Chapter 2 - Ally Kat

The day it all began. I can't possibly forget it. But I can't possibly reach it either. That day. What happened that day? What's the earliest memory I have? Ah. The day I came here. That's when I finally came out of my insanity. That day I awoke to myself with blood on my hands and face. I carried a gun in my hand. I looked around. I was standing in front of a bar. I almost went in, but a hand grabbed me from behind. Startled, I looked up. That man. I knew him. But I can't possibly say why. Who was he?

~*~AK~*~

“Alameda.... Do you have any family?” Alameda Bryce stopped her movements and just stood there for some time before answering.

“No.” Her answer held no emotion and it was completely unreadable.

“Then, did you ever have a family?” Blake asked. He thought to keep going since Alameda had actually answered for once.

Alameda laughed. “How could I be born without parents? Of course I had a family at one time.”

“I mean a brother.”

Alameda continued to stare blankly at the wall and spoke as though reciting. “I did have a brother. But he was murdered. Soon, they will come for me also.” Suddenly, she turned to face Blake and showed him the same bright smile she always gave him. “At least, that's what that cowboy told you, didn't he?” Here she laughed again.

“How did you know?” Blake asked in wonder. She gave him a cocky side-glance. “He raised me.”

“What?”

She laughed again. “You heard me.”

“That old blubbering fool-”

“He's not a fool. He acts that way because it's his job.”

“His job?”

“I'm afraid I can't answer any more of your questions. I've not given you any answers, Blake. Only the steps that lead to more questions. Please, don't tell anyone of my association with that cowboy. Do you know his name?” As she spoke, she smiled, but her golden eyes told of the seriousness of the situation.

“No,” Blake answered.

“Good. Don't ever ask for it. Enjoy your noodles!” With the last comment she turned her back and waved goodbye as she walked towards the door.

“You're leaving?”

She looked back at him with a smile he had never seen before. It wasn't sad, bright or serious. It wasn't fake either. Blake had a feeling that this, at last, was her real smile. She left the room and the image of the smile was forever burned into Blake's memory.

~*~

“Ally Kat,” Blake's boss said as he threw down a folder in front of him. “That's your new objective. Find her, bring her to us. Everything you need to know is in that folder. Outside of making plans on capturing her, don't ask any questions. If you can bring this girl to us, you'll be considered a legendary hero.” The man left the room and everyone let out a sigh in unison and slumped their shoulders, releasing the tension the man had brought with him. Blake opened his folder and looked at the picture of the person they were supposed to catch. It was supposed to be a picture that she didn't know was being taken of her, but she was obviously posing. She had dark brown hair, half of which was pulled up into two pigtails tied off with a ribbon and bells, bright green eyes which she was winking playfully and a bell around her neck. “Well, at least she'll be easy to hear at any rate,” Blake thought. She wore a multicolored outfit with ties and buckles everywhere and she held a small black revolver in her hand.

“She seems confident,” Jack, one of Blake's comrades commented. He was the computer genius of the group.

“Indeed. If she's that confident, she's either a fool or she's extremely dangerous,” Linton spoke. He provided the muscles in the group.

“Well, if the organization wants her caught so bad, I'd say she's someone pretty dangerous,” Pepper pointed out. She was the fastest girl in the entire organization.

“Well, a fool would certainly have more information provided at the least,” Blake mentioned.

“Eh?”

“Look at the information page.” They all turned to that page in their own folders. It read thus:

Name: Unknown. Code name: Ally Kat.

Gender: Female

Age: Unknown, probably below 35.

Occupation: Unknown.

Hair: Dark brown.

Eyes: Green.

Weight: Unknown. Probably over 90 lbs.

Height: Unknown. Probably over 5 feet.

Abilities: Incalculably fast. Deflects bullets easily. Night vision. Knowledge of martial arts (unknown to what extent). Cunning. Abilities due to either magic or hidden devices.

Crime: Has foiled many of our attempts to catch criminals (listed on next page).

Use extreme caution.

