The next morning, Althea wakes up with a groan and sits up. She looks at her shoulder to see it's still bandaged and needs a new wrap of the bandage. She gets up and heads to the bathroom for a shower. After minutes of showering, she goes back to her room and goes to put on her bandage when she heard a knock on the door. Althea turned to see Mitzi looking all dressed up and nice.

"Morning, Althea. How are you feeling?" she greeted with a smile.

"I'm doing fine. Just about to put on a new one." Althea replied, smiling back.

"Let me help."

Mitzi puts on some cream on her wound before wrapping the bandage around her shoulder. She tightens it a bit to make sure it stays on.

"Thanks, Ms. May. By the way, where are you going looking all dolled up?" Althea asked.

"Just going out to go meet an old friend of mine. It will be for a while. So rest up. You need it." Mitzi said in a low tone at the word 'friend'.

Althea raises her eyebrow, putting on her clothes while curling her hair.

"You sure? I can come with." she asked.

"No, need. I'll be fine. Just rest now, okay?" Mitzi shook her head.

"Okay.."

"Won't be long."

Mitzi then gives her a kiss on her forehead before walking away. Althea smiles and goes back to bed, knowing she needs some rest after the last night's event. She closes her eyes and sleeps. Meanwhile, Mitzi looks back at Althea's room and frowns, remembering the conversation as she was walking downstairs with a chopper and heads to the office where Atlas's portrait hangs before her.

"This is one of ours, isn't it? It found its way home last night before I even knew it was gone." she said to the portrait. "Needless to say, my little soirée with the moneybags didn't go exactly as planned. It wasn't a total loss... but I'm going to have to sidetrack to confront an old friend about that wayward golden boy of yours. I don't think we'd survive any more of his parting gestures."

She sits down in his desk and holds out a telephone to her ear.

"Maribel Hotel. How may I help you?"

"Put me through to Asa Sweet, please."

A second later, she heard it switch and called.

"Asa?"

"Mitzi? How's tricks? To what do I owe the pleasure?" Sweet answered back.

"Oh, I was just curious about a little something, Asa." Mitzi said.

"Uh, what's going on your mind, sweetheart?" Sweet questioned.

"You and your tidy new hire wouldn't happen to know how the contents of a certain storage room here wound up in the hands of a pack of vengeful moonshiners, would you?"

"Uh. Oh. That was you they were tussling with?"

Mitzi narrowed her eyes.

"I suspect you knew that when you equipped them. I just don't understand why you —"

"Seems to have been a misunderstanding. I'm sorry for any grief it caused you, but you know, darlin', it begs the question... What are you doing fighting with the dregs for sludge skimmed off the rivers?"

"Asa. That's not what I called to —"

"That place you're running doesn't have much going for it these days, does it? You oughta think about cutting your losses before someone gets hurt."

"What? Asa—"

"Anyway, you know it's better not to discuss business over the phone like this."

Mitzi pulls the telephone away from her ear and looks at it in disbelief as Sweet continued.

"How about an early lunch at the Mill, me and you? We can catch up. And well, uh... we'll talk. My treat. Alright? Right. Alright, bye."

With that Sweet hangs up. Mitzi clicks her telephone down and looks up to Rocky and Freckle that happened to come in.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Althea wakes up again and stretches, feeling relaxed. She looks at the clock to see it's still morning and decides to go out for a while. She puts on her makeup, boots, and a hat veil then grabs her purse and keys before heading out. She heads towards the restaurant called Mill she heard great things about. She greets the waitress and was about to ask for a table for herself when a familiar soft voice called out.

"Althea??"

She turned and gasped to see the white and gray cat lady from the day she first teleported to the cat world.

"It's you." Althea said.

"Are you going to eat here, too?" the white and cat lady asked.

"Yeah. You wanna join me?" she suggested.

The white and gray cat lady was surprised at this and nodded. Althea turned back to the waitress and ordered table for two. She leads the two towards the table that's just a couple of table down from others. The two sit down and stare at each other for a moment until Althea decides to speak.

"How did you know it was me?" she asked curiously.

"I would know for someone who has no tail on their dress. I should know that we all have tails sticking out from our skirts and pants." the cat lady explained.

"Heh. You caught me. Had to lie about me getting a genetic disorder." Althea chuckled.

"That sounds fair. I'm Chloe, by the way." Chloe said.

"Nice to meet you again, Chloe." Althea greeted.

She looked at Chloe for a moment and tilted her head.

"Do I know you from somewhere?"

