NecroKitty Tales @necrokittytales - Tumblr Blog

Necrokitty Tales: Trouble in Inkwell Isle (Chapter 24)

Authors’ note: Necrida’s writing will be in italics and SPKC’s writing with be regular font.If you have no idea what this roleplaying thing is, you can start from the beginning here.

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Cagney woke up feeling slightly frustrated, sore and hungover. Which the first two were not that weird, but he didn’t normally wake up hungover. For how much he drank, it wasn’t too bad, but still he wrapped his leaves around himself tightly out of habit only to feel skin instead of stem. Now that, was definitely different. Oh man, had he gone to someone and wished he got turned into a real boy? No, that was silly. He opened his eyes just to make sure and blinked surprised when he realized he was holding a semi-naked Hilda.

This seems more insane then having wish to be a real boy. Why was he holding Hilda? Memories flooded back pretty quickly as he remembered. They had both gotten sloshed on their “date not date” which led to near caterpillar manslaughter and a run from the police back to Hilda’s home.

The next parts were a bit fuzzy but he remembered her coming on to him and one thing led to another and they were screwing like animals. Well…until…something was said that he got upset about and then there was this weird dragon that had totally trashed the rest of Hilda’s life work. Oh shit. Yeah. That. Cagney remained where he was, stewing about this. He remembered he kept telling her he was going to fix this but he wasn’t exactly sure how. But he had to find something. Maybe he could start with finding out how to get out of her bed without her waking up and murdering him. He wasn’t exactly sure how much of their “date” she remembered but he was pretty sure she might not be so happy about the sex now that she was sober.

Hilda felt a pressure around her bruised body and groaned softly, still half asleep. She grabbed Cagney’s leaf and covered herself up to her shoulders, thinking it was her sheet, but at the touch of the unfamiliar material, the woman frowned and opened an eye to check what it was. She saw a green thing wrapped around her. “What the…” she whispered raising her head to follow how far this thing went. When she turned completely she was face to face to a just as surprised flower. “THAFUCK?!” the woman yelled and kicked the carnation out of the bed, realising too late it was her friend. “ Cagney?!” She asked, covering herself with an actual sheet this time. “What are you doing in my… bed…?” Memories started to rush in, as well as a headache, multiplied by the number of constellations.

Cagney hit the ground with a thud and a swear. He staggered to his feet with a groan. “That’s….ugh…well I WAS sleeping but uh before that you and I were…” His voice trailed off as he saw Hilda’s dumbfounded expression. His eyes widened. Holy shit. Did she not remember?

The woman stared confusedly at Cagney. Her head was hammering hard but she tried to make an effort to remember what happened last night. “…We actually did it?” She said softly, more an affirmation than a actual question. This would definitely affect their friendship. She noticed the carnation was wearing her cute nightgown and a small smile showed on her face. “That’s funny, I just dreamt about you wearing that. And there was a dragon that came out of nowhere and started destroying everything.” She said yawning, certain that, except for the parts where Cagney was intimate with her, it was all just a dream, probably induced by the stress of the broken dome.

Cagney winced. She totally regretted it. That bitterness was manifesting itself internally. Not even her cute smile made him feel any better. “We were in the process but uh…the dragon was actually real and your place is a wreck.”

Hilda frowned. “Not funny, Cags,” she replied, thinking he was just messing with her. She laid her back down on the bed. The constellations weren’t helping keeping her hangover at the minimum.

“Wasn’t trying to be. Glad you think it’s all a big joke though,” he petulantly grumbled.

She noticed the serious tone of her friend and the sheet hanging on top of them confirmed it. She remembered the creature made a hole in her roof too. It all came back to her now, the horrifying feeling of having your most precious thing taken from you. She felt a pressure on her chest and the familiar sting in her eyes announcing tears. She sighed, rubbing her eyes and stood up to get close to Cagney and gave him a hug. “Thank you for staying with me” she said softly.

He hesitated but returned the hug, trying to suppress the happy trill his body wanted to have when he touched hers. “It was the least I could do,” he admitted. He couldn’t really do anything else. His head hurt with alcohol still as he tried to remember what he said last night about all of this. He ended the hug and stepped back with a cough. “I uh, think your tea pot is still intact. You want me to make some tea?” He offered.

She felt a bit sad when they had to break their hug. She wiped a small tear from her cheek and she nodded. “Tea sounds nice. And you can keep my nightgown, it suits you,” she chuckled, getting out of the bed.

He stuck out his tongue at her. “Heh, thanks. Always wanted to feel pretty,” he chided, taking off the gown and placing it to the side. “Come down when you’re ready,” he told her as he left the room and went downstairs to make the tea. Sure enough, the pot was still intact and he quickly set some water to boil. Without Hilda in the room, he let his mind wander. Last night had been amazing! Well….up to a certain sobering point. And the dragon. The dragon had kind of ruined everything. But still while it lasted, it had been amazing. His petals dropped as he remembered that last night was a one time thing. Hilda’s drunk mistake. He rested his aching head on the side of her cupboard and lazily stuck his hand into it to see what he could pull out for tea. Drunk or not, he needed to find some way to fix all of this. His leaves pulled out the honey and he couldn’t help but chuckle at the Rumor logo on it. “That lady’s everywhere, ain’t she?” He smirked, going to set aside the bottle only to stop. Rumor. Rumor had the resources to fix this. There was no way Hilda would go to her, she had already been through so much he couldn’t imagine the zeppelin woman wanting to go beg for help. But Cagney wasn’t above that. He already did have a connection with the bee, albeit a business like one for his pollen in his field. He fiddled with the honey jar before putting it down. He could go today if he got his shit together in time.

—

Hilda kept her smile until Cagney left the room. She sat on her bed holding her head on her hands. She started to play out the evening, getting so many questions: What was that dragon? Could it have been Grim’s friend or sibling? What would she do now with her life work destroyed? All her research… What was going to happen between Cagney and her? Things wouldn’t be the same, that was certain. Why did she let it happen? Why did she encourage him? She had gone years avoiding this but after last night…

She was jealous! Seeing Cagney dance with that bat… the time she kissed him on the cheek…but that was ridiculous! She had seen him with other girls before… he even introduced them to her. But, maybe because it wasn’t a flower? She couldn’t compete with a flower, but what could a bat could offer him that she couldn’t? … sucking his blood? She could make him bleed if he wanted to… The constellations went wild on her head, questioning everything, giving her a rush of mixed and conflicted emotions. She grabbed a pillow and yelled at the top of her lungs. A few minutes later, she calmed down, dressed up and went downstairs to have the tea.

—

Cagney continued to think to himself, unaware of Hilda’s inner turmoil. Rumor lived on the third isle. A quick trip if Hilda was flying him but he didn’t want to get her involved more than she had been already. It’d be a two day trip. Crash at Grim’s place again if he’d be okay with that. Then an audience with Rumor. He’s not sure how he’d finagle that but he’d figure it out. He didn’t really want to leave his garden for that long. Then again, maybe some distant would do him some good. Get the dumb thoughts out of his head about Hilda. He’d get the Root Pack to take care of things while he was gone. He’d have to swear them to silence if they asked. Or lie. Lying was good too. He’d have to leave soon if he wanted to get to Grim’s before nightfall. He set down the tea absentmindedly and turned around to see Hilda coming down the stairs. Shit. Hilda. He would normally tell her everything. He reached back in the cupboard and grabbed a cup, accidentally knocking over the honey in the clumsy process. He filled the cup with hot tea and held it out to her.

“Thanks” she quickly said softly, avoiding eye contact and taking the cup. “So, uh how you doing?” He asked.

“I’m … ”

-‘At the verge of turning coo-coo and destroy everything around me’- she thought for herself.

