I was famous now. I mean, nobody really knew it was me. How could you? I looked like a creature that wasn't even human! I had the most dorkiest grin on my face as I watched the news on me. People were talking about it, downstairs at the cafe!

It feels soooo weird! Like they don't know it's me and I'm in the same room as them! I smiled giddily to myself. I never felt so happy, so proud. It was like I was finally getting the attention I needed. I skipped out of my room and slid down the spiral staircase in a stylish action.

My sneakers made a squeak when I landed on the first floor. I found myself adjusting my little wool hat on my head. If you looked at me, you could see I was wearing small black winter boots. That was to hide my lousy lynx feet. I wore a short sleeved white blouse with frills at the end, and to make the look, I had faded jeans on. Pretty wacky combination, you say? I think it looked cute. Besides, I needed to hide some extra features as well.

The decorated counter where my father was behind it, making pastries, was beautiful today. There was a lovely display of sweets galore. It was stunning, there were mixes of chocolate, vanilla, pumpkin, strawberry. All so stunning that they created their own unique rainbow.

I licked my lips and walked over to the counter. There were many people waiting around for seating. It was the busiest I had ever seen this cafe. I was glad though. It gave this giant place life. When I sat down, I grabbed a cream puff from the giant rainbow tower and began munching.

"Mmm."

"Tastes good doesn't it...Kitty?" I choke on my cream puff. It was like somebody had just strangled me. Which never happened to me, not yet at least.

"Cuh..wfhat are yoo doing heref?" I cough rapidly. O'Verir was sitting next to me. He was in causal attire. Holy shit he is in causal attire.

"I came here to greet you, Zina." He says with a smile, "So you really are the hero that Chicago is looking for." I frown at him.

"What's up with you?"

"Nothing. But now I know that this is no longer a game. It's not a game for you either."

"I don't understand." I growl, "All I hear is bullshit." I'm still angry with this man. He showed me lies. He threatened...or did he threaten Karina's life? That part was a little unclear to me.

"What I mean is, you're playing with a new deck of cards."

"..."

"You're now the Hero, Zina." He chuckles, "It means you're going to be having so much come you're way."

"I don't understand." O'Verir seems to have had enough of me. He grabs me by the neck and pulls me close.

He whispers harshly, "Listen closely. I never wanted you to have these powers. If you want to help me, join me."

"Why would I join you?" I question, "You were the one who set the fire, weren't you?"

"So what if I was? You were in the wrong place at the wrong time, child. I have no interest in your hero antics."

"Consider me uninterested." I spat. He glared at me. It would have scared me originally but not anymore. He endangered Karina and Hunter. That I couldn't forgive.

"Fine. When time stops, you will know. When the last breath is taken, there will be clarity. When all else fails I'll be the one on top."

"...I.."

"Don't understand me, Zina?" He smiled at me. "In time you will know." We were frozen for what seemed like a while.

"Bye!" He said all too cheerily. He landed a huge kiss on my lips?! WHAT THE FUCK?!

"BLEH! EWW." I groaned. I did my best to wipe off the kiss. What is wrong with that guy?! Wait did anyone see that?! God, I hope nobody saw that! I looked around for O'Verir, but he disappeared. He was gone, there was no trace. I didn't even hear the bell ring on the way out.

"Gross." I mutter.

Hunter came over to my house an hour later. He brought Carter with him too. Well...Carter invited himself over. That's the dilemma. Me and Hunter were doing hero duty. I don't know why Hunter wasn't more persistent. We entered the game room and Hunter kept glancing everywhere nervously. It's like this secret was killing him.

"ACHOO!" Carter sneezed. He rubs his nose and sniffles. I sat in a chair wondering what was going on. Then it hit me.

"Do any of you guys have or had a cat in here?" Carter asked. This time he sounded congested. I looked at myself. Am I really shedding that much? I had my hat covering my ears and boots covering my feet. Hunter looks at me but I know why. He was trying so hard not to laugh. He knew I was the cat. "Don't blow my cover" I mouth.

Carter looks at us with a confused expression.

"Is there something I don't know?" Carter questioned. He gave us both a stern look. I wasn't gonna tell Carter anything. I just felt that now isn't the right time.

"I got a cat." I lie, "It's a wanderer and really likes hanging in this room."

"Oh," Carter says, "Is that why Hunter said I couldn't come?" I look at Hunter and I can see him making a very impish grin.

"Y-yes. Yes it is." I clear my throat. "The house keeping lady hasn't come in yet to clean our house. Sorry." Carter nodded and made his way to the door. He walked out of the game room. Hunter and I were silent for the longest time. We could hear Carter's footsteps creak on the boards as he walks away. Hunter slowly gets up from his chair to peek out of the room. He slowly closes the door and looks at me. He has a look of guilt in his eyes.

"Why couldn't we just tell him?" Hunter said sadly.

"I'm..not ready." I say blankly. I don't think that was true. I actually had no idea why I didn't tell Carter. I trust him. To some degree. The only understandable thing for me in this situation is that I'm not ready. It's easier to say I'm not ready, than to find the answer. I'm just not ready to think about it.