Chloa smiled and grabbed something in her bag.

"Maybe this will help you remember."

She eventually pulls a familiar box with a bow on top. Chloa unwraps the ribbon and opens it to reveal fish cookies. Althea's eyes widens in recognition.

"These cookies... I used to love those."

"These are the fish cookies you gave me when I was an orphan kitten." Chloe explained.

Althea flashes back to her young self and a kitten as she feeds it with those very same fish cookies. The kitten meows at her with a smile.

"That kitten, that was you!" she gasped and smiled widely. "I can't believe it! You're so beautiful now that I didn't recognize you."

Chloe smiles.

"I traveled from there to give these fish cookies to my kittens."

Althea was surprised at this and thinks for a second before coming to conclusion.

"You're married?"

Chloe blushes and nods. Althea couldn't help but squeal and hug the cat lady from across the table.

"Oh, I am so happy for you, Chloe!"

"Thank you, Althea! If I hadn't met you then, I could have starved on the street. And I wouldn't have met the love of my life. You saved my life. How can I thank you?"

"I don't want anything. You made me so happy already. Saving a cat was a good thing. And it's worth it."

Chloe smiles again and wraps the box back on and ties it into a ribbon, placing it back inside her bag.

"I'm glad. But even though you said you don't need anything, at least accept this gift as a way of showing my gratitude for your kindness. I made it myself with knitting."

She pulls out a fish cookie crochet that looked just like a real fish cookie.

Althea takes and holds it close to her chest.

"Thanks." she said, smiling.

Chloe nods softly. Althea pulls out a menu with a suggestive smile.

"Shall we order then? As a way to celebrate our reunion."

Chloe nodded and pulled out her menu as the two look at what they like to eat and drink. As they looked, Althea glanced over from the menu and froze. She's not sure if she's dreaming or something, but she just saw Mitzi, Rocky, and Freckle sitting in a table with Sweet and Mordecai sitting across from them.

"What are they doing here?" she wondered in thought.

The waitress came by and ask if they're ready as Chloe replied that they are ready with Althea robotically agreeing as she kept staring at Mitzi and others. Chloe noticed it and looked over to what she's looking.

"Do you know them?" Chloe asked.

"Y-Yeah. They're my friends that took me in and found me." Althea nodded.

"What do you think they're up to?"

"I'm not sure."

Althea quietly listens to their conversation without getting caught.

"Oh! Mitzi. How are ya, dollface?" Sweet greeted.

"Confounded, Asa..." Mitzi said flatly, glancing at Mordecai. "And I see you brought a helping of salt to rub in my wounds too."

"Heh. Right. And you brought uh..."

Sweet looks at Rocky and Freckle who are standing on each side of her.

"A couple of my associates." Mitzi introduced. "You see, my circumstance isn't quite as hopeless as you —"

"This place looks awfully ritzy." Rocky cut her off, leaning over to her. "They don't serve those weird, skinny pancakes here, do they?"

Freckle swats the butterfly away. Althea winces at this as Mitzi looks embarrassed.

"...Well, let's just skip the introductions and pull up some extra chairs, shall we?"

They all take their seats and sits down. Rocky greets Mordecai and holds out a paw for a handshake.

"Hey, I remember you, ol' serious-face! Boy, have I heard stories about you." Rocky said with a grin.

"...The band is doing your hands-on work now?" Mordecai raised his eyebrow, unimpressed.

"I'm just trying to be resourceful, Mordecai." Mitzi defended.

Mordecai looks down at Rocky's tie with a letter "R" and fixes his glasses.

"'Ridiculous' might be a better description. Is that what the 'r' stands for?"

Rocky looks down at his tie with a frown.

"Ouch. But uncalled for..." Althea glared.

The waitress hands them their plates and drinks after ordering from the menu while Althea and Chloe were still eavesdropping their conversation.

"Well, I haven't got many cards left to play with, thanks in part to you." Mitzi glared. "You know, what you did almost got my dear Althea killed last night. Not to mention it almost killed Viktor if she hadn't saved his life."

"Extra breathing holes can't be all bad." Rocky commented.

Mordecai's eyes widen in shock at what she just said.

"...Althea?"

"Would you like a pitcher of bevo for the table?" Waitress asked, coming over to their table.

"Uh, that's mighty cute, but I think we'll pass on the bevo. Thanks." Sweet said to the waitress.

"I'm guessing you know her." Mitzi said, raising her eyebrow at his sudden worry.

