A Second Generation Whateley Academy Adventure

Paying the Pied Pythoness

or

'of Cats and Rats'

by

MaLAguA

 

Part Five

 

Friday, January 21st - 9:23pm
Whitman Cottage - Room 247

“It’s gone! It’s gone!” Caro had just finished turning her room upside-down, again, and her wits were almost gone as well. All due to one of the two items she needed to break the ever-progressing curse that Grimma had saddled her with: the Puck plushie Chris gifted her a couple of weeks ago.

She and Marlene opened all of her drawers, pulled the bed from the wall, searched under it, dove into the closet and even stepped into Sofia’s side of the room in hopes of finding something–and yet there was nothing. And this was just in the last twenty minutes.

Before that, the two had frantically and meticulously searched outside the cottage, where the incident had happened. Where the doll was most likely to be. Digging the snow around the surrounding area, asking some of the passing girls if they’d seen or picked up a plushy on the snow, even sent a message to Mrs Savage, asking for the camera feed.

All to no success.

“Caro, breathe, breathe…” Marlene tried to reassure her.

“This was all your fault! Why did you even throw that stupid snowball at me!” Caro bit her tongue and shuddered as another batch of changes kicked in, bringing her closer and closer to becoming a rat. Although, from Marlene’s standpoint, she couldn’t really make out any big differences… but it was enough to calm her down. “Crap, I was mostly calling the snowball… Guess that’s why it was such a small thing,” Caro grumbled as she prodded for any noticeable changes. “Think my teeth are bigger.”

“It’s a wonder you don’t have a lisp,” Marlene noted.

“I guess it’s part of the magic? I hope?” Caro said.

“Have you calmed now?”

Caro threw a glare at Marlene. She did not really appreciate being talked down to, in more than one sense, but she wasn’t about to deny that she needed a metaphorical slap to the face by the curse. “I have… it doesn’t solve the problem, though. What am I going to do if I can’t get the plushie?” The words “I’m so screwed.” were stuck in the tip of her tongue.

“It’s not over yet,” Marlene noted. “Maybe Mrs Savage will get the message and come by with the camera feed.”

“Doesn’t fill me with much confidence…” Caro mumbled, and her tail swished behind her. “Is there a chance that we can find another one? What about the store Chris got it from?”

“It was the only one they had.” Marlene thought for a moment. “I could search the store’s website… or the internet for that matter, but it would still be a number of business days before it arrives. Will you be able to survive any number of days?”

“I… I don’t know,” Caro admitted. Her mind went over the rumors she’d heard about Alvina and her posse, who were still aiming to see how far the curse would be pushed. “It’ll be hard to survive against someone with telepathy or projective empathy powers. A spell or a truth serum might get me into trouble… I might have to consider dropping out.” She tried to joke, but might as well be serious.

“There has to be something that we can do?” Marlene’s fingers rustled the papers she’d been carrying when they ran into each other. “Maybe I can prepare some sort of spell–”

Her words were put on hold as her ears twitched at the presence approaching Room 247 from the hallway. Mrs. Savage’s outline appeared on the half open threshold, tapping the door to announce herself. “Caro? Marlene?” She trailed off a moment, giving the shrunken girl a studious look, definitely noticing the slight difference of height since the morning. “How are you faring?”

“I’m not fine,” Caro admitted. “But I think I might have a way out of the curse.”

“I’m glad to hear,” Mrs. Savage said, seemingly a bit more at ease. “If you need something, just be sure to let me know.” She showed the girls the tablet she was carrying. “I got your message. I presume this way out has to do with this lost item you told me about.”

The girls perked up as Mrs. Savage offered them the tablet, already showing off the camera’s view pointing at the front entrance at the nearby bench. With a quick explanation on how to work the interface, the recording was played where it’d been left on: two days ago, the night of the incident.

Caro grimaced as she had to look at her past self get into an argument with Marlene, Chris and Gwen, quite acting like the annoying bitch she’d become. The one that was willing to see everyone as her enemy. How far she’d fallen, and how much she’d managed to recover–at least she hoped. The saving grace was that there was no sound in the recording, so she didn’t need to fully relive the moment, even if the words were still clear in the back of her mind.

The scene played out till the moment when Caro was thrown down to the ground by Marlene’s snowball, with the contents of her purse being spilled about in the vicinity of the bench.

“There!” Present Caro pointed to a spot right behind the bench, where the outline of an object could be seen peeking into the scene. Were it not for the night vision being active, they might’ve missed it in the shadows. In fact, that’s what happened as Caro picked up all of the items except for it.

“Thats the plush,” Marlene confirmed as her finger swiped the reproduction to speed up.

From there, girls could be seen coming back to the cottage, among which were Marlene and Sofia. A few stopped by the entrance to have conversations. For a moment, Caro was worried what would happen if someone who had it in for her would happen to spot the plush. She wasn’t sure if she had it within her to grovel and beg someone else. Fortunately, that wasn’t the case. None of those who came by noticed the plushy behind the bench.

And as the curfew was enacted, Marlene upped the speed of the recording, while mumbling something along the lines of “what a way to take care of it.”

Caro frowned, but had no comment.

“Ah!” Marlene gasped as she stopped the recording a little past midnight. The plush’s outline had suddenly disappeared.

“Where did it go?” Caro asked.

“Check this,” Marlene said as she rewinded the camera, to the point where the plush was back behind the bench again, and halved the reproduction speed. It was then that they caught a glimpse of a figure slowly moving about in the back and making its exit to the side, making itself visible in the corner of the camera for a fraction of a second.

With the pause button struck, a figure’s outline was exposed. The camera seemed to have some trouble catching it, be it due to its speed or some sort of malfunction or metaphysical property it had. But the glimpse was enough for them to appreciate its form: a small body, four legs and a long feline tail. With the doll being clearly carried on its mouth.

“Is that… a cat?” Caro asked.

“Maybe it’s Shisa?” Marlene wondered out loud.

Caro grimaced. “We should ask her.”

“Actually,” Mrs. Savage chimed in, having been watching the girls work on the reproductions. “I watched the video beforehand and already asked Shisa about it. She said she was in her room at the time. Besides, the one in the recording is smaller and less fluffy than her.”

“I can see that,” Marlene said as she tried to take some pictures of the freeze frame.

“Perhaps you’d prefer it if I’d send you snapshots,” said the cottage parent.

“Thanks, Mrs. Savage,” Marlene said, handing back the tablet.

“Sorry that you couldn’t find what you needed. I’ll try to run the image with campus security to see if they can find anything else,” she said, moving towards the hallway.

“Thank you, Mrs. Savage.” Caro gritted her teeth, but kept the outburst within her until the door was closed. “I can’t believe this! A cat? A random cat took half of my solution to the curse?! How is that… how is that possible?”

Marlene sighed. “Seems like it.”

“I can’t deal with this!” Caro said. “Hunting for something on campus? A stray cat that might've already ran away.”

“Well… it’s a cat… I don’t think they migrate often.”

“Even so. I can’t have that.”

“I know, Caro.” Marlene placed a hand on her shoulder. It was uncanny how much she’d shrank in the past couple of days, making her feel like a child. “It’s going to be okay.”

Her feelings were a chaotic mix as she looked up at Marlene. Panic still laid a claim within her. This was a turn on which everything pivoted. But her friend’s words and touch gave her the reassurance to counteract some of it.

“Listen, I can cook up a spell to hunt down the plushie,” Marlene assured as she took a step back. She paced as she thought, her finger tracing lines on the paper she held as if considering the formulas of her spell. “I might even have it before tomorrow evening if I get to work on it now.”

“Are you sure?” Caro asked.

“Leave the cat-hunt to me. You have a heist to deal with, so you can’t let this take your mind off of it. I can handle it.”

“I…” There was a lot of hesitation within Caro, but Marlene was right in the sense that stealing (or forebuying) the mead from Whiskey’s speakeasy would be a higher priority than a plushy. “Alright.” Caro sighed. “I’ll count on you.”

“Glad. This gives me something to do in this little adventure,” Marlene said with a positive attitude. “You’ll owe me one after this, though.”

“I’ll find some way to make it up to you,” Caro promised. Normally, she would’ve quipped back… but the concern and stress of the situation was still lingering. “Just don’t fail, okay?”

“You can count on me,” Marlene said.

Caro took a deep breath. “I can do this. We can do this.” The last days had been stressful for her. No safety net, no guiding council behind her. It was just her and her alone. Still, she needed to push onward. “Alright. I’ll ask Chris and Sofia to help you out chasing down the cat.”

Marlene blinked. “Really?”

Caro nodded. “Why not? Sofia can turn into animals and… well, Chris’s powers might be useful if the cat tries to escape.”

“Yeah… ” Marlene had a tinge of hesitation in her voice. Did she doubt Chris’s ability to stay on target? “I think I could take them with me. You just focus on the mission.”

“Now… All I have to worry about is that Gwen can pull off the distraction plot.”

“Good luck.” Marlene nodded as she made her way out.

“Yeah…” Now that felt like the biggest hurdle.

Not long after, Sofia showed up as Caro was trying to reorganize the disheveled room, which was a lot harder due to her short stature, and much more amusing to her roommate for the same reason.

Saturday, January 22nd - 8:54am
Poe Cottage

“Did you read Caro’s message?” Chris asked as she followed Gwen on the way down to the ground floor. They’d just happened to run into each other on the way out, quite mindful of the situation at hand. Saturday might be the weekend, which meant leisure for students, but with covert stakes so high, there was a rush to get through them.

“Yeah,” Gwen said as they passed by the common room.

“She lost my Puck plushie.” Chris had the most hangdog look on her face.

“Which is half of what she needs to break her curse.” Gwen shook her head. “Will she be okay?”

“Don’t worry about that. I’ll be helping Marlene with the search. You have your own mission. Think they call it the ‘honeypot’ tactic,” Chris teased. She put an arm around her friend’s shoulder in a boyish gesture, but Gwen could hardly be concerned about that now. She had to fight real hard to stifle a groan at this reminder of her role in the operation, and resisted the urge to use this setback to procrastinate on everything. “How did the crash course on Peter go yesterday?”

“Sofia gave me the rundown on Whiskey’s gang and their operations, especially focused on Peter. What he can do, his role and the kind of things he likes or dislikes.”

“So, it went well? Anything interesting or useful?”

“Yeah. They mostly focus on their business, which has a good chance of working out with the student body, all the while keeping up appearances as average students. She also said that, last time she checked, he was jealous of Trevor and Giselle’s relationship, so he was really looking forward to the idea of having a girlfriend.” Chris paused for thought. “That makes it all the easier, right?”

“Yeah… but it also makes me feel bad about stringing him along,” Gwen said.

“Don’t think of it like that,” Chris said. “Just make it clear that you want to hang out with him. I know! Maybe he’ll think of it as practice, like talking to a real girl.”

“A real girl.” Gwen shook her head. “I don’t know if I’m the ideal practice subject. The other thing that worries me is that thing about him being an unregistered empath or telepath, or something? Like, nudging people into making bad bets, I think?””

“That does sound serious.”

“Sofia says it’s more like a nudge and can’t really force you to do things that you’re not considering. Still, I have no idea how strong that is, nor can say I’ve experienced this sort of attack since… well, since that time with the ring.”

Chris nodded. “Well, maybe you have some practice now. If Peter does try something, you can always have him reported to the Psychic Arts department. And did you get to roleplay with Sofia–”

“Gwen!” An excited voice called from the right, and it was one that made Gwen want to immediately take off towards the left. But she held her ground and turned around with a polite smile to greet Dereck Seaver, her boyfriend.

“Dereck!” she said with her best smile as he caught up to her, putting hands around her waist to lift her up in the air for a quick spin before her feet touched the ground again. “Easy, easy!” She giggled.

“What? I’m just happy the weekend is here,” Dereck mused before noticing the other Poesie present. “Oh, hey Chris.”

Chris answered with a slight half wave. “Sup?”

