Chapter 1 - When the Shark Bites

Author's Notes:
-Ha! And you thought we were done. WRONG! xD Brian and I have already begun the sequel to our story, featuring some fun new characters, old favorites, and who knows what else.
-I wrote this first chapter, since he got to start off the first chapter of the original story arch.
-Oh, and just so you don't get confused an' all, italics = thoughts/flashbacks
-Read on and enjoy! :)


A girl of feline features stood before an unmarked grave. The rare breeze would ruffle fur and hair now and then, but for the most part, the night was still, yet somehow anxious. It was a girl in school, tapping her foot, waiting as the seconds drag by until the bell. It was arriving early at the meeting place for a first date. It was the moment just before the curtain rises on opening night.
Yet, Kitty and her bird companion did not know this through any comprehendible train of thought. They simply felt it.
She turned her blue eyed gaze to the grave beside the naked stone in front of her. Kitty shivered slightly, though the summer had begun to make itself known and the night was quite warm. She must have read the name and epitaph a thousand times before she spoke, and when she did, her voice was quiet, but firm and comfortable,
“Y’know, Feebus? I used to have so much fun.” The girl half smiled. Raising a hand, she gently smoothed the seagull’s feathers as he sat atop her shoulder, “I had friends… and a home… remember how much fun it was?” Feebus nestled against her neck and said,
“I remember, Kitty. We both lost a lot.”
She’s so innocent, Feebus thought musingly, so simple for having killed so many and witnessed so much more than others.
Quite suddenly, Kitty was on her knees before the grave stone whose inscriptions she knew so well by now. Small, feminine hands clenched in her lap, she said definitively,
“They didn’t lose enough! Why did we lose so much, Feebus? They don’t hurt like I do right now. But they should! They should hurt!”
“Kitty…” Feebus murmured, at a loss for words.
“I’m going to make them hurt. They deserve it for all that they did to me. To us!” she offered the bird a hand, which he acceptingly perched upon. Holding him aloft in front of her, the simple girl looked to her last friend for an answer. Feebus sighed.
“I think you should sleep on this one,” he said in an almost fatherly tone. He had developed quite a soft spot for the girl since the attack on Demonic’s organization. “this just isn’t the kind of thing you should rush into. You could be killed!”
“I don’t care!” Kitty nearly shouted at him. Only a little more calmly, she said, “I’ve slept on these thoughts for two years. All it’s done is allow them into my nightmares. This isn’t just a passing thought, Feebus. I am going to do this. All that’s left to decide is whether you do it with me or not.”
The seagull sighed and was silent for a long while. She really meant it. If Feebus knew one thing about Kitty, it was that she was stubborn. But if she did this alone, she was sure to be killed. He had lost Cinta already—he would not lose Kitty, too. She would need as much assistance as possible against Demonic and her men.
“Well…” the bird began, more conversationally now, “you—we are going to need some backup.”
Smiling affectionately, Kitty rose to her feet and allowed Feebus to walk off of her hand and onto the air, where he waddled along beside her. They made their way to the metal gate of the cemetery.
“We’ll have to go back.” Feebus said.
“Back?” Kitty questioned, one furry cat ear twitching curiously.
“Back to Mai… the mansion.” The bird finished lamely, stealing a glance at his companion. Her lips tightened, her brow furrowed. She was quite obviously uncomfortable with the idea. Eventually, however, she nodded.
“Okay. What’s there?” they reached the gate as they spoke and the next words Feebus uttered seemed hesitant and almost regretful.
“Someone who can help.”
Her face fixed in grim resignation, Kitty followed his lead, recalling her experiences at the place, yet not knowing what to expect on her return. As the two walked side by side, unified in apprehension, her mind read the epitaph to her over and over,
Cinta
"Down The Hole It Glides
The Ribbon Of Your Soul"


From one gate to another. Kitty’s tail flicked anxiously behind her as she stared blankly at her old home. She watched as Feebus walked across the air, through the bars of the locked gate and picked the lock with the tip of his beak. With a metallic squeal, amplified by the empty area around them, the gate yielded, and Kitty passed through.
The exterior of the mansion had kept well enough. In two years, the structure had remained empty, yet sound and sturdy. The lawn was overgrown, the gardens wild and unkempt, and it was obvious that these two years had found the place generally lonely.
Somberly, reverently even, the odd pair made their way to the grand entrance. Luckily, they found it unlocked—it seemed no one cared to take the precaution. The two slipped inside to behold the once glorious ballroom stretching out before them. A small grin crept along Kitty’s lips.
“Home sweet home, eh, Feebus?”
The bird was silent.