“I’m ok” She decided to go with something short. She stared at her cup. “… you?” She finally had the courage to look at him.

He bit his lip. “I’m ok too…” As tempted as he was to try to leave right away, he knew that would raise more suspicion. “You want some help cleaning up?”

“No, no! Don’t worry… I’ll try to rescue whatever I can and the rest… I guess I’ll call the mayor or something to clear up the place.” She took a long sip. She would have loved to talk about them and where they stand in their relationship, but thought it would be best to wait until her emotions were a bit more in control. For once, in all the years of friendship, there was an awkward silence between them.

The awkwardness was stifling. Cagney slapped his leaves together. “So, listen, I’m going to go… now.” He went to put a leaf on her shoulder but stopped just short of doing so. Probably shouldn’t be touching her. “Listen that stuff I was saying last night…I meant it. I’m going to try just…ya know, don’t hate me, okay?”

She wasn’t sure what he was talking about. “It’s gonna take a lot for me to hate you, you big dandelion,” she snickered, trying to act normal. “I’ll… I’ll see you soon?” She hesitated before asking him, afraid that if he left now, she would never see him again.

“Yeah, just I gotta go do some stuff. I should be back soon enough,” he assured her even if he wasn’t sure himself. There were rumors about Rumor he would over hear every now and then. She wasn’t quick to violent anger like the Baroness could be but there was something about her that commanded an almost revered respect and worship of her by her subjects. It was part of the reason he had been hesitant from visiting her in the past. Still, he smiled at Hilda. “I’ll see ya later, Hilds.” And with that he left, his mind completely filled, forgetting all about the letters sitting in her mailbox.

He didn’t sound sure about coming back. When he left, she sighed and left the cup on the table. “What have I done… ” she whispered to herself. ‘You knew how he felt about you and took advantage of it!’ A voice yelled in her head. 'Who cares about that giant weed?“ Another one started talking, “What about your research? Years of observation gone in a blink!’ 'You’ll never see him again… there’s no way you’re staying friends now…’ 'How are you going to fix this? You will have to move!’ The voices kept getting louder until the woman broke into tears. She stayed sitting in her kitchen for a while before daring to move again and check the damage in her observatory.

—

Cagney hurried back to his field once he was out of sight of Hilda’s tower, taking a short side trip to the Root Pack. To his pleasant surprise, they were willing to watch his garden for him. Granted there was a question or two about his plans but a surly "None of your beeswax!” got the point across. He emerged from the dirt in his garden and quickly gathered whatever supplies he was going to need. He glanced at his tree only to do a double take as he spotted a small fuzzy body in it. He grit his teeth. “Mother fucker,” he snapped, lobbing an acorn at the figure with a snarl.

The acorn hit the cat, waking him abruptly and making him lose his balance. “La madre que me parió!” He yelled while falling. His feline reflexes saved him from landing on his head and he took out his knife and pointed it at Cagney. He opened his eyes wide and immediately relaxed. “Oh! Señorita!” the cat said, thinking Cagney was a woman, “ My apologies! I thought I was being attacked,” he said with a charming smile and his Hispanic accent, putting his knife back in his pocket.

Cagney gritted his teeth. That wasn’t the same cat. He was getting really sick of cats. “You ARE getting attacked! Now scram! I gotta pack my stuff!” He growled.

“Y-you’re a man?” The cat said befuddled. “They’re male flowers!?” He got lost in his thoughts for a moment. “I have a lot to rethink….” He shook his head. “And you just go around attacking sleeping folk?” He cleaned some dust from his clothes and looked around for his hat. “You could have the decency to fight face to face, cobarde!”

Cagney laughed. “I’m more than happy to attack people who trespass on my field face to face but I don’t have time for this! I’ve got to meet a bee.”

The cat raised his eyebrows and put on his hat on with grin. “A bee?” He didn’t know there were male flowers but he did know about their 'special’ relation with the bees. “Oh! El amor! Spring fever, am I right?”

Cagney grit his teeth at the cat. “Say that again, and you’ll be pushing up daisies in no time.”

The cat eyed him from top to bottom and came to the conclusion it was probably best to avoid conflict with a giant plant, specially in the middle of a garden. “I guess I touched a sensitive spot there, eh amigo?” He wiggled his eyebrows and extended his paw. “I’m Carlos Buenaventura. A citizen of the world and a defender of Love!” He said proudly. “And looks like you need someone to talk to, my friend. Usually flowers are much more… friendly this time of year. And since thanks to your tree I had a wonderful good night sleep, I feel like the the least I can do is help a brother out.”

Cagney raised an eyebrow. “A citizen of love, eh? Is that why you’re sleeping on a random branch in the middle of a garden?” He crossed his arms. “And heh, no thanks. My problems are none of your business either! Plus, I’m going to be fixing them anyway in no time.”

“Well, luck doesn’t always smile, but when it does… interesting things happen… like finding out about the existence of male flowers.” A shiver ran through his spine. “I knew that was too weird to be a vine….” Carlos said softly to himself, remembering his past floral conquest.

Cagney wasn’t sure what the cat said under his breath but it was best not to ask what. He finished packing up and looked at the cat again. “Why are you still here?”

“Short version: I’ve got nothing better to do. Even shorter version: I’m curious,” the cat said, leaning against the tree with his arms crossed.

Cagney huffed. “Pretty sure curiosity killed the cat.” He glanced at his satchel and swore. “I’m forgetting something. What am I forgetting?”

“If only I got a coin for every time someone said that to me…” he snickered, looking around. He noticed the pile of school supplies. “Maybe you’re forgetting your kids?” He pointed at the pile.

Cagney snorted. “I ain’t got no kids. All those notebooks and letters-” His eyes widened. “The letter!” He remembered, his leaves to his face in an instant. Shit! He forgot about the letter! Even if he did fix things, that letter would absolutely destroy any chance of reconciling with Hilda. She would think he was some pervert! That he had been planning on screwing her for a while and used her drunkenness to take advantage of her. “I’m so screwed!” He moaned, pulling at his petals.

“Woah woah! Calm down, amigo! What letter?” The cat said even more curious.

Cagney waved toward Hilda’s observatory. “I accidentally sent a letter to the dame who lives there that I didn’t mean to send. Kind of a friendship/relationship ending kind of letter. I was gonna snag it this morning but I forgot.”

Carlos looked at the direction he was pointing and crossed his arms, thinking. This fellow needed help with something love related, and as a self proclaimed Agent of Love, he felt the need to give him a hand. “Judging by the way you almost rip your own petals, I’m guessing you going back for it is out of the question.” He deduced. “Well, Lady Luck is smiling you today, Petals.” He took his hat off and bowed slightly towards Cagney. “I will retrieve it for you!”

Cagney gave him a sideways look. “You uh sure about that? It’s not exactly gonna be a cake walk.”

“Amigo, I’m a stray cat. The hard way is the only way I know.” The cat said putting his hat back. “So what kind of mademoiselle are we dealing with?” He crossed his arms and listened attentive to the giant flower.

“Well, her name is Hilda Berg. She’s incredibly deadly-” and very sexy - “And she can control the weather.” He finished tying up his satchel. “The letter is pink and if you get it, great. Burn it. But if you don’t…well this won’t be the worst thing that happened to me.” That already happened last night.

“Deadly, controls the weather, got it~controls the weather? As in… storms, and hurricanes and such?” Carlos said thinking the flower had more than pollen and sap in his system.

“Yeah.” He saw the skeptical look in the feline’s face and he shrugged. “Looks like it might be above you, short stuff.”

Carlos narrowed his eyes, feeling challenged by the flower. His pride overtook his reason and decided it do it. If he succeeded, he would win a big ally, if he failed…well, he still had a few lives left. “Muy bien!” He said, putting an open hand on his chest. “I’ll retrieve your letter, Petals. I’ll destroy it for you, and that weather girlfriend of yours will never know what happen.” He said boastfully, walking towards the fence.