“Hope you don’t mind me spoiling my girlfriend,” Dereck mused.

That was answered with a playful roll of the eyes. “I personally wouldn’t mind buuut…”

“...But we were actually in the middle of something.” Gwen completed.

“Something? What could that be?” Dereck asked, fortunately missing Gwen’s evasive look. “Hopefully it’s not anything important.”

“Can we… can we keep walking?” Gwen said, noting that they were standing right in front of the cottage. Without waiting for their answer, she already took a couple of steps away, actually hoping she could leave the conversation behind. But that wasn’t how things worked.

“What’s the matter?” Dereck asked, following after Chris and her. “I was already sad that I didn’t get to talk with you yesterday.”

“Sorry, things picked up after class and I had to check on someone.”

“Well…” Dereck said dismissively. “It doesn’t matter. I wanted to ask you yesterday if you were up to having some fun? Maybe go to Berlin? Or just hang out? Have one of our study sessions?” he said, thinly trying to mask their flirting and makeout session they’d had last time.

“I’d love that, Dereck.” Gwen held his hand for a squeeze. “But I can’t today. I have to help a friend with something important.” She really hated to see the smile on Dereck’s face fade off like that… but admittedly, she tended to spend quite some time with him when she wasn’t with her friends. And with Caro distancing themselves in the past week, she’d actually had a lot of time with him this week.

“Is this about Caro?” Dereck ventured to guess.

“Yes,” Gwen said.

“They say she’s turning into a rat.” Naturally, being in the same year, and sharing some common friends and circles, word of Caro’s state had reached him. “Is she? That would be a really bad look, which is kinda sad since she looked quite… good earlier this week.” Dereck clearly tried to downgrade the word he was going to use. “Heck, the rumors already do that.”

“She is in trouble,” Gwen affirmed. “And we’re working to fix it.”

“How? Isn’t it a magical thing?” Dereck asked.

“Caro’s condition is a curse, and she recently discovered a way we could break it,” Gwen explained. “She just needs our help to search for some things.”

“Really?” Dereck took in Gwen’s words and mulled over them for a moment. “Well, if it’s to help a friend, say no more. I’ll help out. As long as we can work as a team, I’d be happy.”

“Oof. Not exactly what we need,” Chris muttered before Gwen could throw a glare at her.

“What does that mean?” Dereck asked.

“Well…” Gwen stammered. “This is something that can only be sorted by us. Just us.”

“Why not?” Dereck asked. “Why can’t I help?”

“It’s because… um. It’s only a girl thing?”

“Well… what do you need to do? Maybe I can help somehow.”

“I…” Gwen stammered, trying to come up with a good excuse that would check all the boxes.

But it was that delay that clued Dereck. He frowned. “Is Caro forcing you to do something you don’t want?”

“I…” Gwen said. She clearly had. “It’s more like something that I have to do.”

“You have to?”

“Well… I… I…” Gwen stammered, the world seemed to spin as she felt the pressure as he drew closer.

“Gwen, tell me.” Dereck demanded. “What are you going to do?”

“Gwen…” Chris warned but it was too late.

“I have to distract some guy long enough for Caro to get what she needs to break the curse!” She finally blurted out. Fortunately, in her attempt to get away, she’d led them into a side of the building where, hopefully, no one would’ve heard it.

There was a moment of silence that followed, letting them hear Chris facepalm just next to her.

“What!?” Dereck raised his voice. “You’re going to cheat on me with someone else?”

“Shush! Keep it quiet or you’ll ruin everything!” Chris hissed. “Plus, it’s not as though she’s cheating on you as much as she is just spending time with another guy.”

“Who is it? Who’s the guy?” Dereck said, flexing his hand, ready to crack his knuckles.

“It’s Peter Ramsay.” Gwen caved in.

Chris gasped. “Dood!”

“Peter Ramsay from Emerson?” Dereck blinked. “From Will Crossby’s booze crew?!”

“Yes,” Gwen said, shrinking into herself. “I’m supposed to hold his attention for an- a couple of minutes.” She was close to saying ‘an hour’.

“Tonight!? When were you planning to tell me?!”

“Honestly, I wasn’t going to,” Gwen said. “I hoped this would be more of a “never speak of this again” kind of deal.”

Dereck stepped up. “How is this different from you cheating on me?” Though she was much stronger, Gwen would have taken a step back were it not for Chris placing herself in between.

“For one, she hasn’t cheated on you yet!” Chris nudged Dereck to back away. “For second, she’s just going to have a friendly chat.”

“And you’re okay with this?” Dereck asked Chris, as though a bro had just betrayed him.

“Yeah!” Chris frowned. “I was there when they made the plan.”

“The plan?” Dereck for a moment, appeared to have forgotten anything Gwen said after ‘Distract some guy’. “Right, you’re grabbing something Caro needs. So stealing!? That’s criminal. Scumbag behavior.”

“We don’t have a choice,” Gwen said. “It’s what she needs to fix her situation.”

“Gwen actually convinced Caro to at least leave some money to compensate,” Chris added.

“What are you after?” Dereck asked.

“Are you… going to report us?” Gwen asked, with pleading eyes, not really sure how to approach him. “If we don’t help Caro, we don’t know how bad her condition will get.”

“I…” Dereck frowned, looking down at her with wavering eyes for what felt like minutes for the two of them. In the end, he took a deep breath, though hardly calmed. “I won’t tell anyone what you’re up to.”

“Phew,” Chris sighed.

“But… You’re stealing?” Dereck chastised. “The rest of the Future Superheroes of America wouldn’t like this. They certainly wouldn’t like to know that Caro was forcing its members to do this sort of thing.”

“We forced ourselves into this,” Gwen told him.

“For someone who appeared to be in the B-rank villain track? Is it worth it to tarnish the paragon-like reputation you have?” When he noticed that he was getting some frowns from Chris and Gwen, he quickly corrected. “I worry about Caro’s situation. But this can’t be the best solution, right?”

“We thought about it already,” Gwen grumbled. “And I’m just the distraction.”

“So you aren’t the one stealing.” Dereck sounded relieved about that, at least. “And what is she after?”

“To break the spell, she needs a bit of the mead that Whiskey will be offering for his bar’s opening.”

“Uh huh…” Dereck sounded dubious. “You sure she doesn’t just want a drink?”

“It’s her magic, but she didn’t set the rules this time,” Gwen explained. “Trust me, she’s not happy about it, either.”

“Guess that makes as much sense as everything else.” Dereck frowned. “And his opening is tomorrow, right? Why don’t we go there, pretend like it’s a date and take some with us.”

“You’d want to drink?” Chris asked.

“I mean, I’m curious. My dad sometimes drinks those special beers for exemplars and-”

“We already considered that approach!” Gwen asserted. “We’ve considered every approach and this is the only way. And it has to be today because tomorrow, odds are security will be higher at the opening.”

“That reminds me,” Chris noted. “We have to ask Ping if she can spoof the cameras.”

“I already did. She’ll get it sorted out,” said Gwen.

“Well, I don’t like it,” Dereck frowned. “I want in…”

“What?” Both girls blurted out.

“You heard me. I’m not going to let my girlfriend go around flirting with other guys.”

“But, that defeats the point of a distraction.” Chris said. “How is Peter not going to be wary of having you there with Gwen?”

“I… well,” Dereck scoffed. “I could just try to threaten or twist their arms into getting what you need… Oh, I have it. What if I step in and make up a scandal? ‘What are you doing, Gwen? Cheating on me?’”

“Sounds like a bad episode of a telenovela,” Chris said dryly.

“Well, I think it might work,” Dereck defended.

Gwen shook her head before reaching to hold his hands. “I… I appreciate the sentiment, but we’re treading carefully here, Dereck. We can’t risk it by making things chaotic. Please, believe me when I say that it won’t mean anything.”

“I… Fine.” Dereck sighed, with a defeated grumble under his voice. “Just get it over with and help Caro.” Even if he said that, his almost pouty frown spelled out how not on board he was with the idea… Still, the two girls took it as a victory. It was as good as it was going to get.

“Thank you.” Gwen said as she leaned in closer to plant a kiss on his cheeks.

“Aaand, now we have to get going to make some preparations for the job,” Chris said after checking her phone, grabbing Gwen’s wrist, and pulling her away.

“Duty calls,” Gwen said, agreeing with the hasty retreat.

“’Oof. Not exactly what we need.’ Did you really need to say it like that?” Gwen hissed once they were far enough.

“Sorry, it slipped out… But you did spill the beans there.” Chris noted.

“I know…” Gwen groaned. “But what was the alternative? Stringing him along until he found out anyway? Have him do busywork somewhere else only for him to get bored and come looking for me just as I start acting friendly with Peter?”

Chris shrugged. “At least this way, we skip the drama, right?”

“There’s always drama,” Gwen scoffed.

Saturday, January 22nd - 5:07pm
Basement 2nd level, Caro’s lab, fringe of the Tangle

“So, when are you heading out?” Chris asked after five minutes had elapsed.

“It should be soon,” Sofia said. “Will and his crew always started their after-school activities at around six.”

“Also, I have to wait for Caro. I’m just the distraction.” Gwen stiffened as Sofia helped her with a little bit of makeup. Nothing too ostentatious, just a subtle bit to enhance her natural charisma. At least that was how Sofia put it, even if Chris couldn’t really tell that difference from the other side of the room.

“Where did she go anyway?” Chris wondered.

“Think she mentioned bringing in one more member to the group,” Sofia said as she began to put away the make up.

“Another member for this?” Gwen looked mortified that someone else would be clued in on tonight.

“Well, she said she needed someone to open the doors. Plus, with how small she’s gotten, not sure if she can move around easily with the loot.”

“Loot?” Chris pouted.

“You’ll have your own adventure,” Gwen assured her.

“Guess cat-catching is an adventure.” Chris tapped her boot on the ground impatiently at the prospect of having to wait. She’d come prepared for stuff, having donned her new prototype combat suit: a black spandex piece with pale purple highlights, with hard pieces reinforcing the arms, boots and body. And, while she knew this wouldn’t be exactly a high octane little adventure, she still looked forward to some silly action.

Fortunately, they didn’t have to wait for long as the door to Caro’s lab opened. In came Marlene, also dressed ready for the evening: wearing a padded worn halfcloak over a starry black shirt and a pair of activity-ready jeans. Around her waist was a utility belt with several pouches that appeared to be the standard for mages. “I’m here.”

“Great,” Chris said, getting up on her feet with a single leap. “So, off cat-hunting?”

“Off cat-hunting,” Marlene confirmed.

“Do you have the spell for that?” Sofia asked as she got up. Unlike the other two girls, she had on a casual set of clothes. When her coat came off, it revealed a loose, sleeveless shirt and a set of cargo pants with zippers around the thighs to be easily converted into shorts. It was quite an odd choice considering the cold weather aboveground, were it not ideal for her shapeshifting powers.

“I do. Finding the cat will be easy.” Marlene ran her hand over her hair, making her feline ear flicker while keeping itself attentive at the still open door. “Are you two ready?”

“Yep,” Chris said as she stretched.

“I suppose,” Sofia said as she got up.

“Wait, are you all leaving now?” Gwen blinked. “Shouldn’t we wait for Caro?”

“With how precarious things have been, she probably wouldn’t want us to wait for her,” Marlene said rather hastily. “The faster we start, the more eventualities we can cover.”

“Not sure how many ‘eventualities’ we can run into,” Sofia noted.

Gwen shook her head, her look wanting to say: “And then, there was me.”

“Good luck on your side, Gwen. I believe in you.” Chris said as she left the room, a message that was echoed by the other girls.

With the door closed behind, the girls got on the move, following Marlene.

“Can’t believe we’re doing cat wrangling.”

“Think you can handle it?” Marlene asked.

“Yeah, feline identity is part of my current roster,” Sofia said, showing off her hand as her fingernails turned into claws and short hair grew and receded with a thought.

“So, where are we going?” Chris looked around the passageway. “The nearest exit is the other way, right?”

