoga zone in no time.

The evening was starting to wind down evident by how activity in the zone had slowed to a crawl. By then, no music could be heard, no elegant yoga poses could be seen, no deep breathing of meditation, just near silence and a worried-looking girl wandering up the path to the lounge all by herself.

"Ash?" Little Cato raised a brow.

"Oh, thank god. "She ran up to him, the look of worry in her eyes becoming more apparent the closer she got. "Have you seen Harp? I can't find her anywhere."

"What? Harps missing?" He spoke shocked.

"She said she was going to step out real quick and that was god knows how long ago. I thought she was with you but..." Ash stopped, voice quivering.

"Hey, Ash come on. She couldn't have gotten far right. Like where's she gonna go?" Little Cato cups her cheeks within his palms and guides her worried glance over to him. "We'll go look around okay." She slowly shook her and buried herself in his shoulder, cuddling up too Little Cato before she was ready to move on.

"Thank you. I really... I really don't know what I'd do without you."

The pair searched around the village, looking through every nook and cranny they could think to search. They tried the bathrooms, back gardens, empty yoga spaces, and anywhere they thought a young girl might end up in trouble alone. They looked everywhere she could be and places they thought she couldn't.

Their efforts beard no luck, however, and after some time Little Cato and Ash would resort to yelling out her name. They didn't care about the noise they were making or the trouble that could get in so long as they were able to find Harp.

Their next plan of action was to search outside of the village area and scour the festival grounds until they found Ash's sister. Before they could get to the gate, however, the sound of familiar laughter had drawn Little Cato's attention. It was easy to notice due to how quiet the hour had been.

"Yo Ash. This way." Little Cato spoke in a hush as he led her to ceruse sounds. He had said it before, but Little Cato was thankful for his enhanced hearing.

The pair tiptoed up the deck of the luxury tent and huddled around the door. They listened closely. Three voices could be heard. Two males, one giggling and the other sounding a bit upset. The last voice belonged to the moans of a female.

"Hell no." Ash, hearing enough, barged in without a second thought and Little Cato followed. Within the tent held an unbearable site, unbearable for Little Cato at least. Tavish was laughing and giggling, nearly falling over in his irritating amusement. Koral was beside him, but he didn't share the same sentiment as his so-called 'friend' he seemed more displeased than anything. Little Cato wondered what could have been so funny until his eyes found the site of his exaggerated amusement. In front of them was Harp though it wasn't the cold-hearted Harp Little Cato had come to know.

This girl was something else entirely. Her eyes were glazed over in her skull as she swayed softly to the tune of nothing. Her body was somehow limp and overly active all at the same time. He didn't even think she knew where she was at that moment. She just sat there, moaning pleasurably and rocking back and forth in an endless daze.

"The fuck!" Tavish's laughter came to an abrupt end as he was startled by the sudden intrusion.

"What the fuck!? I should be asking you what the fuck!" Ash yelled and ran over to her sister. She placed a hand over her cheek and turned her white gaze over to face her. She helped the girl to her feet and held on to her. The poor girl could barely even stand on her own. "What the fuck did you do to her!?"

"Nothing she didn't ask for Ashy." Tavish sneered as if Ash being there was an inconvenience to him.

"What the fuck is your problem." Little Cato shoved Tavish, nearly sending the boy to the floor of his tent.

"Hey, if you put your hands on me again-"

"What are you gonna do? We're not in school right now Tavish." The two boys squared up to one another. The tension between them rode as high as a ship in flight as fists clenched up. Little Cato could beat him, and he was ready to but just as the thought of punching Tavish right in the jaw passed Koral was already up and in between the two of them.

"Guys stop, please. Tavish, I think you did enough."

"I did enough what-"

"Tavish just stop," Koral said, holding either hand to Little Cato and Tavish to keep them separated.

Tavish growled teeth clenched tightly and he took a step back. "Whatever. Bitch was getting annoying anyway." The pompous boy huffed and stomped off to his room.

As soon as he was gone the remaining three exited the tent one by one. Ash held on to Harp tightly, softly slapping her cheeks to get her attention though the gentile slaps didn't bring much life back to the girl. She was still in whatever trance she'd been in.

"Koral, what happened? What did that asshole do her."

"Ah, I don't know." Koral ran worried hands through his lavender tentacle hair. "Oh- I think it was dorph. You know the kind with the inhaler."

"Fuck." Ash hissed, still slapping at her sister's face. "You let him give her that shit? What's wrong with you?"

"What's wrong?" Little Cato asked.

"Junior... she's got a habit. She's a dorpher." The words hit Little Cato all at once as he peaked over to the strung-out girl. Was Harp a junkie? No way, he thought internally. "I gotta get her cleaned up. Dad is gonna fucking kill me." Ash hobbled off, just barely holding her sister up.

Little Cato spun back around to Koral. He couldn't describe the disappointment he felt in him or the discontent he held for Tavish.

"I'm so sorry," Koral said. He held his hands together, pleading for forgiveness but it wasn't him Little Cato had issues with.

"And you want me to be nicer to that guy? Yeah right." He said, stepping off Tavish's tent's porch and making his way back to his own. He couldn't believe Tavish or Harp or any of this. The next time he saw the blonde scion it wouldn't be on friendly terms.

Chapter 41: I wanna be naked with you.

Little Cato peeked over the shoulders of his two fathers. For the past few minutes, he'd been trying to get a good view of Ash and her family from where they stood in line. They were further along and not having the most pleasant time compared to many other guests anxiously waiting alongside them.

Ash and Clarence were arguing, mostly in harsh whispers though their outburst would reach a peak at times. Little Cato tried to focus mostly on Harp. After what she'd been through the night prior, he couldn't help but worry for the girl. The thought of her 'condition', as he'll put it, had kept him up all night last night. Why hadn't Ash told him about it before? Did she not trust him enough for something like that. Could he really blame her for keeping Herp's issue a secret though?

Little Cato felt his worry subsid and recalibrate into frustration. He understood that Harp's problem was a family matter, but he still felt Ash could have come to him with it. He was supposed to be her boyfriend; he was supposed to be there for her but how could he be when she always swept her problems under the rug.

"Sunscreen?" Gary said, scrolling through his phone.

"Check," Avocato replied quickly hoisting up a duffel bag full of supplies.

"Extra shorts?"

"Yep."

"Floaties?"

Avocato chuckled humorously to himself before answering. "I doubt the pools are going to be that deep but yes they are in there."

"Hey, you can never be too careful, especially with you two. You both can already barely swim to save your lives; I can have you drowning on me even if the water is puddle deep. I'd be devastated if I lost you like that." Gary said, letting out a divested whine as he pulled Little Cato into a tight hug. Little Cato might have gone red-faced if it weren't for his fur.

"Gary come on." He hissed a bit, struggling against the blonde's tight embrace though all of his helpless squirming was to no avail.

They had been standing in line for what seemed like forever, waiting to entire the pools of Utopia. That zone of the festival was a sort of water park from what Little Cato knew. Every family had agreed that they would save Utopia for the second to last day of Sola-Night. Naturally, they were up as early as they could be asked. Little Cato would have been more thrilled about being there if the line hadn't been moving like a snail on downers.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I just can't stand the thought of losing my baby." Gary was practically in tears now and drawing in a couple of confused eyes.

"Gary." Avocato groaned slightly agitated. The blonde had a flare for the overdramatic. He could make a mountain out of an ant hill if he cared about the subject enough and unfortunately, he cared about Little Cato and Avocato way too much. His love for Little Cato went especially deep. The boy understood that he was Gary's son, but he treated him like he was still a rambunctious baby crawling through vents and giving him a cardiac arrest when he couldn't find him. Little Cato loved Gary and appreciated his concerns and his love, but the blonde's motherly worries could be a little overwhelming at times.

"I know, I know, calm down," Gary finally loosened his grip around Little Cato's head and the boy took in a deep, relieved breath into his rung-out lungs. "I'm calm, I'm the calmest I can be at this very moment... I just wish this line would move a little faster." He spoke loudly, making sure anyone and everyone who was in earshot could hear his frustration. As he spoke, receiving more odd stairs, the line began to move quicker than it had before. "Oh, here we go."

There was a heat wave of relief and excitement as more and more people began to funnel in through the front gate of Utopia. The entrance was a single lane marked by pink and black arrows that guided attendees along the zone's colorful decorations. The sheen of red glitter that covered the arched gates sparkled like disco balls that drew guests in like moths to bright light. On either side of them, ballooned pastel palm trees towered overhead as they gently swayed in the summer breeze. Underfoot, piles of crimson sand squish and push between the toes of bare feet and expensive sandals.

Every bit of Sola-Night had to be unique, a spectacle that would remain in the close reaches of one's memories for years. From the fusion zone to the indie zone to the village, there was always a draw, something that would make a person's eyes go wide with stars.

Little Cato had already bought into the extravagant parade from the moment he set foot on festival grounds. With each day his awe only grew the more time he spent exploring the festival grounds. Each day he found something new to appreciate. Whether it be the box car restaurants of Fusion Point, the simplistic presentation of the Indie Zone, or even the serene private pool with a beautiful view of the main stage in Eco Village. Now, however, he felt they had reached their peak in entertainment and that thought would remain as they actually stepped foot in utopia.

The spectacle had defiantly peaked. As he had heard through many grapevines, Utopia was something akin to a water park. Red sand had practically caked the stripped pathways of Utopia from front to back. Long pools intertwin and connect through the crimson and ebony splattered zone giving off the impression that they were never ending. 

Canales ran underneath arched walkways and short bridges. More ballooned palm trees colorfully sway and tilt with the warm wind. Small, beach-like areas with normal sand hosted some of the more important, and somewhat arrogant, sunbathed guests. A stage stood tall at one end of the zone and at the far end, near the back of Utopia, was another gate. It glowed brightly with neon-infused lights and large speakers stood on either end of the glowing entryway. Behind that gate stood a building, large, dark, rigid, and imposing. Its appearance remained Little Cato of a church or cathedral, and it was much too tempting to ignore. Over the large doors the word Eclipse hung in bold, cured lettering. Little Cato was drawn to the dark structure. His eyes never left its imposing visage even as he followed his parents further into Utopia. He had to know what it was. In due time he thought.

At the center of this massive display of entertainment, lingering over the pools like a watchtower, was a DJ's booth. It'd been empty at the moment, but Little Cato was sure it wouldn't stay that way as more guests filled the pools.

"Okay." Gary fervently clapped his hands together as child-like excitement covered his expression. "First things first, let's find the lockers. I'd hate for your dad to lug this big bag around all day. Even if I know he so could."

"Hell, you know it, baby." The pair giggled and shared a small dove-like kiss.

Little Cato shook his head. He'd say he was embarrassed by the way they acted but he was used to the couple's displays of affection by that point in life. "Well, you guys can do that, I'm gonna go look for my friends." Little Cato scoffed dismissively as he gave the zone a quick, squinted scan. 

"You're not gonna wait for us?" Gary questioned him with a quirked brow and was somehow surprised by the thoughtless shrug he had received in response. "Well before you go at least put on your floaties." He reached into the bag slung around Avocato's shoulder and pulled out a pair of inflatable arm floaties.

Little Cato turned a chuckle away from his second dad. He thought Gary had been joking about the floaties for the most part. Little Cato wasn't actually expecting to put them on, not at the age he was. "I don't need the floaties, Gary." Little Cato refused with a smirk.

"Take the floaties."

"I don't need the floaties."

"Just take the floaties."

"I don't need the floaties, Gary." Little Cato shortly cried out, stamping one foot to the deep-dyed dark red sand beneath him.

"Just take the floaties, Little Cato." Avocato intervened, giving Little Cato a stern look that put the, more or less, calm argument to rest instantly. Little Cato sighed. He'd test his luck with Gary, but he knew better than to go against his father.

"Fine." He threw his head back with a groan and accepted only so he could get to regrouping his friends. Gary smiled warmly and he began to fit the floaties around the boy's arms. Once he was down making sure they were on properly he pulled the strings that quickly inflated the safety restraints.

"Trust me, Little Cato, you'll thank me when you're not drowning."

Little Cato rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I'm sure." He was sure he'd rather drown than be seen with those things on.

"Awww. You look so cute. Who's my cutie patootie." Gary took a step back to observe Little Cato all the while pelting him with baby talk and nicknames that sent a flare of heat up his cheeks. "Okay, we'll come find you when we're finished up here. Stay out of trouble and don't go into the deep end of the pools. I love you." Gary yelled as he and Avocato walked off to find the lockers.

Little Cato let out a relieved sigh. Those two could be a lot to handle on their own, especially Gary but when they got together, they were an unstoppable overbearing force of nature. Gary was still as overprotective as he's ever been, and his dad took his side more often than not. Suppose Little Cato should be grateful for having such loving parents but still. Did he really need the floaties?  

Little Cato turned back to face the park, ready to set out to find his friends. The only problem was that he had no clue where to start. Utopia was so big, bigger than it looked on the outside, and far more crowded than he was expecting. That seemed to be a running theme with the festival.

Little Cato hummed curiously and squinted his eyes. The sand beneath his feet felt odd, more like clay than small collective grans of minerals. The sand was most likely fake like most things at Sola-Night but even knowing that it didn't stop the irritation he got from the squishy feeling between his toes.

He began to walk, feeling he'd already taken enough time just standing around and thinking about how weird the sand felt. "If I were them..., where would I go?" Little Cato wondered under his breath. He was trying to get into the mindset of his friends, where they would be, and what they would be doing at a water park. "The pool." He thought instantly. It was the most obvious choice. Most of them wouldn't shut up about it on their way to Utopia. 

As he walked, the sand beneath him only seemed to grow worse in texture the closer he got to the pools. The clay-like feeling from before had become so mushy and slippery. He almost slipped and fell on the odd surface plenty of times and his feet would sink slightly into the mush on plenty of others. In a way, the mushy sand reminded him of quicksand. Little Cato feared that at any moment the red mush would swallow him up, dragging him down slowly as he fought for his life to escape. Luckily for his wild mind, that moment never came. All the same, he was too cautious to drop his guard.

Little Cato came closer to the edge of one of the makeshift rivers and stopped. The sun had been beating down on him and his floaties. He could feel the safety devices around his arms begin to heat up. The material floaties began to heat up and his biceps began to burn to the point of feeling as if they would fall off at any moment. He knew punting the floaties on was a bad idea but if he took them off, he would never hear the end of it. Thankfully wild thrashing of arms and legs from within the poll splashed up enough water onto his fur to cool him down for the time being.

He pushed forward, peering over the poolside and into the canal of corralled bodies. Even with all the people inside, the water was clear, crystal blue and so, so tantalizing. Little Cato was almost tempted to jump in and keep an eye out for his friends as he lazily drifted along the canal, but he felt he would have an easier time searching on foot rather than down in the pools with a bunch of people that would potentially crowd his view.

Only slightly lamenting his decision with one last look at the water below, Little Cato continued. The sand had only gotten muddier the closer to the pool he came. He groaned a bit annoyed. There was still no sign of his friends. His search already felt like it had been going on for hours, but he was sure that was only due to the heat of the sun and fur weighed down by trickles of sweat.

"Oh god." He groaned, taking a moment. As much as he hesitated, Little Cato would plant himself on the sand, much too hot to continue his hapless search. Crimson clay clung to his hands and legs once he hit the ground. Honestly, he thought it didn't feel as bad sitting down as it was standing. He was resting now so anything would feel good to him.

"Yo, LC!" Little Cato looked up. A muffled voice had called to him. "What you doing?" Kendrick threw out his wet arms, tossing water about as he did.

"Guys!?" A hint of excitement shot through his body, and he quickly rushed to his feet. He ran along the clay crimson and stopped at the edge of the canal. "You assholes, where have been? I was looking all over for you."

"Floating in the canal." Argit was the first to answer. "It's kinda what you have to do in here. Don't stay in one spot for too long, just keep it pushing."

"Yeah, it's like a game of musical chairs."

"Except the music doesn't stop." 

"And there are no chairs." Dean and Sam begin and finish for one another. Sam had been close to Timmy, the feline boy's arm wrapped tightly around the younger brother's waist.

"You getting in or not?" Timmy playfully scolded Little Cato with a devilish smirk on his lips.

"Of course." There was no question. That was it, his moment of truth, his time to answer a long-ignored call. He'd take a moment to savor the seconds between the sand and the water, but he didn't much care for sentimental moments like that. 

He dove into the river, exploding a huge splash of water once his body hit the cool crystal blue as he landed right next to Kendrick. Much better he thought.

"Are you wearing floaties?" Meowmar quietly blinked, looking at him blankly for a moment before a cascade of hysterical laughter was fired off at Little Cato. "What are you afraid you're gonna drown choom?"

"What?" Little Cato could feel a hot flush run up his body. Even being submerged in water wasn't enough to subside the heat of his embarrassment. The floaties around his arm had totally skipped his mind and the shame of being caught with them on burnt deep. "No." Little Cato countered and quickly tugged the inflated floaties off of his arm. "I don't need those." He said, folding his arms over his chest with a grin that was more shy than confident. Still, his attempt to walk off his fluster doesn't stop Meowmar's amused howling. "Whatever." He sighed defeated. "You guys seen Ash around?" All at once the group pointed down the canal, even Meowmar in his hysterical state.

Ash had been swimming by harp who'd been lazily floating down the river ahead with a floaty of her own.

"Be careful choom." Kendrick brought a wet slap down on Little Cato's arm. "She's a tad sensitive at the moment. You know her sister's out of it right now. Try not to make her too angry." Little Cato nodded to the taller boy. He would keep that in mind as he floated up the river past other lazing and playful guests until finally stopping beside the worried girl and her sister.

Ash hadn't even noticed his arrival beside her. All her attention was on the girl she was floating with and only her. 

Admittedly, and shamefully, Little Cato wasn't quite sure what to do. He didn't know what to say but what could he say in that moment anyway? "Hey, Ash?" He carefully reached out, placing a gentle touch on Ash's arm. The feeling caused her to jump as she spun to him with a startled look.

"Oh... h-hey junior." Her words came stuttering out. "Don't sneak up on me like that. Nearly gave me a heart attack." Her tone turned from worried to joyful in a flash before looking at Harp again.

"How is she?" Little Cato asked, albeit hesitantly. Ash was silent for a moment.

"She's... fine..." She replied, the words unsure.

"You sure? She looks..." Little Cato looked over at the other girl. As Kendrick said she was messed up, more than messed up. She didn't move, the thousand-yard stare in her eyes made it seem like she wasn't even there. She was blinking, slowly but surely, she was. "Catatonic." Little Cato finished once he was able to summarize Harp's stagnant state of being.

"Yeah..." A displeased moan rested on Ash's tightened lips. "That shit she does leaves you like that for some time. She could be like this for the rest of the day, or she could be back up in an hour." Another groan left her. "Fuck..." She hissed, now looking angrier.

"I'm sorry Ash." Little Cato offered up what little condolence he could, though he knew it would never be enough to ease the girl's mind. He felt sorry for them. For Harp being hooked on that stuff and for Ash having to put up with it.

"Thank you, babe. That really means a lot." She turned back to Little Cato. Her smile was genuinely appreciative, not just a response to shallow condolences. She nodded, wanting him to get closer to her and he did so as fast as the waist-high water would allow.

Ash held out her arm to him. She wanted Little Cato to take it like she'd always take his. As implied, he'd take her arm in his and they slowly made their way up the lazy river with Harp floating beside them.

Soon enough their friends caught up with them, all splashing water about the place. Ash polity, polity as she could have then, told them to watch their playing around Harp. Little Cato didn't think Harp cared all that much about what was going on around her, let alone the water that hit her face. But he agreed that their friends should ease up when they were near the catatonic girl.

All the activity around her might have seemed like a dream. Little Cato wondered what she was thinking at that moment. Had she been thinking at all?

The group continued up the canal. Little Cato and Ash cherished the moment. Their slow journey through the crowded water might have been tranquil and even a bit romantic if it weren't for their friends constantly splashing water everywhere every five seconds. At some point in their aimless floating their parents had joined in the pool, contributing even more mayhem than there already was. Of course, Little Cato was chastised for not wearing his floaties in such high water, and almost immediately, Gary would slip a new pair onto the boy. He'd end up discarding the new pair later once he was out of his dad's line of sight.

After some time. The large group took a break from the water and left the pools behind to dry off. They did all the things a break called for, got something to eat and drink, and soaked in the sun for a little while. A short three hours later they were back in the pool, splashing each other, playing chicken, and being an overall annoyance to the other guests around them. Normally that would warrant a visit by security but in Utopia, all the guests had been more or less acting out in some way, shape, or form so no one batted an eye at them.

It'd been getting close to the afternoon. The day had gone by and took the blue sky with it on its departure. Movement had slowed down; sunbathers had packed up their things and either left Utopia or wound joined everyone else in the pools.

Little Cato liked these slow moments. Points in between the chaos where he could take a second to be bored and gather his thoughts.

"Hello, hello people if I could gather your attention for a second!" A voice echoed throughout the water park as the music that had been blaring throughout Utopia ceased. The DJ had been in his towing booth and speaking with enough excitement to rile up the entire park. The fabric of his crimson nylon suit was slightly wet and clung to his skin. Little Cato had to question if he'd been in the pools as well. "In a short moment things are gonna get a little hectic around here, so we'd like to make sure you're prepared!" He said as more than a dozen or so employees made their way throughout Utopia. They had been hauling large boxes and tossing objects into the pools at the guest with disregard.

Little Cato couldn't make out what they were, but he could see how they glowed a bright red in the afternoon light. When the employees made their way over to him and his group, Little Cato was one of the first to reach out and catch the brightly glowing thing. He held the object in his hands, tossing and turning it observingly. It was like a bracelet.

"What?" Gary said. "What are we supposed to do with this."

"Oooh! I know what this is!" Argit eked out a delighted squeal and enthusiastically slipped the slowly pulsing bracelet onto his wrist. "Just put them on, it doesn't even matter where. Trust me." Little Cato shrugged, taking his friend at his word. He held onto the edge of the pull and kicked up one foot out of the water as he slipped the bracelet onto his ankle. His parents did the same, slipping the bracelets onto their wrists with ease.

"Alright! If everyone is ready, we'd like to redirect your eyes toward the main stage!" All guests had collectively looked to the stage that had suddenly lit up, revealing the band setting up there.

Once the band was finished setting up a breaded man, most likely the lead singer of the band, stepped out onto the stage. He was dressed casually in a gray buttoned-down shirt and white pants that were more loose fitting the further down they went. "I'm gonna conduct a little test, you tell me if you can feel it!" His voice boomed over Utopia as he brought up his guitar, hoisted his pick, and strummed along the finely tuned strings.

Out of nowhere, a sudden overwhelming energy pulsed throughout Little Cato's body, nearly taking his breath away. The crowd roared a great cheer afterward.

"Wh- what was that?" Little Cato could barely breath as he struggled to keep himself above the pool's water. He had started to wish he kept the floaties on then.

"Cato, they just gave us sensory bracelets. They respond to the sound of music. It's gonna stim the shit out our senses." Argit flashed a wide childish grin at Little Cato. "This is going to be the greatest concert of our entire lives."

Little Cato gulped at the explanation. Stim the senses he thought curiously. If one strum was enough to leave him breathless, what would a whole song do to him? He could already feel his body tensed up into a nervous heap.

The band came together, each member taking up their position on Utopia's main stage. They waited for the crowd to simmer down and once all was quiet the lead singer nodded.

First came a hail of drum beats with each beat sending a new, hotter pulse through Little Cato's body. His heart followed the rhythm closely. Each time the drumsticks came down his heart would speed up as the organ began to beat against his chest.

Next came the singing along with simple strums from the lead guitar. The sound blazed through his nervous system and kicked up his adrenaline to levels he hadn't felt before. Littler Cato bites down on his lip too overwhelmed to think straight. His knees quake beneath the water, threatening to buckle at any moment. He swallowed hard. He needed help or he might actually drown. He was really regretting not having the floaties on.

He'd ask his dads for help, but they were too preoccupied helping each other stay afloat already. He leaned back against the pool wall with an exhausted huff. He didn't like the thought one bit but what choice did he have? His next best bet was the tallest boy he knew.

"Kenny!" Little Cato swam over to the masked boy in a panic. "I need your help."

"Woah, what's the matter?"

"Let me on your shoulders." Kendrick looked at him for a moment, looked away, and back at him again almost certainly taken aback by the request.

"What?"

"Come on, please. I feel like I'm about to die here." He pleaded; hands desperately fastened together as his legs shook out of his control.

A strange sound rumbled from beyond Kendrick's mask as if he were surprised to be asked for any kind of help. He froze, maybe thinking the question over before nodding. "Okey, okey." He agreed and sank downward only leaving his head and shoulders exposed above the surface of the water.

"Thank you so much." Little Cato said and quickly jumped on Kendrick's shoulders. The taller boy stood afterward, lifting Little Cato into the air and high above the crowd. Kendrick held onto his legs firmly, so he didn't fall off. "If you pass out up there that's on you." He laughed though Little Cato didn't return the gesture.

By the time the guitar solo came Little Cato was too weak to stand. He was too weak to even move his fingers properly. He's glad he was on top of Kendrick otherwise this might have been the last concert of his life, forget the greatest. 

The song began to draw to a close with the humming of the choir making Little Cato lightheaded. Then the music stopped. An abundant cheer echoed through Utopia as the band took a bow. Once the music was gone, Little Cato ideally regained control of his senses again. He let out a big breath as he repositioned himself around Kendrick's shoulders. He leaned forward, thanking his friend again for assisting him in his time of need.

Each hour after that a new song would start up as new bands venture onto the stage. Each time the feeling was different. Depending on the song Little Cato was either at some overwhelming sense of peace or he'd lose total control of his body. Sometimes all the energy in his body would spike to uncontrollable heights and sometimes his arms and legs would go completely limp. 

With each song that played, however, his body became more used to the feeling coursing through his veins. It had gotten to the point where Little Cato was confident that he could stand on his own, eventually climbing down from Kendrick's shoulders and back into the water with less fear. He had long since lost track of Ash, but he thought it was all for the best. She deserved some alone time with her sister. He hoped Ash didn't slip a bracelet onto her. Who knew how Harp would take it in her current state. The thought made him snicker. He'd love to see it anyway.

"You good?" Kendrick asked, swimming over to where Little Cato had been relaxing.

"Oh, yeah." Little Cato replied nonchalantly, throwing a thumb up to Kendrick. "I'm more than fine. Feels like I'm... uhh... what does it feel like?" He quirked a brow, not completely sure how he felt. He recognized the feeling, but his mind was too hazy to remember what it was.

"Feels like you're high right now, doesn't it?" Kendrick summed up his thoughts with a neat little bow on top.

"Yeah... I thought that seemed familiar." Little Cato said in a low raspy drawl as his body slowly sank deeper into the water until he was neck deep. Memories of the semi-legal ripper-doc clinic flash in his mind. Good times and bad times he thought. Did he regret his time there? Not completely. He regretted getting his arm removed but that was only because of Gary and his extreme reaction to such a thing. Would he have done things differently though? Maybe, he thought. He probably would have chosen a better-looking cybernetic but what's done is done. Kendrick's taste wasn't so bad, just a bit tacky.

"It's this song. Band is real psychedelic." He chuckled, floating close to Little Cato. "Hey, you seen that building near the back, right?"

Little Cato ear's perked at the mention of the dark building. How could he forget it? "Yeah. I've been meaning to ask about that."

"It's called Eclipse. It's a nightclub... here. Like this place just keeps blowing my mind." He sounded almost shocked. "I was thinking about going. You wanna come?" Little Cato squinted at nothing in particular. His mind was too cloudy to think straight but he understood what was asked enough to consider it. 

"For sure." Little Cato was always going to say yes, however. Cloudy mind or not. If Kendrick wanted to do it so, did he. It was the natural order of things. A fact that he would come to accept because Kendrick was his everything. He was the Yin to his Yang, the Cain to his Abel. The bad to his good and Kendrick was very bad. Little Cato giggled to himself, still under the influence of the song gently tugging at his senses.

They pulled themselves out of the pool, water dripping from their bodies and mixing with the clay-like red sand.

The walk to the nightclub wasn't so long, passing the gate uncomplicated and unobstructed. It wasn't until they got to the front door did their advance came to a sudden halt. 

"Woah sorry kids." The bouncer, door guard, a woman with obsidian cybernetic arms and a body sculpted like an old Greek statue, held a clawed hand out to the pair. "I can't let you in."

"Why not." Kendrick cocked his head in his confusion. 

"Are you over the age of eighteen?"

"Uh-" He stopped for a moment. His head bobbed from side to side as the question rattled around in his head. "I will be... soon." He answered more genuinely than he needed.

"Well will be eighteen isn't eighteen now. Beat it, kids." She placed a hand on his chest and shoved him back unto Little Cato before waving more age-appropriate guests forward.

"Shit." Kendrick hissed and cocked his head assumingly annoyed.

Little Cato huddled beside him feeling the same though not outwardly expressing the emotion. "What now?" He asked. He really wanted to go but if they weren't allowed then there wasn't much they could do.

Kendrick turned a silent gaze to Little Cato and then to the door. Little Cato couldn't see it, but he could feel the shock of inspiration strike the masked boy like lightning. He looked back at Little Cato, a dark ambitious flame burnt brightly through the dark eye holes of his mask.

"Be careful." Kendrick caught Little Cato before he could hit the ground hard.

"Man, we have to stop doing stuff like this." He said, breath still recovering.

Instead of walking away like they were told to and probably should have, Kendrick hatched up an idea to get them in. At first glance, the building could be mistaken as massive. A combination of its style and color made it seem taller than it actually was. In reality, the building wasn't all that tall, and better yet it was roofless. Kendrick could only see one obvious way in and that was to climb.

Scaling the building was easy, easier than it should have been for a place like Eclipse, Little Cato thought. There were no extra security measures or safety precautions to be found. If someone wanted in, and they were stupid enough, they could just go in through the top.

After dropping into the building, the two boys get their first taste of Eclipse. For a nightclub, it didn't really resemble one at all. This club was more of a lounge. The floors were lined with soft carbon fiber padding that led through gardens of multi-colored flowers. Sofas at each corner of the club marked points of relaxation and a fountain stood at the center near the beginning of the club though no water filled the marble stone center piece. Instead, it was another lounging spot for those who like to rest in a more sophisticated manner.

Most clubs Little Cato would assume only had one bar where drinks were served. Eclipse had two. They were stationed in open lounge areas that were connected by a walkway on the upper level of the nightclub.

The nightclub also hosted speakers' mountains in size and lined the walls of the club from end to end. Still, that wasn't the most impressive thing about Eclipse. At the far end of the club was a speaker, the largest Little Cato had ever seen built into the back wall and pulsing like a rapturous heartbeat.

"This place is amazing!" Little Cato shouted over the migraine-inducing electronic music.

"Huh!" Kendrick yelled back.

"This place is amazing!!" Little Cato screamed twice as loud, the pulsing of his heart beating faster and faster along with the heavy synth beat. The music was loud, the enormous speaker that made up the back wall no doubt contributing the most to the madness. "Should we dance!!" Little Cato yelled again, covering his ears to block out some of the sound.

"Yeah.' Kendrick shook his head and the two ran over to the nearest dance floor. For a moment it took the boys some time to get into the grove of the music. Not every day would Little Cato and Kendrick find themselves dancing to wild, sporadic club beats. After some time of moving their bodies out of sync, the boys enter a state of serenity.

Little Cato and Kendrick danced, their bodies moving automatically to complement each other. Each step was a statement, each sway a response to each other. Bodies moved, sweat piled up and flung off bare skin, hearts thumped, blood pumped and pounded to the deep syntactic beat emitting from each and every speaker in Eclipse.

They were starting to lose themselves in the beat. The bracelets they wore gave them all the adrenaline they needed to thrash like wild dogs. This was amazing. Little Cato had felt more alive than he'd ever had before, and he wanted that feeling to last forever.

"Hey!" But not everything could last forever and like all good things, their dancing had to come to an end and the end came in the form of one pissed-off, chromed-up adonis of a female bouncer.

"Oh, time to delta!" Kendrick shouted and pushed Little Cato forward. He ran in one direction, leading the woman out of the way for Little Cato to exit first. Kendrick was always good at shaking security guards and badges so Little Cato wouldn't worry about his safety as he left the club with his intact.

He wished they could have stayed longer but he appreciated the time they had.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

"How's it tastes?" Gary spoke lowly, resting his arm over the counter.

"Man, this is great Gary." Little Cato let out a giddy little giggle after taking one long sip from his strew. The coconut drink had been all but gone it was sat down on the counter. Little Cato hadn't drunk something so fast in his entire life but after the night he'd had the drink was a godsend. It was smooth and went down like water after a long stint in a barren desert. Needless to say, it was probably the best thing he ever had.

Not too long after leaving the club, Little Cato had managed to regroup with his parents by the pools. They had long since gotten out though they kept the bracelets on. Just like him their bodies had grown accustomed to the music pulsating around them and they were loving the feelings it was giving them.

Gary slightly scolded Little Cato for disappearing the way he did but above all, he was relieved that he was okay. Gary would always find a way to worry about Little Cato. No matter how many times he'd say he was fine, the blonde had to play the over-protective mother. Little Cato still didn't know whether to be grateful or irritated. He leaned toward gratefulness for the most part.

After all the fuss, he and his parents had shuffled off to a tiki-themed juice bar that sat snugly in between Utopia and the indie zone. It was a cozy little spot completely hidden out of sight from the rest of the festive that not many people seemed to visit often. People were so infatuated with the bigger events that little things like the tiki bar had gone unnoticed. In a way, Little Cato was glad that had been the case. Slow, quiet moments like these were to die for.

"So, one more day. What did you think kid." Avocato asked from the other side of Little Cato.

"Already!" Little Cato gasped. It was hard to believe that five days had passed so quickly, yet when he thinks back to all he had done, the moments do feel like a lifetime. "Man, this was the best vacation ever. I still can't believe you guys took me here. You're the best parents someone could ask for."

"Aww." Gary gushed. A warm glow lit up his cheeks as he pulled Little Cato into a small hug. "And we're capping it off with the main stage tomorrow. Personally, I heard Konrad Oldmoney is gonna be performing. I know he's your fav."

Little Cato chuckled cautiously. "Seriously?" He looked at Gary with one raised brow and his breath held. 

"Hey, right hand up." He said, smiling sweetly at Little Cato. It was a smile that could tell no lie.

"Oh my god." He muttered, excitement taking hold of his tail and trashing it violently off of his stool. "I can't wait for that." He gushed, taking another long sip from his mostly empty count. It might have been a rumor but any rumor from Gary was worth its weight in gold.

"Yeah. So, make sure you get a good night's sleep. The last thing I want is for you to miss anything." Gary moved away and stood up from the bar. "Anyway, I should probably go get our bag."

"Hold up wait for me." Avocato got up right after him. "You were really going to carry that thing by yourself.

"I could have." Avocato stared at him doubtful of the claim. "Okay," Gary said, stepping out of the way and letting Avocato lead. And with that the two were off, leaving Little Cato alone at the tiki bar to pounder the next day. Konrad was going to be there. What song would he sing? Would he have a good view of the performance? Who else would be performing that night? All of his self-imposed questions left him too excited to think and too excited to take heed of his surroundings.

"Konrad Oldmoney." Little Cato's excitement for the evening had weathered at the sound of a familiar voice. At least it was sort of familiar. He couldn't tell what was wrong with it, but he knew he'd heard it before. Somewhere. He looked around finding that the only other person the voice could have come from was a man sitting on the opposite side of the round bar. He was an older man, somewhere in his thirties or so. He was tall, clearly beaten down by maybe a stroke of bad luck and consistent disappointment if the dark circles under his eyes were anything to go by. His skin was light brown, almost caramel if he had to say. "What an asshole." He spoke again, scoffing at the raper's name. Admittedly It had offended Little Cato a bit hearing the words come out of the man's mouth.

"What." He chuckled at the man. "Konrad burnt you or something old timer."

"Old timer." The man laughed a low relaxed laugh. Yet another thing Little Cato was sure he heard before. "Nah he didn't. I don't got anything against the guy, to be honest. My friend was a big fan is all. Every time I hear the name I think back to him." The man was silent for a moment and unmoving for another. Then he brought his eyes up to Little Cato. "We were the best of friends. Thick as thieves and as tight as glue. I would have done anything for that man. I'm doing everything I can now if I'm honest."

Little Cato hummed to himself. He didn't really ask the man to ramble on about old times, but he was intrigued, mostly by his voice. He swore he heard it somewhere before. "What happened to the two of you then?"