The carnation grinned. “All right, if you’re successful, you can hang around here. But if not, I do know a guy who’s good at making gravestones.” He looked up at the sun and scowled. “I got to get going otherwise I’ll be fighting anyone else who comes in my field.” Cagney Carnation took off down the path for the second aisle, crossing his leaves that this might actually work.

“Trato hecho!” Carlos said at the carnation looking him leave towards the city. He remembered he had to meet Amori at the docks, so he hurried up to the observatory to make sure he would be there in time.

—

Hilda was examining the observatory ruins, recovering what she could. She analyzed the way the walls fell, and it look like if something exploded from the inside of the building. This detail really intrigued her. If the dragon destroyed the observatory from the inside, how did he get in there in the first place? All the constellations in her head started to discuss theories, but Hilda had to shut them up to calm her hungover ache. Small rocks fell from the ceiling hole catching the woman’s attention. She had a glimpse of what look like a furry tail. 'Is that…?’ Gemini said softly. 'The cat burglar! Must be the one Cagney saw the other night!’ Sagittarius said, a bit alarmed. 'It came back for more, uh? Let’s give it more…’ Tauros sneakered. Hilda’s eyes and bracelets started to shine and a dense fog started to appear.

Carlos stood still wondering about the fog, until he remembered what the flower said about her being able to control the weather. He opened his eyes wide, does that mean she saw him? or maybe it was just a fog? After all they lived in a island surrounded by water, fog is common in this kind of places, he thought. “Cálmate, Carlos!” He said softly to himself and continued walking silently on the unstable roof towards where he thought he saw the main house. He took a few more steps before hearing a deep bellow behind him. He turned his head just in time to see a bull’s head with bright horns charging from the fog and pushed him off the roof. The impact was too strong and Carlos’s feline reflexes failed him, landing on his back with a thud and cursing in Spanish. “I can’t believe you’re stupid enough to come back!” Taurus snickered, levitating towards the cat, getting ready to attack again. Carlos held up a hand. “I-I’m sorry! I just wanted to recover somet~!” He avoided a fatal attack with a roll and the cloud bull got stuck in the floor. Now he had a chance to see what he was dealing with. This wasn’t a woman. It was a monstrous cloud bull! Carlos looked befuddled at the struggling creature. “Petals forgot to mention this…” he managed before Taurus disappeared in a cloud and turned into Sagittarius. The cat’s eyes opened wide, not believing what was in front of him. The constellation made his glowing bow appear and with a smirk he immediately shot a few arrows at the cat. Carlos reacted quickly this time and ran to what he thought was safe - the ruins of the observatory. Sagittarius saw red. “GET THE FUCK OUT OF OUR OBSERVATORY, YOU FUCKING THIEF!”

“I’m not a thief!” Carlos said, running through the rubble. “This is all a misunderst~!” Another arrow missed him only by a little and hit one of the few mirrors that survived the dragon. Hilda yelled furious. “YOU’RE DEAD!” She shouted with a thunder echoing voice. Sagittarius vanished into the fog and for a moment everything stood still. Carlos was hiding behind what looked like a space rocket, holding his breath to make as little sound as possible, trying to calm down. After a while the cat dared to get out of his hideout, looking every direction for the cloud creatures. It looked like the coast was clear, but Carlos had the feeling this was just the calm before the storm. “W-weather lady?” He asked with a shaky voice. “This is a misunderstanding! I’m not a thief!” . He said slowly, getting out from his hiding spot and walking outside the ruins. “I’m more of an errand boy! I’m here to recover a lett~?” As soon as he set foot outside, a bright orb started shooting small hot projectiles at him and Hilda bursted into two maniacal laughter. She was now in the form of Gemini. He got painfully hit quite a few times and his strength was starting to fail him. He hid behind a big pile of debris. “Por favor! I surrender!” He kept yelling, but the sky witch wouldn’t listen. Her eyes were shining really bright. “I’m not done with you, you son of a bitch!” Gemini said in unison while vanishing into a huge dark cloud. Sounds of mechanic parts getting into place filled the air along with thunder and lightning. The clouds spreaded revealing a huge red half moon with a terrifying humanoid face laughing like a crazy witch. “Petals forgot to mention that too….”

“HAHAHAHA! I THOUGHT CATS LIKED WITCHES!” The half moon laughed, shooting stars and rockets at the poor Hispanic cat. He did all he could to avoid the attacks, but the blasts were almost just as bad as the projectiles. “Maldita loca! Stop! Already!” Carlos shouted, jumping passed the obstacles to get away from her, but a nearby blast blew some debris, painfully burying his ankles. “THEY SAY CATS HAVE NINE LIVES. LET’S PUT THAT TO THE TEST!” the red moon Hilda laughed. She had so much anger and frustration built up that this made her feel really good. To just let herself loose like this, with no restrictions whatsoever! She got closer to her victim and got a bit of altitude to get ready to crush the man. “Ay! Jesusito de mi vida! I just wanted to retrieve the flower’s letter! What a horrible end for an Agent of Love!” Carlos yelled, closing his eyes and getting ready for the impact. “The flower’s letter?” Hilda stopped in mid air. “What flower?” The moon asked impatiently to the wounded cat, although she already had her suspicions. Carlos looked up at her, and sighed in cautious relief. “I don’t know his real name, I call him Petals. He’s a giant fl~.” “Giant flower…” She interrupted while a dark cloud covered her completely to later reveal an angry woman in a red dress. Carlos was seriously starting to question his sanity. “Orange petals? Yellow face? A bit of an asshole?” She continued describing and Carlos nodded. 'Why would Cagney send us a letter?“ Sagittarius asked. 'Scratch that, WHEN did he send the letter? We just saw him last night…’ 'We can worry about that later! Let’s finish this bastard first!’ Taurus growled. 'Uuuh! I wonder what he wrote to us! Could be a poem? Or a list of all the things he likes about us.” Gemini blushed so intensely that actually made Hilda blush. The woman shook her head to stay away from the memories of last night and focused on the cat. “What’s your name, thief?” She said threatening. “Carlos Buenaventura” he immediately answered, still a bit shaky. “And…I’m a lot of things… but thief isn’t one of them.” He dared to clarify. Hilda gave him a deadly look that froze his blood. “B-b-but for you, señorita, I’ll be anything you want!” He laughed nervously. Hilda looked towards her mailbox in front of her house. “This is what’s gonna happen, Caaaarlos.” She tried to pronounce it the same way she mocked the caterpillar’s name. “I’m gonna go check if there is indeed a letter from… Petals.” She snickered. “If there is one, I will let you go, because that would mean you know my friend and if he didn’t kill you, it’s 'cause you’re not the thief of the other night… BUT! If I find nothing… well, let’s say I’m gonna have a lot of fun using you as my target practice.” Carlos took a deep breath. “It’s not like I can go anywhere…” he pointed at the debris around his ankles