“That?” Marlene said. “The scrying ritual showed me that the cat was in this section of the tunnels. From here, I can just use magic to find its trail.”

“Awesome.” Chris snickered. Magic was so convenient.

Saturday, January 22nd - 5:25pm
Basement 2nd level, Caro’s lab

Once alone in Caro’s room, all that Gwen could hear was her own breath and her sighs as the voices of her friends faded in the distance. “Nothing to do but wait for Caro to come back with the next member of the crew,” she muttered as she picked up the handmirror Sofia brought. “Someone that could pick the locks for her, that would mean being in the thick of it. Who could it be?”

Of course, a name came to mind, one that made her shake her head. “Nah, there’s no way. It has to be someone from the Secret Squirrels or one of the Imp’s students, right?” She focused on the task at hand, picking up the hand mirror to make sure she looked the part, and yet it always came with a moment that gave her pause.

It was her indeed. The ladylike reflection that had now been a part of her for over a year. The perky nose, the soft lips, the soft elegant eyes and the exotic hair that draped over the side. She’d really come a long way since when she manifested and discovered how the direction of her changes was defined. From dreading every single difference, to seeing a stranger in the mirror, to the present where she could see who she’d become and find herself… at home.

Though she still couldn’t understand how she’d come to draw the lottery in the social department. Finding herself, a former introvert, standing in the center of more people than she could have imagined, earning their admiration and interest.

“And now, I’m using that power for evil,” Gwen said out loud as she looked at her reflection. Taking a deep breath, she began to practice the poses and looks, working her way up to being flirty.

She tried some of the classics she’d seen: Pouting her lips, tilting her head, winking invitingly and so on. “Oh, hey handsome?” she said, only to facepalm herself. “Too much… ‘Um… Oh, hey Peter. Didn’t expect to see you…’ No, that's stupid… ‘Um, hey. Peter, right? I heard that you…’ ‘I was just got lost in the tunnels and wound up here. What are you doing here? Oh, this is your club?…’ ‘I was going to the Crystal Hall for some lunch, wanna tag along?’ Maybe I shouldn’t take him somewhere public… ‘What about Dereck? No, there’s been some distance between us and…’ ‘But tell me about yourself…’ No, this isn’t an interview. ‘So this is your business? How do you run this?’ Ugh, I sound like a narc… Hobbies? Favorite classes? ‘Who do you think would win? A hundred men or a gorilla?’ Hm… I really have trouble starting conversations… or faking things. Ronie would probably tell me to be myself but what does that mean at this point?”

Before she could continue, the door to Caro’s lab opened and the owner of the place walked in. Gwen did the best she could not to let out an audible gasp. It was already hard to see her friend slowly turning into a rat as it was, but she also noticed that, as predicted from the curse, things had slid a slight bit further from the night before. Nothing marked, but more a compounding of all the small things that had transpired. Caro stood under a meter of height, maybe 4/5ths of it, with fur now more prevalent along her skin. Her hands were more obviously clawed, and her feet couldn’t accommodate any shoe. The tail that dragged along the ground and a small muzzle framed her teeth. The ears would’ve been cute, if not for everything else.

She doesn’t really have long, Gwen muttered, feeling the pressure mount to up her performance.

“Ah, Gwen, are you ready?” Caro asked, her voice slightly higher pitched than normal. “Where’s everyone else?”

“Marlene took Chris and Sofia out to hunt for your plushie,” Gwen said, once again, trailing off as the second surprise came through the door: Vic! He stepped in, barely looking around before turning to look her way. Their eyes locked for a moment, wide in surprise for the both of them.

Of course it would be him I… Gwen’s thoughts were brought to a sudden halt when she spotted the mark on his cheek, a discoloration where color had been used to patch… and the more her eyes strayed, the more she noticed the difference. His ears were oddly misshapen, with spines deforming and twitching to match Vic’s realization that his stepsister was sizing him up. By the time she noticed the green coating his hands, she couldn’t help but put down the mirror and get halfway to her feet.

“W-What happened to you?!” she blurted out.

“I…” Vic stammered, clasping his hands together. “It’s a long story.”

“Then say it,” Gwen said.

“It’s a secondary thing, okay?” Vic said in a mixture of frustration and anxiety. “I’m mutating into something else because I also happen to be an avatar with a dormant spirit.”

“What?!” Gwen gasped. The explanation was like releasing a bundle of little flies into the air. A myriad of questions that rushed through her head. An avatar? Mutating? A dormant spirit? Since when? What’s this going to mean to his life? What was she going to tell their dad?!

“Gwen, I know this is a lot but could we get mov-” Caro began to say.

“In a minute!” Gwen said, as assertive as Caro had ever heard her in a while, before turning to Vic. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Why didn’t I? Did you really think I would be out broadcasting this to everyone?”

“Do your friends know?” Gwen asked.

“Of course they do. Not like I could hide it.”

“Then why didn’t I?”

“Because we’re no longer in the same grade!” Vic snapped. “We’re totally different from what we used to be. On different paths, now. I’m becoming more of an outcast than we both thought you were going to be.”

“That’s not true!” Gwen stammered. “You’re not an outcast.”

“Come on. You don’t really think that. I’m a runaway on the short trip to non-humanity.” Vic frowned. “I kinda hoped I wouldn’t have to have this conversation with you until much later… if at all.”

“You would’ve had to do it. We’re family.”

“We’re stepfamily. I didn’t want to because I knew this would happen either way.”

“I-I…” Gwen stammered, wanting to bring up her dad’s concerns but finding the words cluttered with the many other questions she had. ”Why is he here?!” She turned to ask Caro who had been watching the scene with just a tinge with frustration while pressing the ears against her head.

“I needed a lockpick and he’s by far the best one I know,” Caro pointed out, making a small smirk appear on Vic’s face.

“Yeah, what a talent,” Gwen said sarcastically.

“Plus, his powers might help in managing liquids,” Caro added as she moved around the drawers to pick the transport canteen.

“And you’re okay with this? You could get into trouble,” Gwen asked Vic.

To that he frowned, he was probably thinking that she was judging his decision because… well, she was. This could just add another trio of enemies to everyone’s list if they were careless.

“I can deal with this. If it’s to help someone else stop the changes, I think it’d be worth it,” Vic said.

“At least he means well,” Gwen thought, unable to keep herself from staring at the differences, wondering what else was she missing or not seeing. There was the question of the spirit or why this was happening after half a semester in Whateley with no sign beforehand. She was missing something; that much she could sense.

“I know there’s history between the two of you. But we have to get going now.” Caro adjusted the small satchel around her body. It would normally look too small, but it fitted well enough on her diminished frame now.

“We’ll talk later,” Gwen said as they moved out the door. She wished it didn’t sound so much like a threat.

“I guess we have to,” Vic conceded as they made it down the hallway. He was carrying himself around with trepidation.

“Gwen, did you practice the distraction?” Caro asked.

“As best as I possibly could.” Gwen grimaced. With Vic’s surprise, she’d almost forgotten her job. “I just have to lure Peter out of the front door to let you in and then to let you out.”

“We’ll have to figure out the timing for it,” Caro muttered, realizing she probably omitted that detail over the course of the day of planning. By now they would just have to hope timing would be perfect or they would have to make a run for it and improvise. Of course, neither Gwen nor Vic was concerned.

“Vic can handle it,” Gwen said.

“I can establish a mental connection to keep us posted,” Vic said.

“For real?” Caro blurted out in surprise. She was immensely relieved when both Gwen and Vic nodded in confirmation.

“So… You have to flirt with someone else?” Vic half admonished, sounding both surprised and amused.

“I’m a distraction,” Gwen said.

“Anyway…” Caro said, loudly enough to get them to stop. “That solves a piece.”

“But it’s not just Peter, right?” Vic asked after a while. “What about the other members of the crew?”

“I pulled some favors to delay them in a discreet manner.”

“Really?”

“Convinced some girls from Melville to invite Giselle and Trevor out for dinner. They were more interested in the idea of early access to some of the mead, so that didn’t take much nudging. I also asked Mr. Kim to distract Will about assignments.”

“That doesn’t seem good enough.” Gwen noted.

“I know. He said he would talk to Will about an essay he submitted, so that would distract him for minutes… but it’s all we have before it starts to get suspicious, so we have to do it fast,” Caro noted with a tone of trepidation in her voice. “You’ll handle any door we find, Vic.”

“This is on the third level near Emerson Cottage, right?” Gwen asked.

“Yeah… I haven’t been there but, I’ve heard that the place was once a row of rooms and spaces that was either used as clubrooms, labs or even school-run businesses before it fell under the control of the Bohemians. Other than that, I don’t know much.”

“I meant to tell you,” Vic chimed in. “I’ve actually been to this Crossby guy’s place.”

“You have?” Caro blinked. “Why didn’t you tell me before?!”

“You told me about the job just as we stepped into the tunnels, and it was the Cliff’s Notes,” Vic defended.

“Well, this is a stroke of good luck,” Caro said.

“Really? You happened to get to know the guys that want to open up a casino bar underneath a school?” Gwen said dryly. At the tip of her tongue, she was close to bringing up the gangs or the whole matter with Jack-in-the-Box from last year. Honestly, how many more bad companies could her step brother get involved with?

“It was by accident. Just last week, I happened to be walking along the tunnels when I ran into them while they were doing the remodeling. They were having issues with a broken faucet, so I offered to help. After that, I just hung around helping them move furniture in and out. This was before I knew about the whole bootleg whiskey stuff.” He appeared to say it just to cover himself from Gwen’s judging glare.

“Quite helpful,” Caro noted. “And you don’t feel bad about doing this?”

“I mean, I do feel a tad bad about stealing from them. Even so, Caro needs just a bit of this mead more than they do, right?” he awaited a nod of agreement before continuing. “I would agree that you probably should ask for it first. But after talking with that Crossby guy, I don’t really think he’s the kind to give out the goods just as easily. If anything he would just have just upped the defenses, or the price, if you try to speak to him.”

Gwen frowned. She agreed with Vic’s reasoning, but that didn’t mean she had to like the conclusion. “They say he’s very careful about his business.”

“What can you tell us about the inside?” asked Caro.

“Well, if his opening is tomorrow, the main area should be set up and ready. There was a long bar that covered the left-hand side the moment you enter, a couple of big tables and a lounge in the back. Mostly what you might imagine,” Vic recalled. “There was a door, which is the back area of the bar where the kitchen would be. Down another corridor there were the toilets, and on the sides, I can recall there were two passages that led to wrecked rooms.”

“Wrecked rooms?”

“Apparently, previous owners tried to expand the places by breaking down walls and floors. I didn’t see much about them, but spotted piles of rubble and chunks of concrete. Doubt they could’ve done anything about it in a week.”

“Alright.” Caro took a deep breath and held it in for a second. Maybe she wanted to say that things might end up going well but didn’t want to jinx it. “Gwen, you said that the other girls left to search for the plush, right?”

“Yeah, they looked prepared for it.”

“That’s a relief,” Caro said as her ears twitched. “Let’s get this over with.”

Saturday, January 22nd - 5:36pm
Tunnels - The tangle, Third level

“Are we there yet?” Chris chimed.

“No,” Marlene said as they reached an intersection. She took a moment to look at each of the pathways before picking one on her own.

“Feels like we’ve been walking in circles,” Chris said.

“Well, this is the third level of the Tangle, where things start to get loopier,” Marlene noted. “Also, don’t forget to keep an eye on the map app for the warning.”

“I know, I’ve been here before, lots of times.”

“Have you? How far have you gotten?” asked Marlene.

“Fifth level,” Chris said proudly.

Marlene whistled. “How did you get out?”

“Patience and luck, I guess.”

“So few people dare to go exploring here. On account of the discarded experiments, hobgoblins and just any other sort of magical entity that gets conjured up by whatever creates the distortion.”

“Are we, at least, getting any closer?” Sofia asked.

“We are,” Marlene assured.