"I didn't know she was working with you or the Lackadaisy." Mordecai said. "Is she alright?"

Althea was surprised and felt flattered that he cares for her. Chloe noticed it and smiled knowingly.

"She's fine and well. What's your relationship with my goddaughter?" Mitzi said.

"That's my business you shouldn't be involved with." Mordecai stated.

"Then what about Viktor? After all those years working with him, Mordecai, you haven't got anything to say?" Mitzi asked, frowning.

"He shouldn't have been involved. I reasoned with him to retire before I left." Mordecai said, looking down at the menu.

"Reasoned?" Mitzi closed her eyes. "Are you sure it wasn't spite? The way I remember it, you kneecapped him on your way out the door."

Althea's grip on the teacup cracks at those words. Her face darkens.

"...What?" she quietly voiced.

"...That's how one reasons with Viktor." Mordecai said without care.

Then the cup breaks into pieces, spilling the coffee all over the table. Chloe jumps in shock at her sudden strength. She quickly calls the waitress for a new cup of coffee while Althea glare daggers at Mordecai. Mordecai somehow shivers, feeling someone watching him from the back of his head.

"I think you may be looking in the wrong place for heartstrings to tug on, my dear." Sweet said, smiling.

"Well, you only know someone until you don't, Asa. I've been surprised before." Mitzi smirked, tilting her head. "...By the likes of you, no less. You used to be so nice to me."

"Hey, I like to think I'm a pretty nice guy." Sweet said. "In fact, that's why I'm here - with your interests in mind - suggesting you step down. There are less diplomatic ways I could go about it."

"...Such as angry rustics with choppers... my interests figured into that?" Mitzi questioned.

The waitress comes with a tray of drinks and places their cups down for each.

"Yeah, well, disarmament alone didn't seem to clue you in. It happenstance, anyway, you're just asking for a blood feud tangling with rabble like that." Sweet explained.

"Your infringing on all of our old trade routes hasn't left me much choice." she said.

Althea was shocked at this as she listens while eating her breakfast. Chloe quietly watches and listens while drinking.

"Whose business routes were whose was an understanding I had with Atlas, not with you. I'm at the behest of my employer. I can't get away with pretending Atlas is still here. In any case, you no longer have the means to purchase through those venues." Sweet stated, holding up a lemon.

Althea glares at Sweet. Just because Atlas isn't here, Mitzi is still in charge since she's married to him. She sees her as so much more than just a woman. Rocky leans over to Mitzi, holding up the menu with a frown.

"There's a distinct lack of breakfast pastries available here, and I haven't got a plan B." he said.

"Just order the most expensive thing on the menu, honey. We haven't got the means, but Asa's treating." Mitzi waved him off.

"Maybe I don't sound serious enough, Mitzi... or maybe you're confused because we managed a friendly coexistence for so long, but some things have changed..." Sweet said firmly. "You'll be far over your head drawing attention to yourself in this climate. I warned Atlas of much the same thing not so long ago."

"Warned him? He knew the danger. What exactly did you have to warn him about?" Mitzi frowned.

Waitress comes back with a notepad and a pen in hand. Rocky leans over to her.

"I'll have the filet mignon mushroom sauté with extra syrup. ...And two coffees. ...With extra syrup."

"With... syrup?" Waitress questioned at his weird choice.

"Do you have chocolate milk?" Freckle asked her.

Waitress comes over to Mordecai, who gets up.

"Sir, can I take your order?" she asked.

"No." he said. "Excuse me. I have work to prepare for."

With that, he walked away as Althea watches him go. Sweet looked to where Mordecai used to sit.

"The tablecloth is wrinkled. I guess he just couldn't take it anymore. Where was I? ...Right. You'd be doing us both a favor if you'd stop trying to put things back the way they used to be. You can't. And even if you could, I —"

He stopped to see Mitzi frowning deeper at him with her arms crossed.

"Now, wait... don't go and switch on the waterworks. That's the last thing I need." he said. "Hell, if you want, you can even come sing and play your teeny little guitar at the Marigold room sometime with that old band of yours."

"It's called a ukulele, Asa... And don't worry, I'm not going to cry..." she said. "...But I lost my appetite. I'm quite aware this is a dangerous business, Asa, but quietly wilting away like we never existed seems like a sadder fate than anything the risk might bring. Take care, now. You seem a little troubled yourself."

Sweet pulls out a cigarette before placing it in his mouth and holding out a lighter.

"Yeah. Take care, Mitzi. And tell Ms. Spade that I apologize for her misfortune."