“Cinta, really, I don’t understand your hang up over this-“
“Oh, c’mon! It’ll be fun! Besides,” the blonde said, tugging her cat-eared friend into the ballroom, “Maion’s having a big fancy ball, so we have to dance with handsome men!”
Kitty grinned wryly and rolled her eyes. Their voices echoed in the vast hall, amplifying Cinta’s exuberance and Kitty’s sarcastic tone as she spoke,
“You know, Maion will probably have us working.”
Cinta waved her hand dismissively at this,
“Psh! I don’t care. I’m going to find the handsomest man there and we’ll dance the night away. Maybe we’ll have an affair! Doesn’t that sound romantic?” she sighed wistfully, and Kitty finally conceded defeat. Her hands on her hips, she said,
“Alright, I don’t know about an affair, but if you’ve got your mind set on this dancing thing…”
“Oh, yay!” Cinta squealed, “thank you, Kitty! Here, you be the man.”
Again, her friend rolled her feline eyes. However, she could not hide the smile which touched her lips. Soon enough the room echoed with the girls’ laughter as they stumbled clumsily through steps.

Bare feet padded softly down the main staircase into the dance floor, leaving scarcely visible prints in a thin layer of dust. Kitty’s tail hung limp behind her, a single blue ribbon adorning it and fluttering lifelessly as she walked. Feebus waddled along as well, however, he did not see all that the girl did. His old, tired mind saw a shadow of a blonde girl. A faint outline of his dearest friend played clumsily before him. Kitty’s mind, a swirling tempest of memories and emotions, showed much more.
Figures danced around her, skirts twirling, folding and unfurling with a flourish as women spun gracefully in the arms of their partners. Each body moved in unison, giving the impression that the entire room was pulsating in time with the band. Kitty hummed along, a little off tune, but familiar with the piece. She had practiced her waltz with Cinta to this song. Yet, though it had started as beautiful, dignified, it now seemed somehow off. Had a clarinet reed split? A violin string snapped?
A solitary figure stood out from across the room. Nothing seemed to have changed, but somehow, everything was different to Kitty. The band still played, the couples still danced, but all that existed was the being across the room.
Cinta. Ribbons cut, her skin pale, the sword of her demise piercing her through. She smiled.

“Kitty! Kitty! Seriously, it’s not funny, cut it out! Wake up!” Feebus pecked mercilessly at the cat-girl’s black hair. Finally, she regained her senses and swatted a hand at him,
“Ow, ow, ow! That hurt, get off!” she exclaimed, rubbing a sore spot on her head. The seagull adjusted a few feathers, grumbled something about worrying, then shook himself and turned to an inconspicuous door resting in the shadows of the staircase.
“He’s this way.”

Through the door, Kitty followed her air-walking friend along various halls and corridors, decorated in the avant-guard style one would expect of a woman such as Maion. It was a tedious, disorienting route, yet she felt that she could probably find her way again if need be. It seemed that the confounding spells on the place had died with their master, making the colossal mansion significantly easier to navigate.
Easier to navigate, however, did not mean easier to trek for the cat girl. She soon found herself in all too familiar places. These were the places which had framed the pictures of vengeance in her nightmares these past two years. Kitty shivered at the thought, but was soon distracted by her observations. She stopped short to avoid stepping on the shattered pieces of a bust of Lewis Carol. Her brow furrowed as she took a good look around.
In a room branching from the hall, the door of which had long been broken away, was a pit. Blue eyes stared lifelessly at this for some time.