“How are you tracking it?” Chris wondered.

“I… I, um, have a spell on my eyes that allows me to see the trail of the cat.”

“You can do that?” Sofia asked.

“Of course,” was Marlene’s answer.

“Shouldn’t your eyes be glowing? If you’re enchanting them?” Chris said.

“The glow is optional.”

“Well,” Sofia chimed in, looking at her surroundings. “Why would a cat prefer to live this far underground? I could think of several better spaces on campus.”

“No idea.”

“What if it’s not a normal cat?” Chris theorized. “What if it’s some sort of experiment?”

“Could it be?” Marlene sounded concerned. She stopped for a moment, her eyes drawn to a small grate on the ground, right next to a wall. A sort of ventilation tunnel.

“This place has some eerie vibes already. I heard rumors about scorched footsteps in some tunnels. That there’s some insanity inducing lizard around here…” Sofia said, suddenly trailing off as Marlene stopped, her black cat ears standing in full attention and her tail stiffening. Before long, she could feel it as well. “Something is happening.”

Her words heralded the alarm coming from the map app, signaling a distortion anomaly within the tangle.

“Everyone! Stay together!” Marlene ordered as she took a step back, bumping into other girls

“I see it!” Chris gasped, taking a step against the wall. “Darkness, incoming!”

When their hands brushed against the wall, they felt a soft vibration. As it grew, the pressure in the air ramped up. And soon, they could see it before them: the corridor suddenly appeared to stretch into the void and lose its light. A pocket of darkness in the distance that shut down the overhead light… and the next one, and the one after that, approaching the girls.

“Is it a trap?” Sofia asked. “We should run the other way.” She turned around, about to sprint, only to be met by another trail of failing lights that cast everything beyond into a black well.

“Yup, we’re trapped.” Chris pulled the girl closer into the group.

“Just stay together!” Marlene ordered. Sofia didn’t even wait for her to finish the sentence, quickly holding onto them both as the anomaly increased in intensity. The world shook like a poorly maintained subway tunnel as the trains arrived. Light by light, the wall of darkness approached them, so deep that it obfuscated even the sight of those with the ability to see through normal lack of illumination.

Their world was reduced to the domed fixture over their heads, staving off the unpierceable shadow that boxed them in.

“I’m here! I’m here,” Marlene whispered to assuage the fears of the girls. A shared sentiment… That was until the remaining light began to waver, and then it was about keeping themselves from screaming.

And then, just like that, it let up. Like the aftermath of a sneeze or a tremor, the tangle breathed out and everything relaxed. The sizzling flow of electricity again could be heard, with each of the fixtures stuttering back to life. The darkness ahead backed away light by light until, suddenly, a wall was revealed, a surface not unlike the one they’d been leaning up against.

“Fuck me! That was intense!” Marlene cursed as she took a deep breath to steady herself before dealing with the blocked path.

Sofia sighed. “Carajo.”

“That was scary…” Chris mumbled. “Definitely wasn’t like that the last time.”

“The tangle being a tangle,” Marlene muttered as she separated from the girls. “It’s hard to predict what it’ll do.”

“No wonder Caro got a lab for herself near here…” Sofia grumbled.

“Guys…” Chris chimed in with unease in her voice. “Have you looked behind?”

Sofia and Marlene already had a bad feeling when Chris said it, but a metaphorical rock hit their stomach when they turned around. The way they’d come from was now blocked off. A simple, plain wall like the one they’d seen for the past half hour, but all around them.

“Nononono…” Marlene mumbled as she moved to the back wall. Pressing her hands against it confirmed that the wall was solid, merged smoothly on the edges as though it’d always been there.

“We’re… we’re boxed in?” Chris called out, just five yards away, at the other end of the section.

Sofia paced back and forth. “We’re trapped?”

“Can’t say I got trapped like this last time I was here.” Chris tapped the wall in different places, hoping to hear a hollow thunk. Unfortunately, there was none. “There aren’t any casualties from the tangle, right? As in, ‘missing students’, right? Um, right?”

“Beats me,” Marlene said as she leaned against the wall as well. She put her cat ear against the surface, only to hear nothing. “We’re in timeout until the next tangle distortion happens.”

“How long before that happens?” Chris asked.

“No idea…” Marlene said. “It seems to have calmed down now.”

“If it’s like earthquakes, then we might have to wait for a while,” Sofia said.

“Really?” Chris asked. “That’s it? Is our adventure over?”

“What else can we do?” Marlene asked. “Want us to break a wall? Do you have some rhino DNA in you, Sofia?”

“No.” Sofia answered despondently.

“Drat,” Chris frowned. “And I didn’t bring any items I could use to punch a hole.”

“What about the air? Are we going to run out of it?” Sofia wondered.

“No,” Marlene said pointing up to the vent that adorned the wall near the ceiling. “We have air…”

The girls’ words trailed off as their eyes went to the grate up there and then drifted down to the ground, near where they’d stopped when the Tangle began to act up, where another grate sat nestled near the wall.

Saturday, January 22nd - 5:46pm
Tunnels- Near Whiskey’s bar, Third level

<Alright, Gwen, here we are. Are you ready?> Vic’s mental voice came in through the established link.

<As well as I’ll ever be,> Gwen said. Some tittering hesitation fluttered about her belly as she looked over at Caro. The girl-rat lay close to the ground and was using her phone to record around the corner and at the row of doors where Whiskey’s business was located. She had to remind herself of the ‘lobby technique’ Vic told her about just to protect her inner thoughts, now that the other girl was included. The last thing she would want was for her friend to hear about her old life.

<Okay,> Caro said as she pulled her phone back and showed them the snapshot recording. <They put a couch outside the place for waiting customers and Peter is using it to take a break from the busy task of guarding the place. Fortunately, his eyes were on the phone. And, by the looks of things, it’s just him.>

<Guess this is it…> Both Gwen and Vic found themselves thought-saying the words at the same time.

<Yeah…> Caro said, sharing the sentiment. <Gwen, you step in and talk to him. Charm him and confirm it's just him. If he is alone, try to get him out of the way. A minute should be enough for Vic to open the door.>

<A minute?> Vic thought. <You think I’m that skilled?>

<Is it not enough time?>

<No. I’m just feeling flattered.>

<Okay. Okay. I’m going in,> Gwen said as she got up and dusted her outfit off. While still casual, it was more special than her regular look. A clean, almost-new jacket she got over the winter break, jeans and a black shirt with a golden pattern.

<And if he isn’t?> Vic asked as she was on the way.

<If we’re out of luck, we’ll try to sneak in through other ways,> Caro mumbled as she patted the satchel around her back. <I made some small distraction spells with what little mana I have left…> She said so with confidence, but the stepsiblings could tell she was wavering. <If it doesn’t work… I don’t know.>

<If nothing goes right,> Gwen said, getting up, ready to act. <I’ll fight for you.> And without adding to it, she walked into the corridor to signal the start.

<I couldn’t ask you to do that,> Caro said. <These guys have deals with the Bohemians. It would be inviting trouble from them.>

<I guess if it’s to help a friend, it’s worth the risk,> Gwen noted. <Could bring the Future Superheroes of America into the fray.>

<Club war?> Vic chimed in. <This school is really something. I’m not sure if I’d get involved, but my support still goes out for someone in need.>

<Thanks…> was Caro’s answer.She lost herself in self reflection for a moment, only to sit up as though noticing something. <Ah, Gwen I can’t hear your steps. I think there’s a soundproof field in the threshold.>

<I noticed it.> Gwen reported. <There’s an open empty room here, past the broken down barrier, with a door off its hinges.>

<I think I saw it in the recording. We could reposition there,> Caro noted. <But first, we’ll let you do your thing.>

Gwen mentally sighed as she focused on the task at hand, just as Peter picked up on her presence, turning around only to jump with the surprise of someone just about to be caught with the pants down. “G-Gwen?”

“Hey. Peter, right?” Gwen did her friendliest girl-next-door impersonation.

“Yeah. You remembered me,” Peter said, with a bit of excitement in his voice. “What, ahem, what brings a fine girl like you here?”

“I… I was trying to make my way to the Crystal Hall but accidentally took a wrong turn in the tunnels and… got lost,” Gwen said. Normally, that would be an unconvincing explanation. But in Whateley, perfectly valid.

“Oh! Oh!” Peter said as he quickly got up. “I could show you the way up to the Crystal Hall.”

“Really? Gwen asked. “You know. It’s close to dinner time and my friends just cancelled plans on me. Wanna tag along?”

“Y-You’re inviting me? I’d love to…” Peter’s excitement was quickly dashed away as he saw the open door next to the business. “But… I’m supposed to stand guard here until my friends get here.”

“Oh, so it’s just you down here?” Gwen asked.

“Eh… I mean, normally, me and my friends just work on the place in the evenings… but they’re both running late,” he said with a tinge of bitterness. “So, until they get here, I have to hold the fort.”

“Aw, that’s a shame,” Gwen said, slowly pacing around.. As she did, she could spy the inside of the room. A rather decent basic lounge, a large table, some simple chairs and a TV screen hanging on the wall. Not a bad place for a club house, were it not for the bar at the end of the space. Even with no drinks occupying the shelves, it was pretty telling what it was.

“Oh… Can’t you just lock the door and accompany me?”

“Well… I do have a key.” He thought, patting his pocket. He considered it for a while, temptation heavy, but in the end, he sighed with frustration. “I… I can’t. Maybe once Trevor or Will show up.”

“Oh, it’s a shame. I wouldn’t have wanted to go on alone…” Gwen said, trying to sound sorry, and judging by the way Peter was contorting and how he was clenching the keys, he was really trying to consider it. Gwen thought she could push it on just a little bit… but also knew that insisting might be laying it down a bit too thick.

<Says that he’s here alone,> Gwen quickly reported.

<Good, try to distract him,> Caro answered.

<If he just leaves after locking the door, we can get this to go smoothly,> Vic added

<I already asked him that. Said he couldn’t,> Gwen answered.

“If you want to head out,” Peter broke Gwen’s concentration, pointing at the other end of the hallway, where a large metallic door stood. “You can take that elevator. Will get you under Emerson’s cottage.”

“I wasn’t aware Emerson had a lift to the tunnels.”

“It’s a bit of a secret… plus, aside from the techies, not many are interested in the tunnels.” Peter sighed. “Um… I heard that you have a boyfriend.”

“Ah…” Gwen said just as she received instructions in her head.

<Pull his attention to the side. We’ll try to make it to the door into the empty room you saw..>

And Gwen did just that, walking just far enough to get Peter’s eyes to be on the other end of the hallway. “I do have a boyfriend but… we’re on a sort of break.” <He’s looking away.>

“Really?” Peter said, missing the two heads that peeked around the corner.

Sorry, Dereck. “Yeah. Nothing is set in stone, though,” she said as she saw Vic and Caro quickly slip out of cover. “So… Why don’t you tell me about this place? I’ve heard the rumors of the cool bar that would be opening? Can’t believe this is where it’s at,” Gwen exclaimed, raising her voice a little bit to cover for Caro and Vic. Not that it was needed as the two of them were quite nimble on their steps, moving past the gate and diving into the empty open room, just a couple of doors removed from them.

“Yeah. This is our new bar,” Peter said proudly as he stepped in, almost inviting Gwen to look.

“Looks so nice, does it have a name?” Peter asked.

“Not yet, officially. I say it should be something cool, like ‘The Ace’ or ‘The Oasis’. Will says it should be something ‘classy’ like ‘The Speakeasy’ or ‘The Filled Glass’.”

“I like your name ideas. Maybe they’ll consider them,” Gwen reassured. “So you have your drinks ready?”

“Yep. Production is ready. We’re offering freshly made mead for the opening tomorrow,” Peter answered while Gwen relayed the confirmation of the mead to the team. “I’ll save you a glass if you plan on coming.”

“I’d love that but… I’ve never had it before. Would you consider giving me a glass of your best mead?” Gwen asked, hoping that this line of dialog would spare them so many troubles.