The man was silent again though not as long as before. "I went a little crazy and it took him coming back for me to pull me out the deep end. Then he went a little crazy and it took a lot more of us to pull him from going over the edge." The man gazed off, falling into a memory of better times by the look of longing in his dark eyes. "He's better now and I do what I can for him. I still try to remind him every day that we aren't monsters but... it's touch and go." He falls silent again, this time standing up from his seat and making his way over to Little Cato. The boy had suddenly gotten nervous. He wasn't scared but seemingly out of nowhere a shy feeling fell over him like a warm blanket though he's not sure why. The man stopped beside him and held a hand over Little Cato's. "Hold the one you cherish close. You never know when you'll lose 'em." The man stood over him for a little. Little Cato gazed into his eyes. They were faint but as green as emerald pastures. He couldn't explain it, but he found comfort in those eyes. They reminded him of something, but he was so sure what it was. "C-ya kid." The man began to walk off before turning around. "Oh, and if you happen to get stuck in the bathroom in the mainstage area, the second to last stool has a loose ceiling tile. Something to keep in mind, choom?" The man shrugged as if it were a suggestion and not advice.

Little Cato watched him stride away with confidence in every step. He was a little confused by the interaction but more so angry with it. That was the biggest pile of nothing he ever had to set through, but it wasn't enough the ruin his mood as he returned to pondering tomorrow's biggest event. He was excited and couldn't wait.

Chapter 42: The greatest man that ever lived.

"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god..." Little Cato anxiously muttered under a shiver. He'd been hopping up and down on the tips of his toes, fingers clutched into balled up fists that clung to his face. Breathing had become a foreign concept as he took in small, shallow breaths. "I can't believe this—I can't believe this—I can't believe this—" the boy rambled on in a semi-manic panic.

"Little Cato come on, calm down," Gary said placing his hands on Little Cato's shoulders to keep him still. "You're gonna wind up giving yourself a stroke and if you die, I'm gonna be severely disappointed, little mister."

Despite Gary's firm grasp, it was hardly enough to stop the boy from jumping like a caffeine-fueled rabbit.

"I'm fine Gary, I swear I'm chilled as shit."

"Hey, language," Gary said, gently shaking Little Cato. He held him tighter, trying to get him to stop rattling and when that didn't work the blonde would wrap his arms around him, pulling him into his chest and bearing down on him with a restraining embrace. "Calm. Come on spider cat, keep calm." He whispered close to Little Cato's ear. He then softly pursed his lips and blew softly into Little Cato's ear.

Little Cato's body ceased up and his mind finally slowed down to a manageable pace. The cool feeling of Gary's gentle puffs eased his shaking, and his breathing returned to normal as well. "Yeah... okay..." He spoke slowly as the tension around his shoulders faded.

"Jeez, you were going crazy for a second there." Gary let out a bit of nervous laughter. Hesitantly, he unwrapped himself from Little Cato, doing so slowly as if trying not to rouse his sporadic shaking again. If the blonde hadn't been moving as slowly as he was, Little Cato might have let his excitement get the better of him again.

"What did you expect. The kid's excited." Avocato said, placing his hand on Little Cato's head before ruffling the bright blue mohawk he and Gary had spent so much time working on. "I would be too if my favorite artist was performing."

"Yeah," Little Cato gently removed his dad's hand with a small grunt and immediately began to fix up his ruffled hair. "I just really like Konrad is all."

"Well, I wouldn't get so excited. I heard he's starting a little later on in the day." Little Cato's fingers froze halfway through combing his hair and his heart sank into his stomach. Was his dad being serious. The older Ventrexian wasn't much of a joker. The best one he could ever tell still involved the slow torture of an enemy soldier and even then, it was more gruesome than funny. 

Little Cato growled as silently as he could. They'd already been standing on the line for the main stage for what seemed like hours and his dad was just now dropping this bombshell.

Little Cato and the rest of the families had gotten up bright and early that morning with the intention of reaching the main stage for a good view of the stage. He could understand why the line had been as long as it was despite it being the crack of dawn. He was willing to bear the agonizing wait that came withstanding in line. He'd been doing it for the past five days. But after receiving the news that one of his favorite singers, songwriter, and visionary of the industry, wasn't performing until later was like getting kicked in the stomach with a steel-tipped boot and being spat in the mouth whilst still being expected to feel grateful for it. That wasn't something he wanted to wait for or was willing to wait for. Not for that long.

From that point on, time seemed to drag along slowly.

The irking swell of excitement around him as the turnstile gates slowly rotated guests into the mainstage area. The line was chugging along, but Little Cato couldn't force himself to get excited about it, not like everyone else. His mood was soured by the notion of having to sit through the music he didn't really care about, not like how he cared for Konrad's music. He was only half excited at the moment.

Little Cato let out a sigh and turned back to see some of his friends. They were just as antsy as he had been moments prior. Even Kendrick couldn't be bothered to maintain a demure disposition as the line pushed along.

"Ken- Kendrick." Little Cato whispered back to Kendrick, getting his attention quickly. Little Cato nodded and waved him forward.

He made his way through Argit and Ash's groups and slowed his pace beside Avocato. "What's up?" He leaned forward past Avocato's bulky silhouette to face Little Cato. The eerie blankness of his red mask glared questioningly at him.

"You won't believe what I just heard." Before continuing with what he thought was some of the heaviest news he'd ever have to bear, Little Cato positioned himself around his father to be closer to Kendrick. "Turns out Konrad isn't performing till way later." Kendrick tilted his head as the words graced him. Little Cato couldn't see his expression past the smooth porcelain mask, but he could feel the change in the taller boy's mood.

"Oh, you're joking." Kendrick chuckled and shook his head. It wasn't too soon after the supposed joke when his small bit of laughter came to an abrupt, upsetting end once he realized that Little Cato was indeed not joking. Why would he joke about something so grave? "Are you fucking kidding me?"

"Language," Gary said despite how quiet Kendrick had kept over the howl of the inspired crowd.

Kindrick gave the blonde a cheeky shrug and a hasty apology. "How much later?" He turned back to question Little Cato.

"Not sure, but my dad made it seem like it wasn't gonna be until the evening. So, like, way later." A heavy muffled huff filtered out from his red mask. "Well, that sucks. But I guess that makes sense. He's a big deal. Big name, big label, big money, big everything. Makes sense. I'd want to save my best for last too." Kendrick leaned out of the line, pointing a glance toward the front of the quickly proceeding mass of festival goers. "Shit." He mumbled, covering his mouth for good measure. "We're just gonna have to wait it out then." Kendrick pointed and Little Cato turned to see that they had reached the front of the line a little sooner than he realized they would.

Little Cato and his parents were the first to pass through the gate leading to the main stage. Once they were inside the crowds had begun to thin out drastically and spread into the space.

Little Cato was honestly surprised. The line leading up to then was stacked. With how many people there had been lined up to entire, and all the ones who had entered already, he was expecting the final zone of Sola to be bursting at the seams with guests, but there was more room than anyone knew what to do with.

As the rest of the families funneled into the zone, the group would form a tight huddle not too far from the entrance. Before moving any further in his parents wanted to come up with a sound safety strategy beforehand.

"Okay everyone," Gary announced, pulling the group in close. "It's time to start planning out where we're going to be standing for the next twelve or so hours. Any ideas." Silence followed as each of them began to drum up ideas.

"I say we keep it tight." Alex, Argit's father, began softly. "Maybe stay near the exits just in case we have to delta fast."

"No, no, that's an awful idea. We should find something with enough room to lay out the blankets." Meowmars mom, Felina, interjected. "Come early afternoon the back end will be too crammed. We should think about moving closer to the middle. It's a nice distance from the stage and the exit." She had a decent point, and Little Cato couldn't really argue with the soundness of it.

"I say we post up near the food vendors." Gregg, always thinking with his stomach, was the next to speak as his tail waged at the thought of food first and foremost. "This place is gonna be packed no doubt and that's gonna make it hard to get anything to eat when we're starving ta death right?" Little Cato thought he had a good point. Eventually, they would get hungry and once the time came, he'd much rather be near the food rather than pushing his way toward it.

"No, the vendors are way too far from the stage, we'll barely be able to see anything from over there." Miss Kassidy objected to the plan. "I say we head down the middle like Felina said and take our chances with that. The bathrooms are one way and food is other, so it shouldn't take us too long to get anywhere."

Each parent glanced at one another. A few unsure looks were shared but a couple of shrugs and nods would have them all in agreement.

"Okey. It's not the worst idea." Gary chuckled. "Let's get going now while there's still a chance to get good spots." He led the way, finding a spot at the center of the large field that wasn't too far from anything in either direction.

The stage, colossal and glamorous even in the daylight, stood before them just close enough to see the performers with no hassle. To the far right were the food vendors already starting to cater to a few hungry guests. They'd have to meander through inconsiderate mobs of people, but it was a small price to pay to keep the bathrooms within the same distance to the left of them. Their only problem was the exits. If something were to happen, they were more or less stuck at the center of a danger zone but the group. Even so, they were fairly confident that this last concert would go off with no life-threatening disaster, though Little Cato's sure Gary was prepared to do everything in his power to keep him safe otherwise.

Little Cato his parents, friends, and their families began their huddled march to center mass. Once they found a spot, they deemed suitable each group would lay out blankets over the trampled grass, essentially calming the land for themselves.

Dawn was beginning to pass, and the sun had started to venture high into the sky. Sunlight covered the large and slowly filling field in rays of heat that bared down on the group relentlessly. Streams of sweat rolled down every nock and cranny Little Cato had the displeasure of feeling. The humidity that day was awful, possibly the worst it's been in the past few days. Every so often the clouds would bring them some small relief by gliding in over the sun's heat and covering the field in a cool shade though it never lasted long enough for them to appreciate. The heat was enough to make him scream and all the bottled water in the galaxy wasn't enough to stave it off.

As more and more guests populated the field, preparation of the main stage began to come to a close. Staff ran back and forth, tirelessly ensuring that equipment was up to date, tuned, and ready to play. Like in the Indie Zone, the staff worked tirelessly to ensure that the possibility of a mishap, non-consequential or otherwise, had a slim chance of occurring during show time.

"Who do you think is gonna perform first?" Little Cato asked looking over to his friends with a curious glint in his eyes.

"I don't know, some asshole." Meowmar gave his answer before anyone. He'd been grumpy sitting with his parents. He restlessly shifted from side to side on his dark blue towel and crossed his arms with a deep, almost unending frown. The boy grumbled, angrily swiping at the weighed-down fur that he began to cover his eyes. "Mooom! Can I get an umbrella or something, it's too goddamn hot out herrrre!" Meowmar let out a whine that could rival the glass-shattering potential of a newborn and pouted.

His mother sighed. "Of course, dear." She tipped her sun hit and reached for a bag that sat beside her. After a moment of rummaging through the large bag, the ever-patient mother managed to fish out an umbrella. The thing was small, but it would do its job keeping the snowflake that was Meowmar from melting. His dad hardly paid attention to his brat of a son as he was too wrapped up in a conversation with Avocato to notice, or care. Them being old friends it was only natural they spoke as much as they did.

"I just hope it's someone chilled. Like something really relaxing." Timmy said, "I could do with something not so crazy right out of the gate."

"Konrad maybe." The siblings beamed in unison.

"Nah, Konrad's not starting till late. Besides he's not all that chilled." Kindrick informed them.

"What!?"

"Bullshit!" The siblings shout.

"Well, whoever it is. Let's hope it's good." Argit said, sitting cross-legged on his family's blanket.

More guests flooded into the field from the main gate. Little Cato thought it was astounding, guests had been filtering by the mass, and even then, the main stage area was far from bustling. Still, it was enough to form some pretty large gatherings, especially near him and his group. The sound of combined chatter became almost symphonic to his ears. A few minutes of setup passed by as the preparation of the stage began to wrap up. It took a few more minutes slowly crawling by before they could finally see something interesting.

A bend stepped onto the main stage. Little Cato recognized them. Not his kind of music but their drummer was nothing the scoff at.

Little Cato lay back on the light orange blanket laid out by his dads and locked eyes with the sky above. An enormous cloud had hovered overhead, obscuring the sun's light and the gruesome heat along with it. The sky was coated in an ashy gray, only thin rays of light managing to break through the gloomy expanse. He folded his arms behind his head and took in a deep breath. A concoction of scents trickled into his nostrils, sunscreen, overly applied cologne or perfume, and the dew of grass. He took in the smalls with no complaint, letting them set with him and swirl around in his mind as he closed his eyes and let the music wash away his senses. 

Then his vision fell into a sudden darkness. 

Little Cato really only had one artist he was interested in seeing perform live and he wouldn't be around till later. He figured that the last day of Sola-night was going to be his longest so why not take a moment to finally relax. Mindlessly indulged in the sounds of music and nothing else like he hadn't really gotten to before.

A few hours go by. A few more bands and musicians would come and go as the day passed by. Music played, people cheered and all the while Little Cato waited. He'd say with each passing band and artist he was growing more and more anxious but by the time the fourth band had taken the stage Little Cato had begun to doze off. The music that passed was no more than a sleep aid to him as he passed in and out of sleep just in time to hear the first song in a new performer's set. After a while, he stayed asleep. He wasn't sure how long he slept for; he didn't really care but he wouldn't remain like that. He felt the heavy nudges first, then he heard the voice urging him to wake up followed by a cacophony of what he could only describe as a wall of defaning sound. He eventually made out that the sound was cheering, heavy, joyish, overwhelmed with emotion, cheering.

"LC!" Kendrick shook him again and again when he didn't immediately open his eyes. "Get up choom, you're gonna mess it! You're gonna miss all of it!"

"Huh?" Little Cato let out a dazed mutter as he rubbed a hand over his eyes. He slowly rose to his feet, eyes still adjusting to the afternoon light. "Wh-what, What's up? What's happing?" He was slightly panicked, and his first thought was to look for Gary. With how loud everyone was being, he had mistaken the sound for an ensuing catastrophe. Kendrick, without a word, turned Little Cato toward the main stage. As soon as his eyes befell the sight of the stage, he could feel his jaw practically fall from his face.

"Hey, sola-night. I'm Kerry Eurodyne and this is Samurai back for one special night of real rock and roll! Let's show 'em how it's done!" Little Cato couldn't believe what he was seeing. He thought he might have just been seeing things, that his eyes were still adjusting to the light, or that he was still sleeping. After a moment or two, after his eyes had long since adapted to his surroundings and home in on the figures standing tall on stage, he realized he was very much awake. 

Kerry Eurodyne, the keyboardist Bes Isis, drummer Denny, and her ex-boyfriend and bassist Henry. Last he heard, Bes or Nance Harley had become an investigative journalist, and Denny and Henry had broken up on less than a sour note a long time ago. It was a little hard to believe he was actually seeing than all in one spot but there they were. 

It was Samurai. The whole band was together with the exception of their lead singer, Johnny Silverhand. With him being dead for the past twenty years that was no surprise. Instead, Kerry Eurodyne would fill the lead role with one extra member Little Cato hadn't counted on seeing on the mainstage taking up the second guitar.

"Is that Vincent!?" Little Cato yelled over the wild howling of the crowd. Gary, who was a lifelong fan, had especially been losing his mind. "How did he get up there!?"

"Don't know, but it must have been the biggest fucking hustle he's ever pulled!" Kendrick leaned up against Little Cato. "Let's get a little closer!" He grabbed Little Cato by the hand and pulled him into the crowd. Their friends seeing them move forward, followed on instinct.

Little Cato did his best to keep in step with Kendrick but even if he tripped, he's sure the taller but would have still been pulling him closer and closer to the stage.

The Wild heavy rhythm of drums thumped against his skull, guitar riffs screeched like the cries of wild bats struck at his heart and the familiar, yet unfamiliar yowl of a broken angel echoed out of speakers that surrounded the zone, echoed through everyone who did and didn't know the lyrics to the song that was being played. The sound lit an unusual fire under the crowd that was absent before. They began to jump about, hollering along with Kerry's rage-filled vocals and forming violent mosh pits that made it a bit harder to navigate through them.

Kendrick held Little Cato's arm tightly as he fought through the mush pit. Little Cato had never been in one so big, his biggest being a head-banging session he usually shared with Gary. What he was witnessing now beat that by miles. He would have been kind of terrified if he wasn't so ready to join the thrashing crowd himself.

Little Cato found himself struggling to resist the urge to scream along to Kerry's vocals altogether. He was Johnny by any stretch of the rocker. Kerry's voice was lighter than the former lead, less weighed down by the sins of corpos, a soulless government, and the need to fight them tooth and nail, and more hoisted up by the thrill of recognition of a long broken-up band. He might have been more soulless compared to Silverhand but he was still Samurai. Little Cato has no idea how he managed to get all of his old bandmates back together again or how Vincent factored into the equation, but it must have been a hell of a lot of work for all involved.

Vincent played well, nearly as good as Johnny but still not as close. Turns out he wasn't lying when he said he could play the shit out of a guitar.

Continuing through the crowd the best they could, Little Cato has a particularly rough shoulder brush with one of the excited concertgoers. In the process, Kendrick's hand had slipped away, and he was left to deal with the fallout of roughly running into some.

"Hey," The person turned quickly, spinning on his heels like a strike of angry lightning. "Watch-" He opened his mouth ready to escalate the situation though stopped as his eyes fell on Little Cato. "Little Cato." The blonde duck smiled.

"Louie." Little Cato smirked back, automatically throwing his arms around Louie. He would have asked before ruffling his preened feathers, but Louie didn't mind embracing him by that point.

"We have to stop meeting like this dude, it's getting weird!" Louie shouted, the familiar, light-hearted smile never leaving his face.

"Seriously." Little Cato stepped away from Louie and looked over his well-toned shoulders. His boyfriend and a couple of other friends Little Cato had yet to meet stood on the other side of him. He shyly waved at the other group, getting some weak ones in return. "Can you believe Samurai is performing! Is that crazy or what!?"

"Yeah, I used to love them when I was a kid! I wasn't expecting to see them here!"

"Me neither!" Little Cato yelled. He slightly covered his ears to drown out the excess noise of the crowd and the music combined. "My heart almost stopped when I saw them! It's not the same without Johnny but it's still pretty cool!"

"Yeah!" Louie agreed, looking to the stage while swaying idly to the hard rock song. "The new guy they got isn't bad either!"

"I actually know him! We live in the same building!"

"What!?" Louie spun around to Little Cato, mouth agape and expression in disbelief. "How'd he get up there!?"

Little Cato shrugged still just as clueless. "I don't know. I've never even seen him play before! It's crazy!" Little Cato grinned shamelessly. He felt some sort of pride bubbling up in his chest at the simple fact of knowing someone who played with Samurai. In Night City that meant he knew Samurai as well by proximity.

"Oh, dude that's-" Louie stopped and a strange look fell over his face. One confused browse quirked up on his head. "Do you hear that!?"

Little Cato shrugged. All he could hear was the music and the crowd. He stood still and quit. He focused his hearing, trying to weed out anything that wasn't yelling and screaming their lungs out. At first, the sound was still lost on him, but it didn't take long for Little Cato to pick up on it. The sound Louie had heard was close. It was like dripping, or more accurately a not-so-subtle leaking, as if a hose had been running water onto the ground. Underfoot little Cato could feel warm splitters as the ground softened around his feet. Had someone been pouring some out near them?

He looked around. He couldn't see anything, no one pouring bottles of water on the ground, no odd leaks or anything water-related though the leaking continued.

"Oh!" Louie shouted, jumping back in a start. "Did you just piss on my shoes!?" He shouted irately, seemingly directing his anger to a woman in front of him.

The woman slowly looked over her shoulder. From how stiffly she moved, Little Cato could tell she was nervous or worse so. "Uhhh..." She blinked at him, attempting to feign shock or ignorance but ultimately didn't know what to say to the angry boy.

"Are you seriously just pissing on the ground you nasty bitch, Jesus!" Louie lifted a foot off the urine-soaked ground to observe his shoe. "Did you grow up in a barn, you pissing out in the open like you did!?"

"So, what if she was!" One of the woman's friends, a slightly more inebriated-looking girl, came to her side. "It's a free nation, you can't control when someone has to go, dick!"

"I can when they're pissing on my eight-hundred-dollar shoes you nasty fucking bitch!" Louie growled, becoming louder and angrier as his friends got involved in the dispute. 

Arguments that ensued between Louie, his friends, and the women whose other friends had also become involved had become quickly heated, things got loud, and unpleasant words were shared. They went back and forth, the women coming up with any excuse for the friend's happy accident and Louie shouting inconsolably in his anger.

Little Cato admitted, stepping in a puddle of pee wasn't the most pleasant thing. Still, he wasn't even wearing shoes, but he wasn't complaining. Then again, he was generally un-conferential compared to most people he knew.

The arguing, or more so Louie's frenzied shouts, would eventually catch the attention of the surrounding crowd. He pointed out the girl, how she had pissed on his shoes, and how she was okay with doing it and they would even join in, siding with Louie on the matter of pissed-stained shoes. The crowd gathered around her in a large circle and began the chant.

"Piss girl! Piss girl! Piss girl!" As loud as they could, as many times as they could as many fingers pointed in her direction, and videos being recorded on many a phone.

After a while, festival security would arrive to quickly escort the girls off of concert grounds for peeing on the ground but also to preserve their dignity. All the while the crowd's 'piss girl' chant continued to bellow as the girls are led away.

"LC!" Kendrick came shoving back through the crowd. He must have finally realized Little Cato wasn't with him. At least he was back now. "Where you been!?"

"What!? You lost me! What are you talking about!?" 

Kendrick waved at him with a short tsk. "Whatever, that was an accident." He snickered, shyly rubbing the back of his neck. "Come on we still gotta reach the front, their almost done."

"I know." Little Cato said and glanced back around to Louie and his friends. "Hey Louie!? Did you want to come with us!? We're trying to get closer to the stage."

"Sure, why not! I definitely don't want to stick around here anymore!" Louie agreed much too eager to get away from the piss-stained reminder of that particular spot.

Again, Kendrick grabbed Little Cato by the hand, and they began to push through the crowd once more. Little Cato held onto Louie who'd hold onto his boyfriend Zor who'd hold onto the rest of their friends one after the other. They were all chained together in one long chain of juveniles, making their way through an ocean of overly excited and inebriated festival goers.

The symphonic sound of the crowd priced Little Cato's ears, but he would bare through the noise just long enough to reach the front. They were so close, standing right on the edge of the guard rail, that would separate them from the main stage.

Everyone called out to the band, each member of both groups yelling for someone specific while some took out their phones to snap pictures and take videos of the event. Little Cato would yell out to Vincent, doing his best to get the man's eyes on him but for all of Little Cato's yelling, he still couldn't hear him. The lack of acknowledgment didn't make the show any less fun. The teens all jumped along the screeching riffs of burning guitar chords, hollered along with gritty vocals, and threshed their heads with each pound of the drum.

Little Cato was happy to follow along. He was happy to shout, happy to bang his head to one of his favorite songs. He was happy to be there. That is until the joy he felt was forced away with quivering legs. A warm, pent-up feeling ran amuck throughout his lower regen. All the water he had consumed early to combat the heat of the sun came back around tenfold and he felt like he was about to explode.

"Oh shit." He murmured before turning to Kendrick. He was so locked in on the performance on stage and enthralled with the band that he almost didn't want to ask. "Kendrick!" He reluctantly shook the boy. It would take a few more shakes to actually get his attention. 

"What's up!?" The masked boy said, still watching the band rock out like lunatics on the main stage.

"I... I uhhh..." He stuttered nervously. He knew Kendrick would just kill him.  "I have to use the bathroom!" Kendrick scoffed at him and looked around. Maybe he was a bit confused or annoyed. Usually, Little Cato could tell but not at that moment.

"Go anywhere!" He suggested shrugging off Little Cato's clear distress.

"Choom no!" Little Cato quickly and fearfully dismissed that idea. "I don't wanna be like piss girl!"

"Then go to the bathroom!"

"I can't!" He shouted. "I won't be able to make it through without you!"

"Jeez, I'm I your input or what?" Kendrick muttered, lowering his head onto the steel guard railing. 

"Huh!?" Little Cato shouted unable to hear the last words he had spoken beneath his mask, but he could hear his irritated groaning. 

Kendrick looked back up to the main stage. He kept his eyes there for a little before lowering his head again. "Okay, come on! Come on!" He relented and took Little Cato by the hand. 

"Just make it quick." He let Little Cato loose as they entered the bathroom once they'd made it inside. 

Getting there felt like a thousand-year voyage for Little Cato as he struggled to keep from peeing himself. The rowdy crowd blocking the path didn't make the short journey easy for them, but Kendrick managed, nonetheless. 

Little Cato hurried over to one of the urinals. He sighed deeply as the pressure drained out of him like an open valve or rouge fire hose. That release was sorely needed.

"Don't worry." Little Cato said and quickly pulled up his shorts. "See, quick and clean." He pointed a pleased smirk at Kendrick as he passed. He walked over to the bathroom door and reached for the handle. "What the-" Though for some reason the door didn't budge. Little Cato tried a second time, tugging at the silver handle as hard as he could. Still noting.

"What's wrong?" Kendrick finally asked, stepping beside Little Cato. The irritation in his voice was too apparent to ignore but what did Little Cato expect. 

"Uhhh... Door won't budge."

"What?" Kendrick moved him aside and took the handle. "You're just doing it wrong choom." Like Little Cato, Kendrick tugged at the door harder and harder with each failed attempt. "Oh..." He backed away before scratching his head bewildered. "Shit." Kendrick mumbled. "We're stuck I think." He spoke nonchalantly, like what he said was just a minor inconvenience.

To Little Cato, that was a big enough inconvenience to start panicking over. "What!" He shouted suddenly. "No, we can't be stuck, not now, not in here!" Little Cato buckled up against the door and pushed and pulled against it with as much strength as he could manifest within himself. He did so over and over again until his shoulder became sore and his arms tired. He took a seat on the floor too tired to even stand.

"Okay, okay calm down." Kendrick held his hands up as if that would actually help calm him. "I doubt we're gonna be in here forever. Maybe a couple hours at best before someone needs to come in and use it themselves."

"Kenny we can't stay in here for that long." Little Cato said, letting out a heavy disappointed sigh. "I didn't get to see Konred yet." He went quiet and hugged his knees close to his chest. His heart was starting to race, and a slight heat began to rise in his throat. He thought he was starting to freak out so he did the only thing he could when Gary wasn't around. He rocked back in forth "I just wanted us to have fun. Thats all. That's all I wanted and every time I think Something's going right, I'm proven dead wrong." He groaned tiredly, hugging his legs as close to his chest as he could. He felt calmer now, but he still thought it wasn't enough.

Kendrick stood above him, looking silently looking down on him with that expressionless mask. Was he judging him? Blaming him for getting them stuck in a shity bathroom. Lord knows he deserved it. At some point Kendrick stopped looking however, he then turned his back to the door, roughly falling against it, and slid down the bathroom door, coming to a rest beside Little Cato "Haven't you been havin' fun?" He asked with muffled concern.

"Well, yeah... but since we got here, I feel like we haven't really been doing anything together. I've been hanging out with randos and you've been doing... I don't even know what. Konrad was our thing you know... I just wanted to see him in person with you... It would have made this the best vacation seeing him with you."

Kendrick hummed. He was seemingly at a loss for words, or maybe he'd been taking in the boy's sadness for some odd reason. Little Cato couldn't tell, he could seldom tell with that damn mask over his face. It drove him crazy sometimes and he still didn't understand why he wore the thing all the time.

"You know when I was way younger... way younger, there was this movie that was coming out. Had heard nothing but good things about it, 'oh, it's picture of the year, tens all around, a once-in-a-lifetime event' and all that. You know me, I get excited and decide I want to see this movie, but there was this big issue in the building that day and my mom needed me to stay back to help manage the floor. I remember thinking how much of a buzzkill that was at the time, how it would suck to stay inside, and how I just couldn't miss this movie. It was picture of the year. So, I did what I thought was best and flecked out on Mom. Got to see the movie but by the time I got back home she was pissed. Started blackin' on me as soon as I entered the door, 'ah, ah, ah, you dumb nigga, this and that, blah, blah, blah.'" He whispered, repeating his mom's insults with a chuckle. "So, she's angry, she told me off and gave me my lashings, but he didn't stop there. Dad comes in to set me down next, wants to give me a talk, says, 'Oi Kendrick, ya can't just go off doin' what ya wanna do boyo. Now when ya'ave responsibility ta attend ta. Learn to see yer business done befere yer pleasure, son.' But of course, he was never all that much for responsibility himself, so I don't know what he was getting at." He gently elbowed Little Cato.

Little Cato slowly turned his head to him a smirked at the storis conclusion. "How was the movie?" He asked.

"It was shit." They both share a small giggle. "The things we worry about, those big important things, are never usually what they're cracked up to be. It's okay to be the odd one out. You can be the one who sits out. You can miss that concert or movie that everyone just has to see cause you never know if it might be awful. Could be good but you still shouldn't have to worry yourself over it. You know?"

"And is this worth missing out on?" Little Cato questioned, gazing into the two dark holes of Kendrick's crimson mask. He shrugged slightly and scratched the spot under his chin.

The boys could hear the concert still. Samurai had just wrapped up their set, going out with a bang by playing Never Fade Away. Arguably the band's most popular song had come and gone, and they had missed it. The unanimous shriek of the crowd persisted even after the bands exited from the stage.

"Alright people, it's been a productive day so what say we keep the ball rolling by wrapping up with some of the biggest artists of the year! Starting up Konrad Oldmoney!"

The boys tensed up. "You fuckin kidding me?" Kendrick murmured, seemingly not so sure in the words he'd previously spouted out. Little Cato banged his head against the door, wholly disappointed and wishing he had just relieved himself on the ground like Kendrick told him to. He was going to miss his favorite artist. It sucked but the least he could do was try not to feel bitter about it. "You ready to get out of here?" Kendrick stood, holding out a hand and helping Little Cato up from the bathroom floor.

"How are we going to do that?"

"I... don't know..." Kendrick sounded another conflicted groan and rubbed his neck. All that talk about it being fine to miss big events and yet he was so eager to go all of a sudden.

Little Cato only wished they had a way out. He couldn't think of one immediately, but the words of a rather strange man did come to mind after a minute or two. "Wait I think I know a way." Kendrick stared at him. "This guy I met at the Tiki bar last night told me that the second to last stall had a loose ceiling tile. Maybe we can get out through there."

"Really? You believed that?" Kendrick appeared skeptical of the claim, but he was always willing to try anything. "Lead the way." He stepped to the side.

Little Cato opened the stall to the unoccupied toilet and looked up at the chipped ceiling. "Can I get a boost?" He asked and Kendrick agreed albeit with a groan.

"Kinda getting tired of hoisting you up on my shoulders choom."

"Yeah, but it's for the greater good. Suck it up." Little Cato placed one foot in Kendrick's hand and the other on his shoulder. He shook off balance for a moment, nearly falling from Kendrick and onto the floor before he was able to center himself on the taller boy. 

Once Little Cato was close to the ceiling, he brought a hand up. He carefully tapped against the tile. The strange man was right. The ceiling was loose and pushing it open had reviled a dusty old ventilation shaft. Not taking a moment to think about it, Little Cato pulled himself up through the hole in the ceiling and quickly came back around to help Kendrick up as well.

It wouldn't take them long to get back outside. He never thought he'd be so happy to see such a large and disorderly crowd in his life. He was glad he'd become so used to crawling through vents. The cobweb-infested shift might not have been worth the toil otherwise.

He took in a deep breath, cherishing the deafening roar of the audience before he and Kendrick raced back to where they left their friends.

Little Cato marveled at the stage, stars in his eyes and jaw lowered in speechless wonder. He had made. He was seeing the man himself, granted they were still some distance from the stage but that's not what mattered. What mattered was that he was there. It might have been okay to miss big events sometimes, but Little Cato was beyond happy he wouldn't miss this one.

Chapter 43: Breaking point

Notes:

So, I was kinda slow on the draw with this one. Long story short, the writing program I used is no longer supported by windows, I got supper depressed and almost did something drastic. I got new meds, dealing with mental health stuff, school started, yada-yada. So, here's a new chapter.

Little Cato released a faint, relieving breath as he fell deeper into his usual class seat. He let his bag drop to the floor, unconcerned with how clean or dirty it might have been then, though it usually was spotless enough to eat off of. He wasn't so concerned with much aside from his char and the sound of a faulty, blaring ball bringing about the start of class. Little Cato was all too happy to be back in school. With the summer that had come and gone and the fun that was had, the intoxicating scent of fresh calk shavings and fragrance-lathered pompous teens was very much appreciated.

Little Cato couldn't bother to sit up properly in his seat. Normally students were expected to maintain a fine sense of pride in their form, professionalism in their glance, and elegance in their manners at any, and therefore every, given moment. Today, however, was going to be an exception for Little Cato.

As dark blue, lavish uniforms began to flood into the class through old, lovingly etched wooden doors, students returning from their own long and possibly expensive vacations, Little Cato remained deeply molded within his laziness. Even when his teacher, Still the substitute from all those months ago, entered the room, the boy hardly moved an inch.

He wouldn't lie, once his eyes clamored to the young substitute form his body nearly shot up and his fingers almost hooked together out of sheer habit by that point. Little Cato caught himself before his body could react the way it would have normally. He wanted to relax no matter who was watching him. If Valerie really wanted him to follow proper class etiquette, she would have walked right up to him and demanded that he do so. As it stands, she didn't seem to care one bit. Little Cato had to call her Miss Valerie, but she would let him get away with most anything in class.

Maybe her lack of nagging was because she knew he was a top student or maybe it was due to how familiar they were outside of the classroom. He wasn't so sure, but he was grateful for the leeway she was offering, nonetheless.

"Cato." A cautious whisper came to him from Argit just a seat across. "You're slouching choom." He informed, eyes forward and watching the front of the class with a narrow sharpness.

"I know. I'm meaning to choom." Little Cato grinned slyly at Argit. The other boy had been sitting properly as many of the students present. His back was straightened to the point of being rigid and stiff as a board. His hands were tightly clung together in a show of respect for the class instructor. His form was perfect. When it came to keeping up appearances Argit was one of the students who could do it the best but of course, he was the best actor among his group of friends. The rodent boy was classically trained, everything he knew coming straight from the streets of Night City. His poker face was immovable, always unflinching. His expression went unmoving save for when it had to change with the tides.

Argit was always prepared, always ready to talk himself and his friends out of any situation or issue that might have planted itself along their paths. He smiled in your face and klep your wallet while you were absolutely taken with him.

"Why?" He blew a baffled gasp. One brow raised as his mask slips into confusion. Fingers break loose from one another along with his posture and he turns to Little Cato. "V isn't gonna be happy if you keep that up choom." Brows squint as dark brown and narrow eyes dot up and down Little Cato. He was trying to get a read on him.

"Miss V and she's not gonna care."

"Why are you so chill right now?"

"Cause- choom- I had a great summer. Best in my whole life and I'm only just starting to come down from that high hard." Little Cato answered plainly, his confident smirk blazing brightly. His body still felt the pulsating effect of those sensory bracelets even now. "Guess it's like jet lag or something."

"I've been where you been, and I don't feel that?"

"Then I guess you didn't have as much fun. You didn't party as hard as me and Kenny did." Little Cato let a little chuckle fly from his relaxed grin.

"I didn't par-" Argit was ready to dive straight into an argument with Little Cato but caught himself before he could get too loud. "Whatever." His eyes rolled hard. He turned his back toward the front and bound his hands together again. He relented, letting Little Cato have his simple pleasure. "Did you finish the summer assignment by the by choom?"

"Obviously." Little Cato returned a slight frown to Argit along with a groan. It was as if the question was unnecessary. It shouldn't have been. His friends should know him well enough to rarely question his work ethic.

"Do you have it on you? It's a physical presentation, remember?" Argit reminded.

Confidently, Little Cato was on the very verge of answering the no-brainer of a needless question though as his mouth opened the question struck up a sudden thought. Little Cato shot up in his seat, back as straight as could be. Did he remember to pack his assignment?

He grabbed his backpack, brought it up to the desk, and hastily unzipped it. Little Cato sifted through the bag, rifling through the stacks of papers and schoolbooks that cluttered his bookbag. As small as it was, the black backpack was certainly a hard worker.

"Oh no." A fearful gasp escaped him. He scoured and excavated his bag as deep and thoroughly as he could but after his frantic searching- nothing. "Shit!"

By the time Little Cato was through scolding himself for being so forgetful, lunch had arrived. Saying that the absence of his history assignment upset him was an understatement. As with all things, Little Cato had worked hard to put that project together. His first week during summer was spent researching, writing, quoting, citing sources, and adding a bit of extra flare to his presentation. All that work just for him to end up forgetting to pack it all up.

Little Cato was fuming. Less so now that lunch had arrived but fuming all the same. He fell face-first onto the cafeteria table and his arms dangling limply at his side. He felt useless all of a sudden. All of his confidence, security, and pride had gone the way of the dodo and had seemed it was never going to come back. So caught was he in that feeling of summer joy that he let it get the best of him. Loosely- Little Cato thought to himself.

The wooden surface of the table pushed softly against his forehead. The slight pain that had sprung from him slamming his head into the table lingered in and out like a light running out of juice. He grumbled into the smoothed wood. Why did he care so much? It was only one assignment. His carelessness wasn't going to ruin his life so why had it felt like it was? Maybe it was more about his image. He was supposed to be the good student, one of the best even. Always reliable, lovable, and always handed in on time every time. The little mishap had even made him paranoid. He constantly checked his back for all his other bits of homework and class materials throughout the day just to be sure he didn't suffer another embarrassment.

