The Cat, Witch and the Wormholes

Chapter 17. Pride and Prejudice

The cat was lying on a huge soft bed and mewled to himself quietly.

'You know, but sometimes life decides that it’s time to throw a spoonful of tar into your barrel of honey and, despite all your merits, laugh at you. You can do your best, try to stand out, prove yourself, be willing to sacrifice yourself for the sake of others, but life will still be unfair to you and at the first opportunity will betray your expectations. Take me for example, I was always in the forefront, eagerly going into battle, covering my comrades with my body, giving myself all the way to the last drop for our common cause, and as a result, where do I find myself? On the sidelines!'

Seth sighed sadly and stared again at the lively street through an open window. Squinting his eyes slightly in the the sun's rays flickering between the foliage of a tree standing in front of the house.

'Have I not done enough? Was I not brave enough, or maybe I was not striving enough? I kept to the last, protecting the whole city, and maybe even the world from certain death, and what did I get in return? Nil. Zilch. Nada. A whole lot of nothing. They didn't even heal me. They just wrapped me in bandages from head to toe and ditched me on this bed.'

His entire body under bandages was itching and tingling as it healed.

'And you know what the most terrible thing Sunset did to me? Without remorse, without regret, without a drop of sympathy and empathy for my pain. How could she do this to me? And this after everything I did for her. She betrayed me in the most mean way, in the most ruthless way, depriving me of my treasure. She broke the most precious thing that a real cat could have. The only thing that had absolute value for me. She stepped on my ego, hard.'

He glared at the trio of girls and, with a snort, turned away.

'And now she and her friends are joyfully chirping enjoying her incredible story of her gaining semi-divine powers. And what about me? Do they even care about my grief, about the misfortune that befell me? Don't they see my sufferings, my despair, which leave deep wounds in my soul? Do not I deserve empathy, moral support, a little understanding? Why did she get everything, and I only got pain and pathetic crumbs of power as a reward?'

"What is he whining about?" Asked Lily.

"Did we overdo with bandages?" Sunset glanced concernedly at the cat.

"No, he complains about the unfairness of life." Lisa said, dismissing him.

'Who's complaining? I'm complaining? I'm not complaining. Na-ah! I'm just saying that events could be more fair to me. Anyway, I talked to myself, and you were not invited to this conversation. So keep boasting about your accomplishments, well, or go outside and do something meaningful with your life, while I'll be right here, lying on this bed... as always.'

"He definitely complains." Said Lily.

"Yep, he is."

Seth turned and angrily glanced at Lisa.

'Why you! I thought we were friends! You should have supported me and not betrayed me for the sake of moment.'

"I never promised you anything, and besides, it's funny."

'Okay, okay. The time will come when you will need my help and I won't be there to save you. We will see who will be the last to laugh. Ha-ha! Ha-ha-ha!'

Seth intentionally falsely laughed, but Lisa just rolled her eyes and blew a raspberry.

Cauldron leaders once again gathered together on a secret base hidden on one of the parallel Earths.

"It’s just me or it seems that this girl has become a too frequent reason for our gatherings?" Wondered Eidolon.

"Well, this time it's not so bad. She managed to curb her powers and arrest a dangerous villain."

"And she even didn't ruin the whole city." Noted Contessa slowly nodding.

"Yet this is a disturbing trend, in less than a year she fought with three of the most dangerous supervillains, two of whom died, and only one was arrested." Said deeply concerned Legend. "And we are very lucky that in the last two times she did not burn the city to hell."

"Well, after all, the Hookwolf was not as dangerous as the Butcher."

"But, according to eyewitnesses, he managed to shatter her psyche so much that she practically gone berserk. She even summoned her fiery whirlwind."

"Still, there were no casualties."

"Just because the cat became the hero of the hour again." Retorted Legend.

"Cat, what cat? Nobody told me that the cat showed up again." Eidolon perked up.

"Well, actually, we never lost sight of him." Casually noted Alexandria.

"What?! Then why did you send me to look for him?"

"In fact, you yourself volunteered to participate in his search and did not even ask about their necessity."

"But how did you find him before me?"

"He and his current caretaker were discovered as soon as I posted a rental listing." Grinned Contessa while straightening fedora on her head. "That was three months ago."