"Okay." Hunter's guilt disappeared, "Check out what I figured out." He gestured for me to come towards the computer across from where I sat. I stood up and pulled my hat off my head. My ears twitched before flopping up. I peered over his shoulder.

"This computer is wired into the police scanner," He said confidently. "So that way we can help with crime."

"Damn, I didn't know you could do that." I say with shock.

"There's a lot of things I can do." He says with pride, "You just don't ask." Or it wasn't relevant until now...

"Plug headphones in." I order, "We don't need anyone hearing you listen to a police scanner."

"Fair enough," he sighs, "It's not gonna help if someone walks in on us." I thought for a moment about what he just said. An idea came up.

"I have an idea."

I showed Hunter the hidden room I found. The doors hanging from the ceiling, the walls, and floors were pretty neat but a little inconvenient. We dragged a table into this hidden room. It took awhile because the giant metal door stopped us from getting to it directly. I just hope the neighbors didn't see me climbing the walls with a table...

Hunter pulls the table around, but struggles to do so. The doors on the floor leave the table legs falling into divots. That we would have to fix later. Hunter worked with the wire. I just messed around with the clothes I used to rescue Karina and Hunter out of the building. This time I wore a shirt underneath. A black tank to be precise.

"Do you seriously have to go all black?" Hunter Questions me, "That's a little weird, even for you. At least ditch the shoes, it'll give you more movement." Hunter finished wiring the last of the plugs. He stood back to admire his work. The table was on the right side of the room. It plugged directly into the computer and the wires didn't look like a web. Would this be considered art?

"Cool."

Hunter walked to the computers and put on the headphones. His eyes went wide as he listened.

"What is it?" I asked.

He takes one of the headphones off, and looks at me. "Robbery on Belware and Turey."  I made my way to the window. The back way of the other half of the building, so that way nobody would see a shifty low life climbing the building.

"Come on!" Hunter shouted at me as I slowly climbed out of the window. "There are people to save!" I stop climbing out and look at him.

"It's just a robbery!" I spat, "Also it's not that far away."

"Yeah, yeah, get a move on!" He calls back as I finally disappeared.

Leaping across the building gave me a freeing feeling. Even though we had the day off today from school, it felt even more free. I felt the air hit my face with a whirring noise. The traffic was quieter today, which was nice. I looked at the signs Hooky and Fare passed by, and I swear that I saw Karina walking. Oh, well, that's not important.

Turey street was the next street. I perched myself where the action was. Below me was a horde of cop cars. They were surrounding a...botany shop?!

"Blooms and Blossoms?" I read. Wait... that's Kano's family shop! I didn't make a move because I could hear a police man shouting over a megaphone.

"Sir, just step out of the building quietly, and no one gets hurt." The man inside the store was holding Kano, his father, and little sister.

"I don't think so." The scraggy robber croaked, "Not until I get my cash." I was about to pounce on the bastard when I felt a jolt of pain.

"YOW!" I screeched. "MROW!" I held my ears in pain. I tried rubbing them in circles to stop it from ringing.

"Whoops," Hunter said in my ear, "Sorry I was adjusting the comms."

"Next time before I leave," I growl, "Do NOT MAKE THAT RINGING!"

"Enough!" He said through my earpiece, "You need to assess the situation."

"I was doing that!" I shout. I didn't want to deal with this. I leapt off the building and across, to the next. Now I was right next to the botany shop. I crawled on all fours so I could spot a back way.

"What is the layout of the building?" Hunter asks, "I haven't set up a map."

"I need to focus," I snarl, "I don't need you to be my consciousness."

"Well???"

"Dumbass, this is Blooms and Blossoms."

"OOOH, There's a back way. Just go behind the store and kick down the door."

"ooor, I'll simply go in through a window." I chose my plan, I was already near the window on the side anyway. I made a crashing noise and the robber quickly pulled a gun from his waist. I was on my knees when I landed. I thought cats always landed on their feet??

"Little freak, Get the fuck out of here." He said as he pointed his gun. Kano and his family sat on the floor, with fear in their eyes. Kano looked at me. Would he recognize me? My hood was on and low on my face. Then I remembered something. Kano can't see white, so it would be hard for him to figure it out.

"..."

I said nothing to the man. There was no need for me to speak. I messed with him. I feinted that I was running towards him, but I ran to the side of him. I knocked his gun out of his hand after the first gunshot. He fell to the floor with a weird expression.

"You're not human." He shivered, "What are you?" I wasn't going to answer him. I threw a punch at his face. The police rushed in a moment after.

"Hey, nice job, you got 'em." A police man said to me. I stood away from the man.

"What's your name?" Another police man said. I didn't answer. I saluted them and went through the window that I came through.

"This was you're best time to drop you're hero name!" Hunter's voice rang through the comm link.

"Whatever! I'll get there eventually." I huff. I climbed back up on top of the botany shop. I could see the newscasters had made their way to the scene. They were live and the camera showed on me. I saluted the camera with a wave and made a jump for the next building.