"Little Cato." Kendrick was the first to speak and no response would be willing to reach out to him. Little Cato couldn’t even muster up even the slightest grumble. "You seriously taking this all the way to heart choom?" Still nothing.

"Man, he's distraught," Dean said, taking a not-so-subtle bite of the burger in his hands. "I don't do my homework all the time choom. I ain't tight about none of it."

"You don't have to do homework." Finally, A muffled mutter ejected from the troubled boy, and after another second he turned his head to solemnly glare at his friends. "You guys don't have to play catch up like I do."

"Bullshit," Dean spoke again, mouth full from yet another big bite of his burger. "I didn't do my homework even when I got here. It's all a scam choom. It’s how they condition you, by making little things seem more important than they are."

"Who's 'they'?"

"Don't listen to him LC." Sam uncharacteristically rebuked his brother's ramblings, a move that gets him an odd side-eye from the taller sibling. "I was the one who wound up doing his homework most nights. It's the only reason he's still in school." The table broke out into a light laughter. Even Little Cato couldn't help but dim a small smile.

"Well, just fuckin' tell everyone why not?" Dean grumbled; his bits more conserved. "For the record, I would have done it if I wasn't so busy."

"Yeah, crankin' it out in the bathroom," Sam said and the table’s laughter intensified. Dean's cheeks blew up into a pout and a deep blue blush formed on his face. Sam wasn't pulling his punches today. Little Cato had never seen the younger sibling lay into his brother so hard before. The summer must have brought about a surge of confidence in the younger sibling that Dean hadn't been prepared for.

"Come on Dean, you really gonna sit there and mope like a bitch now?" A cocky smile lined Ash's glossed lips as her elbows hit the table.

"Fuck off," Dean grumbled at her and to everyone at the table really. Shaking his head, he goes back to munching on his burger. "Fuck all’a you."

Their shared laughter continued. A fit even consumes Little Cato if only for a bit. His friends always knew how to cheer him up, accidentally or otherwise. The feeling wouldn't last, however. His luck would never permit him a moment's peace. Little Cato would have forgotten all about his mistake if it wasn't still the main subject of the hour.

"Seriously Cato you shouldn't have to worry about missing one assignment," Argit said, firing up an attempt to reassure Little Cato. "So, you missed out on one assignment. It's not that big a deal and your life is still intact from what I can see."

"Argit, you don't get it. It doesn't matter if my life is still intact. I'm supposed to be better than that." Little Cato brought his arms to the table and planted his cheeks in his hands as he began to nod around the table. "Haven't you noticed?" It was then the group began to peer around the cafeteria. The startling realization that all eyes were on them.

Sideways glances, hushed gossip and amused smiles all met the group from a distance. Some were trying to not make their staring so obvious while others could care less if they were caught looking. Little Cato knew he had given some of the more bitter students ammunition to come at him and just as things managed to calm down more or less.

If they had been teasing him for what little they had to work with before, it was only going to escalate now.

Koral, marching into the cafeteria in a hurry, immediately rushed over to Little Cato's table. He pushed Meowmar and Kavin out of the way and took a seat. "Avocato, I heard what happened. Are you okay?" He asked. Worry ran up and down his face and his mouth curled into a little worried frown.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's just one missing assignment." Little Cato downplayed the concern knowing full well how he really felt about the missing assignment.

"Are you sure? It's going all around school."

"I know."

"A lot of people are saying some really bad things."

"I... know." Little Cato grumbled at the reminder of his mistake.

"How could you forget something so important anyway." Koral's demeaner shifts from that of concern to one more scolding. In that moment he was more like a mother disappointed with her child.

"I don't know." Little Cato replied with a shrug, genuinely confused by the slip-up himself.

"Even Miss Valerie is getting dragged through the muck by the other teachers.”

"I..." Little Cato stopped mouth agape. He already knew his actions would reflect badly on him, but he was expecting V to be taking some of the preverbal heat as well. Little Cato had never considered that she would also have to bear the consequences of his action. "Shit." He spat, the curse sharp and quick before he lowered his tone. "I didn't know that."

"Well, it's pretty bad. They're thinking about caning her."

"What!?" Little Cato shot up from his seat like a fire had been burning beneath him. "For what, me?"

Koral’s face shifts again and his feathers soften out as his eyes follow Little Cato upward. "Avocato you're such a good student. If she couldn't be bothered to remind you of important assignments, then she's not fit for the Myers crest."

"But she did remind me." Little Cato spoke in a hushed tone. He thought back to that day in the indie zone. How he promised her that his work was done and that he'd absolutely bring it in time. Thinking back, he felt even worse now. Had he known her job would be at risk he would have tried a bit harder to remember. Even though she was a substitute, getting let go from somewhere as prestigious as Myres High could reflect badly on her record overall. Who's to say what might happen then. She could be demoted at Hyperion or worse, fired from there as well. He had to do something. 

"Excuse me." Little Cato stepped away from the table. His heart was racing madly, and his mind had followed suit with no hesitation. He didn't know what he was going to do, any notion of a decent strategy eluded him during his panic, but something had to be done.

Ready to spring into action as he compiles some sort of speech about him being the one to blame for his mishap, Little Cato rushed through the cafeteria as quickly as he could without breaking into a full sprint. Gossip from other students had begun to rave up. Silent mockery passed his ears, but he didn't care to stop to confront them. He couldn't afford to.

He knew these teachers well enough to know that their students' education was a top priority. The school being public didn't matter. The stander from the campus's private school days still stood tall above all else. At the moment V would most likely be in the main office getting chewed out by the dean. If he could just make it in time, he could maybe save her the embarrassment of packing up her things. The project was already done after all. That had to count for something.

Little Cato sped through the hall like an over-tuned 6th Street racecar. The concept of regulated hallway speeds didn't matter much to him then. On any other day a student could get written up just for breaking into a brisk speed walk, let alone a jog. The standards in Myers High were high and maybe a little too much. Everything a student did had to be perfect or close to it. Uniforms had to be straightened, speckless, stainless, and up to code. There was to be no cursing in front of teachers or security, no loitering in the halls before or after class, and you could barely be on your phone within ten yards of school preemies.

A lot of the rules were overwhelming, suffocating. Just as stuck up as most of the students attending. Little Cato should expect no less, however. If you had the chance to go to their school, you had to follow their rules. Whether some of the poorer students liked it or not.

At the moment Little Cato was in the midst of breaking one of said rules. Lucky for him the halls were vacant, empty save for the blonde brick wall he had run into. Little Cato hit the floor before he could even realize that Tavish was in the way.

"Hey!" The scion spat, squinting down at the somewhat dazed Little Cato. "How many times do I have to tell you to watch where you're going deckhead?"

Growling, Little Cato rose to his feet quickly. "I really don't have time for this right now Tavish so if you could just move-" As he began to make his way around Tavish, a sleeved arm reached out to Little Cato's chest and stopped him.

"Hey, not so fast." A look of bitter rage dripped over his face for a moment then a smile came from behind the grimace. "I heard you fucked up today. Forgot your summer project at home… how particularly low of you huh?"

"Tavish-" He tried swapping at his arm, but Tavish quickly grabbed him by the wrist, twisting it and bringing him closer. His scent was hell on Little Cato’s nose. There was way too much cologne and not enough respect for personal space. The sleazy small suited the blonde perfectly.

"Let go." Little Cato let out a low growl, a kind of warning. Still, Tavish's grip persisted.

"You're not going to ignore me, you piece of xeno trash." He returned a growl to Little Cato, holding him as close to his chest as uncomfortably possible.

A ball rang out. Lunch had just ended and the hall that was empty began to run with a river of dark blue uniforms. Students passed them by, some vaguely watching from the corners of their eyes while others stood off to the side to watch the rather intimate standoff unfold. Despite the fierce pairs of eyes that were now trained on both of them like rifles, Tavish kept his grip tight around Little Cato's wrist. He could already imagine what they might be thinking.

"What is wrong with them?"

"Are they gonna fight or fuck?"

"They should just get a room already."

"Avocato is going to beat the shit out of him."

Some of those thoughts turned out to be actual whispers, carried along currents of excitement and anticipation. The crowd was ready. They wanted to see something happen, anything as long as it was good. If Tavish was going to be so persistent then Little Cato would make it good.

"Last chance." Little Cato looked at the blonde with a venomous glare.

"Or what?" Tavish stepped closer into Little Cato's space. His face was mere centimeters from Little Cato's now. If they didn't make it clear that they hated each other so much the crowd might have just thought that they were seconds away from kissing right, then and there.

"Fine." He whispered. Little Cato brought up his free hand afterward, gripping the hand that was around his wrist and squeezing it much harder than Tavish had done for him. 

The blonde squealed in pain and took a step back. Once he was at a bit of a distance Little Cato pulled back his right arm, hand tightened into a ball of fury. He waited a second, contemplating if what he was about to do was the best course of action. Before he could convince himself otherwise, he threw his fist forward, cracking Tavish on the nose and sending him staggering backward.

"What the fuck!" Tavish gasped in shock as if he weren't expecting Little Cato to actually throw a punch at him. The look on his face was priceless, fear, confusion, and hesitancy that would suddenly give way to anger. He stepped up too Little Cato and, clearly not thinking straight, threw a punch. Little Cato easily side-stepped the hit, knocking his arm out of the way as Tavish's body twisted around in the opposite direction.

When Tavish's back was to him Little Cato quickly wrapped his arms around his neck. The blonde was slightly bigger than him, but it didn't matter all that much. Little Cato was putting all of his Ventrexian strength to good use and there was a lot to draw from. He then takes one of Tavish's arms, twists it behind his back, and runs him face-first into a nearby wall through a cluster of students.

The crowd had broken down into a wild while of cheers as soon as the first punch had landed. They were giving into their wild urges the school had been beating out of them for years. Noise filled the halls, louder than what school regulations mandated.

Imboden by the roar of the crowd, Little Cato jumps on Tavish's back. The hold around his neck never loosened as Little Cato took his right hand and began to punch at the Blond boy's ribcage. He delivered a punch for everything Tavish had put him and his friends through. One for the first day of school, one for constantly teasing him, one for Ash, one for Harp, and all the rest for his mere existence.

Each blow he landed was satisfying but never enough. Little Cato wished he could do more, much more than he was allowed to now. Tavish deserved every bit of pain, every drop of humiliation, even death.

As that final thought crossed a series of arms wrapped around Little Cato's arms and body. They tug at him, trying their damndest to yank him off of the blond boy yet he would not budge. Even more hand clammer to him and he would not let go, he couldn't. "What the hell, this kid is strong!" Someone shouted but he didn't care to turn and see who it had been. Eventually, one last set of hands managed to get his arm from around Tavish's neck as he pulled off the boy.

"You like that bitch!" He yelled, still reaching out for Tavish, doing everything in his power to get back to the boy. To give him more of what he deserved.

"Cato! Little Cato calm down." A voice, loud and familiar, pulls Little Cato out of his rage. As his emotions cooled off, he turned his head to see who'd called him and he gasped slightly. There were so many people holding him down and locking him in place. Teachers, prefects, security guards, and even the janitor had been caught in the mix.

The crowd that had gathered not too long ago was suddenly gone, all dispersed in any direction the dozen or so teachers and security guards weren't.

"Little Cato calm down, come on calm down." His heavy breathing began to gradually slow as Valerie appeared in his line of sight.

"V." He whispered, almost whined, when he saw her. His body fell limp as she spoke to him and the many hands that had held him down were released, all tired and breathing heavily.

"What happened, what did you do?"

Little Cato's head tilted as he peered over to the grounding blonde. "V." Little Cato murmured once more. "They-... they said you were gonna get caned because of me. I tried to get to you, I wanted to help but Tavish wouldn’t let me through, I-"

"Woah, woah kid calm down." Valerie held out her hands to settle him down again. "I'm not gettin' caned."

"You're not?"

She shook her head at him. "I got a stern talking to and a warning, yes, but I'm not going anywhere anytime soon. I'm afraid you're still stuck with me till the end of the year."

"Really?" Little Cato replied. A sniffle wafted at his nose. "That's good to hear." He rubbed one hand over his eyes to drive away the tears that had been building up.

"Goodspeed!" Little Cato flinched at the call of his name. The voice was sharp, commanding, and sternly wicked to an extent. He looked over to find a woman grayed shoulder to toe in a sleek dress and blazer. The white of her hair and her stern posture spoke loudly of her experience over the years. It was the school dean, and she did not look happy. "My office now." He spoke; teeth clenched tightly as she stormed off ahead of him.

V looked at him with tight teeth. She was clearly embarrassed on his behalf. "Good luck kid."

Little Cato turned to the office, then the Tavish, and finally to the tired people who had been holding him down. Then he realized what a world of trouble he had just landed himself into. "Shit."

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

It was a quiet afternoon. Avocato had been sitting arm and arm with Gary on the sofa. The TV was on and blaring softly. Some show was on, but Avocato wasn’t really paying enough attention to know what it was. He only had one concern then, the blonde in his arms, breathing softly as they sat cheek to cheek. 

This was the life, he thought. His perfect life, his perfect husband, and their perfect child who had been off at school at the moment. He couldn’t imagine life without them. It would be all meaningless if he were to lose them. That's why he had to do what he had to do, hurt who he had to hurt, kill who he had to kill to keep his family safe, and the less they knew about his past the better.

His they stayed cuddled up to each other a phone began to ring out from across the room.

“Who’s getting it?” Avocato asked, turning to Gary in a not-so-subtle manner.

“Can you get it? I’m too comfy” Gary moaned.

“So am I and I hardly get to rest so…”

“Avo…” Before Gary can argue Avocato looked at him. He gave the blonde his signature. Squinted the eyes that kick-started his heart and wiggled the brows that made his knees quiver.

“Ughhhh, jeez, fine.” Gary groaned with a smirk, unable to resist the look. “But you owe me mister.” He gently slapped Avocato on the arm before getting and picking up the phone. He watched the blonde sway as he went. “Hello… this is… Little Cato did what!?” The sudden appalled shout pulled Avocato’s attention away from the blonde’s rear. “Okay, I'll be right there.” Gary slammed the phone down on the table, nearly breaking the thing as he did. Gary seemed mad. “I can’t believe it, I just can’t.” Clearly mad.

“What happened?” Avocato sat up as he watched Gary storm in and out of their bedroom.

“Little Cato just got suspended for fighting.” Avocato did a double take. 

"What? A fight?" Did he hear that right? "Why? With whom?" The blonde man didn't answer. He was too busy getting dressed with the rage of ten mothers and mumbling angrily to himself.

“I swear I am going to ring his little ass out.”

 

Chapter 44: Trouble in paradise

How could he be so stupid? From the moment Little Cato first woke up that morning that question had run through his mind like a miles-long marathon. How could he be stupid enough to actually hit Tavish, to be provoked by the blonde bimbo of a boy so easily? His feelings for a friend had betrayed him and all the anger he'd built up off the back of that pompous blonde was released in a flurry of hard punches. The worst part was when he looked at Tavish afterward, hoping to at least see some tears rolling down his cheeks or breathless sobbing, Little Cato’s satisfaction was dashed. Past the crocodile tears he put on for his audience, his broken nose, and bloodied teeth, the blond was all smiles whenever he looked Little Cato's way.

Now Little Cato was on suspension to the shock and horror of many, including himself. He never thought he'd see the day where he would be suspended from anywhere, for something that technically wasn't even his fault. Of course that didn't matter, especially to his other father. Once Gary found out it was even further downhill. The argument that ensued was brutal, to say the least. Enraged Gary chastised him, lectured him, called his actions uncalled for, and called his friends bad influences. Any child in so much trouble would have sat there and let their parents go on. That would have been the smartest thing to do, but lately, Little Cato wasn't operating on what logic dictated was the best course of action.

In another flare-up of emotion, he'd probably done the stupidest thing he could think, or impulsively, do. He fought Gary. He argued back. When his second father made a point Little Cato made a counterpoint. He thought his punishment wasn't far, he felt Gary chastising him wasn't fair. After all the things the blonde had gotten up to in his younger years, he felt Gary was being a little hypocritical. Little Cato heard the stories from his grandparents, from his aunt Quinn, and from anyone who's ever known Gary back then. A party animal, wild child, drug addict, and borderline whore.

The words came by complete accident. When Little Cato mentioned as much to Gary's face, he was expecting the worst. His body braced for something, a disappointed look or slap across the face but nothing of the sort had happened. When he looked at Gary there was no anger or surprise that his son would say such a thing. His eyes did all the speaking. How they watered up, his expression was unsure how to proceed. He tried to say something, but his choked-up coughing wouldn't allow him the decency. Even Avocato was at a loss for words. He never got involved in the little spats Little Cato and Gary had but this one was more than just some small argument. This was a boiling point brought on by years of coddling and over-protectiveness.

Little Cato had to leave at that point. The air had become too stifled with awkwardness and regret for some of the worst words shared. Now he roamed cold and lonely concrete hallways with no particular destination in mind. He should have apologized, should have taken back the words that had recklessly spilled out from his mouth, but he couldn't pull himself to face Gary after seeing his face.

Instead, Little Cato walked on. He walked for who knew how long. Whenever he was in the halls of floor fourteen time seemed to stagnate. Usually, there was nothing to worry about amongst his passing neighbors. The hall was like a safe haven. A place he could go to clear his mind and ease the heavy feeling that came with the stresses of life. It'd hardly worked this time, however. When Little Cato roamed those halls now, all he could see were the flaws around every corner, the chips in the concrete, the flickering fluorescent lights. The junkies passed out on the floors down dark sub halls as the dealers that sold them the drugs counted their money with shameless smiles. Little Cato could see the gang tags on the walls and police on constant patrol throughout the building. He could see just how quick things were moving. Time didn't stagnate, not this time around. Something was different. His haven was no more, its perceived image shattered. Trouble in paradise.

It wasn't long until he ended up frozen in front of a door not too far from where he started his short journey. He looked up at it and watched the holographic green shin of the room’s number above the frame. It was the DeWinter's apartment. A place where company was usually welcomed. Given that Davied's sons were in control of the tiny home most days, the man had little to no objections. That was fine by Little Cato. He could use the company and truthfully, he couldn’t stand being in that hall for a moment longer. He knocked on the door, softly rapping against the heavy steel before taking a step back.

One moment passes, then another, and another. Residence passed him by. Cops hauled off abusive boyfriends in tight handcuffs and time seemed to carry on faster and faster. It was to the point where things didn't seem real anymore, just a series of events that would come and go before he could process what had been going on. Nothing seemed real anymore. His perception of what once was seemed like a farce now. He thought putting hands on Tavish would make him feel better, but it only ended up changing... something in him. He wasn't sure what that was exactly. His view on the system maybe. People could provoke him all year long, but he was the one to get in trouble once he started fighting back. It could have also been him, how he's changed since stepping foot in Night City. Before Little Cato would have never spoken to Gary like that. He wouldn't have broken the blonde's heart the way he clearly had. How could he have fucked up so much, he wondered.

After another moment the door slid open. The sound of the whoosh sent shockwaves of relief through Little Cato as Sam scrambled up to the firm. "Oh, what's up El Gato?" He spoke with a tired yawn and rubbed at two out of three of his eyes.

"Can I come in?" Little Cato didn't hesitate. Wanting to be out of the hallway and near someone he trusted was his first and only priority at that moment. Sam nodded and stepped back into the apartment ahead of Little Cato. He followed the younger sibling in. The apartment was more silent than usual. The boys’ father was nowhere to be found, as per usual, though the boys were there all the same. 

Dean was lying in the wall bed, arms crossed behind his head and chest slowly rising with the gentle breaths he took. It was an odd inactivity Little Cato hadn't seen from the elder sibling before. Little Cato didn't know whether to call it uncanny or well-deserved. Sam would crawl into the bed alongside his brother. These two weren't usually this leaser. They were always up and doing something, bothering someone, or working on music to pass the time. Now they were just lying about by the looks of it.

"So, what's up guys. What's going on?" Little Cato asked. Short, effortless hums greet him from the bed. He could have guessed as much. "Nothing to do... no music to make? No places to go?" Little Cato makes another attempt at conversation and at least gets something other than an inert groan for his efforts this time.

"You said it. Nothing to do." A short brief left Dean. "Just waiting around for that moment of inspiration to strike. Shit’s taking forever though so all I can think to do is sleep until."

"And Sam."

"Same choom," Sam added. "Once you make a masterpiece the drive to want to make more gets harder and harder to hold onto. Then you get moments like this… Waiting… For your brain to decide it's got an idea and for your body to want to do anything about it."

"Right..." Little Cato said with a sort of scowl on his face. Is what they made a masterpiece? Little Cato swore he could do better even with no knowledge of music backing him up. He could go around the city seeking out odd little sounds and the occasional gunshot to cobble together in a hodgepodge of noise. He could probably come up with better lyrics too. "Well, you guys got anything to do today. I could use a distraction."

"Distraction?" Dean propped himself up on his elbows and looked at Little Cato across the room. The tiredness that had cluttered his face before had seemingly drained away and a look of humor took its place. "From what? Whipping Tav's ass all over the school hallways still on your mind." Dean wheezed out a small chuckle not knowing how on the money he was.

"You could say that... maybe I regret it in some way."

"Regret it?" Sam rose up next. "Why would you? You know how many of us would have loved to lay hands on that asshole?"

"Would you take the suspension too?"

"Yes!" Both boys sing in unison. Little Cato rolled his eyes. He should have known that's how they would answer.

"Whatever." Little Cato tisked at the pair. "You got anything to do or not. I really need to take my mind off of this."

"Sorry, El Gato." Dean had flopped back down on the bed as his arms repositioned themselves behind his head. "This is a lazy day choom. Wish we could help but let's be honest, we weren't getting up to begin with." A sputtered laugh reached Little Cato’s ears. That was just great. Maybe he could try for someone else.

"Well actually." Sam popped up again with a smile that nearly stretched from ear to ear. "Don't we have to go see Amari today?" The younger sibling's tone had dropped into a whisper though Little Cato doesn't know why. If it was to hide the name from him, his ears had already picked up on the words before his voice could get low enough.

"Ohhh, Amari..." A somewhat anguished groan came from the eldest as his hands moved from behind his head to cover his eyes. "Fuuuuuck." He hissed. If Little Cato didn’t know any better, he’d say Dean wasn’t so keen on seeing this guy.

"Yeah cool. Let's go see Amari." Little Cato, butting into something he had no right butting into, was all too excited to push the siblings into going wherever they had to be and dragging him along with them.

Dean sat up again, the ridge of his brow creased, and all three eyes focused on Little Cato like he'd said something truly insane. "You fucking serious Gato?"

"As serious as I'll ever be." He gave a stony-faced reply. "Come on guys I-... I'm bored out of my mind right now. Let's just go." He lied, knowing full well that the only reason he wanted to go was to get as far from his apartment building as he could.

Dean looked at his brother and Sam shrugged. "What could be the harm in taking Gato? Plus, we do have to see him remember?"

"Yeah..." A heavy sigh as Dean threw his head back. He then scooted off of the bed and threw himself into a pair of loose-laced boots. "Just stay close Gato and don't say anything if you don't have to. So many people will kill me if something happens to you choom."

"My lips are sealed." Little Cato ran two fingers over his lips, metaphorically zipping them, locking them tight, and throwing away the key. Another short sigh from Dean before all three boys were out of the door.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Stepping off of the elevator and out of the building on a cloudy day, Little Cato found himself sort of regretting his decision to step out of the building that day. The streets were grimier than he could recall, the muck on the walls wasn't too different from what he could find back in their building. There was more of everything out there. More gang tags, more junkies, more trash littering the streets. People argued and even more got into petty squabbles that would lead to dust-ups that nobody passing by would bat an eye toward. Business as usual. Was this the personality of Little China? This was the place he'd fallen in love with that first day. What happened to it, what changed from when he first saw it? Did anything change? 

When pushing the proposal for the siblings to leave, he'd been expecting a short trip, not too far from where they lived. When after fifteen minutes of walking had come and gone it became clear that their little rendezvous wasn't going to be a quick one. It became even more clear when the group ended up wandering into the metro. Little Cato thought that he could at least find some relief there, but he'd wind up being dead wrong.

The scent of piss and gasoline was the first thing that greeted his senses. The smell burnt at his nostrils and tears started to swell up his eyes in a way that hadn't happened before. Homeless transients with no other place to go slept on the felty platforms. These are things he's seen before. These are sites he’d trudged through before. So why was he only just now noticing it all. What was it about this particular day that made the city of dreams so... unbearable?

Yet, bare through it Little Cato would. Through the long wait for the train and the scratch of rusty breaks. Through unsavory or shady individuals outright watching porn in public and rocker boys being herring office bevers. He'd bare it even after stepping off the train and into Westbrook. The nice part of town, though at the moment even it didn't look so nice.

Westbrook was certainly more presentable than Watson, Pacifica, or Haywood but what it lacked in murky streets and a decently sized homeless population it made up for in other ways. Gangs roamed the street openly intending with little interference from the police, joytoys shelled their services, flashing their bodies to anyone young or old, which wasn't unheard of but some of them didn't even bother finding a private place before getting down to business once they did snag a line. The last thing he needed was to see people fucking in the street and still nobody bats an eye. It didn't matter where he looked. Little Cato could find a new way to despise his surroundings. It was enough to induce a long-exhausted groan from the boy.

At least Little Cato could find solace in knowing that his long walk was coming to an end. The siblings stop as they come up to some old nightclub that had long since closed its doors and had been refurbished into a gang hideout. A group stood before the opened doors, a crew decked in red with shades of black and white with different variations to the color schemes. One amongst the gang Little Cato recognized all too well, from his stark white hair to his long ears and his grey spotted fur.

DB, the hyena who'd been giving Kendrick such a hard time some time ago had been crouched down beside another man sitting in a plastic chair.

"Yoooo, Amar." Dean wasted no time pouring on the charm. The man in the chair sat as still as a stone statue. His complexion was dark. His hair sat in one long braid that ran over his shoulder and all the way down to his waist. His eyes were obscured by blackened shades and the smile that formed on his face was smooth and deceptively welcoming. Little Cato subconsciously ran a hand through his hair, unable to take an inspired eye off of the man's long braid.

"Hell." The man, Amari, laughed as he rocked in his seat. "I was not actually expecting one of you kids to show. Kendrick can't do anything on his own these days can he?"

"Kendricks got a lot on his plate," Sam said, quickly jumping to excuse Kendrick's actions. "He can't entertain every little bit of bullshit. He's already got his hands full with his mom and taking care of the building. He's under a lot of stress." Sam finished as Dean tossed something to Amari. It was a wad of money which confused Little Cato. They were here on behalf of Kendrick. Was Kendrick still borrowing money, even after everything he's been through. The thought causes Little Cato's fist to ball.

"Yeah right. Just admit the kid's a little pussy. I'm not surprised." DB snickered though it wasn’t directed toward the trio of boys before him. "Needs to get his friends to fight his fights for him. Ain't that right sunburst." He nodded to little Cato. The hyena's comment was already enough to make him angry but the shit-eating grin he threw Little Cato's way drove the boy up the wall, but he'd stay his tongue as he was told.

"Seriously choom." Dean said. He would have been here, but he is honest to god busy."

"Busy being a bitch I bet. You boys couldn't have chose a bigger little shit to be friends with. You let him walk all over you, you let him tell you what to do and you do it no problem." Little Cato groaned. His fist balled tighter and tighter as his clews began to dig into his palms. To say the man was getting under his fur would have been an understatement. He was struggling to keep his thoughts bottled up, struggling to hold back all the things he wanted to say to DB then. "Mark my words, the kid is gonna find himself at the end of some heavy iron one of these days-"

"Why don't you shut your mouth you annoying cunt!" Little Cato shouted at the hyena. He did his best to hold back but he couldn't take the bad-mouthing any longer. The dam had burst, and his anger had boiled over and spilled out. Shocked silence followed. Dean and Sam stood just behind Little Cato nearly breathless. 

Amari watched the boy with intrigue, a smile still on his face as DB stood up.

"What?" He said as he approached Little Cato at a slow, stalking pace. "I'm sorry, did I strike a chord? Did talking about your little boyfriend make you mad?" Little Cato didn't answer. A frown pulled at his lips and his eyes screamed murder. His dire expression didn't stop DB's approach however and it didn't wipe the smile from his smug face. "Aww did I make you mad?" He placed his hands on Little Cato's face, cupping the boy's cheeks and forcing his head still. "Did you want to do something about it? Did you want to hurt me... I'll let ya..." He brought his toothy grin far too close to Little Cato's face. The hyena had no idea what Little Cato had in mind for him, how much he wanted to hurt him. He would have, he was so ready to reach out and punch the grin right off of DB's face, but he wouldn't get the chance to.

"DB." An arm reached in between the two as Amari broke up the young man and the teen's deadly stare-down. He pushed DB back with a scoff. "Calm the fuck down."

"What do you mean calm down? You think I'm just gonna let this little shit de-"

"Bro calm down, sit down or I'm gonna hurt you." DB didn't budge. He stood his ground, holding onto a spiteful grimace until he couldn't anymore. 

"Fuck." He hissed and relented. He did as Amari said, backed up, and went back to crouching down beside the chair. It made Little Cato happy seeing how much his words got to the Hyena.

Amari then turned to Little Cato, smile still as inviting as it was when he first saw it. "You're LC, right?" Little Cato reluctantly nodded to the question though he felt he shouldn’t have. "Kenny talks about you a lot. I gotta admit not everyone in this city would jump in some ganger’s face just for shit-talking their friend. You're a good friend. And a lot stupid but that kinda loyalty is hard to come by these days."

Little Cato nearly gasped relieved. His first unclenched and a warm feeling began to stream down his palm. The grip was held so tightly for so long that Little Cato had unknowingly broken the skin of his palm. "Thank you." He muttered to the man with a steely gaze. He didn’t want to let up his tough facade, not in front of DB.

"Just tell the kid to stop borrowing money. I'd hate to see him floating down the canal in bits and pieces." He said, waiting a bit for Little Cato’s response. "Understood?" He squeezed Little Cato's shoulder after not getting a quick enough reply.

"Yeah." He muttered again.

"Good." Amari grinned and swayed back to his seat, waving at the boys as he sat.

Little Cato was confused. His body felt frozen, any notation of moving felt like a foreign commend his brain had been struggling to process. Luckily moving on his own wasn't an action he had to concern himself with.

"What is wrong with you?" Sam yelled in a harsh hush as he and his brother began to drag him away from the gangers.

"Are you out of your fucking mind," Dean added. Little Cato didn't answer. He couldn't answer. Couldn't even believe his own actions. 

Was he out of his mind? “I don’t know- I just…” His words fumbled out in a stutter. He didn’t know what was going through his mind then. “He was just saying all those things about Ken- and I couldn’t…” He stopped facing the ground. His heart was beating quickly, pounding against his chest like a jackhammer. Could he really be that stupid?

“Look let's just go home and-”

“Hey!” All three boys turned to the sound of a booming shout. The first place they look is behind them, toward the gangers they had just come from speaking too. Little Cato’s heart began to race. The first thing he thought was that DB wasn’t willing to let his little transgression go and was ready to set the teen straight but when he looked, he didn’t find any of the Blood Rose gangers looking their way. No, instead the shouting came from elsewhere. They hadn’t noticed but a large SUV had pulled up, slowly creeping up the road before stopping in front of the old club. “Hey, Amar!” More shouting erupted from the car before the glimmer of metal exited the front window of the passenger side and the back window followed by the insignia of 6TH street armbands. Before he knew it all hell had broken loose as a flurry of gunfire peppered the entrance of the gang hideout. Amari had quickly ducked out of the way along with DB though some of his other guys weren't so lucky. They had taken hits before the car sped off with the sound of laughter over screeching tires and freshly emptied mags.

DB had gotten up quickly and began chasing after the car as he let off a few precise shots. Whether he hit them or not Little Cato didn’t know. He and the siblings were way gone before any blood rose could respond to the sound of gunfire.

They ran fast and far and didn’t stop until they were back on the train heading home. Little Cato was breathing heavily. His eyes were wide as he covered his ears even after the gunshots had long stopped. He’s shot guns before, but he’s never been in an actual gunfight.... he's never been shot at. 

He let out a shaky sigh. Being so close to that kind of danger… he could have been killed.  

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Little Cato slowly trudged into his apartment. Feet dragging lazily along the floor. An electrical current fires up, rising through his body and stopping at the tips of his ears. The home was quiet, eerily so.

"Gary." Warily, Little Cato called out, his voice was so child-like when he did, his tone faint and afraid and too shy to speak up. There was no response. "Gary." He spoke again, this time his voice cracking and shuttering with short breaths.

Little Cato ambled further into the apartment. He thought that maybe just like he had, his parents had to step out for some air. Their argument that morning was so heated and so hateful that he wouldn't blame them. He wouldn't blame them for outright abandoning him in the nasty city either. He deserved it by this point. Deserved to live among the muck and grime and addicts and gangers for as long as he could survive.

When he walked into the living room, he was expecting it to be barren, devoid of life, say for himself, but as he entered, he saw his father. The man was standing off to the side, arms folded. It seemed like he'd been waiting for Little Cato's return for a while. The man didn't say much, only stood in disappointment as he threw a nod toward the kitchen. Little Cato turned his head and saw Gary. He was standing at the sink, body slightly quivering. He was upset, more than upset, the teen could tell. Little Cato's words had caused a wound he did not mean to inflict.

"Gary." The name came out softly, barely audible even to his ears. So, he tried again a bit louder. "Gary." The blonde man's quivering stopped suddenly. There was a second in between his breath stopping and him turning on the sink to seem occupied.

"Oh, hello Little Cato." He greeted Little Cato as if he were a visitor and not as his own son. "I didn't realize you'd be coming back." Little Cato flinched a bit. That stung him far more than the man knew.

"Why wouldn't I come back?" He said as if he didn't understand the question.

"Well on the account that I'm a drug addict whore who had no business raising a child, I figured why would you come back." Another cold sting stabbed at Little Cato's heart like a jagged knife. He understood what he said was bad but hearing it from someone else, the person he said it to no less, made it sound much, much worse. Avocato touched his fingers to his forehead and shook his head, he, himself unsure of what Little Cato was going to do to remedy his mistake.

"G-gary no, I didn't mean that. I didn't mean any of that. I was just angry I guess, and I wasn't thinking and- Gary." Try as he might in his pleas, Gary doesn't listen, merely carrying on as he pretended to do the dishes. "Gary." The name was invoked again with no response. Little Cato could feel himself start to break down. He didn't know what to do. He didn't know what to say. Was there anything to say? 

Avocato sighed. He knew there was nothing much his son could do and watching him make an attempt was heartbreaking. "Gar-" 

"Mama please." As he was ready to intervene Little Cato ran up to Gary. The blonde nearly froze after what he'd heard left his son's mouth and after the boy wrapped himself around his waist. "Please don't be mad. I don't want to be alone right now mama; I don't want to be alone." Little Cato began to sob as he wrapped his arms around Gary tighter. He buried himself into the man's back, too afraid to let go, fearful of the fact that if he did then he would lose Gary forever. "Please... please don't leave me..." He begged and pleaded through ugly sobs, knowing that no matter what he said or did it wouldn't be enough to make it up to the man.

Then Gary turned as best he could while keeping Little Cato's arms around him and returned the hug. He pulled the boy into his chest, gently stroked at his ears and the fur on the back of his neck, and then he whispered. "I'm not gonna leave you, baby. I'm not gonna leave." He assured the boy. His voice was filled with the warmest glow though it wouldn't stop Little Cato's trembling. No matter how much better he felt then, Little Cato refused to let go, the grip around Gary growing only tighter as they stood together.

 

Chapter 45: Honeymoon-hangover

Little Cato woke up to thoughts bombarding him like angry drops of rain. The moment he awoke they came flooding in as if he’d just turned on his phone after a long night and all the missed notifications were only just now appearing. There were so many, too many to properly process with his feeble mind.

Everything, and he means everything, was rushing toward him. His fight with Tavish, the argument with Gary, actually seeing the city for the first time for what it truly was and thinking just how awful things were for a lot of people… being shot at. It would have broken his heart, but that young frail organ stood too still for him to give carrying a decent go.

Twisting in bed, the sheets beneath Little Cato stretched and rustled.  All the joints in his body ached as he made some attempt to move. Rough nights were never lost on the boy but last night was especially rough. His mind had been dribbling on like a leaky faucet even then. What he said to Gary still weighed heavily on him. Things between them seemed fine, Gary promised he wouldn’t leave, and forgave Little Cato for what was said, but oddly enough he didn’t think he could believe that. He couldn’t believe that the man could forgive him so easily.