After hearing enough, Althea gets up along with Chloe not before paying it and walking away. They walk past Mitzi and others and towards the exit. Little did they know, Mordecai was watching Althea from afar as he had noticed her appearance while they were talking. He'll talk to her later as he watches Mitzi, Rocky, and Freckle head towards the car he's hiding in.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Althea finds herself in a store that are full of expensive things like clothes, bags, perfumes, etc. Somehow, Chloe dragged her here for them to have girl to girl time by shopping. Looking down inside her bag, she was surprised at the amount of cash she made from working at the bookstore and her secret mafia business. Even though Lackadaisy is getting low on money, they always finds some ways to get it back.

"Come on, don't be shy. Knock yourself out with shopping." Chloe encouraged her.

"Sorry, it's just... I've never been into this shop that's from the year 1920s. This is..." Althea voiced.

"I know. But they have great things for you to get."

Knowing that she's right, she decided to do some sightseeing that might catch her eye. As she walk around, she didn't notice a certain glasses eyed cat was watching her while looking at some stuff on display. The way he was staring at her, it seems as if... he's suspicious. She silently takes some pictures with her phone as she admire the things she had ever seen. She later stopped to see a beautiful pearl purse that will definitely match her earrings and her necklace.

Even though she already had a purse of her own and the Peacock one that Mitzi gave her, she had never seen anything so dazzling. Plus, she loves pearls as it's one of her favorite gems. She checks the price and nods that it's worth it as she buys it. She holds it and looks at herself in the mirror with her new purse. Chloe joins in with her own new purse as well.

"Nice choice for that purse. You will be stunning with it." Chloe said.

"Thanks. Same to you." Althea smiled.

"Let's go. There's plenty of more for you to see and buy."

Chloe grabs her by the arm and drags her around the place. They stopped to the place full of accessories as they admire the styles. Althea bought herself a blue rhinestone and pearl hair comb while Chloe bought a garnet red rhinestone floral vine high-end vintage hair comb.

Then there's dresses as they dig through the hanging clothes. Althea was having fun with this shop, especially exploring what they had that's very worth it before the year 2023. Her eyes widened at the sight of a beautiful blue dress that comes with a jacket.

Chloe joins her and she's amazed.

"Oh, that will definitely make you even more beautiful. You can even wear it when you go out."

Althea nods in agreement and checks the price. It's a bit more than she expected, but nonetheless she's willing to get this. And that she'll be able to remember this great moment with Chloe. She gently takes the dress and the jacket from the hangar and starts heading towards the counter.

Just as she was about to get to the cashier cat lady, a group of cat thugs comes inside as they look around greedily and aggressively. Althea noticed one of them was holding a big bag that's slinging over his shoulder. She could guess that they're stealing as she sees some jewelry sticking out from the open of the zipper. She spotted them taking things as they quickly hide it inside the back. This didn't go unnoticed as they then approached the scared cashier lady who saw them stealing.

"Give us all the good stuff." he demanded.

"I-I can't. You're scaring the customers and you can't just take them without paying." she stuttered.

The thug leader gets angry.

"You think you can tell me what to do? You think we're stealing?!" he yelled, smashing the glass counter in front of her.

The cashier lady flinches with a yelp. Althea glares at his arrogant behavior. Chloe notices and tries to pull Althea away when she already started walking toward them after handing her stuff to her, including the dress.

"What's going on?" she asked calmly.

The cashier lady looked at her and shakily pointed at them.

"T-These guys wouldn't leave and are demanding I give them all the things that's good. Plus, I notice they stole some things and is making a scene."

"We're stealing? Oh, yeah? Steal this!" the thug leader shouted, throwing some expensive shoes and clothes at the poor cashier lady.

"And this!" the other thug said, throwing a nice hat at her.

"Aaah! Stop!" she cried out, covering her face.

Althea quickly acted and grabbed the bag she spotted earlier and unzipped it, holding the bag upside down and dumping something out. They're completely exposed as everyone saw jewelries, money, and other items that are stolen. The thugs look at her and sneer, beginning to surround her.

"You think you're tough, huh? Think you can beat us! You're just a girl!"

Oh, she didn't like when she's underestimated. She slowly remove her hat and glare at the thugs as she placed her hat on the hangar. They were shocked to see a face of the human.

"Then I'm just gonna have to teach you all a lesson." she said darkly, cracking her fingers.