Hilda walked towards her mailbox and found a couple of bills and a pink letter with something on it. “…glitter?” That was odd. She had trouble imagining Cagney using glitter for anything. She opened the letter intrigued and was pleasantly surprised to see such a great handwriting. The pea brain really put an effort on this, she found that sweet. “You are one of the most beautiful women I have ever met. You are so strong and fierce. -Aw… you dumb weed,” She said blushing. “Your dresses are so pretty and sometimes I wish I could see you without one too~?” She read that line again. “ …but that would be really bad to say so I’m not going to say it. Would you like to go out with me and maybe have a picnic? Sincerely, Grim.” “Grim?!” All constellations yelled in her head. She read the letter a few more times until she realised it was addressed to the Baroness Von Bon Bon. She couldn’t help but laugh. Grim must have realised he sent the letter to the wrong address and asked Cagney to get it back for him, but since now they were a bit awkward with each other, the grumpy dandelion decided to send this poor idiot to retrieve it for him. She thought about it for a moment. The envelope had her address in another hand writing… one much more familiar… She heard a noise and turned to see Carlos had manage to free himself but instead of running, he just laid on the floor. She raised an eyebrow and walked back to him. “What are you doing? Why aren’t you running?” “ I just realised that maybe Petals tricked me to get beaten by you.” He said more to himself than to her. “ There might not be a letter at all….” The cat said sadly rubbing his wounds. “ You’re a hell of a woman!” He smiled and pulled a cigarette and matches from his pocket and lit one taking a deep breath. Hilda realised if the cat didn’t say those words she would have definitely turn him into mush. No matter how good it felt, she went way too far… “I found the letter… so… you’re free to go.” Carlos raised a shaky finger and took another deep breath from his cigarette. “Just a couple more minutes, and I’ll be out of your life.” She was starting to feel very bad. “I can take you to the hospital? Or home… where do you live?” Carlos thought for a moment. “I have to be at the docks pretty soon. Can you give me a lift?” The woman nodded “Sure! No problem. But… you should really see a doctor though” She cast a cloud and helped the scared cat get on it.

—

Amori was waiting impatient at the docs. He kept looking at his pocket watch and eyeing the surroundings looking for the Hispanic cat. A cloud landed in front of him carrying a woman and the feline he was waiting for. He looked horrible. He was covered in dust, cuts, bruises and blood stains. He acknowledge the woman with a slight movement of his head, without saying a word, and he looked at Carlos, waiting for an explanation. “Hey! Mi amigo Amori! You’re not going to BELIEVE the day I had… But let me introduce you to my lovely companion: Señorita Hilda Berg.” Hilda waved, feeling awkward. The spider gentleman didn’t say anything and kept staring at Carlos. “Señorita Berg, this is Amor~” “You’re late.” The gentleman interrupted. Carlos chuckled. “It’s a funny story, really~.” “We got to go.” He said going back to his car. “What a charmer…” Hilda said, helping Carlos to get down. “You sure you don’t want to see a doctor?” “I’ll be fine.” He smiled sweetly, getting down of the cloud. “Well! Can’t say it has been a pleasure meeting you, but you have made quite an impression on me.” He bowed. Hilda forced a smile. “Yeah. A piece of advice, though: knock first.” She said, slightly annoyed. The cat laughed “That is a very good advice indeed, my dear. Adiós, señorita.” They both waved goodbye and Hilda returned to her ruins, with a new thing to worry about.

“We don’t have time for your conquests, Buenaventura.” Amori said disturbingly calm, looking through the car window. “Hehe, she was the one conquering me.” The cat chuckled, taking out another cigarette. “No smoking in my car.” The spider said, without looking at Carlos. The Hispanic cat sighed and put the cigarette back to its package. The gentleman looked to his pocket watch again. “Are you going to be able to do the job tonight?” “Hmhmm” Carlos answered tired closing his eyes. “I just need a shower and a nap.” “Fine.” He gave Carlos some money. “Get yourself a room in a mediocre hotel, register with a fake name, obviously, take a shower, a nap, and call a doctor. How badly are you hurt?” “Aw! You DO care about me! Come here! Gimme a hug!” He laughed trying to hug Amori but the spider managed to keep him away with his six arms. The driver let a big smile appear on his face, but immediately vanished at the deadly look he gave him. “The only reason I’m so generous is because I need you in top shape for tonight! It’s not because I appreciate you in any way!” The gentleman said, losing his coolness. “Haha! yeah yeah! Act all tough, but I know deep down that hard rock facade there’s a flaming heart waiting to explode, like a volcano!” He mimicked a volcano erupting making noises with his mouth. “I just hope it doesn’t erupt inside somebody though, if you know what mean, ehhh? ” he chuckled,q elbowing the spider who was now covering his face in embarrassment.

—

Cagney was just reaching the second isle when he stopped short at the sight of the carnival. There was shards of glass all over the floor, overturned hot dog stands and the ferris wheel actually looked a little warped. “What the hell happened here?”

“Only the greatest entertainment here at Beppi’s circus!” An annoying voice announced from behind him. Cagney groaned at the familiar voice and turned to see Beppi proudly posing with a broken mirror. There was something a bit off about that mirror. Other than the fact that it was cracked. The carnation knew he was going to regret asking, but he had to do it. “What’s with the mirror, Beppi?” “Oh, this old thing? Why it’s just one of my many magic mirrors for my haunted mansion.” “Magic mirror? Does that mean you get extra bad luck for it breaking?” Beppi giggled. “Oh, I didn’t break it. But something did break out of it! It was a rather monstrous surprise that’s for sure!” Cagney shook his head. “Alright, I officially don’t care anymore.” “Oh, really? What a shame. Grim got to fight a mirror dragon last night! And then it exploded!” The clown squeaked when Cagney grabbed him by the lapels of his outfit. “Mirror dragon?!” “Yes. Have you seen it? We haven’t found it yet.” Cagney humorlessly laughed. “OH I saw it alright. I saw it break into Hilda’s home and smash all her stuff!” “Woah, really?” “Yeah so-” “You were really at Hilda’s house?” Beppi prompted. Cagney felt his petals stiffen slightly. “No, just…” “You were there awfully late. What were you guys doing?” “N-nothing. Just, screw you.” “Nah, but judging by how tense you are, I should tell you the same.”

Cagney growled at the clown’s suggestion. “Where did you get these mirrors from?” “Djimmi got them for me. Which reminds me, don’t tell Djimmi that they’re almost all broken. I only got like one left.” Cagney grinned maliciously. He had a little bit of time. “Let’s go pay a visit to Djimmi then, maybe he can tell me how to prevent that dragon from coming back. You know, after he kills you.” Beppi’s eyes widened. “Wait, no no no!” The carnation grabbed him the lapels and dragged the screaming clown toward the road.

—

When Cagney and Beppi reached Djimmi’s pyramid, it was closed with a note on the door: “Do not bother the Great Djimmi, especially you, Beppi!. The Magnificent Djimmi won’t clean your mess!”

Apparently Djimmi had come back to the isles late last night, after a quick visit to the family. He had been surprised to see the park in such a mess. He immediately recognized the mirror shards and wondered how they got everywhere. People had no respect for things anymore! He decided after his long trip it would be best to worry some other time and went to rest. Hence the note.

Cagney saw the sign on the door and swore. He didn’t want to agitate a genie. But at the same time, he really did want to see Beppi get murdered. So he knocked on the door, much to the dismay of the clown.

Cagney had to knock a couple more times before an aromatic smoke came out of the eye symbol carved on the door. It took the shape of a miniature Djimmi and started to speak with a high pitch voice.

“Did you turn blind!? I do not wish to be disturb today! Be gone, before I turn you into slugs!”

Cagney scowled at the irritated genie before thrusting out a protesting Beppi out the at him. “Reading ain’t my strong suit, bud. Why the hell you selling magic monster mirrors to this idiot? And how do I get rid of the monsters?!”

The miniature Djimmi crossed his little arms. “First of all, none of your business who or what I sell to people. Second, it’s not my fault everyone is scared of very freaky stuff. You just stop looking at the mirror and the monster will disappear from the reflection.” He said, not understanding what Cagney really meant.

“Now, it eludes the magnificent Djimmi how this clown managed to break all the mirrors and spread the shards everywhere, but I’m not selling anymore. I’m out of stock!” He added turning the back at them.