Little Cato was too harsh on the blonde and for what? Being a teenager was tasking. He’d have a better time navigating a minefield. It wasn’t like he hadn’t before. Little Cato could do many things. He could take a weapon apart and put it back together again blindfolded, he knew how to navigate the ends and outs of a Grav drive, hyper drive, and warp drive with one arm tied behind his back, knew how many stomachs the average Terminid grunt had, and the length of their digestion cycles. But all these emotions he was hit with at once. That's something he wasn’t all that used to. One moment he was as happy as can be and the next he was a broken-down mess or tired or worried, or something else he couldn’t quite put his finger on. Little Cato had begun to wonder if there was something wrong with him after some time. 

“Augh!” Little Cato shot up in bed, processing some strange vocalization as he did. Legs kicked over the edge and he forced himself to stand. All that thinking was going to get him nowhere and if it persisted, he felt as if he were going to explode. “This is great.” He grumbled sarcastically as a sense of disappointment for himself began to take shape somewhere inside of him. Little Cato needed a way out, some kind of outlet to redirect the rushing river of thoughts.

He threw a pair of sneakers on, didn’t matter which, and rushed out of the sliding door leading to his living room. Upon entering the living room his eyes are immediately guided to the only other person there sitting on the sofa. The blonde turned quickly, and Little Cato’s heart nearly stopped when he did. 

“Hey Little Cato.” His smile was as warm as he could make it, but his tone was bleak. He might have still been reeling from Little Cato’s careless words. Then again maybe he also had a rough night. “You’re up early. Normally you sleep in during the weekends. Something wrong?” He asked. Was something wrong?

“No-no of course not.” Little Cato didn’t hesitate. Insight dictated that his responses should be quick and easy, but another thought spoke otherwise. “Well…” Little Cato trailed off. His hands rubbed over one another nervously as he approached the edge of the couch.  Gary’s attention followed him the whole way. He looked up at Little Cato above him. His eyes were glassy, refractive with what could have been the aftermath of tears or worry. All the same, he was ready to listen to anything the boy had to say. “What do you think about this place?”

“Hmm?” A hum vibrated in Gary’s throat as a brow shot up his forehead. 

“You know this place… Like Night City.” Little Cato moved his hands about to make sure his second dad understood the scoop of his question.

“Ohhhh.” Coed the blonde in realization and he smiled. “What is this, some kind of survey?” He laughed under a dry snicker.

“Gary I'm serious… Please.” As quickly as it came Gary’s smile went as Little Cato softly pleaded. 

“Okay, okay… let me see.” A hand stroked gently to the bottom of his chin as he mused over the question. “Well, it’s nice… it’s nice enough.”

“Gary.” A sore whine left Little Cato.

“Alright, honesty got it. I hear you loud and clear.” He sat up realizing the question needed his full attention. “Look your father didn’t really want me to say anything but between me and you, this place has seen better days. I would have chosen anywhere else for us to go but…” He stopped dead, and it freaked Little Cato out a bit. The way he tilted his head made it seem as if he were considering a dark truth. “He insisted we come here. It’s just so dangerous out there. The streets are crawling with drug addicts, everything is dirty, there's a shooting every other half hour and to top it off, there are no good taquito places anywhere in this city.” He laughed. Gary always had to incorporate his sense of humor into a conversation even in the most serious of discussions. “But seriously Little Cato. I was out the other. I saw this group of gang guys just hanging out, drinking, cursing being generally obnoxious and the kicker was they were just kids. No older than you and they’re out there tossing their lives away. I know I worry about you a lot and that I tend to hover over you more than I probably should, but could you blame me in a place like this?”

Little Cato shook his head before answering. “No.” The answer was simple. He had felt the same way by now. “I’m not really sure about this place anymore, you know?”

“Why? Did something happen? You can tell me.” Gary turned his body fully on the sofa, pulling his legs up and throwing one arm out over the edge.

“No… yes… I’m not really sure actually…” A heavy sigh followed by uncomfortable scratching at the back of his ear as he struggled to say what was on his mind. “I remember when we first came here. I was so excited, not by the city itself but by being on earth. You always talked about it on our trips, you made it sound like the greatest place in the whole galaxy, and I had always wanted to experience it outside of staying with Grandpa Jack and John that one time when I was four or something. When you guys told me we’d be staying here for a while I nearly lost my mind. I thought of all the things we were going to do together and the people I'd meet. I was going to go to an actual school and it all excited me, Gary…” Little Cato fell silent. He felt as if he were unable to continue. Anymore and he might have broken down into tears. “I don’t know.” He shrugged and leaned over, giving Gary’s cheek a quick peck. “I’ll be back.”

“Where are you going?” By the time the question came Little Cato was already by the front door.

“Just in front of the building. Don’t really feel like going too far today.”

Gary sighed. To Little Cato’s ears, the sound was unclear. Was he still worried, or just frustrated that the boy was willing to leave the safety of their apartment even after what he’d heard? “Just be careful and stay safe.”

“Always Mama.”

Little Cato was out on the streets in no time. He could swear that elevator ride was getting longer and longer each time he stepped foot on it. If Little Cato could have the city, make a change, he’d like for them to start with the mega buildings. He wasn’t sure about other buildings' elevators, but the ones H10 had weren't the speediest way up or down.

It hardly ever mattered when you were out and people who came out of the mega buildings had no intention of coming back anytime soon. The thought is more of a personal request from Little Cato rather than a necessity. In other words, it would probably go unheeded anyway.

He jumped from the top step leading up to his building and hit the concrete curb hard as the slap of his shoes echoed throughout his surroundings. Seeing Night City streets used to fill him with some unscrupulous pleasure a few months ago though when he looks at it now, when he leans in and squints his eyes Little Cato can't help but feel his stomach twist and turn at the sight. Sometimes it felt like being on a rollercoaster, only the thrill wasn’t so fulfilling and it never stopped when he wanted it to.

“What am I even doing out here?” He questioned himself, unsure of what his plan was exactly. How was being outside going to make him feel any better? Wasn’t the city the epicenter of his troubled thoughts? Little Cato kicked his sneaker against the ground and started walking. To where, he didn’t know.

The walk didn’t last too long before he came to a stop. A group had been gathering not too far from where he started. His heart began to kick up once he recognized them as the Ventrexian joytoys though their usual cheery mood seemed to be absent at the moment.

Little Cato would walk up to them with some caution in his already weary steps. They were all gathered around someone, irate by the sound of their groaning and pawing at said person.

“What the fuck!” One yelled.

“Are you kidding!” Another said.

“And the fuckin badges won’t do anything!?” Yet another proclaimed.

The closer Little Cato got the more he understood who the whole hubbub was for. Cookie looked a mess, his white fur scuffed up and disheveled, one eye blackened beyond reasonable injury, and blood trickled from his mouth.

“Cookie!” Little Cato almost shouted as he pushed his way into the group of pissed off and worried joytoys. “What happened?” Despite having a busted lip and swollen eye the man was all smiles as Little Cato fell into his poor view. A smile strode out across his bloodied teeth.

“I'm as fine as sunshine hun.”

“But your eye and-”

“Honey, I said I'm fine. Some bastard got a little too handsy is all.” Bloody as it may have been, Cookie's smile was still a sight for sore eyes.

“Jeez, man.” Little Cato wheezed. Seeing the joytoy so beat up was distressing. “Can I-... Can I at least get you something to eat or something?” 

Gleeful oos cluttered the air around them. The other joytoys were cooing and awing at the boy. Little Cato didn’t think much of the offer when it left his mouth, but the street walkers' teasing was certainly making him more self-aware about it.

“Aww, honey. You wanna take me out to make me feel better?” Little Cato’s mind drew a blank, more aware of the context of his offer. Silently, he slowly shook his head yes and received another round of awws from the surrounding joytoys.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

The pair are seated at a table. The diner Little Cato decided to take Cookie to was a familiar one. The same one where he’d confessed his feelings to Ash so long ago now. Tried to confess his feelings anyway. He could still remember how nervous he was and how cool he was trying to come off in front of her. Looking back on it makes him want to curl in on himself like a pill bug but that day could have gone worse in his opinion. At least she didn’t reject him.

“This is a nice spot,” Cookie said, disrupting Little Cato’s thoughts. “I pass this place all the time, but I’ve never actually been inside. With how long I lived here you’re probably thinking how's that possible huh?”

“Hm? Yeah…” Little Cato wearily replies, still struggling to focus on anything but the older Ventrexian’s appearance. “What did you want?” He asked and Cookie hummed, not too sure. Little Cato meanwhile was trying to keep his eyes from wandering over to the joytoy’s shiner. The harder he tried to dissuade himself the more he wanted to look. Cookie said it was nothing, but Little Cato had to know what happened for sure, just to ease his mind. “So how did this happen to you?” No, pussy footing either, no beating around the bush. He just came out and said it.

Cookie looked up from his menu and at Little Cato. There was confusion in his expression, suddenly uplifted by realization. “Oh right. This.” He chuckled as he waved a hand to his face. “That’s actually a pretty mature story, I think. Are you even old enough to hear it?”

“Uhh, yeah. I’m like fourteen dude.” Little Cato could feel the smug grin wash over his face.

“Oooh, okay mister big man. I got you, daddy.” The boy's smug grime faded as his cheeks began to warm. Cookie raised his hands slightly in a show of apology. “Where to even begin.” Another small hum came. After a moment he spoke again. “Well, last night I was working a route. It was business as usual. I go around as flashy and fabulous as can be, someone approaches me, and we go find a more intimate setting for the evening.” He goes on, explaining his usual nightly routine. “Well as I’m wrapping up for this morning, and this guy comes up to me. He was super weird, really jumpy kinda guy. Honestly, that should have been my first warning but since I’m such a people pleaser I go ahead and ask him what he’s looking for anyway. He looks over his shoulder again and turns back to me and says, ‘Everything you got’” Cookie lets out a little laugh as he recalls the encounter. Little Cato was glad the man could find humor in that situation because he could not. “Now you know you just don’t go up to a joytoy and mug them, right?”

“Of course,” Little Cato agreed. “You guys aren't pushovers.”

“Exactly. This guy must not have been a local or else he would have guessed that. I rarely ever go for my gun, so I just pull out my switchblade on the guy. Gave him one last chance to reconsider but he was weirdly stubborn. So, I handled it and handed him his ass. He got a shot in obviously, but I managed to run him off. Went to the police about it but they just told me these things happen. Said sense I already scared him off that there was nothing they could do.”

Little Cato groaned in frustration. Normally joytoys had the protection of the Mox but the Mox couldn’t be everywhere at all times. The gang wasn’t the biggest in the city and Watson wasn’t their territory to begin with. “Seriously.” Little Cato sighed after his temperamental anger had subsided. “I’m sorry that happened to you.”

“Don’t even be.” He waved, kindly dismissing Little Cato’s condolence. “You buying me something to eat is good enough.” Cookie picked up a menu and glanced over it with his one good eye. “It’s not every day a man is willing to do that for me.”

After their short meal, Little Cato and Cookie made their way out of the diner. Little Cato being the gentleman that he was, offered to walk with the joytoy. Though it was broad daylight there was no telling what could happen in night city. Little Cato felt it was better to be safe rather than sorry.

Retracing their steps back to the building Little Cato would keep a protective eye out for Cookie. The mugger was definitely long gone but his guard was still up.

His surroundings never got any better. The city had already seemed to lose its shine and hearing about Cookie’s assault had dimmed what little there was even further. His eyes were viewing the whole picture and there was no mosaic effect to censor the unpleasantness or black bars to cover up the indecency. The soft pitter patter of machine gun fire rattled off in the distance and no one seemed to care.

The image of the city only becomes more blackened as the pair come upon Vincent, Valerie, and Jackie all sitting on the steps to mega building 10. They weren't there when he first came out and them being there now didn’t stir up some newfound appreciation for the day either.

They looked like they had seen better days, Vincent in particular. A dreary frown lay on his gaunt expression, hair went unbrushed and bags pulled at his eyes with enough force to drag his face down. He looked tired… done even.

“Hey Vince,” Little Cato stopped by the dejected group. He didn’t reply. Hell, it seemed like he didn’t even hear Little Cato at all. 

“Vince. Vince.” Valerie managed to shake some life into her brother. Her arm was coiled around his shoulder as she held him closely.

“Huh, yeah?”

“LC.” She nodded over to Little Cato. “Wonderin’ why you’re so down.” Vincent looked up finally, a thousand-yard stare greeting Little Cato as he did.

“What happened?” Little Cato dared to ask though something in his gut didn’t want to.

“You wanna tell him, or should I?”

“Nah.” He shrugged Valerie off and stood up slowly. “Leavin' town soon kid.”

Little Cato’s heart sank. “What?” He thought he’d just misheard the man.

“Tomorrow, I think.”

“Wha- wait… where?”

“Eh… Chicago, I think. Heard it’s not so bad this time a year.”

“But why?” The boy pressed wanting, no, demanding an answer to this sudden line of thinking.

Vincent sucked in his lips. He was building up the courage to speak. “Choom of mine got zeroed last night. That's the norm in night city I know but I knew this kid since I was young, almost as long as Jackie here.” He shrugged to the tall man beside him. 

“I was actually palnnin’ on taggin’ along with V actually. Me and Misty.” Jackie added.

“Hold on- why? I don’t get it.” Little Cato stepped closer. He was desperate to understand why someone he saw as a friend was leaving so suddenly.

“Cause I never thought about it before. I done fuck all with my life for a long time but run around in these streets and cause shit for my family. I don’t wanna wait around till my flatline comes around, you know.” He sighed. “Guess I stopped diggin’ Night City after a while.”

“Wh- what about Valerie? You’re just gonna leave her?”

“My sis’ll be fine. She’s the biggest beaver I know. Her future’s set, safe and sound with Hyperion. If that falls through, she can just shack up with Arasaka or somethin'. She’s got more ambition than I ever could and the smarts to follow through.” Little Cato stammers. He tried to think up anything he could possibly say to change the man’s mind or at least have him reconsider it. Before any argument could leave his mouth, Jackie would step over to him.

“That's just the way it is.” He said. “Life in Night City moves fast. One day you’re chummin it up with your chooms and the next they're gone. Ay, that's the way of things in a city so big.”

“Wha-” More sounds leave Little Cato’s mouth but nothing coherent. “Well, what am I supposed to say against that?”

Vincent laughed, his features looking a tad bit lighter then. “See ya around kid.” Vincent turned and began to walk, and Jackie followed behind him, throwing up a peace sign as he went. And then they were gone, disappeared into a crowd of Night City denizens.

Little Cato didn’t really have any words. He slowly dragged himself over to the steppes and planted himself on the stair where Vincent sat. No thoughts circulated, no emotion ran rampant throughout his mind or body. The city didn’t even really matter to him then. Vincent was leaving. Jackie and Misty too? Little Cato didn’t know them for long but hearing that they were also flying the nest was still a punch to the gut.

“Oh, I'm sorry hun.” Cookie sat down beside Little Cato and draped an arm over his shoulder.

“Yeah, don’t worry kid. He’ll be fine. He’s tougher than he looks.” Valerie reassured him and tapped his arm.

Of course, he’d be fine, there was no doubt in Little Cato’s mind. “Yeah.” The question is would Little Cato be?

Chapter 46: The rise of Kris Hansen

Notes:

you know honestly, I don't think I'm feeling to motivated to keep writing. I don't know what's changed, or maybe I do. I guess I just feel like I don't really belong here maybe. Thats not to say I won't finish the story; I figure I have to at this point. I've spent to long working on it. I just feel like I have to consider what I'm going to do after this is done. There's a lot of amazing writers out there and I feel like I shouldn't be taking the same space as them. Feels like I'm intruding in some way. idk, i have to give it some thought. anyway, here is the next chapter. Enjoy whoever you are.

An explosive shell hit the ground and clumps of sand and debris flew up, obscuring the screen's vision. Someone coughed uncontrollably. Unseen forms shadowed by grains of thick dust scramble forward, nearly knocking one another down in a desperate bid to find cover from the raining fire. The camera shakes slightly. Movement doesn’t seem to occur in the mind of the man holding it. Finally, an arm reaches out to grab the person behind the lens and drags them into cover with the rest of the panicked fighters.
 
“Are you retarded or something!” A man yells. He was clad in primarily black and carbon fiber. Bits of dust clung to the dark fabric, giving it a patchy look. A combat vest fastened tightly to his torso, Kevlar, pitched as black as his suit. From the toe up, he was well dressed, even with the dust that had painted the fine fabric of his suit, and his dark hair had managed to keep its luster even through the madness unfolding. “Stay down dumb ass, you’ll get yourself killed!” The well-dressed man raises his head over the short wall he’d been taking cover behind. A gun is drawn, a pistol that might as well be a handheld cannon. The gun wiped over the wall and a shot louder than any other rang out into the swirling dust, even clearing a bit of the kicked-up sand as the bullet flew. Then another and another after that. It wasn’t clear if the man knew what he was shooting at or if he were hitting anything but the look on his face made it clear that it was of no concern. Just so long as he got to shoot something, anything, he was okay with the events that were unfolding.
 
“Hey. Are you okay?” The camera turned away from the man and landed at the sight of another. “And the camera?” The Lombax’s ears twitched as a look of concern wafted over his expression for the lens and the person behind it to an extent. A thumb reached out from behind the lens to express that they’d still retained all their bits and pieces. “Good… camera on me, okay?” The Lombax readjusts himself, swaps at his ears to get the dust off, and brings a microphone up to his face. “I’m standing here now at the sight of a harrowing scene in Oasis Valley. Just across the ridge from where we’re positioned, or rather crouching,” He chuckled mostly to lighten the load of their predicament. “A group of red faction insurgents have recently opened fire on a convoy delivering relief supplies to EDF troops on the frontlines. The convoy was to be transported in the care of the private military company Yotao.” The camera pans over to the mercenaries all as smartly dressed as the first. It wasn’t the most common uniform for soldiers of fortune, but it was eye-catching. Maybe that was the point. “One would think the ebony clad mercenaries name alone would be enough to dissuade any sort of action but as of late Red Faction has been kicking up a brazen storm all across the surface of Mars.”
 
“Look out, amigo!” The Lombax reporter was tackled to the ground by one of the mercenaries and just shy of another rocket blast. “Chenga! How many of these guys are there!” The merc stood back up, shotgun in hand as he unleashed a barrage of flaming cartridges into the dust.
 
The Lombax picked himself up and ran back over to the cameraman. “Come on, get up! Follow me and don’t stop filming!” He scurried across the dust-covered ground and back toward the mercs as the camera followed.
 
“Woah!” Both Little Cato and Avocato howled amazed and nearly enthusiastically falling off of the sofa. 
 
“This is insane.” Little Cato cried out with limbs flailing in agitated excitement.
 
He and his father had been in the living room, lounging in front of an ongoing new broadcast. The broadcast was live coverage of Mars his dad had been watching long before Little Cato had woken up. As he had left his room to see his dad curled up in the sofa pit and enjoying the broadcast he would invite Little Cato to join him. Little Cato took a moment to consider his dad’s offer but took him up on it without much deliberation.
 
Little Cato figured why not; he had nothing better to do. With his friends at school and him under suspension for obscene behavior, as the school would call it, wasting his time with boring news coverage seemed like his only feasible option. The live broadcast had most certainly started out boring. Large amounts of time were spent interviewing mercenaries and asking locals their opinions on the war. As if their war-torn homes didn’t already answer the question for them.
 
As Little Cato was about to bid farewell, thinking he could find something more exciting to do on his own, he quickly found himself more captivated by the broadcast as bullets started to fly almost out of nowhere. Makeshift rockets clashed with metal troop transports, lead collided with flesh, blood spilled, and bodies dropped completely uncensored for all Alliance space to see. Little Cato was somewhat speechless. For the past few months he had heard about the war on Mars, even managed to experience it secondhand, albeit by accident, from a braindance he had sampled. Everything he’d heard was far from pleasant, fighting broke out all the time, civilians were regularly caught up in the crossfire between the red faction and the EDF, and opportunists, like the many gangs of Mars, were using the destabilization as a means to further their own agendas or even make a profit. Vincent always told Little Cato that the fighting was brutal but necessary. Mars was a free province within the Alliance. That meant they had particular freedoms and leeway that couldn’t be found on places like Earth. The only problem was that since the government had no say, no one could tell the corporations what they could and couldn’t do. There was a rumor that governments were backing the corpos so that they might have some foothold on the planet, but Little Cato liked to think it was just his friends talking shit as per usual. 
 
“Oh, Okay!” Avocato cheered. One of the mercs had taken a nasty shot. Red mist mixed into the scattered dust and almost became indigestible from the kicked-up dirt. “Not so boring now huh Little Cato?” He pushed an elbow into the boy’s side and turned a proud smile to him after. Little Cato could see where he got his pride from at least.
 
“Okay… I may have miscalculated the situation a little bit. But only by a little bit.” His dad raised a brow along with the most obnoxious smirk. “Okay, I was bored but could you blame me. Literally nothing was happening Dad.”
 
“Eh, you’re right. Who wants to watch a war with no fighting?” 
 
“Exactly.” Little Cato couldn’t agree more. Sure, the war on Mars was awful. People were tortured and killed daily, but he couldn’t pull himself to turn away from the brutality. He found some strange intrigue in moments like that. The gunfights, the shelling of whole neighborhoods, the raiding of civilian homes on the substation that rebels were hiding away in them. No matter how much his body wanted to stop watching, morbid curiosity cemented his eyes on the screen. “I think I've seen some of these guns before Dad.”
 
“Of course,” Avocato answered without tearing his eyes from the TV screen. “A lot of them are military grade, Helghast, Alliance, Arian… pop quiz, name that one right there. Name, make, and model” Avocato pointed to the screen. The camera had wiped around and landed on a mercenary who’d been dumping the magazine of his weapon into a group of rebels. He was having the time of his life and looked almost as happy as the merc with the large pistol. The doll-like smile that twisted up his face and reached his ears sent an ominous chill through Little Cato’s body.
 
“Easy. That's a M20, Misriah Armory. ODST variant.” His dad applauded, finally looking away from the screen to show his son another proud smile. “I wonder how they got their hands on that. I thought certain weapons couldn’t just be bought by anyone. Especially not special forces weapons.”
 
Avocato quirked an unknowing shrug at the boy. “Company probably spared no expense outfitting these mercenaries. Still, the amount of money it must have taken to convince so many manufacturers must have been in the hundreds of millions.” A curious hum signaled Avocato’s suspicion. It was odd to see so many different guns being held by one group. Normally PMCs would stick with one manufacturer, much cheaper that way. But these guys… they had it all and weren't afraid to use them to their fullest extent. “How much do companies usually make Little Cato? I never really care to keep up with that kind of stuff and I know you’re taking an economics class.”
 
Little Cato sat up on the sofa. His eyes glanced upward and slightly over as he thought. “It depends…” He buzzed idly. “I heard you could make a killing on Mars- free provance and all- but there are also no regulations the corpos- eh, companies have to follow. So, I’d say Martian companies make way more money than they actually know what to do with, from all the mining and digging for precious minerals. Still, you’d think they would have gone bankrupt by now spending so much money. The suits, the armor, and the guns? It’s a lot.”
 
Avocato leaned back further into the sofa, the leather seat groaning and morphing to his body. “Yeah,” Avocato muttered softly. “Makes you wonder if they had a little help, right?” Little Cato made a face at his dad as if he’d offended the boy by some means. “Ah, never mind.” He quickly shrugged off the comment. Little Cato hoped his dad wasn’t getting into conspiracy now. As fun as it would have been to theory craft with his dad, Little Cato couldn’t help but feel that kind of thing didn’t suit a man as serious as his dad.
 
“What are you two doing?” Gary barged into the living room. He appeared seemingly out of nowhere, giving the two Ventrexians a volatile start. He looked good, much better than he did the day before. Little Cato might even dare to say he looked happier, if only by a bit. 
 
“Just watching the news.” Avocato points to the TV just in time for the lens to be splattered red with the blood of some poor merc who couldn’t keep his head down. “Want to join us?”
 
Gary shook his head at the two Ventrexians; lips sucked in with displeasure. “Oh no, not this.” Gary stormed across the living room, stepping over the sofa and into the pit one leg at a time. He picked up the controller sitting on the coffee table and pointed at the TV and the screen went black.
 
“Gary!” A unified cry met the blonde from two different directions. 
 
“Gary, come on.” The juvenile whined.
 
“Nuh-uh. Bad news, bad moods and we don’t want that right now.”
 
“But Gary this is important-”
 
“No buts. Let's go do something more positive instead, yeah? I heard Cherry Blossom Market is pretty cool.”
 
“Gary-”
 
“Ah, ah, ah…” Gary held up two fingers, quickly bringing any argument Little Cato might have planned to a close. “Everyone up and dressed in fifteen.” he tapped the top of his wrist and made his way to his room. His request wasn’t a choice and the Ventrexians knew better than to ignore Gary.
 
-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/
 
Bright neon shone from every corner. Even during the day cherry blossom’s lights were as bright and blinding as always. Every time Little Cato entered, he felt he should have been wearing sunglasses with how dazzling the glorified alleyway was. He always wondered why the lights were so bright. Being a standout was an important thing in Night City, but Cherry Blossom was essentially a big ally. Even so, it wasn’t like people didn’t know what or where it was. The market was a popular tourist and shopping spot, even without the lights it would remain popular.
 
Gary led them into the market. He’d been skipping into the blinding ally gleefully with his family reluctantly in tow. He stopped shortly and drew in a deep meditative breath. Little Cato found it inspiring that he could take in the small of the market. For Little Cato the scent wafting from the many food stalls still wasn’t enough to cover up all the other odd smells the market radiated. Gary was always so positive in that way. He always managed to see the good side in everything, even in a city like this which he didn’t care for so much.
 
“Okay, fam.” Gary smiled at them. “Were to first. I’m thinking something to eat. With how good this place smiles I’m feelin’ it.”
 
“Yeah?” Little Cato would beg to differ. In fact, he felt he had a much better idea. “I’m actually not feeling so hungry honestly. Maybe you guys can go on without me and we'll meet up back here in a bit?”
 
“Oh yeah? What are you planning on doing?” Gary asked, curiously raising a brow.
 
“Window shop for clothes maybe.” His response wasn’t as confident as he would have liked it to be, and his smile was forced on. Had he been sporting flesh instead of fur he was sure the nervous droplets of sweat would have been all too visible rolling down his head.
 
Gary squinted at the young teen. His observation seemed to go on for hours. Little Cato would have definitely been sweating by now. “Okay. Just be careful.” the integrating look vanished quickly before turning. As he did his expression was overcome with shock and excitement. “Ooooo, Avo, follow me I think I see a taquito stand over there.”
 
“Gary, wait up!” Avocato ran after the blond. Little Cato let out a relieved gust. He was glad Gary didn’t press him further on where he wanted to be. Little Cato thought after he was suspended that the man would hold a tighter leash around his neck, but the blond had been fairly light-handed with him. He had no idea why, but he didn’t want to question why either.
 
Little Cato walked up to the door of the Experience. The flickering blue light strangely had been off. Maybe it had finally given out. No matter, Little Cato was here for one thing, whether or not the lights were on hardly mattered.
 
Since watching the live news broadcast, he was feeling in the mood for something mind-binding. Braindances were special to Little Cato. He could never get enough of those headsets. Whenever the thought sprang to mind, his head would tingle. Jumping into a recorded recreation of a past event gave him a feeling he couldn’t explain. There was a sort of pleasure to it, unwavering excitement and adrenaline caused his blood to rush especially with the BD’s that involved some sort of anguish.
 
Little Cato wasn’t a masochist. At least he didn’t think so, but whenever he got a BD that involved pain, choking on his on vomit, being stabbed or shot or drowned, or any other manner of ending scenarios, were some of his favorites. The moments leading up to agony were the most thrilling for him and snuff BDs were on another level of excitement for him. His friends would call him a brain potato, a person addicted to BDs but he didn't really care.
 
Stepping into the BD studio Little Cato was shocked by what he saw. The studio was practically stripped down. The headsets were torn off the walls and large boxes littered the floors from end to end. What was going on here?
 
“Hey, little man. Glad you’re here.” Obi walked out just in time for questioning, though he didn’t seem so fazed by the fact his shop was basically gone. "Come help me out, yeah? I got a few more things to pack." He walked toward the back before Little Cato could ask much of anything.
 
He followed. The only way he'll get his answers must be back there. As he entered the back office, he could see that even it was bare. Everything on the shelves was gone, taken down, and packed away in even more boxes that lay on the floor.
 
"Here kid, pack these." Obi handed Little Cato a few BDs and pointed to an open box not too far from where he stood. He nodded, stepping over to the box and neatly stuffing the headsets inside. While he was doing that, he thought it best to start getting some answers for why Obi was packing up all of a sudden.
 
"So, what's going on Obi. You renovating or something?" That probably wasn't the case, but Little Cato wanted to remain optimistic about what the reptile could actually be.
 
"Nope," he replied quickly. "I'm packing it up, kid. Moving with the wind and all that." His sing-song voice carried the news all the way too Little Cato's heart. No matter how honey-coated it was it still hurt to hear.
 
"You too huh?"
 
"I got obligations elsewhere that require my undivided attention." he shrugged as he packed another box. "Tell me, kid, do you have siblings."
 
Little Cato shook his head. "God no." the thought of having a little brother or sister had never even occurred to him before but if the Dewinters or Gravens or Levins were any to go by, Little Cato wasn’t sure he wanted one.
 
"Well, it's work and a half I'll tell you that much." Obi chuckled and his usual chipper smile vanished after. "In this world, your sib is everything. You got to go to bat for your sibling even if you don't want to. You have to keep them safe, give them money when they ask, cover for them if they ask, let them borrow your much too expensive dodge hellcat..." The last one was a bit specific. "You know when we were born, we’re twins by the way, when we were born, we came out together. He was in the normal position and for some reason, I was wrapped around the kid like a little sash. They said I held a grip so tight it took two doctors to get me off. That's why our ma named me Obi. Cause I was like the guy’s Obi" The man explained, the far-off look in his eyes coming back from their long trip to the past. "Anyway. My brother is in a little spot of bother, and I have to go drag his ass out of the fire before he gets burnt." A smirk smoothed along Obi’s lips. At least the smile was back on his face.
 
"Will you ever be back?" Little Cato already knew the question wasn't worth the effort of asking but he'd still like to know regardless. 
 
"Maybe. Might need a new space though. This one was getting a little cramped." He pulled out his wallet and handed Little Cato money, way more money than he knew what to do with then. "Thanks for the help… Now scream."
 
Little Cato wandered back out of the studio. His mind was drawing a blink, something that seemed to be happening a lot lately. He couldn't believe it. Vincent, Jackie, Cookie, Obi. Who else was leaving the city behind? Was it going to be one of his close friends next? What would he do if it was?
 
"Hey, kid." Little Cato was brought out of his thoughts. A sleazy-looking man with greasy slicked-back hair and an even greasier smile approached him. "Those legs open early or what?"
 
"What?" His jaw nearly hit the ground as he stared at the man with the strangest look of disgust on his face. "I'm only 14 gonk, what are you talking about?" Little Cato said, hoping that the man would back off red-faced. Though he was all that dissuaded by the mention of the boy's age.
 
"Aw, that don't matter." He stepped closer to Little Cato shoving his arms to either side of his head and pinning him to a wall of the little dank ally. "Don't they say age is just a number." Little Cato shuddered. The man's perverted voice didn't make the invasion of his personal space any better either.
 
Significantly freaked out by now, Little Cato dropped to the ground and slipped through the man's legs. "Leave me alone, freak!" He ran out of the dim alley and back up to the market. His goal was to find his parents. Knowing his dad, the sleaze ball freak was going to end up a pile of mush once the man was done and Gary would piss on the remains. Only problem was, Little Cato was having a hard time finding them. "Seriously." He groaned. No matter where he looked from the food stands to the storefronts, they were seemingly missing. The one time he wanted to be under them, and they were nowhere to be found.
 
"Hey!" Little Cato looked back. The man was still on his tail. He began to run again. His best hope was to lose him.
 
-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/
 
The man cleared his throat, pulling the large hood further over his head as he did. He carefully peered around his surroundings. He had to be careful. If anyone caught on that he was still alive, he wasn't sure he'd be able to slip away as easily. He could have chosen a better spot to hide but no place in Night City seemed so safe at the moment.
 
He pulled his sleeve up over his red arm. He had to change out his obsidian chrome for something cheaper and even his optic had to go. It was yet another attempt to hide himself, changes made to alter his appearance that wasn't outright bio-sculpting. Not that he could afford that at the moment.
 
Now all he could do was keep his head down, at some noodle stand in the middle of Cherry Blossom Market. Oh, how low he'd fallen. All because he got sloppy. Kessler had caught onto him somehow and he still couldn't figure how. He was so careful, made sure to take every precaution. He wasn't some sloppy scrub. Kessler clearly had more reach than he realized. Things were gonna be much harder for Majestic than he first thought.
 
"Oh god!" Someone gasped nearly crashing into him at the noodle stand. He looked over at the kid who'd just plopped down beside him. A Ventrexian, a kid with sunburst fur not even out of high school by the looks of it. He was panicking about something as he constantly looked around. "Sorry, can I sit here?" He was already in the seat when he asked.
 
"Uh, sure kid." He grumbled reluctantly. He was cold-hearted but he wasn't going to send a kid who was clearly in distress away.
 
"Thank you- woah cool augment- I mean thank you." The kid was all over the place. He didn't know whether he was hiding or trying to make friends.
 
"Eh, it's a cheap piece of junk but it's working for me." He failed to mention that it was the best he could do. "So, what's up kid. What’s got you so jumpy?"
 
"Huh? Oh right." The kid flung his head back over his shoulder. "I'm trying to find my parents but I'm also trying to hide from this freaky guy who's..." he laughed a little. "Well let's just say he's trying to touch me."
 
"What?" The man perked up on his stool suddenly. "What- like he's tryin’ to molest you or something?"
 
"Yeah basically."
 
He groaned, disgust forming into a loogie that he spat to the ground. "Where is this guy right now?"
 
"Well, I don- oh god." The kid ducked down. "He's right there." He pointed out the freak. Slightly buttoned-down shirt, greasy slicked back hair, thin, penciled-on mustache. This guy was so typical. 
 
"You know kid." He leaned over in a whisper. "I got an idea." As he explained his plan the kid's face would grow horrified. It wasn't something he wanted to go through with but after some reassurance, he was fully on board.
 
It'd been a while since he ambushed someone. For a while, the need to fight with guerrilla tactics had become lost to him. When you had a whole army covering your ass you hardly needed to fight dirty. You hardly needed to do anything at all. Maybe that's how he was caught off guard so easily. He let his guard down and the fact that Avocato was able to slip in so easily really said a lot about the army he surrounded himself with.
 
Right now, that didn't matter. The kid had entered the alleyway with the perverted man in tow. The kid drew him in as he was told. He enticed him, teased him, gave the sicko little giggles and shy turns of the head.
 
The freak was in sight though he would wait. He waited for him to get closer to the boy, waited for him to reach out and caress his long ear, waited until he grabbed the kid by the neck and that's when he would step in.
 
"You mind taking a step over here?" He stepped out, gesturing for the man to take a step away from the kid and over to the wall.
 
"What?" He was shocked, more than that. He was frightened. "Who are you? His father or somethin’?"
 
"It doesn't matter who I am. It only matters that you take a step over here please." He gestured over to the wall again. This time the ratty man would obey, slinking over to the wall with his head down to avoid eye contact. "You mind telling me what you're doing here?"
 
The ratty man kept his head down. "I wasn't going to do anything-"
 
"Oh, you weren't. It sure seemed like you were harassing that young boy." He gestured back to the kid. His tone was calm, calmer than how he usually was. 
 
"What, no- no. I wasn't."
 
"He told me you asked him 'do those legs open early or what' Does that ring a bell?" The ratty man stutters and mutters incoherent excuses. "Now please if you could answer the question. You're not in any serious trouble here. You're free to go just so long as you answer my question."
 
"Really?"
 
"Of course." He replied simply. "Now is it true you asked this boy 'do those legs open early' and that you told him 'Age is just a number'?"
 
His teeth clenched, the words no doubt sounding much worse out of the mouth of another. "Yes."
 
"Why would you do something like that? Don't you feel a degree of shame when you speak to a minor in such a way?"
 
"I-i don't know what came over me. I'm not usually like that."
 
"Oh yeah." He was sure that was true. "What are you usually like?"
 
"I-im a nice guy usually. I just been under a lot of stress lately and my wife left with the kids." Great, the guy had a family. Good lord. "Wh- what happens now?"
 
"What do you think should happen?" He offered him back the question. The ratty man shrugged.
 
"I promise not to do this again and I can go?"
 
"Is that what you think?" He shook his head unsure. "Okay... you can go and leave." The man held out his red cybernetic arm to the freaky man as he slinked away like the rat he was. As promised, he was free to go. Little did he know that the police were already waiting for him at the end of the alley. Apparently, they were aware of his misdeeds and had it out for him for a while now.
 
"Woah! That was amazing choom!" The kid ran up to him, giddy as all hell. "Man, the look on his face was priceless. I wish I could have got a pic. Thanks for helping me deal with that freak."
 
