Chapter 4 - The Mistake

I quickly scrambled up the side of the wall, and balanced on top, clutching the small bag in my hands. I had to do this fast if I wasn't to let anybody see me. That was two weeks after I came to, if I remember correctly. Walter had asked me to do this. I hadn't known the reason at the time, but now, I know why. That's why I'm here now as well. I had trained for two weeks to test my abilities. When Walter found I still had everything intact other than my memories, he assigned a mission to me. That mission? To take down the organization.

~*~AK~*~

“That's a nice catch you've got there! Too bad I'm here to cut your fishing wire and steal it away from you. You see, cats, well, they love fish.”

Blake could hear the criminal elf begin whimpering. “Oh, please!” he begged. “Please, don't let her take me!”

“Why? Don't you want to escape?” Linton, who was the one holding him, asked.

“Escape? Do you think that's actually what she's trying to do? No. She's just sending us to a worse sort of prison. I'm... I'm tired of running from everything!” the elf sobbed.

“Pathetic,” another officer mumbled.

While this all went on in the streets, Blake climbed up the ladder and onto the roof. He crept along until he came to the elevator. Peering around this, Blake saw someone crouching on the ledge, which he could only assume was Ally Kat. Blake had figured that she'd pick this roof to climb on because it had the moon behind her to keep anyone from seeing her, and it was close to the next building, making it easy to jump from one to the other in need of escape.

“Ally Kat! What do you want with this criminal? Why are you trying to free him?” Jack called from below. There was no response. Blake took out his revolver and began stealthily walking towards the shadow.

“Answer us!”

No response.

Blake was right behind her now, and thinking this was too easy, he pounced on her, which gave the signal for the people to flash the spotlight on her. Blake rustled with her a bit, but she didn't fight back at all. Instead, he heard a slight whimpering and turned over the girl he was needlessly struggling with to look at her. What he saw stunned him. A girl wearing a mask, with a gag in her mouth and rope tied around her arms and legs, sat crying beside him. Looking down, he saw a recorder strapped to her waist and a note which read, “What makes a good hunter, isn't how much he can catch. It's how much he can keep after he's caught it.” Blake stared at the note, not believing what he saw, until someone brought him back by calling out, “Blake! What is it?”

Blake called out, “It's not her. It was a trick.”

“What? Who is it, then?”

Blake cut the ropes that bound her arms and legs, and removed the mask and gag. There sat a crying girl who happened to match the description of a different criminal. One that was entirely new to the town and hadn't even been mentioned to the lower branch of the organization. As a matter of fact, he wasn't even sure if she had committed any crimes in this town yet. They were only warned that she had come by a neighboring town.

“Well, Blake?” Jack called.

“It's another criminal. A trade it seems,” Blake responded.

“But she hasn't gotten the other criminal yet,” Linton spoke, turning to look at the person he held tightly in his grasp. Then he let out a cry, for it was not the elf that he held, but a human being. And not just any human being. It was Pepper.

“Pepper!” Jack exclaimed.

“You have an extremely fierce grip, you know that, Linton?” Linton immediately let go of her and took a step back.

“Blake! The criminal is gone! I don't know how she did it, but somehow Pepper has let the criminal escape and replaced him with herself so I wouldn't detect it!”

“You think I did it! Why would I return if I was Ally Kat?” Pepper yelled in Linton's ear.

“To throw us off guard,” Linton said.

Pepper opened her mouth to retort again, but Blake interrupted, calling out from above. “Jack, get up here with a scanner and see if you can get any fingerprints off these things. Pepper, come get this prisoner and take her in. Linton, take a couple of men and search the area. Ally Kat may still be out there.”

Everyone got to work, and when Pepper came up, Blake grabbed her arm and pulled her aside, gripping her tight. “What happened? Did you pick up anything from Ally Kat?”

“You believe me?”

“I'm not saying I do or don't. Either way, you should have something to tell me about her. If you are Ally Kat, and you don't tell the truth, you'll just be putting your identity into jeopardy. So, either way, you'll tell me the truth about Ally Kat.”

“This was your plan all along, wasn't it?”

“Yes.”

Pepper looked around. “You should be in the upper branch instead,” she breathed.

“Well?”

Pepper, looked straight into Blake's eyes. “She's good. Better than anyone in the organization. But her speed... it's not nearly as fast as mine.”

“You sure she wasn't just holding back to conceal it?”

“I'm sure. It was only a myth. She is fast, yes. But if we were to race, I'd outmatch her. But her speed is flawless, because it's a speed she worked up herself. It doesn't come from magic or a device. It can't be countered or taken away. No spell-caster, no normal human being, no elf, no dwarf, no fairy, no main character in a story-”

“Those don't exist.”

“Well, they should, considering we have everything else. Look, nobody is going to get near that girl. Not unless she comes to you. And it's going to be hard to outsmart her. We have to find her partner if we want to capture her. Her partner who's in the organization.”

“You know she has a partner for sure?”

“For sure. She told me.”

“Why would she tell you?”

“I don't know. But I don't think she was lying. We already established that she was a confident person, maybe she just wanted to show off.”

“Her bells. Did you figure out anything about her bells?”

“No. They seemed like perfectly normal bells. There was no sign that they were devices or anything. If they are, they're disguised very well.” Blake thanked Pepper and then let her go.

He mused over this new information as he walked back to the bar for a drink. The fact that Alameda's information was wrong presented a problem. Either Pepper was lying, or else Alameda failed for the first time in her life. Blake entered the bar and ordered a double. He looked around for Alameda, but it was the usual horrid replacement instead.

“You looking for Miss Bryce?” the bartender asked him.

“Yeah.”

“She left early. She asked me to tell you if you came that she found something important and is waiting for you at your apartment. Said it was about the person you're looking for.” Blake didn't even wait for him to finish. He immediately got up, paid for his drink and hurried out of the saloon doors. The moment he got his hands on his apartment door, he pushed it open and found Alameda standing there, staring into the fire. “Well, it wasn't that urgent,” she said, after turning and seeing Blake panting in the doorway.

“You said you have new information on Ally Kat.”

“Well, not new exactly. More like corrected.”

“Ah. You aren't talking about her speed by any chance?”

“How did you-”

“Pepper recognized that she wasn't able to move so supernaturally. But tell me, how did you get it wrong?”

“Ah, well. That would be telling you how I got that information and from where. I can't do that. Lets just say I took a small chance and it failed, that's all.”

“Well, next time you take a chance, could you at least tell me about it? I can't have you giving me information that may be false without my knowing about it.”

“No. I'm doing this for free you know.”

“Then I'll pay you.”

“No. You've insulted me. I'm not going to take your money. I'm leaving.” She walked to the door and opened it, but stopped when Blake said, “Alameda, why are you acting so ridiculous?”

Alameda paused. “Because I don't like it when people start expecting things from me. It means that they're beginning to know me. I can't have that happen. I can't. Goodnight, Blake. If I find out anything else on Ally Kat, I'll let you know.” She left, shutting the door carefully behind her.