Kitty Hero Chronicles

Chapter 15

Back on the ground, the time for the grand finale ceremony was fast approaching, so Java and the Masked Avenger had split up to take out the sentry rats one by one. If they had any hopes in taking down Vladimir, there must be no interference by his goons, so to ensure the best possible outcome, they had agreed it was best to split up and take them down separately.

They had to move swiftly and quietly so as not to look suspicious to the surrounding crowds or alert the guards. As the Masked Avenger began working his way through the crowds undercover as an ordinary citizen, Java stayed along the perimeter of the town square, coming in from behind the guards and incapacitating them with her newly focused purr.

The Masked Avenger ended up subtly attacking from within the crowds, also focusing his purr and causing the rats he had targeted to fall asleep under its hypnotic power. The grand finale was scheduled to take place within an hour, and they had no time to waste.

"Java, how's it coming along on your end?" the Masked Avenger whispered into his barky-talkie. He had installed it on his own collar earlier that day as an easier means to communicate with Java rather than continuing to use the bulkier, paw held receiver.

"Everything's okay here," Java replied. "Can you see me? I'm over at Butch's and I've just taken out the last of them this side of the square without any of them alerting each other, but there's still the one near the fountain in the middle of the square and the one stationed at my cafe."

"You head on over to your cafe and take care of that one. I'll handle the one by the fountain; he seems to be the leader of them. Meet me in the crowd as yourself when you get done. From there we'll observe the grand finale and make our move when the time is right."

"Gotcha," Java said, and clicked off the collar's receiver.

Java wondered how he would handle the one by the fountain, but she was more worried about getting past the sentry rat at her cafe without her being spotted. All the crowds were gathered here at the town square; it wasn't as if she could blend in with them to mask herself from the rat's watchful eyes. She would have to come up with another solution and take him out fast if everything was going to go according to plan.

She could sneak in the back way where Twitchy and Dach had left earlier that day, but that would mean alerting Faye and the rest of the patrons to her presence; and as important as taking down Vladimir was, she couldn't risk alerting the guard inadvertently by first making her presence known to her help or her customers.

After all possible avenues were considered, it seemed the only approach Java could make was a head-on approach. Still, she thought it best to catch him off guard by taking the fight to the air and not remaining in the streets below. The rat would be preoccupied more with what was going on inside than outside the cafe. He wouldn't want anyone escaping the cafe to spoil Vladimir's plans, after all, so she figured his head wasn't one hundred percent in the game anyway.

Java climbed onto the second building nearest to the cafe and headed for the roof. Careful to hide herself from any stragglers that may be in the streets below, she moved swiftly and silently, calling upon all the skills she had developed in her training sessions with the Masked Avenger.

She remembered how he had blended with the shadows in the abandoned building during their first training session. Though daylight was still shining brightly, Java noticed the shadows of the buildings with their various heights could still be used for cover of darkness.

Making her way to the building's rooftop nearest the cafe, she delicately climbed down and jumped off the side onto the cafe's roof. She crept to the front edge and peered over to see if the rat below had noticed anything suspicious in her movements. When he showed no signs of alarm, she quietly made her way to the back edge of the roof.