"No sweat kid." He smiled, actually smiled. His solo days were behind him. It'd been a while since he had done something for someone just because. He forgot how good that feeling used to be helping someone who needed it the most. 
 
"Hey, you didn't have to help me. You could have just ignored me or sent me away. What's your name?"
 
"Kur-" He held his tongue before he could finish. He couldn't give the kid his real name. It didn't matter if he was just some jumpy kid, he still had to be careful. "Uhhh... Kris... yeah Kris Hansen.
 
"Kris. I'm little Cato." Kurt paused when he heard the name. No way this was that the kid. Now that he gets a proper look, however. He did resemble his parents a lot. So Avocato did keep him after all. "I gotta get going. I still have to find my parents. Thanks again for helping me." The kid smiled and took off, leaving Kurt, or rather Kris, in the alley.
 
What a day, but nothing beats a hectic day in Night City. "Hmmm... Kris Hansen." He repeated the name to himself. He liked the ring of it.

 

 

 

 

Notes:

you have to admit the end is a little funny right? I can't be the only one. I'm a jackass sometimes.

Chapter 47: Deep rooted

Little Cato stood up and made his way toward the front door. The insistent pounding on the metal had been going long enough to frustrate his parents. He knew it was for him. No one but an annoying juvenile could knock loud enough to drown out the cranked-up blaring of a wall-mounted flat-screen TV. As the metal door clunked open, blood-red pupils reached out to meet him.

“You want to help me out with something today?” Timmy asked. He stood so close to the door frame that Little Cato might have thought the boy was pressed up against the door before it was even open. One hand was stitched tightly to his jutting hip as he kept the shoulder on the opposite end of his body tilted slightly downward. His shirt hung carelessly off of the tilted side, exposing his shoulder. His fur seemed more illuminated than normal under the pale flicker of fluorescent lights and his face was blank, bordering on dead than board.

“Just like that? No hey Little Cato? How’s it going choom? Suspension treating you well?” He leaned up against the shallow firm of the metal door. In an instant, Timmy's face lifted, and his hip and shoulder straightened up.

“Oh, excuse me. Hey Little Cato. How’s it going choom? Suspension treating you well?” His patronization was clear. The sarcastic sway of his body tugged at little Cato’s face, nonetheless, dragging up a fag filed smile over his lips. “You want to help me out with something today?” Timmy folded his arms, and his face dropped back into its borderline dead expression. The request still stood.

Narrowing his eyes in a bit to make it look like he was giving the question actual thought, Little Cato lazily turned his head back into the apartment and to his parents. Their gazes flew off quickly, trying not to make it look so obvious that they were watching him like lightning hawks. Did he even have to ask them? Gary and his dad had been acting surprisingly standoffish for the past few days. Was it because of him? Had he done something wrong or were they allowing some space to Little Cato?

Independence was good but if it had to come at the cost of the ones, he loved the most, did he really want it? Not all of the time at least. Then again, they could have just adapted to his habits. Back in Cherry Blossom Market, after his long search for them had come to an end, the only reason they could give for their disappearance was that they knew he’d be fine alone. He wasn’t so fine but mentioning that had slipped his mind during his one-sided emotional reunion that mostly consisted of the boy chastising his parents.

Seeing as not much was going to be said to dissuade him, Little Cato turned back to Timmy. “What do you need?”

“My mom mailed me something, so I was going to pick that up.”

“Oh… okay.” An odd request. Certainly, not one a single person would need too much help with. “What do you need me to do?”

“Nothing.” His dead expression filled with life as a smile came to pass his lips. “I was looking for someone to walk with.”

Little Cato sounded a regal chuckle. A much simpler request than he thought. “Yeah, okay.” Agreeing, he pulled himself back into the apartment. He cleaned himself up, brushed his hair, slightly, and lazily did the same with his teeth, threw on a fresh outfit, and ran a comb through his tall bright blue hair again, just to be sure. After his slightly drawn-out routine, he rushed back to the door, meeting Timmy in the hallway.

Along the way Little Cato would attempt to pry out the details of the package Timmy was picking up. What it was, where it was coming from if it was special or not. The feline boy wasn’t so receptive to the line of questioning for some reason. He wasn’t all that talkative throughout the entire walk really. That wasn’t like him. Timmy was by no means a rambler, but he wasn’t the kind of guy to keep quiet especially if someone had been curious about something.  An unnerving silence walked alongside them for far longer than Little Cato was comfortable with.

Any attempt to inquire about anything was in vain. Little Cato’s pitiful excuses at conversation fell on silence and that way it would remain up until the pair reached their destination. A post office, establishments that were few and far between in Night City. There were far too many alternatives around each corner those days. Why wait in line to receive a package that could have been delivered to you from the comfort of your sofa?  And if you had to go out, the quick transport bends that could be found pretty much anywhere in the city was far more tempting and convenient than a wait on a long hot line.

Unfortunately, Timmy’s mom seems to believe in doing things the old-fashioned way, and even more unfortunate, the line they stood on was slow moving. Time bled into itself the longer Little Cato had to stand around doing nothing. Time moved slowly, dragging along at a snail's pace. Little Cato was getting restless as he anxiously tapped his fingers against his leg. What made things worse was that the post office was cold. Nothing serious enough to turn him into a popsicle but cold enough to bypass his fur, bite into the flesh beneath, and make him shiver. Little Cato would have brought along a jacket if he could guess the post office was going to have an aversion to warmth. 

“Little Cato.” After a long stint of silence, Timmy spoke without looking at him. “Why did you fight?” 

“Huh?” Little Cato looked at him a bit confused but grateful for the words that finally left his friend's mouth at last.

“What made you finally decide to fight Tavish? Fight back in general?” Little Cato was caught off guard by the question. He thought the answer would be so simple. He was worried for V and when Tavish wouldn’t let him through, he just lost it. However, the more he thought about the reason he fought, the more he felt there was far more to his outburst than his teacher potentially being fired.

“I don’t know.” was the best answer he could offer.

“Hmmm.” Timmy hummed and silence took shape between the two boys once again. He was still faced forward; his red eyes strained into a little squint. Something was running through his noggin for a good minute. Whatever it was he’d been battling with it. Maybe even debating with himself. “ I think you were looking for an excuse to do something like that. And I think you used V as a way to excuse yourself.” He finally came out and said it. 

“Oh yeah.” A smirk found Little Cato’s face as the line shuffled forward. “What makes you think I actually wanted to get in trouble?” There was no confidence in his response, but he did what he could to feign some ignorance.

Timmy shrugged thoughtlessly as the line continued to crawl forward. “I’ve been watching you for a while. I’m always watching you.”

“Always?” Little Cato shrugged and scoffed. That was the last thing he was expecting to hear from Timmy, but he shouldn’t have been all that surprised. “Hopefully not in the shower.” 

“Shut up.” Deep red eyes roll around. “Seriously, when we’re in school, or out on the street, anyone that's ever treated you badly you manage to fight them off with the kind of patients I hardly ever see in this city.” The line crawled forward. “You ignore the threats, you ignore the teasing, the shit talk, the other assholes who pull at your tail from time to time.” He paused, allowing Little Cato to chime in.

“Okay. So, what's the point?”

“I watch you.” He said again. “You are a patient person. Not much can get under your fur. At the same time, I’m not so sure.”

“What's that supposed to mean?” Every slowly, the line moved, bringing them closer to the front desk. 

“When I look at you... when I look closely, I see this thing in your eyes. It's a certain look, a twitch. It’s weird, violent. Almost like you want to do something about the teasing and insults and the harassment but you hold it back like some kind of wild animal.” His red eyes glance over to Little Cato, some hint of worry glistening along them. “Little Cato, I know you. I know you well enough to know your kind and loving. You put others before you put yourself. I know your kind… but when I see you get that look in your eye I can’t help but feel that there's something more to you. Something more dangerous than I think anyone realizes.” 

A baffled snicker was his response. It was all he could think to do and no proper word on the matter would arrive in time as the pair were called to one of the service windows. 

“How can I help you?” The employee behind the thick, trauma-resistant glass spoke in an exhausted drawl. 

“Timmy Borowski, receiving something from Possum Springs.” Another exhausted sound crooked from the back of the employee's throat. Slipping off his chair, the action seemingly taking more effort than it should have, the man stepped away from the heavy-duty window. He reappeared, quicker than expected, and shoved the fairly large box into the package loader. 

“Sign here.” He grumbled, handing the boy a clipboard. Timmy checks out of the necessary boxes and signs the slip of paper before taking up his package. 

Before leaving he pulled Little Cato off to the side and placed the box down on one of the post office wall-mounted countertops. Clawed fingers hooked the edges of the black box and, in one quick motion, it was open. 

At first, Little Cato couldn’t understand what he was looking at. The contents of the box looked to be a jumbled mass of fabric all forcefully stuffed inside without much thought. “What is it?” He finally caved and asked.

“Ohhhh…” Timmy was hit by a wave of understanding. The goofy smile that stretched along his face couldn’t be helped. Grabbing the edge of the fabric and pulling it up had unveiled that it’d been some sort of cloak and an odd, pointed hit sat in the box beneath it. “It’s my mom’s old witch dagger custom.”

“What, like- for Halloween?”

“Duh.” Replied Timmy. “Guess she figured I didn’t have an idea.”

“Lucky.” Little Cato lightly smacked the other’s arm. Halloween was just around the corner, and he still had no idea what he was going to do for it. “Your mom sounds awesome and yet I almost never hear you talk about her. Why is that?” 

Timmy blinked as his body grew still. His childlike smile had twisted and morphed back into a dead frown. “Because there’s nothing to talk about.” He repacked the cloak and hat and placed the lid back over the box rather roughly. “Come on.” He ordered, barely waiting for Little Cato to follow as he sped walked his way out of the post office.

“Huh? Hey T Wait.” Little Cato hastily peeled out of the door after Timmy. He had partially been careening in long strides down the long street block, upset for some ungodly reason. “Tim, wait!” Little Cato caught up quickly. He’d never seen Timmy move so fast before. “So, what about you?”

“What about me?” He deflected. 

“Come on Tim. You’re really gonna psychoanalyze me and I can’t get a simple question answered. Every time I ask about her, you get so cagey.” He argued, matching the speed of the other upset boy. “Come on, fair is fair. Why don’t you like talking about where you come from?”

“Shiiiiit…” He began to slow down to Little Cato’s gratitude. “I guess fair is fair…” He groaned. An agony that was painful in the physical sense caused his head to bob from side to side. His head jerked angrily, cheeks pouted slightly, and he pulled Little Cato in close to slowly walk beside him. “Where to start…?” red eyes close shut for a moment then opens with astute clairvoyance. “So, I come from a town called Possum Springs. It’s a hole in the Midwest and I doubt you ever heard of it. I remember it fondly though. It was falling apart at the seams the last time I saw it but there were still some good memories made there. A lot of bad ones too.” He bit at his lip, celery reluctant to continue. “My mom, she’s not the best, she can be a goddamn idiot on her best days. She was always so impulsive. Never thought twice before doing anything. One day she wakes up and decides she wants a kid, like that could be fun or something. Only she didn’t want to bother with finding a man for it. She thought it’d be easier if she did it all herself. Everyone told her it was a bad idea, but she was never really a good listener either. Naturally, since I'm a product of donation I don’t know who my real dad is.” An uncanny smirk found its way up his face suddenly. Little Cato couldn’t understand what for. He knew what it was like not to know one of his real parents and there was usually nothing to smile at. “When the time came for me to come, she had a little extra surprise. Two of us.”

“You’re a twin?” Stopping in his tracks, a genuine wave of surprise washed over Little Cato’s expression.

“Yeah, I guess I didn’t tell you that huh.”

“No, but continue.” He was too captivated for the story to stop now.

“Oh right. Me and my brother.” His head shook. “We were hellions. Really managed to crawl under the town's skin somehow. We climbed phone weirs, smashed glass, kinda, maybe, sorta caused a rat plague.” He shrugged sheepishly. “They called us the demon twins, but we were only following our mom’s example. From what I always heard she’d done much worse when she was younger. I tell you, when I say she was a shithead I mean it…” Another small burst of laughter fires up and dies out just as quick. “I guess I should get to why I don’t like talking about the place.” Timmy shuttered and closed his eyes again. He was building up the courage to speak. His exercise drove a spike of nervousness into Little Cato.  Was he going to like what he was about to hear? “One day me and Jimmy wander into the woods. It was no big deal; we did it all the time. It was like a safe haven. A palace we could go to get away from everything. Those woods were our place, there were always people going in and out of it, but it belonged to us. So, when a man came up to us asking for directions we didn’t think anything of it. When he offered to buy us something to eat, we didn’t think anything of it…” A pause, colder than anything up until that moment. “I don’t know when I did. Somewhere in between him separating me and my brother and him crawling on top of me with my pants down but I realized that I was in trouble.”

“No…” Little Cato could only muster up the faintest mutter. “Don’t tell me…”

“I tried to fight back but I was so small… helpless. I still remember the pain. Sometimes when I wake up it’s the only thing I can feel… I guess that kind of thing doesn’t really leave you huh?” His hand was shaking within Little Cato’s arm.

“Yeah, no kidding.” Little Cato’s reply was hot and angry. He was beginning to shark too but it was more of a slowly building rage.

“Little Cato.” They came to a stop. Timmy turned to face Little Cato. His nightmare eyes didn’t seem so scary then. “I’m okay. It was a long time ago. The guys in prison. You don’t have to be made.”

“I’m not-” His rising tone grinds to a frustrated halt. “It’s not fair what happened to you, is all.” Scoffing, Little Cato stepped away from Timmy.

“Of course, it’s not fair, but that's life. You can’t go back and change things. The guy’s gone.”

“Not really.” Little Cato argued. “Sure, the guy was gone, but he could get out. Come back, and what's stopping him from doing that to another kid?” He spoke in a huff, breath nearly vacant from his boiling rage. “I think he deserves worse than jail.”

“Okay so what, you’re gonna storm a prison and give him worse. You, a teenager- a little boy?” Little Cato was brought out of his brief abhorrence. As bad as he didn’t want to admit it, Timmy made a good point.

“No.” he pouted. “I don’t know… You shouldn’t have been hurt like that Tim- it’s…” There weren't many words he could offer that Timmy properly didn't already hear. “It’s not fair…”

“Little Cato.” Timmy wrapped Little Cato up in a soft hug. “I’m sorry I said anything. I didn’t mean to make you mad.”

“I’m not mad.” Muttered little Cato softly. He was fuming but the other boy's arms around him seemed to sooth his burning coal chamber. He would slowly but surely return the hug “Thank you for telling me anyway.”  

 

Chapter 48: Halloween powder keg

“God- Dean- let go of me!” Sam struggled as his brother held him down on the bed. A loogie dangled dangerously from the older sibling's mouth. The long string of spit comes close to Sam's face, swaying from side to side like a wet pendulum before Dean sucks it back up. He wasn’t done with his little brother though, he never was. He clears his throat, hawks up a fresh chunk of phlegm, and forms another string of spittle that slowly reaches down and stops just before touching Sam’s top eye. “God, stop!” Sam’s legs thrashed and his body twisted and turned, attempting to wriggle free from his brother’s grip. “Is anybody gonna help me?”

The others merely laugh at the siblings. Mostly at Sam’s distress. They didn’t lift a finger to help because the boys’ conflict was clearly a family concern and not one their friends needed to interfere with. That and it was funny watching Dean torture his little brother from time to time.

Dean sucked up the loogie again, keeping the mass of saliva stored in his cheeks. “You know what to do to end thi?” He spoke from the corner of his mouth as to not spill his spite needlessly. “Don’ know why you making thi so haod.” 

“Just get off me Deeaan!” Sam started to whine, the juvenile howling of the other teens only becoming worse with the sounds he made.

“Jus, say it.” Dean demanded, reintroducing the string of spite concealed within his cheeks back to the equation.

The bodily fluid slowly hovered down and stopped just short of falling into Sam’s eye. “Okay, okay!” The smiler boy stuttered, relenting under the threat of being lathered in his brother's spit. “Uncle- uncle! I’m a pussy and a bitch… let me go!” Another cry came as he tried to shake off the hands that held him down by the wrist.

Dean grinned, sucking up the saliva with an audible slurp. “That's right bitch.” He pushed himself off of Sam and stood up from the bed. “I tell you; he bitches out every time.”

“Screw you gonk, you’re such an asshole.” Sam pushed himself up on the bed to fix the hat on his head. “Thanks a lot for helping me out, guys.” He turned his annoyed glare to the other teens in the room. Their response was to laugh some more, especially with the face Sam had been making. His cheeks pouted up like a kid who was just told that he wouldn’t be getting any candy.

“Hey, whatever beef you and your brother have is between you two,” Ash argued with a cocky smirk. “Besides, you handled it didn’t you?”

“I embarrassed myself.” He scoffed at his, supposed, friends. “Where’s Ken and Argit anyway? They're taking way too long now. I want to get the night on a roll.” Sam asked. The heckling in the room ceased as each teen began to turn curious looks at one another.

It’d been Halloween night. A time a lot of them have been waiting for. Little Cato and his group of friends had all been gathered into DeWinters apartment save for a few. Harp had chosen to stay in that night. Her excuse was that she didn’t want to deal with how rowdy the city would get on Halloween night, but everyone suspected that her father was keeping her under strict surveillance. Fox had already left the building hours ago to do his own thing, though no one was too sure what that thing was. Fox was a mystery that way. You could never tell what he was going to do or when he was going to do it. Kevin and Argit’s other siblings had gone to some party with their father tagging along to ensure the teens' safety. 

As for Kendrick and Argit. The plan was to link up at Dean and Sam’s and from there hit the town running, but it had been close to two hours now and the two were nowhere to be found. Everyone had been ready for the night. Timmy was covered in the long, black cloak, and a sharp, dark red cap sat on his head, completing his witch dagger costume. The siblings had gone with a hip-hop teamed gimmick. Dean was dressed in a red tracksuit with white stripes running down the sides. A bowl cap of the same color rested atop his head, completely obscuring his third eye. His brother wore the same suit, but in a different color, blue. Ash was cloaked in the rag-tag brown robes of a Serepentian cultist. She also wore contacts in her eyes that gave them a milky look to pass off the impression that she had been possessed by the great serpent.  Kevin had decided that a skeleton was the way to go for him. His face was painted over with a white skull and a black bodysuit followed by an assortment of bones depicted in all the proper places. His reason for choosing the costume? Skeletons were chilled, that's why. Meowmar was, to no one’s surprise, the esteemed general Meowmar, fifth column commander, pride of house Mar, butcher of Salmon Bay, the bane of many a Tryvuulian and some might say one of Ventrexia’s most favored sons. Meowmar hadn’t been pulling any punches tonight either. The mock garb of A Ventrexian general was as close to perfect as perfect could be. His long dark coat was speckless and medals adorned his right breast. The leather boots on his feet stood so tall they reached past his knees. He even stood like a stoic Ventrexian general, a crop tucked under one arm and his posture rigid from the neck down. At that moment he truly embodied the fascistic feel of a Ventrexian patriarch.

Little Cato had to say he felt somewhat bad compared to Meowmar. All the orange-furred teen could scrounge up was an old ghost costume he’d worn a year prior. It was meant to embody the love for horror movies Gary had bestowed upon him when he was younger. Now it was just a rehash for lack of a better idea.

No matter. All that was important now was that everyone was ready to go and Kendrick and Argit were holding them up.

Little Cato pulls out his phone, intending to message Kendrick about his whereabouts when a text was sent to him first. “Guys.” Little Cato called to the attention of his friends. “Kendrick just texted me. Says he wants us to meet up at the Afterlife.” A collective groan spread throughout the apartment.

“Is he serious?” Sam asked, a bit of frustration still buried deep in his voice.

Little Cato didn’t know much about the afterlife. He knew of it, knew that it was a bar for solos and street mercenaries to catch their breath and a drink after a long day's work. Obviously, he’s only going off of what he’s heard about the place seeing as he wasn’t a solo and a minor, he was never allowed inside. That never stopped Kendrick from trying though. Kendrick wanted to dip his fingers in all the city had to offer and not much could stop his curiosity, besides security of course.

Little Cato didn’t know what Kendrick was like before arriving but from what his friends tell him; the masked teen was pretty much the same as he had been now. A curious kid who just had to know what was going on next door. The only thing they could say had changed was how ambitious he’d become in recent years. Too much for his own good, some would say. 

Even now as he was being tossed out of the bar by one of the big, heavily chromed-up bouncers, Kendrick wasn’t one to give up so easily.

“Hey, chill.” Kendrick hit the ground with a heavy thud. The prop knife that had gone along with his costume fell somewhere off to the side as he quickly picked himself back up. “What's the deal, gonk ass nigga!? Who pissed in your juice!?” 

“I don’t know how many times I have to tell you this, but you’re not allowed in. Rogue don’t cater to kids.”

“Bitch, I'm officially eighteen. Not a kid anymore.” Kendrick argued against the man. At least he tried to.

“Don’t matter. You still ain’t a solo so you still ain’t getting in.” The bouncer fired back leaving Kendrick with little room to argue any further.

“Okay- fine.” The masked boy recomposed himself, squaring the top half of the dark blue jumpsuit he’d dawned for the night. “Place is gonked out anyway.” He quickly turned on his heels, finding his friends watching with a range of emotions. Mostly disbelief and annoyance but Kevin did smile. “Oh, what's up lads… and Ash.” He patted down the legs of his jumpsuit. The costume was familiar to Little Cato. A serial killer from an old movie his family watched every Halloween religiously. Kendrick had even swapped out his red mask for a white one to match the astatic.

“You tell us what's up. You called us here.” Meowmar barked like the angry general he was pretending to be.”

“Did I?” The question was unfocused. Kendrick was too busy making sure his jumpsuit wasn’t damaged.

“You texted LC.” Ash chimed in. Suddenly it dawned on him with a smack to the mask.

“Right,” said Kendrick as he basically ran over to his friends. “So, I know we didn’t have much of a plan for tonight, but I got something lined up for us.” A muffled snicker came from the ghostly mask. “I think you’re gonna dig it chooms.”

“What is it?” Little Cato, curious of all, questioned.

Kendrick leans over to the group, slowly gathering them around in a neat little circle. His silence drove up the tension until the moment of revile. “Hound tipping.” He chirped relatively clearly. Buzzes of excitement and intrigue quickly filled the alley where the bar was located. Smiles abound all except for Timmy who didn’t seem too excited by the idea all that much. 

“Hound tipping?” Little Cato replied.

“No, Kendrick, that's a bad idea.” Timmy objected quickly.

“Wait what’s hound tipping?”

“Nothing good.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” Kendrick stepped in front of Timmy to face Little Cato directly. “Hound tipping is a gentlemen's pastime, a sport of kings if you will.” He spoke regally and with class as if to explain the premise of fine art. “So, the NCPD uses robo-hounds to patrol areas when they’re spread thin. They're especially being put to good use on Halloween.”

“What you basically want to do is sneak up to the hound and tip them over.” Ash popped in to explain, essentially stealing Kendrick's thunder in the process.

“Yeah, that's right. I seen a group of em' not too far from here. We can go fuck with them right now.”

“God's sake, Kendrick, do you ever think of these things before doing them.” Timmy started back up, jumping in between Kendrick and Little Cato to separate them. “What happens if we get caught? Robo hounds don’t ask to see hands, you know.”

“So, we won’t get caught, damn it’s that simple,” Kendrick said or suggested. Timmy turned his back to him, not interested in getting caught up with Kendrick’s nonsense. “Look- look, T come on. It’s just a harmless bit of fun. We go in, tip a few hounds, and then we'll go do something safer, choom.”

An unsure hum rumbled in Timmy’s throat. He still wasn’t too keen on the idea, but he seemed to be giving it genuine thought. “I don’t know… Last time we did this-”

“It won't be like last time, I swear…” he said, clasping hands to Timmy’s shoulders and gently rocking him to a conclusion. “Little Cato’s never done this before. It’s his first time. He’d appreciate it.” His tone was soft and calculated. Little Cato could tell what he was doing but Timmy couldn’t quite pack up on the subtle manipulation as his red eyes wandered over too Little Cato.

“...Okay… okay.” He agreed with a reluctant sigh.

“Okay!” Kendrick hopped off of his toes with delight. “Let's go fuck some shit up!”

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Little Cato propped himself up against the wall next to Kendrick. As the taller teen or young adult peeks his head out past the wall they were hugging, Little Cato would do the same. They were waiting, observing an open back alley. There were multiple entrances to the alley. Kendrick and Little Cato had dipped into one together and were leaning up against a wall dripping with God knows what.

Kendrick held a handout then pointed into the alley. Little Cato followed the direction of his finger closely. The thing was hard to miss. A large metal dog sniffing up and down a lonesome alley doesn’t exactly go over one’s head easily. It looked around, a bright yellow flash tracking along the ground and illuminating the dark shadows of the Alley. It was looking for something.

Not literally. The robo-hound was on patrol, and this was the area its programming had deemed worthy of investigation.  Anything even remotely illegal was fair game tonight. Halloween was a tumultuous night for Night City. Something about the pagan holiday always managed to bring out the absolute crazy in people. Crazier than they normally were anyway.

That’s why the robo-hounds existed. They were used plenty outside of this specific night, but Halloween was when they saw the most usage. Police would have their hands full dealing with gangers, raining in wild parties, fighting off halogens, and making sure kids were having an easy time trick or treating. This was the badge's most tasking night, and it left them spread thinner than they already were. The hounds made it easier. The only problem was that they had blind spots. The hounds only identified potential threats by what they were programmed to be on the watch for. Gangers, public nuisances, any archetype of person that matched the profiles stored in the NCPD database. Basically, they almost never considered a bunch of kids just out and about unless the area was restricted. They still attacked if they were assaulted but the moments leading up to that point rendered them effectively docile. 

The teenagers could practically walk up to them and nothing would happen. The hound would lock in place, run a flashy scan and move on when no threat was detected. That’s why the kids had to sneak up on them. It made things easier.

Kendrick tapped Little Cato on the arm as the hound turned. “Go on,” he whispered, throwing a nod at the unaware bot. 

Little Cato breathed in, a shutter following the breath he’d cast out afterward. Methodically moving away from the wall, he was racked with nervousness. Knocking over a robo-hound wasn’t a pastime that was considered before then. Video games, sports, painting. Those were things he could have thought to do but this… How hard would it be to knock over one of these robots anyway? The other’s made it seem so easy. He was going to find out.

Carefully moving, the hound’s back was still turned to him. The yellow light flashes to one leaking corner of the alley, lighting up the pipes welded to the back end of a building. Little Cato started trembling. The closer he got the worse his heart ran in his chest. He was so close to the thing that he could see the fog of his breath cover the sleek metal plating of its back. The boy steeled himself, legs arched into a crouch and ready to run as he brought his hands out in front of him. Quickly, through squinted eyes, he pushed.

The bot fell to the ground, its metal form writhing and trashing shortly before standing back up. Its single yellow eye flashed a warning red, and it emitted a dark metallic sound. By the time it was up again, the teens were gone, adolescent howls of excitement echoing off the alley walls.

Kendrick and Little Cato regrouped with the other teens who’d been watching from a distance. That was their fifth spot that night, their fifth hound tipped but it was Little Cato’s first and it felt all so good.

“Hell yeah.” Ash rushed him into a hug. “See I told you; you could do it.”

“Yeah. That was actually pretty fun.”

“Not bad for your first hound, scrub,” Meowmar said, managing to find some criticism in the way Little Cato had knocked over the robot dog. “You didn’t have to delta so fast you know.”

“I think he did good.” Timmy, who had been against the idea of hound tipping at first, placed soothing fingers on Little Cato's arm. The reassurance was welcomed. He’d been so reluctant before, but he was arguably the best one at knocking down police hounds. Two of the five were performed by him when Sam chickened out of tipping his hound. Timmy even lingered by the second, letting it chase him around a bit until he was able to lose it before he snuck back over to it and knocked it down again. Kendrick wouldn’t count that as three.

“So, who’s got next?” Kevin stepped up, enquiring about the group's next volunteer.

“Eh, should we wait? Argit still isn't here.” Worry pulled at Dean’s expression as he turned to Keven. "Kev, where the hell is he?"

The usual chill look on Kevin’s face blinked into an uneasy grimace. "I don't know." Shrugging he took out his phone. "I texted him like an hour ago-" His words cut off as his eyes hit the screen of his phone. A brow rose to the top of his head and his face once again changed. Confusion paved his expression as he tried and failed to get a grip on what he was looking at. Then his face goes cold, fingers trembling in horror.

"What's wrong?" Seeing as how the others were just staring and waiting patiently for him to respond, Little Cato wondered what the cause of his delay was, and then his phone vibrated. All of their phones sound off with the ding of a notification. 

Little Cato takes out the device. He had received a message from Argit's phone. A photo. Tapping on the message box, the image opened. It was of Argit, tied up and clearly not having the best time if the panicked look on his face was to be believed.

At first, they all thought it was some kind of joke. They each texted back, calling his idea of a Halloween prank a lame one, but when a text came back saying that 'your little klepto is chilling with us at the Totentanz' the group grew suspicious. Then when Kevin's dad called and started shouting almost incoherently at him, they started to believe wholeheartedly that Argit was in real trouble.

They argued about what to do, who to call if they could call anyone. The Totentanz was a Maelstrom club, and no one was going up against those psychos without a good enough reason. There was talk about ripping heads off, walking in, and begging for the boy’s safe return, and among the suggestions someone had mentioned the police.

The police. 

They could help; they would help. They would have to. Kidnapped kids with clear evidence of where they were and who did it was hard to ignore. When they got to the police station however, they found finding help harder than they first expected it to be.

The station was in an uproar. Officers ran around, thinly spread between taking requests and hauling away recently busted criminals to cells. Any word the teens could have gotten edgewise was shrugged off with dismissive grunts if they weren't being outright ignored.

"Hah! You want me to do what now!" An officer at the front desk laughed. He was a feline, with fur as black as night and ears that stood as sharp as knives. The name that read on the plate stitched to his chest was Lt. Mao.

"We want you to save our friend!" Ash angrily brought a finger down on the counter. She was fed up with having to repeat herself for the tenth time that night.

"Sorry, we can't help." The officer leaned back with an obnoxious smirk. "We're up to our necks in tomfoolery right now."

"Oh, you're so goddamn useless." 

"Hey, watch your mouth!" He snapped his finger at the girl as his bright green eyes locked into a vicious squint. "Don't think I don't know you been tipping hounds tonight. I could haul all of you just for looking at them funny!"

"That's discrimination!" One of the siblings piped up, though Little Cato wasn't sure which one. Could have been both.

Everyone flew into an uproar with the group insulting Mao and Mao threatening to lock them up for disorderly conduct. All the while Kevin was quiet. He stood just behind everyone seemingly lost or clueless about where he was.

"Calm down Mao." An officer large in height and brawn sat the lieutenant down. He then looked at the teens. His left eye was replaced with a cybernetic that seemed completely fused to the skin around the socket. "What's even going on over here?"

"River! Officer Ward!" Ash said. She was familiar with the officer. "The sitch is all fucked! Our friend, he's been kidnapped. They're holding him at the Totentanz; you have to do something!" She blurted all at once. All her hopes lay with the man. He wouldn’t let her down. He wouldn’t let any of them down.

"I'm sorry kid but all of our officers are out dealing with the parade in Westbrook. We're spread thin as it is. Can't send an officer into Maelstrom territory on a whim."

"What!?" Little Cato could practically hear the girl deflate as she took a step back from the desk.

"I'm sorry kid. Maybe your friends just playin’ a little prank. It's Halloween after all. It happens all the time. Just give a little, he'll come around safe and sound, I'm sure." The officer suggested and just like that he was back to work, helping another officer to rein in one particularly violent drunkard.

The teens barged out of the police station. Disbelief and anger ran rampant through the air. They should have known the police would be useless on a night so full of problems.

"Fuck that, they aren't gonna help nigga, like what!?" Kendrick pulled out his phone and furiously started typing. "I know who's gonna help." He stepped away, bringing the phone to his ear.

"Yeah, maybe I can call someone too, Jackie or something." Ash followed Kendrick's example, taking out her phone as well. 

"I'm calling Gloyd fuck that, he owes us," Dean said.

"Yeah, he'll help, definitely." Sam followed his brother closely.

Kevin was still silent, at some point taking a seat on the step of the precinct. Little Cato watched him from the sidelines. His friends were moving fast for Argit. He wanted to do something about it too. He wanted to call someone, but he didn't have so many contacts. As he scoured his thoughts for an idea, one came to mind immediately. 

His grandma. She was a badass, could probably take on the whole Totentanz if she wanted to. She would help. Pulling out his phone, Little Cato texted the woman. While waiting for her response he took a seat beside Kevin to make sure he was okay.

"Don't worry, we're gonna get him back, Kev." His reassurances went without appreciation. Kevin’s silence was understandable. If Little Cato had a younger sibling and they were taken he wouldn't feel so talkative either.

""Hey!" The sound of a voice draws each boy's attention. Their sight lands on two figures, clowns no less. One extremely chipper and the other very, very sad. "What are you kids doing here?" Bungo spoke, stepping out of a pocket of shadow.

Little Cato's first instinct was to raise his guard around the clowns. Any time he saw them they were up to no good. Still, when he sees them, he's filled with a sense of comfort. "What are you two doing here?" He deflected the question back toward the bear.

"Well, some of the boys got booked for fighting each other at the parade, we're here to bail them out." Wow, they were actually helping each other out. No real surprises given their secret relationship outside their respective gangs.

"What's wrong with you? Why the long faces?" Pagliacci pulled two fingers down his long fake frown. After so much exposure Little Cato thought he'd become used to seeing the clown. Unfortunately, he still thought the guy was a disturbing sight.

"Um... His brother was taken. They're holding him at the Totentanz, but we have no idea what to do about it."

"Totentanz." Pagliacci hummed and pressed his fingers thoughtfully to his cheeks.

"That’s Maelstrom paggy." Bungo leaned over to whisper to the other clown.

"That ain't right." The colorless clown muttered again. "Totentanz you said," Pagliacci repeated the name, and Kivin and Little Cato nodded. "Okay..." Done talking, he wandered off silently.

"Oh boy." Bungo's sigh was filled with amusement. "He's gonna do something stupid... that means I have to do something stupid." Bungo skipped after the gray and black clown.

A pit swelled in Little Cato's stomach. He knew those looks, the movements. They were officially up to no good now. Why did he have to say anything to them? His regret hadn't had time to settle in before his phone rang out. His grandmother was calling.

Assuring Kevin, he'd be back, Little Cato stepped away to answer the call.

"What's this I hea about a kidnappin’?" She jumped straight to business as soon as the phone was answered. Her thick Aussie accent statically emitting from the other end of the device made him shiver. She didn't sound all that pleased.

"My friend. He was taken to the Totentanz. We already went to the police, but they wouldn't help. I didn't know what else to do."

"The Totentanz... yeah I know the place. Rough crowd, my kinda people." There was a brief lull between her silence and what she would say next. "Tell ya what. Send me the kid's photo and you go home. I'll handle it."

"What- but grandma-"

"No.' She stops him. "Go home. I don't need you rushin’ in thea, making rash decisions, and gettin' ya'self killed. Gary hates me enough as it is." He didn't answer immediately. What she was asking was a lot to consider. Yeah, it would be safer to go home and leave it in her very cable hands but that was his friend. Abandoning him didn't feel right. "Little man." 

"Yeah- yeah... you got it Grandma." hesitantly he agreed.

"Good. Trust me, everything is goin' to be fine." The phone hung up after. He ran a hand through his hair. As she had requested, a photo of Argit was sent. Now all he had to do was go home. Leave Argit and his friends behind to deal with this themselves. That didn't feel so right. His friends had stuck with him through thick and thin. When one of them needed him the most, how could he just sit out on him?

"LC, you ready to go.' Kendrick had come back around. Little Cato looked at the taller boy and nodded with zero hesitation. He couldn't sit this out.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Muffled sounds of death metal growls filled the surrounding area. Glowing red eyes stood guard at the front door. Rowdy or otherwise insults are cast, and punches are thrown into a malformed mosh pit of metal and flesh. Guard hardly broke up the scuffle, instead taking joy in the massive dust-up between friends and acquaintances.

The Totentanz. A bar where any psycho and crazy would wound up drinking at some point in time. The sign above the entrance shined elegantly despite what its reputation would suggest. The stories told about this place always invoked a tense feeling. The drinks were heavy, the music so loud it would not only burst your eardrums but your heart as well. Worst of all, it was full to bursting with Maelstrom gangers.

Little Cato and his friends had stood opposite the club for some time. In his ripped breathing he had long since lost track of how long they'd been waiting. It felt like forever to him. 

They were waiting for someone to come around, one of the gangs or backup they had reached out for in their time of need. Some wanted to rush in immediately. While they were waiting, who knows what could have been happening to their friend. Kendrick, surprisingly the most patient one at the moment, urges them to wait. Rushing in carelessly would do them no good, he knew that. Besides, they wouldn't have to wait for much longer.