Except when I jumped I missed my footing and ended up falling headfirst. I felt myself go upside down.

Tuesday 1200 hours

"Today's new found hero appears again. After stopping a robbery in a botany shop."

Hunter installed a TV in the hideout. It was in the middle of the room. He moved his desk more towards the closet.

"Now people wonder who? What? Why? How are are Superheroes possible? This is truly a leap from the comics."

The TV then showed me leaping and doing a back flip and falling perfectly right into the alleyway with a crash. The camera man went up to the alleyway to try and check if I was there but it was just a clean alley.

"Pfft, Show off." Hunter was wheezing. He was laughing at the loud crash he heard. To make matters worse he had recorded it on his phone.

"Dude, That was really damn cool."

"Yeah, I guess it would be," I sigh, "If I was actually planning it, which I didn't."

"Omigosh," Hunter began to stifle a laugh, "You fell?" I tried to answer him but he started laughing at me.

"That makes it even better."

For two weeks, me and Hunter had this constant struggle of how we should do things. He would tell me to go this way and I would go the other way. I got the job done. No problems other than miscalculations off buildings. Which the news always caught on camera.

I was given the nickname Kitty Hoodie. Boy, do I hate it. That's the best they can come up with? How many brain cells did it take them to make that? Man, give them a round of applause, look at how clever they are.

I stumbled back into the hideout. Hunter was typing away at the computer. He was silent. Not happy. I limped myself across the floor. I had gotten badly injured during the robbery at the bank.

Hunter looked up at me, and was shocked. He ran to my aide. I was distracted by him yelling in the comm, that one of the bullets nicked my left leg. It stung. The pain was unbearable. People in the movies make gun shot wounds look easy.

I changed my clothes while Hunter got a first aid kit. We met up back in the game room. I sat on the closest chair near the door. Hunter closed the door, so there were no disruptions.

"Oww." I wince in pain. Hunter quickly pulled the bullet out of the side of my leg. He placed gauze on top of the wound to give some pressure.

"Take it easy." He said. He left the room and closed the door behind him. I wrapped myself up with a couple bandages in the kit. I then pulled down the pant leg of my sweatpants to cover my injury. My Dad might get suspicious. I'll tell him I hurt myself doing a sport. I mean that is pretty common, you know?

Someone opened the game room door. I jump because I wasn't expecting someone. I was relieved when I saw that it was only Karina. Wait...

"How the fuck did you get in my house?!" I screech. Karina comes up to me like it's no big deal.

"Calm down, Drama Queen." She said as she rolls her eyes. I stand up to face her, face-to-face.

"Is this important?"

"Yes, it is." Karina said with sarcasm, "Such a clever girl."

"Are you mocking me?" I growl.

"My Father is leaving on a trip. He will be back by next harvest's moon." Karina said.

"Harvest Moon?"

"Yes?"

"I know what that is."

"You sure?" Karina raised an eyebrow in suspicion. She wanted me to admit that I didn't know.

"Yes."

"Hmm?"

"Fine I don't know."

"Harvest Moon is 'bout a month."

"Working on you're Shakespeare? That's nice."

"You're trying to piss me off?"

"Is it working?"

"I don't know," Karina smiled, "Try harder."

"Are you some biker dumbass who smokes weed when her father's gone?" Karina tossed me across the room with a bunch of force. My back hit the door, and she pinned me there.

"As I was saying." Karina cleared her throat, "My Father will be gone. So I will have to watch Fathoms in his absence. Therefore, if you want me to help you with your morphing cells, you will have to go to Fathoms."

"Oo, so professional." I tease.

"Are we clear, Dumbass?" Karina said.

"Crystal." I store her down. I wasn't going to let her win that easily. The door opened suddenly and me and Karina came tumbling down. Hunter was holding a glass of water and was frozen in place.

"Woah, woah," Hunter turned red, "I'm soooo sorry for disturbing you guys!" Karina kicked my thigh with her leg and got up.

"Hunter, was it?" Karina asks him. She waits patiently til he quiets down. He stops laughing and puts on a serious face.

"Yes?"

"I believe you misunderstand what had happened. I was merely informing Zina that if she needs help, she should come to my place."

"How does that make anything better?" Hunter smirks.

"Because if you're thinking we were doing some cohabitation, then it would definitely not be arousing." Karina huffed. She began walking away. Hunter stood there with a very familiar expression that I knew, all too well.

"Ooooh!" Hunter squealed, "Damn, Z, she got ya." He starts cackling.

"Hey don't insult me!!" I shout at her. Hunter stops laughing.

Karina calls out, "I'm not insulting you, I'm describing you." Hunter dies of laughter and falls to the ground. I didn't have a good comeback.

"Damn it, Karina." I mutter under my breath.

"Who's the dumbass now?" Karina's voice echoed through the hallways.

"What's this about a dumbass?" My father's voice echoes back.

"It's just a funny movie, Dad." I call back. Hunter recollects himself and cleans up the water he spilled.

"By the way, Z.." Hunter began.

"Yes?" I say.

"There's a problem."

"What kind?"

"Amari wants to face you at school."

"Shit."