Peter appeared to consider it, though his mood was deflated when he peered into the clubhouse. “I’d like to, but that’s Will’s area. He locked the door to the tankard.”

“That’s the one?” Gwen pointed at the one behind the bar. “That’s his lab?”

“That’s the kitchen, the storeroom is just past it. We still have a ton of fixes to go through. Anything past the bathroom corridor is a wreck… but don’t tell anyone that. We’ll get it running quite fast,” Peter reported, information that Gwen quickly relayed.

“Can I get a look? It sounds fascinating,” Gwen asked.

“Well um… I’d rather you didn’t. It’s not ready,” Peter said as eloquently as he could. “But do drop by tomorrow, the place will look great then.” And with that, he closed the door and, probably as a reflex, locked it.

<Drat, he closed the door,> Gwen said.

<That’s not a problem,> Vic assured.

“Well, aren’t you heading out?” Peter asked. He was interested in her, that much she could tell, but he was starting to find it off that she was lingering about. A spark of hope appeared to shine in his eye, as though she was staying behind for him.

“Eh… not sure.” Gwen dragged her words to find the better answer. “Kinda would be a bit awkward if I just showed up in Emerson. Could you show me another way out through the tunnels?”

“I…” Peter mumbled, looking down the other exit. He was torn between wants and duty. “I’m sorry. I really wish I could help you out, get you to the Crystal Hall, maybe even have a small date with you.” He said that last part so fast and low that Gwen almost missed it. Still, he quickly perked up. “Unfortunately, they told me to wait here and I want to rub it in their faces that I take this seriously… I know. If you wait just a couple of minutes for my friends, I can have them take over and I’ll be free to go.”

“Great.” Gwen said while the <Great…> in her mind came out as sarcastic. “I guess I could stick around a little while longer.”

“Awesome,” Peter smirked, parking himself on the couch outside of the closed bar, inviting Gwen to join him.

With a bit of apprehension, Gwen did so as well, sitting down about a buttcheek away from him.

And so, silence befall the two of them for what must’ve been a dozen seconds, but it felt like a couple of minutes. Oh crud, Gwen realized. The flow of the conversation had reached a sudden halt. Peter fidgetted and looked about, suddenly too self-conscious and nervous to act. Feeling the need to have the dialog continue but staggered by what the next part would be, hoping that the other person would know. At least that’s what Gwen assumed, because that’s exactly what she was feeling.

<Gwen! You have to say something! I can hear the whistling of the silence and we’re not making headway,> Caro hissed in the back of her mind. <If someone else arrives, it’ll be much harder to get the mead.>

<Hey, easy. Gwen wasn’t exactly a master at spontaneous conversations. She’s trying,> Vic said in her defense.

<Ah, she was an ugly duckling pre-manifestation, right?> Caro said.

<Her power was social invisibility. A bit geeky, a bit nerdy, very shy,> Vic answered, with a tinge of humor about him. While Gwen appreciated he was covering her, she really would’ve preferred if he’d been a bit more flattering.

<I wasn’t that bad.> Words slipped through the link, only to realize that Peter had asked a question and had been talking for about half a minute.

“What do you think?” Peter asked.

“Sorry?” Gwen said as a reflex. “I-I got sidetracked.”

<Gwen, you have to pretend to listen,> Caro admonished.

<I’m trying,> she thought back swiftly as Peter repeated himself.

“I asked what movies do you like?” Peter said, having recovered a bit more of confidence. “You can call me a ‘softie’, but I prefer romantic comedies, or dramas.”

“Really? I’m not that into dramas. Hate getting depressed.”

“Same. Actually, I’m not that fond of dramas,” Peter quickly corrected.

<Classic amateur flirting move. Just going for the classic genres you might be into,> Caro said.

<Do i look like the kind that enjoys those? Also, how can you hear us?> Gwen asked.

<My ears hear a lot,> Caro explained. Her mental voice was bitter.

“So, would you like to go see a movie sometime?” Peter suggested with a bit of a smile. She already needed to concede for the sake of a mission, but suddenly, for a brief moment, Gwen considered it. What would it be like to agree and give him a chance? To go out? She hadn’t been out with any guy apart from Dereck, how different would it be…

And that’s when she began to wonder if Peter was using his low level projective empathy on her. Of course, there was no way to tell as Sofia had mentioned that it was either weak or very subtle… but it was enough to put her on edge.

On the other hand, she thought, if she let herself fall into the friendlier influence while also keeping in mind that this was something he could do, perhaps she could ride the emotions into making her attitudes believable. With a slight smile, she agreed. “I… I don’t think I would say no. Maybe we can go out with friends.”

“Sure, the more the merrier,” Peter agreed, having found his playbook.

“Do you go to Berlin often?” Gwen asked, sounding more enthusiastic. Fortunately, in her mind, she was still quite aware that Peter was influencing her. Weak as it was, this was shaping up to be one of those abilities that lost a good chunk of the impact once the secret was known, but it was just enough to nudge her into a relaxed state.

“Yeah, we go every now and then. Will’s family is actually from Berlin, so we hang out at his place sometimes.”

“Sounds awfully convenient…” Gwen said.

“Last year, we spent several weekends at his place there.”

“Know any places besides the movies?”

“There’s this cool cafe that has the best sandwiches.”

“I’d love to check it out.”

“Maybe I could take you there…”

<Good work, Gwen. But could you try to lure him out?> Caro said as Peter listed a couple other places.

<On it,> Gwen replied as she got up. “Ugh… sorry, I just realized that I’ve been walking for hours, I must be sweating. Can I use the bathroom in your place?”

“I can’t let you into the place… but there’s a bathroom in the back end of the row, just turn right from the elevators. It’s a little unkept since the Bohemians only have it cleaned every now and then, but it should work.”

Gwen tried to not grimace as she imagined its state. Still, she made it to the end of the hallway, finding two entrances for the classic gendered bathrooms one would find in any business. One of doors having nearly fallen off didn’t really bode well for her expectations. The lights appeared to be out and there was a bit of muck in the corner that warned of the state of things past the entrance. It was fortunate that she didn’t actually plan to use it.

“Peter! Is anyone else in this place?!” she called out.

“What? No. It should just be me!” Peter answered.

“I think I just saw something or someone slip into the bathroom.”

“What? No no no! That can’t be.” Urgently, he got up and made a quick jog to catch up to Gwen. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah! Think I saw something sneak into the guy’s room,” Gwen said as she discreetly moved behind Peter, just to keep him from backing out enough to see the hallway. <Go, now!>

From the corner of her eye, she could see Vic and Caro get on the move, leaving their sideroom and quietly sprinting after the club’s entrance. “I don’t know what it was,” Gwen said, just so her voice would provide some cover as they acted.

“What did you see? What was it?” Peter asked. Fortunately, he turned around the opposite direction that would reveal Vic placing the water glove on the door’s lock.

“Eh… I don’t know! It was a little black blur that just darted into the bathroom. With glowing eyes and a tail!” Gwen said, stepping forth and pointing to the guy’s room.

“Wait, so a rat?” Peter asked, almost dismissively.

“But it was a big one! About this high,” Gwen said, putting her hand down to her thigh. “It looked really scary!”

“That high?” Peter hesitated, his face threatening to turn back and forth, clearly debating if he should dismiss it or look brave before the girl he was with, seemingly forgetting all about Gwen’s own powers. He just needed a little push.

“Could you, please check it out?” Gwen said.

“I… Okay fine,” Peter said, taking a deep breath to arm himself with courage before stepping into the bathroom. Even with the lights turned on, the place flickered uneasily as some of the bulbs threatened to die out.

Tentatively peeking in, Peter reported: “I don’t see anything off.”

<We’re in.> Vic reported as Gwen faintly heard the door close, something Peter missed as he ventured deeper into the bathroom.

<Please, make it so that all I have to do is chase imaginary monsters,> Gwen prayed.

Saturday, January 22nd - 5:56pm
Tunnels - The tangle, Third level

“Hour seventeen since our imprisonment in the tangle. The four walls that comprise our world stand unmovable, corners always at two by seven strides from one another, yet always feeling as though they’re slowly sliding into each other like in the garbage disposal scene from Star Wars. The three fluorescent lights that hang over our heads have become like the three suns that keep us from the darkness, probably forever… or until the next abyssal shift, who knows when that’ll happen. Marlene opted to bravely set off in searches for an exit through the vents. She’s on expedition number 33 and has yet to return… I’m afraid that if we lose her to the Tangle, we’ll have to consider… other escape alternatives.”

“It’s only been twenty minutes, Chris…” Sofia chimed in. “And Marlene has only been gone for ten.”

“Really? It feels like a lot more.” Chris turned off the phone’s recorder and began to pace some more around the enclosed space. “Is this what being in the isolation ward feels like?”

“Yeah… not a fan of getting grounded by the Tangle,” Sofia said as she spun the removed grate. “But you have me at least.”

“Yeah… would hate to be alone here.” Chris’s hand traced in the air, creating the energy fields that she used to accelerate. ”Wish I’d brought in something to throw... But that really is on me,” she continued. “Didn’t think cat-hunting would require me to be combat ready.”

She clenched her gauntlet before throwing a punch against the wall. It was fortunate that her hand was protected and that her body seemed to have at least a degree of protection against kinetic impacts. Things that really shouldn’t have been on the platter she got… but as the doctor would say, her body adapted quite well, much like her clairvoyance.

Before she could keep on rambling, sound came in from the vent as a black cat emerged from within, hissing, coughing, and spitting for a moment.

“Pleh! Pthoo pthoo! I think I swallowed all the cobwebs in the vent.” Marlene’s higher voice came from the cat’s mouth.

“How’s it look?” Chris asked as the black cat hopped off the vent.

“Tight, claustrophobic, many times wondering if I would be able to find my way back. Lovely,” Marlene said, shaking her body.

“Fortunately cats are liquid, right?” Chris mused, fighting the urge to pet her friend.

“I don't really spend much time like this,” Marlene told her. The kitty closed her eyes as the magic began to swirl around her, oozing and flickering around her fur. With a slow spin, her outline shifted and changed. The old cloak and clothes she had on before peeled themselves away from her skin, regaining their original appearance and texture, while the fur receded from her body. In less than a minute, the girl was back to her normal form.

“That’s a neat trick,” Sofia noted

“Thanks. The kitten-cloak is an old family heirloom. One I wanted to work on,” Marlene told them as she dusted herself off and shuffled her shoes, making sure that all the pieces on her had completely unglued themselves.

“Looks nice,” Chris noted.

“It is, albeit a bit old and re-patched. Transforming with it is like wearing a wetsuit and at the same time, not.” Marlene adjusted and checked the belongings about her.

“Can I use it?” Sofia asked.

“Sure… if you have magic,” Marlene said as she dusted the half-cloak.

“Drats.” Sofia shook her head. “I should ask Caro if she can make a similar enchantment for my clothes.”

“Oh, I’m sure she’ll owe us big time if we manage to come through… and let’s hope we do. I don’t really want my friend to be stuck as a rat.”

“We have to get out of here first,” Chris interjected. “Did you find a way out?”

“Yeah, I did,” Marlene said proudly. “And guess what? I also found a trail we could follow. The hunt is still on.”

“But we’re still locked here, right?” Sofia said.

“Well, our exit is there,” Marlene pointed at the tunnel. “You did mention you have cat DNA in your data for cellular memory, right?”

“Yeah,” Sofia nodded, looking at the grate before sighing. “I guess I’ll have to start stripping and packaging my stuff.”

“Vent should be big enough for you to drag your clothes if you bundle them well enough.”

“Not looking forward to it,” Sofia shook her head as she began to take off her shirt, much to Chris’ shock.

“Wait! Wait! Wait!” Chris held up her hands as her gaze went off to the side. “Why are you stripping like that?”

“Because my clothes don’t shift with me,” Sofia said with a ‘well duh’ tone. “Plus, we’re all girls, right?”