Many footsteps had drawn them to a sea of red marching toward the club. Amari had arrived, not only with his crew and DB's but with as many blood-rose crews as he could possibly get to follow him that night. They were enough to stand a chance against a club full of Maelstrom gangers.

"Y'all ready to go?" Amari waved them over.

"Of course," Kendrick replied as he ran up to the man.

"Trick or treating?" DB cracked out a sly remark to Kendrick.

"Hound tipping, fuck off." A wicked sneer passed DB’s expression as Kendrick snapped back.

The large mass of red walked up to the front of the club. The guard with torn flesh exposing metal arms underneath wasn’t so fazed by the show of force. "I help you, bleeders?" A voice that was more syntactic than organic, questioned. The guard's comrades stood as nonchalant as he came off.

"You got something that belongs to my friend here. We come for it." Amari brought Kendrick forward by the shoulder.

Red eyes flicker and a nasty grin pulls along fake flesh. "By all means." The guard stood out of the way, letting the whole gang pass into the club.

The Maelstrom were an eccentric sort, to say the least. That was putting it nicely. They were a bunch of crazies who enjoyed tearing their own bodies apart and putting them back together again in multiple creatively deranged ways. Some might call them sick, a bunch of chrome-sucking psychos who didn't know the meaning of the word excessive. Those assumptions were all too true. Walking through the Totentanz was like walking through a haunted house at a theme park except the elaborate costumes and animatronics weren’t as fake.

Red eyes watched the group of teens and blood roses trek further and further inward. A hazy mist, illuminated by the crimson hue of light covered the floor underfoot. The screech of guitar riffs and thump of drumming beats rattled bones and souls alike. The club was a testament to everything they believed in. All the hatred, insanity, and ruthlessness they like to portray in the streets of Night City.

After their long, short journey, the group would come to a stop at a lounge area on the second floor of the club. In the pit sat a man. Wires protrude from his arms and ribcage. Fake flesh was pulled carelessly over the metal replacements of his torso and his eyes had been completely replaced with a sensory module, placed right at the center of his skull.

"Amari." The syntactic voice that came held some fondness for the man.

"Brick." 

"You know I was expecting someone to show up. Didn't think it'd be you." Brick slouched over, flashing a shiny grin at Aamri and the rest of his gang. "Sit down. We got some things to talk about."

Amari agreed, ushering the kids into the lounge area first.

"Now I'm not gonna pretend I know why you're here. Royce." Brick snapped to an equally augmented man standing behind the sofa. The man grunted and walked off, not taking too long to come back with Argit in his arms. He roughly tossed the boy down next to Brick. He was still tied up and his mouth was bound to prevent him from talking or even screaming.

"Hey-" Kevin shot up, intending to go for his brother, but was held back by Amari.

"I wasn't gonna hurt him. Ya didn't have to turn up with so much muscle." Brick laughed. "I just wanted to teach you kids that this city can be a dangerous place. No matter how young you are. If ya gonna try to klep things that don't belong to you, that ya better not get caught." Brick hummed quietly. "He's good, I can tell. Just a little sloppy tonight."

Amari tilted his head at the augmented man. "That's it? You took this kid and scared his friends half to death just for some fuckin lecture." Brick shrugged sheepishly. "That's fuckin' great." He admitted with a light chuckle. "Alright, go on and get your bro." He tapped Kevin and the raven-haired boy quickly ran over to Argit. He untied him and pulled him into a tight hug.

"What the hell is wrong with you!" He cried, breaking up the hug and holding Argit roughly by the ears. "Dad's talkin' about killin' me 'cause you can't keep your sticky paws to yourself."

"Ow, Kev, I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Kevin lets go of his ears and returns to hugging him. It seemed all was well. Kevin couldn't decide whether he wanted to keep hugging his brother or strangle him for causing so much worry.

"You love to see a family reunited." Said Amari. "But if that's all, we'll be going now-"

"Show you’re fucking hands ya pieces of shit." Someone yelled. A horde of greens, tans, and blue armbands had barged into the lounge with guns drawn. More guns are pulled. The roses, who were already jumpy, rushed to raise their weapons and Maelstrom had followed suit. "Brick, you scuzzy cunt. I should have known you were into stealing little boys." Gloyd pointed his gun right at the maelstrom leader, who had been oddly calm.

"Calm the fuck down Gloyd."

"Amari?" Gloyd tunes to the silver pistol pointed at his head. "You in on this weird shit too?"

"No weird shit, just a misunderstanding."

"A little misunderstanding," Brick added. The guns don't fall, instead moving between Brick and Amari. Everyone was pointing at everyone, gangers alternated between their rivals, some familiar faces from past beefs zeroed in on each other and stayed fixated. At the drop of a feather, the club would go up like a powder keg. 

"Seems like a big misunderstanding to me." Gloyd spun his gun around to Amari.

Amari sighed, trigger discipline loosening as his finger wrapped around his gun's trigger. "Just put down the gun G."

Gloyd squinted. "I don't really want to." The standoff had boiled down to just them. Their eyes locked in a not-so-loving embrace, no other element in the room could factor into what they had for each other. Curious passion burned in their eyes. They've wanted this for a long time.

6TH Street and Roses didn't get along famously but their constant bickering had never gotten to a point where they would pull guns on each other. A few punches were thrown, and noses and bones were broken but no shooting had ever occurred. In fact, up until Amari was almost killed, there had been a sort of truce between the two gangs. Understandable the truce was a tad shaky now.

"Alright amigo, keep it steady!" Another round of confusion was brought to the lounge as a wave of golden limbs, gold jewelry, and gold-plated guns forced their way into the standoff. Weapons were redirected once again and Gloyd and Amari put aside their differences long enough to take aim at the third-party offenders.

One among them didn't meet the standard of the gold-carrying gangers, however. The colors he dawned were darker, he was more subtle. His age told stories of his hard-fought experience with Night City and the white collar around his neck suggested that he was made of more righteous stuff than anyone in that club. Whether he was an actual priest or not, nobody really knew.

"Even more muscle, great." Brick laughed at the ever-worsening situation. "How’d you and your Tinos even manage to force your way in here, padre?"

"Brick, you should know by now that what Valentino wants, Valentino gets." The padre stood stoic in the face of many a gun barrel, his bravery on full display then. He didn't even carry a gun. His Valentinos carried them for him. "I'm here on behalf of a compadre. Says you took something that doesn't belong to you. A child. That's low."

"Say it was a misunderstanding." Gloyd, the crazy bastard that he was, pulled out a second gun. He points the newly materialized weapon at Amari and the other to anyone looking at him funny. Things were at the worst they could be. All the while the kids watch, unsure of what to do. They were caught in the middle of something bad and talking their way out wasn't so much an option. Keven held Argit tight as they marveled in awe at the standoff. They held their breath.

"Brick! Brick." One Maelstrom ganger, breathlessly, came rushing into the lounge area. "There’s a bunch of clowns raging outside!"

"What!?" Every rough look redirects toward the sound of fighting. Little Cato swallowed down a large gulp, knowing that he was the cause of such an abrupt party crashing.

"Man, fuck this," said Amari as he took aim at Gloyd’s leg and then fired.

"AH! Fucking leg!" He whimpered before firing wildly back at Amari. From there the cub lit up in flashes of gunshots that drowned out bone-shattering music. The keg had exploded, and everyone was scrambling for safety. Amari ran, Gloyd limped off, Brick flipped behind the couch in a fit of laughter and the padre was covered up by a few Valentinos and escorted away.

Little Cato looked up at the thinning gangs as he covered his head and ears. 

"Everyone Delta!" Meowmar ordered and his friends were scared in any direction, leaving Little Cato in a pitiful frozen state. Not wanting to be a segment in the local news he began to move. He stuck low to the ground and with his head covered by his arms. He ran to the stairs, nearly slipping on the pools of blood that had greased each step.

By the time his feet had hit the ground floor a tide of haphazard makeup, bad puns, and crude weapons entered the club proper. Whimsically painted blades carve through the dancefloor with little discrimination. Splatters of blood redecorated the walls, creating elegantly horrific pieces Picasso would be jealous of. 

Little Cato didn't know how long he'd been running for. He was too afraid to keep track. Even though the gangs were too focused on each other to notice him slinking through the madness, all the same, he thought he'd die that night. It wasn't until an October breeze rustled through his orange fur did, he realize that he was outside of the club. His body never stopped moving, not until a black car that stopped short of running him down came along.

"Get in! Get in! Sheryl demanded angrily. Little Cato wouldn't hesitate. Little Cato jumps into the passenger seat as the faded blonde peels out of the newly formed war zone.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

The drive was a silent one. Sheryl held a white-knuckle grip around her steering as she sped through mostly empty streets. She was upset, pissed was a better word actually. Little Cato didn't dare to speak or even look her way. He kept his eyes pointed to the floor of her muscle car, a sense of shame biting at him like mosquitos.

"What was that?" Little Cato flinched in his seat. The calmness of her voice broke the long silence.

"Huh?" Out of fear, and genuine befuddlement, he feigned some ignorance with her question.

"Don’t ‘huh’ me.” She barked. “I mean, that place was loghting up like fireworks and I see you crawling out practically pissin' yourself." She clarified. Her tone was overcome with anger. "Why were you thea? Why didn't you go home like I told you to?"

Little Cato stuttered out a large breath, still unable to face the woman. "G-grandma, he was my friend... I couldn’t leave him-"

"I said I'd handle it!" Her not-so-calm voice was enough to make little Cato jump and almost hit the ceiling of the car. Her grip around the wheel tightens and her foot falls harder onto the gas. "Did you see that place! You could have doed! Your friend could've doed." Her teeth clenched furious, and speed climbed. "Shit, I just wanted to do something for ya before I le-" She slammed on the brakes suddenly. The force from the stop pushed Little Cato roughly against his safety belt.

Sherly slammed her head into the steering wheel and remained there. Finally gathering up enough courage, Little Cato looked at his grandmother and saw a bloody patch on the back of her neck. Had something happened to her?

"What happened to your neck grandma?" His soft voice was able to coax her back upright. She looked at him with glassy eyes and felt the back of her neck. 

"Oh... that." She sighed. "Had to perform some self-admitted surgery to get the invisible colla out'a my neck. Had ta do the same with the bomb hidden in my womb as well." She touched her abdomen and nearly flinched. Little Cato pulled a pained expression at the thought of his grandmother cutting herself open like that.

"Why?" The question was a reluctant one and he suspected he already knew the answer.

She took a moment to answer, knowing that it was bound to upset him. He waited for it to come anyway. "I'm taken off kiddo." His heart sank into his stomach. Despite guessing that she might say something like that he still had a hard time processing it.

"So... that's it? You're just gonna disappear again."

"Little man it's not like that-"

"Then what's it like?" He called her out. He wanted to know what her reason for leaving this time was.

Her eyes roll with an irritated groan. "I have some business to attend to. I'll be back for you and Gary once I'm done."

"Yeah right..." He didn't believe her. How could he? Everything Gary assumed about her was true. She was a heartless, self-absorbed, lazy excuse for a mother, and now grandmother.

"Little man please don't pull that face." It almost sounded like she was pleading. When Little Cato looked back at her, sadness had taken her stone-cold expression by storm. "Don't be mad at your ol' gran. I swear, once this is through, I'll be back with you, and Gare and me can spend all the time you want with each otha." She brought up her hand, holding her pinky promise to the boy. "Little man?" She gestured with her pinky.

"A pinky promise." He couldn't help the smile from appearing. "Seriously?"

"Dead." She replied, smiling back. As much as he didn't want to believe her, as much as he wanted to swat the finger away and exit the car he couldn't. The look on her face was all too real. The way she spoke was too loving. He took the pinky in his.

"Promise?" He wanted to be sure.

"On my bleeding carcass if I don't keep it." That was good enough for Little Cato. He might end up regretting taking in that hope but how could he not give the woman the benefit of the doubt.

So, she was leaving too. It was good she managed to free herself, but one question still remains. "So, what happened to Maxus?"

A wicked grin found her lips. "Ah. The poor boy is taking a long, roofie-induced, nap."

"Is he gonna be okay?"

"He'll be fine. Though I suspect the Legions not gonna be too kind to him once they find out your ol' gran managed to slip away." She put her foot to the gas and the car began moving again. "No one ties youa gran down." Little Cato had to refrain from cheering in front of her. His grandma was such a badass.

 

 

Chapter 49: Managers Little helper

"Little Cato, don't go too far! I don't like how the city's been looking lately." Gary called to him as he exited the apartment.

"You got it, Gary!" He replied. The blond didn't have to worry. The last thing Little Cato wanted to do was step foot outside of their building. In the past month, the city had spiraled into ceaseless chaos. The events that Halloween night brought down more trouble than the city hasn't seen for twenty years. The news had called it the worst war in Night City since the first corporate wars. War. Little Cato was struck by a bolt of disbelief. A gang war massive in scale, had torn at the seams of the city. Each day brought a worse campaign than the last. Territories constantly shifted, and large firefights broke out often with reckless disregard. At first, the fighting had started off so simple. A few retaliations here and there, inconsequential clashes just to pay one another back for Halloween night. The problem was that those clashes never stopped. Instead, they spiraled and spiraled, turning into pity proxy wars that would evolve into fall-on-turf snatch and grabs. 

The Valentinos took from Maelstrom. Maelstrom took from the Bozos, Bozos took from the blood roses, blood roses took from 6TH street, and so on. At first, the fighting was limited to Heywood, Watson, and Santo Domingo for a time, though after a while more gangs started to get involved. The Animals, Tyger Claws, Voodoo Boys, Big Tops and high hats, the Scavs, even the K-knights and Barghest. No one understood why. Little Cato theorized that the remaining gangs in the city felt a little left out of the bloodshed or that they saw an opportunity to start taking parts of the city they'd always wanted to have. The fighting had spread all throughout the city and the police could hardly keep up.

To think all this madness was the cause of a couple of desperate kids. The city was on fire; everything was burning all because they had panicked and called however many gangs they thought could help get their friend back. In hindsight bringing so many rival gangs together to save one kid wasn't the best idea, Little Cato realized that as soon as the first shots rang out.

Regret ran through him like a knife pricing his side. No one wanted to leave their houses. The city was waiting for the bloodshed to die down. Clearly, that wasn't going to happen anytime soon. So long as the gang leaders drew breath, peace might have well been a good dream.

In the wake of his contemplation, Little Cato came to a lazy stop at the door of his best friend. He tapped a hand against the metal softly then took a step back, squaring his long-tailed white shirt in a way to make himself look presentable.

He waited. A heavy shuffling could be heard inside. Someone was struggling just to get the door open. At least he thought. As the door swooshed open, Miss Kassidy staggered out from the other side with her back turned to Little Cato. She held a litany of tools under her arms, wrenches, plungers, toilet snakes and a few bottled chemicals dangled from her fingers. She was so busy she failed to realize that the young Ventrexian was even there.

"Hey Miss K." She spun around, struggling with the tools clutched under her arms.

"Oh, hey Lil C. I didn't see you there." She said, panting slightly as she used her leg to prop up some of the slipping tools. She looked like she was in desperate need of help.

"Is something wrong?"

"Just gotta go take a look at a few apartments. Kendrick was supposed to be helpin’ me but- as you can see, he ain't here."

"Where is he?" She shrugged in response. 

"Around here somewhere." Her tone became more exhausted. "It's getting harder and harder to keep track of the goddamn boy, I swear." Little Cato could have guessed Kendrick wasn't around. It was typical of him to just disappear when someone needed him the most. Little Cato thought it was a shame to see his mom struggle without him but even so, she was quick to give up just because she didn’t have a little help. Still, he felt bad for his mom. She worked hard to maintain their floor and he never cared enough to stick around and lend a hand. But Little Cato was there now, and he could use something to do anyway.

"Can I help?" He offered his assistance and the woman's face lit up like a light bulb.

"Could you? I could really use the backup kid." Before he could say he was sure the floor manager had already been heading off some of the tools held under her arm. "There’s a few apartments that need our attention. If we split, we can get this done quick. You can take 1410, 1418, and 1420. Do a good enough job and I'll pay you good." 

Little Cato smiled. "Sure." He was already willing to help her out, but money wasn't a bad incentive to have. 

He immediately got to work, taking the wrench and snake to his first apartment on his list. 1410. Given that it wasn't too far from where he stood already, it was the best place to start. He bared the claws of his free head and combed them through his hair before knocking on the door. He took a step back, standing politely and patiently.

Quickly, the door flew open. A woman, tall and strong, exited from the shadows of her apartment and leaned on the frame. Her thick snow-white hair was braided down to her shoulders and slightly obscured the bullet shell necklace around her inked neck. On her body, she wore a Millitech-branded gray and black camouflage vest. Her black tactical cargo pants sat with two empty pistol holsters and the steel-tip boots strapped to her feet looked heavy and hard to walk in. Was she preparing for something, or was this her casual wear? Little Cato hummed to himself in wonder.

"I help you with something?" Her gruff tone of voice rippled through Little Cato's ears.

"I'm here because you made a report to the floor manager... I think." His inconfidence was palpable. Little Cato didn't know what the conduct for this sort of thing was or what he was even supposed to be fixing for that matter.

"Oh, yeah. Come on in." She stood out of the way allowing Little Cato in first. Once stepping into the apartment, Little Cato's jaw falls ajar. Weapons were strewn about the place. On the sofa, on the table and counters. Chain Linked bullets lay folded over the belt-fed weapons they were meant to fire from. Magazines for rifles and pistols stood upright and ready to entire their respective guns. Grenades were placed on top of coasters on the coffee table. That must have violated some kind of safety code Little Cato thought. The woman was definitely preparing for something.

"The sinks all jammed up. Water won't go down." She spoke bluntly, pointing Little Cato to the bathroom. He stepped inside and gave the metal sink a quick glance over. The sink was definitely clogged up. He had never actually fixed an apartment sink himself, but he's seen Miss. K and Kendrick work plenty of times to pick up on how to do it himself. 

He sat his tools down for a moment and gave the still water one last observation. An easy fix he thought. Picking up a small plunger from his inventory of tools, Little Cato quickly got to work unclogging the sink. He drove the plunger into the water, pushed and pulled against the suction. Some of the backed-up water kicked up and splashed against his fine white shirt but he ignored the cold dash as he danced along to the bubbling of the drain. The sink gave him more trouble than was worth at times. Taming the beast of a sink was like fighting a dragon. He pushed and pulled against the bubbling tide and used all the strength he could conjure to pump the clogged water rapidly and with a quick, satisfying pop, the water began to drain. Like he said, easy fix.

"Sinks good." Little Cato left the bathroom, tools under his arm and one bucket in hand.

"Thanks, kid. I appreciate it." Said the woman as she had begun to load the loose magazines into each of her guns. 

"Expecting trouble?" Little Cato smirked. She was about ready to wage a one-woman army, and Little Cato was curious against who.

"More like trouble should be expecting me."

"Are you a solo or something, miss?"

She stopped her preparation and snapped a smirk over to Little Cato. "Right on the money kid," she said. "Im gearing up to help put a stop to this gang shit. A bunch of street samurai are." 

Little Cato hummed. He'd heard that the street mercs and solos were preparing to help the badges with the city, but he only thought it was a rumor spurred on by hope and fear. This was good. The sooner the mercenaries got out there the sooner they could bring an end to the ever-escalating tension and the sooner the city could go back to its normal crazy day-to-day.

"Here, something for your trouble." She handed Little Cato a clip of money. Way more than what was required to take for pumping a sink he thinks, but how could he compline.

He scurred on to his next location, 1418. Just down the hall. This would be a breeze.

"H-hello." The man, who'd half answered the door, seemed a bit jumpy and way too tired as if he'd been up for days. "W-who are you choom. What do you want?"

"I'm here about a broken sink, or toilet... or whatever." Little Cato muttered, still unsure what he was supposed to be doing until he was actually let inside.

"Y-you're not Kassidy."

"Things have been busy around the floor lately. I'm filling in." Little Cato brought up the bucket and tools as proof of his honesty. The man peeking through his slightly ajar door didn't come off as the trusting type.

"o-oh-okey." The door opened up fully, revealing the twitchy man in a stained bathrobe. He was an Octoling, same as Koral except his tentacle-like hair was a deep shahid of burgundy and was considerably more unkempt than Koral was. "Come-in come-in." Little Cato was struck with a bit of uncertainty. He wasn’t quite sure if he wanted to step into this guy's apartment but as the thought passed, he found himself walking in automatically anyway.

The apartment was dark and would have been pitch black if some light hadn't managed to creep through the semi-broken window shutters. Little Cato's nose twitched, the rancid scent of drug use and alcohol almost made him tear up.

"Come, come." The man urged Little Cato over to the bathroom. From what he's seen so far, the state of the man's bathroom was going to be disgusting or worse but to his absolute surprise, it was just as clean as any bathroom on floor 14. "The problems in the toilet." The raggedy man nervously pointed at the silver bowl. He was shaky and seemed scared of whatever was inside. It was starting to make Little nervous. 

"Okay... let's see it." Little Cato peered at the closed toilet, dread and anticipation beginning to build. Using his foot, the man kicked open the seat of the toilet and Little Cato couldn’t help but gag at the unholy sight. "What in the world!" He couldn't comprehend what he was looking at. A thick, tar-like substance swirled within the toilet. The inky substance was up to the edges of the toilet, far too close to spilling out onto the floor.

"I may have overdone it the other night." The man rubbed at his neck sheepishly.

"What did you do?" Little Cato watched the strange goo in the toilet. He refused to take his eyes off of it.

"I-I mean you can't throw a party without the good stuff, right?" 

A frustrated groan left Little Cato. "I'll see what I can do..." A curious hum formed at the back of his throat. He'd never seen anything like this. Not produced by another person at least. Maybe it was some strange Octoling reaction to certain drugs. Little Cato didn't know enough to assume. "Maybe I can snake it..." Dropping all tools but the snake, Little Cato carefully hovered over the blackened toilet. He brought the snake over the bowl and began to crank the reel. The long, spiky wire entered the slug with an odd sound that nearly made him gag again. The substance had the same texture as tar and had started to bubble like a geyser. He hoped it didn't go off like one too.

Little Cato had been at it for minutes, but nothing seemed to happen. The goo oozed like slime and stretched like taffy all the while the bubbling had only gotten more violent. Little Cato tried to keep his distance from the toilet bowl but stayed close enough to properly operate the snake.

No matter how far the snake went, however, nothing appeared to change. As Little Cato dreadfully considered using a more personal tool like a plunger, the sludge erupted. The sudden burst of black slime startled Little Cato as he jumped back to avoid being splashed by whatever that substance was. In just a few more wild detonations the toilet began to drain, taking all the slug down with it before the bowl proceeded to replenish with actual water.

"Alright, you did it." The man let out a career that startled Little Cato again.

"Thankfully." He sighed. "Just don't do something like that again please."

"Duly noted."

Little Cato exited that apartment quickly before he was asked to fix anything else. He dreaded what he might find besides black toilet goo. With that little incident of terror over he rushed over to his last location. He silently thanked his lucky stars. Coming to a stop at the door, he goes to knock through before his hand can make contact with the metal, it slid open. A labored groan escaped him at the next resident to greet him.

Blade head, thick goggles, and a short stature gave him the meanest look as the door gilded open. Clarence was unmistakable from a distance, let alone up close.

"And what are you doing here?" A spiteful snarl always intended for Little Cato darkened his expression.

Little Cato sighed, dipping his head in irritated grief and rising back up with a courteous smile. "Here to fix whatever needs fixing." A curious sound left the man before his hateful expression turned into a devious smile. 

"Step inside and don't piss on the carpet, you disgusting creature." Little Cato cocked a brow. Did Clarence really think that low of him? All the same, Little Cato was shocked. He never thought he would ever step foot in Clarence’s apartment so to be invited in by the insufferable goblin himself was a shock to the system. He had no idea how to feel. Sure, he was only there for a job, but he thought Clarence would be more steadfast in not allowing Little Cato within his humble abode. 

It was a sty, to say the least. There was a lot more junk and odds and ends lying about than Little Cato would expect from a person as 'refined' as Clarence. A lot of what was strewn about were tech-based curiosities. Old data boards, pulled-apart communication devices, a weapon here and there, and a lot more weapon parts. Little Cato wondered why all the junk? A lot of what Clarence had didn't seem useful in any kind of way.

Aside from all the junk, the apartment was as normal as can be. A living room, TV, kitchen, one bedroom, and bath to boot. Fox had been sitting on the living room floor dragging a bow elegantly and deliberately along the strings of his violin. His playing was immaculate, downright hypnotizing. It was a performance Little Cato would have stayed to watch. 

"Hey Little Cato." Fox stopped his playing to greet him with the bow still in hand.

"Quit Fox! Keep practicing!" 

"Right- I'm practicing- I'm practicing." The large man returned to weaving elegant strings for the apartment walls. On the couch Harp sat, mindlessly scrolling through TV stations. She looked good but that wasn’t a very high bar to clear for her. Any version of her that wasn't strung out looked good to Little Cato.

"Harper, pick a program sweety." Clarence took a softer, more loving tone with her.

"Fuck you, Dad." She replied, continuing to flip through channels.

Ash chuckled. She had been in the kitchen, leaning over the cluttered table while taking small sips from a mug she held. "Hey junior." She wriggled her fingers at Little Cato as she smiled from behind her coffee mug. The smirk was a little devious and half-parts excited.

"No eye contact with him Ash!"

"What!?" Her arms fly out confused. Her father was ridiculous, to say the least. It became clear that his behavior was more than just some old man's attempt at eccentricity. On a fundamental level, there was something wrong with the short man. The hoarding, the need for control. It all shone a light on the glaring issues that lay with the man.

"Helt." Clarence shoved a hand into Little Cato's chest. "This is the bathroom, this is your objective. Earlier the toilet clogged and so after, backfired sending oodles of feces up and splattering on the walls. You will be cleaning said walls." He explained, told, and demanded Little Cato as if he were speaking to an employee, he didn't like all that well.

"What!?" He stood shocked. "How's that my problem?"

"It became your problem the moment you offered your assistance, feline." Little Cato would have argued but the smug little cretin had a point. He was here on Miss K's behalf and if he were to half-ass his job now it would reflect badly on her.

"Fine." Reluctantly, he agreed.

"Good. Now I'm going to use one of the public toilets down the hall. Do your job and keep your filthy paws off my daughter or I will castrate you and feed you your genitalia." He growled and Little Cato nodded. "Good. Get to it, wash boy." He left the apartment. Little Cato couldn't believe his luck. Ash, Harp, and Fox would even throw mockery and teasing his way for having to wipe down the shit-covered walls.

Clarence wasn't lying when he said the walls were covered in feces. Little Cato wondered how it could have happened in the first place. His toilet never backfired, whatever that meant. He wouldn't dwell on the specifics too much, however. The faster he got to cleaning the faster he could leave. 

He started with the simple things, the toilet, the sink, and the mirror, whipping them down as best he could. From there he moved on to the walls. There was more area to cover, not only with the walls but the shower and the ceiling as well. It was times like this when he wished his sense of smell wasn't so strong. Turned out that keeping his breakfast in his stomach was easier than scrubbing fecal matter off of the shower glass. He was exhausted and his body ached from having to scrub hard-to-reach places. The job was harder than it had any right to be but at least it was over. He left the bathroom quickly before he had the chance to throw up.

Stepping out of the bathroom he groaned frustrated. He outta piss on the carpet for having to go through that.

"Junior." As he stepped out, Ash whispered over to him. She was hiding behind the door leading to the one bedroom. Little Cato flashed a confused smirk at her and looked toward her siblings. Harp scowled and rolled her eyes while Fox just gave him a wink.

"Okay." He followed Ash into the bedroom. Ash took him by the hand and pulled him over toward the bed. She shoved him down and immediately set upon him like a hungry animal. Her kisses marked him everywhere from his lips to his cheeks to his neck. Her fingers wander and caress a spot behind his ear, getting him to purr like a kitten. She sat up as he was beginning to settle in. Her hands push against his chest and slowly drift up and down along his body.

"What are you doing here?" She purred playfully. 

Her touch was the only thing he could properly understand then. His mind took a moment to process the question. "Right. I was helping out Miss K. She was so backed up with work and Kendrick wasn't home."

"God, he's never around to help her when she needs it. I'm surprised he's still allowed in the house." 

"It's not his fault." As the words left his mouth he could see in real time the moment of Ash's disappointment. "He's got a lot on his plate right now. Because of this gang war, the roses are probably running him ramped right? I can't blame him for being absent."

"Are you kidding right now?" Ash jumped off Little Cato and stood up. "How could you excuse him for walking out on his mom?"

"Cause the situation’s complicated Ash."

"No one told him to join a gang. That's something he did all on his own. The fact that you can sit there and defend that feels wrong Little Cato." She backed up. Her arms folded in frustration. She was heated and only getting angrier the more Little Cato opened his mouth.

He stood with a sigh and walked over to her. He took her hands in his and though hesitant at first, she allowed his touch. "I want to believe he had good reasons for that. I want to believe he has a good reason for most of the things he does. Of course, I've questioned those actions but he's my best friend. If I start thinking less of him now then I'd feel kinda stupid." 

She kept quiet. A heavy squint pulled at her eyelids. "You… You're still in love with him aren't you." The accusation came fast and pierced him like a lightning bolt. When he rushed to answer his brain stalled, a long "uhhhhhh." Coming in place of the 'no' he meant to tell her.

To his luck, the door to the bedroom had opened and on the other in a not-so-pleased little man stood. His mouth was agape in disbelief and horror. "What is this!" Clarence starred in between the two teens. "Ahh! You abhorrent brut! Where's my cutter!?" He stormed out of the room, rifling through piles of junk.

"We'll talk about this later." Little Cato gave a cheeky grin before spreading out of the room and apartment faster than a ship could jump to another star system.

"WH- ugh- Little Cato!" Ash called but he was long gone. He couldn't believe he stalled like that in front of her. If she was mad before she was most likely beyond pissed now. He didn't worry, however. It was nothing a little time couldn't fix. 

 

Chapter 50: Loose ends tied nicely

Heavy pants echo off shadows. Hasty footfalls drip-fed through fear and panic splashed through the puddles of shin-high potholes. Shots rang, bullets danced off of brick and steel as their intended target ran unharmed. Still, they persist. More shots are fired, each one ringing off the walls of the long alley. The sound bounces around with an orchestral harmony. A shot whizzed by his head, they were getting closer. The target had attempted to fire back with his own gun, but the clumsy fool had dropped the weapon some time back as soon as the chase started.

He was fast, his cowardly heart carrying his body on a hyper wave of adrenaline. He thought he could get away. He thought he had a chance but a man like Avocato was too stubborn to let someone outpace him. He was no slouch, hardly took a day off of training even when he was advised. No matter how fast his target was, they would never be fast enough.

Dirty tricks were used; objects were knocked over to obstruct his path and delay the inevitable. Sharp turns were taken often which led them to traversing tight back alleys. His target was getting desperate and fearing for his life with no way to fight back had only made his desperation worse. By that point, Avocato was only shooting to get a rise out of the running man. There was nothing like the thrill of the hunt, the blood rush of fear. He didn't care if his target could fight back or not. No Ventrexian could find honor in a defenseless or easy kill, but Avocato was different. A fighting target was good but he's long since stopped referring to himself as a true Ventrexian. He's done too many things that would have been themed cowardly on his home world, awful things. He's shot too many people in the back, killed plenty of unsuspecting targets. He ran around like a sneak thief, more concerned with efficiency rather than honor. He didn't care, however. He didn't live on Ventrexia anymore. He didn't follow a code of attics in combat; he didn't have to fight face-to-face. He didn’t have to fight fair. His new world suited him better, his new army fit him like tailored boots, his new code was something worth following even if he had to resort to the despicable in the process. He always assured himself that it wouldn't be like that forever.

Kessler was just a steppingstone, a sort of regret he had to obey for the time being. Avocato assured himself that as soon as he fulfilled everything the man wanted, he would be free. Guilt-free... maybe not but he'd be able to crawl from under the man’s iron thumb. Avocato didn't plan on being his lackey forever. 

Eventually, the case had come to a stop at a back-alley wall. It was a dead end. The man’s running was over. "Wait- wait! Hold on! You don't understand what you're doing!" Was he begging for his life now? After trying to take a rather misly pot shot at him and taking off like a Lombax off of Fastoon? That was great, hilarious even.

"I understand plenty." Avocato kept the gun trained to his target. It was a clear shot, hard to miss. "You've been a problem for Kessler and that makes me a problem for you."

"No, he's just using you. Not in the way you might think. I know you; I've read the files he keeps classified. You're not helping the Alliance like you think you are." Every muscle in Avocato’s body locked up. The man's words were enough to stay his trigger finger. His file?

"Oh yeah?" Wondered Avocato, marching ever closer to the man. "And what did those files say about me?" He asked. He shouldn't have, he should have just killed the guy and gotten this job over with. But his curiosity had gotten the better of him at the moment.

"You used to be a captain with the Ventrexian hegemony. You and your wife. She was a communications specialist but when she had your son she was discouraged." Avocato’s gun lowered slightly. No one was supposed to know that. Kessler assured him that no record was kept on him. If his rank and wife were on there, then was the rest? The man kept talking so it must have been. "Your planet had been locked in a nasty war with the Tryvuulians all your life so it made sense to fight them. You'd join the army, leave the slums, and find some kind of purpose on the field but at some point, you became disillusioned with it all. After a Tryvuulian dreadnought broke through Ventrexia’s atmosphere and ran a bombing run that killed your family you felt like you had nothing to live for. Kessler offered you a way out, away from the war and bloodshed. So, you took that offer, left the planet, and came on board with the Alliance with a child that wasn't yours." The gun rose again.

"This retailing better have a point."

"Wait- wait. Kessler... ever since then he’s been throwing out operations that don't seem to make sense right? Data wipes, unsanctioned hits, sabotage?

"No... no they make sense; I'm removing threats to the Alliance…"

"You're removing threats to him." A brow rose and the gun dropped slightly again. "This whole time he's been feeding you a steady stream of lies. Even now, with this current operation. You've been killing Majestic investigators."

"Majestic- what now?"

The man's panting never stopped even after their long case had ended. "You don't know what they want. Him and the chancellor." He paused, hesitant? No, afraid. "They want to start a war, galaxy wide. We don't know why but that's what they want." Avocato staggered back and the gun descended completely. A lost look covered his face as the words played back in his mind. A war... galaxy wide. "Just let me go, there's still time. There's no reason they need to get what they want. Would your wife and kid have wanted this for you?" A sigh escaped Avocato. Would they? "Would Gary and Little Cato?" Avocato straightened out as a slow and heavy glare made its way over to his target. A fury burned deep in his eyes then. The names had provoked some primal rage he couldn't contain any longer. He raised the gun. "W-wait, wait-" The gun touched the top of the man's head and Avocato lingered. "You don't-" A single shot bounced off the walls of the alley, blood paved the back wall of the dead end, and a body dropped to the wet concrete below. The shot was clean. The bullet had gone straight through. The blood that splattered across his face felt like being hit with a bucket of cold water. What did he just do? That's something he's never asked himself after a hit. But he was asking now.

Avocato lumbered out of the alley and shoved his gun into the chest holster hidden under his long coat. Usually, he’d be moving faster after so many shots had been cast so liberally but lately, he could care less about the cops coming around too soon. The gang war that had been raging made things so simple. Police were so stretched thin across the city that nothing of what he did would be noticed by anyone. They'd just blame all the carnage on the gangs now. He didn't know who started it but if he ever got the chance to meet them, he'd give them a big hug and buy them a drink.

As he made his way up the street Avocato’s phone rang. The contactless number wasn't recognizable, but he could guess who it had been. He answered. "Hello."

"Nice job with the target. The part where you hesitated was really great stuff." A gruff rasp filled Avocato's ears from the other end of his phone.

"Fox? Have you been watching me?" He looked around, knowing he wouldn't be able to guess which camera on which building he was being watched from.

"I'm always watching. You should know that by now." The fox went quiet, so quiet to the point Avocato had to make sure they weren't accidentally disconnected. "I wanna talk. Face to face just me and you. Let's say at a bar. I know a good spot. Sending you the coordinates."

"Wait what? Fox…? Fox…?" Avocato peered at the screen of the phone. The line had already been disconnected. His hacker wanted to meet up in person. That's another thing that's never happened after a job. This night had just taken an unexpected turn.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Avocato had followed the coordinates sent to him. Like the Fox said it led to a bar. El Coyote Cojo. A bar he had known close to nothing about other than it was a gang hot spot. The Fox wanted to meet here? Avocato could have thought of plenty of spots that were less ‘rowdy’, he would say.

Then again, he should be grateful that he was actually getting the chance to meet this hacker face to face. Avocato had always heard stories about him, heard of his tendency for secrecy, his ability to disappear into a crowd. The man was a phantom and the lucky few who could catch a glimpse of his actual face would never live to tell about it. Who was Avocato looking for? How could he tell the man from some low-life ganger? Many people were standing outside of the bar alone. He could be anywhere. Eyes could be watching Avocato at that very moment.