Four people in the room. Damnit. She was supposed to be guarding that place. Maion would be pissed. No worries though, she would just have to remedy the situation. Two boys, two girls.
Two girls? Not good. They had retrieved Crimson.
The blond and her bird at Kitty's side, the three stepped silently into the room. Muscles tensed, blood rushing, hearts pounding, bodies ready for battle...
"I've missed you so much," Kitty's sister murmured to her unconscious friend. Cat ears twitched, her tail swished irritably, and Kitty spoke snidely,
"Aww, I've missed you too, sister."

"Almost there," Feebus said. Kitty nodded. This was good. She did not want to spend more time than was necessary in this graveyard of her past.
As they resumed their walk, she caught sight of a curtain, half torn from its supports. What seized her attention further was a small tear in the center of the curtain, surrounded by a dark stain. On the floor beneath it was a crimson smudge across the tile, surrounded by various limbs and joints of two grotesque marionettes.
Here, Kitty saw the shadow of a silver haired boy who had been both puppet and puppeteer.

Down a tightly spiraling staircase, they proceeded and continued through an eerily empty hall, leading to a single elevator. The pair approached, and Kitty raised her eyebrows. There was only a down button, though they had descended so far. Feebus pecked it and the doors opened with alarming urgency. They entered, and the bird pecked the bottom floor button.
"how do you know about this place, Feebus?" the girl asked as they shot down the elevator shaft, "I've never seen anything like this in the mansion."
"I've been around longer than you might think, Kitty," he said, "I've seen a lot, including Maion's finest capture."
"Who is-"
"You'll see." he said with a note of finality. The elevator stopped with a jolt and the doors shot open. Kitty made to step out, but Feebus nipped her ear and said sternly, "wait, still a few levels left."
Pecking the bottom floor button once again, the doors slammed shut and they descended several more floors.
"Years ago, this trip would have been much trickier," Feebus muttered as they reached a halting stop and the doors shot open, "but what with Maion gone, her spells... here we are." Feebus picked up the lead once more as Kitty followed behind obediently.
"Ugh..." she groaned and flung her hands up over her eyes. The spotless white walls now towering up around her contrasted the dusty grays of her journey so that her eyes stung in protest. Blinking until her eyes adjusted, Kitty observed the new area. She currently stood in a cavernous white room. All she saw was white and empty. About two hundred feet away was a spacious doorway.
"He's being held in there." Feebus nearly whispered, his voice echoing eerily regardless.
"In an open room?" Kitty responded in disbelief, "there's not even a door."
"Maion's never had much use for doors and locks." Feebus said with what could be considered a bird's attempt at a shrug.
Their voices hushed, they approached the doorway to the next room. Though barefoot, the cat girl took care to step lightly and silently. Soon, the room came fully into view.
Also towering and stark white, this room held hundreds of pens, stacks upon stacks of paper, an enormous pantry of canned soups, and a man. At this final observation, her blue eyes lingered.
A huddled mass in the corner, the being gave the impression of being so removed as to forsake his humanity. Curled up, the empty room seemed to consume him, but as he caught sight of the two visitors, he got to his feet and immediately conquered his surroundings. Kitty swallowed hard as he approached, ruffling locks of startlingly red hair which reached to his shoulders. he stopped uncomfortably close to Kitty and looked her up and down with blazing eyes. She scowled. He laughed. The noise reverberated in the great emptiness, surrounding them with his laughter.
"What's so funny?" Kitty asked indignantly. He stopped laughing immediately.
"Why--you," he said pointedly.
The girl stood shocked into silence. He grinned and adjusted the thick tube sprouting from his chest into his back, more out of habit than necessity. It was then that he turned his wide-eyed gaze to Feebus. He arched an eyebrow and laughed shortly,
"The talking pigeon!"
"Seagull."
"Seagull, yes! Regis!"
"Feebus."
"Of course you are," he waved a hand dismissively and went on, "now, now, I haven't seen you in six years, two months and twenty one days."
"I'm sure." Feebus responded curtly.
"Feebus," Kitty chimed in, having now regained her composure, "Who is this? You said he could help us. I'm not so sure..."