Cagney scowled, thinking the genie was being sarcastic. “Turn around huh?! You wanna explain that to Hilda because one of your magic mirror monsters took a side trip to her home and destroyed all of her exhibits?!”

“What?” said a very confused mini-Djimmi. “What are you talking about? The reflections can’t come out of the mirror.”

Beppi threw his hands out. “That’s what I said! But then a big dragon flew out grabbed the candy princess and me!” The clown laughed. “I thought the rabbit with the churro made it go away but all they did was teleport it!” Cagney looked at Beppi. “What?”

Smoke-Djimmi looked at the clown unbelieving what he was hearing. He sighed loudly. “Come in….” The mini-Djimmi disappeared with a puff and a trap door opened at the visitors feet, making them fall into an underground sledge made of reddish stone. Shortly after, they landed on a pile of pillows. When they recovered from the fall, they realised they were in a small room, floor covered in carpets and pillows, walls decorated with veils and other exquisite fabrics, the air was heavy and filled with incense and a touch of a minty scent. Djimmi was sitting in front of a small table containing a steamy silver tea set, smoking a water pipe, and wearing a silky green robe. He wasn’t happy to have them. “Explain EXACTLY what happened.” The genie said seriously, blowing some smoke and pointing in front of him with an open palm, inviting them to approach the table.

Beppi had managed to wiggle out of Cagney’s grasp during the fall. “So,” he started, “Bon Bon and I were on a date-!” Cagney looked at the clown. “What?! No way.” “Oh alright. Maybe the date was with Grim. But I was there too! And I just happened to get my magic mirror maze all set up! When all of a sudden, Grim’s scary reflection reaches and yanks Bon Bon and I through the mirror! As much as I enjoy my pranks, I wasn’t expecting this one to reflect on me this much.”

The genie took a deep breath out of his water pipe with a concern look on his face. He blew the smoke softly staring at Beppi trying to understand what he just said.

“Grim’s reflection dragged you inside the mirror….” He paused and crossed his arms. His look still on Beppi. “What did you say earlier about a bunny and a magic… churro?”

Cagney was really disappointed that Beppi wasn’t immediately turned into a toad or nothing but even he had to admit he was curious about the rabbit and magic churro. Beppi nodded. “Oh yeah! Had a group in there with us in the maze.” He slapped his knee. “There was this really spooked bunny waving around a churro and doing spells or something.” “You mean Hopus?” Cagney asked. It was the only rabbit he could think of that could cast spells. “Maybe if Hopus was a kid, then sure! Ooh! Can Hopus turn into a kid? That would be hilarious!” This was getting nowhere in a hurry. “What’d the rest of the group look like?” “Well, it was a group of kids, two bunnies, a bat and a bulldog. Goopy. I think he was supposed to be babysitting or something. And that salamander dockworker fella and his cat date, who I must say was quite the acrobat!” Cagney froze, “A cat?”

Djimmi knew Hopus a bit better that Beppi, he was a frequent client, closest thing he had as a friend. He always enjoyed chatting with him about curses and funny stories about backfiring spells. “It still eludes the great Djimmi this story about … a churro….” He said, rolling his eyes, thinking that the clown simply didn’t see clearly in the middle of the chaos. “But sounds like they might have been Hopus’ kids. They must have taken their father’s wand and fooled around.” He left the water pipe on a side and started gesturing with his arms and hands as if he was caressing a round object. He hummed and murmured a chant before a shiny crystal glass materialised in front of them floating in the air. “You say you saw the creature at Mis Berg’s, right?” He said to Cagney, his hands moving around the crystal sphere, that was now turning cloudy and slowly revealed the observatory ruins. They could see Hilda, trying to reach something in a pile of debris in her exposition room. It didn’t took long before she got angry and turned into Taurus to kick the big chunk of wall out of her way. “What exactly did you see?” Djimmi said inspecting the damage. He had a pretty good idea of what they were dealing with, but still wanted to gather as much information as possible about the creature that popped out of his mirrors.

Cagney pursed his lips. “Well, it was shiny, and mean and could fly. Pretty much a shiny dragon. No idea where it went after it took out Hilda’s place though.” Beppi clapped his hands together again. “Think he would like to join the circus? I’ve been wanting to practice my damsel in distress routine for years!”

Djimmi glared at the clown. “Oh, you will have the chance, alright… because YOU are going to catch it.” He looked one more time at a sad Hilda, holding an old spyglass in the shape on an L, trying carefully to bend it back to its original shape, only to completely break in her hands. "Poor girl… I’m starting to think she’s cursed or something.“ The image of the crystal glass changed showing the damage caused at the carnival. "For something so big to come out of the mirrors, it must have been a pretty strong spell… maybe it wasn’t the kids after all.”.The genie kept thinking in silence, while the sphere showed an air view of the carnival.

Beppi blinked and looked at the crystal ball. “What do you mean I have to catch it? With a glass net or something? It ain’t exactly a butterfly, ya know.” Cagney harrumphed. He had been really hoping to see Beppi skewered but since that didn’t look like it was happening, he was growing restless. “Well, you both better figure out something. I’ve got errands to run. I gotta meet up with Rumor,” he complained, looking around for the exit.

Djimmi was very irritated by the clown and didn’t pay much attention to Cagney. The flower realised there were no exits in the room, and that the trap door hole was gone. “It’s the physical manifestation of Grim’s fears. Just find out what exactly are those, and you might be able to figure out a way to catch it. In the meantime, I’ll try to find out who made him come out of the glass.” The genie took a long puff of he’s water pipe. “Can you describe the man from the docs and the cat?”

Cagney settled in. It looked like he was going to be here for a while, especially as Beppi pulled out a detective hat and a pipe of his own….oh wait, that was Djimmi’s pipe. The flower wasn’t sure when he managed to swipe it from the genie. Beppi tapped the pipe to his chin. “Well the one from the docks was some type of older salamander fella. Goopy seemed to know him well enough. The other one was the cutest little cat. Rather jumpy-” Cagney growled. “Do you know where that rat went?” Beppi chuckled. “It was a cat.” “I know that! But she’s nothing but a dirty rat after the crap she pulled earlier.” “…but she’s a cat.” Beppi reminded. Cagney’s hands were on Beppi in an instant. “I KNOW, Beppi, I KNOW! But she’s the reason I’m in this mess to begin with!”

Djimmi’s eye twitched of contained anger when he realised the clown took his pipe. He decided this was a waste of time to try get more information out of him, but Cagney seemed to know something about the cat. After Cagney let him go, he grabbed Beppi by the neck, producing a squeaky toy sound from the clown. “Find out how to attract that creature, and I’ll find out how to get rid of it.” He said angrily face to face. He then started folding the clown’s body like a long balloon and made the shape of a doggy and gave it to Cagney with a satisfied grin.

“How do you know the rat~? I mean, the cat!” He decided to ask the flower.

Cagney very much enjoyed his new balloon even though Beppi seemed hardly phased by this. Still he didn’t want to incriminate himself too much. “The cat came to steal some stuff from Hilda and the dome was broken,” he answered evasively.

The genie cleaned his pipe looking surprised at the carnation. “Her dome got broken before this? Poor girl…hmmm….” He took a deep puff and blew the smoke slowly on his palm. The smoke strangely started turning as a slow small tornado, changing into a shade of green and materializing a ring, completely full with small weird inscriptions. He extended his hand to Cagney. “You spend a lot with her. Next time you see her, give her this. It’s an amulet against the evil eye. If somebody has indeed cursed her, this should protect her as long as she’s wearing it. On the house, obviously.” A door opened where the slide was before. “Now, please, leave! And next time you bother the magnificent Djimmi, I’ll make a tea out of your petals and drown the clown in it!”