His phone buzzed. A message had come through.

- go in, come up upstairs

Avocato couldn't help the grimace that had formed over his lips. Of course, he'd want to play it like that. He was smart, crafty, careful. He was a Fox.

Avocato followed the instructions, entering the bar. As he does all of his senses are struck by the smell of smoke, the sound of music, and low-lit neon lights. A thick haze from burning cigarettes lying in discarded ashtrays wafted in the air. Patrons either stood at tall tables or sat at the bar, partaking in the drinks of choice. Graffiti stained the back walls like colorful tapestries. For as uncouth as the bar was, their alcohol stock was decent. They had everything from Earth classics to Ventrexian favorites. It all lined the back walls like a mountain of class surprisingly. How could he not be impressed?

Finding his way to the second floor, Avocato could see multiple booths and even more patrons drinking the night away or taking respite from the ongoing war outside. Nothing stood out. People sat next to each other, talked, and drank but none of them seemed like a dangerous reclusive hacker. His phone buzzed again as he was looking around.

-take a seat.

Avocato groaned to himself but listened. Choosing an empty booth at random, Avocato sat. He waited... and waited... and waited. Nothing for close to thirty minutes had happened. No one had even come by to take his order. He was beginning to feel like a fool. Someone like the Fox probably got his kicks off of watching people go on about their lives. He was a voyeur in the worst way. He wanted to see if Avocato was dumb enough to think that they'd actually be meeting. Apparently, he was. Or he would have been if someone hadn't fallen into the seat across from him.

Emerald eyes scanned Avocato like a machine. A dry smirk met his pale appearance from the safety of his baseball cap. The coat he wore was long, collar popped high to counsel himself from prying eyes. He was younger than his voice betrayed but something in his eyes made him seem much older.

"Fox?" Avocato quirked a brow in shock and awe.

"Call me Aiden." They sat in silence for another few minutes. The whole time Aiden's emerald eyes focused on Avocato, unmoving and nearly unblinking. His body was motionless save for the slight breathing of his chest. Avocato knew what this was. The hacker was trying to size him up, look for flaws, intimidate him even. It wouldn't work. "So, how's the family? Gary and your kid."

Avocato's face darkened at the mention of his family. A heavy pressure swirled within his chest and climbed into his throat. Did Kessler put him up to this? "Why do you want to know?"

"Relax. Just trying to make conversation." Just then a woman came around. She placed two glasses on the table in front of them and filled them halfway up with whisky and left the bottle behind. Avocato couldn't recall requesting a drink. "Can't have a drink without a good conversation." Aiden lifted his glass, slightly tilting it in a sort of toast. Avocato picked up his glass but didn't move beyond that. He would wait for the hacker to drink first before taking his own conservative sips. At least the hacker wasn't trying to poison him. Still, his guard remained sharp. "So, what do you think about this gang war?"

Avocato shrugged as he answered. "Not much. Makes things easy." A small smirk reached across his lips. "What, can't handle the pressure vigilante?"

Aiden turned a chuckle away from him. "I've been in plenty of scuffles like this. Chicago was a cesspool of gangs. Once things broke down between the clubs and the street gangs it became a warzone." He hummed with what Avocato could only assume was fondness. "I was having the time of my life then. Running around with no distractions or obligations. Putting down bad guys and the cops were too busy to bother with cashing me." Aiden downed the rest of his drink and began to pour another glass.

"Hmm... you ever miss those days?" Avocato took a long sip of his drink and motioned for Aiden to top him off before the glass was completely full.

"Not so much. If this nation’s taught me anything it's that there’s no shortage of excitement. There's always fun to be had somewhere. Each city has its own factions gnawing at each other's throats, vying for what little control they can get their hands on. Powder kegs are always bound to blow and when they do. I'll be there." Aiden knocked back another glass and immediately poured another. The man could certainly drink.

Curiosity grew in Avocato then, or maybe it was suspicion. He didn't know. Aiden was clearly more than just some hacker or run-of-the-mill vigilante. He got off on this. He wanted to be sandwiched between danger and things that were much bigger than him. "Were you the cause of all this?" Avocato voiced reluctantly. If anyone could orchestrate a gang war it would probably be the man who thrived off of them.

"I wish. Whoever it was though, they've got some kind of talent. I've been watching these gangs for months. They had some kind of mutual understanding. No matter how many fights would break out it never got any bigger than that. Then one Halloween night it all falls apart." He gets halfway through his next drink before stopping. "Say... does Kesseler strike you as odd?"

Avocato froze halfway through a short sip of his glass. He squinted at the hacker from behind the brown liquid and hovered the glass inches away from his lips. "Don't know." He said. "He just tells me what to do and I do it. No questions asked." Avocato kept his response to a minimum. His opinion of his boss didn't matter. It didn't need to matter beyond who he was pointing Avocato at.

"Oh yeah..." The hacker hummed. "All the unsanctioned black operations strikes me as odd." The friendly enough smirk on Aiden’s face had long since been evicted. "Can I suggest a good read? I think you might like it-"

"Okay, what is this!?" Avocato slammed the glass down on the table. In a low growl, he continued. "This poking and prodding. Tell me why you called me here now or this conversation is going to turn ugly Aiden." Avocato stood up, running his claws along the wooden table.

Aiden smiled again and raised his hands, jig seemingly up. "I've read your file Avocato." Avocato gasped. The tension in his joints melted away as his teeth unclenched and his claws retracted. "You're dealing with things you don't understand. For years you've been at the beck and call of a lunatic. Kessler plucked some talented kid off the streets with no knowledge of how the galaxy works. He took you at your most vulnerable and didn't leave you with much of a choice. He's been throwing you and others like you at his problems, and you never stopped to think why. Never even stopped to think about the bigger picture here. What do you think might happen if something goes wrong? Did you think he would be willing to own up to these operations? No, you well. You and every other operative under his heel are just fall guys just in case his plans somehow manage to take a tumble off a cliff. That way he'll have possible deniability."

Avocato fell far back into his seat. His mind went into a mess of bewilderment. He didn't understand. "W-wait... what's in it for you then? Why work for him?"

Aiden leans forward. "I guess you could say justice, but I think it's more of an obligation at this point. I never liked guys like Kessler. The powerful kind who think they're untouchable and can't see the people they're stepping on. He doesn't care that much." He poured himself another glass of whisky and took a small sip before continuing. "I know Kessler promised you a life away from the fighting- away from the war but he was never going to give you that. Suppose I just wanted you to reconcile with the past, before it slows you up." The hacker downs the rest of his drink before shuffling out of the booth. "Gonna be skipping town soon. I think this city's had enough of me." A dry chuckle left him as he pulled out his phone. Feeling his phone rumble, Avocato could see that the hacker had sent him something. A file. His file. He looked up. "It's a really good read," Aiden smirked and then he was gone.

Avocato stared at the screen of his phone. He stalled, a finger hovering just above the massage. Everything he's ever done for the past ten years was in that file. He was afraid to relive it all.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Gary hit a button to open the shutters to the living room windows. All at once bright beams of almost blinding light fill the Apartment. After basking in the warm rays, he would take long strides to the kitchen next. On a morning like this nothing beats a nice hot brew of liquid gold.

The pot heated, brew spilled elegantly into a mug, and one or two sugars were added to give it that extra kick Gary was always looking for. He took a deep whiff of the coffee and blew out a relaxed sigh. It was going to be a good morning; he could feel it. Even if his husband still wasn't home yet. 

Avocato hadn't returned home the night before. That morning the man said he was going out to meet a friend and since then Gary hadn't heard much from him. He'd hate to assume the worst had happened or was happening. He could rule out death. Every time he massaged him across the day one would come back saying he was fine. The blond's mind immediately jumped to if the man was cheating but he quickly ruled that out as well. Why would Avocato risk his family just for some skuzzy fling, that wasn't like him at all. That just left one more question. What had Avocato been doing? That question weighed on Gary's mind anytime his husband would disappear without so much a word. It worried the blond. The last thing he wanted was for Avocato to get caught up in something they would all regret.

Gary shook that last thought away. If Avocato said he was meeting a friend, then that was that. The man had always been straightforward with him, mostly, so he would give him the benefit of the doubt more often than not.

Just as his worries began to pass and the mug of steaming coffee approached his lips, Gary was stopped by the ding of a message notification. Groaning at the interruption he would irritably trudge over to the living room where his phone was to see who had been disturbing his peace.

The number wasn't recognizable, but a file sat in the message box with a message attached to it. "Go easy on him?" Whispered Gary as he softly repeated the massage. It could have been a virus, some sort of malware. All his instincts were telling him not to tap on it but curiosity trumped self-preservation every time.

Gary taped on the file, and it opened quickly. It was an old dossier on… Avocato. Who he was, the color of his fur, his occupation, his wife and child... how the words deceased followed both of their names. That caused Gary to come to a hasty pause. Last he checked Little Cato was still alive. Gary scrolled on, past the dossier, and to the rest of the file. A good chunk of it was redacted but a lot more remained intact. After reports, de-briefings, mission statements all on operations he recognized, and others Gary hadn't even heard of. Gary was confused. He remembered these missions. They were just simple surveillance operations. There was nothing about assassinations, or sabotage, or interrogation. He continued, scrolling down and coming across an audio file. The only one in the file. Gary wasn't sure he wanted to hear what was on the audio, but he's come this far so why back out now?

For a moment he hesitated. His body refused to budge. He was scared but he managed to force himself through the feeling anyway. He pushed play.

"Kid I've been working with for the past few months has shown excellent potential. He's a good strategist, holds expertise in a variety of weapons, a skilled marksman, a near-flawless leader, and one hell of a killer. To think he's from the slums of this planet. I had come to Ventrexia under the guise of opening up outside trading with the Alliance. Why was I actually there? Well for people like Avocato. The furballs of Ventrexia are a stubborn type. Believe in independence above all else. At least regarding their hierarchy. The people far down the cast don't get much of a say and there are almost no complaints that come with it. If we were going to sway that nation in a single direction it was going to have to be by force. Their long war with the Tryvuulians was supposed to help with that but when the heat had reached an unexpected lull, I turned to men like Avocato who had fallen out of love with his kingdom. The only problem was he still had a reason to stick with his king and queen. His wife and son. Avocato was as close to the monarchy as can be, being the captain of the guard and all, there was no way he'd be willing to cast them aside without reason. So, I had to push him, I had to give him a reason not to live. Had to orchestrate a false flag bombing on the province where his wife and son resided. Happened on the night Ventrexia and Tryvuulia were meant to entire peace talks. Worked like a charm. All parties blamed it on a rough Tryvuulian company of loyalists. When it became clear he wouldn't get the revenge he wanted he was either going to kill himself or listen to every word I had to say. I was the only one who was going to give him what he wanted. From then on he hung on every word. He and another talented operative of mine ran around kicking up dust, stirring the pot as it were. After assuring that the events of the past few months had been one big misunderstanding, the king of Ventrexia would call a peace conference with Tryvuulia. Once all the leaders were gathered in one spot Avocato would take his chance. We orchestrated a coup, fighting broke out all over the sector, rebels stormed the capitol and the leaders of both nations were set to evacuate on the king's personal transport. It only took one missile and just like that both Ventrexia and Tryvuulia fell into a state of destabilization. As we’re about to leave the wreck behind, Avocato comes along with this kid. Toddler with bright orange fur. Said he found him among the wreckage and was hoping to keep him. I didn't know why but I didn't care. Said he could keep the runt if he wanted. Didn't matter in the grand scream. Afterward, the Tryvuulians quickly joined up with Helgen but the furballs are being as stubborn as ever. They'll come around though I've got big plans for them. I gotta say Avocato is a wonderful asset to keep around. Maintaining the monarchy's safety while tearing it all down... the kid has my heart."

The voice faded out with a buzz as the audio came to an end. Gary closed his phone. He couldn't continue. He didn't want to know any more than what he had already learned. This file couldn't be real, just some sick joke being played on him but the more he thought about it the more it became clear. Everything was so accurate. There were details in the debriefings only he and Avocato knew about. Shock locked him in place and then his heart began to ache at the thought of Little Cato. Their Little Cato... wasn't even his real son. Gary didn't know how to feel. He wanted to break down right then and there and cry the pain away. He wanted to be angry. He wanted to wake up Little Cato and just leave town with him but his body refused to do anything. The blond was stuck, frozen in place by his stark revelation. Then the door slid open and suddenly he felt he could move again.

Gary turned his head. Avocato had drugged himself into the apartment like a lifeless corpse. His face sagged with exhaustion and defeat. He'd been up all night. Looking at Gary but not saying a word, he chose instead to shuffle to the kitchen. Gary watched him with a blood-curdling glare. Something was building up within him, his heart beat like submachine gun fire and his breathing stopped for nothing. He stood up following Avocato into the kitchen and at first stared at the disheveled man.

His long coat smelt of alcohol. Had he been drinking? "How was your friend?" No response came as Avocato riffled through the refrigerator. "Avocato."

"Doesn't matter."

"Oh, you sure," Gary said. "I got an interesting message not too long ago. There are some really... really interesting details in it that I've read." Avocato’s rummaging stopped. He stood straight and unmoving before turning a forced smile to Gary.

"I think you're mistaken. Someone's definitely playing some elaborate prank on you Gare." Their shoulders brush together as he pushes past Gary.

The blond scoffed amazed. There was no way he was getting off the hook so easily. "Well does the name Kessler ring a bell?" Avocato froze again. This time when he turned to face Gary the forced smile was nowhere to be found. "Tell me I'm mistaken now," Gary growled at him, fist balled and frown unmistakable. 

Avocato wouldn't face him. His eyes looked toward the ground for salvation, but it would grant him no such thing. His mouth opened. "You’re mistaken-" The reply goes unfinished as a flurry of slaps connected with his head. Avocato threw his arms up to defend himself, but Gary's wild slapping still managed to break through his guard. "Calm done! Would you calm down!" Despite his shouts the slapping didn't slow, not until he was able to break through. He grabbed Gary and rammed him into the fridge with his hands locked around the blond's neck. "Would you calm down?" The grip around his neck was tight but Gary wasn’t scared. He didn’t flinch, didn’t whimper under Avocato’s heavy glare and angry growling. He just kept an angry grimace on his face even as blood began to trickle down his neck and onto Avocato’s claws.

Seeing what he had done, Avocato released him, a regretful look on his own face. "I'm... I didn't mean to..." He paused as a wave of guilt began to flood him.

"Avocato... you're gonna start telling me the truth. Tell me right now or I am taking Little Cato, and I am leaving."

"You're not gonna take my son-"

"I fucking know he's not your son!" Gary hissed. The harsh sound caused the man to flinch backward, the regretful look on his face becoming even worse. "Tell me the truth. Be straight up with me Avocato." Gary's angry voice tapered off into a whimper. He just wanted Avocato to tell him the truth and so he did.

The man broke down. He told Gary everything he knew and everything he did for the past ten years. He explained why they were in Night City; he spoke about what happened to his wife and son. How his lapse in judgment brought down a kingdom and orphaned a boy. He spoke about how he wanted to leave it all behind. All the war and death and pain he just wanted to leave it behind but all he got out of it was more killing.

"I'm so sorry Gary." Avocato was a mess of tears. The stream trickled from his eyes and down his fur like a flowing river. "I thought if I just kept going, he'd call it even and let me go but- he just has me-... He has me and I don't know what to do-" The whimpering grew as he covered his eyes, trying to hide away from the world. But Gary didn't want him to hide.

He took Avocato in his arms and ran delicate fingers over the back of his ears. He whispered, shooshing Avocato, soothing his mind and body. "Don't worry. You're fine. Everything is gonna be fine." The words were like honey to Avocato, a sedative that calmed his nerves and the warmth of his body was like a dam that brought an end to his stream of tears. 

"I'm a bastard Gary. All the things I’ve done… I understand if you don't want to be around me."

'Hey." Gary lifted his head, and their eyes met. "None of that. Despite everything I've learned you and Little Cato are still the same two people I feel head over heels for. Both of you are my world… my universe. Where gonna get through this. Together." Whether that was true or not remained to be seen, whether Gary could truly look past what Avocato had done, what he had taken away from their son... He wasn't so sure how he could turn a blind eye to that.

"What are we gonna do about Kessler?" Avocato’s voice cracked. It was a genuine concern but if the man was already being investigated then it was an easy solution.

"Simple. Guy thinks he's big cheese. I’ll just call in someone even bigger to chew him up. He doesn't know who he's been fucking with." A soft smile found Avocato as he fell back into Gary's warm embrace.

"Jeez, guys." Little Cato said, rubbing his eyes as he emerged from his room. The boy had been wearing nothing but a black tee and red boxer shorts. He wasted no time crawling into the sofa pit and turning on the TV. "You guys have a room for a reason you know. No need to get frisky out in the open." The pair turn to their smartalic son. Gary rolled his eyes but was unable to hold back the small bit of laughter building in his throat.

"Yeah... we know." He looked at Avocato. Everything was going to be okay.

 

Chapter 51: Home is where the heart is

Notes:

Well, it's been a long time coming but we're finally here. The official, unofficial last chapter of this long, drawn-out story. I'd like to dedicate this to anyone who stuck with it especially TyTy_luvs. Thank you for being my motivation through this.

Honestly, I never thought I'd be able to finish this. I always think that about everything I writhe and now that I'm here I get that same feeling I usual get when a story ends. It's a mixed between sadness and loss. Like I don't know where to go from here. I spent so much time working on this one thing, I poured all of my feelings into it, I did the best I could, I criticized myself harshly, I compared myself to others none stop, and I don't know where to go from here. I never know where to go once it's all over. I try to think of the things I can do, what's next for me and after it all I'm left with this feeling of what do I do now, what do I do now, what the fuck do I do now... than I go and do the next thing. Good night, everybody.

“Thank god that's all over!” Meowmar bellowed, taking advantage of the emptiness of the fourteenth floor's halls. “I swear it gets worse and worse every year.”

“I hear ya,” Argit added. His bruised eye had been healing nicely over the last few months, but his eye was still slightly swollen. Despite what the teens had initially thought, the black eye wasn’t caused by Maelstrom. When he was caught in the act of trying to steal from one of the gangers, it’d given him a nasty start that led to a misstep and hitting the bar countertop, face first, hard. “Homework should be a crime. I don’t know who thought it up, but I hope they're in hell.”

“Yeah, and those teachers, they are some kinda…” Dean snapped his fingers and bobbed his head as he coaxed the tip of his tongue to give him the word he was looking for.

“Ridiculously high standard? Unrealistically posh? Irritatingly prim and proper.” Sam continued for his brother, listing off some of the ways he thought Dean would like to describe their teachers.

“Eh- I was gonna say assholes but those work too.”

“I don’t know about you guys, but those hours were killer.” Ash chimed in, tossing her arms behind the back of her head. “Any more of that and I was eventually gonna lose it.”

“Let's just be happy it never got to that point.” Harp’s droning tone entered the fray of complaints and bemusement. Aside from the dark circles under her eyes, the girl seemed normal, unassuming to the unfamiliar eye. Her addiction persisted but she was always good at keeping it under wraps. Some cracks would show from time to time. The slight twitching of her fingers and in her eyes was a clear sign that she was jonesing for a hit. A bleak reminder that not everything was perfect. Even during the times when a smile would find her face.

“Hell, I had a pretty chilled time. Always do.” Kevin, ever the cool kid that he was, said. That worried kid from Halloween night had up and disappeared and the usual, live and let live, Kev was back where he belonged. He dragged himself along the hallway without a care as if nothing had ever happened. His brother being kidnapped and his dad threatening to skin him for letting it happen might as well have been a daydream for the raven-haired boy.

“What are you guys even complaining about? You barely had any classes” Little Cato spun around to group bemoaning school life. “At least you didn’t have to run around all day every day, get extra homework and assignments, or had to deal with a bunch of jealous assholes.” Their faces sat blank before bowing agreeing nods at him. Arguably, the group had it easy compared to what Little Cato had to go through. The standards he had to keep for his namesake alone was a task in itself. Every day the name Goodspeed brought more and more with it. New challenges he’d have to face, new standards he’d have to uphold for the right to even call himself a Goodspeed. Even Gary, the biggest slacker Little Cato’s ever known, was well respected. He got things done when he needed to no matter how tasking the challenge. 

Little Cato simply wanted to live up to the name. He didn’t want to disappoint his parents, grandparents, extended family, hell the entire nation. His family, both the human and Graytrexian family sides, were captains, generals, politicians, star pilots. Their roots were entirely embedded within the Alliance. Because his family was so entangled within the military, he was an example. He was supposed to carry on that legacy, to preserve his family name alongside his cousins. Little Cato would have called it a burden, but he saw it as more of a privilege. A way to repay the people who had taken him and his father in and loved them for who they were.

“Sure, sure. But you did it so well.” Kendrick said and the group came to a stop at Little Cato’s apartment. At least Little Cato could say he did that, and he had made it. Now it was time for winter break, and he couldn’t be happier. The best part was, there were no assignments due at the end. Until next term, he would cherish the free time as best he could.

“Suppose nobody else could have?” Little Cato fried up a smirk at the masked teen. The unsure shrug that had come in response shouldn’t have been a surprise. Kendrick always talked but could never confidently follow up. “Well, thanks for saying. I didn’t realize being sentimental was in your programming.”

“Fuck you. When am I not sentimental?”

“You’re almost never sentimental.”

“Hey, I'm always never not sentimental.” Little Cato struggled to hold back his laughter as he shook his head at Kendrick. Stubborn till the end.

“I have to go change out of this fancy straight jacket. I’ll be right back.” Little Cato gave a short wave while his friends unanimously agreed that they should be doing the same. He stepped into the apartment already in the middle of undoing the tie wrapped tightly around his neck when he was caught by the sight of five people rather than the usual two he was accustomed to seeing.

Stopping dead, his smile disappears at the sight. Three of them he recognized as his parents and his aunt Quinn. The other two, a lime green Graytrexian, short of stature with a large head and a man whose hair had been graying at the sides beside him, he recognized as his grandparents. John and Jack Goodspeed.

A sense of surprise overtook Little Cato at that moment. A range of emotions swirled around in his mind. Joy, bewilderment, excitement, even fear was making the rounds at that moment. Little Cato came so close to saluting his grandpa John but canceled the automatic response when he saw the man wasn’t draped in his usual, angelic white, grand admiral's attire. 

Little Cato looked at his parents and Quinn. Both Gary and Avocato’s faces were plagued with a certain uncertainty he hadn’t seen from them in a long time. Quinn on the other hand seemed more serious, a bit angry even. Whenever those looks were abound it meant big, and possibly not so great, news was on the horizon. Turning back to his grandparents in his miasma of feelings, Little Cato let out a faint gasp.

“Oh, my grandbaby.” Jack let out a squeal as he presented a sharp, toothy grin and threw out his arms. “It’s been so long. Come give your papa a hug.” Little Cato, unsure of what to do, peered back to his parents for guidance. They both nod, allowing him to go to Jack. 

Reluctantly trudging over to the short man, Little Cato bumbled into his arms still unsure if this was something he should be doing. He loved Jack and would have flown into the short man’s embrace the moment he saw him, but with Little Cato’s past experiences, the looks on both his dad's faces, he was braced for the inevitable. 

“Oh, my word, look at you. So skinny.” Jack gripped Little Cato’s cheeks as he moved his head from side to side to inspect the boy's appearance. “Have they been feeding you? Have you been feeding him, Gary?”

“Jack of crouse. What do you think I am?” Jack rolled his eyes and turned his sharp smile back to Little Cato.

“Don’t worry papa is here to fatten you up. I even brought you muffins from your auntie Gertrude.” Jack cooed, reaching into his bag and pulling out muffins. Graytrexian muffins, baked from the hands of one of the finest Women in the galaxy no less.

“Ohhh, Aunt Gertrude makes the bangingist muffins.” Little Cato whispered. Saliva nearly spills from his mouth like a ravenous waterfall, but he stills himself, mind, body, and soul. It was another ploy to lighten the load of whatever bomb they were going to drop on him. “I'm alright papa. Thank you though.”

“Nonsense Little Cato, at least take one. It’s your favorite.” Little Cato hadn’t noticed before, but the muffins were chalked full of little lavender barriers just like he liked it.

“Proto barriers.” He whispered. The Graytrexian-grown barriers were hard to resist. In the past, they were used to coax the boy into giving himself up after getting into some kind of trouble. Gertrude was one hell of a baker, but she was also a master interrogator, one of the best behind Dr. Blackwell. She knew how to get into your mind and when she couldn’t do that she’d resort to more physical, and ugly, means. Damn, Gertrude was a monster.  “I… don’t know…” He held steadfast but his temptation was getting the better of him. Little Cato was sure he'd fare far better being tortured than if he was presented with a proto-berry muffin. 

“Not even one Little bait sweetheart.” Jack was a master manipulator even when it came to feeding his grandchildren. If you told him you were full, he’d say “nonsense” and manage to convince you to keep eating, nevertheless. He was loving, almost always came off like a sweet little old lady who said all the things you wanted to hear. Spending a few years as an Alliance spy would have heightened his skills in speechcraft. The rest of his military career was spent piloting ships, mechs and navigating uncharted space. Now he held a seat on The Alliance's grand senate. 

“Uhhh.” Little Cato droned in his indecision of whether or not he should drop his guard until Gary helped him along in that discussion.

“Take the muffin.” The blond hissed and Little Cato wouldn’t delay. He practically snatched the muffin out of Jack's hand like a hungry, terrified orphaned dog. The taste was so sweet it relieved him of all his earthly tension. Barries crunch and squelch in his mouth, spreading concealed juices over his tongue. He slushed the taste around in his mouth to preserve the tangy, fruity flavor before he would swallow it all down. When the taste hit the back of his throat Little Cato nearly passed out. Aunt Gertrude was a monster.

“How's it been, Little man.” John marched up to Jack and Little Cato. His deep, rumbly voice carried a soothing tide of pleasure through his ears. Little Cato looked up, the stoic smile smeared on his face was befitting of any leader. “It seems like forever since we last saw each other. Hope you been behaving.”

“Yeah, Grandpa John.” The reply was faint and regressive. Whenever he was around his grandparents Little Cato seemed to fall into a state of child-like being, acting more like a toddler no matter how old he got. With a sudden spark of enthusiasm, he would jump out of Jack's soft hug to stand before his grandpa. “Oooh- Grandpa. I reached the top of all my classes this year, I'm student of the mouth, ten mounts running.” He puffed his chest with pride and his face followed by example.

“Hey, that’s my boy.” A large hand came down on his head and ruffled his bright blue mohawk. The sensation combined with the praise from one of his favorite people caused a loud purr to settle in his chest. “You were always a smart kid. You’re bound for great things. Could even run this nation one day.” Little Cato’s smile grew larger. His grandpa telling him he had the grit to be chancellor one day. He could get behind that idea.

“What are you guys doing here anyway? Come to take in the sights of Night City. Is Vergina that boring?” His grandparents share a quick glance. Their smiles had become more regretful. 

“Gary?” Jack smiled at the blond, offering the chance to break the ice. 

“Well, Little Cato…” His head bobbed, golden locks bounced indecently as he shook his head. “Little Cato We’re… We’re moving away.”

Little Cato's restless momentum screeches to a sudden halt. His proud smirk shrinks to a faint smile and then fades completely. That’s right. The bombshell. “Wh… what?” He giggled in his sudden confusion. “Like, we have to go back to surveying the outer rim?”

“No, of course not.” Jack interrupted, seemingly somewhat appalled by the suggestion. “We're merely saying that we would like you to carry on with school… away from this city,” Jack explained as carefully as a loving grandparent would. “You could go to New York, Paris, or Dublin. You don’t even have to stay on earth. Your aunts, uncles, and cousins would love for you to stay with them on Greytrexia.” Little Cato felt as if he were going to pass out the longer Jack went on. This was more than a bomb. It was a ballistic missile.

“What about my friends?” That was the first thing that came to mind. His friends, what they would think, and how they would feel.

“Little Cato…” Gary approached him, arms warped around the boy before he could process what was happening. “You can stay in contact with them but remember that friends come and go. You lose some, meet new ones. It’s a rotating door that never stops spinning, kid.” His whole life seemed like a rotating door up until Night City. Then things became more complicated somehow.

“When?” The question was simple and to the point.

“We’re not sure yet.”

This whole time Avocato hadn’t said a word about this. He stood far from the family; eyes hooked on the carpet. Little Cato could tell when his dad’s avoidant skills ever kicked in. The man looked as if he was trying to hide from something then, or someone… but who…

“Ummm.” A sound wearily left the boy. “Can I at least say goodbye to my friends?”

“Of course.” Gary’s tone was hushed and carried along some sadness. Little Cato sounded another hum, expressing his appreciation with the tightest hug he could give the blond. He went to the front door next. The walk was long and arduous, each step bringing him closer to the end of his time in that apartment. He lingered for a moment and thought of how many times he had passed through that door in fear, happiness, nervousness, sadness. How many times he had opened it to smiling faces, unsociable sobs and blatant anger. This would be the last time he opened it wasn’t it? He presses the panel on the said and steps through.

“What now?” Avocato spoke up finally. His eyes remain on the floor unable to face the important figures that stood just feet away from him.

“Haven’t you been listening?” John scoffed. “Take it easy. We got family all over the place. Go to Dublin, go to Graytrexia.”

“And Kessler.” Quinn added. The name still made Avocato shiver. The fact of the matter was that Kessler was still a free man getting up to who knew what at that very moment.

John’s immediate response was a chuckle. “Leave him to me. I’ll tell him to relieve you.”

“What if he doesn’t do that? The man literally has no reason to let Avocato go.” Gary made a compelling argument. “If the man's a traitor and Avocato knows all his dirty little secrets what's stopping him from coming after us.”

“Cause he knows better.” Jack chimed in. “He wouldn’t run the risk of blowing his cover now. He wouldn’t jump to conclusions so readily and one less pawn won’t make much of a difference. I’m betting he doesn't even know we know about the file.”

“It isn’t enough to confront him but it’s a start,” John added. “Like Jack says, he knows better. He’ll take the loss and bide his time. All we have to do is put a stop to whatever it is he has planned. We even suspect the chancellors involved.”

“Then why don’t we go after him now while we still have the upper hand. Quinn said. “I can’t stand the thought of this guy manipulating his way through the nation like he owns it. Every minute he’s free is a minute we lose.”

“Relex Quinn. We’re keeping a close eye.” John said. “Majestic is doing good work running interception on his little schemes.” John paused, bringing a stone-cold gaze over to Avocato. “As for you.” He said. “I hope you’re ready to repay your debt to this nation, Avocato.” Avocato froze, nearly gasping at the man's imposing figure.

“H-How so?” Reluctantly he asked

“You’re a good man, an excellent soldier. You’ll be a perfect fit for a team I'm putting together. You haven’t heard of them, but Task Force 141 is some of the best the galaxy has to offer.”

“But we'll discuss your role in that later,” Jack added as he stood from the kitchen seat. “For now, focus on Little Cato. Take that little bundle of bipolar joy and get as far away from this city as possible."   

Avocato breathed a long sigh. The tension in his shoulders loosened. A weight had been lifted. He couldn’t remember the last time he felt so relieved. “What do you think baby?” He pivots to the blond for his input.

“Ireland does sound kinda nice.”

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

As Little Cato exited his apartment he got an odd sense. After what he’d been told he suspected that he would feel sad, but he didn’t feel that at all. He didn’t feel happy either. There was a weird middle ground, a point linked between his emotions that seemed to balance one another out.

“Hey, Junior.” Ash skipped up to him with a soul-soothing smile. “What's up, you look like you seen your parents naked… you haven’t, have you?” She asked when his response wasn’t immediate. 

“He shook his head. The girl always managed to put a smile on his face at the worst of times. “Ash…” He pulled at her waist, dragging her close to his chest. He kissed her, longer and harder than he had ever done before then their lips parted. “I'm leaving.”

“Huh?” She couldn’t fully process the words.

“My family's moving out.” As he clarified her glazed-over eye recentered on him. 

The words had struck her herd, completely blindsiding her. “When?” She asked and he gave the same answer he received not too long ago. She shuttered. A frown fell over her mouth, but it was soon replaced by a tiny smile. She swirled a finger around his ear and pulled him in for another kiss. “You know, out of all the inputs I had… you were the least annoying.”

Little Cato playfully scoffed. “We can still stay in touch. If long distance doesn’t bother you.”

“Oh, it takes a lot to bother me.” little Cato laughed before confusion took hold of him.

“Wait.” He said as her words only just dawned on him. “How many inputs have you had?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” She tapped a finger against his pink nose. It was worth a shot at least.

“Ay, love birds!” Kendrick ran up breathless and restless along with the rest of their friends. “Pack that lovey-dovey shit away now. Street party- big as hell- going down! Let's go.”

“Isn’t there a gang war going on outside?”

“Don’t matter.” Meowmar poked his head out from behind Kendrick. “You comin’ or what?”

Little Cato looked at the group, his friends brightly lit faces before turning to Ash. She nodded back. “Actually… I think I’m gonna stay inside today guys.”

Their faces drop in dismay. They always said it's not a party without him. This time they're going to have to go without. 

“Oh,” Kendrick said. “You sure? This party looks fuckin’ crazy.”

“As sure as I'll ever be.”

Kendrick tilted his head. The mask was expressionless; it counseled what he truly felt but, in that moment, Little Cato could tell the taller boy understood. “Okay.” He shrugged. “We’ll do something later on. Come on lads… and lasses.” Kendrick spun on his heels, walking ahead of the rest of their friends and the group followed. Their excitement had started up once again.

“So… I'm gonna head to that party.” Ash tapped Little Cato on the shoulder. 

“Really just gonna leave me behind.”

“Uh… duh. It’s a party.” She had a good point. “Don’t be a stranger.” Ash took off after the group. Little Cato stood at his door watching them shriek, and curse and shove and argue with each other. Little Cato couldn’t help the smile that came after them. The feeling that resided in his chest was clearer now. It was closure, it was love, it was everything he wanted to experience and everything he still wanted to discover. 

His friends. They gave him the world. He hoped those bastards wouldn't stop being crazy. 

  

 

 

Notes:

I really liked working on this. I could use a break though. You know considering what this is, I'm surprised it got as many kudos as it did. I'm at least grateful for that.

Chapter 52: With love from Ireland

“Come on Kendrick, could you at least just talk to me?” 

“Tell him I don’t talk to sneaky fuckin’ liars who up and leave their friends behind without so much a word!”

“Yeah, call him a sneaky fuck!” Outrage faintly filters in from a distance. 

“Ash, could you please move the phone closer to him?”

“I'm trying but he just moves away from me every time.” He’d been on the phone with Ash all morning trying to convince Kendrick to speak to him. He wanted to explain why he left and why he didn’t say anything about it at the time, but Kendrick was too upset to consider listening and Meowmar hadn't hesitated to join him in berating Little Cato. The other Ventrexian was upset too, and he was dealing with it the best he knew how. 

“Then tell him I'm sorry.” Still, he tries to get his words in. He tries and tries much to Ash’s annoyance; he wants to reach them. He had to. 

An irritable groan filtered statically through his phone. “Fine.” He heard a shuffling sound followed by footsteps slapping across concrete in a fast-paced manner.

“Tell him, he’s a bitch!” The voice was just as faint. Kendrick really did his best to avoid talking to Little Cato in any way but maybe that's not what he really wanted to do. If Kendrick wanted, he could have avoided the situation entirely and took off the moment he heard Little Cato wanted to speak to him. The fact that he was rallying messages Little Cato could hear loud and clear, was a sign that he still wanted to talk. He just didn’t know how. That's what Little Cato wants to believe anyway.

“Yeah, he’s a goddamn bitch!” Meowmar’s enraged screech came next. The lightness of his tone suggested he was having more fun parroting Kendrick than forming his own opinions and voicing how he truly felt about Little Cato’s leaving.

“You know what, I’m gonna stop entering this bullshit. If you want to speak to him, call him Little Cato.” Ash hung up faster than he could argue. He’d already tried calling him, multiple times but the masked boy never picked up.

For weeks now the boy’s attempts at reaching out had bore no fruit. For weeks he woke up with the same routine in mind. He’d pick up his phone to call and when he got no answer, he’d call Ash or one of their other friends, who was almost always around Kendrick. He’d ask her to put him on speaker and then ramble as fast as he could to no avail every time. Kendrick never listened, instead jumping to insults whilst being backed up by Meowmar annoying, regurgitated quips. Worst part was none of their friends could get through to him and eventually they’d leave the issue be.

Little Cato sank into his bed. A deep, defeated sigh left him as he ran a hand over his hair. It wasn’t the mohawk he’d been rocking over in Night City. After moving in with their extended family in Dublin he had opted to shave the long spiky do down and immediately began work on a new style Gary and some of his cousins had been helping him to attain. The new hairstyle was cut short and twisted into one big braid. At the moment, his hair was at the beginning stages of life. The back end of the braid wasn’t as long as he wanted but with time it would grow as his hair is twisted. He might even be able to get it down to his waistline much like how Amari kept his hair. 