“I… I mean, yes we are,” Chris answered with more composure, but her eyes were still actively trying to look away from Sofia. “I-I just didn’t think you would just strip like that.”

“Where am I supposed to do it? It’s just this corridor.”

“You locker-room shy?” Marlene asked.

“Y-Yeah.”

“Alright,” Marlene said, guiding Chris’ gaze towards the other end of the long space.

“Wait, what about me?” Chris asked. “I’m the only one that gets to stay behind.”

“Unfortunately, unless you’re a shifter of some form.”

“Not that I know off,” Chris admitted.

“Well, you could sit down and wait for the Tangle to act again and we’ll go to ask for help.” Marlene suggested, having thought this through.

“But four friends need to be gathered for Caro’s ‘witch’s tea party’, don’t they?” Sofia said from the side.

“That is true. Which leads us into the next option,” Marlene said as she produced a small bottle from her pouch’s pocket. Transparent glass with a shimmering blue light dancing inside: the curse that Caro extracted from the flute. “This is a feline style curse. You could take this into yourself, physically adopt its anima, and then follow us.”

“Take the curse within me?” Chris blinked

“Temporarily,” Marlene clarified. “This one appears to be easy to wrangle. I can have it take hold within you and exorcise it later once we’re out of here.”

“Wait, so this will turn me into a cat? For real?” Chris looked at the swirling blue energy trapped within the confines of the enchanted bottle. For a brief moment, she could see it settle into a sort of feline shape.

“Yeah.”

“And this is safe, right?”

“Should be,” Marlene assured.

“And you can remove it later, right?”

“I feel confident about it. If not, we have the magical arts department to ask for help.” Marlene said.

Chris held her silence for a moment, letting the sound of Sofia shuffling out of her clothes be the only thing heard. This was probably the only way through, she knew. It sounded risky… but this wouldn’t be the first time she’d said no to an opportunity.

“I’ll do it!” Chris decided with a buttload of excitement and a tick of trepidation. Besides, it wasn’t as though she had any other option. It was either wait for hours and be bored or join them in kittenhood for an adventure.

“Good,” Marlene said as she took a couple of steps back as she reached into her bag to produce some pieces of paper and vials, “Give me a minute. Go and start stripping in the meantime.”

“W-What?”

“Your clothes aren’t going to change,” Marlene stated.

“Best to pack them out nice and tight. Like this,” Sofia said from the side as she held out the clothes she’d been wearing, now stuffed into the tied up pants she’d been wearing. “I have enough room for your gloves.”

“T-Thanks,” Chris said, stopping for a moment as she noticed that Sofia’s hand was coated in fur with claws peering out the tip of her fingers. She was in a midway form… and with the clothes held in the bag, that just gave Chris an idea of what she might be looking like. It was tempting and still spelled out trouble within her mind. Still, she held her words as she loosened her vambraces before handing them over.

“You’re awfully shy. Never expected it for the showoff of the class,” Sofia said with a tease as she accepted them and began to work on stashing them in.

“Aw, don’t be shy about it. You don’t really need to be,” Marlene assured from the side, carefully as she weaved magic around her hand before taking off the cap of the bottle before capping it with her glowing palm before the blue energy could get out. “Because the next part will be weird.”

“Alright…” Chris said, taking a deep breath as she began to undress.

Her outfit was the most recent version of her combat suit, fortunately made light and flexible, and since she hadn’t assumed she would need her utility belt, the only bulky things about her now were her boots, phone and wallet. Once those were out, she was left standing in her underwear.

“Those come off too,” Sofia noted as she paced up to Chris, now having fully transformed into a cat. In this case, a ragdoll, a breed with long white fur and dark highlights.

“I want to pet you,” Chris teased, acting even before Sofia could give her the confirmation. The shifter girl just played along, leaning towards the caresses with a soft rumble that could only be a purring.

“Fine, but then I’ll get to pet you,” she said, sticking her tongue out before pacing away.

“I’ll take that offer,” Marlene giggled, looking at the Poesie’s reaction once divested of her clothes. “The underwear, Chris,” she said, stepping forth with her glowing hands forming a cage around the glowing energy.

“Um… Mind if I keep these on?” Chris said.

Marlene thought for a moment and sighed. “Sure I’ll stuff them in afterwards. Then, are you ready?”

“I am.”

“Good.” Marlene thrust her hand into the magic, closing it around the core of the curse and pressing it into Chris’ chest as she uttered part of the spell. It was a complicated recitation that was far from the girl's understanding… but the effect was tangible. “Don’t resist,” the mage told her.

A gasp escaped Chris’s lips as she clutched her chest at the impact point. Something had made its way in, something that felt alive and feisty. It paced through her insides and muscles with touches that felt like fire, and a wind ghosted its way through her body. Soon it found a nested spot around her heart, lungs and stomach, feeling a playful touch and a curl around with every breath the girl took and a heartbeat that seemed to skip within her own.

And from that, her body tensed up as the magic spread outward. Her bones and muscles rippled and shuddered as they suddenly underwent a slow workout that forced them to tense and loosen, and she almost lost her footing. Her skin tingled, for a moment feeling as fragile as paper all the way to the tip of her fingers where her joints spasmed. The nails slowly cramped bit by bit.

“I feel like I’m a werewolf in a horror movie,” Chris said as she found herself leaning up against the wall, feeling her spine pop and start to twitch–in particular, the rear end.

“Yeah, I think that’s a good analogy. And me without a camera,,” Marlene half joked as she joined her hands and formed mystic signs while reciting a few more verses in the moments of silence.

“How are you feeling, Chris?” Sofia was watching Chris’s tendons and ligaments twitch, which made her foot tap restlessly. The structure was getting some new additions, nudging her heel into a more raised position.

“Feels really weird,” Chris answered as pushed herself off the wall and noticed her more uneven stance. Her hand brushing against her arm. She could feel something, hairs. Were they always there or was it because of the curse? “Feels as though I jumped into a cold pool.”

“Your body smell is changing… Oh, your toenails are turning into claws… And is that hair on your legs?”

“This is so weird. Is this what it’s like for you?” Chris asked, feeling a twitch on her ears. After that came a couple of pricks above her lips that filled her mind with a wave of new sensations, like an exposed nerve. Even the brush of her own hand got her jittery. “Whiskers? Now my tongue feels weird.”

“Yep. It always does,” Marlene said as she placed a hand on Chris’ shoulder. Her eyes closed as she tried to get a read on this. “Seems to be going quite well.”

“How do you know how to do this?” Chris looked at her hand as her fingers appeared to flex differently, with fur now making itself present along her arms. Shades of white, orange and black could be seen–faint at first but growing hairier by the moment. A wave of dizziness whelmed her as she noted how she’d lost the first couple of inches, but it didn’t stop there. Under the pressure of Marlene’s hand it began to accelerate, with the tail growing out and her figure changing.

“My mom dabbled… but we learned most of it from my grandma. She kept a very detailed book of the paranormal things in her life. And then there were some classes I took here, because of the whole ‘witch’ theme I seem to lean towards,” Marlene said. The girl now towered over Chris by a head and was still growing–or not shrinking. “Now, stay still, I’m speeding things up.”

Chris looked up at Marlene with shifting vision as she felt her face push out into a cat’s muzzle. Her fine teeth altered, separating and growing out into fangs as her nose became a cute inverted triangle. She looked forward at her hands as their posture became more uncomfortable, with her fingers shrinking down into the fuzzy fur until they became full-fledged feline paws.

“There we go,” Marlene finally said as she took her hand off Chris, letting the girl-turned-cat fall on all fours. Her legs were tangled by the panties she’d been wearing and the bra strap now clinging onto her withers.

“Irr…” Chris coughed a bit to get used to her vocal chords and yet found she still retained her voice. “I… I am a cat!” There was excitement within her as she swiped the air before turning around to see the black and orange appendage that grew off her spine, trying to paw at it. “And I have a tail!”

“And she can speak?” Sofia said as she moved around with a curious inspecting face.

“It’s the same technique that allows me to keep speaking English even in my cat form. Just a little tweak of the vocal chords and lips,” Marlene said, dusting the magic off her fingers. “Try to stretch, see if anything hurts.”

“Let me see…” Chris said, leaning forth, arching her back and moving about her limbs, seeing their new range of motion and what she could find herself comfortable with. She bent herself backwards to get a better look at the surprise, and the bending part was as much a surprise as the rest. The added limberness to the feline body almost doubled her over. “Wow! I’m flexible!”

“I’ll take it as though there’s nothing wrong… Alright, girls!” Marlene said as she pulled the fallen panties and bra from around the cat’s legs, swift and decisive enough that she had Chris spin do a spin in the air before landing on her paws. She bore a joyful ‘did you see that?!’ look on her face afterward expecting a reaction, which Sofia humored with a soft golf-clap.

“We’ve lost enough time with this. Now we can all leave this place,” Marlene said as she grabbed Chris’ underwear and stuffed it into the bundle of clothes before tying it up. “We have a cat to catch.”

“Alright!” “Yay…” the two cats said. Sofia picked up her own bag by the mouth, as Chris was handed hers.

“Thisssh ish uncomforthable,” Chris mumbled.

“You can drop your clothes if you want,” Marlene joked as she stepped back. Taking a deep breath, she took a moment to concentrate and quietly invoke a spell. The lines of her ragged cloak started to glow. Before long, black fur grew all over her body, covering her face as it pushed out into a feline muzzle while the cloak and her clothes slowly melted themselves around her pelt. Marlene smoothly lost height with each step until she was down on all fours and back to the black cat form from before.

“Show off,” Sofia said, dropping her bag for a moment before picking it back up again.

“Cloak makes the change so much more convenient,” Marlene smirked as she moved down into the vent. “Follow me. I’ll take you to that cat and to the Puck plushie.”

And with that, she jumped down into the vent and, crouched, began to work her way through the narrow passageway.

“Great…” Sofia said, taking a deep breath before following Marlene’s lead, stuffing her bag into the passageway and pushing it with a headbutt. “Caro had better pay for the wash service of my clothes,” she grumbled.

“Is it a good time to discover I’m claustrophobic?” Chris thought as she looked at the narrow gap. There was no turning back now. She just placed her spandex bag into the vent and began to push and drag it after Sofia.

“Where doeshh ithh thake ush?” Chris asked through her fangs.

Her ears flickered as Marlene answered: “To the level below.”

“Crap,” was the reaction from both girls.

Saturday, January 22nd - 6:02pm
Inside Whiskey crew’s bar

<We’re in,> Vic announced as he closed the door behind them. Maybe a little louder than he might’ve wanted, but Gwen’s silence told them things were alright.

Fortunately, the inside was as had been reported: there was no one in the place to surprise them in the would-be casino-bar clubhouse. A sigh of relief was at the throats of the Syndicate-sponsored student and the mage turned rogue. The first hurdle of their mission had been covered, however, which also meant they were in it to finish it. There would be no explanation that would get them off the hook if any of the club members were to show up.

<We better hurry,> Caro said through the private link between them, pointing at the door that was behind the bar. <You go work on the door. I’ll inspect the surroundings.>

<On it,> Vic said. In hasteful steps, he almost had himself trip and crash into the bar were it not for his hands catching the fall.

<Careful!> Caro snapped. <I heard that.>

<Sorry. I tripped,> Vic thoughtspoke as he quickly swiped his hand over the floor to pick up some of the water he dropped. It was dirty now, but the tool of his trade regardless.

<Just be careful, try to leave everything undisturbed.> Caro noted.

<I know.> Vic made his way to the end of the bar and placed the bubble of water against the locked door. The fluid poured in, filling every nook and gap within the mechanism. It let him get a decent mental outline of the inner workings.

<Okay…> Caro reported. <So, the hallway back leads to the bathroom, as you said. Other doors are locked. Nothing that really screams ‘storeroom,’ so it is like Peter said. There is, however, a grate that connects the hallway to the kitchen you’re trying to get into, but it’s too small for either of us to fit.>

<And beyond that is the storeroom,> Vic said.