Cagney knew better than to test fate much further and bailed, taking the Beppi balloon with him. It was only when they were outside that the carnation reflected on Djimmi’s words. He eyed the amulet skeptically. It did seem like Hilda was running into a lot of bad luck lately. Granted, most of it was related to him, but still, there had to be some weight to his prediction. Nothing was ever free with the genie, whether it was money or something else, there was always a price. So Djimmi had to be really concerned to have given Cagney of all Islanders a artifact at no cost. Perhaps the genie was on to something. But, Cagney could not go back and give the amulet to Hilda. He had wasted too much time as it was, he realized, seeing the sun’s position in the sky. The clown’s humming clued him into the fact that he was not alone and an idea hit him. He jerks at the balloon down to his level and scowled at Beppi. “Listen up, moron, I need you to take this amulet to Hilda. Don’t tell her where I’m going, just say Djimmi thought she could use it for all of her….bad luck lately.” Beppi shook his head. “No can do. Mr. Magic Flying Carpet really wants me to find that dragon. And I think a visit to Bon Bon might be in order to learn more about that,” he giggled with a wink. Cagney held up a leaf. “I don’t even want to hear what you had in mind for the Baroness, but listen! If you really want to catch that dragon, you should definitely head to Hilda’s place first. And here’s why…”

—

Hilda managed to gather some of her expositions and research and was sitting on a pile of debris, holding a cup of tea, looking towards her destroyed observatory.

'Maybe Bon Bon would agree to give you a loan?’ Sagittarius said cautiously, for he also felt the strong feelings rushing in her body. 'She’s a reasonable woman… I’m sure she would listen.’ 'Beg? You want us to beg!?’ Taurus replied angrily. 'Shhhh! Not so loud! Head still hurts…’. Gemini said softly, recovering their sync. “Pfff… maybe I should just give up. Nobody cares about the observatory anyway.” Hilda sighed, sadly taking a sip. 'What now? What are going to do without an observatory?’ Sagittarius asked, alarmed. “There are other observatories in the world, you know.” 'Yes, but in here WE are in charge!’ Taurus pointed out. 'All our friends are here’. Ini said softly. 'Cagney is here…’. Gem talked this time. 'Are we really going to leave him again?’. Hilda’s heart felt heavy in her chest. Last thing she wanted was to hurt him again… It felt like everything she cared about had to be destroyed somehow. Ever since that bat moved in, she thought to herself. Maybe the singer brought a wave of bad luck. “Bad bat luck…hehe, try to say that three times in a row. Bad bat luck, badbatuck, babadack” she started to say amusing herself, helping her to forget briefly her bigger problems. Unaware that another problem was soon bouncing its way to her door.

–

Beppi bounced up and down the path on the first isle toward Hilda’s observatory. Every now and then, he thought about taking the amulet and skipping it across the water like a rock but then remembered he needed to hang on to it just a bit longer or at least until Hilda had it. Cagney’s words echoed in his helium head. And not just because the carnation shook them into the clown. 'Once you give her the amulet, you gotta do whatever it takes to keep her from following me. Every bad thing that’s happened, I’ve been a part of. If Djimmi is right, I could be the bad luck. So, the last thing I want is for her to be around when I deal with Rumor!’ 'So what’s in it for me?’ Beppi was started to climb her hill, remembering. 'You wanna find the dragon so bad? Hilda’s tower was the last place it was seen. I didn’t see it head back toward the second isle so it could still be around the first isle. And Hilda’s place is the highest part of the isle for lookout. There’s no way in hell she’ll let you use her place as a lookout if she’s not around. So don’t let her know where I’ve gone. Got it?’ 'Not at all.’ 'You stupid-’ The rest of the conversation was a bit of a haze after that, he had to admit, as he stood in front of Hilda’s door. He took out a doorbell, placed it on her door and proceeded to ring it nonstop.

—

Hilda covered her ears at the intense ringing. “What the heck!?” It came from her house, so she rushed to open the door. “If you’re the vacuum seller, you better start running!~oh!” She said, opening the door to find Beppi, who was still ringing the bell, even tho she was standing right in front of him. She stared at him for a few seconds waiting for him to stop, but when she realised he wasn’t going to, she slapped his wrist. “Cut it out! I’m here! What do you want?”

Beppi tucked away his bell and tipped his hat at her. “Hello, Miss Berg! What a surprise to see you here! How are you doing this fine day?”

“….Yeah, very surprising to see me at my own house,” the woman replied crossing her arms, “I don’t have time for this, Beppi, I’m really busy. You need something?”

Beppi cleared his throat. “Actually, I believe YOU are in need of something! And I’m here to help!” Before Hilda could say anything further, Beppi scooted in and started to walk toward her former exhibits hall. “I hear you’ve been having a lot of trouble lately?”

“Wha~ hey!” She managed to say while Beppi invited himself in. She followed him angrily. “What have you heard?” News travelled fast. Maybe Carlos had something to do with it. She started to not like newcomers.

“I heard that a dragon came out of nowhere and smashed all your stuff! I’m fairly sure it’s the same dragon that smashed up my circus too!” Beppi entered the room and whistled loudly at all the damage. “Whoo boy, looks like it did a number on your place!”

“Smashed your circus too? What the heck! Where did it come from? Could it be Grim’s relative or something?” Hilda asked, surprised of the news.

“Oh, not quite. It’s a magical dragon! It came from a magical place. And if I am successful, that’s where I’m going to send it!” Beppi cheered. “But in the meantime, you’ll need to wear this. Courtesy of our friend, Djimmi, here!” Beppi plopped the amulet into her hands and started to scope out the place. “Cagney told him about what’s been happening and this will hopefully help keep you from running into anymore bad luck!” He started to walk away. “Now which roof should I set up my lookout spot? I want to make sure I’m as high as possible.”

Hilda looked at the strange ring. "Cagney? Bad luck?“ She tried to keep up with what the clown was saying but she couldn’t help but feel confused. "The highest place is my room’s roof~wait, WHAT? What lookout? You’re not staying here!” She said angrily at the clown. “And watch where you’re stepping! I’m not done rescuing my expositions.”

Beppi looked around and sighed. “Oh fine. We can rescue what we can save. But afterwards, we’ll set up camp in your room and keep an eye out for that dragon. Cagney didn’t think it left the isle.”

The woman stared at the clown unbelieving. “You can help me pick up my stuff, if you want, but you are NOT staying!” She said, angry stomping her foot down, “And THAT’S FINAL!”

— A few hours later, Beppi was setting camp in Hilda’s room near her big window. The woman was sitting on her bed with her arms and legs crossed, looking angry at the clown for his persistence. “You should sleep outside, on the roof. And while you’re there you could fix the roof.” 'Let me pop him with my horns!’ Taurus said, losing his patience.

Beppi pulled out a jar. “I could use this jar of gorilla glue to patch things up?” He held the jar out to Hilda. The faint sound of a monkey could be heard from the can.

Hilda raised an eyebrow at the sound.“.. Nevermind….” She thought it might be better to ask somebody more sane to fix her roof, perhaps the Root Pack. “So what’s your plan? Sit in here 'till it casually flies back?” She inspected the ring in her hand.

Beppi finished setting up his tent made out of one of her sheets and motioned her to sit down next to him. “Only for the next day or so. Then I’ll get bored. But you need to stay with me in case I do see it!” He insisted. He saw she hadn’t put on the ring yet and tittered. “I am rather offended you won’t wear my ring. Don’t you trust me?”

“Of course I don’t trust you, Beppi. Who trusts a clown?” She chuckled. “But I know a thing or two about enchanted jewelry.” She said shaking her bracelets. “Can’t recognize the symbols….” She wondered why would Djimmi give her something for free? Did he knew something she didn’t? …Did Cagney say something to him to make him worried… or… 'A love enchantment!’ Gemini yelled in Hilda’s head. “Hey! Keep it down!” Hilda said out loud as a reflex.