"Why don't you try asking the man himself, eh?" he cut in, his nose nearly touching hers, he had drawn so close. Kitty scowled at his grin which showed on his lips, but never touched his eyes. She soon noticed that this held true for all of his expressions.
"Alright..." she said, "Who are you?"
"Name's Mac-heath. Or Mac, if you prefer. Or if you took to reading the papers seven years ago--Mac the Knife."
Kitty nodded, though she had never been much for newspapers and had never heard of this Mac the Knife.
"My name is Kitty. I've come here to seek your help. In return, I'll set you free."
"Hmmmm...." Mac turned on his heels and began to pace as he spoke, "six years, two months and twenty one days ago...." his restless hands found a red amulet on a thin chain around his neck, "Maion managed to slip this noose about my throat. You want to remove it? Set me free, you say?"
Kitty nodded again, "Yes. If you help me."
Mac paused, frozen to the spot for some time, then said, "If you're here to free me on any kind of conditions, then Maion must be dead, yes? So... four now..." the man made his way to the stacks of papers, muttering to himself as he went, "four, four, four, fo--do you know what I've been doing down here?"
Kitty shook her head.
"Agonizing. That's what," he said, though he seemed to feel none of the words which he spoke. He began to fuss restlessly with tubes and wires in his chest and peeking out from his hair, "My chemical balance is always off, I subsist on watered down and expired meals, I write... and I plan. I've got a little something in the works, you see-"
"I don't care."
"Excuse you?"
"I don't care about your plans," Kitty said, arms crossed over her chest, tail whipping impatiently, "I've come to make a deal. You know my conditions. Give me a yes or a no."
Mac raised an eyebrow. He smiled his meaningless grin, displaying a set of perfectly white, straight teeth. Laughing abruptly, he then said,
"Alright, Kitten. Let's make a deal. What kind of assistance would I be lending?"
Kitty opened her mouth, but Feebus cut in. He spoke with the most dignified business manners. Kitty was almost impressed.
"Murder, Mac, something you're quite adept in," he began. Mac smiled and nodded graciously, as if utterly flattered by the comment, "if you recall, Maion had a business rival by the name of Demonic."
"The painter. I recall." Mac responded, grin still in place. Feebus continued,
"She is our main target. In addition, a female sword wielder, a wind manipulator," Mac's eyes lit up noticeably at this, "and Demonic's former top assassin."
"The puppet boy?"
"No. A newer model. Wields a scythe."
"I see..." Mac again resumed the muttering of the number four, pacing like an anxious beast. He would pick up pieces of paper, then set them down, straighten the stacks and arrange his pens in straight lines. Suddenly, he looked up at the two, his visage transformed into a wild grin,
"Alright! I want this wind user. Free me!"
Kitty's breath caught in her throat and her heart leapt uncomfortably. Why was this man so interested in her sister? Or, more importantly, her sister's power? Feebus, on the other hand, sighed in relief and turned to his feline companion.
"Remove the talisman he wears. But exercise the utmost caution."
"Got ya." Kitty said and approached the red haired man slowly. He knelt down in front of her, once again causing himself to look meek and small in his environment. Kitty removed the necklace slowly and carefully, as if afraid of breaking it. As Mac's hair fell from the chain around him, time froze for an instant, suspended around two people.
Mac's hands shot out at Kitty's throat.
As if anticipating just this, she flipped backwards and landed herself at the opposite end of the room from the murderer. He snarled and slid across to where she stood, thrusting his foot out in front of him to knock her to the floor. Leaping into the air, she forced the chain back around his neck and launched herself over his shoulders to land behind him, her feet padding gently onto the floor. She turned towards him, muscles still tensed.
Panting, she stared him down, fists clenched, heart racing. Slowly, a laugh welled up from his chest, finally exploding from him so that the echo caused Kitty's sensitive ears to ring. Mac swung around to face her, his eyes mad, the red amulet clutched tightly in one hand.
"I think I might be in love!" he said mockingly, laughter still springing up in short bursts. Kitty's brow furrowed deeply as she grimaced in disgust, her face a deep crimson.
"Oh, now, don't be like that, Kitten!" he said, tossing the brilliantly red hair from his face, "I think this is the start of a beautiful partnership."



Owari

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