The thug didn't like the way she speak and was about to grab her when Althea slapped his hand away and the other and shoved her pointed hand against his neck, nearly choking him. One of them pull out a knife, scaring Chloe and others as they knew that this is serious. Althea glares at them and gets ready when the cashier lady stopped them.

"No! No trouble. I'm sorry. I'm wrong. I'll..."

The thug pointed a knife at her, making her shriek.

"You! You shut up!"

Althea then acted first and started throwing punches at the thugs. She dodges their attempt hits and smacked each right across their face while punching the others. She swiftly grabbed his arm and flipped him over her shoulder as he hits against the wall. Another grabbed a dagger and charged her. Chloe noticed and warned her friend.

"Althea!"

She turned and dodged the swing of the dagger. She finds the powder for the makeup and grabs it, blowing it right at his face. It blinded him as he staggered back, giving her advantage to kick the thug away. He went flying and slide through the glass counter the cashier lady is standing behind and fell to the ground. The thug leader was shocked at this, but gets punched in the face by Althea before he could think. Another thug grabbed the dagger that was dropped to the ground and charged her. Althea grabbed a hanging jacket and used it to wrapped it around his arm that's holding the dagger and twisted the jacket for her to get a good grip on him;. She kicked him in the gut and twisted around and elbowed him in the face before letting him go from the jacket as he ram against the stands. The thug leader looked at Althea with fear as she brought up her fist. He tried to run away only to get hit in the face by Chloe's purse as he falls to the ground.

Althea kicked another thug away, sending him flying into the shelf as the shoes falls on top of him. One of them gets up and grabs Althea by the shoulders behind her when she wrapped the jacket on both of his wrists and holds him still behind her as he tried to pull away. He noticed the thugs are running away.

"Wait! Don't leave me!" he cried out. "Don't go!"

Althea shut him up by elbowing him in the face.

"Did you see her? I think she broke my nose!" the thug leader said, whimpering in pain while holding his nose that starts to bleed.

"Hey, don't go!" he called.

Althea elbowed him in the face again.

"Stealing? I hit you!" she said, hitting him again with her other elbow.

He cried at another hit and started crying.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

Althea turned him from the back for him to face the cashier lady.

"You tell the lady!" she ordered.

He turned to her.

"I'm sorry! It won't happen again!" he sobbed.

"Yeah, you should be sorry." she said, smiling at such amazing fight scene.

Althea turned again and hold his arms with the jacket, twisting them a bit.

"Ow! My arms!" he cried in pain.

"Don't ever make trouble again. I'll beat you up this time." she warned, pushing him away.

The thug was about to fall back if it weren't for her grabbing him by the collar.

"And don't ever tell anyone that you saw me. Or else..." she said, glaring darkly at him and letting him go.

"Thank you! Thank you!" he nodded rapidly before running away.

Althea flipped her hair, fixing her dress before facing the speechless cashier lady.

"You alright?" she asked with concern.

"Y-Yeah. Thank you so much." she said.

"It's no problem. But please keep this a secret. No one should know who I am. That goes for you all." Althea said, turning to the people who had witnessed it.

They all nodded while thanking her for exposing and scaring off the thugs. Althea takes out the blue dress and hands it to the cashier lady when she gently pushed it back to her.

"Keep it. It's on the house."

"Oh, no. I can't. That's unfair. I need to pay for it." Althea said.

"You already did. By bringing back all the things they stole." cashier lady insisted.

Althea didn't know what to say, but she smiled at her.

"Thanks."

She picked up her hat and placed it back on her head. She and the speechless Chloe walked out of the store not before Althea gave the cashier lady a farewell nod and tilted her hat down.

"I never knew you can fight like that. You're amazing." Chloe said in awe.

"I just did what I have to." Althea said.

"Yeah. But you still need to be careful. There's bound to be people that'll know you're a human." Chloe said quietly as they walk on the sidewalk.

"I know. Don't worry. I have friends from Lackadaisy that will protect me, even though I know how to fight already."

"L-Lackadaisy? Seriously? You're living with them?" Chloe asked in shock.

"Yep. The mafias. Don't tell anyone about that either. Let this be our little secret." Althea said with a wink.

Chloe chuckled as the two kept on walking. Meanwhile, Mordecai was watching Althea the whole time and couldn't believe what he just saw after her fight with the thugs. He had seen the face of human Althea. He was mesmerized at the pair of amber eyes that glimmer with spirit and bravery.

"Who are you, Althea?" he asked with wonder.

Mordecai will find out more about her soon enough.