<Did you two find it?> they heard Gwen ask.

<We’re getting there,> Caro replied, before switching to local mode. <How’s it going, Vic?>

<Alright… I’ve just about got it, so give me a moment.>

Caro didn’t answer. Now that she was done with the recon, she moved behind the counter as well, her hands scratching the side of her bag as she awaited for Vic to open the door. Things appeared to be working well, too well and yet the situation could turn in any second.

<Uh oh…> Caro said, her ears twitching.

<Guys?> Gwen’s mental voice came in out of the ether, her tone heralding the news. <There’s trouble.>

Saturday, January 22nd - 6:20pm
Tunnels - The tangle, fourth level

The tunnels underneath Whateley Academy were a mystery to many, spiraling themselves deeper and deeper into the underground, establishing different environments that appeared out of touch with the world above–but at the same time many had been prepared in some way or form, appearing transited or even occupied.

But in the Tangle’s space, the world warped itself around the dark influence nested within, the whatever that distorted the physical space and led to bizarre sights the deeper one went. It even populated the space with its own denizens.

Four levels beneath the soil, the space resembled a forgotten dungeon, and yet, at the same time, accommodations such as lights and air vents made their way through.

In this case, it was the latter that allowed the skulking. The distant clattering sound that came from it provided a break from the still quiet from below. And so did the voices.

“Alright, we’re close…” Marlene’s voice could be heard faintly in the silence below.

“What was that?” came Sofia’s voice just paces behind her. It was muffled by the jangling sound of the inflated bag, or rather tied up pants, of belongings as it tried to bump and snag itself on some of the edges of the passageway.

“The grate I saw was just about here,” Marlene said before calling back. “Chris!? You still there?”

“I am!” Chris answered. “I’m just catching up.”

“You should be more careful! Getting lost would be dangerous here,” Marlene admonished.

“Night vision is cool, but it doesn’t help if I have my own clothes in front of me,” Chris called out.

“Sorry. Your suit was a tad tricky to knot up-Woah!” Marlene exclaimed.

“What’s wrong?” Chris asked.

“I remember this part being steep… but not this steep. Woah! Stop! Stop, Sofi!”

“What? What?!”

“There’s a slope ahead.”

“So? What’s wrong with it?” Sofia said.

“It’s too steep. Earlier it was at a slight incline… now it’s past the seventy degree angle.”

“Really?” Sofia said as she tried to shuffle her way around the bag to look… but it was useless, the thing blocked the pathway. “Are you sure you aren’t misremembering? Thought you said this place was resting in all the craziness that was going on.”

“I did. I did. It shouldn’t be like this. Maybe we should turn back…”

“How? It’s already cramped as it is.”

“Move closer, the space near the slope is a bit wider,” Marlene said, moving aside to make room.

“What’s the holdup?” the voice behind them asked.

“Marlene wants us to back up,” Sofia reported.

“Really? After the long walk half-crouched?”

“There’s a slope down there,” Marlene reported.

“Is there an exit?!”

“I don’t know…”

“Can you at least check it?”

“The floor is metallic and slippery.”

“Cound you try…”

Marlene sighed. “Okay, Sofia, bite my tail”

“O-Okay…”

“Not that hard!” Marlene said before a tumbling sound followed.

“My things!” Sofia gasped.

“Sofia!” Marlene called out followed up by the sound of skittering over metal.

“Shit! I’m going to fall too!”

“I got you! I got you!… No, I don’t got you! Crap! No thumbs!” Chris exclaimed as she too took a tumble down the slope.

Within the dark tunnels of the fourth level of the Tangle, a lone ventilation grate felt pounding after pounding. The screws on the poorly connecting concrete cried out as the metallic bars threatened to bend.

“Oof! Get off me!” Sofia called out.

“I should be the one saying that, Sofia!” Marlene groaned under them. “Pleh! Couldn’t you get a breed with less hair?”

“I have to work with what I have… Chris, can you climb?”

“I’m trying to climb, but it’s slippery!” Chris groaned.

“Just great…” Marlene groaned. “Stuck in a vent, with three fluffy bodies and two bags of clothes on me. Not the best of dogpiles.”

“Shouldn’t it be ‘catpile’?” Chris asked.

“You're going to start making puns now?” Marlene asked with a hiss.

“I should. Meowbe I should,” Chris said. “Would it help us paws and relax? Maybe get in touch with our inner felines?”

Sofia sighed. “Why did you have to suggest that?”

“My bad…” Marlene groaned sarcastically.

Chris eventually stopped trying to get friction off the smooth vent’s surface under her paws. Sighing, she said, “Don’t think I can climb…”

“Welp! I’m getting crushed by the two of you!” Marlene hissed.

“Well, what else can we do?” Sofia asked.

“I don’t kn-”

Creeeak…

“What was that?” the kitten crew all wondered.

Creeeaak! Crack! The sound came from the vent as their ears heard the concrete grating against the metal.

“Sounds like… metal starting to strain?”

“How much do we weigh?” Chris joked but not hiding the concern.

“I’m not sur–Aaaaaah!”

The girls screamed as the vent broke off its hinges, setting all three cats to fall down the ten feet for a sudden meeting with the floor. But then, a blue orb of energy came flying from one of their mouths, hitting the ground first for an explosive expansion. When they came in contact with the field, they each felt their fall slow down for a brief second, enough to get all of them and their belongings to safely touch the ground.

“We made it out…” Sofia muttered uneasily as she looked around. “But is that even a good thing?”

“Did you guys see that?! I still have my powers!” Chris said excitedly as she opened her mouth. Her whiskers felt the buzzing of energy that charged between her fangs, just a couple inches away from her muzzle. With a tensing and release, the orb shot out, hitting a wall and expanding into a fantastic shockwave that faded away. “And I can shoot them from my mouth!” she said, doing it again and again.

“Guess the curse adapts some things.” Marlene brushed her fur. “At least that spared us the fall.”

“We’re cats, we don’t take fall damage, right?” Chris said.

“I’m rarely a full cat,” Sofia pointed out, shaking herself.

“And the on-their-feet thing doesn’t always work for short falls. Would you actually dare to test that?” Marlene said

“Well, when you put it that way…”

“So…Where are we?” Sofia asked, looking at the old stone walls and floors that might as well have been in a dungeon.

“Think this would be the fourth level,” Marlene said.

“Yah, it is the fourth level… I’ve been here,” Chris reported. “Although, it looks huge now.”

“Yeah, being small will do that to you,” Sofia said as she moved over to grab her bag.

“So, where do we go?” Chris asked as she claimed her own luggage.

Silence lingered for a moment before all eyes landed on Marlene. “Oh, right, the spell.” She took a moment to look around, searching for something around the irregular dungeon. “It’s still active. This way.” She took the lead with the other two cat girls following in tow.

“So, why aren’t you guys changing back?” Chris said, having managed to get around keeping her teeth clenched around her clothes.

“Solidarity, I guess?” Marlene mused.

“You could help us carry our stuff using your hands, right?” Sofia said, raising her head to lift up the bag.

“You can shapeshift too, can’t you?”

“Yeah, but then I would be naked,” Sofia said, taking a moment to put down her bag to readjust, prompting Chris to slow down. “I mean, I could dress up, but… I really don’t want to be like that here.”

“There’s something about being small that makes you feel safe. That you can actually slip through any gap and escape any bigger threat,” Marlene noted.

“I can see that,” Chris said as she paced around, her eyes, ears and nose perked up to the surroundings, looking for any sign of danger. And yet her enhanced senses felt awfully new to her. “Is this what the world feels like to you and all the cat girls?”

“Varies,” Sofia stated. “I’ve only gone full cat a couple of times.”

“Every now and then.” Marlene walked forward, stopping a moment as she stared over at the wall by a crossing. There were some off markings that appeared to have been made by soot. Without saying anything, she picked a path.

For a while, they kept on walking, watching the dungeon stretch itself onward and reveal many more environments than they expected. They passed by a room with a large engine that appeared to be constantly thrumming and working nominally. A sign on the wall read ‘lower lab’s furnace: Magically insulated, DO NOT TOUCH!’ while the side held a couple of lockers and an emergency case with instructions to the side. Another was a sort of safe room that would have stashed provisions, a first aid kit, an ink ribbon, a typewriter and a phone that seemed to have a hardline to the emergency office in the upper levels. At least, that much they hoped. It would be something to keep in mind.

Their steps took them down the stone brick hallways of the dungeon. Pathways and potential rooms that appeared before them. It had to be the eeriest sightseeing tour they’d ever been to. There were metal bars that separated rooms or paths, either just vertical or crisscrossed into a wall, which let them peer into other areas. There was a large space with a hole down to the lower level that felt familiar to Chris; a room that led into what appeared to be torture devices; a cargo lift that appeared to have been in disuse for quite some time, unfortunately; and space that contained a weird chest that had their senses begging them to step back. It seemed to detect the stuff in their bags, and when they saw its lid move on its own, they couldn’t have run away any faster.

After that, it was hallway, hallway, gated passage, stairs down, gate, hallway, closed door and hallway.

About ten minutes of walking later, Chris chimed in again. “Are we getting any closer?”

“Not sure,” Marlene answered. “Not even sure what time it is.”

“You’re wearing your clothes, right? Does that mean that your phone is stuck in you?”

“I’d rather not think about that, Chris.”

“Aw. I was going to ask if you could do like in cartoons and pull it out from between your fur.”

Sofia chuckled. “Oh, the fur pants trope? That would be really funny.”

“It’s not something I want to think about.” Marlene still chuckled at the idea, even if it made her feel self-aware of her body and what might literally be in-between. “You know, Chris? I think we should give you some sort of accolade.”

“An accolade?” Chris asked.

“You just joined the catgirl club. That should make you an honorary Whitmaniac. Maybe even further since most girls just get ears and a tail.”

“Oh yeah, you get to join the group photo.” Sofia mused.

“Really?” Chris snickered, stopping a moment just to scratch herself behind her ear with her hind leg. No doubt it was something she’d wanted to try out. “You’re joking, right?”

“We are… if there was a club, Shisa would probably claim the title of ‘cattiest’ girl in the house,” Marlene said. “Oh boy, not even sure how she would react if she were to know about what we’re doing and what we look like.”

“You’ve never gone full cat in the cottage?” Sofia asked.

“Only in my room, to build up enough pact favor to be able to be fully human for a while. I feel like doing anything like that near her would just be rude,” Marlene said.

“Same,” Sofia noted as Chris caught up to them.

“Guys, about being a cat, does your tail always stand up?”

“It’s an involuntary habit, especially if you’re not used to it,” Marlene noted.

“No wonder,” Sofia shook her head. “Why do you think I’ve been trying to walk alongside you all?”

“Oh.” Chris averted her eyes as she paced alongside them. Desperately she wanted to fish out for another subject when, suddenly, her body stiffened up. It wasn’t just her, but also the other girls. The air around turned heavy and their whiskers were telling them that the air had turned chill. The world shaded to blue before their eyes.

And soon after, a soft cry could be heard distinguishing itself from the whistling of the air, a disharmony that bothered their ears.

“W-What’s going on?” Chris asked, quickly pushing herself close to her friends just as they had also pulled themselves up against the wall. Another figure could be seen on the other end.

“Quiet!” Marlene took a step forward. With some concentration, magical lines traced themselves in the air and finer ones threaded on her pelt.

“Un fantasma,” Sofia hissed.

There was a tall shadow from their perspective… but judging by the number of bricks on the side, one could surmise it was about the size of a kid. A student? They could guess. Hunched over, they stumbled forward, leaning against the wall while a trail of darker stains was left behind each step.