Little Cato thought back to the man. With as level-headed he appeared to be, Little Cato still couldn’t believe he fired the first shot at someone as deranged as Gloyd. It seemed like the stupidest choice he could have made that night. Whether he knew it would spark a war was lost on Little Cato. People tended to follow their own impulses in Night City. For all he knew the man had always intended to come shooting and the events that had unfolded that night gave him the greatest excuse he could ask for. The boy didn’t know. Nowadays all Little Cato wondered was why he didn’t aim for Gloyd’s head.

A knock rapped on his room door and disturbed his thoughts of the city they had left far behind. 

Little Cato sat up in bed. “Y-yeah.” Voice faint with the exhaustion of his earlier struggle, he called out. He weakly held himself up by the elbows as he waited for the door to open.

“It’s Colin!” A shout came back from the other side of the door. “I come in!?”

Little Cato hadn't a clue why he bothered to ask. His Irish family were often so tight-knit knit, the need for permission to do anything was lost on them. Little Cato could remember one time when he was taking a shower. He stood right beneath the faucet, letting the water run over his head. Truthfully, he wasn’t in the shower to get clean that day. He was more so using it as some sort of reflective catalyst to gaze back on his life leading up to that point and as he was deep in thought, that's when one of his cousins ripped the shower curtain open. He wanted to ask Little Cato a question and, in the boy's, nude state, found himself unable to answer properly. Admittedly Little Cato was being dramatic that day but his cousin walking in on him like that was a bit uncalled for. Little Cato had given up the need for privacy as time went on and as he adapted to his new surroundings. His personal space was always invaded, conversation wasn't so private, and somebody always managed to walk in on him while in the bathroom. The sooner he learned that this family was close the better he felt about staying with them.

The door slowly pushed open. A young-looking man with almond hair stuck his brown eyes into the room first before the rest of him would follow. A line of freckles ran over his cheeks and nose and the look on his face was normally bland and uninterested. Colin was one of Little Cato’s favorite cousins. At first, he figured it had something to do with the boy looking exactly like Gary, but the entire Goodspeed family looked like Gary in some way, shape, or form. He realized after a time that Colin's personality was the thing that stood out for him. Despite how unapproachable he may have seemed he was an amazing person once you got to know him. He was easygoing and superbly passionate about starship engines. Little Cato could talk with him for hours about the topic, compare and contrast grave drives and warp drives, which manufacturer had the best designs, and even toss around theories on how to better optimize fuel consumption for further jumps. He had even come up with the concept of a light drive batter that could work without the use of warp fuel or eridium. He’d call it the light fold engine. If his genius didn’t win him an award in the future, Little Cato didn’t know what would 

Obviously, the teen held prospects of being a pilot one day. It was a good fit for him. Most of their family got their start in the navy so it wasn’t out of the ordinary.

“What's up, man?”

“Yer eejit friends are at the daar lookin fer ya. I asked fer a second hi’ever they won't stop bettin’ on the daar.” Little Cato cast an annoyed look at his cousin and sighed. His friends, he thought idly. It was a bit too early for them to be banging on doors. “Could ya please go wrangle da gobshites before daybreak down da poor ting?”

“Yeah, I’m on it.” Little Cato let out another long sigh as he rolled out of bed. He should go intercept the group before his aunt threatened to shoot them again.

Little Cato raced through long, drawn-out halls as fast as his feet could move and ran downstairs, skipping steps as he did. As Colin said, they had refused to stop beating fists against the wooden door. Part of him thinks that it had less to do with hurrying him and more to do with getting on his aunt's nerves. She and his friends never got along, in fact, they took every opportunity to mess with her when they could. Whether it be tossing weather balloons into open windows or sneaking into the backyard and missing the garden. Whatever the case the constant banging would come to an end as he flings the door open. 

Three boys stood on the other end. “O, finally, ya come round!” Conor, the one at the front and the shortest grins madly at Little Cato. His skin was pale, and his head was shaved into a buzzcut. “Felt like we wer waiting fer fekkin hours fer ya.” His arms folded. Micheal liked to think of himself as the toughest in the group with a temper as short as his stature. 

“Right, my bad. I was in the middle of something.” Little Cato passed off a cheeky smirk and scratched nervously at the back of his ear.

“You were tryin’ ta talk ta Kendrick again, weren’t ya?” Fergus, the tallest of the group, a dark orange fox with a sharp golden tooth protruding from his muzzle, tilted his head. “Ya still haven’t gotten’ to say moch ah?”

Little Cato’s ears dropped at the remainder of his failure. “He’s too mad at me right now, Fergus. He isn’t thinking straight.”

“Tinkin straight, heh!” Kredence, an Irish-born Eliksni, bellowed in disbelief. “Da fella sounds like a proper gowl if ever I eard a one.” His scoff bled through the filter of his respirator as irritation sparked in all four of his eyes. He was the most passionate in the group, always willing to stick with his friends and family through thick and thin. Like any Eliksni his loved ones, family or otherwise, came first.

“He’s really not… honestly. You just have to get to know him.” The nonhuman scoffed again and similarly folded his four arms as Conor had done. “What are you guys even doing up so early anyway?” Hurting to change the subject, Little Cato shifts the focus to them.

Simultaneously, looks of remembrance cross the faces of all three boys.

“Oh, righ.” Fergus cooed. He took a step forward and gently shoved Micheal out of the way. “We found somethin’ on that family ya were lookin fer. Dublin’s a big place so the name Kassidy was a bit tricky ta find. So, we turned to the ol’ net fer answers on’em.” His golden tooth glimmered through his toothy smile. “A place out in the country called Cormac Farm. It’s an hour or so's drive out. We can borrow me da’s car.” Little Cato could feel his face light up like a bulb.

“Really?”

“Yeah, took fekkin forever like ta find ya know.” Conor threw up his arms dramatically. He was never one to work harder than need be. Little Cato could appreciate that he had done as much research as he did without throwing in the towel. Sure, the work was split between the four of them but even asking Conor to do a quarter of anything was a tall order for him. “Can we find da place and get tis over with or wha?”

“Right, just give me a second.” Little Cato stepped back into the home and made his way back up to his room. He got dressed quickly, throwing on an unironed sleeveless shirt and black jeans with a chine hooked to the pocket he’d worn a day prior. Afterward, he raced back downstairs, almost reaching the door before mentally kicking himself. He had to let Gary know where he was going first.

Compared to Night City, Dublin was a much safer place by leagues. The blond would let Little Cato go pretty much anywhere and do just about anything just so long as he let somebody know where he was going beforehand.

Little Cato poked his head into the family's large living room. The tv was on, playing a recorded episode of Watson whore that had aired the night before. At first, he thought the room was empty and that someone had just left the TV running, something that happened more often than not in that house. But as he circled around the couch to turn it off he saw that his father was there with one foot kicked up over the edge of the couch and his arms placed over his stomach. He was at the most comfortable Little Cato’s ever seen him. The man wasn’t this relaxed back in Night City. His eyes had teetered on open and shut and his body had melded so seamlessly to the cushions of the sofa that it was hard to tell where Avocato ended and the sofa began.

“Jeez, someone’s taking the definition of relaxation seriously.” Little Cato smiled down at his dad.

“Mmmm…” A lazy hum greeted the boy in response. Since coming to Dublin, Avocato had become… stationary. That was the best way Little Cato could put it. The moment he walked through the front door he was lying down. He’d been working so hard for so long and now that he had nothing to do at all, sleep and tv occupied his time. It must have felt like heaven to him. Little Cato wondered why he hardly looked like that in Night City. Dublin must have worked some sort of magic California couldn’t and the man was completely spellbound.   

“Got any plans for today, Dad?” Little Cato pretty much knew the answer to his own question but what was the harm in asking anyway?

“Mmm… not much…” His words muffled past barely open lips. His soothed eyes stayed hooked on the TV screen.

“Do you know where Gary is?” Seeing as he wasn’t going to get much from his dad Little Cato jumped straight to the point.

“I’m here.” Right on cue the blond entered the living room. A layer of glistening sweat caked his face, and his bare feet slapped along the wooden tiles of the floor as he made his way into the living room. Unlike his dad, Gary had been making himself useful around the hose. Most days he spent his time cleaning or cooking much like a typical housewife and just like Avocato, Gary seemed more relaxed if not sort of sad. What Little Cato didn’t know but he didn’t want to ask. “Just finished cooking up breakfast with your aunt. What's up spider cat?”

“Me and my friends are heading out to the countryside for a little while. Just wanted to run it by you.”

“Trip to the country huh?” Gary shared a loving smile with his son. “Just take something to eat first. It’s still early. I’d hate for you to get hungry on the road.” He patted a hand to Little Cato’s head and let his fingers trace the back of the boy's ears.

“I’ll take it with me.” Little Cato shrugged, letting Gary’s fingers trace up and down the back of his ear. He wasn’t ashamed to admit he liked getting his ears rubbed. It always brought about some primal pleasure that would release in the form of a cat-like purr.

“Oh,” Lil Cato! Come get yer damn best.” A voice followed by an aggressive growling came from the kitchen.

“Uh oh.” Little Cato said.

“Reainna.” Gary sighed. “Sounds like she got into the cupboard again.”

“Ugh.” Avocato groaned. “Why did we buy that thing again?”

“Because Little Cato wanted a dog,” Gary answered, flashing a blank look at Little Cato.

“How long are we going to have to deal with that thing anyway?”

“Well…” Little Cato rubbed at his neck as a cheeky smirk crossed his expression. “She’s a leach hound so potentially she can live as long as the person she’s bound to.” Avocato scuffed. He wasn’t a fan of Little Cato’s new dog mainly because he didn’t like dogs let alone alien ones. “I should probably go get her before Auntie cuts her up into tiny little pieces and cooks her dinner.” Little Cato said before making his way to the kitchen. 

Gary watched him until he rounded a corner and fell out of sight. He then turned his gaze to the man practically melting into the couch. 

“Avocato, are you really gonna lay there all day again?” 

“Hmmm.” The man hummed.

“Come on get up. I know we’re officially on actually leave but that doesn’t mean you have to sit there and freakin rot Avocato. Come on get up.” Another simple hum arose from Avocato. “Fine, have it your way.” The blond conceded and began to leave the living room but stopped before making it all the way out. “By the way, Sasha dies in this episode.”

“Why’d you have to-” Avocato shot up from the couch and Gary smiled at him. That blew the wind in his sails. He sat upright with a cheek placed disappointedly in his palm.“I can’t watch this now… What else is on.” The man groaned at the inconvenience, picking up the TV remote he immediately began flipping through the channels. He settled on the news, coming just in time to discover that riots and parties had broken out all over Mars. They had won their independence. For the third time no less. 

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

The drive out of Dublin felt longer than what was suggested by Fergus. It had felt like an hour had come and gone yet they were still on the road. In Little Cato’s mind, the roads had gone on forever with no end, and much like the road the day seemed to stretch on the further down they went.

Little Cato would admit his anxiety had been playing a big part in his restlessness. After arriving in Ireland, the first thing he did was call Ash. He could remember how happy he felt to hear her voice and how bad he felt when she mentioned Kendrick was not pleased with his sudden upheaval. Little Cato didn’t know how to go about telling Kendrick that he was leaving at the time, but he regretted not saying anything at all. Maybe Kendrick would have been less angry with him if he had just told him.

Ever Since then Little Cato had been trying to find a way to make it up to his best friend… former best friend as it stands. He knew it had to be something big. No number of postcards expressing his regret or a box full of Irish goodies was going to cut it. His apology had to be bigger. Then, maybe a week into his new home, little Cato thought of it. He was in Ireland and Kendrick’s dad was from Ireland. Kendrick always spoke so fondly of his dad. Little Cato reasoned that if he could find the masked boy's extended family, maybe send back an heirloom or picture of when his dad was younger, then Kendrick would surely forgive him. That was the hope at least.

It had been some months since he first came to that conclusion. Over that brief time, he had made some good friends from the high school he was attending. Though the locals liked to call it secondary school. Little Cato was quick to pick up on the differences. On space stations and colonies, they referred to it as low, middle, and high grade so picking up on the dialect was easy.

When he expressed his desire to find Kendrick’s family his new friends would offer to chip in, no questions asked. How they managed to find anything remotely connected to Kendrick’s dad, he would never know. Fergus was just resourceful in that sense. Like Argit, he always kept an ear to the ground for anything worth knowing.

The car came screeching to a stop almost immediately. In the throes of his thoughts about Kendrick, the rest of the trip had passed by in a flash. The farm they had stopped at was big. The land was mostly flat. Shaved grass stretched on like a river of green blades. Cows and sheep roamed the fields in tandem packs. At the edges of the land, a horizon of tall trees surrounded and cascaded long ominous shadows. Long and large greenhouses stood near the center of everything, the contents of their innards seen but unknown from a distance. A big house sat at one end of the ongoing field. One side was overgrown with moss and flowers that hadn’t seemed to spread anywhere else. Little Cato would assume that the overture was shaped intentionally. The place was wonderful, almost like stepping into a fantasy.

“Check out da kibosh on this place.” Conor bellowed past his agape smile. “Wha Ya suppose they make fer all this?”

“Da know.” Fergus shrugged. “Mus be a pretty penny hi’ever.” The teens came to rest on a fence post at the edge of the property. “Wha should we do now? Go on?”

“It’s private property. Reckon we’ll all be shot dead fer it.” Kredence informed. The tone of his voice suggested that he wasn’t against the idea of entering, merely cautious. 

“Let's go.” Little Cato made the final call as he hopped over the fence post. The others followed without question. There was rarely ever a debate when it came to his friends. They always stuck their necks out for one another and never skipped out on anything. If one had a problem, they all had a problem. If one was thinking something the others had the exact same idea. They were like a hive mind, linked together like brothers.

Little Cato cut across the field with his friends falling just behind him. This was his moment of truth, the thing that would get him back into the good graces of Kendrick. He didn’t want to waste any more time than he needed.

He ran right up to the door of the large house and rang the bell. His friends, finally catching up with him, stood beside him. After some minutes and no response, each boy would check the windows to see if anybody had been home.

“I guess no one's home.” Little Cato said, dismayed. He nearly shrank down a few sizes. This was his chance, his only chance to redeem himself with Kendrick and nobody was home. 

As he turned to leave the sound of the door unbolting drew him back to the home. A woman sat in the doorway with a shotgun leading her questioning.

“Dis is private property. What are ya rapscallion doin’ear?” The teens’ hands instantly raised high into the air as the woman stepped out of the shadow of the doorway. With each step she took forward the teens took one back. “I ask ya a question, where's your manners gone lads?”

“I’m sorry miss.” Fergus quickly rushed to speak on the group's behalf. “We were only looking fer the Kassidy’s. Maybe a man named Willem used ta live here, er vist?”

The woman chuckled. “I should shoot ya fer even bringing up that name.” She took aim, an amused look over her face as one eye peered through the iron sight of her shotgun.

“Oi!” A man rushed up, taking the end of the gun and knocking it upwards. “Ya can’t just shoot a bunch a kids for trespassin’” Little Cato nearly lost his breath when he saw the young man who’d just saved them from a close ranged buck shot greeting. The man was half the spitting image of the boy he knew back in Night City.

“Why not?”

“Cause it’s indecent.” The man shook his head. “Sorry abou that. She’s usually as sweet as a plum.”

“As if.” The woman scoffed and lowered the shotgun to the boy's relief.

“Can I help you boys with somethin’?” 

Little Cato was dumbstruck, still keeping a close eye on the young man before him. His face was uncannily close to Kendrick’s. He got a grip on himself when one of his friends shoved at his shoulder. “Um, yes. Do you happen to know Willime Kassidy?”

The man blinked in surprise. His face lit up at the mention of the name. “I should hope, wer cousins.”  Little Cato's eyes widened with excitement. This was his family.

“Ah, the fidlem bens.” The woman muttered. “The good fer nothin gowl. Always lookin fer an easy way out even if it made him seem low. Him and that damn Shay.” She spat at the ground. “Why ya went him fer anyway? Score ta settle. I wouldn’ blame ya.”

“No- no, nothing like that.” Little Cato took a few steps up to the young man and woman. “I know his son and I was hoping to send him something that might mean a lot.”

The pair looked at each other, mouths hung open in shock. They turn back to Little Cato. 

“Ol’ William had a son?” They asked together. 

“Yeah. I would really appreciate it if you could spare a photo from when he was a kid or something he used to play with…” Little Cato held his hands together. He was begging for anything, anything at all, they could offer.

Once the shock of Kendrick’s existence had subsided, the women's grimaces returned in full force. “Humph, fine.” She took a step back into the home, leaving the young man on the porch and still in a bit of shock himself.

“William had a son?” He repeated. “I thought I'd never see da day. What’s he like.”

Kredence chimed in this time. “A bit of a fidlem bens himself from what I can gather.” His comment had earned him a look from Little Cato. Whether he was a good for nothing or not wasn’t important. That was still his friend.

“Of course. Only William could make another William.” He laughed as the woman returned with a photo in her free hand.

“Here ya are. Don’t know why ya’d want it tho.” She handed off the photo, somewhat happy to be rid of it. It was a picture of two boys with arms over each other's shoulders. The boys looked similar to one another, but Little Cato could tell which one was William.

“Thank you.” He smiled gratefully. The woman merely returned an eye roll as she disappeared back into her home. The young man would linger for a bit, giving the boys a nod of his head before following the woman.

He did it. He’d finally gotten something that might mean the world to Kendrick. Now it was only a matter of if the boy would even accept it.

“Well, that was interesting.” Fergus tapped little Cato’s arm as he came up beside him. “Ya think he’ll take it?” He asked. Little Cato was asking himself the same question. 

“I don’t know.” Was his honest response.  Little Cato wasn’t sure if Kendrick would accept it but the hope was that he would at least consider it. That's all he wanted.

“Hmm…” Fergus, sensing his uncertainty, stepped out in front of him. “Ave ya tried calling him taday?” Little Cato Peared up from the photo and to his friends' glimmering smile.

“Not yet.” Little Cato pulled out his phone and stared at Kendrick’s name in his contacts. He hasn't blocked Little Cato, but he wouldn’t answer either. Still, Little Cato tried at least once a day to reach out. He never got anything back, but he always tried. 

He taps on the name and the phone rings. And rings… and rings… and rings … and rings… and rings…

 

 

 

Chapter 53: Can't stop digging Night City

“Come on Kendrick, could you at least just talk to me?” The plea that came whining out from the girl's phone fell on deaf ears, much like all the other attempted apologies and pleas for forgiveness. It didn’t matter what was said. Kendrick would answer them with dismissal.

“Tell him I don’t talk to sneaky fuckin liars who up and leave their friends behind without so much a word!” Kendrick shouted over at Ash. He didn’t want to speak to little Cato, didn’t even want to relay a message of any kind for that matter.

“Yeah, call him a sneaky fuck!” Meowmar mimicked.

“Ash, could you please move the phone closer to him.”

“I'm trying but he just moves away from me every time.”

“Tell him I'm sorry!” an irritable groan left her and rolled her eyes. She began to approach him like she had many times before at Little Cato’s request. Like before he would move away from her, hastily picking up his feet and carrying himself to another portion of the concrete hallway.

“Tell him, he’s a bitch!” He said after quickly moving back over to Timmy and the siblings to avoid Ash.

“Yeah, he’s a goddamn bitch!” Meowmar repeated with some added flare. He was hurting just as bad as Kendrick; no wonder he was so willing to insult Little Cato. He had Kendrick’s back where the others didn’t. They wanted to make excuses for him, ‘it was so sudden, he didn’t want to upset you, he was scared’ Kendrick scoffed at each one. Little Caro could have told him anything. They were more than friends; they shared a bond deeper than brothers. He and Little Cato were supposed to be something more. Thinking about his sudden disappearance further enrages him.

“You know what, I'm gonna stop entertaining this bullshit. If you want to speak to him, call him yourself Junior!” Ash hung up the phone. About time, Kendrick thought. If she would have done that from the start, or better yet not come to him at all with the call, their night wouldn’t have been so suddenly shitty. “It’s way too late for all this. I’m going home, you boys can do whatever you want.” She took off, tired both mentally and physically. 

They had been up late that night, the time hovering around 3AM or so. The reason for the collective insomnia was due to nothing in particular. They had pulled all-nighters before. Kendrick had done so plenty of times with Little Cato. The kid could never stay awake by the time dawn cracked but he always gave it his best shot. 

Kendrick could feel a small smile constructed beneath his mask at the thought of his best friend trying to keep his eyes open and playing off his obvious tiredness as him just falling deep into thought. His purr-like snoring still rang in Kendrick's ears.

He shook his head, swapping his thoughts of the boy from his mind and the wasted smile off his face. His former best friend didn’t have the right to invade his mind like that.

“Are you seriously still refusing to talk to him?” Timmy jumped into Kendrick’s line of sight like a nat, buzzing around his eye. Unlike a nat, however, he couldn’t just swat him away as much as he wanted to then. 

“The guys a pussy. Course I'm not talking to him.” The words came on their own. He didn’t want to talk that way about little Cato, but his heart couldn’t help it. “Couldn’t even say goodbye. Who does that? If he doesn’t have time for me, I can’t pull myself to spare any for him. Fuckin’ bullshit.” He muttered quietly trying to keep his regret to himself.

“He’s been trying to talk to you for weeks and you literally ignore him every time. It’s clear he feels bad. He’s reaching out and you don’t want to put in the effort to listen? Why?” A puzzled look spiked all along Timmy’s face. “You two were the closest fucking people I have ever seen in this city. Now he’s gone and you want to pretend he never existed. Why?”

Because him leaving hurt, is what Kendrick wanted to say. “Because you don’t go behind your best friend's back like a bitch motherfucker, that's why.” Is what came out.

“Woah, El gato didn’t go behind your back,” Dean said.

“He didn’t go behind anyone's back.” Sam continued.

“His folks decided they wanted to get away from this gutter and didn’t know how to tell you. How's that going behind your back in any way?” Dean waited for him to speak but Kendrick didn't. He couldn’t think of a way to explain himself without spilling his heart out in front of them. “Nothing? That's what I thought, because you know I'm right.”

“Fuck you.”

“Fuck you!” Dean crashed into Kendrick’s chest with a heavy shove and got in his masked face with a burning glare in his three eyes. Though being only, a year younger, the Hooblot stood near the same height as him. He had the same temper as well. 

“Guys, Dean calm down.” Sam squeezed in between the two angry boys and pushed his brother away before a scuffle could break out. “Gato wouldn’t want us fighting.”

“Stop saying his fucking name Sam! Like he gave a shit about you!”

“No, we’re not gonna stop saying his name because we don’t want to forget him like you want to for some odd fucking reason!” Sam said, still holding his brother back.

“You’re being a fucking bitch, Ken.” Dean said as he and his brother stormed off toward their apartment...

“Y'all can go eat a dick!” The last word had come from Kedrick, but the final insult came from the siblings as they both turned and flipped him a pair of middle fingers in response. “Shit!” He spat, kicking a red sneaker along the hard concrete ground.

“Jesus Kendrick.” The disappointment in Timmy’s tone was all too clear by then. “You need to sort yourself out, psycho.” He sped after the siblings. An irked sound filtered through Kendrick’s mask as another one of his friends left. 

“Shit.” He muttered again, kicking himself for the overly dramatic scene he’d just caused. Their exchange could have been something more elegant. Could have been completely avoided too. He’d hate to think it, but the tall boy might have just lost more than just Little Cato. As his thoughts swirled his eyes wandered over to the only two still by his side. At least he hadn’t lost it all just yet. “So?” He eyed Kevin and Argit, waiting for their judgment.

“There right Kenny.” Kevin started. “You gotta take it easy man. You and LC were the tightest chooms on this floor. It feels weird to hear you talkin' shit about him. It’s a real shame.” Kevin stood up. As he left Kendrick would look at Argit. He surged assuming the question didn’t need to be asked again.

“Ken…” Argit was caught by a pause. He had a word for everything. Any excuses or explanation on his mind were already locked and loaded on his tongue. Not so much at that moment. “He’s called all of us, you know. No matter how many times any of us says it’s okay that he left, he still feels bad about not saying much. As it stands, you’re the only one who avoided him, Ken. I think that's what kills him the most.” Argit ambled closer to him. He didn’t look cocky or sly as he normally did. The expression on his face was pure sadness as if his dog had died. “Please don’t let your pain hurt him too.” As the others had before him, Argit walked away though his words lingered with Kendrick for what seemed like hours.

How could he read Kendrick so well? Even with the mask on Argit could weed out his true feelings. He didn’t want to hurt Little Cato. He didn’t want to hurt any of his friends. But he was hurting… and so others needed to do the same.

"Don't worry ken. You got me man, fuck those guys." Meowmar said, placing a hand on his shoulder but Kendrick just shook it off. 

"Fuck off Gen." He didn't want to be touched. He didn't want to be pitted or convinced or anything. He just wanted to go home and lie down and sleep any thought of Little Cato away forever. 

Before he could reach his apartment, however, a distinctive ding pulled him from his thoughts with a start. Taking out his phone, the screen opened to a message.

Amar- downstairs now

The phone fell out of sight and Kendrick sighed. Gang life had become so taxing since Halloween night. The blood roses were working him like a pack mule, and they weren't willing to let up. Most of what he did were simple things, debt collections, kickback deliveries, repo. The Blood Roses weren't the average street gang. Sure, when starting out, you’d be running the streets like any other ganger, but the higher up you rose through the ranks the more organized things became. The jobs became more lucrative, the pay more extravagant and you would have a say over the street crews who did the dirtier jobs. 

None of the jobs he ever got were too dangerous, but they were far from exciting. In a sense, he was a glorified errand boy. Everything he did was for someone above him and half the money he made went to his street captain Amari who in turn would have to kick up all the money his crew paid him to his boss. It was like that for every rose crew in the city. They all answered to one council of dick heads nobody had ever actually seen. Even the roses with fancy velvet suits and expansive chrome didn’t know who really ran things. All they knew was once they were given an order to do something; they’d follow without question.

Entering the elevator, Kendrick dropped his head down against the closest steel wall. He was feeling overwhelmed. That's not something he’d tell anyone. That feeling makes him wish Little Cato was there. He’d be able to talk about them. He’d be able to bear with all the shit he was going through if only Little Cato were there, next to him at that very moment.

“Fuck!” Kendrick screamed. The sound was muffled by his mask. He hit his hand rapidly against the wall of the elevator as hard as he could. The pins and needles that poke and spike beneath the flesh of his palm didn’t faze him one bit. One person shouldn't matter so much. One person shouldn’t have gotten so deeply under his skin, but he did. Little Cato was embedded in him and burrowing deeper like a fire ant every day. 

He wriggled and squirmed and chewed and dug deeper and deeper the more Kendrick thought about him. The feeling made him cringe. He couldn’t admit it out loud but Little Cato leaving got to him. It really got to him.

After what felt like a millennium of faster-than-snail travel, the elevator door lifted open, slow and cumbersome as it was. That old elevator was getting slower and slower every year; he just knows it.

Amari was leaning against a car right in front of his building. He’d been waiting along with two other men by his side. Their hands rested in the pockets of their jackets as they cast long suspicious glances about the area. Amari wasn’t too high up in the gang, but he was a pretty big finger for them. He boarded the fine line between the street crews and the organized ones. Taking him out would be a big blow to the grunts' morale. The higher crews would have to get involved after that and God forbid if they had to lift a finger. 

“Get in.” His damned was swiftly delivered with a wipe crack nod as he opened the back door. He circled around to the other side of the car and Kendrick fell into the backseat. The two guys he was with dropped into the front seat after they were in safely, then the car pulled off. “How you been?”

Kendrick doesn’t dignify the question with a full response, just tossing his shoulders up and down.

“Kid still got you fucked up?”

“It’s whatever. He was a gonk anyway.” He knew why he lied to others, but he didn't know why he lied to himself. Little Cato was the furthest thing from a gonk Kendrick had ever seen. He was a smart caring little bastard. One that was gone now. 

“Damn.” Amari sounded a bit shocked by the response. “I really thought you liked the kid. Seems like you were tight as shit.” Kendrick’s shoulders bounce again.

“What you want from me Amar? I delivered all my dues this morning." He said, wanting to change the subject quickly. Amari sank back into his seat with a sigh.

“Word came down… You’re gettin’ older now so that means you gotta start gettin’ your hands messy.” Kendrick looked at him. His mask didn’t show it, but a worried expression had hit his face hard. “You got a hit.”

“Me?” His own finger jabbed roughly into his chest as if there was some confusion. “Amar, I never zeroed nobody before-”

“I know, kid. Tried to contest it with the boss but he wants to see if you got what it takes.” Amari reached into his pocket and tugged out the silver pistol he was never seen without. “Use it.” He motioned the gun toward Kendrick.

“I…” He froze. “Amar-”

“Just… take the gun… It’s a gift.” He gestured with the gun again. Amari giving away his gun was unthinkable but there he was doing it. Kendrick, without arguing or asking any questions, took the silver iron from his hand. It was surprisingly heavy. Kendrick had assumed from the sleek design and its rounded edges, that the gun would be lighter than it really was.

“Thank you.”

“Eh, don’t mention it.” The car slowed and stopped. “DB’ll give you the deets.” Great, DB was going to be there.

“Got it.” Kendrick spoke with a mutter and popped open the door of the car.

“And kid.” Before he could fully step out of the car, Amari called to him. “Just keep your head, alright?” Kendrick gave him a small nod and a bit of a scoff. As if he needed to be told to survive. 

The car pulled out right after and Kendrick looked at the gun in his hand. The silver finish and the black cravings etched along the long barrel were immaculate, well done, and most likely expensive to all hell. Kendrick's heart grew heavy as he peered at the gun. He’d never shot someone before and now suddenly he was expected to carry out a hit. Could he really do this? There was a big gap between fetching your boss's coffee and killing someone for them.

Tearing his eyes away from the gun, a mass of red sparkles along his vision. DB and a group of about ten more blood roses were all gathered at the walls leading into some alley market. At least he wouldn’t be alone.

“About time.” DB turned an irritated sneer to Kendrick as he shuffled forward. “Are you ready for this?”

Kendrick scoffed as if there was any question. Of course, he wasn’t ready. He was so far from ready. “As I'll ever be.” He lays the bravado on thick for the Hyena. He was going to have to be ready.

“No offense kid but I don’t know.” 

“What?” Kendrick blurted.

“Just go home and we’ll say you zeroed the guy, yeah?” 

Kendrick had a hard time processing what was being said and by who. He chuckled, interpreting DB’s concern as a joke.

“Stop fucking with me.” As he walked past, the silver-headed hyena roughly tugged at his arm.

“Hey, Ken this isn’t kid shit-” The masked boy angrily turned a glance to DB. He hadn’t seen him so frightened before. Kendrick just wanted to get this over with and go home. He didn’t have time for whatever DB was doing. “Okay, mister big man.” He released the boy's arm. “We're looking for Brodey. Guy with metal on the side of his head. Take the lead.” Kendrick nodded and walked into the market. 

The market was bustling with people. A lot of people. Too many to fuck this up. He was only here for the one guy, nothing more and nothing less. He pushed through the crowd and marched past sizzling food stands he had sat with a certain someone once upon a time. His eyes wandered upon a hotdog stand, two kids sat laughing and raging on each other. One was notably older than the other and his face had been obscured by some weird mask. His friend didn’t eat, he must not have been all that hungry, but he got the thing anyway just as an excuse to hang out with the older boy.

Kendrick couldn’t tell if what he was looking at was real or just a far-off memory. The sight of those two young boys sitting together and getting up to nothing at all tugs at his core, nonetheless. Then he looks away and his eyes set upon a different sight. An olive uniform, blue armband, a metal mesh built into the side of a mostly fleshy head. 

The man stood at a stand, leaning over with two more 6TH street gangers backing him up. Kendrick smirked. Only two? Should be a breeze. With his gang at his back, Kendrick rushed up to the rival gang in a hasty, rash, display of stupidity.

“Yo Brodey!” In his uneasiness, he had called out to the ganger instead of just pulling the trigger from a safe distance. 

“What the fuck is this!?”

“You know exactly what this is bitch nigga! Time to cash in your cards!” Kendrick could talk a big game, he always could but when it came time for action, he was stuck more often than not. He had pulled his gun and pointed it at the man with his finger firmly gripped around the trigger but no matter how hard he tried he couldn’t pull it. The ganger noticed his bark and lack of bite immediately and called the boy on it.

“Fuck off kid before you get yourself killed!” Kendrick had already screwed up. He let his reluctance show and now the rival gang were laughing at him. He kept the gun on Brodey, but the ganger was far from worried. Kendrick couldn’t kill him, could he?

“Fuck Ken!” A shot came from somewhere in the crowd and all of a sudden gunfire began to fill the market. DB, also noticing Kendrick's hesitance, had taken initiative, shooting at the mark and not minding the people caught in between crossfire. The crowd scattered and all hell broke loose in seconds. 

In Night City it only took moments for a situation to get out of hand. One small thing could lead to another, could lead to another, could lead to something much bigger. It happened often. Blackouts led to riots, small squabbles led to dangerous street races, a walk in the park led to a massacre, and harmless Halloween fun led to a city being torn apart.

What had started as three gangers turned into fifteen. What was supposed to be a simple hit-and-run had turned into a full-on skirmish between two big groups. Food stands were flipped, shots were fired, enemies and allies caught bullets. 

Kendrick ran for cover, the entire time his gun went unfired. He tried once, poking his head out from a knocked-over food stand but DB would quickly run over to him and use his body to keep the kid behind cover. He stood up then, popping shots from his shotgun. Kendrick couldn’t understand why the guy was being so protective then and he still doesn’t know to this day, but he had to thank him for being so caring then.

Once the dust had settled, only the roses had remained. Short a few men but they were the ones walking out of the dust up victorious. Against a back wall, Brodey lay breathing heavily. He was full of holes and gushing blood but still breathing. Kendrick felt something then. Some newfound courage or ambition. Wanting to correct his mistake he approached the dying man. He held his gun up. DB urged him to leave him be, that he’d be dead soon, but the boy couldn’t leave him. He was still scared. He had to hold his other hand to his gun just to get it to stop shaking. All the while the man was laughing. Through bloodied drool, he was still laughing. Taking aim, Kendrick wraps his finger around the trigger. He stills his shaking body.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Kendrick kicked open the door to the rooftop. He climbed the stairs quickly and came to a relieved stop at the edge. His palms rested along the safety railing overlooking the city. His hands were dripping with sweat though they had long since stopped shaking. This roof. It was everything to him. His haven away from the rest of the world. Whenever he felt distressed, he would come up here.

Today was no different. After surviving the firefight all, he could think about was home and the roof. He stood up from the railing and brought his hands to the back of his mask. He undid the buckles fastened around the back of his head and let the mask fall. It was made of porcelain, gifted to him by his father a long time ago. The man had told him whenever he was feeling scared to put the mask on, and it would protect him from anything. When it shattered in half after hitting the ground Kendrick felt nothing. There was no happiness or sadness. At his core, a strange middling feeling pushed and pulled before settling around his heart. 

He looked out at the city below. The flashing neon's, the large holographic ads polluting the sky. Constellations of light dotted and scattered along the freeways wrapped around the city like large serpents and beyond a vast sea of sand filled the space between here and there. 

If he didn’t know better, he’d say the city was beautiful. From here it actually was. This was Kendrick's real gift to Little Cato that day. He wanted to give the bennie something beautiful. Wanted to show him that the city was more than just gangers, joytoys, junkies, and dirty streets. He gave this to him. 

Kendrick turned to the empty space beside him. He still thinks of that kiss often. Not a day goes by when he doesn’t.

He turns back to the city and strips off his jacket. Dawn had begun to break across the sky in a bright sunburst of orange. He had made it another day. He dangled the jacket out past the safety rail and let it fly. In that market, Kendrick had an epiphany. This city was in rough shape, but it was home. It deserved better than what it got. He deserved better and he didn’t need anyone telling him how to make it happen. Not the roses, not 6TH street. If he was going to have anything it was going to be his own. He thinks there are a lot of people out there who feel the same. Who were dealt bad hands, who had to put up with the day-to-day, who felt like outcasts in this gutter? All they needed was a wake-up call.

He could make this city better, he just knew he could and as he thought, a smile crossed his lips. His ambition had reached a new level. His phone rang then. When he pulled it out he saw Little Cato, calling for the god knows how many eth time. His smile stayed as he watched the name scroll along his screen. He should pick it up. It wasn’t his fault he left. It was just one of those things that couldn’t be helped. Yet Kendrick still felt a tang of hurt behind the decision.

He looked away, bringing his eyes back to the city below and keeping the phone in his hand as it continued to ring… and ring… and ring… and ring… and ring… and ring… and ring… and ring…

   

Notes:

thanks for reading.

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 3 of Aspects of life.