“Incalculable speed, eh? Sounds like fun, right Pepper?” Linton said.

“What's your speed, Pepper?” Jack asked.

“162.7 kilometers per hour.”

“Seriously?”

“Seriously.” This last comment was spoken by Sydney, the secretary of their group. Together, they all made up the Elite Under Team. This meant they were the highest group of the lower of the two branches. Essentially, they worked hard while knowing nothing, though they tried not to remind themselves of it. Usually, if someone of a higher branch needed to be replaced, they pulled someone from the Elite Under Team.

“So, how should we proceed?” Linton asked.

“I would suggest attempting to catch one of the criminals and wait for Ally Kat to come save him. Then we strike,” Jack said.

“No. Rather than striking her blindly, we should only try to get more information on her. The more we know, the better chance we'll have of catching her,” Blake said.

“That's why Blake's our leader! Alright, so how should we go about catching this guy?” The rest of the work day was spent figuring out all their plans and how they would put them into action.

When all was done, Blake went to the bar and ate while watching Alameda Bryce sing. She wore five inch heels, and a blue, cocktail dress with ruffles on the sleeves. The gold accents made her eyes seem even brighter than ever. What gave her voice high quality was the softness and gentleness of it, though she could always make herself be heard. Her song was very fast paced and rang out with a strong and piercing melody. The words ran thus:

Run to the shadows, boy,

Run to the shadows.

You can't escape tonight,

So run to the shadows.

There's a fire in the house, yeah,

A fire in the house.

That fire burns bright,

So run to the shadows.

They'll never stop coming, boy,

They'll never stop coming.

They shine out with light,

So run to the shadows.

Don't let them catch you,

You're the only one who knows,

That secret of the shadows,

So,

Run to the shadows, boy,

Run to the shadows.

You can't escape tonight,

So run to the shadows.”

Blake clapped enthusiastically along with everyone else when she finished her song. She made a bow and went off stage, sliding into the seat next to Blake at the bar.

“You did a great job, Alameda,” Blake commented.

“I only did what I always do.”

“Of course. But I'll tell you something.” Here he pulled her close and whispered in her ear, “I need information. Meet me in the alley.”

Alameda giggled in pretense that he just said something sweet and then nodded. Blake left and waited for her in the alley. She came out in a short while and asked, “What is it?”

“What do you know about a girl called Ally Kat?”

“Ally Kat? Isn't she supposed to be some unknown villain or something?”

“She rescues criminals from being caught. From the previous occurrences, she seems to know a lot about the inner workings of the organization.”

“I hear rumors that she has super inhuman speed and can see in the dark. You sure she isn't just a real cat?” Alameda said jokingly.

“This is serious. She seems to be wanted very badly by our organization.”

Alameda laughed and spoke under her breath, “Everyone is wanted badly by your organization.” Then she said out loud, “I'll see what I can find out.” She returned to the bar and Blake went home.

The next morning there was a package on the floor by Blake's door. He opened it up and pulled out a small stack of papers. On top was a note that read, “Here's a list of occurrences between Ally Kat and the regular people, also on top is a collection of the information gathered from each of these occurrences. -Alameda Bryce.”

The next page read, “Speed is approximately 50 kilometers per minute. This is neither magic nor a device. True source is unknown, some inclination toward an ability she built up herself. Night vision is a natural, magic ability due to her unique eyes, one being green, the other blue. Her outfit hides at least 20 different weapons, including poisons and antidotes. She has never been seen talking with another person, and she does not carry a cell phone as far as one can tell. Her bells in her hair and on her neck seem to have some special ability, though no one is sure what. She prefers rooftops as her way of travel. Nobody has ever seen her, including the criminals she's saved, except for those she wants to be seen by. There appears to be no connection between the people who have seen her.

Blake, if you're trying to capture this girl, I worry about you. She's never killed anyone as of yet, but she's not likely to get caught without a fight. Please, be careful.”

Blake smiled as he read the document and, stuffing it in his pocket, he grabbed his hat and walked out.