"Three months? Really? And you kept silent?"

"Well, you know how they say. If you want to force..."

"Argh!!!" Groaned Eidolon and throwing up his arms jumped up from his seat and began to pace around the room in irritation.

"Okay. Seriously. So, you already knew where the Butcher was hiding and did not tell anyone about this?" Asked Legend.

"There is no Butcher anymore."

"What do you mean there is no more Butcher?"

"It seems that this time he failed to be reborn as before or, more realistically, the cat's Shard turned out to be stronger than his own and devoured him. In any case, our Thinkers think so."

"So the Butcher is finally dead. Alright, this is great news."

"We still lost a particularly powerful parahuman." A little sadly said Alexandria.

"He was still uncontrollable and there was more harm than good from him." Doctor Mother pointed this fact out.

"Alright, our main problem with Miss Shimmer's power handling is solved. Now we need to decide how to proceed with her further."

"Judging by her tendency to attract dangerous parahumans to her, I recommend moving her to a more controlled environment." Issued her proposal Doctor Mother handing out a report folder to others. "As you can see, our reports from Brockton Bay make it possible to adjudicate that the situation with supervillains there has recently improved radically."

"Can this affect our experiment with neo-feudalism of parahumans negatively?"

"If Mr. Calvert can't cope with such conditions, then it is necessary to say that the experiment is doomed to failure in advance. I believe that he must prove his ability to control the situation under any circumstances."

"But the new PRT ENE director and the newly appointed leader of the Wards deployed in the city almost a real military operation with the involvement of the FEMA, who built themselves a whole base at the docks." Alexandria pointed out the fact.

"It was unexpected, but in general did not negatively affect the projected increase of triggers in the city. But the Teeth and the Elites had to leave the city."

"So instead of a boiling pot, we got almost the most peaceful city in the country?"

"It's as peaceful as it can be in the presence of such villains as Lung and Kaiser."

"But this is great! There are not too many wards in Brockton Bay as in New York, their routes do not go anywhere near dangerous areas and they are almost under the round-the-clock control of the local Protectorate forces. This is an ideal place to move our troublesome girl there and to please the PRT ENE Director with our attention to them." Sincerely delighted Legend. "Besides, if I remember correctly, their director is already knows her."

"Well, not that you were wrong, this is true, only I am not sure that she will be delighted with such a gift, as a survivor of Ellisburg by herself."

"Only it will not be our problem anymore."

"Besides, with her power over fire, she will become a good counter-argument against the Lung." Added Legend.

"Okay, I will talk with the PRT ENE director and with Miss Shimmer, and then we will make the final decision."

"And I told them that if they want my consent for transfer, then they should stop pursuing Seth and allow him to be on his own." Happily announced Sunset. "And Alexandria, without much resistance, agreed to this."

"So we have to move again?" Asked Lisa. "I do not mind to move, although we will have to find a warehouse for our equipment in a new place."

"Well, you don't have to go after me, but I would be glad if my friends were with me."

"And how did Lily react to this news?" But seeing Sunset's saddened face continued. "Not that good, right?"

"Yeah. I understand that we are friends with her, and I would be glad if she came with me, but the leadership of the Protectorate was against the transfer of two wards at once."

"But still you can always keep in touch with each other, and cat and me will not let you get too lonely!" Lisa smiled causing Sunset to smile too.

'But apparently no one intends to ask for my opinion.'

Seth was still quite heavily bandaged and dressed in a second hand black hoodie with the inscription "I'm in training to be a superhero", which Lisa made him wear under threat to report his whereabouts to Mouse Protector, which made him look like a rapper's mummy, and made the girls smile.

'And seeing how you do not respect me and continue to treat me like a giant plush toy, makes me believe that my opinion does not affect anything.'

"Is he still complaining?"

"Yep."

'You know, I’d probably better be silent, yes, I’ll definitely keep quiet, I was silent for five thousand years and people treated me respectfully, but as soon as I started talking, everyone suddenly began to consider me as their funny sidekick whose jokes are not funny at all. And this after all that I have done for them.'

"He says that he, too, can't wait to move to a new place."

'As if!'

"See, he agreed with me." Smiles of both girls have become even wider.

Seth just rolled his eyes, turned away from them and pulled the pillow over his head.