“And they say I’m the crazy one,” Beppi muttered, making a screwball gesture next to his head. He glanced at the ring. “it’s supposed to protect against the evil eye. Piss off any gods or sorcerers lately?”

Hilda’s cheeks turned slightly red of embarrassment. “Evil eye?” She thought of the people who she could have made angry. “Well… there’s the freaking door to door seller, mail man, the baker, hm… there’s Carl, the owner of the Night Owl Club, and last I can think of is Carlos.” She noticed the look of confusion.in Beppi’s face. “Carl is a caterpillar son of a bitch, and Carlos is a mail stealer cat.” She clarified. ’…maybe Cagney gave us the evil eye’. Sagittarius said sadly. 'We haven’t been a good friend lately…’. 'Ha! He can barely remember our phone number. You think he has the capacity of throwing spells and curses?’ 'He can always pay somebody to do it for him’. Ini said worried. “How many sorcerers you know Beppi? So far I can only think of Djimmi and Hopus.”

Beppi nodded. "That’s all I can think of too. Maybe someone on the third isle is having a rough day. You haven’t taken out any new gambling debts, have you?”

She shrugged “I have enough debts already.” She said, thinking of the fortune she was going to have to win to be able to get the observatory back on track. She noticed the sun was pretty much gone. “Shit! I gotta set up the stars!” She quickly put on the ring and ran to her chest where she kept the burning spheres. She grabbed a bunch in a sack and jumped from the window casting a cloud. “Don’t sleep in my bed, there’s leftovers in the fridge, you can use the shower and don’t you DARE touch or sneak into my stuff!” She said while leaving in a hurry.

Beppi remembered Cagney’s words about keeping her close and bounced to his feet. “WAIT!” He hollered, hopping out and wrapping himself around her waist.

He almost made her dropped the sack with the stars. “Jesus Christ, Beppi!” The woman said turning red and looking down at him.

The deadly glare she shot him made him smile. It reminded him of Bon Bon. “What if the dragon comes for you when you’re out here?” He quickly explained, making sure to tie his arms in a knot like a balloon snake animal. “You’ve got a better chance of making it out with Beppi on your side.”

“Fine! You can come, just… don’t interfere.” She made her cloud bigger and pulled his arms to try to undo the knot in her waist.

Beppi grinned and snuggled in against her. He sniffed her hair. “Did you know you smell like a flower?”

—

Amber crept along the large crates carefully, being careful not to draw too much attention. This was the first of the many shipments she had learned from Sully’s notes and it wouldn’t do her any good to get caught on the first day. She watched the dockworkers continue to carry the supplies from the ship and she racked her brain trying to remember which shipment was this.

That’s right, it was some stones and baubles and something like that for the genie, Djimmi. Normally, Amber didn’t mess with magical folk. She wasn’t superstitious per se, but there was always a little worrisome to try to take something from someone who with a snap of his fingers, could turn her into a stuffed animal.

Especially since he had caught her once before… A particularly promising box soon caught her attention by the way that the crew members were holding it carefully as they unloaded it. That one. She’s going to go for that one

Amber had been scoping out the docks for some time but there was one particular cargo box with the word “danger” stamped on it that caught her eye near the edge of the dock. Where there was danger, there was risk, and where there was risk, there was treasure. She crept along the beams of the dockyard, keeping an eye out for the boxes that were being lifted out of the ship and high into the air by the massive rusty levers. She didn’t like how some of the levers’ structure creaked and moaned under the weight of the cargo. It was only a matter of time before one of the old levers snapped and dropped a box on someone and she wouldn’t want to be around for that.

—

“Sorry, Sullivan, we all have to do extra shifts to cover for Gary.,” Mc Crabbe, the large red crustacean, said to the salamander while he was getting ready to leave. “It’s just a temporary thing 'till we can find someone to fill in. Hang in there, bud.” He said, patting Sullivan on his back with his huge claw. “Oh, and I need you tomorrow too. Good night!” He said, leaving the office. Sullivan sighed, tired and sad. Working twelve hour shift was really too hard for him, specially after a long day of multiple shipments. It also didn’t give him much time to spend with Amber. There was a lot he wanted to ask her after their weird date at the carnival. But his thoughts drifted to Gary. His sudden decision to retire early was a bit weird knowing the fellow. But the boss said not to worry, and he knew him better than anybody. He poured a cup of strong coffee to get through the night and started reading the papers on the desk unable to focus, for his thoughts were taken once more by his beloved Amber. He sighed and wondered if they would see each other again.

A knock at the door brought Sullivan back from his thoughts. “Oh! Eh… come in! Is open.” Carlos, the Hispanic cat entered taking off his hat. “Buenas noches, caballero.” He shook the salamander’s hand. “Name is Carlos, I’m looking for Sullivan?” The amphibian shook back smiling. “Talking to him!” He noticed the bruises and black eye of his visitor. “Eh… you found trouble on your way here?” “Hehe, just a misunderstanding with a lovely señorita.” He chuckled putting his hat on again. “Thank you for your concern, amigo, but I’m afraid time is a bit of an essence for me tonight….” “Oh! Of course, of course.” Sullivan picked up his keys and notebook and locked the shack on his way out.

Amber finally reached the box and pried open the cover with her miniature crowbar. She peeked inside. Lots of weird strange baubles and gems looked back at her. What was so dangerous about these things? They looked harmless (and pretty enough). She pawed through them and placed a few choice items in her satchel, her ears perking up at approaching footsteps.

Amber’s ears perked up immediately at the sound of a familiar voice. That sounded almost like a certain salamander. She ducked behind the cargo box, being careful not to jostle her prize within her bag and peeked out. Sure enough there was Sullivan walking along the docks and he wasn’t alone. Another cat was walking alongside him, chatting as they continued their stroll. It was a rather attractive looking tom cat she realized and she instinctively patted down her fur before remembering she was on a job and cats were nothing but trouble (she was a perfect example of that).

The sailor wanted to make some small talk but Carlos seemed distracted. Without knowing, they passed near Amber and stopped in front of a big metal box the size of a table near the water.

She flicked her ears trying to hear what they were speaking about, but she couldn’t hear much. Her eyes followed the two until they stopped by a large metal box along the edge of the dock, next to the cold ocean water. She had eyed it earlier but it was too close to the water for her tastes and although it probably wasn’t terribly deep, the last thing she wanted was to get soaking wet.

Sullivan had pulled out his clipboard and was tapping it. She could make out him saying something about “costumes and fabrics” and she started to lose interest. That probably wasn’t too much of value. “This is it.” The salamander verified checking his papers. “A cargo of… costumes and fabrics….” He read cocking his head. “Yeap! To be delivered at the casino, ASAP. Dancers need to practice with their outfits, and Spring Festival is only a couple of weeks away!” Carlos explained to his friend with a cheerful tone. Sullivan knew the casino prepared big shows for the festival, but this was the first time they sent someone in the middle of the night to do the pick up. This all seemed very shady. .“..I’m gonna need to check up the cargo. Would you mind opening it for me, please?” Sully asked politely. Carlos was surprised to hear him ask that. He knew he was coming to pick up this particular cargo but nobody told him to avoid that question? That was a problem. And Carlos wasn’t sure how to tell him no. It raise suspicion, since it would bring up McCrabbe and would compromise the entire operation. On his way to the shipment, Carlos had noticed the pitiful state of some of the levers structures. They were very near under one right now. It pained Carlos to realise that he may have to use one of these structures to secure their operation. He’d have to make sure Sully saw nothing, and said nothing. For good. One of the levers was suspending a large cargo box over them. So all he had to do was get Sully to stay still long enough. “Arg! Sure sure, let’s get this over with!” Carlos pretended not to have the strength to open the lid to the cargo. “ Oiga! A little hand here, amigo? I’m not in my best shape today….” He said, sitting near the lever structure, pretending to be recovering his breath.