With each step taken, the figure became more and more defined. Hair could be spotted within the mist–the ectoplasm, Chris guessed–and the outline of a face could be spotted, even if the features were still a blur. The figure stumbled over with a loud cry, a plea for help that moved the girl’s hearts as a shadow appeared to emerge from far behind, looming in closer and closer with an abrasive darkness that contrasted with the sad cold, creeping like an animal hunting, closer and closer until…

The magic circle Marlene had conjured lit up and suddenly released a gust of black wind that smacked the scene, right before the larger shadow could catch the poor victim. Just like blowing smoke, the figures disappeared, seeping through the walls. The color returned to the world while the piercing cold faded away. But that didn’t ease up their beating hearts.

“What was that?!” Sofia asked.

“I heard about these,” Marlene said as the magic faded. “While the Tangle is mostly known for the way the world shifts, there are stories here and there. Campus staff or even students that happen to come across scary things… Ghosts, apparition, specters, creatures, spiders, magical constructs, golems, rabid bunnies, etcetera etcetera. Not exactly the prettiest things.”

“That definitely wasn’t here last time…” Chris mumbled.

“It was rare… I think, up until a couple of months ago, it was.”

It couldn’t have been… no it couldn’t, Chris thought to herself, shaking her head.

“And that was a ghost?” Sofia asked.

“An actual poor soul?” Chris approached the affected area with some trepidation.

“I wouldn’t know. But…” Marlene said as she began to pace away. “Let’s keep on moving, before we’re caught by the instant replay.”

Sofia agreed by running after, with Chris following right after with a desperate “Wait for me!” that had her briefly drop her bag.

“So you don’t think it was a ghost?” Sofia said.

“I don’t think it was… maybe it’s whatever evil entity causing the tangle trying to mess with us. Maybe it’s a form of group hallucination. Maybe it’s the echo of something that happened here. I wasn't about to entertain the show.”

“If it was an echo… does that mean that something like that might’ve happened?” Chris asked.

“It’s probable…” Marlene trailed off, yet her words carried a grim tone till the end. “Better not give it much thought.”

“Honestly, if my mom heard about this sort of thing, she would probably pull me out of the school in a heartbeat."

“Think that’s applicable to most parents,” Marlene agreed. “Not everyone is signing up for a life of heroism and danger, just mild vigilantism. And no parent would agree to having this sort of place near their kids. The kind that can mess with their heads or kill it. I know my mother would also pull me out.”

“I honestly would hate to go back to Peru,” Sofia noted. “My family is already worried about my safety here, they wouldn’t approve half of the things that happen in school.”

“For a moment, I thought it was that thing where animals can detect ghosts and spirits.” Chris cocked her head as she wondered. “Have you ever perceived Grimma?”

“Caro’s patron?” Sofia asked.

“Yeah.”

“I have never seen her… but when my senses slip into the animal side, I think I can sense her presence in a way that it’s hard to describe.”

“An entity that only shows herself to those she seems worthy or interesting. She’s probably as benevolent as they come,” Marlene said, before adding. “Rat curse notwithstanding.”

Sofia shook her head as Chris looked around and behind them, with her ears perked and her nose pointing in the vicinity as if in search of something, any danger that could be in the vicinity. “No idea what cat can live like this.”

“I don’t know either, but let’s find that cat,” Marlene decided and yet the determination in her voice suddenly died out as she realized something. The exact same thing the other girls did as they all stopped on the spot.

Their whiskers tingled, their ears flickered and their noses twitched as they all felt something off. “Do you guys…”

“I feel it…” Sofia said.

“There’s a presence…Something is nearby…” Chris whispered as she half-turned to look behind them.

“I know,” Marlene whispered, looking forward at the intersection, only to realize the feeling of uneasiness didn’t come from there.

“I see nothing around us…” Sofia said.

“I’m trying to peer around the corners but I see nothing,” Chris said before trailing off and blinking… her head slowly craning itself upward.

Clink.

A diminutive sound, not that different from the scratch of a claw against the stone that the girls had gotten used to in the more stressful moments of their quest, but at the same time deafening in the prolonged silence. It came out not ahead of each of the girls even as they looked in an almost circular perimeter.

“Above us!” The thought crossed the girl’s mind as they each immediately spun around to look up.

In between the indirect reach of the lights a cat was plain to see. It had dark, almost blue, fur mixed with white. It stood effortlessly on the ceiling, breaking the laws of physics as it looked down at them with teal and emerald eyes. And in its mouth was the doll that they’d been looking for: Puck, held by the scruff of its neck and dangling against gravitational conventions.

Right, this wasn’t a normal cat. They should not have been surprised, but they still stared for a moment and it immediately proved it to them now that it had their attention. It assumed a more alert stance, and a strange mist rose up around its body. It had to be magical in nature, the way its form was enveloped, or perhaps rather did the opposite and slipped off, letting the sizzle of change move in revealing plaques along its back and down its tail. The fur deepened in tone, with glowing lines adorning its pelt.

“Chris!” Marlene was the first one to snap off from the surprise.

“Right! On it!” Chris opened her mouth to release a ball of decelerating blue energy at the cat creature, hoping that would knock it over… But instead it just leapt out of the way, attracted to the ceiling as they were to the ground. Even as Marlene joined in, firing hard ice projectiles as a followup, it leapt off to the side.

Chris charged up and released shot after shot until she came to realize that, in this form, she had yet to master the energy output. She had to stop in exhaustion. “I can’t… I need a breather…”

“Are you okay?” Sofia asked.

“I got it! I got it!” Marlene said as one of her snowballs landed, throwing the cat thing off balance but not knocking it down… would it even fall down if the shot had knocked it out?

The creature looked at Marlene’s way and made a jump her way. On the way, its body turned as if ready to receive the ground, seemingly affected by their gravity now.

Marlene narrowly managed to dodge out of the way, letting the cat creature touch the ground with a graceful bounce. Sofia and Chris tried to tackle it during the followup only to find themselves narrowly missing and colliding into one another.

“Ow… ow… My nose” Chris groaned.

“It’s a slippery one.” Sofia frowned as she slowly pushed herself up.

The creature had touched the ground ten strides ahead and turned around to look at them, with its body close to the ground and its legs tensed as if prepared to act on the next attempt. Eerie eyes focused on both Marlene and Chris while also taking half a stride the moment Sofia took a step forward.

“What is it?” Chris said, having recovered.

“I don’t know… but that’s what we’ve been tracking,” Marlene stated as she appeared to prepare herself to act.

“That is not a normal cat…” Chris mumbled.

“No shit,” Sofia grumbled. “How are we going to play this?”

“I don’t know…” Marlene said, only for the cat creature to act first. Whipping its tail to the side, the tip began to glow with the charging of magical energies. It traced a line in the air and left an actual mark on the ground as it spun, creating a glowing circle of green and blue.

And right after, the world slowly rumbled as if they just happened to be caught in an earthquake. The cat didn’t exactly wait for them to ask questions and quickly broke into a sprint.

“What did it do!?” Sofia asked as she moved back to grab her own bag.

“I don’t know! You better run!” Marlene snapped as their ears picked up the sound of bricks grinding, shifting, and the electricity fizzling and popping as if wires had been left exposed.

The catgirls immediately broke out into a run, with Chris following behind before realizing she was leaving her luggage behind. “Wait for me!” she cried, just to round back to grab her bag before trying to sprint after. She hoped that sprinting on all fours was as instinctive as things had been so far.

“What did it do!?” Sofia grunted between her teeth again as she began to see the effect of the rumbling in the tunnels. Walls began to twist and alter themselves, some melting, some growing out of the ground, beckoned by the trails of darkness that spilled from between the bricks. The lights played along with the show, going dark and coming back to light, but never disappearing into the same pitch of black as before. “This is a distortion! It’s doing this! Right?”

“It awakened the Tangle!” Marlene called out in between pants as she tried to keep up the pace, making her best to weave her way around the walls that tried to raise themselves from the ground as pathways closed and opened. But in all this, their eyes were focused on the target, the cat carrying the last component Caro needed to break her curse. “But… it’s not a full awakening. Looks like it’s not doing all the things it would normally do. It’s like poking someone in their sleep.”

“I hate this place!” Sofia screamed between gritted teeth.

“Wait for me!” Chris called from behind. Her body flashed with red acceleration energy to give her a much-needed boost to catch. And yet she was still several steps behind, not daring to risk overusing her power in case her stamina wouldn’t be able to last.

The tremors might’ve held for less than a minute, but it felt like a long sprint, picking up intensity for one last spasm. The cat creature darted through a passageway from which crisscrossing bars had grown off the threshold’s ceiling. Marlene and Sofia would manage to slide under, but Chris wouldn’t.

With a growl, she covered her cargo in red energy before throwing it across the ground to make it past the other side. It just managed to clear the gate. Several strides ahead of its owner.

“Chris!” Marlene and Sofia gasped, stopping for a moment as the tremors subsided with the gate falling down behind them, separating them from their teammate.

“I’m okay! Keep on running!” Chris called out. “I’ll catch up!”

Marlene and Sofia exchanged looks before resuming pursuit after the creature.

“I’ll be fine… I’ll be fine,” Chris said, taking a moment to catch her breath as she moved over the barred fence that just stopped her path. It was the only pathway through, and the only other option being to go back through the half constructed maze. Alone.

“I guess I don’t have that many options,” Chris mumbled as approached the obstacle. The bars were of flat iron, creating gaps that were just about the size of her head, maybe a little bit bigger… “Maybe a lot bigger,” Chris said trying to hype herself. “I can do this. I can do this… Cats are pretty much liquid, right?” She was not really looking forward to testing that hypothesis, though.

“Chris will make it, right?” Marlene asked, concerned.

“She will manage, somehow… she’s daring,” Sofia assured as they chased after their target’s steps through a couple of turns. All the other pathways had been partially or even fully sealed and the faint glimpse of the creature’s tail at the end of the turn gave away that they were still on the trail.

But on the trail towards what?

As they turned the corner, they found themselves stepping into an open space, an intersection between corridors that might as well be a room of its own. A nexus where some of the options appeared half closed, partially caved by that last spasm. The place was populated by some long tables and chairs that might’ve once belonged to a workshop or activity room standing along the sides from the center, empty. And just a couple of steps away from the back exit was where the creature had stopped.

With its body low and its tail raised high, it appeared to have chosen this place to make its stand. It had dropped the plush but gave no hint of trying to hiss or snarl at them, remaining still and ready.

Marlene and Sofia took a couple of steps forward only for the former to immediately freeze.

“What is that?” Sofia asked, her nose pointing at the lines that had begun to glow on the floor just ahead of the creature. At that distance, they appeared squiggly and irregular, but they clearly gave out the impression of language, tracing themselves in circles before stretching themselves in and out of the circumference to mark out a secondary layer.

“That’s a spell circle…” Marlene whispered.

“It can do magic?” Sofia blurted.

“This is bad.”

The cat seemed to read through Marlene’s words as its body glowed from the complex lines that traced its pelt and even under the plaques on its back. With shimmering eyes it approached a main circle and breathed upon it with a quiet mewl filling the air.

The result was clear as the magical lines flared bright green before turning dark like shadows. The brick contained within the circle appeared to vanish into an illusory hole. And yet something was happening, Marlene and Sofia’s whiskers and ears told them. Something was scurrying. No… not just something, several things were.

Out of the sudden, hundreds of little bodies scurried out of the hole, pouring themselves through the ground like a flood, each with beady eyes made of red light and thin tails that scurried after them. Rats! A swarm of rats made out of soot crossed through the ground, homing themselves upon the two cats.

“Shit! Run!!” Marlene called out as both split to the sides. The more eager of those little demons caught up to them, trying to claw and bite at them. It was weak damage that could be easily overcome, and quickly remedied as a clawed swipe would dissolve the critters into nothing.

Slice after slice, and the summoned swarm relented in their attack. That gave enough time for the two cats to retreat, jumping onto the chairs and tables.

“This is going to be tough…” Marlene and Sofia thought as they stared at the other end of the room, where the feline creature sat tranquilly, watching them. And next to it, in the circle at the center of the spewing black fountain, was their goal.

“Here I thought we were going to have it easier than Caro…” Marlene thought.

 

To Be Continued