Sullivan rolled his eyes and got close to the box, yanking the lock making an irritable metallic noise. Amber was about to turn around when she noticed something off about the other feline’s behavior. How he backed away from Sullivan and sat near one of the rusty levers, huffing and puffing. A young tom in physique like that shouldn’t be that out of breath. She flattened her ears and glanced around. Her eyes followed the lever up and realized there was a rather heavy cargo box suspended above the two. It swayed in the cold wind and she could only imagine that if that box fell, it would obliterate the floor, along with anyone else underneath.

Carlos looked at Sully with a sad expression, and with a quick hit, he broke the lever, releasing the floating cargo.

Her vision drifted back to Sullivan as he attempted to open the box only for a loud crack to reverberate in the shipyard. Her eyes shot up to see the lever had snapped, sending the box crashing downwards…toward Sullivan. There was no way he’d be able to move in time. She dropped to all fours and shot toward him, her bag flying up in the air almost in slow motion. She thought she might have screamed his name but she wasn’t entirely sure. She did, however, full on collide with the salamander, throwing her entire weight into his frame and knocking him out of the pathway of the box…and into the ocean. Oops. Amber’s fur shot up on end at the sight of the water and she managed to desperately cling to the edge of the dock, just as the cargo crashed and broke through the dock where Sullivan had been standing just seconds before.

“Holy shit, holy shit,” she managed, as planks of wood and metal flew everywhere.

Carlos watched, horrified at the scene. He miscalculated and now the cargo was broken in half losing its content, a collection of illegal weapons and firepower. The arsenal of guns and rifles started sinking slowly into the black waters. “Mierda!” He released a particular whistle and ran towards the sinking cargo trying to bring it back up. It was then when he heard a female voice cursing near. He opened his eyes wide at the view of another cat, a rather lovely one, he thought, holding on to the edge. Another witness! He was really screwing things up tonight. “Mierda!” He said again leaving the cargo and offering his hand to help her. “Hold on to me, señorita!”

Amber looked up at the voice to see the tom cat extending a paw toward her to pull her up. She grasped it and pulled down sharply, using the leverage to not only lift herself up, but in doing so, jerking the cat face first against the dock floor. She nimbly landed on the prone cat before pouncing forward, snatching the bag of ill gotten gains before it could smash to the ground and darted down the dock, her eye mask still snugly tied around her face.

As if his face wasn’t in enough pain already, he felt his own weight and the female cat’s crushing him harder against the wooden floor of the docks, stunning him for a moment. A huge gorilla and a big toad ran towards Carlos, guns in hand. They looked surprised at the mess. They saw a shadow running away and, as an instinct, they started shooting its way. Carlos managed to stand up and waved his hands to signal them to stop. “Idiotas! Stop! Francis, save what you can.” He said at the gorilla, pointing at the cargo. “Connor, look for a salamander in the water!”

The gorilla easily pulled back the metal box and carried it to the truck they came in. The toad dove into the water, recovering some guns on his way, and keeping his eyes open for the individual. Carlos rubbed his nose and tried to follow the masked cat. —- Sullivan heard a familiar voice shouting his name, but before he could react his body was violently pushed towards the cold waters. A huge sound vibrated in the dark, something fell on the docs, very near him, cracking the floor. He saw pieces of wood, chunks of metal… a rifle? He knew it! Something was up, and he was in great danger. He looked back up and noticed a couple of distorted silhouettes. There was a sudden movement and one of them left. He thought he heard some shooting… and seconds later a huge toad dived into the water. Sullivan was an excellent swimmer and in a blink of an eye he hid into the dark depths. His heart beating so fast and loud he thought it might give him away.

—

Amber managed to drop behind a cargo box just in time for gunshots to ricochet off the top of her box. Her eyes widened. She was getting shot at?! What type of place was this?! She expected this from Porkrind but not from here. She was thinking more pirates and daggers and parrots. She heard someone yelling at them to stop and she sighed in relief. It was short lived as her ears perked up again at the sound of fast approaching paws. She turned to see the other cat giving chase. Amber continued her sprint, climbing and jumping from box to box.

Carlos tried to keep up with the feline but after a few minutes of painful running and jumping, he had to stop to recover. There was no way he would be able to catch her, and because of the gun shots, she wouldn’t trust him even if he proposed a peaceful deal. An idea started to picture in his head. He smirked. He went back to his colleagues. “Francis, put the metal box back here, Connor. Connor!” He called out over the water and the Toad came out caring a couple more rifles. “Connor, drop it and swim away from here.” The toad looked at him strangely. “And the salamander?” “I’ll take care of it! Just get the fuck away from here!” Francis came back with the box and slid it into the hole where it slowly fell into the water. “Good job Francis, now, I need you to get into the truck and drive normally. Just, go to the rendez-vous point, as planned.” “What are ya~.” But before he could finish the cat already left to the shack. He had to break a window to be able to get in and use the phone. “What’s the emergency?” A bored voice answer on the other line. “Yes! Thieves at the docks! Two of them, they shoot us and my friend fell on the water! Please! Come quick!” Carlos explained, pretending to be worried. — Sullivan saw the toad pass him by a few times, picking up some of the sunken weapons, until at some point he just dropped what he carried and swam away quickly. He remained hidden for a while longer. Something fell into the water. It was the cat. He looked worried and seemed to try to call his name. Sullivan noticed he kept a hand on a side of his body, it was blood! He got stabbed? The salamander started to think Carlos had nothing to do with the cargo, otherwise why would he be wounded? He cautiously came out of his hiding place and noticed the relieved look on the cat’s face. The both got out of the water and Sullivan inspected Carlos wound. “There… there was this cat! A masked cat!” Carlos started to explain. “And… a toad… They… they wanted to hurt me… they fucking stabbed me! But I managed to escape, I reached the shack and called the cops, they should be here any minute now….”

True to his word, a few minutes later the police arrived, finding a wet Carlos shivering, with a stab wound on his side and Sullivan attending to him.

—

Amber sat high in the rafters watching the police canvas the entire dock. She didn’t like that cat though. As she caught sight of him and Sullivan chumming it up, she begrudgingly kept her suspicion to herself. She was just being irritable about not getting more treasure. She groaned. She wish she had grabbed more shinies. But at the same time, she probably wouldn’t have forgiven herself if it had led to Sullivan getting smushed. Probably. She retrieved one of the baubles from the bag and looked down at the desirable cargo box still below her. Well, she knew a buyer for these that’s for sure. Maybe she could come back after the police had left and purloin a few more. She stood up and nearly slipped, dropping the pretty stone. She watched in wide eye as it flew down toward the box of magical items. She wondered what would happen if it actually hit- – The cargo box exploded in a flash of bright smoke and flames as the baubles all detonated at once. Any number of police officers were immediately drawn to the scene staring at the explosive display while Amber ran like crazy. God, what a day….

———————————————————————————

CHAPTER 01, CHAPTER 02, CHAPTER 03, CHAPTER 04, CHAPTER 05, CHAPTER 06, CHAPTER 07, CHAPTER 08, CHAPTER 09, CHAPTER 10; CHAPTER 11; CHAPTER 12 ; CHAPTER 13 ; CHAPTER 14 ; CHAPTER 15; CHAPTER 16 ; (nsfw) CHAPTER 17 ; CHAPTER 18 ; CHAPTER 19 (nsfw) ; CHAPTER 20 ; CHAPTER 21 ; CHAPTER 22 ; CHAPTER 23 ; CHAPTER 24 (you are here now!)

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